I had dozens of pages of notes,
but we're just going to read today. We're just going to read
God's Word. We're just going to see what
the Lord says. This is going to be a time for us just to read
His Word. We're going to read a lot of
Scripture, okay? I hope you'll follow along. Matthew
24, this is where we've been studying, and the Lord is telling
His disciples and us, if we are one of His disciples, telling
us when He is coming again. And the things He says, of all
that He says, It takes up quite a bit of time. But there's nothing
good. It's all woe. It's all trouble. It's all wars
and rumors of wars and sorrows and destruction. That's all it
is. Tribulation. These are days of
tribulation. Verse 6 and 7, wars and rumors
of wars. These things must come to pass.
Verse 7, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. You
know, I thought about this. Not just warfare out in the world,
but wars and fighting among us. James talked about from which
comes these wars. The church has always gone through
strife and division. It's going through it now. Sign
of the times. Pestilence, he said, famines,
pestilence, earthquakes in diverse places. Verse 11, many false
prophets shall rise and deceive many. Verse 12, iniquity shall
abound. Verse 15, the abomination. When you see the abomination
of desolation, you know, How often the Lord speaks of abomination,
something being abominable to him. That means utterly odious,
hateful, he detests it, despises it, it's a stench in his nostrils.
It angers him, great anger, abomination. A couple of things come to mind. Religion and homosexuality. And the one is the cause of the
other. We're going to see that in Romans
1. We're going to see that. The divine irony of all of this,
but it's not, for lack of a better word, irony, the timing of it, how current it is, how relative
it is to our day right now, the last day. We're going to look
and see clearly. that theirs are the last of the
last days, how relevant it is. Our court, you know what happened
recently. Our so-called supreme court laid
down the law, made a rule that sodomy, that perversion is okay,
that evil is now good and you must accept it. Well, our Lord
told us. that this is going to happen.
You see, when you see all these things. So we're going to look
and see. We're going to see very clearly.
And it's all the result of religion. It starts with false religion. Verse 24, there arise false Christs
and false prophets. Verse 25, I told you before. I told you. I told you. And He keeps telling us, telling
His disciples in these verses, Verse 42, watch. Verse 44, be
ready. Chapter 25, verse 13, watch,
watch, watch. And I went back and read Ezekiel
33 where he says, people choose out a man to be your watchman. Choose out a man to be your watchman.
Set him on watch and says, if he's a watchman, he's going to
see the sword about to fall and he's going to sound the trumpet
and warn everybody. And if he doesn't do that, the
Lord said, I'm going to require their blood in his hands. So
this is a faithful watchman. Watch, watch. Our Lord keeps
saying, watch, watch. Look at verse 38 here in this
chapter 24. Verse 38, he says, verse 37,
As in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be. In the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving and marrying, till the day that Noah entered
into the ark. In Luke's Gospel, he added the days of Lot there. He said, Likewise, in the days
of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they built it until the day that Lot went out of
Sodom. The Lord took Lot out of Sodom
and then fire fell. Noah and Lot, there's nothing
more relative than now, to that, than these days. And, you know, he said eating
and drinking, marrying and giving marriage. There's nothing wrong
with eating and drinking. The Lord gave us these things
to richly enjoy. I enjoy eating and drinking as
much as the next fellow. Marrying and giving us a happy
time and all that. But Paul wrote in Romans 10 about
the Israelites, the children of Israel, professed people of
God. He wrote a whole chapter warning
us. He said, these things are an
example, giving us an example. Don't be idolaters. That is,
people thought more about eating and drinking than they did God. Let me read it to you. It says,
they sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Now, I like
to play. as much as the next man. But
if this is completely consuming us, and, oh, we've got to worship
God, or draw near with our lips when our hearts are far from
it, thinking about, I don't know if the Lord's pulled
us out of Sodom or not. So that's how serious it is. We're in the last of the last
days, the days of Noah. Let me read this to you. And
you can turn to Romans 1, Romans chapter 1. As in the days of
Noah, this reads like Romans 1. It says, God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination
of his thoughts, the thoughts of his heart, was only evil,
continually. That is, meaning all day long.
All he thought about. Man. It says the earth was filled
with violence. Violence. Blood sports. That's the rage now. I mean,
violence. Everybody goes for it. He says, he looked on the earth
and behold, it was corrupt. All flesh had corrupted his way. God made everything by nature, that is, to act and
work according to nature, naturally, the way it ought to be. This
is the way it was. But as the world became more
and more corrupt, they were without natural affection. And they perverted His way in
everything. And still the way that became
right to me was completely the opposite, the other direction. Romans 1. Romans chapter 1 we're
looking at. Romans 1. Talking about what
the Lord said about the last of the last days. Paul wrote all the way through
the New Testament warning us. Don't sleep as do others. Vanity
fair. We're in the middle of vanity
fair. Warning us. Paul said, let us
not sleep. Literally. Sleep, the sleep of
death, as do others. And you know, prosperity is the
most dangerous time of all. Our Lord said, as in the days
of Noah, they knew not. And woe unto them that are at
ease in Zion. We're okay. We're okay. No, our
Lord said we're not okay. He said weep for yourselves and
for your children. So let our laughter be turned
to mourning. Is it better to go to a house of mourning than
laughter? We've got some people that don't
know the Lord. They don't know the Lord. And
if the Lord comes today, they'll perish forever. Maybe in this room. It really is that serious. While
it is called today, Well, it is called today. You'd
have to be absolutely blind not to see how the whole earth has
corrupted His way. And the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, against
those that hold the truth. This is Romans 1, verse 18. The
wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Revealed, it's clear.
Our Lord said pestilence and famine and drought and war. Didn't He say that? He said all
these things would come. Do they see it? No. Egypt didn't
see the plagues, did it? Flies and frogs and lice and
the river of blood. How clear could it be? They were
blind. But Israel saw this as the hand
of God. God of this world blinded their
mind. We're celebrating the independence of our nation yesterday. Independence. Nothing could be further from
the truth. This nation and the whole world, it's not a divided
world now. It's a one world. Everybody's
the same. There's no separation of continents.
Everybody's just alike. Just alike. And far from being
independent, we've never been under more bondage and in captivity
to the God of this world and sin than now. Never been in more need of this
gospel than now. He said that the righteousness
of God is revealed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness. Verse 18, I'm reading Romans
1, that's all we're going to do this morning is read. Romans
1, verse 18, ungodliness, unrighteousness of men who hold the truth, that
is hold it down in unrighteousness for unrighteous reasons. Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them, clearly
shown to them. God has showed it to them. Invisible
things of Him from creation of the world, clearly seen, understood
by the things that are made, clearly seen. God's marvelous
creation, His eternal power as Creator and Godhead, so that
they were without excuse. But when they knew God, that
is, could clearly see, His hand made these things, glorified
Him not as God, Creator, Owner, Judge, neither were thankful.
No. Came vain in their imagination, thought up all sorts of things.
Their foolish heart was darkened. This is not an age of enlightenment,
this is an age of darkness, great darkness, like in Egypt, darkness
that can be felt. Professing themselves, look at
verse 22, never been more educated, never been more degrees behind
their name. professing themselves to be wise,
never been more experts in so many fields, but God says they're
a fool. Why? A fool has said, no God. There is no God. There is no
God. How foolish can you be? Change the glory. You know, as
I said, I want to preach the truth in love. That's what I'm
preaching. Love to our soul. Love to God's Word. Love to the
truth. Love to our soul and our children
that they hear these things. Because the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. We might flee to our refuge.
Flee to Christ. Get in the ark. This is real. This ain't no fairy tale. This
ain't no cunningly devised fable. This is real. This is the Word
of God. Let God be true in every man and liar. People are listening
to everybody but God. Oh, let us be that way. Teach
these things to our children. Rehearse these things in our
house. So much more as you see the day
approaching, our Lord says. It really is that urgent. It
really is. When you see all these things,
our Lord says, He's at the door. Don't let us be caught up in
Egypt. We're heading out of here. A
lot are coming to get you. Are you vexed? If we're not vexed,
if we feel comfortable here, if we feel right at home here,
is something bad wrong? Strangers, my dad preached this
morning, strangers, pilgrims, sojourners, I don't think Jeremiah ever smiled
much. I don't think Isaiah did. I don't
think Ezekiel did. Jeremiah was a weeping prophet.
I don't think so. Daniel. Nehemiah. Ezra. It's too serious. This is what's going on today.
Changing the glory of the incorruptible God, verse 23, in an image made
like man, so God gave them up. And I'm
not preaching this so that we'll say, look at those bad sinners.
I'm preaching this so that we might See the desperation, the
nearness and the, what's the word, the urgency that we all
might have a burden, not just for ourselves, but for everybody.
A burden. This is the burden of the Word
of the Lord. Something weighing heavy on you. You've got to tell
it. God gave them up. uncleanness through the lust
of their own hearts, dishonor their bodies, verse 24. Change
the truth of God, verse 25, into a lie. Worship and serve the
creature more than the Creator. Oh, boy. So God gave them up
to vile affection. And it goes on to talk about
homosexuality and men burning in their lust toward one another.
That's the first thing it mentions, isn't it? That's no coincidence. that a society is given over
to that. And then verse 29 says, they
began to be filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity,
whispered and backed by haters of God. Who is God? Holy, holy,
holy, just, righteous, lawgiver, Creator, boasters, proud, This
is what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3, of the last days, lovers of
their selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers. God's name
is on everybody's lips. Disobedient to parents. There
is no respect whatsoever for authority or for parents. Unthankful. Nobody is thanking God. Unholy.
Without natural affection. But wait a minute, if you do,
if you do, if you are, if you are thankful, if you do hear
these things, if you do receive these things, if you do know
these things, if you do know this God, thank God, God has
shown mercy to you. They have a form of godliness,
a form of godliness, have a religion. Have a religion, but deny the
power thereof, the sovereignty of God, the power of His gospel,
the power to put away sin, the power of sin and the love of
sin. Deny it. Their lives deny it. Revelation 17. Go over there. Revelation 17. And we just read
how that because they held the truth down in unrighteousness,
that is for unrighteous purposes. Religion
holds the truth down, suppresses it. Remember, our Lord said,
many false prophets will go out. This is the beginning of it. False prophets. False Christ.
and deceive many, change the glory of God, change the truth,
literally change the Bible to read differently, literally change
the Bible. So then God gives the whole society
and the world over. They're in darkness and gives
them over to act like animals. And Revelation 17, verse... Now, remember, our Lord said,
many false Christs and prophets, and said they would worship the
creature more than the Creator there in Romans 1. They worshiped
the creature. Worshiped man. Man's will. Man's works. All of them. Worshiped the creature. The Virgin
Mary. So God gave them over. False
religion is the cause of all this corruption on this earth.
False religion is the cause of it all, all the perversion in
the world. And Roman Catholicism is the
mother of it. She's the mother of it. Now,
I remind you, Rome, the church at Rome, was a true church. We
have the Book of Romans. But that's where it started,
wasn't it? That's where it started. After a while, then that became
corrupt until we've got Roman Catholicism. They took Peter,
you know, made a pope out of him. Right here it is, Rome, verse
1 of chapter 17. There came an angel. Seven vials talked with me, saying,
Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great
whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of
the earth have committed fornication." That is, everybody on earth is
in bed with this great whore, religion, because she has a lot
to offer, riches. and fame and influence and inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. He carried me away into the spirit,
into the wilderness. I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored
beast full of names of blasphemy, names like Mother of God. Names
like the Queen of Heaven. Look at chapter 18, verse 7. Chapter 18, verse 7. How much
she hath glorified herself, lived deliciously. So much torment
and sorrow give her. She saith in her heart, I am
a queen. Go back to chapter 17, verse
4. The woman was arrayed in purple
and scarlet color, pearls and stones, having a golden
cup in her hand and full of abominations. You've seen a little bit. It's
been exposed a little bit of the abominable things that are
happening in Roman Catholicism. This is just the mother of all
false religion. All false man-made, man-worshipping,
free-will, Southern Baptist, Mormon, Episcopalian, Methodist,
Seventh-day Adventist is the same. Worship of man. This is the mother of it. And
you know, they're getting together today. The Anglican Church, England
Church of England, joined with Catholicism years ago. I made
a paper years ago. Verse 5, she has on her forehead
a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. Abominations, abomination. You
know, everything but the worship of Christ is an abomination to
God. Anything man brings to God, like
Cain, is an abomination to him. Anything other than His way,
holiness and righteousness is an abomination to Him. Anything
other than what God says, this is right, this is good, any diversion
from that is an abomination to Him. Substance of His nostrils. And God said, I'm done with this. That's what He said as in the
days of Noah. I'm done with this. I'm through
with it. And John, the angel, verse 6,
John said, and I saw her, I wondered with great admiration, she's
so beautiful, she's so glorious, so magnificent. John even looked
and said, wow. I advise you if you ever go to
a big city of some sort and somebody wants to take you in to see the
Catholic cathedral and all, don't go. Because you'll admire it. Don't go. The Lord said the temple
in Jerusalem had become abominable to Him. And the disciples said,
would you look at this, Lord? He said, it's coming down. It's
an abomination to me. And it's the same with all these
buildings in Protestant religion. It's no different. All these
buildings in Protestant religion. They're making more of the buildings. Than the rock, Christ Jesus.
Than the builder of the house. They make more of the house than
they do the... God didn't build those houses. The house of God doesn't worship
the house. They worship the builder of the house. They worship the
foundation upon which they stand. Where am I? Revelation 18, verse
2 says, he cried, well, verse, chapter 17, verse, Verse 14,
look at this. I'm sorry, verse 13. These all
have one mind. They have one mind. They think
alike. They've given their power and their strength. They've given
their money, their support, their energy, their efforts, everything
to the beast. That's the world. That's the
God of this world. It's completely given to them. They're all of
one mind. They all agree in complete agreement.
And they make war, verse 14, with the Lamb. What's going to happen? The Lamb's going to overcome.
Has overcome. And who's with Him? He's Lord
of lords, King of kings. You don't make Him Lord. That's
what they say. Anybody that says, make Jesus
Lord, he's in bed with the whore. That's false religion. No, He
is Lord of lords. God made Him Lord. King of kings. One time they
were going to make Christ king. Remember? They came and wanted
to make Him king. He wouldn't let them do that.
Why wouldn't He? Because He already is. He doesn't
need that they should testify of Him. He's not going to sit
on David's throne. He left the throne of glory.
They sat on the circle of the earth. They don't know him. This
is our next message. Joseph's brethren didn't know
him. They didn't have a clue who they were standing before. Oh, bless God that he's had mercy
on us and revealed himself unto us and our children. We know Him. The Son of God has
come and given us an understanding. We might know Him as true, true
God, living God. If we're in Him, in the ark,
why are we not going to perish? Why? Christ, one reason. The ark, one reason. Why would our children perish?
If they're in the ark. It's the only reason. I'm not going to get in there
because I want them there. I'm going to get in there because
Christ put them in there. And yet we say, come, come, come,
come, get in the ark. Oh, man, there's people not here
this morning I was hoping would be here. But we're here, aren't
we? We're here. Am I making you uncomfortable? You
know, it's a dangerous thing to make people comfortable that
shouldn't be comfortable. It's a dangerous thing to make
people uncomfortable that should be comfortable. But here's the
thing about it. Just preach the Word, Timothy.
Just preach the Word. And the Word will convict who
I send it to. It will comfort who I send it
to. Tell it. Cry aloud. Spare not. Do it with
tears. Speak the Word. Preach the Word,
the truth in love. If you love somebody, you warn
them. If you don't, you won't. You won't. Right? Chapter 18, verse 3 says, All
nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Verse 4, I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out
of her, my people. Verse 5, Her sins have reached
to heaven. Reached to heaven. Does that
sound familiar? Go with me to Isaiah 1 now. Isaiah 1. And I hope you read it yourself. Some of you did. I spoke with
you. I said we would. Isaiah 1. And if you start reading,
you won't stop. Isaiah 1. This is now. This is
like Romans 1. Isaiah 1. Look at it with me. Verse 4. Ah, sinful nation. People laden with iniquity. Seed
of evildoers. Children of corruptors. Forsaken
the Lord. Provoked the Holy One of Israel
into anger. Gone way backward. Why should
they be stricken? They'll just revolt more and
more. The whole head is sick. The whole heart is spanked. The
sole of the foot under the head, there's no soundness in it. That
means a mind void of judgment, reprobate. Wounds, bruises, that
is stinking, purifying, putrefying, sore, have not been closed or
bound up or mollified with ointment. Verse 8, the daughter of Zion
has a little cottage in the vineyard. That's a church. Just a little
cottage, a little place here and there on the side of a back
road in Fairmont, West Virginia, or Forty West, or a little old
building in Kingsport. Just a little cottage in the
vineyard. But that's where the ark is. A little brown building
where there's a kind of glory of God is seen. It's the only
place that people go. Oh no, that can't be so. It's
always been that way. It's always been that way, verse
9, except the Lord of Hosts had left on us a very small remnant. We would have been like what? Sodom. Look at verse 10. Hear this, ye rulers of Sodom. I wish somehow this would go
on a sermon audio and Barack Obama would hear this. Huh? Manasseh did. When Nasa did,
the Lord gave him repentance. He can. Hear this, you rulers
of Sodom. And he goes on to talk about
their religion. Verse 13, their religion became
a vain oblation. They had gone through the motions,
drawn near with their lips and going to church. And they said,
it's an abomination. There it is again. It's an abomination. Solemn assemblies. He said, away
with it. And then God is so merciful.
God is so gracious. God is so ready to pardon that
He goes, come now, let's reason together. Though you're so vile
and so perverted and so filthy, He said, come, I'll wash you. He said, come, you can't be washed
otherwise. You can't wash yourself. Learn to do well and so on and
so forth. Be willing and obedient. If you
use and rebel, you'll be devoured. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. Oh, the faithful city has become a harlot, verse 21, become
a harlot. It was full of judgment, truth,
righteousness lodged in it. Now it's just murderers, murdering
souls. Chapter 2, verse 2. It shall
come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established on the top of the mountain." He's talking
about Mount Zion, New Jerusalem, the church of the living God.
Though it's a very small remnant, yet it's a mountain. It's a high
place. It's a holy calling. It's a heavenly
calling. And many that sat on the dunghill
have been raised to sit among princes, made kings and priests
in the earth. But it's a very small remnant.
Many shall go and say, come, let's go up to the mountain of
the Lord's house, the house of God. He'll teach us His way.
We'll walk in His path. Oh, out of Zion shall go forth
the law, the Word of the Lord. Oh, verse 5, the house of Jacob.
Come, let's walk in the light of the Lord. I don't want to
walk in darkness anymore. I want to walk in light. Is that
you? Look at verse 7. The land is full of silver and
gold. There's no end of their treasures. It's so rich. Never been a more affluent society
or world. Never been a more affluent world
in the history of the world, ever. Full of treasures. Read on. Their land is full of
horses and chariots. full of idols, the work of their
hands, fingers of maid. The low man boweth down to these
idols. The great man humbleth himself."
That is, they're totally given to these things. Low and high
and low, God is the world and the things of it. Don't give
God a thought that's completely and wholly and totally given
mind, body, soul, and strength to this world and the things
of it. It's supposed to be smart people. Oh, he says in verse
10, enter into the rock, hide in the dust for fear of the Lord,
the glory of His majesty, the lofty looks of man should be
humbled, haughtiness of men. Remember the last day? Proud,
haughty, high-minded. Have you ever been a prouder
generation than right now? Never. Down to our little children. They teach them this. Attitude. Attitude's a good thing. Attitude
is another word for pride. And God says it's abomination. Pride. The Lord alone will be
exalted in that day. The day of the Lord of hosts,
verse 12, is upon everyone that's proud and lofty. Everyone that's
lifted up. Hmm. Verse 16. Well, I've got to go on. Oh, my. That day, verse 20, they're
going to throw their idols of gold and silver to the bats for
fear of the Lord. Our Lord said in Matthew 24,
He said the whole world is going to mourn when I appear for the
morn. God's people are going to shout
glory. And who maketh us to differ? Chapter 3 of Isaiah. I'm going to go on. I told you
we were going to read. If you've never read this before, we're
reading it now. The Lord is going to take away, the Lord of hosts,
take away from Jerusalem Judah the stay and the staff, the stay
of bread. That's famine. Stay of water.
Mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the prudent,
the ancient. Nope, there's none. None there. Won't find them.
Captain of 50, honorable man, counselor, eloquent orator. I'm going to give children to
be their princes. Babes are going to rule over
them. People should be oppressed, every
one of them. Be oppressed. Verse 9, "...the show of their
countenance doth witness against them. They declare their sin
as Sodom." Come out defiantly, proudly. That's what they call
it. Pride. raised their fists, and
in Genesis 18 and 19, before Sodom was destroyed, God said,
their cry has come up to heaven. He said, their sin is very grievous. It's the only thing sin, God
said, was very grievous. Is there one worse than another? No, it just seemed, the Lord
seemed very clearly showing us that it's when people are completely
given over. And they began to not hide it,
but to declare it in the face of God, daring God to do something about
them. Have you ever heard that in the
history of the whole world over? The whole world over. The rulers, evil is good, good
is evil. The show of their countenances.
And he says they've rewarded themselves. Verse 10, say to
the righteous. It's going to be well with him.
You know, I'm worried. I'm worried not about God's people. Not about this world. Not about
what's going to happen to it. Not about tomorrow. I'm not worried
about it. I know who hopes tomorrow. I
know it's all working together for good. But I'm worried about
some that don't know the Lord. I'm very worried. I'm worried
about some that say they do. Oh, but say to the righteous,
it will be well with him. Woe to the wicked, verse 11,
it will be ill with him. Chapter 5, verse 13. My people are gone into captivity.
They have no knowledge. Their honorable men are famished. Honorable men are famished. Over
there it says women rule over them. Chapter 3, verse 12 says
children rule over them and women rule over them. In the days of
the judges, you know why Deborah was a judge? There wasn't a man
of any integrity or wisdom or honor or strength or courage
to be found in all of Jerusalem. There was no king in Israel.
And it was one honorable woman named Deborah and a man named
Barak. That's why. That's why. Chapter 5, verse
13, the honorable men are famished Hell hath enlarged herself, opened
her mouth. This is Isaiah. And people, it
doesn't get any better. It doesn't get any better. If
you've read Isaiah, it doesn't get any better. It's woe, woe,
woe. Yeah, he got to Isaiah 6, and
I was going to read that, but there's no time. Isaiah said,
I saw the Lord, how I lifted up. Holy. How does he describe
the Lord, the true God, the living God? Holy. Holy, holy. And Isaiah said, woe is me. I'm a man of uncleanliness. I
dwell in the midst of a people of uncleanliness. Well, then
he didn't say, well, it's okay. No, no, no, no. It got worse.
He said, the burden of the Word of the Lord to Nineveh, the burden
of the Word of the Lord to Babylon, the burden of the Word of the
Lord to Assyria, the burden, the burden, every chapter, the
burden, the burden. He got to chapter 53 and said,
there's a Savior. There's a Savior. And then it went back to judgment. In wrath, he remembered mercy,
he said. Every prophet is a prophet of
doom and a prophet of salvation. Every prophet is a prophet of
damnation and a prophet of salvation. Every preacher is a prophet of
destruction and a prophet of restoration. It has to be both. The fear of the Lord is beginning
to wear. Except he repents. Repent. Repent. Why will you
die? Christ is dying. So this is the message of every
true preacher. And I close with this in the
book of Judges, and how ironic is this? I've already mentioned
this, the book of Judges. I hope you'll turn. It says this
four times in the book of Judges. Chapter 17, Judges 17, verse
6. I just told you, and if you'll
read the book of Judges, Israel was a mess. It had never been
worse. Judges 17 verse 6 says, In those
days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which
was right in his own eye. You see, because no sovereign
God is preached from the pulpit anymore, except here, there,
little, there, little, smattering of corn, Ezekiel said, like on
the mountaintops, just here, little, there, little. But no
sovereign God, no judge of the universe, no creator who owns
everything and do with his own what he will. He's not preached
today, so nobody's got it. They don't have anybody to answer
to. There's no law. This is not God's Word. It's
the words of men. That's Paul's Word, just a bigoted
bachelor that hated women. Not God. Take it or leave it. We'll just pick what we want.
Like Thomas Jefferson, we'll cut out the rest of it. Jehoiakim,
we'll cut out what we don't like and take what we will. And that's
the God we'll make up. That's now. Never been more so
than now. No God. Where is the Lord God
of Elijah? That's what Elisha said. Give
me a double portion, Elijah said. Give me a double portion of that
God who… Elijah stood on Mount Carmel and said, how long do
you hold between two opinions? If God's God hits your knees, it's a God who answers by fire.
Who's God? The God who answers by fire. Remember Manoah? Remember Gideon? Remember Elijah? Christ on the
cross, killing. God poured fire on His Son when
He saw sin on Him. That's the God of the Bible.
Unless we're found in Him, us and our children, fire is going
to fall on our heads. Oh, preacher. And they laughed
at him. They laughed at him. No one did.
They laughed at him. They laughed a lot. Fire is going
to fall. He ain't nothing but an old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone
preacher. Who preached that? Jesus Christ. Judges 18, verse 1, In those
days there was no king in Israel. Judges 19, verse 1, It came to
pass in those days there was no king in Israel. Chapter 21,
the very last verse tells us, The very last verse, in those
days, verse 25, there was no king in Israel. Every man did
that which was right in his own eyes. And there is a way that
seemeth right. And God said it's an abomination. Everybody can agree that God
says it's an abomination. And everybody can say, oh, it's
alright, no harm shall befall you, but God said it's going
to end in destruction. But God, who's rich in mercy, says, I've prepared an ark. Get in it. Get in it. Bring you and your children into
it. Tell them just how desperate it is. Christ said, at a time
when you think not, The time when you see all these things.
No, He's right at the door. And people listen to this. The
irony of it, the timing of it, and the very last verse of Judges. The Old King of Israel. The next
book. You know what the next book is? Ruth. The story of a little Moab
woman named Ruth. She's going to have a baby. He's
going to have a baby. And the next one is the coming
King of Israel. In just a few short years, the King
is coming. How ironic is that? And maybe one of our children,
maybe one of our young ladies is going to have that last elect
child. It's going to happen. The last
elect child is going to be born. The last one, the last turtle
is going to be brought into the ark. The last sheep is going
to be brought into the ark. That's it. That's it. The holy coming. And every hour shall be holy.
God's people will shout. There's going to be another trumpet
sounding. Jubilee! Jubilee! Free at last. They say this. Free at last.
Free at last. Thank God Almighty. Free at last.
Nothing could be further from the truth to men and women on
earth. But he that blesseth himself
in the earth, blesseth himself, Isaiah said, in the God of truth. We're all going to say then,
aren't we, free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty. Free at last as we ascend into
the heaven. coming to the art. Okay.