Now let's look back at Daniel
chapter 5. As I stated in the message before
this on this chapter, Daniel chapter 5, this chapter is a
story of a man, Belshazzar. His name is, as you see in verse
1 of Daniel chapter 5, Belshazzar. A man who was lifted up with
human pride, self-righteousness, self-worth, self-fulfillment. Everything was the I-me-my syndrome
in Belshazzar. He was the king. He was a co-regent,
actually, with the true king of Babylon, Nabonidus, who was
his father. And you saw there how he made
a great feast to a thousand of his lords. He drank wine before
the thousand. You remember we read there in
Jeremiah 51 where God said, I'll make her princes drunk. That's
exactly what was happening here in Daniel chapter 5. And he became
so lifted up with pride that he expressed his utter contempt
and hatred for the Lord God of Israel. the Lord God of Daniel,
the Lord God who brought his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar to
his knees, as recorded back in chapter 4, and it says in verse
2, Belshazzar, whilst he tasted the wine, commanded to bring
the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar
had taken out of the temple. That's the great temple of Jerusalem,
the temple of Solomon. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed that
temple and he took those vessels Those instruments that were used
for the worship and the service of God by the priesthood. Those
holy vessels, those separated vessels that were to be used,
that were made and marked out to be used for one purpose, and
that is for the worship of God, the service of God. Those things
that represented and symbolized in type and picture in some way
the glory of God in the glorious person and finished work of Christ.
And this is what Belshazzar is doing. He's saying, the God that
brought my grandfather Nebuchadnezzar down, he can't bring me down.
And so he took those vessels that were taken out of the temple
in Jerusalem that the king and his prince, his wives, and his
concubines might drink there, and he used them for unholy purposes. So there's the story of a man
who was lifted up with pride. Typical of all men and women
by nature. Typical of me. Typical of you,
for what are we but sinners, full of pride, full of self,
in our very nature, human nature, fallen human nature. Lifted up
with our father Adam, for when he sinned, we sinned. We all
think we deserve or have earned in some way blessings from God,
even salvation. But the only thing we've earned
is death. So this is a story of a fallen, ruined man, all
fallen, ruined men. And then this story teaches us
how all men will be brought to account. There is a day of judgment. There is a day of reckoning.
Mark it down. I believe that this is really
the main reason that some people will fool themselves and reason
themselves into what they call atheism. It's not because they
necessarily don't have any sense that there is a God, but they
don't want to be held accountable. Man by nature does not want to
be held accountable. We want excuses, that's what
we want. We want mercy without justice,
that's what we want. But there is a day of reckoning.
It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, what?
The judgment. And all men must appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. So, the question is, we see how
Belshazzar stood on that day of his judgment in this particular
portion of history with the handwriting on the wall. He was weighed in
the balance and found wanting. The question that we need to
consider when we read things like this is this, how will I
stand in that day. When I'm weighed in the balance,
the scale of God's judgment, how will I be found? Will I be
found wanting? And this story here is a story
of a standard. There is a standard of all righteousness
and sin and this is one of the most important things we're going
to get out of this right here. This issue of righteousness and
sin. People by nature don't even really
know what righteousness and sin are. They think of righteousness
as something we do, or sin as something we don't do, or some
kind of a substance, but that's not it. It's a standard by which
God judges all things. It was represented in the Garden
of Eden, in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was God's
symbol of His sovereign authority to set the standard of good and
evil. Everything is to be measured
by God, not by man, not as we compare to one another, but as
we compare to God. And that standard is set forth
and revealed in this glorious perfection in the person and
work of Christ. And I quoted a verse that I quote
quite often, Acts 17 and verse 31, where it says, God will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
in that he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. God's standard, that's the issue
now. Not my standard, not your standard, not a denominational
standard, but God's standard. Now this is also the story of
the fall of a nation. Now look over at Daniel 5 and
verse 30, the last two verses. We read these, but I didn't go
into them very much, but we're gonna jump across the ages tonight. And I wanna show you something.
This'll help you in your study of the scripture and show you
how the Old Testament and the New Testament are so well connected. with the red line or the red
thread of Christ and him crucified and all that he accomplished.
But it says there in verse 30, in that night, this same night
where Belshazzar was having this drunken party in which he showed
his utter contempt for the glory of the one true and living God,
in that same night, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, was
slain. He was killed. And Darius, the
Median, that's one of the leaders of the Medes and the Persians,
remember when Daniel saw the vision, when Nebuchadnezzar had
the dream of the statue in Daniel chapter 2, the head was gold,
that was Babylon, and then that was going to come down, the next
one with the shoulders and the chest of silver, that was the
kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, that was the second
great empire. Well, here's where it changes hands, right here.
Two verses. is all Daniel gives it. And Darius
the Median, or of the Medes, took the kingdom, and when he
did it he was about three score and two years old. In other words,
Darius was about 62 years old when he did this. So it's a story
of the fall of a nation, Babylon. At the very night that this drunken
party was going on, Babylon had been under siege by the Medes
and the Persians. They were surrounded and being
attacked. But Belshazzar, he was so lifted
up in his pride and his self-confidence that he thought this city is
invincible. He had confidence in himself.
He had confidence in his army. Somebody, one of the historians
in this era said that Babylon probably had a storage of food
enough to last them 20 years. I don't know if that's true or
not, but they had confidence in their stores of food. But
you know where their main confidence was in Babylon? It was in a river. The Euphrates River. You ever
heard of the Euphrates River? The Euphrates River ran right
through the center of the city. That river did. And that river,
you know, water was such a precious commodity in that land, that
dry desert land. You think about how glorious
and how safe and how prosperous a city would be that had a river
running right through the middle of it. Think about, you remember
we talked about Babylon. You think about Babylon. Most
people in history, when they think about Babylon, they think
about the hanging gardens of Babylon. one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world, that was watered by the river Euphrates.
As long as that river flowed, they had water and they could
survive. Yet on this night, Babylon was
destroyed. Now Babylon's fall had been prophesied. Isaiah prophesied of it. We don't
have time to go into all those scriptures. But Jeremiah prophesied
of it. We read that in Jeremiah 51,
but he did it in other passages too. I'll show you some of them. Daniel prophesied of it in Daniel
chapter 2 when he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He said,
here's the first great empire, Babylon, but there's coming another.
It's going to take over the Medes and the Persians. And then after
that, it's going to be the Greek empire. And then after that,
the Roman empire. All connected in some way with
a relationship with Israel and Judah and the people of God.
Think about this. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 44
with me. Listen to what Isaiah says. Isaiah chapter 44 and look at
verse 27. Now, in these chapters, Isaiah
is predicting the fall of Babylon. And listen to what he says. He
says in verse 27 of chapter 44, he says, "...that saith to the
deep," that's talking about what God's going to say, God who brings
forth this judgment, "...God saith to the deep, Be dry, I
will dry up thy rivers." Now, how do you connect that with
the river Euphrates in Babylon? Well, look at verse 28. It says,
that saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all
my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built, and to the
temple thy foundation shall be laid. Cyrus was the king of the
Persians. He was in control during this
time back here in Daniel chapter 5. And it was he who really set
them all free. He destroyed Babylon through
Darius, one of his men. And after the Medes and the Persians
took over, you know what happened? They allowed the people of Israel
to go back to Judah and Jerusalem and rebuild the city and rebuild
the temple. And that's where you have the book of Ezra and
Nehemiah, the prophets of Zechariah and Malachi. But this Cyrus was
an instrument of God's vengeance upon Babylon. Look at verse one
of chapter 45 of Isaiah. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before
him, I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gate. That's the two-leaved gate of
Babylon. And the gates shall not be shut.
They're gonna open for him. Look over at Jeremiah chapter
25, listen to this one. Here's another prophecy of Jeremiah
concerning Israel, Judah rather, in Babylon. In Jeremiah 25, and
look at verse 12. He says in verse 12, now what
he's doing here in Jeremiah 25, he's foretelling of the captivity
of Judah in Babylon, and he says in verse 12, and it shall come
to pass when 70 years are accomplished, Now 70, that was a literal 70
years in history, but 70 is symbolic of the completeness of God's
finished work. In other words, at the end of
that time, God will be finished with Israel's judgment. And he
says that, when it come to pass, when 70 years are complete, that
I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord,
for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make
it perpetual desolations, And I will bring upon that land all
my words which I pronounced against it, even all that is written
in this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. And then he says in verse 14,
listen to this. For many nations and great kings
shall serve themselves of them also. In other words, there are
going to be many nations and great kings that follow Babylon
in her spirit of sin and idolatry and rebellion. and I will recompense,
I will take vengeance upon them according to their deeds and
according to the works of their hands." In other words, Babylon,
the empire is going to stop, but that spirit of Babylon is
going to go on. In many nations, in many kings,
that spirit of idolatry, that spirit of false religion, that's
what Babylon symbolizes. Well, look back here at Daniel
5. Now what happened? What exactly happened on that
night? That Belshazzar having this great
feast, and in that same night, what really happened? Well, historically
it's recorded. The Medes and the Persians, they
had surrounded the city, they had laid siege to the city, and
what happened? They saw that river, Euphrates,
running through the middle of the city. You know what they
did? They diverted the river, they dammed it up. And that river that flowed from
the south through Babylon, they dammed it up and diverted it
to a lake that was to the north. And what happened was they were
able to walk right in the city on the dry riverbed of the Euphrates
River and conquer it from within. Babylon fell. Their water was
cut off. You ever had your water cut off?
No fun, is it? What if you had it all cut off
for all time? Babylon's fall. Babylon's fall
is a great testimony to the fact that all earthly kingdoms will
be destroyed. But as I told you last time,
now this event in history is also prophetic. And it's prophetic
of a greater fall, of a greater Babylon, a spiritual Babylon. who is the great enemy of the
church. The great enemy of Christ and
the church is represented in the book of Revelation as Babylon. Look over at Revelation chapter
14 with me. This is a prophecy in history.
It's stated out in the Word of God very plainly, but it's also
exemplified in the history of this idolatrous nation. There's
a spiritual Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied of that.
Remember we read it in Jeremiah chapter 25. He said Babylon's
gonna fall, but that spirit of Babylon, that spirit of a lie,
religious lie, false religion, is gonna continue on. That's
spiritual Babylon. And spiritual Babylon is coming
to an end. In Revelation chapter 14, look
at verse 6. He says, And I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." This
is a pronouncement of judgment. "...worship Him that made heaven
and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. And there
followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen." Is fallen. The reason that's repeated is
to make sure they understand this is a done deal. This is
real. That great city because she made
all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
her religious lie and deception. Look over at Revelation 17. Look at verse 1. Now this describes who this Babylon
is, this spiritual Babylon. It says, there came one of the
seven angels which had the seven vows, that's the vows of wrath,
Some translations say a bowl, but I believe a vial is a better
translation because a vial is something you measure with. This
is a measure of God's wrath. And he says, "...He talked with
me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters." The great
whore. Like a harlot, you see. Outwardly appealing, but deadly. Sitting on many waters means
it's all over the world. Many nations, that's what that
means. Verse 2, with whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication. Remember Jeremiah in Jeremiah
25? Many kings, many nations will drink of the wine of her
fornication. And the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Again,
what is it? It's false religion. So he carried
me away into the spirit, into the wilderness, and I saw a woman
set upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of the names of blasphemy,
having 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, full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. And look at verse 5. And upon
her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon. That means this
is something that has to be revealed by God. Man won't recognize this
mystery by nature. Man will not recognize spiritual
Babylon for what she is by nature. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. Neither can he know them. So
this is mystery Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. Now back there in Daniel chapter
5, there's a physical Babylon 600 years before Christ. And it was a great enemy of the
people of God, the people of Judah. And all down through the
ages, we've had to deal with a spiritual Babylon which has
always been the great enemy of Christ and His church. Look at
verse 6 of Revelation 17 there about mystery Babylon. 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." Not admiring Babylon there. But he stood amazed
and wondered. Look over at verse 14 of Revelation
17. "'These shall make war with the
Lamb.'" Spiritual Babylon has been making war with the Lamb
for a long time. Did you know that? Remember he
said over there in verse six, drunken with the blood of the
saints, who was the first saint whose blood was shed? By spiritual
Babylon. His name was Abel. Cain represented
spiritual Babylon. Man, even though it wasn't called
that back then. But that's what he was, that
same spirit, man trying to get to God, trying to be blessed
of God, trying to be saved by God by his own works, his own
will, his own way. Any way but the way of grace,
the way of Christ. And Abel represented Christ,
the church of Christ. And that's what spiritual Babylon
is. But look at verse 14, "...these shall make war with the Lamb."
But now don't fret now, the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is
Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with Him are
called, called of God by the Holy Spirit, chosen, chosen of
God, and faithful, faithful to Christ, kept so by the power
of God. What is spiritual Babylon? It's
all self, righteous, will, worship, works, religion. It's any and
all ways of man attempting to go to God by his works, his will,
his efforts, always but the one and only true way, Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. The way of His blood, the way
of His righteousness. Any other way of salvation under
any other religious name is the way of spiritual Babylon, the
great whore. That's what the Bible teaches.
Spiritual Babylon is counterfeit religious systems manipulated
and controlled by Satan. He's called the dragon in Revelation.
Spiritual Babylon, as I said, has always been against, even
at war with Christ and His church. This battle that was first revealed
in Genesis chapter 3, 15, when the Lord said, I will put enmity
between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed.
There's always been enmity between Christ, church, and spiritual
Babylon. It was first demonstrated, as
I said, in Cain and Abel. Cain rose up against Abel and
his brother and slew him. Now, why did Cain slay Abel?
Well, 1 John chapter 3 tells us it's because his own works
were evil. Even though he was a religious
man, he came to an altar and brought an offering to God, an
offering that represented the works of his own hands. Those
works were evil. Now, by what standard was Cain's
works judged evil and Abel's works judged righteous? By what
standard? The same standard that held for
Belshazzar back in Daniel chapter 5. You've been weighed in the
balance and found lacking. It's the scales of God's perfect
law and justice And those scales of God's perfect law and justice
are measured and demonstrated in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it that man's efforts
to save himself by his own works are evil? Tell you exactly why. It's because they fall short
of righteousness. That's why. They fall short of
perfection. They fall short of justice. They deny the glory of God in
the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ. They're a denial of Christ. They're a declaration of war
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. and what he accomplished on Calvary's
cross by his obedience unto death. You realize that? You realize
when a sinner, now think about this. Don't let this fall off,
go over the head. When a person enters the baptismal
pool thinking that his being baptized recommends him unto
God, rather than confessing Christ in that baptismal pool, he's
declaring war on Christ. That's how bad this thing is. You say, well, you know, you're
being too... This is what the book says. Whenever a Jew was
circumcised thinking that it was part of the righteousness
by which he would stand before God, what was he doing? He was
declaring war on the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever anybody thinks
that their works in any way, to any degree, at any time save
them, or keep them saved, or earn their way into God's favor,
they're declaring war on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
Belshazzar, all who are found lacking shall be damned, shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? This is the scale of
righteousness by which all men and women are weighed. Hannah,
you remember Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse
3, you remember what Hannah said there in verse 3 in her prayer?
She recognized this, she said, "...talk no more so exceeding
proudly, let not arrogancy come out of your mouth," listen to
her, "...for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by Him actions
are weighed." You know the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the greatest testimony to the fact of the
reality and certainty of divine judgment. That's right, if God
did not have to be just in order to save his people, why did Christ
go to the cross? You see, we don't have enough
weight, enough righteousness to balance out the scales of
divine justice. Christ told the Pharisees that
when he said, told the people that when he used the Pharisees,
he said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the
kingdom of heaven. You don't have enough righteousness
to balance it out. How much do we have to have?
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 48 says, be ye therefore perfect.
Christ is that standard of perfection. How do we compare to him? That's
the issue. Therefore, by deeds of law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight." Look over at Revelation
16 with me. I want to show you something
here. Now, you remember how God brought about the fall of physical
Babylon? By the army of the Medes and
the Persians, under the leadership of Cyrus, he dried up the Euphrates
River. He dried up their lifeline. to
where they could just enter into the city and destroy it. Well,
look at Revelation 16. This chapter, Revelation 16,
is the testimony of the vials of God's wrath brought down upon
the world in the end time, in the days of when Christ comes
again. And there's seven vials here, which represents the completeness
of and the finished work of God's judgment. It's a complete work.
It's not going to be left unfinished, left undone. And it represents
seven last plagues by which God smites with judgment all who
reject and hate the gospel of His grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ. These judgments, these vials of judgments, will fall
upon all in that day who are not found in Christ. who are not found washed in His
blood and clothed in His righteousness, who do not have the testimony
in their mouth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He is my all
and in all. He's my only hope. He's my righteousness,
my wisdom, my sanctification, my redemption. That's the testimony
of the mouth of the redeemed of the Lord, isn't it? Well,
look at verse 12. of Revelation 16. Here's the
sixth vial. I'm not going to go through all
these vials now. I'll do that in our Sunday school class on
Revelation, and I'll come back and do some more later on on
it. Here's the sixth vial. Listen to what it says. In the
fifth vial, he talks about God's judgment upon false religion.
And here in the sixth vial, look at verse 12. It says, And the
sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates. That's the river that ran through
Babylon. And the water thereof was dried
up. Now this is symbolic language.
And it speaks of the fall of spiritual Babylon in this symbolic
language related all the way back to that time when God dried
up the river Euphrates through his instruments of judgment and
destroyed physical Babylon. But you know this sixth vow here,
you know what it's all leading up to here? It's leading up to
the battle of Armageddon. Everybody's ears perks up when
you say Armageddon. What's he talking about? Well,
he dried up the great river Euphrates and the waters thereof was dried
up, look at verse 12, that the way of the kings of the east
might be prepared. A lot of argument over who the
kings of the east are. Verse 13, he said, I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs, and those are poisonous frogs there.
What he's talking about, poison that come out of the mouths of
the dragon. Who's the dragon? That's Satan.
And out of the mouth of the beast, that's ungodly governments that
serve Satan. And out of the mouth of the false
prophet, that's false religion, like Babylon. This is the unholy
trinity. As there's a holy trinity, God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, there's an unholy
trinity, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Verse
14, for they are the spirits of devils, working miracles,
which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole
world. Do you remember in 2 Thessalonians
2 how Paul said that before Christ come again, Satan would come
with lying wonders and the deceivableness of unrighteousness? Well, here
it is. They'll go forth working miracles. It doesn't say they're
working fake miracles here, does it? It just says they're working
miracles. These fellows will be impressive. And they'll go forth unto the
kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Now, what is he talking about
in this sixth vowel, drying up this river Euphrates? Well, he's
preparing and gathering men for Armageddon, the final battle. That's what Armageddon is. And
I know people talk about the Valley of Megiddo and all of
that, and the whole world will gather there. Let me tell you
something about the Valley of Megiddo over in the Mideast.
It couldn't hold the whole world. Armageddon is a spiritual battle. And it represents Christ's final
conquest over Satan and all of his enemies, all the enemies
of Christ. It's his final dealings with him, it's over. He's already
won the victory now. Christ won the victory. He won
the victory on the cross. He told his disciples, he says,
you're going to have trouble in the world. You're going to
be persecuted. You're going to be hounded. They're not going
to leave you alone. But he said, be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. Satan has already been cast down
really in the death of Christ. He said that in John chapter
12. But he is allowed for a time as the dragon to persecute the
people of God. God has a purpose in it. We can
talk about that in several messages, but we know it's such. And then
there's coming that battle of Armageddon, that spiritual battle,
that final conquest of Satan, and that's going to come at Christ's
second coming. And God's people at that time,
at the time of the second coming of Christ, will be finally delivered
from all the oppression and all the persecution that spiritual
Babylon, that the dragon and the beast and the false prophet,
that spiritual Babylon can administer. And you know how he's going to
do it? He's going to dry up the river Euphrates. What does that
mean? Well, just like that historical
account back in Daniel chapter 5. That was local to that nation. But here in Revelation, it's
a world judgment and destruction. Look over at verse 14 again of
Revelation 16. For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth.
Not just one location now. The kings of the earth and the
whole world. It's a judgment and destruction of the whole
world. So in this final conflict here, we're not to expect a literal
Cyrus to come charging down a valley, to dry up a literal river, to
deliver a literal Israel. God's true people are spiritual
Israelites in a spiritual kingdom. And this Euphrates here in Revelation
16 symbolizes everything that feeds and supports spiritual
Babylon. Just like that river that fed
and supported physical Babylon. This spiritual Euphrates, everything
that feeds and supports spiritual Babylon, the great whore, all
people, all nations, all kings that support her and her false
doctrine, they'll be dried up. And she'll have no more support.
Look at Revelation 17, look at verse 15 of this chapter. Revelation
17, 15. He saith unto me, The waters
which thou sawest where the horse sitteth are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues. Not a literal river now, they're
people. Multitudes, nations, languages,
tribes. And the ten horns which thou
sawest, now ten horns here I believe represents the complete kingdoms
that support the great whore. Number ten being the number of
completeness here. Which thou sawest upon the beast,
thee shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate and naked
and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 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. and the woman which thou sawest
is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
He's going to dry it all up. Everything that supports her.
They'll realize they've been deceived by her and they'll turn
against her, but oh my soul, it'll be too late. The waters
of the Euphrates will become like the waters of Mara. You
remember when The children of Israel were going through the
wilderness, and they come upon the waters of Marah in Exodus
15, and it said they couldn't drink it. Marah means bitter. Look at Revelation 16 and verse
15. Now that's Armageddon. That's
what he says in verse 16 of Revelation 16. He gathered them together
into one place, into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon,
which means Mount of Assembly. But look at verse 15. I want
you to notice this, and this is what I want to leave you with.
I want you to get a hold of this. Behold, I come as a thief, he
says. What is he talking about? He's second coming. Blessed is
he that watcheth and keepeth his garments. All right? And lest he walk naked
and they see his shame. Now this garment covering, think
about this. That's the proper clothes. It
reaches all the way back to Genesis in the fall. How did Adam and
Eve try to cover their nakedness with fig leaf aprons? What did
God do? He slew an animal and made him
a garment of skin. What do proper clothes have to
do with the preparation for the approaching final battle between
Christ and his enemies? Armageddon. Why is my wardrobe
important then? Armageddon. Well, Revelation
19 gives us the answer. Look at it. Verse 7. Revelation 19, 7. 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. Who's the Lamb?
That's Christ. Who's his wife? That's the church. She made herself
ready and to her was granted, it was given, it's grace, that
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the
fine linen is the righteousness of saints." Now, what is the
righteousness of saints? Somebody said it's the works
of saints. Well, let me tell you something. There's no saint
from Genesis to Revelation who will tell you that his works
are his righteousness, if you stay with this book. There's
not one saint. Daniel wouldn't say that. He
said, when he saw the glory of God, my comeliness melted into
corruption. There's not one saint who will
tell you that his works are his righteousness. What will the
saints tell you? Christ is my righteousness. That's what. Christ is my righteousness. If I have the righteousness of
Christ imputed to me, And if the Holy Spirit has given me
life to see His glory and His value and His blood and His righteousness
as my only hope and my only stay and my only way then when I'm
found weighed in the balance I won't be found wanting or lacking
for there's nothing lacking in the righteousness of my Savior.
The righteousness of Christ with which every soul must be arrayed
That means have imputed to you, charged to you, so that we're
ready to meet the Lord. You know what this is teaching? If you knew that the battle of
Armageddon, as we see it, it was going to be tomorrow, here's
what this is teaching us. What is the issue of Armageddon? What will it be fought over?
It'll be fought over how a sinner is made righteous before God.
The righteousness of Christ. How do I know that? Well, you
know what Satan's weapon of warfare... This represents, in a spiritual
battle, Satan going to war with Christ and the people of Israel. He's going to lose. There's not
even a chance that Satan's going to win. But he is allowed to
fight. What is Satan's main weapon against
the people of God? Turn to Revelation 12. Now listen to this. Here's Satan's
weapon. It's not a pitchfork. And it's
not a nuclear bomb. What is Satan's main weapon against
the people of God that he uses now? Well, look at verse 9 of
Revelation 12. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth
the whole world. He was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser
of the brethren. is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night." There's Satan's main weapon that
he seeks to use against the church. Accusation. Accusation. What is our main weapon against
his accusation? Look at verse 11. "...and they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." and by the word of
their testimony, and they love not their lives unto the death." What does his blood declare?
Romans chapter 3 and verse 25 says that his blood declares
his righteousness, that God might be just and justifier of his
people. That's the issue. That's the
issue. How do I stand before God when
Satan accuses me? Well, his accusations don't hit.
The arrows of his accusations don't even hit. For who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. We've been found, we've been
weighed in the balance and found not lacking because we have Christ. We're washed in his blood and
arrayed in the fine white linen of his righteousness and purity.
Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea rather. He is risen again and seated
at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession
for us. Okay.