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ü  They stay secure in the face of danger for Jesus is with them.

ü  They stay JOYFUL in the midst of desolation for Jesus is with them.

ü  They stay PURE in a sea of filth for Jesus is with them.

ü  They stay TRUTHFUL in a World of lies for Jesus is with them.

ü  They stay HOPEFUL in the land of doom for Jesus is with them.

 

No place in all the Word of God is the COMPASSION of Jesus more clearly seen. Discover the COMPASSION[1] of Jesus in sending the everlasting gospel through the 144,000 witnesses, the angelic messenger and announcing the limits of His compassion  (14).

 

When Jesus walks this World of woe, His heart wells up with compassion. The most frequent emotion of Jesus noted by those who knew Him, walked with Him and observed Him closely for 3 ½ years is COMPASSION. To see Jesus is to see the love, mercy and compassion of God toward fallen sinners.

 

Doubters look around them at their circumstances, the faithful look to Jesus. We are transported to Mount Zion, the first time Zion[2] is mentioned in the book. Zion, the place where God dwells on His Throne signals that the invasion has been launched. The general Himself, The Lamb of God stands on Zion with His own and signals the end is near.

 

There are two parts to this chapter. In the first 7 verses we see the delights of life with Jesus: With Jesus is:

ü  SECURITY IN THE FACE OF DANGERS V. 1-2

ü  JOY IN THE MIDST OF DESOLATION v. 3

ü  PURITY IN THE SEA OF FILTH v. 4a

ü  TRUTH IN A WORLD OF LIES v. 5

ü  HOPE IN THE LAND OF DOOM.   v. 6-7

 

In the second half of this chapter we are confronted with the doom of life without Jesus.

ü  Apart from Jesus there is only v. 8-11 hopeless and indescribable torment

ü  A note of hope sounds in v. 12-13

ü  Apart from Jesus there is only v. 14-20 senseless and immeasurable bloodshed.

 

remember The tide of the battle turns in

Revelation 14

 

ü  Revelation 6-13 basically shows the world ruined by man.  With all restraint removed, with passions allowed to run their course, with Satanic power unrestrained, with evil plans long held back, but to full mammon, it is awful.

ü  But from Revelation 14-20 we see a new perspective, the world rescued by God.

21 Heavenly Vistas:

FATHER SON SPIRIT
Zion Lamb New Song (Eph. 5)
Father 144,000 Angels (Heb 1:14 min spirits)
Throne 24 Elders Babylon the Great
Cherubim Eternal Holy Angels Gen 6:4 not strive
Wrath of God Creator Mark of the Beast
200 Miles of Blood Hell Saints Gospel
Temple Faith in Jesus Spirit

 

There are two parts to this chapter. In the first 8 verses we see the delights of life with Jesus: With Jesus are the v. 1-5 blameless, unstoppable witnesses: note the contrast of their character to the World about them.

ü  SECURITY IN THE FACE OF DANGERS v. 1-2 as the World plunges into desolation and destruction here stands living proof of God’s care. Heaven as Ray Steadman says [3], as it is pictured in the Bible, is actually another dimension of existence, just beyond the reach of our five senses.  You can be in Heaven at the same time you are on Earth.  As I read these prophetic passages of Scripture, I become more and more convinced that this is clearly the case: the Church is with the Lord — but the Lord is on the Earth, throughout those seven turbulent years!  The Church is with the Lord, but it is invisible to the rest of the World, ministering to this select group of 144,000 Jews.  During this time, Jesus will periodically appear to these living Jesus, standing with them and empowering them for their mission. If this is true, then Jesus will be in exactly the same condition with them as He was with the eleven disciples after His resurrection, when for a period of 40 days He appeared to them from time to time.  As you examine the gospel accounts of the time between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, you find He was often with them in various times, various places, and suddenly He would not be with them.  It was as if He would step back into the realm of invisibility after appearing for a while in their midst.

ü  JOY IN THE MIDST OF DESOLATION v. 3 notice that rising above the screams of anguish and hatred rises the beauty of a new song. Like Jeremiah in the smoking ruins of Jerusalem in Lamentations, we see God’s faithfulness anywhere anytime. These saints express their intimacy with Jesus by a new “song no one knows but them”. This is a second of three new treasures God gives His servants. v.1 has a new name, v. 3a has a new song and v. 3b has a new destination. When we are redeemed by the substitutionary work of Jesus on our behalf we receive a NEW NAME to show we are His new creations in Christ. Then we get to live full of the Holy Spirit and we experience that NEW SONG[4] which we sing all through life

ü  PURITY IN THE SEA OF FILTH v. 4a purity not immorality in a world of v. 8 universal fornication, the wine of passion. Notice the great benefit of purity is v. 4b spiritual sensitivity they follow the Lamb wherever He goes! This is not a reference that physical love is sinful. Rather they have neither been involved in the licentiousness of immorality not in the spiritual sense these have never committed the spiritual adultery of loving the World James 4:4-5 and on apostasy as in II Cor. 11:2.

ü  TRUTH IN A WORLD OF LIES v. 5 honesty not deceit. And what is marvelous is that the Holy Spirit presents these martyrs as the heroes of the Book of Revelation. The Company of the Lamb are those who rest in the absolutely delights of His SECURITY, JOY, PURITY and TRUTH. They are like Jesus of Whom it was said 1 Peter 2:22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

ü  HOPE IN THE LAND OF DOOM. THESE SERVANTS STANDING with in v. 6-7 are witnesses of the endless, unchangeable gospel: Mankind’s only hope is to bow to their Creator; reach out to their Redeemer; or face Him as Judge.

 

Any[5] of any age–law, Church, kingdom–is by the sovereign grace of God, on the basis of the work that was accomplished by our Lord’s atoning death. The eternal gospel is a proclamation to all that dwell upon the Earth and to every Nation, Tribe, Tongue, and People. There are three elements[6] of the Eternal Gospel, which are always present:

  • Conviction “Fear God”
  • Conversion “Give him glory”
  • Consecration “Worship Him”

 

God, in His infinite grace, will thus send forth a mighty angel, flying back and forth across the skies, loudly proclaiming the gospel from one place to another, covering every Nation and Tribe and speaking in every language so that no one at the coming Judgment would be able to say he hadn’t heard.

 

Note also that the gospel he preaches is the “everlasting gospel.”  There is nothing new or different about it.  Paul, in fact, had warned that if an angel from Heaven came preaching some other gospel than the same gospel which he (Paul) had preached, that angel should be rejected as one accursed of God (Gal. 1:8).  This, plus the fact that John himself, who certainly knew what the true gospel was, called the angel’s message the everlasting gospel, is conclusive proof that this gospel is the true and only gospel.

 

It is the gospel, which we are to preach, which believers in all ages were commanded to preach, and which the angel will preach.  The gospel is everlasting.  It is good news from God, and is exceedingly broad in scope.  Many descriptions cannot exhaust its meaning, even though they can give us many insights to its nature.  It is:

  1. The gospel of God (1 Pet. 4:17),
  2. The gospel of salvation (Eph. 1:13),
  3. The gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24),
  4. The glorious gospel (2 Cor. 4:4),
  5. The gospel everlasting (Revelation 14)
  6. The gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15),
  7. The gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19) is that He is Creator (thus rightfully able to control and judge His planet); Redeemer (able to save all who come to Him);

 

The gospel is often defined as the substitutionary death, burial, and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, based on 1 Cor. 15:1-4, where the word is used in its central occurrence (out of 101 total occurrences).  Although this is surely the central focus of the gospel, it by no means exhausts the sweeping scope of its meaning, which encompasses the complete work of Christ from eternity to eternity.

 

It is significant[7] that the first time the word is used (Matt. 4:23), it is in reference to “the gospel of the Kingdom,” looking forward to the great day when Christ will be universally acclaimed as King of Kings.  The final occurrence is here in Revelation 14:6, where it looks back to the creation.  The gospel of Christ (“the good news about Christ”) is that He is the Creator of all things (and therefore able to control and judge all things), the Redeemer of all things (and therefore able to give the uttermost them that come unto God by Him), and the Heir of all things (therefore able and certain to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth as it is in Heaven).  The creation is the foundation of the gospel, the Second Coming is the blessed hope of the gospel, and the cross and the empty tomb constitute the power of the gospel.  A gospel without the creation and the consummation is as much an emasculated gospel as one without the cross and empty tomb.  One does not really reach the gospel unless he places and teaches all these together in their true majesty and fullness.

 

The gospel with a creation message is especially understandable to us today. We see the results in our World of the hundred-year reign of evolutionary deadening of society’s mind. Murder becomes acceptable, immorality commonplace and anarchy follows when we become mere protoplasm adrift in a godless cosmic vacuum.

 

The condemnation of God is that humans now worship “the creature more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25).  Having deceived themselves with this monstrous lie, they have ever since taught this falsehood to all who would hear until, as the Scripture says, Satan has deceived “the whole World” (Revelation 12:9).

 

In the second half of this chapter we are confronted with the doom of life without Jesus.

ü  Apart from Jesus there is only v. 8-11 hopeless and indescribable torment[8] and judgment. Notice torment without rest! The wonderful contrast is given about the saints who patiently endure

ü  A note of hope sounds in v. 12-13 as the Holy Spirit speaks for the 1st time in this Book; the second and final time is in 22:17 with the last gospel invitation in God’s Word. With Jesus there is always patience, obedience, faith and hope of blessings! This 2nd beatitude[9] is of hope in the midst of martyrdom and pain. John is also commanded for the 10th time here to write[10] down the Word of God. God’s Word is so precise and inspired.

ü  Apart from Jesus there is only v. 14-20 senseless and immeasurable warfare and bloodshed[11]. II Th 1:9 they said God leave me alone, and so He does! Steadman[12] states: Our earliest recorded history is largely a history of war and atrocity.  For example, Shalmanesar III of Assyria, who ruled from his capital city of Nineveh, boasted in his court records, “With the blood of the enemy soldiers, I dyed the mountain as if it were wool.” In recent years, we have learned more sophisticated and efficient ways of killing than the spears and swords of ancient Assyria. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, 70,000 lives were extinguished in a single flash.  And yet, so horrifying is the threat of nuclear war that we easily forget that atomic weapons were never necessary to produce mass slaughter.

 

Hell is always described with the same eternal duration as God and Heaven! 11x in Revelation 8x God and 3x Hell! There is a growing departure by many away from the doctrine of eternal punishment. But, if they refuse to accept that gift of His grace, then they must remain in their lost condition, eternally deserving, eternally provoking, and eternally receiving the holy wrath of God.

 

The greatest illustration of this is seen in the actions of Judas.  Yet, he was unmoved.  He saw no beauty in Christ after all he had witnessed in Him.  In the end, caring only for gain, dominated by self, he was ready to sell the Lord for the price of a slave.

 

God[13] has three choices in the face of human rebellion:

  • One:  He can indulge it and allow it to go on forever.  But in that case all the cruelty, injustice, hatred, pain, and death that now prevails on the Earth will go on forever, too.  God does not want that–and neither does man.
  • Two:  God can force man to obey and control the human race as if it were a race of robots.  But to take away our free will would be to take away our capacity to give our love to God freely.  Love cannot be forced,.
  • Three:  This is God’s only real choice.  He must withdraw Himself from those who refuse His love.  He must let them have their way forever.  Since God is necessary to our existence, the decision to reject God is a decision to plunge ourselves into the most terrible sense of loneliness and isolation a human being can know.
  • Ultimately, it is we who choose whether God will judge us.  It is we who decide either to accept or refuse His grace, love and forgiveness.  It is we who choose everlasting life–or everlasting death.

 

Before[14] this book is over, we will look beyond these scenes of judgment, beyond the slaughter, beyond the misery that is to come upon the Earth.  There is a new day coming after the Judgment, after the day of the “winepress.”  When “Jacob’s trouble” is finally over, Israel will blossom and spread its branches throughout the whole Earth like a vine, and Israel’s Messiah will reign.  It will be the long dread-of Utopia. But before that morning dawns, the long night of the human race will grow darker.       Much darker.

The most often noted emotion of Christ’s ministry was His compassion. No less than 13 times[15] Jesus was shown to be “moved with compassion”. We need a good dose of His compassion. A great student of the life and ministry of Christ was the Apostle Paul. He said his ministry was motivated by Christ’s love. What did the compassion of Jesus look like? Let’s examine it briefly:

 

Jesus was moved with compassion

  • For the confused.
  • For the sick and suffering.
  • For the weak.
  • For the desperate.
  • For the persistent.
  • For the helpless.
  • For the hopeless.
  • For the bereaved.
    • For the misfortunate.
    • For the repentant.

 

How do we develop compassion as Christ’s servants? A good place to start is in the following three areas. John Ruskin a famous poet and art critic first pointed out these three key areas as he described a good artist. Ruskin distilled down to three the laws of an enduring artist. An artist must possess:

  1. An eye to see and appreciate all the beauty they wish to capture on the canvas
  2. A heart to feel and register within the picture the atmosphere and the beauty of the scene, and finally
  3. A hand to perform by transforming a blank canvas into an image of what the eye has seen and the heart felt.

 

Now think for a moment. These are the same three skills a compassionate disciple of Jesus must learn..

  1. Do you have an eye to see how helpless our World is? There are 6 billion sheep most of them without a true knowledge of the Good Shepherd! There were only 250 million in Christ’s day. The population of our world is 24 times that today! What do you see in a crowd? A businessman sees a potential market, an educator sees a potential classroom, and a politician sees potential voters. Nearly everyone thinks in terms of personal benefit. Jesus was moved with compassion at the sight of a crowd, and that compassion led Him to give His life on a cross of wood, writing a letter of love for the sins of the world.
    1. Do you have a heart to feel how much they need Jesus? The word in the Bible for compassion means ‘to suffer together with’. This emotion of compassion constitutes a language that is understood universally. Compassion can be seen and felt by all because it is the language of the heart that needs no translation to be understood. We of the instant gratification, veneer thin depth of commitment end of the 20th century dwellers have lost so much compassion. Superficiality of emotional expression from TV has seeped into our spiritual lives. We are good actors but often-poor feelers of others pain. Ask God for a heart of compassion like Christ’s.
    2. Do you have hands to perform loving works in the name of Jesus? What ministries are you involved in today touching the lives of people for Jesus? Can you name one? Why don’t you start in our children’s ministry and then expand into the Rescue Mission, Crisis Pregnancy Center and so on?

 


[1] Compassion is the most frequently recorded emotion of Jesus. Watch Him in Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd; Matthew 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick; Matthew 15:32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way”; Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. (Others are Mk. 1:41, 6:34, 8:2; Lk. 7:13) as noted in Benjamin Warfield, The Person And Work Of Christ, Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1950, p. 96.

[2] Psalm 20:1-2, 7 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; 7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;  But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. (Could this be the 144,000 seen by God at that future moment in Revelation 14?); Psalm 48:1-2 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain. 2 beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King. (What causes all the powers of earth to gather at Jerusalem? Armageddon signal the culmination of man’s hatred of God and His Throne.) Psalm 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed— This Mount Zion where You have dwelt. (When the 144,000 sing on the mount, they sing as the ones who were purchased of God and redeemed.)       Psalm 76:2-9 In Salem also is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion. 3 There He broke the arrows of the bow, The shield and sword of battle. Selah 4 You are more glorious and excellent  than the mountains of prey. 5 The stouthearted were plundered;  They have sunk into their sleep; And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands. 6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep. 7 You, Yourself, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry? 8 You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;  The earth feared and was still, 9 When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah (What a description of the utter futility of mankind gathered to fight the Almighty!)      Psalm 102:13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come. (Many times God delivered His people and heir city, but now THE time has come!)           Psalm 110:2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (Here is the King of Kings exercising His power from Zion!)           Psalm 137:1-9 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. 2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. 3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! 6 If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth— If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!” 8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! 9 Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!

[3] Ibid. , p. 264.

[4] The Word of God describes nine new songs. There are six in the Psalms:

WORSHIP Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy; SALVATION Psalm 40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord; WORSHIP Psalm 96:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! 1 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; TRIUMPH Psalm 98:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things;  His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory; WORSHIP Psalm 144:9 I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You; Psalm 149:1 Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. Isaiah 42.10; Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying:  “You are worthy to take the scroll,  And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and here in Revelation 14:3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

[5] Morris, The Revelation Record, p.263-65. It is the good news that the judgment of God, so long awaited, is about to be consummated, and that the groaning earth will be brought back from the reign of the rebel prince, under the sway of the Son of God.  The rod which Satan has held over the earth has been heavy because it has been held by Satan.  The rod which the Lord Jesus is about to hold over the earth is an iron rod, but it is held in the hand of the One who has said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). Once more, we repeat that men are saved only by the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus.  We believe that Adam and Eve were saved through believing God’s Word concerning the Seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15) and that in token of that salvation the Lord God made coats of skins (after having some sacrificial victim) and clothed them (Gen. 3:21). So much for the past.  We believe that every blessing that will ever come to this earth or to any individual or group of individuals on it will come on the ground of Christ’s death on the cross.  But the open preaching of salvation to all who will come on the simple basis of trusting God’s Word about the work that was accomplished on Calvary, is a phenomenon which begins with Pentecost.

[6] See Phillips, Exploring Revelation. The gospel has always had an element of judgment in it.  When it was first preached in Eden, it contained the thunder of judgment.  “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.”  That is bad news to the serpent, but it is good news to all that refuse to follow him.  So the gospel goes on down through the ages.  At times the bad news had more emphasis than the good news; that is to say, at times God proclaims the judgment side of the gospel more than He proclaims the theme of mercy.  John the Baptist preached the gospel of the imminence of the kingdom of Christ.  His wilderness cry was, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).  What judgment there was in all of his gospel preaching!  “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth, Christian literature left behind when believers were raptured but also they have heard the testimony of Enoch and Elijah for three-and-a-half years, have experienced many great divine judgments on earth, have seen and heard angels of God flying through the skies, and have realized at least in measure what is really happening in heaven and earth.  Yet they still reject God and His Christ and are in imminent danger of receiving the mark of the beast and thus forfeiting all hope of repentance and salvation.

[7] Morris, p. 265.

[8] He Word of God repeatedly describes Hell as unending anguish: Dan. 7:11;

Isaiah 66:24 “And they shall go forth and look  Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”; Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” See also Mt. 13:50; Mk. 9:43-49 and Jude 7. Even if the fire is not literal the torment continues forever and so the reality must be as terrible as the symbol used to convey it.

[9] This is the second of the Beatitudes of Revelation : 1. Blessed readers, hearers and keepers [1:3]  Emphasizes the importance of Word of God; 2. Happiness of dead who die in Lord [14:13]  Emphasizes blessing of eternal life; 3. Enviable status of those watching and keeping their garments white (16:15) emphasizes Lord’s return; 4. Blessed delight of those invited to Lamb’s supper [19:9]  Emphasizes the joy of Christ’s presence; 5. Blessed participants of first Resurrection  [20:6]  Emphasizes deliverance from death; 6. Joy of heeding this book [22:7] Emphasizes obedience to Word of God; 7. Happy result is a clean robe and access to tree of life [22:14]  Emphasizes eternal sustenance.

[10] See 1:11, 19; seven letters; 14:13; 19:9 and  21:5.

[11] To have blood for 1600 furlongs (1 furlong = 607 feet) means 180 miles. From 20 miles beyond Armageddon that would stretch to 20 miles past Bozrah an ancient Edomite stronghold that is 20 miles southeast of the bottom of the Dead Sea.

[12] Ray Steadman, Revelation, p. 270.

[13] Steadman, p. 266.

[14] Steadman, p. 270.

[15] For the confused.  Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. [Also Mark 6:34]; For the sick and suffering.  Matthew 14:14  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. For the weak.  Matthew 15:32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” For the desperate. Matthew 18:27  “Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. For the persistent. Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. For the helpless. Mark 1:41  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” [Also Mark 9:22]; For the hopeless. Mark 5:19  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”  For the bereaved.  Luke 7:13  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” For the misfortunate. Luke 10:33  “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. For the repentant.  Luke 15:20  “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.