All right, let's turn to Revelation
chapter 16. I'll try my best to finish this
chapter up. These chapters have so much in
them, and I don't wanna be guilty of people leaving here and saying,
well, you know, he just said this means that, and I don't
get that out of that verse. Well, I didn't get it out of
that verse either. I got it out of the rest of the Bible. And
so that's why I wanted to take my time and go over and over
and over this stuff so you can see that this really is the meaning
of those terms and those visions that the Lord has given to John. Revelation 16, verse 17. And the seventh angel poured
out his vial into the air. And there came a great voice
out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it's done. It is done. As the seventh and
last angel appears and pours out his vial into the air, this
world hears the gospel for the last time. Now this seventh angel,
the wrath or the plague that he pours out is the final judgment. This is the last of the angels. This is the last of the ministers.
And as he appears and pours out his vial into the air, this world
hears the gospel for the last time. There gonna be a last time. There was a first time in the
garden. There was a first time that the
gospel was preached, that these symbols were given and established. There was a first time. But in
this verse, he's talking about the last time. And we need to
think on that a little bit. There's gonna be a last time. You see, salvations of the Lord.
Now, we say that a lot, we witness that a lot, but I wonder how
much we really think about it. Salvation is of the Lord. Well, what part of salvation
are you talking about? I'm talking about the whole of
it, everything. Well, man believes, not without
the Lord, he don't. You can't believe anything apart
from him. Salvation's of the Lord. And this salvation that we preach
is born of his purpose and grace. That's what Paul told Timothy,
God has saved us. We didn't save ourselves, religion
didn't save us, the will of man didn't save us, God saved us. And then he called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace. which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Salvation of the Lord. Ephesians 1.5, having predestinated
us. Who did? God did. Well preacher, don't that make
man a puppet on the strings and God up here pulling the strings
and man just doing Well, the alternative to that, you know
what that is. And that's man with God on strength. So I think I'd rather be the
puppet, wouldn't you? Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. Salvation born of, made provision
for, and all the means ordained of God from the beginning. Nothing's
changed. Nothing's changed. He still saves
men and calls men just as he did in the garden. Nothing's
changed. Listen to this. God hath from
the beginning. chosen us to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. How
did He save Adam in the garden? How did He save Adam and Eve
in the garden? Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. That's how He saved Abel. And
that's how He saved Noah, and that's how He saves every man.
Every sermon preached, every scripture written, every type
and symbol established, every opportunity given is written,
preached, established, and given of God. Salvation of the Lord. Providence is his to order. Well, it's just my luck. No,
it ain't. No, it ain't. He's got providence. This is the day the Lord hath
made. Who did? And what day? This day. Tomorrow
I can say that again. Providence is his to order. In
Proverbs chapter 16 and verse one, listen to this. He said,
the preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the
tongue is from the Lord. Well, I thought I did that. He
did that through you. Through you. It's God that worketh
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And there's
coming a day in which the gospel gonna be preached for the last
time. Those precious words of life is gonna go forth and be
followed by an eternal silence so far as the salvation of sinners
is concerned. That's gonna be it. Well, how sharp and attentive
our hearing would be if we knew for a fact that this morning's
the last time we're gonna hear. Boy, you'd be tuned in, wouldn't
you, huh? Tomorrow I'm gonna go out and
meet God. Tomorrow I'm gonna go out and face God in judgment.
Boy, I'm gonna hear every word. I'm gonna hang on every word.
I'm going to take those scriptures that he quotes and I'm going
to look them up and see if that's really how God said that. I'm
going to see if those promises were really of God. I'm going
to check out that context. Oh, how sharp and attentive our
hearing would be if we knew for a fact that we were hearing the
gospel for the last time. Peter said several things about
the coming of Christ, and he described those things very vividly
over in 2 Peter 3. He talked about those last days. And he said, seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
you to be? You look around you, and everything
that you see, he said, is going to be dissolved. take a big pretty stick of butter
and throw it in a hot pan and it just, take a pan full of water
and put it on the stove and put it on boil and forget about it
and come back in a few minutes, there's no water in it. Peter
said that's, all these things shall be dissolved. Everything
around you, everything that your heart so easily attaches to is
gonna be gone. And if you don't live to see
it gone, it's still going to be gone when you die. I'm telling
you, it's going to be meaningless. You wouldn't care if you was
in a tent or a house. Who cares? I'm leaving this world. And that's
what Peter's saying. Seeing that all these things
should be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting under
the coming of the day of God. There's gonna be a last time. There are thousands, perhaps
millions, in days gone by who heard the gospel for the last
time. They thought they'd hear it again.
We had a fellow left church one Sunday evening, and he drove
up with some friends, Visited with him, and he was on his way
back, and he was driving down Route 52 across the river from
Ashland. And that area there is called
Hanging Rock. And these big old rocks jettison
out over that mountain, and they cut through there and put Route
23 right down beside the river. Or 52, I can't remember now which. 52, I guess it is. And he was
driving down through there, and here's this big rock been sticking
out up there for centuries. That thing suddenly broke off,
and it come down. Here he is, he's doing 60 miles
an hour, going down that route. Here comes this rock from up
above, boom, right on top of that car. He thought he'd hear
the gospel again, but he never did. He never did. Demas, he heard Paul preach for
the last time. And he walked away, and I know
I know in his heart he thought, well, I'll hear him again. Just like those folks told Paul,
we'll hear you again in a more convenient season. No, you won't.
You heard it for the last time. And I'm telling you this, millions
in past days and days gone by have heard this gospel thinking
that they could hear it again. Assuming that they would hear
it again and never did. Sometimes God takes away the
want to And sometimes he takes you away. Cain heard the gospel from his
father Adam. He heard it as often as Abel
did. Heard it from the same source, but there come a time when he
never heard it again. Noah preached 120 years. People
went out there, some of them went out there just to crack
pots, making fun of them. Crazy old Noah out there building
a boat. It hadn't even rained. Talking about a flood, they heard
it for the last time. Children of Israel heard the
gospel over and over as they journeyed through the wilderness,
but there came a day in which they heard it for the last time
and God said, now that's enough. That's enough. And so it is that God has emptied
his wrath in a continual succession of floods and droughts and storms
and diseases He's emptied out his wrath by pouring out the
judgment of darkness upon the seed of the beast. But now, one
last time, the terrible wrath of God is
poured out and this whole unbelieving world is ushered into the final
judgment. A great voice came out of the
temple of heaven and it came from the throne. what did say
it's done what's done now he's not talking about the work of
redemption because our lord cried that was finished back on the
cross so what what's done the calling out of god's elect it's
finished it's done the gospel's gone out to this world for the
last time and that voice That voice that decreed that gospel
to be preached and ordained that gospel to be preached said, it's
over. It's done. Everything it was
purposed to do, it's done. Every man that it was purposed
to call, every man, woman, boy, and girl that it was purposed
to call had been called. How many of you thinking that
day was thinking to yourself, they're going to hear it again? It's done. It's done. I'm going to tell you something.
When God says it's done, it's done. That's it. What's done? Well, God's elect
shall have all heard the gospel. Listen to this, Matthew 24, 21. He's describing those days, and
he said, for them shall be great tribulation, trouble. Such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time known
or shall ever be. And except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's
sake, those days should be shortened. For the elect's sake. He not
willing that any of his people should perish, but that they
should all come to repentance. For the elect's sake, those days
should be shortened. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also
the coming of the Son of Man be. And immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall
see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory. And he'll send his angels with
a great shout of a trumpet. Great sound of a trumpet. Let
me ask you something. And we've talked about this on
many occasions. What's he talking about with
the trumpet? What's so significant about the
trumpet? It's the gospel. It's the gospel. How's he gonna
wind things up? That gospel's gonna be preached
for the last time. And that's it. That's it. No more mercy, no more grace,
no more anything. Judgment. Judgment. He'll send His angels, His ministers,
with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other. And these angels are the same angels or ministers which
He's telling us about here in Revelation chapter 16. And those
trumpets are the preaching of the gospel. And then the Lord
shall suddenly appear. And what's He going to say? He's
going to say, It's done. Revelation chapter 16 verse 18,
and there were voices. That's what we've been talking
about, isn't it? There was voices. There always has been voices. John said, I'm just a voice,
one crying in the wilderness. There were voices and there was
thunder and lightnings and there was a great earthquake such as
was not since men were upon the earth. So mighty an earthquake
and so great. Now there have been earthquakes
from the beginning but not like this one. Not like this one. A great and mighty shaking such
as was not since men were created. And the great city, verse 19,
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell, and great Babylon came into remembrance before God to
give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his
wrath. Babylon represents the entire
anti-Christian world, which now being under the active judgment
of God, falls to pieces. It comes crumbling down. All
that delighted them and all that contributed to their worship
now lays in ruins. And the cities of the nations
fail, cities known for their religious prominence like Rome
and Jerusalem and so on. They now lie in rubble. And this
unbelieving world begins to drink the cup of the wine of the fierceness
of God's wrath. I tell you all the time, but
I'm gonna tell you again, sin must and shall be paid for. It's
either gonna be paid for in that representative man and in that
substitute, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior, that
sin's either gonna be paid for in him or it's gonna be paid
for by you. And if you pay the bill, you're
gonna pay it for eternity. God must and shall punish sin. He said, the soul that sinneth
shall surely die. And die he did, either in Christ
or in hell. Verse 20, Revelation 16. And
every island fled away and the mountains were not found. There
was no escape. No escape. You know, men foolishly
believe that they can escape the judgment of God. You can
escape and not have to deal with God. That's the most foolish thing
in the world, isn't it? All you have to do is walk out here and
look. You know that God created the universe. And you know that
because he wrote it in your conscience. You know when you do wrong. Your
conscience tells you. Who put that there? That's something
that crawled out of the ocean in that
little paramecium and then developed it. Give me a break. God put
conscience in your mind to bear witness of him and all creation
to bear witness of him and you're gonna stand before him. Verse 21, and there fell upon
men a great hail out of heaven. Every stone about the weight
of a tower. I'll put you how much is that?
Almost a hundred pounds. Now you try to vision a hundred
pound hail coming down. And here lay men crushed by the
hail and their cities and their buildings and their and their
parks and all the things that they rejoice in are just laying
in ruin from these 100-pound hail just coming down, just destroying
everything around them. And you'd think, like the fiery
serpents coming down, you'd think somebody would cry unto God for
mercy. But that's not what happened.
Listen to this. And men blasphemed God because
of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding
great. If you go back to chapter 15,
verses 8 and 9, it talks about God scorching men with fire. But they didn't repeat what they
do. They blasphemed God. They blasphemed
God. Verse 10, darkness was poured
out on the kingdom of the beast. And as they gnawed their tongues
in pain, they repented. No, they blasphemed God. Nothing changed. And even now
as these great hailstones begin to destroy the world, they blaspheme
God as though these plagues were unjust and undeserved. Divine justice alone cannot and
will not bring anyone to repentance. It's not going to do it. It's
not going to do it. It was not the fierceness of
God's wrath that leads us to repentance, but the goodness
of God. And where do you learn that goodness? You learn that
goodness in Christ. You learn who Christ is through
the gospel. And that goodness of God leads
you to repentance. Satan and all the angels which
kept not their first estate, they've been under the wrath
of God from the beginning. Not one of them ever repented. Not one. Repentance is the gift
of God. Peter said, the God of our fathers,
listen to this, raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a
tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Now often men and women are driven
to make false professions by disasters. I had a bricklayer
one time work for me, laid my fireplace at home, and he was
telling me, he said, I was laying out on the battlefield, and my
throat slid ear to ear. And he said, I reached an agreement
with God. He said, I told him if he'd raise
me up, I'd serve him till I died. I said, well, let me ask you
something. Did you? And he just hung his head. Men are often brought to that
point to make false professions of faith and deals and exercise
their will and all of those things. Paul said to the Corinthians,
godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. Godly sorrow. Sorrow over your sins. seeing
how your sins was not just against the law. If I go out here and
get in my car and I go down here to Louisville where I make that
left-hand turn and the light's nearly red or almost red or maybe
it is red, and I said, well, I'm in a hurry, so I go through
that light, that's sin against law. Might get caught or might
not, but that's sin against law. The difference between the believer
and the unbeliever He discovers that his sin is against love. All sin is against the love of
God. Did you know that? The very first
commandment, the commandment on which the whole law hangs
is what? Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. If you can do that one, you can
keep the whole law. Isn't that what our Lord said?
Love is the keeping of the law. So if you break that law, you've
sinned against love. Those under the wrath of God
sorrow because of their loss. They sorrow because of their
pain. They sorrow because of their sentencing. But they're
not sorrow. They have no sorrow for their
sins. And a false repentance might
produce tears. They might weep over the loss
of heaven and over their portion of the cup, and they'll weep
over their pain and suffering, but they won't weep over the
cause of it. What will they do? They'll blaspheme
God, just like everybody else. Someone said wrath converts no
one. Grace does. Grace does. false repentance turns to religion,
not God. It turns to works, not grace. It turns to the rudiments of
the world, not to the word of God. And Henry used to tell us this,
that which is born in the storm will die in the calm. And you
watch that. I've seen it over the years.
It's true as it can be. And here we see this world being
crushed by these great hailstones and as they lay on the ground
dying, they blaspheme God for his judgment. I'm gonna tell
you something about the judgment of God and conviction of sin.
Believers get on God's side and they're with him in their
own condemnation. Did you know that? They say, he ought to send me
to hell. You justify God, don't you? You've seen yourself in the word
of God and by the spirit of God and through the gospel of God
and you're on God's side of your own condemnation. Not that you
want to be condemned and not that you want to suffer death,
but you're on his side. You understand he's right. He's
right in the judgment of man. He's right in my own condemnation. Isn't that what David said? He
said, I'm confessing these things that he might be just in what
he says. He's clear. No blame. God said, all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. Can you say amen? God said we go astray as soon
as we be born speaking lies. Can you justify that testimony?
God said every thought of the imagination of man's heart is
only evil continually. Can you say amen? And God said
we are by nature children of wrath even as others. Can you
shake your head and say, yes, that's true? David said, behold, he said,
I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me. What do you say? Believers justify God in their
own condemnation while unbelievers blaspheme God. They say, we don't
deserve this. Our Lord told us about a few
people in judgment. He said, even in that day, he
looked at those Jews, those self-righteous Jews, and he said, in that day,
in judgment, standing before God Almighty, here's what you're
going to tell me. Have not we done many wonderful
works in thy name? Have not we preached in your
name? He said, depart from me, you
workers of iniquity. You workers of iniquity. I never
knew you. I never knew you. They're still
gonna blaspheme God, even in judgment. Can't justify God. God help us to justify him in
all that he says, including our own condemnation. All right,
thank you.