Good evening, family of God. It sounds like the rain is back.
A little bit of thunder with it. Yes, Mark is right. Of course, Penny
and I were aware that when we were up this way, there's a couple
from chapel, they wanted to be married on today's date for a
certain reason. And I think it was a good reason.
And then, I don't know what time was it, 5, 36, maybe later than
that, Penny got a call that some other people may be chiming in
with us, you know. And I thought I was playing on
just ad-libbing this. It's supposed to be very, very simple. So I
was up to 11 o'clock sitting on the couch trying to do the
wedding for today. But I think it worked out well.
I think the Lord blessed it. And Mark and Regina, thank you
all. I mean, you're taking care of us, feeding us, taking us
into your home. And Penny and I look forward to coming back,
God willing. And I really do like that Sunday and Tuesday,
but especially when that Sunday is a Sunday when y'all eat after
the services. I like that. So if we can work
that in, that'd be great. That'd be great. It is a joy to be here. I mean, that was, I wish I could
say it in words that was actually convincing, but it's the truth. It's the truth. I have one thing
I want to give you, then I'll get started in the message. And
if you wish, you could go ahead and be turning to Psalm 76. That's where my text is. Excuse
me, Psalm 76. Now this is a quote by Thomas
Watson. It's very brief, but I think
it's just astounding. God's decree is the very pillar
and basis on which the saint's perseverance depends. That decree
ties the knot of adoption so fast that neither sin, death,
nor hell can break it asunder. You know what? I'm glad for that. Because if I could be lost, as
a saved person, if I could be lost, I would be lost. If I could
mess it up, I would mess it up. If I could fall away, I would
fall away. Aren't you glad God keeps us?
All right, Psalm 76. I just have one verse. One verse. Verse 10 of the 76th Psalm. This is what was written, verse
10. The wrath of man shall praise
thee. The remainder of wrath shall
thou restrain. Now, title is found right in
the verse itself. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. Brothers and sisters, this is
an astounding statement. It is a statement that when I
was, even in religion, it's a statement that even when I became a young
preacher and read and studied, I read through the Bible, I don't
know how many times, 21, 22 years old, whatever it was. I know
I read this verse, but it evidently did just like that. Astounding
surely the wrath of man the wrath of man shall praise thee The
remainder of wrath that's whatever is left over that doesn't praise
him. What's he gonna do? Restrain it Restrain it This
is a rich passage Think of it's just 15 words in King James Version
And yet it is abounding with truth concerning our sovereign
God. Consider the word, first word,
surely. There is no debate. When God
first saved me, and of course I was still a young preacher,
but at least I had someone to preach to. I felt like somehow I needed
to argue with people about the truth. And of course, most of
them, many of them were willing, perfectly willing to argue back.
We don't argue about this. You see, when God, when I'm saying,
you don't have to be a theologian to be saved. And even after God
saves you, you probably won't be a theologian. I've been preaching
for a long time, and I do not consider myself a theologian.
But as I have grown by God's grace, statements like this,
just this one word, surely, stand out to me now. It kind of makes
my ears and heart perk up. If this is a surely, then whatever
he says after that, no need to debate it with somebody, is there?
You proclaim it to them, you state it for what it is, and
you leave it alone. No debate. Think of it. No philosophical gymnastics. A lot of preachers are doing
that today. Philosophical gymnastics. No psychological mind games or
musings. Surely, Now why could the psalmist
write this? Because the ruling person in
this verse is God himself. Turn to Isaiah 46. Now I know
this, everything I will preach to you, I know you are familiar
with. But you remember what Peter wrote,
he said, putting you in remembrance. You know it's, how do I, it's
not so much We forget these things. Now we may forget about them
for a moment, maybe get busy doing something or be at work
and have to concentrate on your job, but we never really forget
these things. But you know what does happen?
They just kind of go to the back of our mind, and we don't really
consider them. Think of it. Look at Isaiah 46,
verse eight. Remember this. And shoo, or that
is, show yourselves men. Bring it again to mind, you see
it? Keep remembering this. Keep remembering this. Keep remembering
this. Bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God. And there is none else. I am
God. And there is none like me. Declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, now here is a statement from
God himself through our brother Isaiah the prophet. My counsel
shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. That is not the
God that's being preached in most places out here, is it?
No. My counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. These places out here, they may
quote that, but then they start to put qualifications on it. But look, calling a, not sweet,
not majestic, not beautiful, calling a ravenous bird. We know this is a figure of speech,
though it's certainly true even in the animal kingdom. Our God
rules over all. Jesus Christ himself says not
a sparrow falls Without your father now. He didn't say without
your father's notice or knowledge though. That's certainly true
But it's deeper than that not a bird dies unless God says David
Dead Dead Calling the ravenous bird from the east The man that
executed my counsel from a far country somebody that's not even
familiar with him From a far country my brothers and sisters
our God manipulates human beings to accomplish his Will we'll
see that God willing more here in a moment, but my far country. Hey, I've spoken it. I Will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it Brothers and sisters When I first began to hear of
this years ago, it angered me. I said, God's not like that.
Now I'm happy that God's like that. What changed, God? No,
he changed me. Look, hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted
that are far Farty far from righteousness. Here's the glory. I bring near
my righteousness see that It's not go out there and get Jesus.
He must come to you Hmm the woman that came to the well, she didn't
come to meet Jesus Jesus went there to confront her path. I
Bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off and my
salvation shall not tarry And I will place salvation in Zion
for Israel, my glory. Now, now it wasn't always so,
but now that truth gives me peace, rest. Look at the 115th Psalm. Remember, surely, there are some
things that are sure in this world. And there's some things that
are sure in this world that I don't know that they're sure, but they're
sure. And there may be some things
in this world that are unsure to me, but they're certainly
not unsure to God. But look at the 115th Psalm.
Look at what it says, verse one. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. How many times did I
truly desire, I mean it was just my life's goal to do something,
but I had no power to bring it to pass. Our God controls everything,
but we'll see it's more than just He controls things. It's
not that things are kind of going along and God has to jump into
the scene every once in a while to get them going back to where
he wants them to go. Whichever way they go, up, down,
this side, that side, slant ways, still, or running, he decreed
it before the world began. Decreed it. You're familiar with
this, no doubt. Turn to Daniel. Daniel chapter 4, and you're
familiar, listen, verse 34. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and
honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
Now here's the way God views. all of humanity, in a general,
overall sense. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as, what? N-O-T-H-I-N-G. I think it's one prophet said,
we're like the drop in a bucket. You don't even take a paper towel
to even wipe it out. It's insignificant. Like the
small dust of the balance. But Nebuchadnezzar understood
this now. He did not understand it before
because before Nebuchadnezzar was walking around and talking
and doing this. Look what I've done. And God
says, get ready, old boy. Watch what I'm about to do. After
God had brought Nebuchadnezzar down, Nebuchadnezzar is confessing. And listen, he's confessing not
because some preacher merely taught him this. And he says,
well, that sounds reasonable. That fits the Bible. He believed
it because he went through it. He believed it because he went
through it and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth and None can stay his hand
or say unto him. What doest thou? At the same
time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom,
mine honor and brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and
my Lord sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and
excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth, and his ways judgment." And what an astounding next statement.
And those that walk in pride, he is able to abase. So you know what that lets us
know? Here's an individual and he's walking in pride. And he just keeps walking in
pride. And he just keeps walking in pride. And he just keeps walking
in pride. And somebody says, what happened?
Couldn't God stop him? No, God just wasn't pleased to
stop him. You see this is what this religion
this religious world not only does not believe but they are
being hoodwinked and tricked into Thinking God is something
other than who he really is Those that walk in pride he's able
to a base if he's pleased to bring me down guess where I'm
going down down Somebody says well, they're just some people
that's too proud down Damn. That's why when I look at this
word, surely, s-u-r-e-l-y, it's because the ruling person is
God himself. And here's the problem. If I
reject this, if I hate this, if I deny this, I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm not suggesting
that you have to be able to go out and explain this to other
people so that they can at least academically understand what
you're saying. That's not what I'm talking about.
You don't even have to know these things to be saved. But this God must encounter you
and bring you down if you're ever to be saved. Reject it. hate it, deny it, if I do that,
if you do that, we're lost. We're lost. Well, preacher, don't
you believe that at least some people, they can hate election
and predestination, no, because election and predestination are
not just what God does, it's who He is. It's who He is. And to deny or hate or reject
these things is to deny or hate or reject God. I mean, I've had
people say to me something along the line, we're both Christians.
We just believe different things. It can't work that way. It can't
work that way. Two cannot walk together except
they be agreed. And the first person to be able
to walk alongside of is not me. You don't have to walk alongside
of me. It's Jesus Christ the Lord. Surely, surely, but then the
psalmist goes on on it. This is astounding. Surely the
wrath of man. Now we're all creatures of wrath
by nature. Paul's clear, and I'm not gonna
turn to it and read it, but in Ephesians chapter two, verses
one, two, and three, he says that we were all, just like everybody
else, the elect by nature are just like those who are reprobate. And just a little, a little scriptural
truth lesson this morning. I used to say the non-elect,
you ever said that? The elect and the non-elect,
you know what we're trying to do, don't you? Make it a little
more palatable. The Bible never calls them the
non-elect. It calls them the reprobate.
Rejected of God. But we were all the children
of what? Wrath. Wrath. I distinctly remember it. I thank God that I do remember
it. Penny, I don't want to keep dwelling
on it. And what we talked about, I remember it. But I remember
when I first began to actually hear the gospel, it began to
hit home as we say. I remember becoming so angry. That cannot be it. That cannot
be the truth. The problem's not with God, the
problem is with me. Me as a matter of fact according
to the apostle paul in romans 8 verse 7 and 8. I will turn
there You can turn later and look at it. We are all haters
of god And we refuse subjection to his law by nature You want
to know how to get a human being to do something tell them not
to Just tell them not to You want to know how to get a human
being not? Not to do, or to do, or not to do something, just
tell them the opposite. Henry Mahan said one time preaching
in a little old church back up in the hollow up near Beckley,
West Virginia. And the folks that he was preaching to, they
were more of the Pentecostal ilk. And the man had asked Henry
to come preach, and Henry did, and Henry had been invited by
Pastor Earl Cochran to preach with him, to give him a little
bit of backup, you know, for the situation. Big old Ten Commandments
over on the wall. You know what's wrong? Ain't
nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments. Not at all. The Ten Commandments
are good if a man uses them what? Lawfully. For the right reason. For the right use. But Henry
pointed at those Ten Commandments and said, the law makes Anne
more rebellious. Not because there's a fault with
the law, but because the fault lies down here. Think about it. Here's a dead animal. hit on the road. And most everybody,
when you're passing by, you may get just a little of that rancidness. But it's really hot, and traffic
is slow, and your air condition's broke down, and you got to roll
the windows, you just can't bear it, and you got to roll the windows
down, and you're just easing along. And it's hot, that sun's
coming down, it's baking that carcass. Right? Here's a thought. Is it the son's fault? Is it the son's fault? No, it's
the rotting carcass. And yet that's what men do by
nature. They actually try to blame God
for their own rebellion. Rolf Barnard, or at least Henry
told the story. I think he was talking about
Rolf Barnard. But anyways, either Henry or Rolf Barnard once said
someone came to them and said, your God's a monster. And whether
Rolf or Henry, whichever one it was, he said, well then, OK,
prepare to meet a monster. Think about it. By nature, we
even hate the Christ of God. Now turn with me. Turn to John
chapter 3. John chapter 3. Remember, I know
that I am not trying to teach anyone anything this morning.
You've been taught these things here for years. John chapter
3. Yes, John chapter 3. I'm sorry.
Listen to verse 19. John 3, and this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world. And men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil, what's that next phrase? Hateth the light. But here's the problem with our
depravity. We hate Christ, we don't even know it. We can convince
ourselves we're a lover of Christ, For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be, and a good word here is exposed. We don't even want,
by nature, we don't even want our deeds exposed. If I have never tasted this foul
corruption, I'm lost. I'm lost. This world is filled
with people that go about their everyday lives and they're fairly
decent folk. They're not out stealing, molesting kids. They're honest with their neighbors.
They go to work and try to give a decent day's work for their
pay. They don't cuss, they don't swear, they don't steal. And
they decide, you know, I need to go to church. I need to be
a part of God. come to church, and they make
a profession of faith, and they're baptized, and they go on in their
morality and their decency. And they actually think that
human decency will be accepted by a thrice holy God. And the natural mind cannot,
you know, if this is good, if the Shriners crippled children's
hospital's a good thing, and it is amongst men, don't you
get me wrong. I mean, I watch those commercials
and my heart goes out to those parents and those children. And
I thank God for people that work in those positions and support
those positions. But they earn no merit before
God. But my flesh says that cannot
be true. But it is. But it is. Now, but think about it. Surely
the wrath of man It's just like a crescendo upon crescendo. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. That is astounding. Scripture will show this far
better than my explanation of it. according to Moses in Genesis
50 we're not going to turn there but as you could read it in verses
19 and 20 God ordains Men's wrath to even accomplish his goodness
Joseph's brothers Ten of them at least Joseph's
brothers wanted him dead They hated him so much they wanted
him dead. They wanted him, no, they wanted
to murder him. And God moved one of them to
bring it to a stop, the oldest. He said, no, we're not gonna
do that. But then they schemed and connived. What'd they do?
Put him down in the pit, remember? But you know what? I am taking
a little artistic license. There was a caravan that maybe
had decided, well, we need to go down here and do some trading,
and they may have been traveling for weeks. Maybe before the dastardly
deed of Joseph's brethren even began. And all of a sudden, all
right, Horsey, Let's go that way. And it just happened to
be that they passed right by. And you know the account of Joseph,
all of the things that Joseph went through. And Joseph, when he was finally
revealed to his brother, said, what you did to me, you meant
it for evil. And it was evil. They could not
be excused for it. But thank God they could be forgiven
of it. You see, sin can never be excused. It can only be forgiven. But
sin cannot be forgiven by God, apart from a just payment for
that sin. Joseph said, you meant it for
good, but God meant it. You see, that's the words he
used. He didn't say God turned it for good. God used it for
good. He said God meant it for good. God meant for those boys
to do exactly what they do. What do you have to do? Just
lift his restraint just a little. And yet when he lifts his restraint,
He still is confining every move in that wrath to where it does
not go without side the line and thwart the purpose of God. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. Think of this, God uses man's
wrath And he overthrows men in their wrath to his name's glory. That's exactly what Moses was
sent in to tell Pharaoh Even for this same purpose have I
raised thee up? Why to bring you all the way
down and here's the thing He didn't do him like he didn't
have the Knesset or lift him back up. Did he? When God brought
Pharaoh down, what did he do? He left him And it was a real
down, dead at the bottom of the Red Sea. And God meant it. You see, when I was in religion,
especially in Sunday school, you know, little folks, they
talked about the 10 plagues, and how God sent Moses down to
deliver the children of Israel, and the 10 plagues, and how finally
on the 10th one, Pharaoh let them go. But they taught us as
if God tried with the first one, but it didn't work. And God tried
with the second one, it didn't work. God tried with the third,
but finally, God I guess was thinking himself, finally on
the 10th one it worked. Oh no. The 10th one was to be
the one that delivered the children of Israel. All the others were
just to teach Pharaoh a lesson. Guess what, Pharaoh? I do as
I will among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. Think about this, God turns a man's wrath to fall
even on his own head. You remember Haman, don't you?
And his wrath toward Mordecai, he was having a gallows built
to have Mordecai hanged. And guess who ended up being
hanged on the gallows? Haman did, because God Hedged everything
in and even men's wrath is there to what praise him Think about
it listen to me now God disposes of all things as he wills look
at Isaiah 45 Isaiah 45 Verse 5, Isaiah 45, I am the
Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord and there is none
else. Look at it. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. Drop down ye heavens from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them
bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
The Lord hath created it, and here it is. Woe unto him that
striveth with his maker. Let the pot sherds strive with
the pot sherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, what makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands. Listen to me. Judas Iscariot was exactly where God Almighty
purposed for him to be. Judas Iscariot had great advantage. Judas Iscariot was given great
space to see the truth. But he didn't have a choice. Why? Because God made him do
something evil? No, because he was so evil down
in there, he couldn't help himself. That boggles my mind. Paul said
in Ephesians chapter 1, and I won't read it either, verses 3 through
11, but there's one statement about God that Paul makes there,
that he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Having, another phrase, having
predestinated all things. I had my, I say preacher, he
was not much of a pastor. When I was in religion, I'm not
gonna say I was saved, I don't know, I don't know, but things
were starting to convict me. Some things were starting to
stand out in the scripture. He and I were sitting on one
of the pews and most everybody had left. His name was Fred. I said, Fred, God knows who's
going to be saved, right? He said, oh yeah, God knows exactly
who's going to be saved. I said, Fred, now I remember
I'm 21, 22 years old. I said, Fred, God knows exactly
who's going to hell and who's not going to hell, don't he?
He said, yeah, God knows exactly who they are. And I said, God
can't be wrong about that, can he? I wasn't trying to trick
him into nothing. I'm trying to think about this in my mind.
He said, no, no. I said, then, The reason we're
preaching then is so that those God knows going to believe, so
that they'll believe in the others. It don't matter. You know what
he said to me? And I remember this phrase. I
know, Walter, it's hard not to believe in predestination. And
that hit me like a ton of bricks. Because he knew and I knew predestination
was in the Bible. He used to call it Bible predestination. You can interpret that any way
you want to. Yeah, he told me, Walter, I know
it's hard not to believe in predestination, I thought. My mouth may have
dropped it, but I don't even remember. But look at this, surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee. But then it's even, there's another
crescendo. The remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. Now let me give you five thoughts
really quickly, because I need to move along. Think of it, God
restrains all that does not serve his purpose. He restrains it. And you know this, but some people
don't, they don't gather their graspness at all. God's not trying
to herd people back in like a dog does sheep. Men are doing exactly
what God Almighty purposed before the world began for them to do. God restrains all that does not
serve His purpose. But think about it. God has the
right and the might to strain. Because it says, Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou
restrain. You see? Not tries to restrain,
not endeavors to restrain, not does a pretty good job at restraining.
He restrains it. Period. Oh yeah. It does. It
is. Period. Period. Think of this third thought.
Men do not let God do anything. And yet you listen to the TV,
or radio, or you listen to these preachers and they always let
God. Let God do this, let God do that. And I'm thinking, you're
so blind. Think about this. God has never,
ever, ever tried to do anything. Never. Here's another one. How corrupt
are we then, really, if God must restrain some things? Think what
it would be like if God didn't restrain some things. I mean,
we look at this country right now and we think, man, it's still
under restraint. This is nothing of what we're
capable of. Brothers and sisters, this is
nothing of what I am capable of in my flesh. And that scares
me. It makes me cry out, oh God restrain
me. But I don't want to just be restrained. I want to be constrained. the
love of Christ constraineth. I don't want God just to be forcing
me back down. I want him, when he turns me,
and he has to do it, when he turns me, I want to say, thank
you, God. Thank you. I praise your holy
name. So let me try to kind of sum
this up. We must rejoice in the truth of this verse. Because
this verse declares our salvation. If this isn't true, if Psalm
76, 10 is not true, then no one will really be saved. No one
will be. This book is just fluff. It's like whistling through the
cemetery. But that verse, 10, declares our salvation. Why?
Because surely the wrath of man shall prevail. How can I say
that? How can I say this speaks of
our salvation? I can say that because the most
hateful, the most wrathful words ever uttered, ever cried out
were this, crucify him, crucify him. It's one thing to say that
to another fallen man. Some men deserve to be crucified
among men. Didn't Paul say if I've done
anything worthy of death, so be it. And I'm not here trying
to advocate for capital punishment. That's not the point. Me and
cried out, crucify him. Crucify him. You know what? Now I didn't. I didn't before. I hear my voice in there. I hear my voice in there. Thank God for forgiveness. I
still hear my voice saying that today. But if I could, I'd go
right up into heaven and say, God, it's all right. I'll take
over. I want my way. And somebody says,
preacher, you're not that bad. You're right, I'm worse than
that. I'm worse than that. But aren't you glad for free,
sovereign, safe and grace? That that's not what dominates
your life now? But we know this. We know that
Peter said that on the day of Pentecost, he said, you did exactly
what God Almighty foreordained before to be. You crucified him
and God had foreordained it. Turn to, I want to read Acts
4. the fourth chapter of Acts. This, I remember years ago, I
don't remember the date or anything of course, but I remember reading
this one day and it just, it just, it filled my, it filled
my soul with hope because I have a God like this. Look at Acts
4 verse 23. Peter and John had been in prison.
They were let go. And it says in verse 23, and
being let go, they went to their own company. Let me tell you,
anytime you've been in trouble, the best place to go be with
is God's people. Are you hearing me? I know people get sick and can't
be here. The best place for people to have been today, this evening,
is right here. Right here. And being let go,
they went to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that,
that's the people they went to see, that they lifted up their
voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God.
which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in
them is, who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said,
Why do the heathen rage? And the people imagined vain
things. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles, and all the people of Israel were gathered
together. That's wrath, is it not? But my brothers and sisters,
I thank God for it. Yet it doesn't excuse at all. But what did they cry out? For
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. The very wrath of men toward
the Lord Jesus Christ is something God used to save our souls. And you think about this, Christ
said I could call, was it 10,000 legions? Is that what he said?
Forgive me if I'm wrong. Legions of angels, he could have
ended it any time he wanted. Aren't you glad he didn't want
to? You know what I say? Glory to our sovereign king.
who surely makes the wrath of man to praise him. And the remainder
of wrath he restrains. Heavenly Father, may these words
be of encouragement and comfort. Strengthen us as we go about
our walk in this world until you're pleased to take us home
to be with you or you come back to receive us. In Christ's name,
amen. All right, I'm done.