directions of the Kings, specific actions, how they die, different relationships, how they intermarry. So there's no way Daniel could have possibly written this down, or so they say. Now, because I know you're too smart for those unbelieving academics, I'm not going to get into all the reasons why they're wrong. And Daniel was written by Daniel in his lifetime. But there's plenty of reasons. I know that's not like a good way to argue a case, but context matters, right? We're also, though, not going to dive into all of the little bitty specifics. So if you did your homework, if you read chapter 10 through 12 and you have questions, write them down, ask them during Q&A, because what we're going to try to do is we're going to try to cover about 500 years of history in 40-ish minutes. And that means that there's going to be some details you might not care much about. Totally get it. If nothing else, when we cover those things, just be amazed that God not only ordains big picture stuff, but little details. And if you nod off during that part, just ask your neighbor to sort of nudge you when we get to King Herod and Jesus, because that's where Daniel 10 through 12 reaches the crescendo. Okay, so when you hear King Herod, wake up, and Jesus is coming. Just like the prophecy says. So, saints and visitors of RCC, if you're willing and able, please stand to honor God's word from Daniel 12 and Revelation 5, where we see Jesus is the one worthy to open the scrolls. Hear God's word. At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince, who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never been seen since there was a nation until that time. But at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, how long shall it be till the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, oh my Lord, what shall be the outcome of these things? He said, go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Now Revelation 5. Then 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? No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. So I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. One of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent to all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, The four living creatures and 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 sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. This is the word of the Lord. Oh God, add your blessing to the reading and the hearing and the preaching of your word and grant us all the grace to trust and obey you and all the church said. Amen. Please be seated. Well, we made it. January 24th, 2021, we started our chronological journey through the prophets. We began around 740 BC during the time of Isaiah. And if you'll remember, the Jewish people were minding their business, worshiping God, honoring the Sabbath, and loving their neighbors as themselves. Isaiah prophesied that despite their faithfulness, they were going to be persecuted. Foreign rulers like Egypt and Babylon were going to exercise their free will, lay siege to Jerusalem, destroy the city walls, and desolate the temple before hauling God's people off into exile against their will and against God's. Do you remember that? Good job. Who says you don't remember sermons? That's not what happened. That's not what was going on. God's people had forsaken his word. Wicked kings of Israel had aligned themselves and Judah kings with the cultural powers of their day. Abominable priests had desecrated God's house with false worship. False prophets were prophesying about how good the people were, even though they were bad, calling evil good and good evil. And the people chose to listen to the nice prophets instead of the mean prophets who were telling them to repent and return to God's word. God's own people. had refused to love him with their hearts. They had refused to call a delight what he called a delight, namely the Sabbath. They refused to love their neighbors as themselves, and they refused to practice the Sabbaths that God had commanded, especially the Jubilees. The wealthy went through the Sabbath motions, but the poor were forced to serve their brethren, even during Sabbath. So it's for these reasons and others, God promised that He was going to raise up Babylon to plunder Jerusalem and take a faithful remnant into captivity. And that's just what He did. After Isaiah prophesied about these things, they happened. And so then we followed the history of God's people into exile. Now, Devon stayed back in Judah, and he preached as though Jeremiah to a rebellious people. But we went into Babylonian exile with Ezekiel and Daniel. At that time, it was almost exactly one year ago. For God's people, it was 70 years that they had to be in the prophets. And it's during that 70 years, Jeremiah is sending letters to Daniel and to Ezekiel encouraging them, exhorting them that God did promise to restore his faithful remnant. Ezekiel preached in the streets about the coming restoration and Daniel served in the king's courts as a living witness to the wisdom and the glory of his God. where Ezekiel, the priest prophet, majored on the restoration of the people to the land and proper worship. Daniel, the kingly prophet, majored on the victory of the Messiah over these kingdoms in the latter days, the days coming after the exile. Now as your chart points out through various visions, the same message is repeated through and through in Daniel. God is in control of everything, even pagan nations and kings, and he can and does and will use them like pawns to bring about his will for his world. Through visions of metal and beasts and men over and again, Daniel explains, or has it explained to him, that the times are as follows. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the end. It's during this end after 483 years that a stone made without human hands, one like a son of man and one who will make a covenant with many would arise. He would turn against the people who set themselves against the Lord and his anointed and he would usher in a glorious world where he and his people would reign together. Now through the last, I don't know how many months in Daniel, we've seen that virtually all Christians agree on all of this and yet there is a portion of the church who in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9 come right up to the time of Jesus and then make a 2,000 year jump. sometimes between verses, sometimes in the middle of a verse, leaping over the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. These people think the Jews are still God's chosen people and the church is just a sort of plan B. Now sometimes they made light of it. Sometimes I was hard on them. But we have tried to consistently show that the reason we're hard on that particular view isn't just because we read passages differently. It's because in reading those passages differently, you gut them of the gospel of Jesus. Daniel 10 through 12 is no different. As we mentioned, Daniel 10 through 12 takes the earlier visions and really begins to get specific. As you get closer to the end, the details get more detailed. So we're gonna walk through it. Not all of it, don't worry. I listened to a guy that walked through the whole thing. It was insane, like an hour and a half. I thought it was fascinating. He's more talented than me. Y'all would just fall asleep. Okay, Daniel 10 starts out. It gives us another time marker. The third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, signifying that by 537, the prominence of the Medes is waning and Persia is rising. If we draw on the vision from Daniel 7, the Persian shoulder of the great bear is coming higher while the Medo shoulder is getting smaller. In those days, we are told Daniel is mourning. And we know that he's mourning because the rebuilding of the temple had stalled. Isaiah had prophesied that Cyrus would be the one to usher in the restoration, and he had decreed that they could go back into the land and begin rebuilding the temple. Daniel's sadness turned to joy in chapter nine because there he discerned that the 70 years were over, but now his joy is turned to mourning because he's realizing he might not live to see these promises fulfilled. So again, Daniel fasts and prays, no meat, no wine, no oil of gladness for three full weeks. Then we get to verse four. Daniel is on the bank of the river, just like Ezekiel was on the bank of the river before and John after. And while on the bank of the river, Daniel sees a vision again of the glory of the Lord. By now we know who that is, yes? Yes? Hopefully yes. If not, let's see if this refreshes your memory. This man is clothed in linen. He has a fine belt of gold, a body like beryl, a face like the appearance of lightning, eyes like flaming torches, arms and legs like burnished bronze, and whose words were like the sound of a great rushing of waters, revealing himself to Daniel. And just like anyone with any sense would do upon seeing Jesus, Daniel runs to him like a good evangelical, gives his homeboy a hug and a high five. Falsus, as my daughter says in our home. No, just like anyone with any sense would do, upon seeing the glory of Christ just like Moses and Isaiah and Ezekiel and John, Daniel falls on his face. Now they don't fall on their face because they think the glorious one hates them and is mad at them and is going to smite them. That's not why they fall on their face. They simply have faith. They have humility. They have eyes to see that someone this majestic must be treated with honor. They're in awe. That's why they fall on their face. He's that glorious. Now, I know I've said it before, but I'm gonna keep saying it. This is one of the reasons the historic liturgies don't let you get very far into the church service without making you get on your face and confess your sins. Now, I know for some people that feels too formal, and it can absolutely, just like anything else, turn into a dead ritual, but it's not the fault of the church or the liturgy that makes you get on your face. It's about whether or not you think you are good enough to stand in the presence of God on your own merits, or whether you think you're utterly dependent on God for mercy. The heart that walks tall will be brought low, but the heart that is low is always lifted up. And that's what happens to Daniel. In verses 10 through 12, the glorious one recognizes Daniel's humility and tells Daniel that in a response to his confession of sin, he has come to lift him up, consecrate him, and teach him about Jesus. Again, like Isaiah, an angel touches Daniel's lips, and then he can speak. Despite that he's been faithfully serving Yahweh his entire life, Daniel's first words are not, Lord, Lord, I have prophesied in your name. No, his first words are, how can my Lord's servant speak to my Lord? Just being in your presence is breathtaking. Again, the Lord responds in this back and forth, I don't know, responsive reading or something. He blesses his confession. And he gives him more strength. And we read that the more Daniel hears, the stronger he gets. And then Daniel chapter 10 closes this call and confession portion of the covenant renewal and the Lord speaks to Daniel about what's inscribed in the book of truth. Chapter 11 then lays out the message that the modern Christian would critique for being too redemptive historical and not practical enough. The messenger tells Daniel with excruciating and exact detail what's gonna take place between Daniel's day and the end. And it's these verses and their perfect fulfillment that bring doubt to the doubter. Over 100 details are outlined here and the precision with which they are fulfilled leaves unbelievers in, well, unbelief. Verses 1 through 35 absolutely nail the history between Cyrus in 537 and a man generally agreed upon to be Antiochus Epiphanes. Verse 1 through 2 summarizes the Persian Empire. Harkening back to Darius the Mede who we met in Daniel 5 and has been referenced since, there were four other kings in the Ram Empire before the goat of Greece took over. Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius the Great would rule from the time of Daniel through the restoration of the temple as you've been hearing in Sunday School. And then a fourth ruler is mentioned, and this is Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus. Did I get it? Depends who you ask. Okay, Jackson says I got it, so it only took, I don't know, a year. Ahasuerus rises, completes the Persian dominance under which the city and the temple are rebuilt. The people return to the land and sacrifices are restored and thus completing God's promises to the exiles. He kept his promise. He brought them into the land. In verse 3 through 35, Daniel's then taken through a whirlwind future to him, history to us. There's some cracks in the Persian forces and they lose to the Greeks at Thermopylae, finally falling in 334 to Alexander the Great. Like a leopard, he swept through the land and conquered about the entire known world at the time. And just as quickly, his wings are plucked off. Having no successor, the Greek kingdom begins to crumble and is cast to the four winds, again, hearkening back to the earlier visions. Alexander's four generals took over around 323. Antipater, Antipater, Antipater, Antipater. Lysimachus. If you read, if you say words wrong, it's because you learned them while reading them, okay? So, I don't, I've never heard these names. Seleucish and Ptolemy. And then that's the bullseye that you get to in verses three through four. You've got the rise of the Ptolemies, the rise of the Seleucids coming from the four generals, and then they go back and forth with each other for a couple of centuries. The king of the north that we have referenced here is the Seleucid dynasty, which rules over Mesopotamia and Syria, and the Ptolemies are the king of the south over Egypt and Palestine. By 277, a third Hellenistic kingdom had stabilized, and these are the descendants of Antigonid. I'm gonna get a lot of feedback from this one, I'm already. Jerusalem during all of this is sort of a buffer zone between all these warring nations. And it's during this time that the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament was commissioned and completed. Again, more evidence that Daniel's prophecies are not retroactive history. Through the rest of the chapter, or at least through the verse 35, Daniel goes back and forth and he's zigzagging sort of all over the place explaining different rises, different falls, the strategies that these kings would take. And then with remarkable foresight in verse 17, Daniel even references Elizabeth Taylor. Not really. Cleopatra. Some of you don't, the people with jeep that had to write down directions, you know who I'm talking about. Daniel references Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen that eventually sells out to Mark Antony and sides with Rome. Verses 20 through 35 slow down. And it's during those verses that, it's not explicit, but that's when the three main Jewish sects arise. And that's a significant turning point in Jewish history. Now, we don't really start parting ways until verse 36, but this is where our brothers who see these texts as not being fulfilled in Christ, this is sort of where we begin to part ways. Now, for whatever reason, they miss, this is the time period where the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes arise, and God's people go headlong back into the same behaviors that got them exiled in the first place. So yes, we agree along with everyone else that Antiochus Epiphanes is a bad dude. And he does do some horrible things when he slaughters a pig in the temple. But during his reign, even more significant is that that's when the priesthood was corrupted. He begins to bribe the religious leaders and the priesthood becomes for sale. He finds too many that are willing to be bought. And that's why woven through these verses are references to a contemptible person. The Prince of the Covenant. an alliance between them and a wicked ruler deceiving the people of God. That kind of language isn't used for pagans. These kinds of titles and these kinds of rebukes are used because they are covenantal. These are about godless priests. So again, it's during this time that the religious leaders begin to intermingle, intermarry with the political rulers of their day. The priesthood goes from biblically ordered ordination to a politically motivated power grab. Then in verse 30, Ketim or ships of Ketim are mentioned and this is where the Romans come in and Antiochus retreats and turns against the covenant people. The high priest profanes the temple, takes away burnt offerings and sets up an abomination that makes desolate. The high priest is the one guilty of this, not simply Antiochus. This is Bible History 101. The people are judged not when pagans are godless, but when the priests are godless. People are judged when their worship is corrupted by their leaders. From Mount Sinai to Hophni and Phinehas to pre-exilic Judah, God sees abominations when his people offer strange fire. Idolatrous worship that conforms more to culture than to his word, those are abominations. Now that's not a popular thing to say today, but that's why knowing your Bible history is so important. Do we want to know why the church is so impotent? It's not because of the gays and the Democrats, and they're not helping things. But it's because we've got a bunch of dudes who aren't and shouldn't be ordained ministers failing to lead God's people in proper worship. And I'm not just talking about on Sundays, though I am talking about on Sundays. We're just repeating church history and society's following right along. That's a rabbit trail. I'll offend you later, another time. Well, probably gonna offend you in a little bit too, but about that particular topic, I'll offend you later. This last section of Daniel, up to verse 35, the point is that we see not only the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, but more importantly, the corruption of the priesthood. They fall into the age-old temptation to live in the moment and pursue being on the right side of history. The Sadducees are the first to go liberal and they sell out quickly. The Pharisees begin as a people that see this and they try to get back to God's good graces, not by just following the Bible, but by adding to it, requiring things God didn't require. The Essenes, seeing all of this, pull out of cultural interaction altogether. And they begin forbidding things God didn't forbid. All the while, God's people have no idea what's going on. No one knows exactly how. But somewhere right around verse 35, Daniel stops talking about actual historical figures and then jumps forward a couple of millennia. It's crazy. No, not this time either. God didn't send prophets after Malachi, but it isn't as though we don't know anything about what was going on during that time. Now it's an extra canonical book, but Maccabees is one of the intertestamental books that's not inspired, but it does give us some of the history. There we have confirmed details around Alexander, the great Antiochus Epiphanes, and the apostate priesthood that, get this, rushed through worship so that they could get to the local sporting games in time. Isn't that crazy? That's legit. Y'all don't, okay. They're connected, I think. All right. So you've got sort of all of this mass apostasy going on, but even when Jesus comes, there is still a faithful remnant. There are still people who love God, love his word, can't wait for Messiah to come. And Daniel affirms that even in these verses. So yes, in verse, or yes, the high priests are desolating the temple, but we see in verse 32 through 34, there has been a remnant who stands firm. They know God. And so they're keeping covenant with him. They're reminding one another of his word. They're reminding each other that Messiah is coming. The time is near. the faithful are persecuted, killed by sword, by flame, and thrown into prison until the time of the end, the appointed time. And then you move into verse 36 through 45. There we are introduced to a king who we are told will exalt himself above every god, pay no attention to the god of his fathers, and who will ignore one beloved by women. He will conspire with the kings of the earth. He will come into the glorious land and rule over the gold and silver of the temple. During that time, news will come from the east and the north that will scare him, and he will go out with great fury and devote many to destruction. This wicked king is going to rule with the sea over the glorious mountain, and yet this ruler will be brought to an end. Now, if you were picking up a little bit of that summary, it helps you see that Daniel 11 doesn't just get us to Antiochus, jump forward 2,000 years to a vague figure. No, it takes us right up to Antiochus and keeps going to the days of Jesus, to the days of a guy named King Herod. For those of you familiar with the gospel accounts, it will be more clear, but for those of you who aren't, King Herod was called King of the Jews. Because of his Jewish ancestry, he was appointed to rule over the Jews, over the glorious house. A king that pays no attention to the God of his fathers is a king who ignores the God of Israel. King Herod is of mixed descent, a result of Roman and Jewish intermarriage, a pretty common problem in the history of the church. And Daniel says this Herodian king, which is a person and a title, just like we've been seeing, this Herodian king is going to prosper until the indignation is poured out. And surprise, surprise, not a single Herod exists after night. 1992. 92. Daniel says this Herod will also pay no attention to the one beloved by women. It's one of the many clues that we're getting close to Jesus. Because in Luke 1, this same angel that appears to Daniel appears to Mary. And he calls her beloved, favored one. He tells her she has found favor with God, and after hearing the good news she will conceive and bear Messiah, she sings that from now on all generations will call me blessed. Daniel says that this king will honor the strongholds of the government instead of the God of his fathers and this blessed woman. He will have great power and exercise it under the oversight of these kings. But in verse 44, we are told that he's going to receive disturbing news from the east that will cause him to devote many to destruction, which is again exactly what Herod did, did he not? Those wise men that are spoken of, The ones who stood firm and who discerned the times brought Herod news from the east that the promised child was born. And because he wanted, though, to keep his power, instead of worshiping the king of kings as king of the Jews, Matthew tells us in chapter two, Herod devoted all male children under the age of two to destruction. Verse 45 says this king wants to rule between the sea and the glorious mountain. The beast that comes out of the sea, Daniel has already said, is the sea beast that's going to come during the Roman Empire. And the glorious mountain is an obvious reference to the temple of God. King Herod tried to ride the sea beast while he fancied up what to this day is called or referred to as Herod's Temple. Now that's the long, long shortened runway that gets us to Daniel 12. All of that leads into this final chapter of the book, a prophecy about the end, a prophecy about a great prince who has rule over the people of God. He says, during the time of that great prince, the people of God would undergo such trials and tribulations as has never befallen the people of God, but those who endure will be delivered. Jesus picks up those exact same words when talking about His day. It's at this time in the Great Tribulation, those who were martyred for being faithful, whose names are written in the book, along with the rest who sleep in the dust of the earth, will be raised. Some of those who sleep in the dust, we read, rise to everlasting life, and others who sleep in the dust will rise to everlasting contempt. Daniel says, at that time, those who are wise will shine as the light of the world, and those who turn many to righteousness will be like stars forever and ever. These last few verses of chapter 11 and first view of 12 are almost exactly recapitulated in the Gospels and Revelation. The same one who told Daniel in verse 4 to seal these words and seal this book until the end appears to John and declares that the great prince is the one to unseal them. In our scripture reading and earlier in the book, this vision that Daniel has of sealed books are opened by Jesus. The question that they ask, who is worthy to open the scrolls? Who is the one of whom these prophecies prophesy? Who is worthy to reveal such things? We know the answer. Despite how many books they sold, how Lindsay and Tim LaHaye were not worthy to unseal and interpret the books. The person these guys and their disciples leave behind is Jesus. So beloved, together with the saints of old, I urge us not to fall into vain myths of our day, but instead embrace the scriptures as revelation of Jesus the Christ, the one to whom all these prophecies have been leading us. Long ago, God spoke by the prophets, but in the last days of the old world, he spoke by revealing his son. He is the radiance of the glory of God, the great prince and king of kings. He is the one for and to whom all the prophets looked and pointed. This reference to the resurrection of those who sleep in the dust, that's not a reference to some resurrection a thousand years from seven years from whenever the next guy thinks Jesus is coming back. This is a reference to those who sleep in the dust. That's a reference to the Old Testament people of God. Adam was made from the dust. And after the fall, the serpent is said to go eating dust, devouring the people of God. So some from the dust who returned to the dust, didn't trust and obey Yahweh, and they didn't long for the coming of the Messiah, but others from the dust returned to dust, holding out hope that God would keep His promises and send Messiah to save them from their sins. Those saints who were granted the breath of life, who bowed their hearts before God, living lives that longed for Him, when they slept in the dust, They were raised with Christ, as Daniel says in verse two, to everlasting life when Christ rose from the grave. Now one of the complaints people have with our approach to reading the Bible as being fulfilled in Jesus is that, well if we do that, we don't give people anything practical to do. That's garbage. The apostles saw the Old Testament as being fundamentally about Jesus because that's how Jesus taught them to read their Bibles. And they had no problem telling people what to do. It's just that their counsel was rooted and grounded in Jesus, not separate from him. This same theme of sleeping in the dust, Paul takes and he applies it to people in the New Covenant. In his famous resurrection text, Paul writes, thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. It's not the spiritual that is first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. the second a man from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. But as is the man of heaven, so also are those from the man of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. His book to the Ephesian church could be a sermon on Daniel 12, probably much shorter than this one. Ephesians 2, our God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places. Ephesians 3, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. For anything that becomes visible is light, he says in chapter five. Therefore, awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Therefore, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Therefore, because you've been raised with Christ, do not be foolish, but understand the will of the Lord. And then Ephesians six, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over present darkness and against spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Beloved, like Daniel 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and the rest of the Bible, we are constantly being pointed to Jesus, and that doesn't leave us without application. It simply roots our redemption in the one who saves us. We have the same hope they had. They were longing for it, but we know that God kept His promise. We have seen the Christ. His victory is a greater victory than any political schema. It's a victory that's greater than every rule or principality, and His victory is always on the right side of history. So we need not fall into the trap of our forefathers, who time and again are so concerned with gaining power and esteem, popularity, during what seemed to be the most important time in all of history. So concerned with that, that they forsook the word of God. By all means, we must engage wisely It's inescapable, you are the light of the world. And when you engage wisely, you shine like the brightness of the skies that are above. This was Daniel's life. A life of political engagement done with such wisdom that he was able to fear God and honor the emperor. So by all means, engage and share the good news about Jesus. And when you do, when you turn those people to righteousness, you shine like stars forever. This was the way of the saints of old and throughout all ages. So let us be faithful as our faithful forefathers, worshiping and serving the one true God as he has revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, we have heard wonderful things out of your word. We praise you for revealing Christ by promise and shadow in the Old Testament and for revealing him as the fulfillment of all these things in the new. Give us your spirit so that we might understand these words and the fullness of your truth as you have revealed him to us in the person and work of Jesus, who with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory now and forever. Amen.