Here in chapter 16. We've seen
these seven angels seven signifying all of them all of God's preachers
are Involved in this pouring out of bowls. It's what it is
the vials or bowls of God's wrath that are poured out when the
gospel is preached and in verse 10 here where we left off last
time the fifth angel poured out this vial upon the seat of the
beast and Now the seat of the beast is false religion, we know
that. The place that the devil dwells
and rules and operates from in this world is from pulpits, from
the false religion of this world. The beast has always been about
perverting the word of God. We saw him in the garden in the
beginning, perverting the word of God, hath God said. Questioning
God's Word and he's still doing that he doesn't change There's
no repentance for him. There's no desire for it anyway
and That's what he's doing now. He started it in the Garden of
Eden and he continues it today. He does it from pulpits now and
when this fifth gospel preacher pours out his vial upon false
religion and Reveals it to be darkness. He pours it out and
his kingdom was full of darkness The kingdom of the beast was
full of darkness. There's two senses In which this is experimentally
true The truth reveals the darkness of the false gospel and there's
only one they go by different names, but there's Christ and
there's antichrist in the scripture and It doesn't recognize all
the various denominations in the Word of God. It just says
Christ and not Christ. That's pretty simple. The way
that leads to life is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the broad way
that leadeth unto destruction is man's way. And they're ushered
by Satan down that road. But it's man, the mark of the
beast is man, man, man. And it always has, it's always,
Satan is always about man, isn't he? Oh, you haven't been told,
that's not what he meant, or that's, he wouldn't intend for
you to not be, you know, as smart as you can be. You're getting
the raw end of the deal here. It's always about elevating man
and exalting man and impressing the flesh. So, and notice here
that this false gospel of man-centered free will religion is darkness
and it's revealed to be darkness only by the preaching of Christ.
You can't really preach against darkness or dispel darkness by
pointing out that it's darkness. Somebody gotta turn the light
on. That's the gospel. Somebody's got to preach the
truth. Now notice that it's full of darkness. You see that in
that verse 10? And his kingdom was full of darkness. There was nothing else. And people
love to say, you know, people who often that know some truth
in their heads, But they want to be inclusive. They always
want to be inclusive because they're too lazy or afraid of
man to just get up and leave somewhere that doesn't preach
the truth. I've experienced this in my life with my own loved
ones. I've seen it in others that are not in my personal circle
of family. It's just the convenience and
they like the people there. What does that got to do with
the gospel? What does that got to do with hearing from God?
There's a lot of people I like that I probably couldn't worship
with them. Suspect I couldn't. But they
know some truth at least in their heads. There's a lot of people
in this case, but they want to be inclusive and they love to
say this. Yeah, he didn't preach what you preach, Chris, But he
says a lot of good things. Have you ever heard that? No,
he doesn't. He's full of darkness. It's all
darkness. A lie is a lie. He preaches Christ
or he don't preach Christ. And if he don't, then he's full
of darkness. No light in him. If they preach
not according to the words of this prophecy, it's because God
said, what? There's no light in them, none,
no good things. All that sentimental nonsense,
there's nothing sweet about it. It's the blackness of darkness
and it's soul damning. It's not to be tolerated. I wouldn't
let my children go anywhere near them. Nobody asks my advice much
anymore, but they used to about going to Christian schools and
things like that. I wouldn't touch them with a 500 foot pole.
I'd just as soon send my kids to a leper colony than a false
church. Well, I don't like to give advice
unless I'm asked, but you know, there it is. There's no good in it. It's full
of darkness. The gospel also consigns those
in the kingdom of Satan to darkness. Think about this. It's another
little different sense, but it's clearly taught in the scripture
and true. Not only are they dealing in darkness in that gospel, only
the gospel can reveal that. But they suffer the darkness
of reprobation. There's darkness in their heart. Turn with me, please, to 2 Thessalonians
2.8. Let's look at this together.
2 Thessalonians 2.8. And then shall that wicked, capital
W, we know who that is, be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan,
with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And what
are we saying now? Remember what we're saying. Not
only is what they preach revealed to be darkness by the gospel,
but their own hearts are full of darkness. They themselves
are full of darkness. And here's why. Because they
hate the truth of God. They receive not the love of
the truth. That's the only way a sinner
doesn't hate the truth of God. is if God gives him a love for
the truth, a love for Christ. And they received that not, and
so they hate the truth, they received not the love of the
truth that they might be saved, and for this cause, is that clear
enough? That's so clear, for that reason,
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie,
spiritual darkness. They couldn't see light if it
was right in front of them. That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
But I wanted to read that next verse too. But we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord. They're not called lovers of
truth. They're called loved of God and they love the truth because
God loves them Because God has from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth notice particularly there in verse 13 that the only difference
between the reprobate that's consigned to the blackness of
darkness forever and us who believe on Christ, loved of God, is that
God hath chosen us. That's the difference. The electing
love and grace and power of God. Otherwise, there is no difference.
The gospel also consigns false religionists to intolerable pain. Notice that in the text. There's
pain. They nod their tongues for pain. This does not mean that this
vow is poured out only at the end of time when the pains of
hell begin to take hold of those who hate God's truth. Every time
the gospel is preached now, those who reject Christ, they don't
feel the pain yet. but they're being consigned to
it every time. The cup of God's wrath is being
filled up right now, wherever and whenever the gospel is preached. And it is pain. Every pain suffered
in this world is a small taste of the punishments of hell. The gospel itself brings a certain
kind of pain now to those that hate it. I've seen it on their
faces. I've seen people gnash their
teeth literally at the plain, clear truth of sovereign mercy
in Christ. They've done it in my presence.
I've seen and heard what goes along with that also. In verse
11, look at it. And blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores. And they repented not,
of their deeds. I want to really consider just
this verse and the time we have left. That anguish of soul that
causes them to blaspheme God is the pain spoken of in verse
10. There's a spiritual pain. Because of their true condition
before God. Think about this. What is the
sinner's true condition before God? from the crown of the head
to the soles of your feet, you're covered with sores, wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores that have not been bound up nor
mollified with ointment. They're miserable and wretched
and blind and vile. And having no rest
from the guilt and bondage of their sin, They do not repent
as the elect of God do. They blaspheme instead. And think
carefully about this for a minute. This is pictured by that Gadarean
demoniac. The man filled with demons that
was in Gadarea, Gadara. But think carefully about this
for a minute. The very thing that becomes unbearable to the
believer is the thing that is unbearable to the reprobate.
When one of God's sheep becomes aware of his condition before
God, we know that we're corrupt, there's no soundness in it. When
we see the sores, when we see the spiritual leprosy that is
our corruption inside and out, when we feel the pain of our
guilt and shame, what does that sheep do? He runs to Christ. and says, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. Before Christ comes to him, he
is the Gadarene demoniac, crying out and cutting himself among
the tombs. That picture's an anguish of
spirit that a sinner can suffer without even really being aware
of it. But they know every one of their problems, whether they
know it or not, is because of their sin. But then Christ comes where he
is and leaves him sitting and clothed and in his right mind. But the reprobate is in the same
condition, crying and cutting themselves. The pain is self-inflicted
in that they have forsaken their own mercy. But when their horrible,
wretched condition is revealed by the preaching of Christ to
them, they don't run to Christ. No man can do that except the
father which has sent Christ, draw that sinner to Christ. So
they don't do that. They won't do that. What do they
do then? They blaspheme God. And don't just picture this blaspheming
of God in your mind now, in your heart. Don't picture it as a
fevered spewing forth of vicious obscenities. No, their blasphemy
sounds more like this. God loves you. God loves everybody. Christ died for you. He did all
he could do for you. And he wants to save you if you'll
let him. That's what the misery of their souls causes them to
say because they want to be included, but they don't give a hoot about
the son of God. That's their problem. They want God to love them and
just kinda, I guess, sweep their sin under the rug. Because they
won't bow to the crucified Redeemer that saved everybody he came
to save. They're not gonna bow to him.
They won't bow to accomplished redemption by Christ himself. They try to bind up their wounds
with bandages of sentimental sentiments that sound lovely,
yet they destroy the very character of God. If God loves everybody, then
what does his love have to do with the salvation of a sinner? They try to mollify the pain
with an ointment concocted from various subtle lies that would
render the love of God to be impotent, and the grace of God
to be a mockery to the souls of sinners. Anybody that tells a lame man
to take the first step is mocking the soul. of a wretched sinner. In the
name of God they're doing it. If a sinner loved not the truth
of Christ and Him crucified, his perfect righteousness, his
sin atoning successful sacrifice on Calvary, then there remains
only a certain looking for of judgment. That's all that's left for him.
If you miss Christ, Forsaken your own mercy And that judgment
is pronounced every time somebody opens this book and tells the
truth about God The two reactions to the preaching
of the gospel Life and death They are a difference made by
the free and sovereign grace of God Almighty. He gives life
to whom he will, and whom he will, he hardeneth. And they
will blaspheme him to their grave until he gives them a new heart.
Unless and until he gives them a new heart. When God in his
marvelous grace does give repentance, he gives repentance, then the
sinner runs to and lays hold of Christ with all of his heart. If God does not give repentance,
though, there will not be any. Look at the last part of verse
11 with me again. Then I want to talk about repentance
a little bit. Revelation 16 11 they repented
not of their deeds Now God has judged all their deeds evil sin
Deserving of hell he's shown it to be darkness and not light And that and he's Inflicted the
anguish of the soul upon them over that to whatever Whatever
way they experience that I don't know that's that's between them
and God But they still don't repent That won't cause a sinner
to repent Look with me at Luke chapter
16 I want us to understand repentance now from this passage because
I This is what happens when the gospel is preached these vows
poured out is the gospel being declared These are messengers
and messengers come with a message This message reveals darkness
not only in practice, but in the heart It inflicts Or it imposes the
The righteous the righteous indignation of God against man's sin, and
leaves them as that demon-filled wretch that was living in the
graveyard and crying out and cutting himself. When God brings you to that place,
you'll either love him or you'll hate him. You'll either cry to
him for mercy or you'll blaspheme his holy
name. Luke 16, look at verse 19 with
me. This is what I was trying to
find last time, but we have this same phrase. They repented not. There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores and it came
to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.
And seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said,
son, remember, Thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. Beside all this, between us and
you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass
from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would
come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, for
I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him."
Now this is, think about what's at stake here. They're either
gonna go to the place of torment where this rich man is, or they're
gonna go be with God forever. This man didn't wanna see his
brothers go to hell. And so he said, here's what we
gotta do about that. Send Lazarus to tell him, to
warn him about this place. And Abraham saith unto him, they
have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. They have
the word of God. They have the gospel. They have
the serpent lifted up in the wilderness that God told Moses
to make. They have the burning bush. They
have God speaking and redeeming his people. He said, I've come
down here to get my people and bring them home. They have the
gospel. They have the Passover lamb.
The story of redemption by the blood of an innocent lamb. So why is Lazarus in glory? Because he had Moses and the
prophets. That's why that poor old rat sitting out there at
the gate, covered with sores, is in glory now. Not because
there's any virtue in poverty in this world. You can go to
hell poor just as soon as you can go to hell rich. But he had
Moses and the prophets. Life and death hinges on this.
Let them hear them. Let them hear the gospel of Christ. Lazarus did and he's in glory
He received the love of the truth from God by his sovereign grace
And so Abraham said that's that's the only thing that's gonna Keep
them from where you are And that man in hell said no
father Abraham No, he said no to the gospel all of his life
Every time he heard it and he said no to it, in hell, the same
way, no. Think about that. They have the
word of God. They have what God said about
how a sinner is saved by the precious blood of Christ. No,
no, no, no, that won't do it. But if one went unto them from
the dead, they'll repent. And now it's time for Father
Abraham to say no. He said unto them unto him if
they hear not Moses and the prophets neither Will they be persuaded
though one rose? There's one way to God Christ
Christ preached Christ crucified Christ received in the heart
by grace through faith and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why
we preach the gospel, because it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching him, to save them that believe. There's no repentance
any other way, neither will affliction bring repentance. Isaiah 1.4,
listen to this. Ah, sinful nation, God said. Talking about his own people
now, a people laden with iniquity. A seed of evildoers, children
that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord.
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel into anger. They are
gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore?
Why would I bother afflicting you any more than I already have?
You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the
whole heart faint. Affliction's not gonna cut it.
It's not why God gives it. He does give it for a reason,
but it's not gonna bring repentance. Jot down Amos 4, 6 through 13,
if you would, to read later, if you want to. Amos 4, 6 through
13. I was gonna turn over there tonight,
but I believe I'll just let you read that. It's talking about
how that God sent all kinds of different affliction to these
people, and they repented not. They returned not unto the Lord.
Even a mighty display of God's power will not cause repentance,
even when people know that God is angry with them. Listen to
Revelation chapter six. Look over there with me. Revelation 6.12. And I beheld when he had opened
the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake And the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood. Can you imagine being in a great
earthquake and even that which you depend on every day? One
thing we can count on is we can walk on the floor and it'll hold
us up. Not today, it won't. And it's
dark, and it's pitch dark. And the stars of heaven fell
into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs
when she is shaken. Mighty wind this is spiritual
language of course, but think about that what that represents
All of your foundations are pulled out from under you and God's
showing you where you are You're hanging by a thread of his mercy Whether he'll have mercy on you
or not. That's where you're hanging and You're at his mercy and the
heaven departed as a scroll verse 14 when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places
And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men
and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman
and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall
on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne.
Their reaction to this mighty display of God's power and wrath
was what? Hide. Same as Adam. When you see who God is and you
see what you are, the thing to do is run to him, not from him. But it takes grace. No man can. No man can. How then does repentance come?
Well, the scripture are just as clear about how it comes as
they are about how it doesn't come, which we just saw. Acts 11 18 when they heard these
things when they heard the gospel they held their peace and glorified
God Saying then have God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
into life Simon told him that he preached the gospel to him
and they rejoiced and believed on Christ And they said God gave
him repentance Isn't that beautiful they didn't attribute it to anything
about the Gentiles and God gave them repentance. What a wonderful
statement. Acts 5.30, and the God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree.
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and
a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Christ, it's his to give. Repentance
is his to give. Second Timothy 2.24, the servant
of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God perventure. Are you happy with that word? You know, the way that religion
makes their false labor in a false gospel
to prosper is they Entice and threaten until they see outward
things happen That they call salvation you walking down an
aisle and making a decision. That's salvation That's what
determines heaven or hell in their world and their sad godless
world But the gospel preacher declares
the clear truth of Christ as God gives him light and says,
just maybe. I'm happy with a maybe, I'm so
happy with that. Because I know that God does
all things well. And just maybe he will give somebody
a heart Change their mind about who he is About what they are
before him And about who Christ is and how God saves a sinner
Repentance is turning from ourselves It's turning from everything
that religion holds dear. It's turning from your will it's
turning from your decision Paul renounced all of that in Philippians
chapter 3 and Everything he had ever thought said or done. He
called it dung That he might win Christ It's renouncing everything
that religion values your will your way your works and laying
hold of God's son That's repentance if God per
venture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth
and And if he does that, here's what'll happen, that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will. There's your free will right
there. Oh my. Repentance is a change
of mind about God, you, and how sinners are saved. Turning from
ourselves to God, that's what he said, that you must take up your cross,
take up your cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Die to self and be alive unto
God by his grace. It's to see, repentance is to
see that our works, far from being the solution, they're our
problem. They're our problem. The more we do, the more we sin. It's to see that Christ really
is all. It's easy to say that. It's easy to say those simple
words and to agree with them. But I fear, when I see what's
going on in this world today, I fear that those words are real
to very few, very, very few. And we've got to pour out the
bowl, don't we? We've got to pour it out, the truth of God,
so that this world is not so important anymore. And we see that truly Christ
is everything. And it's a continual acknowledging
of that in every aspect of life. Believing on Christ and worshiping
him with the people of God is not just something that we include
in our lives. It is our lives. By God's grace, I ask myself
that often. Is this really my life? And by
his grace, it really is. Y'all are a big part of that. The love that God has given us
for one another, the grace to forgive one another and to be
one together with one cause, with one desire for his glory. That's life. There's a whole
lot of things that we do in this life that are just included. When sports for our young people,
It's just a way to keep them occupied and keep them out of
trouble until they learn who God is, and then we're in the
right place. And their whole life doesn't
revolve around that. Family's important. A lot of
good things in this world that God has given us to enjoy that
I fear In this day and age, and I guess
it's always been that way, that the things get in the way of
us worshiping the one who gave them. May God deliver us from that,
change our minds, our priorities, and give us grace to truly be
able to say with all honesty, Christ is all. He's all in all
to me. Pray with me to that end.