In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the book of Revelation, specifically chapter 14. He highlights verse 9, which warns against worshiping the beast and receiving his mark. Those who do so will face the wrath of God, being tormented with fire and brimstone. The preacher also mentions verse 19, which describes the angel gathering the vine of the earth and casting it into the wine press of God's wrath. He emphasizes that this period of great tribulation is a time of judgment that will fall upon the earth. The preacher concludes by expressing gratitude that as believers, we do not have to face this horror and encourages the congregation to live according to the Spirit and righteousness.

Now in chapter 23, God speaks out against those pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep. Of my pasture, saith the Lord. God says, they're my sheep, but these pastors are scattering them and destroying them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people. Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. Those wicked pastors who were not really feeding the flock of God, but rather seeking only to fleece the flock of God. A true shepherd seeks to feed his flock. A hireling always seeks to fleece the flock of God. If these evangelists are writing to you and in every letter they send to you, there is a direct or insinuated appeal for funds. Know that they're not really writing unto you because they love you and care for you. Though they may say it, oh I've been thinking about you this week, and God laid a heavy burden upon my heart for you. Is everything all right brother? Please write and tell me what's wrong with you so I can pray for you, and I'm going to go, and I'm going to fast, and I'm going to pray, and I'm going to bring your request before God. Now make sure that you send your request in to me immediately, and please mark off how much you can send in at this time. That's all a bunch of gobbledy goop to get to the bottom line for you to send your bucks in. There's no real concern for the flock of God. There's no real attempt. You read the letter, there's nothing there to feed your spirit. The whole thing is designed to fleece you. The whole purpose is to fleece the flock of God. That's not a true shepherd, and God speaks out, woe unto you shepherds. Not really feeding the flock. You're scattering the flock. You're destroying the flock. Well, I'll tell you, I don't want to stand in their shoes when they have to stand before the Lord and give an account. God said, I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all of the countries, whether I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which will feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. God says, the day will come, I'll bring them back. My flock that's been scattered, I'll bring them back, and I'll give them shepherds in those days who will really feed them. They'll be fruitful, they'll increase. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. There'll come a day, I'll raise up from David a righteous branch, and he will reign in righteousness, in justice, and in truth. In his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby he shall be called Jehovah t'sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. Who is that righteous branch that God shall raise up from David? Who is that one who is coming and will reign in righteousness over the earth? None other than Jehovah Shua, who will then be called Jehovah t'sidkenu. Jehovah Shua is another name for Jesus, Yahshua. This is a scripture that sort of boggles the Jehovah Witnesses, because in the context you have to realize and acknowledge that surely it is talking about Jesus Christ. But his name shall be called then, that name that they use exclusively for the Father, his name shall be called Jehovah t'sidkenu. That's one they haven't been able to successfully explain. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. But the Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all of the countries, whether I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. And so God is speaking of that day of future restoration that shall come to pass when Jesus comes again. And then shall the angels be sent to the four corners of the earth to gather God's elect, the Jews, from all of the areas to which they have been scattered. And God will bring them back in that day. And in that day, all Israel shall be saved, for God shall bring the deliverer out of Zion who will have turned the hearts of the children to the fathers. So the glorious day of God's redemptive work for the nation Israel, when Jesus comes again, the righteous branch out of David to establish the throne of God and his kingdom upon the earth and to fulfill God's promise to these people. Now, God declares, My heart within me is broken because of the prophets. All of them are. Actually, this is Jim Maya speaking. My heart within me is broken. Remember, he's the weeping prophet. My heart within me is broken because of the prophets. All my bones shake. I'm like a drunken man. I'm like a man whom wine has overcome because of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers, for because of swearing, the land mourn it and the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up and their course is evil and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane, yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore, their way shall be unto them as a slippery way in the darkness. They shall be driven on and fall therein, for I will bring evil upon them even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. So God speaks of these wicked prophets and priests who have profaned their ministries and all, and God said they're on a slippery plank in the dark. Boy, I mean, that's in a bad way. Can't see where you're going and you're walking on ice. Surely they shall fall. And I have seen the folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also the prophets of Jerusalem, a horrible thing. They commit adultery. They walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of the evildoers that none does return from his wickedness. They are all of them unto me as Sodom and in the inhabitants of Gomorrah. They're just irredeemable. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, behold, I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of Gaul for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all of the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, the Lord has said, ye shall have peace. And they say unto everyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you. The prophets were prophesying lies. It doesn't matter how you live. You're all right. God will accept you. God really doesn't care that you live after your flesh, that you disregard his law. Doesn't really matter. Peace, no evil is going to come upon you. There are many churches today where there is really no strong preaching of the word. The people go on are comforted no matter though they are walking after their own imagination, after their own lust. They go to church and they can come out feeling very comforted, very good because there is no real conviction of sin. There's no real preaching of righteousness or holiness before God. And the tragic thing is that people are being comforted in their evil ways, being lulled into a false sense of security. A lot of ministers today will tell you there is no hell. All the hell you're ever going to get is right here on earth. All the heaven you're ever going to get is right here on earth. There's no future judgment. And there are ministers that make fun of and scoff at the idea of hell, peace in this place. Surely God won't visit you for the evil that you have done. No evil will come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord and hath perceived and heard his word? Who hath marked his word and heard it? Now these guys are speaking for the Lord, but he said they've never sat in my counsel. They don't know the things that I have determined. Yet they're speaking for me, but they don't even know what they're talking about. They haven't been in my counsel. They haven't heard my word. For behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind. It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return until he has executed, until he has performed the thoughts of his heart. And in the latter days, ye shall consider it perfectly. You'll understand it completely. Hindsight is always better than foresight. When it's happened, you'll look back and then you'll understand that you were being deceived by those false prophets. You'll understand that it was a lie that they were speaking in the name of the Lord, that you were duped. God is saying the day will come. You'll look back. When the calamity has fallen, when the judgment has come, then you'll realize these men were lying to you the whole while, who said, oh, no evil is going to come in this place. It's going to be peace and all. For I have not sent these prophets, and yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, and yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Aren't I not right present? I'm not far off someplace where you can't reach me or where I don't know what's going on. God doesn't dwell in some remote corner of the universe. Paul said to those Epicurean philosophers there in Athens, this is the God I want to talk to you about, for in Him we live, we move, we have our being. It's the God who prevails all of space. You can't escape His presence. Can any hide himself in secret places, and I shall not see him? There is no secret sin. There is no hidden sin. God sees everything we do. You think you're hiding yourself from God or your actions from God? You're only deceiving yourself. Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? I have heard what the prophets said that are prophesying lies in my name, saying, Oh, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Bel. So these men are telling their fancy dreams and turning people away from God. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? There is a certain danger in our seeking after spiritual phenomena today, whereby God might speak to us, say through a man that is calling himself a prophet, and that you go to him and he lays his hand upon your head and begins to prophesy over you, revealing to you things of your past, revealing to you the things that nobody else knows until your heart is really confirmed. Wow, you know, this guy must really know what he's talking about. There is in this area, a few years back, a lady who was doing just such a thing. She had a very uncanny ability to prophesy over people and in her prophecy reveal secrets of their past. And many people were attracted to her and drawn to her because one of the large charismatic churches in the county featured her as the Sunday school teacher for a time. I had a young man, a minister, who had tremendous potential. I'd worked with him in several summer camping programs. We had spent a lot of time together in the Word, in prayer. This young man was searching after God, seeking after God. And so he went and he heard this woman and he was attracted to her uncanny ability to be able to prophesy and to say so many things. And so he made an appointment and he went over to her house and there she began to reveal to him all kinds of things about his past, about his beautiful godly mother. And as she was relating these things to him, he was captivated by her ability to be able to see so clearly. And she began to prophesy directions and guidance for his life. She began to direct him into the contacting his mother through seances and into spiritism. And this young man, who had such a tremendous potential and was used in such a glorious way by God in ministering to young people, is today totally out of it, led astray. He wouldn't listen to the counsel from the Word. This woman had really bewitched him by her gift that she possessed, but the gift really wasn't from God. There is a danger in seeking to the supernatural phenomena for guidance or for direction rather than to God and to the Word of God. A person comes up and says, oh I've had a dream. I want to tell you my dream. What does my dream mean? Oh help, I don't know. He that hath a dream, let him tell his dream to someone else. But he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. And yet, there are those that talk about revelations from angels. Angels that visit them and sit on their beds and direct them. And people get all excited. Oh, have you read angels on assignment? My! He that hath a dream, let him tell his dream. But he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? We have the Word of God. Nothing can be added to it or should be taken away from it. This is the wheat. This will produce spiritual growth. This will cause you to be strong in the Lord. This will build up your spiritual man. You may be running around looking for spiritual excitement. It's always a dangerous thing, looking for spiritual phenomena, because it's easy to be led astray. The Word of God will keep you on the path. You cannot grow by supernatural phenomena. Now, don't misunderstand me. I am not opposed to the gifts and the working of the Holy Spirit. The true manifestation of the works of the Spirit are marvelous, and I seek them. But all that comes must be measured and judged by the Word of God. We cannot allow experiences to become the basis for doctrinal truth. We cannot establish doctrine upon experiences. We can only establish doctrine on the sound Word of God, and not upon any kind of supernatural phenomena. A while back, we had this plague of demon, demon, who's got the demons? And the groups were gathering together all over the United States to deliver one another from the burps or the lethargies or gluttonous demons. It's tragic. It's sad. People guiding each other by experiences and not by the Word of God. But I read some of the books, and this one pastor who was heavy into this deliverance ministry was teaching the doctrine of demonology. And in the book, in the doctrine of demonology that he was teaching, he was teaching that we have the power to bind the demons and cast them into hell, into the pit, and that we should always bind the demons and cast them into the pit. Now, how did he know we had that power? Because when he was exercising a demon, the demon told him, don't cast me into the pit. And he said, oh, do I have that power? And the demon said, yes, you have that power to cast me in the pit. Please don't do it. So you have a doctrine that is based upon the Word of a demon. Now, Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. Surely the demons are liars too. How can you base a doctrine upon what is said by a demon whose basic character is that of lying? But you see how easily you can be swayed to look to something else for the truth? What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? Is not my word like a fire, saith the Lord? It's like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, He saith. Behold, I'm against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and to tell them and cause my people to err by the lies and by their lightness. And yet I sent them not, nor commanded them. Therefore, they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. And when this people, or the prophet, or the priest shall ask thee saying, What is the burden of the Lord? Thou shalt say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord. And as for the prophet and the priest and the people that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man in his house. Thus shall ye say everyone to his neighbor and everyone to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? And what hath the Lord spoken? And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more. For every man's word shall be his burden. For ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? And what hath the Lord spoken? Rather than saying, What's the burden of the Lord, brother? Just say, What's the Lord answered you? Or what is the Lord spoken? Because this thing of the burden of the Lord, they were all the false prophets were using that. But since you say the burden of the Lord, therefore, thus saith the Lord, because you say this word, the burden of the Lord, I have sent unto you saying, Ye shall not say the burden of the Lord. A lot of people going around today saying, Oh, the Lord's laid such a heavy burden on me, man. I don't know I'm going to be able to make it. Wow, you know, God's laid this heavy burden on me. Are you sure? Jesus said, My yoke is easy. My burden is light. I think that people can lay heavy burdens on us. Many times the church lays heavy burdens on people. Many times we take heavy burdens on ourselves. But let's not blame the Lord for it. God's not going to lay such a burden on you that it's going to drive you to a nervous breakdown. God's not going to lay such a burden on you that you can't really function with your family because you're so upset and so nervous and so uptight over this pressure that is on you. But if I don't do it, you know, they're going to be calling me and oh, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do this burden. Oh, the burden of the Lord, the burden of the Lord. No, no, no, it's not the burden of the Lord. It's something that man has laid on you. The church has laid on you. You've taken on yourself, but God didn't lay it on you because Jesus said my burden is light. My yoke is easy. Some people say to me, I don't know how you're going to pastor a church with that many people. I said, well, I don't either. But it's really not difficult. It's not a heavy burden. I don't go around just, you know, pressed down and and just, you know, groaning and just, man, I hope I can make another day. I don't feel it. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. There's no big pressure. There's no big deal because his yoke is easy. His burden is light. I've oftentimes told people it was much harder to pastor a little church of 25 people in Prescott than it is to pastor Calvary Chapel. I had many heavier burdens there than I have here. This is a piece of cake. So God says, forget that burden of the Lord stuff. I'm tired of hearing that. I don't want to hear it anymore. Just say, what did the Lord say or how's the Lord answered you? But don't, don't, don't use that the burden of the Lord bit. Therefore, behold, I even, I will utterly forget you. I'll forsake you in the city that I gave to you and your fathers and cast you out of my presence. If you use this term anymore, I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you in a perpetual shame. You'll not be, which shall not be forgotten. So that's one phrase I'd sure stick away from if I were you. Now in chapter 24, the Lord showed me and behold, there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon had carried away the captives, Jokaniah, the son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the carpenters, the Smiths from Jerusalem, and I brought them to Babylon. Now in the first captivity or the first time that Nebuchadnezzar came, he did not destroy the city, but he did take captives and he did take treasure. Among those captives that were taken in the first captivity where the young princes, Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego, they were all taken in this first captivity. He had taken the king, Jokaniah, to Babylon and he had set up Zedekiah as the king. But then Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and he came the second time and in the second time is when he destroyed the temple, destroyed the city and all. So this message came to Jeremiah after this first captivity when Daniel and others were carried away. Some of the skilled carpenters and all were carried away to Babylon. He saw two baskets of figs. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are the first ripe. And the other basket had very naughty figs which could not be eaten. They were so bad. Then said the Lord unto me, what do you see, Jeremiah? I said, figs. The good figs, very good. And the evil, very evil. You can't even eat them, they're so evil. Again the word of the Lord came unto me saying, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. They had gone away captive, but God said that was for their good. That's so that they won't see this horrible desolation that's coming. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they were the good figs, those that were taken away captive in that first invasion by Babylon. For I will set my eyes upon them for good. I will bring them again to this land and I will build them and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. And we read of the witness and the testimony that Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego were in that Babylonian kingdom. And as the evil figs which cannot be eaten because they're so rotten, surely thus saith the Lord, so will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem that remain in this land and then that dwell in the land of Egypt and I will deliver them to be removed into all of the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt to be a reproach, a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, the pestilence among them until they are consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. So the two groups, those that went in the first captivity, Daniel and others who were the good fig, Zedekiah, the rotten mess that he made of things and those that were with him that were to be destroyed. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. So now we're going back in time. This was before Zedekiah was king. This is when Jehoiakim was king. Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years. He was a very evil king, but he was the son of Josiah who reigned for 31 years. Jeremiah was called to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah's reign. So Josiah is now dead. He's been dead for four years. So it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah. That was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. So he's giving you the time of this prophecy. The witch Jeremiah, the prophet spake unto all of the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So this is just a separate prophecy of Jeremiah and it's isolated from the others. It sits here by itself, which Jeremiah, the prophet spake to all the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying from the 13th year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, the king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the 23rd year. So God called Jeremiah to prophesy in the 13th year that Josiah was reigning. Jeremiah has now been prophesying 23 years. They figure that he was probably 17 years old when God called him to prophesy. And so he has been prophesying now for 23 years. It means that Jeremiah is about 40 years old at the time of this particular prophecy. The word of the Lord has come unto me and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking, but you're not arguing. I've been, you know, speaking to you for 23 years, but you haven't listened to me yet. The Lord has sent unto you all of his servants, the prophets. They are rising early and sending them, but you've not hearkened nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, turn ye again now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings and dwell in the land that the Lord has given you and to your fathers forever and ever. Just live right and you can stay here. Serve God and he'll keep you here. Do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them and to provoke me and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands and I will do you no hurt, but you've not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, because you have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all of the families of the north, saith the Lord and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof and against all these nations around about you and I will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment, a hissing and perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of merriment and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, the light of the candle, and this whole land shall be desolation and an astonishment and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." And so here Jeremiah is predicting that the Babylonian captivity will last for 70 years. Now you read in the book of Daniel chapter 9 that Daniel said, and after the reading of the prophets, I realized that the 70 years of captivity were about over. I sought to inquire of the Lord. So Daniel no doubt had these prophecies of Jeremiah. He had been reading them and he understood by the writings of Jeremiah that their period of captivity in Babylon would be 70 years. Here Jeremiah declares that in this particular prophecy, Daniel had this prophecy and guided his affairs by the word of God. I know that the 70 years are about up, so he sought the Lord to see if God had any special ministry for him in the repatriation. They shall serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. Now the 70 years was because they have been dwelling in the land since the time of Joshua 490 years. And God had told them in the law that every 7th year you're to let the ground rest. The ground is to have a Sabbath. Don't plant anything in the 7th year. Just in the 6th year, gather up and what you gather in the 6th year will be enough food to get you through the 7th year. You can eat that which grows of itself, but don't till the land, don't plant the land. Let it just grow of itself in the 7th year. Sort of a plant rotation of crop kind of things that the farmers have realized now is so valuable. I was up in Canada a while back and went out to the forge farms and they took me out to this huge wheat farm. And a lot of it they had not planted. And he said, no, we, we let the ground rest. Just like the Bible says, we find that we get much better crops. And so he said, we, of course they still plant every year, but a section of the ground is always set aside that every 7th year, they just let it rest. They don't plant anything in it. They just give the ground to rest. And he said, uh, we find that we get much better crops by giving the ground rest. Now they have been in the land for 490 years, but they had not obeyed the commandment of God. They hadn't given the ground, the Sabbath, the ground hasn't rested in 490 years. So God says, okay, you don't give it its rest. I'll give it its rest. I'll put you out of land for 70 years. And the ground will just get its, it gets its, uh, whole Sabbath. So you divide the 490 by seven and you find out that it comes to 70 years, uh, that, uh, that the ground had been robbed for 70 different Sabbaths, the ground had been robbed of its rest. So God says, oh no, I'll get my dues. You know, God will always get his dues. You know, you just, you don't, it doesn't pay to try and take away from God. Try to, God will get his dues one way or another. Just figure on that. It shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans. And I will make it a perpetual desolation and I will bring upon that land, all my words, which I have pronounced against it. Even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations for many nations and great King shall serve themselves of them also. And I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their own hands. So Babylon will be punished after the 70 years, God will bring his judgment against Babylon because of their iniquities. God will use Babylon as his instrument to bring judgment against Israel, but later God's judgment will come upon Babylon itself. Now, at this point, we jump on out to the great tribulation of the future. So take a leap through the time capsule. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me, take the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all of the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. Now there's a cup of the wrath of God's wine in his hand. If you'll turn to Revelation chapter 14, you will find corresponding verses beginning with verse nine. And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, if any man worshiped the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. Verse 19, and the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the, this is in Revelation still 14, 19. He thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden without the city and the blood came out of the wine press, even to the horses bridles by the space of 1,600 furlongs. And so the cup of indignation here, God introduces it to Jeremiah. They shall drink and be moved and be mad because of the sword that I will send among them. Then I took the cup at the Lord's hand and made all the nations to drink unto whom the Lord had sent me to Jerusalem, the city of Judah, the kings thereof, the princes to make them a desolation and astonishment, a hissing, a curse as it is to this day, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his servants, princes, all of his people, all the mingled people, the kings of the land of us, kings of the land of the Philistines, the Ashkelon and Akron and the remnant of Ashdod, the land of Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon, all the kings of Tyrus and Sidon and the kings of the Isles, which beyond the sea, Dedan, Timon, Abuz and all of the utmost corners, all the kings of Arabia, all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, the kings of Zimri, the kings of Elam and all the kings of the Medes and all of the kings of the north, far and near one with another and all of the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth. And the king of Babylon, Shishak is another name for Babylon shall drink after them. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel drink and be drunken and vomit and fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, you will certainly drink. For lo, I bring to, I begin to bring evil upon the city, which is called by my name. And should ye be utterly unpunished, ye shall not be unpunished for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts, the great tribulation period. Now, do you think that God would punish Jerusalem for their iniquity and allow us to go unpunished? Surely our iniquity is no greater than that of Israel, a nation that is forsaken God, a nation that is living after pleasure, a nation that is forsaken righteousness, a nation that has ordered prayer out of its school, a nation that has lived by godless humanism and is controlled by godless humanism in our courts, in our educational systems. You think we can go unpunished? Oh no. God says, take it. You're going to drink of it too. All of the earth. God's great judgment is coming upon all of the earth. You will certainly drink for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore prophesy against them these words and say unto them, the Lord shall roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout as they that tread the grapes against all of the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations. He will plead with all flesh and he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Notice that he will give those that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. But what about those who are righteous by their faith in Jesus Christ? You remember when God was ready to judge Sodom and Gomorrah and the angel of the Lord was on his way and Abraham invited him to come in, prepared a meal. They said, shall we reveal unto Abraham what we're doing? They said, we're heading down to Sodom. That place is so horrible, so rotten that we're going to destroy it. God is bringing his judgment against them. Abraham said, wait a minute, isn't God fair? Isn't the Lord of the earth just? What if there are righteous people living in Sodom? Would it be fair to destroy the righteous people with the wicked? Maybe there's 50 righteous people. The Lord said, if there is 50 righteous people, we'll spare the city. Well, you know, what if there was just 10 less than 50? What if there were only 40? We'll spare it for 40. How about 30? Yeah. Would you believe 20? Yeah, we'll spare it for 20. Let me talk once more and after this, I won't ask anymore. How about 10? Father Abraham, be careful how you deal with his descendants. You'll get the best bargain they can. How about 10? I love them. They're God's people. They really are. And I love them. And I bless them in the name of the Lord. The Lord said, I'll spare it for 10. You mean the whole wickedness of Sodom will be allowed to go on if there are 10 righteous people? That's right. For the sake of the 10, God will not bring his judgment. You're the salt of the earth. You are the preserving influence. People may scorn you. They may deride you. They may say cruel and cutting things, but they better be thankful you're around. For if you weren't around, this place wouldn't be. God's judgment would have already fallen. But for the righteous sake, God withholds. The angel came to Sodom. He could not find 10 righteous. He found one righteous man. The angel said, get out of here. We're going to destroy this place. Don't look back. And the angel led Lot and his wife and his two daughters, but his wife turning back, turned to a pillar of salt. And so only Lot and his two daughters escaped. He was that, and Peter said, that righteous man. He was the only one there. But notice, God did not bring judgment upon Lot, but delivered him before the judgment came. Peter uses that as an example to show that the church will not go through the great tribulation. For God knows how to deliver the righteous, but to reserve the ungodly for the day of judgment. So here talking about the great tribulation that is coming, God is going to bring his sword against all that are wicked, saith the Lord. But those that are righteous, the Lord will have caught out in the rapture of the church. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coast of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth. Finally found the place where they're slain in the spirit. All right. All over the place from one end of the earth to the other, and they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried. They shall be dung upon the ground. Howl ye shepherds and cry, wallow yourself in the ashes, ye principle of the flock for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel and the shepherd shall have no way to flee nor the principle of the flock to escape a voice of the cry of the shepherds and a howling of the principle of the flock shall be heard for the Lord has spoiled their pasture and the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert as the lion for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor and because of his fierce anger, that great tribulation, the time of God's judgment that shall fall upon the earth. Thank God that we as the church do not have to face that horror and terror that is coming. Revelation chapter 6 through 18 give detailed description of this period of time of three and a half years. You can read about it there. Father, we thank you again for the opportunity of gathering to learn of thee and to study your word and to gain insight to ourselves as your Holy Spirit takes thy word and probes our hearts and our lives. As we can look at ourselves, God help us that we will not go away and forget quickly what the Spirit has shown to us tonight. But oh God, may we indeed forsake the way of the flesh and may we walk after the Spirit and may we live after righteousness and live after thee, O Lord, serving thee, loving thee. And so, Father, in Jesus' name, let now thy Spirit imbed upon our hearts thy truths and we thank you for it. Amen.