The sermon discusses Jesus's Olivet Discourse, highlighting its significance as a major section of prophetic teaching in Mark's Gospel. The speaker emphasizes the importance of Jesus's prophecies, asserting that their accuracy confirms Him as the greatest prophet and validates Christianity. The sermon addresses critiques from atheists like Christopher Hitchens, who argue that Jesus's predictions about His return within a generation were false, thus undermining Christianity. The speaker refutes this by interpreting Mark 13 as a prophecy about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD, not the second coming of Christ. This interpretation aligns with historical events, affirming the accuracy of Jesus's words. The speaker stresses the need for Christians to approach theological differences with grace and unity, rather than questioning each other's faith. The sermon concludes with a call to trust in Jesus's promises and prophecies, asserting that His perfect record of fulfillment offers believers assurance of His truth and reliability.

Our text this morning is known as Jesus's Olivet Discourse and that is because it is taking place on the Mount of Olives. And like I said earlier it is the longest section of Jesus's uninterrupted teaching in Mark's gospel, and it's the largest section of his prophetic ministry. And that's significant because Jesus makes some serious prophetic statements here, and if He's right about every single prophecy that He makes here, then that would make Jesus the greatest prophet. And if that's true, and it is, you must listen to Him. You must deal with all that He says and all that He has done.

If He's right and He is, you can trust Him. You must trust Him. You must follow Him. But if He's wrong, which He's not, if He's wrong, He's nothing but a liar and He's not the Savior of the world. So this passage matters a lot.

It should very much matter to you. You may and must either trust Him or you may not. Because He's a liar. This passage either validates and confirms Jesus as the Christ or it disqualifies Him. Is Mark telling the truth when he says in Mark 1-1, the gospel of this Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, is that true?

If Mark 13 is true, Mark 1 is true. If Mark 13 isn't true, Mark 1 isn't true. I was watching a debate not long ago between a Christian pastor and a prominent atheist. In fact, the atheist who's now dead, his name was Christopher Hitchens. You might have heard of him before.

Very famous atheist. And these two, this pastor, this theologian, and this famous atheist, they were debating about Christianity. And one of Christopher Hitchens' biggest problems with Christianity, in fact, one of his main arguments was that Jesus made some really serious promises and predictions in the Olivet discourse in Matthew chapter 24 25 in Mark chapter 13 our passage and in Luke chapter 21 all of that is the all of that discourse and Hitchin and Christopher Hitchens was arguing that on the Mount of Olives, Jesus said that these things, in this passage, would take place within a certain period of time. Within this generation, Jesus says, and they didn't. And so Jesus is clearly a liar, and if Jesus is a liar, well then Christianity is based entirely upon the work of Jesus Christ and therefore it's a lie as well.

The faith of Christians is set upon a savior whose predictions failed. You see his argument? Was Christopher Hitchens right? Did Christ's prophecies turn out false? You know, Hitchens isn't the only one who says this, you know.

I mean, this is one of the primary arguments that atheists and liberals will use to discredit the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This text in Matthew's version and Luke's version. Matthew's is the longest. The argument that Jesus made prophecies and promises like all of these in this chapter that we just read in Mark 13. And the argument is that they didn't come true.

Within the generation that Jesus promised they would. And so just like the predictions of Jesus, Christianity must be a lie. That argument is rampant among atheists. Jesus said he was coming back before that generation had died out, and he didn't, so it's all a lie. That's the way the argument goes.

He said he was coming back within the generation, 2, 000 years later, he's not here. You Christians are a bunch of morons. It's all a lie. Well again, is that true? Did Jesus proclaim prophecy that didn't come true?

100% no. I really hope to show you that and the reason for that over the next few sermons. Everything that Jesus said would happen, did happen. Which means that Jesus is exactly who Mark says He is. Jesus is the Christ, the promised Son of God, who has come to give His life as a ransom for many like you and like me.

And I, we can trust Him. You must trust Him. I hope to show you how these things have come to pass. But before I show all of that to you, in the next few Lord's days, before we really dive into this passage, I would really appreciate it if you would for a moment hear my heart as your pastor for just a moment. Okay?

Not that long ago, I heard an evangelical theologian on a radio show and the radio host was very kind and he was asking this theologian to describe his understanding of the Olivet Discourse. This theologian was very bright, very faithful man, and he said, absolutely, and so he obliged. This man on The radio show kindly and graciously, carefully worked through the text of scripture in Matthew and Mark and Luke, verse by verse, articulating the historic Reformed position held by many of the early church fathers, held by Augustine, held by the reformers. This theologian held my position that many of these verses in the Olivet Discourse, by and large, refer not to the second coming of Christ, but actually to the destruction of Jerusalem's temple in 70 AD rather than a second coming of Christ at the end this refers to the coming of Christ in judgment on the temple and so this man was articulating my view on this radio station, and I was so encouraged by that at first. He was saying that many of these prophecies in the Olivet Discourse were fulfilled in 70 AD when Rome marched upon Jerusalem and laid waste to the temple.

But then, as he began to unpack these verses, as he began to demonstrate from the Scriptures how these prophetic words from Jesus were largely fulfilled in the temple destruction. The radio show started getting callers. They inundated with callers calling in concerned because they never had heard passages like Mark 13 taught like this. Now, you need to hear this. This man was, on this radio show, was confessional.

He loved Jesus. He held the scriptures as absolutely precious. He had trusted Jesus for salvation. He confessed Jesus as Lord. He would say, yes and amen to the five solas.

He would say yes and amen by and large to our own elder confession of faith. Yes and amen to our own church confession. This was a faithful man. But he begins to get callers on this radio show and they come on air and I'm listening and one of the callers comes on and immediately blurts out, I'm hearing what this man is saying about these verses, and I disagree with him, and I so disagree that I don't even think he's a Christian. I don't think he's saved.

How can he possibly think that these things don't refer to the second coming? He's got to be unregenerate. I just got to say to you, that discouraged me. Like nobody's business. That just hurt me really bad to hear that someone would hear a faithful brother in the Lord articulate a different position than theirs on a non-fundamental doctrine and then immediately question their very salvation.

If you go down that road, you've got to question nearly all the reformers' salvations. Many of the church fathers' salvations. You've got to question whether Vodi Bakum or James White or R.C. Sproul is really born again. That's an evil road to go down.

Don't go down that road today. This man on the radio and that man who called in questioning this theologian's salvation, They had so much in common. They would be together on all the major doctrines of the faith. The deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the atoning work of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, the importance of the church, sola scriptura, tota scriptura, sola fide, Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. All of that in common.

This theologian believed all that. He believed all the majors just like that radio caller did. But because there was a minor difference in this man's interpretation of the Olivet Discourse because of an eschatological difference, all the majors went out the window and this man was being called a pagan. Brothers and sisters, I need you to hear this. God hates that.

So please don't do that please don't ever do that please don't do that to me I have come to mark 13 I have prepped and I have prayed. I have studied and I prayed some more. And I've done my absolute best to come to this text without bias. And simply to take the text on its own terms. And I will preach it like I always do with fear and trembling, knowing that mine is a stricter judgment.

Good men, godly men, faithful men differ on this passage, and they love one another, and they do ministry together all the time because they're brothers and sisters in the Lord. They refuse to let eschatological differences, their differences in approaching Passages like this, they refuse to let these non-foundational issues divide them. So I want us to be like that. That's exactly how I will be to you if you disagree with me after these next three sermons. I am exhorting you to refuse to be like that caller, questioning a brother's faithfulness over a passage like this.

Instead, this is what I hope you say in your heart. This is what I hope is in your mind. This is what I hope. This is what I hope you think. I hope you think this morning and next Lord's Day and to the end of my days on this planet, My pastor has wrestled with this text He is laboring to show me the context of this text and how the context of this text helps me understand it My pastor is laboring to show me the plain meaning of the text He is laboring to help me wrestle with this text that I might grow in my trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is laboring and laboring now for my good. I want you to think that. It's true. He is laboring for my joy in the Lord and my joy in the Lord's Word. And so, I want you to think I want to labor with Him.

I want to approach this text with Him. He has not come glibly to this text, so neither will I, is what you should say. I will walk with my pastor. I will hear my pastor. I will pray for my pastor.

I will see if what he says can be found here. And even if I come away understanding it slightly different, It's not because I have a pastor who's gone bonkers. I have pastors who love me and shepherd me and pray for me and want more than anything else in the world. For me to love and obey Christ with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I want you to think that.

I want you to know that. That's true. More than anything else in the world, that's what your pastors want. The glory of God in your life. So as we enter into these next three servants, I want us to be like the Bereans, study like the Bereans, to see if it's here in the text, search the scriptures together humbly.

You hear my heart? Okay. I might be laboring this point too much, but I love you. And the thought of you thinking that I am trying to attack anyone's theological position, or the thought that you would be thinking that I am not being gracious. Or the thought that you would believe that we as your pastors are doing something bad.

Those thoughts, those ideas, they make my heart well up with grief. I began to preach Mark's Gospel and I had two red lines in the preaching schedule. One was on the passage of divorce and remarriage, I knew that would be difficult. But really red was Mark 13. So I just need you to hear me plainly.

I want to be faithful. Want to be faithful. What you don't want is this pastor that's just really squishy. So when I first came here, you all sent me to the G3 conferences. I was like two months into being pastor.

Brand new. And you were so gracious. You sent me to a preaching workshop taught by Vodi Bakam. And we had already talked as elders about preaching through Mark 13. And so there was a Q&A session, and this has been on my mind ever since I came here.

I knew we preached the Gospels, one of the Gospels, probably Mark. And so this was four years ago, almost. And there was a Q&A session at the end of that preaching workshop with Bodhi. And no one else was asking questions, and I raised my hand, and I said, hey, how should I approach the Olivet Discourse of a brand new pastor? I know that people are gonna disagree with me and my congregation, I wanna be faithful.

How do I approach this passage? And he looked at me, and if you've seen Vodibakam, that's scary. He's like shrunk down in my chair. And this is what he says, really simple, so sweet. He just looked at me and said, brother, preach the text.

He says, preach faithfully. It's what your people need. And then he said this line, so good. They don't actually need you to agree with them. They need the Bible taught faithfully, chapter after chapter after chapter.

So do that. And so as best I can, that's what I want to do this morning. I'm going to preach this text with a clear conscience before God. I think that's the kind of pastor you want anyway. And so that's what we're going to do together.

And so I do want to address one other thing before we dive in. I know it's lots of pre-sermon stuff, but one of the caricatures of my particular position on this passage is that I would deny the second coming of Jesus Christ. So before we dive into this passage, let me just clearly renounce such ridiculousness, All right? My understanding of this passage is that Mark 13 was fulfilled not in the second coming of Christ but in the promised judgment of God unleashed on Israel through the Romans brutal destruction of the temple in 70 AD. But with that being said, I am not denying the second coming of Jesus Christ Christ is coming again He is coming again.

It's all over the New Testament Christ is coming again Matthew chapter 25 the second half of the Olivet discourse It's not recorded in Mark's gospel. I believe that is teaching the second coming of Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 15 proclaims the wonders of the second coming of Jesus on that great day of bodily resurrection for all the saints. The book of Acts in chapter 1 declares that Christ will come again in the same way that He ascended. First Thessalonians chapter 4, parts of Revelation teach Jesus' bodily return.

Christ is coming again. Say it enough? We celebrate that every Lord's Day. We celebrate the resurrection and anticipation of His coming again. Titus chapter 2 tells us that we're looking forward to the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself to redeem us.

Christ is coming again. So in all of these sermons on this chapter there is no denial of the blessed hope that you have in the second coming. But The question we have before us this Lord's Day and the next two is not whether the second coming is true or not. It is true. But the question is before us, is the second coming what Jesus had in view here when he answered the question that he's answering?

Or was Jesus talking about something else? Was Jesus talking about the destruction of the temple? That's the question. Was the second coming what was in view here? Or is it actually referring to the coming of judgment and so with my heart on my sleeve I hope filled with affection for you my people let's tackle this exciting passage and let's answer that question what's Jesus talking about That's what I want to try to get to this morning.

What is Jesus talking about in Mark 13? Second coming or the promised judgment? And to answer that let's begin with the setting. The setting, the context of this passage. You'll notice we've been talking.

If you've been coming and listening for a number of weeks, take Christmas out of that. Because we were looking at various things during Christmas time, but we were in Mark chapter 11 and we were in Mark chapter 12. What was Mark chapter 11 and Mark chapter 12 all about? The temple. They're in the temple, they're out of the temple.

They're in the temple, They're out of the temple. They're teaching in the temple. They're turning over tables in the temple. Jesus is chapter 11 and chapter 12 Have been all about the temple in chapter 11 Jesus enters into the temple and For an entire two chapters, What have we seen? Constant conflict with the religious leaders in the temple.

Constant warnings from Jesus because of this conflict against the hypocrisy and corruption within the temple and her leaders. You need to repent. You need to repent. This is bad, this is evil. There's conflict against Jesus.

There's opposition against Jesus. And with Jesus, there's continual warnings, continual pronouncements of judgment. The setting is extremely clear ever since chapter 11. The temple of Jerusalem is depicted in Mark as a place of hostility and opposition to Jesus in its days are very much numbered So what are we told in chapter 12 then? Well we're told that Jesus is the great son of David.

He's David's son and yet he's what? Also David's Lord. And all of his enemies will be put under his feet. We're also told in chapter 12 of how the religious leader will treat the Son of God in the parable of the vineyard. You remember that parable?

What will the tenants of the vineyard do? What will the scribes and the Pharisees do when God sends His Son to warn them? Will they repent? They'll kill Him. They'll throw Him out of the vineyard.

And what will God do to those who killed His Son? In chapter 12 it says, He will shatter them. He will judge them. He will put them under His feet. Like enemies.

Now chapter 13, this is how. This is how He's going to do that. You see the flow of the text? Temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, chapter 13, this is how he's going to do that. Chapter 13 is how this judgment of God will come upon Jerusalem and her leaders for their hypocrisy and corruption.

And then two chapters later in Mark's gospel what happens? Mark chapter 15. Two chapters after. Right, so chapter 11, hypocrisy in the temple, judgment against the temple. Chapter 12, hypocrisy and judgment.

They're gonna throw Jesus, they're gonna kill Jesus. And God's gonna put all his enemies under Jesus' feet. What happens two chapters later? They do exactly what Jesus said they would do in chapter 12. They kill the Son of God on a hill, and chapter 12 is true.

What do you think God will do? If they did exactly what if they did exactly that part of chapter 12 where they they they threw the son out of the vineyard What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will give evil developed into destruction Promise judgment and destruction was exactly what those evil tenants received in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. That's the setting here, the temple. Just to reemphasize it, Mark says it again in verses 1 and 3.

So look there in Mark 13 just to re-emphasize what is the setting of this chapter. As Jesus was going out of the temple, One of his disciples said to him, Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple, which by the way, the Mount of Olives would have been probably at that time the best possible place to view the temple.

So it makes sense when the disciples are going, look at that building. That is Amazing how beautiful it is. Peter and James and John were questioning him privately. Tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? The temple, the temple, the temple.

That's the setting of our text from chapters 11 and 12. We're in and out of the temple. And now, second, a question from Jesus' disciples about what? What do they ask Him about at the beginning of chapter 13? It's a question about the temple.

Chapter 13 is all a response from Jesus. Chapter 13 is Jesus answering a question. What's the question or questions that Jesus answers in Mark chapter 13. Look in verse 4. Look at verse 4 of our text.

The disciples question Him privately, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? The disciples point to the temple. Look at how nice that temple building is, Jesus. And Jesus points back to the temple and says, not one stone will be left on top of one another. It's going to be torn down.

It's going to be destroyed. And so Peter and James and John and Andrew, they questioned Jesus privately. Tell us, when will these things be? When will what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? What phrase are you continually hearing?

These things. What are these things? What are the disciples referring to when they ask Jesus, when will these things be? Well, these things refer to what Jesus just said in verse 2. That's these things.

Verse 2, the temple will be destroyed. Mark chapter 13 is Jesus answering those two questions. When will the destruction of the temple be and what are the signs that we should be looking for in anticipation of that judgment? Are you seeing the sentence? Okay.

Chapters 11 through 13 are set in and around and outside the temple. And the questions that Jesus answers are regarding the temple and his response to those questions make up the rest of Mark chapter 13. Chapter 13, according to the chapters before it and according to the questions at the beginning of the passage, all seem to point to chapter 13 being about the temple destruction. But there's another reason why you can know that chapter 13 is speaking about the temple destruction and not the second coming. And that's found in verse 30.

So look at verse 30. Look at verse 30. Truly, Jesus says, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. What we have there in verse 30 is a time text, an indicator text in verse 30. This generation.

From verse 5 on, Jesus is answering the question that his disciples have asked him. When will these things, when will the temple destruction take place? And what will be the sign of these things, the temple destruction? When will be the signs of these things taking place? And in verse 30, Jesus gives a time stamp.

Truly I say to you, now notice that, truly I say to you, not trying to confuse you, truly I say to you, this generation Will not pass away until all these things. Oh what two words has happened. Oh But these things What the What were the words used in verses 1 through 4? These things, same words! I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

That phrase continues to be repeated. What are the these things? Again, they're the things that the disciples have been asking about what have they been asking about they've been asking about when will verse 2 take place and Jesus says here all that I promised here in chapter 13, all the prophecies that I've made about Jerusalem's judgment and all the signs of that judgment from verses 1 through 29 of chapter 13, they will happen within the span of this generation. That's what he says in verse 30. Many of you will live to see these signs this generation.

Now, that's the phrase. That verse, verse 30, is the verse that atheists and liberals have jumped up and they have used time and time again, verse 30, to argue, like I said at the beginning of the sermon, that Christianity is based on lies. Because again, they argue that Jesus promised to come again in the second coming before this generation passed away. And well, that generation that Jesus was talking to did pass away. And in fact, where many generations now removed, it's the year 2025.

Clearly they argue Jesus was wrong. And therefore Christianity is wrong. And beloved, I've heard many, many, many, many theologians respond to that atheist argument with this well this generation doesn't actually mean this generation you keep using that word I don't think it means what you think it means And they say it just means nation it just means people the jewish people won't pass away until all these things take place But brothers and sisters the atheists know how to combat that they're very good with literature And all they got to do is they take you, they say, Oh, you think that? You think that that just refers to nation or the people of the Jews. Well, they take you right to Mark chapter 8 and Mark chapter 9.

And they would tell you Jesus uses the exact same Greek, the exact same way, the exact same phrase, this generation, four times prior to Mark 13. Mark chapter 8, Mark chapter 9. And in each of those instances, the atheist will tell you, and they're right, it has to mean the people that he is currently talking to then. In Mark 8 and in Mark 9. In each of those instances Jesus is specifically talking about that people in that generation in that time not a people group or a nation in the future but a particular generation within a particular time.

You go home and look at that. And the atheist will tell you if it meant that in Mark 8 and it meant that in Mark 9, the meaning needs to stay consistent in Mark 13 unless you are really told differently in the text. And we are given no indication of that difference. And so, the atheists have a really good argument. Jesus said He'd come back before this generation in Mark 13, And yet he didn't come back.

And so they argue Christianity is founded upon the sacrifice of a false prophet. Yikes! Their argument exposes a huge weakness for Christianity. Unless, unless Jesus wasn't talking about the second coming at all. If Jesus was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem's temple, which is what the disciples were asking about, which is what chapter 12 and chapter 11 are all about.

If Jesus is discussing that, if He wasn't talking about His second coming but about the destruction of the temple, then actually far from being a weak spot for Christianity, this text, chapter 13, actually becomes a mighty strength. Because beloved, in 70 AD, the Romans did in fact historically come marching upon Jerusalem. And they sieged Jerusalem, and by the end of that siege, there was utter and complete destruction. Everything that Jesus said in Mark 13 actually did happen. Everything He said would happen, did happen.

And not one temple stone was left upon another in the building proper. Verses 2 through 29 were completely fulfilled. And even secular historians like Josephus say yes and amen. It did happen. More on Josephus in the Sundays ahead.

But if all of those things were fulfilled, it means that what Jesus was referring to in these prophecies was true. If the destruction of the temple was what Jesus was referring to in his prophecies, then the judgment upon Jerusalem happening fulfilled all of his prophecies, then everything Jesus said was true, which means, again, far from being questionable, far from this being a text where Christ is going, Oh man, this is a weak spot for us. Far from that, it's a mighty strength. The fulfillment of these verses is rock solid evidence that secular historians have to just say yes. That Christianity is true.

Indeed Christ Jesus is the truth. And so the Olivet discourse argument that atheists use to discredit Christians, right? Well, what about Mark 13? Actually gets flipped up on its head. Completely flipped up on its head.

And it places the atheist in a very difficult position to explain how a mere man could predict perfectly how this temple would be destroyed in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 and Luke 21. And that was what was told to the atheist Christopher Hitchens. When he brought up the Olivet Discourse and how Jesus' own words made him out to be a liar, he was told no. The Olivet Discourse, at least a large part of it, is talking about the temple destruction. Not the second coming.

The temple destruction and that did happen. And Christopher Hitchens shut his mouth and in his British accent said something like, oh well, jolly good then. He literally said that. That's all he could say. It shut him up.

Because he knew that if Jesus was talking about the temple, then history was on the side of Christians and against him. History is very clear, beloved, that what happened in 70 AD, everything that Jesus prophesied here was fulfilled. And so because of that, you can trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, this Jesus stood up in a synagogue at the beginning of his ministry. Do you remember that?

Beginning of his ministry, He stands up in a synagogue and he quotes from the prophet Isaiah of the coming Savior who had saved sinners from their sins, who would come and rescue sinners in their distress. Sinners like you. Sinners like me. God had promised to send the Savior, and Jesus stands up and says, Today, this is fulfilled in your midst. That prophecy is fulfilled right now.

Was it? Was it? Was Jesus really that Savior who could rescue you from your sin? Was Jesus really that Savior that Isaiah promised that could take you and your addictions and your shortcomings and your failures and all of your iniquity and pay for that with the cost of His own life? Is Jesus really the Savior who would come and take your sins upon Himself and sever the power of sin in your life?

Is Jesus really that Savior? Is Jesus really the Savior who could take a sinner whose sin is like scarlet and make him white as snow? And with His blood, make an atoning sacrifice for sin? Yes. Yes, Jesus was that Savior.

Yes, Jesus is that Savior. But how do you know? How do you know? You know. Because everything he said came true.

That there is not one promise that the God man made that he has not kept. That there is not one prophecy that the God man prophesied that he did not nail 100%. Jesus is batting 1, 000. You non baseball people that's perfect and so Jesus batting a thousand shuts the mouths of atheists and far better Jesus batting a thousand shuts the mouth of Satan. When he tempts you, like we sang, to despair, and he tells you of the guilt within, and he's right, Satan's right, guilty.

Jesus shuts him up. He rebukes him because Jesus has said, it is Finished. Jesus has said, I loved you. And gave myself for you. Jesus has said, I paid your ransom, Christian.

Jesus says to you, I have redeemed you. Your name is graven in my hand, written on my heart, your mind. And when Jesus says something, it's true. Heaven and earth will pass away. But Jesus says His word, His promises, what He says, will not.

Well, that's good news. That's good news. So when Jesus says, beloved, that you are forgiven, you can trust Him. When Jesus says that the sufferings in your life, like cancer, losing a loved one, being reviled, facing death yourself. When Jesus says that your sufferings will not be wasted, but are working in you an eternal weight of glory for your eternal good, you can trust Him.

Even in the midst of chemo, even in the middle of intense pain and loss, you can trust Him. He says to you, your suffering is not in vain. Children, children, When Jesus says that you can come to Him and trust Him and follow Him, you can. When you sin, when you spurn your parents, when you are evil toward your sibling, when you're selfish and think only about yourself, and then you hear Jesus call out to you from the scriptures I can make you clean I can forgive you I can make you new children hear me you can trust him You can trust Him to forgive you and to give you a new heart. He said that He would not cast anyone out who comes to Him by faith.

How do you know you can trust Him? Because everything He says has come to pass. He's batting a thousand. Children, you can trust Jesus right now. Children when you think about Pastor Dave and how he is terribly ill and you wonder about what Jesus said, and that He has overcome the world, and He's so triumphed.

You wonder about that. There's a lot of suffering. You can trust Jesus that even in this awful suffering of cancer and chemo that your pastor is going through right now that the Lord has so triumphed that even your pastor's suffering has been turned, has been so turned to serve His ultimate good and make Him more like Jesus and God will get more glory. That's the triumph of Jesus. How do you know?

Because He's battened thousands. So you can trust Him. He's never broken a promise. He's never erred in a prophecy. For thousands of years, God, the God-man, has never failed once.

And He's not about to start failing now. So if this morning you don't know Christ, I urge you, trust Him. Turn away from your sin, trust Him. Jesus Christ, now hear this really clearly, Jesus Christ has promised, He promised to Crush sinners. Chapter 13, you should leave thinking, judgment is real.

Judgment will come. It came upon Jerusalem. It was promised to Jerusalem. And it came exactly like Jesus said it would. Jesus promises to crush the sinner, but He has also promised that He will be crushed in the sinner's place for all who trust in Him.

Oh, what a wonderful invitation. What a wonderful Savior. God keeps His promises, and we will see much more of that in the Sundays to come, if the Lord allows us. Let's pray.