About this sermon
After the tribulation, Jesus says, the sun will be darkened and the stars will fall from heaven. The Old Testament prophets used the same language of cosmic upheaval for God’s historical judgments on nations such as Babylon, and Peter uses it at Pentecost. These images proclaim the Messiah’s sovereign reign and God’s judgment on Jerusalem. Judgment begins with the house of God, and those who are in Christ can face the last day without fear.
Sermon transcript
Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God’s Word as we continue our consideration of the Gospel of Mark. My sermon text today is Mark chapter 13, verses 24 and 25. I’m gonna read verses 24 through 31 to fill out the context a little bit, but let’s especially focus on verses 24 and 25. Mark chapter 13, beginning at verse 24. Dear friends, hear the Word of our God. Just to remind you of the setting, the Lord Jesus is delivering His Olivet Discourse. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
And then he will send forth the angels and will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Dear ones, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing upon the preaching of His word. Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven, what a wonder it is that you have spoken to us.
You’ve not only spoken to us through your mighty works of creation and providence, you have spoken a sure and certain word to us in your word, especially in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray that by your spirit you would bless your word as it goes forth today. We ask that you would Give us open minds and open hearts to hear and receive that which the Spirit is communicating to us through this portion of your infallible, inerrant word. We ask that you would set a guard over my lips, that I might speak only that which is faithful to your word. And we ask that you would build us up in our faith this day. In Jesus’ name we pray, and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this morning is Messiah’s Reign and Cosmic Upheavals.
And I’d encourage the children to pick a number of these key words if you’re following along in your sermon outline. Choose a couple of these key words to be listening for. And sometimes young children find it helpful to count the number of times they hear these words in the sermon. The words are prophecy, scripture, cosmic, sovereign, authority, and judgment. Well, dear ones, this morning we continue our study through this admittedly difficult portion of our Lord’s teachings, which is known as the Olivet Discourse. And remember that this is called the Olivet Discourse because our Lord Jesus delivered this address, this teaching, from the Mount of Olives facing Jerusalem and its temple. Now, as we’ve seen in recent Lord’s Days, as we’ve gone through the opening sections of this chapter, this is admittedly a very challenging portion of God’s Word.
It is a portion of God’s Word that has been interpreted in many different ways, even by sound Orthodox Bible scholars. As I’ve been preaching recently through this passage, one of the points that I’ve sought to drive home throughout this passage, as we’ve considered this text of God’s Word, is that there is good reason to believe that most, if not all, of the events that our Lord predicts in this passage, at least up through verse 31, were fulfilled in the first century with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 A.D. under the Roman general Titus and his Roman armies. And although this interpretation of Christ’s Olivet Discourse, which I’ve been offering, tended to be a more common interpretation among older Bible commentators, With the rise of a school of interpretation known as dispensationalism in the modern evangelical church, this first-century fulfillment view has been almost entirely replaced by interpretations which see most, if not all, of these prophecies throughout the Olivet Discourse as yet to be fulfilled in our future.
But as I’ve tried to show, the plain literal sense of our Lord’s words in verse 30 would seem to clearly indicate that He expected these events, at least up to that point in the discourse, to be fulfilled within the lifetime of His present first century generation. Again, as Jesus says, and remember Jesus, the divine Lord incarnate is speaking with divine authority. He says, truly, I say to you, Amen, truly, verily, I, I being the eternal Son of God incarnate, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things, not some of these things, until all these things take place. But dear ones, it is precisely the language of our passage for today that many contemporary Christians and Christian leaders and Bible scholars and theologians find difficult to square with a first century fulfillment view, especially the language of astronomical phenomenon and cosmic upheavals and disturbances, and also of Christ, the language of Christ coming in the clouds which will be dealing with on the next Lord’s Day as we read this kind of language in verses 24 through 27.
Surely this language must be talking about our Lord’s future return in glory at His second advent, right? many Christians would say, and many of the Bible prophecy teachers and speculators of today will appeal directly to this kind of language to support their futurist interpretations of these Bible prophecies. Well, dear ones, it is my hope that our study of this passage for today will help to offer insight into how the scriptures use this kind of prophetic cosmic language And also to show you how this passage fits into a first century fulfillment view. Again, I’m not saying that all of the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the first century. As I think I’ve explained in previous weeks, the latter part of this discourse I believe is speaking of our Lord’s future second advent at the end of this age.
Up to this point, I believe Jesus is here saying that this is going to be fulfilled in response to his prophecy back in verse 2, where Jesus said, do you see these great buildings? Speaking of the buildings of the Jerusalem temple, he says, not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down. So friends, what we’re going to do is we’re going to compare Scripture with Scripture. We’re going to spend a little time flipping through our Bibles and looking at other prophetic sections of Scripture where this kind of language is used. And this kind of language would seem to be in the background of what Jesus is saying and how he is using that language in our passage for today. So let’s, and this is the first point in your sermon outline, if you’re following along, consider how the prophetic sections of scripture often use the language of cosmic upheavals.
Consider how the prophetic sections of scripture often use the language of cosmic upheavals. Again, let me read verses 24 through 25, which we’ll be focusing on in particular. Jesus says here, but in those days, He’s just spoken of the great tribulation, the days that will precede the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and the awful slaughter that took place as God’s judgment fell upon an apostate, first century Israel that had rejected its Messiah. Jesus goes on to say in verse 24, in those days after that tribulation, The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.” The language that Jesus uses here of astronomical phenomenon and cosmic disturbances is rooted in passages like Isaiah chapter 13, which I read earlier in the service.
Now friends, prophecy speculators, prophecy speculations rather, about the timing of our Lord’s second advent have become almost an entrenched tradition and an unchallenged sacred cow in some segments of the modern evangelical church. I mean, You go into a Christian bookstore, you look at a Christian bookseller online, and look at the prophecy section. There’s all kinds of books about Bible prophecy, and many of those books speculating about certain events of today that may be, in their view, a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, and often this kind of prophetic speculation is fueled by astronomical events which are interpreted by prophecy speculators as signs in the heavens, and therefore signs that the end time events are soon to be upon us. For example, a number of years ago, some of you may recall this, a number of years ago, there was a lot of talk about blood red moons, for example.
I think it was John Hagee who wrote a book about that. And then whenever there seems to be an unusual astronomical event, for example, the rare alignment of planets or a profuse number of comets or an eclipse, whenever these things tend to happen, what also tends to happen? Well, the prophecy speculations tend to go up and the prophecy speculators will often point to those events and say, ah, our Lord’s return must be just around the corner. However, friends, when we carefully compare Scripture with Scripture, in other words, when we let God’s Word interpret itself, we begin to realize that the prophecy speculators of today have often not been diligent students of God’s word, especially when it comes to understanding the Old Testament and how the Old Testament prophets often used this kind of language of astronomical phenomena and cosmic upheavals to describe the political and international events of their day.
Today’s prophecy speculators are often guilty of using what has been called newspaper exegesis. That is to say, the practice of reading into the prophecies of the Bible current events, or in this case, current astronomical phenomenon. But dear ones, Newspaper exegesis is not a responsible handling of God’s holy word, nor is it a sound principle of hermeneutics or the science of Bible interpretation. Instead, the only way to understand difficult passages of Scripture, like this one that we’re considering today, is to compare Scripture with Scripture. After all, the Bible is a unified divine revelation. God’s Word interprets itself. Even though the Bible was written over several thousand years by the hands of many human authors, there’s one ultimate author behind all of Scripture, and that is the divine author, the Holy Spirit. And His, and the Spirit does not speak in tongues, excuse me, does not speak with a forked tongue.
The Spirit speaks a unified message in His Word. And so we must interpret Scripture with Scripture. As our beloved Westminster Confession of Faith puts it in chapter 1, section 9, the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself. And therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, which is not manifold but one, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. So with this in mind, let’s look at a number of examples from the Old Testament prophets where this language of astronomical phenomena and cosmic upheavals are utilized. Let’s turn back, for example, to Isaiah chapter 13 and look at verses nine and 10. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 13, and let’s look at verses 9 and 10. And as you’re turning there, it’s important to understand that Jesus and his apostles would have been much more familiar with this kind of language and the use of this language than many Christians are today.
And so what do we read in those verses? Well, It says this, Isaiah writes, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming. In the scriptures, the day of the Lord is often presented as a day of judgment, God’s day of judgment, bringing judgment upon a nation, or the ultimate day of the Lord will be when Jesus returns in glory. But here he says, “‘Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation, and He will exterminate its sinners from it.’” And then notice verse 10, “‘For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light.’” What is this passage predicting? What is the subject matter of Isaiah chapter 13?
Is the subject matter here the prediction of the ultimate day of the Lord? Now, I believe that this passage is a type of and points to that. But notice the context. Look at verse 1. In verse one, it is clear that the Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, is addressing God’s judgment that he will bring against the ancient nation of Babylon. Verse one, the oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw. And this is confirmed later on in the chapter, if you skip down to verse 19. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. So, friends, if you read verse 1 and consider the context of this passage, the context makes it clear that this is a prophecy predicting God’s local historical judgment upon the ancient nation of Babylon.
And yet God uses this language of cosmic upheaval to describe God’s judgment against this nation. As one commentator has described this passage in Isaiah 13, the language of cosmic upheaval and astronomical disturbances found in verse 10 of that passage is meant to figuratively symbolize lights out for the nation of Babylon. It’s not intended to say that this is literally gonna happen when God brings judgment upon Babylon, the stars are not gonna shine, the sun will be darkened and all of that. This is figurative language describing how God is going to bring the darkness of his judgment against the land of Babylon, Babylon being an arch enemy of God and God’s people. Or let’s turn next to Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel. Let’s look at Ezekiel 32, verses 7 and 8. Ezekiel 32, verses 7 and 8.
We read these words. And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens, I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land, declares the Lord God. Now again, is God speaking of the final judgment at the end of this age? What’s the context here? Well, this is another example of a prophecy which uses the language of cosmic upheavals to describe a local historical judgment that God would inflict upon another group of God’s enemies, namely ancient Egypt and its pharaoh. As verse one indicates, in the 12th year In the 12th month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, and go on to verse two, son of man, take up a lamentation over what?
Over Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say the following to him. So in the context of Ezekiel 32, God is pronouncing judgment upon the nation of Egypt and its Pharaoh, the ancient nation of Egypt and its Pharaoh. And many other passages use similar language. Let’s go back to Isaiah and look at Isaiah chapter 34, verses four and five. Isaiah chapter 34, I know you’re flipping around in your Bible a lot this morning, but bear with me. This is important to see the Old Testament background to this kind of language. Isaiah chapter 34, verses four and five. Again the following language is used, it says, and all the host of heaven will wear away and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll all their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine or as one withers from the fig tree.
Who is God pronouncing this judgment against? I mean, this language of the sky being rolled up like a scroll, this language of cosmic disturbances and astronomical upheavals and so forth. Well, look at verse five, look at the context. For my sword is satiated in heaven. Behold, it shall descend for judgment upon Edom. and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. Again, the Edomites, who had descended from Jacob’s brother Esau, were also typically arch enemies of God’s people in Old Testament times. And God, again, uses this language of cosmic upheaval to describe the judgment upheaval that he is going to bring upon the people of Edom. Or look, if you would, at Amos, chapter eight, verses nine and 10. Amos is after the Book of Joel in the Minor Prophets. Amos 8, verses 9 and 10, we read these words.
It will come about in that day, declares the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon and make the earth dark in broad daylight. Then I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. And I will put sackcloth on everyone’s loins and baldness on every head. and I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and the end of it will be like a bitter day. Again, in verse nine, we have this language of the sun going down at noon, the earth being darkened in broad daylight, this language of astronomical phenomena being employed. Well, who is God addressing this judgment prophecy against? Well, in this passage, this is a judgment against God’s people Israel, as verse two makes clear. He said, what do you see, Amos?
And I said, a basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, the end has come for my people Israel. I will spare them no longer. You may say, well, okay, pastor, this is the Old Testament, but how does the New Testament use this kind of language? Well, let’s turn to Acts chapter two and look at verses 14 to 21. Acts chapter two, verses 14 through 21. Peter’s famous Pentecost sermon, this was the sermon that Peter delivered, the preaching of the gospel that Peter delivered on that marvelous day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was supernaturally poured out upon the church and people were empowered to speak in languages they’d never learned before. And the crowds came together, there was a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, there were tongues of fire that alighted upon the disciples and they were empowered to speak in languages they had never heard so that the people heard the wondrous works of God in their own language.
It was a reversal of the Tower of Babel. And how does Peter explain what’s going on that day? Well, look at his explanation in verses 14 through 21. But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them, Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel.” In other words, Peter interprets the Pentecost event as a fulfillment of this prophecy that he quotes from the Old Testament prophet Joel. And here’s the quotation from Joel. And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth my spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even on my bond slaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. But then notice he continues to quote from Joel and says that this is a fulfillment that is happening on this day, this day of Pentecost, verse 19. And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In verses 17 through 21 of this passage, the Apostle Peter is quoting, as I mentioned, from Joel 2, verses 28 to 32. But notice that Peter interprets the whole passage quoted here from Joel, including this language of cosmic upheavals in verses 19 and 20, as being fulfilled by the events that occurred on that day of Pentecost.
And you may say, well, how can that be? Well, again, think about it. Pentecost was an amazing, incredible event of redemptive history. It was a reversal of the Tower of Babel. It was an indication that the gospel was going to burst forth out of the Jewish confines and go to the nations, that the gospel and the Great Commission was going to go to the nations and that the Lord would gather his elect from the four corners of the earth through the preaching of the gospel in all the world. Beloved, and I could go on and on, but I think I’ve hopefully made my point clear enough as we’ve considered these various passages of Scripture, as we’ve compared Scripture with Scripture. Dear ones, we learn from passages like these that in the Old Testament, the stars and other astronomical phenomena often represented nations and peoples.
And they were often used as symbols for kings and kingdoms. Or at times they were used as symbols representing the civil or religious state of God’s covenant people, Israel. So what does all of this teach us? I think we can learn some important things from these observations. First of all, beloved, we must learn to interpret God’s Word on its own terms and to avoid imposing preconceived ideas or interpretive schemes onto the Scriptures. Now, we all have a tendency to do that, don’t we? We all have a tendency to want the scriptures to confirm our own preconceived ideas. We want the scriptures to confirm our thoughts, our ideas, our interpretive schemes. I’ve got that tendency and you do, we all do. So we have to keep that in check. We need to allow God’s word by his grace to transform us by the renewing of our minds rather than being conformed to other ways, foreign ways of thinking that are outside the language of Scripture.
So let us seek to be diligent and careful students of God’s Word. Let us be careful to compare Scripture with Scripture. Let us be good Bereans, and I expect you all to go home today and check these things out for yourself. Don’t just believe what I say because I say it. Go back to the Word and think to yourself, is this really what the Scriptures say? Another important lesson I think we glean from all of this is that God’s historical judgments against nations and kingdoms, sometimes symbolized in scripture by astronomical phenomena and cosmic upheavals, this reminds us that our God is the holy and righteous judge over all the nations. These phenomenon also point to the sovereign, universal reign of God’s chosen and anointed King, the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. Do you, dear listener, acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the sovereign King, Messiah, and rightful Lord over all?
He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Do you acknowledge Him as such And, dear listener, have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ and Christ alone as your very own Lord, Savior, and King? But all of this may, again, be troubling because this might be new to some of you, or at least this way of understanding passages like this might be troubling, and you might wonder, well, does this mean that we don’t have the blessed hope No, friends, that’s not at all what I’m saying, and this leads me to my next and final point. Beloved, as we’ve been learning, the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, symbolized by the language of cosmic upheaval, indeed anticipates the final judgment and the cosmic new creation that Jesus will usher in at His future glorious return.
The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was indeed a very significant redemptive historical event. It was, even though Jesus had done away in principle with the old covenant and its sacrificial system by his death on the cross in the 30s AD, nevertheless Animal sacrifices in the temple system continued to exist until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. And that was an incredibly significant event for redemptive history. And if you study and read anything about the horrible suffering that went on among the Jews during that horrible judgment event, you will realize that this is a perfect picture of God’s holy judgment against a wicked, covenant-breaking humanity. Indeed, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem points forward to an ultimate judgment that is yet to come. Dear ones, as I’ve sought to demonstrate, while I’ve sought to demonstrate that our Lord Jesus uses this prophetic language of astronomical disturbances and cosmic upheavals to predict God’s judgment upon an apostate first century Israel, a prediction which was indeed fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in 70 AD, at the same time, I would also submit to you that the historical first century fulfillment of our Lord’s prediction here is not at all irrelevant to the matter of His future second advent.
On the contrary, this first century fulfillment is a type and picture of the kinds of final eschatological events that will indeed accompany our Lord’s future glorious bodily return in glory to judge the world and to usher in the eschatological new heavens and new earth of the eternal state. After all, the scriptures do indicate in other places that there will indeed be literal cosmic upheavals in this present universe when our Lord Jesus Christ returns at his future glorious bodily second advent and when he ushers in the new heavens and the new earth. And just to give you one example, Let’s all turn together to 2 Peter 3 and look at verses 8-13. 2 Peter 3 verses 8-13. Now one of the things that makes this different from the sections of prophecy that I read to you in the Old Testament, the prophetic use of cosmic upheavals and astronomical disturbances is to be understood more figuratively because of the context of those passages and also because they are presented in a more poetic form.
But here we have straightforward teaching from the Apostle Peter given in this epistle. We have an epistolary presentation of the truth here. And so let us consider 2 Peter 3, 8 to 13. Peter writes, But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. He is, again, he is speaking in straightforward, plain teaching here, not using figurative language.
He says, the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up, since all these things are to be destroyed in this way. what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Amen. We are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. There is a final day of the Lord coming. Jesus is going to return as he left the earth bodily in his ascension. He will return bodily at his glorious future second advent.
What are some final takeaways that we can glean from the passage that we’ve considered today as Jesus uses this kind of language of cosmic upheaval in verses 24 and 25 of our passage? Well, there’s many things we can learn, but just I would leave you with two final points of application. First of all, beloved, let us remember that God is the sovereign ruler over all nations and all peoples, whether or not they recognize it. God raises up some nations and peoples, he brings down others according to his sovereign will and good pleasure. His authority is ultimate, universal, and final. The future of all nations and all peoples is ultimately in his hands, not in our power. Yet there are many today who think that, well, if we just get the right people in political office or we just change the laws and make the laws more just and reasonable and so forth, well, we can bring in utopia.
There is this common myth out there, this common belief in the perfectibility of humanity. If we just change society and make things more just and equitable and so forth, everyone’s gonna get along and it’s gonna be like heaven on earth. No, no. Contrary to utopian-minded secularists who foolishly imagine that they have the power to create heaven on earth through their own political policies and actions and activism, the word of God teaches that the only thing that is going to bring in paradise, bring in utopia, is the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We don’t bring in his kingdom, he will bring in his final consummated kingdom in the end. We can do nothing, man can do nothing. And certainly we are called to be faithful in this present age, to love our neighbors and to seek the common good in this present life.
But we look to Jesus and Jesus alone to bring about his consummated kingdom. We also learn here in this passage that this passage implies that God is the righteous judge of all nations and peoples. And this is especially so with His own covenant people. Remember, the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was a judgment against God’s professed covenant people. because of their apostasy and their rejection of their own Messiah. I’m reminded of what the Apostle Peter writes elsewhere in 1 Peter 4, verses 17 through 19. In that passage, Peter writes, for it is time for judgment to begin with what? with the household of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. Judgment begins with the house of God. It begins with me and it begins with you. Dear listener, are you ready to stand before King Jesus as your Lord and judge? Well, I’ve got good news for you. If you are in Christ, if you have trusted, rested upon Christ and Christ alone as your Lord and Savior, you will stand on that judgment day because you stand in Him. He is your righteousness, your everlasting righteousness. His blood cleanses you from all sin. His righteousness clothes you and enables you to stand justified once and for all and forever before the Creator of heaven and earth. But if you are outside of Jesus Christ, if you’ve not repented and put your faith and trust in Him, then you must fear that day because it will not go well with you.
Oh, turn, turn to Christ this day. Trust in Him as your Lord and Savior lest the kinds of judgment language and judgment events that are spoken of by this language of cosmic upheaval come upon you and bring the judgment upheaval of God into your situation and your life. Jesus welcomes you with open arms, dear sinner. He welcomes all who would come to him. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, not just now, but forever. And you can look forward to that final day as a day of victory and joy. Amen, let us pray. Gracious God, our heavenly Father, we pray that by your spirit you would Help us to learn how to be good students, diligent students of your word. Give us the grace, oh Lord, to have our minds transformed and renewed and transformed by that word.
And we pray that by your spirit you would help us, Lord, to once again cling hard and fast to the Lord Jesus Christ, looking for that blessed hope that he will bring to us. And may we live, Lord God, our lives knowing that every moment of every day is a moment closer to the time when Jesus will come back in glory and take us to be with Him forever. For we pray these things in His name and all of God’s people said, amen. Dear friends, let’s rise, close our time of worship together by singing as our hymn of commitment number 281, Rejoice the Lord is King, 281.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.