Great, thanks for that special.
Appreciate it. Walter, come preach to us. The
message of the Lord is laid on your heart. Good morning again. If you would, I have several
things I want to give you before I begin to preach, but I'll give
you time to find Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter three. Well, the reason I say that is
not because I think anyone here is not able to find the backing,
but when we were at chapel, this has been several months ago,
and of course, when Joe and Paul and myself were all three there,
we all three preach every Sunday that we're there. So my brother,
my younger brother, Paul, who has spoken here before a few
months back, I think, and he asked everyone to turn to Jonah,
and for the life of me, I could not find him. He was still preaching
five minutes later, and I was fumbling around. Finally, I just
closed my Bible and set it down beside me at the beginning of
this. Anyway, be turning to Habakkuk chapter three. While you're doing
that, my fellow preacher, Joe Galusik, almost every Sunday
sends me a song, and wherever I'm preaching, whether it's at
Sovereign Grace Chapel or other places, God's been pleased to
give me the privilege to go. I will read this. He has a song here he sent me
yesterday by John Newton. Of course, I'm sure most everyone
here's aware of him, John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace. This could be found in Gadsby's
Hymns number 388. And his passage for his song
is Psalm 32, five, six, and seven. The title of his song is An Approach
to the Mercy Seat. John Newton wrote these words,
approach my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer. There
humbly fall before his feet, for none can perish there. Thy
promise is my only plea, with this I venture nigh. Thou callest
burdened souls to thee, and such, O Lord, am I. a wondrous love
to bleed and die, to bear the cross and shame that guilty sinners
such as I might plead thy gracious name. Poor tempest-tossed soul,
be still. My promised grace receive. I'll work in thee both power
and will. Thou shalt in me believe. That was John Newton. I have
one more thing to give you, but before I do, Let me just say
this. Once it's been a few months back
when we were at Danville, right? And I preached for them at Danville
Grace Baptist Church and it was scheduled to stay over till Tuesday
and do this Tuesday night service as well. And Frank had called
me and asked if I would stop by here on Wednesday. Of course,
I had gladly agreed to come by and stop, but of course then
that large storm came through. And I think it washed out your
old road here somewhere, knocked out power. And I was just really
disappointed. I mean, I was just down in the
dumps because I've been looking forward to coming to see you
folks. But I know now it was meant for me to be here today
and not that Wednesday. You know why? Because you would
only have to suffer through one message then. Now you've got
to suffer through two. All right. You're at Habakkuk? All right. Well, we'll start
there in just a moment. back at chapter three. Now, this,
maybe some of you may remember reading this. This has been several
years ago. This was from a bulletin from
Pastor Henry Mahan. It came out in a bulletin in
the year 1998. And the title of it is The Last Word, and I
really like this piece by him. Well, there's nothing that I
haven't read by him that I didn't like, but this one just really
caught my attention. It's called The Last Word. One
night at sea, A ship's captain saw what appeared to be the lights
of another ship out in front of him. So he had his signalman
blink to the other ship, change your course. You've seen it,
some of you may have been in the military. Blink, the morse
code. So he had him blink, change your course. The reply came back,
change your course. The ship's captain signaled back,
I am a captain, change your course. To which the reply was, I am
a seaman first class, change your course. This infuriated
the ship's captain, so he signaled, you fool, change your course,
this is a battleship. The seaman replied, and I said
change your course, this is a lighthouse. Human will, rank, and pride have
no alternative except to change your course when confronted with
the unyielding, unchanging word of God, even if that message
comes through a lowly servant. That one just makes me smile
and brings a little tear to my eye. I love that. All right. Habakkuk chapter three,
pardon me, Habakkuk chapter three, I will
just read two verses for my texts. Habakkuk chapter three, verse
one and two, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet of Shagayanoth. Oh
Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. Oh Lord, revive
thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years,
make known. In wrath, remember. mercy now in the king james version
which is what i'm using here this morning in the king james
version this these two verses are just 33 words it's a 33 word
prayer that you could pray through even with some emphasis of soul
heart mind you could be over this prayer within seconds And
there is so much here that there's no way that I would even attempt
to stand before you this morning and deal with everything that's
in just these two verses. I don't have the time and truth
be known, I don't have the capacity to do that. But Habakkuk cries
out four words that caught my attention several years ago.
And as things begin to change in my life with my wife and myself,
I found that I was going to a lot of other places to preach. I
don't want to call it a promise, but I said, Lord, if you're pleased
to use me, if I go somewhere new, I don't care how many times
people hear it, I'm going to preach on this right here. This
is my pet text, if you will. Because one day this passage
dawned on me And the truth of those four words, in wrath, remember
mercy. Brother, that's my text. In wrath,
remember mercy. When those things, those four
simple words, dawned upon my soul was, once again, it was
like a, I could just breathe out, relax. I've known the gospel
by God's grace for many years, to several years ago, it hit
me like a ton of bricks. In wrath, remember mercy. These four words are filled with
messianic hope by a very obscure prophet named Habakkuk. He doesn't stand out like Isaiah,
Jeremiah, one of those. And often, especially when I
was in religion, when I was in that man-centered, godless, anti-Christ
religion I was basically born and raised in, I was basically
under the impression that these Old Testament believers just
kind of went about, they didn't know nothing, didn't know anything.
I'm sorry for my poor English. They knew nothing. They just
kind of believed in God, offered some sacrifices, and things just
kind of went okay for them. These people knew the Messiah
had been promised and they were looking for Him to come. Now back it cries out, in, wrath,
remember, mercy. Now what I want us to do this
morning is first of all, by way of introduction, I want us to
consider five thoughts. We're going to look at God's
wrath. And I'm not going to turn to the passage itself, According
to the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter one, I'll make the statement
that I'll give you the passage. You can look it up later. God's
wrath is more than just some last day white throne judgment
wrath. Now don't get me wrong. Do not
misunderstand me. I am not throwing off. There
will come a day. when all of humanity shall stand
before God and shall give an account of themselves before
a thrice holy God. But again, I say when I was born
and raised in religion, that man-centered religion, wrath
was always out there somewhere. It was something to be avoided
somewhere in the future. But the apostle Paul is clear,
as I said, Romans chapter one, verse 18, for the wrath of God
is manifested, not shall be manifested, but the wrath of God is manifested. And you can go back and read
the context. God's wrath is upon all fallen humanity outside of
Christ, even right now. As a matter of fact, Paul goes
on in that chapter to say that there were some people, because
when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, that God gave
them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are
not convenient. Their problem, their problem
was not the homosexuality. Their problem was not acknowledging
God for who he was. And because they refused to acknowledge
God for who he was, he turned them over to their reprobate
mind. I wonder, I wonder. I'm not a prophet, I'm just a
pastor teacher. I wonder, is that what God's
doing in this country today? Is that the pride of the degradation
of human immorality. Today it's vogue. It's the great
thing. It's the right thing to do to
come out of the closet. My brothers and sisters, there
are things that are in my closet. I pray God they remain in my
closet. I'm ashamed of them. And I utter
to even get close to even, not even mentioning what they are,
but just to even get close to the door, let alone to fling
the door open. Is it the wrath of God? I do
not know for sure. But if it is, just like in Jeremiah's
time, my brothers and sisters, don't try to stop it. Let it
be. Isn't that right? You know what Jeremiah was told
to do? Jeremiah was told to tell Israel to repent But even if
you do, you're going into 70 years captivity. It does not
matter. This is the judgment of God against
you. And I hear these preachers on
TV, we need to help save America. What if God's trying to put America
down? You gonna step in his way? You
gonna try to pray God out of it? I'm not. I'm just saying,
God's wrath is much more than something way out yonder in the
future somewhere. But not only that, turn to Revelation,
the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Book of Revelation
chapter six. Remember our brother Habakkuk
cried out, the end of his messianic cries, in wrath remember mercy. Well, we've seen that God's wrath
can even be and is even upon men and women now. But it's much
more that God's wrath is, think about it, is vouchsafed in his
dear sweet son. In his dear sweet son. Look at
the book of the Revelation, chapter six. Look at verse 12. And I beheld when he had opened
the sixth seal. Now remember, this is the lamb
opening the seals. And behold, when he opened the
sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun
became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as
a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind, and the heaven departed as a scroll when it was rolled
together, and every mountain and islands were moved out of
their places. Hold that thought." We hear about the Big Bang way
back younger, right? You hear about the Big Bang?
Well, bless God, one of these days there's going to be a Big
Bang. Right here. That day's going to be the bang.
But let's read on. And the kings of the earth and
the great men and rich men and chief captains and mighty men
and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and
in the rocks of the mountains. and said to the mountains and
the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth upon the throne. Now, I can understand that. I
can to some degree relate to that, but look at what else they
say. And from the wrath of the Lamb. That's almost a total opposite
juxtaposition of words. The wrath has to, the Lamb has
to do with mercy. Compassion. Forgiveness. Do you see it? The Lamb. He's
the one that dies for sinners. And yet God's wrath is vouchsafed
where? In the Lamb. You see, our Lord
himself said all judgment is committed to who? The Son. The Son. And it's what was amazing
when I read this and I looked up that Lamb In the Greek, it
is little. Wow. That little, small, that
one you could hold in your arms. Here is God's wrath. And men
say, well, I'll accept Jesus when I want to. No, you will
not. You will be accepted by him.
I will be accepted by him. For you and I, we will perish. So far this wrath don't look
like it goes with mercy very well, does it? Even when it concerns
being vouchsafed in the land. But here's a third thought. God's
wrath is not uncontrolled rage. Turn to John chapter two. John chapter two. Now as I've been often prone
to point out, You could ask that lady right over there, this man's
wrath is always uncontrolled rage. It always is. If my wrath ever shows up, and
it has, it's always been uncontrolled rage. But I want you to read
along with it. Just follow along as I read these
verses. John chapter two, verse 13. For
the sake of time, we're gonna move along. And the Jews' Passover
was at hand. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem
and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and
doves and changers of money sitting. Now, most everyone here probably
already knows the account. Our Lord Jesus Christ runs these
people out of the temple, turns their tables and their money
over and scatters it everywhere. But he didn't walk in there and
see it and fall into an uncontrolled rage and begin to go off on the
people. Look at what it says. And when
he had made a scourge of small groups. Simple enough language, is it
not? But it's totally opposite of saying, okay, well, there's
a stick. He runs over and grabs it and starts wailing at people.
Do you see what the book's telling us? My brothers and sisters,
he sat there and watched those people doing what they were doing
and took these items, whatever after all it was, and began to
make a scourge. Do you see how he is preparing
his wrath to run these people out of his father's temple, totally
under totally under purpose, totally in absolute control of
himself and them. They didn't know, they weren't,
they ain't seen this man heal. Speak kind words, next thing
you know he's got discouraged. Folks, I have every reason to
believe he didn't just stand up and say, I'll hit you with
this if you don't leave. It says he ran them out with
that whip. Sweet little Jesus boy, right? But my brothers and sisters,
none of these fit our brother Habakkuk's cry. In wrath, remember
mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. That
was three things, but here's a fourth thing. God's mercy. I'm not going to turn to this
one. I'll mention it. I'll give you the passages. God, God shows
wrath righteously and willingly. How do I put this to state it
properly? I don't know that I ever, we
don't state it exactly properly. My wrath, though it is always
my fault, is sometimes drawn out of me by circumstances that
surround me. You understand what I'm saying?
If you'd have rode up here with me this morning in that car,
you would have seen that. Would I have been like this otherwise?
No, I would not have been. but God shows his wrath willingly
and righteously. What if God willing to show his
wrath? Is that not what the book says?
Romans chapter nine. Willing. Again, when I was born
and raised in that awful, awful human man-centered religion,
it was kind of like God's wrath was kind of like a tea kettle
or a coffee pot. You're heating up the water and
it boils and starts to bubble and rattle. What if God willing to show his
wrath? But this is either wrath or mercy. You see, according to Romans
9, our brother, the apostle Paul is clear. God either shows wrath
or mercy, right? Isn't that what that says? Of
course it does. He either loves or hates. It's not both together. We had
a young man show up at Sovereign Grace Chapel several years ago.
I found out later why he was there. It was a blonde-headed
gal, that's why he came in there. He came in there and he finally,
he just couldn't handle it no more. I guess he stomached what
me and myself and Paul and Joe were preaching for as long as
he could. And he said, we know God loves
and hates the same person at the same time. I said, that's
foolishness. Absolute foolishness. God's book
says, one I love, this one I hate. That's what it says, that's what
it means. When I was a young preacher,
I used to like to argue that point. I don't argue no more.
That's what it is, and if you don't like it, tough. I'm too
old to argue anymore. But again, that's, This is wrath
or mercy. It is not in wrath, remember
mercy. Now we're getting somewhere.
It's not wrath or mercy. Habakkuk's cry was in wrath,
remember mercy. But there's another one. There's
a fifth one as I pointed out. Now we read of God showing mercy
in spite of our wrath. Turn to Ephesians. I know this
is familiar to you, but everything I'm preaching to you, no doubt,
is familiar this morning. Ephesians chapter two, verse one, and you have equipped
who are dead in trespasses and sins. What's that mean? Well, rather than trying to define
what it means, let's look at what Paul, how he describes what
it is, okay? Dead in trespasses and sins. One preacher, a guy come in and
said, well, preacher, we've got to figure out how dead man really
is. Dead is dead. Dead is dead. and you have the quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sins. Now here's a description
of what it is to be dead in trespasses and in sins. Wherein in time
past, you say, wherein in time past you walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
my brothers and sisters, Before God Almighty regenerated us by
his spirit, converted us by his gospel, we were all under demonic
influence. That's what that says. We may
not have been under demonic possession, but bless God, we were all under
demonic influence. And as Chris Cunningham said
years ago, you know what is so weird about a human being being
able to be under demonic influence and especially under demonic
possession, is that the devil feels so comfortable with us
that he could do that. Ever thought about that? That
in my unregenerate state, the devil was comfortable enough
with me to just smooth out. He had no problem being right
along my side. My problem was I had no problem
with him being right along my side. This is what it's like
to be dead in trespasses and sins, but it all ain't the devil's
fault. Look, among whom also we all
had our way of life, our conversation in time past in the lust of our
flesh. Do you see that? This ain't no
Skip Wilson. Anybody here remember old Skip
Wilson? The devil made me do it. Among whom also we had, all had
our conversation, our way of life in time past in the lust
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind and were by nature, what? The children of wrath. That's not talking about God's
wrath toward us. about our wrath toward him and everything else
in his creation. And we're the children of wrath,
even as others. But God, do you see that? In spite of what we actually
were. But God, who is rich in mercy. My brothers and sisters, No one
here this morning has any idea what I just said unless you've
been there. Because to be dead in trespasses
and sins before God gives you life is to be totally ignorant of
the fact that you're dead in trespasses and sins. God's got
to give you life before you even recognize that you were dead.
And that may be a conundrum, I don't care. That's just the
way it is. Dead is dead is dead. And we see the effects of what
it means to be dead. Wrath, wrath, wrath from the
dead individual. But still, my brothers and sisters, this does not meet Habakkuk's
criteria. I will give you a paraphrase
and maybe hopefully if you, if this is not already, and I'm
not trying to be mean. I was in religion for years before
God even, before he ever even called me out of that. And I'd
read through the Bible over and over. Well, that's what you're
supposed to do. And he bragged about how many times you'd read
through the Bible. And I'd read no doubt this phrase in wrath,
remember mercy for years and years and years. And it never
dawned upon me. one day God turned the lights
off. Just maybe, just maybe here this
morning, I don't know, but just maybe here this morning. I'm
not talking about being even lost, even as a saved person,
you understand nothing and I understand nothing till God opens our eyes
to see it. As I said, this doesn't, these
five things I've given you, that doesn't meet this cry, in wrath
remember mercy. Now I'll give you the paraphrase.
Oh Lord, in an act of your wrath, may that very act of your wrath
be an act of you remembering mercy. That's what he was crying
out. Lord, we need wrath. You know why? Because sin must
be punished. And Habakkuk knew that. It must
be punished. And when God punishes sin, He
doesn't... He shows wrath. But Habakkuk
is crying out in the Messianic Code in an act of wrath. Oh Lord, may that very act of
wrath be You showing mercy. Habakkuk's cry, trying to hammer
this home. Our brother's cry, Habakkuk's
cry is not instead of wrath, remember mercy, is it? It's in
wrath, remember mercy. Our brother Habakkuk's cry is
not in spite of your wrath, remember mercy. That's not what he prayed
for. Though we certainly are grateful to God for both of these
two. That is instead of wrath, remember mercy. Or in spite of
your wrath, remember mercy. Habakkuk, our brothers, not even
cried out, in spite of our wrath toward you, remember mercy toward
us. We are grateful to God for that. But it's not that. And it is
not even a fourth thing. It is not even, oh Lord, when
you show your wrath, also remember to show mercy. That's not what
he said. His words are in wrath. Remember, mercy. Now all of that was introduction. Now I have just one point. Just
one point. Now when I went to school, I
was emphatically taught, if you got a Roman numeral one, you
gotta have a Roman numeral two. Even in school, when I took eight,
if you're doing an essay, whatever, an outline, you gotta Roman numeral
one, you gotta have a Roman numeral two. If you got an A, you gotta
have a B. Well, all I got's a Roman numeral
one. It's just gonna have to be the
way it is. And if I'd have had to submitted
this message outline when I was taking those classes, I'd have
probably got a zero, but that's okay. Here's my one point. This act
of in wrath, remember mercy. This act of God took place one
time and one time only ever. It had never taken place before
and it will never take place again. Lord, in wrath, remember
mercy. This act of God the Father happened
when he poured out his wrath upon his dear son on the tree. It was an act of wrath upon the
son to where he even was forced, forced to cry out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? That was an act of God's wrath. It was wrath upon the Son. Praise
God. It was an act of mercy toward
me. Do you get that? Has it ever
dawned upon you that that very same act of wrath upon one individual
was an act of God's mercy toward me? That very act of wrath upon Christ
was God remembering mercy to you and to me. One act, same
thing. Wrath, mercy at the same time. Blessed God, if that don't make
you a shouting Baptist, you must be a Church of Christ. Anybody in the Church of Christ?
Maybe you can shout too if you ever get a hold of that. That's what Habakkuk was crowned
out for. And how much he understood of that, brothers and sisters,
I do not know. But he knew sin's gotta be punished. And when God does it, he'll do
it in wrath. But he had reason to have hope
in the coming Messiah. This had been passed down from
Adam and Eve for hundreds of years. And then began to be penned
by one called Moses. Christ said, when he wrote, who
did he write of? Christ. Christ. Oh God, thank you for your wisdom. God did not save us the best
way, brothers and sisters. He saved us the only way he could. There was no other way for a
thrice holy God to save such despicable creatures as you and
I. And if I offend your sensibility
this morning, I'm glad. Because maybe it's God working
on you to show you what you really are. But if he ever shows you
how bad you are, you know it's good to you. You won't feel like
crumbling up in a corner and just, I wish I never had to face
another thing in my life. But all of a sudden, it'll dawn
on you. In wrath, remember mercy. That's the message. Preacher,
it can't be that simple. It is that simple and that profound. Right at the same time, just
like an act of wrath being an act of mercy. It's that profound
at the same time. Turn to Galatians chapter three.
We will look at this. We will look at this. Galatians chapter three. Remember this very act of wrath
upon Christ was God remembering mercy to you and to me. One act,
both wrath and mercy at the same time. Galatians chapter three
and verse 13. For Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Do you see that? Somebody says
preacher, How can that be? How can the beautiful, glorious,
precious, sinless, spotless Lamb of God be made a curse? I do not know. I do not understand
how he could be God Almighty, Creator God, and human at the
same time. But here he is in his perfection,
in his sinlessness, in his beauty at the same time being made a
curse to us. You see, wrath and mercy at the
same time. The very same act. You see, brothers,
I'm trying to tell you, get a hold of this if you can. It's not
God showed wrath upon him and then sometime later he showed
me mercy. That is true, but it's much deeper
than that. The mercy was enacted toward
me when he died on that tree. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us because it's written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter
5. We will see this. I'm not saying these are the
only two passages. Do not get me wrong. But these are two that
stand out in my mind. We will see another description
of this. Of our brother Habakkuk's cry
in wrath. Remember mercy. 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5. Just one verse. The last verse
of that chapter. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. When God did that to him, listen
to it, when God did that to him and he did, he made him to be
sin. Somebody says, explain it. I won't do it. I cannot. The book says it. Somebody says,
well, I want a better word. The book says it that way. What's
wrong with God's word? You tell me. Well, let's use
this other phrase. I like God's phrase. I don't
have to say, as Ralph Barnard used to say, I'm not in the splaining
business, I'm in the preaching business. And if you need splaining,
you ain't had your eyes opened yet. Because, bless God, when
he opens your eyes, you're gonna realize, I need mercy. That's
the way God brought it, and I thank God for it, and that's it, that's
just the way it is. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Hmm. I wish, I wish, I say whoosh,
that's WSH, that's West Virginia for wish. I wish even my English were better
than it is. But there is no describing this
transaction between God the Father and God the Son. Somebody said,
if only I could experience that. You don't want to experience
that. Because if God ever turns his back on you, he'll never
turn it back again. Because there's nothing you can
do to merit him to turn back around from this to this. But he who hung on that tree,
God the Father did this to him. But he had such eternal merit
in himself that God loved him. turned right back toward him,
even after he slaughtered him on the tree and raised him back
up to life again on the third day. And took him back to glory
and set him at his own right hand. And when God did that to
him, he was doing that to me. Now turn back to Ephesians chapter
two. Ephesians chapter two, about ready to close this. Ephesians chapter two. I want you to think about it.
Remember we read what it was to be dead in trespasses and
sins. But look at what Paul writes,
once he talks about this dead and trespasses and sins, and
I alluded to it in verse four. But God, even in spite of what
we were, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins. Do you
see that? Not after we believed, not after
we had repented, Not after we begin to follow the Lord, though
all those things come into being. It's not that. Even when we were
dead in sins, has quickened us together, W-I-T-H. Do you see that? Not by Christ,
though that's certainly true. It's not what he's talking about
here, though. He's quickened us together with him. That is,
when he was dead, God the Father brought him to death. Unless
God, if he represented me, I was lifted up. Lifted up, you see
it? Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together by Christ. And as my old late pastor,
Earl Cochran, used to say, Paul just couldn't stand it any longer.
Even before he got to birthday, he said, by grace are you saved.
Just couldn't stand it. It's like, by grace you're saved. And it's raised us up together. Do you see it? And it's raised
us up together and made us sit. All of this is past tense even. It's not even present tense.
It's past tense. And it's raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places. How? In Christ. You see, if I'm in him and he's
sitting there, I'm there already. And you too. You too, you know
why? Because in wrath, God was remembering
mercy. Then ages to come, he might show,
or that is to show the exceeding kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus. You know, we really don't get
it yet. I do. Hmm, I? I must confess to you, my brothers
and sisters, people say, well, that's my opinion. I have those
too. And I'm usually pretty highly fond of them. Ask that woman
right back there. She'll tell you. And Walter Pellants,
boy, he likes his opinions. But I know that's all they are.
The opinions of a dead dog. Oh, how kind. He knows how bad
we are right here this morning while we're sitting here worshiping
God. And he knows the thoughts that's
already run through every one of our minds as we sat here this
morning. He still loves us. I dare say if that woman knew
all my thoughts and I knew all her thoughts, we'd have a rough
road to hoe. Somebody said, well, I'm gonna
be completely honest with my spouse. You better watch yourself.
I'm not a counselor in marriage, but bless God, you better watch
yourself. She gets up in the morning and
she don't look all that great. You better not tell her she don't
look all that great. You tell her how lovely and beautiful
she is. When she dolls up, you say you're
even more lovely now than you ever was. You understand what
I'm saying? We mask just about everything. with some sense of self-delusion. But he still loves us. He still loves us. Look at it. That in the ages to come, he
might, he's gonna show it one day. I don't really get it yet.
I thank God my, I'm seeing, how did Paul put it? Through a glass
darker. You know, I'm seeing through a glass. But at least
we do see a little. But one of these days, You know, I think
that's part of what Paul meant in Romans 8 when he says, the
sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed. What's the next word? To us? No, that's true. I got no doubt about it. But
it says, Ian, can you imagine one day finally being done with
you? I'd be just to be done with me. What a day of redemption that
will be. To actually awake in His likeness. Anyone here captivated by that? Anyone here spiritually awestruck
by that? By that act of wrathful mercy? That God would do that to His
Son when He hung on that tree? But my brothers and sisters,
he did it for us. He did it for you. He did it
for me. By God's grace, how do I put
this? By God's grace, I'm hamstrung
by that message. Once God began just to open the
door of that, and I didn't even understand it in the light of
our brother Habakkuk's words. In wrath, remember mercy. I just
seen the bloody son of God. The fact that he would die for
a corrupt wretch like me. And that message has captivated,
hamstrung my soul ever since. The only freedom I've ever found
is while I look to him. When I take my eyes away from
Jesus Christ and him crucified, I begin to seek in despair. I begin to doubt. I begin to
fret. I begin to fail. I begin to wonder. You should know what happens
when you start in that downward spiral. My wife and I talked,
not in dislike, but talked about that downward, I mean downward
spiral. You know how that stops? You
know how that downward spiral stops? It will never stop until
God himself says, that's far enough. Did not our Lord tell Peter,
you shall deny me three times, right? You know what that meant?
He could not but help deny him, but how many times? Three times. It's going to happen, but you
know what else that meant? Bless God, it meant he wasn't
gonna deny him four. Huh? Now, come on, say, but,
come on, how many times have you denied it? And finally, God
just said, enough's enough. He didn't tell you how many times
it was gonna be, but he said, enough's enough. Ever been there? I have. Heavenly Father, bless
your word to these hearers. May it strengthen us and comfort
us, in Christ's name, amen. All right, brother, you wanna
have a song?