Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Revelation chapter 11. Revelation 11. We'll begin in
just a moment taking up where we left off in verse 13, but
as just a a word to kind of bring us back
to where we are. The two witnesses, which you
will remember, is symbolic language of the church itself. Two witnesses. The Lord had said in the mouth
of two witnesses shall a thing be established. So the two witnesses
that are spoken of here is the church. of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the bride itself. Now, it appears that in earlier
verses, it said that in verse 7, when they shall have finished
their testimony, speaking of not the end of the preaching
of the gospel, but when their testimony has been complete,
as Paul said, I fought a good fight, I finished the course,
not that Paul's preaching ended the preaching of the gospel,
but as the witness finishes her course. It says that these were
made war against by the beast that ascended out of the bottomless
pit. That beast is actually the father,
the devil himself, of all that opposes the church, the bribe,
and it appeared as though to the beast and the world, that
is, the world of false religion, that the body of the two witnesses,
the church itself in verse 8, was actually dead. Now their
dead bodies were to lie in the street of the great city which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified, meaning that the Jerusalem of this earth, or of the law,
which is basically symbolic language that says that men that believe
that they're saved by doing something, that is, the Jerusalem. Now,
that's not the heavenly Jerusalem. but it is the Jerusalem of this
world, the Jerusalem of law. Great resentment is said to be
had against the true witnesses, and this is expressed by their
bodies not being buried for three and a half days. Now, we've noticed
that three and a half days, I mean, yeah, three and a half days,
or it could be three and a half months, or three and a half years. It could be 1,260 days, which
comes out to exactly the same number. But if you'll notice,
that's always half of seven. Seven is the time of completion.
It's the time when the Lord will have completed that which He's
doing. So this is saying that the Lord's
completed purpose has not yet been accomplished. It shall be. But these witnesses, they lie
spiritually. And remember, this is the vision
that John is saying. So he sees a vision and it says
that these dead bodies, verse 8, lie in the street of the great
city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our
Lord And verse 9, And they of the people, and kindreds, and
tongues, and nations, see their dead bodies three days and a
half, and shall not suffer, not allow their dead bodies to be
put in the grave. And all in the world this is
saying is they have resentment. It was a great act of disrespect
how that a body would not be buried. In verse 10, they that dwelt
upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and
send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented
them that dwelt on the earth. This torment, if you remember,
we looked a while back and that word torment, that was the word
that was talking about the testing with the touchstone, a torment. the religion of this world. And
what that means is they're not out there writhing in pain and
hurting and stuff like this, but what they're doing is they're
showing or revealing false religion to be what it really is, and
that is false religion, hatred against Almighty God. Now, these
that hated the two witnesses, which was all false religion,
They had great merriment and love and fun. They despised the true witnesses. Now, this is going on today. Someone says, well, I don't think
that everybody, I mean, I might have heard every once in a while
somebody say a few things against, you know, this place here, against
Katie Baptist Church or against different churches where the
gospel of free grace, sovereign grace is preached. But how do
we know that today that false religion hates the gospel when
they don't ever, hardly ever, you ever hear them say anything?
Well, Matthew, let me just read this to you. Matthew 12, 30,
the Lord said, He that is not with me, OK, let me just just
stop just one moment. I can just think. Whoever is
not with him, with the Lord himself, and that is manifested by them
being and loving his word, this is not this is not Marvin Stoniker's
word, and it's not Brother Scott Richardson's word, though we
preach it. Whose word is this? This is God's
word, the word of the living God. He that is not with me is
against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."
So the way that a man or a woman knows what is the attitude of
this world's religion as far as the Scripture says that they
didn't suffer these bodies to be buried, they had resentment
before them, They rejoiced over it and made merry and sent gifts.
They had a frivolous spirit about them and resented the true witnesses. How do we know it today? They're
not with you. That's the way you know it. How
do you know the world's religion hates the gospel? They're not
with them. Well, it says then, it says,
and they heard after they had laying in the streets there for
three and a half days. It says in verse 11, let's read,
After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered
into them. They stood on their feet in great fear, fell upon
them which saw them, and they heard a great voice from heaven
saying unto them, Come up hither. They ascended up to heaven in
a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. Now this outward manifestation
of the enlivened witnesses that is to be beheld by the enemies
of God shall, according to the Scriptures, be seen again. Now, remember on the day of Pentecost. Now, you know, we read this.
Turn with me to Acts 2. Let's just look at this. I want
us to make sure we understand. Acts 2, verse 36 to 41. Peter was preaching, and he said,
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both
Lord and Christ. Now, we're going through the
book of Acts, and Lord willing, this will be the passage will
be on this Wednesday, but we'll just read it here. It says, Now
when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart and
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,
what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and
your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did
he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. that gladly received his word
were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls." Now, for someone would say, now, man,
if we heard, I mean, just being honest about it, we are so prone
to doubt that which Almighty God does. If we were to hear
If someone were to tell us, and it'd have to be someone that
we had a whole lot of confidence in, then we'd wonder. Somebody
would say, man, I'll tell you what, I was listening, there
was somebody preaching over here, and they had over 3,000 people
confess the Lord, you know. Over in chapter 4 of Acts, it
talks about 5,000 more. Somebody would say it was 5,000,
but 8,000 people, you know, converted this week. I don't know. I'm not too sure about that.
Why? It's because we have been witnessing
in the time that we live right now a great famine of the hearing
of the gospel. And though there appears at this
time to be a famine of the hearing of the gospel, you remember this
one thing that the Lord Himself is the one that is in control.
Amos 8, 11 speaks that the Lord said, I will send a famine. It won't be a famine of bread
and water, but it will be a famine of the hearing of the Word of
God. Now, we talk right now and we
realize that there is such a wonderful experience. When Brother Scott
was praying a while ago, I was thinking, boy, how wonderful
it is. as he was thanking the Lord that we've got a place to
worship and come together. And I come together and I'm here
with you and I think, boy, this is my family right here. I'm
a whole lot closer, you are too, to those who are your brothers
and sisters in Christ than you are to those who are your fleshly
brothers and sisters that know not Christ. I mean, you know
them and knowing them from your youth up, the fellowship that
you have with God's people. Well, we realize this. If you
leave here and you say, well, let me just go and where can
I go and hear the Gospel? Well, it won't be, you know,
two miles, five miles. I mean, there is a famine of
hearing the Word of the Lord. And he that has sent the famine
can certainly enliven the hearing of that Gospel too. So this age
of rejoicing merry religious party spirit that men possess
and that's expressed in the Scriptures as the second woe. That's what
the second woe is. First one, God sent strong delusion
that men who will not believe the truth, He sends them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. So there's a strong delusion
and there's a famine of the hearing of the Word of God, which these
two things are as far as what we know. These two things are
absolutely the great woe of this world. Well, when the Lord is
pleased to lift up the downtrodden, He speaks life to His own. Oh, what comfort we realize!
It just reminds me of that prophecy when the Lord brought Ezekiel
to that valley of dry bones. Turn over there. Ezekiel chapter
37. What a beautiful passage of the
miracle of God's grace. Ezekiel chapter 37, verse 1,
the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out of the
spirit of the Lord and sent me down in the midst of the valley
which was full of dry bones and caused me to pass by them round
about and behold there were and very many in the open valley. And, lo, they were very dry.
I'm thinking to myself, even as I was reading right now, I'm
thinking, this is a large congregation here this morning. Not large,
I understand, by religion's standard, Carl, but I mean for a church
where God's raised up, there's some small congregations that
I know of, and you do too, but this is a large group. You think
to yourself, out of all these people, there's some probably
that know the Lord and some probably that don't know the Lord. I pray
the Lord be pleased to reveal Himself to me that I might know
Him and you, that you might know Him. But Ezekiel is brought in
the midst here in Ezekiel 37 in the midst of a valley that's
full of dry bones, and they were very dry. Dry bones is a picture
of men and women by nature, born in Adam, walking around, talking
and hearing and thinking as far as the world is concerned, but
spiritually knowing nothing of who God is. And He said unto
me, verse 3, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered,
O Lord, God, thou knowest. Here's the question. Those that
know not are God spiritually. Those that don't believe Him,
those that trust Him not, those that see no beauty in Him, no
beauty in His substitution, no beauty to behold Him, their hope
of salvation, can they live? Can they? And Ezekiel says, O
Lord God, Thou knowest. I don't know. Only you know,
Lord. Again, He said unto me, Prophesy
unto these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the
word of the Lord." What can I do this morning? Here's one thing
I can do. O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Someone
says, how in the world is that going to give spiritual life?
Well, verse 5 says, Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones,
I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live."
If God is pleased to take His Word spoken through an earthen
vessel, and that's all in the world is, just a man. If God's pleased, oh, ye dry
bones, hear the Word of the Lord if God takes that Word It drives
in a man's heart. And a man says, I heard God. He spoke. Hear the Word. I will
cause breath, life, spirit to enter into you. And you shall
live. And I will lay sinews upon you and bring flesh upon you,
cover you with skin, put breath in you. You shall live and you
shall know that I am the Lord. And so Ezekiel says, verse 7,
so I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was
a noise Behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone
to his bone." You hear in Revelation 11, these that were raised up,
verse 12, it says they heard a great voice from heaven. If
any man, any woman is brought to Christ Himself, they heard
a great voice from heaven, the voice of the living God. In Ezekiel
37, he said, I prophesied as I was commanded, and there was
a noise and a shaking, an earthquake is what that word, and the bones
came together. That earthquake, symbolic of
the word that speaks of God's power to accomplish His will
and His purpose. Well, okay, that brings us up
to where we were. Let's pick up in verse 13. So,
and it says in verse 13, And the same hour, There was a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. And in the
earthquake were slain of men 7,000, and the remnant were affrighted
and gave glory to the God of heaven." Now in the same hour,
in the same season, the Scripture says there was a great earthquake. Now this earthquake, or this
great shaking, is probably, and I say probably because, as I've
said before, you must realize in a book like the book of Revelation,
we search out these Scriptures, we pray that the Lord would give
us understanding, and you want to be able to speak that which
is so in honoring and back it up with everything you say with
other Scripture. Speculation is just not going
to be If you're going to speculate, just say, I don't know. That
way you're safer in saying that. But it was probably the result,
a symbolic result, of verse 5. It says back in Revelation 11,
5, If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
mouth and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them,
he must in this manner be killed. Now, you remember this. The world's
religion had persecuted the two witnesses. laid them out in the
streets, left them there, had a big party over them, had a
big merriment, and didn't bury them, and then God raised them
up. So this great earthquake is probably
symbolic of God's speaking in judgment against false religion. Turn with me to 2 Kings. 2 Kings
chapter 1. 2 Kings 1. 2 Kings 1, 9 and 10. Elijah was in the place where
the Lord had sent him. And this king had sent kind of
a little group of soldiers to come get him. It says in 2 Kings
1, 9 and 10, then the king sent unto him a captain of 50 with
his 50. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on top of
a hill, and he spake unto him, he says, Thou man of God, the
king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said
to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come
down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there
came down fire from heaven, and consumed him, and his fifty now
I realize something here. It speaks of back in Revelation,
this great same hour, a great earthquake, 10th part of the
city fell. I realize that there are times
when we are spoken against and reviled and rebuked and made
fun of and talked behind our back and this, that and the other.
And God's people, just like when Elijah, then, some came to him
and they said, the king says, you come down from where you
quit doing what you're doing. And he said, if I'm a man of
God, then I pray God send fire. And God did and consumed him.
Now, I realize that often we're tempted to cry unto the Lord
for vengeance when we're persecuted. But you remember that he may
send judgment now in this world. against those that oppress us.
But if He doesn't, there's a time coming that He shall. But let
us pray that if those that persecute us, and personally I'm thinking
of something right now that was in my life personally that caused
me great anxiety and anxiousness against those that were trying
to hurt Some that I love very dearly in my family. And it's
very, very easy for us to begin to say, Lord, I pray You'd send
judgment on this. Take them out. Let us be very
careful to pray that it's for His glory and not for our passion. But this earthquake back in Revelation
11, 13, there was a great earthquake in a tenth part of the city This
earthquake was a miraculous convulsion in the earth as an exhibition
of the wrath of God against not only the Lord Himself, but also
against all of His people. I was thinking on this thing of an earthquake
as I began to read these things. This is symbolic. I understand
that. This is a picture. But whenever
the Lord says, whenever there's an earthquake in this earth,
does this earthquake just for no reason? Turn with me to Luke
21. An earthquake. I mean, I should
have looked up just to find out just how many averages earthquakes
there are in a day. I don't know. Luke 21, verse
11. The Lord is speaking. Let's read
verse 10. Luke 21, 10 and 11. Then said
He unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom, and great earthquakes shall be in diverse places. All
over the place is what He is saying. And famines, and pestilences,
and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven. Now listen, though this world
thinks that this is just a natural phenomenon, things just happen. What it was actually was a shifting
of the plates, you know, in the earth's substructure, and this,
that, and the other, and this tsunami, and this hurricane,
and this, that, and the other. Let me tell you, every time anything
happens, according to this word right here, earthquakes and famines
and pestilences and storms and lightnings and thunders, anything
that happens, the world does not hear it. But God is speaking. He is speaking and saying this,
final judgment and wrath is coming. In Matthew 28, 1 and 2, it says,
In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the
sepulcher, and behold, there was a great earthquake. For the
angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back
the stone from the door and sat on it." Whenever God says something,
He speaks in mercy through His Word. He speaks in wrath through
His Word. But I'm telling you, this earth
groans and travails, and God is speaking. Remember this, there
is coming a time in final judgment when God shall judge this world
in righteousness and men will act as if, I never heard, I never
knew that. I never knew that that was going
to happen, these earthquakes. Well, I think that according
to the Scriptures when the Lord says that there was a great earthquake,
whenever the angels came and rolled back the stone. That was
probably a real earthquake, an actual earthquake. But for sure,
even if it was a symbolic passage of Scripture, Haggai 2, 6 and
7 says, For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once it is a little
while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and
the dry land, and I will shake all nations. I will raise up
and throw down. All nations and the desire of
all nations, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the desire
of all nations, as Brother Scott says, not all nations without,
you know, any distinction, but every one that God chose out
of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue, the desire
of the nations. He shall come and I will fill
this house with glory, saith the Lord. But associated with
this judgment, this great earthquake, in verse 13, the same hour or
the same season there was a great earthquake and the tenth part
of the city fell. And in the earthquake were slain
of men 7,000. Now, to this particular description
of this destruction of the portion of this great city, which according
to Revelation 14, 8 is Babylon, the great whore, the great rebellious
religion of this world. I pray that, again, as we look
in this, because I'm telling you that from this portion of
Scripture, not only have we also seen great symbolic things, but
especially as we get in to the third woe that's going to happen. I do pray that the Lord's pleased
to teach us the truth concerning and the message concerning this
passage. But I pray that the Lord will
give us some understanding here. It says that in as these two
witnesses were raised up, the Lord be pleased to raise up and
enliven again His church. Not that His church is dead.
It's not. But there is a famine. I truly
believe that we're in the midst of this second, well, first and
second, well, we're in it right now. But here it says in Revelation
11, 13, and look at the wording of the Scriptures, "...and the
tenth part of the city fell." Now, you know, you may just miss
that. It didn't say, a tenth, it said
the tenth, the tenth part, it speaks of a particular, the tenth. So this is a certain part, a
particular part of this great city, that is, the city of false
religion. Now that word tenth is very significant
because It's the word that we know of as the tithe, the tenth,
the tithe, or the portion that is considered to be the preeminent. Now, when the Lord gave the nation
of Israel in the Old Testament, they gave a tithe. It was one-tenth. It was a tenth of the best. Well, here, this is talking about
the tenth part of this city, or it is the preeminent part. Now, in Revelation 16, 19, turn
over, Revelation 16, 19, and this prophecy right here of the
tent or the tithe, you know, is given a fuller revelation. Revelation 16, 19, it says, and
the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God
to give up her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his
wrath." So this portion, this tenth part of the tenth, the
scripture reveals was a third, one third of this great city. But also, it says back in Revelation
11, 13, it says the 10th part of the city fell. And in the
earthquake were slain, you see where it says of men 7,000. In your margin, if you've got
a Cambridge, it may say, or it does say if you have Cambridge,
of men 7,000, it says the names of men. So there was a particular
group. a tenth, a tithe, which was revealed
to be a third of important or significant leaders of men. It says of men, or it says in
the names of men, certain particular men. And it was 7,000 of men,
7,000. Now, here's the thing that we
understand. Men reap exactly what they sow. Scripture says, Whatsoever a
man sows, that's what he's going to reap. These two witnesses
had been persecuted by the great city, the whore, false religion,
and it goes on today. God's judgment is poured out,
and it's being poured out today in this life And in final judgment,
there's going to be judgment. I don't know exactly what's happening. I don't see what happens in the
lives of particular ones that have raised themselves up in
rebellion against the Lord's people and His truth. But I can
tell you this, though you and I may not see it. There's been
some that has raised themselves up in rebellion against the preaching
of the gospel in this place right here. I know that. And I will
tell you this, according to this Word, God has judged it. And
He shall judge it, finally, unless He be pleased to call a man or
a woman out of darkness. But I'm telling you, the Scripture
says, in that same hour there was a great earthquake in a tenth
part of the city. fell, and in the earthquake were
slain of men seven thousand, names of men." When Pharaoh raised
himself up against the people of Israel, God sent Moses and
Aaron into that city, and God told him, He said, you tell Pharaoh,
let My people go. And Pharaoh, after, you know,
the plagues, and Pharaoh said, I'll let you go. They went out,
and Pharaoh, the Scripture says, God hardened his heart. didn't
grant him repentance. Judgment kept him in himself
to do exactly what he wanted to do. When Pharaoh and all of
the Egyptians got into the Red Sea, what happened? God judged
them. Certain names of men. When Korah
raised himself up against the God of heaven and spoke to Moses
and said to Moses, Who do you think you are? Who are you to
speak to us and tell us?" And Moses said, I'll tell you what
we're going to do. We're going to settle this thing. He drew
a line in the sand. He said, I'll tell you, whoever's
on the Lord's side, come on this side. And the next day they met
with all of their censors. And the Scripture says, and God
opened up the earth and they went to hell alive. I don't know exactly what God
is doing in this world. But I will tell you this, it
is an indescribable serious thing to speak against God and His
anointed. Be very careful. Be very, very
careful. I know that men think nothing
in themselves against speaking against God's people and especially
against God's preachers. But I'm telling you, it is a
serious thing. There was a great earthquake. The 10th part of the city fell
in the earthquake. There were slain of men 7,000.
That 7,000 denotes, according to that scripture, of men 7,000,
of names of men 7,000. But remember, numbers are very
significant in these scriptures. Seven is the number of fullness
or completeness. So when you see that word 7,000,
the names of men 7,000, it may mean 7,000. Or it may mean that
there was a full or complete number that God had purposed
to spew out His wrath upon through the raised up witness and that
it was accomplished. And the Scripture says, and the
remnant, last part of verse 13, were affrighted and gave glory
to the God of heaven. Now, the remaining ones. And here again, there are many
things in this Scripture right here that you and I probably
will never know. And at best, only in that day,
when the Lord removes us out of this place and we see Him
as the song we sing face to face. But we may never know exactly
what God is doing in this world right now. I know we won't while
we're in it. But even in that day, we may
never know. These things that are secret,
secret things belong to God. Those things that He reveals
belong to us and to our children. Someone can say, well, what is
God doing in Fairmont? I don't know. It's by the grace
of God I'm here this morning. What's He doing in this state?
I don't know. Well, people that God has resented
and hated, what is God doing to them? I don't know. But I
can tell you this, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God. I know this. I would be very
cautious what I said against the Lord and His anointed. I
know that. There's time and time again.
But it says that these 7,000, God had raised up His witness. And these, these 7,000, He slew
them. There was a great earthquake
and they were slain certain names. 7,000, those that God had particularly
set His wrath upon, He took them out. And the remnant were affrighted. the remaining ones. They stood
in awe at what God had done. Now, either that statement right
there, "...and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to
the God of heaven." Now, that means either that the Lord called
them out of spiritual darkness into His marvelous light, the
light of the Lord Jesus Christ. It means either that, and I'm
going to give you two different reasons here with Scripture to
back them up. It means either that, either
He called them out of darkness when they saw what happened,
because I do know that there was a time when the witnesses
had been preaching. Now, I know this. The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. I know this, that unless a man
or a woman hears the gospel, God Almighty is not going to
call them out of darkness. It is the power of God unto salvation. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. So I know this. It is imperative
that the gospel be preached. Well, these two witnesses have
been preaching the gospel. God raised them up. So I know
that there were 7,000 or that there was a certain amount, there
was a third or a tithe or a portion of certain ones that God took
out. Now the others saw that. They were affrighted, the Scripture
says, and gave glory to the God of heaven. So it means either
the Lord called them out of spiritual darkness Or it means that they
gave a verbal but dead acknowledgment of the miracle that they witnessed. Now, first of all, if they were
truly converted, you know this, it was by the grace of God. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself.
It is the gift of God. So if they were truly converted,
It was by God's purpose and will and not because they decided. They did decide, but it was the
Lord that made them willing in the day of His power. It does
say that the remnant were affrighted. Now, whether that word remnant
there is the remnant according to grace, and if it was the remnant
according to grace, these were God's people. It says that the
same Word that was preached to others was preached to them.
Now, if it was that this remnant were affrighted, it's also spoken
of in Luke 24. Now, turn with me there. It says
they were affrighted. Luke 24. They saw something that was indescribable. Evidently, something happened
to that great city and God took out. I don't know what it was. It says they were afraid. And
now look at Luke 24, verse 1. It says, Upon the first day of
the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others
with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.
They entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. It
came to pass that as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold,
two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid
and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them,
Why seek ye the living among the dead? Now the Scripture says
there they were afraid. That word afraid right there
is exactly the same word affrighted over in Revelation chapter 11.
It says in Revelation chapter 11, that last part, it says that
not only was this remnant affrighted, and they could have been just
like the women that came and sought the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ and saw the angels, they were startled, they were afraid,
they were affrighted, but it also says back in Revelation
11, it says that they gave glory to the God of heaven. Well, that's
exactly the same thing that Paul related in Romans 4.20 when he
said, speaking of Abraham, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. So Abraham did just exactly what
these here could have been doing. Now the reason I'm saying that
is because I'm going to say this, what is said about these right
here could go either way. They were affrighted and gave
glory to God. So it could be that the Lord
called them out of darkness. Or secondly, it could be that
this remnant means the remaining, those that were not slain by
God's wrath, and their being affrighted might have been just
a fleeting conviction of a dead conscience." Turn over to Acts
chapter 24. Acts 24. Now, when those two
women came to the sepulcher, the Scripture says they were
afraid. They were affrighted. But let me show you something
in Acts 24, verse 24 and 25. After certain days, when Felix came with his wife,
Drusilla, which was a Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him
concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness,
temperance, judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered,
Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season,
I'll call for thee. All right, you see that word
right there, Felix, trembled. That's exactly the same word
that's in Revelation 11, affrighted. He trembled. And then if, on
the other hand, it means that they were not truly converted,
when it says giving glory to God, does it necessarily mean
in a true sense of repentance But it might have been just an
outward acknowledgment. Turn with me to Matthew 9. Matthew
9, 1 to 8. Now, I'm coming to a point in
all of this because you're going to come to this conclusion when
I've done this. How do you know the difference?
Well, I'm coming to that one, Neil. Matthew 9, 1 to 8. He entered into a ship passed
over, came into his own city, and, behold, they brought to
him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus, seeing
their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, this man blasphemeth, And Jesus, knowing
their thoughts, says, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or
to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then saith He
to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
thine house. And he arose and departed to
his house. But when the multitudes saw it,
They marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto
men." Now, you see that last statement right there? They glorified
God, which had given such power unto men. Now, what happened
was, it was saying that it had given such power unto human beings,
men. You should have noticed that.
That it had given such power unto human beings. They expressed no sentiment of
the nature or glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as being the Messiah. Anybody can give verbal assent
to God's power for a while. My mother was telling me that
a few weeks ago when that hurricane came through south Louisiana
and Mississippi, she said she had gone over and gotten some
gas. Man, at the gas station, he said this, and this man, and
I know him, and he's not one that makes any outward profession
of faith truly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said this, he
said, you know anybody that doesn't realize that God is in control,
he says, just crazy. You look at that hurricane over
there. You think anybody else but God could do that? My mother
said, yeah, well, that's truly right. He glorified God verbally. What he said was a true statement. We look around here. Can you
imagine that anybody but God could create and sustain and
hold this world into existence? These men gave glory to God that
God had given such power unto men. But here is the bottom line. How do you know the difference?
If the Lord truly, in verse 13, that remnant were affrighted
and gave glory to the God of heaven, was it that He called
them out of darkness truly and they saw their need of Him? Or
was it just a fleeting moment like Felix did when Paul preached
the gospel to him and Felix trembled for a while and said, Let me
call you when I've got a little bit more time right now. I'm
running kind of short right now. What's the difference? Well,
I'll tell you the difference. Tomorrow and the next day and
the next day and the next day, what think ye of Christ? What
think ye of Him? What do you think about Him?
Was it truly conversion unto life or was it just a fleeting
moment? I'll tell you this, the way you
know is this, they that endure to the end shall be saved. It was just a moment that I truly
thought, I thought that you know, but what think ye of Christ? If we're kept by the power of
God, kept under the gospel, kept, kept, sustained, maintained,
kept by Him, then you can pretty well rest assured, God, kept
them in salvation, peace, and comfort. But if they leave and
go out from us, leave the gospel of free grace, let me say this,
it evidences that they were not of us. For if they had been of
us, surely they would have stayed. They would have remained until
this day. I'm going to stop. It's way past. The second woe is past. I'm going
to just end with this one right here, verse 14. The second woe
is past, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. The second
exclamation of grief is past. And behold, or see, that the
third woe cometh quickly, or shortly, or without delay, knowing
that it's impossible for us to know the exact time of our Lord's
return. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
Matthew 24, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not
the angels in heaven, but my Father only. We don't waste time. This is why I don't have a bunch
of charts up here and a bunch of pictures and a woman sitting
on a horse and stuff like this. The reason I don't speculate
is because I don't know and you don't either. I do know this
though. that there's three great woes,
and we're getting ready to enter into the next woe. And Lord willing,
I'll start that tonight, verse 15. The seventh angel, the seventh
and last angel, is going to sound his woe, which is going to usher
in the final judgment of God. So I'm not trying to waste my
time, but what are we doing? I'll tell you what we're doing
right now. We're watching. I don't know when the Lord's
going to come. I can tell you this. The first and second woe,
we are in it right now. There is great delusion that
God Almighty has allowed, sent. Strong delusion. God shall send.
And there is a famine of the hearing of the gospel. But Luke
12, verse 37 says, Blessed are those servants whom the Lord,
when He cometh, shall find watching. What a blessed privilege. As
I have said before, You ask somebody, you say, you
think today, you think, do you think this is the last message
you'll ever hear? Or do you figure that tonight at six o'clock we'll
be back tonight and I'll just pick up? Do you think that today's
it? Do you think that this is the
last time, this is the last time you ever heard the gospel of
free grace? This is it. Do you really believe that? Do
you really? This is the day, just like today, in a day that
you think not. That's when He's coming. Over.
Just gone. Blessed are those that were found
watching." Watching, having their loins girded, their lamps burning,
the lamp by faith of the oil of God's Spirit when the bridegroom
came. All right, Gary.