In the book of First Chronicles,
we read about men called the sons of Issachar who had understanding
of the times and knew what Israel ought to do. Oh, for grace that
God would give me understanding of the times and give you understanding
of the times in which we live. that we may know in this day
what God would have us to do. I want to speak to you tonight
about the great revival described in Revelation chapter 11. But
before I get to my text in Revelation 11, some things just must be
said. I have read over the years a
good bit about what men call the history of revival. Sadly,
that which is spoken of as revival in this country at various times,
in other parts of the world, those things are spoken of as
great revivals, began with people getting together and trying to
twist God's arm, put him in a hammerlock, and get him to pour out some
manifestation of his spirit. And the result always The result
always were things that are nothing less than hellish, not revival,
not revival. I do not doubt at all, and I'll
say more about it in a moment, the great movings of God at various
times in the history of His church. But that which men point at and
call revival just isn't it. I was very interested in watching
a news program a few years ago about the revival that's supposed
to have taken place over here at Asbury College back in the
late 60s. I heard about it all the way
down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. No, it was in the 70s,
wasn't it? Early 70s. When was it, Lindsay?
60s. It was in Winston-Salem then.
He's got everything right. And all the things spoken of,
all the things spoken of demonstrating revival, demonstrating nothing
but flesh, nothing but flesh. Let me be perfectly clear. Those
great revivals of the past ought to be looked upon with suspicion.
They are identified not with the message of God's grace, but
with outward displays of things that impressed the world. So
much so that in Asbury there were articles in the nationwide
magazines, there were all kinds of things on television, all
kinds of stuff going on. I was just a child at the time.
I wasn't but 17 or 18, maybe 19 years old when it took place.
And those things struck me as being totally out of sync with
the Word of God. They are rather to be identified
as the reactions of men to nothing but religious frenzy, just religious
frenzy. This week I was given a book
by a friend in Ireland, and I read it coming home. on the airplane
Thursday. And they were pointing to, the
author of the book was pointing to great evidences of revival,
great movings of God the Holy Ghost. Shelby began reading it
when I got done, and she'll verify what I'm saying. You correct
me if I'm mistaken, my memory is bad. These are the things
that were supposed to be evidences of a great moving of God in a
great crowd of people, hundreds of people. People would come
running down the aisle and fall in the floor with convulsive
weeping, just convulsive weeping. Other people would have to be
carried out of the meeting on stretchers. Others were committed
to insane asylums, some back in those days permanently. If
those are signs of revival, find me something like that in the
Word of God. I find nothing even remotely
like that connected with the worship of God in Scripture.
We do read about such things. In the book of 1 Kings chapter
18, that's just exactly how the prophets of Baal behaved when
they were working up a revival. That's exactly how the prophets
of Baal behaved when they were working up a revival, but not
God's prophets. I do not say, I repeat, there
have been no great revivals. There have been. There had been.
The Reformation was a time of tremendous awakening. Much evil
happening with it, but so much good in the enlightening of the
world with the gospel of God's grace. The Great Awakening was
a tremendous work of God, but again, much evil taking place
with it in the mockery and imitation of God's work. And then in the
late 30s and early 40s and 50s, of our own country, the beginning
of what's called, even now being called in the history books,
the Sovereign Grace Movement. God raised up Arthur Pinck, and
with his pen, and Roth Barnard with his voice, and then Brother
Mahan with the first Sovereign Grace Conference in Ashland in
1954, a great movement of God began with the restoration of
the worship of our God. No frenzy. no outward show, no
displays of the flesh. If you read the scriptures, you'll
find that revival, as it's described in this book, always involves
four things. And I did a little research.
I can't find but four places in the scriptures where the word
revival is used as I'm using it now. Ezra 9 and 1 Kings 15,
1 Kings 22, and 2 Kings 23. Ezra, Asa, and Jehoshaphat, and
Josiah, all experienced and were used of God to bring tremendous
times of revival to Israel, to God's covenant people. And four
things were always involved. First, there was a return to
the Word of God. A return to God's written Word
as the guide and rule of all things spiritual in the lives
of God's people, his church, and his kingdom. And there was
the recovery of the worship of God, the reestablishing of God's
worship. The reestablishing of God's worship
principally is emphasized by the rebuilding of God's altar. The regathering of people around
God's sacrifice. That's the centerpiece of this
thing called revival. Men turning to God to worship
Him. The centerpiece is always the
sacrificial work and accomplishments of Jesus Christ, God's sacrifice,
our Redeemer. Along with revival, a third thing
took place. The tearing down of idols. The
tearing down of idols. Just tear them down, burn them
up, get rid of them. This is ungodly. Was it Josiah
who took the ashes and scattered them on the tombs of their fathers?
These things just can't be tolerated. That's not to suggest that you
and I should start burning down church buildings. It is to say
that we, if we would worship God, must clearly renounce every
form of false religion. and have nothing whatever to
do with it. And a fourth thing that happened
was the destruction of the houses of the sodomites and the banishing
of sodomites in the land. So that where people worship
God, they pushed away the ungodliness and the filth that follows idolatry. Now if I've read this book correctly,
I'm sure I have. If I've read this book correctly,
right smack dab in the middle, of that time when God turned
Satan loose on the world. Right in the middle of that little
season, immediately preceding the second coming of our Lord
Jesus, there will be a time of great revival. Now, I'm fully
aware that many of my preacher friends think I'm a little delusional
about this, but I believe we are living in the midst of great
revival. Great revival. Perhaps the great
revival described here in Revelation chapter 11. Though Satan is loosed
to again deceive the nations of the earth, with all the delusions
of Babylon's idolatry, and I repeat deliberately, I mean by Babylon's
idolatry, every form of Arminian will-worship, free-will, works
religion, every form of Arminian will-worship, free-will works
religion. Right in the midst of this, as
the nations of the world are deceived, God the Holy Ghost
has resurrected and is resurrecting the preaching of the gospel all
over the world. That's the message of the first
14 verses of Revelation 11. You say, Pastor, how can you
say that's going on in our day? Churches are being built, established
everywhere. Folks gathering to worship God,
small in number, but literally across the globe. I've mentioned
to you many times the work that Brother Walter Groover did in
Mexico, and his son Cody has taken up the mantle after him.
In the time Walter had been in Mexico, God used that man to
establish 39 gospel churches. That's unheard of in history.
If you don't call that revival, I don't know what you would.
Preachers, preachers, God's raising them up, preaching the gospel
of God's grace like never before in American history at least.
I remember the days when you could fit them all in a small
room who preached the gospel of God's grace. Now, there are
men preaching the gospel of God's free grace scattered in every
corner of the earth. how we ought to rejoice in that.
God's given us the privilege of maintaining this Free Grace
Radio program on the internet for a number of years now. I
get done preaching this message, Larry will load it up, and folks
all over the world will be listening to it in just a few hours. That
I find astounding. We have, some years ago, Larry's
more up to these things than I am, he knows more about it
than I do, but he told me There was somebody in Tehran, Larry,
correct me if I'm mistaken here, every Saturday for weeks and
weeks and weeks, spent hours downloading everything they could
get off our webpages. Just hours doing so. This past
week I met a fellow in Ireland who took over distributing tapes. A friend started sending them
to him years and years ago and he gave them to this fellow in
Ireland who is now a booksellers, owns a bookshop, and he told
me he had just sent 400 copies of our Discovering Christ commentaries
to Burma, and 31 pallets of them to South Africa. God is opening
doors of utterance for the gospel around the world, and we ought
to at least seek some understanding in what he's doing. Now hold
your Bibles open here, Revelation chapter 11, Throughout the book
of Revelation, we are repeatedly assured of three facts. Now,
this is what the book of Revelation is all about. John's given these
seven visions in the book of Revelation. Each one begins with
the first advent of our Savior, with our Lord's incarnation,
and culminates with our Lord's glorious second advent. And each
vision gives us these three assurances. First, our Redeemer, God our
Savior. in total control of the universe. Our Redeemer, He who loved us
and gave Himself for us, sits upon the throne of absolute monarchy
and rules the world and all things in it, everywhere, all the time. Second, the church and kingdom
of God is always safe. The Church and Kingdom of God
is never in danger, never in danger. And third, when this
is all done, God's Church, God's people, God's Son shall prevail
over all their enemies and be triumphant in the end. Now there's
a reason for this constantly repeated assurance given in the
book of Revelation. It often appears, it often appears
that we're losing ground. It often appears that our defeat
is inevitable. We read Revelation 11, 1 through
14, and we're assured of the safety and ultimate triumph of
Christ's church, though at times it seems that defeat is certain. In this chapter, God the Holy
Ghost tells us what will happen during those days just before
the Lord comes again. Back in chapter 8 and verse 13,
John saw an angel flying through heaven and he heard him say with
a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth.
The first woe is described as a plague of locusts coming up
out of hell and spreading over all the earth. Chapter 9, verses
1 through 12. This plague of locusts symbolically
represents the universal spread of false religion that must come
such as we see in this day in which we live. The plague of
locusts is that strong delusion God sends to a generation of
religious people who receive not the love of the truth. The
plague of locusts is not to be understood as a literal thing.
In fact, as you read through the book of Revelation, everything
in the book is allegorical. We're not to be looking for a
locust suddenly to spread over all the earth, though that may
happen. But the locusts refer to the evil of false religion.
Then in verses 13 through 21 of chapter 9, the second woe
of judgment is set before us as a terrible time of war such
as the world has never seen. In this war, One third of the
world's population will be killed. What a war. Terrible as that
is with regard to things physical, how much more so with regard
to things spiritual. And the souls of men forever
slain by false religion. Then we have a word of assurance
and comfort to sustain our hearts in chapter 10. There John sees
the Lord Jesus standing as the universal monarch over heaven,
earth, and sea, ruling everything precisely according to the book
of God's eternal purpose. I remind you, these are the assurances
John gives us, and John was given by the Spirit of God in this
book. Our Redeemer is in total control. The church and kingdom
of God is perfectly safe, and the people of God shall be triumphant
at last. The Lord our God takes great
care to comfort and assure us, telling us that our victory is
sure. We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us and gave himself for us. The gates of hell shall
never prevail against the church of God. Our Lord makes that promise
to his servant Peter and to us. The gates of hell. shall not
prevail against us. What's he talking about? What's
he talking about? He is not talking about us sitting
back in the fort and holding our own there, as we just say,
though certainly we must do that. Nothing wrong with the song at
all. But gates are not instruments of offense. They're not instruments
of offense, but rather instruments of defense. So when our Lord
speaks of the gates of hell not prevailing against us, it is
not the picture of hell charging us, but rather the picture of
God's church charging the very gates of hell and our Savior
says, hell will fall before you. Oh, God inspired me to preach
with that confidence. Hell will fall before God's people
and God's church. That's the assurance of this
book. Here in chapter 11, we're given a description of God's
final act of judgment before the destruction of the earth,
which is the third world. Our text this evening is Revelation
11, verses 1 through 14. Here again, we're assured of
the safety and the triumph of God's church, though for a time,
defeat appears certain. Let's look at these 14 verses
together. I want to show you four things
in these 14 verses. It's impossible for us to tell
exactly where we fit in this prophetic picture before us.
I don't pretend to know, but of this I'm sure. The world has
never before seen such days of spiritual darkness and religious
deception as the darkness and deception of this age. And the
world has never seen before such light, such light as God is sending
forth in this day from the pulpits of faithful churches by faithful
men proclaiming the gospel. All right, let me show you these
four things. Look at verses 1 and 2. First, we see here that There's
a command to measure the temple of God. There was given me a
reed, likened to a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship
therein. But the court, which is without
the temple, that is the outer sanctuary, leave out, and measure
it not. For it is given to the Gentiles,
and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two
months. Of course, I repeat, this is
a symbolic picture. To seek, as many do, a literal
interpretation of the things written in this chapter is to
miss its message altogether. John was commanded to measure
the temple. Specifically, he was commanded
to measure the sanctuary containing the holy place and the holy of
holies. the altar, and them that worship
therein." This temple represents the Church of God. All those
in whom Christ dwells by His Spirit, all true believers worshiping
God in spirit and truth, are measured, protected, and sealed. The Lord didn't command John
to measure the size of the temple as though he needed information.
But rather, he commands John to measure it, to mark out for
protection the people of God. That's what the measuring refers
to. Though God will inflict His judgments of wrath upon the wicked,
persecuting world, His church is safe. That doesn't mean that
God's people will not suffer with the world in the midst of
judgment. They do. If there's an earthquake,
God's people suffer. If there's a flood, God's people
suffer. If there's famine, God's people
suffer. If there's a great storm, God's
people suffer. If there's war, God's people
suffer with the wicked. But God's people shall not perish
with the world. They are protected from eternal
doom. They're made partakers of the
first resurrection. Now, you might ask, Pastor, how
do you know this is what John's talking about here? Let me give
you three or four reasons. First, the temple of God in the
Old Testament was typical of the church. We're called the
temple of God. And what John's commanded to
measure here, though it speaks of the physical temple, he's
not talking about the physical temple at all. He's talking about
the church of God's elect. Second, the temple is here defined
as the holy place and the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary. There, none but the priest were
allowed to go. Only the priests were allowed
in this inner sanctuary. Only the priests did business
in the holy place with God. And you and I, who are born of
God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, are priests unto God. That means we live incessantly
with God. We walk incessantly with God. We do business incessantly in
the holy place, where we offer up spiritual sacrifices of prayer
and praise Christ our Lord. Third, the measuring of the temple
was done before, back in Ezekiel chapter 14. The same thing was
done and the reason was the same. It was for the protection of
God's sanctuary, to distinctly separate the precious from the
vile. In verse 2, the outer court of
the temple, John was specifically commanded not to measure. God's
special care and protection does not extend to those who are believers
in name only. This court, which is without
the temple, represents all false religion and all false professors
of religion. The outer court is to be trampled
under the feet of the heathen precisely because God's determined
to destroy false religion. What's the message there? The
world invades the false church and possesses it. Worldly religionists
welcome the ideas, the principles, and the practices of the world.
They feel perfectly at home with these things. We call it contemporary
worship today. That's just one name for the
nonsense. They are of the world, and the world loves its own.
Even in the New Testament era, the true people of God were played
with men and women in their midst who were governed and motivated
by the principles of the religion of this world. Tares with wheat,
goats with sheep. And this condition of worldliness
in the church continues throughout this gospel age represented by
these 42 months. Now second, look at verses 3
through 6. Here the Holy Spirit tells us about God's two witnesses
and their testimony. And I will give power unto my
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand and two hundred and
threescore days clothed in sackcloth. That is, they're going to prophesy
for three and a half years, the whole of this gospel age, clothed
in sackcloth with heaviness, with heaviness, with the burden
of the word of the Lord pressing them down. These are the two
olive trees, Zechariah saw them standing in the temple, and the
two candlesticks that were standing in the house of God before the
God of all the earth. And if any man will hurt them,
these two witnesses, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth
their enemies. And if any man will hurt them,
he must in this manner be killed. by the fire of the word that
comes out of their mouths. These have power. These witnesses
of God have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days
of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood,
to bring judgment upon men, and to smite the earth with plagues
as often as they wish. Now, many conjectures have been
made as to who these witnesses are, but the context seems evident
to me that these witnesses are just another representation of
God's church. Throughout this gospel age, the
church of God is represented by pastors, elders, and evangelist
missionaries, those through whom God speaks his word in every
generation. The church functions as an organization
through pastors and missionaries, those who preach the gospel.
These witnesses carry out their work throughout this gospel age. God never leaves himself without
a witness these 1260 days. Again, this is a symbolic figure. It speaks of a definite long
period of time, but a period of time unknown to any man. Like the 1260 days and the 42
months, verse 2, this represents this gospel age. Now, notice
the character of these witnesses. They're represented in John's
vision first as those men who preach the gospel, being men
under God who are the means by which grace is bestowed upon
his elect. Like the olive trees, they bring
forth the oil of grace and the blessings of God's spirit. Like
the candlesticks, they give out the light of the gospel. Second,
God's servants are under his special care and protection.
God says, touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm. I have watched over the years
how God defends his servants against the assaults of ungodly
and wicked men. No need for Don Fortner ever
to defend himself if I speak for God. No need ever to do it. No need for Don Fortner ever
to try to defend his name against the slanders of men, not if I
speak for God. No need for me to ever be too
upset with what men do, not if I speak for God. The Lord God
protects his servants. If I'm not God's servant, it's
another story. And just as Jeremiah's enemies
were condemned by his word, those who oppose the kingdom of God
today shall be ultimately condemned by the gospel we preach. Oh,
what screeches are heard in hell by religious leaders who led
men to hell all their days, despising the gospel they heard and refused
to believe. Third, those who preach the gospel
as spokesmen for Christ and His Church have power with God over
men. I don't know what to make of
the power here described. It is not absolute But it is
real. Our Lord sent his disciples out
preaching the gospel two by two, and gave them power over unclean
spirits, power over the demons of hell, power to give sight
to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and speech to the dumb,
and strength to the lame, and life to the dead. Certainly,
certainly, those miraculous powers identifying that Christ is here
when he walked upon this earth and his apostles representing
him portray spiritual power given by God to men in whom he trusts
the gospel of his grace. God, by the preaching of his
word, gives light and grace to sinners. So that as the Word
of God is preached, oh God, speak by this filthy, empty, broken,
dirty pipe to the hearts of men. And if God speaks, blind folks
are called to see. Deaf people are called to hear.
The dumb are called to speak God's praise. The lame are made
to walk. The dead are made to live. Fourth, these witnesses shall
finish their testimony, we're told in verse seven. God's church
and his servants will fulfill their mission in this world. I often remind myself, at best,
at the very best, I have only another five or 10 years of strength
to do the work God had me to do unless he gives me more. But this I know mortals are immortal
here until their work is done. God Almighty has given this church
and this pastor a specific task to fulfill and nothing in earth
or hell can prevent it. Nothing. No one can stand against
it. It's our responsibility to give
ourselves to the task, but fulfill it we shall by the grace and
power of God. Not only so, but God's church
shall fulfill her work. The gospel of the kingdom of
God must and shall be preached in every corner of the earth.
In all nations of the earth, in every tongue of the earth,
men and women will hear the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Now, look at verses 7 through
10. Here's the third thing. John
tells us here about the death of God's two witnesses and the joy of all the world
celebrating it. And when they shall have finished
their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, and overcome them, and kill them. Antichrists and false prophets
make war against God's witnesses, and overcome them, and kill them.
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,
which is spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom and Egypt,
where also our Lord was crucified. That's the name our God gives
to Jerusalem. Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord
was crucified. That's the name God gives to
the whole religious world that's opposed to our God and his Christ. And they of the people, and kindreds,
and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies three days
and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in
the graves. They want to lay out in the streets. Everybody
see how these have been slain. And they that dwell upon the
earth shall throw a hellish party. They shall rejoice over them,
and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because
these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. The beast, the Antichrist and
his religion, the outer court religionist, arise with hellish
worldwide power and kill the two witnesses. Now that doesn't
mean that God's saints and all true preachers will be killed,
though many may be tortured and put to death by men who think
they're doing God's service. There will be true believers
and true witnesses upon the earth until Christ comes again. I repeat,
the gates of hell will not prevail against God's church. It must
be remembered that the picture is symbolical, not literal. It means that there is a time
appointed by God when the true church of God, when true gospel
preachers, will appear to be totally eradicated
from the earth. That certainly appeared to have
been the case in the early part of the 20th century, just eradicated
from the earth. Religion thrives, but the church
of God appears like a dead corpse in the earth, altogether without
life and power. Turn back to the book of Amos.
Let me show you. Amos chapter 8. Amos chapter 8, verse 11. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in
the land, not a famine of bread nor thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea. And from the north, even to the east, they shall run to
and fro, and seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find
it. That's precisely what John's
talking about here in Revelation 11. That which will take place
before our Lord's glorious second advent. The voice of God's church
will be smothered out by the religion of Antichrist. Just
smothered out. We live in this day of 24-hour-a-day
news on many, many channels all over the world, get news instantaneously. And you often hear the news programs
with a religious commentator. A religious commentator, usually
papist, sometimes something else. When did you ever hear anyone
ask any man who believes the gospel about anything? Your opinion doesn't count. That's
insignificant. Nobody believes that stuff. Nobody
thinks like you do. Sodom and Egypt, who crucified
Christ, seeing God's witnesses lying like dead corpses in Main
Street in this world, will again join forces to silence the church.
For three and a half days, a brief but definite period of time,
for three and a half days, The church in this world appears
dead. It ceases to have power and influence. The faithful will be few, so
few that they cause no disturbance in the world. Nobody pays any attention. Nobody
pays any attention. I've seen those days, and thank
God Those days are breaking. God has graciously given his
church in this day a voice so that folks can no longer ignore
us. They can no longer pay no attention. This time of terrible
trial and religious deception is designated by God for a certain
period. This time of heresy and religious
deception is ordained of God for a certain period. And in
this reprobate age, even in the midst of this terrible apostasy,
God's elect are safe. And we have reason to give thanks
to God continually. While the corpses of the witnesses
lie in the street, the world throws a party. But their joy
is a bit premature. God's not done yet. Oh, God's not done yet. Not quite
done. The angel, our Lord Jesus, stands
with his feet on the earth and on the sea, and the book of God's
purpose in his hand, and he's got one more page to turn. Here's the fourth thing, verses
11 through 14. Here the Spirit of God tells
us that at the end of the end, there's to be a time of great
revival that Christ and his witnesses, Christ and his church, shall
be gloriously triumphant. And after three days and a half,
the Spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon
their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them." You
can imagine. Try to get a picture. Here are
two dead men. Every day, several hours through
the day, CNN and Fox News and ABC and NBC and CBS have got
their cameras on those dead corpses. There they lay. And the whole
world's laughing. Ah, those fools, those religious bigots, those
religious idiots, those folks who said God rules everything.
There they lay. They're dead. That's what we
said would happen to them. And suddenly, they've got the
cameras on them. And they stand on their feet
and begin to preach. The whole world now stands terror-shocked. Terror-shocked. And the same
hour, when these witnesses are raised up, verse 13, there was
a great earthquake. And a tenth part of the city
fell in the earthquake or slaying of men, 7,000. Back in April, there was an earthquake
in Nepal that killed over 8,000. That's a greater earthquake than
this. But this is talking about something
spiritual, not something physical. Maybe physical earthquakes, maybe
many of them. But it's talking about something spiritual. The
slain are given in a number of perfection and completion. Perfect,
complete, worldwide judgment. and the remnant were affrighted,
and gave glory to the God of heaven. And the second woe was
passed, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. There's a
day appointed by God when His church will be revived, when
the servants of God will be heard, when the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ will be declared through all
the world. Whether we live in that day or
not, I will not pretend to say, but I'm here to tell you that
God has given a time such as this and the gospel again is
declared through all the world. The dog of Rome and the peddlers
of free will smut will not party forever. God will send the spirit
of life to his church again. And just before Christ's second
coming, Right in the midst of the great wholesale apostasy
we saw this morning in 2 Thessalonians 2, God will raise up his witnesses
again and the church of God will be triumphant. When God's church
is revived again in the days of the Reformation, in the days
of the Great Awakening, and now I expect it to happen again,
the religious world and the political world are frozen with fear. Now what do we do? What can you
do with men who have been raised from the dead? What can you do
with men who have the power of God upon them? Then the end will
come. A voice will be heard like the
voice of an archangel from heaven saying, come up hither. The saints
of God, the living and the dead shall ascend in a cloud of glory
to meet the Lord in the air and their enemies will behold them. This is no secret rapture. This
is the most public thing that's ever taken place. He's talking
about the glorious resurrection of the last day. Their enemies
will behold them, and terror-struck, terror-struck, they'll give God
the glory. The judgment won't change them.
The judgment won't convert them. Judgment never brings repentance.
but it causes these as they behold the power of God manifest that
cannot be denied to bow down before the throne of Jesus Christ
our Lord and acknowledge that He is the Christ. He is God our
Savior. In that same hour God's judgment
will begin to fall on the earth. It appears that immediately preceding
the appearing of judgment by our Lord Jesus Christ There will
be a great earthquake, maybe many earthquakes, a series of
earthquakes, multitudes slain. Whether that's talking about
something physical or spiritual, I don't know. But those who remain
will be terror-struck and give God the glory. Well, there the
stage is set. This is the beginning of the
end. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe cometh.
judgment's coming. Christ is going to meet you,
and you are going to meet Christ in judgment. Are you ready? Those
who receive the testimony of God in their souls, who receive
and love the truth, Jesus Christ the Lord, revealed in the gospel
of His free grace, They are ready. Everybody else trembles. May God give you grace to believe
his son. Amen.