Revelation 1:7 He Is Coming In The Clouds Greg L Bahnsen Revelation Verse By Verse Part 4 of 63

We have to rest in our Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that you might enable us by your Spirit to respond to his call, to come unto him those of us who are weak and heavy laden, that he might give us rest. Lord Jesus, we pray that as we rest in you, you might make us meditate upon your word, that we might enjoy all of the benefits of salvation that you offer unto us. We thank you especially for the truth that's been communicated through the Scriptures. We ask that we might have the ability to discern the truth, to know the truth, and to live the truth as we see it revealed to us today. We thank you that the promise of the Spirit is ours and we would make claim to it that we might be enlightened and that we might be enabled to obey. For it's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. We come back then today to Revelation Chapter one, and I'd like to read for you the first eight verses of Revelation one. Do a little bit of review, and then take up this especially difficult verse, verse seven, for our topic this morning. John says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear witness of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written therein. For the time is at hand on these three verses, of course, we see this chain of communication from God to his son Jesus Christ, to the angel, to John, to the servants of God, those who are to read the book and to obey the things that are written in the book, if they are to be blessed of God. So a benediction is pronounced upon those who will understand the Book of Revelation, who will be diligent in obeying it. And we are told here that the time is at hand. We're told in two different ways, that the things revealed in the Book of Revelation are to take place place right away at hand. There's no need to seal up the book. John will be told later in Revelation, there's no need to seal up this book, for the things are going to start taking place immediately. The time is at hand. These things are shortly to come to pass. So with that little bit of an introduction and preface, John goes on John to the seven churches. You'll notice how John doesn't have any difficulty having said that. This is a revelation of God. Himself. Nevertheless, John says, this comes from me. So the word of John and the word of God are simultaneous. It's like Paul beginning the book of Romans. He speaks of the gospel of God in the opening verses of the book of Romans. And at the end he pronounces a benediction with respect to my gospel. So Paul can say it's my gospel. Nevertheless, he can say it's the gospel of God. That, of course, is directly contrary to so much of modern theology, which today teaches us that the use of human messengers, a human vehicle for God's expression, for God's revelation, necessarily puts something between us and the truth, some medium which has. We have to get through that. We have to somehow get. Get rid of the human element so that we can really understand the revelation of God. But that isn't the perspective of Paul. It's not the perspective of John. He says this is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants. Then in verse four, he begins, nevertheless, John to the seven churches that are in Asia. And two things are to be communicated to those who are in the Church of God. Grace and peace against legalistic Judaism. Grace. And in the face of persecuting Rome, Peace. Grace and peace. How can you promise such things, John? Well, this comes from him who is and who was and who is to come. Jehovah, the Eternal One, the God of the covenant. And from the seven spirits that are before his throne. It comes from the Holy Spirit of God, the seven spirits. Referring of course, to Zachariah's prophecy. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. The Spirit is with you will accomplish God's purposes. And from Jesus Christ. And then Jesus is given three titles. Faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth. Here he is the prophet, priest and king of God. And then a benediction unto him that loved us, who loosed us from our sins by his blood and made us to be a kingdom of priests unto his God and Father to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now that's the point where I cut off our study three weeks ago. We had spent a great deal of time in this description of Jesus Christ. The benediction based upon his threefold work and the benefits that come to us because of that. All of them are laid in to encourage a church under persecution, that the promises made to the kingdom of God that it shall conquer the earth will nevertheless be fulfilled. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. Don't worry about that pagan Emperor who is persecuting you. Because, in fact, Jesus Christ is the king of kings. He's the one who rules. His is the dominion. And so it takes the eye of faith to discern the blessing in the book of Revelation. Now, before I go on to verse seven, which will probably occupy our time this morning, let me pause to let you catch up with questions that may have been in your mind or things that have come to you since we studied it to begin with. Anything on these first six verses that you'd like to ask about? I'm not promising answers to all these things, but I want to give you the opportunity. Well, there's a sure sign that you're not awoken yet. We have to do something. You can't get through these six verses without having questions. This is just. It's kind of like Paul's epistles, you know. So often Paul will summarize the message of the book in the opening verses. The book of Romans is that way. And a good deal of what John wants to say is really all packed together here in these first six verses. And so there's plenty to chew on. In the sixth verse is the tent, the same as in five, where he said, him who is loving us and he is making us. Is that similar matter? I don't have my Greek testament with me this morning, but I would think not. And he made us to be a kingdom. Refers to something that's accomplished. Yes. Continues to love us, the ones that he has made a kingdom. I'll be glad to go on. Okay, Shaq, what was the other verse about at the time that these things were shortly going to come to pass? Well, you'll find that in verse one and in verse three. Then at the end of the book, we'll turn to that in a second verse, one says, the things that are revealed are things which must shortly come to pass. And then verse three, at the very end, for the time is at hand, the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy. Then at the very end of the book, Revelation, verse 10. And he saith unto me, seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. All right, so the book is bracketed with this. With this understanding that the. The things between chapter one and chapter 22 are things to take place very shortly. One other question. Now, you may not want to go into this now, but if we say that this was during the reign of Nero. Yes, persecution, then what about the doctrine that. Well, as he says here, if anyone adds the prophecy of this book, and so Forth that the things written after this by Paul. And so for with this book, close the canon, in other words. Okay, what Chuck is saying. Let me give you a little bit of background. According to the Orthodox churches, the canon of the New Testament, those books which are authoritative for New Testament believers, was at some particular point in history closed. That is, God no longer specially revealed things under the church, for everything necessary for the church had been given. Now, for those who believe that, and I believe that, I think we all should believe that there's no further need for revelation today. Special revelation, not until the Lord returns anyway. One of the verses that has been used to close the canon and to pronounce a judgment upon those who would try to open the canon and add more to it is this ending of the Book of Revelation that says, any man who adds unto the prophecies of this book the things revealed herein, all the curses of the book will be added unto him. Now, the first question is, was that a proper use of those verses in Revelation to begin with? And I think an awful lot can be said in favor of the idea that the direct use of those verses to cover the whole New Testament is illegitimate, that John's talking about the prophecies of the book itself, the Book of Revelation. However, that doesn't take care of, you know, the full difficulty, because there's a sense in which that. That forms an analogy. See, God is pronouncing his copyright at that. No man has the right to touch my material. You know, it comes in the way that I've revealed, or it doesn't come at all. That's true of everything God says. And so there is a sense in which indirectly we want to say what is true of any apostolic writing that you can't add on to it is true of them all. Well, but the main point is that directly it doesn't apply to the whole New Testament. I'd say also that if you're interested in having some historical, some chronological declaration that the canon is closed, some declaration chronologically late enough that it would cover the whole New Testament, that if that's your interest, why not work on second Timothy? Here's Paul swan song. I mean, in a good sense, you see, he says, I'm going to be with the Lord. It's the time of his departure. And he tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable and so forth, that the man of God may be perfectly furnished unto every good work. And I don't think it's historically incredible that Paul may have been writing the last book of the New Testament. At that point, it's certainly writing about the same time that John's writing the Book of Revelation. And when Paul says that the man of God's perfectly furnished into every good work, if he pays attention to every scripture given of God, he's certainly saying there's no need for anything future revelation. But even if Paul's not writing the last book of the New Testament, what he's saying certainly covers all the books of the New Testament. We certainly wouldn't want to preclude that Paul knew the canon of the New Testament. After all, he did have apostolic prerogatives. So anyway, dating the Book of Revelation in Nero's reign doesn't affect our views of the canon one way or another. I think we're protected on every side. Other questions. Did you say in verse four that the seven spirits represent the Holy Spirit? Yes. Could you explain that a little bit? Well, the. Okay, if you look at the benediction that's being pronounced grace to you and peace from you, notice there are three subjects of the benediction. The benediction is pronounced by him who is and was and is to come from the seven spirits and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, so forth and so on. We know that the designation him who is and was and is to come refers to, you know, God, the Eternal Father. This reference in the Old Old Testament designation for God, we know, of course, Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity. And so you've got, prima facie on the very surface of it, some hint that this is going to be a reference to the. To the Spirit, completing the designation of the Trinity. And then also if you look at the designation the seven spirits of God as it's found in, say, Zechariah, the fourth chapter, it's quite clear that the seven spirits there refer to the Holy Spirit of God. And so Old Testament reference will help you understand that to be the Spirit. So it's not just the local context here, but also the allusion to the Old Testament. And then finally, the question is, well, then, why that particular designation? And while I don't have an authoritative answer for that, I would suggest that the reference to the Spirit we find in Isaiah 61, you know, the Spirit of Jehovah is upon the Messiah, and that spirit is given a sevenfold designation, the Spirit of this, the Spirit of that, and so forth and so on. That may be the source of the allusion to the seven spirits. So I was wondering how you'd get seven out of one. Yeah, it's an unusual type of image in terms of what you're used to hearing in evangelical churches in America, I'm sure. But I think we can also be sure that John, writing to his particular audience, would have understood it. And looking to the Old Testament, we can understand it, even though we haven't been brought up on that kind of imagery. These are good questions. I'll be glad to keep them coming. All right, failing that, let's get in here to verse seven. Then. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so. Amen. It would be pretty hard to count this morning the number of commentators who take this verse to be the theme of the Epistle first of all. And secondly, the theme of the Epistle as referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ and final judgment at the end of human history. Behold, he cometh with the clouds. Every eye shall see him, they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Now, let's not just get rid of that idea without seeing what strength there is to it. He comes with the clouds. What were the disciples told when Jesus ascended into heaven? That he'd return in like manner upon the clouds. All right, every eye shall see him, including those that pierced him. Every man's going to see him. The Bible teaches us that that's going to be true when Jesus comes again. And when they see him, they will mourn. All the tribes of the earth will mourn. A lot of people refer then to Revelation chapter six, where we. We see that the kings of the earth are going to flee to the mountains and cry that the mountains hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. And so that is kind of a supportive illusion for the idea that all the tribes of the earth are going to mourn, are going to be in great sorrow and fear before the coming of Jesus Christ in judgment. And so verse 7 is then taken by a number of people to refer to the second Coming. Well, just by my introduction, I guess you can already see that I'm not favorably inclined for that interpretation of the verse. And the reason for that, I think, will become apparent as we look at the Old Testament background for the verse. And to see that we need to turn to Zachariah, the 12th chapter, Turn to Zechariah 12. Put your finger there and turn also to Daniel, chapter seven. What John has done here is to conflate two passages, two allusions in the Old Testament, into one. And so we'll have to study both of them. Now, there are four major parts to verse 7. 4. Four phrases that we have to pay attention to anyway. He comes with the clouds, every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him. And finally all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. Okay. He comes with the clouds. Daniel 7, verse 13. And I saw in the night visions. And behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man. And he came even to the ancient of days. And they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. He comes with the clouds, quoting Daniel. And then every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. Zechariah 12:10. Mark my slot here. All right. Zechariah 12:10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look unto 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. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the morning of had a drimmon in the valley of Magedon. And the land shall mourn every family apart, and the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart, the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart, the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart. Of course, the prophets, the priests, and the kings, that is, all classes of men apart, and their wives apart from them, the family of the Semites apart, and their wives apart, and all the families that remain, every family apart, their wives apart. What is Zechariah 12:10 referring to? Well, there's two types of mourning, of course, that we have to recognize. And then we have to decide which type of mourning is being spoken of in Zechariah 12. First, there's the mourning of lamentation, of sorrow, of grief, a stricken conscience, deprivation in general, the mourning of sorrow, of course. Then there's also the mourning of fear, the wailing out of fear and trepidation for one's safety, for one's comfort, for one's life. And we have to ask now, in Zechariah 12, do we see the mourning of sorrow, or do we see the mourning of fear? The second Coming of Jesus Christ without any doubt, the Bible teaches, will bring the mourning of fear upon those who do not know him as Savior. But is Zechariah 12 referring to a fearful morning? I think it's quite clear that it's not. I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace, the spirit of supplication. The thing that's going to bring Israel to its knees is not fear, but God is going to give a willing spirit. The spirit of grace will be upon them, the spirit of blessing and mercy, God's internal working in them, so that it's the spirit of supplication, so that they will pray unto God, so that they will come unto him as his people. I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and the spirit of supplication. And they shall look unto me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, him or me. See, already we have an indication of the Trinity, God the Father speaking. They will look unto me whom they have pierced. Look unto him, and of course my son, who is identical with the Father. They will pierce the Son. They will pierce him as one that mourneth for his only son. They shall be in bitterness for him, one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. It's as though a man has lost his firstborn son. That's the kind of mourning it's going to be in that day when the spirit of grace and supplication comes upon Israel. It's going to be as though they've lost their firstborn son. I think you can all very well see that a father who loses his firstborn son is not in the morning of fear and trepidation, but in sorrow and deprivation. In that day shall there be great mourning in Jerusalem. And then he goes on to indicate that all the. All the people of Jerusalem, all the inhabitants of the land are going to be in mourning, and all classes of people. So it's quite clear that in Zechariah the mourning is one of sorrow. They're going to regret the crucifixion of God's Son. And that day the Spirit will bring repentance to their hearts, and they will have the spirit of supplication upon them. In Daniel 7 we read that when one like unto a son of man comes to the ancient of days upon the clouds, and he will be given a kingdom, and he'll begin to reign in that kingdom, it will be an everlasting kingdom. So now when John conflates these two verses in Revelation 1:7. I think what we should see, if we're going to be responsive to the Old Testament background to this, we need to see that he's referring to Jesus Christ beginning to reign in such a way that will bring all the tribes of the earth to mourn because of his crucifixion, will bring them a spirit of supplication, so they'll come unto him and pray unto his Father for salvation. Now, let me try to guess what's going on, you know, in your thinking. Now, if you've heard anybody preach upon this verse, very likely you've heard it referred to the second coming of Christ. And it's hard to break those cultural backgrounds. You know, we've so often been acclimatized to having this verse quoted with reference to the second coming that while you may see some of the strength of the Old Testament background, it's still pretty hard to swallow. You say, now wait a minute, how can this be? And so for the rest of the period, I'd like to follow out a study of this in the New Testament Old Testament as well, so we can understand it better. Again, the elements. He comes with the clouds, every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. This coming of the Son of man on the clouds is found in the New Testament as well. Let's look at a few references. John 16, verse 28. Sorry, Matthew 16:28. My mistake. Matthew 16:28. Jesus speaking says, verily, I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Here's an allusion to Daniel 7 again. The son of man, being given his kingdom, coming in his kingdom. And Jesus says that there are some who hear me speaking who will not die before this happens. Quite clearly, he's referring to something that took place in the first century, within the generation of his hearers, that he would come in his kingdom. Matthew 26:64. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said. Nevertheless, I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Of course, at that point the high priest rent his clothes. He said, what blasphemy. High priest knew the Old Testament. Jesus was claiming to be, you see, the one, the Son of Man, who comes to the ancient of days to be given the divine kingdom. He says, from henceforth you'll see me Sitting at the right hand of power, you'll see me upon the clouds. And so in both these verses, the allusion is clearly to Daniel, chapter seven. And Jesus is saying, my hearers will see this take place. They will experience this happening. I will come in my kingdom. The present generation of hearers are going to have Jesus Christ come upon the clouds for his kingdom. All right? And then looking on him whom they have pierced. Some New Testament partial fulfillment of that. John 19, verse 37. The time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Verse 34. I begin reading. Howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water. And he that hath seen hath borne witness. And his witness is true. And he knoweth that what he saith is true. That ye also may believe. For these things came to pass that the scripture might be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, they shall look on him whom they pierced. See, John is telling us right then and there that Zechariah 12 was being fulfilled, at least partially fulfilled, at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Okay, Jesus tells the high priest at his trial, you'll see Daniel 7 fulfilled. I'll be at the right hand of power at his crucifixion. John says in Zechariah 12, looking upon the one whom they've pierced is being fulfilled. And then, of course, being in mourning and lamenting. This is fulfilled in Luke 23, verses 27 and 28. We'll back up chronologically. Jesus is carrying his cross to golgotha. In Luke 23, beginning at verse 27, we read. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus, turning unto them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Women bewailed him and lamented him on the road to the cross. Of course, Jesus says, this only points to the destruction of Jerusalem. Don't weep for me. Weep for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills cover us. For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And God's judgment is coming upon this dry, rotten tree of Jerusalem. Weep not for me. But the day is coming when it's going to be far. Better to have never borne children than to undergo the judgment that God's going to bring upon this city. Luke 23:48 and all the multitudes that came together to this site, Jesus crucifixion, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breast. They shall look upon the one whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn on the day of Pentecost. That spirit of grace and of supplication was poured out upon Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. In Acts chapter 2, verse 37, Peter has preached this magnificent Pentecostal sermon. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? As God had poured out the Spirit from on high, you see, the people who heard Peter preaching were pricked in their hearts. They mourned over the crucifixion of of this Jesus who had sent the promise of the Spirit. And they said, what must we do? Of course they had to pray unto God for their salvation. They had to repent. They had to be saved. Zechariah 12 was referring to that true repentance that would come. The promise of the outpoured Spirit was given in Zechariah 12. And I think it's important that we look at the Old Testament context for the promise of the coming Spirit to understand what Revelation 17 finally will mean. In Isaiah 44:3 we read, For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring and they shall spring up among the grass as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am Jehovah's, and another shall and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel. We could go on and look at the rest of the context, but in the context of Isaiah 44, it's clear that the outpouring of the Spirit is going to bring blessing to the land, so much so that people will call upon the name of God, and they will name themselves in God. People will be redeemed in Ezekiel 39:29 another Old Testament promise of the outpoured Spirit. To get the context, let's begin reading at verse 25 of Ezekiel 39. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah. Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel and I will be jealous for my Holy Name. And they shall bear their shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am Jehovah, their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land. And I will leave none of them any more there, neither will I hide my face anymore from them. For I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord. Jehovah. Again a prophecy of blessing and security for the people, referring to the return from captivity, but even more to the day of Pentecost, when God would give his Spirit, and will thereby make the church of Jesus Christ the house of his own dwelling. Joel 2:28 and following. Joel 2:28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens. In those days will I pour out my spirit. I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth. Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant, those whom Jehovah doth call for. Behold, in those days, and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will execute judgment upon them there, for my people and for my heritage, Israel. Now, at this point I hope that you remember that on the day of Pentecost, as Peter was preaching about the outpouring of the Spirit, he quoted Joel the second chapter, and he's saying, this day the prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing. This is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit. Zechariah 12 says, God will bring a spirit of supplication upon his people, a spirit of grace, so that they'll look upon the crucified Messiah and will be in true repentance God's grace will bring supplication to his people and as I've said it will that supplication will be due to looking upon him whom they have pierced. Or whom did they pierce? They pierced the one who pours out the Spirit. Acts 2:33 tells us, Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this which ye see and hear. The Messiah is the one who pours out the Spirit. And Zechariah in a sense is saying, well then they will pierce an enmity, they will pierce an animosity toward this Messiah, but then they will look with deep grief upon him. They'll pierce him in enmity, but look upon him in grief, and the Holy Spirit will bring them repentance and supplication. And thus Zechariah 12, as I've indicated already, is the morning of regret, the morning of grief, not self centered fear. Even as the following verses in Zechariah 12 indicate, there's going to be a plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace bearing fruit in penitent prayer. Zachariah is saying, this will awaken the heart of prayer. It will awaken God's people to penitence. Revival is going to come because the Spirit is poured out when God's people look upon the crucified Savior. The mourning of Zechariah 12 is the beating of the breast, the Spirit of pity, the Spirit of compassion. And I think it's not too far to see that in Zechariah 12 they are mourning and they are in repentance for a murder that has been committed, the one who was pierced by the way, in Zechariah 12 we don't have time to look at it now, but in chapter 11 of Zechariah we read of the good shepherd who will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and of course the money to be returned to the potter. So I hope that you know, as we look more and more at the context of this and the fulfillment in the New Testament, it becomes more evident to you that in the whole scope of Biblical teaching, what John's referring to in Revelation 1:7 need not be referred to the second coming of Jesus Christ. I wanted to quote for you from TV Moore's commentary on Zechariah 12 after he discusses these matters, he says, the practical inferences from Zechariah 12:10 are these 1. There shall be a revival of religion in the future history of the church that shall gather in the Jews. 2 this revival shall be characterized by the invariable marks of an outpouring of the Spirit, namely a spirit of prayer and penitence. 3 Prayer is the barometer of the church. When the spirit of supplication is low, there is but little of the Spirit of God. And as soon as the prayer meeting begins to fill up with earnest suppliants, the Christian may hope for a blessing for all. True repentance arises from a sight of a dying Savior, one who has died for us. Terror may produce remorse. Only a sense of forgiven sin will bring and produce true repentance. True repentance is, after all, only love weeping at the foot of the cross, the soul sorrowing for sins that have been so freely forgiven. And 5 true religion is a personal thing, and when it takes stronghold of the heart will lead the soul apart to solitary wrestling with God and acts of personal humbling before him, confession of sins past and resolutions of obedience. For time to come, grace needs solitary meditation to grow just as much as the plant needs the repose and darkness of night. Well, there's plenty of a lesson to be found just in those five points, but you'll notice how you see, one very respectable commentator on Zechariah 12 says what Zechariah is referring to is the day of the outpoured Spirit bringing repentance. So there's going to be a great revival of Religion, chapter 13 of Zechariah. We've had any difficulty thinking that that's exactly what Zechariah 12 is referring to. What does Zechariah see as the result of all this? In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, thou shalt not live, for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah, and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophet shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he prophesieth, neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive. But he shall say, I am no prophet. I am a tiller of the ground. For I have been made a bondman from my youth. And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds between thine arms? Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. You see the effects that follow the outpouring of the Spirit. That salvation will be widespread. There will be purity of religion. There will be a civil enforcement of the law of God. Zechariah is talking about a revival of God's people. He's talking about true repentance because of the crucified Messiah. He's talking about the Holy Spirit bringing a spirit of supplication and prayer. And so the fountain opened to the house of David for the purification of all sins. And idols will be cut out of the land, and false prophets will be cut out of the land. So Zechariah 12 is precisely, as TV Moore says, a reference to a future revival. Well, this much, then, it's got to be clear that Revelation 1:7 can't be referred exclusively to the Second Coming. All of the indications in Old and New Testament are very clear that the spirit of supplication at the day of Pentecost began the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. Well, then why have so many people been misled? Why is it that this is so often referred to the Second Coming? It's not enough for a commentator who wants to change your mind on something to give you all the evidence in favor of that change of mind. But how do you account for the error of others? Well, I'd like to suggest that the conflation of Daniel 7 and Zechariah 12, which takes place in one other passage in the New Testament, has been the thing that's misled so many people. And interestingly enough, the conflation of Daniel 7 and Zechariah 12 takes place in the Olivet discourse. And so we need now to turn to the Olivet discourse to see what we can make of that. The Olivet discourse is found in Matthew the 24th chapter. In verse 30 of Matthew 24, we read, 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 on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Say seeing the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven is a reference to Daniel 7. All the tribes of the earth shall mourn. An allusion to Zechariah 12. So if Matthew 24 is referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ, then it wouldn't be totally illegitimate for a commentator who's looking at Revelation 1:7 to say that Revelation 17 is to be interpreted in light of the Olivet discourse. And so you see the point. We must now deal with the Olivet discourse, and we're going to understand this verse in Revelation 1 completely. Well, not completely, but at least accurately. How are we to understand the Olivet discourse? How are we to understand this reference to the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven? I suggest that a good starting point would be Matthew 23, verses 37 to 39, the introduction to the Olivet discourse. Verse 37. Jesus speaking, says, o Jerusalem, Jerusalem that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent unto her. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings. And ye would not behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth until ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Now when Jerusalem sees Jesus again, Jerusalem is going to say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. You're going to see me now and crucify me. But the time is coming when you see me again. You'll say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. So there's going to be a change of attitude among the Jews, among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And that changed attitude is precisely what Zechariah was referring to when he said, they're going to pierce him, but then they will look in sorrow upon him when the spirit of supplication is given to them. All right. So with that much introduction, let's go right into Matthew 24, and let's begin at the paragraph that contains the verse in question. That paragraph begins at verse 29. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. They shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of heaven, from one end of heaven to the other. When is this going to take place? Immediately after the tribulation of those days, Men shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. They shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of heaven, from one end of heaven to the other. When's this going to take place? Immediately after the tribulation of those days. Well, the word immediately indicates quite clearly this can't be the end of the world in the second Coming. You see, certain things are going to take place before the end of the world. Immediately after those days, the following things are going to happen, and it's immediately after the tribulation of those days. Well, what's going to take place immediately after the tribulation of those days, where we read of all this apocalyptic language for the downfall of a great city, we'll see the sun darkened, the moon not giving her light, the stars falling from the heavens. The powers of the heavens shall be shaken. This is very common Old Testament imagery for the downfall of a city, a great city or a great nation. And I think we need to have a few illustrations of that so that you don't miss the point in Isaiah 13:10, and the prophet Isaiah says, for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light. The sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. Now this description is given in Isaiah's description of the burden of Babylon, the judgment that shall fall upon Babylon when that takes place. It's as though the heavens have all been changed. There's been a revolution in the heavens, the darkening of the heavens because of this. Look at Isaiah 34, 4, 5, where Isaiah is describing now the judgment upon Idumea, Isaiah 34 beginning 8:4. And all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their hosts shall fade away as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven, behold, it shall come down upon Edom and upon the people of my curse to judgment. This is a historical judgment upon Edom that Isaiah is referring to, and yet he's describing it in this language of the apocalyptic revolution in the heavens. Or look at Ezekiel 32:7,8, where Ezekiel describes the judgment of God, the historical judgment of God upon Egypt, Ezekiel 32, 7. And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah in Joel, chapter two, verses 28 to 32, which we've already read, and so I'll skip reading again. Right now the same reference is made to the darkening of the heavens and so forth. Peter cites this in Acts, chapter 2. Judgment will fall upon Israel. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be given with a Gospel invitation. But the judgment upon Israel that comes at the time of the Gospel proclamation will be such that the course of the heavens is going to be altered. There's going to be a darkening in the heavens above. So already in the Old Testament, we have a good deal of background for seeing the fall of a great city or land being referred to in terms of the darkening of the heavens, the change of the course of the heavens, and also a reference to Israel itself being judged in that way. So now Matthew 24:29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and so forth. And there's going to be judgment upon a great city. I don't think there's any doubt in anybody's mind what city it's being referred to. In Jerusalem, your house is left unto you desolate. The abomination of desolation is going to come upon Jerusalem. And in those days, all these changes in the heavens are going to take place. And then at verse 30, there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. It's very important to see here in the Olivet discourse that Jesus is referring to a sign of something in the heaven, not a sign in heaven. Let's understand that if you were to see a cross in heaven, okay, as allegedly Constantine saw, if you were to see a cross in heaven, you would see a sign in heaven, all right? You would have an indication. You would have a sign, an indication that comes from the heavens itself. But that's different from saying that you have an indication. You have a sign of something taking place in heaven, all right? And what Jesus is saying, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. The indication that the Son of Man is in heaven will be given. But notice that the indication is not in heaven. It's the Son of Man who is in heaven. There's quite a difference. That is, you're going to be given an indication that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And what will that indication be? The abomination of desolation upon Jerusalem when the heavens are changed, the darkening of the stars, that is metaphorically with the downfall of this great city, this great people, would be an indication that Jesus does reign from heaven. So it's not a sign in heaven, but a sign that the Son is in heaven. The indication came then in the destruction of Jerusalem and the passing away, especially of the old temple of the Jews. Matthew 24:30 says that we'll see 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 on the clouds of heaven. And because the period is drawing to a close, I won't read these passages in the Old Testament. Before your notes, you might want to indicate that in Isaiah 19, verse 1, God comes on a cloud in judgment on Egypt. That's not a personal coming, that's not a visible coming. But metaphorically or figuratively, God comes on a cloud in judgment in Nahum 1:3. This is the case in Psalm 97:2 3. In Psalm 104:3 again, a knowledge of the Old Testament will help you immeasurably in understanding properly the Olivet discourse. This coming upon the clouds will bring judgment upon the nation, will bring the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. We've looked at Matthew 16 and Matthew 24 already as introduction to this Jesus said says that the hearers of my word will not die before it comes about that I am established in my kingdom. You'll see the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven. A quote from I think one of the more respectable commentators on the Book of Revelation might be helpful here. Hanksenberg. He says, the Lord does not come merely with the clouds at the end of the world, but through all periods of the world's history. The truth that the Lord comes with the clouds renews itself with every oppression of the church by the world. The opinion which would confine the expression to an externally visible appearance of the Lord is already excluded by the fundamental passages of the Old Testament. But of special importance for the right understanding of it is Matthew 26:64, where Jesus says to the high priest, but I say unto you, from henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. There the Lord comes upon the clouds through the judgment of Jerusalem as a manifest proof that we are not to think merely of his coming at the last day, and that the words do not point to a visible appearing. His Whole secret and concealed agency towards the destruction of Jerusalem is comprehended under his coming. The Olivet discourse. To summarize, the Olivet discourse is referring not to the coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world. In these passages, it's referring to the destruction of Jerusalem that's going to take place. This is not the end of the world. This is quite clear from verse 34 of Matthew, chapter 24. Jesus says, verily I say unto you, you may have difficulty understanding this passage, but truly I say unto you, you can comprehend this. Truly, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished. What could be any clearer now? What's difficult is that we've all been brought up and heard so many different interpretations of the Olivet discourse that we find it hard to believe, to hear the simple words of Jesus, to believe what he says, that truly all these things will happen before this generation passes away. Of course, it's just parallel to what we saw in the other passages of Matthew where Jesus says, you shall see you, you High Priest. You shall see me upon the right hand of the Father. When Jerusalem is destroyed, then you shall know the significance of your act. He tells his hearers, you will not die before I am established in my kingdom. And Jesus in the Olivet discourse says, all these things will take place within the generation of my hearers. All right, so let's turn back then, in conclusion to Revelation chapter one. We've done a lot of talking in the Old and New Testament, but our study is specifically with respect to Revelation. John has already indicated the blessing upon the church, the benediction upon the church. In verses 4 through 6, he ends it by saying, amen. So be it. Remember, I asked you to be able to say the Amen. It stands firm to affirm with all your heart and soul what John has said. Then having said that Amen, John says, behold, this one who reigns, I'm going to speak of. Behold, he comes with the clouds, as Daniel said, and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. The interesting thing is that where Zechariah spoke of all the tribes of Israel, John speaks of all the tribes of the earth. He says, yes, he is the omnipotent one. He is the King of kings. He does rule. His dominion is over all. For behold, he comes with the clouds. He comes to the ancient of days. He's been given an everlasting dominion. And every tribe of the earth will mourn every tribe of the Earth will be in repentance over him. And then if you have a hard time swallowing that church while you're in persecution, John says, even so, it stands firm. Even so. Amen. All the kindreds of the earth shall mourn here. The Zechariah prophecy has been expanded from Jerusalem to the whole earth. But notice that John doesn't exclude the Jews and they that pierced him. And so, in a drop, if you will, you have John summarizing the eschatology of Paul himself. Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 speaks of every enemy being subdued to the Messiah before he returns at the final resurrection. In Paul In Romans, the 11th chapter, Romans 9, 10, and 11 actually indicates that the Jews themselves will be brought in mass to the Messiah. And so the whole earth is going to be converted. The Jews are going to be converted. And John puts it all together in one verse, saying, behold, he comes with the clouds. Every eye shall see him. And they that pierced him as well. All the tribes of the earth shall mourn in repentance over him. Even so. Amen. Okay, now I'm sure there's going to be some questions about all of this, so let's start here. Does that mean that all will believe? That all will believe? No, it means that the Gospel is going to be victorious in a very. I don't know how to put it, marvelous way, in a widespread way, so that it can properly be said that all the nations of the earth have been discipled to Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that each and every individual within the nations has to be a disciple of Christ, but the nations themselves will properly be designated his disciples. As the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. That's a metaphor for a pervasive calling upon the name of the Lord, a pervasive redemption of the world nations. But it doesn't indicate universal salvation by any means. Did you have a question, Greg? Yes. You have given us several Old Testament verses where it had spoken of coming with the clouds. And I'm wondering. And you had said that that was speaking about his coming into his kingdom. I'm wondering if these are generally interpreted as being, you know, the end time, the second coming in the Old Testament. Right? No, the Old Testament passages are quite clearly a reference to historical judgments upon the enemies of Israel. Now, the coming on the clouds, I probably because of all the material, I wanted to get out before you, I haven't made this clear enough. The coming on the clouds in the Old Testament refers to a coming in judgment. But the Daniel 7 coming on the clouds refers to a coming in his kingdom, the establishment of the Messiah's kingdom. Now you say. Well, does that. Is there some tension between those two? Well, in historical fact, no, because the establishment of the Messiah and his kingdom kingdom was at the same time the destruction of Jerusalem. So the coming on the clouds meant the coming of Christ to his kingdom, as well as the expression of his kingdom, expression of his dominion against those who had crucified him. And so the imagery does coalesce even in historical fact. Other questions before we break up. Can you all say even so? Amen. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would give us hearts of faith that would discern properly the teaching of your word, that would be willing to submit to it. Lord, we pray that our hopes would be governed by the hope that you give us in the truth. We pray that we'd be sanctified by thy truth. And we pray, Father, that if we've properly had set before us this day the hope hope of Jesus and his kingdom and its widespread influence. Indeed, Father, the hope that the world nations might in true repentance have the Spirit of God sent to them so that they would appeal to thee for salvation. That you would make us hope in that, to believe it and to pursue it. Father, make us obedient to the revelation. Help us to hear the words of this prophecy and to keep them and hasten the day in which the kingdoms of this earth are indeed the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, for it's in his name we pray. Amen.