Revelation chapter 1. I thought we were going to get
to verse 7. But there was a word in verse
6 that caught my eye. And I've got to spend some time
there because this is a premise that goes with the entire book
and I am convinced that most Christians, and I'm using this,
are sitting in the valley of defeat. They're just sitting
there. When the church is sitting in
his power. Now that's all the difference
in the world about this book. Whether you're sitting in the
valley of defeat or whether you recognize him as all power. that's
going to change your view of this book. It's going to go from
a book of old charts and hocus-pocus and predictions to this is a
statement of his almighty power. And that's what I love. I love
reading about a God who has all and all authority. Now there
is some things in this book that we will find hard to understand,
but we can say this, I know what it's not saying. I know what it's not saying.
It's not talking about a puny little God who can't get the
job done, because every other place is talking about the Lord
God Almighty. Now in verse 6 it says, and hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. And there's a word
in there that got my eye, and that's the word dominion. And
I want to spend some time on that tonight and maybe get into
a little bit of verse 7. But let's read verses 1 down
through verse 7. The revelation, the apocalypse,
the unfolding, the review, the opening up of. Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified by
his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of
God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all the things
that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth. They
that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are
written therein, for the time is at hand. John to the seven
churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him
which is, which was, and which is to come. And last week I was
gonna say this, this is one of those, he loved us, Let's see, I had that written
down. He loved us in his isness, he
loved us in his wasness, and he loves us in his comingness.
That's what it says. Grace be unto you and peace from
him which is and which was and which is to come from the seven
spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ
who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead
and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with
clouds. and every eye shall see him and
they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of him even so let it be amen amen now this word
dominion that's found there in the last part of verse six has
so much to do with our view of god And we just like to look
into the scriptures and see how this word is used a number of
times in the scriptures, and then we can make a wonderful,
educated view of this verse of scripture and what it means to
us, that God has dominion. God has dominion. Now I, not
only do we want, but it's revealed that he is a God that has dominion
over all things. Dan and I were visiting the other
day, and I really enjoyed it. He was talking about physics,
talking about little bitty particles, and he's studying that stuff.
And it just made it that much clearer there in the book of
Colossians where it says, by him all things consist. That means everything is held
together. Now we have seen, in pictures
at least, and some have seen as they walk down the streets
of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, saw the results of the splitting
of one atom. The power that is contained in
one atom was demonstrated twice on people. Now, if God did not
keep this all together and let it open for two times, this world
would be in such disruption, it wouldn't have life on it. by him all things consist, because
he has dominion over all things. Now, Mary, the mother of the
Lord Jesus, in her praise song, had this to say in the book of
Luke, chapter 1, as we find the first place in the New Testament
where this particular word is used. is translated dominion
here in Revelation chapter one and verse six but over here in
the book of Luke chapter one we find that Mary speaks and
it has been translated slightly different there but it gives
us some understanding about what dominion is and to realize that
the book of Revelation shares with us just like all the other
65 books of the Bible share with us a God that has all strength
and all power and all dominion over all things. Now here in
the book of Luke chapter 1 verse 51, but I want to read back up
verse 46 here. Luke chapter 1 verse 46, it says
these words, and Mary said, my Lord doth magnify the Lord. Now
that's a wonderful thing to read, but isn't it a blessed thing
to do? to magnify the Lord, to speak
highly of God. Now it says, my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of
his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth,
all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty
hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his
mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
And he has showed strength with his arm. Now that word strength
is the word dominion found over in the book of Revelation chapter
one and verse six. He has showed strength with his
arm. Now if his arm is showing almighty
strength, just think what God can do. He has shown strength with his
arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them
of low degree. Now Mary is sharing with us what's
going through her heart when she's informed that she is going
to bear the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in there, it
shares with us in verse 51, he has showed strength with his
arm. The strength of God, the power
of God, the might of God, the almighty power of God is demonstrated
when we read that word over there in the book of Revelation chapter
five and verse six, or excuse me, chapter one and verse five,
verse six, dominion. He has dominion over all things. He has everything rounded up. He has everything in control. Not one thing happens he has
to react to. He does not react. He acts. He is always the first
cause of all things. When we talk about mercy, it
goes right back to the throne of grace. That's where we find
it. We can see the passing of it,
we can see the results of it, we can see the information of
it, but it ends up at the throne of grace just like His. love,
his peace, his long-suffering, his gentleness, his goodness,
every characteristic and attribute of God that we get to witness
and enjoy in our personal life goes right back to the throne
of God. He is the first cause of all
things, and by him all things consist, and he has dominion
over all things. He's the one that enforces the
law of gravity. And when he purposes, he relinquishes
that force and iron floats. And he does that with his people. Every force in every binding
that is a bonus because of the fall of Adam is relinquished. when God demonstrates his dominion
over us and all things that would hold us down and by the word
of his power he raises us out of a horrible pit. Why? Because he has all dominion. He is capable and able and powerful
enough to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
He goes beyond what we're able to capacitate. Turn with me,
if you would, to the book of Acts. Oh, just this verse of
scripture, I was almost blown out of my chair. With this verse
of scripture, Acts chapter 19. This word is translated here,
mighty. And it just shares with me what
I was saying Sunday night about the law. Most people do not believe that
the word, the Holy Spirit, that God has the ability and power
to control his people. And I find the scriptures share
that he is able to do that. He has dominion over us, the
church. He has dominion over us. He has
control. And here in the book of Acts
chapter 19, and there in verse 20, it shares this, and you better
brace yourself. Just look at this verse, Acts
chapter 19 and verse 20. The scriptures share this, so
mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Now, I says, whoa,
so mightily, and that word mightily, mighty, excuse me, mightily is
the word dominion that we find over in the book of Revelation
chapter one. so mightily grew the Word of
God." What's that talking about? It was so powerful, it shook
people from stem to stern. It broke them loose from their
old world latches. and they were broken loose from
that old mud and muck and brought to the surface and set on a solid
rock. So mightily was the word of God
in power it shook people and it still does. God's people are
still shaken by the Word of God. He lifts us by it. He causes
us to shout with praise because of the Word of God, and because
of Him being the very center and core of all the Word of God.
When we get through the book of Revelation, we'll look back,
I trust and say, that was the book about our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and all power that He has on our behalf. And He
rendered it to us. He makes his people powerful.
When we're able to pray in power, and everybody that's able to
pray is praying in power, and it's not talking about moving
cars out of the road. That's not the kind of power
we're talking about. It's talking about changing us into the image
of Christ. Now that's power. That's almighty
power. to take wicked, hell-bound, and
hell-deserving people and lift them out of the muck, cause them
to float, if you please, pluck them out of their desperateness,
and give them the glory of God, that's power. Here it's talking
about, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. God's Word
prevails. I just am absolutely convinced
it's the preaching of the Word that God uses to prevail over
people, to saw them down, to side them out, to bring them
to Him. It isn't foolishness. It's the
Word of God. God said it is by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. It is a prevailing,
and that's the only reason the Apostle Paul continued to preach. It was the prevailing work of
the word. Prevailing. He prevailed upon
people. He prevailed upon circumstances. He prevailed. He broke people
down with the Word of God. He herded them up by the Word
of God. It wasn't the preacher that had control over the issues.
It was the Word of God. It was the same Word that brought
this world into existence. And it was the same Word that
caused Lazarus to come out of the tomb is the Word of God that
is out in the gospel today. It is that kind of power. We
kind of stand in awe at the tomb of Lazarus. We should stand in
awe at the mighty power of God over us to cause us to rejoice in God
our Savior. There's not much to rejoice about
in this world, so it's just really nice to rejoice in God, to be
prevailed upon. His word prevails. I like that. It's going to win. He's going
to win. He's going to win. He's never
gone into battle without the purpose of winning. He's not
going to come in second best to anything. And we're going
to read here in just a minute over in the book of Hebrews that
God destroyed him who had power over the death. That is Satan. He prevailed over him. So this
mightily, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. The
results, there didn't have to be a law passed. Let's back up
here just a little bit. The book here, then certain of
the vagabonds, Jews, verse 13, exorcists took upon them to call
over them, which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying,
we adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. And there were
seven sons of Siva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did
so. And the evil spirit answered and says, Jesus I know, and Paul
I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil
spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed
against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks, also dwelling
in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all in the name of the Lord.
Jesus was magnified, and many that believed came and confessed
and showed their deeds. And many of them also, which
had curious arts, used curious arts, brought their books together
and burned them before all men. And they counted the price of
them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the
word of God and prevailed." What do we see there? There didn't
have to be a law passed. Please take care of the rotten
books you have. They didn't have to pass a law. God worked on their heart. My
goodness. That's what God does to his people.
He's going to prevail. It's not the beginning of the
race. It's the end of the race. And everyone that ends the race,
God has prevailed. Now, turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of Ephesians, chapter one, the same word, dominion. It's just sprinkled throughout
the scripture so that God's people know that God is in charge, that
he is the Lord God Almighty, that he is all-powerful, he's
all-knowing, that there's nothing goes on without his knowledge,
and he is in charge. Now, you know, there's books
out. Why do good people suffer? I haven't prevailed on the book
to read it. All kinds of things, trying to
explain, explain. And people tell me, God doesn't
want anybody sick. It's the devil. And I just don't even discuss
it because it isn't worth it. A man convinced against his will
is of the same opinion still. And it takes the prevailing power
of God to change our mind. And when God delivers us from
ourself and gives us Christ, some of that stuff is just automatic. When I'm sick, it's God Almighty
in charge. Devil didn't bring it. It's God
Almighty. It is part of the curse. Sickness is part of the curse.
Old age is the curse. Pains, backaches, just part of
the curse. But God is still in charge. Now here in Ephesians chapter
1 verse 19, this word is translated power. He has dominion. He has power. He is almighty. The precedent in the first few
verses of Revelation is set. The rest of the book is about
a God Almighty, a God that has the ability to control all things,
and angels in heaven sing this song, worthy is the Lamb. All creation will bow and sing
this song. Now, here in Ephesians chapter
one and verse 19, it says, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us were to believe according to the working of his
mighty power. Now, the first power in there
is not the word. The second power is it's his mighty power. Power,
we think, that's great, but mighty power, I like redundancies. Mighty
power, it's not enough for God to let us know that he has power.
He has mighty power. almighty power, everlasting almighty
power. And that's what God does for
his church. He continues to let them know. And that's why we can sit under
our tree at rest. Sit, rested, because he has all
power. We're not in a fuss, fidgeting,
worried. We get concerned. There's no
question about it. But there's a difference between
concern and worry. Worry. I heard the story one time. And
this isn't really scriptural, but I'm going to share it. Story
about someone heard the rocking chair rocking down in the living
room. They got up and went down there. And the devil was sitting
in the chair. He says, oh, it's just you. Went
back to bed. When you have a God that's almighty,
those things are just not going to be important. He's chained. He's chained. All right. His almighty power,
notice there, according to the working of His mighty, what kind
of power do we have? According to the working of His
mighty power. He gives it freely, He gives
it to His people. We have power we haven't even
dreamed of yet. I can't even imagine the power
that God has ordained to conform us to the image of His Son. haven't even, I know what I am. And the Bible says he is conforming
me to the image of his son. Now that's a lot of power. That's
almighty power. And then in the book of Ephesians
chapter six and verse 10, same word is used there. It's just
power, almighty, dominion. He has power over all things.
He has power over the church. He's the head of the church.
He has power over it. And here in Ephesians chapter
six and verse 10, it says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might. Where's our strength?
In the power of his might. He is all powerful. Our only
power is in the power of his mind. One time, there was a lady
at the school, and she just bought a Corvette Stingray. And she
overheard me saying, one time I wanted to buy one. And she
came to me on my prep, and she says, Norm, would you like to
take a ride? And handed me the keys. And I got out on the freeway,
and I'll have to say, I broke the speed law. There was so many horses under
that hood. And I was going in the power. I was flying along
there pretty fast in the power of that car's might. I was at
rest. The only the only muscle I was
using was my leg muscle right leg on gas pedal. And our power is the power of
his might. We're just cruising along here
at 10,000 miles an hour at rest in the power of his might. I
just am enjoying it, aren't you? To be cruising in the power of
his might, his dominion, to enjoy his dominion over us. He's not going to lead us astray.
Sometimes we almost act like it, but he's headed for the end. And we're just, and sometimes
I'm so glad he's got a hook in my jaw, aren't you? He's got
a hook in my jaw. He's taking us along. Now, turn
with me over to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter two. This, what
a wonderful verse here. This just takes care of a lot
of questions. A lot of questions. I feel so
sorry for people that think that Satan's in charge. I just feel
sorry for him. Number one, it's unscriptural,
and number two, to think that a created being's in charge of
God, that's borderline heresy. Notice here, Hebrews chapter
two, this word power is the same word dominion, and it says here,
Hebrews chapter two, and there in verse 14, for as much then
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, we know about
that. The children are partakers of
flesh and blood, we know about that, children of Adam, he also
himself likewise took part of the same Why? Substitution. Substitution. He's gonna be the
perfect substitute. That through death, he might
destroy him that had power of death, that is the devil. Now
I love that verse of scripture, but the word we're looking at
is power. There was this power over death, and that being is
no longer even in the mix. Not even in the mix. Now most
times I've heard this said, oh, look what the devil's doing with
that person. It is not the devil, it's their nature. And we're
looking for scapegoats to blame our nature on. And it's not the
devil, it's our nature. It's our own natural man. It's
our wickedness, and it's the wickedness of our kids, and it's
the wickedness of our parents, and we're caught in the middle
of the same kind. We're stuck, and it's our own wickedness.
Own natural estate. That's just what's happening.
That's why things are going amuck in the cities. It's their own
nature that's causing this. God's just lifting his restraining
hand. I'm so thankful for how many years he's kept kind of
a cap on this, but he's lifting his restraining hand, and natural
man is getting to do what he wants to do, the more and the
more, and it's just their natural wickedness. Devil's not outside
of Chicago saying, sick him, sick him, sick him. It's natural
man's heart inside showing his depravity, and if it wasn't for
God, the Apostle Paul said, Except for the grace of God there go
I. It's him having power over us. Power over us to lift us. Power over us to raise us. Power
over us to set us. He had all power and authority
even over us. That's what Saul of Tarsus realized. He had all power over him, stopped
him dead in his tracks, changed his mind about God, which is
repentance. He had all power. He took his
own mind and cranked it around. And that's what he does. All
power, all authority, God gives. And it takes that to change one
sheep from lost to saved. Same power it took to raise Lazarus,
same power it took to raise Jesus Christ is what it takes to save
us. Now move over here if you would
to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5 and verse
13 the same word is used. A couple other places it's used
in the scripture there's dominion and power but notice here in
Revelation chapter 5 we run into this word again dominion in verse
6 of the first chapter but here in this verse of scripture it
is again power and notice notice here and every creature which
is in heaven, that's a lot, and on the earth, and under the sea,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, blessing and honor and glory and power, dominion, that's
that same word, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto
the Lamb forever and ever. And the church just says, yay.
Yippee. I knew it all along. Now I got
a verse on it. It was in my heart. I knew he
had all power. And now, yes, that's true. I am convinced of it. The scriptures
declare it. My heart told me, but the scriptures
have declared it. And now I can go to the word
of God and say, yes, he has all power. And every creature in
heaven and earth and in the sea is convinced of it. Now, there's
a whole bunch of people who raise their fist towards God, and I
know they do, because I did. But the Lord God Almighty can
bring our fists down. and change our heart because
he has all dominion. He's going to win the battle.
He's fighting the battle, but he's going to win the battle.
Yeah, he's going to win the battle. David fought a battle, but he
knew he was going to win the battle. He went out against Goliath.
It was a battle. Young man against a giant. It
was a battle. But he knew he was gonna win
the battle. He says I'm gonna feed your carcass to the birds
of the air Went into battle Jesus Christ knew he was gonna win. It was a battle. He had to go
through it He went through he touched he tasted death for all
his people had all the thorns of this world's curse on him
and Everything that transpired in the Garden of Eden was reversed
by Jesus Christ. Why? Because he has all dominion.
No more tears. What happened in the Garden?
A whole bunch of them. But he says, I'm going to have dominion
over them and I'm going to stop them. We don't have that tear
now that we're related to Adam. We have rejoicing that we're
related to Christ. There were thorns and thistles. When he went to the cross, he
said, there'll be no more thorns or thistles. I'm going to root
them out. Now we got him in our ground,
but that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about spiritual
thorns and thistles that would prevent people from looking to
God, looking to Christ. He roots them out. He takes our
old idols and pushes them away. He causes us to turn from our
dumb idols to the living God. Talk about dominion. He's got
power over our neck muscles. Yep, power over our neck muscles.
He turns us. Turn me and I shall be turned.
That's what the prophet said. Why? Because he has all dominion.
He takes us and wreaks us around because he has all dominion.
Now that's what he said in Revelation chapter one, and there in verse
six, he says, going back there, he says, made us kings and priests
unto God, and we can say, I am a king priest because he has
all dominion. He shared it with my heart, how
good it is to find it in the word. He says there, to him be
glory and dominion forever and ever. He's never conceded, given up,
quit, backed out, done away. He's never. In the council halls
of eternity, he said, this is what's gonna happen, and it's
being carried out. Now, I have just a few minutes.
I'd like to go into verse seven. This is like, talk about the
first part of this being like that thick potato I mean massive
this is like gold this you can't squeeze it this is so good behold
I could just hear John he's going down here talking about the love
of God for him and all of all that he has because of Christ
he's a king priest everything he has is because of Christ he
just he wallowing in it You ever seen a pig wallowing in mud?
I just love wallowing in the blessings of Christ. And then
he just says, he has almost a sigh and then a statement of promise
from God and a desire placed in his heart. Behold, he cometh
with clouds. Now, he came for John not too
long after this. John's about 90 years old, 80
or 90, that's what they think. 70, I don't care if he's 70.
He could have been 60, but it wasn't very long and the Lord
came for him. The Lord took him out. To be
absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The Lord
took him. But there's a time, there's gonna be a time when
this is going to be absolutely reality. Now every eye is going
to see him. I wrote a note here that says,
where is the secret coming? It's not in here. There's no
secret coming. When he comes for his people,
it's going to be with power and great glory. It's going to be
lightning from cover to cover. It's going to be with a shout,
with a voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. There's
gonna be some shakin' up when he comes. Now that word clouds
there, there's somethin' there. There's somethin' there, I'm
tellin' you, there's somethin' there. I'm not convinced that
this is that literal cloud. It may be, but there's somethin'
there comin' in the clouds. Because clouds are used through
the scriptures. I was reading that, and Hawker has a little
article on it in his dictionary, on that cloud that led the children
of Israel. And the cloud's been used a lot. And I'm not, I just haven't quite
come to what that symbolized, but it means something good,
really good. He's cometh with the clouds,
and every eye shall see him. Now turn with me back to the
Matthew 24. This is not the first place in the Bible that this
is mentioned. Matthew talks about it. Matthew 24 in verse 30. And if we just get away from
that stuff that's been stirred into religion, That Darby got a hold of it,
you know, and all those guys that changed what people had
been preaching for years, if they had just stayed out, we
wouldn't have any idea that any of that stuff would have even
applied to what we read here. But just read here, Matthew chapter
24, verse 30, it says this. Well, back up to verse 27. For
as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto
the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Now that,
that seems serious to me. Lightning. Now it does say he's
gonna come like a thief in the night. Now all that means it's
unannounced. It doesn't mean secret. It means
unannounced. There's a whole bunch of thieves
in the night that wish they hadn't have made a noise, because they
met a .357 Magnum. They were unannounced, but they
came noisily sometimes. Now, people make a big to-do
out of quiet like a thief in the night. No, unannounced like
a thief in the night. But it says here, lightning. Thunder voice of the Archangel
and here it's in verse 28. It says this Oh, excuse me for
wheresoever the carcasses there will the Eagles be gathered together.
I Had a young man one time hand me a track about a new eagle
in Israel. It's gonna clean up all those
dead bodies Brand-new never been seen before I said you believe
in evolution Oh no, no, no, no. Then tell me how in the world
did you get a new eagle? One special to clean up all those
people over there. I says it's either evolution
or it's a lie. What is it? I never thought of it that way.
I says I'd put my track up then. Throw it away for a while because
there's no new eagles on the face of the earth. Now, I don't
know what this means, but I know what it doesn't mean. All right,
then it goes on to say here in Matthew 24, for immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and
the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from
heaven and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken. Does
anyone remember the dream of our friend over in the book of
Genesis that was thrown in a pit, Joseph. Do you remember the dream?
Do you remember the sun and the moon and 11 stars bowed down
before Joseph? Now, isn't that interesting?
And nobody will say, well, that's that moon out there and that's
the stars up there and that's the sun that spoke. Now, let's
be careful when we start talking about signs in the heavens that
really need to be applied other ways. I think this is symbolic,
symbolic, symbolic. All right. Then it says, And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with the great sound of the trumpet. And they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to
the other. And they said, hallelujah. The
last sheep has been saved. They're gathering up the elect.
Now, notice that. Then shall appear the sign of
the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall the tribes of the
earth mourn, and shall see the Son of Man coming with the clouds
of heaven, and power, and great glory. What do we see over here
in Revelation chapter one, verse seven? It says, behold, he cometh
with the clouds, and every eye shall see him. No secret coming. Every eye shall see him. Now
this next verse, this next part, I just am thrilled. They that
pierced him. Now there's only one group that
pierced him. That's the ones that he gathered up, the elect
from the four winds. The people whose names are graven
on the palms of his hands pierced him. That's the ones he died
for. We either believe, well, we don't
have to believe it, the Bible teaches it, that's what it is.
We can just, we can do whatever we want to with it, but it's
not gonna change God one whit. We either know that God in his
son had particular redemption. He died for a group. They're
the ones that pierced him. They're the ones he took on the
sin of. They're the ones he became sin for. They're the ones he
died for. There's the lambs. That's the
sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I
lay down my life for the sheep. Those are the ones that pierced
him. I was reading tonight about the
Lord's Supper. And Jesus said, one of you are
going to betray me. And you know what 11, even 12
said? Remember what they said? Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? And it's just so easy
for every one of God's people to say, I pierced him. I'm the
reason he came. I pierced him. We want to blame
it onto the Romans and we want to blame it onto the Jews, but
the church pierced Jesus Christ. We pierced him. And there's a
whole bunch of people in that same verse are going to wail
when he comes. The people who don't know him,
the people without Christ, they're also mentioned in that same verse
of scripture. And they also, which pierced him and all the
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Now there's going
to be a whole bunch of wailing. And there's going to be a whole
bunch that no man can number that said, I pierced him. I pierced
him. It was I. That's the church's
byword. It was I. It was I. It was I. It was I. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Zechariah, chapter 12. Zechariah, chapter 12. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10. And I'll pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and of supplication and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced. I'll pour upon them the spirit
of grace and supplication. what it is for God to cause us
to turn to see the one that was our substitute. I'll pour on
them the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall
look upon me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Oh my. Now that's repentance. Repentance is not over something
we got caught about. Repentance is an attitude towards
God, our Savior. I offended you. I'm the offending
party. And God, I'm sorry. I look on you as the one I pierced. I'm the one that drove the nails.
I'm the one that raised you between heaven and earth. I'm the one
that put you on the cross. But while I did it, you had my
name on the palms of your hand. You had my name on your breastplate
and on your shoulders, and you had me on your lips. I laid down
my life for the sheep. And God's people says, it is
I. It is I. I took him to the cross. John
chapter 19. All my life, all I ever heard
was, oh, that's all the world. They're going to see Jesus and
they pierce. They don't know a thing about
it. They have no concept. They're going to look at God
as judge, and he will be the judge. They're going to wail
because they're caught. And then every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall confess the Lord Jesus to the glory of
God the Father. John chapter 19, verse 37, the
scripture says, and again another scripture says, they shall look
on him whom they pierced. Zechariah chapter 12. Revelation
chapter 1. We shall look. Now that's what
we're going to get to do in the very next verses. We're going
to look on him whom we pierced. He's the one with the gray hair.
He's the one with the priest's garments. He's the one with a
loud voice. He's the one with a sword, double-edged
sword coming out of his mouth. He's the one with the eyes of
fire. He's the one with the legs of
brass, feet of brass that's been burned in a furnace. We're going
to look on him whom we pierced. And you know what? He's the great
God Almighty. And we're going to shout for
glory. And we're going to sing that song. Worthy is the lamb
that was slain. We get to sing it. Christ only died for his people. He, for the sins of his people,
he, because of the sin of his people and only for his people,
they're the ones that pierced him. And the Passover is a type
who was instructed about the Passover. Israel. Israel. Whose land were they? Egypt. Was Egypt instructed? Not a word. Not a word. They
didn't hear it. They could have been walking
by Moses when he was instructed and they wouldn't even have heard
it. Oh, they're talking about sheep herding. We don't like
that. The blood was shed for who? Israel. Israel. Who was the lamb selected
by Israel? Who slew the lamb? Israel. Who
was it for? Israel. Who was there spared? Israel. Who met wrath? Egypt. There was death in every one
of their homes. No substitute for them. They'll wail. But Israel, the church will say,
I pierced him.