that have been poured out in
this chapter, in the beginning of this chapter, and in our text
tonight, these bowls, that's what they are, bowls of the wrath
of God, are poured out. They're God's wrath against those
who despise and reject the Lord Jesus Christ, as we saw so clearly
in the context of our verses tonight. And it has to do with
the gospel being preached. It's Christ rejected in the preaching
of the gospel. It's not about the social issues
of the day. We could spend a lot of time
talking about abortion and horrible things that go on in this world.
It's not about that. It's about the gospel being preached. The gospel, the good news condemns
those who refuse Christ. What these bowls are full of?
The messengers that are pouring them out those are the preachers
of the gospel There's seven of them signifying all of them all
of God's preachers Preach his gospel, and it has the same result
first as we saw It's the cause of rejoicing and worship in those
who love Christ But to those who reject him, it's it's wrath
it's wrath and it's very Very graphically described wrath in
these verses The pouring out of these bowls is the preaching
That's what I'm saying when the gospel is preached it itself
condemns those Who love not the truth in Christ Jesus? now in
verse 12 it says the sixth angel poured out his vow upon the great
river Euphrates and and the water thereof was dried up, that the
way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Again, this
seems like strange language on the surface, but think about
what's happening. A river is dried up, and it makes the way
of these kings of the east open. And if you know a little bit,
you could see that just in the basic elements of the verse,
but with a little bit of history, There were countries that relied
upon the river Euphrates for some measure of protection against
their enemies. It being impossible for an army
with horses and equipment, catapults, and all the things that they
had to cross this river when it was at its normal level. So
this is a reference to that. But again, if you didn't know
that, you would see the elements of this verse Very simply, it's
an earthly illustration of spiritual things. Always remember that.
This is not a physical battle. These are not physical events
or phenomenon that are taking place. This is spiritual language.
Earthly illustration of spiritual things. It teaches us something
important about how God causes and controls everything. Who
do you think dried up this river? Who can do that? God dried it
up. but it opened a way for these
kings of the east to go do what they do. And we'll see about
that in a minute. The kings of the east represent
the enemies of God. And always remember his enemies
are our enemies. If we're in his kingdom, if we
love him, the river Euphrates being there is God restraining
his enemies and the vial poured out drying up that river is God
controlling them, causing them to move and bringing them to
the exact place he wants them. That's what's gonna happen in
our text. Because he dried up that river, they did exactly
what God wanted them to do. That's the truth all the time.
He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? God is completely manipulating
these evil enemies, but it is their own wicked hearts that
cause them to cross. It doesn't say he forced them
across the river. They saw an opening and they
took it. Wretched sinners killed the Son
of God because they hated him. But as we know, it was God's
hand and counsel determining before what should be done, and
it was done exactly as he determined it. Clear as a bell in the word
of God. So he's manipulating them. They
think they're going to win a victory over God and his army, his kingdom,
but they're going to their eternal destruction. That's where they're
going. Just where God said they would go. And God in this verse
is taking them there. I look at verse 13 because it
goes together with verse 12. And I saw three unclean spirits
like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the
mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. Now this verse tells us how the
enemies of God fight. Again, this is not a physical
battle. These are not traditional warriors with swords and bows
and arrows. The way they do the damage that
God allows them to do is seen in three words in this verse.
Look at verse 13. Look at these three words. Mouth,
mouth, mouth. That's where the enemies of God,
that's what they fight with. That's what they destroy with.
That's what they do the damage that they do with, with their
mouth. It's what they say that's an
affront to God. And all, that love God. It's the murder of men's souls.
It's what happened in the garden. Hath God said? Hath God said
thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree? Yeah, he did. As a matter of fact, he did.
But Satan questions that. He perverts that. That's what
he's been doing from the start, and that's what he's doing from
pulpits tonight. The mouth, that's where the battle, that's how
the battle is fought. It's what they preach that destroys
the souls of men. It's their false doctrine that's
abominable and lethal to the soul. And of course, them pictured
as frogs coming out of Satan's mouth, where they come from is
significant, isn't it? They're coming out of the mouth
of the devil, and what comes out of their mouth is the devil.
Out of their mouth. But being pictured as what that
word is, is dwellers in the swamp, disgusting, low, vile, poisonous
creatures. Verse 14. For they are the spirits
of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty." Every phrase of that
is a sermon. These false prophets are not
just somebody that we disagree with on a few things. They're
not, they don't mean well. People say, well, they mean well.
They're trying, you know, to help people. No, they're not.
No, they're not. They don't mean well. They don't
say a lot of good things. They don't do a lot of good.
They're devils. They're devils, according to
God. There's nothing more evil on
God's earth than a false prophet. Nothing. And notice that they work miracles. I got a question that I want
us to answer from the word of God tonight. Why did the apostles
work miracles? Why did God's preachers in the
beginning work miracles? And I want us to look at this.
We always refer to this, but then we usually don't look at
the verses, but turn with me to Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter
eight. in verse five, then Philip went
down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. It's
important that we see that right there. What's going on here? Christ is being preached. And
the people with one accord, he didn't go down there to heal
people of their diseases. He went down there and preached
Christ to them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto
those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles
which he did." They heard him. They heard him preach Christ.
That he got their attention. He's preaching Christ and they're
fixed on him. They're listening to him preach
Christ. Why? Because he was able to do miracles. They said, this
got to be the word of God. Only God can do these things.
Acts 15.11, look at that one with me. Just a few pages over,
Acts 15.11. And again, I'm gonna start with
verse 11 because we need to understand what's going on. In that one
we just read, what's actually happening? Christ is being preached
miracles, all right? Acts 15, 11, but we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved,
even as they. That's the gospel. Then all the
multitude shut up. They kept silence and gave audience
to Barnabas and Paul declaring what miracles and wonders God
had wrought among the Gentiles by them. They were silenced and
they gave audience. Why? He's performing miracles. But it wasn't about the miracles,
it's about the gospel he preached. God gave them the ability to
perform miracles. And by the way, he gave that
ability to the apostles. and the apostles could lay their
hands on others and that gift could be transferred to them.
And that's it, and that is clear in the word of God. If you have
any questions about that, I'll prove it to you from the word
of God. The apostles had those gifts, and those on whom the
apostles laid their hands for that reason, to transfer those
gifts. So what happens? If you had the
gifts transferred to you by an apostle, you couldn't transfer
the gifts. You had the gifts, but you didn't have the ability
that the apostles had. So what happens when all 12 of
the apostles die? And then everybody that they
laid hands on dies. No more miracles. It's a freak
show is what it is. It's a freak show. It's nonsense. It's a circus. Then all they kept silence and
they gave audience to Barnabas and Paul. Declaring look at the miracles.
They're able to do but they gave audience to what? The gospel
of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 3 Hebrews 2 3 Again now They're talking about the preaching
of the gospel. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation,
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord? Spoken, spoken. This salvation of God in Christ
is spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that
heard him. And now we're speaking of the
Lord. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and
diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to
his own will. The ministry of the church is
not to heal people, even if we had that capability. The ministry
of the church is speaking the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, who's gonna listen to
a bunch of fishermen and a tax collector? everybody if they
can heal a lame man. That's how God got the gospel
in the beginning, to catch fire. He uses means in order to accomplish
his purposes, and that's what he did with these miracles. That's
so clear in the word of God. Look at Mark 16. I wanted to drive this point
home, because we run across this quite a bit, and I'll refer to
these verses, but we never really look at it. This is so clear.
Mark 16, 19. I'll tell you this, a greater
miracle was never done than when God saves a sinner. The miracles
not only confirmed the word, but they showed how God saves
sinners. He saves helpless sinners. He saves incurable sinners. He
saves those who can't save themselves. And he plumb saves them. He don't
give them a helping hand. He don't meet them halfway. He
saves them. Mark 16, 19. So then after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right
hand of God. And they went forth and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the
word with signs following. It just doesn't get any clearer.
It's all through the New Testament. So why are false prophets doing
miracles? For exactly the same reason.
So people listen to their lies. You remember when Moses and Aaron
went before Pharaoh in the book of Exodus and Aaron threw down
his staff and it became a serpent, a sign to Pharaoh that they came
from God. God gave them this message, let
my people come. And so they were able to do this
miracle, but Pharaoh called in his magicians and they were able
to do the same thing. At least it looked like it. I
don't know if they were able to do something or not, so-called
miraculous, or if it was just that they call them magicians.
So it sounds like it was fake, but whether it was or not, Satan
has power too Maybe they're able to do something But it's not
the Spirit of God. It's the spirit of the devil
if it's not if Christ in his gospel is not the end result
of it. It's it's to glorify confirm
set forth To show that the gospel is God's message And now we're
not able to do that. We have the complete Word of
God and Sinners are saved by grace through
faith in that same gospel. They preached that we preach
now But that the magicians were able
to do that, but but here's the thing the serpent that was Aaron's
staff It devoured the ones that the magicians produced That might
have been a red flag to Pharaoh you reckon But what it is for
us is it's a sign way back then of a preview of what was gonna
happen that's happening in our text. The difference is the message. The difference is the gospel.
The difference is the truth of Christ. These false prophets
go forth doing miracles that cement unbelievers in their unbelief. And they gather, they gather,
look at the verse. They gather those. They go and
they gather the kings of the earth. Throughout the whole earth,
it says, they gather them. What's that? They're convincing
them with their false gospel. It's not that hard to do. The
gospel of religion is everything that man loves. God loves you. God needs you. Christ died for
you. It's all about you. It's what you need to do for
God. The true gospel is you need Him. The true gospel, the good
news is what He does for sinners, not what they need to do for
Him. But they convince others to come
with Him. They rally everybody they can. And listen, this is
false religion. They're not going around saying
Satan lives and Satan rules. They're preaching a gospel that's
pretty close. It sounds to them, they're talking
about God, they're talking about heaven and hell, they're talking
about being saved, getting saved, using the name Jesus. They see
this as being soldiers of the Lord, onward Christian soldiers
and all of that nonsense. They even have a Christian flag. Made they made one up. They just
made one up It's got a cross on that cross is a symbol of
their own destruction, and they don't even know it So they gather multitudes, but
notice that they're all just being brought to the place that
God was bringing them all along he dried up the river and it
resulted in this whole thing and Notice that it's not an epic
struggle between good and evil. There is no battle raging between
good and evil Armageddon is not what religion
says it is We're gonna see that clear as day in this Especially
next next time but I will preview that a little bit tonight It
is what it's called. Here is the great day of God
Almighty The enemies don't even get honorable mention This is
God's day. The day of reckoning with those
who hate our Savior is God's day. And it's not a single day. That's an illustration of this. That day is right now. God is
winning right now. Paul said, whether it's a saver
of life or death, God always gives us the victory. It's a
sweet saver of Christ unto God, and it's a win. It's not their day in any sense. It's God's day. And this is a
comfort to the people of the Lord. That's what we want. We want his day. We want to see
the glory of him defeating every enemy with the same gospel that
gives us hope and life in Christ. And as we suffer the necessary
consequences in this world of there being a world full of God-hating
devils, that's what God calls them. Look, and let me explain something
real quick here. We don't think of unbelievers
as a bunch of devils running around. It's not us and them.
We want to see everybody come to a knowledge of the truth.
We want everybody, come and listen. Hear the gospel. Christ The Lord
Jesus Christ says, come unto me, all you that labor and are
heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Is anybody thirsty? Let him come
unto me and drink. But we're talking about false
prophets here. And God says they're devils. They're devils. He said,
if they come to your door, don't even bid them Godspeed. I respect you know their opinion
no no we don't we don't We believe God But we live in a world of God-hating
evil spirits But we're able to be encouraged
we must be encouraged by this God is doing all of this Leading
up to his great day This is all part of his great day. This is
important now. Listen to me carefully for a
minute. This is not talking about the end times in the way that
religion uses that phrase. It's not talking about the end
times. This is going on right now, tonight. Everywhere the
gospel of Christ is preached, this is happening. And everywhere
the false gospel is being preached, that part of it is happening.
It's happening right now. It's been happening for centuries
for millennia Everything that happens is leading up to this
great day of the Lord and again, it's not a 24-hour period It's
when God wraps this thing up when he ends it David in the
psalm says how long Lord how long will you not avenge us?
How long will you let the evil go on in their wickedness? This
is the answer to that question until that day This is not a
physical battle. In fact, we'll see plain as day
that there's no fighting on the part of unbelievers at all. They
don't fight. They die, is what they do, because
it's God's day. This is a spiritual ordeal throughout
all of history. Not a physical battle, the Battle
of Armageddon, as religion would portray it, much of it. And it
culminates in what is called a battle here, is really a war,
and that's kind of important. We'll see that this is more of
a slaughter than a battle in any traditional sense of the
word. God has been in control of the whole thing from the start.
He makes one move, and the whole thing begins, and he also ends
it. He's the Alpha and the Omega,
and everything in between. Does that comfort you? God is
on the throne now. And I don't know how people sleep
at night that have a God that depends on them. You're not that
big. You're not that big. God has been in control of the
whole thing from the very, very start. Do you wanna take your
chances with your loved ones and see if you can't make the
difference for them? Or will you commit them to the
Lord who our text calls God Almighty. God Almighty. The one who's running
the whole show. Why don't we cry to him? Lord,
if you will, you can have mercy on those we love. If you want
to, it's done. We pray for them. We pray for
their souls. that great day of God Almighty
is coming, and that's our comfort now. We find great comfort in
that. That's his day, and every day
leading up to it is his day. It's all his day. I want us to
understand, don't tie this to earthly terms other than to illustrate
the spiritual. He wins every day. He gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ every day, always
has. God has arranged all of this
in order to destroy every enemy that we have. He's in the middle
of doing that. That's why it says in this verse
we're gonna look at in a minute, I'm getting a little bit of ahead
of myself, but it's what I'm saying right now. He says, behold,
I come. He didn't say I'm gonna come. It's happening right now. It's
not a future thing. We're gonna experience it as
though it is someday. and the purpose of God, it's
already done. And we look for it. Now, this is called a battle
because we do fight. We do fight right now. God doesn't
struggle with anything or anybody. He's not trying to do anything.
He's never, ever tried to do anything, ever, never will. Part of his purpose for us in
this world is we fight we fight the battle We fight with the
sword of the spirit We fight wearing the breastplate of righteousness
as it's describes in Ephesians chapter 6 all the armor of God
is described there We wear an armor for a reason We wear an armor for a reason
Here's a brief description of the battle. Turn with me to 2
Corinthians 6. This is why it's referred to
as a battle that's going on. 2 Corinthians 6.3. Here's a little glimpse of what
we experience now. If you're in on it, then you
do. If you're not in on it, then you don't. But this is the spiritual
battle. Thank God there's no physical
barrier to us worshiping tonight. Thank God, it's not like that
everywhere. And it hadn't always been like that in a lot of places. But look at 2 Corinthians 6.3,
giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed.
That's where we're at in 1 Timothy 3, isn't it? There's a certain
way to behave ourselves because of the gospel we preach, because
of Christ. but in all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in
necessities, in distresses. We've suffered a little bit of
that as a church, haven't we? Spiritual things. In stripes and imprisonments,
in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by
knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness. By the Holy Ghost,
we fight this battle not with anger and wrath, but with kindness,
with love. That's how you fight your evil
nature. By the Holy Ghost, by love unfamed,
not faked. A lot of fake love in religion.
A lot of hugging and glad handing. It's a love of numbers for the
most part, not people. I've been in it, so I can say
that. I'm not speculating. I've been right in the big middle
of it. By the word of truth, by the
power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand
and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil
report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and
yet well-known, as dying and behold, we live. We're still
in it, aren't we? By God's grace. As chastened
and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor
yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all
things. Paul said, all things are yours.
You think about that. God that made this universe made
it for you. He created paradise before he
ever created man. And then he made man and put
him in that paradise. But because of our sin, the only
way back to God is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
boy, He said I go to the cross to prepare a place for you paradise
today. You'll be with me in paradise
This is paradise that can't be lost Because we have the very righteousness
of Christ There are small victories in
this battle and there are casualties in this battle and none of it
surprises God none of it The outcome of the war is never in
question. Never. The primary definition
of battle in our text, as I said, is war. There are skirmishes
every day. You've got to fight your flesh
every day for one thing, much less the evil of this world. We need to understand what those
look like. Most people don't even know what the battle is.
or how to fight it. This is not a physical battle.
This war is not a one-time event. Don't let the word day confuse
you. In verse 14, to the Lord a thousand
years is as a day. And a day is as a thousand years.
The entire history of time is His day. And every event that
takes place in time can all together be described as a victory for
the Lord and everybody that love Him. all of it together, it's
a win. If we understand that, then we
can know what to look for every moment. We can recognize how
these spiritual battles are fought and how they're won or lost. And most of all, we can rest
in the truth that if you're His, even the losses are a win. I
don't wanna lose. I don't wanna suffer the consequences
of my sin in this world. We don't suffer any eternal consequences,
the true consequences of our sin, but we can sure go through
some things because of how stupid we are. I have, I do. And I don't want that to happen,
but the Lord, he works all of it for our good. You can't lose
if you try, if you're his. If the Lord is for you, even
you can't be against you. The losses aren't fun, they're
not desirable, they're not enjoyable, but they're not defeat for the
believer. They are not defeat. It's by
God's design that we suffer some, and by God's design that we're
afflicted. David wrote in Psalm 119.71,
it is good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statues. And a final word of comfort for
the elect in our text, what a beautiful verse. Behold, I come as a thief. Boy, in the midst of all this,
this verse seems out of place, doesn't it? He's talking about
Armageddon, he's talking about wrath being poured out, but here
he says, blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest
he walk naked and they see his shame. It seems almost out of
place if you understand the text the way false religion teaches
it. But seeing that we have in this the purpose of God unfolding,
all of it is a victory. From the start to the finish,
it's a victory. And seeing what we have seen
in this tonight by his grace, this verse is perfectly placed
in this passage. We fight, we suffer, we grow,
we struggle, we strive now, but pretty soon it's gonna be over.
That's gonna be over. I Want you to look ahead a little
bit in verse 17 Here's the great battle of Armageddon you've heard
religion talk about this onion Verse 17 The seventh angel poured out
his vial. Now this is after God has gathered them. He gathered
them together, verse 16, into a place called in the Hebrew
tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured
out his bowl into the air and there came a great voice out
of the temple of heaven. That's God's voice from the throne
saying what? It's over. That's the great struggle
between good and evil everybody talks about. God brings him by
his sovereign will right where he wants him and says, it's done. And everything you read after
that is nothing but the destruction of false religion, all of it.
Not one sword is raised. There's no great battle of Armageddon. It's only called a battle because
of what we experience down here. The war that God makes against
his enemies is just him saying, you're finished. That's not complicated to me,
is it you? It's done. And when is it over? When he comes, behold, I come,
it's over. This is so beautiful, what a
comfort. What a comfort. He just shows
up and it's over. That's why John said at the end
of this book, Lord, show up. Even so, come. He was ready for it to be over.
And for him it is. And he comes as a thief. We've
seen this in the gospels also, where he said, I come as a thief
in the night, unexpected, at a time when you think not, he
comes. Isn't that great? We're gonna be mowing the grass
or something, who knows? Think of the eternal significance
of your grass being shorter than it is now. There's not much to
that, is there? We still gotta mow it though.
Gotta do it, but not much more, not much more. When you think not, when you're
not even looking for it, we are always, in a sense, believers
or look watching for his coming. But I know this, as much as you
know, and I know, I know he's coming, there is no question
in my mind that when the time comes, the Lord is gonna return
to this earth. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go, I will come again and receive you unto
myself. What's the point of it all? That
where I am, there you may be also. That's glory, that's heaven. As much as we know, But that's
the truth. If he came right now, right now,
before I finish this message, if he came, you'd be completely
shocked, wouldn't you? You'd be completely shocked,
and I would too. But what is beautiful here is
that in the middle of the outpouring of these bowls of God's wrath,
condemnation, in the midst of the telling of this war where
millions upon millions will be destroyed, people that we love,
Will be destroyed in the most terrible way possible. We have
yet in the middle of all this this beautiful word blessed Blessed and we have this simple
description of the blessed man. He's watching and he's closed That word watching there's a
lot included in that I don't want to be long than that but
listen He knows what's going on He's watching this with some
wisdom from the Lord. He knows what's going on. Not
very many do. Not very many have any idea what's
going on in this world right now. But we know, don't we? We
know exactly what's happening. We know what God's doing. He's
saving his people like he always has from the start. And he's
condemning those that despise him. This man hears with an ear
of faith what God is saying here, and he's looking for it. He's
aware of it. That's part of this watching,
being aware of it, just knowing what's going on. And his eyes
are fixed on the Savior. You remember what the Lord said
there in Luke 19? I'm probably wrong, right around
there somewhere. When he was talking about all
of the horrible things that are gonna happen, he said, do what?
Look up. What this is for you is redemption. It's a disaster for this world,
but for you, it's your redemption drawing. That's what this is
here, blessed of God. And this watchful man, this blessed
man, he's looking up. He's looking for the redemption. that's in his savior. Like those
vigilant five wise virgins in Matthew 25, one through 13, they
were watching for the bridegroom. They put plenty of oil in their
lamps, they trimmed their lamps, they were ready. And when the
other ones weren't prepared, you remember the story of the
10 virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. The five wise
ones were watching for their bridegroom and they had prepared
for that. And the other ones ran out of
oil for their lamps and they said, give us some of your oil.
And they said, no way, no. We're not gonna do anything that's
gonna keep us from the bridegroom. It wasn't they were uncharitable.
They just have one concern, the bridegroom. And when he came,
they were ready. It was their love for the bridegroom
that caused them to do what they did before he came. That's what
our text is talking about. Watch. Watching also involves doing
what the Lord gave us to do. Listen to Luke 19, 12. He said, therefore, a certain
nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,
that's the Lord Jesus, and to return. And he called his 10
servants and delivered them 10 pounds and said, occupy till
I come. That word occupy means to carry
on business. Do the business I've given you
to do until I come back. That's his message to us. Matthew
24, 42, watch therefore for you know, let's see how much, well,
I better just read it to you. Matthew 24, 42, watch therefore
for you know not what hour your Lord doth come, but know this,
that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready for
in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh. And
then listen to the context of that. Watch, he's coming. Don't
be taken off guard by it. Who then is a faithful and wise
servant? whom his Lord hath made ruler
over his household to give them meat in due season. That's the
preaching of the gospel. All of us are involved in that,
not just me. Blessed is that servant whom
his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Giving meat. Simon, do you love
me? Yea, Lord, you know all things
you know I do. Feed my sheep. And I gotta give you some homework,
because we're out of time. Listen to this. I hate homework,
by the way. I've never done homework in my
life, but y'all need to do this one. This is a beautiful. Think
about what light this sheds on our passage of scripture tonight
when you read this. First Thessalonians 5, one through 11. Oh, oh, it
opens it up. It really sheds some light on
it. But watching and what? Clothed. Keep your garment, keep
your garment. By nature we're what? In the
verse it says we're naked and we're shameful, but not if we
have that garment on that he gives. As pictured in the Garden of
Eden, naked and ashamed, but God made coats of skins, not
fig leaves. An innocent victim died, blood
was shed that they might be clothed before God. Our guilt and sin
and shame before God was signified by the fact that Adam and Eve
knew they were naked and they hid from God. What was God's
remedy? Blood. Death. And covering. Clothing. Being clothed before God spiritually
is to have the righteousness of Christ Jesus That's so beautifully
taught all throughout the Word of God he shed his precious blood
for our sins that we might be clothed and unashamed in the
very presence of God in Christ and His perfect righteousness
And what John is saying here what's being said in our text
here is keep that garment wrapped around you shrug that garment closer and
closer around you. This is what makes the difference
between you and those upon whom all of God's wrath is poured
out, that righteousness. That righteousness. When you
look at this wretched world and what God is doing in it and doing
to it, just pull that wedding garment around you a little tighter.
You can't be any more clothed than you are in Christ, but you
can experience it more. You can be aware of it more.
You can rejoice in it more. You can rest more. May God give
it to us by his grace. Let's pray.