Acts 13 verse 1 begins, the burden
of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. The Lord has
promised us in Acts 17 31 that he hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained,
whereof He hath given us assurance. He has given assurance unto all
in that He raised Him from the dead. That man is Christ Jesus
the Lord. In the day that God judges the
world in righteousness by the man, Christ Jesus, who is the
standard of the perfection of holiness. Every sinner will come
before God in one of two ways. You will either come bearing
the light and easy yoke of faith in Christ. Light and easy because
the awesome weight of the government of God's just judgment toward
you fell upon Christ's shoulder instead. And ye are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. And
His word of declaration to you says, Herein is our love made
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because
as He is, so are we in this world. Now get that, that in the You
may have boldness in the day of judgment because as Christ
is, so are you. You who trust Him. If you come,
that's going to be a light and easy day for you. Now here's
the second way. Some will come before God trusting
in something that they've done. trusting your decision for Christ,
trusting your act of believing, expecting to be favored for your
many wonderful works, how you laid the burden of the law on
other men's shoulders, and you cast out any devil who didn't
measure up to what you thought a standard of righteousness ought
to be. You'll come trusting that you
did many, many wonderful works, and all in His name. And oh,
the weight The indescribable, unimaginable
weight, the holy, eternal judgment of God shall rest squarely on
your shoulder. And you yourself will spend all
eternity and never satisfy the justice that Christ satisfied
at Calvary on behalf of those he represented. Our text this
morning declares to you what you can expect if you come to
God bearing the weight yourself. It's a solemn subject, and it's
one that I was hesitant to preach on, but it's got to be preached
on. It's in God's Word, and it's something we've got to deal with.
And I pray God will be pleased to use it this morning as He
sees fit. Isaiah 13.1 says, the burden
of Babylon. Now, in Isaiah chapters 11 and
12, we saw the Spirit of God declared that the salvation of
the Lord's people is by Christ Jesus the Lord alone. That's
what we covered in those chapters. And now beginning in Isaiah 13,
Isaiah looks ahead to the destruction of that godless city, Babylon,
and her king. Now, throughout the scriptures,
if you're going to understand that this is more than just a
history lesson, throughout the scriptures, Babylon is referred
to as representative of all false religion in every false way. And her king is The devil is
Satan himself. This prophecy is of God's wrath
upon all who despise the light of the gospel of God and choose
the path of evil. Now we're going to begin this
morning in a key verse. In verse 12. Look down there
with me. Isaiah 13, 12. And this is the
verse that is the key to understanding this chapter. It says there,
I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than
the golden wedge of Ophir. Now, my first point to you is
no man. No man. The Lord God declares
in the plainest language possible that in the day of His wrath
it shall be made clear to you and to all, that you and every
sinner around you alike is a worm and no man." Now, you've heard
it said many times. You've heard me preach it. You've
read it in the Word of God. Look with me at Jeremiah 4, verse
22. Jeremiah 4, verse 22. The Lord says there, He says, for my people is foolish. They've not known me. They are
soddish children, and they have none understanding. They are
wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Look
down at verse 25. I beheld, and lo, there was no
man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. Look over
at Jeremiah 8, verse 6. He says, I hearkened, Jeremiah
8 verse 6, I hearkened and heard, but they spake not a right. No
man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone
turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battle. Lamentations
4 verse 4 says, The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to
the roof of his mouth for thirst, and the young children ask for
bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. Romans 3.10, you've read it many
times. It says, as it is written, there
is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no not one. But even though some of you have
heard this, you still have not laid it to heart. You still have
not laid it to heart. You're like those scoffers in
Jeremiah's day. They'd say, well, Jeremiah's
so harsh in everything he talks about. All he ever comes around
talking about is sin and how we've got to be saved from sin.
How we need a Savior to save us from sin. And they would say,
he's always saying, burden, burden, burden. That's all he wants to
talk about is burden, burden, burden. And the Lord told Jeremiah,
He said, and so they would make fun of him. They would make fun
of Jeremiah and they would stiffen their necks against him and they
would say, what burden do you have for us today, Jeremiah?
And the Lord said, when they say that to you, He said, tell
them, no burden, no burden. I got no burden for you. It won't
be a burden for God, it will be a burden for you. But no burden,
God hath forsaken you. That's what He said, tell them.
Now they loved to hear those false prophets that came, that
they left from here and it gave them that warm and fuzzy feeling
inside because those fellows said, but the Lord said of those
fellows, from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet to the priest,
everyone dealeth falsely. They've healed the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly saying, peace, peace, where there
is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had
committed abomination? No, they weren't at all ashamed.
Neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among
them that fall. At that time that I visit them
shall they be cast down, saith the Lord. Well, the first thing
I want you to see here in this chapter is that no man shall
stand because if you're trusting in your will, if you're coming
to God trusting in your will, Rest assured that you shall be
destroyed by the will of man. Now look at verse 2. He says
there, lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain and exalt the
voice unto them. Shake the hand that they may
go into the gates of the nobles. Now we're going to spend a little
time right here because this is going to make you feel like
an ant. I hope it does by the time we get through because that's
what we need to feel like. We need to feel like an ant before
a mighty God. Now listen. In chapter 11, we
notice there that an enzyme was spoken of, and for the believer,
the enzyme is Christ. But that's not the banner spoken
of here. This is the Lord's command to
His enemies, to the Medes and the Persians. Historically, that's
who He used, the Medes and the Persians. And they were as much
the enemies of God as Babylon was. They were the enemies of
God even as Babylon was. But God called the Medes and
Persians to go in to destroy the Babylonians. And the thrice
holy God tells us here that wicked sinners who boast of their will
are nothing more than instruments that He uses to destroy His enemies. Did you hear that? All God has
to do to use you or me to destroy His enemies who are just like
every sinner is to allow us to exercise the will that's in us
by nature. That's all He has to do. God
didn't do this by infusing sin into His enemies. That would
be contrary to God's pure and holy nature. He didn't do that.
He didn't do anything to make His enemies, the Medes and the
Persians, have a desire to go up against Babylon. All He did
was He let them do what was already in their heart. He didn't change
their will. He just allowed them to vent
it. He allowed them to have their
way. Therefore, His enemies are still without excuse for their
sinfulness, and God's not the author of sin. He just let them
do what they wanted to do. The Scripture said, The Lord
hath made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. We learn, Surely the wrath of
man shall praise Thee, and the remainder thereof shalt Thou
restrain. The Lord's a man of war. That's
His name, Exodus 15-3 tells us. So in our text, the Lord, the
man of war, gives His command to His armies in the earth. They're His armies. He rules
over the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
None can stay His hand and question Him. And so here He gives them
charge, the Medes and the Persians, to go in and destroy Babylon.
Now let's see verse 3 through 5. I've commanded My sanctified
ones. I have also called My mighty
ones for Mine anger, even them that rejoice in My highness.
They didn't rejoice in the highness of God as it were that they worshipped
Him, but they rejoiced in the fact that He allowed them to
go in and do what they wanted to do. The noise of a multitude
in the mountains, like as of a great people, a tumultuous
noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together. The Lord of
hosts mustereth the host of the battle." He called them. He told
them to do it. They came from far country, from
the end of heaven, even the Lord and the weapons of His indignation
to destroy the whole land. How ye, for the day of the Lord's
at hand, it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Let me show
you this in the New Testament. Look with me at Revelation 17.1. How does this historical account
of the Lord allowing the Medes and the Persians to come up against
the nation of Babylon, how does that apply to the Judgment Day?
Well, the Lord is teaching us here this is exactly how He is
going to punish the wicked. Revelation 17 1 says and I don't
want you to get carried away here looking at the trying to
figure out who these are And times and all these things this
is what I want you to get everybody mentioned here are one in the
same They're all in league together, but I want you to see how God
says I'm gonna use them now watch Revelation 17, 1. There came
one of the seven angels, which had the seven vows, and talked
with me, saying unto me, Come hither. I will show unto thee
the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.
Now here's judgment right here. With whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Now
this is free will, claiming believers under the law, philosophy, all
the man-made religions of the world, the god-haters of this
world. This is Babylon. Now the enemies
of God now listen to what God does verse 3 so he carried me
away in the spirit Into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy Having seven
heads and ten horns, and this was the beast She said on had
seven heads and ten horns And the woman was arrayed in purple
and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls Having a golden cup in her hand. She's attractive
False religion is attractive full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery." It's a mystery to this world, a mystery to a
blind sinner. Mystery, Babylon the Great, the
mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore
didst thou marvel? Now listen to what the angel
said. I'll tell thee the mystery of the woman. I will tell you
what this means. And of the beast that carryeth
her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that
thou sawest was and is not. It's already destroyed. This
beast has been destroyed already. Was and is not. And it shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
That's who's going to look upon this one and wonder those whose
names were not written in the book of life before the foundation
of the world. They're safe and secure in Christ. But the rest,
when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is, and
here's the mind which hath wisdom." Now here's wisdom. Here's the
wisdom of God. This is what we're being told
back there in our text in Isaiah. The seven heads are seven mountains
on which the woman sitteth. Remember in Isaiah 13 there it
said, lift up the banner on the high mountain? Babylon didn't
have a high mountain, but it was a mighty power in that day. And he said, lift up the banner,
lift up that rallying that flag to let all the troops know to
rally to the battle so that she'll be defeated. And he says here,
that's what she sits on. This is a high mountain. This
is the superpower. This is the false religion, men
and women, that are ruling and reigning in the world. And he
says here, Verse 14, look down at verse 14. These shall make
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is
Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him are
called, and chosen, and faithful. And He saith unto me, The waters
which thou sawest where the horse sitteth are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues. and the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast." Now she's riding a beast and this beast
has ten horns. Now get this now. These ten horns
are just as much the enemies of God as the beast. They're
one with the beast. And they're one with this harlot,
Babylon, that rides upon the beast. Just as the Medes and
the Persians were the enemies of God like the Babylonians.
But listen to this now. These shall hate the whore. They're enemies of God just like
she is. But it says, These will hate
her, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire. Why would those enemies of God
destroy others who are enemies of God? Wouldn't they get beaten
and lead together? Verse 17, For God hath put in
their hearts to fulfill His will. and to agree and give their kingdom
unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled." Let
me give you this on a positive side. This is talking about judgment. But do you remember how Joseph's
brothers sold him into Egypt? God allowed them to sell him
into Egypt because it would mean the birth of his people and the
freedom of those covenant true sons of Abraham that God promised
Abraham 400 years before that he would deliver out of Egypt.
Do you see the good that came out of it? Even so, Christ Jesus
the Lord was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God because before the world began, He promised to deliver
a people in His Son, in Christ Jesus the Lord, and He would
save them from their sins and make them righteous and holy
in Him and deliver them. And so, He was delivered to His
enemies. I was thinking about this. God
raised up faithful men during the Protestant Reformation who
opposed the great harlot of Roman Catholicism. And in our day,
most of them take the believer right back under the yoke of
the law, and the false prophets who do so are no more than little
popes wearing the disguise of reformers. That's all they are.
They're one with the harlot. And they're doing the will of
God. They're doing the will of God and leading people down a
road of lies. I don't know how all that happened,
but I know there, I know God says, I'm going to use them to
destroy my enemies. And even now, He's using His
enemies, Satan and wicked men and women to execute judgment
upon His enemies. And God's not at fault for doing
it. He just lets men have their way. And ultimately in the day
of God's wrath, when He moves His hand of restraint from all
wicked men and women, the tormenting gnashing of teeth that will be
hell will be the unrestrained will of man. You want your will? Let me ask you if you really
want it. Do you really want to be saved by your... Do you really
want to have your will and to do what you will do? Five o'clock
traffic rolls around. You're up there on the double-deck
on the George Washington Bridge and it's bumping up traffic and
people are cutting in and out of one another. Now think of
the thoughts that goes through your mind when somebody cuts
you off in traffic. Think of what you think about
them and what enters your heart. Think of what enters their heart
about you when you've cut them off and you don't even realize
you're doing it. Now take God out of the equation just moving
his hand off of you and letting all of you do exactly what you
want to do. That's hell. Hell is man having
his way. You don't want God to let you
have your way. You want God to give you a new heart and make
you willing to trust Christ is what you want. How ye, for the
day of the Lord's at hand, it shall come as a destruction from
the Almighty. Now look here with me. In the day of God's judgment,
back in Isaiah 13, in the day of God's judgment, you'll be
made to know that no sinner, no man is able to bear up under
this weight. Now you trusted the work of your
hands. You found assurance from the opinion of your own deceitful
heart about yourself. But look at verse 7. Therefore
shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt.
You ever fall asleep and go to sleep on your hand wrong? And
your hand falls asleep, your arm falls asleep, and you wake
up and it's almost like rubber. You can't even move it, you know? That's what I pity you. Those
hands that we put all our trust in and working in, they're just
like dead weight. We can't even lift them up. We're
so astonished at what we see. In your lifetime you proved you
never feared God. Your food, your life was your
works of righteousness. You were full of laughter and
mirth all your days on this earth. You didn't travail over sin.
In another place Isaiah said, you're wearied in the greatness
of your way. Yet saidst thou not, there's no hope. And he
said, thou hast found the life of thy hand. Therefore thou wast
not grieved. You never sorrowed over sin because
you found your righteousness has been the work of your own
hand. Well here he says in verse 8, they shall be afraid. Pains
and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as
a woman that travaileth. They shall be amazed one at another.
Their faces shall be as flames. You heard God all these times
that you listened to the Scriptures and you heard Him say that the
self-righteous in God's sight are proud and arrogant and haughty,
and yet you went right on in your self-righteousness, right
on in your proud way. Look down at verse 11. He said,
I'll punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their
iniquity, and I'll cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease,
and I'll lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. This is coming
to pass. And in that day, no man who comes
outside of Christ is going to be exempt from bearing the burden
of justice. It's going to be all on your
shoulder if you come outside of Christ. Look at verse 9. Behold,
the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate. He shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it. Look at verse 11. And I'll punish
the world for their evil. All the world? Not all the world,
because some were put in Christ the sanctuary before the world
began. Some were redeemed and are washed in the blood of Christ's
righteousness. Some have been made new and there's no condemnation
for them in Christ. But the ones that come outside
of Him, that whole world of unbelieving, self-righteous, self-justifying,
self-sanctifiers who want to come to God in the confidence
of their flesh, He said, I'm going to destroy them all. And
there will be no safety in numbers in that day. Look at verse 13.
I'll shake the heavens and the earth shall remove out of her
place. In the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of his
fierce anger, it shall be as the chased roe and as a sheep
that no man taketh up. They shall every man turn to
his own people and flee everyone into his own land, and everyone
that's found shall be thrust through, and everyone that's
joined to them shall fall by the sword. There'll be no mercy
in that day. Look at verse 16. Their children
also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes. Their houses
and all those servants in their houses shall be spoiled. Their
wives ravished. I'll stir up the meads against
them. They won't regard silver or gold. You won't be able to
buy your way out of this thing. Their bowels shall dash the young
men to pieces. They'll have no pity on the fruit
of the womb. Their eyes shall not spare children. Sometimes we see something happen
in this world, and we consider it a tragedy. And people begin
to say, oh, God wouldn't do that. Do you hear what God's going
to do? Do you hear what God's going to do? Anything less than
this, God giving us anything less than this is Him giving
us something we don't deserve. That's right. Here's what we
deserve. Because sin is coming short of the glory of God. If
we fail, to come in the perfection of holiness. It's got to be perfect
to be accepted of God. And if we come before God, if
you leave this world today and come before God, and you're not
robed in the perfect, spotless garment of Christ's righteousness,
you're going to come before God filthy, and wretched, and vile,
and an abomination, and undone, and deserving of the wrath of
God. Period. And this will be full and final
judgment. Look at verse 19. He says there, this will be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah. It won't be inhabited. It won't
be dwelt in from generation to generation. Now look back there
in verse 12. He says, I'll make a man more
precious than fine gold, even a man in the golden wedge of
Ophir. I hear some of the young ladies
these days say, boy, I wish I could find a man. I wish you could
too. I wish I could find some. Because there aren't many. There
aren't many. You know what most of the preachers
are? What God calls them right here in this book? Male prostitutes
is what they are. Most of them. Working for money
is what they're doing. And most everybody is that way.
You can be bought and you can sway them however you want to
sway them. I agree with you ladies. I wish you could find a man.
I wish I could too. The Lord said quit you like men. Trust Christ. Stand up and trust
Christ. And don't be swayed with this
evil ungodly world. Now, in that day, God's judgment
is going to make you behold that you indeed are a worm and no
man. But there's something else that's
going to be made known in that day. Here's my second point. He says, I will make a man more
precious than gold. God promises, He says, even a
man is going to be found to be more precious than the golden
wedge of Ophir. You may just see that you and
all sinners like you are no man, but God promises there is a man
which is going to appear to you more precious than gold. You
see, in order for eternal justice to be satisfied, all the wrath
that we hear of mentioned in this Scripture right here, as
horrible as it is, And it's as terrifying as it is to hear of
it. And as much as you might want to put it out of your mind,
I want to hear about it. I want to know about it. I want
to hear this Word and meditate upon what Christ says His judgment
will be. Because this is what Christ my
Savior bore in my room instead. Look with me here in verse 3. I've commanded my sanctified
ones, God said. I've also called my mighty ones
for mine anger, even them that rejoice in mine highness, and
the noise of a multitude in that mountain. Like as of great people,
tumultuous noise, the kings of nations gather together. The
Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from
far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord and the
weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. This
is what Acts 4.27 tells us. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together. They were his sanctified ones
that he called for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. You think the cross of Christ
was an accident? Christ said, I willingly lay
down my life. And God said, and I call my high ones, I call my
sanctified ones, the wrath of my indignation to come in and
pour out fury on my son. Now read verse 6. How ye, for the day of the Lord
is at hand, it shall come as destruction for the Almighty."
When our Lord was preparing to go to the cross, you know what
He said in John 12, verse 31? He said, now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And God said, when I bring this
judgment to pass, it shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
This is judgment. And when our Lord went to that
cross, look here in verse 7, therefore shall all hands be
faint, every man's heart shall melt, they shall be afraid, pangs
and sorrows shall take hold of them. Let me tell you something. This is what those will bear
that come to God outside of Christ. This is what they'll bear. Look
at Psalm 22. Look at Psalm 22. But this is a description of
what our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord. But yet, there's a difference
between Him and them. Look, Psalm 22.1, He cried out,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so
far from helping Me and from the words of My roaring? Do you
know why God forsook God? Do you know why God the Father
forsook the Son of God? Because the sin that His people
are He was made to be for them. And God is of two pure eyes to
behold iniquity. He can't look upon sin. He turned
His back on His own Son. to preserve His holy justice,
His holiness, that He might be just and the justifier of all
who believe. And in the midst of that deepest,
deepest judgment, eternal judgment, Scripture says He offered Himself
through the eternal Spirit to God. And in the midst of that
eternal judgment of God that He was bearing on behalf of His
people, look down at verse 11. the faithful servant, the righteous
servant, the faithful one. There's only one, and it's Christ
the Lord. And here's what He did. Even
in that swelling of that horrible judgment, He said, Be not far
from Me, for trouble is near, for there's none to help. Many
bulls have compassed Me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset
Me round. They gaped upon Me with their
mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I poured out like water.
Oh, my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It's melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a pipe shirt, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and now has brought
me into the dust of death, for dogs have compassed me. the assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet, and I may tell all my bones. They look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them. They cast lights upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength. Haste
thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling, from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's
mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
You know, I don't know how to say this, and I don't know how
to... I keep trying to make the point. I don't know how to get
it across, but somehow, at the same time that
God is upholding His holiness and manifesting His holy who He is in pouring out His
wrath upon His Son. He's also manifesting His faithfulness
in saving His people by His own power and strength. While at
one hand His wrath is being poured out on His Son, on the other
hand His Son is casting Himself on God as the faithful believer. I can't explain that. I don't
know how to enter into that put it to you, but that's what was
happening. Because God brought it to pass. He brought His Son
into the world. His Son went to the cross willingly.
God brought all the enemies there. God took His hand of restraint
off of them and allowed us to nail Him to a cross. And in the
midst of it, God's pouring out His holy justice on His Son and
satisfying the law on behalf of His people. And at the same
time, His Son is praying to God and is truly the one that God
has always looked at Him and the faithfulness of Him and said,
that's you, Scott Keller. That's you, Tony Moody. Him,
His faithfulness, what He's done. That's you. Even in the midst of suffering
on the cross when he's bearing that awful, fierce indignation
of God's holy justice and judgment, he's bearing it in faithfulness. And so God said, I'm well pleased
with him. And he raised him from the dead
because in all of that, he glorified God. I can't do that, and you
can't do that. That's why if we come into this
judgment outside of Christ, that's what we got to bear. And we won't
bear it. We won't satisfy it. Christ satisfied
it. We won't ever satisfy it. We'll
be in eternity suffering the wrath and separation from God
because we can't satisfy justice. But Christ did for His people. He satisfied it. Now, I want
you to look here. In that day, Christ the Light
shall appear as He is before all men. Look down at verse 10. For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light. The sun
shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not
cause her light to shine." Now, I expect that this probably will
happen. I expect that actually the stars
will be darkened. The sun will be dampened just
as it was when he died at Calvary in this day of judgment. But
there's something else here. You know, when I used to play
with friends that lived, I grew up in the country, we didn't
have streetlights, but my friends had streetlights. And I'd be
at their house visiting with them. And I grew up in the country.
So, you know, nine times out of 10, I'd have a spotlight in
my truck. And he had those streetlights that come on when it gets dark.
And we like to get out there and take that spotlight and shine
them on those streetlights. And it makes streetlight go out.
Because it made it look like it was daylight. It makes streetlights
go out. These lights that are mentioned
here, are natural lights, stars and the moon and the sun. When
you come before God trying to boast of some light that's in
you because of something you did, and you're judged in righteousness
by Christ the light, it's going to make your light appear to
be what it is, total darkness, absolute darkness. I think that's
what our Lord meant when He said, If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. In that day
you're going to see it. And in that day the Lord is going
to make a man, Christ Jesus, more precious than fine gold.
His blood, though You might have spent all your life counting
His blood common, saying it was universally shed for all men,
unable to save unless you by your fickle will did something
for the Jesus of your imagination. And that day, He's going to declare
to you that His blood's precious. His blood has saved. His blood
effectually wrought salvation for people. Satisfied justice
and purged them of all their sin. His righteousness. You counted
it a common thing. Common as dirt, so you just tread
upon it like dirt. And that day, you're going to
behold the Lord's righteousness. The garment that He's clothed
His people in is more precious than all the gold in this world.
It's gospel. You could take it or leave it.
Always had something better going on. Some business opportunity
happening. Your church hear the words to
go and hear the words of eternal life. And that day you're going
to behold the word of life. Christ himself. And it's going
to be precious to you that day. I wish I would have went and
listened. His intercession. You didn't think you needed a
priest. You thought you could present yourself before God.
And that day, you're going to behold Him undertaking for all
His saints. And you're going to be standing
all by yourself. And in that day, you're going to behold how
precious an intercessor is. Look at Philippians 2 verse 9. Philippians 2 verse 9. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father." I'll tell you what, this is how foolish
we are. We have a place we can hear the
Word preached, We have brethren that are dependent on us, that
need to be edified and encouraged by us. We have somebody that
can preach the gospel. We have faithful messengers scattered
around the world and the country that we can listen to. We have
God's Word. We have these things that God
has given us. And some fellow come along and
he's, it looks like he's going to do something that's going
to help out your business somehow. or something comes along that
just take us away. I told you the illustration one
time of somebody, I said, won't you all stay and worship with
us tonight? Oh, we got to go, we're going to try to beat that
storm that's coming. Now you just think of that logic,
will you? You see this crease in my hand
right there? Way down in that crease right
there, way, way down in that crease where you can't even see
it, just a microscopic thing down there? That's that storm. And right
there, way down, can you see it? Way down in there, in that
creek. I'm talking about deep, deep
down there in the crease of my hand. And there you are, and there
the world is. You see this line right here?
That's the universe right there. All the planets, the sun and
all the planets. This out here, this is all the
third heaven and all that stuff all out here that men have been
trying for ages to look into and get out there and see. See
all that? Now you're way down in there,
in that crease way down in there. And that's that storm you're
trying to beat back over there to get home because you don't
want to go hear the Word of God, priest, or that business deal's going
to fall through if you don't go and make it happen. It's all
right down there. And that hand's God's hand. And He's holding you and the
universe and the storm and your business deal and everything
that's going on right there in His hand. You just tell, say, I'm going
to go worship God. You want to do business with
me, come with me and worship God, or else wait until I get
finished worshiping God, and we'll do business. I just believe
the God that holds all that in His hand will take that little
fickle fellow, or whatever it is that's standing in your way,
that's become an obstacle to you, that's coming between you
and God, He'll take it and He'll say, get out of the way of my
servant. He wants to worship me. He's
going to worship me. Just get out of his way. That's
the God we serve. That's the God we serve. Now,
for you, brethren, who've cast all your care on Christ, you're
going to behold how precious He is too. Look down at chapter
14, verse 1. For the Lord will have mercy
on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their
own land, and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they
shall cleave to the house of Jacob. Now turn over to Revelation
18. Read this with me. Revelation
18, verse 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven,
and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. A mighty angel took up a stone
like a great millstone and cast it into the sea saying, thus
with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and
shall be found no more at all. Did you hear that now? Like you
pick up a stone and just cast it out into the water. So that's
how that Babylon is going to be cast down. I'm telling you
this God we serve is a mighty God. Now listen. And the voice
of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall
be heard no more at all in thee. No craftsman or whatever craft
he be shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone
shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of a candle
shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom
and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy
merchants were the great men of the earth. For by thy sorceries
were all nations deceived, and in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth. And after these things I heard a great voice of much
people in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Salvation, and glory,
and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous
are his judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." He said, just wait. He said, vengeance is mine. He
said, you just wait. Don't you try to take vengeance.
Just wait. And again they said, Hallelujah!
Her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty
elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that
sat on the throne saying, Amen! Hallelujah! And a voice came
out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants,
and ye that fear Him, both small and great. And I heard, as it
were, the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His
wife hath made herself ready. Now, what's the application here? What's the application here?
Isaiah 55, 6. This is what the Lord said would
happen in the day of judgment. Right now is the day of salvation. Right now is the day of mercy.
Do you believe God? Do you believe that what He says
is going to come past in judgment is going to happen? And do you
believe that this right now is the day of judgment? Here's what
he says, Isaiah 55, 6. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and labor for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, eat ye that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear,
come unto me. Herein your soul shall live.
I'll make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. The Lord says, I have given him
for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the
people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not,
and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of
the Lord thy God, for the Holy One of Israel. For he hath glorified
thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, He'll abundantly
pardon. Well, I believe He will. Don't you? I believe Him. And I believe
that judgment's going to be just as real as He said it is. But
not for those who are found in Christ, because Christ bore it
away. You may have boldness in the
day of judgment, because as He is, how is He? He's seated, resting. How is He? He's at God's right
hand. How is He? He's satisfaction
to God. How is He? Well-pleasing to God. How is He? Triumphant, victorious,
never again tasting death. Sin has no dominion over Him.
He's not under the law anymore. How is He? As He is. So are you. Right here, right
now, where you sit. That's good news. If you need
him, that's good news. If you're sick, that's good news.
I pray he make you sick. I do. I pray he make you sick.
All right.