Okay, let's take our Bible now
and back to Revelation 17. Revelation 17, I'm taking the
title for the message from what is said in verse 14. Let's read
verse 14 again. These, that is talking about
the enemies of the gospel, they are of one mind to destroy the
Lord Jesus Christ. These shall make war. with the
Lamb, or against the Lamb, talking about the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus, and the Lamb shall overcome. That word means to conquer. He'll
conquer them because He is Lord, because He is King, because He
is the God of all the earth, Lord of Lord and King of Kings. And then He gives this description
of those that are with Him. God's people are one with Him,
as we read in John 17. Those who are with Him are called,
they're chosen, and they're faithful. Now, what a good description.
What a good description. With these three words, all who
are born of God are described by this heavenly messenger of
God. What a good, true, and fit description. The Lord calls His people whom
He has redeemed and bought with His precious blood. They are
indeed called of God. They are indeed chosen of God. They are indeed faithful unto
God because they've been made new creatures in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, where do you want to be
found when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back? And He's coming back
soon. Revelation chapter 1 says He's on His way. He's on His
way. Where do you want to be found
when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back? I want to be found in Him. Be found in Him that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. I want to be found in Him. I
want to be found one with Him. found in union with Him, found
in union with Him in that eternal covenant of grace. That's the
mind of wisdom, as it says in verse 9. Here is the mind which
hath wisdom. The mind who has wisdom wants
to be one with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is salvation. Salvation
in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. These who are opposed to God
shall make war with the Lamb, And the lamb always wins. You
remember back in chapter 16, turn over there. Verse 13, it
describes what I call the unholy trinity. The unholy trinity. These make war with the lamb. And I saw, verse 13, three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon. That's
the great red dragon, Satan himself. And out of the mouth of the beast,
out of the mouth of the false prophet, That unholy trinity,
these are spirits of devils working miracles which go forth unto
the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them to
battle of that great day of God Almighty. All the hellish forces
of Satan and the beast out of the sea and the beast out of
the earth and the false prophets and antichrists, they all come
together to make war against the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
we know the message of the Revelation is this. He wins. He wins. He always wins. He must win.
We study it in Revelation 6 where it says, He went forth conquering
and to conquer. Our Lord said to those disciples
in John 16, These words have I spoken unto you, that in me
you might have peace. In this world you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have conquered. I have overcome. I have overcome. And we overcome
the enemies of the gospel. We overcome our sin, death, hell,
and the grave. We overcome only one way. You
want to know what that way is? Turn back to chapter 12. Revelation
chapter 12. Look at verse 9. which cast out that old serpent
called the devil, Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He
was cast out into the earth, and the angels were cast out
with him. Chapter 12, verse 10, And I heard a loud voice saying,
In heaven now is come salvation, strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accused were
the brethren as cast down, which accused them before God day and
night, and they overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb, by
the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto death." How do we overcome? Only in Christ. It's unto Him
who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. We are redeemed
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only sacrifice The lamb slain is the only sacrifice
that God will accept for an atonement for sin. No other. Don't bring
any other. Don't look for any other. No
other. No other name other than heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Now all those enemies that we
read about in verse 13 and 14 of chapter 17, these have one
mind. Their one mind is rebellion against
Almighty God, rebellion against God's purpose, and shall give
their power and strength to the beast." All those enemies to
the Lord and His church are bound to fail in all their attempt
to unseek the Lord Jesus Christ from His throne of universal
and absolute dominion. Remember the number of that beast.
Six, six, six. What does that mean? Failure,
failure, failure. Man is a failure in every aspect. Though kings and governments
of this world are supported by Babylon and the harlot of false
religion, are supported by the devil, the beast, and the false
prophet, their doom is certain and sure. Perdition it's called. These shall go into perdition. They have one mind and one purpose
to destroy the Lord's church. But he said, the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Remember what he said to Peter?
Upon this rock, thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Upon
this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell cannot
prevail. You cannot prevail against God
Almighty. He wins. They have one mind and
one aim, the enemies of God. One aim and one goal, to destroy
the true church of Christ. They give their support and strength
unto the beast, their time and their energy. But it's all in
vain. Their number is 666. Failure,
failure, failure. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is King of kings and Lord of lords over all kings and presidents,
over all governments and over all rulers of this wicked world,
over all demon spirits, over all opposition. He is King. He is God over all. He is King
of all the earth. The psalmist put it this way,
whatsoever the Lord please, that's what He does. In heaven, earth,
seas, and all deep places. All deep places. He is described,
you remember in chapter 19, look at one page, turn one page over.
The Word of God he is called. His name is the Word of God,
Revelation 19, 13. And the armies which are in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp
sword that with it he should smite the nation. He shall rule
them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of
the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. He hath on his
vesture and on his thigh a name written. King of kings, Lord
of lords, lay down in submission to this one who is almighty.
Don't fight against God, you will lose. I like what the Apostle
writes when he writes to the Colossians, talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ having spoiled principalities and powers. He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them himself. He didn't
need our help. He defeated all the enemies of
God. Now, look at verse 14 for just
a moment. Four things I want to point out
here in verse 14. And this is a good fit description
of everyone who is a believer. Everyone who is looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ. They that are with Him. God's
people are one with Him. Secondly, they are called. You
see that? Thirdly, they are chosen. And
then, because of all that, they are faithful. They are faithful.
Now, they're one with Him. Here we see that blessed union.
with Christ from all eternity in that blessed, eternal covenant
of grace. He chose us unto salvation. He chose us and He made us one
with Him in that eternal union, in that covenant of grace. Our
Lord prayed about that in John 17. We read it just a moment
ago. John 17, verse 21, let me just read it to you again. "...that
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, one
with Christ before God Almighty." And he said, "...the love wherewith
thou hast loved me, Thou hast loved them in me." Those that
are not with Christ, our Lord said this, those who are not
with me are against me. You see, in this thing there's
no neutral ground. You can't say, well, I'm just
going to be neutral. You can't be neutral. Our Lord said this,
he that is not with me is against me. Matthew 12, 30, he that gathers
not with me scatters abroad. I want to be one with Him. While
many want to make war with the Lamb, the Lamb of God, these
believers, by the grace of God, are made one with Him. The elect
of God are with Him now, always have been one with Him. And we'll
be one with Christ forever. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you
read Romans 8, there's an exhaustive list. It says nothing, height
or depth, nor any other creature, nor any other thing, can separate
us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. No separation. And then the first
part of Romans chapter 8 starts with this. No condemnation. No
condemnation and no separation. No one can lay anything to the
charge of God's delect because it's God who has justified us. We are accepted in the Beloved. We are accepted in the Beloved
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. We are one with Him. when He
stood as a surety in that eternal covenant of grace. He's called
the surety of a better covenant. He's the guarantee of our salvation. He is our assurance. He is the
surety of salvation. Our Lord put it this way in John
6, All that the Father giveth to me, they shall come to me,
and those that come to me, I will never cast them out. We're one
with Him. We're one with Christ as He lived
a perfect life in the flesh as a representative man upon the
earth, representing us and working out for us a perfect righteousness
before God, honoring the law of God for us. Our Lord said
in Matthew 5, He said, I didn't come to destroy the law and the
prophets, I came to honor it. You see, what He did as a representative
man, we did in Him. What's true of Him is true of
us. We're one with Him. What He did when He honored the
Law of God, magnifying the Law of God for us, we did that in
Him. The Apostle Paul put it this
way in Romans 5. By one man's disobedience, many were made
sinners. Those two representative men. God's going to deal with
all men in those two men. All man, all mankind in those
two men. In Adam, all died. He represented
By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Here's the
second man, the Lord from heaven. The second Adam he's called.
By his obedience shall many be made righteous. You see what
he did, we did. In him, being in union with him, We are one with Him, not only
as He lived, honoring the law of God for us in every precept,
but we were one with Him as He died for our sins according to
the Scripture. And the penalty of that law is
that the guilty must die. You know, Paul said we are crucified
with Christ. He's our representative man before
God, and when He died for the sin of God's people laid upon
Him, we were crucified in Him. When He died, we died. When He
lived, we lived. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He died to just for the unjust
that He might bring us unto God. We can't come any other way but
in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But see, we're
one with Him in eternity in that covenant. We're one with Him
as He came as a God-man mediator to honor the law of God. We're
one with Him when He dies upon Calvary's tree, identified with
Him. We were crucified in Christ.
We're one with Him when He arose from the grave. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. As a matter
of fact, so much so, that Paul, when he writes Romans, excuse
me, Ephesians chapter 4, when he says, But God, who is rich
in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when
we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, and
raised us up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, right now. You're looking at a sinner
that's already seated in heaven. Preacher, you're crazy. In my
substitute, in my representative, I'm already seated in the heavenlies.
God said so. God said so. We are accepted
in the Beloved. You see, when He sat down, we
sat down in Him. He's the forerunner who entered
in and seated, and we're in Him. We're in union with Him. What's
true of Him is true of us. Where He is, that's where we
are. We are one with Him in our hearts by faith and purpose.
His cause is our cause. His purpose is our purpose. His
desire is our desire. We glory in Him. If God be for
us, who can be against us? Come on now. Who can be against
us? If God's for us, if we're one
with Him in Christ, who can lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? He challenges heaven, earth, and hell. None, none can
lay anything charge against God's elect. You see, we're justified
completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. Justified freely by His
grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So,
there's the first point. We are one with Him. That being so, from all eternity,
what happens in time? We're called. We're called. He calls us. What does He call
us with? He calls us with the preaching
of the gospel. They that are with Him are called.
All that are with Him are with Him by the effectual, irresistible
call of God the Holy Spirit in regenerating grace. Remember
when Paul writes to young Timothy from death row and reminds him,
said, don't be ashamed of me, nor of the gospel, because it's
God who saved us. It's the power of God who saved
us and called us. Get that? He saved us, and then
He called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to God's own purpose and grace. Giving us in Christ
Jesus before the foundation of the world. God, because we're
one with Him in that eternal covenant of grace, in time He
crosses our path and He calls us. Not just with a hearing of
the ear, He calls us in our heart. In our heart. Peter writes about
it this way in 1 Peter 2, verse 9. He said, you are a chosen
generation, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, you are
a peculiar people, and that they should show forth the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. He calls us. Now, there is that,
what the old timers used to call, there is that general call of
the gospel. When the gospel is preached,
there is that general call that goes out to all men who audibly
hear when the gospel is preached for sinners to look to Christ,
to bow to Christ, to submit to Him, to come to Him. But that
call alone, that general call alone, will not bring the sinner
to Christ in faith. Has to be something else. That
call has to be there. That preaching of the gospel
has to be there. But there has to be that call of the Holy Spirit
with the Word of God quickening us, enlightening us, drawing
us, bringing us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And He does this effectually.
Effectually. There is that irresistible, invincible,
quickening call of God the Holy Spirit. You hath He quickened
who were dead. Of His own will beget He us with
the word of truth. Our Lord said this in John 6.
It's the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life.
It is a prevailing call. It's a prevailing call. It's
a personal call. Matthew, follow me. Zacchaeus,
up that sycamore tree, make haste to come down. Today I must abide
at your house. You see, it's a prevailing call.
It's a powerful call. It's a personal call. Lazarus,
been dead four days. Come forth. He that was dead
came forth. You see, it's a prevailing call
because it's a call of God. It's a personal call. The foundation
of God standeth sure, having as seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. He knows them by name, His sheep.
It's a powerful call. It's a call of God that will
bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of His power. You see, they are one
with Him and they are called to Him. Here's the third thing,
those that are one with him are chosen. You're a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, we read a moment ago. They are chosen, chosen. The call of the Holy Spirit with
the gospel is the proof, the proof and evidence of our eternal
election in Christ Jesus. How do you know anything about
God electing a people and choosing a people? The only way we know
about that is by our calling. Our election is known by our
calling. God calls us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. He calls us with the gospel.
And that's the evidence of being chosen of God and chosen from
all eternity. The fact that we're called in
time with the gospel is the evidence of our eternal election in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our election is known by our
calling. Peter writes about it this way.
Make your calling and election sure. Make it sure. Now, if you
can Turn to this if you want to, you don't have to, but find
1 Thessalonians over here, 1 Thessalonians, when Paul writes about brethren
knowing, chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now, how do we know anything
about God from eternity choosing us unto salvation? It's known
by our calling. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, We did hear the Word, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what
manner of men we were among you for your sake, and you became
followers. My sheep hear my voice, I know
them, and they follow me. You became followers of us and
of the Lord, having received the Word. in much affliction
with joy." Joy of heart. Joy. Rejoicing in the Lord Jesus
Christ always. And again I say, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. Now, back
to Revelation 17. The Lamb shall overcome them.
Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is Lord of Lords. He is King
of Kings. They that are with Him, they're
one with Him. They're called. They're chosen. And last, they're faithful. They're
faithful. Those who are one with Him, those
who are called by Him, those who are chosen in Him, an election
is in Him. He is the elect. We're chosen
in Him. God had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings according as he had chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. They are called, chosen, and
lastly they are faithful. Those who are one with him are
faithful. This is the sure and certain results. of being called, being
chosen, believers are faithful unto death. That is, they persevere
in faith and are faithful to the cause of God and His gospel.
They've been given the precious gift of faith. That which is
given of God does not diminish or disappear. That which is given
of God is a perfect gift. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourself." It's a gift of God. God doesn't
give faith and then take it back. God gives faith and we continue
in the faith. We continue coming to Christ.
We continue looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. We continue in
repentance. We continue in faith. We continue
unto death until He calls us home. They are made faithful
servants to God and His church by His grace. And we can say,
I am what I am by the grace of God. I am what I am by the grace
of God. They are kept by His power. Turn
over here to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Look at verse 1. 1 Peter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God,
according to the foreordination of God the Father, through the
sanctification of the Spirit, that's regeneration, conviction
of sin, which brings us to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. We say His blood is all our atonement
before God. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Look at verse 3. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you who are kept. We're kept by the power of God.
Through what? Faith. There's that faith. Looking
unto Christ. Coming unto Christ. Through faith
unto salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last
day. Does that describe you? Does
those words describe you there? I know what we are by nature.
Sinners. Guilty, vile, wretched. But here
we see what God has made us by His grace. He's made us one with
Him. He has called us unto Himself
with the Gospel. He has chosen us in that eternal
covenant of grace. And He has made us faithful unto
death. You remember in Hebrews 11 where
it describes all those believers who have died in faith? And it
says to them, these all died in faith. May God bless His Word. May God bless you with His Gospel
truth.