Before we begin this morning,
let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, it's so good to be
able to call upon Your holy name and to do so realizing that this
is an honor and a privilege by the miracle of Your everlasting
grace that You would bless us by giving us a heart that would
desire to speak to you and to ask for your mercy. We ask you to teach us this morning. We ask that you would be honored
and that it would be to our prophet as we hear the glorious Word
of God. And we ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen. We viewed the judgment of God,
His judgment of the kings of the earth, the kingdoms, the
divisions, that which we would understand as being denominations,
different thoughts. We watched the judgment of the
merchants of the earth, those hucksters, those false salesmen
that represent every division, denomination. Every division's
got a salesman. Take a company that wants to
sell their product. They have salesmen go out and
sell their wares. False religion does too. And
you've got the shipmasters and sailors and as many as travel
by the sea. That's what the latter part of
Revelation 18 was dealing with. That is, everybody that buys
into it. If you've got a salesman, you've
got a company, you've got somebody selling their wares, well, somebody
buys it. You've got a business going. And I'll tell you, the business
of false religion is booming. And it's booming by God Almighty
leaving them to themselves. I'm telling you, if you want
to witness the judgment of Almighty God, you look and see when a
man or a woman leaves this world without truly the substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You let someone leave this world
and they left it in rebellion to the belief, in the rebellion
to believing Christ to be their hope. And you've witnessed the
judgment of God. Man tries to paint a pretty picture
in death We try to dress it up and we buy a lot of flowers and
we make these real eloquent speeches and we try to talk about God
that loves everybody. And a believer sits there and
knows, knows what's happening. I say this, and I say this sincerely,
every time I hear of someone leaving this world, someone died,
someone you know died, and they left this world. And in your
heart, you that believe, you know. You know. They left this
world without a substitute. You say, how do you know? There
was no evidence outward. The Scripture says you'll know
them by their fruit. What's the fruit of a believer? You remember
when the Philippian jailer asked Paul? When Paul was in that Philippian
jail and the Philippian jailer asked him, what must I do to
be saved? The literal of that question
is this. What will I be doing if I truly
know God? Paul said you'll believe in Christ. You'll believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. You'll be trusting Him. And you
know Him. You'll cast yourself on His mercy. And you'll know that no works
of self-righteousness that you've done. That's the evidence. Judgment of God. Well, chapter
19, verse 1. Let's start there today. And
after these things, after all these things that we just looked
at, John said, I heard a great voice of many people in heaven. The Lord's cast out all that
was in rebellion to Him. And I'm telling you, the righteous
will witness it. I'm afraid we'll see it. We'll
be there on the Day of Judgment standing. Everybody. We're all going to appear before
the great white throne judgment. We're going to be there. You're
alive. You died in the faith. We're
all going to be there. We shall all stand before the
judgment. Those that stand in Christ They'll
be judged righteous. The judgment, Almighty God, the
judge and believers will be standing there. The redeemed will stand
there. They'll stand there in the absolute
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, robed. That is their
wedding garment. You name me one that's more beautiful
than being robed in the righteousness and the holiness and the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're standing there by
the grace of God. And they know it. They're standing
there realizing the only difference between me and that one cast
out is God's good pleasure. What's the difference? We were
all dug out of the same lump. We were all dug out of the same
pit. Who art thou that differeth from
another? It's God that showed mercy. After
these things, John said, I heard a great voice. Your people in
heaven And when they saw, when they witnessed what just happened,
they said, Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. No praise to me. No praise to
my free will. No praise to my works. No praise
to anything I did. No praise to anything I thought. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Salvation. The rescue. That's what that means. The rescue. The deliverance. The deliverance
of us all is according to His grace. See, we know in part right
now. We see through a glass darkly
right now. We look and see through eyes
that see, but boy, we're so weak in our faith.
We talk about God who chose us before the foundation of the
world. Almighty God that loved us with an everlasting love and
that the Lord Jesus Christ that came into this world, the Word
that was made flesh. And we talk about that. And we
believe it. We believe it. But I'm telling
you, in that day when we witness with no more presence of sin
and we realize for the first time truly what Almighty God
has done for us, we'll then say, Salvation belongs to Him. Glory. That's what they said.
Hallelujah! Salvation and glory. Glory. You remember me telling you that
the heart of the word glory is to think. The opinion. Glory. It is the glory of the
Lord to show mercy. You said, now, are you just saying
that? You remember when Moses asked the Lord, show me Your
glory. Show me what You think. Lord,
show me. Show me what You have determined. And he said, I will have mercy.
on whom I'll have mercy, and on whom I will, I'll leave to themselves. Show
me Your mercy. Show me Your glory. Glory! All that He has wonderfully determined
and purposed and thought to show and express His love to His people. Lord, glory! And honor the value. That's what honor means. Honor. You give honor to, you show respect
to those that you value and what you value. How much is this ring worth right
there? Oh, I don't know. I don't know. 100 bucks, 150 bucks, 200 bucks. Now that ain't too much. Let
me see how far I can throw it. No. Why? That ring means something
to me. My wife gave me that. Why? I'm going to wear it. Why? Because
I put honor on her. That ring symbolizes something. It's honor. It's value. It means
something to me. Lord, honor. The value that you, who is indescribably,
immeasurably valuable, God Almighty, you looked on me with value. You looked on me and your Son.
You looked upon me in grace. How do you put a value on that? You can't put value on that. You put a value, you could put
value on the salvation of God. Value, honor, Lord and power. Lord, it's by Your ability and
Your might. You accomplished salvation. Lord, I don't even know how to
talk about this. I can tell you everything I know that the Scripture
says concerning the salvation of God. I'll tell you when I'll
know it, when I see Him. I'll see Him as He is. I'll know
Him, be like Him. In that day, I say right now
how thankful I am for salvation. Oh, you don't say it like you're
going to say it. When you leave this world and you realize for
the first time without the presence and the blight and the stigma
and the hindrance of the presence of sin, you're going to say,
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord's salvation and
glory and honor and power is unto our God. Unto our God. You say, well,
I thought that He's everybody's God. He is. He is. He's God. He's God Almighty to
everybody. But is He God Almighty in mercy
to you? Turn over to John 8. The Gospel
according to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking
to a group of Pharisees, John 8, 37. Oh, and they're sitting there
and telling him how much they love God. Scripture says, I speak that
which I've seen with my father, the Lord speaking, and ye do
that which you've seen with your father. And they answered and
said unto him, Abraham is our father. And Jesus saith unto
them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a
man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. Ye do the
deeds of your father. And they said unto him, We be
not born of fornication. We have one father. Even God. And Jesus saith unto them, If. He's not in mercy to them. He's not in mercy to them. If
God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth
and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. God Almighty. is the merciful
Father. He's the Father. He's the Father. He's the Father. He's God to
everybody. I'm telling you, He's God Almighty
concerning all men. But is He the Father to you? If God were your Father, He's
not to those that believe not. He was your Father. Turn over
to Hebrews 10. Let me show you how He is to those left in unbelief. Hebrews 10.28. Hebrews 10.28. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy. unto two or three witnesses of
how much sore a punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know
him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
His people. It's a fearful thing to fall
in the hands of the living God. He's God. He's God Almighty in
vengeance to all that are left in rebellion. And He's the Father
to God's people. Glory, honor, power unto the
Lord our God for the For true, verse 2, and righteous are his
judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, hath avenged
the blood of his servants at her hand." It's true. What God does, the Scripture
says, is true. His judgments. His judgments. If Almighty God shows mercy. That's His judgment. You know,
a judge can pronounce someone innocent. That's His judgment.
He can pronounce someone guilty. That's His judgment. Judgments. Judgment for, judgment against. Judgment. True, that is, genuine. True, genuine, are His utterances. Heaven and earth, the Lord said
in Matthew 24, 35, shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass
away. His words are true. His words
are genuine. His words are right. True and
righteous. Just. That's what it means. Just. All that God does. All that God
says. All that God thinks. is according
to righteousness. It's right. Isaiah 45, verse
21, "...there is no God else beside Me." A just God, that
is, a lawful, a righteous. What He does is right. What God does is righteous. It's right. Good. A just God and a Savior, a Deliverer,
a Rescuer. There's none else beside Me.
If there is salvation, it is going to be by God Almighty.
There is no other way. The Lord said, I am the way.
I am the way. I am the way. I am the truth.
I'm the light. No man comes to the Father but by Me, but by Him. And you remember
this, if there's no way but by Him, that means it's not your
free will and your exercise. It's by Him. Nobody's going to throw in their
works, not by works of righteousness. No man comes to the Father but
by me. So true and righteous are His judgments, His decisions. Decisions about anything. He shows mercy. I'm telling you,
it's not at the expense of His justice. If He sends a rebel to hell,
He's right. If a man or woman leaves this world and is cast
into hell, he got just exactly what he deserved. God's right.
God is right. He has judged the great whore. He has judged. He has decided. manifested his decision. He judged
the great whore. Let me tell you what that means.
God chose. God Almighty was of the opinion
to leave the great whore in rebellion. Now this great whore, you know,
remember this great harlot of false religion. It's people. It's people. You know, somehow
we get this great whore, this woman, and she's affecting, you
know, and I understand the biblical wording. Somehow we get her like
she's something other than. And there's all the masses out
there. Those masses are her. That is the great whore. God
Almighty has judged the great whore, left her in rebellion. Turn to Romans 9.22. He has judged the great whore. It was of his opinion to leave
her to herself and then executed his wrath. Was God right to do
that? Nine twenty-two or twenty-one,
hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to
make one vessel unto honour, one vessel unto value, and another
unto dishonour? What if God willing to show his
wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering,
the vessels of wrath fitted, made up to destruction? God hath judged,
back in Revelation 19, the great whore. He chose to show wrath. Does God have the right to do
that? Yes, He does. I know what the natural reaction
is going to be to that. That's not fair. Paul dealt with
that. Who art thou, O man that replies
against God? Who are you? Who am I? Who do we think we are? God said,
I'll show mercy to whom I'll show mercy. I'll show wrath to
whom I'll show wrath. I'll do what I will. In the army
of heaven, the inhabitants of the earth, Nobody has a right
to question Him. Why did He judge the great whore?
The Scripture says back in Revelation 19 too, which did corrupt the
earth with her fornication. I'll tell you this, all teaching,
all doctrine, here is the fornication, the spiritual fornication of
this great whore. Everything that is not the doctrine,
the truth, the gospel of free grace is spiritual fornication. It's unfaithfulness to God. Every
bit of it. I'm telling you, every ounce,
every word of disrespectful teaching that is not according to this
truth, the gospel of God, it is nothing but filthy spiritual
fornication. That's all it is. And it matters not how sincere
people are. As I've said before, Hitler was
sincere. Saddam Hussein was sincere. But they're sincerely wrong. And I'm telling you, except Almighty
God show mercy and grace, and call a man out of darkness, a
woman out of darkness, God has the right to do what He will
with His own. He hath avenged the blood of
His servants at her hand. What is He doing? He is absolutely
giving all left in rebellion to themselves exactly what they
wanted. Someone says, well, does anybody
want to go to hell? Well, they'll say no. But I'm
telling you what they've chosen is I will rebel against God.
I will rebel against Him. I will not have this man rule
over me. I'm not going to. You tell a
man or woman the truth and they storm out of here and say this.
I'm not going to hear that anymore I'm not going to hear that preacher
anymore. I'm not going to hear about a God who doesn't give
everybody a chance. You know, you leave all dead
men. Leave all dead men. Leave all dead men. Leave them
dead and give them a chance to choose life. What are they going
to do? They're dead. They're dead. I want to give
them a chance. They're all going to die. I mean,
they're dead. They're not going to all die.
They're dead. What do you mean give them a chance? It is by
the grace of God that God gives some life. Give them a chance. As I've said before, I'm telling
you, election is always unto the mercy
and grace of God. You say, give a man a chance,
and all in the world you're saying is, I want everybody to perish. That's all you're saying. Salvation
is of the Lord. And all of these things that
the elect witnessed, and verse 3 says, and again, hallelujah,
and her smoke rose up forever and ever. This is hard for our mind because
of the presence of sin, because of our true inability to be able
to grasp hold the completeness, the fullness of God's right. Here's a problem. What I'm about
to say is because of the presence of sin, that doubts God, that
questions God. What I'm about to say is a hard
thing to understand. But I'm looking at a Scripture
right here that says, and again they say it, when they saw God
Almighty judge the great whore, here's what they said. Hallelujah. When God put all rebellion in
hell, the saints said, You're right. We desire the salvation of our
friends and family, but we know that salvation is of the Lord. In that day, I'll use my family. I'll make it personal for me. I've got those in my family that Every time I think about every
day that goes by, and they're still on this earth, and they
still have no interest, no desire, I've got family that lives not
very far from the place that God's raised up the gospel of
free grace. They're just right there. And things that just don't matter. Things that just don't matter.
Things that they want to do. Every time I stop and think,
and I know, I know salvation is of the Lord. I know it. I know it. I know it. I know
that unless God Almighty shows mercy and imparts new life, It
gives them faith. Unless God Almighty imparts a
new heart, they're not going to believe. I know that. But
do you know it does not take away the desire that I have? Who knows? Maybe the Lord will
show mercy. That's what Scripture says. Peradventure.
Perhaps God will show mercy. But every time I think about
another day that goes by, that's one more day that's closer to
eternity being ushered in. And my heart right now truly
aches when I think about those that I know personally, my personal
blood family. And I pray God show mercy. I
pray. But if the Lord leaves them to
themselves, in the day of judgment, here
I am standing there by the grace of God Almighty. And I know it.
And I know it. And I say, Hallelujah. Hallelujah
for salvation that you've shown me. Hallelujah, that Almighty God showed me mercy and rescued me. Glory and honor and power is
unto you. And we cast out rebellion and
put those that right now in my heart I love and I pray for and
I desire God to show mercy when He cast them into everlasting
darkness, I have one thing that I can say. Hallelujah. Lord, You did what was right.
Now, let me ask you something. Is that not God's right to do? He's God. I've said before, this
is serious. This is serious. May Almighty God have mercy on
us. We'll stop for right now. Lord
willing, we'll come back in about five minutes.