Last week we finished chapter 4, and we saw just the scene around the throne of God and all its splendor and all those things that John was just overwhelmed with. This week we're looking at chapter 5, and I'll just read that. It says here, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look inside it. And one of the elders said to me, stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. and they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing. and every created thing, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying to him who sits on the throne, and to the lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped." You know, here we see again in the throne of heaven, You know, the events in chapter five follow right after those that we read about in chapter four. And you know, the scene is once again around the throne of God in heaven. And the cherubim and the 24 elders represented by the raptured church, the glorified church, and the Holy Spirit is in all its glory, all of them are present now. And the events described in these two chapters, really it anticipates the divine judgment about to be poured out on a sinful, rebellious, cursed earth. You know, the scene is around the throne of God as he is about to take back what is rightfully his. You know, excuse me, this is the time that Christians and the entire creation are longing for. You know, in Genesis 3, and I probably should read that. In Genesis 3, starting roughly around verse 17, it says, Then to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. "'In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. "'Both thorns and thistles shall grow for you, "'and you will eat the plants of the field. "'By the sweat of your face you will eat bread "'till you return to the ground, "'because from it you were taken. "'For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'" You know, the earth was cursed at that time. If you think the thistles and thorns, you ought to come out and see our garden about July. Any of you that raise gardens know, you know, it's cursed. But, you know, we see this in Romans 8, 19, and 22, you know, that the entire creation longs to be restored to what God intended. You know, in Romans 8, 19 through 22, it says, for the anxious longing for the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For creation was subjected to futility. not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from the slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." The point is all creation is longing for the transformation from the curse and its effects. You know, and so here in our In our chapter here, it opens up. It says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. You know, as judgment approaches, God, he begins to move here. You know, it says, I saw. And that really introduces the various scenes described in this chapter. And we'll see that, you know, as John is an eyewitness of what he says and sees. You know, he says, I saw. In his vision, John saw, it says, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. You know, in God's hand, he held a book. And this book, in the Greek, it's the word biblion, and it refers to a scroll. And a scroll was a long piece of papyrus or maybe animal skin, rolled up on both ends and to the middle. Scrolls were commonly used before the invention of, of course, what we have today as modern-day books. You know, Romans were, Roman wills were used, they were sealed up with seven seals in the ancient world. And this kind of contract was common in the Middle East at that time. You know, a contract would be written for the, with the inner pages sealed. The content of that contract could be described briefly on the outside, but often these, all kinds of transactions were done this way in these sealed up scrolls. you know, including marriage contracts and rental or lease agreements, maybe to release a slave at a certain time, contract bills, and so on. All these types of things were in these kind of sealed-up scrolls. And this scroll, though, was not a will or a contract, but this scroll John saw in God's hand is the title deed to the earth. You know, unlike other deeds, this deed does not record what Christ will inherit, but rather how he will regain what is rightfully his, what is his rightful inheritance. You know, Christ will regain his inheritance by means of divine judgments that are about to be placed, that are about to be poured out on the earth. But, you know, while this scroll is a scroll of judgment, it's also a scroll of redemption. It tells about how Christ will redeem the world from Satan and those who follow him. Then it goes on in verse 2, it says, And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep, it says. You know, the strong angel, it doesn't say who it is, it just says a strong angel. Some identify him as Gabriel or possibly Michael, but since our text does not name him, we just have to leave that anonymous. But he proclaimed, it says, with a loud voice so that his proclamation would be heard basically throughout the universe. You know, this angel was looking for someone both, it says, worthy and able to open the book and to break its seals. He was looking for someone who's worthy to do this. He was looking for someone worthy and had the character, that divine character, to qualify him to break the seals of this scroll. He would have to have enough power to defeat Satan, to do away with sin and all its effects, and really to reverse the curse of all of creation and take it back. But the angel's proclamation here ended up only in silence. And so all the angels of heaven remain silent, even the powerful archangels there. They do not answer. All the righteous people throughout the ages that might include, you know, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Job, and Moses, and David, all of them, they all remain silent. Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and even all the New Testament apostles and all those others from the church age, there was just dead silence. Who's able? Who is worthy to do this? And there was nothing. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it, it says. And so a search for the entire universe, it turns up with no one worthy to open the scroll. That no one came forth, John really full of grief, it says, he began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. You know, no one came forth and John began to just weep. You know, and that weep in the Greek word, it's a Greek word that means to lament or to mourn. It's the same word that Jesus used when he wept over Jerusalem because of their lostness. And when Peter went, you know, he wept bitterly, remember, when he betrayed Christ. It's that type of weeping. It's a deep just grief. It's a word that expresses a strong and unrestrained emotion and grief. And John was overwhelmed that no one was found worthy. He was just weeping over that. You know, but John's weeping was about to end. God was about to act. And John wept because he wanted to see the world without sin, without evil, without death, without Satan's influence. You know, he wanted to see God take back what was rightfully his. He wanted to see Satan destroyed and God's kingdom established here on earth. He probably wanted to see Israel saved. All that he recognized, he wanted to see Israel saved because of whom they had pierced. John wanted all these things and no one came forth. But from his perspective, everything seemed to not be going right, not to be doing good. No one came forward to change all this. Was there no one going to take the scroll and open it to redeem God's program, to redeem God's creation? Was there no one out there? You can just sense what John was going through. But John did not need to weep because the search for the one worthy to open the scroll was about to end. And it goes on in verse five, It says, And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping! Behold, the land that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome, so as to open the book and its seven seals. Because John's weeping was unnecessary, one of the elders told him, Stop weeping! Then the elder introduced the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David. He is the one who has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And so no human or angel could redeem the universe. But there is one who can, and this is the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, he is described here by two of his basically messianic titles. The title, the land that is from the tribe of Judah, is derived from Jacob's blessing on the tribe of Judah given in Genesis, I think, put all this in your notes, in Genesis 49, eight through 10. But out of the tribe of Judah came a strong ruler, the Messiah, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Jews of Jesus' day, you know, and we've heard that so many times, they expected the Messiah to be powerful and to liberate them from the Roman rule. And, you know, it was partly because of that that Jesus did not live up to those expectations that they rejected him and even killed him. And so they completely misjudged Christ and did not use his power against, he didn't come in there to use his power to crush the Roman oppression, but he did offer a spiritual kingdom. He did offer redemption. And Jesus is the lion from the tribe of Judah, and he will one day destroy his enemies. And that's what the lion from the tribe of Judah represented. You know, Jesus's judgments of his enemies, it's in the future. And at a day which he has chosen, and that begins to unfold here now in Revelation 5. And so Jesus is also seen here as the root of the descendant of David. You know, the Messianic title comes from Isaiah 11, 1, and 10, and it says, then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from the roots will bear fruit. Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious. The point was Jesus was the descendant of David, both on his mother and father's side. And Matthew 1 and Luke 3, we see that. But in Romans 1, 3, Paul said that Jesus was, quote, born of a descendant of David according to the flesh. And so Jesus is the one worthy to take the scroll because of who he is, which is the rightful king from David's descendants. And he is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the power to destroy his enemies. You know, our text also says Jesus is he who, it says, overcomes, who has overcome. At the cross, Jesus defeated, he defeated sin, he defeated death, and all the forces of hell. He did this at the cross. He overcame. And because of this, believers are also overcomers because of his, what he overcame. And Jesus had overcome, so he was worthy to, it says, to open the book and its seven seals. Jesus was worthy because of who he is and what he did. You know, before John, you know, was this amazing scene that John has before him, you know, with all the glory reflecting of God's coming from the throne. Remember last week we saw that, the rainbow, the green rainbow and the bright pavement on which the throne sat and the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder and all this glory that was going on. You know, the four living creatures and the 24 elders were all worshiping God. But John's attention was drawn to, look what it says in our text, to, he saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders. Instead of seeing the mighty lion of the tribe of Judah here, ready to conquer and give out judgment, he saw a lamb standing, it says, as if slain. That's interesting. The issue is the Lord Jesus did not be and could not be the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He couldn't be the King of Glory unless what? He was first the Lamb of God, which was slain. before the world. He takes away the sin of the world. He couldn't be all those things until he did that. And that's what he saw. The lamb here, it's interesting, it's a Greek word, anion, and it refers to a little lamb or a pet lamb. The image here is from Passover, and when a Jewish family was required to keep the sacrificial lamb, they kept it as a household pet for four days before they sacrificed it. You know, let me read that to you. In Exodus 12, in Exodus 12, Starting about verse three, speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, on the 10th of the month, they are each one to take a lamb for themselves according to their father's household, a lamb for each household. Now, if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearby or nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them, according to what each man should eat. you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day." Now, remember he said from the tenth day to the fourteenth day. So, the four days there, they took this lamb. of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. The point is here they took this lamb in and they, just like a pet, but then they had to sacrifice it. And this was during the time of the Passover. So, you know, this lamb in our text, so he was standing, you know, alive and on his feet. yet looking as though it had been slain. You know, the point is the scars from the wounds of the lamb were probably visible, yet he was alive, though Satan and his evil men conspired against him and killed him. He rose from the dead, thus defeating and having victory over all his enemies. That's a picture that this lamb was standing there looking as if it was slain, but it was alive. And it seems like a huge, you know, in a way, it seems like a huge mismatch for this little lamb to go against Satan, called the dragon, and all his demons, and all the human soldiers, and all those people that follow after Satan. But this lamb not only was a sacrificial offering for sin, but he also was the Lion, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so, like I said, it shows this little picture of this lamb, but yet he defeated Satan and all his dominions. The lamb defeated Satan and his forces at the cross. And he's about to complete that victory, and that's what we're gonna see as we study through Revelation, as we continue there. John noted that this lamb, notice it said it had seven horns. This image is drawn from the animal world. Horns in Scripture also symbolize strength and power. You know, the animal world, when it spoke of horns, it was talking about strength and power. But this lamb had seven horns. And of course, seven in Scripture, it's a picture of the number of perfection. So what we see here, it's a symbolic of the lamb's complete, absolute power. That's what it's symbolizing here. He had the seven horns as just a picture of his complete and absolute power. And also the lamb in John's vision, it said he had seven eyes, referring to his perfect, really, omniscience, and his complete understanding and knowledge. See, nothing escaped it. the seven eyes represent the seven spirits of God sent out through the earth, it says. And so this phrase, remember we studied that back in chapter one in verse four and then in four or five, the phrase seven spirits of God describes the Holy Spirit really in all its fullness. And so here, as in four or five, the Holy Spirit's fullness is seen in relation to the judgment, As he goes out, it says, into all the earth, basically getting ready to prepare for judgment of unrepentant sinners. And so the scene is getting set of God taking back what is rightfully his. But then in verse 7, it says, And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. You know, verse seven records the final act in this heavenly scene. You know, everything John has been describing since the vision began, clear back in chapter four, verse one, has begun leading toward this moment. You know, this views basically the culminating act of history. You know, this is the act that will lead to the end of man's day. Jesus now is coming and taking back the title deed to the earth. The ultimate goal of redemption is about to be seen here. Creation is about to be restored. And before John's eyes, it said, the Lamb came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Worthy is the Lamb of God. to take that book, to take back that title deed to the earth. Worthy Lamb is about to take back what is rightfully His. And that's what we see here in that picture. But it goes on in verse 8. It says, and when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood. men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them a kingdom of priests to your God, and they will reign upon the earth." Here, again, when the Lamb came and took the scroll, it caused praise to just break out in heaven. you know, from everywhere in the universe. You know, the outburst of worship is a result of that realization that's so long anticipated, that defeat of sin and defeat of Satan, and you know, that's about to be accomplished here. The Lord Jesus will return to earth and triumph and establish his own earthly kingdom, that millennial kingdom. But this is where it all started. He came and took back what was rightfully his. The curse of the world will be reversed. And the remnant of Israel will believe and be saved and the church will be granted that privilege to reigning with Christ in that millennial kingdom. And all the waiting and anticipation for the Lord's return really here is finally about to take place. And because of that, because he came and took that, all this praise just burst forth in heaven. And you can just imagine that. And we're gonna see that in a second, but it says, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb in praise and worship. As they bowed themselves before the Lamb in worship, John noticed, he says, each one of the 24 elders was holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. You know, harps were frequently used in Scripture, in the Old Testament in particular, with worship that linked to prophecy, and I put those in your notes. But the harps held by the elders here, you know, it may symbolize prophecy, but it's about to talk about which is about to be fulfilled. This is about to take place. God's going to take back what's rightfully his and take his rightful place. In addition to the harps, the elders also held, it says, golden bowls full of incense. These bowls were used in the tabernacle and in the temple and were connected with the altar, but they symbolize the priestly work of intercession for the people. They symbolize the prayers of the people. And scripture associates the burning of incense with the prayers of believers really throughout the ages. And I put some references there in your notes. But taken together, the harps and the bowls of incense, it indicates all that the prophets had ever prophesied. and all that God's believers have ever prayed for, it was finally gonna be fulfilled. The prayers of the saints, you know, how many times have we prayed that in your own life? Come Lord Jesus, make this right. Well, this is about what's about to happen. And so, you know, then it goes on in verse nine. and they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and nation and tongue, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on earth forever." You know, as the elders brought before God the desires and the prayers of the saints, it says, they sang a new song. You know, throughout scripture, a new song is a song of redemption. You know, in Psalm 33, two and three, it says, God, give thanks to the Lord with the lyre. Sing praises to him with a harp of 10 strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with the shout of joy. But the new song in scripture, it's always about a fresh praise to God. It's talking about praise to God. You know, the song is an affirmation that Christ is worthy. He's worthy to take the book and to break its seals. It's just, they burst out in just praise here. You know, He's worthy because He is the Lamb. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the King of kings and Lord of lords. He's worthy to break the seal. And you know, opening those seals will enact the judgments and bring back what is rightfully the Lord's. And so then to further emphasize Christ's worthiness, the song continues and it says, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And purchased there, it's a Greek word, agorizo, it's a word that refers to redemption and it pictures slaves being purchased in the marketplace and set free. Isn't that us? We were set free. We were purchased because of Christ and set free. This is us as believers. At the cross, Jesus paid that purchase price, as it says here, with his own blood. We see that in 1 Peter. Chapter 1, starting in verse 17, if you address as father the one who is impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during your time and your stay on earth, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with what? but with the precious blood of the Lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." You see, we've been purchased, we've been redeemed through the blood of Christ. And that's what we see here. He redeemed men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. All this is, it's just speaking of all the universe, those that put their confidence and trust in Christ. You know, these terms encompass all of humanity that Christ bought from the slave market and purchased their freedom. And so this must have been an encouragement to John. You know, he was weeping, who's worthy? And then all this takes place. You know, it must have been encouragement to John knowing that judgment is about to come. It's about to take place because Christ sacrificed there, there is hope. because of what Christ did, there's hope. And this must have been a great encouragement for John. The praise continues on to express the results of that redemption. It says, you have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Them speaks of us, the believers. The them refers to saints of all ages and part of God's kingdom. And so they are also, it says, priests to God, referring to the complete access to God's presence to worship His service. Remember in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, the priests could go in once a year in the presence. you know, make reconciliation for sin. But now, in the new covenant, we have direct access. The veil was torn. And this is what this is speaking of. We're priests to God. You know, we're free to worship in His presence. Believers will one day have complete and perfect communion with God in His presence. That's an amazing thought. You know, also believers will reign upon the earth with Christ. We're gonna see that in Revelation 20. That's speaking of the millennial kingdom. But then it goes on in our text. He says, then I looked and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, Worthy is a lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. You just feature all this myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands just saying, worthy are you? You can just imagine that scene. John looked and he heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads and myriads and thousands and thousands. To the voices of the four living creatures and the 24 elders are also added to them this myriad of angels and believers and all these numbers of angels, myriads. You know, myriad, it's interesting, it's a murios, and it means 10,000 times 10,000. But to the Greeks, that was the only expression they had for just an infinite number. It's an innumerable multitude, is what he's saying here. Too many to be counted. It's the highest number which Greeks had a word. And so, you know, the phrase myriads and myriads, it describes really an uncountable number here of angels. You know, the innumerable number of heavenly hosts began saying, it says, with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. You can just imagine thousands and thousands of the voices. You know, in John's presence, that must have been just awestruck. I can't relate to that totally, but I remember it's been quite a few years ago. It's the first time I went to the Shepherds Conference, John MacArthur in California, and there was about 3,000 men there. at this pastor's conference, and we started singing. I couldn't believe it. I just sat there, and I couldn't sing, because I was taking it all in. Here we had a 3,000-man choir, but I can just imagine what John must have felt, because when we sing, we usually have a congregation of maybe 100, and sometimes way less. But here was a 3,000-man choir, and I just sat there, with tears, really, because I couldn't imagine the praise. Well, anyway, that's kind of what John must, he must have just experienced this amazing praise. But again, this emphasizes, the emphasis is on Christ's death providing that perfect redemption because of which he must be given worship and praise and adoration. And that's what we see here, Rich. Yeah. It's just, it has to be just, John must have just been, yeah, amazed there, you know. But our text says Christ is worthy first because it says of his power or his omnipotence. And then it says he was worthy because of his spiritual and material, it says riches here, that he possessed because he owns everything. You know, in Psalm 50, it says in 50 verse 10 through 12, it says, for every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills, I know every bird in the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that it contains. The point is, Christ is, he owns everything. It's all His. Christ is worthy of recognition because of His wisdom and His omniscience and all that He is. He's worthy of that praise. For all these things and all that Jesus is, it makes Him worthy, it says, for honor and glory and blessing. because of who Christ is, he's worthy of all these things. Then the praise continues, and it says, every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, they all join in in praise. You know, Psalm 69, 34 refers to this, and it says, let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. Mara. That's good, yeah. You know, Psalm 156, it says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord, praise the Lord. And this is the scene that we see here in heaven, you know. And then the praise ends, it says, it ends with this, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. endless praise and honor and glory and worship before the Lord, God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It's all honor and glory and dominion for them over and over. It's just praise. Suzanne? And John must have had that hope when he saw this. In Romans 8.21, he says, the creation itself also be set free from the slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. This is about what's gonna happen. God's gonna take back what's rightfully his and reclaim what's his. You know, in continuing praise, the four living creatures kept saying, it says, amen. Again, you know, amen, when we say that in a prayer, it's saying, let it be, make it happen. That's what they're saying here. They just kept saying, amen, amen, make it happen, let it be, so be it, is what they're saying. And the elders fell down again, and it says they worshiped. So here you see this whole scene of one worthy to come back and take the scroll, the title deed to the earth, and take it and open it and reclaim what is rightfully his. And that's what we see, that praise, come Lord Jesus, come. You know, the stage is set for judgment of the earth to begin. And so Christ here to gather the elect and return with him as he sets up his earthly kingdom. But the stage is now set. to take back what is rightfully his. And that's what we're gonna see from next week, or from here to chapter 19. And it's a horrifying thing. But you know, it's judgment, but Christ is coming back and he's gonna open this scroll and he's gonna take back what's rightfully his. And I guess for us as believers, you know, how do we, you know, what manner of man ought we to be knowing these things? How should we look on these things? How should we see the Lord and see the urgency that we need to have toward those that don't know the Lord? Knowing this is gonna happen, knowing these things are gonna take place, what matter of man ought we to be in holiness and righteousness and to share that hope that we have? It should give us an urgency about us, because this is coming. And when we start opening the seals, it's frightening. And we don't want anybody to go through that. But it's going to happen. And some of us, well, I'd go, they probably did for 2,000 years saying, this is going to be tomorrow. We've all longed for that. And we look forward to that time. And I hope we have an eternal perspective. But in the meantime, I just pray we're faithful and we have an urgency about us to share this truth that we know to those that don't understand it. It should give us that urgency because nobody wants to go through this. We don't want to see anybody go through that judgment. And so we need to be about our business of honoring the Lord with our faithfulness and sharing the