And the song we just sang has a line that says, His blood can make the foulest clean, and His blood availed for me. And boy, doesn't that tie into the chapter we're about to read, which is chapter 7 of Revelation. So let me pray for the word, and then I'll read. I'm not going to read the entire chapter this time. I'm planning on getting to the entire chapter, but a piece at a time. So we'll look at this. There's a few scenes. There's actually two visions that are happening here. So I'll break them up. And this is taking place between the sixth and the seventh seal. So we have a little bit of a pause while we get a view of what's going on with the saints. So let's pray. Our Father and our God, we pause to ask your blessing on your word. Lord, another difficult chapter for us as humans to read and understand. So we need your help. Lord, we pray that you'd illumine our minds by a work of your Holy Spirit. Lord, that you would do a work in us. that we would have eyes that can see and ears that can hear and hearts that can receive the truth. And Lord, maybe we'd be encouraged and changed for the good, for the better, because we spent time with you and in your word. And Lord, we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. So let me read Revelation 7 from verse 1 to verse 8, and we'll unpack that a little bit before we move on. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Gad, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Ishakar, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. Well, let's unpack God's word there a little bit. So it begins with four angels, right? I saw four angels. And there's a little bit of a wordplay you could find in here because these four angels at the four corners of the earth holding four winds, 4-4-4-12. So we're back to some numerology here. In Psalm 104, And this psalm is quoted by the writer of Hebrews, and I want to read you that too. But in Psalm 104 verse 4, speaking of angels and what their purpose is, it says, "...of God who makes his angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire." And when you read that in the new international version, the NIV, in Hebrews, where it's quoted, and this is in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 7. And the writer of Hebrews is building an argument throughout the opening chapters of the supremacy of Christ over all things. He's greater than Moses. And here, he's greater than the angels. And so in that quote, it says, in speaking of the angels, he says, and now he quotes Psalm 104, he makes his angels winds his servants flames of fire." So translated there, he makes his angels winds. And if you know a little bit, you probably know this, that both in the Hebrew and in the Greek, the word for spirit also can be translated wind. So there's a little bit of a word play going on there. You pick up on that a little bit in John's gospel, chapter three, when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. So here you have these four angels at the four corners holding the four winds, right? So there's a little bit of a play there on the purpose of the angels. Keistmaker in his commentary says, God uses angels to execute his will and they serve him in a mighty way. forceful as the wind, and destructive as a streak of lightning. When their task is completed, however, they return to Him as humble and obedient servants. Although they perform mighty deeds, they remain lowly attendants." And that's actually Keismaker's commentary on Hebrews, but I think it ties into what we're looking at here. So the four corners of the earth. This is not the Bible telling you that the world is flat. Some would articulate that these Bible-thumpers think they have a flat world. It's used throughout the scripture of the four compass points, meaning the entirety of the globe. It's almost poetic. That's what's being conveyed there. Like in Isaiah 12, He will set up a banner for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." They're talking about the four compass points. The entirety of the globe is the idea here. And so these angels are holding back four winds, right? Each of them are holding back the wind. It's the wind of God's judgment is what they're holding back. The weather itself is used of God at times to bring judgment. The scriptures talk about that. It's under God's control. Never think something's blowing through here that God's somehow not in control of what's going on when the hurricanes and the tornadoes and whatnot touch down. It's a sin-stained world and a lot of these upheavals are because of the sin-stained world. But God is sovereignly in control of these things. In Psalm 148 verse 8 says, fire and hail and snow and clouds and stormy wind are fulfilling his word. So God's sovereign over these things. And he mentions particularly here in the description of the entirety of the globe, the earth, the sea, and the trees. So we have the dry land, the low points that are filled with ocean water, and the plant kingdom, right? Represented by the trees. So this havoc is going to be wreaked upon the earth in God's judgment, but the angels are told to wait. And this fifth angel arrives. And we know very little in the scripture about angels. It tells us a little bit. There seems to be a hierarchy in the army of God's host. And we don't know what rank this fifth angel was, but he's giving a command to the other four. And where does he come from? Well, the Bible says he's coming from the east, from where the sun rises. And there's biblical significance in that. In Ezekiel 43, 2, it says, Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. And the idea is that the brilliance of the glory of the light of God is like the coming of the rising sun. And here the angel is coming from the presence of God to halt these angels who've been given power to reap destruction on earth, but he commands them with the command of God through the angel that they're to cease and wait. What does he possess? What does he have? He has the seal of the living God. And you know what a seal is, I think. In antiquity, and even today, a lot of times somebody in power, a king, would have a signet ring and would put their mark on the seal that maybe was sealing a scroll or a letter. We're talking about seals that are on the scroll that is the actual document that the lamb takes out of the hand of he who sat on the throne. This is a different seal. This is the seal of the living God. And it says later in Revelation 9, verse 4, it says, "...they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." We get to chapter 14, verse 1, it says, "...then I looked, and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads. So the idea is that the seal is the name of God written on their foreheads. I have a book I've been reading lately, rereading, by Max Licato. And when I open the book on the front page, it's signed with my father's name. I didn't even know my father loaned it to me. I probably never gave it back. But my father did that because he was putting his ownership on that book. This is Robert Tomlinson's book, right? Of course, I stole it, so now it's my book. And dad's with the Lord. I hope he's okay with that. But that's the idea here, is that God is sealing or signing people, his people, with his sign of protection and ownership over this people. It'll help us a little bit, I think, for me to take you to the book of Ezekiel, where this same idea is conveyed in chapter 9. And I'm going to read from verse 3 to 11 in Ezekiel. It says, Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple. And he called to a man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side. And the Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over the abominations that are done within it. To the others, he said in my hearing, you go after him through the city and kill. Do not let your eyes spare nor have any pity. Utterly slay the old and the young men, the maidens, the little children, and the women. But do not come near anyone on whom is the mark. and you begin at my sanctuary." And it goes on to say they began at the sanctuary with the elders. But the idea there is that God is sealing those who have a heart for God, who had cried out because of the abominations and the wickedness of the city. And he says, you seal those because those are my people. And then you go with the hand of destruction, but these are to be preserved, and they have the seal, the sign upon them. That's what's going on in the book of Revelation here. So he comes, this angel comes from the east. He possesses the seal of the living God. And the message that he conveys is verse three, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And the number that's sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. And here we come to about 25 interpretations of really good, solid Bible teachers of what exactly is going on here and what does this 144,000 actually mean. And it could be symbolic. Or it could be literal, right? It could be literally 144,000 individuals. Or it could be a symbolic number, because there's so much symbolism in the book of Revelation. One writer summed that up and said, well, it's like saying 12 squared a thousandfold. Or another said, it's 12 squared times 10 cubed. 12 to the second power, 10 to the third power, which is 1,000. And they're coming up and saying, well, this is basically a symbolic number. Keistmaker takes that approach. And I do like Keistmaker. He sees the number 12. as symbolizing, in the Bible, perfection. You have 12 apostles, you have 12 tribes. It's God's perfect number for God's people. The Christmaker writes this, The number 1,000 is 10 times 10 times 10, which is a multitude. 10 is the number of fullness in the decimal system. Hence, 144,000 is a symbolic number that expresses a multitude marked by absolute perfection. 12 tribes of Israel, times 12 apostles times a thousand equals perfection times a multitude. Here is the picture of the ideal that's followed by a picture of the actual. And he's talking about what we're yet to read, which is verse nine and following. So that's his take on it. Some see this as a literal of 144,000. I'm not going to pick a fight with anybody on this. If they think it's symbolic and it's just representing all of God's people, or if it's a particular people. I know J. Vernon McGee is of the idea that this is 144,000. He actually says when he preaches on this, God knows how to count. He's not thrown this number out there, so we'll guess how many. And he particularly thinks that these are the Jews that are saved in the time of tribulation, that then become God's arm of witness to the world. So we'll look at that a little bit deeper in a minute. When you look at the tribes that I read off, all these various tribes, 12 of them, did you notice, maybe you did, maybe you didn't, that we're missing a tribe? The tribe of Dan is not there. And now the commentators are going, why is Dan not mentioned among these tribes? The tribe of Dan was a legitimate tribe. What happened there? If you remember, Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. that Jacob pretty much took under his wing. And Joseph is mentioned as one of the tribes, and one of his sons is mentioned to fill in that number 12. Manasseh is mentioned, Ephraim is not mentioned. Why is Dan absent? Well, Some of the commentators think it's because the tribe of Dan was the first to run into idolatry in the Old Testament. You do see that. They're the first tribe to be taken captive when the nation was taken captive. And after the remnant returns after captivity, they're never mentioned again. So don't know if that's the answer. I just want to lay it out there so you know that I know that Dan's missing from that list. And if you come up with a better idea than what I just explained because of their idolatry, let me know because I'd be curious to hear. And the identity, we talked about this a little bit. Who are these individuals? Is it the literal number of the remnant of Israel? Maybe even those that are saved during this time of tribulation? Well, to support that, you could look at Paul's writings about Israel in Romans. And in particular, in Romans 11, let me read verse 4 and 5. where he's talking about Elisha, who thought he was the only one. Remember that? I alone am left. Everybody else is bailed. They need a bail. And God says to him, because Paul writes, what's the divine response to him? And God's response was, I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal, right? Number seven is in there, right? The number of completeness, wholeness. And then in verse five, he says, even so then, this Paul now using that as an illustration of Israel, says, even so then at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. In other words, God has preserved and has Messianic Jews, and he has a remnant, even though the vast majority of those that are Jewish do not embrace Christ, God has his remnant, according to the election of grace. MacArthur takes that view that that's who these are. In MacArthur's commentary he says, John MacArthur, he says, finally Israel will be the witness nation that shall refuse to be in the Old Testament. And he sees this as literally God's missionary army of Jewish converts that are going forth. Others that would say it's a symbolic number, representing not national Israel, but what some would say is true Israel, all believers of all time. Even Gentiles were grafted into the true root. And to support that, you could also go to Romans chapter 9 and verse 6, where it says, But it's not that the word of God has not taken any effect, for they are not all Israel, who are of Israel, nor are they all children, because they're the seed of Abraham. But in Isaac your seed should be called, that is, those who are the children of the flesh. These are not the children of God, but the children of the promise. are counted as the seed, for this is the word of promise. At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." Now that's the same argument that's built in the book of Galatians, that the ultimate seed in which we're all blessed and the nations are blessed is one particular descendant of Abraham. The seed is Jesus Christ himself. And if we're united to Jesus, then we are recipients of the promise of the goodness of the gospel. And so we are the Israel of God is the argument in Romans. You can take either stance on that, and I'll still be your friend. I don't know exactly where I land. Probably more towards the symbolic number of true Israel. Myself is where I probably would go with that. Now, I will say this as a standard. When you study your Bible, because I know you guys are all students of the Bible, as I am. One of the principles of studying the Bible is that we're not to take an obscure passage and then try to define all the clear passages in light of this obscure passage. In other words, you get a passage of scripture, and you've got 25 people giving you 25 opinions on it, that doesn't mean that we can't get some understanding out of that particular passage. But I wouldn't build a whole theology on it. And I will tell you that the Jehovah's Witnesses have built a whole theology on this passage. And that is foolishness. And that's why they're not called a church by the church. They're called a cult. Because they have taken passages like this and twisted them so badly that it's just not truth any longer. So I will lay that out for you. The overarching truth, if any of that is a little bit confusing, we don't want to miss the big picture. And the big picture is that God has not intended his people to be the recipients of his wrath. However that's taken care of, whether you're one who believes that a secret rapture will occur before any of this occurs on earth, and that's how he's going to protect us. Or if you're of the mindset that, no, the church will go through half of that tribulation period, and you're a mid-trib person, but God somehow is going to divinely protect you during that time. Or if you're a post-tribulation person, and you think you're going to go through the entirety of the tribulation, God has promised in his word, in the symbolism of this angel going forth and saying, don't harm anything till I seal my people. And the seal is God's divine protection, his ownership on you as a Christian. I think you want to at least take away that from the text. And as a good scripture to turn to, to discuss something like that, I just want to read for you Psalm 91. I was actually going over my notes this morning, and this psalm came to mind. I had to run over to my computer and print it out because it wasn't in my original notes. But this is a great psalm. Psalm 91, beginning in verse 3, says this. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked." That's a promise to God's people that God did not intend us to be His instruments to pour out wrath upon. We will not face God's wrath because Jesus Christ took all of our wrath on the cross. So moving on to now an innumerable multitude in verse nine, and even this I'm gonna break up a little bit, but let me read nine to 12. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. So this is after these things. So this is another vision that John's receiving and conveying. Actually, some of what preceded was audible. He heard the angel, what they were saying. But this is a vision of John's that was given to John. All people groups are represented here. Again, we see that. This is an answer to Jesus's prediction in Matthew 24, 14, where Jesus said, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. And John gets a vision of this is now fulfilled. And so you have people from every nation, every language, every tongue, every kind of language they could speak, every tribe. And there they all are because of the missionary endeavors of the church that have gone into all the lands, all the worlds, all the people groups, and now fruit, the redeemed, are now before the throne. That's what John's seeing here. And notice that they're standing before the throne. Now remember back in the last chapter, in chapter 6, talking about the great day of the Lord, and at the end of that horrific section of scripture, it says in verse 17, "...for the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Well, the answer to that is in chapter 7. God's redeemed are able to stand. There's a passage of scripture that's probably not super familiar to most people. It's one of my go-to's, where Paul is telling the church Not to judge each other. I'm not to be judging you, you're not to be judging me. It's not that we don't hold each other accountable, but he says in chapter 14 of Romans, verse 4, he says, Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. He means the Lord Jesus is their master. You know, you're there to encourage him and maybe, you know, bring to bear sometimes when somebody's out of line, that's fine. But you're not to stand there as their judge. He says, to his own master he stands or falls, and indeed he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. That's a teaching for us to have the right attitude with each other. But I think it's also something we could apply here, that who's able to stand on that day? Those whom God enables to stand, right? The redeemed. And there they are, standing before the throne. And they have palm branches. Palm branches. It denotes a celebration. It denotes worship. Remember, John, I think uniquely in his gospel, records that on the Sunday when Jesus enters in, the week before his crucifixion, and the crowds gather to cry out, Hosanna to him. Hosanna in the highest that the holding palm branches. John wants us to know. There they were with the palms. You see that also in heaven, the saints with palm branches in worship. Outside the Bible, if you read the books of the Maccabees, when the Maccabeans have victory over their enemies, they celebrate with palm branches. It's a picture of victory, of celebration, of worship. And there they are with the palm branches. It's interesting also that if you read the Gospels and you see when Jesus was entering in and they were celebrating and came in lowly on the foal of a donkey and he comes in and they lay down the palm branches and they cry out, Hosanna. Hosanna means God, Lord, save now. And it's interesting, because now here we are getting a glimpse at the throne and glory of the redeemed. And what are they saying? They're saying, you have saved. In other words, what we prayed for before you went to the cross, now you've done. And here we are as you're redeemed, again with palm branches. But now the work has been accomplished. You are the victor. And we're victorious in you, is what they're saying. And they're clothed in white, right? They're overcomers. That's what Jesus said in Revelation 3.5, the letter to the churches. He said, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. And there they are, clothed in white. The confusion of Babel has ended in glory. They're in one accord saying one thing. And you have to have the idea in one unified language, one tongue. Because they're all saying and crying out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. That's what we'll say in glory. Salvation is of the Lord. In other words, you've redeemed me by the blood of the Lamb. And that's what we'll say. And ascribed to God, it's similar to chapter 5 we looked at, are seven attributes again. The number seven, the number of wholeness, of completeness. And it's bookended with Amen. So you get Amen, and then the seven. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, thanksgiving, and honor, and might, a power and might be to our God forever and ever and ever. Amen. So in verse 13, let me read that to 17, it says, then one of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes? And where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know, So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst any more, the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat, for the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So the elder approaches John. This is a great teaching tactic, because the elder wants to bring attention. He wants John to be thinking about what he's seeing. And so the elder asks John, although John doesn't have a clue. And the elder does know, but this is a teaching tactic. So he says, basically, John, who are these? Where are these guys coming from? Why are their robes white? What's going on here? And John wisely gives the answer and says, You know. In other words, I'm ready to be taught. That's the idea. That's what's being conveyed. John's basically saying, I'm listening. I know you know, sir. I'm ready for you to tell me so I can record these things for the church. So he says that these are saints who came out of the Great Tribulation. The saints that came out of the Great Tribulation. And if you're of the dispensationalist view that there's a pre-tribulation rapture, there are people in that view that are still here, unsaved, that get saved during the tribulation. That might be the view you hold. I'm OK with that. You know me. I think we're all going through the whole thing. But that's me. I could be wrong. But one way or the other, these are folks that made it through the tribulation, and they're saved. They were washed in the blood of the Lamb. We'll look at that a little bit as well. It says in Exodus chapter 19, this is the Lord giving instruction to His people, because God's going to meet with them. God's going to descend, if you will, and meet with his people. And so it says in Exodus 19.10, the Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them. That means set them apart for a holy thing. So he says, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and let them be ready for the third day. From the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Hebrews 9.22 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. It's through the blood of the Lamb. And in 1 John 1.7 says, but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. So logically, you think, well, how do you get your clothes clean? How do you get them white? Well, you wash them in blood. Well, that's obviously symbolic of the fact that Jesus washes not our clothes, but our souls, our very selves, with his atoning death. He took our sin away from us and died for it. And he gives us in exchange his perfect righteousness, which is that white robe, right? So we've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. And then they have a reward. It says that they're won before the throne of God in verse 15. That's to say that they're in the presence of God, in God's presence. When I pronounce the Aaronic, or Aaron's, the priest's benediction over you at the end of church service, that is poetry. It's Hebrew poetry. And it's repetitive. In other words, in that form of poetry, it's saying the same thing over and over and over three times. in different words. And I want to read to you. I know you know it because I pronounce it over you every week, but let me read it to you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The three, the Lord bless you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, Bring about that He keeps you, He's gracious to you, and that you live in His peace. That's the idea. All three of those, the Lord bless you, make His face to shine, His countenance to be upon you, is asking that God be present with you. I go for a daily walk almost every day, just to keep somewhat in shape, and I pray. I was telling my wife I came back this week, and I pray audibly. So I'm in the middle of nowhere, so I just talk to God. And I was down by the highway, kind of at the far end of my walk, and I was praying to the Lord. And I didn't realize the mailman was parked right there with his window down. And he probably thought some lunatic was walking up to his car, because there I was in prayer. But when I pray for you, and I pray for my family, I always pray for God's presence and His protection over you. That God would be present with you and His protection. To the Jew, there was no greater blessing in the world than to be in the presence of God. The Reformers coined the Latin phrase, quorum Deo. To live quorum Deo is to live before the face of God. Right? And we always want to have God at mind, that we understand we're living in the presence of God. And that's the blessing they're rewarded with. That's the blessing we're rewarded with in glory, is we get to be in the very physical, if you will, presence of the Lamb. Right? A God, the Father, a Spirit, but we're in His presence forever. They get to serve perpetually at his temple. And this is figurative, and I tell you it's figurative because Revelation 22.5 says that there's no night there. And here it says they're serving day and night. It means perpetually serving God with praise and adoration, right? And Revelation 21.22 says, but I saw no temple in the New Jerusalem for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb or its temple. There is no temple. But here it says they're serving in the temple. It's figurative. We're in God's presence, is what he's trying to say. And we're giving Him perpetually the worship and the glory and the adoration that He's due. And that will thrill your soul for all of eternity, to be there doing that. And it's lost a little bit of my translation, but... It says that he, this is verse 15, the end of verse 15, it says, "...he who sits on the throne will dwell among them." Literally, in the original language, and I'll read from Young's literal translation, it says, "...he who is sitting upon the throne shall tabernacle over them." It's in the original language. And you could say that he will cast his tent over you. It's really a beautiful, covenantal language. That we would be under his tent. We'll be dwelling with him. That we'll be under his eternal protection in glory. And that's what's being conveyed. And because of these things, he says, no hunger will ever happen again. No thirst. Whatever happened, you'll never get a sunstroke, which to people that are living in an arid land like Israel, that would mean probably even more than what we get from that, but that they'd never be under the sunstrike, so to speak, because we're in the presence of God. And it says in verse 17, the lamb who's in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. Now think about that play on words. That in chapter 5, the elder tells John that don't cry anymore because the lion has prevailed. And John turns to see and he sees, what, a lamb that had been slain. But there he was standing. And now he's given a vision of the lamb who's also The shepherd, right? We almost think the other way around. Wait a minute, the lamb's the shepherd, but Jesus is the chief shepherd, the Bible says, right? Peter mentions that. He talks about pastors being under shepherds over their flocks in the churches, with Jesus himself being the chief shepherd, right? That's who Jesus is. Jesus said that over and over. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives us life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and I am known by my own. He tells Simon, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said, yes, Lord, you know I love you. And he said to him, then tend my sheep. That's us. Tend my sheep. So it's a beautiful picture. The lamb is also our shepherd. And he says that the shepherd's gonna lead us to living waters. Does that make you remember the Psalm? Sorry, 23rd Psalm. He leads me beside the still waters, the quiet waters. He's gonna lead us to the living waters, right? In Revelation 21.6, it is done. I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." Right? It's there for the asking, if people would just receive Christ by faith. In Revelation 22, 17, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come! Let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Right? And when I'm out talking to folks, and when you're out witnessing, we're looking for what? We're looking for thirsty people. There's people I talk to about the Lord, they don't have any thirst whatsoever, and I move on. But every once in a while, just like our video today, the man said he was in prison for a month and a half, put under heavy labor, but we witnessed. And one man and one woman came to the Lord. There was two in that prison that were thirsty. And you can tell them of the Lord Jesus, and Jesus will give them to drink of the living water. And then the beautiful line that God will wipe the tears from our eyes. Right? I don't know why we're crying over regret, because we could have done more for the Lord in this life. Tears of joy, it doesn't say. But there's the Lord, almost like my grandmother would lift up her apron to dab my tears when I scratched my knee as a little boy. God uses that exact same language of tenderness and care and love and concern for his people that... Come here, Larry. Let me just, let me dab those eyes. Isn't that a beautiful picture of our Lord? I'll end with a quote that I pulled off of the Life Application Bible Commentary. All of God's followers will be brought safely to Him. Not one will be overlooked or forgotten. God seals these believers either by withdrawing them from the earth in a rapture, or by giving them special strength and courage to make it through this time of great persecution. No matter what happens, they will be brought to the reward of eternal life. Their destiny is secure. These believers will not fall away from God, even though they may undergo intense persecution. This is not saying that 144,000 individuals must be sealed before the persecution comes, but that when persecution begins, the faithful will have already been sealed, marked by God, and they will remain true to Him until the end. Let that bring joy and peace to you. Our Father and our God, we end our study today asking that you do a work in us. Lord, we've studied your word together. We pray that you'd cause us to meditate on these things. Lord, to look to the future of your return and to be steadfast while you tarry. Lord, we thank you for that in Jesus' name, amen. Before I read and pronounce this benediction over you, remember there's a business meeting for church members right after the service. We're going to have it up here, so we're going to have to try to make it down that narrow staircase. But let me just pronounce this over you, and please receive the blessing of God. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace of Christ Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.