Join me if you wouldn't in your
Bibles the book of Revelation tonight like to say a few more
things about that fifth seal and some generalizations about
the book of Revelation if you've heard anything I Guess anything out of The grace
movement you've heard this book Portrayed as a real scary book
I was doing some thinking about that this past week. The Lord
Jesus did exactly the opposite of that. He never tried to scare
His disciples. He never tried to create fear
in them. He never tried to do any of those things that preachers
do with the book of Revelation. In fact, He made every effort
to comfort His disciples. I don't know how many times so
far in the book of Matthew and Mark, the Lord Jesus shared with
his disciples his agenda about going to Jerusalem. Now, they
didn't understand it. We find that. They didn't understand
the agenda, but that doesn't mean he didn't stop telling them.
He told them and told them and told them what was going to happen.
And we just realize, as we look at them not understanding that
agenda, Everything that's spiritual has to be revealed and if he
wasn't pleased to reveal it at that time He's just indicating
that to them that you are you know, you're human and you're
not going to come to the right conclusion on your own and this
has to be revealed, but it doesn't mean that he didn't tell them
what was going to happen in Jerusalem and there in the latter part
of the book of Mark he shared with his disciples, that they
would all flee from him, that the scriptures might be fulfilled,
that you strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered."
Now, God, through his Son, never attempted
to create fear in any of his children. And that's particularly about
the book of Revelation. It's not a book about fear, it's
a book of comfort. But would you look with me at
three or four verses of scripture on this subject that the Lord
spent a lot of time through his prophets sharing with them the
word and never once was he trying to create fear among his disciples. He wanted them comforted. He
wanted them encouraged. He wanted them lifted up. He
wanted them built up in the most holy faith. And that's what he's
still doing. He is building his people up.
He is encouraging his people. He's lifting them up. He's reminding
us that we're sitting in the heavenlies at present. So turn
with me, if you would, to the book of 1 John, 1 John chapter
4, as we share just a few things about this book in general. And we're going to get to some
things, and I'll be the first to admit, I don't understand
some of the things that lie ahead of us. But I do understand who
this book is about and I understand who it's not writing about and
what it's not writing about. He is never going to use this
book to try to create fear in God's people. He'll never use
this book to create fear in you or I. That's not his purpose. His purpose is, as he shared
through his prophet, Comfort ye my people, saith the Lord.
And he goes on to share that the war is over because the sacrifice
has been made And perfect redemption has been had. So, it's a comfort
to read through here. Alright, 1 John chapter 4. 1
John chapter 4 and verse 18. It is shared here, there is no fear
in love. But perfect love casteth out
fear. And if we've ever been loved
perfectly, it's been, we've been loved by the Lord. His love is
a perfect love. It's not a rising and falling
love. It's not an up and down love. It's not a human love.
It's a perfect love. And he said, His perfect love
casteth out fear. So it's the fear of the things
that are in here. If we're looking at it that way,
we're looking at it incorrectly. And we ask God to show us the
truth about it, but we can back up. I know that you're not trying
to create fear in me. You're not trying to create fear
about what's going to happen to this world, because all of
God's people have overcome the world. That's his clear and personal
promise. All right, there in 1 John 4,
verse 18, it says, There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. I don't know about
you, but most of the time when I heard about the book of Revelation, it was bringing psychological
words trying to make converts. That's what the book of Revelation
is generally used at. Trying to get people to make
a decision for the Lord will scare them into heaven. And that's
not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is to comfort
God's people. That every predicament, every
situation, it looks like there's big trouble, but every time,
the Lord is the victor in it. And that's comfort to His people.
It is a comfortable thing to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus. It goes on to say, He that feareth
is not made perfect in love. Now I'm just going to look at
the book of Revelation. He that fears these situations, He that
fears these things, he that fears these verses, there's an issue
that needs to be dealt with. And God help us to deal with
those issues if we have fear about it. Now we're either looking
at it incorrectly, or the Lord has not taken away our fear.
And God help us to look at it correctly. Alright, in the book
of Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8 and verse 15, In Romans 8,
verse 15, the scriptures, For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage. Now, I like that verse of scripture. And it's such a comfort to God's
people, and particularly when we're reading things that are
difficult to be understood. When we're reading the book of
Revelation, and it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, but He would
be the first to share with us He is beyond complete understanding
as far as heaven is above the earth are his ways above our
ways and his thoughts above our thoughts But even as it shares
here in Romans chapter 8 and verse 15 For you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption whereby you cry Abba Father So the Lord Jesus
is speaking to the Apostle Paul. He says you've not been given
the spirit of fear If this is the issue, there's a problem.
Now, I can understand Judas being fearful. I can understand him being fearful.
And when he betrayed the Lord Jesus and saw the consequences
of that, he was afraid. He was fearful. And the only
sorry that he ever expressed was he's sorry he got caught.
That's the sorrow that he expressed. Peter wept too. But it was a weeping of desire. I mean, I'm sorry. But he didn't go out and do what
Judas did. He was sorry for what he had said and what he had done.
And he swore that he didn't know the Lord Jesus. But he didn't
have this fear. Judas, I can understand him completely.
Man, he should be afraid. The Lord spoke to him and said,
The Son of Man goeth as it was determined, but woe unto him
by whom he is betrayed. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. But God's people have already
fallen into the hands of the living God in their Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He casts out fear. When we get to the book of Revelation,
as we move on through that book, I just want to keep in my mind
at least, this is not a book of fear, it's not a book to create
fear, it's not a book to push anybody into an area or a thought
or a principle or a place that he doesn't move through his spirit.
Alright, and then if you'd look with me in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy,
in preparation for the Lord's death as I shared, he shared
with his disciples step-by-step what lay ahead, even though they
didn't understand and didn't comprehend all that he was doing. And it wasn't until after his
resurrection that they understood what went on. It was put together
for them by the Holy Spirit. And I've had preachers get after
those disciples and get after Peter and get after the disciples
again about their unbelief. We are no different than they
are. We are no different than they
were that many hundreds or two thousand years ago. And we need
the Holy Spirit to reveal unto us the blessings of the resurrection,
the blessings of the crucifixion, the blessings of the covenant
of grace, or we'll walk out and not even understand that. And
to say, boy, they're fools. They should have believed this.
Well, when the Lord revealed it to them, they believed it
to the death. They were willing to be martyred as a result of
their belief in the Lord Jesus, was when they understood it.
Now, they didn't understand it, and it's the human nature not
to understand it, and it's even a saved person's nature not to
understand it until it's revealed. And once it's revealed, it cannot
be taken away. It will not be changed. We'll
not have the Scriptures being turned by every wind of doctrine
that comes along. It steadies God's people to have
the truth revealed unto them. They become pointed towards heaven. Now, we've spoken some about
backsliding. Mike and I were talking about
that last night, backsliding. If you have a cow and you have
a very good rope on that cow, and a very good halter on that
cow, and you've got that rope wrapped around your bumper, and
it's on a slippery place, and she backslides, that means she's
sliding downhill. But it doesn't mean she's turning
her head around, because she is tied to that bumper. Now,
we may slip and slide, but we're tied to Christ. We cannot turn
around. And the people that this doctrine
was created for have turned around. Why? Because they never were
facing that direction to begin with. Backsliding is not the
term to use for them. The term to use for them is,
and on with joy they received it, and when things got tough
they left. That's what the scriptures talk
about them. But backsliding means I slipped and fell, but I still
had that tough, rigorous love of Jesus Christ and God attached
to me and He will not let me turn from Him. My knees may go
out from under me. My feet may slide out from under
me. Though I fall, I will not utterly cast out. I'm attached
to the bumper. I'm attached to the solid rock. I'm bound to Him. And so, we
may slip and we may fall and we may have lack of faith. But
it's not our faith, it's his faith that's making the progress.
Our faith falls and falters and sinks and everything else, but
his faith does not. And that's what we look at when
we look at the book of Revelation. It's his faith that's carrying
us through. We may question, but his faith
does not. Alright, now notice here in 2
Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7, for
God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of
love, and I like this last part, a sound mind, sound spiritual
mind, thinking on, comprehending, believing the word of God. Now our spirit believes every
word of it with confidence. That inner man, that new man,
that new creation has no question about anything that's found in
the Word of God. Yea and Amen. That's what it
says. This old flesh, it may falter
and it may have questions, but that part that God leaves within
us believes God with every bit. That's the part that believes
with the whole heart, the whole mind, the whole The whole demand
of God is that part. And that's our down payment on
eternal life. It's that part that God's deposited
in us with His Spirit. He's created a new life and left
His Spirit in us. So He's not given us a spirit
of fear, but a power and love and a sound mind. And if a passage
of Scripture creates fear, if a book of Scripture creates fear,
then we're not looking at Christ, and we're not seeing Christ.
And we need to get back to the first love and to the first person
and to the first one. And I'm not to say that the Lord
isn't working on someone that comes to that conclusion. You
know, this is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. Talk to the Lord Jesus Christ about that. He found
out what it was to fall into the hands of the living God.
He found out what it was to face the fire of our judgment and
the justice of God. It is a fearful thing. And even
there in the Garden of Gethsemane, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine, be done. So the Lord Jesus felt the fire
of the justice and judgment of God. And then Hebrews chapter
12, would you turn there with me? I just wanted to make some
general statements about this book of Revelation before we
get into it again here in the sixth chapter. But the book of
Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, it's not giving us the spirit
of fear. It's not giving us the spirit
of love and power and a sound mind. It's not in the believer
to have this fear about God's Word. Now, here in Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 28, Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Now that's the
kind of fear God puts in us. That's a godly respect. Godly
respect. He's not my co-pilot. He's my Lord. And it's a misnomer to say he's
my co-pilot. He better be my pilot. We're
along for the ride. He isn't. He's our pilot. Jesus, Savior,
pilot, me. He's the pilot. So it's, there's
this, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.
And I'm just thankful that God enables God's people to serve
acceptably in Christ. It's taken all of the fear out. It's taken all of the work out.
We don't want to get lazy, but we want to rest. Rest in His
work. Rest in His work. Rest in His
righteousness. Rest in His regeneration. Rest
in His righteousness. Rest in His peace. Rest in Him. All right, let's go over to the
book of Revelation, chapter 6. I like to read verses 9, 10,
and 11. Again, we looked at some of the
thoughts here, and I'm convinced more than ever that the Holy
Spirit has to kill us before He'll make us alive. He has to
get rid of our old righteousness. In the next chapter, we'll read
a verse, I believe it is. It talks about these are those
who have gone through great tribulation. And oh, all the stuff you can
read about great tribulation and the great tribulation. You
know what the greatest tribulation a believer ever has to go through? The greatest tribulation a believer
ever has to go through is when they realize that their religion
and righteousness is nothing. Oh man, we tribulate. We stand
before God naked. We're standing before Him with
whom we have to do. And He's got the scepter in His
hand. And as the old preacher said, we're on a web hanging
over hell at the mercy of God. There's no greater tribulation
in a person's life than when God shows them that their works
and their righteousness and their religion and everything they
have tied themselves to is valueless. And these are they that came
through great tribulation. What's that mean? They've been
born again out of it. God gave them peace out of great
tribulation. Now, it doesn't mean that we're
not going to have trouble in this world. It doesn't mean that
a lot of saints didn't get killed, burnt, everything else. I'm not
saying that. And it's still going on, and
it will still go on, and we don't know what will happen to our
generation. We'll have no idea. Don't know what's going to happen
to Dan's generation, and we don't know what's going to happen to
those ladies' generation over there. We just don't know. But, I pray to God that he'll
put everybody, our friends, our family, our acquaintances, through
great tribulation. Cause them to see they're naked
before God, and they'll tribulate. And they'll bow. And that's a
great tribulation. Great tribulation. Now, you just
tell people, believers in Russia, that they're not going through
tribulation. They are right now. around the
world. It's just amazing how God's people
are treated, and for no reason, because they're just not out
to hurt anybody. But that's the way it is. But
these who have gone in their way washed, they washed themselves
in the blood of Christ. Alright, Revelation chapter 6.
Verse 9, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God
and for the testimony which they held. Now they held a testimony,
but that testimony was the testimony of Christ. That's what we hold. We hold our testimony. We hold
His testimony. Who do you say that I am? Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Where did we get
that testimony? Colossian blood did not reveal
this unto you, but my father, which is in heaven. It's his
testimony about Christ that we hold. Now our testimony isn't
worth a flip, but his testimony is he is the Christ, the son
of the living God. And God's people hold to that
tenaciously. The apostle Peter, he was a rep,
I believe he's a representation of the church. when he said things
like that. Because every believer in Christ
Jesus will have that testimony and will testify that testimony. What did the Ethiopian eunuch
say? He says, here's water, what does
hinder mean? Philip said, if thou believest thou mayest. He
says, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Alright, let's
get dipped. Alright, that's his testimony.
Verse 10, And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long,
O Lord? How long, O Lord? How long? We say it today. Lord, how long
are you going to put up with this? How long are you going to put
up with this? It's a bigger mess now than it was. How long are
you going to put up with this? And I don't know about you, but
heaven is just getting sweeter. It's looking better all the time.
We don't have to prove depravity. My goodness, men are doing that
for us. All around us, they're just proving
they're just depraved by their actions, their deeds, their words,
their thoughts, what's printed in the newspaper for them and
against them. They're demonstrating. We don't
have to prove depravity one whit. Can't do it anyway. We just declare
it. And it's just being proved all the way around us. And God's
people are saying, Lord, how long are you going to put up
with this? How long? And that's what these people
are doing. How long are you going to put up with this? Well, the
answer is, and the Lord brings it out here, He says, How long,
Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto
every one of them. I like that. Not one is left
out. Talk about getting rid of this
reward system and work system. White robes are given to every
one of them. And you know what? They're identical. They're identical. And if you look at the name in
the back, it's not Fruit of the Loom, it's the Fruit of Christ.
That's what the title is. It's the Fruit of Christ. We're
the Fruit of Christ. And we have identical, shiny,
righteous robes. the righteousness of Christ.
Christ in us, the hope of glory. Every one of them. Now there
seems to be, in this passage of scripture too, the thought
of a robe that demonstrates the glory that we have with Him for
eternity. But that white robe, the righteousness
of Christ, we read about that in the book of Isaiah. It goes
on to tell us here, it says every one of them Were on every one
of them white robes. It was said unto them that they
should rest for a little season until Their fellow servants also
in their brethren that should be killed as they were should
be fulfilled All the elect are not saved I Don't know how many times I've
read in a Not so much in Genesis, but Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy. God giving us an insight about
himself on how many times he said he was going to put away
Israel and start up another nation. Why did he keep them? Now, we
know one thing, that he had a covenant. The second thing is, he destroyed
them. There's the line of the Messiah. gone. He had a covenant but he had
special interest in keeping them intact. He may send them off
to Babylon and he may kill an entire three or four generations
out there in the wilderness because it says they all died in unbelief
but they came into the land and they had their children and they
had their kings And you can follow this through the book of Matthew
and the book of Luke. Here's the line of the Messiah. We've got to have Rahab in there.
We've got to have Bathsheba in there. We've got these, this
line has to be made. So he protected them as a hen
to protect her chicks because his son was going to be born
through this line. He had a covenant, but he had
special interests too. Now the elect. Not all of them
are saved. And that's the only reason in
this world and heaven that this has not been wrapped up. The only reason. Now we don't
know what generation that last one is going to be. That's not
our business. That's one area among many thousands. My ways
are not your ways as far as heaven is above the earth is my ways
above your ways There's an area now. Let's look at At this for
just a moment 2nd Peter chapter 3 2nd Peter chapter 3 the Lord
gives us some insight in the scriptures about this wonderful
subject That these the saints in heaven in their spirit form
It's their spirit form their bodies are still on the earth.
I Their bodies were gone back to the dust. Whatever consequence
they went through to enter into glory, whatever door of death
they passed through, their bodies were here, buddy, in heaven.
They are recognizable. They recognize the Lord Jesus.
They recognize their white robes. There is an attitude about them
in heaven that is almost like we are in the sense of their
knowledge, greater than our knowledge, but they're not just up there
stuck under an altar asleep. They're cognizant of the things
that are going on in glory, and they praise God. All right, now
here in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the Scriptures share this. 2 Peter
3, and if I said Timothy, I'm wrong. Good book. 2 Peter. Did I say Timothy? Doesn't matter. It is 2 Peter. Chapter 3, verse 9. The Lord
is not slack. Now, they're subject for a lot
of lessons right there. The Lord is not slack. The Lord is not slack. He's trustable. He's not going to renege. He's
trustable. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but all should come to repentance. Now, he has a lot on the line.
He chose a people before the foundation of the world. He gave
that people to the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus died for them
on the cross. He said he came not to be ministered
unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He laid down his life a ransom
for many and the Holy Spirit is about Finding those lost sheep
and regenerating them after they've heard the gospel now he's not
slack concerning his promise and He's long-suffering and he's
long-suffering to the us word He's long-suffering to the church.
He's long-suffering to the sheep of his pasture. He's long-suffering
Not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance
in that verse 15 of that same chapter that the account of and
account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation even
as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given
unto him hath written unto you the long-suffering of our Lord
is salvation now there was a song out 35 years ago I guess and
at the time it was a little catchy but after you're saved you say
that's just terribly unscriptural wait a little longer sweet Jesus
It's a country-western song, and Buck Owens used to sing it.
And he was on hee-haw. And he'd sing it on hee-haws
as the hymn of the hour or whatever. Wait a little longer, sweet Jesus.
No, no, no, no. That's not what God's people.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. That's the prayer of the church.
And that's the prayer of these saints under the throne, under
the altar. And the Lord Jesus Christ says,
The only reason that I haven't wrapped it up is there's some
lost sheep yet to be saved. And if I'd have done this in
your generation, you wouldn't be here. If I'd have done this
in the generation before you, your parents or whatever part
of that generation. So he has a timetable and he's
keeping his timetable and he has a date. When the last sheep
will meet the gospel and the Holy Spirit will be there to
regenerate that one. And when that happens, it doesn't
matter whether they have 10 temples in Israel. That's when the end comes. The
long suffering of the Lord and salvation. Turn with me, if you
would, back to the book of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34 and verse 6
Exodus 34 and verse 6 It says, The Lord passed by before him
and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will not by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children,
upon the third and fourth generation. long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth. And then in the psalm, Psalm
86. Psalm 86. In that verse over there we just
read, we see the consequences of Adam's sin unto the third
and the fourth generation. He lives so long. Rose has seen
the fourth generation. She's seen the consequences of
the fall to the third and to the fourth generation. No, I've
seen it to the third. Some have seen it to the second. And some have seen it in the
first. Right here. I've seen the consequences of
my father's fall to the third and the fourth generation. And you know what? It's getting
better. No, it's getting better. Here in Psalm 86. Psalm 86 verse
15. Psalm 86 verse 15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."
It's long-suffering to us. We're not willing that any should
perish. Now, let me just say this about
that verse. It's used by people out of context. If God wants something done,
does it happen? Yeah. If God wants something
done, now He's willing that nobody perishes, who's going to perish? Nobody. It's universal salvation. If we look at that verse from
that standpoint, it's universal salvation. God's willing, no
one perishes, and if He's willing, He wants something, it's going
to happen. If He wants something and it's
not going to happen, He's not God. He's not God. He's the peanut
God of religion, but He's not God. So, the us-word in there
is the key. Not willing that any of the us-word,
any of the sheep should perish. The Lord Jesus said, I'll lose
none of them. He's got a lot on the line, and
He will fulfill His word. Alright, over here, Psalm 86
verse 15, we read that. Turn with me to the Romans chapter
9 now. Romans chapter 9. What a wonderful
passage of scripture this book of Romans is, and particularly
the 9th chapter. It's just there to answer a lot
of our questions. I got a question, Lord. Alright,
read Romans 9. You'll get the answer to it right
there. Now if you're one of mine, you won't kick against it. And
if you're not one of mine, you're going to have a problem with
this. Just a real identification mark. Boy. The account of someone stole
something in a Bedouin camp. And so this wise patriarch, he
said, I'm going to find out who did that. So he put some perfume
on his camel's tail and he told the men that were suspected.
He says, you go around there and you grab that camel's tail,
and that camel's going to tell me who stole this article. Well, they went around. Nine
or 10 of them went around and came back. And he says, all right,
hold your hands out. Nine of them smelled perfume,
and one of them didn't. He says, I got my culprit now. Man's afraid. pulled a camel
because he's afraid that camel is going to tell him who did
it, he identified himself. And people identify themselves
that they're against God when they read this and have a fit
about it. They don't want that sweet perfume
on them. Notice here, it just answers a lot of questions. What
do you mean your purpose? Well, my purpose is to save my
people. Well, what do you mean by that? Well, Jacob have I loved thee,
so have I hated. Oh, that means love less. No,
it doesn't. And then a person that believes
the gospel says, you know, I understand that. I understand God hating
everybody. I can understand that. God hates
sin. I can't understand how He could ever love me. That's why
I can't understand. I don't understand God hating
people. I can't understand how He could
love anybody. That's a pretty good indication. Something's
happened. Notice Romans 9, verse 22. What if God, willing to show
His wrath, and to make his power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto
glory. Even us, oh my goodness, even
us whom he hath called Not of the Jews only, but also of the
Gentiles. What if God permitted this so
that he could show glory to even us? Man, I about fell out of
my chair. That was just so sweet. Even
us. Even us. Now, one other verse
over here in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12, and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord
who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting
me in the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer and
a persecutor and injurious? But I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord Jesus
of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is
in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. How be it for this cause
I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which hereafter believe
on him to life everlasting." I'm a pattern. I am a pattern. I'm a picture. Peter was a picture. Paul is
a picture. A picture of every believer,
corrupt to the core, worked on by God and called to be saints. What a joy! I'm a pattern! Now no wonder he can say this,
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! If he can take me,
in that corrupt, undone, third and fourth generation fallen
critter of Adam, and make me a child of God, Let me be a pattern
of what God can do. I can declare, I was a rotten
guy. And now, I'll die for Him. Indeed. Alright. 1 Peter, again. We were in 2 Peter. Turn with me to 1 Peter. This
is about Noah. This is about Noah. 1 Peter chapter
3 verse 18. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18. For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison." I just read a commentary this
afternoon that said he went down to hell and preached to a whole
bunch of lost people trying to get him out of there, and that's
a lie. Man, that commentary, I've got to throw that away.
That's garbage. He didn't go there to preach.
I don't know what he did, but he didn't go to hell trying to
get a bunch of people out of there. They're there justly. He never
died for them. That's just another lie. Verse 20, Which sometime was
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited on the days of
Noah while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls,
were saved by water. He was longsuffering for how
many years? Years and years and years and
years and years he was long-suffering until that ark was finished. And then Methuselah died. And
Methuselah's name says, when I am gone it will come. I think
he died the day the rain started. He's long-suffering for eight put off the destruction of this
earth. But those eight souls were glad. Those eight souls
were glad. Alright, and then would you turn
with me over to the book of Revelation chapter 7. I'm jumping ahead
but this has something to say about those white robes. Revelation
chapter 7 and with this we'll close. Revelation chapter 7 verse
9 They were given white robes, every one of them. Here's another
group, another statement about that. 144,000, 12,000 out of
every tribe. What's that mean? That means
the whole collect number of the church. It's a number that represents
all the church. In another place, that number
of 144,000 is termed this way. A number which no man could number.
I mean, it's just a statement about this is the entire collective
body of Christ. 12,000 out of every kindred,
nation, people, and tongue. Now notice here, verse 9, After
this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice in salvation
to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and upon the Lamb,
and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round
about the throne, and about the elders and four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen,
blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one
of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these that
are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And he said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest." You know about it. Let's hear
it. And he said, These are they which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. God got a hold of them and jerked
them every way but loose. He put them through the greatest
tribulation they'd ever had. Complacency is where we are. And he comes with the gospel
and upsets everyone. The greatest, greatest, oh, tribulation
is when He pulls us out of our religion. And they wash their
robes in the blood of the Lamb and cleanse from all sin. And that's those saints up in
glory that are rooting us on. There in Hebrews chapter Twelve,
a great cloud of witness. That's what's rooting us on.
We're here by grace. You're there by grace. You'll
be here by grace soon. All right, we're going to close
there.