Psalm 33 verse 4, For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as in heap, He layeth up the depth and storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast, or firm. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught, in other words, to nothing. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart are to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

I think that pretty much fits what we're going to be looking at in our study tonight in the handout. All right. Being in the Bible this evening, open the Word of God over to Matthew chapter 24. We're going to start off with a little bit of bouncing around. I try not to do too much of it, but I got to set the table for what we're going to be looking at later. We'll start with some verses in chapter 23 and then we'll grow over through 24 after that. So if you want to open your Bibles to the 23rd chapter of Matthew and just set it aside for a moment. I want to introduce to you tonight three verses right off the bat. As you can see in the handout, we'll start with that.

The title for tonight's study is The Certainty of God, and I begin with Isaiah 14.24 where we read, The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand. That, going right along with verses 26 and 27 of Isaiah 14, we read, this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

Comparing with those two verses along with this one from Isaiah 46, 11, where we read, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it.

Now, let us be perfectly clear. The only true God is a God of purpose, not some wishy-washy wannabe God trying to save, trying to work out his will against man's imaginary authority, but THE God, all sovereign in all matters known and unknown to man. He is the potter, the one who forms what is as he sees fit. He is the sufficient one, our sufficiency, as our brother Norm Wells brought out in his message Wednesday night, closing with these words from 2 Corinthians 3.5, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.

We've been in the study of Matthew, chapter 23 and 24, where the Lord, the one who is the first cause of all things, brings some unsettling news to the world, especially the world's religious man's religion, works religion. In chapter 23, the Lord, speaking to religious scribes and Pharisees, he gives them eight different woes. Woe unto you. Let me tell you something. If God Almighty, and that's who Jesus Christ is, is saying, woe unto you, you got troubles. You got big troubles. And he brought eight different woes in a short period of time in that chapter against their character. And it brings us around to this.

Look with me, if you would, at verse 33 through 38 of Matthew 23. The Lord himself, speaking to these very men that he gave woes to, says, ye serpents. Actually, I'm going to back up. Both of those ye's are not in the original text, so I'm going to read it without that. Serpents, generation of vipers, how can escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel until the blood of Zacharias, son of Berechias. whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Now verily, I'm sorry, I said now, that's not there. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.

Now check this out. Listen to these words very carefully. This is what the Lord is saying to the world. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Think about this. We know that there are living things in the desert, but when you look out over the sands of a desert place, Like sand dunes. And you see absolutely nothing there but sand. That's barren of all things that you could see. That's what this is talking about. Desolate. There's nothing there. There's nothing growing. It's dry bones like the valley of the bones spoken of in Ezekiel.

Then he says, for I say unto you, you shall not see henceforth till you shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Now look over at verse 1 of chapter 24. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple. What a statement! The Lord went out and departed from the Temple. Go to page 2 of your handout. According to what I've read from the commentators, He never went back to the Temple of Jerusalem. That was the last time God was in Jerusalem. And if you're on page 2, at the top of the first paragraph there, the Christ, the Messiah, the Deliverer, left the temple made with hands, the hands of men never to return, because he was about to put an end to it. He, the Lord of glory, was about to fulfill all that that temple represented. Everything about the old was a representation of him. But it had become a den of thieves, as we read back in the beginning of chapter 33. Therefore he went out and departed.

Then after declaring the destruction of that temple, his disciples brought up a question. Look with me at verse 3 of chapter 24. Verse 3. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? And then the Lord goes on, and he spends the rest of the time here in chapter 24 and the beginning of chapter 25 speaking about the end times and his second coming.

Back in our handout again, second paragraph, I bring you once again to these verses that we just read to remind us of the context in which our current text is. We considered the grace of him not leaving us to ourselves, to our own nature, but being merciful and gracious, giving a new nature. A new heart to people loved from before the world was. Folks, if left to ourselves, we would deserve the woes aforementioned and to the religious world. We would be left to that cursed temple, desolate, as stated in verse 38 of chapter 23. And we see this by His grace. That's what verse 15 of chapter 24 is stating.

Look over verse 15. Read that with me. And this is what we looked at two weeks ago. When ye therefore shall see, The abomination of desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whosoever readeth let him understand. Now we looked at that, and I brought out that week about how there was a time when we didn't see this. We couldn't see the depth of depravity of man. We couldn't see the abomination that stood in the pulpits of the world. Some of us may have understood that it was an abomination, but we didn't understand it according to God's word. We didn't understand it as being void of everything righteous. We didn't understand it as being void of anything good. But now, now God has given us eyes to see the truth, that His Word is being decimated behind the pulpits of the churches of today. We couldn't see that before.

So when we see those things, then let them which be in Judea, as it says in verse 16, flee to the mountains. Run. Run from false religion.

Look at verses 4 through 12 of chapter 24 again. Verses 4 through 12 of chapter 24. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. You know what that tells me? That tells me exactly how I open tonight's service. Look open to the Word of God. Folks, be as the noble Bereans. Don't trust John Reeves. Don't trust any man in a pulpit. Turn to the only one you can trust, and that's God's Word.

Verse 5, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Now, I'm not saying I'm out there trying to deceive anybody. I'm just saying be as noble Bereans and trust God, not man. And ye shall hear the wars and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For the nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places. And all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because of iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come.

Now read with me if you would verses 16 through 21 of chapter 24. Then let them, now remember, we've already read that, when the abomination of desert, when you should see it, then let them which be in Judea, verse 16, flee into the mountains. Listen to these next words. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. I pause, I want you to understand that. We have nothing of this world that is worth anything. The only thing we have that is of any worth is the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people.

Verse 18, neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. There's no righteousness in anything that we have to cover ourselves with. That's what Adam and Eve tried to do, making their own aprons with leaves. Only the righteousness of Christ are the people of God clothed in. So don't go back to your house for clothing. And woe unto them that are with child, to them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world. To this time, no, not ever shall be.

flee. I'm back in my handout again. I'm instructing myself here. Flee to Christ. Now look over at verse 28 of Matthew 24. Verse 28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Now last week we looked at this verse in extents and I leaned heavily upon our brother Don Fortner, but basically What he brought out was the carcass of the Lord Jesus Christ is where you'll find eagles gathered to feast. And he pointed out that it wasn't talking about buzzards. And it wasn't talking about, you know, eagles don't feed on dead things. They feed on live animals. They're a carnivore. They eat from the blood of animals, the raw meat. And I thought it was very well said by Don on how that brings out, you know, it could be interpreted as the people of God. We gather together. Where do you find God's people gathered together but feasting on Christ? And I thought that was a very good point. That was last week's. And I pray that the Lord uses all that to set up the table for us tonight.

So look with me now, if you would, in Matthew 24 at verse 29 through 35. Immediately after the tribulation, says our Lord, of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and put forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth, this is verse 35, shall, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Those last two verses. Verily I say unto you, back in our handout, last paragraph of page two. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. The certainty of God. That's where I get my title tonight. Our Lord's Word is truth and certain, and everything He has purposed, which is everything He tells us in His Word, shall come to pass.

Last paragraph of page 2, the Word of the Lord is clear. The day of our Lord's second coming will be a great and terrible day of judgment and wrath for all the wicked, but for the believers, It'll be a day of great glory, great joy. This is a point that needs emphasizing over and over again. Nowhere in the Word of God is the second coming of Christ set forth as a matter of fear or dread for believers. Not at all. I have a couple of pamphlets that were given to me a couple of weeks back. And one of them is the fires of hell. The other one is the explanation of Matthew 24. And another one, I can't remember the title of it, but they were all the same. The fires of hell, the writer of that one came right out and said, I'm trying to scare people to God. Hogwash. God does not scare his people to him. He speaks to us in loving kindness. It says in Jeremiah 3, 31 verse 3, I think it is, or 33, 31 verse 3, he says, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, and because of that love, with loving kindness, I have drawn thee. He doesn't scare us to heaven. He brings us to Himself through the preaching of His love for His people.

You know, there's no greater love than the one to give His life. And Jesus Christ gave His life for His people. That doesn't scare me to heaven. That brings me to heaven through His love. What a wonderful thing. The other two books didn't come right out and say that they were trying to do, but that's exactly what they did. There was no place in them, the little pamphlets, there was no place in them where it spoke anything about the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ going to the cross for his people. No. Nowhere in the word of God.

That is there a second coming of Christ set forth as a matter of fear or dread for believers? Not at all. This is the one day we ought to look forward to and anticipate with great joy, as a matter of fact.

Page three. When Christ comes in his glory, all of God's elect shall be gathered together as one. We shall be one. The saints of every age and every tongue shall be assembled at once before his glory. All shall be there from righteous Abel all the way down to the very last soul to be converted to God. What a happy gathering that will be! when all the family of God meets together in perfection and glory.

Our little meetings, we just had one here back in July. They're having one over there in Arkansas right now at Darwin Pruitt's. And I spoke with several people who were going, and they were all so excited. Can't wait to get there. They were so excited to come here to rescue. They were so excited to go up to the Dalles, Oregon when Norm had Lance up there. Folks, it's excitement, it's joyful to come together with God's people. And that's what I'm saying here. It's a great delight how we look forward to meeting God's saints here. Just try to imagine what it'll be when we meet the great multitude which no man can number. Wow! It'll be something we can't even explain or comprehend in this flesh.

John Newton once wrote this, he says, when I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be to see people there whom I did not expect to see. The second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see. And the third and the greatest wonder of all will be to find myself there.

J.C. Ryle wrote these words. He said, surely we may be content to carry the cross and to put up with the partings for a few years. We travel on towards a day when we shall meet to part no more.

As far as the fig tree is concerned, our Lord is simply using it to illustrate his doctrine. Don Fortner wrote this. He said, there's nothing really mysterious about it. Our Lord simply drew another illustration from nature, as was his custom, to enforce what he was teaching. As men know that summer is near when they see the trees, in this case a fig tree, putting forth their leaves, so our Lord says this generation would know that God had come upon the nation of Israel in judgment when the Romans armies left Jerusalem as a heap of ashes in a pool of blood.

Yes, all of this is referring to that as well, but there's a spiritual meaning as well in all of it. Our Savior said, verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Spurgeon explains it this way. It was just about the ordinary limit of a generation when the Roman armies compassed Jerusalem, whose measure was iniquity was then full and overflowed in misery, agony, distress, and bloodshed, just as the world never saw before or since

the second coming of Christ. will be a joy and a comfort to the saints. Christ will be glorified by His saints. In 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 7-10 we read these words, And to you who are troubled, rest with us. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his powers, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in them. in all of them that believe, because our testimony among you is believed in that day.

When the Lord shall come again in the last day to judge the world in righteousness, there will be no need for the sun, the moon, and the stars. When He who is the brightness of the glory of the invisible God and the expressed image of His person shines forth in the fullness of His indescribable glory, Christ's second coming will be a glorious event. universally known and acknowledged at once, both by the righteous and the wicked, the believing and the unbelieving.

Listen to Revelation 1 verse 7, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even so. Amen.

Christ's coming, wrote Charles Spurgeon, will be the source of untold joy to his friends, but it will bring unparalleled sorrow to his foes.

Consider with me, if you would, two points that our Lord is teaching in our text. The first is that the Lord Jesus Christ really is coming again. Scoffers are those who think our faith is foolishness and that our hope is a dream. There is a day of reckoning to come, though. Christ's second coming will be a day of resurrection and of judgment. Listen to Acts chapter 1, verse 11, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.

The same way they watched him ascend into heaven, he's going to come back. He's going to come back in the same body, the one that hung on the cross. It'll be a glorious. What's the word for bright? Bright. Bright. Listen to these next words. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Remember, I don't remember exactly where it is there in the book of Acts. I think it's in the book of Acts. The Lord revealed himself to several hundred. I think it was 500 at a time. But it says he revealed himself to certain ones, not to the world. He's not coming I almost said something I would have regretted. Let's go on.

1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 58. We're talking about the Lord coming back in a bold and noticeable way. Everybody's going to see it. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. And we shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. because of what we were just told before there. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Let's have another couple here. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13-18, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.

One more, if you don't mind. Hebrews 27 through 28. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Page six. Secondly. So we know that the Lord is coming again. He tells us, as we read in all those verses, and there were actually many more verses I could have put in there. But for the sake of time, I kept it to those. But secondly, when the Lord Christ returns, our second part of tonight's study, it will not be in secrecy of humiliation.

There's a lot of shows out there right now. Left Behind, I think, is the title of one about a bunch of folks. Just all of a sudden in that show, a bunch of people disappear. And all that's left in the show is clothing. I understand. I haven't actually seen the show myself. or a movie, whatever it is. But I got a pretty good jest of what it's all about. And it's all about the secret calling of God's people and how God left some people behind.

Nonsense. There's nowhere in scripture that the Lord talks anything about those kinds of things. But it's a movement to show that the return of God is in secrecy. And there's other things like that as well out there. It's not going to be that way at all. It's coming back in power and in great glory as we've read so many verses already.

This is 1st paragraph, page 6. There is no such thing as a secret coming of Christ or a secret rapture. Our Lord here declares that all men shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. That's in Jude 1, verse 14.

When Christ comes again, the very sun and the moon and the stars will melt before Him. The heavens themselves will be on fire, and they shall melt with a fervent heat. Listen to these words from 2 Peter 3, 10-14.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. And the witch of the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. There's no secrecy to that. It's going to come instantly. Just like a thief wakes you up in the middle of the night, the Lord's going to wake everybody up with the thunder. The thunder and the great noise from heaven. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. And the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation?"

In other words, you're walking in all godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God. Where unto the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with the fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless."

How can we be found without spot and blameless in this body that we have? You can't. That's why we have to put it away. That's why we have to become immortal. Folks, the Lord's not going to take this body full of sin to heaven. He's going to give us a new body, one that's as perfect as His Son, the Lord Jesus. But He looks upon us right now as that. He looks upon us as never sinned, justified before God, justified in our Savior, the Lord Jesus. sanctified, made holy in Him, set apart from the world in Him. As it says in Hebrews chapter 10, perfected forever them that are sanctified. By that one offering, He has done that.

Second paragraph from the bottom of page six. Our Lord's second advent will be as different as possible from His first coming. At His first advent, our Savior came in the world as a man of sorrows. acquainted with grief. He came here in humiliation, born in a stable, laid in a manger, the child of a poor insignificant woman. He took upon himself the form of a servant. He was despised and rejected of men. He was betrayed into the hands of wicked men by the kiss of a friend. condemned, beaten, crowned with thorns, and covered with the spit of those whom He placed in their own mother's womb. Then the Son of God was at last crucified between two thieves. But when He comes again, He shall come in full display of His royal majesty as the King of glory, the King of heaven, and the King of the earth, All nations of the world shall be gathered before his throne to be judged by him. Before him, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall acknowledge and confess that he is Lord."

Page 7. Whatever ungodly men and women say and do now, things will be different in that day. There will be no scoffing then. Every mouth will be stopped.

We need to constantly remember these things so that we may wait patiently for our Savior's arrival. Our Master will one day soon be acknowledged by the world, and we shall see Him with joy.

Listen to this from Job 19, 25 through 27.

For I know that my Redeemer liveth. Do you know? Do you know that your Redeemer is alive, sitting on His throne today? Death could not hold Him. He's the victor over death, sin, and hell. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me.

When our Lord comes again, His first concern and His first order of business will be the security, salvation, and glory of His elect. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24, verse 31. As it always has been, so shall it be then. Our master's great concern shall be his people.

Folks, Romans 8 says it very clearly. It says there in Romans chapter 8, verse 31, what shall we say then to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Would anything be on God's mind outside of his people that he's loved from before the foundation of the world? It always has been. Our master's great concern shall be his people. When he comes again to judge the world, he will first take care of his elect, not a hair of their heads shall fall to the ground, not a bone of his mystical body shall be broken. When God destroyed the world in the flood, there was an ark for eight souls, Noah and his family. Eight souls and two of every kind of animal. An ark and his family. And when he poured fire and brimstone upon Sodom, Lot found refuge in Zorah. And when the wrath of God at last burst out against the wicked to destroy this world, His elect shall first be gathered by His holy angels to their blessed hiding place, Christ Jesus.

the threshing floor. You'll remember the wheat and the tares. When the Lord is talking about his instructions to the folks at that, don't touch them. Leave them alone. Let them grow up together. If you try to separate them yourself, if these feeble, sinful bodies try to separate them, all we're going to do is make things worse. God says, in the end, his His harvesters, His angels will come and the first thing they're going to do is collect the wheat. The second thing they'll do is bundle the tares and burn them. Our Lord will keep His people, especially in that day when He returns.

Yet our Savior does not intend for us to know the day and the hour of His second coming. Listen to verse 36 of our text. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angel of heaven, but my Father only.

Listen to these words from Acts chapter 4 verse 7. And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father." I want to stop right there. We have every reason to stop and wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled by Him, because His Word is sure. I hear the things that go on in the world around us, and I can't believe anything anymore. It becomes more and more apparent every day that we can't even believe the people who speak to us right to our face. But I can believe everything that God has inspired men to write in this book called the Bible. It's all of Him, and every word of it is truth. And I can stand on it. I don't know what anybody else can, but I can stand on it as the truth of all. So when my Lord makes a promise, I can wait on that promise because I know it's going to come to be.

The promise of the Father, which he saith he, says, continuing on there in that last paragraph, but ye, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Page 8. And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. That's the Lord's word, folks. I looked at this verse. Time and time and time and time again, every time I heard a man predict the second coming of God. And that happened during the time that the Lord had called me out of darkness. You all know who I'm talking about. I don't need to use names. But every time he mentioned something about the Lord's return, this was what came to my mind. Every time he mentioned that leave the church and no longer continue in the ordinances of baptism or the Lord's Supper, to leave the church, that it was no longer alive, that it was dead. I thought of these words where the Lord says, continue until my return. Do this in remembrance of me.

Second paragraph, page eight. While assuring us of his second coming and inspiring our hearts with the blessed hope of that great day, our Savior wisely hides from us any information regarding the time of his advent. Again, I quote Brother Don, the winter of sorrows, afflictions, and persecutions, and of coldness and darkness and indifference will be over. The sun shall no more go down, nor the moon withdraw itself, but the Lord will be the everlasting light of his people. In Matthew 24, verse 35, our Savior declares the absolute certainty of holy scriptures. He says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. That brings great peace to this poor sinner. The word of God is infallible. It'll stand forever. Everything written upon the pages of inspiration must and shall be fulfilled. It says in 1 Peter 1 verse 25, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of the God shall, I mean this is Isaiah 40 verse 8, shall stand forever. 1 Peter 1 verse 25 says this, but the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Our Lord's predictions will be fulfilled. He knew that scoffers would come saying, where is the promise of his coming? He knew that when he comes again, faith will be a rare thing among men. He knew how terribly prone we are to unbelief. Therefore, he gives this word of assurance concerning his word, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. And I will do all my pleasure calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. Let us be wise to hear what he says. Every promise He has made of mercy, grace, and pardon shall be fulfilled. Every prophecy of wrath, judgment, and everlasting punishment must be fulfilled. When heaven and earth have passed away as they must, the Word of our God and the purpose for which He created the heavens and the earth shall stand forever. Amen.

I've got a homework assignment for you. If you can, in the next few days, open your Bibles to the book of John, chapter 17, and read the Lord's Prayer. The whole chapter. The whole chapter is about the Lord Jesus praying to the Father for His people. And then tell me, tell me if you don't believe that the Lord's Word is sure. Tell me that the Word of God is not a certainty.