Revelation in chapter 1 opens
with these words. The revelation 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 it
by his angel unto his servant John. who bear record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things
that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and
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 and which was and which is to come and
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. and to
him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood
and have made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him
be glory and dominion forever 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. Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, The Almighty. Verse seven. 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, amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. This day is soon to come. John makes that plain in his
opening words. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass. Do not think of this day, when
Christ returns, when he comes with clouds, and every eye shall
see him, and they also which pierced him, as a day which is
far in the future, as a day which might not come in your lifetime,
as some future event prophesied. Do not think of this day as far
off. This must shortly come to pass. This day could be today. It could be tomorrow. It could
be next week, next year. Whenever it comes to pass it
will be shortly. To the Lord a thousand years
is as a day and a day is as a thousand years. Whenever this day may
be, if it's today, in our generation, or in a generation to come, in
God's eyes it's a moment. And in your eyes it should be
a moment, even if this happened in 50 years time. 50 years is
nothing. A lifetime is nothing. You're born, you live, you die,
like a blade of grass. It's but a moment. This day is shortly to come.
So expect it. Look for it. Every day you wake
up from your slumber. Consider could this be the day
when Christ comes with clouds, when every eye shall see him
and they also which pierced him. Could this be the day when this
world is brought to its conclusion? When God's work here below is
complete? When the Gospel has done its
work and when Christ comes to bring in his new heavens and
his new earth. Could this be the day? Behold, he cometh with clouds.
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. Every eye. You shall see him,
I shall see him, and they also which pierced him. Paul writes of Christ in Philippians
in chapter three. that God have highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth and every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father There is coming a day when we all will see Christ. Every one of us. And everyone
shall bow the knee to Christ. We shall all confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Now you may say today, I've never
seen him. And with your heart you may not
confess that He is Lord. Your thoughts, your hearts, your
desires may be far from Christ. But on this day, you will see
Him. And on this day, with all men,
women and children, your tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, and your knee will bow to this great King. Behold, he
cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. John presents us with a picture
of Christ in this chapter in Revelation. He saw the one who
is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, The One who created
this world with the speech of His lips. The One who spake and
all things were brought into being. Let there be light. The One who spake and man was
created upon the earth. The One who breathed life into
man. A man became a living soul. The
One who speaks and a man's life is taken away
and he goes from this world into the next. The one who speaks
and the dead are brought to life. I am Alpha and Omega. He was
here before the world ever was, before you ever were. He will
be here in eternity to come. He is the beginning and the ending. He is the beginning and the source
of all things. and He is the end of all things.
Wherever you go, whatever you're doing, whatever you're seeking,
whatever you seek to fill your life with, your thoughts and
your affections, in the end you will come face to face with Jesus
Christ, who made you, who sustained you, and created you to walk
before Him. And with the life that he gave
you, have you sought him? Have you glorified him? Have
you desired to know him? Have you used your strength and
your energies for his glory? Or have you taken all that he's
given you and used it for your own ends? Like the prodigal son,
have you come to your father and said give me my inheritance
and you've gone off and you've wasted it on riotous living? But will you be left to destruction?
Or like that son, will you be brought to yourself and brought
to return unto your father? Will you see this Christ On this
day, when all the earth shall wail because of him, or will
you be brought by faith to return unto him by the sound of the
gospel and fall down at his feet and bow the knee and confess
that he is Lord before your life is concluded? John saw him. I was in the spirit
on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet
saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou
seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which
are in Asia. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the
Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about
the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire. and his feet like undefined brass
as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of
many waters and he had in his right hand seven stars and out
of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was
as the sun shineth in his strength and when I saw him I fell at
his feet as dead And he laid his right hand upon me, saying
unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth
and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore,
amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things
which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things
which shall be hereafter. When John saw this Christ, this
risen Christ, this glorified Christ, this Lord Jesus Christ,
when he saw him in his glory, His head and his hair as white
like wool, as white as snow, his eyes as a flame of fire,
his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace,
and his voice as the sound of many waters, when he saw him
in his glory, his countenance as the sun shineth in his strength,
he fell at his feet as dead. Such was the glory, such was
the majesty, such was the radiance of Jesus Christ that this fallen
sinner, this wretched man like you and I could not stand in
his presence. He fell at his feet as dead. And when this one returns to
this earth with clouds and every eye shall see him. That's the
Jesus they will see. Not a babe in Bethlehem. Not a mere weak broken man. Not simply the Christ who was
nailed by men to a tree. But that same babe, that same
man, that same saviour, risen from the grave, risen victorious,
ascended unto God, glorified in majesty, that one whom they
pierced, that one whom they crucified, glorified. He will come as a
great victor. He will come as a mighty king. He will come as a mighty warrior. He will come as the Lord of Lords. And no man can stand in His presence. Every eye shall see Him. And
they also which pierced Him. This day is coming. It is coming
shortly. It is coming shortly. Write the things which thou hast
seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. In the past Christ came into
this world. In the past Christ was crucified
and rose from the dead. Today he reigns on high to preach
the gospel, the message of who he is and what he has done for
fallen sinners like you and I. And soon he will come, that gospel
having been preached, his church having been built, fallen sinners
having been brought to faith. And he will gather in his elect,
his sheep, His church, His people unto His side to live and reign
with Him forevermore. And He will cast out every other
into outer darkness. He will cast out the goats. He
will send them into judgment forevermore. There are things
which have been There are things which are, and there are things
which are shortly to come. Show unto his servants things
which must shortly come to pass. Blessed is he that readeth, and
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,
and which was, and which is to come, and 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, and to him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. On that day
when you with all others shall see him, when every eye shall
see him, when your eyes shall see him, will you behold he who
loved you and washed you from your sins in his own blood? Will
you behold the one who made you a king and a priest under God
and his Father? Will you behold your Saviour?
Or will you wail because before you is the one that you pierced? The one that you crucified? The one that you rejected? The one that you trod underfoot? The one that you hated. And will he say unto you, depart
from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. Despite all
your belated cries of Lord, Lord. Lord, Lord. Behold he cometh with clouds
and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him. He washed us from our sins in
his own blood. He says, I am he that liveth
and was dead. This one who comes again is the
very Jesus, the very Christ, the very Savior, who was crucified
at Golgotha. He died. He shed his blood. He was pierced. And those that
pierced him shall see him. Those that pierced him shall
see him. We read in John 19 following
the crucifixion that the soldiers came unto Jesus to see if he
was dead. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith
came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record,
and his record is true. And he knoweth that he saith
true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that
the Scriptures should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture saith,
they shall look on him whom they pierced. under him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. And one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood
and water. Did the blood that flowed from
Jesus' side, whom they pierced, wash you from your sins? Will you look upon him whom you
have pierced? Did you in your heart with those
Jews of old, when presented with Christ, cry away with this man? We will not have him to rule
over us. Crucify him, crucify him. Did you pierce him through with
your heart's reaction? Did you say, I will not believe,
I will not bow the knee, I will not worship this man, this God,
this Saviour, this Christ. They shall look upon him whom
they have pierced. Zechariah 12 we read, I will
pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have 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. It's this
prophecy which we saw fulfilled in John's Gospel when John recorded
what he saw and bare record, knowing that his record is true,
and quoting this passage, they shall look on him whom they have
pierced. God gave his son into the hands
of wicked men. He offered him up, and wicked
men took him, and they pierced him, they slew him, they killed
him, and his blood was shed. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourner for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for
him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. It was God's
firstborn. He gave him unto men, and men
slew him. Every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him. Did you pierce him? Have you
pierced him? Have you slain him? He was pierced by men in more
than one way. Clearly, physically, Christ on
that day that he died was taken by the hands of wicked men and
nailed to a cross. And his hands and his feet were
pierced by those nails which fixed him to that cross of crucifixion. and clearly having died and given
up the ghost, when the soldier thrust his spear into his side,
he was pierced by the spear and forthwith came thereout blood
and water. There were clearly those men
at the time who did the physical act, who actually took the body
of the Saviour and physically nailed Him to the tree. and thrust
the spear in his sight. And they are among those who
shall see him on that day to come who pierced him. Likewise
all those in the crowd. who turned from Christ when he
needed them, who cried out in rebellion, crucify him, crucify
him, with their words and their reaction and their rejection
of him pierced him through. They may not have been the ones
who took their hand to him, but their words and their reaction
led to it. And they too, On this day to
come, when their eyes with every one see him, shall wail because
of him. Because they will know that their
deeds, their actions, their reaction unto Christ when he came before
them, led to him being pierced. They pierced him. but not only was he pierced by
those who were there at the time, he was also pierced by all men,
all women, all children who have ever lived because of their sinful
nature, because of their sinful deeds, because of their rebellion,
because of their hatred, We are all guilty of piercing Jesus
Christ. We're all guilty of slaying him. We're all guilty of putting him
to death in our hearts. He was pierced firstly by man's
sin. Why was he crucified? Because man sinned, every one
of us. There was no other reason. There
was no reason for God to enter this world in the person of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the Son of God incarnate, God in human
flesh. There was no reason for Christ
to come except that man sinned. And man's sin needed to be taken
away. Christ came to suffer in the
place of his people to deliver them from sin and its consequences
to deliver them from the wrath of God against their sin to deliver
them from their sins and the guilt of their sins and the condemnation
of God's law and God's righteousness against their sins to deliver
them from wrath. That's why he came, that's why
he died, that's why he was pierced, because he loved the people.
And he would deliver that people from their sin. Did your sin
pierce him? Do you know that your sin pierced
him? Do you know that your sins pierced
him? Do you know it sensibly with
feeling? Do you realise it, not just in
the head, not just as some intellectual fact, not just because the pages
of scripture say so, but do you feel like your rebellion led
to his death? Like your hatred led to his death? Like your disobedience led to
his death? If his blood was shed for you,
then it's because your sins pierced him. If his blood wasn't shed
for you, then your rebellion, your sin, your hatred led to
his death. One way or the other, your sin
pierced him. Secondly, your rebellion pierced
him. Man's rebellion pierced him.
Sin entered into this world because Adam, mankind in Adam, rebelled
against its maker. God put Adam in the garden in
innocence. Adam was not created in sin. but he was given all things to
enjoy in the garden all blessings but he was given one command
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat and in rebellion against the commandment of God the will
of God the nature of God Adam took an egg deceived through the woman by
Satan, by the subtlety of Satan, his adversary, deceived by the
subtlety of Satan, to disbelieve God at his word, to doubt what
God has said that they should not surely die. The woman took
and ate and gave to her husband, and her husband in love for his
wife, entered into the transgression and fell and rebelled against
God Almighty. And because he rebelled, Christ
was pierced. Because as sin entered into the
world by the rebellion of Adam, death entered by sin. And if
Christ should deliver a people from death, from sin, from condemnation,
he must die himself in that people's place. Their rebellion pierced
him through. Are you a rebel? Are you a rebel
against men? Are you a rebel against authority? Are you a rebel against God?
When God says no, do you kick against it? When God says go
this way, do you seek to go your way? A rebel. Christ was pierced thirdly by
rejection. In rebelling against God and
turning from God, mankind rejected God and rejected his Son. And the Jews whom God blessed
in so many ways, with so many promises of redemption to come
through the coming Messiah, when that Messiah came in loving grace
unto his own people, they rejected him. He came unto his own and
his own received him not. They rejected him. They would
not have him. We will not have this man to
rule over us. And when God comes unto you in
the Gospel, when Christ comes with His message of salvation
and grace, when He preaches His Gospel unto you, how many times
has your heart rejected Him? You will not listen. You will
not believe. You do not care. You put it off
for another day. You go off your own way. You
go off after your own things. You seek your own pleasure and
your own glory and you reject the things of Jesus Christ. You
reject Him. You reject His Gospel. You reject
His people. You reject His church. You reject
His God and His Father. You reject all that concerns
Him. And in rejecting Him you've pierced
it. You've taken a nail and hammered
it through His hand to a cross. You've taken another nail and
hammered it to the other hand. You've taken a nail and hammered
His foot. You've taken another nail and
hammered in His other foot. With your rejection, your rebellion
and your sin you've nailed Him to that cross and left Him to
die. Every eye shall see Him. and
they also which pierced him. Fourthly, he was pierced by unbelief. This sin, this rebellion, this
rejection stems from unbelief. Satan's deception at the beginning,
the serpent's deception when he whispered lies into Eve's
ear and threw her into Adam's ear was, as God said. He cast doubt upon what God told
Adam. He cast doubt upon the message
of God. He instilled unbelief. John writes
that he bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of
Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. John wrote that his record was
true. In his gospel as we saw. He that
saw it bear record and his record is true and he knoweth that he
sayeth true that ye might believe. And yet man does not believe. He has the true faithful record
of God through his servant John in the Gospel and in this book
of Revelation and in all the Scriptures. And man says no. You've heard these things and
your natural heart closes its eyes and closes its ears and
wanders off another way and says not so. And with your unbelief
You've pierced Christ. You've nailed him to a cross.
You've taken a spear and thrust it through his side. You've left
him as dead. Unbelief. The Jews who were there
when Christ was born, the Jews who were there as Christ lived
and ministered in their midst, did not believe. what God had
promised them in the Gospel from ancient times, in the prophecies
of the Scriptures, in the words of Moses, in the words of the
prophets, in the words of the Psalmist, they had all the message
that God could give them concerning His Son Jesus Christ, and when
Christ came and stood before them, they rejected Him. They
did not believe. He said, I am the son of God
and they cast him out. They accused him of blasphemy. He spake of whom he came from. He said, I and my father are
one. He said that he must lay down
his life and be raised again the third day. He said the temple
must be destroyed and rebuilt again in three days. He made
it plain who He was and what He would do. And they received
not His testimony. They would not believe His word.
They rejected Him. And He was pierced through by
their unbelief. Do you believe this Gospel? Or do you reject it? Has your
unbelief pierced Christ. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him. The Jews who rejected him, and
you who go your own way in unbelief, they also which pierced him. Fifthly, he was pierced by hatred. By hatred. The reaction of men
to Jesus Christ that caused them to say, crucify him, crucify
him. The reaction of the scribes and
the Pharisees that sought to stone him. The reaction of the
men of Israel who cried out when stirred up by the scribes and
Pharisees, crucify him, crucify him, away with this man. The
reaction of men that took him, and created false accusations
against him, handed him over to the Romans, insisted he be
put to death, are actions, reactions of hatred. They hated this man. They hated what he said. They hated what he stood for.
They hated all his message. They hated his words. They hated
him. They hated God. They professed
with their lips to serve God. They professed with their lips
that in what they did unto Christ, they were serving God. And yet all the time they hated
him. The apostle Paul saw, before Christ met him on the way to
Damascus, hated. Jesus Christ, his gospel, his
people, his ways. Here was a Jew of the tribe of
Benjamin, Pharisee of the Pharisees, in all things concerning the
Lord, zealous in all things, seeking to serve God, seeking
to walk in God's ways, seeking to lead others, in the service
of God and the worship of God. Seeking as he saw fit at the
time to defend the truth as he knew it. And yet all his wisdom,
all his knowledge, all his understanding brought him to hate Jesus Christ,
his gospel and his people. And his hatred brought him to
consent to the stoning of Stephen, and brought him to persecute
the church, put people to death, and in his heart to pierce the
Saviour to the cross. He was pierced by hatred. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. Now the Apostle Paul was delivered
from his hatred. He was delivered from his rejection. He was delivered from his unbelief,
his rebellion, his sin. He was delivered from death and
condemnation. He was delivered. He was redeemed
by the very Jesus whom he hated. But on that day when he with
others will stand and see him with his eyes, he will know that
he is amongst those who pierced him. He'll know that he pierced
him, even though Jesus loved him. He loved me and gave himself
for me, he said. He knows that Christ loved him
when he hated him. He loved him when he rejected
him. He loved him when he rebelled
against him. He loved him when he despised
him in unbelief. He loved him in his sin. He loved him as a dead fallen
sinner. He loved him and gave himself
for him. Sixthly, Christ was pierced by
a cross. when he was nailed to that cross
in the place of sinners as a substitutionary atonement as a sacrifice for
sin he was pierced through the psalmist writes, for dogs have
compassed me the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me they
pierced my hands and my feet the cross, pierced Christ. He was nailed to it. He was condemned. He died in the place of condemnation
between two transgressors, two thieves, as an outcast, outside
of the camp of the city, in a place of shame, where the despicable
were nailed to crosses and left to die. It was a shameful place
to die. He was lifted up as a spectacle
of before men. The men of the city went out
and saw these transgressors, these criminals, these guilty
men crucified. They spat upon them. They mocked
them, they railed them, they derided them because these were
the worst in society. They were shameful and they were
being crucified, they were put to death to get rid of them. And Christ was one of them. He
who was innocent. He who was God. he who was righteous
through and through he who had done no wrong was taken by dogs
who compassed him was taken by the assembly of the wicked which
enclosed him and was nailed by his hands and his feet to that
cross upon which he died they pierced my hands and my feet
and these dogs These wicked will on this day to come with every
eye see him. They also which pierce him and
all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Are you
amongst them? Lastly, seventhly, he was pierced
by God the Father himself. Yes, He was given into the hands
of men. Yes, it was men who did the physical
deed. Yes, men nailed Him to that cross. And yes, it was the sins of men
which led to it coming about. But the worst part of Christ's
death for Christ was that God, his Father, was the one who would
slay his own son. When Christ offered himself up,
he put himself into the hands of his Father. And God, the Father
in judgment, took the sins of his people and laid them upon
Christ. God, the Father in judgment,
made his own son to be sin, that his people in him might be made
the righteousness of God. God the Father in judgment brought
down his wrath and his fury, his very righteousness upon his
son, who was now made sin, who bore the sins of his people.
God the Father condemned his own son. God the Father nailed
him and pierced him through upon the tree. God the Father pierced
him in judgment. The soul that sinneth must die. And Christ, as the sin bearer,
stood as one who substitutionally, who vicariously bore the sins
of his people, stood as a guilty sinner and must bear the judgment. The Father pierced him in judgment. The Father also pierced him with
the nails of the law. The nails of the law. The law
had condemned man who break it. The law found every man wanted. The law cried out for its penalty
to be exacted upon every sinner that transgressed its commandments.
The law demanded death. The handwriting of ordinances
in the law were against man and condemned man and demanded a
penalty. And God took that law, that handwriting,
and he nailed it in Christ to the truth. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Colossians tells us. God nailed
that law in Christ to the cross. Every sentence it exacted upon
his people, was exacted upon Him. Every condemnation, every
command, every claim it had upon us was brought down upon Christ. He was pierced. He was nailed
by that law to that cross. And God the Father pierced Christ
through the sentence of death. The judgment which rained down
upon him. The fires of God's wrath were
final. They demanded death. He must
die. Christ did not come to find a
way that his people might be delivered and saved which could
escape this. There was no escape. There was
no easy way. He could not turn a blind eye
to sin. He could not find another way
that they could be cleansed. He must take what they did and
take the judgment and take the condemnation and die. And when he died, he truly died. Not just a physical death. but a spiritual death. He died
the death that that people would die if they went into eternity
with sin still upon their hands. When your life is brought to
a conclusion and you enter into eternity. If you're not Christ,
if you're not washed by His blood, you will die the second death
forever. You will pay a price in eternity
which can never be quenched. You will continually suffer in
darkness and in the fires of hell for your rebellion and your
rejection of God and your unbelief and your sin. You will suffer
for eternity. That's the death you enter into. And that's the death that Christ
suffered within the hours of darkness upon the cross. in the mysterious counsel of
God, in the mystery of his death, he drank up the cup of God's
wrath, the eternity of God's wrath against all his people
in the hours of darkness. That eternal wrath was contracted
to the span of three hours in the darkness, through which Christ
passed at the hands of his Father. unimaginable suffering, unimaginable
wrath but a judgment and suffering that Christ endured because he
loved his people. He loved that people for whom
he suffered who one day shall see him in glory as John saw
him in this vision and revelation. One day they shall see him shining as white as wool, shining
like snow, his eyes as a flame of fire, his feet like undefined
brass as if they burned in a furnace because they did. They were in
the furnace of God's wrath upon the cross. His voice is the sound
of many waters, in His right hand seven stars, out of His
mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance as the sun
shineth in His strength. One day you will see Him, but
if He suffered for you, if He loved you and washed you from
His sins in His own blood, though you will see Him, though you
which pierced him will see him you will see him as a loving
saviour who says unto you fear not I am the first and the last
because he went through the darkness to bring you into the light he
went through the night season to bring his people into the
day. As Job records, my bones are
pierced in me in the night season, and my sinews take no rest. When Christ was pierced, it was
in the darkness, where no man can dwell, in that valley of
death, cast out from his father. Eli, Eli, lama sabbathanai, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He cried in the darkness. But at the end, the cup having
been drunk to the dregs, sin having been blotted out, the
darkness having been quenched, the light of the sun was about
to return. And he cried out, it is finished.
And he gave up the ghost. And they laid him in the grave,
and all his people were laid with him. And early in the morning,
on the first day of the week, they came to the grave, and they
found it open. The stone was rolled away, and
the Son of God was risen. The Son had risen, and his people
had risen with him. He was no longer in the night,
no longer in the darkness, no longer in the grave, no longer
pierced to a cross, but he rose, taking those out of the night
and into the day. Did he love you? Did he wash
you with his own blood? Did he lead you out of death
unto life? Did he bring you out of the darkness? into the day. And when you come
to see him, in that day that will soon come, when every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierced him, will you see
him as your Saviour? Will you see him as your Redeemer? Will you see him as the one who
loved you and gave himself for you? Will you see him as the
Lord of Lords and the King of Kings? Will you see him as the
Alpha and the Omega? Or will you, with others, wail
because of him? Because you pierced him through,
and you went your way, and you cast him down as dead, and you
never thought you'd stand before him again. Will he be to you
like a Joseph, cast in a pit, forgotten about, whom you hope
never to see? Or will he be a Joseph who comes
unto his brethren, and though they pierced him, and though
they rejected him, he comes before them and says unto his own, I
have loved you and given myself for you. Come into a place, an
inheritance prepared for you. Come, my beloved, live and reign
with me forevermore. What will it be? Has he opened
your eyes? Has he given you faith to see?
Will you see him on that day in joy? Will you rejoice when
he comes with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also
which pierced him?