Turn with me to Psalm 115 for
our Scripture reading this morning. I'm going to read three verses
of Scripture. And then John Davis is going to come and do a special
for us. And then our dear, dear brother
Marvin Starnaker is going to come preach for us. Three verses
here. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake, wherefore should the heathens then say, where is now their
God? But our God is in the heavens,
and he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. When I say it is a joy. A great, great privilege to be
asked to be here. I love your pastor. Don had been
my friend a long time. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 20. Proverbs chapter 20. I'd like to read one verse, verse
1. Proverbs chapter 20, verse 1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink
is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. This morning, Joyce Hardman,
we were sitting at their house last night Joyce asked me, she
said, what are you going to preach on? And I told her, the hazards,
the deceitfulness of drinking. And she said, you are not. Yeah, I am. You know, the Proverbs are so
practical. And they are written by the grace
of God in such a way as the Holy Spirit moved upon Solomon to
write that man by nature reads these proverbs and says, I understand
that. I know exactly what that means.
The disciples asked the Lord one day because the Lord preached
in parables and they asked Matthew 13, 10, Why speakest thou unto
them in parables? And this is what the Lord said,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of God, but to them it is not given. The parables are
written in a way to where man by nature hears them thinks that
he understands exactly what they're saying, and humanly speaking,
he does. They're practical. But you remember
this, if we don't see the gospel of God's grace in that parable,
then we've not seen it. We've missed it. Now, I'm going
to just tell you what This scripture says, and this is for your understanding,
I'm going to tell you exactly what the natural man sees. This is what he sees. Wine is
a mocker. What does that mean? It means
he makes a mouth at, scoffs at him. You know, if you mock somebody,
what you're doing is you're making fun of them. trying to ridicule
them, make them look foolish. Wine, humanly speaking, deceives
a man and promises him pleasure that it really can't give. It
exposes him to reproach, disgrace, mocks him, makes a fool out of
him. Strong drink, what Scripture
says is raging, it's loud and clamorous. and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise. Now let me just ask you something.
Knowing what the scripture has to say about the hazards of excessive
drinking, consumption of alcohol, is there any rational person
in this congregation this morning that's uh... failing to believe
that alcohol excessive alcohol is bad. Anybody not believe that?
I think we'd all pretty well agree. Okay. We got that done. Now, I want to tell you for a
few minutes from the scriptures, proclaim unto you from the scriptures
a wine, a drink, that is spoken of by God Almighty that is more
dangerous, more deceptive, more mocking than any liquor that
ever came out of a bottle. And if we see not the deception,
the mocking of this wine, we are truly not wise. Hold your
place right there and turn with me to Revelation 17. Revelation
17, verses 1 to 5. Revelation 17. John, under the inspiration of
God's spirits on the Isle of Patmos. The Lord has moved upon
him to write these things. Revelation 17, 1-5, And there
came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, and 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,
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the
spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a
scarlet-colored beast full of 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 upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery. comma, Babylon the Great, comma,
the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Now I want you
to notice the first word that was written on the forehead of
this woman. What's the first name that was
written on her forehead? Here's what it is. Mystery. But
mystery concerning what? Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2 with
me for a minute. 2 Thessalonians 2. Let me just
read verses 1 to 10. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2, and
by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, As that day of Christ is at hand, let no
man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that
he has God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. Remember ye not that when I was
yet with you I told you these things? And now ye know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth
will let, until he be taken out of the way. Then shall that wicked
be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now, this
mystery. On the forehead of this woman,
this great harlot of rebellion was a word, mystery. That one that was full of abominations,
had a cup in her hand, this wine of the wrath of her fornication,
mystery, mystery. That mystery that is truly mysterious
to the world. What is it? The mystery of iniquity. You've heard that term. The mystery
of iniquity. The secret or the thing concealed
of depravity. Something is deceiving. Something
is fooling people. Something is mocking people. That whine of fornication that
has made the kings of this earth spiritually drunk. This wine
of deception that mocks a man, telling him that he can please
God by his self-righteous works. Now here in 2 Thessalonians,
it's spoken of, this deception, this wine of deception. It's
spoken of, this mystery of iniquity, of having a personality. Look
in verse 3, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3. Let no man deceive you by
any means, for that day shall not come except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed. That son of perdition spoken
of as having a personality. It acts in its deeds. or revealed to be that which
stands against and exalts itself above all that is holy and just
and good. Look at verse 4. It says, Who
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God, but the key. to understand what this mystery
of iniquity is. The key to understanding what
is the mystery. What is that mystery? That wine
of deception. What is it? Where does it come
from? Look at verse 9. Even him whose
coming is after the working of Satan. It comes from Satan. with all power and signs and
lying wonders. And to those that follow after
this great mystery that's drunk, spiritually drunk, that's mocked
by this wine of deception. What's going to happen to them?
Verses 11 and 12 says, For this cause God shall send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. that they all might be
damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Lord is going to consume
them. That is what verse 8 says. The Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth and shall destroy all the brightness of
his coming. Now knowing, I read a verse of
scripture in Proverbs, this is what it says, wine is a mocker,
wine is a mocker, strong drink, raging. And he that is deceived
thereby is not wise, thinks himself wise. This mystery of iniquity,
this secret of depravity that is hidden from the wise and prudent,
it's revealed unto God's people. It's been revealed unto God's
saints. But here's my question. What
is it? What is this mystery? that this world's religion is
drunk on. What is this man of sin, this
son of perdition, if it was one person? Everybody's looking. Here's a great deception. Everybody's
looking for him. If it was one person, why would
it not be Judas? The Lord referred to him, those
that thou gavest me I've kept and none of them is lost but
the son of perdition. that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
If it's one person, I know who it is. He's already been here. But listen to what John says
in 1 John 2.18. Little children, it is the last
time. You can look at this in your Bible if you want to. I'll
just read it to you. It's the last time as you have heard that
Antichrist shall come. Even now there are many Antichrists. It's got an S on the end of it.
Whereby we know that it's the last time. So obviously from
Scripture, somebody is duped, somebody is looking for somebody
to come. Somebody of this man, son of
perdition. This great mystery, this mystery,
this secret of depravity that mocks man. That mystery that
is upon the forehead of the mother of harlots. What is the great
mystery that has all this world's false religion drunk in a stupor,
blindness, laughing at them? What is the mystery of iniquity? Here it is. Here it is. That
man has a free will. That man has a will that is free
from God. That man can say, I make the
final decision. That is the great mystery of
iniquity. That man by nature in false religion
is drunk on and they believe it. And what is it doing? It's mocking them. It's mocking
them. False religion says you can have
your sins washed away by water. Just get in water and you'll
be clean before God. And it's laughing at them. The
mystery of iniquity, that mystery that is hidden from the wise
and prudent is to tell them you can when Almighty God says you
cannot. Where did this come from? Well,
it says it's after the working of Satan with all power and signs. Listen to this. Isaiah 14, 14,
15. I will ascend into heaven. Isn't that what a man by nature
thinks? I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I had
a woman. I was in Franklin. And a woman
came in one day. And we got to talking. I'll just
come right to the end of it. And she says to me, she said,
I'm going to tell you something. What you're talking about, this
sovereign grace. She said, I'm going to tell you
something. Everybody's got a free will. And I said, let me ask
you something and then I'll shut up. I said, when it comes down
to the last final word in salvation. I'm talking about the last final
word. Who's got the last word? Man or God? She said, Man. And I said, Well, unless the
Lord delivers that thought from you, you're going to perish.
That is the mystery of iniquity. I will ascend. It's after the
workings of Satan with all power. I will exalt myself. I will sit
on the mount of the congregation, the sides of the north. I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most
High God. This great whore of false religion
is the epitome of all prideful, worldly, false religions. It causes all nations to drink
of the wrath. You know, we were all children
of wrath even as others. You know what that means? We
were all haters of God, wrathful toward Him. And here's this wrathful
drink, this wine that mocks and deceives the nations of this
world and stands up in pride in their heart against God and
says, I have the last word. Standing against that which is
holy and just and good, the Scripture says, all of the nations have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. All of the
nations have drunk. Hold your place right there.
Turn to Revelation 12, an amazing passage of Scripture. When it
says that all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, Revelation 12, verses 13-17, And when the dragon, that
is, Satan, saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man-child, the church, the
bride. And to the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place where she is nourished for a time and time and half-time
from the face of the serpent. God Almighty has declared His
people are in this world. Not of it, but we're in it. And
we're being kept by the power of God through faith, Frank.
It's true. What's He doing? Well, this woman
given two wings of a great eagle might fly into the wilderness,
into her place. She's nourished for this time. And look at verse 15, And the
serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman. What's he doing? Where is all
this deception coming from? Well, it's after the workings
of Satan. Where is all, why is there, you
know, this denomination, this denomination, this denomination,
this, and they all have their own little, you know, placard
over their church. We believe this. You got to do
this to be saved. You got to do this to be saved. But they
all have to, this one thing in common, it's all that we have
a will. It's all that it's up to us.
It's all that, there's only two messages being preached. Free
grace and free will. There's only two. And what's
He doing? The serpent cast out of His mouth
water as a flood after the woman, that He might cause her to be
carried away of the flood. And back in Revelation 18, where
all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath, listen
to what happens. By the grace of God, the earth
all these nations that have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication. The earth helped the woman and
the earth swallowed her, opened her mouth and swallowed up the
flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon
was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed which kept the commandments of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you I don't have
to go very far. We drove this morning from Daryl
and Joyce's over here. I don't know how many churches.
Man, there was a big one over there. There's a big one. Man,
there's a lot of cars that place. Do you realize the grace of God,
Donny Bell? That God would allow them to
do what they want to do, to drink up what's being preached for
your sake. for the honor of the Lord Jesus
Christ and for the sake of His congregation. All of this filth,
the wine of this deception, this deception that says man has a
free will. And the earth opened up her mouth
and said, I'll have that. I'll have another slug of that.
I like the taste of that. But, but, I got some good news. There's another drink. There's
another drink. It's a precious drink. It's a
drink of life for some thirsty sinners. It's a drink that God's
people have been made by the grace of God to desire. Man as
he's born in Adam has one thirst. I'll have the wine of a wrath
of her fornication. That's the drink I'll have. But
if Almighty God gives a man a new heart, A new thirst that can
only be satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this,
Revelation 21.6, He said unto me, it's done. I'm Alpha and
Omega, beginning and the end, and I will give unto him that
is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Oh, listen to what this drink
says. It is done. Vessels of God's
mercy are not left to themselves to desire the wine of deception,
the wine of this world's false religion that says your works
will satisfy God. Listen to what this drink says. It is finished. Done. God's people know that the whole
of redemption, the accomplishment of the Lord Jesus Christ, His
work finished at Calvary. All that the Lord has ever purposed
for His people. This is what He said, I'm the
Alpha, I'm the Omega, the beginning, And the end, this is what the
drink of life proclaims, done. It's over. Salvation is of the
Lord. He purposed it. He accomplished
it. He reveals it, applies it. All
which the Lord God has made thirsty for righteousness, He's going
to satisfy. the redeemed and regenerated
saints' thirst for God's pardon and righteousness in Christ is
quenched. When I was in elementary school,
I'm South Louisiana, and I mean to this day, I think of this
one water fountain. When I was in elementary school,
now sometimes you go to a water fountain, And it might have a
little old stream, about like that. And you know, the cup,
the protector, that little old stream is right here, and you're
trying to get your mouth down in there. You know, you don't
want to touch this, you know. this one water fountain, and
it would be so hot. I don't know where, if y'all,
any of y'all from Louisiana, but listen, in July, August,
oh, it'd be so hot. We'd be out in the playground
and everything, let's go out for recess. There was this one
water fountain, and the water was just It was just about like
that, and it was just the largest, coldest water, and you put your
mouth on that, and you just got the biggest mouthful of water,
and I could just drink, and I'd think about that water fountain,
and it was worth waiting on. If somebody was there, you'd
stand in line to get to that one, and to this day, I think
about that water fountain. I'd get so thirsty, and I'm telling
you, This water, the water of life Himself. God's people who
are thirsty for communion with God in conformity to the Lord
Jesus Christ, longing for a greater knowledge of Him. The Lord is
going to satisfy that thirst. It is by the Lord God Himself,
by His Spirit. that anybody would be thirsty. Anybody would desire to have
that thirst quenched. The wine of false religion telling
a man that his will and his freedom is that which stands between
him and God and he's the only one that can make up the difference,
fill in the gap, that is mockery, laughing at him. It appeals to
his carnal heart and it never will allow a sinner to rest. And whosoever is deceived thereby
is not wise. The Lord told the woman at Samaria,
the woman at the well, He said, If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. If the Lord has made you thirsty,
thirsty for rest from your labor, trying to reconcile yourself
back to God, If the Lord has made you thirsty for forgiveness
with God, for true righteousness and acceptance with God in Christ,
here's what the Lord said on that last day, that great day
of the feast. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me. And listen to this. Drink. You know, I love when the Lord
set forth in the Scriptures these precious commands to His people. Now listen to this command. Look
and live. Listen to this one. Oh, you dry
bones, hear. Hear. Listen to this one. Taste
and see that the Lord is good. Listen to this one. Come and
I will in no wise cast you out. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Listen to this precious drink
of life chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. Listen to this drink. I've loved
you with an everlasting love. Doesn't that taste good? Listen
to this. I laid down my life for the sheep. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Oh, the blessing of being delivered
from the mockery. of the wine of this world's deception
that laughs at a man and tells him that he can do something
for God and the refreshment of drinking of the water of life
himself and to taste that truly he is good. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake.