We have come to the great message of the book of Revelation because obviously this is a book which deals in a more extensive manner with that particular question than any other book of the Bible. And we've been looking at this book on a number of Friday evenings, not attempting to give a detailed exposition of all the various symbols, but concerned rather to have a general picture and a general idea of its message. And we've indicated how this book seems to divide itself up quite naturally into certain sections. There are seven main sections which we have indicated, perhaps it would be well for me to remind you very hurriedly of them. The first one is the first three chapters. Then you have chapters 4 to 7, and then chapters 8 to 11. Then you have from chapter 12 to chapter 14, chapters 15 and 16, chapters 17 to 19, and chapters 20 to 22. There are the seven main sections. Now that's not an arbitrary division, you remember. The division is suggested by the book itself in this way, that in each of those sections you seem to be dealing with the entire history of the Church, leading up to the Last Judgment. That is the thing which makes such a division possible. But in addition to that, I've been rather concerned to emphasize that there is a major division of the book into two sections. And that comes quite simply. You have the first 11 chapters and the second 11 chapters. There is an obvious division there again. Because at the beginning of the 12th chapter, you find yourselves going back to the incarnation of our Lord. But we have been trying to show this, that there is obviously a great purpose in dividing the book at that point. because in the first section, the first 11 chapters, including the three subdivisions of that section, the theme is mainly this, Christ and his church facing the opposition of men, of men and women, of mankind. And we have attempted a general exposition of those chapters. We left off the last time we met at the end of chapter 11. And we had shown that whereas in the section running from chapter 4 to chapter 7, we had an account of what happens to God's people during this age, In chapters 8 to 11, we are given an account of what happens to those who persecute God's people, leading up in the end to their final judgment and their being consigned to the punishment of perdition. But now we resume this evening in considering the message of the second half of the book, beginning at chapter 12 and going on to the end of the book. And here we've been trying to show that the theme is this, that the conflict in which we find ourselves as God's people, as members of the Christian church, is not only a conflict against men and women. It is something much deeper than that. You remember how the Apostle Paul puts it in writing to the Ephesians, sixth chapter. He says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now, that is the theme of the second half of this great book. And you remember that it is divided into four subsidiary sections. Chapters 12 to 14, that's one section. Chapters 15 and 16, that's the second. Chapters 17, 18, and 19, that's the third. And chapters 20, 21, and 22, the fourth and the final section. Now, I want again to try to give a general exposition of the message of these four sections. And there is nothing that I know that is of greater importance for Christian people at a time like this than just to understand this particular message. Certainly, there is nothing that comforts one so much, there is nothing that is so encouraging. Because, whether we like it or not, as Christian people we find ourselves subject to persecution, subject to trials. Christian people are often depressed when they see the state of the church, and when they see what's happening in the world, and they don't understand, they're bewildered. And they wonder whether God has forgotten his promises, and whether Christianity as we have known it is to come to an end. There are people who are full of forebodings and full of uncertainty. Now the answer to all that is just the message of this book, and particularly of this section. Because here, and in the first section in particular, verse chapters 12 to 14, We are given an account of the antagonists that are behind the opposition of men and women. And you remember that at the end I just noted them to you in order that you might consider them at your leisure and in detail. The first great antagonist is none other than the devil himself, described in the twelfth chapter as the great dragon. You remember the description that's given of him. There appeared another wonder in heaven, I read in verse three, and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head. And you get a description given to you of him. Later on he is described as the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world and so on. Now there of course is the primary power that is opposed to us and opposed to our Lord and opposed to God. You see, it links us up with the Old Testament and with the story of the fall and the whole doctrine of the fall as we have it in the book of Genesis. It was the devil who rebelled against God before even the creation of the world. And his one object has been to ruin God's work and all God's plans. And of course he has done that supremely by attacking the human race and he produced the fall of men. But God has sent his son, a second Adam, to the fight. And here in this chapter we are told something of the devil's efforts and attempts to destroy the son of God. There is the picture of the woman giving birth to the man child. And you remember the dragon tries to destroy him, but he's taken up in the heaven. There, in a very brief compass, is a picture of our Lord's coming, his earthly life, his death, and his resurrection. But then you remember that we are told that the devil turned his attentions upon the seed of the woman. Now that is the Christian church. All who are born of the Lord Jesus Christ belong to him. And therefore, in the remainder of that 12th chapter, we are given this picture in symbolic language, of course, of the way in which the devil is opposed to the church, to Christ's people, and his efforts to destroy them. But even there, we are given comfort and are shown that they are enabled to overcome him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. It's all right. We're not only given the picture of the antagonist, but we are given the assurance of our victory and the way to obtain it. But the devil doesn't only act himself. He uses certain agencies. And in chapter 13, we are given an account of the agencies. First of all, you have that beast that the prophet saw rising up out of the sea. having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Now it's practically agreed by all that the description given of this particular beast is almost identical with that of the fourth beast that is described in the seventh chapter of the book of the prophet Daniel. But with this difference, that this beast seems to be a kind of composite picture of the four beasts which are described by Daniel. In other words, there can be very little doubt that this beast is meant to represent the secular powers of the world as they are used by the devil to frustrate God's plan. In other words, you see, the four beasts in the Seventh of Daniel represent definite, given, earthly, secular powers. Well now, here is a beast that stands for all of them together, as it were, the secular power itself. In the time of John, of course, it was the Roman Empire. And perhaps even before that, the Jews themselves. But since then, it's been many another secular power. The vision is concerned to give us a picture, a symbol, which will represent all secular powers that have ever tried to destroy the church, or that are doing so today. And these are all symbolized in this first beast that rises up out of the sea. But then you remember that John saw in a vision a second beast. And this time the beast arises up out of the earth. And you are given a description of this beast again. Now here, as we've already indicated in a previous discourse, is undoubtedly a picture of false religion in whatever form it may chance to appear. Here, you remember, is a beast that first of all gives a suggestion of a lamb. But he isn't a lamb, because he speaks as a dragon. Now that, you see, is the characteristic of false religion. It has the appearance of religion. It may have the appearance of true religion, but there's always this other element. We suggested in expanding the second chapter of the second epistle to the Thessalonians some time ago that it's a very perfect description of the papacy, with that curious attempt to combine secular and spiritual power, something which has been imitated by certain other forms of religion also. But here it is in the symbol, the secular and the spiritual, and the two are combined in the same kind of power. Well, there, I say, is the third great antagonist. The Christian church not only has to meet the devil direct, and not only does it have to meet political and secular powers, it always has to wage a war against false religion. It's not for us to compare these powers or to say which is the most dangerous. The important thing is to realize that they all have the same object. They're all used by the devil. and a false religion or a perversion of the Christian faith is as dangerous as a secular power. Now that's something which so many people today seem to forget. The Roman Catholic Church would have us believe that the only opponent of Christianity is communism, not realizing that it itself, according to this kind of symbol, is perhaps quite as great a danger. There are people who hold a very liberalistic and modernistic view of the scripture who deny most of the cardinal articles of our Christian faith and yet they say communism is the great enemy of religion. Not realizing that according to this teaching they themselves are enemies of the true faith which are quite as great as communism or any other form of secular persecution. And so you see by understanding these symbols We are unable to understand the times in which we live, and we are able to avoid the pitfalls that are being opened before us. This call, for instance, to all who call themselves Christian, whatever they may happen to believe in detail, to stand together against this common enemy of secularism or of communism. Well, patently we can't do that if we really understand this scripture, because to align ourselves with false religion is simply to be putting ourselves into the camp of our ultimate enemy, who is the devil, who uses the one exactly as he uses the other. Very well, then, there we have looked at some of these great antagonists, but wait a minute, there are still others. You notice that in this 13th chapter we are also told something about certain people who receive the mark of this beast. in their foreheads and in their hands. He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in the right hand or in their foreheads. Now, these are just again human beings who in their blindness and in their ignorance have failed to understand what's happening and make themselves the tools of both these powers, the secular and the false religions. But they constitute a very definite body of enemies that we have to meet. And then finally, the last enemy that we are concerned about is the one that is described in the 14th chapter. where you will read about that great harlot Babylon. And it is important that we should understand this because it is the last of these great antagonists with which we are concerned. And obviously it's very important that we should understand exactly what is meant by this last figure, this last symbol. Well, fortunately that we need be in no trouble about that, because in chapters 17 and 18 and a part of 19 of this very book, we are given a detailed account and description of what is meant by the great harlot Babylon. And it seems to me that there can be very little doubt as to what this does represent. It represents, surely, what we may describe as the seductive power of worldliness. The power of worldliness to seduce us and to attract us and to draw us away from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the very term harlot, of course, suggests it all. And if you read the detailed description which is given in the other chapters to which I've referred, you will see what a perfect picture it is. Representing a kind of superficial charm that is devilish and foul and ugly and pestilential. And yet, so seductive, so charming, so as to deceive God's people. Now, you can't know your scriptures at all well without realizing that there is nothing against which we are warned more frequently in the scripture than what we may describe as worldliness. The love of this world. Demas hath forsaken me, saith Paul, having loved this present world. Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world, says the aged John in his first epistle. He knew the danger. And oftentimes when the devil has not been able to get God's people down by active militant persecution, he has been able to bring them down by the seduction and the enticements of the world. There have been many men in the history of the church who were ready to go and face death upon a stake, who could withstand open opposition. but who became the victims of a love of wealth, or a love of ease, or a love of pleasure, or a love of comfort, or a love of anything like that that belongs to the world. And without realizing it, they were held captive. So you see, when the devil fails to destroy us by means of his military power, or secular power, or his false religion, In this most pleasant and seductive manner, he comes to us perhaps and suggests that we are working too hard or that we are being over strict or that we are really going too far and rushing to extremes. And in this most plausible manner, he puts his case to us. And before we realize what has happened, we have suddenly listened to him again and for the time being have become ineffective. Well now, that is the great message of chapters 12, 13, and 40. But thank God once more we are given the comfort. You notice that we have seen that every single time, in every one of these divisions, God in his infinite grace and kindness not only gives us the picture of the enemy and the difficulties, he also gives us the comfort. And we've got the comfort in this section in that great 14th chapter, which I read to you at the beginning. The 144,000. You remember that were sealed and had the father's name written in their foreheads. Now we've already met this figure in chapter 7. And having defined it there, we needn't go back over that again this evening. Anybody who believes that 144,000 is a literal number is, of course, denying the whole principle of the interpretation of the book. All the figures in this book are symbolic. None of the figures are to be taken literally here. And we saw that it represents the multiplication of 3 and 4, and the squaring of the 12, and then the 1,000. the 10 cubed. It's a perfect number. It represents a complete number. It represents, of course, the whole body of the elect, all God's people, the same. And you remember we are told that these are the people who follow the Lamb, whether so ever he goeth. And they were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And of course, what we are told about them is that they are safe, that in spite of all these enemies, that nothing shall be able to separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In other words, the best exposition of this is that eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans. We are led every day as sheep to the slaughter. You remember all the things that Paul says that are happening to us? But he is persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The five antagonists are there, but the name of God is in our foreheads, and they cannot prevail. Our salvation is certain and sure. And so, the chapter goes on to its picture of the final judgment. And you notice its description of it in terms of the sickle being used, reaping the earth, and the winepress of the wrath of God. Well now then, there is a most important picture, obviously. And we cannot begin to understand church history as it's been happening throughout the centuries unless we understand this picture. We can't understand today, and it'll be the same in the future. But now we must go on to something further. Having in that way described to us the real antagonists face to face with Christ and the church, The book goes on to tell us how these antagonists are finally going to be judged and to be overcome. That is indeed the message of the remainder of the book from the beginning of chapter 15 right on until the very end. Now this is of course beyond everything in the book that which is most full of comfort and of consolation. And all I want to do is to show you the order in which the vision given to the prophet gives us the truth, in order that we may know how to apply it to ourselves and to our situation. Now you start off in chapter 15 with a wonderful vision of heaven. I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. You see, it's the final. We've already seen in dealing with the section from chapters eight to 11, how God has visited and meted out punishments from time to time upon these persons who oppose the Christian church. But it was only a third part, it was only partial. But now we are going on to look at the final, the cup is filled up, the end, their destruction. And we are reminded of that in these terms, I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire. That always stands for judgment. But listen, he saw also in that very context them that have gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints, and so on. Now that is to me a very marvelous thing. You see, before we are given any account of the final judgment and the ultimate destruction of all these mighty antagonists, we are again given this blessed assurance that we who belong to Christ and are faithful to him need fear none of these things. Terrible things are going to happen in the earth, but we need have no fear. We are already saved from them. Now that doesn't mean that we may not have to go through many of them. It does not mean that we may not have to suffer shipwreck, earthquake, pestilence, and many other things, but this is the truth. None of them can really harm us. None of them can ever really touch us. None of them can even to the slightest extent affect our relationship to God and to our blessed Lord and Savior. There we are standing as it were on the sea of glass mingled with fire. And we've got harps in our hands. We are singing the praises already. Now that's the whole essence of this vision. And it is the very essence of our comfort. that whatever may happen in this world, you and I indeed have no fear of it. We need never be filled with any alarm or with any terror, because we have already passed from judgment into life. These things may affect us superficially, but they will never affect us in the depth of our being. We are already in the position of safety. Or, if you like it in the language of the Apostle Paul, We are already seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Or, as the Apostle John puts it in his first epistle in the fifth chapter, that evil one toucheth him not. He cannot touch us. He can often terrify us and alarm us, but he cannot touch us. We are safe in Christ, so we are seen in vision already standing around the throne, safe from all harm and safe from these judgments that God is going to visit upon his antagonists. That then is the great message of chapter 15. And it is a chapter that we can never read too frequently. Read it and meditate upon it and realize its great message to you. Then having given us that, We go on to the account of the judgments as they are poured out. And the thing to grasp at this point is the order in which the judgment is meted out. Now, first of all, the judgment starts with those who are least important. That's the interesting thing about this part of the book. In describing the antagonists, He starts with the devil, and then he comes down the scale, as it were. And the least important of the antagonists are men and women who've got the mark of the beast in their forehead or in their right hand. But you notice that in giving an account of their final judgment and destruction, he reverses the order. And in a sense, it is but natural that he should do so. because his purpose is to show us how every conceivable antagonist of whatever strength is finally going to be judged and destroyed. So he starts with the weakest. And so in chapter 16, you have an account of God's meeting out his final punishment and judgment upon men and women. who foolishly have listened to the efforts of the devil and his assistants to draw them away from God and from his Christ, and to lead them to destruction. And the first went, we are told, in chapter 16, verse 2, where we are dealing now with the pouring out of the vials of God's wrath. You remember the instruction to the angels, go your way and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth. And there fell a nisan and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image. In other words, you remember we saw in dealing with chapters 8 and 9, that in those two chapters you get exactly the same things described as you have in this chapter 16. The trumpets blew, and certain things happened. First of all to the earth, and then the sea, and then the rivers, and the fountains, you remember. Well now, we've got the same things described here. The first vial is poured out upon the earth. the second upon the sea, the next upon the rivers and the waters, then upon the sun, and so on. But you notice the difference. It's no longer a third part that was destroyed. It's no longer a partial visitation. But this time it is complete. This time it is entire. And that, of course, is obviously a very great significance. because it is a principle that is constantly repeated and emphasized in the scripture that God always warns before he finally punishes. You had that in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. You had it indeed in the case of the flood. You have it in a very striking manner in the case of Egypt. God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians before he dealt with them in the judgment of the Red Sea, and indeed before he'd sent his destroying angel to visit them even before that. Now that's the principle. First of all, the plagues, and because they wouldn't listen, and because Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and because he wouldn't repent, God then finally punishes him. And you get exactly that same principle here in this book. God first of all visited these particular judgments upon the world. He's been doing so throughout the centuries. We described it last time. The wars and the pestilences and the times of terrible immorality and all these things. But here now we are told that all those are but shadows of what God is going to do. He's going to do it with a terrible fullness. And the things that are going to happen in the world leave all the things that have happened in the past as mere nothing. That then is something which is yet to be. And yet at the same time, I believe that it is true to say this, that there are clear instances in the history of the world where God, as it were, has already visited certain areas with a final judgment. Now, an instance of that, it always seems to me, is to be found in North Africa. There was once a great and a flourishing Christian church in North Africa. It isn't to be found there today. Terrible judgments have been visited upon certain areas of the world. as if God's patience has at last ended and he has visited a kind of final punishment. But the great message undoubtedly is that this is something which is mainly yet to take place. It is already possible, as I'm suggesting, that God may already have turned his back upon certain situations. I don't know. But sometimes one is almost tempted to think that As if God has finished with certain parts of the world, I don't know. That is partly speculation. But I do say that it is a principle running right through the Bible that when God has warned and has threatened and there is no response, he meets out a kind of final punishment. And certainly that will happen to all who are unbelievers. There is to be a final judgment of all who have died in persistent rebellion against God, they will be visited with a final punishment, a final judgment, a final consigning of them to perdition. That's the message of chapter 16. You notice, therefore, the importance of drawing a distinction between trumpets and bowls. The trumpets warn. The bowls represent the poured out punishment and the shedding out of the wrath of God. Then when we come to chapter 17, we come to the final judgment of the second antagonist, and this is Babylon. Babylon the Great, or Babylon the Great Harlot, mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And as I've already reminded you, the prophet John here as a seer and as a prophet, diverts a good deal of attention to this. It occupies the whole of this 17th chapter, the whole of the 18th chapter, and then the thanksgiving and the praise at the beginning of the 19th chapter. And of course in a way it is but natural, because it speaks directly to our own experience. For we all are aware of the subtlety of sin in the form of the world, in its worldliness, which I've already been describing. And here we are given this detailed and terrible description of how all that is to be destroyed and to be brought to nothing. It's almost incredible, but it's absolutely true. Think of the world this evening. Think of worldliness. Look at it as you see it here in the streets of London. Look at it as you see it reflected in the newspapers. Look at it as you see it in the so-called society papers in particular. And then, having read your newspapers and your society papers and your court circulars, as it were, come and read these chapters. And it's most illuminating. Look at the dress, look at the wealth, look at the luxury, look at the vaunting of itself, look at its pride in itself and in its great men. Well, that's all the result of the seduction of the world. That is the result of the action of this great harlot that calls kings and princes and great merchants and people. It's all described here. And it is a perfect picture of the world tonight outside Christ. bursting of its wealth, bursting of its food, its banquets, its carriages, its equipment, its dress, and all its beauty and its glory. And then read what's going to happen to it. And if we only grasp this teaching, we would never be tempted again by worldliness. It's going to be destroyed utterly and absolutely. Why we are told here that even its own devotees are going to turn against it. You'll find that in the 17th chapter. Some of these kings, so-called, when they see things going wrong, they'll turn against it. They always do. I'm not sure we didn't see something of that during the last war. You see, when there's an air raid and bombs are falling, you rather forget your fineries, don't you? And we were told that there was very little differences between duchesses and charwomen in air raid shelters. They were suddenly called out in the middle of the night, and there was no time for the finer. They all appear as they are, and they're all the same. It's all here, but it's going to be infinitely worse in the future. It's going to be stripped. It's going to be ridiculed. It's going to be shown in all its foulness for the hag that it really is. The paint and the powder are to be taken up, and it will be revealed in its utter awful nakedness and filthiness. Read it at your leisure. Read it time and again. See the discomfiture of all who lived for it, and all who believed in it, and all who said this was everything. They've got nothing left. They're left absolutely bereft. I say again that what we've already witnessed during wars and calamities is as nothing in comparison with what it's going to be. A terrible thing is going to happen. and then listen to the appeal that is made to us. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged thee on her. The world that's laughed at us, the world that's pointed its finger at us, the world that's called us fools, the world that's dismissed our gospel as narrow and as hideous and cramping and confining and has boasted about its marvelous life, Suddenly it's destroyed, and this is the appeal, rejoice over her, for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee. The bands will stop. The jazz will end. The drinking will finish. All will be silent. And no craftsman of whatever craft shall be, shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth. For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints. and of all that were slain upon the earth. What a mighty book this is, if you really understand its message. That's what's going to happen to the world. So John says, love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. It's all passing away. It and its things and its kings and its princes, it's all going to be destroyed in this unutterable manner. And all who belong to it. The destruction of the great whore, the great harlot, Babylon, the so-called great, worthiness, the spirit of the world, the seductive power that so often has charmed even some of God's people. Well, there is its description. And then for me to complete this bit of general exposition, at the end of chapter 19 you are given an account of the destruction of the two beasts the beast that arose out of the sea and the beast that arose out of the earth. The secular power, all false religions, they're going to be thrown and cast into the lake of fire and destroyed forever. That's in chapter 19. So we have seen the destruction of the people with the mark of the beast, the destruction of the great whore Babylon, the destruction of the first beast, the destruction of the second beast. But still one antagonist remains and he is given special treatment. A fresh section starts in chapter 20 because there we are given an account of the judgment and the final destruction of the devil himself, Satan. the head and fountain origin of it all, the ultimate antagonist of God, even he is taken and cast into the lake of destruction forever and forever. The last antagonist is judged and destroyed so that there's nothing else left to do now in the remainder of the book but to give us a picture of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, of Christ's people, the church, as his bride, and the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride, and the description of our final and eternal state in glory. Well, there, we must leave it this evening. I still propose to deal a little more in detail with chapter 20. I was simply anxious to give you tonight this general account of the enemies of Christ and his church and the account of the judgment of God upon them and their final destruction. But because of the significance of chapter 20, I hope to come back to it next Friday evening and to deal with it, as I say, a little more in detail. And then we shall go on to consider the resurrection and our final and ultimate state in glory. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we would again thank Thee at the end, as we did at the beginning, for Thy kindness and for Thy grace and for Thy compassion. O God, we thank Thee that Thou hast revealed these things to us, so that we are not surprised at the world as we see it. We are not terrified, we are not alarmed. We thank Thee for the assurance that Thou dost thus give us, that because of our relationship to Thee in Jesus Christ, all is well with ourselves, and nothing shall ever be able to separate us from Thee. O Lord, open our eyes, we pray Thee, to the things that we have considered together. O God, forgive us if we have ever looked with longing eyes at the seduction of the world and its sin and its way of life. O God, help us to see the truth, to hate evil, and to love righteousness and holiness, and to hunger and thirst after them. knowing that if we do so, we shall be filled, we shall be blessed. O God, may we realize as we part from one another the truth of thy known word which tells us, he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit abide and continue with us now this night, throughout the remainder of this hour's short, uncertain earthly life and pilgrimage, and until we shall see him face to face and be like him. Oh, him.