The Fox and the Hound of Heaven

Well, take your Bibles this morning and open them to Luke chapter 13.

! While you're doing that, I'll take a little drink of water. Well, the Lord saw fit to have Jonathan get this junk in his head during our trip to China, and he saw fit to pass it on to me and have it the week after.

My wife is going to spend some time in Florida with her mother, so I'll probably pass it on to her for that trip. Hopefully not. I think she has quarantined me pretty much.

You have found Luke chapter 13, no doubt, and we're going to be looking at the very last few verses of that chapter. And so we'll be finishing chapter 13 in our trek through this great gospel, the gospel of Luke.

So let me go ahead and read verses 31 to 35. On that very day, some Pharisees came saying to him, Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill you.

And he said to them, Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following, For it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, But you were not willing.

See, your house is left to you desolate. And assuredly, I say to you, You shall not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

All right, so we're going to finish up chapter 13. We've been in chapter 13 for quite a while. Well, it's one of those really long chapters in a really long book of the Bible, the Gospel of Luke, the longest one in the New Testament, as a matter of fact.

And so we'll finish up this chapter. And if you were looking at the bulletin this morning and noticed the title for my sermon, did you? Okay, some of you did.

I know at least one did. He commented on that. Well, you know, I thought it just a little bit strange. You know, the fox and the hound of heaven.

In fact, I mentioned to Jonathan when we were, I don't know, flying back or sometime during the week that I kind of thought about entitling the sermon, The Fox and the Hound.

And we kind of joked. I was really joking. But the more I thought about it, the more appropriate I thought it to be. And you probably, of course, have figured out who the fox is in the title.

He is, of course, Herod, because Jesus called him that fox. And just to give you a little bit of historical background, this is Herod Antipas.

You know, there are a number of Herods mentioned in the New Testament, a number of Herods in history. And they're a family of Herods. Herod Antipas was the son of the infamous Herod the Great.

He was the one, you remember, who had all of the male babies in and around Bethlehem murdered so that he could snuff out the life of the would-be king of the Jews, Jesus, of course.

And after Herod the Great's death, then his kingdom was kind of passed on to his three sons. And so you have Herod Archelaus and Herod Philip and that fox here in Luke 13, Herod Antipas.

And Herod Antipas was a really lousy guy, if you put it that way, probably worse than that. Besides being a very immoral man, of course, Herod Antipas was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded.

All right, so you kind of know who we're talking about. And Herod, then, is the fox in my title. We're not really going to talk about the fox. We're not going to talk about Herod.

He's pretty insignificant to the passage. But what about the hound? Or who is the hound of heaven? Well, it's not a Disney movie, Fox and the Hound.

But the hound of heaven refers to a poem that possibly you've heard about, maybe some of you are familiar with. It's a famous poem by that title, The Hound of Heaven.

And it was written sometime in the late 1800s and published in 1893 along with some other poems written by the English poet Francis Thompson.

Now, I don't know if you've ever heard of it or even know what it is about primarily. And so I want to read to you how one publisher described the poem.

And then you can get kind of the gist of it. The publisher wrote, But the name is strange. And it is, isn't it? The hound of heaven. The name is strange. It startles one at first.

It does not attract. Rather, the reverse. But when one reads the poem, this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood.

As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer to the chase, so does God follow the fleeing soul by his divine grace.

And though in sin or in self-love away from God it seeks to hide itself, divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to him alone in that never-ending pursuit.

It's a good description of the poem. Let me give you a flavor of the poem. Read just the first few, several lines of this, really 182-line poem. So it's a huge poem.

Let me just read a few of the lines. I fled from him down the nights and down the days. I fled him down the arches of the years. I fled him down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind.

And in the mist of tears, I hid from him. And under running laughter, upvisted hopes I sped and shot, precipitated, down titanic glooms of chasmed fears.

From those strong feet that followed, followed after. You ought to read the poem sometime. It was written by a man who was addicted to opium.

Strange. He'd come up with a poem like this. And yet it apparently was indicative of his life always running, running from God. The Lord Jesus then is the hound.

In my title, the hound of heaven. Because he is relentless in his pursuit to redeem lost sinners. He's relentless in his pursuit to complete what he had come to accomplish here in this part of his life.

Never, never fearing, never doubting, never wavering, never ever tiring of the pursuit of redemption. Francis Thompson in his poem described this pursuit as an unhurrying chase.

An unhurrying chase. That is, the Lord is not in a hurry. As we would define hurry. Never running after his quarry recklessly.

And Thompson also called it an unperturbed pace. How about those words? An unperturbed pace. That is, the Lord is not agitated. The Lord Jesus is not troubled.

He's not frustrated. In his pursuit of redemption's final goal. Interesting. Rather, as Thompson characterized it, deliberate speed.

And, get this, majestic instancy. Alright, so the English is old and antiquated. I'll admit that to you. And you read the poem, you'll find a lot of words in there.

You have to go to a dictionary to find out what they mean. It's old and antiquated, but you get the idea, I think. And this is, I think, what we kind of sense as we read this passage in Luke chapter 13.

Jesus is not fearful of those who would threaten his life. He's not stopped by that or halted by that or worried about that. He's not anxious or unduly concerned about the outcome of his life.

He came closer and closer. As he came closer and closer to the cross and his great victory over sin and death, it was not going to be a nail-biter finish.

That is, in the sense that maybe you're not just sure how it's going to turn out. Not bad at all. He knew that nothing and no one could end his life prematurely before he went to the cross.

Before he fulfilled his foreordained sacrifice upon the cross. And in our story here in Luke, Jesus is pursuing his divine destiny in that sense.

In an unhurrying chase. In an unperturbed pace. Jesus is methodically and deliberately moving toward redemption's goal, the sacrifice for sinners.

And Jesus, like the hound that stalks his quarry, Jesus pursues redemption's prize. What is redemption's prize? The salvation of sinners.

And nothing is going to stop him. Nothing is going to slow him down. Nothing is going to take his life prematurely before he accomplishes all that he has come to do, decided, for ordained, in eternity past.

And really, this is only a part of what we see in this passage. Really a small part. So let's look at it. We're going to learn, I hope, discover, I hope, from this passage, three things about Jesus.

Three things about the hound of heaven. First of all, the courage of our Savior. The courage.

Just look. I mean, certainly you sense this at the beginning of this passage. The courage of our Lord and Savior. Look at verse 31 again. On that very day, and that, by the way, is referring back to the text, the passage just before this one, when Jesus was answering the question about whether there would be many or few who are saved.

But on that very day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, Jesus, you'd better get out of Dodge. They didn't use those words, but that's really what they meant.

They said, get out and depart from here. Why? Because Herod wants to kill you. And we're not told why. Why Herod would want to kill him, but I think the threat was real.

And more importantly, we're not told why the Pharisees would have given Jesus this warning. I mean, certainly, you know, it's very highly unlikely that the Pharisees would be concerned at all about Jesus' life.

But we're not told any of those things. It's really not important because we need to notice how Jesus responded. In verse 32, he said to them, go tell that fox. That fox.

And, you know, this is a very kind of derogatory, even demeaning name to call who was essentially the king of the land.

Herod Antipas. I mean, you just don't call a king those kind of names. And knowing the nature of a fox, you know, they're cunning and they're sneaky and they're devious and they're destructive.

They're a pest when it comes to crops and farm animals. They are varmints. And really, this was equivalent to calling Herod a rat.

About the same. But Jesus said, go tell that fox. Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected.

That's what he said, go tell him. Now, you know, there may be an allusion here to the resurrection, death and resurrection of Jesus. He doesn't really say that per se.

Though it kind of sounds like that, doesn't it? Third day I shall be perfected. But actually, this is a colloquialism of a sort. For the day, and it just basically meant I shall reach my goal.

You can just go tell Herod. This is what I'm doing now and I'm going to reach my goal. I will finish my task and nothing can stop me. Not Herod, not anyone can stop me. He said in verse 33, Nevertheless, I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following.

For it cannot be that a prophet shall perish away from or outside of Jerusalem. Now, this is a statement that I think is both predictive.

It certainly is predictive. A predictive of Jesus' death in Jerusalem. It's also condemning. It's predictive in the sense that Jerusalem must be the place of Jesus' death.

It had to be. It's been ordained. It must be in Jerusalem and primarily because sacrifices must take place in Jerusalem where the temple is because the temple is where all sacrifices for sin are offered up to God.

And so nothing, this is what Jesus is saying, nothing is going to prevent me from dying in Jerusalem. So it's predictive in that sense. But it's also condemning. It's condemning in the sense that Jerusalem, historically speaking, Jerusalem was where many of God's prophets were martyred in the city of Jerusalem.

Numerous prophets from the Old Testament were murdered in Jerusalem by Israel's wicked kings over their history. And among them, by the way, were such prophets, notable prophets as Isaiah.

Isaiah was martyred in Jerusalem and also Zechariah and many others. And really, when you think about it, what a sad irony this is. I mean, Jerusalem, the very center, the central place of Israel's worship is also, was also many times a place where God's prophets were murdered and martyred.

Ironic. But what is Jesus saying? He's saying, Herod wants to kill me, you say. Well, okay. But I'm going to Jerusalem to die on purpose.

That's what he's saying. And the place has been appointed. The time has been set. The way of my death has been ordained. And I will not die one second before the time when God has ordained and appointed for me.

That's what he's saying. And what courage. Really, Jesus exemplified in the face of this death threat. And I think it was a very real death threat.

Herod's father couldn't do it when I was born. And his wily fox of a son isn't going to be able to do it either. Such courage. Now, how could Jesus say this so courageously?

Well, you say he's God the Son. I mean, come on. But I mean in his humanity. In his humanity. How could he be so certain?

How could he be so doggedly certain and courageous in the face of this? Because he trusted in the Father's providence. Divine providence.

He's not afraid to die. Not at all. He knows the purpose of his life. And he also knows that his life is in the Father's hands.

God the Father's hands. And by the way, did you know that Satan has been trying to kill Jesus from the very beginning of time? Even before Jesus was born. Satan has always opposed God's plan of redemption through his Messiah.

He has opposed it. And in the Old Testament, you can just kind of map it out. And follow it all the way through the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, Satan attempted to keep Jesus from ever being born in the first place.

You can go all the way back, I think, to the garden. When he tempted Adam and Eve. And Satan is possibly thinking that if they can sin, God will annihilate them and that will be the end of it.

And you can go to when Cain murdered his brother Abel. That was an attempt by Satan to snuff out the godly line. And, of course, Abel did die.

But Seth took his place. And Seth was the godly line from whom, eventually, the Messiah would come. And that's why he worked so hard to corrupt mankind before the flood.

You know, we'll just get them annihilated because of their sin and that's all there will be to it. And I think that's why he inspired Pharaoh to hold Israel in bondage and to kill many of them.

And that's why he led nation after nation in an attempt to completely annihilate the people of Israel. And that's why he tormented Saul, King Saul, leading him to try and kill David.

It would be out of David that the Messiah would come. And that's why he tempted David while David was walking on the rooftop of his house, kind of in his leisure. And he's looking over and he sees Bathsheba down there bathing.

And he lusts for her and commits adultery with her and has her husband murdered. Maybe God would just take David out and that will be the end of it and no Messiah.

And really, we don't have enough time to chronicle all of the various ways and efforts that Satan went to to end the messianic line before the Messiah could come.

Then when you get to the New Testament, Satan puts his efforts to destroy Jesus into high gear. Jesus was at risk from the very beginning, even before he was born, at risk when Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant and they hadn't yet come together with the act of marriage.

He could have had her stoned and that'd be the end of it. Herod the Great attempted to kill Jesus. As I said a moment ago, reminded you a moment ago, Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus by killing, murdering all those male babies a certain age and younger.

Remember, in and around Bethlehem, trying to snuff out the life of Jesus. Satan tried to tempt Jesus after his baptism. Remember, he took him to the pinnacle of the temple and said, just jump down from here and the angels will hold you up.

And if Jesus had jumped, guess what? He would have died. He would have died right there. This is Satan's attempt to snuff out the life of the Messiah before he gets to the cross and accomplishes his work.

And numerous times, the Jews, you have them attempting to stone Jesus to death. And Jesus just kind of, I like the King James way of putting it, he just passes by, passes through. I don't know how he did it.

But it wasn't his time. He's not going to die that way. Not going to die at that time. He's not going to die in that place. And Herod, of course, here in Luke 13, apparently was conspiring to have Jesus killed in the garden.

In the garden at Jesus' arrest. Remember, Satan, I believe, prompted Peter to draw his sword. He was going to protect Jesus right there, you know, in the face of a cohort of Roman soldiers.

I tell you, things could have gone very badly there if Jesus hadn't diffused the situation. I guarantee you that if he hadn't, then the Romans would have just taken short, you know, short care of this.

And everyone would have died, including Jesus. And really, also, he inspired the Roman guards after Jesus' arrest to beat Jesus and torture Jesus to the very edge of his life.

Even in the final moments of his life, hanging upon the cross. While he is there, hanging upon that cross, Satan is pleading with Jesus to come down off that cross.

You see, it repeated by several of those who were bystanders near the cross. They kept saying, come down, come down, come down, and we will believe. It's almost as if Satan had said, I wanted you dead all these centuries and millennia, but now I don't want you dead this way.

Come down from the cross. Trying to end it before it was accomplished. And Satan could not, of course, have his ways. The providence and plan of God.

It was going to be accomplished. And so don't think that Herod was the first one to issue any kind of real death threat to Jesus. Satan had been working overtime to have Jesus killed in the wrong way, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

The courage of our Savior was based upon his unwavering trust in the providence of God the Father to accomplish his plan of redemption.

Plan before the beginning of time. In eternity past. Now, this should, I think, be a powerful example for all believers today. For us today.

This is how we should live our lives today. I mean, we should. Trusting God's providence. You say, oh, I don't know what his providence is. Jesus knew what his providence was.

It's easy for him to trust it. But what about you? You don't know what his providence is. Well, it doesn't matter. You just trust him. Knowing that your life is in his hands.

That's what we are to believe. We take Jesus as a great example here. Do you understand the courage that that kind of trust will give you in life?

Do you understand the freedom, the liberty that we can experience that that kind of trust will produce in you?

Nobody can take anything from you that really matters. You say, well, there are a lot of things I have that matter to me. Well, they don't really matter. Nobody can take anything away from you that really matters in light of eternity.

Nobody can do anything to you that does not first pass through the sovereign and providential hands of God. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Nobody can put you to death until God says okay. Have you ever thought about that? We're talking about trusting the providence of God. Your life is hid in his life.

Your life is in his hands. Jesus is a perfect example of one who had courage in life because he trusted, fully trusted the providence of God. Nothing was going to change that.

Nothing was going to thwart God's purpose, God's providence. And it doesn't matter whether or not you know what it is. It only matters that you belong to him. And therefore everything about you belongs to him.

Your future here on this earth and your eternity all belongs to him. You're in his hands. So you don't have to worry about it. And you can face the challenges of life and the persecutions that may come.

You can face the difficult times. You can face those with courage because you just belong to God. You belong to him. The courage of our Savior.

There's a second thing here. And it is the compassion. The compassion of our Savior. The courage of our Savior.

The compassion of our Savior. Again, I have entitled this sermon, The Fox and the Hound of Heaven. But the hound of heaven is not pursuing the fox in the story here.

The hound of heaven is pursuing the sheep. His sheep. And he's not pursuing them in order to devour them or to destroy them.

He is pursuing the sheep to gather them into his fold to save the sheep. And so notice the compassion of Jesus.

Verse 34. And here really is the statement of the emotion of his compassion. He says, Oh, Jerusalem. Jerusalem. He repeats it twice.

And it is a way to convey compassion and passion and burden. Emotion. Oh, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem. Jerusalem. David, who was the type of the Christ. David used this very same kind of technique or way of expressing his compassion.

He used this when he learned of the death of his son Absalom. Remember? In 2 Samuel 18.33. Oh, my son Absalom.

My son. My son. You can just hear him mourning and grieving in the compassion of his heart. Would I have died instead of you? Oh, Absalom, my son.

Absalom, my son. Repeating it over again. And Jesus used the same kind of expression of deep emotion not only here in our passage but several other places.

In Luke 10.41. Martha, Martha. You are worried and bothered about so many things. And in Luke 22.31.

Simon, Simon. Behold, Satan demanded permission to sift you like wheat. And in Acts 9.4. The resurrected Jesus speaking to then Saul who later would become Paul.

Saul, Saul. Why are you persecuting me? It's an expression. It's an expression of deep emotion and love and compassion.

And it's used to emphasize, to punctuate these things. And here in our passage, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And he's not referring to the physical city per se.

He's referring to the people. The people of Israel. Did Jesus know they were a rebellious people? Well, certainly did.

Did Jesus know that they were an idolatrous people? Even though steeped in the religion of Yahweh, they were still idolatrous.

Did Jesus know that? Yeah, he did. Did Jesus know that they were a murderous people? Did he know that? Yeah, see, Jesus knew that.

Look at it. Look at what he says. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The one who kills the prophets and stones or executes those who are sent to her.

That is, those God has sent. You kill them and stone them. You execute them. But then notice his unmerited, unqualified compassion for God's people.

These murderous people. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under the wings. Her wings. What's he talking about?

It's a metaphor, of course. But he's talking about his deep desire to deliver Israel from divine judgment.

A judgment they deserved. He wants to deliver them and to punctuate the deep emotion and sadness in his heart. He says, but you were not willing.

Literally, you would not have it. You would not have any of it. It's yours to have. You would not have it. You rejected it.

And listen, what a, really, an epitaph on humanity. Two, when you think about it. Lost humanity. Yet, it does not change Christ's compassion for the lost of this world.

And this is the lesson for us. Jesus is an example to us, not only of courage, but also of compassion. When you were saved, did you know that God began to give you a heart just like Jesus' heart?

He did. Most of us, most of the time, been fighting against it.

But he gave us a new heart. And so you and I should have compassion. Compassion on the lost. I'm not talking about compassion for the poor.

We're to have that, too. But even more importantly, the compassion for those who are lost, those who are unbelieving. We're to have compassion for them. For the rebellious.

For the idolatrous. For the murderous. We're to have compassion for them. Should we have the compassion of Jesus for, say, the members of ISIS?

You say, well, pastor, that's a stretch. Perhaps I can have compassion for my uncle who's always ragging me about my faith in Christ.

Perhaps I could have compassion for my unbelieving husband who makes it really tough on me to live out the life of Christ. But to have compassion for those radical Muslims who are beheading people who will not bow down to Islam.

I don't know about that. But Jesus had compassion for the people who were killing the prophets. Jesus. He had compassion for them.

Stoning them and beheading them and crucifying them and running them through with swords. And, by the way, tradition holds that the prophet Isaiah was put inside of a hollow log and then sawed in two.

Man. Think about that. And Jesus had compassion on these people. Jesus had compassion for the very people who would very shortly be killing him.

And after he's gone, they would continue to kill the apostles, all of them except John. And after they're gone, even after they're gone, they will persecute and kill his followers in the early church.

I'm talking about the Jews who are doing this. You see, we've been given a new heart. It's a heart like Jesus' heart. And so, we begin to love sinners.

If we have Jesus' heart. We begin to want those who are facing eternal separation and judgment.

We begin to want them to come to fellowship through faith in Jesus Christ. No matter who they are. Now, we can and should desire justice.

I'm not denying that. But we, there's no place for us to ever want vengeance. And hatred.

The courage of our Savior in the providence of God. The compassion of our Savior for the people of God. Both present and future. Because we don't know who they are.

We have compassion for all sinners. And then one more very quickly. The confidence of our Savior. In the plan of God.

Confidence in the plan of God. The eternal plan of God. And this really reaches beyond the cross to the full completion of God's plan of redemption.

Look closely at what Jesus said in verse 35. See. Your house is left to you desolate. That is.

Rejection of the Lord's compassion brings about. Ultimately brings about sure condemnation. And then Jesus says. Now look at this. Assuredly.

I say to you. That is. I say with all confidence. Complete confidence. You shall not see me until the time comes when you say.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now Jesus is looking way out there now. What's he saying? What does he mean?

Well first of all. What he is saying. He is saying with all confidence. You can't miss that. He's confident. Assuredly. I say.

You shall not. That is. This is what will happen. This is what will happen. So. First of all. There is great confidence here.

Second of all. What he is saying pertains to something. In the distant future. Something that's going to happen in the future. And I think for us today. Still future.

Still future. Depends on your eschatology. But the word until. Is unqualified. Means.

Until refers to an unspecified time. In the future. And because Jesus is speaking to Israel. I believe it refers to a time.

When God. Will ultimately fulfill. All of his covenant promises. With Israel. And for now. Of course. Because of their rejection of Messiah.

The rejection of Christ. Their house is desolate. It's forsaken. Literally. And the focus right now. Focus of God.

And his promises. Are for now. To the Gentile church. His focus has been. In this age. The church. Which is primarily Gentile.

Though there are some. Many Jews. Who have trusted Christ. But not. Israel as a nation. So it's the Gentile church. That's his focus. But there will be a time. Coming. When God will go back.

And deal with Israel. Come back to them. And visit them again. And so third. Of all. Then from this passage. When Jesus says. You shall not.

See me. Until. He's referring to Israel's. Spiritual sight. Their spiritual sight. He's referring to a time.

When their. Spiritual eyes. Will be opened. As the prophet. Zachariah predicted. And I will pour. On the house of David. And on the inhabitants.

Of Jerusalem. The spirit of grace. And supplication. Then they shall. Look on me. Whom they pierced. Yes. They will mourn for him.

As one mourns. For his only son. And grieve for him. As one grieves. For firstborn. Zachariah. 12. 10. Paul wrote in. Romans 1.

Or 11. 25. Romans 11. 25. For I do not desire. Brethren. That you should be ignorant. Of this. Mystery. Mystery. Mystery in the sense. Of something that.

Before has been hidden. But now has been revealed. I don't want you to be ignorant. Of this. Mystery. It's really the mystery. Of the gospel. Full redemption. Lest you should be wise. In your own opinion. That blindness.

In part. Has happened. To Israel. Until. The fullness. Of the Gentiles. Has come in. And so. All Israel. Will be saved.

As it is written. He's quoting. Isaiah 59. The deliverer. Will come. Out of Zion. And he will. Turn away. Ungodliness. From Jacob. For this is my.

Covenant. With them. When I will take. Away their sin. And when is all this. Going to happen. It'll happen. At the second coming. Of Christ. His second coming.

Revelation 1. 7. Behold. He is coming. With clouds. And every eye. Will see him. Even they. Who pierced him. Speaking of the Jews.

And what according to Jesus. Will Israel say. What will they say. At that time. They will say. Blessed is he. Who comes in the name. Of the Lord. Their eyes will be open.

Their spiritual eyes. They not only see him. Physically. But they'll. They'll see him. Spiritually. Blessed is he. That is. The Messiah. As he's coming. Who comes in the name.

Of the Lord. Which is. Again. A quote. Of. Psalm. 118. Verse 26. Now. The fulfillment. Of this.

The fulfillment. Does not come. A little bit later. When Jesus. Enters. Into Jerusalem. Remember. He comes in. His triumphal. Entry. And the people there. They're singing. Hosanna.

Hosanna. To the king. And they're. Laying down. Their garments. And their palm branches. And such. As he comes in. Riding on a donkey. And they say. These very words. That are recorded here.

This. This very prophecy. They're repeating. It there. But they're. They're. But they're doing so. Only because. They. Are thinking. That. The.

His entry. Into Jerusalem. At that very time. Is the fulfillment. Of Psalm. 118. But it is not. It is not. Jesus.

Would later. After he. Entered Jerusalem. Later. He would. Give these same. Teachings. That we have in. Luke 13. And we give them.

In. Jerusalem. And in. The temple. In Matthew. 23. And verse. 9. Just mere. Days. Possibly. Two days. Before his. Crucifixion.

And he said. You shall. See me. No more. Till you say. Blessed is he. Who comes. In the name. Of the Lord. And he's looking. Way out. Into the future. One day.

That's going to happen. And all Israel. Will be saved. And so. What I'm saying. Here this morning. Is this. This is the confidence. Of our savior. A confidence. In the.

Plan. Of God. That reaches. All the way out. Into eternity. His plan. Of redemption. Didn't end there. At Calvary. It continues on. And he will redeem.

Israel. Ultimately. All will be fulfilled. That God has given. In his word. And spoken. Through the prophets. And do you have. That kind of confidence.

That same confidence. Talking about. A confidence. In the plan. Of God. As. Laid out for us. In his word. That everything.

In his word. Reveals. To us. The future. That the future. Will happen. It will be done. And so.

When you see things. Happening around the world. Today. And there's a whole lot. Happening. There's so much happening. We can't even keep it straight. In nearly every corner.

Of the world. There's unrest. And strife. And persecution. And wars. And rumors of wars. And it's just. Unbelievable. Strife.

Even in our own country. And you. Look at these things. Do you. See. God's. Word. Being fulfilled. Do you see that?

Is your confidence. In. As Ephesians 1.11 says. In him. Who works. All things. According to. The counsel.

Of his will. Is that where your confidence. Lies. So. Look to the example. Of Jesus.

The courage. Of our savior. Savior. In the providence. Of God. The compassion. Of our savior. For the true people.

Of God. The confidence. Of our savior. In the plan. Of God. Thank you.