Raise Your Heads Your Redemption is Drawing Near

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins in salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Luke, chapter 21, verses 5 through 28. While some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings,

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Jesus said, as for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

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And they asked Him, Teacher, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?

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And He said, see that you are not led astray. Many will come in My name saying, I am

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He. The time is at hand. Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified.

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For these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. And then He said to them, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

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There will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

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But before all of this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.

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And you will be brought before kings and governors for My name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.

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Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

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You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends. And some of you they will put to death.

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You will be hated by all for My name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish.

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By your endurance you will gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies and know that its desolation has come near, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart.

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And let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

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Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days. For there will be great distress upon the earth, wrath against this people.

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They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the

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Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars.

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And on the earth, the stress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

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And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up, raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing nigh.

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In the name of Jesus, have you seen the news? Great Britain has left the

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European Union. Donald Trump won the presidency. Obama's legacy is kaput.

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The world is in total turmoil and the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. What does this all mean?

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It's the end of the world as we know it. And quite frankly,

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I feel fine. Now our text today deals with a very dark topic.

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It deals with the topic of, well, the end of the world. And while you're gonna note that there's a lot of anxiety in this text, but this text is not designed to create anxiety for us

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Christians. In fact, the whole subtext of all of this is don't worry about it.

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Christ has got it all figured out. You're gonna be just fine. You see, remember in the

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Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, don't be anxious about your clothing, about your food, what you're gonna eat, and all that kind of stuff?

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Don't worry about that. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

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This is a call to faith. And our text today is a call to faith. So let's return to our gospel text as we look at the very serious topic of the end of the world and how we as Christians are not to be anxious.

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Here's what it says. While some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings.

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You know, a cross -reference to this, by the way, is Matthew 24, if you wanna see another version of this

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Olivet Discourse. Here's what Jesus said. Well, as for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

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And they asked him, teacher, when will these things be? What will be the signs when these things are about to take place?

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You see, with the temple destroyed, it sounds like God is about ready to unleash the end of the world.

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Utter destruction talked about there by the prophet Malachi. And the reason for this is quite simple.

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Where in this time is the only place you can go to hear the forgiveness of your sins?

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Answer, the temple in Jerusalem. If there is no forgiveness of sins, then

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God intends to judge everybody and send them to hell. It's the end of the world.

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And so what follows next, Jesus does something that is quite typical with the

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Old Testament prophets. Of course, it makes perfect sense. He being God in human flesh, he does something crazy.

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He takes, well, the destruction of the temple and the end of the world, and he squishes them together and tangles it all up into a big knot, and I defy you to untangle it.

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You can't because the two, well, they kind of work together. Are we talking about the end of the world or the destruction of the temple?

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Yes, we're talking about that. That's what Jesus is doing. So here's what he says talking about the end of the world.

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See that you're not led astray. There will be many who will come in my name saying

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I am he, and the time is at hand. First thing you need to know about the end of the world is there's gonna be all kinds of false doctrine, false

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Christ, false teachers, false prophets. They're gonna be all over the place, running rampant throughout the church, and nobody's gonna do anything about it.

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You know what Jesus says? Don't go after them. Just don't go after them.

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Go find the people who are preaching the word. Just don't go after those guys. Well, that seems kind of like a simple answer, and then when you hear of wars and tumults, wars and tumults, now,

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I don't know if you all remember these things. They used to make these things called newspapers, and they used to have headlines on the front page of the newspaper.

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And have you ever seen like photographs of the newspaper headlines, like when World War II broke out?

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War, it says in big black letters. So when you hear of wars and tumults, what are we as Christians supposed to do?

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Ah, don't be terrified. What? What?

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War, it's war, Jesus. It's as if Jesus is going, yeah, I know.

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It's like he's sitting on a chaise lounge, you know, with a remote control in his hand, you know, keeping an eye on the news while reading a book.

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Yeah, oh, a terrible war, yeah, that's awful. What is Jesus thinking? He says, ah, these things must take place, but the end is not, will not be at once.

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And then he said, oh, get this, watch this. Nation will rise against nation.

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Kingdom against kingdom. There'll be earthquakes, various places, famines, pestilences, there's gonna be terrors and great signs from heaven.

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I've seen this movie before. Isn't that the one with the meteor? Nevermind, okay. And before all of this, oh, you think that's bad?

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Well, pay attention to what's coming next. Before all of this, they're gonna lay their hands on you, you

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Christians, and they're gonna persecute you. Uh -oh, well, there goes Joel Osteen's book,

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Your Best Life Now. All right, they're gonna persecute you. They're gonna deliver you up to the synagogues and prisons.

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You're gonna be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake, and this will be your opportunity.

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Is that a typo? I've heard of opportunities. Have you ever had one of those opportunities where come to, well, this ballroom over here at this hotel, and you're gonna learn about an opportunity that, well, that just doesn't come around very often.

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We're gonna give you the opportunity to buy a timeshare in Tahiti. The best days of your life are when you buy into that timeshare and when you're finally able to sell it.

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We know all about opportunities, and always the pressure on the opportunities. You've got, this opportunity won't last long.

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Make the decision now, or you're, oh, forever gone. And Jesus here is talking about an opportunity.

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All right, so let's see if I got this right. People are persecuting us, delivering us to prisons. Because of him, we're gonna stand before political leaders, and this is gonna be an opportunity, an opportunity to do what?

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Ready? Bear witness. Let me give you the Greek word for bear witness.

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You will have the opportunity to martyreo, martyreo.

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To bear witness is to be a martyr. You might have that opportunity.

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So if this opportunity affords itself for you, settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand on how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

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So if you have this opportunity, there you are in prison. Your hearing is tomorrow. Your defense attorney is saying, aren't we going to sit down and map out what we're gonna say?

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You say, no, I'm busy. I'm watching television. I'm reading a book. Relax, relax.

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All of this is to be expected. And see, when you stand up then, Jesus promises under these circumstances with this opportunity, when you speak, he's gonna speak through you.

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They're not gonna be talking to you. They're gonna be talking to him. And here's what he says. So settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer.

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I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

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You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends.

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Oh, and some of you, they're even gonna put to death. You're gonna be hated for my name's sake.

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But here's what he says. Yeah, no big deal. Not a hair of your head will perish. What? You just said some of them are gonna be put to death.

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How can you say not a hair of their head will perish? You see, because Jesus isn't all that concerned about this first death thing.

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It's that second death that we need to worry about. And when you read in the book of Revelation, the second death is the lake of fire.

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It's eternal hell. You don't have to worry about any of that. So when people arrest you, hate you, persecute you, put you in prison and all of that stuff, and even kill you for the name of Jesus, which is an opportunity for you to bear witness don't worry,

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Jesus has got you covered. Not a hair of your head will perish. And the reason for this is quite simple. Remember what

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Romans six says? When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and you were raised with Christ, you're already dead.

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They can't kill you. You're dead already. You're in Jesus. In fact, think of it this way. Jesus's body that, you know, they took the spear and thrust it into his side.

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Think of that as like the door to the ark and you've been walked into and tucked nicely into Jesus's death and resurrection.

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He's got you covered. Relax. The whole world's going crazy. You can just sit there and go, yeah,

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I know, to be expected. And please pass me a little bit of chamomile tea. I'd like to relax a little bit.

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So when you see, and now Jesus does something very interesting here. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, a little bit of a note here, liberals hate, and I mean this, hate this prophecy.

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You want to know why? Because if Jesus actually gave this prophecy before Jerusalem fell, well, that means he could see the future.

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That means he's divine. It means he's God. That means miracles are possible. So you ask the liberal theologians, when was the gospel of Luke written?

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110 AD, 110 AD. How is that possible?

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Luke traveled with Paul. Well, it couldn't have been written earlier. Why? Well, because then

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Jesus could have predicted the future in the fall of Jerusalem. I see.

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Yeah, I don't think Jesus is the problem here. It was written long, long, long before 110

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AD, long before 70 AD. A little bit of a note here, talking about this persecution and the suffering and these apostates and false teachers, false prophets.

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Let me tell you a little story, a very close friend of mine, a father in the faith within the

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Lutheran Church. Years and years and years ago, three decades ago, he was a pastor in the ELCA and he had a thriving congregation and he had a bishop.

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His bishop, well, was one of these guys that didn't believe in miracles and things like that. And this bishop made it a point to go and visit this pastor's congregation.

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And upon the visitation, he literally did this with our pastor friend and said,

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I wanna meet you in your office and have a talk with you. So he went into his office and there was the bishop, his boss, if you would, in the church.

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And he said, the Bible is full of myths and legends and contradictions.

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It's not to be trusted. Do not preach it as if it's the truth. Do you understand what

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I'm saying? And this pastor said, yes, I understand perfectly well what you're saying.

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He understood him, but he didn't agree with him. Two years went by and, well, our pastor friend, who many of you actually might know, he went on preaching as if the

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Bible's the word of God. Well, two years later, the bishop showed up again and this time he made a point of going to every one of the services on a

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Sunday morning. And afterwards, he said, I wanna see you in your office again. So he showed up and the bishop said,

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I want your resignation on my desk first thing in the morning. And he was kicked out of the

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ELCA for preaching the Bible as if it were true. To be expected, this is exactly what

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Jesus said would happen. So now Jesus says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

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Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart.

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Let not those who are out in the country enter it for these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

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Alas for women who are pregnant, for those who are nursing infants in those days, there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.

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They will fall by the edge of the sword and led captive among all the nations and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the

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Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And this is exactly what happened in 70

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AD. The armies of the Roman general Titus surrounded Jerusalem, took a captive.

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And you know what they did to the temple after their siege worked? They took the temple and it's like they took a squeegee and just squeegeed the whole thing off the top of the temple mount.

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It now sits in a big rubble heap off to the one side, just like Jesus said, because Jesus knew what was coming.

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Very interesting indeed, he predicted the future. And by the way, the

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Christians who were living in Jerusalem when they saw and heard that Rome had landed with their expeditionary force and that they were going to be coming through Judea, you know what they did?

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They skedaddled, they got out of Jerusalem. The Christians survived just fine because Jesus let them know ahead of time.

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And in the same way, in the same way, when the end comes and the whole world unwinds, don't worry,

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Jesus has got you covered. You're gonna get through it just fine. You may not live, but you won't die.

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You see what I'm saying? Then Jesus says this, there's gonna be signs in the sun, the moon, the stars, and on the earth, distresses of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear, with foreboding of what is coming on the world.

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The world starts to come unraveled. Fox News, MSNBC, every news channel is playing constantly.

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You're not gonna believe what's happened. Look at the sky, see the signs. Oh my goodness, the oceans are out of control.

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The world is coming apart and people are gonna go. And what do you do?

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Grab some popcorn, just grab some popcorn. It's gonna be fascinating to watch.

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People are like, what, what are we gonna do? Quick, grab your bug out bags. Get your family photo albums that the world is coming apart, run for the hills.

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No, no, no, grab a lounge chair. Get one of those drinks and get a little pineapple spear and an umbrella.

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Yeah, I know, it's all terrible, isn't it? It's just awful. This is what

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Jesus is saying. And the reason for this is simple. He's told you ahead of time what's coming.

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You are in Christ. You are bled for, you are died for, you are forgiven. You have faith.

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Today you are here feasting on the word of God. He said all of this is coming.

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This is to be expected, don't worry about it, right? He made a point of saying that your endurance will gain your lives.

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And how do we endure as Christians? By believing Jesus. Trusting Him.

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Salvation is by grace through faith. It's not by works. And if salvation is by grace through faith, just keep believing what those prophets in journey said.

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Don't stop believing. Keep trusting in Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him. And this is

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Jesus' point. When all of these distresses are coming, there's gonna be fear, people fainting with fear, with foreboding of what's coming for the powers of the heavens are gonna be shaken and they will see the

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Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, if you persist in sin and unbelief and you see

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Jesus coming and you see in the heavens the sign of His coming, this is not going to be cause for rejoicing.

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This is gonna be cause for fear. And this fear is caused by your sin. We all know that when we fall short and we do not obey

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God's commands, when we sin against Him and persist in sin and unbelief and rather than repent and be forgiven, it creates anxiety between us and God, and it should.

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But see, in Christ, there is forgiveness of sins. He's bled and died for all of these sins. Today is the day of salvation.

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And it has been since Jesus died and rose again and ascended. But this day of salvation will come to a close.

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In this day, we preach and proclaim Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of sins.

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We call people to repent, to be forgiven, trust in Him and be saved, and receive the gift of eternal life.

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But this day is quickly coming to a close. Do you not see how far spent this day is?

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Look at the horizon and see the sun. It's almost ready to go down. And once this day is over, the day of salvation ends.

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And with the next day comes the day of judgment. The day of judgment is not the day of salvation.

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The day of judgment is the day when you either receive your eternal life or you receive your damnation.

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And receiving damnation is so foolish. It's so ridiculously foolish. And the reason for it is simple.

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It's because Jesus has bled and died for all of your sins. Why would you persist in sin and unbelief and end up in hell when as a gift,

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Christ is giving you full salvation, eternal life, days without end?

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So you'll notice the big difference. Well, there's those who have no faith and they are riddled with anxiety to the point where their heart is melting within their chest.

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But Jesus says this, now, when you see these things begin to take place, straighten up, raise your heads because your redemption is drawing nigh.

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Everyone else is gonna be going, oh, and you're gonna be going, yeah, because we know that no longer will we be walking by faith.

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We will be walking by sight. Soon, very soon, we are going to be united and reunited with Christ.

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And we're gonna party like you wouldn't believe. We're actually gonna see his eyes, worship at his feet, touch the nail -scarred prints in his hands, in his feet, in his side.

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He has a name for you that only you and he will know. And he knows you by name.

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All of this is gift. So when all the turmoil breaks loose, everything goes crazy.

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The Chicago Cubs win again. Straighten up, raise your head.

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Your Jesus is drawing near. He's coming to save you, to bring you to new life, to the new heavens, the new earth.

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All of this by his great mercy and grace. So repent, repent of your anxiety.

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Repent of your lack of faith. Repent of watching the news and going, what are we gonna do?

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What are we gonna do? Repent. Jesus has got it all covered.

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None of this is catching him by surprise. All of this is exactly what he would say.

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He said was gonna happen. So trust him, relax. Kick up your feet. You're in Jesus.

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You're saved. It's the end of the world. No, it's not the end of the world. It's the beginning of the new world.

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And we have been told by Jesus exactly what's going on. This is not cause for anxiety.

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This is cause for rejoicing, for faith, for trust. Oh, what a great, powerful, merciful, great redemptive savior we have in Jesus.

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Straighten up. Your redemption is drawing near. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. And again, that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue Northwest, Oslo, Minnesota, 56744. We thank you for your support.

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