I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter
16 verse 4. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 4. We're going through this precious
book, the book of Proverbs, verse by verse. As I've said before to many of
you, this is one of the most blessed,
but it is one of the most trying books that I've ever
studied. The reason being is because this
book is written such that man by nature can read it and there's
a lot of good moral advice given in it. Good advice. But if we
see not the glorious gospel of God's free grace, if we don't
see the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we just see good
advice, then we've absolutely missed the message of Proverbs. You remember when the disciples
asked the Lord, Why do you preach in parables? Why are you always
preaching in parables? Scripture says without parables,
he didn't preach much. That's how he preached. And he
said this is the reason. Because it's given unto you to
know the mystery of the kingdom of God. And unto them it's not
given. We deal today with a verse that
absolutely sets forth the glorious sovereignty of God and declares
Him the One who justifies His people, who absolutely has the right
To do whatever He pleases to do. Here's the verse. And my dear friends, remember
who's talking. Remember who's talking. Proverbs 16, for the Lord. L, O, R, D, Jehovah, Father,
Son, and Spirit, the triune God, the tri-unity of the Godhead,
the Lord, hath made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked, for the
day of evil. Now I'll tell you, this is one
of those scriptures right here where we would best do as Mary
did. Sit at His feet and hear what
He has to say. And be quiet. Let all the earth
keep silence before Him. God Almighty speaking. Now the first thing I know, according
to that Scripture right there, is that the Lord of Glory, God
Almighty, is the Creator. The Scripture says, the Lord
hath made all things for Himself. In the beginning, Genesis 1-1,
in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. This didn't come into existence
by a big thing blowing up or something like that. I'm telling
you, Almighty God created the heaven and the earth. And all
of the space that is between here and there, Why did He create
so much space? Why so many galaxies so far away? How many light years away? Why? Because He chose to. That answers
it. He hath made all things for Himself. God is the first cause in creation. He's the former of all things,
all persons. He is the fountain of every being. He gave everything creature-ness. Every creature, every piece of
creation is bound into place of God's making. A rock is a
rock. A cloud is a cloud. A tree is
a tree. A man is a man. God made it that
way. God placed it that way. God ordered
it that way. Why? He did it for Himself. He did it for Himself. The Lord is framed and He's executed
every part of this creation such that it manifests His wisdom,
His power, His goodness, His truth. Why did God make that tree right
there, just like that? Because it's going to manifest
the glorious redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, what
do you mean? Whenever that little seed, that
little plant, whatever it was, I don't care if it was that big
when you put it in there, it came from a seed. And that seed
had to be put in the ground. It had to die. That fruit, manifestation
of that. There was life in that seed,
in that nut, in whatever was put in the ground. There was
life in that seed and it died. Why did God make that? To honor His Son. He has made all things for Himself. There's no lack. in the Lord
that He needed anything in His creation to fulfill Himself. But according to His good pleasure
and infinite wisdom, He created all things to show forth His
greatness and to communicate His glorious attributes of power
and mercy and compassion and love and justice The Lord hath
made all things for Himself. Everything is appointed by Almighty
God. He has foreordained all that
comes to pass. Men that die in rebellion before
Him do so with no excuse. Now you know that without the
hearing of the gospel, that men cannot be saved. They cannot. That's according to Romans 1,
16, 17. A message that Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of. But men, I just told you about
a tree right there. I just told you how that tree
came into existence, humanly speaking. By God's power, a tree
planted The Scripture says that all nature, Neal, declares the
handiwork of God so that men are without excuse. Because that
tree is out there, no one is without excuse. The heavens,
nature, declares the handiwork of God. Men are without excuse. Ecclesiastes 3.1 says to everything,
there's a season. of time to every purpose under
the heaven. There's a time fixed for every
execution of everything. I'm telling you that not one
thing happens apart from the almighty hand governing power
of God Almighty. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. Everything concerning man is
ordered by God Almighty. Let me tell you who ordered the
time of your birth. God Almighty did. There's a time
to be born. There's a time to be reborn if
God's pleased to give man life. It's time to die. You'll take
your last breath at His command. He will stop your heart. He will
take your breath. You will die right on time. The Scripture says, a time to
die. We'll all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. There's going to be a time in
which Almighty God is going to cast all rebels into hell. He said that. Men stationed in life and everything that goes with
it, all things are according to His will, His purpose, His
counsel. Who orders all things? God does. Who is in control? God is. Who
has the power? to accomplish His will. God does. The Lord has a purpose in all
that He does, and here is the purpose. Colossians 1.18, in
all things He might have the preeminence. And you and I do
not know what is exactly going on save to this point. God's
doing it. God's ordering it. God's in control. And His worth, His will, His
power is going to be done and set forth and manifest. Now for
sure, I know that all He's done, all that He brings to pass, and
all that He's accomplishing, according to His good pleasure,
pleases Him. I know that. How do you know
that? Psalm 104.31, the glory of the
Lord shall endure. It shall be. That's what it means.
Forever the Lord shall rejoice in His works. Now which works
are those? All of them. Because He worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. If you want
to know what God's will is, look around. What's happening? Whatever He's doing, whatever
He's working, whatever He's pleased. Well, knowing that this world
and all things in it are going to be burned up, let's consider
the state of all men in their relationship to the Lord God
of heaven. before whom all men are going
to stand. I'm going to stand before God, and you are too.
We're all going to be there. We shall all stand, Paul says,
before the judgment. Here's what I know. The Lord
has made all things for Himself, to His elect. And I know this,
that Almighty God has In elect, 1 Peter 1-2, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. They're elect. They're chosen to salvation. God's people, God's elect, are
chosen to salvation. Listen to this. I've quoted this
many times. I'll read it again. Lest I mispronounce
or misplace a word, I'll read it verbatim. 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Now there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. They are elect in Christ Jesus
that God Almighty has everlastingly loved and that the Lord made
for Himself. Almighty God made His elect. Isaiah 43-21, this people have
I formed, made for myself, and they shall show forth my praise. Listen to Isaiah 43-7, even everyone
that is called by my name. For I have created Him for My
glory, I have formed Him, yea, I have made Him." He made His people, His elect,
those that He has chosen unto salvation, He made them for His
pleasure and He made them for His glory. Isaiah 60 verse 21,
Thy people also. shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified." God Almighty is going to save a people. He is
going to save somebody. Who are they? Those that He calls
out of darkness. Those that hears this gospel
and He gives them a heart to believe it. That's who they are. I don't know who they are. But
I know this. I know the message that He's
going to call them out under. I know that. And that message,
the message that gives Him all the honor and all the glory and
all the praise, that's the message that He's going to bless. He made them for Himself. And all of His elect are going
to praise the Son, and they are going to be with Him in glory. Father, John 17, 24, I will that
they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that
they may behold My glory. What glory is that? The glory
as the Redeemer. The glory as the substitute.
The glory as the surety. the glory as the mediator, which
thou hast given me." Nothing was ever given the Son
of God, but as to the Son of God being the Son of Man, and
humbling Himself, and making Himself of no reputation, being
made like unto His brethren, likened to His people in the
form of sinful flesh. Not in sinful flesh, in the form
of sinful flesh. The Father has given Him all
power. John 17, 2, that He should give
eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. These objects of His mercy forever
kept in the surety, ever viewed in mercy and compassion, according
to His good will and purpose, called out of spiritual darkness
in time and forever preserved by the power of God, though in
themselves. No difference than anybody else. You're looking at one right here. in himself that is a no-good
sapsucker, a maggot. Most evil thoughts
you've ever imagined that has come out of this mind right here.
Most disrespectful things that you've ever thought of, imagined,
since I've been here this morning in myself. But by the grace of
God, a new nature has been imparted, has been placed within. A new
nature that the Scripture sets forth does not sin. A new nature that absolutely loves
God. and wars and strives against
that old nature. There's a battle going on. And
I see in myself, there dwells no good thing in myself. The
new man hates what I see in myself, the old man. These objects of
God's mercy recognize that he's the potter, we're the clay, And
of the same lot makes one vessel worth the cost. Honor. And another unto dishonor. The
Lord hath made all things for himself. If a man or a woman knows God, loves God, this God,
this God, I'm not talking about the little G-God that's trying
to do anything. I'm not talking about a little G-God that's waiting
on you to exercise some free will. Because I'm going to tell
you something, He can't do anything. He can't do anything. If He's
waiting on me, He'll be eternally waiting. I'm not talking about
that God. I'm talking about God. I'm talking
about God Almighty. I'm talking about the One who
alone has a free will. Now my friends, when we say free
will, let me tell you something. If you claim to have a free will,
you better have the power to execute everything that you've
ever decided you're going to do. You better have the wisdom
to be able to execute it. You may be thinking that you
have power. You don't have any power. Man doesn't have a free will.
If a man thinks he has a free will, he better have all the
attributes that God possesses to be able to do whatsoever he's
pleased. We don't have a free will. We're
nobodies. We're nobodies. There's One who
is all-powerful. This is One I'm talking about.
The Lord, God Almighty, hath made all things for Himself. And listen, yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. Now, my friend, we're getting
ready to walk on some solid ground here. Men might say, we're getting
ready to walk on some thin ice. This ain't thin ice. We're getting
ready to walk on solid ground right here. And I'm telling you,
I'm telling you, so help me, may the Lord give me grace to
preach what I'm about to preach. I mean it. By the grace of God,
I mean it. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Remember, First of all, God Almighty
did not make men evil. Ecclesiastes 7.29, Lo, this only
have I found, that God hath made man upright. God made man upright. I want to go ahead and clear
something out of your mind right now. In the setting forth and
the preaching of this verse of Scripture, where are we going
to lay the blame for God putting a man in hell? Where are we going
to lay the blame? You ain't going to lay it at God's foot. Almighty God is not the author
of sin. Why? Man is ruined. Now, we know that man was ruined
in the fall. You know that. Man fell in the
garden. Man was ruined in the garden. Do you know why? Because he exercised his will. Man's will, Neil, is his problem. Man's will? That's right. The
Lord told Adam in the day that you eat their life, you're going
to die. Don't eat of this fruit. Don't eat of it. All of the other
ones you need of it. Don't eat of this one. Satan
came to Eve. And God said, yep, He said, you're
not going to die. You eat of that fruit, and you're
going to be like God. You'll know good and evil. She took that fruit, and she came to her husband.
She gave it to him, and now he's going to have to make a decision.
He's going to exercise his will. You want to know what man's going
to do? Every time. You want to know what man's going
to do? He's going to rebel against God every time. And Adam died. Almighty God made Adam, the Scripture
says, upright. The Lord does not and cannot,
according to His nature, Give or impart that which is contrary
to His character. God Almighty is holy. He's just. He's good. And infinite perfection
does not impart imperfection. Rebellion. Where evil exists,
where He's pleased to leave it for now, openly unpunished. It is according to his good pleasure
and wisdom. He is long-suffering for a reason. I want you to turn to Exodus
4. Exodus 4, verse 21. Again, my
friend, I encourage all of us, let us be mindful of whose word
we're reading. And if there be something that
I've said that's contrary to these Scriptures right here,
show me in the Word of God where I've misquoted, where I've misrepresented
God's Word. Show me in God's Word and I'll
recant it. But if we cannot, then we must
understand who is speaking. Exodus 4.21, the scripture says,
And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest, to return into
Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which
I have put in thine hand, but I will harden his heart, that
he shall not let the people go." Look at Exodus 7, 13, 14. Exodus 7, 13, 14, And he hardened
Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had
said. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuseth to let the people
go. Look at Exodus 8, verse 15. Exodus 8, 15. But when Pharaoh saw that there
was respite, he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto
them, as the Lord has said." Now I want you to turn to Romans
9.17. Romans 9.17. Here's the Apostle
Paul is going to give unto the inspiration of God's Spirit. comments on what we just read
in Exodus. Romans 9, 17, 18. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh. I want you to notice who said
this to Pharaoh. The Scripture said it. The Scripture
said it. Why does it say that? Because
the Scripture is God's Word. You read this Scripture right
here, you're hearing God talk. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth? Thou wilt
say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor?" My friends, the Scripture says back in Exodus,
that God told Moses, I hardened Pharaoh's heart. I hardened it. The Scripture then says, Pharaoh
hardened his heart. The Scripture says in Romans
9, Almighty God setting forth, even
for this same purpose, I raised you up, that I might show my
power in thee. that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth." Now, I'm going to take something that
Robert Hawker said on this particular situation right here. And I think
that Hawker gives one of the best explanations. There is no doubt that the scripture
says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Now, you can sidestep that, tiptoe
through the tulips, and you can do whatever you want to do, but
it's not going to change. The Lord said, I hardened his
heart. Now, listen to what Hawker said. I read this, and I truly believe he's right. Mr. Hawker said, every man by
nature, since the fall, is averse. He's against. divine things. Why? Because he is spiritually
dead. And if this aversion, if this
animosity, if this resentment, if this wrath against be not
removed by almighty grace, it becomes more and more so in proportion
as the demonstrations of God's sovereignty are brought before
the hardened heart, so that it may be truly said, God hardens
the heart by every renewed instance which He displayed." Every time
Moses came in there and did something according to God's Word, according
to God's instruction, he threw that staff down, Mitch, it was
a snake. that the Egyptians, some of the
miracles, not all of them, but some of them, they were able
to do. Or a delusion. Oh, that can't
be of God. Look, they can do it. That rain
of hail from heaven fell and those frogs and that blood and
everything, every time, that Almighty God set forth in the
demonstration of His sovereignty. It ever increased and hardened
the heart of that evil Pharaoh. So when a believer hears or sees
the exhibition of God's sovereign grace, because of that new spirit,
Mr. Hawker says, they are more enlivened
and matured by what they hear, while the unbeliever becomes
more calloused to his conviction. Pharaoh had a heart that hated
God. And as the Lord sent forth his
preacher, Moses, and Moses came with God's word, the word of
God's sovereignty and God's will and God's right, God's desire. You let my people go. And the
more that God's sovereignty was set before Pharaoh. Pharaoh,
because of an evil heart, became more and more adamant against
it and hated it and hated it. And God said, I'm the one that
hardened his heart. Well, it was Pharaoh's evil heart
that was rebelling against God. God said, I put that word before
him. You take a mad dog. I'm talking
about a mad dog. I'm talking about a mad dog.
One with rabies. Chained up. And every time you
start approaching him and he just starts growling and trying
to get at you and bite you. And you back off. And you come
up again. He's going to bite more and more
and he's just slobbering and just going mad. And you back
off. Then walk up to him again. He's just going crazy. Just crazy. Who's causing that? Well, you
say, well, he's mad. That's right. My actions toward
him bringing it out. It's a demonstration. I say,
well, you're the one who made him... No, that's the mad dog. My actions toward him exhibited
it. And in God's language, he said,
I hardened his heart. I brought it out. I demonstrated
what was truly there. Almighty God has the right, the
authority to do as He will. But His work is always exhibited
in a way that is consistent with His righteous glory. Nobody will
ever say, God is just mean. God is not fair. My friend, that
is the thought of absolute spiritual deadness. You accuse God of being
unfair? Of not being right? Who are we? God Almighty doesn't have the
right to choose to show mercy to whom He will. You know what
you're saying? I don't want to be one of God's
of that. I don't like that. Don't put
me in that category. Don't put me in the predestinating
mercy and grace of God. I'd rather stay where I am. Almighty God is going to make
two things known. He's going to make His justice
against wrath known. And He's going to make the riches
of His grace and mercy known upon whomsoever He will. There
are some things that God has revealed. There are some things
that are hidden as to the secret counsels of His good pleasure.
But what He has revealed, by the grace of God, we bow to.
I've said before, I could stand up here and just say, no, no.
No, I'm telling you, the Lord really hasn't made all things
for Himself. He really hasn't made the wicked
for the day of evil. And I'll just expose my animosity
against God. My friend, you've got one hope. That's what they ask Peter and
all of them. Men and brethren, what are we
going to do? Let me tell you what we're going to do. If God
Almighty gives you a heart to bow, to this God, and to cry
unto Him for mercy, it is because God's given you a new heart.
Because if the Lord leaves a man, a woman, to themselves, you know
what they're going to do? They're going to do just what
Pharaoh did. They're going to do just what
that mad dog would do. And they're going to die. And
God's going to put them in hell. My friend, He's the Lord. If a man perishes, it's because
he will not bow to this God. Don't you dare. May I dare not
question Him. I don't have the right. I'm telling
you, He's good. God Almighty is good. I said before, like last week
in closing, if God had not chosen to show
mercy to some, we'd all be those mad dogs. We'd all have been
like Sodom and Gomorrah. But God Almighty, because He
is a merciful God, He chose to show mercy to some. And I know what the carnal heart
is going to ask. Why not all of them? Because
he didn't choose to. But my friend, don't put your
finger in God's face. Because I'm telling you, That
is the most disrespectful, damning thing that we can do. Who art
thou, O man? As I said at the beginning of
this message, I was trying to be truthful. This verse of Scripture
right here, I don't know if there's another Scripture. There may
be. But right now in my mind, I can't think of another Scripture
that sets forth more clearly More clearly, the absolute sovereignty
of Almighty God to do as He will. And here is my plea this morning,
Carl. Lord, give me a heart to bow
to You. You're God, and I'm not. I'm
the rebel. You're the Savior. I've done
all the running, and You alone is the one that can save me.
Lord, for Christ's sake, have mercy on me. Amen.