Looking out over this congregation
tonight, I don't know where you've come from today. Some of you
look like you could stand a little good news. I've got some. Here's the title of my message.
There's a better day coming. There's a better day coming.
I'm not talking about even in heaven's eternal glory. I'm talking
about upon this earth, wherein you and I now live. and endeavor
to serve our God, there is a better day coming. Things look terribly
bad now. False religion abounds on every
side. Papacy has risen again to the
position of prominence and acceptability throughout the world. The Pope's
Christmas address this year was estimated to have been heard
by over three quarters of the earth's population. That man of sin has never had
such popularity as he has today, never, not even in the dark ages. Those idolatrous superstitions
of Rome have become acceptable and pleasing, even in those churches
which were born in the great Protestant Reformation under
the leadership of men like John Calvin, Martin Luther, Zwingli,
and John Knox. The poisonous errors of Pentecostalism
have spread throughout the world to the ruin of unsuspecting souls
by the millions. Fundamentalist doctrines of easy-believism,
decisionism, free-willism, and works salvation parading through
the world, under nearly every denominational name, have spread
darkness throughout the world. And, of course, liberalism, in
its many pompous forms, continues to sway the minds of those who
will receive any word but the word of the living God. Add to
these heresies the increased acceptability, and if you just
listen, You who have recently been attending public school
or college, you will listen carefully and you'll observe that in the
opinions of men, even in this enlightened society of ours,
and I use the word enlightened very reservedly, but in these
days The religion of Islam, the religion of Judaism, the religions
of the wild, mystic religions of the world have become acceptable,
palatable forms of the worship of God. Just listen to what people
say. Are you observing what goes on
around you? In every city where we have any
kind of celebration of Christmas given on the television or radio. The television stations now turn
around and wish folks a happy Hanukkah. Isn't that sweet? It's the acceptance of Judaism,
acceptance of Christianity, acceptance of Islam, acceptance of mysticism. Recently, one of the Hollywood
stars made a movie about her previous life and her reincarnation
in this world. Everybody stands back and says,
ooh, ah, isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? What it
is, is the acceptance of any form of perverted religion. Accept the truth of God. The
world today is more religious than it has ever been in history.
But the world today is more godless than it has ever been in history.
As always throughout history, the more popular false religion
is, the more perverted society becomes. Read your history books. The more popular false religion
is, the more perverted society becomes. If you'd like to see
corruption, deceit, immorality, theft, falsehood, lying, every
kind of evil imaginable, not hidden away in the undercurrents
of society, but on public display. Now, you think it's bad here?
Go to any country where Romanism is still in power. You've been
to Mexico. Go down and look at it. Bribery's
a way of life. Go to Italy, to Spain, any country
where the religion of papacy is in power, you have the greatest
immorality and open display that's imaginable. And that's what's
happening all over the world today. The more men preach up,
the more men preach up the free will of man and good works and
law, the more man exercises his free will to do evil and to live
in lawlessness. Now you mark my words. The more
men preach up free will, good works, and law religion, the
more men will exercise their free will to the perversion and
to the works of evil deeds and to lawlessness of every kind.
It's always been that way. It's that way today. It appears
that we're living in that day when God's true witnesses lie
as dead men on the main street of the city of false religion.
which is called Sodom and Egypt. And I don't apologize for describing
it under those terms, for God described it under those terms.
The religion of the world appears to have trodden down the holy
city of God. It seems that Satan has been
loosed out of his prison for a little season, once again to
deceive the nations of the world. That time of apostasy which Paul
described as being precedent to the coming of Christ Jesus
has come upon us. But there's no cause for despair.
There's no cause for despair. As that lady in the letter said,
I would despair, but this is as God has ordained it. This
is as God has ordained it. First Corinthians 11, 19, heresies
must come that they which are a perfect, those which are approved
Those who have been called of God and regenerated by his grace
and given the righteousness of Christ may be made manifest by
the appearing of these heresies. But there is a better day coming.
The spirit of life from God shall once again enter into his church.
His faithful witnesses shall once again stand forth upon their
feet, and by the power of the gospel we preach, fear shall
fall upon our enemies. The gates of hell shall not prevail
against God's church. I wonder, I wonder if we really
believe that. I wonder if we really believe
that the gates of hell will topple before this gospel we preach.
That the very power of Satan will fall subservient to the
power of Christ Jesus in the gospel. Without legislative power,
without political force, Without carnal weapons of any kind, the
cross of Jesus Christ, the simple preaching of the gospel of God's
free grace by his appointed all-sufficient substitute, shall destroy the
religion of Antichrist in this world and bring the judgment
of God upon it. Babylon and all her daughters
shall fall like dominoes before Zion by the mighty arm of the
Lord when the everlasting gospel is preached Unto them which dwell
upon the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people
This is the great and marvelous sign which John saw and describes
for us in Revelation chapter 15 This vision like those before
it runs throughout the entire age It gradually builds up to
and culminates in the last days immediately preceding our Lord's
glorious second advent. But it is inclusive of those
times and experiences that we now endure upon this earth. Indeed,
it is inclusive of the prevalence of the gospel at God's appointed
time, in God's appointed way, to God's appointed measure throughout
the history of this age. Throughout this vision, John
is telling us there's a better day coming. In the end, the Church
of God shall triumph and be victorious over Antichrist and all false
religion by the gospel. Now, I want to call your attention
to three things as we go through these eight verses of Revelation
15. Look at verse 1. Here, John describes the preparation
of wrath. And I saw another sign in heaven,
and great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last
flags, for in them is filled up the wrath of God." Now here
John is talking about the preparation of God's wrath. You see, God's
acts of judgment are not sudden outbursts of passionate anger. They're not acts of one who has
simply gotten fed up and now he's not any longer able to contain
himself and so in passion he breaks out in anger. God's acts
of judgment are always the just and righteous retributions of
God upon men and women who by their own sinful rebellion and
unbelief have filled up the measure of God's wrath. Always. Every
act of God in judgment is an act of God's righteous, just
retribution upon men and women who, by their own willful rebellion,
fully deserve God's wrath. Those seven plagues, these last
plagues which John Saul poured out upon the world, were in his
mind's eye acts of astonishing wrath and justice. This sign
in heaven is a sign of our Lord's approaching advent and of the
glorious coming of Christ Jesus to the destruction of Antichrist
Hold your hand here and turn over to second Thessalonians
2 second Thessalonians 2 As I see this This perversion
of religion, as I see this promotion of free willism, of works religion,
the ascendancy of papacy, and men and women everywhere accepting
every kind of religion. Every kind of religion under
the sun has become acceptable in this society in which we live.
As I see it, I don't fall down in despair, but rather I look
up in expectation. For the Apostle Paul tells us
in verse 3, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3, Let no man deceive you by
any means, for that day shall not come. That is, Christ Jesus
shall not return to this world except there come a falling away
first. that the man of sin be revealed
the son of perdition. Not that the man of sin arise. Not that the man of sin begin
to work. Not that the man of sin begin
to spread his pernicious doctrines among the peoples of the world.
But that the man of sin be revealed by the clear declaration of the
gospel and by his own acts and deeds so that in the light of
the gospel he is revealed to be what he is, the man of sin. Now Paul says when that happens,
he's coming. When that man of sin is revealed,
when he's finally brought out in the open, exposed, and dragged
down to destruction, Christ Jesus is coming again. And so the apostle
tells us here in this vision that he saw a sign in heaven.
It is a sign of the approaching advent of Christ and of the destruction
of Christ. It is called a great sign because
it speaks of great things. It speaks of the fall of Babylon,
of the great glory of the Church in the Kingdom of Christ. And
it's marvelous when you consider that these great things are to
be accomplished not by weapons of warfare, not by the machinery
of war, but rather they are to be accomplished by the simple
means which the world most despises, and that is the simple preaching
of the gospel. How shall we overcome such political,
religious, economic power which has now all been blended together
and is more and more being blended together in our world? How can
we possibly overcome it? We'll have to form us a club
to get rid of it. We'll have to form us a society.
We'll have to form a new political party. Oh no. No. The way we
overcome the power of darkness in this world and in the minds
of men is with this simple word of the preaching of the gospel.
By this word, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through the Spirit of God through the pulling down
of strongholds. We preach the gospel, and by
the preaching of the gospel, as by the breath of Christ Jesus,
Antichrist shall fall. just as the walls of Jericho
fell by the sounding of a ram's horn. So Antichrist and the empire
of false religion shall indeed fall by the preaching of the
gospel. I have no hesitancy in declaring it. The seven angels
having the seven last plagues are gospel preachers, representatives
of and spokesmen for the Church of God. Throughout this epistle,
these letters, This letter that God has given to John to reveal
Christ Jesus. God's servants are represented
as being angels. And I remind you again that word
angel simply means messenger. It does not always refer to a
spirit being in heaven. It means messenger. One who is
sent from God with a message. For example, in the parables
of Matthew chapter 13, our Lord describes how that God sends
out his angel to gather the tares out of his kingdom and bind them
for the burning. And that's what's happening today
in preaching the gospel. As we preach the gospel, the
Lord God, by the word we preach, by the Spirit of God as He applies
it, He distinguishes the wheat from the tares. And this word
that we preach as men hear it, and hear it, and hear it, and
despise it, and despise it, and despise it, this word of the
gospel is binding them up under the wrath and judgment of God
for the day of God's wrath upon them. And that's what's being
described here in Revelation chapter 15. These angels are
the spokesmen of God, the spokesmen of Christ's church in this world. Indeed, in verse 6, they're described
as those who come out of the temple. They come out of the
church of God. Antichrist, then, shall be destroyed
by the breath of Christ's mouth through the preaching of the
gospel. The seven last flags are the judgments of God upon
men and women. in those last days by which their
eternal ruin is sealed. They are called the last flags
because these are the last dealings of God with these men before
he finally sentences them to everlasting destruction. These
are the last dealings of God with impenitent men upon the
earth. The Lord God by His Spirit strives
with men through the preaching of the gospel. There is a There
is a calling of God, a sincere, genuine, legitimate calling of
God by the preaching of the gospel that pricks the consciences of
men, which men may or may not resist. And if they resist it,
that pricking, that call that goes forth in the gospel shall
bring judgment upon them. If they listen and hearken to
the word of the Lord and harden not their heart, they come to
repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. Read the scriptures. The
Lord God says, harden not your hearts. Harden not your hearts.
He said, I have called, I have stretched out my hands to you,
and you would not. And when men determine to harden
their hearts against God and Christ Jesus in the gospel, God
Almighty determines to bring judgment upon them. These last
plagues will result in the final, eternal ruin of men. All who
refuse to repent will be finally brought to everlasting destruction.
But these plagues come upon men while they're yet living upon
the earth. You see, God will not trifle
with those who trifle with his son. God will not trifle with
those who trifle with the gospel of his grace. If you harden your
heart against Christ, God will harden your heart to the gospel. And I'm telling you that gospel-hardened
sinners cannot be saved. Cannot be saved. But pastor,
do you mean that men living upon the earth are so surely under
the judgment of God that they're irreversibly damned? That's exactly
what I mean. That's exactly what I mean. I'll
show it to you from the scriptures. Turn to Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs
chapter 1. Verse 23. Here's the call of God in the
gospel. This is what God's saying to everybody who hears my voice
right now. This is what he's saying. Turn
you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you. I will make known my words unto
you. Will you turn? Will you turn? If you turn, God says, I'll pour
out my spirit on you. If you turn, God says, I will
reveal my words to you. He says in verse 24, Because
I have called, and ye have refused, I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded. But ye have said it not all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at
your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh,
when your fear cometh as a desolation, and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh
upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. You wouldn't hear.
You wouldn't hear. You wouldn't hear. Therefore,
unto what it says, they would none of my counsel. They despised
all my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat the
fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."
That's what judgment is. That's what judgment is. Bob's
judgment is the sinner eating the fruit of his own way. The
judgment of God is the rebel being filled with his own devices.
The judgment of God is God's right, just retribution upon
men and women who despise his gospel. Turn over again to Romans
chapter 1. Romans the first chapter and
verse 24. Romans chapter 1. The word of God teaches God's
judicial reprobation of men. That is, God rejecting men. God deliberately, permanently
casting men off. Because of their rebellion and
unbelief, God judicially blinds their minds and hardens their
hearts. Romans 1 verse 24. Because professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools. Because they changed the
glory of God into the image made like unto a corruptible man,
to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Because
of man's sin, look at this, verse 24. Wherefore, God also hath
given them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own
hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. And for this cause, verse 26.
Because they changed the truth of God into a lie. For this cause,
God gave them up to vile affections. Down in verse 28, even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Now turn over, if you will, to
1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, chapter 2. 2 Corinthians 2. What I'm saying is this, men
who harden their hearts against the gospel, men who resist the
prickings of conscience produced by the gospel, men who despise
the word of the Spirit of God, men who refuse the blood of Christ
and despise the grace of God are toying with reprobation,
toying with God's just judgment upon them. Look here in 2 Corinthians
2, verse 14. Now, thanks be unto God, which
causeth us to triumph. Notice that. He always causeth
us to triumph. The Church of God doesn't fail.
Never fails. God's servants never fail. God's
preachers never fail. God always causes us to triumph. Always. in Christ Jesus, and
he makes known the savour of his knowledge by us, by us in
the gospel we preach, by us through the Spirit of God speaking by
us, he makes known the knowledge of Christ in every place. For
we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. That is, we smell
like Christ Jesus. God receives us acceptably and
well-pleasing in his sight, both in them that are saved and in
them that perish. For to the one, we are the saver
of death unto death, and to the other, the saver of life unto
life. That is, as we preach the gospel,
if God the Holy Spirit speaks by us, that gospel we preach
will either bring men to Christ, or it will shut men out from
Christ. That same sun that rises in its noonday brilliance on
a hot July day, which melts the wax before it. hardens the clay
like stone. And that same gospel which melts
this heart, hardens that heart, that same gospel which brings
this man to repentance, hardens this one in impenitence, rebellion,
and unbelief. The Apostle John says over in
1 John 5, you don't need to turn there, 1 John 5 verse 16, there
is a sin unto death, and I do not say that you shall pray for
it. There is a sin unto death. So that the Lord God says to
his prophet, Ephraim is joined to his idols. Ephraim is joined to his idols.
Leave him alone. Leave him alone. Don't speak
to him. Don't pray for him. Don't preach
to him. Don't extend mercy to him. Don't
bother him. Don't bother him. Somebody told
one of our men, I believe it was Buddy Darty, said to him,
leave me alone and don't bother me again with your religion. And Buddy responded as he ought
to have responded, OK, I'll leave you alone. I'll leave you alone. Yes, sir, I'll leave you. Won't
bother you. You won't be bothered by me again. You will not be
bothered by me again. My God's not a beggar, and I'm
not begging in his name. I'm telling you that God Almighty
hardens the hearts of men and leaves them in their blindness
when they despise his gospel. There was a man by the name of
Esau who sold the birthright. Now, that birthright was more
than an inheritance to a large piece of land. That birthright
was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Esau said, I'll take a mess
of beans instead. I'm hungry. I want something
to eat. Here, Jacob, take the birthright.
I don't care anything for it. I want those beans. And he sold
the birthright for mess upon him. But later on, as he got
older, he saw the value of the birthright. He saw the value
of that thing that he had despised and sold, and he sought a place
of repentance with tears, and found it not. Read Hebrews chapter
11. Israel had prophet after prophet. For 4,000 years, God spoke to
Israel. God didn't speak to anybody but
Israel. All the sacrifices were made
for Israel. All the priests were in Israel.
All the law was given to Israel. All the prophets were sent to
Israel. For 4,000 years, God sent prophet after prophet, priest
after priest, sacrifice after sacrifice, precept after precept,
warning after warning, judgment after judgment, deliverance after
deliverance. And finally, He sent His Son,
and they nailed Him to a tree. God said, OK. have washed my
hands of you. And brother, when God washes
his hands of you, his hands are washed. Once a man has filled up the
measure of the wrath of God by willfully rejecting and despising
the gospel of his grace, that man is past all hope. The door
is shut. His doom is certain. For such
a man, the wrath of God is prepared. He's going to hell. He's going
to hell. That's all there is to it. And it's right. It's right. For 120 years, Noah preached
to his generation, called them to repent. Noah told his generation,
judgment was coming, there's one way of salvation, get in
the ark. For 120 years, he told them that. And they despised
it. They despised it. And Noah and his family, by the
call and hand of God, went into the ark. And the reason they
went in, because God put them in. The reason they went in,
because God, by his irresistible grace, caused them to go in.
But they went in with willing heart, believing God. Into the
ark he went. And when he went in that ark,
God shut the door. And there hadn't been a raindrop
fall yet. Not one yet. Those men and women were outside
the ark when God shut the door. And there was no possibility
of them getting into the ark after God shut the door. And
I'm telling you, the time comes when God in poverty shuts the
door on the hearts of men and they cannot repent. Can't do it. John saw not only the preparation
of God's wrath, but he saw the victory of God's Church. Now,
without question, these verses 2, 3, and 4 may be applied to
the glory and triumph of Christ's Church in heaven. But in the
context, these verses speak directly of the triumph and victory of
God's church in the world by faith in Christ Jesus, by the
preaching of the gospel. Notice how John describes the
saints of God in this world. First and foremost, in the church
of God, John saw a sea of glass mingled with fire. And I saw,
as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire. You know what it represents. It's an allusion to the brazen
sea in the temple. It's an allusion to the labor
of brass in the tabernacle, in which the priests must wash themselves
before they can enter upon the service of God. This sea of glass
represents the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's people
stand before him upon the basis of Christ's precious blood's
atonement. Down in verse 3, I'm sorry, the
latter part of verse 2. We see here that these saints
of God stand on the sea of glass. They stand on it. That is, this
is their confidence, this is the basis of their faith, this
is the basis of their acceptance on this sea of glass. We stand
before God accepted. It's called a sea of glass. It's
compared to a sea because of its abundance and the efficacy
of the blood to cleanse us from all our sins. It's called a sea
because this sea of glass shows us clearly free justification,
the pardon of sin, and righteous reconciliation of sinners to
God by the blood of Christ Jesus. It's called a sea of glass mingled
with fire because of the fire of wrath which Christ Jesus endured
as our substitute. When our Lord Jesus was made
to be sin for us, he endured the fire of God's wrath for our
sins. And then he drowned our sins
in the depths of the sea of his own precious blood, and our sins
are gone. They are no more. This is our
acceptance with God. We stand before God, accepted
on the basis of God's just sacrifice for sin, Jesus Christ the Lord,
having been washed in the blood of Christ, the justice of God,
having been satisfied in the death of Christ, and now, by
that same righteous judgment and justice, through that blood,
we stand before God, accepted, holy in the beloved. And then
John saw them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and
over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of
his name. And what does that mean? I've gotten the victory. I've
gotten the victory. I'm not talking about I'm going
to get it. I'm talking about I've got it. I've got it. There are not many things of
which I'm sure But I'm just right confident I'm not going to be
found worshipping at the statue of Mary or kissing the Pope's
toe when he comes by. I'm just right confident you're
not going to see me with a crystal fix around my neck. I'm just
right confident you're not going to hear me accepting or declaring
anything that even smacks of free will, or the dignity of
man, or good works, or legalism. It's not going to come forth.
I've gotten the victory. I've gotten the victory, regardless
of cost or consequence. I've counted the price. I've
burned my bridges behind me. I'm following after Christ Jesus,
and by His grace, I intend to keep on that way. Victory that
John speaks of is a present, real conquest by faith in Christ
Jesus. They got the victory over the
beast. How? By standing on the sea of
glass. That is, they got the victory
over the beast by the blood of the Lamb, by their close, constant,
persevering adherence to the gospel of Christ. Antichrist
could not deceive them, he could not destroy them, because they're
standing on the sea of blood. They're standing on the blood
atonement of Jesus Christ. Turn over to Colossians 3. I'm
sorry, Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1. Here the Apostle Paul is telling
us what God in Christ shall do for all who believe. He says
in verse 22, let's just start there. Right in the middle of
the sentence, but we'll start there. This is what Christ is
going to do. In the body of his flesh, through
his death, he's going to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight. He's going to do it. If. If. Do you see that word if? If ye
continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard. I have confidence. I have confidence before God,
not based upon anything I've done or even anything I've experienced. I have confidence before God
on this basis. I stand on this sea of glass
wherein I read free justification and complete pardon by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Here I stand. And therefore,
I will not yield to the religion of Antichrist. I will not worship
the image of the beast. I will not worship according
to the religion of this world, according to the religion of
the Patriotist, or according to the religion of the Methodist,
or even according to the religion of the Baptist. I will stand
on this sea of glass and worship God in spirit and in truth, worshiping
Jesus Christ my Lord as my only Savior, my only atonement for
sin, my only righteousness. That's it, that's it. Now, that
being the case, I cannot be induced by persecution, or by argument,
or by reason, or by sentiment, to fall down and worship at the
image of the beast. I won't receive his mark, even
if it requires, or even if it means I can't buy bread for my
family, or milk for my babies, or I can't buy or sell in the
trade markets of the world, even if it means you've got to shut
down business. If it means you've got to close up shop. If it means
you've got to go hungry and struggle. We stand on this sea, and we
can't be moved from it. Not if we're on it. Not if we're
on it. We won't receive his mark in
our forehead or in our hands. We won't receive by profession
any credibility to the image of the beast. We won't do it.
That's anti-Christ out there. That's anti-Christ out there.
And we won't have it. We won't have it. We profess
no allegiance to any except Christ Jesus our Lord. We are, Paul
says, more than conquerors. through him that loved us. By
Christ Jesus, by the gospel of his grace, we shall prevail and
conquer over the evil influences of Antichrist, whether it be
the subtle deception of Antichrist religion, or the open persecution
of Antichrist against God's church. His people still are found standing
on the sea of glass, even in the midst of trials, troubles,
and persecutions. All of God's saints are full
of praise in their hearts. Notice the next word. Having
the hearts of God. Somehow I just got a suspicion
that that's not to be taken literally. When I was a boy, my mama decided
her son ought to play the violin. I don't know whether I ever told
y'all the story publicly or not. She just decided that Don makes
a good violinist. That's back a long time before
boys did things like that, you know. And I was the biggest boy
in class. Sittin' on a stool, squeakin'
that little violin. I've despised the notion of violins
since then. Had to pay the price every day
I'd go home. Walk by a big old fridge. And I think to myself, is it
gonna be worth it? Finally, I decided it was, and one day I took it
out of the case and just bashed that thing to pieces. Closed it up
in the case, took it home, and told my mother I fell on it.
I had to pay the price, but it's worth it. It's worth it. I ain't
playing no stringed instruments. Now, it may be that I might learn
in another world to like playing the harp. I just keep picturing
me playing a harp. What he's talking about here
is a harp of praise in here for God Almighty. He's talking about
praise in our hearts. He's talking about something
right now in the here and now, in the present, in the midst
of trial, in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of heartache, in
the midst of tribulation, in the midst of persecution. They
have hearts of God, and this is what they say. They sing the
song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. The illusion, of course, is to
the people of Israel, Moses and the men, Miriam and the women,
as they have come across the Red Sea. They're standing by
the sea now. And there's Pharaoh's helmet.
Got enough air in it, floating around on the water. Pharaoh's
down in the sea, and they're dancing. They're dancing, singing
the praises of God. What I'm saying is that God's
people, believers, are men and women who in their hearts celebrate
the praises of God with joy and gratitude, giving thanks unto
God through Christ Jesus always and for all things, both His
goodness and His severity, both His grace and His justice. We give praise to God for the
defeat of our enemies. They sang the song of Moses,
the servant of God. Why was Moses singing? What caused him such delight?
What was Miriam dancing for him, beating that timbrel and shaking
it, leading the children of Israel to sing? What was it all about?
Pharaoh and his horse. have sunk like a stone beneath
the hand of God's wrath. And that Pharaoh represents every
enemy of God's church and kingdom. That Pharaoh represents papacy,
that Pharaoh represents freewillism, that Pharaoh represents work,
that Pharaoh represents legality, that Pharaoh represents the religion
of this world and everything that would turn men from Jesus
Christ and bring men back into bondage. That Pharaoh, blessed
be God, to the depths of the sea, he must go. He must go. But pastor, don't you think you ought to
kindly snuggle up to these fellas and get on their good side and
address them as brethren and join their ministerial societies
and engage with them in their efforts for evangelism and join
with them in their celebrations and join with them in their ceremonies?
After all, maybe you could do some of them some good. Find
me one time in the word of God or in history. Now listen to
me. Find me one time in the word of God or in history where one
of God's people joined up with God's enemies and did them good.
Find me one time. Don't happen. Can't happen. Good
does not influence evil for good, but rather good is influenced
by evil for evil. It's always that way. It's always
that way. For once you join up, once you
get on their team, you play by their rules. You compromise just
by getting in. I hear these fellas, well, they may hear the tape,
that's alright. If you hear the tape, I ain't
hearing this for you. I hear these fellas say, well,
we're going to stay in the Southern Baptist Convention because there's
some good there and we want to retrieve it. It's Pharaoh and
it's going to the bottom of the sea. Join up and you'll go with
it. Join up and you'll go with it.
That's all there is to it. I'm telling you, Moses and Israel
leaped and danced and sang God's praises because God in his covenant
mercy, because of his goodness to Israel, destroyed their enemy. And he'll do the same for us.
We give thanks and praise to God, not only for the defeat
of our enemies, but for our redemption by the blood of the Lamb. They
sang the song of Moses, that song of mighty judgment, but
they sang the song of redemption. It's the song of the Lamb. The
song of the Lamb. What is that song? You won't
mind reading it again, will you? Thou hast, thou wast slain. And
thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred
and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto God kings
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." That's what it
is. They sing the song here. They
learn it here and sing it over there. We learn it while we're
here in the midst of trouble, in the midst of tribulation,
and we sing it to His praise forever. Not only so. But God's people give praise
to Christ, our Lord God Almighty, for all his great and mighty
works. Look at what's said. Saying,
great and marvelous are thy works. Now listen to how Christ Jesus
is described. Lord God Almighty. Lord God Almighty. Great and marvelous are your
works. Look back to old eternity and
the surety-ship engagements of Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, great
and marvelous are His works in the covenant. Look yonder to
Mount Calvary and see the Son of God cry, It is finished, and
our sins are there put away! Great and marvelous are His works. Look there, on the throne of
universal dominion sits the King of Providence. He's ruling everything
with sovereign sway. Great and marvelous are His works. And soon, our Lord Jesus Christ
shall wrap everything up and bring forth the praise of the
glory of His grace. And we declare, great and marvelous
are His works. Perhaps that which is most observable
to us is that work of grace which we experience. We experience it initially when
he calls us from death to life. But then we kind of experience
it again. I have a privilege that most of you don't have.
Corresponding with people, meeting people all over the country.
Oh boy, it's a great, marvelous thing to see how God takes the
sinner, brings him down. and causes him
to look up, and lifts him up by his grace, and brings him
to faith in Christ Jesus. I never lose hope for sinners. until they get self-righteous,
then I get a little concerned about them. But as long as they're
running in rebellion against God, as long as they're giving
vent to their passions and lusts, I have some reason to hope that
maybe God in His providence is going to bring them down to the
end of themselves, that they may look up to Christ Jesus and
come to Him. But this I know, this I know,
whatever His ways of grace are, they're great. and they're marvelous
in our eyes. And we give praise to Christ
as our sovereign mediatorial king. Notice this next title. Just and true are thy ways. Did you see it? Just and true. Whatever you do, whether it's
grace or judgment, whether it's mercy or wrath, whether it's
the blessings of eternal life or the judgment of God upon sin,
just and true are thy ways. thou king of saints." That word
saint can be translated three ways, and they're all true. That one, that man who is God
sitting on the throne of glory, by virtue of his obedience, is
the king of all the saints. We own him as king. But more
than that, he's the king of the nations. He's the king of all
men on the earth. And more than that, he's the
king of the ages. He's the king in every age. He's
the king over all the world, over all the universe, over all
time, unto all eternity. The king of the saints, king
of the nations, king of the ages. And we give praise to Christ
Jesus by ascribing to him alone all reverence, all holiness,
all glory, all worship, and all righteousness. Look at what we
read. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name?" I preach the gospel to men, and I'm astounded. I'm astounded. I hear fellows,
they preach almost like they don't expect anybody to believe.
I'm astounded everybody don't. I'm astounded. I'm astounded
that men don't glorify Christ Jesus. I'm astounded that men
don't reverence the God of heaven. For thou only art holy. He's the only one who is. Now
listen to that pompous, arrogant, egotistical, self-appointed
head of the Church of God on this
earth. I mean the Pope, in case you misunderstand me. He walks
around so humbly. Chants out his little ceremonies,
and everybody's oohing and aahing. When he speaks in language nobody
can understand it, and this is what he meant to say. And he calls himself His Holiness
the Pope. Shoot. His Holiness. A mere man. His Holiness. HIS
HOLINESS! is King Jesus. He's the only
one who is. He's the only one who is. His
name is holy. Holiness belongs to him alone.
For thou only art holy. For all nations shall come and
worship before thee. For thy judgments are made manifest. This is what he says. He is not
saying at all Everybody in the world is going to be converted.
That's not what he's saying. He's saying every knee shall
bow before you, and every tongue shall confess that you alone
are holy and reverend to the glory of God the Father. Everybody
shall. Why? For thy judgments are clear. When judgment has fallen, Everybody
shall bow down to King Jesus. Not with repentant hearts, no.
Not with true conversion, no. But when judgment comes, men
fall, and they fall before King Jesus to the praise of the glory
of his name. God's saints see the righteousness
of God and give praise to God, both for his righteous mercy
and his righteous judgment. for both, for both. Thirdly,
John describes for us the instruments of judgment. In verses 5 through
8, judgment proceeds from the mercy seat itself. Look here. And after that I looked, and
behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was
opened. And whether you apply it to the
church of God on the earth or to heaven itself, the illustration
is of the temple and the testimony of God in the holy place in the
temple, which is the ark of the covenant, over it the mercy seat,
under it the tables of the law. And what John is telling us is
that these angels are sent out by God into the world with the
plagues of wrath upon the men of this world from the place
where men find mercy. The basis of judgment always
is the law of God and the gospel of God, twofold. It's the law
of God, for here the law condemns, men could not and would not measure
up. And it's the gospel of God because
that one who has fulfilled the law, who has satisfied the precepts
and the demands and the justice of the law, has been plainly
proclaimed unto men, and they despise him. They wouldn't have
God under the law, and they wouldn't have God according to the gospel.
And now the God-man who fulfilled the law, who is the embodiment
of the law, sits in judgment upon all. And the Lord Jesus
Christ shall in that last day judge all men by my gospel, which
I now declare to you. The instruments of judgment are
God's preachers. And the seven angels came out
of the temple having the seven plagues, clothed with pure white
linen. That's enough to tell you that
they're not angelic creatures. This pure white linen is the
righteousness of Christ, which is the righteousness of the saints.
Angels aren't clothed with it. We are. I stand here tonight
as one who is a messenger from God, clothed with pure white
linen, having their breasts girded with golden girdles. That is,
their breasts are girded with the love of Christ and given
strength by the grace of God. So that they walk before men
with strength and boldness as a lion, with determination and
dedication to Christ Jesus, in whom, for whom they have love
which God has implanted in their heart. To go forth with these
plagues of judgment. Who is sufficient for these things,
Paul said, not me, not me, but our sufficiency is of God. And
because of the love of Christ, we go forth, conquering and to
conquer. We either conquer men by the
grace of God, and so they're brought to repentance and faith,
or we're determined to conquer them by the judgment of God through
the gospel and declare God's righteousness, both in grace
and in judgment. And we're given strength for
the labor by this golden girdle of God's all-sufficient grace.
The vials of wrath of the judgment of God upon those who refuse
to repent. And one of the four beasts gave
unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God,
who liveth forever and forever." The vials are instruments of
measurement. Most of the modern translators,
our translations, give this word bowls of wrath, but that doesn't
quite tell it. is an instrument of measure.
And what John is telling us here is that these men are given vials
full to the measure of God's wrath to be poured out. They're
golden vials for His wrath is righteous and just. They're vials
full of wrath because these men fully deserve the wrath of God
if they despise His Son. He that believeth not is condemned. And though they are temporal
judgments they shall surely result in the eternal judgment of God
upon them. And though the judgment of God
falls upon the wicked, the church of God shall yet be full of God's
glory and power even to the very last day." Look at verse 8, "...and
the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from
his power." God revealed himself glorious
in the midst of his holy temple. The glory of God becomes our
defense so that our enemies are not able to enter in and destroy
his church. And no man was able to enter
into the temple. No man was able. What preserves
a church? What preserves a great Baptist
church from being invaded by free willers, from being invaded
by work mongers, from being invaded by legalists, and turning us
away from the gospel of God's grace. Only one thing, God in
the midst of us. You can put it on paper, that
won't work. I've seen churches go exactly opposite of what was
on paper. You can agree to it in a covenant, that won't work.
But if God's in the midst of his church, God preserves, and
no enemy can come in. No enemy can come, nobody's gonna
destroy God's church. God's judgment is that none shall
enter in to destroy. He preserves his own. But there's
another word, no intercession shall be made. Somehow God fixes it so that
his people cease to pray. They no longer have a burden
to pray for those who are brought under the sentence. of God's
holy wrath. I can't explain that. You ever
have an earnest burden in your heart to call upon God on the
behalf of this person or that? I'm talking about something beyond
calling on God because it's your son or your daughter. I'm talking
about an earnest burden for a man or a woman that God might show
them mercy, that they might repent and believe the gospel and you
cry unto God and you witness to Him and you carry the gospel
to them. And one day you try to pray for that person. And for your life, you can't
pray. You can't do it. You can't do
it. Because God said, like he did
to Jeremiah concerning Israel, don't pray for them. Jeremiah 7, 16. And God's judgment
upon Antichrist will be fully accomplished by the gospel of
his grace. No man was able to enter into
the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled
or finished. God will pour out the vials of
his wrath and wrap up the unbelieving for judgment and destroy the
religion of Antichrist. and Babylon shall fall. But as
Babylon falls, God's church shall stand, filled with the glory
of our God, and the power of his might, to the praise of his
glory. Amen. David, come listen to him,
will you?