Join me tonight, if you would,
in the book of Revelation, chapter 12. I think I got something to
say. I've just enjoyed this 12th chapter. It's been a delight. I've just been ruminating on
this first verse of this chapter. And I want to spend some time
on it, where the church put her feet. where the church put her
feet. And there appeared a great wonder
in heaven. Now I'd like to just look at
that word wonder for two verses. That word wonder, it's quite
a number of times that word is used in scripture. in the New
Testament, translated several ways. And I'd just like to look
at two of them to kind of give us an idea of what this is. This
is not a common wonder. This is not the tale of an asteroid,
or this isn't an asteroid shower. This is a wonder. This is a sign. This is a miracle. And in the
book of Acts, chapter 5 and chapter 6, would you turn there with
me? Acts chapter 5, this is used one way and translated this way,
and it just gives us an idea of what this wonder is. This
is more than man's ability. This is more than man's ability.
This is God involved in this wonder. This wonder, this great
wonder that is mentioned here, that appeared a great wonder
in heaven. And we'll see that this wonder
is totally and by itself, by grace. No other reason than that,
that it appeared. It's the grace of God brought
to light for people. And this wonder is the church.
And the church is a great wonder in this world. It's a one of
grace, and we mentioned last Sunday night that the angels
don't know that. They have no comprehension of
what grace is, and particularly the angels that fell. They have
no idea. There is no potential possibility
forever. They doom themselves. And Adam
doomed the human race when he ate of that fruit against God.
He chose himself over God. He took the human race into death.
But grace is going to reign and God is going to pull a people
out of every kindred people in town and they will be great trophies
of grace. And it's a wonder that this church,
as gloomy as it looks at times, This wonder is God's wonder.
This wonder is grace's product. This wonder is the grace of God
demonstrated in this world, and it's a wonder. And this wonder,
this great wonder, the church is clothed with only the righteousness
of Christ. And that's, as we mentioned Sunday
night, that is not a bathrobe. This is Christ in his purity
and in his holiness. He puts us under his wings. He covers us with his righteousness.
And in so doing, he covers us with himself. We are his and
he is ours. He covers us with himself. This
is a wonderful wonder. All right, notice here in the
book of Acts chapter five. Acts chapter five in verse 12,
The scriptures share this, and this word is found in here, and
it is translated in this passage of scripture, a sign. This is
a sign. Acts chapter five and verse 12,
it says, and by the hands of the apostles were many signs
and wonders wrought among the people. This is a sign. The Holy
Spirit gave the apostles a sign. great liberty when it came to
their ability to heal people. It was a sign to the people that
God's moving among them. It is not necessary today. The
gospel has been so declared and the wonder is there. But in this
day and in this time, God used these apostles to bring about
great signs among the people and heal many people. Those who were sick were healed
and those that were bent over were straightened up. We have
many after the time of the Lord Jesus that were healed and it
was a great sign. My goodness, this is far beyond
the capability of any man. And all the apostles would share
with us, it was not us, it was he. We are just instruments in
his hand. There in Acts chapter five and
verse 12, finishing that verse, and wrought many people, wonders
wrought among many people, and they were all with one accord
in Solomon's porch. And in chapter six, this word
is translated just a little bit different. And again, we see
that it is far greater than human contrivance. That's one thing
about the church. It is far greater than any human
contrivance. We can have church rolls, but
that doesn't put anybody in the church. We can have church membership
drives, but that doesn't put anybody in the church. Those
things are just, they're trite. We don't have church members
drives anyway, but some groups have great emphasis on the church
roles and things like that. Well, that put nobody in the
church. The Holy Spirit puts people into the church, and it's
a miracle of his grace. And here again, we see in Acts
chapter six, And verse 8, it says, and Stephen, full of faith
and power, did great wonders and miracles. This is the same
word that's found over there in the book of Revelation, chapter
12 and verse 1. A sign, great sign in heaven,
great wonder in heaven, great miracle in heaven. And you and
I, by the grace of God, are miracles of his grace. It wasn't us, but
is he moving in us? That song that we just got put
in our green book, the Holy Spirit is the responsible party for
the birth of the church. And the Holy Spirit is the responsible
party for the keeping of the church. And the Holy Spirit is
the responsible party for the revelation to the church. And
the Holy Spirit is responsible for the church being a great
wonder. It has been a wonder through
all centuries. It was a wonder in the days of
Abel that outside of the Garden of Eden, after the darkness of
sin fell on this earth, there was one man that understood what
the grace of God was and saw the need of a lamb sacrificed
on his behalf. What a great wonder was in that
day as the brother looked and didn't understand it, but it
still was a great wonder. The days of the Lord Jesus Christ,
His very day of crucifixion, the world wondered at it. Though it didn't move them, though
it didn't save them, they wondered at it. It was a wonder of wonders. I had an email from Brother Donnie.
in November, he's going down to Louisiana to be with Milton
Howard and go to that prison that Milton has just, he just
got in there. He is just, he's a chaplain of
that prison down there and he speaks Spanish and there's a
lot of Spanish speaking people that are incarcerated and Donnie
has just, he just loves to go down there. And I shared with
him, there was a thief one time, crucified, that realized This
is the best day he ever lived. A wonder of wonders. A thief
was saved. And who's to know that some of
those men and women down there in that prison didn't commit
a crime, so they'd be in the right place at the right time.
Now, I'm not for crime, don't get me wrong. But God moves in
his mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, and who's to know
that Brother Donny Bell won't go down there in that prison,
and that person was incarcerated so he could hear the gospel.
It's a pretty controlled environment. People just don't get up and
leave. They're held in position. They come because they want to
come, but they get a little liberty for coming. So there's a little
carrot there, but who's to know? It is a wonder of wonders that
grace would move among sinners. That's a great wonder. Now, it's
a miracle. It's a sign. And as we go back
to Revelation, there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman,
the bride of Christ, the church of the living God, the called
out of the Lord. those that belong to him. And
the Song of Solomon spends a lot of time sharing with us that
relationship between Christ and his church and that it is the
relationship between a groom and his bride and a bride and
her groom and explains to us there in symbolic language how
that is so fitting and how typical it is of the relationship between
this great wonder and this great savior. We have a great wonder
in heaven, but it is there because there is a great Savior there. God is in the habit of saving
great sinners. Now, if we just have a little
sin, we just have a little Savior, but if we're great sinners, and
once we've been regenerated, we realize, and we continue to
realize how great a sinner we are. It continues on. It just,
well, I was a sinner once. We're a sinner today, we'll be
a sinner tomorrow, but you know what? God saved sinners today,
saved sinners yesterday, and he'll continue to save sinners
tomorrow by his grace. It's a great wonder. There's
a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun. And we
looked at that and, oh, the robe of righteousness, the righteousness
of Christ, clothed. One place over in the Song of
Solomon, it says that the bride confesses, I'm dark, I'm black,
but I'm comely. What's that mean? I'm by nature. I'm black before God, but by
grace, I'm beautiful in grace. Moses illustrates the point.
You know what? He married an Ethiopian woman. This Jew married an Ethiopian
or a black woman. That's what it says in the scriptures.
How beautiful a picture that is of the Lord Jesus Christ and
who he marries. But in his marriage to his bride,
he gives her every grace and every glory that he possesses. And when God sees us, he does
not see us black. He does not see us in that manner.
He sees us in Christ. and he acknowledges the love
that he has for us before the world began. For Christ's sake,
it's a great wonder, and it is glorious, and this woman is clothed
with the sun. Now, this woman, it says the
moon is under her feet. Now, you can read almost anything
about that you want to, but I'm convinced of this. Now, it may
mean other things too, but I'm convinced of this, this woman,
covered with the righteousness of Christ, covered with Christ,
is used to symbolize the church's grace and glory and the gospel
superiority over all of that Jewish religion. Now, in the
Old Testament, there was a man by the name of Joseph, and Joseph
sold down into bondage, down into Egypt by his brothers. And
at the conclusion of that whole account, he says, you meant it
for evil, but God meant it for good. I'm down here for saving
your life. He is such a beautiful picture
of Christ and what Christ does for the church. But prior to
him being sent down there, he has two dreams. One of them to
me really is striking, and that is he dreamed that the sun, the
moon, and 11 stars bowed before him. And he told his father,
and his father interprets it for us. He says, are you telling
us that your mother and I and your 11 brothers are going to
bow down before you? Now, he just did a masterful job of sharing
with us what Joseph's dream was all about. And you know what?
Every one of those people. Now, his mother is already dead.
The moon is already dead. But every one of those 11 brothers
and Joseph's father saw the fulfillment of that dream. Now, they represent
Israel. And Israel and the religion of
Israel is represented by this moon. Now, there's some things
about the moon. I was just sitting in there thinking,
the moon, yes, it was created by God. And that Old Testament
legacy was created by God. He ordained it all. every bit
of it. But like the moon, that law is
cold. Like the moon, that law is hard. It is hard. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die. It is hard. It is unfeeling. There is no mercy with the law,
and there's no mercy with the moon. If some of our astronauts
get up there and they're walking around and they lose their oxygen
supply, that moon is unfeeling. There is not a drop of oxygen
on that moon. If we're going to go there, we
have to go with something that sustains us. The moon is dead. There's not a thing that grows
on it. And the law, oh, there's nothing
that grows in the law. It never ministered any growth
whatsoever. Wayne was just sharing with me,
one of his friends shared with him that the law is the means
of our sanctification. And I'll tell that man straight
to his face that Jesus Christ is the means of my sanctification. That law is cold and hard and
unfeeling and dead and inhospitable. We'd have a whole lot more people
up there on that moon if it was hospitable. We got to take everything,
food, water, A place to live, air, everything has to be taken
up there and supplied, and the moon, as it's represented here,
this woman is standing on it. It is inhospitable, and the law
is inhospitable. It will not tolerate anything. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. No one can stand under the law. There's no life in it. You cannot survive on it. And
last, among many things, we could add many, it's distant. And the
law is distant. It is never friendly. Oh, to
approach unto it. It is not friendly. It is so
distant. It's cold and hard. And no wonder
this moon is represented as this woman, the church of the living
God, is standing on this moon, is showing us that she and what
she has and the righteousness of Christ and the grace of God
is far superior to what the Jews had in the Old Testament, if
that's what they wanted to trust. Now, we know that there were
those in the Old Testament that trusted Christ. They're standing
on the moon. They're not the moon anymore.
They're standing on the moon. They are in Christ. They have
the righteousness of Christ. They have the glory of God in
Christ Jesus, and there is no longer any standoffishness, coldness,
hardness. It is Christ and His glory given
to the church. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Much of the
New Testament is spent on this subject, that grace is superior
to law. The law is so inferior. In fact, it is stated a number
of times that there is no righteousness by the law. It is so inferior. It's no wonder that this woman
is standing on it, symbolizing there is no hope in this. Standing
on it. There's no peace in this. There's
no closeness in this. There is no hope in this. There
is no warmth in this. This, what I have is Christ. What this is represents coldness
and hardness. Now we're gonna look at a verse
in just a moment that I had to scratch the page. I shared that
with Brother Wayne this afternoon. It says, the law was our schoolmaster. to bring us to Christ. And I've
read it that way, I don't know how many times. We're gonna go
over there and find out to bring us to Christ is in italics. The law is our schoolmaster to
Christ is what that says. We'll look at that in just a
moment. But notice here with me, Acts chapter 13, verse 38. Acts chapter 13 and verse 38.
And this is so close to Acts 13, 48. This is right in that
same passage of scripture when the Gentiles said, oh, talk to
us some more about this. And they, it tells us there in
verse 48 of that chapter, it says, and when the Gentiles heard
this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Now, back up just
a little bit, verse 38. Verse 38 and 39 it says this,
be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through
this man is preached, this is the Lord Jesus, is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified
from all things from which ye could not be justified by the
law of Moses. He is bringing up a point to
the Jews. You are trusting in a cold, hard
stone. Yes, it was created by God for
a purpose. It was to demonstrate that we
cannot fulfill it. We cannot keep it. It is impossible
and it's cold and hard and reserved and no food, no drink, no refreshment,
nothing is here. It is reserved, it is distant. Everything we can think about
the moon is applied to the law and it will not save a soul. Now the son of righteousness
will. The Lord Jesus will save his
people from their sins. And then in Romans 3, verse 20,
would you turn with me there? As we see, the scriptures are
just filled, and I'm just picking out a handful tonight. The book
of Galatians deals with this. Paul is led by the Holy Spirit
to declare that this law is a cold, hard rock. And there's no hope
in it, there's no redemption in it, there's no sanctification
in it, there's no righteousness in it. And why in the world would
you leave Christ and go back to it? The weak and beggarly
things of the law. Why would you? Well, I was sharing
with Brother Wayne tonight, the only way that someone could ever
leave grace and go to the law is they never knew what grace
really meant to begin with. You just cannot give up on good
food to go back to straw unless your only hope is in straw. And
it's not going to sustain. All right. Romans chapter 3.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, 21 and 22, the scriptures share
this. Romans chapter 3 verse 20, therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets. That was amazing to
me. The law and the prophets said, this is not the way to
God. The law and the prophet said
Jesus Christ is the way to God throughout the Old Testament
Every sacrifice was a picture of the one who could actually
deal with sin and it was mentioned I just can't help but believe
that those high priests and those priests were around saying what
we find recorded in the book of Hebrews the blood of bulls
and goats don't take away sin and I just can't help but believe
they were not saying that. The same way that a gospel preacher
today will say, the cup and the bread does not take away sin. The water of baptism does not
take away sin. Now we say that and still people
will depend on it. We still say it. And I just can't
help but believe that the high priest would say, the blood of
bulls and goats cannot take away sin. and then they'd slay that
bull, or that goat, or that lamb, or that turtle dove, and go through
what they were ordained to do, but it did not take away sin.
All right, it says here, verse 21, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. What's that saying? Jews and Gentiles need the same
thing. Jews and Gentiles, it's applied
the same way. The Old Testament law never saved
a Jew, and the lack of law never saved a Gentile. The Lord Jesus
Christ saves both. His righteousness, we need to
have this glory of the Son. We cannot approach God without
the glory of the Son, S-O-N. and the moon doesn't have it. It is only, and the law is the
same way, it is only the reflected glory of the holiness of God. It is not the holiness of God,
it is the reflected glory, just like the sun is to us, even on
a full moon. My dad loved a full moon. That's
when we went after side hill salmon. You could find them. but it was
still just reflected light. All right, now go with me if
you would to the book of Galatians chapter two. Galatians chapter
two and verse 21. The apostle Paul was used to
write this book of, to the Galatians, the churches of Galatia. Now
this is not a single group of people that was having difficulty.
It appears that the whole, province, Roman province of Galatia. What
happened? What happened that these churches,
these assemblies where Paul had been and preached, now he writes
to, had this to say to them? But in Galatians chapter 2 verse
21, and this book is so packed with it, the apostle Paul is
spending so much time led by the Holy Spirit to get onto this
subject because it seemed to be an apparent error by so many
They were depending on the moon and not on the glory of the sun. They were depending on hardness
and coldness and distancedness. Galatians chapter 2 verse 21,
it says, I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness
came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. There is no
need to have Christ ever come to this earth and die if righteousness
came by the law. Oh, what a statement he makes.
The purpose of God was that the Son come and give his life a
ransom for many. The purpose of God before the
world began was that the Son come and give himself a ransom
for many. That was the purpose of God.
And then for people to say, it is not necessary that I am able
to do it on my own. By the law, I can get righteousness. Paul was led by the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit speaking loudly then Christ is dead in
vain. That's the consequence of having
the moon as your glory. Christ is dead in vain. The purpose
of God is in error. The implications, the ripple
effect of that, we don't want to go there. We don't want to
go there. Scriptures don't go there. We
don't want to go there. Galatians chapter 3 in verse 11, it says
there, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God
is evident, for the just shall live by faith. That comes out
of the Old Testament, the book of Habakkuk, the just shall live
by faith. Abraham was an example of that.
Abraham believed God and was counted unto him for righteousness.
Throughout the Old Testament, there was this constant abiding
statement that God saves his people by his grace. It is not
men, but it's God that produces this life, and he had his glorious,
glorious wonder in heaven throughout the Old Testament, and that is
the church. And his people were brought into
it out of every kindred nation, people, and tongue. They were
brought in. They were made glorious by this
grace of God. And they were a wonder. Oh, a
wonder of wonders that grace would appear to us. It's a wonder. It's a miracle. It's a sign from
heaven. And then in that same chapter,
verse 21 through 24, it says, is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. For before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Shut up! under the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ." Those three words, to bring us,
that gives almost the idea that the law is kind of the minister
to bring us to Christ. The law was our schoolmaster
to Christ. It pointed only to him. There
was no saving grace in the law. It was only a minister to point
people to Christ. Old Testament, New Testament,
every testament, today, yesterday, and tomorrow. It was a schoolmaster
to Christ, not carrying us along and introducing us. The moon
can't do that. It's cold and hard and harsh. and unforgiving, and it has everything
that we can think about. It's distant. It doesn't have
a thing to do with introducing us to Christ. It is a statement
made. You have me, you have death. I point you to Christ. It is
a schoolmaster to Christ, unto Christ, that we might be justified
by faith, but after faith, is come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster. There is a liberty in Christ,
a freedom. We're no longer, it is so sterile,
the law is so sterile. The law is so unforgiving. The law is so inhospitable. The law has no life in it. It cannot save. It is distant. It's unfeeling. It's dead. It's
cold. It's hard. And there is no hope
in it. just like the moon. And this
woman, clothed with the glory of God, a wonder created by the
grace of God, saved people, brought to Christ by the grace of God,
a demonstration in a cold, hard world that God's grace is still
evident and will bring dead people to life and cause them to have
the glory of the Son. They are showing us everyone
that has ever been saved by the grace of God continues to show
us as Paul showed us throughout the scriptures. I am not here
and I don't have the glory of the law. I am here by the glory
of the sun and the law continues to be distant, cold, and hard
and I will not trust it. I'll put my foot on it. just
like we have a conqueror putting his foot on slaves that he intends
to say, you are not part of the program. I'll put my head on
your neck. All right, turn with me to Galatians
chapter five and verse four. Galatians chapter five and verse
four. Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of
you are justified by the law. And then he goes on to say this,
ye are fallen from grace. If you have this, if you have
this idea that the law has justified you, then grace has no part. You can't mix the two. Paul shares
with us in the book of Romans, if it's of works, then it's no
more grace. If it's grace, it's no more works.
You can't have them both. And the church has never depended
on the law for its deliverance. It has forever declared the grace
of God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Now go with me to the Hebrews,
Hebrews chapter 7 if you would. This woman shares with us the
glory of the righteousness of Christ standing on this cold
Cold moon. It's not part of me. I don't
have it on my shoulders. I don't have it around my waist.
I don't have it for a breastplate of righteousness. I don't have
it for a helmet of salvation. I'm just going to show, as the
Lord does. He just demonstrates. This law
is like the cold, hard moon. And this woman just stands on
it and says it's not part of me. Not part of now Hebrews chapter
7 Hebrews chapter 7 verse 18 scriptures share this For there is barely a disannulling
of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in
of a better hope did and By the witch, we draw nigh unto God. Now, no one draws nigh to the
moon. I admire those men who went there. When I was down there
in Florida last February, went out there to the Kennedy Space
Center, and they had pictures of those men, I was alive. I
watched the television. Neil Armstrong stepping on the
moon, I admired him. But you know what? He didn't
stay there. Couldn't stay there. They just
had a limited amount of oxygen. And once they went through it,
they better get back to the home ship. And they better get that
home ship back to Earth. Venture as far as we want to
over here. We got to go home if we're going to have life.
There is no life there. And here it says, Hebrews chapter
7 verse 19, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing
in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God.
And in chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, Hebrews chapter 10
verse 1, for the law having a shadow of good things to come. Oh my,
a shadow, a shadow. It's just a poor imitation of
good things to come. Yes, it pictures we need a lamb.
Yes, we need a sacrifice. Sin has divided me between me
and God. Adam helped and I contributed.
Adam fell and I still sinned. I need something. I need a substitute. And that's what it pictures throughout
the Old Testament. For verily the first of verse,
excuse me, chapter 10, verse one, for by the law, nothing,
law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image
of the things can never with those sacrifices, which they
offer year by year, continually make the comers there unto perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because
that the worshippers, once purged, should have no more conscience
of sins. But in those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance, again, made of sins every year. For it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins. Wherefore, then, he cometh into
the world, saying, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come. In the
volume of the book it's written of me, Old Testament. Do thy
will, to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, sacrifice
and offering and burn offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. By the witch will,
we are sanctified to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once,
for all time. It doesn't mean once for everybody,
it means once for all time. And every priest stands daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Oh, it is a miracle, great sign,
great miracle, great wonder, the church is. It's not man-made,
it's God-made. Great wonder, clothed with Christ,
his righteousness. Oh, glorious, glorious, glorious
church, glorious. It's a beautiful picture, a beautiful
woman, clothed with the sun, glorious, standing on the moon. One other verse before we close,
found in John 1, verse 17, John 1, 17. Now, there's one thing you can
be assured of this throughout history. There's one thing. Everybody
that said there is no sanctification, there is no regeneration, there
is no completeness, there is no hope in the law was persecuted. Just mark it down. You get people
saying it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done. And you're
going to have a group of people that believe that it is persecute
this woman. And we're going to see in the
12th chapter, this woman is required to flee into the wilderness.
Why? Because of who she is and what
she stands for. It's a great wonder created by
God. And if they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you.
All right, John 1, verse 17, what a fitting statement is here
to conclude this view of Revelation 12, verse 1, this part. We haven't got to the stars yet.
We'll get to that. But this thought, all right,
John 1, verse 17, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Now when did he give that? He
gave that to the first man, first woman, first boy, first girl
who was in the church. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. The first one we have record of in the book of Hebrews
chapter 11 is by faith Abel. Now I pray, I hope, I hope Adam
and Eve are there. I do. They were covered with
the coats of skins, skins of animals, blood was shed, a beautiful
picture of what Christ must do in order to save his people.
I wish it said, this is just me wishing, it said in the book
of Hebrews chapter 11, by faith Adam and Eve were clothed. I just don't know, but I know
this, by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice by Faith
Abel. What a glorious statement he
said to the world, to his brother, to his parents. I need a sacrifice. I need a substitute. And that's
what the church has been saying ever since. It's not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he saved us. And that's a wonder. It's a great
wonder. It takes new vocabulary to say
that. It takes the grace of God to
confess that. And there appeared a great wonder
in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her
feet.