Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Psalms 37. Psalms 37. Beginning in verse
34, Psalm 37, 34. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Wait patiently as He providentially
orders our steps. Expect, as a believer, that He's
going to perform that which He's promised. And keep His way as He daily
directs, ordering the steps of His people. How often we need to be reminded
that the steps of a good man made so by the grace of God,
not in himself, you know that, are ordered by the Lord. Keep His way. walk in the light
that He's given of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He shall exalt thee to inherit
the land. Here's what the Scripture says.
For all that know Him, love Him, trust Him by faith given from
above, call upon Him in truth, they're going to be seated with
Him. Seated with Him in the heavenlies. I can't even imagine that. He's promised that we're going
to be with Him eternally. Father, I will, John 17, 24,
I will that those that Thou has given me in electing grace be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, the glory
that was given Him from before the foundation of the world.
He said, because You love me always. Wait on the Lord, keep His way,
He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. And listen to this
last part of verse 34. When the wicked are cut off,
thou shalt see it. You know, every time I hear of someone that dies, every
time, every time I hear, of somebody dying. You know the first thing
I think of? I wonder if they knew the Lord.
That's the first thing I think of. I wonder if they knew God. I wonder if they left this world
without a substitute. I wonder. Now I can see that,
and I know I can perceive that, but I don't know. I don't know.
There's many that give a good confession. I have some confidence,
you know, we have some confidence in those that give a good confession.
But let me tell you what is an absolute surety. When the Lord
says that when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I want you to turn, hold your
place right there, turn to Revelation 19. I'm going to read you something
that we've looked at before, but we won't look at it for a
moment. Revelation 19. Last book of the Bible. Revelation
19. Revelation 19, verse 1 to 4. Revelation 19, 1. And after these
things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying,
Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his
judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore, a false religion, you know that, false religion, the
great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again, they said, hallelujah,
and her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty
elders, the four beasts, fell down and worshiped God that sat
on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah. Scripture says that when her
smoke, now just flip back to Revelation 14.11. When her smoke rose up forever
and ever, when God in judgment poured out His wrath on all false
religions, those that didn't know Him. This is what the saints
said. Hallelujah. Revelation 14, verse
11, the Scripture says, And the smoke of their torment ascendeth
up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day nor night,
who worship the beast, his image, whosoever receiveth the mark
of his name. Now, this is what the scripture
reveals is going to happen in the day of judgment. The trumpet
of God is going to sound. The dead in Christ are going
to rise. The Apostle Paul said, under the inspiration of God's
Spirit, and we which remain upon this earth are not going to precede
them. They'll rise first, having died
in the Lord, died in the faith. We'll meet them in the air. All
men, everybody's going to come out of the grave. Everybody's
going to come out of the grave. And there's going to be, in that
moment, the judgment. The day of judgment has come.
And scripture reveals that the Lord is going to separate sheep
from the goats. He said sheep's going to be on
the right hand, goats are going to be on the left. And he's going
to say unto those on his left, Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. Four of the most heart-wrenching, you'd think
of, words that you'll ever hear. I never knew you. I never knew
you. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. And according to Revelation chapter
19, the scripture reveals that the saints, not in a jubilant
way, and my friend, they will be there in that place on that
day, those that all of us knew. I don't know the depth of what
we'll know, but I can tell you this, when God in judgment and
in justice, the saints are going to according to God's Word. They're
going to say, when the smoke of the judgment of unbelievers
is raised up, saints are going to say hallelujah. I was talking to a dear friend
of mine the other day and he said he read something about
two men were talking, two preachers. One of them said, asked the other
one, what did you preach on? Last Sunday he said, I preached
on hell. He said, did you preach it with a heavy heart, tears
in your eyes? Almighty God is going to put
people, but for the grace of God, just like all of us, but
for the grace of God, going to put them in hell forever. And
God's people, as I said, not in a jubilant, but in a respectful
way, they're going to say, you're right. You're right. Psalm 37, back to Psalm 37, verse
35, I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself
like a green bay tree. The psalmist said, under the
inspiration of God's Spirit, I've seen the wicked in great
authority over others. No regard for the things of God,
flourishing spreading themselves like a green bay tree. Everything they touched turned
to gold in this life. But they were arrogant, spreading
themselves prosperous like a native tree, a green bay tree. You just leave a piece of property
to itself. and just look at the filth that
grows. You don't see anything profitable. It's just spreading itself. It just comes naturally, firmly
rooted in this world. Verse 36 says, Yet he passed
away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but he could
not be found. He passed away, his soul was
required. He left this world just like
he came. Lost. Dead. Spiritually dead. I sought him but he could not
be found. Gone to his own place just like
Judas. I heard Brother Scott said one time, he said, it takes
three days to bury somebody and about three years to forget them.
I think those were the numbers, if they're not, they're close
enough. People that we think, you know, I'll never forget you,
you know, well, Scripture says they're gone, just gone. Verse 37, mark the perfect man
and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. Mark the perfect man. Now obviously not perfect in
himself, you know that. There's none righteous in themselves,
not one. All of us are born with that
rebellious nature, dead in trespasses and sins. He says, mark the perfect
man and behold the upright, the sincere man. One that God's called out of
darkness that walks in the light of the glorious person of the
Lord Jesus Christ as He's revealed in the Scriptures. That perfect
man, upright man. A faithful man. Listen to this
scripture. Genesis 6-9, Noah was a just man and perfect in
his generation. You think he was without sin?
No. He wasn't without sin. But he was sincere, having been
regenerated by the grace of God. He was a sinner just like anybody
else. There was one difference between
everybody else And Noah, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Why? Because it pleased God. There was nothing about Noah,
the Lord looked and saw that every man, every man, every man,
the thoughts of his imagination was evil continually. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And for Noah's sake, his wife, his three sons, and
their wives, and some animals, Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And some benefited through that escaping that flood. I don't know what happened to
the rest of them, but I know Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Does God have the right to do that? Job 1.8, the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil. Mark the perfect man, behold
the upright. For the end of that man, a sinner,
saved by the grace of God, A sinner that if you ask him, tell me
about your perfection. Tell me about your uprightness.
You know what he's going to say? He's going to say, I am what
I am by the grace of God. He's not going to start bragging
and tell you, well, I tell you what, I gave my heart to Jesus
when I was so and I've been faithful all these years. I was baptized
and I was just, I am what I am by the grace of God. In myself
there dwells no good thing. For the will is with me. How to perform that which I don't
know. That's how a perfect and upright man talks. You don't
hear him bragging on himself. Mark the perfect man. Mark him in his attitude. Mark
him in his tribulations. Mark him in his faithfulness.
Mark him. Watch him. Watch him. Mark the way he lives. Mark the
way he dies. Trusting God. Giving a good profession
of hope in Christ. Peace. The end of that man is
peace. Peace in his conscience. Peace
in his speech. Peace in his heart. Some here
know a little bit about that. Have you ever watched a believer
die? Have you ever watched a believer die? It's the most amazing thing
that I have ever seen in my life. Amazing. But the transgressors, verse
38, shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be
cut off. the transgressors, transgressors
against Christ as he's revealed in this book, in God's report. Transgressors against him and
against his gospel. I'll not have this man to rule
over me. I'll not have one who declares
himself to have the right to show mercy to whomsoever he will.
and to harden whomsoever He will. My only question is this, who
said that? Who said that I will have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy, I'll have compassion? God said that. Let God be true. Let every man be a liar. The
transgressors shall be destroyed together. We're all born that
way. We're all born transgressors.
But here the psalmist speaks of those who die without a substitute,
without Christ, die trusting in themselves, trusting in their
works, trusting in their efforts. You that know Him, aren't you
ashamed? Aren't you ashamed of your faithfulness, what you'd
call faithfulness? I'm so embarrassed when I think
about the things that I have done or should have done, neglected
to do. Scripture says that they'll all
die together, cast out in judgment. That's what we looked at just
a few minutes ago. All their hope is going to be cut off. Many were saying to me that day,
the Lord said, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? We
cast out devils in your name. We've done many mighty works
in your name. And I'm telling you, all of those
things that they claim will come to nothing because they trusted
in them. Now, I'm not saying that a believer
doesn't exhibit his salvation. I'm not saying a believer doesn't.
He does. He does. He exhibits. He just doesn't
trust in it. He didn't trust in it. Only a fool would stand before
God and say, for me to stand before God and say, well, you
know, Lord, I've been a faithful preacher all these years. If
you only knew how embarrassed I am when I study. After the message, after the
message, you have no idea. Oh, I should
have said this. And it's just faithlessness.
It's not my ability. My ability is to preach God's
Word and trust God. I tell you what, I don't have
a whole lot to say about the messenger. The message, not the
messenger. Mark that perfect man, behold
the upright, transgressors going to be destroyed, the end of the
wicked shall be cut off. But, verse 39, but the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. The salvation, the rescue, I
love that, you know. the safety, the deliverance,
the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Aren't you glad
it is? Aren't you glad? I can remember
years ago, I was nine years old, first time I
walked down the aisle, and I think I've told you this. Reason I
went, I'll be honest with you now, statute of limitations is
over. I walked down the aisle because my cousin Larry did.
Larry was on the other end of the pew and he started walking
down. I didn't want Larry to go and
I didn't go. So I went. And the preacher, you know, I
had this prayer and he said, you believe you're a sinner?
I thought, yeah, I guess. Well, do you want the Lord to
save you? Well, I don't want to go to hell. And I said what
he said, and he said, now if you prayed that, you're saved.
You're saved. He baptized me. And I'm telling
you, it was no time. And I began to think, you know, I don't remember if
I said this part of it. I don't remember. I've heard,
I've listened to them recite these sinners prayers and stuff
like that and I think, I don't know if I said that. And really,
I don't really remember if I was really, really, really sincere. I just don't. I need to go down
for rededication. I've got to do this again. I
just don't think it did right. So I went down again. A few years
later, you know. Three times. No assurance, no confidence,
doubt. I'd go over it again. I'd go
over it. Lord, in case I didn't mean it, all the while looking
here, here. Salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He meant it. And for Him to give me a heart
to believe and in believing Him, I can with all the confidence
in the world say this, I can confidently say this, Lord, if I have any life, it's because
You gave it to me. There's nothing in me that is
of any worth. Lord, save this sinner. The most safe place that you'll
ever find is at his feet asking for mercy. Lord, have mercy on
me. Lord, I have nothing to offer. I have nothing to offer. Save
this sinner, or I'm going to perish. Boy, what safety! What safety! Come unto me, all
you that are weak, all you that labor, heavy laden. I'll give
you rest, because I don't have any rest in myself. Salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. And let me tell you this, salvation
is not something that merely occurs in time. Now there's a point in time that
we know of this, regeneration. Where God calls his people out
of darkness and they realize, I need the Lord. I'm a sinner. I need a savior. There's a point
called regeneration. But salvation started Well, it
never started. It never started. It's eternal. Eternal. Listen to this. 2 Timothy
1.9. Let me tell you, this is where
salvation truly begins. "...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling
unto the sound of the gospel, blessed by the Spirit of God, God Almighty in saving, mercy,
and grace reveals to a man or woman, you're lost. You're lost. Who has saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace. Now listen to this,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Where does salvation start? It
starts in the eternal counsel of God Almighty. So when we talk
about the salvation of the righteousness of the Lord, salvation begins
eternally. I don't even know how to talk
eternal. I use words that I don't know how to say it. Eternal.
I can't even use the word begin because eternal. But secondly,
We're being saved right now. He saved us and called us, but
now we're being saved right now. Right now. Every man, every woman
that knows Him is kept right now by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
So right now I know I've been eternally saved, and I'm being
saved right now because He's keeping me. He's keeping me. He said, I'm not going to leave
you. I'm not going to forsake you. I'm going to keep you. And
I'll tell you another thing. We shall be saved. Let me read
this to you, Matthew 10. Matthew 10, verse 22. Matthew 10, 22. He said, you
should be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth
to the end shall be saved. In that day in which he says,
enter in. Oh, we'll be saved then, that
we'll be saved. We're eternally saved, we're
kept saved, and we shall be saved. He that endureth to the end,
aren't you glad that you're kept by the power of God through faith? That faith that was not of yourself,
it was a gift of God. The salvation of the righteous,
one thing is for sure. The Scripture says it's of the
Lord. Purposed by the Lord according to God's eternal covenant of
grace, chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, regenerated
by the Holy Spirit, kept by the power of God. And it must be,
salvation must be of the Lord. Why? because we're without strength. Romans 5, 6, for when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. When we were without strength. Verse 39 says, but the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. So you know how much strength
we have. None. None. Salvation is of the Lord. And
in closing, salvation for the righteous is sure. It's sure. Verse 40, the Lord shall help
them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the
wicked and save them because they trust in Him. If salvation
is left to me or to you, if it's left up to us, I'm going to tell
you something, we're going to perish. We're going to perish.
Because to stand before God Almighty, before I can stand before God
accepted, my sin debt is going to have to be paid. You say, well, I thought that
the Lord Jesus Christ died for everybody to pay their sin debt. Well, he didn't die for everybody.
He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. That's the one point
that gets, that's the one point that just really rubs a man or
woman the wrong way. That he only died for his sheep. Let me ask you this, if he died
for everybody and paid everybody's sin and nobody has a debt now,
his blood paid for everybody, God sends one person to hell
and their sin has been paid for, is God just? No. The answer is
no. You say, well he died for everybody
but he died to make salvation possible. I said, are you telling
me then that your will or your action or your work then made
it effectual? Is that what you're saying? Are
you saying that you have to do something in order to make it
effectual? Be careful, because now you're
going to get into works. It ain't going to fly. That dog
won't hunt. It ain't going to work. The Lord shall help them. The
Lord shall deliver them. He shall deliver them from the
wicked and save them because they trust in Him. Now, because
they trust in Him is the evidence. The evidence. Because they trust
in Him, they evidence something. What is that? The evidence that
God has given them faith to believe. This is the last verse right
here. John 1. John 1, verse 12 and 13. John 1, verse 12 and 13. John 1, verse 12. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name. Somebody would say, you see there?
I proved it. That's it, right? Proved it. As many as received
Him, He gave them power then. Now the Spirit of God wisely
put the next verse in there. Which were born, not of blood,
you didn't inherit it, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God. Because God gave them power,
to become the sons of God, they received Him. They received Him. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is all of grace, not
of works. You know why? We boast in it. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake.