Here's Your Sign

Awesome. How are we doing today? Good, good. Well, it’s great to be with everybody today. Thank you all so much for being here. And thank you, too, for doing all the invites to your neighbors and your coworkers, hearing good things about that. So we have even more inviter cards. You got some of them in the bulletin again. So those are meant for you to give away to other folks. We have some on the back tables as well. So you take those and invite somebody to all the stuff happening at the church.

So, you know, we were really strategic with those activities happening in April. We wanted to create something for everyone. So there is something that you can invite everyone back to, whether it’s students going bowling or the guys getting together to have some wild game or for the women’s Bible study starting back off or for the kids activities. There is something for everyone. So I want you to keep inviting people to that as we continue to go into the Easter season.

You know, but something that I was thinking about a lot this week as we are approaching Easter. You know, Easter is this time where, I don’t know, you start thinking about life. You start thinking about family. You know, you start thinking about where you come from and all that. And anybody ever think about end times when it comes to Easter? End times. E-N-D. End times.

I was seven years old when Y2K happened. Anybody remember Y2K? Okay. Y2K stood for 2000, year 2000. There was this crazy hoax that happened because all the computers were set to finish their dates, December 31st, 1999. So there’s mass hysteria. What was going to happen on January 1st, 2000? Some people thought that Skynet was going to drop like in the Terminator movies. Some people thought that all the airplanes were going to fall out of the sky. Some people thought nuclear reactors were just going to spontaneously combust and the whole world would be Chernobyl. What ended up happening was nothing whatsoever.

Or I think about this guy. He wrote this book, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Happen in 1988. Anybody remember? I think it’s Craig Wisenett. Anybody remember that book? All right. So there’s this guy. He worked for NASA. Real smart, brainiac type. He was also a professed believer. And he approached the Bible mathematically. And what happened was he found 88 reasons in the prophetic literature of the Bible why the rapture would happen in 1988. He even predicted it down to an exact week. Now, of course, that didn’t happen. So he said, okay, it wasn’t August 1988. It was October 1988. That, of course, didn’t happen either. So then he wrote a book, 89 Reasons Why Jesus Was Coming Back in 1989.

Man, there have been end times hoaxes. For as long as there’s been a topic called the end times. The thing I’ve come to see is that all of these hoaxes fail. And they just create a lot of fear, right? I actually think that there’s something in there for us. But I want to ask you, how do you feel about the world ending one day? How do you feel about it? Sad, afraid, hopeful, angry, mixed emotions. The world as we know it, I will say this. The world as we know it will end one day. It will. This as we know it will cease. But I believe that as believers, we can live with confidence and joy. That would sustain a type of faith over fear lifestyle no matter what we go through. The Bible has something to say about that. So let’s do this. Let’s pray. And let’s see what the Bible has to say about the end.

Pray with me. Lord, good morning. God, thank you for being here with us. Lord, your word makes many incredible promises. Some of them are about how the world will end. Many of them are about how you accompany us in the midst of today. God, one of those promises I’m clinging to is the fact that you are always with us. So God, thank you for being here with us. Lord, I pray that you would bless this time. I pray that you would please get a hold of these words of mine. God, that you would speak through this and that you would ultimately give us confidence in you and a courageous faith so that we will be able to walk into today and tomorrow, however many tomorrows we have. Lord, we love you. And it’s in your name we pray. Amen.

Well, if you have your Bibles, open up to Mark chapter 13. I’m not Just pulling this out of thin air. We are continuing our Gospel of Mark series that I’ve titled The King and His Kingdom. I’ve titled this sermon, Here’s Your Sign. Some of y’all recognize that, and others y’all are going to pretend you don’t recognize that. So here’s your sign out of Mark 13, verses 1 through 13. If you have your Bible, you can open it up or turn it on. The scripture will also be on your screens. I’ll read the text for us. Mark 13, 1 through 13.

As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look what massive stones, what impressive buildings.” Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another. All will be thrown down.” While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Jesus told them, “Watch out. Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He.’ And they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must take place. But it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. But you, you, be on your guard. They will hand you over to local courts and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me as a witness to them. And it is necessary. It is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. But say whatever is given to you at that time. For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

That is God’s word for us this morning. Mark 13 continues this series that we’ve been doing, looking at the kingdom that Christ was establishing here on earth. Now Christ has been incredibly intentional with His disciples, and since chapter 11, He’s been sitting in the temple teaching. We’ve looked at a couple of the passages that He taught in the temple. Remember the parable of the vineyard where we examined how God was giving His kingdom to the Gentiles because the Jews have been abandoning it and things like that. Jesus has been teaching in the temple since chapter 11. In chapter 13, it says that they are going out. He’s been in there, but now He’s leaving. It’s not just that He’s done teaching, but Jesus is also making a decisive step away from the temple. It’s almost as if as Jesus turns His back on the temple doors, He turns His back on what the temple has been. He is making a decisive, formal break with it. He’s not just done teaching. He’s done with it. He’s done with the temple.

And as they are going out, the disciples start looking at this expansive temple. They say, “What massive stones, what impressive buildings.” But unless you were there, some of this gets lost on you. Let me read what contemporaries of Jesus’s day had to say about these massive stones and impressive buildings. And I’m going to read what they were doing. I’m going to read what they were doing. And I’m going to read what they were doing. It’s almost three football fields wide, five football fields long. That’s just the temple. The immense 35-acre enclosure would accommodate 12 football fields altogether. The southeast corner of the retaining wall hung 15 stories above the ground that sloped down to the valley. The blocks of stone used in construction were enormous. They were 60 feet long. No block that size has ever been found in the existing foundation because everything had been torn apart. Now, this was just the retaining wall. Above the south end perched the gleaming royal portico, a striking spectacle. The portico was 45 feet wide, consisted of three aisles supported by four rows of columns. The columns were crowned with Corinthian capitals and rose to a height of 40 feet. The thickness of each of these columns was such it would take three men with outstretched arms to touch one another to circle it. The center of this expanse stood the sanctuary, which was a bit broader in the front than it was in the back. The sanctuary rose to a height of 50 meters. And it was a visual collage of gold, silver, crimson, purple. When the sun hit it, it would radiate so brightly you couldn’t look directly at it. That was the temple.

Imagine being in a space so big it incorporates 12 football fields built on blocks that are, what did I read? 50, 50 feet long? That’s not just some Sauldam Baptist church as beautiful as our building is. This would pale in comparison. This would be an outhouse compared to what the temple was. And Jesus looks at it all and He says, you shouldn’t really be caught up with that because it’s all being torn down.

We look at the things that we have created, whether they’re iPhones or monuments, and we say, look at the greatness of who we are. Look at what we can make. And we conclude by the bigness or the complexity of the things that we make, we conclude that we are great. We are God. Jesus said, I’m tearing it all down. Or rather, it will all be torn down.

Now that’s a time-bound prophecy. What Jesus says there that the temple is going to be torn down. That actually did happen. A.D. 70. There was this guy, a Roman general. We have a bust of him that’s coming up on the screen. His name was Titus. He was sent by Emperor Vespasian of the Romans to come and conquer the Jews. And they totally destroyed the temple.

They took this structure that historians of Jesus’ time described to be larger than any building that we have. And they so incredibly destroyed it that we don’t have the remains. We know it was there. We have studied the historical records. We can find some of the foundational stones. We know where it once stood. But it is so incredibly destroyed that we can’t find any of the remaining materials. It actually did happen.

You have to ask yourself, why would the God of the universe allow the temple, the place where He was to be worshipped and adored, why would He allow that to be destroyed? Because the Israelite people had forgotten God’s heart and His mission. We talked about that a few weeks ago. The parable of the vineyard, I mentioned that a second ago. The people of Israel had forgotten that God’s heart was for the nations. They had forgotten that His heart wasn’t just about the rules and about the ceremonies. It was about people accepting His love for them. They had forgotten that people, they themselves included, are ravaged by sin. And we need God’s grace to enter a relationship with Him. It’s not just the ceremonies we do for Him. It’s not just the things we can give Him. But it’s the grace He wants to give us and transform us with. They had forgotten these things. So God allowed the temple to be destroyed.

The disciples then were naturally curious about this. They asked the question that we would ask if we were there. The disciples look at Jesus. They say, when? When will this happen? What will be the sign when these things are to be accomplished? I think one of the things the Bible does for us is that it gives us people to relate to. If I were there, I’d be asking that question. When, Jesus? This temple’s going to be destroyed? I want to make sure I’m not here when that happens. When, Jesus? What’s going to happen? What will happen so I can recognize I need to get out of Dodge? What’s going to be the case?

We are desperate to know. We are desperate to understand the signs of the times. That’s why books like 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Happen in 1988, that’s why those books sell, honestly. That’s why those books sell, honestly. It’s because we are desperate to know the details of the end of this world. And if you’re not, I’m not confident you’re being truthful with yourself. We’re desperate to know these things.

But instead of giving them very specific prophecies about how the world would end or how He would return, Jesus describes a specific posture that Christians are supposed to embrace. Instead of prophecies, Jesus describes a posture. And that posture can be captured in three actions: watch out, preach, endure. Watch out, preach, and endure.

In verses 5 through 8, He says, watch out. He gives three things to watch out for, three signs. The first one is that there will be Jesus’ imposters. He says, many will Come in my name, saying, I am he. And they will deceive many. When Jesus says this, it tells me the greatest threat to the church, it’s from inside. The greatest threat to the vibrancy that we have, the greatest threat to our unity, the greatest threat that we have to our focus on the mission, it’s from inside the church. Because people will rise up and start to claim that they are Jesus. And lest we think we can’t be duped, I want to remind you of a few characters, a few people, such as David Koresh. David Koresh led this group of people called the Branch Davidians, who ultimately created a compound in Waco, Texas that had to be raided by the ATF. That guy claimed he was Jesus. He claimed he was the Messiah. And for a lot of folks in our nation and in the world, they thought that was lunacy. But for thousands of people, they thought he was the real deal.

Or I think about a gentleman, I call him that, in South Korea, Sun Myung Moon. Created the Unification Church. We might call them the Moonies because of his last name, Moon. That movement, another man who claims that he is Jesus Christ incarnate, has gotten so big that it has spawned off other splinter movements. Groups, thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. You can go and find pictures of their churches. Enormous churches following someone that claims to be Jesus Christ returned. Jesus told this what happened. He said, many will come in my name. People will come claiming they are Jesus Christ. And they will deceive many. There will always be end-time hoaxes. And many of them will involve somebody claiming to be Jesus Christ. Or claiming to be sent directly by Him.

Which means for us, as Christians in the church, we have to test everything we hear. Everything you read, every video you watch on Facebook or on YouTube, everything that comes your way that claims Christ, you must test. Including what I preach. I would love nothing more than if you come to me at the end of the service and say, Jeremy, I wasn’t quite straight on something you said. Can you explain this for me? Or, Jeremy, hey, when you said X, I thought about this other verse that says why. Can you help me understand the relationship there? I am not offended in the least whenever you’ve got pushback on something I say. You have to test what I say. You have to test what YouTube preachers say. You have to test what other people say. Because there will be many that deceive us. That’s the first sign.

Jesus also said, watch out for war. The second sign. You hear of wars and rumors of wars. But don’t be alarmed because these things must take place. It’s not yet the end. War is one of those normal aspects of living in a world ravaged and besieged by sin. War always pops up in the news channels and the news cycles that dies down. There’s two wars going on in our world right now we don’t talk about anymore. And I’m sure there’s others that are happening in other parts of the world that we don’t talk about ever. War is just a natural aspect of this world. It’s because people are rebelling against the true King, Jesus Christ.

And here’s a promise for you today. There is not a nation currently that will still stand in heaven. In heaven, Revelation 7 says that people from all nations will come and bow before Christ in His kingdom. We will bring the best parts of America with us, but America will not be in heaven. God did not promise to continue America into eternity. No, what He has promised is to introduce a kingdom and a family here that will last forever. A family with ties deeper than the place on your passport. A family with ties deeper than the blood of the family you come from. A family with ties deeper than the place that you’ve grown up. That is the kingdom that we inhabit now and that we will live in into eternity. But until then, war does happen.

The third sign Jesus said to watch out for, natural disaster. He says there’s going to be earthquakes in various places, famines. Just like war, these natural disasters, it’s just signs that we live in a place that’s not like it should be. A place that God made to be good and wholesome and rightly ordered. But when sin came into the world, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, everything started to spin out of control like a top that’s lost its balance. And we’re living In that imbalanced spinning, just trying to hold on to something. Jesus will reset the top. He’s going to do it in a way such that that top will never topple. That’s why we don’t hope in this world. This world has deception and war, famine, earthquakes. This world has sin, has darkness, and all those things live inside of us. We don’t place our confidence here. We place our confidence in the one that will come back.

But Jesus doesn’t give very specific signs, right? I wonder what the disciples would have been thinking. The disciples are looking for specific signs. Jesus, what’s going to happen? What is going to happen before the end of the world? What’s going to happen before this temple is thrown down? And Jesus gives pretty generic things. He says, people are going to claim to be me. There’s going to be wars. Oh, yeah, and there’s going to be a famine. And people are like, what? What do I do with that? That’s like saying that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. That’s like saying that, I don’t know, you interject whatever you want to there. I’m just getting off base here. These aren’t specific signs.

Again, that’s because Jesus cares more about our posture than any prophecies. He cares more about our posture than our predictions. He cares more about how we go through life than our ability to recognize that the world is going to end. He cares way more about those things. In fact, He says these are just the beginning of birth pains. The end of verse 8 right there. Think about birth pains. These are hard precursors to great treasure. Not that I’ve got any personal experience with that. I’m not going to claim any sort of intimate understanding of that. I’m just going based off hearsay. But Dr. Aiken of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, he says this about the birth pains. He says, human history is headed toward the birth of a new messianic age and kingdom. Of that we can be sure. But before that age comes, we can expect times of worldwide trouble and tribulation. Like the labor pains of a woman that grow in intensity before the blessed birth of the baby, distress will increase before the end. This was true leading up to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. It will be especially true as the curtain on world history comes down.

These things are generic. Imposters, war, disaster. But they are birth pains of something better to come. So Jesus tells us, watch out. But He also tells us another thing. Preach. And we preach the gospel. I’m going to read verses 9 through 11 again. Jesus says, but you be on your guard. They will hand you over to local courts and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me as a witness to them. And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. But say whatever is given to you at that time. For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

So we watch out and we preach. And preaching, Jesus says, happens in persecution. He’s looking at the disciples here and He says, you guys, y’all are going to be handed over. You’re going to be given over. You’re going to be betrayed. Which means their watchfulness isn’t meant to prevent their suffering just to prepare them for it. Their watchfulness would create posture.

The disciples’ situation mirrors Jesus’ own. I want to remind you of what Jesus said in Mark chapter 9 where He promised that He would be betrayed. Jesus said that He’d be handed over to the Jews. He’d be condemned to death. Then handed over to the Gentiles to carry it out. He would be mocked. He’d be spat on. He’d be flogged. Ultimately, He’d be killed. But, and we’ll celebrate this on Easter, but Jesus would rise again. He’s already been telling His disciples this. He’s been telling the crowds this. He’s been saying, you guys, you think, you say you love me now, but you’re going to hand me over one day. You say you love me now, but you’re going to betray me. You say you love me, but you’re going to be against me.

He looks at the disciples. They say they love you. They say they’re with you. But they’re going to hand you over. They say they like you, but they’re going to flog you. They say they’re with you, but they’re going to stand against you. The disciples were going into persecution. But that persecution would be tied to their gospel proclamation. He said that because of me, you will be a witness to them. And it is necessary. It’s not good. It’s not suggested. It’s not optional. It is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. Jesus said, in the end, you will be betrayed. As you are betrayed, preach the gospel. Preach the gospel to all nations and create a redeemed mosaic. Just like a stained glass window is a beautiful picture of multiple colors and shapes brought together to create one image telling one story. The nations will do the exact same thing around Christ’s throne. They will be a stained glass living mosaic of different colors and shapes and hues telling one story about the goodness of our Savior.

So we preach the gospel to all nations. Just like we preach the gospel to 134,244,000 Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh. Or 117,840,000 Buddhists in Japan. 71,553,000 Muslims in India. 61,482,000 Turk Muslims of Turkey. 54,313,000 Chumar Hindis of India. All told, amongst the nations, there are, listen to this, 3,397,248,430 people in this world who do not know Jesus. This world has roughly 8 billion people in it and 42.4% of them are lost and many of them have never even heard the name Jesus Christ. Jesus looks at the disciples and He says it is necessary. It’s necessary that we preach the gospel to all nations.

Let me run some more stats by you. 117 people, it’s estimated, pass away every second. So 49 of them are lost. 200 and 2,940 die every minute. 4,233,600 pass away every day. And we can’t be okay with that. And that’s why I’m imploring you, imploring you to get in the game. Jesus says it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. Not to make us feel good, not to pad our Baptist stats, but because there’s a world of people longing to be satisfied and saved by the grace of our King Jesus. And we have that message that does that for them. And Jesus says, I’m inviting you into the process. So are you going to join me in it? Because there’s a lot of people that need to hear.

That’s why we gave to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. That’s why we’re giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. So that the nations who used to only live in India and Turkey and China, now many of them live in Charleston, Dallas, and Ontario. We fund church planting in America and in Canada because the nations are here. Paul Chitwood, he is the president of the International Mission Board, says this. The world’s greatest problem is not war in Ukraine or the Middle East. It’s not world hunger, human slavery and displacement. It’s not climate change, crime, poverty. The world’s greatest problem is lostness and the wrath of God on all of those outside of Christ. There is no greater problem. Every other problem will end the day you die. There’s no addiction in the grave. No family conflict in the grave. No war in the grave. All your problems end but problem of sin. The magnitude of the problem sets in the minute you die.

Jesus looks at the disciples and He says, don’t worry about the signs. Don’t worry about predicting when I come back. Just get busy now because one day I will come back. And when I come back or when that person dies, their opportunity to accept my grace is over. Done. Get in the game. I fully believe Christ is not calling Christians to put our heads in the sand. To store up provisions for a doomsday apocalypse or to hide from the world or condemn the world. No. Christ is calling us to charge, to advance, to go into the world and preach the gospel. Not rules. Not heritage. Not preaching ceremonies or preaching a worship style. He says, go and preach the good news of how a good and holy God sent His one and only begotten Son. So that all who would repent and trust in Him and call on His name would be saved and have eternal life. Preach that message to all nations. And don’t worry about when I’m coming back. Because I’m coming back. And that’s when your opportunity to bring as many with you is done.

We should meet the needs of world hunger, addiction, family conflict. But we must, we must preach the soul satisfying, purpose giving message of Christ as God’s power to save. We must do that. And I guarantee as we preach the message of the gospel. World hunger, addiction, family conflict. That will take care of itself. There is a world of lost souls. I know I’m belaboring this But I’m obviously passionate about it. There is a world of lost souls that do not worship God, and it is our responsibility and our joy to take the good news of His grace to them. Preach the gospel. And as we do, we will suffer. We will suffer. We will suffer persecution. That is a fact. But Jesus says, don’t fear because the Holy Spirit will speak through you. What an incredible promise.

In John 14, a different account of the Jesus story, Jesus is talking with the disciples in the upper room. He’s about to be betrayed by Judas. He’s got a few last minutes with His buddies, and He says, don’t worry. I’m about to go. But when I go, I’m going to send the Spirit to you. He’s going to help you. He’s going to comfort you. He’s going to counsel you, and He’s going to remind you of what I’ve said. He’s going to give you the words to speak.

And He makes the same promise to the disciples here. He says, as you go preaching, as you share the gospel, as you testify to Me and be a witness for Me, you’re going to be persecuted. You’re going to land in synagogues being flogged. You’re going to stand before rulers being tried and questioned. But don’t prepare ahead of time this airtight case for what you’re doing. Preach the gospel, and when that day comes, the Holy Spirit will give you the words.

Friends, I don’t want to just read us into every line of this passage, but that promise of the Holy Spirit being with the disciples is true for us, because Christ said in the Great Commission, I’ve got all authority and I’m with you always. But Jesus Christ isn’t here physically, is He? No, but His Spirit is here, and He lives in all who call on the name of Christ. Which means Christ will give you words. He will. Begin a conversation about Jesus and watch as you yield to the Holy Spirit what He will communicate through your mouth. You will remember passages of scripture that you haven’t studied since Sunday school. You will be able to articulate things about the faith that you maybe are still processing yourself, because the Holy Spirit is a helper and a guide to you, and God wants it for you. He wants to bring you in.

We watch out. We preach the gospel, and we endure to the end. That’s that third posture Jesus tells the disciples in verses 12 and 13. I’ll read it again for us. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Jesus makes some sobering promises here. He says that betrayal and hatred will come to believers, even from family. Any of us made a faith step or a decision for Jesus that wasn’t received well by family? Any of us looked at a little funny for a decision you’ve made or for a way you’ve had to trust in Christ? Any of us had to say goodbye to a relationship with a loved one because they just would not respect your Christian boundaries? If it hasn’t happened yet, I invite you into it. Those are some proving moments for you where you start to see what you’re made of and you start to see just how good God is.

When it comes to following Jesus, then, it’s not about starting off fast, but it’s enduring to the end. And I want to promise you that if you are abiding in Christ, you will be sustained in persecution. If you are abiding in Jesus, He will help you walk through it. As you are persecuted by others for Him, you will be sustained by Him for the good of others. I promise you that. So just endure.

Now friends, it is certain the end is coming. The end is coming. It’s coming. Have your attention. The end is coming. Jesus, though, cares more about your posture than your predictions, because the way you walk through it is way more important than getting all the facts right. But also know this: Christ did these things for us. Christ watched out for us. I take you back to the temptation in the wilderness where Jesus had just been baptized and He had just been affirmed by His heavenly Father, where God had just said, behold My Son whom I love, and the Spirit sends Him into the wilderness where Satan tempts Him for 40 days, and Jesus was ever vigilant, and He watched.

out. He was mindful of Satan’s schemes. He was mindful of what the devil was trying to do to him, and he was on guard. I take you to the Garden of Gethsemane in His final night as a free man, where Jesus was praying and inviting and urging the disciples to pray with Him, and He was betrayed. But knowing His betrayal was coming, Jesus said, “God, my Father, not my will be done, but Your will be done.” Jesus watched out for you, but Jesus has also already preached the gospel. In the Gospel of Luke, it says the Son of Man came preaching. Jesus would go from town to town sharing the good news that the King of the universe was here. I’m on the scene. I’m here, and I’ve got grace for you. Jesus came preaching, and Jesus, oh, He endured to the end. He endured for you. Hebrews 12:1 and 2 say that for the joy set before Him, Christ, oh Christ, He despised the shame and He walked through the suffering because He knew He would get you. He would get you. He endured to the end, never one moment of wavering commitment to this plan to get your heart, to get you at His table forever. Never once. Oh, He was tempted. He was tried. Hebrews, the book of Hebrews says that He was like us. He was tempted and tried in every single way. He was not above the difficulties of this world. No, He walked all the way through them, all the way through the valley of the shadow of death, but He did not waver in His commitment to the plan. He, He endured for you. God does not ask you to do something for Him that He has not already done for you. So as you approach the end, whether that’s the end of your life or the end of this world, no, Christ has done it for you. He’s done it for you. So what’s your posture? As I begin to wrap up, I ask, what is your posture? I think the first group is anxious, maybe fearful, angry even. It’s a group of folks that just don’t trust in God, a group of folks that placing their trust in themselves or their bank accounts, a group of people that are extremely anxious about the end of their life or the end of this world. And I want to invite you: trust. Trust in Jesus. He’s got you. He has already ran His race to get you. Trust in Him. Some of us, we have a posture of ignorance, and we just like to deny that the world will ever end. We may conceptually believe one day something’s going to be different, or we may even think that the world is going to get better and better and better until we all go to this heavenly paradise utopia. I got news. The world’s not getting better. Technology is getting cooler. Buildings are getting bigger. New schools are being built. New neighborhoods coming in. Categorically, the world’s not getting better. Sin still reigns. Disaster still happens. Imposter Jesus is still starting new movements. I want to invite you: Are you right with Christ? Have you asked forgiveness in Him for your sin? Have you given your life to Him? Because the world will end. A third posture I think that’s in the room is, it is a posture of trust. There’s some folks in the room that do know Jesus, that do know the world’s going to end. They’re not wigged out by it. I want to invite you: Let’s bring some others with you. Keep trusting, and ask God to send you to that person that needs to know the message of peace and joy in the midst of a world of difficulty and pain and anger. I have intentionally strayed away from anything incredibly specific today. Seems Jesus did too. He cared so much more about the disciples’ hearts than what they were able to predict. So I invite you: Be fine with ambiguity. Adopt a posture instead. Pray with me. Lord, thank You for today. God, I confess I don’t always have the right posture. I think for me, Lord, I get frustrated that my life or this world is going to end because there’s things I want. Things I want to have. There’s things I want to experience. There’s things I want redemption from. There’s some revenge I want to get. Being real honest. But God, what good news that Jesus, You will come back one day and You will make all things right. What good news. Pray that You would help me to live with the right posture of trust. That I Would lean in. That I would watch out. That I would preach. That I would endure. Ultimately, my life would be spent for Your cause and not for mine. God, for the folks in the room that don’t know You, God, I am asking that You would bring them to a saving knowledge of Yourself now. Holy Spirit, please do Your work in somebody’s heart. Please, Lord, to save them from sin, that they would call on the name of Jesus Christ, that they would be saved and that they could trust You in the midst of the difficulty of their life, the nearness of the end. Please, God, for those that do know You that are anxious or angry, God, would You draw them into peace, the certainty of Your presence with them? They would have a posture of trusting You, please. God, we love You. I long that more people in our area would love You, that this would look a little more like heaven than it does earth. Please, God.