Verses, but our focus will be on the first 14. Matthew chapter 24, we'll begin at verse one, we'll read to verse 35. Hear the word of God. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. Do you see all these things, he asked. I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us, they said, when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answered, watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will be handed over to be persecuted and to be put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you there he is out in the desert, do not go out or here he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it's near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. That's for the reading of God's holy word. May he bless that word now to us and in particular the verses one through 14 of Matthew 24. beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a few years ago when I had opportunity to witness to someone within our community, and in that conversation or in that ministry, the conversation turned at some point to end times speculation This individual had had some interaction with the Christian community. The people that this man listened to were of the sort that managed to squeeze the most fascinating things out of passages like the ones before us. With charts and visual aids, these Christian preachers were able to demonstrate how this particular figure or historical event was prophesied about in scripture, and how it served as a harbinger of Christ's return. Now, it's been a while since I took time to listen to, or hear, or watch, rather, some of these kinds of preachers. I'm assuming that they're making all sorts of hay out of this pandemic. But in any case, these were the kinds of people that this neighbor was listening to. So at our next scheduled appointment, we were going to take up some of these difficult matters. And so I came prepared to answer questions about the book of Daniel, about Matthew 24, about various parts of the book of Revelation, those typical passages that are used to support many of these odd interpretations that gain such traction in the Christian community. The neighbor, however, was prepared in a very different way. He had come with a torn-off side of a large cereal box on which he had charted for me all the ways in which the end times were being fulfilled. There were lines connecting Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu and all sorts of other mysterious connections that I had never begun to think of, nor could I begin to if I tried. It wasn't what I expected, though maybe I should have. For this is often, unfortunately, in the days in which we live, the way end times are discussed, which is why, it seems to me, most of us steer clear of these kinds of conversations. Now, the irony and the humor, if you will, of all of these odd and fantastic schemes and charts is that their very confusing character contradicts the Word of God by its confusing character. Whether it's the book of Matthew, whether it's the book of Revelation or Daniel, the truth is there is a simplicity and a clarity that these kinds of preachers who are able to squeeze all sorts of strange things out of these texts miss. To be sure, there are aspects of these passages, as there is in all of Scripture, that are mysterious and challenging, and careful interpretation is always required. But that's true of every passage of God's Word. The Apostle Peter tells us that. He even tells us that about Paul's writings there are some difficult things that need to be carefully handled, and that fools and wicked twist to their own use. And we might be able to say the same thing about all that end times speculation that runs rampant in certain segments of our church. There are tough bits, and people can twist and distort passages to say what they want. But in the main, the vast majority of what is written about the end times is not meant to be difficult at all, requiring a degree in eschatology to decipher. Rather, the message is intended to be plain and persistent. and encouraging. Now of course the challenge of communicating that rather plain message in today's climate is no easy thing. With all of these voices telling us fantastic things from passages such as the one before us this morning, a plain and encouraging word from the Lord can seem too unexceptional. Because we've come to expect in passages like this some serious exegetical gymnastics and historical references that show us some things we never thought were possible, which is why we're sometimes a little disappointed when the truth is told to us. It doesn't seem nearly as fancy, but we shouldn't be. For the simple truth is not only faithful to what God has revealed to us in passages such as this, It's also far more encouraging as we seek to live before the face of God. That's what the Lord's doing in this chapter of Matthew's gospel. That's what He intended to do in all of these words He speaks that may at first seem to us to be strange, they are in fact intended to be encouraging. He's saying trials will come and the daily reality for His people will be difficult until He returns. But for all of that, we are to hope, and we are to be at peace, and we are to know the greatness of His love. That's what He wants us to understand, and that's what we want to hear. Now before we jump into our text, which begins rather symbolically by the way with our Lord's departure from the temple precinct and the question of his disciples about the beauty of the architecture, which by the way is itself an interesting question. Were the disciples bothered by what Jesus had said to the Pharisees and the leaders of the Jews in chapter 23. They had heard his lament. They had heard his condemnation issued concerning those leaders. And so as they were leaving the temple, did they realize that there was something symbolic about his departing from this place, that there was an implied condemnation almost of what he was doing? And so did they maybe respond to him by saying, oh yes, yes, there's been some difficult things going on right now, but look at the temple, look at how beautiful it is, look at its stability, its value, and its enduring quality. Is that why the disciples asked the question of the Lord as they pointed out the beauty of the temple to him? I suppose we can't know ultimately, but it is an odd question to ask as Jesus has just upbraided and excoriated the leaders of the Jews and as he departs from the temple for the last time the disciples draw his attention to its beauty Whatever the reason for that drawing of attention, the Lord's answer is what we want to focus on. But before we focus on it, we want to make a quick survey of this chapter, which is to say, all we want to ask ourselves is, what is this chapter all about? On the one hand, since the disciples raise the beauty of the temple, and since Jesus responds with a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, which by the way happened in AD 70, we might imagine that this chapter is all about the events that would lead up to that event, that terrible event, that destruction of this glorious temple of which nothing remains to this day. And that's how some biblical scholars in fact interpret this chapter. They see it as a chapter that really focuses on what's going to happen before AD 70. Now on the other hand, there are some rather obvious end times references in this chapter. Think of verses 14, 27, 37, and 39 that are obviously about Christ's coming back in his second coming. So we might instead imagine that this chapter is in fact about Jesus' second coming. which is another approach taken by biblical scholars. And so we might want to ask ourselves, if we were to pick up various books of commentary on this chapter, we'd want to ask ourselves, which is it? Is this a chapter about the end of the temple, or is this a chapter about the end of time? Which is the appropriate approach to interpreting this passage of scripture? And if we take one or the other, where are the lines of demarcation? What verses belong to what? What's a reference to Christ's return? What's a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem? It's an important question, this challenging question. And there are some excellent answers offered by all manner of commentators. Yet I'm more inclined to think that both of these matters are interwoven together throughout this chapter. And the reason for this is simply that I'm not sure we should isolate the destruction of Jerusalem from the return of Jesus Christ. we should recognize there is a connection between them, though not a connection we might expect. What is more, it seems to me that this is the best way to handle the question that the disciples ask after they leave the temple precinct and they are in private with the Lord, and their question implies that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Lord's return were related events, not necessarily related in time, that is, one would happen and then very soon after another would happen, but related in the economy of God, in the plan of God for this world. Tell us, they said to Jesus, when this will happen, that is, when will the destruction of Jerusalem take place? When will the temple be destroyed? Jesus had said the temple would be destroyed. The disciples say, when? When will the temple be destroyed? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Which are obviously references to Jesus' second coming. So for the disciples these things were related. The thought that the temple would be destroyed immediately brought to mind the idea that Jesus would come again and that the end of the age would come upon them. And so in the minds of the disciples all of this is sort of eschatological. All of this is about end times. All of this is the remarkable and unbelievable end of all things and they want to know, tell us about these things. And so Jesus answers both. He speaks both about the return of Jesus, or the destruction of the temple, and of his return, weaving these answers together to show that there is, in fact, a significant connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and his return. That's the overall view of the chapter and from that perspective we can begin to understand the first 14 verses. Now the verses of our text begin with a warning about false messiahs and deceiving saviors, which may seem a strange way to start a discussion of the signs of the end of the times. But it was important to Jesus He speaks about it twice in this chapter. In verse 25 of this chapter, he brings up the same point, using the word deceived thereto, making these two bookend references suggest that this is the overarching concern of our Lord. that Jesus does not want us to be deceived. He doesn't want us to be overly frightened or uncertain. He doesn't want us to leave the security of what he's saying for the false teachings of others. He knows that we can falter and fail if we become too unnerved by the events going on around us and by spiritual leaders who lie to us and lead us away from the truth. And we know something of that, don't we? During times of great intense difficulty, church members long committed to the Lord can experience a crisis in the faith. Have you never talked with someone who was struggling with the burdens of this broken world, who was even questioning their commitment to the Lord in the light of these challenges? Who's been saying, I don't know if I can continue in the faith because of what I see and experience around me and in my life. Jesus knows that we can become overwhelmed, frightened, and uncertain, and he doesn't want us to be scattered like sheep who suddenly become afraid. So he encourages us, he says to us, watch out that no one deceive you. Now, why would we be deceived? What follows then is a description of some very difficult days. Wars and rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, famines and earthquakes. It all sounds so very frightening. Is this some future world that we are to anticipate? Some apocalyptic dystopia where everyone is hidden and nothing good exists? Is this some kind of hunger world or hunger games rather world or a Mad Max reality? That's how we too often take these words. But that's not how they're intended. These words actually just described today, and yesterday, and last year, and last century, and last millennia. Indeed, in our own congregation, we have members that can speak of living through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and both Gulf Wars. We're also aware, I trust, that there are almost daily occurrences of earthquakes in our Earth. We may not always hear about them. The big ones are the ones that we usually only hear about, but earthquakes, as we've come to learn, are relatively common, as, sadly, is famine. Oh, maybe not for us, but we're not the center of the universe. There are parts of our world that suffer food shortage and insecurity and have done so for a long time and for a whole host of reasons. Indeed, when we view the world in light of what our Lord says at the beginning of our text, what we begin to realize is Jesus is just really describing history. He's describing What has happened since he walked on the face of this earth? If you could imagine a history book that contains all of the vital events of this world's history dating all the way back to the days of Christ, I think you'd discover that it would be filled with wars and rumors of wars, of famines, of pestilence and disease. We discover that our Lord's words in the opening of our text are in fact a pretty good description of how life normally, ordinarily, and regularly is. Despite the beauty of this world, despite its potential and promise, so much happens in our world that is dark and discouraging. There is a brokenness and a burden, a curse that lies upon this world, one that brings brother to kill brother, that promotes greed and cruelty, that shakes the very foundations of our lives. There is a pain and a grief that exists in this world that we can't pretend isn't there. Maybe we can push it away for a time from our hearts and minds, but it inevitably returns with a vengeance. Just think of this pandemic. Think of all diseases. Think of the abuse that one man pours into the life of another. Speak with our social workers. Speak with our police officers. Ask them about the ugliness and the misery that they witness. Oh, to be sure, maybe not all the time. Not in every instance. There is still a lot of good in this life and world. The original condition of God's good creation remains. It's a smell that evokes a certain childhood memory, a song that brings to mind a time of unbridled joy. But at the same time when we walk the halls of the long-term care homes of our society, we realize that there is a sorrow that lies like a pall upon this life. And Jesus says, you shouldn't be surprised. That's exactly how it's going to go. Jesus isn't giving us a detailed description of what will happen in the moments before he returns, giving us some divine checklist that we can use to mark the progress of his coming, some newspaper article that chronicles today's eschatological events for us. Far from it. He's doing the exact opposite. He's reminding us that even though he has defeated sin and death, and even though the gospel is a victorious announcement, a glorious declaration of God's power to defeat his enemies and establish his kingdom, and even though, because of all of this, we might expect and imagine that some things will get a whole lot better, and that if we try really hard, we can establish some kind of utopia in this world, a paradise where everything is better, a secret garden where we remain free from the pains of this world, Though we might be like those who came from the old country to Plymouth Rock to establish a better world, a more biblical, a more Christian society where things will be done just right. The truth is, the burden of sin remains on this earth and what has been will continue to be. Or to put it another way, Jesus did not come. to ensure you could live your best life now. That's what we so easily fall into thinking. We so quickly assume that God's in the business of making our lives better, and yet Jesus here puts paid to that lie. He says, in your thinking about and planning for the experiences of this life, what you should realize is that everything's broken, and that there is a burden that can only be lifted by Jesus Christ upon his return. That you should not expect that things in this life will get better until He comes to make them better. That that must be your hope and your focus in this life. That our hope and focus should not be so short-sighted upon the few years that we walk upon this earth because this earth is defined by brokenness, cruelty, and pain. There's coming a day when Jesus will return and he will wash away completely sin's stain. Oh, to be sure, there are still great and glorious moments of joy in our lives. Our lives can be full of wonder and blessing. Don't deny that and we don't want to miss that. But what Jesus does say to us in our text is that we are to hold on to the things of this life lightly because it is a broken world in which we live. And we have a hard time doing that. Too quickly we fall in love with this world, with the false promises of our age. Whether that's in our technology, whether that's in our relationships, whether that's just in our expectation of what our lives will bring. We tend to picture in our minds a more blissful, best-life-now kind of existence. If we just have the newest iPhone, or a new car, or whatever else you think is important, your life will be so much better. If we date this person, if we cultivate a relationship with that mover or shaker, if our children love us, if our marriage is perfect, then our lives will be worth living. And certainly we don't want to imagine that these experiences are wrong, even as we don't want to imagine that times like this pandemic are normal. We want to think that this is abnormal. Except Jesus is telling us it's not. And that's what we struggle so hard to believe, isn't it? When our best life now doesn't come to fruition, and it never will, we get discouraged and disheartened. We may even find ourselves complaining to the Lord about His providential leading in His life. How can this pandemic be good? How can this be what He wants? Surely He wants us to be free from fear and pain and separation. And of course He does. But He knows far better than we that to enjoy these things we need something greater, something more profound than any vaccine or any scientist can come up with. We need Jesus Christ and His return and the new heavens and the new earth. You see, we tend to fall in love with today, but our Savior would have us fall in love with tomorrow. That's the encouragement in this. Jesus describes these experiences, the wars, the rumors and wars, and all of these terrible things, as not the end, not the things that will happen just before he returns, but as the beginning. as the beginning of the birth pains. We might get a little discouraged at the thought that these things are just the beginnings because that ought to prompt us to say well if that's the case then surely we have to still wait a long time for Jesus to return. How long do we have to wait for the Lord's return if wars and rumors of wars are just the beginning of the birth pains? Since the days of our Lord, indeed since the fall into sin, this has been the reality of this fallen world. So if that's just the beginning, surely we're still a ways away from the end. But instead of focusing on the timing Let us instead focus on the telos, that is, on the end. Jesus describes the groans of this creation, pain and disease, the violence and destruction, as birth pains. As any mother will tell you, no one likes birth pains. But they are endured for the promise of new life. And so it ought to be for the believer who has eyes to see and ears to hear. No one likes the contractions that our world is enduring But only the believer knows that these are part and parcel of the new world that will be birthed in the end. When we look around us and see how our world is falling apart, how it's not working the way we expected, the way it should, we should be encouraged. Encouraged to know that this is being used by the Lord to bring about a better day, a better world. And while it can be discouraging and disheartening to have to bear up under the weight of this world's brokenness in our lives, it also ought to remind us that not only is this a part of the Lord's plan, that it's being used by Him to bring about the end. That we are being encouraged to bear up under it by the promise of a Savior who has a good and glorious future in store for us. This pandemic may be difficult, But it's all working to get us to the end. Now how can we be sure of this? How can we be sure that this interpretation or explanation for the pain and sorrow of this fallen world is accurate? Well, the answer may surprise us. For our Lord continues His spiritual reality check approach to His disciples' question in the second part of His answer. In the verses nine through 14, He speaks what is an even more difficult word. For it's one thing to live in a world that is shuddering and shaking under the curse of sin. As long as we're in it together, we can bear up under this weight. And yet, that's not how life is experienced, is it? For Jesus tells us that in the midst of this general suffering, this sort of global suffering, the church itself experiences a very unique suffering. In the words of our Lord, you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. Which again is a rather fitting description, don't you think, of the church's history since Christ's ascension. I think there have been seasons of ascendancy in the church's history. Think of Solomon's reign, for example. Think of the church under Constantine. We don't, of course, want to paint the picture black. But for all the blessings and times of strength that the church has experienced, the words of our Lord still ring true. Whether it's Cain killing Abel, Pharaoh killing Israelite boys, Israelites killing the prophets, the Pope condemning Luther, or the persecution of brothers and sisters in so many parts of this world, even to this day, for indeed there have been more people killed for the faith in the last 100 years than in the 1900 years before. God's people have always been the subject of mistreatment and abuse. The church in Western society, we might sit rather comfortably, but in so much of this world there is a great deal of persecution. Which, come to think about it, is something Jesus repeatedly warned his disciples about. Already in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, Again in Matthew 10 verse 25 he says, a student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a student to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household. We might want to assume, given the short history of our own experience, that the Christian life is generally appreciated or at least tolerated. But that's not what the picture of history presents or reveals. and for good reason. Well, the gospel comes to this world with the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ. It begins by condemning all that this world has to stand for and desires. That's why Jesus, even though he was gentle, gracious, loving, and kind, was crucified by his own people who so desperately hated him. I mean, think of it. They hated the Son of God in the flesh come to save for himself a people. What would possibly make anyone hate such a savior? Well, the answer is that he began his ministry by calling people to repent. He condemned sin and calls us to embrace that judgment. to acknowledge that we are sinners and that we are desperately in need of a Savior, which is the very thing we are unwilling to do. By nature, we refuse to acknowledge the truth of our own fallen condition and to acknowledge that we need a Savior like Jesus. Imagine coming up to someone who has lived their whole life a certain way, maybe like an avowed atheist, someone like Richard Dawkins. Do you realize what it would mean for him to admit that Jesus is Lord? He'd have to reject everything he's done, everything he stood for, everything he's promoted and published. Now, God can, of course, in his grace, work such a powerful conversion. But humanly speaking, can you not see how someone like Dawkins would not just disagree with the gospel, but realize that to embrace it would have to deny himself, and that it would destroy all that he has built and established? And so you can understand why he hates it, why he writes books to defeat it. And indeed you can understand why the church struggles. Why even in the church many will leave the faith having their love of the Lord grow cold. That's not to be surprised or that's not to be surprising to us. That's to be expected. And again these things aren't signs that Jesus is about to return probably next Tuesday. They are signs that things are going exactly as we should expect them to go. But suffering for the church should not be to us something strange, something that happens at the end of redemptive history. It rather should be something that we expect every day. Well, maybe not in our particular or unique circumstance, but globally, in the church generally, we shouldn't be surprised to hear that brothers and sisters in the faith are persecuted. And when that time comes into our lives, and it will inevitably come, that we shouldn't be surprised or start to imagine that because we suddenly are being pressured for the faith, that Jesus Christ must be returning next Tuesday. Suffering should be the expectation not the end of the story. Here is what so many of those preachers who specialize in the signs of the times seem to miss. They major in wars and rumors of wars. They major in persecutions and antichrists, but they forget that these aren't the signs of the end. They are the signs of the beginning, of the ordinary, of the expected, And what they forget is the great sign of the times. There is one sign that Jesus gives. One indication that you can know when this happens Jesus Christ will return. It's not wars or rumors of wars. It's not persecution of the church. It's that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then, says Jesus, the end will come. As a young child, I always thought, why don't we just mount a loudspeaker on the top of a van and drive it on every street in the world, blaring the gospel, because it will bring about the end of time and the return of Jesus Christ. That seems to be, isn't it what Jesus is saying? It seemed to me that was the case when I was seven or eight years old. Well, that's not quite what Jesus is saying. Jesus is here speaking a word of encouragement to us to understand how life is supposed to go. It's a word of encouragement to a persecuted and oppressed church. To a church that's living against the grain, against the stream. to a church that even, if we may say that, looks like it's losing. Moses says, Jesus to us, it may look like the church is losing, that the world is winning, that the enemy is victorious, that things are going according to the plan of sin and Satan, not according to the plan of Christ our Savior, but you're looking at it wrong. You may think that the coming of Jesus Christ is intended to make you live your best life now, but the coming of Jesus Christ was so that the gospel could go forth, that lives could be redeemed, that sinners could be saved. Not so that they could live their best life now, but so that they could inherit the eternal kingdom of God and enjoy fellowship unbroken by sin with Him and with His people. Jesus is working for a better tomorrow. We too quickly want Him to live for a better today. But he says to us, no, you have to see that the goal here is the redemption of souls to inherit the eternal kingdom of God. That's what he's at work in. Oh yes, oh yes, he says, if you look in the newspaper, if you look online, if you listen to the radios, you hear about all the bad things that are happening. But then when you hear that the gospel continues to go forth, and that it goes forth in all places of this globe, then be encouraged because the plan and purpose of God is being fulfilled. It's being proclaimed to every tribe, nation, and people under heaven. Do we not see how the Lord continues to fulfill His promise from the very few huddled together in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out? The Gospel now does extend all over the world. The word's not complete yet. But it is being completed. And Jesus says now look at that and let that encourage you. Let that encourage you because the plan and purpose of God is being fulfilled. Oh it's not being fulfilled the way you want. It's being fulfilled the way He wants, and that's the key, isn't it? We have to surrender ourselves to the plan and purpose of God. We have to see that the spreading of the gospel is the thing that we are called to do in the midst of this fallen world. We may not be assaulted or attacked in the same way as our brothers and sisters in the rest of this world are, but our call to witness to Christ remains the same as it does for them. And we do live in a world, undoubtedly, that is committed to our defeat as much as it is committed to the defeat of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East or in China or in other places of great struggle. Oh yes, the world does assault us in its own way. Think of the pervasiveness and perversion of pornography. Think about the mind-numbing irrelevance of social media. Think of how distracted, how distant and just plain dumb we've become. And in the face of this emptiness and immorality, it may be hard for us to imagine that our children will remain faithful, that our grandchildren will stand against the tide, and that the Church of Jesus Christ can survive, let alone thrive, and grow in strength and in number. But you see, that's to look at the world with the wrong eyes, to see it through the wrong lens, and to perceive it through the wrong perspective. For if we look around, even as we sit here in this service, the gospel is being preached, and Christ is gaining the victory. The world may think that the days of the church are numbered, and that soon enough, thankfully in the minds of the world, there will be no believers left. But don't be fooled. Be encouraged. The suffering, the struggling all around us is a daily reminder that we live in a sin-soaked world, but the advance of the gospel to the four corners of this world is a reminder that Christ is King, and that He's bringing all things to its end, that He's bringing into His kingdom all of those appointed for eternal life, that they may enjoy the fellowship of His reign. There may be more Christian martyrs now than in any other time of history, but that's also in part because there are more Christians now than at any other time in history. And that is the encouragement we need to hold close to our hearts as we serve in these difficult times. Maybe that's why so many Christians like to tease out every fanciful idea there is in passages like these. We like to, or want to be able to chart exactly how everything's gonna go so that we can know exactly how it's all gonna end. We want to be in control. We want to understand how much of this we have to endure. We want to know on what day Jesus is coming, because sometimes it is just too hard to stand fast. In a world that is at enmity with our Christ, and in the midst of the great sorrow and struggling that we can experience in this life, we just need some encouragement to carry on. Christ gives it to us but he doesn't give it to us the way we want he doesn't say to us that we can expect sunshine and happiness if we give our life to Christ he indeed says you can expect struggle and sorrow and suffering but he says be encouraged It may be not what your heart desires that you receive, but you receive what Christ is preparing you for. Because there's coming a day when the brokenness of this world will be ended, and the sorrow of this life will be no more, and Christ will stand upon the earth, and we will enter into His glory. And what a day that will be. And the most important thing for us then is to be ready for that day. It's to be standing fast on that day. It's to be found as Christians on that day. That's what we need. That's what our children, our grandchildren, our coworkers, our neighbors, our friends. They don't need to live their best life now. They need to believe in Jesus Christ. And calling them to repentance and faith is the better response. to all of this end times chatter. Leave our charts and diagrams behind and instead rest in the knowledge that Christ is King. Let's thank Him for that in prayer. Merciful God and Father, it is good to know that this world is progressing exactly as you had prophesied it would almost or over 2,000 years ago. that this isn't surprising to you, even if it is sometimes for us. That things like this pandemic, things like the darkness of the Second World War for so many of our congregation, things like the sorrow of disease and pain and suffering, they are not surprising to you. You know this world is broken, that's why you came. And you are working to fix this world, not in some partial way, not in some empty, mindless way, in a way that we would prefer. For Lord, it would be nice if you could just make our lives so much easier and free from pain if we could just float through this life like we're on some lazy river. But you have a better plan in place, one that redeems the whole world, that gives to us an eternal kingdom in which to dwell in praise of your name, to worship you day after day for all that you have done. You have a better plan. One that calls us to acknowledge the brokenness of this world. One that calls us not to fall in love with the things of this world. That wrenches them from our hands by the grief and sorrow we endure. But one that calls us to see that there is a more excellent way. To rest in your saving work and to trust you our Savior. And to call all men to repentance and faith. Help us to see that that's our calling in the light of the end times, not to worry about diagrams and who the Antichrist is or isn't, but to call men to repentance and faith, for you are returning, and what a day that will be. We pray that you would hasten it, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Then we're going to sing from 388. We'll sing the four stanzas of 388. We'll stand to sing