Revelation chapter one, verse seven. Let us hear the word of our God. Behold, he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, amen. Amen. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Amen. Well, as we begin here today, I want us to think briefly about interpreting things. Maybe it's someone that you talk to, maybe it's something you've read or you've heard or seen, and in particular, when we're trying to interpret it, if it's confusing to us, what options do we have? Well, obviously, if we're talking to someone, we can ask them some questions. If it's someone we know, we can call them or send them an email or something like that. But if we can't do that, if we don't know the person, then we need to read some of the other things that they have written or listen to some of the other things that they have said or something to that effect. And we can then, of course, listen to what other people think. What are their opinions as to what so-and-so meant by what they said? Well, a lot of that needs to happen here in the book of Revelation, and that is certainly true here in verse seven. And as I've been trying to do in these opening verses, I'm trying to help you to develop skills of interpretation. This is true for any of the genres of scripture, but it's especially needed here in the book of Revelation with prophecy and with apocalyptic. And so I thought we would dive more deeply here in this verse to try to help us with this skill and try to understand what is here. Now, as we have seen, John has opened in the first few verses by informing us that this book came from God ultimately, sent through Jesus and his angel to John, and then John is testified to the things that he has seen. And everyone then is blessed who reads these words, and then of course who hears and obeys them. Now we've also seen that the book is made up of these different genres. It's made up of the apocalyptic genre, which means it's filled with signs and symbols, and so that needs to be interpreted a certain way. And we also see that it is prophetic. And so there are some things that speak of the future, some things that reveal God's word that aren't necessarily about the future. And the fulfillment of prophecy typically throughout scripture is an immediate fulfillment with a greater future fulfillment and even an ultimate fulfillment at the second coming. And so we see that here. And then as we saw, especially beginning of verse four, this is a letter. Now the apocalyptic works of the first century, the Jewish ones, are not written as letters. And so John's apocalypse here stands out. And of course, ultimately it's Jesus' apocalypse. And here he's writing a letter to these seven churches. Now, as we saw also beginning in verse four, that John is pronouncing a blessing upon the people and here of these churches. And he is indicating that this blessing comes from the eternal God, the Father, and the fullness of the spirit. And then, of course, his son, Jesus Christ. These are the source of this blessing, which brings us comfort in the midst of our hardships. Then we saw last time John telling us about these things about Jesus. First his name, Jesus Christ. This isn't some other Jesus. This is the Messiah that God has set apart and anointed. And then we are told that he is a faithful witness. He is the firstborn from the dead, and then the ruler of the kings of the earth. And so John ends this with some words of praise, praising Jesus for who he is and what he has done for loving us, for setting us free from our bondage to sin, which also that includes cleansing us, washing us and making us and giving us all kinds of blessings, including being kings and priests. And so we rule and serve God as his people. And so this praise to Jesus is deserved and it will go on forever. Well as I mentioned we come now to this verse that is considered by some to be the most important verse in the whole book and for others maybe not quite that much but still see it as very significant. And so let's try to understand what is said and by doing so we need to look at the places that John is referencing because he takes us to some other places here. And then we'll look at some of the opinions of what they think John means, and we'll try to discern his point. And so, basically, we're going to let Scripture interpret Scripture here for us. So, verse 7 begins with, Behold. That's a command. John is commanding us to see, to look, to pay attention, to understand what he means. And so let's try to do that. And he starts then by saying, he is coming with clouds. And then the rest of the verse again, every eye will see him, even they who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. And then he ends with these affirmations, even so, amen. All right, so first of all, He is coming. Now, we've seen this idea in verse four, by the Father who was, who is, and is to come. We'll see it again in verse eight. Here, it's emphasizing, of course, Jesus in particular. He is the one we've just been talking about in the last couple verses, and so He is the one who is coming, strictly speaking. Well, this, if we're paying attention, should ring some bells in our head, in our ears. John is making reference to other passages. And, of course, we read from Daniel 7, so we can see that and hear those bells already. So let's turn there a moment and let me highlight a few things. Daniel chapter 7. Obviously, it begins and ends with this vision of the beasts, and here in the middle, we have the vision of the Ancient of Days, and in particular then, verses 13 and 14, the one like the Son of Man. Now, John's going to call Jesus the Son of Man in verse 13 here in chapter 1, and so he clearly has this in mind. So verse 13 again, it says, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory in his kingdom. And all people's nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away in his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. All right, so obviously the language here of the son of man coming with the clouds is the language that John picks up. But note the idea that is found here too, not just the words. This son of man is given authority over all things. As we saw last week, he is the ruler of the kings of the earth. And then we see that everyone will serve him. Notice the language here, all peoples, nations, and languages will serve him, everyone here. Now this word for nation can also be translated as tribes, and your translation may say it that way. And when they translated it into Greek, we see a word that actually connects with what John is using, and the word for tribe here. We see that this rule is everlasting. Again, something that we talked about last week. And note that here the emphasis in verses 13 and 14 is on the right to rule. He has been given this authority, given this right to rule over all things. Now, that includes judgment. Obviously, we have the beast on either side of this vision. And so there's going to be judgment, but it's not just judgment. There is blessing for the people of God. Notice as we read there, especially in verses 15 and following, that there are going to be blessings. Yes, they're going to persecute the saints, verse 25, and they'll be given to his hand, okay, but there's going to be blessing for the people of God because the Son of Man rules. He is going to defeat all these enemies. All right, well, as As always, we could say more. Let's turn now to Zechariah 12, because John also is making an allusion here to this passage. In Zechariah 12, verses 10 and following, note these words of Zechariah. Zechariah 12, verse 10, I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and suffocation. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning at Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves. the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of Shammai by itself and their wives by themselves, all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. All right, now you remember the context. Israel has now returned from exile to Israel, and they're starting the rebuilding, and in particular, the temple and such is the context here of Zechariah and even Haggai. And so that's why David and Jerusalem is emphasized here because they're, right, that's where they are. They're not in the Northern Kingdom at the moment. But note to our point then, it says the spirit of grace, the spirit of supplication is poured upon them. Now, notice it's not a spirit of judgment. It's a spirit of grace. Now, the word for grace can be translated as favor. And then when it says supplication, that actually means praying for favor. It's connected to the word for grace and favor here. And so the spirit is going to show grace and going to lead us to pray for grace is the idea. And how is that manifested? Well, we'll look on the one we have pierced and we will mourn. So the gracious work of the spirit will cause us to look on the pierced one and we will mourn for our sin. And it's not just going to be a mild repentance, but it's going to be so intense. It'll be like when we mourn when a child dies or when a king dies. And that's the reference there in verse 11 about Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. This is referring to Josiah when he was killed. Remember, Pharaoh Necho came out to fight the Assyrians and Josiah went out foolishly and he dies. Well, Israel mourned for their king. It's that kind of mourning. It's an intense kind of mourning. And notice everybody's going to mourn, verses 12 and following. And so the grief, when we look at the one who pierced is, can you say sincere? And it is complete. And so we are not talking here about mourning for sin in the sense of we're being judged by it. We're not talking about mourning because God has come to judge us and we hate God and we're an unbeliever and so on and so forth. No, we're talking about a mourning for sin in the good kind of mourning, okay? Now one more thing to mention here, the language of family is how the New King James takes it. If you have another translation, you may not have the word family, you may have the word tribe, and that's that word that is used in Daniel and now here in Revelation. In fact, it's used nine times here in these verses. And note the idea of the land and the earth too. And so there is a mourning among the tribes of Israel. All right, now, let's turn to the book of John and chapter 19. Another foundation stone here, as it were, as we try to understand this verse. Here in John 19, This is the context of the crucifixion of Christ. And so he is being pierced, the nails in his hands and feet, the thorns in his head, the flogging in the back. And then verse 34 here in John 19, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out. This showed he was actually dead and not passed out. And so then verse 37, again, another scripture says, they shall look on him whom they pierced. And so here's John now quoting from Zechariah chapter 12. So in John's mind, the one that is pierced in Zechariah is pointing to Jesus. And he makes this connection here for us. In fact, the Hebrew word for pierced in Zechariah specifically means piercing. You think of a sword or something like that. But when they translated it into Greek, it's a more general word that can mean that. It means more generally like treating someone spitefully. But John doesn't use that Greek word here. He uses a word that specifically means piercing. And the only two times that word is used in the New Testament is here in John 19 and Revelation 1 verse 7. So clearly John is saying the pierced one is Jesus. That's what Zechariah is talking about. And the mourning that comes through that gracious spirit is a mourning of repentance. Okay, so let's turn over a few pages to Acts chapter 2. Here, of course, we have Pentecost, and here we have the pouring out of the spirit. And notice, especially in verses five and following, all these different families or tribes or peoples in the dispersion of Israel come to Jerusalem to worship, to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. And of course, they hear the words of God in their own language and dialect and so forth. And they wonder what's going on. And Peter says, this is a fulfillment of Joel chapter two. And then he goes on in verses 22 and following and says, hey, you guys put to death your Messiah, the Son of Man that is riding on the clouds. You put Him to death. You pierced Him. He doesn't use that specific word, but obviously, verse 23, they crucified Him. And then Peter goes on and talks about the resurrection and the connection to Jesus' ruling there in verses 34 and 35. So then verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus," right? Not another Jesus, but this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Remember, as I said last week, Jesus Christ, he is very specific on identifying which Jesus we're talking about. So verse 37, and when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Right? This is the good kind of morning. So verse 38, Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy spirit. So then verse 39, for the promises to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Now you see what Peter is doing. He is pointing out that the piercing of Jesus was not just done by the soldier. It wasn't even just done by the Romans in general there or the religious leaders, but all Israel is culpable. And we can go then the next step. We all have pierced Jesus. The reason why he dies on the cross is because of my sin. And so there's a, if you will, a broadening of this piercing idea here. Notice also this point in verse 39, he's talking about those who are far off, not just the families and children of Israelites, but even those who are far off. Now, that particular word then calls us to Gentile inclusion. Let me read one of them. This is chapter 22. This is when Paul is speaking before the mob in Jerusalem, and in verse 21, Jesus said to me, to Paul, depart for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. And that's when they went berserk and tried to kill him. But let's turn all of us here then to Ephesians chapter 2 and show you this. In Ephesians 2, Paul uses this word far off the same way as Peter. Okay, he gives the summary of the gospel in verses one to 10 and verses 11 and following, he talks about Gentile inclusion. And note then verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The Gentiles are brought near. Verse 17, he came and preached peace to you who are far off and to those who were near. So Gentile and Jew are now brought together in Christ. So the tribes of the earth, you might say, have this broad meaning in the coming of Christ. So in Zechariah, it's the tribes of Israel, but now we see this expanding of the point. All right, now one more passage here. Let's turn to Matthew and chapter 24. Matthew 24, we have what is often called the Olivet Discourse, right? This is the teaching of Jesus on the mountain of olives, and it has to do with the destruction of the temple and the tribulations and such associated with that. And so there are clearly points here in this chapter that speak to the fall of Jerusalem. But then we have ideas that point beyond that too. So let's pick up in verse 29. Matthew 24, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, right? Daniel 7. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, Zechariah 12. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, right? Daniel 7 again. and he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they'll destroy all the unbelievers. No, they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Do you see there's gonna be a good morning and not just the beginning of the day, okay? There's a good kind of morning here, not judgment. Now, there is judgment when Jesus comes, certainly. but note this emphasis on grace. All right, now let's come back to the book of Revelation, but before we settle back into verse seven, let me show you a few other things that John says in the book. Again, this is something we could spend a lot of time doing, but let me highlight a few things. Okay, let's talk a little bit about the coming of Jesus. If you look at chapter two, and in verse five, It says, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. Do you see how the coming of Jesus has, if you will, a more limited temporal coming here? Now there's the ultimate coming, certainly, the second coming, but there does seem to be more of a limited coming. that is addressed here. If you look also at verse 16, here now the church of Pergamum, same idea, repent or else I'll come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. And then if you look at chapter three, verse 11, behold, I am coming quickly, hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. And so in these churches, we see this reference of Jesus coming. And if you repent, the good kind of mourning, then there will be no judgment. Then, of course, in chapter 22, we see at the very end these words. If you turn there just a moment, chapter 22, notice verse 7, behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So there's a blessing with his coming. Verse 12, behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me. And then in verse 22, hey, surely I am coming quickly. And that ends with the word of grace. So the coming of Christ is, yes, a coming of judgment against the wicked. But there's also this coming of Christ that brings about good things, a reward, a blessing for the people of God. Let's turn also then to chapter 14. Now let's talk about language that is very much like Daniel 7. In chapter 14, verse 14, note it says, Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle, and the earth was reaped. So the harvest is right, the fruit is ready. So this is pointing to a positive reaping. But then notice verse 17, another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He also having a sharpsicle and another angel came out from the angel who had the power over fire and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharpsicle saying, thrust in your sharpsicle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe. So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. The wine press was trampled outside the city and so forth. So there is a reaping gathering of the elect and then there is also this gathering unto judgment. And so both are given to us here in the book. Let's not just see the book of Revelation as a word of judgment. It is such, but it's also a word of grace. Now, we could look at some other things, but let me highlight one more idea, and that is the word tribe, or family, or nation, depending on how it's translated in your Bibles. John uses the word 21 times in the book, and 15 of them refer to the tribes of Israel, and you see that especially in chapter 7. But then there's a broader meaning of the term. Let's highlight just a few of these. If you turn to chapter 5, verse 9, this is when Jesus comes to open the scroll, and in verse 9 of chapter 5, They sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. If you turn then to chapter seven, after listing all the tribes of Israel, note verse nine, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues." And then one more, if you look at chapter 11, verse 9, this is in the context of the witnesses, and in verse 9, those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies, three and a half days, and so forth. So you see how John is using this term tribe in a a way that extends beyond Israel here. Let's turn to one more, and that's chapter 14. And I'm adding this one because it's connected with the word for earth or land. Chapter 14, verse 6 says, Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. Okay. Now, one last thing. I know we're diving deeply here, but let me read for you a few passages. In the Old Testament, in the Greek Old Testament, we see the language of the tribes of the earth used just a few times. And the first one is in Genesis 12. Genesis 12, verse three. God says to Abram, I will bless those who bless you and curse him who curses you and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. That's the word for tribe. Note the tribes of the earth, families of the earth. Now we know from Galatians chapter three that Paul believed that this was the gospel message preached to Abraham. The same words are used in chapter 28 for Isaac. chapter 28 verse 14, remember the ladder that went to heaven and so forth and his dream and so on. You can see it in Psalm 72 verse 17, but let me read one more and that's from Zechariah again, this time chapter 14. In Zechariah 14 and verse 17, It says, it shall be that whichever the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. So we just have these few times where the families of the earth or tribes of the earth language is used. And do you see this broader focus than just Israel? All right. I've been trying to lay some foundation stones so that we can stand upon this and more accurately interpret chapter one, verse seven. So let's turn there again and let me read it again. Behold, he is coming with clouds. Power and authority, rule, dominion, right? Daniel seven. Every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. Those who pierced Jesus. As Peter says, not just the soldiers, not just the religious leaders, but all of Israel and even beyond that to us too. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn. Not just the tribes of Israel, but the tribes of the whole world. They will mourn positively. Isn't this what we're standing on. Isn't this the reasonable conclusion of what John means by this? Well, let me now take a moment and talk about the different opinions that people have. And so, as I've done before, there are the different views that people have of Revelations. Let me start with the Preterist view. They take verse 7 as the most important verse in the whole book. Very, very significant in their view. So how have they interpreted it? Well, as a general statement, they believe that Jesus will come to judge the land of Israel for piercing Jesus. Okay. They believe that the eyes of those who pierce Jesus will see this coming. And that coming is in the fall of Jerusalem. The tribes of the land refer to Israel specifically. And so Israel is going to mourn because they're being judged for rejecting their Messiah. Now, if you read any of the histories of Josephus, it was an awful, awful event. About a million Jews were killed, about 100,000 more were enslaved. The Jewish war went on for a few years, then the fall, and it continued even after the fall. It was terrible. The temple was destroyed, and in a very real sense, the nation of Israel was over, and its religion ended. And so this, they say, is what John's talking about. They would also add this point, the reason why John does not include the Olivet Discourse in his gospel is because it's described here in Revelation. But as I have tried to show you over the last number of weeks, many of the early church fathers say John wrote this book about 25 years later. The historical context of these seven churches fits better at the end of the first century. Furthermore, in light of what we've just read, The coming of Jesus in judgment against Israel, does that fit with the themes of Daniel 7, Zechariah 12, John 19, Acts 2, Matthew 24? Does it fit with what we've seen? I think we have to say no. Maybe in some ways, but there are holes, if you will. Now, they do emphasize that Jesus' coming is a more limited coming, not the second coming, and okay, there's some truth to that. And yeah, there may have been some people alive 40 years after Jesus was crucified, but surely not every eye. The tribes of the earth can refer to Israel, we've seen that, in Zechariah 12 especially. But we've also seen how it applies beyond that. And in particular, the mourning of Zechariah 12 and then into Acts 2 is the good kind of mourning, not mourning because you're being judged, but because you're repenting. The spirit of grace is leading you there. I just don't see how the preterist view makes sense here, though they do have some good points to make. So what about the futurist opinion? What about their view? Well, they would teach. that the coming of Christ here is referring to the second coming pretty much exclusively. And the future event is so certain we can speak of it as happening now. He is coming, they would say. They would also emphasize how Jesus left in the clouds at the ascension. He will return in the same way, which that's certainly true. They would say that every eye seeing him refers not to the secret rapture, but refers to the end when Jesus finally comes back. They would teach that our sins led to the piercing of Jesus, and the tribes of the earth refer to the whole world. They would also say that the morning is a morning of judgment, not a morning of grace and repentance. And so most of the book for them refers to the end, the tribulation period, and all this judgment. Okay, so what about the historicist view? Well, more briefly here on this one, they would point to the various comings of Jesus throughout history to judge the wicked throughout the world, not just at the fall of Jerusalem or something, and not just the very end, but it culminates in the second coming. And they too would say some similar things, I think, than the futurists would say, but, They also are emphasizing the mourning because of judgment. So what about the idealist view? Well, they would say a number of things, first of all. The Olivet Discourse does point to the fall of Jerusalem in some ways, but the reason why there's no Olivet Discourse in John's Gospel is because he wrote the Gospel after the fall of Jerusalem happened. We think 85 to 90 AD. They also say Jesus does come at various times in history. Maybe he doesn't literally leave his throne, but sends an angel or a spirit, but he does come in both grace and in judgment. Of these views, only the idealist view highlights the good kind of mourning. It's not exclusively that, but this is the only view that actually points it out. Everyone will see, because there is no secret rapture. When Jesus comes, everyone will know, and there will be no question. So they'll point also to our sins leading to Jesus' piercing, the tribes of the earth refers to the whole world, and so forth. And so the combination of Daniel 7, Zechariah 12, John 19, Acts 2, Matthew 24, and these other passages in Revelation It seems like the opinion of the idealists fits best with those passages. Again, my goal here is not to make you fit for seminary, but my goal here is to help give you a skill of interpretation. You can't just read and say, oh, this is what it means to me. What did it mean for John? Well, in this case, we've got to do a fair amount of work to get to that point. What did it mean for John? And we have to look at these passages. We need to let scripture interpret scripture. And so the message that John is giving to us here is that all believers have the promises of Jesus return. And he does return at times in history again, maybe by a spirit or some angels or something like that. Maybe he doesn't necessarily leave the throne, but he comes throughout history. His spirit comes upon us and there is a good morning. And again, we're not beginning the day here. Hey, we're all here because the spirit of grace has caused us to mourn for our sins. And so we give praise to our Lord for this. And we could, I think, go down the path and say, irresistible grace teaches us that no one is going to miss this coming. Plus, all who repent of their sins recognize that the reason why Jesus died is because of me. And so for Jesus to send his spirit to us, to cause us to see this truth, this is a wonderful thing. Because otherwise, what are we going to do but fight and complain and suppress the truth and grumble and all this sort of thing? But with the spirit of grace, we can see this truth and therefore be comforted, knowing that Jesus has come. And when he comes again, we're not going to be struck down. but we will be ushered in when he reaps. We will not face the sickle and poured into the wine press of God, but we'll be reaped and brought into heaven." Again, this is one of the main themes of the book. See the positive here, if you will, not just, oh, there's all this judgment. Well, there is. Do you see the grace? Didn't we read that in chapter 14? You read about the sealing of the elect and so forth. There's all this grace throughout the book. And so make sure you see that as you read it. And what a comfort this brings to us. But because Jesus is gonna come and bring judgment too, this brings us comfort. Again, as I've said many times, he's not a woke judge that just lets evil continue. No, he's gonna deal with it. And this is a comfort to the people of God. And so all beasts, all harlots, all locusts, all unbelievers, the dragon, they're gonna face God's judgment. They're gonna hate him for it. But as believers, we yearn for that day. It is a fearsome message, but it is an encouraging one too. And it seems like that's John's primary emphasis. is to encourage the people of God. And so notice how he ends the verse. He ends verse seven by saying, even so, amen. Your translation may say it a little differently there. It's like John's putting a rubber stamp on this idea. Because both words here are really saying the same thing. Amen is the Hebrew word. The even so is actually the Greek word. which can be translated as yes or amen. He's basically saying it twice. And so in both Greek and in Hebrew, he's saying, yes, this is true, right? Praise be to God, amen. Jesus sends his spirit to bring us to him in salvation, to comfort us. And yes, as he sends that spirit to bring judgment against the unbeliever, we are sealed. We are preserved. Even though we have pierced Jesus. There's forgiveness. There's grace. And so this, I think fits best with these passages that John is referencing. So, maybe a bit more technical involved today, but hopefully it'll help instill in us an ability to do this as we go forward. All right, well, we'll pick up with verse eight, Lord willing, next time. Let's pray together. Our Father in God, we thank you for your word. And when we come across passages that are harder for us to understand, we are thankful that you do not leave us in the dark. And we are thankful that we don't need some highfalutin degree to figure it out. But we do pray that you would strengthen us to do the work to understand what you mean. And we are thankful, Lord, that you have given us so many passages to bring clarity. And we thank you for that even today. Lord, we praise you that you have come in your first coming, in your incarnation, to atone for our sins, to be pierced. Your blood would be shed to pay the penalty for our sins. We praise you, even as we read in Leviticus earlier, that you are that perfect substitute. and that you are not unclean in any way as we are, but through your perfection and your atoning death, you have restored us to yourself. We thank you, Lord, that you have sent us your spirit to work in our hearts, irresistibly, so that we would hear this message of grace and forgiveness, and that we would mourn for our sins and repent We thank you, Lord, for your grace to us. And that throughout history, this is something that you are doing even today. And even though we live in a land where we have lost our first love in so many ways, as Joe mentioned in his prayer, we are thankful that your spirit still works among your people. And we are thankful that you have come in this way for us. But we are also thankful, Lord, that you're coming, Your appearance is not going only to be grace, but also judgment against the wicked. And so, Lord, may this bring us comfort. And may we give you praise that you have ordained this. And it is yes and amen in Jesus Christ. And so we pray all these things then in Jesus' name. Amen.