I'd like to speak this morning
and pick up where we left off last Sunday in our last study,
the third group of the wicked. Remember, there's three groups
that the Spirit of God has set forth as those that will fall
under the judgment of Almighty God when the great whore, the
mystery Babylon, the great mother of harlots. She is referred to
this because of her spiritual adultery. Adultery is when you
find rest or what you think is rest or peace. in another other
than, spiritually speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ. When you think
that there is rest or comfort in another, and hereby the great
whore is referred to as the one that has made all the earth,
those outside of Christ, drink of her adulteries, her iniquities. But in her judgment, there are
three groups, the nations of the earth, the merchants of the
earth, and then this last one that we looked at last week,
every ship master and all the company and ships and sailors
and as many as trade by the sea, they stood afar off. And those
are the ones that have bought in. to what the merchants of
the earth were selling. That religious world that has
been left to themselves and has bought the lies of the merchants
of the world, those false preachers that sold their goods of self-righteousness,
those that believe, that is this last group, believe that they've
been able to construct them seaworthy vessel of safety that's going
to sail them over to the other side. Those that think I'm as
sure of heaven as if I'm already there. I've walked down the aisle. I made a profession of faith.
I shook the preacher's hand. I've been baptized. I attend
church. I give my money. They take all
of those things. And those things to them is something
that they construct them a ship. We looked at that in Ezekiel
27. We saw how the fallacy of thinking
that you can do something. Now, we stop right now, and I
want you to think with me for just a second. Do you think that your salvation
is based, now just be honest with yourself, nobody has to
raise their hand or anything, just stop one second. Have you
done something that has either merited or established your salvation? If you've done something, you
did something, no matter how religious it sounds, but if you
feel that you've done something to establish your salvation,
whatever it is, and you feel that it's what you've done that
has made you accepted before Almighty God, that is, in your
mind, that's salvation by works. It's something, something that
you've done. And as we looked at last time,
salvation. is all of grace. It is established, purposed by
Almighty God. All the debt that is owed is
paid by God Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Almighty
God saves His people without any works of righteousness on
their part. And then he tells them about
it in the preaching of the gospel. The gospel is preached and the
gospel is not setting forth, it's not an offer. The gospel
is a declaration of what Almighty God has done. This is what God
has done. This is what God has said He's
done. And the gospel is preached. And
those that the Lord is pleased to call out of darkness, He gives
them a heart to believe it. And they believe it. And they,
by faith, we looked at what is faith last Wednesday. By faith, by Christ, number one,
and by a new heart that bows to what Christ has done, His people come to Him. And believe
me, and they trust Him. Well, this morning, I want us
to look, because of the false security that we saw in Ezekiel
27, I want us to look at what Almighty God has set forth as
being truly a ship of a haven. a haven of peace. I want to preach
this morning on Christ, our ship of deliverance. I want you to
turn with me to Genesis chapter 6. Now, the man by nature thinks
that he has established him a vessel of safety. And I will tell you
this, Ezekiel sets forth that that's exactly what men believe.
They believe that this ship of their deliverance is something
that they've made. And you know, Tyrus, Tyree, or
Tyre, it was set forth as being a ship. Now, in Genesis chapter
6 and verse 5, the Scripture says, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Now,
if the Scripture says God saw, let me tell you, that's the way
it is. If God says this is the way it
is, that is exactly the way it is. But every thought, the Scripture
said, of the thoughts of man's heart as being found in Adam,
was evil continually. And I'll tell you this, let me
tell you what the heart, the basis, when it says every thought
was evil continually, let me tell you what the foundation
of that thought is. Man thinks that he can justify
himself before God. That's the thoughts of every
man. It's evil continually. Man of his own ability, man of
his own free will cannot justify himself before God. The Lord
in absolute justice in verse 7 said in Genesis chapter 6 verse
7, And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping
things and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have
made them. But, verse 8, Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord." Now, I looked up that word, found,
this morning. I got to thinking about it. Man
could say, well, you see, the Scripture does say that Noah
found grace. Noah, you know, did something. He was looking around and he
found it. You know, somebody's got to be
looking for something before they find something. Listen to
what this word found means. It means existed, number one. This is what the word found means.
It existed. Number two, it means enough. That's what the word found means.
Noah found grace. It existed eternally. Almighty God had looked upon
Noah and all like him. That is, those that God chose
to show mercy to in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
let me tell you this, it was enough, Rod. It was enough. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. You know, you might find grace
in my eyes, but that's not enough. But it's God's eyes, you know. In His eyes, I'd like to find
grace, you know. Him be kind to me, you know. But I'll tell you this, as far
as my standing before Almighty God, it's not enough. Not before God. Noah found grace. It existed and it was enough.
Noah and his family was not saved because Noah's goodness or any
other merit that Noah might have within himself Noah was just
like all the rest of them. The thoughts of Noah was evil
continually, just like everybody else. But Almighty God had chosen
to set His affection on Noah. Noah found grace. And the Lord
instructed Noah to build an ark. It was an ark that set forth
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in a picture. And the
only way of deliverance from the deluge that was going to
surely come was going to be found in that ark. Noah preached, the
Scripture said, 120 years. And for 120 years, here's this
man while he built an ark that was going to sail in water and
they'd never seen rain before. I'll tell you this, this world's
never seen judgment. as it's going to see judgment.
We think, we talk, we hear about the judgment of Almighty God,
but the Scripture says when Almighty God put Noah in that boat, in
that ark, it says that the earth opened up and the water just
gushed out from the bottom and from the top. It never rained
before. It was just a mist that was over
the earth. That's all it was. But Almighty
God told him, He said, you build an ark. Build a boat. When that
flood came, the water covered the highest mountains in the
whole earth. Everybody outside of that ark
drowned. I heard someone said, you know,
with this false conception that's being set forth, the Lord God
does love His people. But this thing that everybody
sees is a smile, God loves you. Let me tell you something. Outside
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God does not love you.
Outside the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God is angry with
the wicked every day. You say, well, I don't think
I'm that bad. Yes, you are. Yes, I am. Outside of the person
of a substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, we are. People say,
I think God's a loving God. He's a loving God in the person
of His Son, because His Son has satisfied Him. He's a just God. Without Christ, a man or woman
leaves this world, and I promise you, you'll be in hell. I promise
you that. When the judgment of God falls
upon this earth, the only haven that shall be found shall be
found in the person of the Lord Jesus." Our ark. Our ship. Men's building them
a ship. This boat, this ark, was sufficient
for all of Noah's family and all of the animals that Almighty
God purposed that He was going to save. And the Scripture says
in John 6.37, "...all, every one of them that the Father giveth
Me, I heard someone telling me the other day. Some I can't remember.
It was one of you that was out there. Somebody said to me that
they were talking to one of their relatives and something. They
said, I'll not have anything to do with election. I'll not
have anything to do with that. Listen, the Lord God Himself
says, I chose you. You didn't choose me. Someone
says, I chose the Lord. The Lord says you didn't. Let
God be true. Every man a liar. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. How about those that God
left to themselves? No, I'll tell you what they'll
do. They'll willingly not come. Someone asked me one time, they
said, well, what if someone truly desires to come to the Lord and
they're not one of God's elect? They won't. They said, how do you know? God
said that they wouldn't. He said, you will not come to
Me that you might have life. The ark was a safe refuge from
the rain that fell. That rain was a picture of God's
judgment and it fell upon the ark, but all inside the ark were
safe. The Lord Jesus Christ, He who
was born, He who was made, sin, made a curse, actually hung on
the cross and the judgment of Almighty God that was due, all
in Him, fell on Him. And He bore, just like that ark
bore the wrath of that rain. But Noah and Noah's family and
all of those animals that were in that ark were delivered. God
Almighty poured out judgment and wrath upon our substitute."
He's a substitute. One who dies as the one who is
due the judgment. Not just as one bearing it, though
he did. Listen, a substitute is one that
dies as the one who was due the wrath. That's a big difference,
Neil. I've said before, gave an illustration. If my mother committed murder
and I said, now she's going to, you know, they've given her the
death penalty. Well, I love my mom. So I'm going to die for
her in her place. This is what most men say is
what happened. And if I go to the electric chair
for my mother and my mother, I just, I just paid the penalty
of it. Justice wasn't done because my mother was guilty and I was
innocent. And someone would say, well,
you know what? I mean, that was a nice gesture.
You know, he loved his mother and that was kind and everything. But I'm going to tell you something.
She's the one that's guilty. She's the guilty one right there. She
got off. But if I can become Marion Stoniker
and die as Marion, that's a substitute. dying as the one who was truly
guilty. That ark had one door and one
window. Men say today, there are many,
many ways which are all big spoken. Here is the Lord Jesus and all
these different religions, you know, and just name them and
name them. There are only two things that are being preached
today. Free grace and works. And I am telling you, if it is
works, it is works. And we're not saved by the works
of the law, by the doing of good deeds. One door. Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He said, by Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Well,
someone says, well, I'm trusting the Lord Jesus. I gave my heart
to Jesus. I accepted Jesus, the door. But if you think that you were
the one that did it, He said of Himself, He said, I came to
seek and to save that which was lost. He said, I laid down my
life for the sheep, for the sheep. And you remember the Pharisees
that came to Him? He said, you've been saying all these things.
Why do you cause us to doubt? Won't you tell us plainly that
we believe? He said, I told you. But He said,
you believe not because you're not machine. He said, My sheep
hear My voice, and they follow Me. One door. This world and
its false, free-willed religion sees no beauty in the Lamb of
God Himself. They want to take that piece
of silver, that mask, you know, that they constructed of their
profession of faith, and they get them a nice piece of ivory,
you know, and this is my church attendance. They'd get them a
nice piece of brass, you know, which I gave four dollars last
month to the church. All of these things. And I built
me a boat. Let me tell you, the boat in
which God's people are secure is the body and blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And man by nature sees no beauty
in that. No beauty. in our substitute,
the only ship of God's grace, the Lamb. God's Lamb. And though this world thinks
that they can build themselves a ship of deliverance, their
security or their false security is going to be their downfall. This is the truth. I'm telling
you the truth. Search the Scriptures. Search
the Scriptures and tell me if what I'm telling you is not so.
Look in the Word of God and show me one place where Almighty God
ever accepted a man based on that man's free will. I can show
you Scripture after Scripture after Scripture that says it's
not by the will of man. It's not by your free will. It's
by the grace of Almighty God. Well, back in Revelation 18,
verse 17, for in one hour or so, So great riches has come
to Newark, and every shipmaster, and all the companies, and ships,
and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, they stood afar off,
and they cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying,
What city is likened to this great city? And they cast dust
on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas,
that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships
in the sea by reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate."
The entire mass of false professors of religion that have bought
the merchandise of the earth's merchants, they who have been
sailing in this world's ships of so-called luxury, the ship
Tyrus that we looked at last week, now they're in shock and
they view the irrevocable irreparable fall of Babylon the Great. It amazes me when I hear men
say, it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere.
It doesn't matter as long as you go, you know, go to the church
of your choice. Just go to church. Just go. It
does matter what you hear. Isn't it amazing that the Scripture
says that there's going to be judgment? And men look at that
and they say, Yes, there is. While the wicked
weep and wail over the great city, God's people are summoned
to rejoice from their heavenly abode. Look in verse 20. Rejoice
over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets, for
God hath avenged you on her. Rejoice is what it's saying.
Be merry and have a good frame of mind. Lord willing, tonight.
We'll get into chapter 19, and we'll look at the first two or
three verses tonight. Tonight, the message, especially
verse 3 of chapter 19, I will tell you this may be one of the
most sobering thoughts that you've ever thought. But verse 3 of
chapter 19 says, and again, they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke
rose up forever and ever. Most sobering thought that you'll
ever realize. But the Scripture for right now
says that the saints are told in verse 20 of 18, Rejoice over
her. Be of a good frame of mind. Here
we behold the exact opposite to the Scripture that is set
forth. Look in Revelation 6. We looked
at this. Turn back a few pages. Revelation
6, 9 and 10. The Scripture says, And when
He had opened When He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God
and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud
voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true dost Thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" You
see, Almighty God is going to avenge when the two witnesses,
a picture of the church herself lying in the street and the world,
thought that she was dead. And of course, you know, God's
never been without a witness in this world. Never. Never.
As long as there's been a man on this earth, there's been a
witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see Almighty God commanding
His people in verse 20, Rejoice over her. Be glad. Evil against God's people is
evil against Him. Matthew 25.40 says, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, insomuch as you have done it unto the one of
the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me. I want you to turn to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37. You may want to mark this chapter.
Go back to it often. While we're in this world, there's
so much evil that goes on against God's people. And we're so tempted
to take matters into our own hands when someone does something. Let me warn you. Anything that is done against
one of God's own, God's elect, anything, whether it be a word,
whether it be a lifted hand, I'm telling you, do not think
that that's a light thing. Believe me, you lift your hand
against one of God's elect, and Almighty God says, you did that
to me. Psalm 37, fret not thyself because
of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of
iniquities, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and
wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
For He and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit
thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Threaten not thyself
because of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man
who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger. Forsake
wrath. Threaten not thyself and any
wise to do evil, for evildoers shall be cut off. But those that
wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Look at verse
14. The wicked have drawn out the
sword, have bent their bow to cast down the poor and the needy,
and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall
enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. The Scripture sets forth that
Almighty God is going to take that which has been purposed
against God's own, and God's going to turn it on themselves.
Whenever the wicked raises their hand against God's elect to do
Him evil, God Almighty has promised, that's exactly what you're going
to get. Back in Revelation 18, verse
21, it says, A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone
and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that
great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more
at all. Here we see, let me just read
this to you, the surety of Jeremiah 51, verse 63 and 64. It said, It shall be when thou
hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a
stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, and thou
shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from
the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary.
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah." And over in Matthew 18, verse
6, the Scripture says, it says, But whoso shall offend one of
these little ones, Now listen to this. Somebody said, well,
that's talking about little babies. No. No, it's not. It says, Whoso
shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? Little
children. Those that rest in the Lord.
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. It were better for
him. Or let me give you the literal
interpretation of it were better. It would be expedient. It would
be profitable. Men are going to receive just
exactly what they've sown. Whatsoever a man sows, that's
what he's going to reap. Whatever you've done against
God's own, God Almighty said, I will avenge you. Can you imagine
those that have raised their hand against God's elect? When
Almighty God raises His hand against that man, what kind of
chance do you think that man's got? None. None. None. The Scripture says, thus,
with violence shall that great city of Babylon be thrown down
and be found no more. With violence, with an impulse,
with a rush, Babylon is destroyed in one moment. Nothing gentle
about it. We're a viper. We're one breath
from eternity. One heartbeat away, over. Gone. And leave this world without
Christ? The Scripture says Babylon will
be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. No more. None
of her government, none of her religious influence, You know,
Babylon today, we read about Babylon or hear about Babylon
on television, that city in Iraq. That's not the city from what
I've read of King Nebuchadnezzar. That's not the same Babylon. That ancient city in its exact
location is gone. They really don't know exactly,
Carl, where it was. It's rebuilt. Another city was
rebuilt, but not the ancient city. And so shall mystery Babylon
be. Where is it? It's gone. Obliterated. Just like the plagues, God is
sending seven last plagues right now. Somebody says, you're trying
to scare me. No, I'm not. I'm just telling
you the truth. I'm just telling you the truth.
Someone said, you're trying to scare me so I'll make a profession
of faith. No, I don't think you've heard the first part of the message.
I can't scare you into making a profession of faith. I'll tell
you how a man comes to Christ. Almighty God gives him a new
heart. That man's willing in the day of God's power. He's
willing to come. You can't scare anybody into
doing anything. That's ridiculous. Show them
a movie or scare them and tell them that there's a hell. They
don't care. That doesn't more make any difference. But if God
gives a man a new heart, a new spirit, God sent seven plagues. Sent those plagues. I say seven. I think it was seven. into Egypt. Almighty God is sending plagues
now. We went back, go back and listen to the seven last plagues,
what they are, that's happening today. After those seven plagues,
Pharaoh and his army went after the people of God. And you remember
how the Red Sea opened up and the people of God walked across
safely. And God's people do too. The
Red Sea, a picture of Christ, rent, opened up. that says He
was opened up under the judgment of Almighty God and His blood
was shed. That water parting shows the
passageway of safety for God's people. But the same passageway
that delivered God's people, what happened to the Egyptians? Drowned them. Drowned them. After
those plagues, after God sent plague after plague after plague
into Egypt, And Pharaoh's heart, the Scripture says, was hardened. Who hardened Pharaoh's heart? God. God did. Almighty God. What does God have
to do, descriptually speaking, to harden a man's heart? Leave
him alone. Just leave him alone. And that man will raise his hand
in arrogance against Almighty God, and he will say in his heart,
I will not have this man to rule over me. In judgment you will. Pharaoh, the Scripture says in
Exodus 15, verse 4 and 5, Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he
cast into the sea, His chosen captains also are drowned in
the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank to the bottom as a stone." Babylon is going to be destroyed. Verse 22 and 23, "...and the
voice of harpers and musicians and pipers and trumpeters shall
be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman whatsoever,
craft he be, shall be found any more in thee. And the sounds
of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee, and the
light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee, and the
voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more
at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great
men of the earth, and by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."
Here God's promised that no sound of pleasure, no sound of marriage,
no sound of industry is going to be heard at all. It's the
picture. of all who have not heard the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord says, My sheep hear
My voice. As I've said before, how do they
hear the voice of Christ? They hear it in the preaching
of the gospel. This is His Word. It's not my Word. I need His
mercy, Pat. I need God to have mercy on me. Show me mercy. Jeremiah 25.10
says, Moreover, I will take from Them, the voice, the sound of
mirth, cheerfulness, because why? Because they wouldn't hear
the voice of God's Word. So they won't hear any cheerfulness.
I'll take away the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness in
Jeremiah. It says, glee and religious are festive sound. The voice
of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, that is the voice
of love in any wise whatsoever won't be heard. And the sound
of the millstones and the light of the candle. You see the millstones,
here is a picture of that which is our daily sustenance. The food, the bread being prepared
that men eat, they think and are sustained by. That sound
is going to cease. God Almighty is going to put
it in. And the candle, It speaks of a time of rest, the end of
the day. You know, they go home and there's
no rest. There's no spiritual rest. There
is a rest for the people of God. Christ is their rest. Christ
is their security. In verse 24, "...and in her was
found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that
were slain upon the earth." In her, the Scripture says, was
found. It was perceived. It existed. The blood of the prophets. In
Babylon's destruction, her true character is now seen. Though
to the world, men do not perceive the evil of the great harlot. They don't see the evil of it.
Unless Almighty God gives a man or a woman a heart, to see the
evil. Whenever someone is standing
up and they're preaching and they're telling men a lie on
God, God's people, they hate to hear it. The only message
that a believer rejoices in is in the message of free grace.
free, sovereign, saving grace. And when men are told that they
are able to construct them a ship, and preachers stand up and they
make merchandise of men's souls, that's what they're doing. They're
lying to you. They're lying to you. I encourage
you. Search the Scriptures and see
if these things be so. If I'm lying to you, I'll step
down and I'll never stand in this pulpit again. But if I'm
not lying to you, hear the Word of the Lord. Hear what Almighty
God says. Come to Christ. I realize this. I can tell all men, come to Christ.
Believe on Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And I know this, if God gives
a man a heart to do it, he will. If Almighty God gives him a heart,
he's willing in the day of God's power to all that are found in
Christ. The Scripture says, in her was
found the blood of the prophets. I'll tell you what's found to
God's people in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, saved
by grace. Nothing that I've done. No price
in my hand I bring. Brother Scott said, if a man
can come empty-handed, that empty-handedness is something. It's everything. Everything. Comes as a beggar. Lord, be merciful to me. I'll tell you what's found in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's precious. To you, therefore, that believe.
Christ is precious.