Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Revelation, chapter 18. Revelation 18. Let's pray together. We thank You that we can pray
and ask for Your mercies, Your grace to be bestowed upon us
this morning in the hearing of Your Gospel, and that we can
ask in the name of the Lord Jesus. Lord, having been chosen in Him,
redeemed by Him, quickened by His Spirit, one with Him. We ask for His sake and for our
good. Would you bless these services
today? And Lord, bless those places where you've raised up
faithful preachers of the Gospel. Comfort, we ask, your people.
Call your sheep. And these things we ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. Revelation 18. we're actually beholding the
judgment of God. It's amazing as we watch these
things, I think upon God's judgment and realize how quickly these
things will be over. But for creatures of time, frail
creatures, we consider these things and look into the details
of this sure event. We've been looking the last few
weeks at the judgment of the merchants of the earth. Actually, false prophets. I'm convinced that this is what
is being talked about. Do you know for a fact, when
you start talking about the judgment of God, You know that it's people. I mean, that's kind of obvious.
It's going to be people that's under God's judgment. So the
kings of the earth, the kingdoms of the earth, the denominations,
the divisions, it's talking about people. The merchants of the
earth is talking about people. The shipmasters and the sailors
that we'll probably get into next time talk about people.
So we're talking about human beings that are under the judgment
of God. Who are they? That's what we want to know.
The merchants. Verse 15. Let's just pick up
these things. These merchants of these things. Now, these merchants are the
ones that's been selling stuff that we look You know, and when
you get into the shipmasters, I'm telling you that it's it's
people is buying it. That's that's that's who it is.
The kings of this earth are the divisions or the kingdoms or
the denominations that just there's different ways of thinking, all
one source, really, man, man and his self-righteousness. That's
the source of it all. But the divisions of this earth
are the kingdom. The merchants of this earth are
the false prophets of each of those kingdoms, and the shipmasters,
we'll see, are actually the congregations. Now that makes perfect sense
to me. That's going to be judgment. But these merchants, verse 15,
of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar
off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. false prophets. I'm going to try to back this
up by Scripture and show you if what we're looking at right
here I know is Scriptural. These false prophets that the
Scripture says made rich by her, rich in their self-righteousness,
rich according to this world's false religion. They think themselves
to be rich. They shall stand afar off, caused to keep their place."
That's what it means. They're going to be caused to
stay where they are. They shall stand afar off. You know, if God leaves a man
or a woman to themselves, where are they going? Where are they
going to go? They stand afar off, separated,
alone, and lost. And they that stand afar off
for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing." I want you to turn
to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew 22. The Lord gave a story, a parable, Matthew 22, verse 11, it says, When the king came in
to see the guest, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment. Said unto him, Friend, how camest
thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants,
bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. And let me
tell you, let me tell you what this isn't a symbol of. It isn't a symbol of being in
heaven. I can tell you that for a fact.
You know how I know that? Because he wouldn't have been
there to begin with without a wedding garment on. This is talking about right now
and what will happen in the day of God's judgment. This king
comes in. He sees the guest. And there
is a man, and he didn't have on a wedding garment. He didn't
have on the accepted garments of the righteousness of Christ,
which is only given by God Himself. He robes His people. And this
king that saw this man that didn't have on a wedding garment, let
me tell you, and I'm going to Pick another Scripture in just
a minute and show you this, too, and prove this. This man right here wasn't robed
in the righteousness of Christ. He didn't have on a wedding garment.
And God saw it, and He always does. And He says to him, Friend,
the word there is actually companion. Tears among the wheat. How camest thou in hither?" How
did you come in? Now, you're in the midst, and
my question to you is this. You don't have on a wedding garment.
You're not robed in the righteousness of Christ. How did you get here? That's what he's asking. Now
I want you to turn to John 10. John 10, verse 1 to 3. Now, the Lord is
speaking to a group of Pharisees who were offended because of
a miracle that the Lord had performed in the healing of a blind man.
And it's a continuation. The Lord had healed this man
back in John 9. They had taken this man to task. They asked him, you know, who
healed you? Look over in verse 27. And the man that was healed,
he said, I told you already and you didn't hear. Wherefore would
you hear it again? Will you also be His disciples?
And boy, they got mad. Verse 28, we're Moses' disciples. Don't you call us into question. Who do you think you're talking
to? We're Pharisees. We're the higher echelon. We're the creme de creme. Who do you think you are talking
to us? The Lord is still talking to
these guys. And He says in verse 1 of chapter
10, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same as a thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out." Now, let me tell you what's happening
here. The Lord had revealed to these Pharisees a vital truth. This is all going back to these
merchants that were standing and watching and seeing the judgment
of God. These that Don't have on a wedding
garment. These that are in the midst of
the professing church, but they're tares among the wheat. There's
always tares among the wheat. There's always tares among the
wheat. Always. Why? That the wheat might
be manifested. If you would know who the wheat
are, the tares are always seen too. And you know them by their
fruit. The Lord told these Pharisees, He said, I say to you, he that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. Now let me tell
you, you remember a few weeks ago when I talked about the difference
in this sheepfold. There's one that is actually
called the fold and there's one word that is actually called
the yard. This word right here, the sheepfold,
is the yard. The yard. He that entereth not
into the yard by the door. What is he saying? Here's what
it is. God has true preachers. And they're in this world. They're preaching in this world.
And they're preaching to many, many that are not His sheep. some that
are. He that entereth not in this
yard by the door." In other words, those that are not sin of God.
He that entereth not by Christ into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way. How did he get to this point?
To where he was setting himself up? to be a preacher. How did he put himself into a
position to where he would preach to others? If he didn't come
by way of Christ, he's a thief and a robber. That's what he
is. Now, let me tell you why I know
that this sheepfold right here is not the church. Look at verse
3. He leads them out. The Lord never leads His people
out of the church. He leads them out of false religion,
out of darkness, out of blindness, but not out of the church. He
that enters in any other way into the position of being a
preacher, and he didn't come by way of Christ. He climbed
in some other way. How did he get there? Well, men
have got their own ways. set themselves up is what they
did. They're merchants of this world is what they are. They're
proclaimers of false religion. But the Lord says this is what
they are. You come any other way but being called by God Almighty. If Christ has not called a man,
and I'm telling you, when the Lord calls a man to preach, Neal,
number one, He's going to teach him the gospel. Charles Spurgeon's got a book
called Lectures to My Students. And I was looking one time years
ago, and I looked at that book, and one of them, Gary, was called
The Call of a Preacher, True Preacher of the Gospel. And this
was the first qualification. God taught him the gospel. And
you know, when I first read that, I thought, well, you know, that's
so obvious. Well, why wouldn't you? Let me
tell you something. That is absolutely the most vital
point of a man that God's called to preach. God teaches him the
gospel of free grace, sovereign, saving grace. Any man that stands in a pulpit
and is not preaching Christ and Him crucified. God Almighty,
the Father that chose a people. Christ, the Redeemer that died
for the sheep alone. The Holy Spirit of God that only
calls those for whom Christ died. Any man that is not preaching
and comes by way of Christ and His gospel. than that which we preach. Let
him be accursed. I'll tell you what the Lord said.
Any man that entereth not by the door into this yard, into
this place where there are some sheep. Now, obviously, in this
sheepfold, there were some sheep, Neil, and there were some that
weren't because the sheep got let out. But any man that does not come
by Christ He's a thief, and he's a robber, and he's self-seeking. That's all. You'd ask me, he said, does a
man that's standing and not preaching the message of sovereign grace,
did God call him? No. What is it? He's a thief
and a liar. How do you know? The Lord said
it. That ends it. That ends it. Men that are standing in pulpits
today where the gospel of free grace is not being preached are
liars, thieves, robbers. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. He preaches in Christ's stead. We beseech you, Paul says, in
Christ's stead as the Lord Himself would beseech you. Almighty God,
He that sends His people, they don't come any other way. The
Lord says, I will send you pastors after My heart, according to
His Word, according to His message, according to His grace. To Him,
verse 3, the porter openeth. And the sheep hear His voice,
and He calleth His own sheep by name, and He calls them out
of the yard. Calls them. Calls them by grace. Leads them out. Back in Revelation
18, verse 15. The merchants of these things
which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of
her torment, weeping and wailing and saying, verse 16, Alas, alas,
that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and
scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. That great city. Appearance that is exterior only. That great city. It looked good. It looked religious. It looked
sincere. I mean, it has so much beauty
to it. I mean, it was just decked out
with all of this stuff, fine linen. That's what these false
merchants are saying. Oh, that beautiful city that's
obviously under the judgment of God. that was clothed in fine
linen." Fine linen is the description of the saints, the righteousness
of the saints. What does this mean that she
was clothed in fine linen? They thought she was. They thought
she was. How do you know that she wasn't?
Because the Scripture says that everything except The righteousness
of Christ is nothing more than filthy racks, clothed in fine linen and purple
and scarlet, that which men think is royalty. They're blind. They're blind. Men, look, I'm
telling you, false religion to this world has got the greatest
appeal. I understand that. I understand
that. I'm telling you. I came up in a false religion
where, man, you walk in, it just smells religious to me. Smells
like candles. And it's got all these beautiful
statues all over the place, you know, and they've got their holding,
I don't know, holding some little old goblet looking thing and
they've got their fingers like this. You know, or something. I don't Mark. I don't remember
how they did them, you know, and you know, they just have
have a big have great old big cross up there. And it's, you
know, have this, this idol, got this big idol up there, you know,
I mean, just all kinds of this beautiful, beautiful, this guy
comes out and he's just all robed up. And how can that not be of
God? Turn to 2 Corinthians and we'll
close. 2 Corinthians 4. How are you going to know the
difference? How do you know the difference?
2 Corinthians 4, verse 3. If our gospel be hid, but if
our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Let me
tell you something. The gospel must be revealed.
Man does not have the capacity. He's dead spiritually. He's alive. I understand this.
Brother Cody brought this out so beautifully the other night.
He's alive and he can move and he can think. But I'm telling
you that a man is incapable of worshiping God. Man has a body
and He has a soul. Every man has got a soul. But
the Scripture reveals that there has got to be something else
put there. He has got to be born again.
The Lord said, new heart, new spirit. There is a new man. a new nature, and it is by that
nature that a man worships God, believes God, faith is given
him. These false merchants, they looked
and they see the judgment of this harlot, false religion,
and they are sitting there and they are saying, can you believe
what we are looking at? That great city, that clothed
in fine linen, purple, scarlet." She doesn't still, false merchants,
they do not still see that which is putrefying. They still don't
see it. Under the judgment of God, still no one will see the
sinfulness of horrid rebellion against God. Not even under the
judgment of God will they see it. They are still blind. Why? It takes a new heart. And without
a new heart, men will be under the judgment of God still thinking
that their false religion is beautiful. If our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord." Listen to what the Apostle just
said. We preach not ourselves, not our will, not our ability,
not our thinking, not our desire. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants. For Jesus' sake,
for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us." I mean, you look around and you
think, I see that. I think I do. I think I see the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ in an earthen vessel.
And I know that we know in part and prophesy in part, we understand
in part. And I mean, I know we see through
a glass darkly. But I'm telling you, the Scripture
says, you know them by their fruit. And I can see, even in
my frailty and my blind haziness, I see the glimmer of the glory
of God in many of you. And that, I say, to the grace
and mercy of Almighty God. We are what we are by the grace
of God. Let's just stop for a few minutes.