Published: November 19, 2023 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: Gospel of Mark - Part 92 | Scripture: Mark 13:28-31
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we in Mark chapter 13 again our Focus will be on verses
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those 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
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things happening recognize that it is near right at at the door truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place Heaven
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and Earth will pass away but my words will not pass away let us pray Our Father we do ask that you might
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Grant the Holy Spirit to to teach us to speak to us as it were to our hearts our minds to our souls we might hear the
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words of our Lord Jesus that we might walk in them that we might meditate upon them that they might become our guide they might become that which we cling to
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and as we cling to our Lord himself and so we ask that you would do these things again for your glory and your not your honor and that we might be faithful
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people to you in Christ's name we pray amen we're in as one Theologian called it act
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three of the olette discourse as is written and uh presented to us by Mark in his
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narrative and this part of the narrative is confusing it is um heads scratching for me um
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[Music] it was it was um I think I told my wife um it is a passage um that I'm scared of a passage
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that uh makes me tremble and uh I do appreciate the prayers of my brothers this morning that the Lord would Grant uh me ability to
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speak that which I have studied and that he has brought to my attention but as I read I and I do respect the scholars and I do
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respect uh the theologians who have spent the time and their energy to uh teach the word of God some of them that is their purpose some it seems like
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their purpose is to find everything they can wrong about scripture but I found that it it's not I was going to say a range but I can't find a beginning and an end some of the
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scholars wrote that Jesus never said any of these things they were things that that Mark thought of or thought he had heard and he wrote them down or that
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Jesus spoke these things these four verses that that we have here versified for us he spoke them at different times in his ministry but Mark kind of saw a
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theme and and put them together here and some believe that as the scribes were copying the manuscripts and making making copies
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of those that they they had heard things and they thought well here's a good place to write that in so I'll cut and paste and write these things insert them
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here in the gospel of Mark but I find that this section I would call it the admonition section of the olet discourse from verse 24 down
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through the end of the chapter It's a It's a combination it it's a combination of his teaching not only on the destruction of
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Jerusalem which we have already seen in the early part of this chapter but the end times and again Jesus is answering their
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question and he's teaching them as he answers it and they have asked him the question question when will these things be and
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what will be the sign of them verse 4 of Mark 13 and he's giving them objective facts
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but he's not just leaving those there he's admonishing them he's exhorting them to meditate on these things to think about them he's preparing them for
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the days that are ahead are ahead and I believe again that in verses 24 through 27 that we looked at last week which
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obviously is the perusia of Jesus that word that means his presence and I I I believe in the scripture uh we see that
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word meaning his presence after absence is how I would Define that word it's not just the second coming that's how it's
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become known in our in our world is oh that's the second coming of Jesus but it hit the important thing is his presence that he would come and I think again
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he's he's responding to what he's already said uh to them about there will be many who come and say behold there is the Christ oh there it is there he is
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and there will be false Messiahs and false Christ and he is saying no the world will know when I come again my my presence will be felt there will be the
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powers of Heavens Shake of the heavens shaken there will be these cataclysmic events that man cannot comprehend and there will be this
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definite appearing of the Lord Jesus as Lord of Lord of all and all and so he's moving from that description of
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the end times the the end when he appears again appears again but he's trying to in the context of this discourse apply it for their
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discipleship for their ability to learn and to think about these things so in this section what we find is some very emphatic statements the the the Greek is
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the way it's constructed is giving us an emphasis but it's both a positive emphasis and a negative emphasis he posit itively he's saying in verse 28
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learn learn from the parable exhorting them or later on he says recognize that it is near know these things recognize
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these things but there's also the emphasis the way the Greek is constructed with a negative emphasis where he says my words will not pass
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away or in verse 32 which I believe goes with the next section he says no one knows the day or the hour not even the son of man there there is I there's an
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energy here in Jesus words there's a an emphasis on what he is trying to say and he's delivering it with with a certainty
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there there's there's no um nothing from Jesus that says well you know I think this is how things will happen or I think this is kind of what you ought to
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know there's a certainty when he says truly the word we would recognize is amen truly I say to you these things not
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only a certainty but there's an authority I Jesus the son of man the Son of God your Messiah the Christ I say these to
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you and so whether we are the with the the disciples sitting on the Mount of Olives looking out over the city of Jerusalem in
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Jerusalem in ad30 or whether we are sitting here in Greenville in this company it behooves us to listen truly I
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say to say to you and what does he say to them verse 28 now learn the parable from the pig fig tree I didn't know that we were going to
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have the teaching in Sunday school on learning but it's was an excellent introduction um and I almost thought well I don't need to say this paragraph because if you were in Sunday school you
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heard it not everybody who goes to school learns and some of you have heard me say this one of my philosophies and I get um
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shaking of head and and eyeballs that roll back in the back of students heads but I I tell them doing your homework is not the same thing thing is studying and and most students just want to turn in
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the homework and and what Jesus is saying I want you to actually learn from the parable of the Fig Tree yes you're going to gain some knowledge but I want
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you to gain understanding and further I want you to gain skill in applying this in studying this
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so by studying by inquiring by EXP experiencing these things most of us want to just take things in but again one of the things
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that I got and I was taking notes for those of you are there one of the things that I got is there has been much inquiry by members
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of the congregation into the things that our brother Chuck has been teaching that that warms my heart because students a
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learner and again as Chuck has said the the word disciple come is its root word is learn disciples are Learners and so Jesus is saying this is an illustration
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that is appropriate to what I've been saying to the case that I've laid before you with this discourse to help you grasp it to to help you make use of
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it I think it was spon who said illustrations are windows that let in light and so he's saying I think about the Fig the Fig Tree and they would have known the fig
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tree not only because of the incident that we're going to talk about again refer to in Mark 11 of the fig tree that he condemned that he cursed but the Fig
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Tree was the symbol of Israel and it was very important to the people the language of the Old Testament teaches of of how the Fig Tree was
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something special to them in Hosea 9 he says I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the
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Fig Tree in its first season see he's looking at them and saying there there is something positive about the Fig Tree there's something that connects to you
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and what it connected to them was the themes of themes of prosperity of of well-being of peace and security and First Kings we read so
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Judah and Israel lived securely everyone under his Vine and his fig tree from Dan even to Bersa all the days of Solomon
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the idea was if you had this flourishing fig tree and if you've ever seen a fig tree that's just allowed to grow it is it gets big and it overshadows
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everything around it and the idea was that you could get under its branches and be in the shade and it would be a a really a symbol of I'm I'm good life is good I I have
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this security I have this Peace So what does he want them to learn from this fig tree what are we to learn from this Parable he says when its
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branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves you know that summer is near her branch and literally it speaks of the Fig Tree as female her
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branch is yet tender there's a couple of things in there one that is it's con it's showing that the sap is rising the sap
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is flowing and it's getting ready for germination it's getting ready to produce leaves and later on fruit but there's also this idea of it
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is yet it's continuing it's not yet this time but there is the promise of this
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time it is already and yet it is continuing its leaves will be produced but not yet the branches are tender
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they've come out of winter and the sap is rising and it will produce leaves and it will be Lush and green and then he says
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you know when you see that tender Branch when you see the evidence of this happening you know that summer is
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near so Jesus appeals once again in his Parables not only to the processes of creation or what our world calls the the the natural world or the Natural Sciences but he's appealing to to them
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to understand pay attention to the business and the experience of your life of your common
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life why in order to understand your moral life in under in order to understand what God is doing in this world so he addresses the disciples
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directly he says even so you too even though the audience has change it's just Jesus and his disciples remember they've come out of Jerusalem
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and they've climbed the mountain and they've looked back at the temple and Jesus sat down and began to teach them but he's emphasizing to his disciples even so you too you men who have
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followed me and he's trying to drive it home to them even so you to recognize these things there
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there's an antithesis between your habits the way that you look at the external world and the attention that you pay to
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your internal world into your moral being and he's saying learn learn how to analyze the present times learn how to
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see things know what is going on you must not wait until the event has passed to draw your
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conclusions be conclusions be prepared watch look see and that will be his emphasis in the second half of his admonitions in the following
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verses you know it is nigh he emphasizes there is a nearness these things are near they're not yet they're coming the signs are
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beginning to be shown but he says recognizing that it is near right at the at the door now I I recognize that there are
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many and your Bibles say and I in fact in my Bible it says recognize that he is near right at the door and I can
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understand when the he uses the word at the door it kind of means that there's somebody there but I have a hard
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time thinking that Jesus would speak of himself in the third person why if he meant that he would say recognize that I am near right at the
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door so I don't believe the word is he and there are those who believe that he's speaking of recognize that the Harvest is near but the problem with
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that is that as far as I can understand this is we're about to get to Passover Passover is not in the fall at Harvest Time Passover is in the
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spring and there were two times where there would be fruit on fig trees one would be in the spring before the leaves happened to
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happened to come and that's Mark 11 the real Harvest where the trees were bigger the fruit was larger and juicier
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was in the fall in September I don't believe that Jesus is speaking of the Harvest at the end of days I'm thinking that he is thinking
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of it you will know that it summer is near you will know that it that which is going to be fully manifest in your time
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has come the fullness of the the manifestation of the Kingdom the idea is not fear here the
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Jew would look forward to summer when they would see the tender branches and the leaves beginning to Bud the sap Rising they would be thinking
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ah reminds me of times of Peace security Joy life to the full and I believe that Jesus is reminding them you will see these things
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you will see the coming of these things but remember what it's going to mean for you there is a time of expectation of security and
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well-being truly he says truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place verse
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Jesus asked them to recognize the sign know the signs learn the signs but his formula here is suggesting something peculiarly solemn and important truly I say to you my words
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will not pass away it suggests that it may not or cannot or it will not
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be anymore be anymore until all these things be done until all these things come to pass
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or happen but the real question for us I think in this verse 30 is what is meant by this generation and again the
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theologians the scholars the commentators disagree commentators disagree and I don't mean to recite all of these just because it's what I studied but I
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think for our understanding to what Jesus is trying to say to his disciples and I include his disciples in our day we need to understand
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again the context and the emphasis that he places on these words some say that this gener gener ation is a synonym for
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race or race or Nation the Jews the Jews they say will not lose their identity will not lose
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their place in history their ability to call themselves a nation until all these things have happened so one possibility here is that
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when he says truly this generation will not pass away way until all these things take place is that this generation is a
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generic term generic term for sometimes we read in scripture the this evil generation meaning a people a
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race who are like this of a kind and specifically here of the kind of men who debated Jesus in Mark chap 12
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the kind of men who hated him the kind of men who consulted together how they might kill him how they rejected his claim to the
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messiahship and they would be typified by the fig tree that was cursed in Mark 11 and just briefly remember what happened there that Jesus went to that
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fig tree expect looking for fruit because the tree even early in the spring was full of
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lush green leaves even though the figs as I said come before the leaves he went to that tree because it was luxurious
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and because it looked like wow that ought to be full of fruit but he found none but Jesus did not and then he
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cursed that tree and it withered from the root the root up but he did not curse the tree because it didn't have any fruit he cursed the tree because it was a
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pretension because it looked luxurious that it looked like it should be abundant with fruit and it had none and so the parable there was
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that it appeared to be fruitful like the nation of Israel appeared to be fruitful but it was false and that might be this generation
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that every generation there will be men who hate Christ and who want to condemn him and remove him but that's not the precedent that is
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set using this word generation in Greek literature and I don't think it's the precedent sent SP uh shown Us in the New
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Testament passages other believe that this is a contemporary race as if a whole group of people living at the same
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time and I believe that Jesus prophecy was not designed exclusively for us for those who us who live two Millennium later I believe that it was designed to
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warn them of the evil of the destruction that was about to come the the danger the persecutions the tribulations that they would have and he's preparing them
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to meet those things he's assuring them that his promises will not fail them they are assured of ultimate safety
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awaiting them who are steadfast in Christ but what about the succeeding Generations there are those who believe that all of these promises everything
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that Jesus said here happened in ad70 but Jesus says after this time after this after this tribulation and as I said his speaking
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of his perusia is has not happened yet but what about successive Generations how do we account for them well I believe that is
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a third option and I believe is what Jesus is speaking of here here it's not intended to predict events which were to happen once for all time but to prepare
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them that there will be a series of events there will be can things that happen in your generation and they will happen in other generations of men and
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they will be have consistent elements and they will have essential details and you will you will see all of these things happening not
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exhaustively but wholly prophetically everything the persecutions tribulations all of these things you will see and successive Generations will see things
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them and it will be developing over a course of course of Ages so yes I think these men would have understood that generation their generation they would see all these
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things coming to pass these things being consistently and essentially happening to
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them but Jesus doesn't leave them wondering how will this happen and what will happen to me but he says Heaven and
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Earth will pass away but my words will not pass away it's a solemn oath and it's followed by
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this emphatic Declaration of infallible fulfillment not my words but I think that's exactly what it is an emphatic
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declaration that this is infallible this will happen it will be fulfilled it's applied to the whole discourse not just as some do verse 30
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this generation will not pass pass away until all these things take place yes it applies to that but I believe that it applies to all that Jesus has told them
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all that he has taught them he doesn't just mean that his word can no more pass away than Heaven and Earth but he means that the passing away
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of his word is impossible the Greek and I can't explain it I read it and I understand it this is
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the strongest negation that Greek can do he's not just saying there's a might be a potential that it could pass away but probably not he's saying it will not it
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cannot it is impossible for my words to pass away and you're thinking well this heaven and this Earth we we regard them do we not pretty much as
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permanent and Jesus said you know you you think of the earth as physically durable that that it is stable that is rigid that is solid and he's
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saying Heaven and Earth will will pass away they will be completely changed they will become unrecognizable and they will cease to
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exist in their current form in their present form but my words will not pass pass away and the plural My Words is
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unrestricted there's nothing to say well it's these words versus these words not one will pass away or in the words of Ja Alexander
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quote not only shall or will not pass away as a matter of ordained and settled certainty but could not in any case or
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possible contingency there there is nothing Jesus says that will cause my words to pass away what I have said in general and what I have said
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specifically on this occasion as we sit on the Mount of Olives will not pass away as for my words they will not cease
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to be to be true as for my words they will not found ever be found to be false as for my words they will not fail
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in any way to accomplish that for which they are they are intended in all these things we do not lose heart the things that we see coming
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up against us these tribulations these persecutions these wars these
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earthquakes we do not lose heart we do not lose Faith because Jesus words are true it is true of the son's words as it is of the
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fathers that passage in Isaiah 55 for as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the Earth and making it produce and
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Sprout and providing seed to the S and bread to the eater so will my word be which goes out of my mouth and it will not return to me empty without
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accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the P purpose for which I sent it Jesus says my words will not pass away and we think all of these things
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that he has taught all of these things in the scriptures that we now have the privilege of carrying with us and reading and meditating on all of these things will not pass away but again
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Jesus and this is getting ahead of ourselves but remember in it was mentioned in Sunday school this morning don't don't forget The Upper Room
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discourse where Jesus lays out these things for his disciples and he tells them it it's imperative that I go away so that I can send the Holy Spirit and
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what will the Holy Spirit do he will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you all of these words are being preserved all of them have been
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preserved for us that we may learn that we may know that we may recognize our times and our days days and we may have a heart of wisdom
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but we may also have a heart of joy and a and a heart of of certainty a heart of encouragement because his words will not
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pass away but they will accomplish what he desires and they will succeed in the purpose for which he sent them let us
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pray Our Father we do thank you for the Authority and the certainty with which Our Savior spoke it gives us courage it
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gives us hope it gives us not just knowledge but the ability to think and meditate on these things and apply them to our lives and share them with our
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families and helps us to give that reason for the hope that we have within us knowing that you are the one one who
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causes us to bear fruit and we thank you for these things in Christ's name amen you please rise for the
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benediction this is the words from the Prophet Jeremiah relating Jeremiah relating to Israel but again I think all of those who are in Christ
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he says for I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them again to this land and I will build them up and not overthrow them and I will plant them and not pluck them up and I will give
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them a heart to know me for I am the Lord and they will be my people and I will be their God for they will return to me with their whole heart