In this sermon, the speaker discusses the idea that as a person goes through life and achieves certain milestones, they become increasingly ready to go home. These milestones include growing up healthy, getting an education, establishing a career, getting married, having children, making friends, and making provisions for old age. The speaker then transitions to discussing Revelation 16, which serves as the background for the 15th chapter that will be discussed in detail. The chapter describes the pouring out of the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth by seven angels. The speaker also mentions a tape that provides insight into the devastating effects of separation and loss of confidence experienced by people during a certain event.

Someone said there are about ten things that a person has when he begins life. And as each one of these ten is finished and reached and arrived at, he finds that he's increasingly ready to go home. First he wants to grow up healthy and strong, and then he wants to get some kind of an education that he'd like to get established in a career and marry, have his children and make friends and make provision for his age, old age. As each of these things are checked off, one after another, he finds that he's increasingly ready to go home. Well, we're hearing about it tonight. Revelation 16. I'll read the entire chapter. I have no intention of actually endeavoring to expound this. I want it to be the background for the fifteenth chapter, which we shall consider in some detail. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, go your ways, pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth. And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and was and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, power was given unto him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues. And now notice, and they repented not to give God glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their swords, and repented not of their deeds. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs that come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them to gather into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. And there were voices and thunders and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great. This is the emptying of the seven bowls, but it is preceded by another revelation, and it is that revelation with which I am concerned tonight, and I trust that you will be. And so to the 15th chapter, in this case the first shall be last. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, the song of the Lamb saying, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. After that I looked, and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. The seven angels came out of the temple having the seven plagues clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. Now over the last 50 years, and more particularly for the last 30 years, and more recently for the last 15 years, there's been a great deal of discussion, controversy in the body of Christ regarding the church and the tribulation. I said this morning that we would speak to this point. I find that there's a good deal of confusion among dear and earnest and honest brethren upon this point, and I do not expect to have the good fortune of answering finally the question. Perhaps the question isn't in a point where it can be finally answered, but our text makes clear one thing. It makes clear, or this book of Revelation makes clear one thing of two parts, so that I'll be exact. First, it makes clear that the church of Jesus Christ is expected to go through the wrath that wicked men shall pour upon the righteous. There is absolutely nothing in the word of God that makes, that indicates that the people of God are going to be spared from the wrath and the anger and the viciousness of men. For if you were to go to Russia and inquire of some of those who have survived that great sacrifice of the last 40 years, in which some eight to ten million people have died, simply and solely and only in their case, because they were evangelical believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you would say to these who've lost their parents and their husbands and their wives that the church will not experience the wrath of wicked men, they'd laugh you to score. Of course, the word of God makes it clear. We've seen it throughout, that there is abundant room under the altar for the martyrs, and the book of the martyrs has never been filled, and possibly some seated here tonight may have the joyous privilege of going into the presence of the Lord by means of martyrdom's gate. There is nothing in the word of God to indicate that the people of God will be spared from the wrath of wicked men, save as God shall lead and God shall direct. But what we have here is not the wrath of men poured out upon the people of God, but we have the wrath of God poured out upon wicked men. And these seven vials of wrath indicate that there will be at the conclusion, a completion of that which is continued throughout the centuries, a grand and final pouring forth of the vials of God's wrath and God's anger against those who will have allied themselves against him. And so it then becomes apparent that from our text that John, before he saw the pouring forth of the seven bowls, saw the church, and here we see it, he said, I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. The sea of glass, the sea speaks to us as we view it and as we look at it as being divine providence. This thing which was written and hidden in the book of God, the book that was sealed, which no man was open, was able to open and above the providences, above all the acts of God, stands those that have gotten the victory. And so as John beheld this unfolding of the last series of seven, the seven vials, before God showed him the pouring forth of the first and the second and so on, he showed to John those that had gotten the victory standing on the sea of glass. It was there, from God's point of view, it was a sea clear, crystal clear. He could see right through it. But we also find that it was a sea mingled with fire. And from the standpoint of those upon whom the sea was poured, upon whom God's divine acts and providences were poured, these suffered. These saw it as a sea of fire. But from God's point of view, with his church beside him, it was a sea of glass. Now, then we will have to summarize by saying this, that the church will experience the wrath of wicked men against the righteous. And there is nothing in the scripture that I know to indicate that God is going to spare his people from the antagonism and the wrath and the anger of the wicked men. But when it comes to the tribulation or that wrath that God is going to pour out upon the wicked men, they will be above it and will not be there to participate in it. God will not pour out his wrath against of and upon his own redeemed. And so if the issue comes up and anyone should discuss with you, do you believe the church will go through the tribulation? The question to ask is, well, what tribulation do you have reference to? If it's the tribulation caused by wicked men toward the righteous, then there is every indication that the church will experience that. If it is that which men, in their hatred of God, pour out upon the people of God, the church will certainly not expect to be spared from this. But if it is the wrath of God poured out upon wicked men, of course, the church will not experience that or he will not pour out his wrath upon his bride, which he's purchased with his blood. And so I think then that this becomes an answer to that which is harassed and caused trouble and difficulty. And I trust that it may encourage your heart to see that before the vials of God's wrath were poured out, the church was standing there, all the redeemed, all of them that had gotten the victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, over his number, and over his name, to stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. They are not going to be under these circumstances. They're not going to participate in that. So as we reach that final climax, we can expect first that the wrath of men is going to increase in intensity. When you stop to think that the Chinese communists have admitted that at least 20 million people have been deprived of existence, obviously many of these have been for economic reasons, and it would be folly to debate that or challenge that. But on the other hand, the evidence has come out that many of these have been deprived of existence, as the euphemistic term is, for no greater crime than that they have loved the Lord Jesus Christ in all the sincerity and earnestness of their hearts. And if this was true in China, and true in Russia, and it's been true elsewhere, we may fully expect, and I think in dealing with, in our witness with people in the world as it is, we do well to tell them that as we approach the end of the age, that there shall be an increasing antagonism to the people of God, and again it shall be brought into a kind of intensity that we perhaps haven't known in previous centuries, though I think Martin Luther would challenge that. I think some, that John Knox would question that. I believe that some of the other men of the Reformation would rise and challenge me when I say that recent centuries have not seen the intensity of opposition that we may expect. When I have lived in the 42 years of my life, in the rise of communism in Russia, to see and read and know the reports of these 8 to 10 million people, and it's going on now, and many of you that are half my age are seeing it coming currently out of China, and you realize that the same thing is happening elsewhere, and probably will continue. But what is this? It's the wrath of wicked men poured out on the people of God. For this we must be prepared. But now back again to the text. I would have you notice that in chapter 14 in verse 8, the testimony is made, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city. Babylon, this which represents the anti-christian empire, that represents the satanic power as it's been gathered in one way and another, like strands from various centuries all coming up to the present, like reins that have been drawn into these satanic hands, the empire that is controlled by the God of this world. You realize of course that the very work of God is strangely used by satan in bringing this to pass. For instance, where missionaries have gone into distant lands, the gospel has been carried, bibles have been translated into the languages of the people, 1,700 languages, but do you know what's happened? As we had it said at the annual council in Columbus and said eloquently and effectively, that missionaries taught the people to read and the communists gave them the material to read. And so as we have gone, we've opened up areas, we've pressed in and have succeeded in getting the language reduced to writing and translated. Somehow we perhaps have failed to realize the tremendous need for literature and its place and its importance. And we've put in a drop while others have put in a river. And the very ministry of the missionaries has been an instrument in the hands of this building of Babylon, which we see taking place now. Think of it in the lifetime of which I've spoken, mine from nothing from non-existence entirely until today, one third of the world. We see this very Babylon rising now at this present time. And so you might say, well, what will stop it? What will stop this consolidation of world empire? What will stop this terrifying thing? Well, John saw it Babylon is fallen, that great city. And though it is thought and it's been thought across the centuries, I'm sure that the Assyrians thought that their nation would continue forever. And when you go to Babylon, the original Babylon to which this does not refer, but which was the type from which this word was taken with those magnificent hanging gardens and the vast public buildings, the like of which the world had never seen. And one of the seven wonders of the world. I'm sure that Nebuchadnezzar said this will go on forever. Egypt certainly thought that unquestionably as the pyramids were built and the great city of Luxor was built and all the magnificence that was Egypt, it was thought that this nation would continue to be first among the nations across the centuries. And undoubtedly Rome was, this imperial city of Rome, this land which conquered and controlled the world, expected to go on ceaselessly, never changing. But history has had a way of dealing with empires and dealing with dictators and dealing with men that have sought to perpetuate themselves. And so today it would be thought that perhaps that which we know is the scourge of the present hour is resistless. No, no. Babylon has fallen, has fallen that great city. Now in verses 9 to 12 of this 14th chapter, we see that everyone, everyone in this anti-Christian world, everyone that was brought under the dominion of the, of Satan and brought under the influence of, of the propaganda and was brought into the orbit and into the life of this civilization, if you please, that was risen up in opposition to Christ. Well, what's the answer? What does it say? Everyone was warned, everyone was warned that judgment was to come, sure and certain and swift and unavoidable. But God very graciously began to give a sample of judgment, give a foretaste of it in order that people might discover what it was and seeing what judgment from God would be, having a taste of it, that they might repent. But we find that they held, they despised that which God did. And perhaps I paused and emphasized it as I read the 16th chapter, that the pouring forth of these bowls of God's wrath hardened men's hearts and caused them to blaspheme rather than to repent. They defied and they scorned and blasphemed God when his anger was poured out upon them. Now this fiery dragon, which we've read in the 14th chapter, speaks of the devil. And the two beasts that we have here would speak to us, as we pointed out, of anti-Christian power on the one hand and anti-Christian propaganda on the other. You remember the two beasts, do you not? The one that had the mouth of a lion and the claws of a, feet of a bear and the body of a leopard. This that was capable of killing, combining all the lethal, deadly characteristics and abilities attributed to the animal world. This beast, power, that had the ability to take life. And you know how many died at the hand of the beast, as we studied that earlier. Speaking to us of anti-Christian power. And then there was the second beast, you recall, that had the head and the horns of a lamb. But he spoke the same words of the first beast. And we saw this as propaganda, subtle, insidious. I am going to get for you and play for you at some convenient time the tape that I listened to yesterday by Major Mayer, one of the outstanding and leading psychiatrists for the United States Army, which described the technique used by the Chinese during the Korean War. You know, some 7,000 American soldiers were captured during that little war, the Korean War. 7,000. And we have the horrifying figures now that 40% died for want of will to live. They weren't executed, no mass executions. A man, apparently well, would go over and lie down on the pallet on the floor of the barracks, and without being sick, would just die in two days. Lost all incentive and reason and will to live. And five men were, five Chinese soldiers were all that were required to control 500 American soldiers. And when you stop to think of the fact that when the United States had a little island in which they took the Chinese, we had to have over 15,000 Marines and soldiers to guard the some 17,000 almost man-to-man that were assigned to the guarding of these that were held on an island. You begin to realize that something devastating had happened. Well, that tape will give you some insight as to what was done, the subtlety in which people were separated from each other and they lost their confidence. And you begin to see perhaps a little more completely what you should ward against and how you ought to prepare yourself, lest somehow you should be beguiled by the words that come out of this seemingly harmless beast. You're getting it constantly through literature, one way and another, subtly and it's being given continually. So it's therefore imperative that you should recognize that here was the instrument and instrument of death. Now, we have the two beasts then. We have the first that we've seen, anti-Christian power and propaganda. And then we have Babylon, which is anti-Christian empire. Now God smites, according to what we've read here, anti-Christian empire with seven blows, seven distinct instances of pouring forth of his wrath in these seven vials or bowls of the last judgment. These seven angels are God's ministers and messengers, bringing judgment to completion. But before the judgment is brought, we see the church, his church in the midst of the sea, standing upon and above and over all of these circumstances, redeemed. Some of them are going to have gotten there by the way of martyrdom. Others are going to have gotten into his presence by his coming. I wish that the spirit of God might create in your heart an expectancy of the Lord's coming. I wonder if you are living in moment by moment anticipation. Personally, as we view the world and see it, there doesn't seem to be anything yet that needs to be fulfilled until the Lord returns for his own. I would believe that when the last one is gathered in from the last tribe, that the time could come. We ought to be in the constant attitude of expectancy. It's at the end of this book that John expresses the hope of every believer, even so come Lord Jesus. But I want to assure you that I am seeking by his grace to live day by day and moment by moment in anticipation of his coming. I am looking for the Lord to come as I understand prophecy and understand the scripture. I do not see anything yet that needs to be fulfilled. You say, well, what about the gospel being preached to the ends of the earth? Well, we know that we as American missionaries and foreign missionaries have not gone into every tribe. We've not gone into every nation, but I've told you in previous visits of this dear man that I met out in the cobalt post in the southern Sudan that had traveled up and down the mountains and the valleys and across where no missionary had ever gone. He'd take this six foot piece of string and when he came back unable to tie another knot in it, he'd unfold to the missionary there each person represented by each knot and no mission station has been established on the route that he's covered and no one has gone to follow him. He's brought in believers, but all across that vast area are people that have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ that has never been included in any statistics of any mission society. My own personal feeling with the penetration we've had with the extent of the going forth of the gospel, it is theoretically possible that every tribe tonight could have had a witness, not by missionaries that have been assigned from some board, but by those that have been touched. Dear Dr. Stewart was speaking in Joss, Nigeria every day for over 40 years when he was there. He only had three or four furloughs in those 40 years, but he would go out to the same place and take his little Sunday school pictures and he'd preach. Well, there were those who came to Christ, but some 25 or 30 years after he'd begun this, one of our missionaries way up along the border of the Sudan came into a place and he found a little building, just a little mud building, and he found some people in there and they were singing one song and they only had one song besides some words that they put to their own melody. There was a little group of people that were praying in the name of Jesus. I said, well, how did this come? And the leader came out. He said, well, 25 or whatever it was 30 years ago, I was down in Joss and I saw a little man that called him a doctor and he stood there with some pictures and he told us about Jesus. He gave me this Bible. I bought it from him and he provided it. Here was word and he learned to read and he'd taken this back to his village way up there on the border and he'd read from it until it got afraid. He had no contact through the years with any other Christians, but he talked about the man and what he'd said and then they began to study this book. There was a little group of people that had found it necessary to erect a little mud hut so that they could gather together and talk and can sing and pray and meet around the Lord Jesus. Well, now a lot's going on that isn't being recorded in this distance of our mission society. It's my own personal feeling that it could have happened today. Someone penetrating the jungle in South America could have turned up the little tributary and seen a village on the banks and stepped in and spoken the truth of God and some heart open to take the word and the father say to the son, son it's finished. The bride is complete and the son come back even as he said he would. I'm looking for him to come. It doesn't have to be done by us. He's going to do it. God is working in a myriad of ways of which we know not. Oh look, don't release yourself from any responsibility, but don't let anything interfere with the fact that this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as we've seen him go. Don't let anything take from your heart the blessed hope of his moment by moment return that he could come tonight today before this is finished. Live today in the light of that. Don't leave any unfinished business when you put your head to the pillow tonight. Don't leave anything left undone for this could be the night when he says it is enough. The number is complete. He'll return with his own for his own. Then these that have been redeemed shall stand with him on the sea. God will say to the angels that have been restrained in the temple, now it's time to go and empty your vials. He's not going to pour it on the church. Church is going to experience all the wrath and anger that men can give when the vials are empty. The church is standing on the sea of glass and fire. That's where they are. Now, what of these people? And they sing. What are they doing? Who's going to be in that number? If it were tonight, would you be there? We can find out. Just three verses. We can find out in the next five minutes whether or not if it were tonight, you would be standing on the sea of glass or whether you'd be under that sea of fire being emptied out. Now let's notice now as we come to the third verse. Who's there? Who are those that stand upon the sea of glass? First, they have a song and they're singing. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Have you seen God in his holiness? Have you seen God in his glory? Have you had a revelation of the fact that God is infinitely just and infinitely holy? Have you seen in the light of what God is that you're a sinner? Then you are understanding that when it says just and true are thy ways, one of his ways was this, the soul that sinneth it shall die. It shall surely die. Now is God just when he said the soul that sinneth it shall die? Those that are there standing on the sea of glass sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, say, holy is thy name. Thou art great and marvelous in thy works. Just and true are thy ways. And when God said the soul that sinneth it shall die, was he just and true? Those that are there in his presence are there to say, yes, thou art just. But when thou didst say of me, the soul that sinneth it shall die, I saw that I deserved your wrath and your anger because of the enormity of my crimes and my sin. In other words, everyone that's there in the presence of God has agreed that God's condemnation of them because of their sin was right. Oh, think of the multitudes that that excludes today. I'm not so bad. I haven't done so bad. I'm as good as some of the people in the church. I pay my debts. I'm a decent man. I'm all right. I'll take a chance. Oh, no, they won't be there. None of those will be there because they've never seen that great and marvelous are the works of the Lord God Almighty. They've never seen that his law was the revelation of his character and his law was just and holy and good. They've never seen that that law stripped them and broke them and crushed them and brought them to the end of themselves. They've never cried out, woe is me, I am undone. They've never been broken in the presence of God. Be merciful to me, a sinner. Never. These will be those that remain behind, the ones that will be there on the sea of glass and the ones that having seen God have seen themselves and have cried out, just and true are thy ways. Thou king of saints. Have you ever been lost? Have you ever realized the enormity of your crimes, the magnitude of your sins? Have you ever realized the justice of God's condemnation? Have you ever consented that he was absolutely right when he said the soul that's in it shall die? Have you? Everyone that's there has. Everyone that's there on that sea of glass has been broken. Oh, my heart cries out tonight that God will strip people and break them, slay them. See, we want people to be saved before they're lost. You have unsaved loved ones, as I've said before, I repeat, pray that God will get them to see how lost they are. We only save lost people, people that can cry out, just and true are thy ways. I deserve to be lost. I deserve hell. I deserve your wrath. I deserve your anger. Just and true are thy ways. But then God be merciful to me, a sinner who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou, only thou art holy. Has that come to you? Have you come to the place where you fear God, where you are afraid to sin? Do you say, well, no, I'm a Christian. A Christian doesn't have to be afraid anymore. That isn't the way I read the Bible. That isn't what the word of God says. The Bible says that those that love him are to serve him with godly reverence and godly fear. You say, well, do you live in cringing terror? No, I don't live in cringing terror, because I've seen the wounded lamb of God and the bleeding side of the son of God. I don't live in mortal cringing fear and terror, but I live in what I trust is a holy, respectful fear of God, knowing that sin is allowed and sin is permitted and is not dealt with and not confessed and not forsaken. God is too holy and just to allow it to go unpunished. I believe that Christians are people that fear God and hate sin, for the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And these that are there, the redeemed, cry out, who shall not fear thee, O Lord? But may I ask you, when God brought you to that fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil, did he bring you to that place where the purpose of your heart was to glorify his name? The people that are there on the sea of glass and mingled with fire that are above this are the people that have said, who shall not glorify thy name? You see, the essence of sin is to glorify self and to gratify self and to please self, and the essence of repentance is to change from the purpose to please self to glorify God and to please God and to satisfy and to gratify God. And it's expressed in these few words, to glorify thy name. And these that are there on the sea of glass are men and women that have seen the holiness of God and the righteousness of God and the glory of God, and their hearts have been changed until they have one consuming passion, and that is to glorify his name. All nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. Where was this judgment made manifest? I'll tell you where, at Calvary. There God judged sin. There you find out what God thinks about sin. There you find out what God is going to have to do with sin and with sinners. And if you want to find the place where his judgment was made manifest and the place to which all the nations have come, at least their representatives have come, it's to Calvary. And here is this veil reference to the cross. Here is this veil reference to the place where judgment was made manifest. So few have realized that at Calvary you have the revelation of God's wrath against sin. Oh, if you go back in the Old Testament to the flood, where you see what God thinks about the sin of lasciviousness, or he visited that generation with water and wiped them from the face of the earth because their imaginations were evil continually. You go down to the cities, little cities of the plain called Sodom and Gomorrah. And there you see what God thinks of sexual immorality and perversion, or he poured out his wrath upon those two cities, consumed them. And you come down to Saul and see him lying there in his own blood, wounded by his own hand, seeking to have a servant finish his life. And you see what God thinks of disbelief and apostasy and rejection of his way inward. And all across the Old Testament you can see God's judgment upon sin, but judgment is made manifest at the cross. There God emptied the vial of his wrath against sin. Upon that won the Lord Jesus. The psalmist tells us that God is angry with the wicked every day. He hath bent his bow, he hath wet his sword. This is the testimony of the psalmist. But if you want to see where God revealed that judgment, you come to the cross. And there the Lord Jesus Christ is your representative, as your substitute, in your place, under your guilt and your condemnation, bared his breast and said to the father who had bent the bow, sheath that arrow in my heart. And said to the father who had drawn that sword, drive that sword into me. And it's there at Calvary that you have the revelation of the judgment of God, where his judgment is made manifest. And it's to this place that the nations come. And when you find this company of the redeemed gathered there in the presence of the Lamb, what are they singing? We've heard the song earlier, unto him who loved us and washed us in his blood. There it is. This is where his judgment was made manifest. And this company that are there are a company which have gotten the victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, over the number of his name. They've seen God in his power and his majesty and his holiness. They have seen themselves and their sin and their iniquity and have consented to his judgment upon them and his condemnation of them. They have changed their attitude from pleasing themselves to pleasing God. The consuming passion of their heart has come to glorify his name. And they have done all this at the place where his judgment was made manifest, at the cross, where they saw the Lord Jesus Christ dying for them in his place and in his stead. Would you be in that number if these things happened to you? Can you sing tonight unto him who loved me, washed me in his blood and redeemed me from all my sin? Do you know? Do you know that you're saved? Do you know that you're born of God? Is it your purpose to please him and to glorify him? Do you hate sin and long to escape its toils and its stain? God made you a new creature. These are they that stand upon the sea of glass. Let me ask you, what if it were tonight? What if it were tonight that the Lord Jesus Christ should come, cleave the skies, take his soul? These we've talked about. Would you rise to meet the Lord in the air? Would you? Or would you be left behind? To be left behind is to be left in the place where the vials of God's wrath are going to be poured out. And he could come tonight. I know nothing but to stand in the way of his coming. What if it were tonight?