Okay, let's take our Bible now
and turn to Revelation chapter 11. And we'll continue in our Bible
study of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we find
ourselves in verse 14 of chapter 11. And I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 15. And again, what is
said in verse 17, Christ shall reign forever and ever. You see that? Christ shall reign
forever and ever. He has taken great power to Himself
and He has reigned forever. There is no beginning and no
end to the absolute Sovereign, eternal Lordship of the Lord
Jesus Christ. When didn't He reign? He has
always reigned because He is God. There's no beginning and
no ending to the absolute, eternal, sovereign Lordship of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says, we started out in Revelation
chapter 1, he says in verse 8, he says, I'm Alpha, I'm Omega,
I'm the beginning, I'm the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, and then he said, the Almighty.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who is God our Savior, He is the Almighty
God. Now, so far in our study in the
Revelation, we have studied about the opening of the seven seals
of the book of God's eternal decrees and purpose that's in
the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah stood forth and took the book out of the hand of God
Almighty, and He opened up that book. We've also studied about
the blowing of the six trumpets when the seventh seal was opened
in chapter 8 through chapter 11. Now, in our study today,
the sounding of a seventh trumpet, as it says there in verse 15,
the seventh angel sounded, and it was a trumpet of God's purpose
and God's grace. In our study today, we see the
seventh trumpet and the coming of the third woe, as it says
in verse 14. The second woe is past. Remember,
there were three woes when those seven trumpets were blown. The
second woe is past. The first woe is past. Behold,
the third woe comes quickly. Comes quickly. Maybe a thousand
years, but in God's time, it comes quickly. Because a thousand
years is but a day with the Lord. Now, two things will be absolutely
certain when the Lord returns. We know, and we know, that the
Lord Jesus Christ is on His way back. In Revelation 1, He said,
Behold, I cometh. The Lord cometh. That means He's
on His way back. I don't know when that will be,
but I know the Lord will come back. He promised in His Word,
He said, I will come back. Now, it will be a great time
of woe and righteous judgment to the ungodly, to the unbelieving
world, but it will also be a great time and a wonderful time of
blessings and great glory for the elect of God. There's going
to be a contrast between when God separates the sheep from
the goats, It'll be a wonderful time of blessing to the sheep
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It'll be a woeful time to the
goats on the left hand. So, we know these things are
so. We know these things are true.
It'll be a wonderful time to the elect of God who are redeemed
with the blood of Christ. Turn back to Revelation chapter
1. Remember what they said over here in Revelation chapter 1,
verse 5 and 6? When the Lord comes back, it
will be a wonderful time of blessing to His elect. Revelation 1. Verse 5, "...from Jesus Christ,
who is a faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and
the Prince of the kings of the earth, unto Him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto our God, His Father, to Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever." And we say, Amen. God reigns
forever. and ever." It will be a great
time of blessing to the elect of God. We see that again, turn
to Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verse 1, And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, that the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband, And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.
Talking about Christ, the Word, the tabernacle among us. He will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
no sorrow, no crying, no more pain. The former things are passed
away. Thank God. He said, behold, I
sit upon the throne and make all things new. And he said to
me, write for these words are true and faithful. And he said
to me, it's done, it's done. I'm Alpha, I'm Omega, beginning,
the end. I will give unto him that is
at first the fountain of the water of life freely, He that
overcometh shall inherit all things. I will be his God, and
he shall be my Son." So it was a great time, a wonderful time
of blessing to God's people when the Lord comes back, but a woeful
time of judgment and condemnation to those who are not in Christ
Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. We know all judgment is relative
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the standard and rule of
judgment. The Father judges no man but
has committed all judgment unto the Son. God has appointed the
day, Acts 17 31. God commanded all men everywhere
to repent, because He hath appointed a day in which He will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained,
whom He raised from the dead. Judgment is coming. Oh, blessings
are coming too to the Lord's people, but judgment is coming.
Our Lord said, I am He that liveth and was dead.
Behold, I am alive forevermore. And He said, if you believe not
that I am He, You'll die in your sin. We know none will be punished
for their sin against God, who do not deserve His wrath and
eternal condemnation. We know the wages of sin is death.
We know we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
God said, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. We know
none will be punished for their sin against God who do not deserve
His judgment, His wrath, His condemnation. That's what we
deserve. That's what we've earned is judgment, not mercy. Likewise,
none will be blessed and justified who are not made righteous in
Christ and are one with Him. Those who are one with Him shall
be blessed forever. You remember Romans 5, 19? For
by one man's disobedience were many made sinners, so by another
man's obedience we are made righteous and justified. In Adam we died,
in Christ we are made alive. By his disobedience we are made
sinners, by Adam's disobedience, by Christ's righteous obedience
we are justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God who is justified. There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. So the third woe comes quickly. Now, look at verse 15. The seventh
angel sounded. You remember when that seventh
seal was opened, there were seven angels that went forth with seven
trumpets. We've seen all of them. This
is the last one. The seventh angel sounded and
there were voices, great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever and ever. All the heavenly hosts praise
and worship the Lamb. These great voices are redeemed
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. These great
voices praise and worship the mediator of the covenant, Our
Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen this before. Turn
back to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5, verse 9,
remember? And they sung a new song, Revelation
5, 9, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, to open the
seals thereof, for thou was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by
thy blood, out of every kindred, tongue, a people, a nation, and
has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign
on the earth, that new heaven and a new earth. And I beheld
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne,
and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of them were ten
thousand times ten thousand and thousands, saying with a great
voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power, riches,
wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. And every creature
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, such
as are in the sea, and all that are in them, Heard I saying,
blessing and honor and glory be unto him that sat on the throne,
unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. The four beasts representing
God's preachers. And the four and twenty elders
representing the church, we're going to see this again, fell
down and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever and ever. Here we learn that the Lord Jesus
Christ will reign in His sovereign rule Forever and ever and ever. He has always reigned in His
sovereign rule. We read in Psalm 90, from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other. He declares the end. From the
beginning, decreed all things. His dominion is just not for
a thousand years or a few years, but his dominion is an everlasting
dominion. He rules and reigns over all
things forever and ever. None shall ever take the scepter
of his sovereign rule out of his hand. No one will ever push
him off his throne, for he is God. Beside Him there is no other
God. Don't turn. Let me just read
these to you. You can write these down if you want to look at them
later. About the sovereign reign of Christ. Psalm 93 says this,
The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The
Lord is clothed with strength. He has girded Himself. Wherewith
he hath girded himself, the world also is established, that it
cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of
old, thou art from everlasting. He reigns forever and ever and
ever. One other psalm, Psalm 99, says
this. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. He sitteth between the cherubim.
Let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion. He
is above all the people. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ has the
sovereign dominion over all things. He orders all things. According
to his eternal purpose, he sustains all things by his eternal power,
and he disposes of all things as he sees fit. He's the Lord
over all things. He rules and reigns over all
things. Unlike the confession of King
Nebuchadnezzar was taught that God is God, he said all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he does according to his
will in the army of heaven, among the habitants of this earth,
that no one can stay his hand, or say unto him, Lord God, what
doest thou? The heathen in David's day, the
heathen came to David and said, David, where is your God? Remember
what David said? Our God is in the heavens, and
He has done whatsoever He has pleased. I'm saying that God
is God. The God of the Bible is not the
God that we conjure up in our mind naturally. The God of Holy
Scripture is the absolute sovereign God. We think too low. By nature,
we think wrong thoughts about God, low thoughts about God.
He's high and lifted up. He rules and reigns over all
things. The Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom,
look what it says in verse 15 again. The seventh angel sounded
and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ
and He shall reign over all things forever and ever and ever. They're His by creation. He created
all things by the word of His power. They're His by purchase. He bought us with His own blood.
He bought the right to rule over all the kingdom by His perfect
obedience unto death. The old timers used to call that
the crown right to the Lord Jesus Christ. He bought the right to
judge and dispose of all men as He sees fit. As He sees fit. To this end, to this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived that He might be Lord
of the dead and the living. He is the Lord of all men. And
eventually, everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Now, let's look at Revelation
11 verse 16. And here we see the four and
twenty elders. Now, this is symbolic language.
The four and twenty elders represent all the elect of God, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed with His precious blood, justified
by His grace, which sat before God on their seats, they fell
upon their faces, and they worshipped God. They worshipped the Lord
Jesus Christ as God. The church always rejoices in
the sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice, notice
that the 24 elders, they sat before the throne of God. seated
in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, hold your
place there and look at this reference with me. Reference,
Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. You see,
when the Lord Jesus Christ came, He came as a representative man,
as a surety. When He died, He died as a representative
man. When He ascended to glory and
is seated in the heavenlies, when He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of God, What's
true of him is true of the body. Where the head is, that's where
the body is. He is seated in the heavenlies
in Christ. Where are the church right now? Where are they seated? In the
heavenlies. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 4. 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, by grace
are you saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenlies in Christ, that in the ages to come,
that's what we're reading about in Revelation 11, he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Where are we right now? In our
representative in the Lord Jesus Christ, our surety and substitute,
we're seated in the heavenlies in Christ right now. That's what
it says in Revelation chapter 11. And the four and twenty elders
would sit before God on their seats. They're resting on the
seat, the place that He has prepared for us, and there we view His
face. And there, it said, they fell
upon their faces and worshipped God. Now, that's a good place
to be. On your face, before God, the
sovereign God, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth. The church always rejoices in
the sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. We fall down and
worship Him. Now, we've read something similar
to that before. Turn back to Revelation chapter
4. Revelation chapter 4. Look at
verse 9. Well, let's begin at verse 8.
Revelation 4, verse 8. The four beasts had each of them
six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and
they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Lord God
Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those
beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the
throne, who lives forever and ever, The four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship Him
that liveth forever and ever. And they cast their crown before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power. For Thou hast created all things,
and for that pleasure they are and they were created. So we
worship God now and in that day as well. Turn to one other reference.
Find Revelation 7. Verse 10, Revelation 7, verse
10, And they cried with a loud voice, Revelation 7, 10, Salvation
to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood round
about the throne, and the elders, and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces, and they worshiped God, saying,
Amen, saying, Blessing, Glory, Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Honor,
and Power be unto Him, unto our God, forever and ever. Amen. You kind of get the idea here.
Those redeemed by His precious blood, those who are seated in
the heavenlies in our charity, our substitute, our federal head,
the Lord Jesus Christ, they worship Him now and forever and ever
and no end. No end to it. Saying, here's
what they say, as they fell on their faces to worship God. And
I pray that's why we're gathered here today. To worship God. He's worthy of it. Worthy is
the Lamb, we read a moment ago. Here's what they say, look at
verse 17. Saying, well, I'm glad I let God save me. That's not
what they said. They said, we give thee thanks.
You see, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is not something
we do for God. Salvation is what God's done
for us in Christ, saying, we give thee thanks. Oh, Lord God
Almighty. Who is God? That's a good question. Who is God? Who is the Lord Jesus
Christ? He's the Lord God Almighty. Throughout the book of Isaiah,
we've been studying that on Wednesday night. How many times have we
read where the Lord said, I am God, beside me there is no other. I'm the only just God and Savior. Now look unto Me. There's no
other salvation but in the Lord God Almighty, who is the Almighty
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. was and are to come." Who's coming
back? The Lord God Almighty. "...because
Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned." Now
the word sovereignty, we use that word a lot. Sovereignty,
the sovereignty of God. The actual word is not even found
in the Scripture. Did you know that? The word sovereignty
is not found in the Word of God. But the truth of it is found
everywhere, and it's in this root word, He reigns. Sov-reign. He's sovereign. He reigns sovereignly over all
things. Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great
power, and hath reigned." Now, the Lord Jesus Christ as God
has always had all power, all honor, all glory. But here he's
talking about the God-man mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ who was
manifest in the flesh. God gave that God-man The Lord
Jesus cried, power over all things. He prayed that way in John 17,
remember? Father, You've given me power
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given to me. And when He ascended to glory
in Matthew 28, He said to those disciples, all power. is given
unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach the
gospel to every creature, knowing that I am God. Now as God himself,
he has all power, but as a God-man mediator, as our advocate, as
our representative, as our mediator, God has granted him all power
over all flesh that he should accomplish all his purpose. We
serve the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. We are thankful. Are
you thankful? Are you thankful that He's sovereign
over all things? We read in Psalm 92, it's a good
thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to sing praises unto the
Most High God. It's a good thing. We give Thee
thanks, Lord God Almighty, You the Eternal God. Now look at
verse 18. We give thanks because we've
been redeemed by His great power. We enjoy His great salvation.
Now watch this. Look at the flip side here. Somebody
was angry about that. Somebody got upset that He was
a sovereign God. Then He reigns in creation. Then
He reigns in providence. Then He reigns in salvation.
Some people got mad. They were angry. How about you? Do you give thanks that God is
sovereign, that He reigns over all things, or do you get angry?
I know the natural man gets angry. Let me give you an example of
that. Turn to Luke chapter 4. When
the Lord Jesus Christ went back to His hometown to begin His
ministry, in Luke chapter 4, they delivered Him The Word of
God. And he read from the book of
Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 61. He said, this day is this Scripture
fulfilled in your ears. Well, you think they would have
been thankful. They would have been rejoicing, right? This is
the Lord, the Messiah, the Christ of God. He's come back to tell
us the truth. To tell us He's fulfilled all
things for us. And then the Lord made application
of His sovereign rule and reign in Luke 4 verse 25. I tell you the truth, there were
many widows in Israel's day, the days of Elijah, when the
heavens were shut up, three years and six months, when great famine
was throughout all the land, but under none of them was Elijah
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, under a woman that
was a widow woman. Now this widow woman was a Gentile
woman. You see, he's displaying his
sovereignty and salvation. And then he gives us another
example in the days of Elijah, Elisha rather. There were many
lepers in Israel's time, the time of Elisha, the prophet,
and none of them were cleansed but Naaman the Syrian, and again,
a Gentile dog, a pagan idolater. God had mercy on him. Did they
all rejoice that day? Look at the next verse. And they
were in the synagogue, when they heard these things, they were
filled with wrath. What did we read in Revelation?
They were angry when they found out that God is God. And look
what they did. They rose up, these fine religious
people of Nazareth, they're in the synagogue of the Jews, they
rose up, they were all filled with wrath. They rose up and
thrust him out of the city, and led him into the brow of the
hill whereon the city was built, that they might cast him down
headlong. But he passing through the midst
of them went on his way." You see what's being said right there?
The Lord said, I'm the Messiah. I came to fulfill all things
in salvation. I will have mercy on whom I will.
I will save whom I will. They weren't thankful, they got
angry that God would have mercy upon whom he will have mercy. Look back to the text, Revelation
11. Oh, we give thanks that God is God. He's always been God,
that he rules and reigns over all things. The nations were
angry. You see, the carnal mind is enmity
against God, hatred against God. The carnal mind will not receive
the things of God, foolishness unto him. They were angry because
thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should
be judged. Judgment day was upon them, and
they did not like it. That thou shouldest give reward
unto thy servants, the prophets, and the saints, and them that
fear thy name, small and great, that should have destroyed them
which corrupted the earth." Now remember what we read over here
in Matthew? Chapter 25. And when the Son
of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. Before Him
shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate them one from
another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goat. He shall
set the sheep on His right hand, but the goat on the left. Then
shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed
in my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. from the foundation
of the world. Then he shall also say to them
on the left hand, depart from me you curse into everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. God reigns in salvation. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. The nation got angry. The wrath
has come. You say, well, God, The Lord
Jesus loves everybody. He just loves everybody and He's
trying to do His best to save everybody. Do you remember that
scripture we read over here? Turn back a few pages. Over here
to Revelation chapter 6. Remember when the end time was
described here, when the sixth seal was opened? Revelation chapter
6. There was a great earthquake,
verse 12. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
the moon became as blood. Here are describing the end of
the world. The stars of heaven fell into
the earth, even as a fig tree captives her untimely fig when
she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a
scroll when it was rolled together. Verse 14, Revelation 6, And every
mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the
kings of the earth, and great men, and rich men, and chief
captains, and mighty men, And every bondman and every free
man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains,
and said to the mountains of the rocks, Fall on us and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne from the
wrath of the Lamb. The wrath of what? The wrath
of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come. Who can
stand in that day? You see, all judgment has been
committed unto the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's appointed
that day in which He will judge the world in righteousness and
in judgment to come. To the believer, we've been delivered
from the wrath to come. There's no condemnation to those
who are in Christ. But those not in Christ, it says
in 1 Thessalonians 1, we've been turned to God from our idols,
to serve the living and true God who delivered us from the
wrath to come. And then it says in chapter 5
of 1 Thessalonians verse 9, for God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. The
ungodly The unbeliever. Our Lord said, if you die in
your sin, you cannot come where I am. If you die in your sin,
you'll be raised in your sin. You'll be judged in your sin.
To the ungodly, the great day of His holy wrath will come.
To those who live in rebellion and die in rebellion, they'll
be judged as rebels before God. He that is unjust shall be unjust
still. For the Lord in His time and
His day will separate the precious from the bile, the wheat from
the tares, the goat from the sheep. He has the right to do
so because He is the Lord who reigns. The Lord who reigns. Now, I want you to notice something
here in verse 18. Notice what the judgment of the
unbeliever is called. The time of the dead. The time of the dead. Now, that's a reference. Turn
to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20, verse
12. Talking about the great white
throne. It's the time of the dead. Those who are dead in their sin.
Without God, without hope, and without Christ. Revelation 20,
verse 12. When I saw the dead, The dead
now, at the time of the dead, dead without Christ, dead without
hope, dead in their sins, small and great, stand before God.
And the books, notice plural, was opened. And another book,
singular, was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead
were judged of those things which are written in the books. according
to their deeds, their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell. The grave delivered up
the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man
according to their works. Death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death. Whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. Judgment coming. A day of separation
coming. And He does the separating. Notice what they're given. Look
back to Revelation 11. They were given judgment. This is what sin deserves. Judgment. Judgment. The wrath of God is
His holiness stirred in activity against sin. Judgment. Judgment
was given to them. Now notice the flip side. Judgment
was given to those nations of the ungodly, unbelievers, they
were angry, and they were judged in the deadness of their sin,
that they should be judged righteously by the righteous judge. And that
same one shall give reward, notice, singular, reward unto thy servants,
the prophets, the saints, and them that fear thy name, small
and great, and that he would destroy those who have corrupted
the earth. Now God's going to bless his
people and he's going to reward them according to the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They fear the name of the Lord.
They fear the name of the Lord. I give a reward unto the servants,
the servants of God, the prophets of God, the saints. Every believer
is a saint. We're sanctified in Christ. Every
believer fears the name of the Lord. Holy and reverent is His
name. Small and great. All believers
fear the Lord, but He blesses them. All saints of God, all
believers, will be rewarded according to the merit of the righteousness
of Christ that's been freely imputed to them and upon, based
upon the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has taken
away all their sin. He said, their sin and their
iniquity will I remember no more. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is our inheritance. He is our reward. He is our reward. Now, a lot
of people are talking about turning to Galatians, Colossians chapter
3. A lot of people in religious
circles, they talk about rewards. You know, I'm doing certain works
and I might get more rewards. That's not according to what
the Scriptures teach. The Scriptures teach this. Colossians
chapter 3, verse 23, Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall
receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve
the Lord Christ." What I'm saying is this, Christ is our reward.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our inheritance. We've been made
heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember God said to Abraham,
I am thy exceeding and great reward? Now, notice verse 19 in our text. So there's reward of righteousness
given to His people by His sovereign grace, and there's the reward
of condemnation given to those who choose to stand in their
puny sinful works. Look at verse 19. The temple
of God was opened in heaven. Now again, this is a symbolic
picture of what Christ had done for us. He has opened the way
to the very presence of God. Remember, John is seeing this
vision, and in this vision he sees the temple of God opened. Opened! Now the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life, right? No man come
to the Father but by and through me. He said, I am the door. By
me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. So heaven is opened
by his person and his redeeming work. The temple of God was opened
in heaven. And there was seen in his temple
the ark of the testament. Now that goes all the way back
to that ark in the tabernacle in the wilderness and in the
temple that Solomon made. The ark of the testament is the
ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant. In the
tabernacle, there was that Holy of Holies and the Holy Place,
the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, and in the Holy of Holies
was that Ark of the Covenant, and on that Ark of the Covenant
was the Mercy Seat. That high priest went every year,
once a year, under the veil. took the blood of that designated
animal sacrifice, and took that blood and sprinkled it on the
mercy seat. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
mercy seat. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
atonement for sin. The temple of God was opened,
and in the temple was seen the Ark of the Covenant, the sacrifice
for our sin. in Christ and Him crucified. The Ark of the Covenant is a
symbol of the uninterrupted fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ based
upon His eternal blood atonement that cleanses us from all our
sin. One last word. The temple of
God was opened in heaven. Christ opened that for us. The
veil of the temple had been rent in two. He said, come unto me
all you labor heavy laden, I'll give you rest. And there was
seen in the temple this ark of the covenant, talking about the
covenant of mercy, the covenant of grace. And there were lightnings, and
there were voices, And there were thunderings and earthquakes
and a great hail. So we see great glory in heaven,
but what's going to take place on this earth when He comes?
Lightning, thunderings, voices, voices of judgment, earthquake,
and a great, great hail. Now, let's turn to one other
scripture. Find 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter 3. Can you find that? 2 Peter 3.
Verse 10. Let's look at verse 9. Someone
recently asked me about verse 9. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. Most of
the time when people look at that verse, they quote just part
of it. The Lord not willing that any should perish. When we talk
about the sovereignty of God, God having mercy, they always,
upon whom He will, they always look at this verse and quote
this verse. But read the whole verse. The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to us-ward. Who's He writing to? The elect
of God? The chosen of God? Not willing
that any should perish, He said, I give My sheep eternal life,
and they shall never perish. But all shall come to Him, all
shall come to repentance. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 10. Here's
what I want to get at. But the day of the Lord will come as
a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with
great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat.
The earth also and the work therein shall be burned up." My friend,
this earth and this world is marked out for destruction. Now
all the climate people and all the environmental wackos, they
can do all they want to do and talk about global warming and
climate change and trying to save this planet. Mother Nature,
they talk about. We're going to save the planet.
We're going to drive electric cars. My friend, this world is
doomed for destruction. He said, I'm going to burn it
up. I don't believe in global warming. I believe in global
burning. He's going to burn it up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought you to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, when the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, the elements shall melt with a fervent
heat? Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness." Now, that's our hope. It's not here. The United
States of America, I can say I appreciate and I love this
country, but the United States of America is not my hope.