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Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.

᛭ INI ᛭

(5. Oops!: Christ is clear—our society and world is coming to an end.)

Our daily lives, our country, our society has changed a lot in our life times. Even since I was in High School or College, it’s mind boggling! If it’s that way for me, I’m sure for those of you, let’s say, more seasoned Christians, it’s even more so! When you were in high school or were my age, I’m sure you never thought we’d end up here.

Sometimes we wonder about what the world’s coming to. We worry about where our society is heading. Maybe we’re afraid about the current state of our nation or where we’ll be in 20-30 years. Maybe you’re worried about what sort of world or nation your kids or grandkids will live in. And sure we’ve gotten a bit of a respite for the next 4 or maybe just 2 years, but the path the world’s on, that society’s on, that our nation and every other nation is on is actually the same no matter what.

Christ is clear about that today. He prophesies that there will be “distress of nations in perplexity,” “people will be fainting from fear and anticipation of what’s coming upon society,” and even that “the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” He says there’s distress and fear and worry and anticipation because the world, society, and all the nations of the earth because it’s all coming to an end! It will all end. The United States will end. The culture will end. The world itself will end. It’s all going to end!

(4. Ugh!: We’re enslaved to the fear of death and false hope and cope.)

We don’t really like that either. It’s scary enough to think about what’s happening now, but it’s even scarier—isn’t it?—to think about it all ending. What will that mean for me, for my kids, my grandkids? We often think, if our nation ends, then the world’s without hope. If it ends, then what sort of end will it be? Not so good. That’s how we think.

We think that way because we don’t fear, love, and trust in God above all things. We put more hope and confidence in our nation than our Lord IHS Christ, who is King of kinds and Lord of lords. ANd the fact that you’re scared about what’s on your news channel or social media feed is proof that what I’m saying is true…

Human beings are enslaved to the fear of death. (Heb 4) But being enslaved to death also means we’re enslaved to false hope and also false cope. We place too much hope and confidence in our nation and politicians. It’s why every single politician, at least as much as I remember, puts themselves in the role of national maybe even global savior. We vote with a fervor as if our lives, the lives of our children and grandchildren depend on it.

But we also have false cope. We cope with the stresses of life, the worry about the world and society, by doing what Christ is very emphatic about us avoiding. “Keep watch on yourselves so that YOUR hearts are not weighed down with self-indulgence and drunkenness and cares of life.” Sure worldly hearts, unbelieving hearts will indeed be weighed down by such things. Christ is in effect saying, “Your hearts—certainly not YOUR hearts—believing hearts, hearts that fear love and trust in Him above all things, certainly won’t be weighed down by them. Worldly hearts are weighed down by a great many things—work, sports, over spending, over buying, over eating, over drinking, TV news, TV sports, TV shows, movies, pornography, doom scrolling on social media. But Christ’s warns, “Don’t let YOUR hearts be that way.” St. Paul echoes this saying, “Do not be drunk with wine, which is self-indulgence, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

(3. Aha!: The Lord’s firm, but He’s hopeful about your chances.)

The Lord’s firm on this, but He’s hopeful about your chances. He’s not hopeful about the world. He knows it will all end with unquenchable fire! But for you He lays out the narrow path for hope. It’s the most sure way to make it. It’s the only way to escape all these things, to make it to the other side, and to stand before Him. It doesn’t rest on you changing the world. It doesn’t have to do with you doing much of anything, for true strength, true hope, true righteousness rests not with you, but with Him and His Word!

(2. Whee!: CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY.)

That’s the only way out and through! Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.” It’s not empty promises from Christ. It’s not a fake way of coping which only masks the symptoms, but you feel worse after. CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY. That’s your hope, your only hope, and not just for you but for your kids, your grandkids. In fact, it’s the hope of all the nations! Everyone’s only hope, including you, is CHRIST and HIS WORDS, which NEVER PASS AWAY.

When the Lord says something He doesn’t go back on it. He doesn’t make empty promises. His words aren’t meaningless. You can put your hope and confidence in His Word because He keeps His Word. The fact that He keeps is promises is proof that His Words of warning should also be listened to. But CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY.

We heard some of them this past Wednesday from Genesis 3. “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; He will strike your head and you will strike His heal.” We heard some this morning in Malachi 4: “To you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out. And grow fat like stall-fed calves.” Both these words are true because they’ve already come true! Christ was the Seed of the woman, the Virgin Mary, who was born to crush Satan’s head, to earn the true healing of the nations, the forgiveness of sins.

Christ died and rose—He kept that word. Because He kept that Word, because He said that He’d die and come back to life on the Third Day and then did it, we can believe and trust that His WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY. He does what He says He’s going to do. He keeps His promises. His prophecies always come true. And He wants to strengthen and enliven our hearts, make us worthy to stand before Him on the Last Day, and to remain in His presence forever. That also rests on the fact that CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY.

(1. Yeah!: That’s how you’re strengthened/worthy to escape and stand before the Son of Man.)

CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY, and that’s exactly how you’re strengthened and worthy to escape and stand before the Son of Man.“The wicked,” the ungodly, unbelievers, those who are weighed down with self-indulgence, drunkenness, and cares of this life, “will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Ps 1) But the righteous will, those with faith in Christ will all because CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY.

Christ says, “Stay awake at all times, praying that you’d be found worthy, that you’d have strength to escape all these things that are going to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.” When He says that, it’s all hinging on His Word! Because He strengthens you through His Word. Christ doesn’t want you taking to heart the words of talking heads or politicians but His Word of Life, which sanctifies your hearts by faith. He doesn’t want you to seek whatever health or coping that the world offers, but He’s comes with the healing and peace and forgiveness won by His outstretched arms at Calvary. This is truly the power of absolution. He comes with the hope of resurrection, that you will go out leaping like a calf from your grave. The preaching of Christ crucified and raised. He wants you to put down whatever other thing may be, but to take up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

If you have any fear about life or future or the world ending, any bit at all, CHRIST’S WORDS NEVER PASS AWAY: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you; drink of it all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Faith believes that and gets the benefit. And that food, that healing from Christ’s wings, that medicine of eternal life, is far more satisfying that any cope you keep on trying to dull the worries and cares of life, because that prepares you for eternal life and gives you strength to make it through to the end.

᛭ INI ᛭