Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Revelation chapter 15. Among other things, this chapter
speaks of the coming of our Lord, which I believe almost every
chapter that we've studied pictures from the time that He was born
and appeared on this earth until the time that He winds everything
up. And that's what these things
are showing us and encouraging us to persevere through these
times. I don't know the day or the hour
of our Lord's return. But I do know something about
the condition of society as a whole, and it seems to me that it's
much the same today as what he describes when he's talking about
the end. We look at those things. Now, I don't know. There's been
several ages, I suppose, where you could have looked at those
things and said, well, this is the end, you know. This is it.
All these signs are being given. All these evidences are out here.
This is the way society appears. But it appears to be more so
in our day than any other. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 3, They were telling the people then that
the coming of the Lord was upon them. It was right there. He
was coming back and had these folks all excited and had them
the way some of these modern prophets do today. You know,
the Lord's coming on the second Tuesday of next month or whatever. Well, the same thing was there.
And Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and he said, let no man deceive
you by any means for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first. That has to be manifest before
this final day. And that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition. Now this son of prediction, this
prophecy is not so much describing a man as it is a spirit or spiritual
influence which abides in men. And those men are succeeded by
other men. And those men are succeeded by
other men. And so that this Antichrist,
which was already at work even in their days, and has been at
work all through the gospel age is at work today. And this falling away Paul speaks
of is a falling away from the truth of the gospel. It's a falling away from the
grace of God in the salvation of sinners. It's a falling away from the
preaching of the sovereign grace of God in the salvation of sinners
and of salvation by grace through faith and not of works. Now, 2,000 years ago, when Paul
penned this letter, the mystery of iniquity was already working,
but it had not so infiltrated society as to spread itself throughout
the whole world. as it is today. You don't have
to look right here in the United States. You can go anywhere in
the world. Anywhere in the world. And this falling away is talking
about satanic religion. If you care to read through 2
Thessalonians chapter 2, you'll see that. It's talking about
satanic religion and its influence over fallen men and their obstinate
rejection of the Christ of God. In this chapter we're about to
study here in Revelation 15 is about God's judgment of such
men. These men who hear this gospel
and because of antichrist religion reject it. Cling to that religion. prefer that religion over the
grace of God. Brother Don gives a brief summary
in his book on Revelation of the days in which we're living.
Listen to what he had to say. The papacy, he's talking about
the Catholic Church, the papacy has risen again to a position
of prominence and acceptability throughout the world. We have
politicians and they want to be seen with these men because
they have great influence in the world and they want their
influence. And we have presidents and senators and all kinds of
men in power. They want to be seen with this
because the papacy has risen again to power and influence
throughout the world. And the poisonous errors of Pentecostalism
have spread throughout the world. It's no longer a little band
here and there, but it's everywhere. Everywhere you look. The doctrines of easy believism
and decisionism and free will works religion. It parades itself
throughout the whole world in nearly every denomination, no
matter what name it is. incorporates those things. And then we've got liberalism in all of its different shades
and forms and it continually persuades men and sways men in
their minds to embrace these things, all of these different
things that it may promote because they want something other than
the word of God, something other than the gospel of His grace. And then even past that, think
about all the mystic religions of the day. Islam and Judaism and all of
these other isms, they're becoming more and more acceptable. They're
acceptable now. We're careful when we get on
TV not to say anything negative about it. They didn't even mention
it when I was a kid. You wouldn't even hear them mention
that name on television, but they do today. Just commonplace,
see it in magazines. And so powerful and deceptive
are these things that our Lord said, except those days should
be shortened. These days of this great falling
away, except those days should be shortened. There should no
flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. Our Lord said in Matthew 24,
24, there shall arise false Christs. Now this is not so much talking
about a man who gains prominence and tries to pass himself over
on people as the Christ, although we've had men to do that, Jim
Jones and quite a few others, try to pass themselves over as
the Christ, but this is talking about the preaching of false
Christs. These false Christs shall arise. Where do they arise? They arise
in the pulpit, on the radio, on the television, in the doctrines,
in their songs. It's talking about the setting
forth of false Christs and false prophets who shall show great
signs and wonders. And our Lord said insomuch that
if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect, if it
were possible. Now, I know I'm painting a frightening
picture of our society and the day in which we live, but I don't
think I'm overdoing it one bit. If anything, I'm shooting a little
low. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. And one might,
if he has eyes to see it and recognize it for what it is,
be driven to despair. Our Lord knew that, and that's
why he gave John these visions. to see these things. Because
those who have eyes to see the beasts and to see their destruction
in the world and to see their power, they have also eyes to
see our God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his victory
over the beasts. I want you to read these verses
in the light of what's taking place now and what our Lord tells
us shall take place in that day. The first thing I want you to
see is that God's not sitting somewhere with his hands tied
while evil prevails in the world. And that's more or less what
men are saying. It's not that he's indifferent
to it, but his hands are tied. He has no power over it. And
he's left it all up to us. He's done everything he can do,
and now it's all up to you. And evil's over here, and good's
over here, and they're battling back and forth and back and forth.
Well, what I want you to see is God's not indifferent to what's
going on, and he's not powerless, and he's not sitting somewhere
with his hands tied. He's actively engaged in our
society today. Listen to this, Revelation 15-1. And I saw another sign in heaven,
great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues
wherein them is filled up the wrath of God. Now, the apparent
prosperity of antichrist religion is not so much a sign of its
power We look at it and it's massive. It's everywhere. It's
worldwide. And we look at it in awe and
say, wow, look at the power being demonstrated by the Antichrist. Well, the apparent prosperity
of Antichrist religion is not so much a sign of its power as
it is a heavenly sign of God's judgment. That's what John wants
you to see. And the wrath of God abides on
them. In 2 Thessalonians 2, where I
read to you a few moments ago about that great falling away,
he says, even him who's 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 receive
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now watch
this. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion
that they should believe that lie that's being promoted. Who
did that? God did. God did. And that they all might
be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now these angels having these
seven last plagues of the wrath of God, I believe, are gospel
preachers. I believe that's what he's talking
about here. It's by the preaching of the gospel that Antichrist
shall receive its death blow. He speaks in the scriptures of
a small period just before the end where the gospel is going
to have a comeback. And there'll be a, I guess for
lack of a better word, a great revival throughout the earth.
And then comes the end. Now antichrist religion thrives
on lies and deceit and falsehood. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
year of your father the devil and the lust of your father you
will do. He was a liar from the beginning.
And he's the father of liars. God's judgment poured out upon
men and women who will not receive the truth of the gospel. Now,
according to Romans 2, there's a day when God shall judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ, Paul said, according to my gospel. The gospel, that is, true gospel
preaching, sets before men the word of God. the testimony of
God concerning eternal life, which is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Whatever else he has, he don't
have life. It sets forth how God can be
just and yet justify them that believe. And the gospel is filled
with light. It sets forth him who is light. John said in him is light and
there's no darkness whatsoever. And it exposes ourselves for
what we are and exposes the lies and hypocrisy of false religion. And it's by the means of gospel
preaching that antichrist religion will perish. That's how it perishes
in the individual. God sends him light and makes him meet to be able
to receive it and understand it and believe it. These angels
are ministers. They come out of the temple. That's where they came from,
out of the temple. And listen to this, they're clothed
in white linen and girded with golden girdles and are sent having
the seven last plagues which in them are, he says, filled
up, the wrath of God. And as God sent the plagues upon
Egypt to overcome their enemies and cause them to let his people
go by servant Moses, he sent those plagues. So he's working
throughout this gospel age and will bring it to a close by the
same means. Revelation 15, 2. And I saw, as it were, a sea
of glass mingled with fire. and then that had gotten the
victory over the beast and over his image and over his work and
over the number of his name, and I saw them stand on the sea
of glass having harps of God." Now I encourage you to look these
things up. But the sea here is an allusion
to the brazen sea in the temple. If you want to read about it,
you can read about it over in 1 Kings chapter 7. verses 23
through 26. It'll tell you about this brazen
sea. When you walked through that
archway going into the temple, there was a courtyard there and
on the right hand side was the brazen altar and on the left
hand side was this brazen sea. It was a huge labor. I forget how many how much water
that thing would hold. It was amazing and so they called
it a sea. And that great sea represents
the precious blood of Christ. We're sanctified and washed in
the blood of Christ. That's how the conscience is
purged. That's how man stands. He's washed. They couldn't do
any service. They couldn't enter into that
temple or enter into that old tabernacle except they stopped
at that labor first. And this great sea represents
that precious blood of Christ by which we're washed and made
fit for service. And it's called a sea because
of its abundant application and efficacy. It's called a C. It's
never ending. As many as wash are cleansed. How many have come throughout
the centuries? Think about it. And yet his blood
stands today just as efficacious as it was when the first sinner
washed it. And it's called a sea of glass
because it allows us to see the fullness of God's justification
and pardon for sin, and the very basis of the gospel we believe,
which declares God to be just and justifier. And then it's
said to be mingled with fire. I believe what's going on here
is that altar set here and that sea set here. And when you look
at that still water on that in that labor, you saw the flames
from the altar over here mingled. It was mingled. And John said
when he saw them, he saw them standing on that sea mingled
with fire, mingled with fire. It said to be mingled with fire,
that great altar directly beside of it and testifies of God's
wrath poured out on our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that
standing on this sea of glass is a picture of their persevering
adherence to the gospel. That's what he's saying. They
stand upon that sea and won't be moved. Here's these angels
and they've got the final plagues and the wrath of God being poured
out on this world and antichrist religion is just swallowing up
this world and all these things are going on. And here's these
people just standing. They're standing on that sea.
They're not moving. They're not scattering. They're
not running. They're not looking. They're singing. In spite of what is now and shall
yet take place, God's people will all stand upon the sea of
glass and sing praises unto God our Savior. Listen to this, Revelation
15, 3. It didn't say, and they sung. I
want you to look at this word now, because it's ever-present,
and they sing. They still sing. And they sing
the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. And they say, great and marvelous
are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints. Now I want you just for a minute. They sing the song of Moses.
And I want you just for a minute Because this is the key to this
whole chapter. So for just a minute, I want
you to picture yourself in that multitude coming out of Egypt.
And they get out there a little piece and Pharaoh changes his
mind and he calls for his armies and they mount up in their chariots
and here they come. And you can see the dust of them
coming. Here they come. You can hear
the noise of the chariots behind them. And Moses, he's leading
the children of God, and God's leading him. And he leads them
right up to the brink of this sea. And all the while, they're
looking back. They're looking back. And they're
seeing terrible things. They're seeing this enemy that
just, they don't have a weapon. They don't have a sword. They
don't have anything to fight with. And none of them trained
to fight. And here comes this powerful
enemy, the most powerful nation at that time on the face of the
earth. And here they come behind them with this great army and
they can hear them coming. And they look at them and they
think about their God and think about what he's doing. And they
rejoiced when they came out. They asked those Egyptians, because
God told them to, to borrow this, that, and the other. They just
gave it to them. Get out of here. Gave them their jewelry, gave
them their gold, gave them food, gave them whatever they wanted.
Get out of here. And God wouldn't even let a dog
bark in resistance when they left Egypt. But now here they are. They ain't
very far out there. And here comes this enemy. And
they're seeing that enemy And you don't think they're in despair?
And they start saying in their heart, well, God has brought
us out here. Moses has led us out here just
to die in the wilderness. We're going to be crushed. There's
mountains on both sides and a great sea in front of us. And then
God moves. And he splits the sea. And they
go across the sea, but here comes the enemy behind them. They're
still coming. And they're coming the same way
they went. Same way they went. And here he comes. And as they
looked, the walls of water come in and swallowed Egypt up. Isn't that what John's talking
about here? Standing on that sea of glass. And we're looking
at this powerful enemy and we're looking at a world upside down.
What do you see? Do you see an enemy that's about
to overtake you? Or do you see God's judgment?
Huh? It's all in how you look at it,
isn't it? That's what John's saying. We stand on that glassy
sea. We stand on that powerful sacrifice. We stand on that accomplish redemption
of Christ and we stand there and we sing praises to God because
our enemy is done for. Oh, he's still moving, he's still
riding, but he's done for. He's done for. Can you do that? Can you look at your enemy? Can
you look at all of these things that are against you? Can you
see them as the judgment of God? If you can, you can rejoice.
you can rejoice. What they once seen as an insurmountable
force, they now saw as an object of God's judgment and wrath.
And what they once saw as an act of God leading them unto
certain death, they now saw as a sovereign providence of God
raising up Pharaoh to show in him his power and his glory. Does the beast of religion and
government frighten you? Does the presence of the great
whore of Babylon cause you alarm? Know this, they're objects of
God's purpose. And they shall be all swallowed
up by his own means in his own time. And standing on the edge
of that sea, they all begin to sing, the Lord is my strength. They weren't singing that on
the other side. They sang that on this side. They looked back
and saw their enemy being crushed and being swallowed in the sea
and they said, they sang, they sang, the Lord is my strength
and song. And he has become my salvation.
He's my God and I'll prepare him a habitation. My Father's
God. I will exalt Him. In the greatness of Thine excellency,
Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against Thee. Thou sentest
forth Thy wrath, which consumed them like stubble. They sang
the song of Moses. Whose like unto Thee they sang,
O Lord? Among the gods, who is like unto
thee? Who is like unto thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, and doing wonders? Thou in mercy hast led forth
thy people, which thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them in thy
strength unto a holy habitation. And then they not only sang the
song of Moses, they sang the song of the Lamb. Do you remember
back in chapter 5? Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. Now here's the thing. Can you
look at this present evil world with its fierce beasts and these
awful delusions and the great whore with all her alluring charms
and can you sing this song? Can you see God's hand on them,
judging them? Revelation 15, 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy. For all
nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments,
now watch this, are made manifest. We're not blind to the judgments
of god we're not blind to it we see
sin being judged some sin was judged in christ and some out apart from christ
that are being judged and shall yet be judged but those judged
in christ that sin taken away That payment's been made in full.
God's judgments are made manifest. That is, we see them as they're
being carried out. We understand His judgment. You remember that story I told
you about the farmer who moved into that town? He came at the
end of the year with that big crop and interrupted that preacher's
service and he came out the door and And he told that preacher,
he said, if you're God, this God that you preach is God, how
do you explain this bumper crop that I have on my wagons before
your church? And he said, here's how I explain
it. God doesn't settle his accounts in October. It's coming. But it's here now. That judgment was upon him or
he wouldn't have been doing the things that he did. God's judgments
are made manifest. And we see our God not passive
but active in salvation of sinners and active in the judgment of
unbelieving rebels. Now let's read the rest of this
chapter. Revelation 15, 5. And after that I looked, and
behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was
opened. And the seven angels came out
of the temple having seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen,
and having their breasts girded with golden girdles, that is
the breastplate of the righteousness of God, Ephesians 6. And one
of the four beasts gave unto the angels seven golden vials
full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. And the
temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from
his power. And no man was able to enter
into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were
fulfilled.