 But today we're in chapter 21. We're gonna look at verses 29 through 33 here in the gospel of Luke as we continue our study in this gospel. And so let's begin reading together here in Luke chapter 21 at verse 29. I'll read to verse 33 and we'll get into our study. Luke chapter 21, beginning at verse 29. Luke writes, then he spoke to them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. Now as we begin chapter 21, remember with me as we've been looking through this chapter, Jesus had prophesied that the Jewish temple would be destroyed. In verse five of chapter 21, we read then as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, he said these things which you see, the things will come, the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. So Jesus had prophesied that the Jewish temple would be destroyed. And as he had done that, it prompted a question from his apostles, that question is located in verse seven, when they asked him, saying, teacher, but when will these things be, and what sign will there be when these things are about to take place? And so the entire chapter of 21 actually is Jesus's answer to that one question. And so as we've gone through chapter one together, throughout this chapter, Jesus has been giving various signs concerning his return. He had spoken concerning the fact that there would be a period of general troubles that would occur throughout the entire church age, but that there was also a specific time that is referred to by Jesus as a time of tribulation and great tribulation that would occur also at the very end. As a matter of fact, there is going to be a seven year tribulation that begins with increasing judgments occurring in the first three and a half years and then the great tribulation would ensue from that point concluding with Jesus's return. And so Jesus has been speaking concerning these things and answered to the question that had been asked of him. Now he has made it very clear that what we call the second coming, the second coming is going to be as real as his first coming. And the reality of that, and this is I think where the rubber meets the road, the reality of that is if we really believe that Jesus is true to his word, if we really believe that, well the reality of that would be that my life would be lived in such a way that it reflects that I believe that. A lot of times my theology and my behavior don't really jive, they don't really go together. My beliefs and my behaviors sometimes are entirely different. I really do believe that it's possible for us to believe all the right things about the return of Christ and still be unsaved or still be very carnal. And so when we study the word of God many times as it relates to the return of Christ there's an exhortation that's attached to his return. I'll give you an example, it's found in 1 John in chapter three, verses two and three. In that passage when the apostle John was writing, 1 John three, verses two and three, he said beloved, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself even as Jesus himself is pure. In other words the return of Christ is an incentive for living a godly life. When we really believe that Jesus is returning then we live as if we anticipate that return, and it makes sense to me, if I really think that he's returning I'm gonna live as if he's going to come. It makes perfect sense. In Titus chapter two verses 12 through 14 the apostle Paul said God's grace is teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works. Recently when we had a prayer meeting here related to the proposition eight and all and as we gathered on Friday some of you were with us on that Friday night and we shared various Jack Hibbs and Raul and I shared that night here in that prayer meeting. I shared a little bit with those who were in attendance and I said it's an interesting thing that we Christians are very vocal saying that we need to preserve traditional marriage. When there are statistics, the disturbing statistics that you can find with the study that George Barnett did I think it was in the year 2002 in which it was demonstrated that evangelical Christians have a higher divorce rates than atheists and agnostics. And as I said that people it's hard to believe isn't it? I mean people who actually say I believe in traditional marriage aren't keeping their marriages together and atheists and agnostics are keeping their marriages together and so I was sharing listen if we're gonna have an impact in the society it's gonna be the impact of character. It's gonna be that we have actually learned that God's commands are truly holy and just and therefore we ought to keep them because of all people on the face of the earth we believers are the ones who love the Lord and fear him the most I would think and that's the whole point. So when the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching his disciples concerning his return well there's a motivation that ought to cause me to be anticipating that and that's the sense that when he returns I'm gonna be as he is and therefore if I have that hope in me I'll purify myself even as he is pure I'm gonna live a life that is holy it's gonna be zealous for good works and that's what the proper understanding and study of last days is supposed to produce it's supposed to produce a people who are expecting Jesus to return and living every day as if he is. It was asked of us one time in a meeting that I was in and I've repeated this in my own studies because it spoke so much to my own heart that the question was asked if you knew for a fact beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was going to return and there's no doubt about it he is gonna return and you knew the exact time it's gonna be next week at a certain time if you actually knew that the question was asked exactly what is it that you would do different in your life is there anything that you would do differently if you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that within one week Jesus is returning and that question was posed of us and so naturally I begin to think what would I do and then the next statement is then you need to start doing that now because that's how you really demonstrate that you expect that the Lord is really returning but if we're saying well the Lord delays his return then in essence what I am is I'm not really believing that he is gonna come back so the hope of his coming ought to cause something in me, something called a zeal for holiness that actually changes my life and so not only do I have proper doctrine but also I'm doing the things that I believe not only do I have proper beliefs but I actually have behavior that accompanies my beliefs and so that's what it's all about and that's what Jesus is speaking about and so Jesus is speaking concerning his return and here in this passage before us he gives a parable it's called the parable of the fig tree so he's illustrating his answer by using a fig tree and so notice what he says in verse nine he's verse 29 rather he says he spoke to them a parable look at the fig tree and all the trees well as he begins to speak here he's saying listen the signs that I have been speaking about well when these signs begin to occur and my coming is very near and this particular parable is prophetic because it is speaking specifically to the generation in existence just before his return and he says you to look at now and notice this the fig tree and he actually speaks of the fig tree and makes mention of other trees but look at the fig tree is what he says and as he uses the fig tree we need to understand that in scripture Israel is often represented by a fig tree very often in the Old Testament for example in the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament the fifth book of the Bible in Deuteronomy chapter eight verses seven and eight we read the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land a land with streams and pools of water with springs flowing in the valleys and hills a land with wheat and barley vines and fig trees pomegranates, olive oil and honey and so fig trees is part of what represents the nation of Israel in Hosea in chapter nine verse 10 we read I saw your fathers as the first fruits on the fig tree in its first season so in the Old Testament the nation of Israel is often represented as a fig tree when Jesus was speaking in the gospel of Luke he would use a fig tree on occasion to represent the nation of Israel for example in Luke chapter 13 verses six through nine we saw this already but Luke writes he told this parable a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any so I said to the man who took care of the vineyard for three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any cut it down why should it use up the soil? Sir the man replied leave it alone for one more year and I'll dig around it and fertilize it if it bears fruit next year fine if not then cut it down and we saw that as Jesus was giving that parable he was speaking concerning the unbelief of the nation of Israel a nation that was rejecting its Messiah and was not producing fruit of righteousness now when Jesus was ministering Matthew records this Jesus actually at the end of his ministry cursed a barren fig tree in Matthew 21 verse 19 Matthew records seeing a fig tree by the road he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves then he said to it may you never bear fruit again and immediately the tree withered so we know that that tree symbolized national Israel a spiritually dead nation the Israel had an impressive outer appearance of religion but in reality produced no fruit it was dead and so that's what Paul would say concerning that nation when he wrote in Romans chapter 10 verses one and two brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelite is that they may be saved I can testify about them that they are zealous for God but their zeal is not based on knowledge they're not producing any fruit and so when Jesus here in Luke chapter 21 verse 29 speaks of the fig tree we know that as he gives this parable he's speaking concerning the nation of Israel in verse 30 he says when they are already budding you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near so he's saying they are already budding the question has to be asked what does that mean what do you speak about Jesus when you say when you see that they are already budding well perhaps what he's referring to or alluding to would be the nation of Israel and in a prophetic sense the miraculous rebirth of the Jewish nation now all of us obviously are aware of the fact that Israel was scattered around the world for over 1900 years but it miraculously once again came to exist in 1948 and so that in and of itself is a miracle but I wanna show you something in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel turn with me please to Ezekiel chapter 37 and I wanna show you something found in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter 37 this is a nation that miraculously came back to life I've shared this with you so often all of you are very familiar with this read your Old Testament and look at all the different peoples there Philistines, Jebusites, the Canaanites, the Parasites all the ites there's so many ites uptight, sadisticites, cellulites I like that that's lots of ites Israelites but try and find those people groups now look for them and they're not here they don't exist of course they're out of existence now but we have the Israelites we have the Jewish nation that's a miracle in and of itself scattered throughout the world and yet brought back into one nation in 1948 well this is an answer to a prophecy that we find in the book of Ezekiel in chapter 37 now we'll look at verses one through 14 here because what this records for us is a vision called the vision of the valley of dry bones now just so that you know Ezekiel this book was written 586 years before Christ 586 BC and this chapter here the verses that we're gonna be looking at especially the first 14 verses this chapter has had over time various interpretations there are those who look at Ezekiel 37 one through 14 and view it as presenting what would be called a general picture of resurrection from the dead there are others who would say that this passage speaks only of Israel's regathering from Babylonian captivity and being brought back into the land of Israel it's a picture they would say of the nation awakening to life once again in the land of Israel but it relates to the regathering from the Babylonian captivity there are others who would say that this is simply a picture of a political revival of the nation of Israel but in reality what this is showing to us is the spiritual condition of Israel during the centuries of its dispersion it also points to the national resurrection and restoration of Israel to the land now how do we know that well before we read verses one through 14 notice verses 21 and 22 because it reveals that to us it says Ezekiel 37 21 and 22 then say to them thus says the Lord God surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations wherever they have gone and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land and I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king over them all they shall no longer be two nations nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again so this is quite obvious a picture of the national resurrection and restoration of Israel to the land that took place in 1948 but let's read verses one through 14 together and I'll give you some insight into this as we're considering the parable of the fig tree beginning at verse one Ezekiel 37 the hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley and it was full of bones and he caused me to pass by them all around and behold there were very many in the open valley and indeed they were very dry he said to me son of man can these bones live so I answered oh Lord God you know again he said to me prophesy to these bones and say to them oh dry bones hear the word of the Lord thus says the Lord God to these bones surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you cover you with skin and put breath in you you shall live then you shall know that I am the Lord so I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone indeed as I look the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over but there was no breath in them also he said to me prophesy to the breath prophesy son of man and say to the breath thus says the Lord God come from the forewinds oh breath and breathe on these slain that they may live so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet and exceedingly great army then he said to me son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel they indeed say our bones are dry our hope is lost we ourselves are cut off therefore prophesy and say to them thus says the Lord God behold oh my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves oh my people and brought you up from your graves I will put my spirit in you you shall live and I will place you in your own land then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it says the Lord so this chapter is called the prophecy of the dry bones we see in verses one and two that Ezekiel's been brought out in the spirit and set down in a valley full of dry bones these are bones that are sun bleached it's obvious that they have been there for some time and as he looks at it there is absolutely no life physical nor spiritual that he can see and so as he's looking at this notice verse three God asks the question son of man can these bones live and so that emphasizes the impossibility and hopelessness of the situation can these bones live? We who have gone into the desert we live nice and close to desert we have gone into the desert and you've seen skulls from cattle and all that have, the cattle has died and the skeletons left behind and you see that and the question would come to you can this live? Well what's the answer? Well as far as I'm concerned absolutely not and that's why Ezekiel answers in the way that he does he says oh Lord you know this is beyond my ability to answer it requires more power than man possesses to make these bones live is what he's saying and so he's looking at a valley of dry bones it's absolute death there's no life whether physical or spiritual and God asks that question can they live? Only you know God it's beyond my power so he says prophesies verse four prophesy to these bones say to them oh dry bones hear the word of the Lord thus says the Lord God to these bones surely I will cause breath to enter into you you shall live I will put sin use on you and bring flesh upon you cover you with skin put breath in you you shall live then you shall know that I am the Lord so the life giving word of God is going to accomplish that impossible task the life giving word of God he said prophesy because it's a word of God that brings life to that which has no life Jesus said the words that I speak to you they are spirit and they are life that's how you and that's how I got saved we got saved because we heard the word of God we got saved because somebody proclaimed a message that had life in it we embraced that message called the gospel and as a result of that we were regenerated we were reborn we who were walking dead people zombies if you will we who were spiritually dead became alive because of the life giving word and so here as Ezekiel is prophesying and speaking he's basically being told that the word of God is gonna give life to this nation I am gonna restore this nation I am the one he's saying who will do this even though it's an impossible task he's saying I will bring life to these dead bones the nation of Israel will once again come to life and ultimately what will happen is they're gonna recognize that God is their Lord and so Ezekiel obeys him I prophesied verse seven as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise and suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone indeed as I looked the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over but there was no breath in them also he said to me prophesied to the breath prophesied son of man say to the breath thus says the Lord God come from the forewinds O breath breathe on these slain that they may live so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army this is a picture a picture of Israel now the result here as he prophesied over these bones is that they once again are clothed with flesh but I want you to see it but they're still dead that would be a picture of the nation of Israel reassembled but without spiritual life which is the way it is right now I mean sometimes when we go to Israel we have people who are first time first time they go to Israel who are so excited because they're going to go to what is called the holy land at least there are those who call it the holy land but once they get there they discover it's no holier than any place else and they enter there and they find that the majority of Jewish people who are living there today the majority overwhelmingly are agnostic non-practicing the Jewish religion doesn't really matter that much to them outside of some of the the holy festival days and all of that but they don't live overwhelmingly they don't live under the law they're not living as believers for some it's actually a great disappointment when they see that the nation has been reassembled and in a miraculous fashion it has come back together bone to bone if you will the flesh has been put on this but there is no spiritual life the life has not yet to come it reminds me of how that when God took the ground as it's recorded in Genesis and he took the ground and he formed the dirt into Adam into man and it shows that in the original creation of man the picture there is of God working in a very tender way producing the first human being but the Bible tells us that he was just laying there until God breathed into him the breath of life the nation of Israel is a nation that's been reassembled as we have seen it since 1948 but it has no spiritual breath within it it hasn't come to a knowledge of its savior Jesus Christ it's a beautiful nation it's beautiful but it's without life and it will not have life until the spirit of God enters in and that's what we see now that's what we have now the first stage of God's work in Israel the nation continues to slowly regather but the nation has no life in it no spiritual life and that's what's taking place here and that's why ultimately God is gonna breathe life into this nation you see after the tribulation we've already looked at how the Lord is gonna bring that nation through and he's gonna refine that nation after the tribulation God once again will be their God that's what's being referred to in verses 11 through 14 here in Ezekiel when it says, son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel they indeed say our bones are dry our hope is lost we ourselves are cut off therefore prophesy and say to them thus says the Lord God behold all my people I will open your graves cause you to come up from your graves bring you into the land of Israel then you shall know that I am the Lord when I've opened your graves O my people and brought you up from your graves I will put my spirit in you you shall live I will place you in your own land then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it says the Lord that is what's gonna take place just prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ when the tribulation concludes and those have come through the refining fire and have been brought to faith in their Messiah and that's how that's gonna take place and so what we have right now in the nation of Israel and you can turn on back to Luke chapter 21 what we have right now in the nation of Israel is it is being reassembled it continues to be reassembled even as I speak now but ultimately it will be the nation that once again God is it's God at this moment that is not true with that nation and so back in chapter 21 at verse 31 Jesus says so you also when you see these things happening know that the kingdom of God is near so when the nation of Israel regathered and once again became a nation that should have been for believers a sign that Jesus' return is approaching you know if you like to study the Bible and you go and you buy commentaries and some in this church like to do that and you buy commentaries and all and you're doing last day's studies you might find this interesting if you buy commentaries that were written in the 1800s, 1700s you know earlier commentators and all there's some very rich things to learn from some of the early church fathers as they left some of their material behind and all for us but you read some of that material as it relates to the nation of Israel and you will see overwhelmingly in the 1800s, early 1900s overwhelmingly that when the commentators are referring to things that relate to the nation of Israel in the last days prior to the return of Christ they overwhelmingly practice something that is called replacement theology some of you have heard that term replacement theology what simply means that the church has replaced the nation of Israel in the plans of God and they do not see the nation of Israel as a literal nation any longer but they spiritualize it and so things that related to the nation of Israel are now ascribed to the church and you'll see that in the commentators and the reason is because some of these early commentators actually traveled to Israel and they would see that it was abandoned that there were basically nomadic shepherds Arabs who lived there there weren't many Jews who were there in the nation and all and in their mind it would be impossible to see this nation under control of national Israel once again and it didn't even have the name Israel anymore I mean to this day you can pick up books and you can be reading on Israel and what's the word that they use they use the word Palestine and the reason they use the word Palestine is because the word Palestine is really a transliteration of the word Philistine and what they're trying to call Israel is the nation of the Philistines they don't even want you to associate Israel with its own nation and so that's why even in some of my Bibles I will have the land of Palestine early commentators speak of the land of Palestine but in reality it's the nation of Israel and they couldn't believe they didn't believe such a thing could happen they didn't believe that this nation would one day regather and actually exist and yet what happened is in 1948 the miracle of miracles happened and the nation once again formed even as Ezekiel 37 made it very clear what happened one of the strongest arguments for the truthfulness of the Bible is the simple existence of the nation of Israel that's one of the strongest arguments you have when people say how do you know the word of God is true how do you know that Bible is true well Jesus spoke concerning the nation of Israel he spoke concerning it in this condition during just before he returns and over 1900 years it was abandoned there was no such thing as Israel it was filled with swamps when you're in Israel and you're in the northern portion of Israel and we travel up the highway there on the western coast and you'll be looking at all of these crops and they have various trees that they plant and it's become the bread basket if you will of Europe in many ways it produced a lot of oranges and citrus and various other things, avocados and all when you're going through that land your guide will point out to you that the land that you're driving through right now and all of these fields that you see at one time all of this especially in an area called the Hula Valley all things the Hula Valley the first Hawaiian lived there in the Hula Valley but when you're going through that they will point out that this actually this area here was swamp and what you'll see is eucalyptus trees they have eucalyptus growths everywhere and he says you know why you see so many eucalyptus trees he said they're not really indigenous to Israel actually they came from Australia do you know why there are so many eucalyptus trees up here in the Hula Valley and so naturally you're supposed to say no tell me oh great one why well the answer is because the eucalyptus thrives on a lot of water so they threw all these groves in there so it could suck up the water from the swamps and that's how they were able to drain those swamps and pull out all of that excess water through all these groves of eucalyptus trees and so they will tell you when you go into that land when you originally went in the early 1900s and oh this was abandoned all of this was there were no trees this is just swamp land as a matter of fact malaria was a very very destructive disease many people died of malaria but because the Jews went in and began to plant plants like that eucalyptus and all it changed the entire fabric of that nation so when you go into the nation of Israel to this day and you see it existing that's the sign Jesus was giving and he said when you see this fig tree beginning to blossom you know that summer is now you know that my return is near this was not specifically spoken to his apostles living at that time this is written for us in the end days to awaken us to the reality of the fact that Jesus' return is any day now now he says in verse 32 assuredly I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away now when he says I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place that word generation is a word that many people argue over that word generation is a word that can be used at least two different ways the word generation one the word generation can speak of natural descent the successive members of a genealogy it would be speaking of a nation of people and so that would be saying this nation this Jewish nation as a people will not cease existing so this generation will by no means pass away is another way of saying that Israel will continue and will not pass away as a people Jeremiah 31 verse 35 says it like this this is what the Lord says he who appoints the sun to shine by day who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night who stirs up the seas so that its waves roar the Lord almighty is his name only if these decrees vanish from my sight declares the Lord will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me if the sun stops shining in the day and if the moon stops reflecting its light at night only then would Israel ever cease to exist is what he's saying here and obviously the sun and the moon continue to do what they do but it also speaks of the people the people who are alive during the time or the end times who will be viewing these things and so I'm not somebody who runs around putting dates and I'm not doing that right now what I am saying is we have seen the nation of Israel regathered I believe that that's ample proof that the Lord's return is coming at least from his own word is coming soon and that generation, that nation of Israel continues to exist, it didn't cease to exist it continues to this day and I fully expect that he's gonna return any time now somebody recently asked me do you think the Antichrist is alive right now and my answer is I don't know I don't know he may be pastoring Calvary Golden Springs for all I know but I don't know for sure I wonder sometimes but the answer is no but see part of the reason well the answer is no is because it's obviously who knows but secondly as a Christian I'm not looking for Antichrist anyway I'm looking for Jesus Christ and so I realize he's returning any time and so what will happen is Israel is gonna become a nation which it did and that reveals that we're at the end of history but it also reveals that the rapture is about to occur the next event on the prophetic calendar and no other event occurs prior to this next event the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church that's the next event that's the next thing that's gonna happen that fulfills prophecy is the rapture and that's gonna come it's gonna come soon and I look forward to that you know we used to say here we used to say I'll see you later and then the response would be here, there or in the air you know and that's kinda how we lived at that time when I first got saved I yes began to hear about Jesus' return first when I got saved at the age of 20 and yes it's been almost 38 years that I've been walking with the Lord and no he hasn't returned yet but that simply means that his return is one day closer every day I wait it's one day closer every day one day closer so again we ought to live as if we really anticipate that now finally when he says in verse 33 heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away he's simply saying this he's saying the universe ultimately will be done away with it's gonna be recreated after the millennial reign of Jesus Christ you see that in the book of Revelation but God's word endures forever God's word is a sure word and it endures forever Psalm 100 verse five says the Lord is good His mercy is everlasting His truth endures to all generations Psalm 102 verses 25 through 27 in the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands they will perish but you remain they will all wear out like a garment like clothing you will change them they will be discarded but you remain the same and your years will never end 2 Peter 3 10 through 13 the day of the Lord will come as a thief the heavens will disappear with a roar the elements will be destroyed by fire the earth and everything in it will be laid bare since everything will be destroyed in this way what kind of people ought you to be you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming that day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat but in keeping with his promise we're looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth the home of righteousness Peter said in 1 Peter 1 24 and 25 all flesh is as grass the glory of man as a flower of grass the grass withers the flower thereof falls away but the word of the Lord endures forever and this is a word that by the gospel is preached unto you heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away it's the word of life and by embracing this word as you heard it as I heard it as the gospel was preached my life was transformed absolutely transformed uniquely made brand new by the life changing word of God it's through the embracing of God's word the living God's word the acting on God's word the obedience to God's word the trusting of God's word that our lives are absolutely transformed God does marvelous things marvelous things absolutely amazing things I was standing outside on Sunday and I was talking to a friend of mine we were talking about what God does how good God is and I said you know what all the Lord wants us to do is believe him just to trust him just to believe him and I want you to travel with me for just a moment in your mind's eye for just a second as I was speaking with him I was out there by the gazebo in your mind's eye you know where the gazebo is I was standing by the gazebo out there and as we were standing there I said to him I said turn around and look at the old building that we used to occupy I said you see that and he goes yeah I said if we didn't trust the Lord well one to be honest with you we'd have never even been in that building but if we didn't trust the Lord that's where we would be right now in that building I said do you see that patio cover there he goes yeah that wouldn't exist do you see that building right over here that children's wing there that wouldn't exist what that would be would be a red barn and three houses I said if you turn around and look at the sanctuary right now I said look at that that would be asphalt and dirt because that's all that existed here prior to this building I said everything you see on these grounds is an evidence of God working because we trust him to do that everything that you see is the hand of God everything and so I believe Lord I believe God can do abundantly above all that we ask or think I know that he can I have no doubt that he can but where did I learn that I learned that from the word of God and when you study that word and hold fast to that word God honors his word and that's why Jesus makes it very clear to us listen when you see this take place you know that summer is nigh my return is soon and what do we say? even so come quickly Lord Jesus we await your return come quickly we want to be with you