Our future hope: he shall come again with glory

Ken Mbugua's plenary session takes up the Creed's confession that Christ shall come again with glory. It looks ahead to the return of Christ as the hope of the church.

Ken Mbugua, “Our future hope: he shall come again with glory,” plenary session, Nicea Conference 2025, Istanbul.

The cry of emptiness

I wonder, have you ever heard a man cry? It’s no offense to our sisters when I ask that question. It’s a little different when you not just see a man cry. Not just see him sobbing or tear up, but actually hear him crying.

Not just crying, but wailing. You see, when I read Revelation in chapter 5, it’s the thing that stuck out to me. It says of John, it says of himself, “And I began to weep.” And not just weep, but weep loudly. And that’s the question I’m asking you. Have you ever heard someone cry like that? Had a man weeping loudly? Had heard the sound of death itself?

Had heard what emptiness sounds like. It’s the kind of cry that’s not common. I think some of you know what I’m talking about. You might be a man, woman, you’ve actually cried, but you know the sound I’m speaking of. It’s a it’s an unforgettable sound when you hear it.

It sounds like the sound of an animal. That’s the sound of a human because everything human has just been stripped out of that person. So the sound that comes out, it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from the lungs.

It sounds like it’s coming from elsewhere. It’s coming from a pit. You’ve heard that sound. Oh, it’s unforgettable. I ask you, what have you done with that sound? How do you continue to live in a world coexisting with that sound?

What do you do? Did you do you just make yourself forget? Avoid places like that? Who wants that? Why step into the kind of room you can’t really say anything? Why be faced with the kind of problems you can’t fix?

How have you solved this? I mean the world has many solutions guys. I mean all of them are basically under the bucket labeled bury your head in the sand. You can flip on YouTube and do the thing of the age. Once upon a time, it was philosophies that ruled the world and really clever philosophies that have tried to address the reality of death.

Now, we just live in the age of self- amusement. Just binge on YouTube shorts on your favorite comedian and keep going. Let the finger muscles do the job until your heart is numb and your mind is dull and that voice is muted and you’re no longer thinking about it.

The Bible does not do that. It has that cry and that cry even though you’re reading the book of Revelation. Or it shows up way earlier. This cry, this loud cry is the cry of the psalmists.

More than a third of them are psalms of lament as they cry out to God. How long? How long? This is too much. This is too hard. This right here seems like a contradiction to everything we know about you. But the psalmist are not running away from the question.

This is the cry so to say of Hannah before the presence of the Lord as she poured out the bitterness of her heart. That’s what she was doing. Eli was dull, a dull high priest, clueless. His sons were busy doing stuff, but they later on be labeled as worthless.

Hannah is doing what we’ve been called to do. She is weeping. She is struggling with the Lord. This is the cry of Paul in Romans 7. Wretched man that I am. Who is the question he asks?

Who shall deliver me from this body of death? It’s the same thing a sounding hymn. This is the groaning guys of all creation. Literary in chapter 8, a creation that has been subjected to futility. You see, the context of this book is addressing people who were in local churches, seven of them specifically around here as has been referenced often, who were not in a good spot, to put it mildly.

There are brothers and sisters who had some questions cuz life wasn’t easy. They were buffeted right, left, and center. And the words of that Nicene Creed of what we believe about the life that is in the world to come and the resurrection. Oh, saints, they belong.

Well, not just in the lecture hall. They belong in the darkness. That’s what I want us to look at today. I’ll be seeking to make an argument for us that our weeping will turn into worship because our lion has conquered as a lamb. Our weeping will turn into worship because our lion has conquered as a lamb. For us to grasp the context of John’s weeping, we need to go back not just to the beginning of chapter 5 of Revelation, but all the way back to chapter 4 to really grasp why he is crying as he is.

Revelation 4

In chapter 4, what John sees is really the consummation symbolized. Let’s read this portion together and then make some observations. John says,

“After this, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.” And the first voice which I heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian. And around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were 24 thrones. And seated on the thrones were 24 elders clothed with white garments with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was, as it is, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature like a lion. The second living creature like an ox. The third living creature with the face of a man. And the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures. Each of them with six wings were full of eyes all around and within. And day and night they never cease to say, “Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is to come.” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” [Revelation 4:1–11]

This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God or thanks be to God.

Everything has a center

since creation. Pardon my use of a big word. It’s not pretense. I truly am not smart. But this word is still useful. Creation has a logosentricity to it. Creation as a whole has a logoentricity to it. It has a point.

It has a unifying center. All the things that are not just separate and divided. They all come together. They are all going somewhere. There is a way to summarize the point of all things.

We believe in God the Father, the maker of what? Everything. Everything. The cosmos, the heavens, and the earth. Everything inside it has a point and a purpose. Every single human being, Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, barbarians, Africans, Chinese, Americans, Indians, everything.

music and food and politics and technology and you fill up everything. Put it together in one bucket and there’s a way to label it. It all exists for a purpose. And guys, it’s a good purpose. It’s a good thing.

But all these things saints are going somewhere. There’s a reason guys why God made steak to taste like steak. Amen. There’s a goodness to it. Like an undeniable goodness to it. A facticity. I’m throwing words like I know something.

It’s just good. I don’t need to write a paper to argue that steak is good. That’s the world we live in. You’ve seen what music does to you? Music is a mess, isn’t it? It just kind of creeps in through places and it comes and flicks a switch on your heart and you just go like, “Oh, that’s good.

And what are you listening to? You’re just listening to a voice. And it’s just someone doing things with their voice. And that’s just beautiful. And creation is like that. A sun setting, a ray of light that bounces off the surface of water and right into your soul.

It’s all come from somewhere. It’s all saying a thing. It’s all going to a place. Do you know where that place is? Right here. That’s what we just read. If you’re married and you know the sweetness of marriage, I don’t know if you still scratch your head even as a theologian. You’re wondering like how again how would there be this in heaven? Ever asked that question?

So marriage is going well at least you know how because this is not the end. What we’re being told is that all of creation has a derived glory, a derived goodness that’s pointing us to something. All of the awesomeness of creation, all of our longings for seasons that have a mood to it for some of you who like Christmas.

And you can’t even quite describe what all of those things are the aroma of the consummation. All of those things you’re longing for. Friendship, provision, peace, health, wholeness, security, stability, rest. All of those longings are a longing for the consummation.

That’s what they were designed to be. This a good question to ask when we finally get there. What does it look like? What exactly will it be? Is a attempt to summarize it. When we finally enter into the ultimate goodness that we all long for, we find in chapter 4 that it is the lifegiving glor glorious rule of the Son over all creation. You finally get there, what do you find? This thing called existence and all the pieces of it. When they finally make sense, when they finally come together, you find that they are but the lifegiving glorious rule of the Son over all creation. Notice briefly, like guys, you’re not going to get a full exposition of this. I’m just going to point out a couple of quick things from chapter 4 here for you. Notice the references to glory.

He sees glory in heaven. Verse two, at once I saw in the Spirit that I beheld a throne in heaven and one seated on it. And then verse three begins to describe glorious things. Glorious things. What’s this vision? He’s seeing the appearance of Jasper and carnelian. And around the throne a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. And around the throne were 24. Whatever he’s seeing is the vision filled with glory. What’s interesting in the book of Revelation, this language that’s being used here, all this precious stones, do you know where you see them again next? Where do you see them again next? All the way at the end, isn’t it? When you get all the way at the end, again, the language is repeated, showing you that what John is seeing here is a picture, a symbolic picture of the end.

you know the pictures at the end chapter 21 and 22 when the when he’s told come and I will show you the bride and he turns and he sees a city be you know descending and it’s filled it’s all the stones are mentioned as being on the doors of that city and really the language there is that the glory of God is what now covers the bride of Christ it is the church adorned in nothing less Guys, nothing less than the glory of God himself. That’s what you’re seeing in chapter 4.

Do you notice around the throne? What’s there on the throne? Did you notice that scandal? 24 other thrones. What are those guys doing there? Tell me a throne that you’ve seen that has other thrones around it. Who does that?

It’s one throne and you’d better know who sits on it. Wrong person sits on it and off with your head. Not this throne. Well, this throne has 24 of them. Other thrones. And the numbers are critical in this story. And at the end again, you have that city and it has foundations on it.

and on those foundation stones, you have the 12 names of the tribes of Israel. And you also have the 12 names of the disciples of Christ, the apostles. And those 24 are speaking about the complete bride of Christ, the people of God, Old Testament and New Testament. This is all of them together. That these elders I believe are a representation of all of the people of God of from all time. And you see what they’re doing. What are they doing? They are ruling together with God.

That’s where they are. But that’s not all that’s there. 4:6 will speak of living creatures, four of them specifically, and they have different kinds of faces on them. And these four living creatures with faces on them are representative of all of life in all of creation. When the Bible often times the Old Testament would speak about the extent of the earth, it would speak about the four corners of the earth.

There’s an idea here of totality of all living things. Everything that has breath is in front of this throne. And you see what they’re doing. What are they doing? They’re worshiping. They’re worshiping the king. God is sat on his throne.

The glory of the Father sin in the face of the Son. The Spirit is right there present. The fullness of it. And all of creation, everything that has breath, worshiping God, saying, “Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is to come.”

You know, we like conspiracy theories nowadays. Can blame YouTube and social media. What’s really going on? Huh? Don’t get fooled, guys. Don’t get fooled. Don’t believe legacy media. Uh- You’ve got to know the truth. Guys, this is the truth. This is what’s really going on.

Do you know who Jesus is? He’s the one who was and is. If you want to understand what’s been happening in history, what’s going on really? What’s going what’s really going down? The point of all time is this.

The Father has purposed to grant a kingdom to his son. The end. The Father has purposed to glorify the Son by giving him a kingdom whose boundaries are everything. The end. That’s really what’s going on. Time is not just vectors going everywhere. Uh- Time has a point. And this is the point.

And quite importantly, notice verse 11 what they say. You notice that living creatures and life is everywhere. Life is everywhere. You see how life is everywhere? They’re living creatures. Verse nine. And they give thanks to him who is seated on the throne. And you see what they call God. What do they refer to God as? The one who lives.

Life is in him. Life comes from him. Outside of him is only death. They worship him. And they say something very important about him. Verse 11, they say, “Worthy are you. Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created, the consummation. Now, do you understand the cry?

Revelation 5: who is worthy?

Get to chapter 5. We’re told that I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”

John has been ushered into heaven, a door. He has seen a vision in heaven. Oh, and it’s a glorious vision. These elders symbolizing the inbringing, the completion of the church. They have all safely come in. It’s symbolizing this four living creatures the day when every living thing will praise God.

But we have a question guys. We have a question. Do you know what the question is? How will it be on earth as it is in heaven? Oh, I’m all for the living creatures in heaven doing that. That’s not what’s going down here on earth.

Will it ever be on earth as it is in heaven where actually this will be actualized on earth in reality? Who is worthy to bring this end to pass? Who is worthy to actualize this glorious plan of the Father so that it actually is real.

Who is the question? And verse three says, no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. Are you seeing I think it’s appropriate to structure your chapters four and five in terms of worthy. You see how that’s chapter four came to a conclusion in summary. Worthy is the idea there.

That’s the consummation. But then chapter five is a question of who can actually bring this plan to be. And the answer they’re told is none is worthy, not in heaven or on earth or under the earth. This is a glorious good plan. This is what is in the scroll.

But who will bring it to pass? Is there anyone worthy? I like the word worthy. The idea of worthy is one who possesses corresponding value. I don’t know if you’re stepping up. I’ll get this done. Me? No. You see, the question worthy is especially important because the question we’re asking is who can bring about a plan to replace the darkness with light to replace the death that is in this world with life.

to replace the unrighteousness that has plagued man with righteousness to suck out all the evil that has polluted that has corrupted God’s holy temple in other words creation who can actually cleanse it of its vileness. So that it is yet once again holy, the dwelling place of God, that that good, glorious end that is spoken of in chapter 4 can actually come to be.

Who can save creation from the fall? Oh, it’s a good and glorious plan. If you so please, chapter one and chapter two of the book of Genesis. It’s a direct line pointing to chapter 4. I see that. But do you see how there’s a problem? Sorry. Between chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Genesis and this glorious end. Oh, there’s a problem. Something happened. Just in case you tuned out of the movie, you stepped out to go get snacks.

Something happened in between these two scenes. It’s called sin. It seems to have taken this good and glorious plan of God and messed it up. So now we have a problem. Do we just hit delete and try again?

Or is this fallen creation redeemable? And what does John hear? No one is worthy. Not in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth. And that’s why he’s crying. That’s why he’s crying. You see this cry is the being told never.

The pain you experience, that’s all there’ll ever be. The shame you’re feeling, that’s all there is. The emptiness, the hunger, the longing, the desperation, the fear you’re experiencing. That’s all there is. It only gets worse from here. That’s why John is crying. John is crying because he’s hopeless. I would argue the word hopeless might be the darkest word in the dictionary.

Hopeless. O hopeless is something else guys. You know pain is one thing. Hopeless is pain forever. It’s there’s nothing to look forward to tomorrow. It’s confined to that situation that is painful and there’s nothing that will ever pull you out of it. That’s John’s cry. That’s John’s cry. No one has been found who is worthy.

You see, what’s needed here is clearly not just strength to dominate the world, but a moral quality to sanctify it, to purify it. None is found who’s worthy. Since it’s very important for us to understand that whilst we are busy people I’m a busy person, we need to understand that we can’t bring about the consummation.

None of your hard work can at the end of the day actualize the thing you were made for, the thing you’re truly longing for. All of your hard work can’t get that done. All of your money can’t purchase it because none has been found who is worthy. So before we wrap this up, I ask you the question, are you wrongly impressed with yourself?

Are you wrongly impressed with yourself when it comes to your life? Are you wrongly impressed with what you have done or perhaps what you’re currently doing? Guys, I’m doing some things. I’d like to tell you about the things I’m doing. Some impressive things, guys. It’s exciting.

Or maybe the plans you have of, oh, you don’t know what I’m about to do. Are you impressed with those things? Is that where your eyes are? When you connect the longings of your heart, do you connect them to yourself, your activity, your accomplishments, what you’ve done, what you’re doing, what you’ll do, as though you are the one who was and is to come.

Well, let’s all repent of that. The consummation is not going to be brought about by our strength, by our effort. That’s not how the job gets done. The point of chapter 5 as it’s beginning is none is worthy.

None of our activity, none of our pursuits or even attempts at becoming more and more righteous can get this done. The world is confined here to a futility and that’s why John is crying. But you notice what the scene is.

The Lion and the Lamb

Praise the Lord. The story doesn’t end here. It says in verse 5, one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more. Weep no more.” You should go like, “Why?” That’s what John should have said. Should have stopped right here. Give me a good reason why. You know in Kenya we have phrases. I don’t know if you guys have these phrases where you come from but we have phrases like it will be okay.

I hate that phrase. I hate that phrase. Like how? But that’s what we’re going to do now. Just kind of take a huge problem and throw wishful thinking at it. It will be okay. Weep no more to this kind of cry, this emptiness, this darkness, this sorrow, this pit. And someone dare say, “Weep no more.” Yes. Weep no more. Why?

Why? Oh, because the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can actualize that glorious vision you’ve seen in chapter 4. So that he can open the scroll and look into it. So that in this fallen world filled with evil and demons where the dragon is ruling and reigning as king and unrighteousness has taken the throne. Yes. So that that world can be transformed into that glorious picture of chapter 4 where the Son sit on his throne. The glory of the Father is revealed. The Spirit is filling all of his creation. And every living being is praising God.

There’s one who is worthy to bring that about. Darkness will not have the final say. Death is not going to be the end. Evil will not rule or reign forever. Because in heaven there’s a lion from the tribe of Judah. Language from Genesis in chapter 49:9. Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down. He crouched as a lion and as a lioness, who dares rouse them? Do you know we need a king who’s powerful?

I know power is not in vogue right now. It’s not cool, but we need a king who’s powerful cuz the dragon is pretty powerful. Don’t know if you’ve ever felt like you’re in his clutches, but we need a king who is the allmighty.

We need a king to sit on the throne who is the omnipotent. It’s one of my favorite songs. Handel's Messiah. I know it sounds weird. We listen to these things in Africa as well. Don’t confine me only to my beats. I have my beats as well, but we want everything that’s good in the world. You should listen to that song on repeat.

If you have headphones, put them in so you don’t disturb other people and crank it up. Wow. The Lord our God omnipotent reigneth. Isn’t that chapter four, guys? That’s chapter 4. The word throne showed up 14 times. Oh, the end is a throne. The end is the rule and reign of God. And you need a king. You need a lion to roar.

The kind of roar that scares darkness away. That’s what you need. And that’s what John turns around and sees. But guys, that’s a problem as well. That’s a problem because you know what? If that lion is righteous, then we’re in trouble. We’re in trouble. We’re in big trouble because we’re all unrighteous.

So the plan of God to redeem this fallen creation and bring about the consummation cannot be accomplished only with a lion. That’s why guys, no one in heaven was found worthy to bring about that plan. And that’s why it’s all vital then that when he turns because he’s told of a lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah, but that’s not what he sees. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb. What’s this lamb doing? He’s standing as though it had been slain. That’s how creation gets redeemed.

We need one who has power and the right to sit on that throne. It’s his. One whose glory isn’t fake. It’s not just externally visible. It’s actually a true reflection of the value, the worth of the being. We need one who has done a deed that is able to take those who are not worthy and do the kind of thing for them that grants them access to sit with him on that throne.

And that’s what this lamb did when he went up on that cross and he died the death that people from every nation, tongue and tribe deserved. What he did was he sanctified them. He purified them. He bought them back from the death they deserved.

And he gave them access to his own glory. Who else has done that? Who else can do that? None. Only our Lord and God Jesus. It’s a beautiful thing that this lamb though it appears slain is standing. Did you notice that? It’s tricky, isn’t it? It’s not just like dead like those Roman crucifixes that still have Jesus hanging on the cross. We love the cross as well, but he’s not there anymore.

Or he’s a lamb who is standing in heaven because he has conquered sin and death on our behalf and now he reigns in glory. This is why the weeping will turn into worship. You see the weeping will turn into worship because God has conquered our suffering. What God has done is has sent his Son and he has invaded our death. He has invaded our suffering so that our suffering no longer has the final say. Since I don’t know this a room like this, there must be a man of suffering. All man of suffering going on inside here. That’s little fragrances of death.

Suffering and glory

That’s what suffering is, isn’t it? Suffering is the aroma of death coming from the grave into your finances, your relationships, your health, your the world was not meant to be like that. And here is God who has sent his Son to take upon himself the form of a man.

And as a man, he has invaded our suffering and has arisen out of it victorious. And here’s what that means for us. Means suffering will not have the final say. Our weeping though it is momentary will be soon turned into worship because in Christ our lives have been secured. You see this suffering of today cannot take away from me the life that is already in Christ as John is being seen in heaven. That’s my life. That’s my destination. That’s my glory. That’s my reward.

It then means that all of suffering and death itself does not have that sting that does not have that finality to it. Do you know that’s what really is painful about pain and painful about it? It feels final.

It feels like it’s the end. Not for the saint. Not for the saint. For the saint, when he dies, what do we say? He has slept or he has just slept, but he will rise again. And that same truth is the same truth for all of our suffering. For all that we feel like we have lost, we can still say even in those moments, this is but a little sleep. This is but a momentary loss. My life, my glory is hidden with Christ. That cannot be stolen. But notice this, our weeping will be turned into worship because weeping is the way to worship. Do you notice that?

One could actually say that when you’re weeping, you can be most certain that you are on the path to worship because that is exactly the path that our savior took. First came the cross and then the crown. Those saints who are suffering ought to know that this weakness, this suffering, this hardship is the very path to glory.

The path to glory is not present glory. Present recognition. Present is that’s a dangerous thing. That might be the most dangerous thing for the church or for you particularly as a saint. But we’ve been assured that if we choose to follow Jesus in those conversations, in those situations, we will suffer.

We will suffer. And that suffering in itself will confirm for us that what is awaiting us is a crown. That what is awaiting us is glory. So the saints here are being encouraged to not abandon suffering, but to embrace it because it leads to glory.

how easy it is for them to choose a different path, avoid momentary suffering where they’re being told, “No, the way to conquer is through death.” Because that’s exactly the path that Jesus himself took. Saints, this is our hope.

And that means we as believers ought to be very afraid of a hideous strength as C.S. Lewis calls it the kind of present day boasting triumphalism that speaks as though the kingdom has already arrived. Soft version of the prosperity gospel if you so please that thinks that if I do everything right everything will work out just fine in this world. Be wary of demanding that God gives you everything now in this world.

Demanding your vindication today, demanding your inheritance today. That’s not the way of the Christian. We look to the resurrection. We look to the world to come. We look to the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. That’s where we keep our eyes on.

Flee from any kind of triumphalism you hear that is not the gospel. Turn away from it. Triumphalism is easy to possess in a conference like this. Maybe even I’ve had none of it, just to be clear, this conference.

But it’s a good thing for us to meaningfully participate in the life of the local church. Triumphalism goes to die in meaningful membership. You plug in into the lives of the saints. You walk with them. You visit homes. You go to funerals. Yet triumphalism will not survive there. There you’ll find weeping. There you’ll find tears. There you’ll find questions. And saints, there you will need this answer that in Christ our reward has been secured.

Guys, my last points, they really are always tweets. This is my last point here. It’s like this. So I saying negative one minute. So I’ll just ignore that and finish by someone. They put the Kenyan guy last for a reason.

Worship

You’ll notice how the portion ends is worship. What was symbolized in chapter 4 is actualized in chapter 5. Or it was four living creatures that represent the all living things in all of the earth. Everything that has breath. And the question was, how can what is in heaven symbolized here in the 24 elders and the four living creatures actually become the reality on earth?

Christ, the lion and the lamb has can actualize it. And when he does, worship breaks out. You’ll see how that worship spreads. Worship around the throne. You see how that breaks out right there? The 24 elders, the four living creatures, the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song. So right around the throne, worship begins.

And continues in verse 11. And I looked and I heard and around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb. Verse 13. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, “Yeah, this is what we have been image.” Are you seeing the perfection now? Oh, it is on earth just as it is in heaven.

Every living creature, everything in heaven, everything on earth brought to its consummation. And when they do or they finally don’t steal the glory of God, they point to it perfectly. It has always been about you. You are the one who was and is to come. You are the one from whom, through whom, and to whom all things exist.

Life is derived from you. And did you notice your participation in this? What did you do to get this done? What did you do to get this done? Nothing. Amen. Well, that’s not quite true. It’s interesting cuz I’m a busy guy as I’ve told you and I’m doing a bunch of things that the stuff that shows up in chapter 5, you know what? What human things show up in chapter 5? What activity of the saints shows up in chapter 5? You saw it. What was it? The prayers of the saints. Did you see that? The story of the grand culmination of everything. Do you know what pops in right there? The prayers of the saints. That’s what shows up there. Isn’t that what weak people do? That’s what weak people do. That’s what desperate people do. Or in chapter six, they’re crying out to God again. How long?

Oh saints, may we know that it has pleased the Lord to bring about the culmination of his purposes in response to the prayers of his children. That grand glorious end comes to be as you and I desperately pray.

The words of the creed

So, let me wrap up with the words of the Nicene Creed because that was really my job here today. You hear those words. I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.