The book of Revelation, chapter
18. Revelation 18. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, it's good to be here. And we're thankful
that we can assemble ourselves together in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. to help us. Lord, we're needy
people. We're ignorant in things pertaining
to You. We pray that You'd teach us.
And we ask these things for Christ's sake. Amen. Revelation 18. We're going to pick up in the
14th verse, what's happening, you know that John is seeing. And the only
way he knows what's going on, the only way we know what's going
on, is that the Spirit of God tell us what's happening. What's happening right now? What's
happening tomorrow? What shall happen? There's some
things we don't know. But there are some things we
do. Spirit of God is revealed that the kings are the kingdoms,
the diversities thought are under the judgment of God. The merchants,
verse 11, Revelation 18, the merchants of this earth, false
prophets under the judgment of God, the empty promises of false
prophets will prove to be nothing. Now, in verse 14, we're going
to look at a couple of verses, three verses. It starts and it
says, now here is the false prophets of this world. How do you know someone that's
not telling you the truth? Paul said, if any man preach
any other gospel than that which we've preached, let him be accursed. Any message that says that you
have to do something in order to be saved makes it salvation
by works, doesn't it? He says in verse 14, And the
fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all
things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee,
and thou shalt find them no more at all." Now, obviously on the
Day of Judgment there will be a rude awakening. Turn with me to Matthew 7, Matthew
7, verse 21. Now this is so. I mean, we know that there's
going to be, in the Day of God's Judgment, there's going to be
a realization Matthew 7 and verse 21. Matthew 7, 21. The Scripture says, Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. You know, as I think on that
Scripture that we just read, he that doeth the will of my
Father, Have you ever just stopped for
just a second and think, what is the will of the Father? The
Scripture says that you believe on Him whom God has sent. That you believe. That you believe
the report. That you believe that Almighty
God is sovereign in all things. That He does as He will. That
He chooses as He will. That He redeems as He will. That
He calls who. Many will say, To me in that
day. Lord. Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name and in thy name have we have cast out devils and in
thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess
unto them I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity
now. How how does the scripture reveal? That in that day Many will hear
the Lord say, I never knew you. That's a rude awakening. I mean,
to stand on the day of judgment and to think that God Almighty
will say, I never knew you in mercy. I want you to turn to Isaiah
28. There's a few things that I want
to just calls us to read this morning, Isaiah 28, verse 14. Isaiah 28, 14. This is so... If I know that there's going
to come a day when the Spirit of God has revealed that Almighty
God will reveal to folks, they'll stand there in amazement and
they'll say, What? What? You mean to tell me that
I'm getting ready to begin eternity? Yes. Isaiah 28, verse 14. Wherefore, Isaiah 28, 14, hear
the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people, which
is in Jerusalem, because ye have said, we've made a covenant with
death, and with hell are we at agreement. Well, what does that
mean? What did he just say? Because we've made a pact, we
know we're going to die. This is what he said. We know
we're going to die. We've made a covenant with death. I understand
I'm going to die and with hell we are at agreement. Meaning
this. I don't want to go there. I'm
in agreement as far as hell is concerned, if you ask someone.
Do you want to go to hell? Well, I mean any rational mind
would say, no, I don't want to go to hell. I want to go to heaven. So they're saying, he said, you
say, because ye have said we have made a covenant with death
and with hell, we're at agreement, when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come to us. What's he saying?
On the day of judgment. It ain't going to happen to us,
I can tell you that right now. For we have made..." Now listen
to this. This is what they're actually
saying. Don't understand it. They don't
understand it. But this is what they're saying.
We've made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Whenever someone says, The reason
that I am in agreement with death and the reason that I have made
a covenant, hell, I'm in agreement with, and here's the reason,
because I have done 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, because I did this, whatever
it was, because I exercised my free will to be able, God was
wanting me to do something and because I did this, Then I've
made lies my refuge. What they're doing is they're
admitting it. Blind to what they're admitting,
but they're admitting that. Therefore, verse 16, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation. Now here's
the Lord saying this is the way it is. I lay in Zion, the people,
the church of God, God's bride. A foundation, it's a stone, it's
a tribe stone, a proven stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste, he won't be ashamed is what that word means. Now this
is what God says, judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness
to the plummet and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lives
and the waters shall overflow the hiding place and your covenant
with death shall be disannulled and your agreement with hell
shall not stand when the overflowing scourge shall pass through. Then
you shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth
forth, it shall take you. For morning by morning, it shall
pass over by day by night. It shall be a vexation only to
understand the report." Or in other words, in that day, you'll
understand. In that day, you'll realize God's
report of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we realize, first of all,
that the Scripture is saying, men make lies their refuge. What is the lies that men rest
in, that they think that anything or something that you can do
will establish your salvation. What can you do to establish
peace before God? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Keep reading. Verse 20, For the bed is shorter
that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower
than he can wrap himself in it. This is what's being revealed
here. In that day, you know, whenever I lay down,
if I lay down on a bed and it's just not long enough for me to
lay down on, if it's a short bed, Just not going to be comfortable,
Fred. I'm not going to have a good
night's rest. I'll tell you what I'm going to end up doing because
I'm probably a little taller. I'm going to go. I'm going diagonal
is what I'm going to do because I get a little bit more. I want
to be able to, you know. And if it's if it's cold and
I'm and I just don't have enough cover, I'm not comfortable. The
scriptures is revealing in that day. Listen, if there is something
that a man has established himself to think, I have done so and
so in order to be saved, God says in that day, that bed ain't going to be long
enough for you. There's not going to be enough covers, Carl. They're
going to be short. They're just going to be Not
enough there to cover you. It's going to be some exposure.
Turn to James, the book of James in the New Testament. James chapter
5. This is how the scripture reveals
in that day. This is what is going to happen.
A bed is going to be too short. James 5, 1 to 3. Go to now, you rich men. But
those that think that they're rich because of their works of
righteousness. Go to now, you rich men. Weep
and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches
are corrupted. Your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered. And the rust of them shall be
a witness against you. You shall eat your flesh as it
were fire. You have heaped treasure together.
for the last time. You know, we just read where
the hucksters of this world that are selling men things to buy
their salvation with, they think. That's in Revelation 18. These
merchants of the world they were selling are trying to offer something. Gold and silver and precious
stones and linen and cinnamon and silver. All things that you
think are offered Spiritually, things that you think is going
to give you a salvation before God, it's not going to be there. What's
going to happen? Men have thought that their garments,
that they could stand before God, will cover them, but the
Scripture says they'll be moth-eaten. Listen to this, Haggai 1, 5-6. Let me just read this. Now therefore,
thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have
sown much spiritually, spiritually, but bring in little. You eat,
but you have not enough. You know, it's the most wonderful
thing to be able to sit and feast upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I
think whenever the two on the road to Emmaus, honestly, every
time I read the Scripture, I find myself envious for what they
said. These two guys were on the road
to Emmaus, and it says the Lord Jesus Christ came beside them
and started talking to them. And basically, he said, What's
going on? And one of them said, evidently,
you're not from around here, are you? He said, why's that? He said, well, it's Jesus of
Nazareth that we thought was the Messiah. We were pretty sure
that He was. Three days ago, He was crucified. And we were sure, we were sure
that He was the One. Today's the third day. And he told them, he said, oh
foolish and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets
had said. And it says, in beginning with
Moses. He started in the first book
of the Old Testament. And through all the law and the
prophets, he began to expound unto them the things concerning
himself. And he began to open up pictures,
types. He showed them how these, the
ark, how the rock, how it was pictures of Him. And it said
that one of them, after he finished talking, said, didn't our heart
burn as He opened unto us the Scriptures? And I read that and
I think, I want I want the Lord to truly say something to me,
ignite my heart with an understanding and a fresh drink of who He is. He said, you eat, but you have not enough. Sometimes
you sit and you hear and somebody said, how was it? And you say,
well, it's alright. I guess OK. It was scriptural. Oh, my. I don't want to leave
today, just. Just try. He said, you drink. But you're not filled with drink,
you clothe you, but there's none warm. And he that earneth wages,
earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. You know, Well,
I'm telling you, we're so wrapped up with things and mess and stuff. We've got time enough and money
enough for everything else. Don't we? We've got time enough and money
enough for everything else. Greatest blessing in that day is exhibited when the Lord said
something to Adam. Here was Adam. I'm thinking about
this scripture in Revelation 18. The fruits that thou so lusted
after are departed from thee. Men, they think everything is
so settled. And that everything is set in
concrete. And I know for a fact there's
going to come a time when Almighty God is going to say some things
that many are going to just be flabbergasted at. Ben, I want
to know now. Tell me now. The greatest blessing. Adam fell in the garden. You
know that. I mean, we read that. He fell. The Lord told Adam, in the day
you eat of that fruit, you're going to die. And he ate. His wife ate. She was a picture
of the church, the bride of Christ. Adam a picture of the Lord Jesus
Himself. And Adam would not let her perish
by herself. And the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't
either. Not his bride. And after he fell, I know, in
part I know, But I know that the moment he ate of that fruit,
he knew. He knew. Unfaithfulness to Christ. And the greatest blessing that
the Lord ever did for Adam in the garden was in the form of
a question. It says in Genesis 3, 9, The
Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, Where are you? Where are you? Do you realize the grace of God
that would come to a man in power, a woman in power, and that the
Spirit of God would cause a man or a woman to think, Where am
I? Where am I? What am I doing? It's worth fleeting. It's worth fleeting. I mean,
I'm talking about it's almost over. Why? How do I know? It's
just a vapor. It's just a vapor. And everything in this world
is going to come to nothing. Nothing except one thing. What do you think of Christ?
In that day, what a man thinks of Christ, who He is, what he
knows, what he believes. Adam hiding from God. The Lord mercifully showed him
what he was, a sinner. greatest blessing that a man
or woman would ever have in this world that God would make them
to know their sinner. All these fruits, all these things
that the soul lusted after, verse 14 of Revelation 18, they are
going to be no more. The Scripture reveals that in
that day there is going to be enough understanding to know
that what a man has apart from Christ is not enough. He'll know
that. Here's the second thing he's
going to know. He's going to be sorry. But only sorry because he's caught. You know, that's an amazing thing.
Amazing thing. Aaron's here this morning. He's
a police officer. I call myself a law-abiding citizen. But I'm telling you, every time
I see a patrol car, you know the first thing I do? Hit my
brake. Then I look at my speedometer.
You know what I realized? I'm guilty already. In my mind,
I'm guilty. Man will know enough to realize that he's sorry. Verse 15 says, "...the merchants
of these things which were made rich shall stand off for the
fear of her torment, weeping and wailing." You know why a
criminal is sorry? Because he's got to go to jail.
Because he's got to pay a fine. Until he was caught In his mind,
he thought, I'm going to get away with this. And sometimes
he does. But before Almighty God, he's
not. They are weeping and wailing
for the fear of her torment. Fearful because of judgment. Not because he's offended God. There's the difference. The difference
between a man that God's given a heart for Christ and one that
hasn't. He's fearful when he's caught.
But a believer, look at Psalm 51, and I'm going to stop for
this morning. Psalm 51. Psalm 51, verse 1. Now, this is the heart of a believer. And I'm telling you, this is
a heart of a believer every day. Every day. Psalm 51.1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of Thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions, because,
Lord, I've got them. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. cleanse me from my sin, the only
way that I'll be washed throughly, completely, is by the blood of
Christ. You say, well, I thought He already
was washed throughly. He is. But I'm telling you, only
a believer, only a man with a new heart will ask for what God's
already done for him. When a man cries out, Lord, have
mercy on me, the Lord already has. or he'd have never asked. You know why men don't cry out
for mercy before God? They don't think they need it. Why are men, why are we indifferent
towards the things of God? Because we're dead. But if a
man is enlivened by God's Spirit, First three, I acknowledge my
transgressions, my sins ever before me against thee and thee
only have I sinned. I thought it was against you.
I thought I thought it was against her. I thought it was against
him. I thought it was good. No, it's against God. All sin
is against God. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judges.
Behold, I was shaping an iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me." Boy, this is the heart of a believer. I am a sinner. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the heart, the inward parts. And in the hidden part thou shalt
make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. I shall
be clean. Wash me. I shall be whiter than
snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which
thou hast broken May rejoice, hide thy face from my sins, and
blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me." Does a believer not
talk like that? Make me, verse 8, to hear joy
and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
You know, whenever I read something like that, I know that it says
that, you know, there'll be none of his bones shall be broken.
Bones are a picture of the body of Christ. You know that. We're
flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. We're made in Him.
We're His body. And none of the bones shall be
broken. Well, as soon as I read that right there, that's the
Scripture that came to my mind, Sammy. What do you mean? What
do you mean, the bones which thou hast broken? I looked it
up, the strength. The strength is what it means.
Make me to hear joy and gladness that the strength that I thought
I had, the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. I realize, Lord, without you
I can do nothing. Well, if salvation then is all
of grace, And I can do nothing to merit, to accomplish, to keep,
to instigate, start, use any word you want. If I can do nothing,
then how can a man be saved? OK, here it is. Almighty God,
before the foundation of the world, chose those that he was
going to save. He didn't have to save anybody because of their merit. I thought
of that statement a lot of times. He didn't have to. If he didn't
have to, why did he do it then? But that's another question for
me to think through. But I know this. Almighty God
had a people before the foundation of the world. And He chose them
in Christ. And in time, He calls them out
of darkness and He reveals to them who He set His affection
on. And they believe Him. And they
trust Him. And they realize, He saved me
apart from anything that I could do. And for that, I'm glad. Because everything I've ever
done has been tainted with sin. It's imperfect. If I have to
do something to merit salvation before God, it's going to have
to be perfectly done. Because Almighty God will not
look upon sin. And if it's tainted with anything,
God's not going to have it. He will be approached in absolute
righteousness. So please don't tell me there's
something I've got to do, because I have no hope. Men will stand
before God in that day and will realize all of these things that
I thought I did to merit my salvation are going to be thrown out and
me with them. Let's just take a break and we'll
come back in about five minutes and we'll start the next service.