Good morning, my brothers and
sisters. Pardon me just a moment while I get a few things ready
here. On behalf of my wife and myself,
I thank you all for our lodging we had last night. It was very
comfortable. And I thank Rex and Debbie for their kindness
and hospitality to us yesterday. And I bring you greetings from
the brothers and sisters in Christ at Sovereign Grace Chapel in
Crow West, Virginia. And also from Paul and Paula
Pendleton. And I'm glad to be back. really
glad to be back. I have a song. This is my practice
on Sunday mornings, generally when I'm at chapel, but my fellow
pastor Joe Galusik almost always sends me a song, either on Saturday
evening or Sunday morning, and I always read it to the congregation,
to whomever I'm preaching that Sunday. This is a song by Joseph
Hart. Looked him up online, it says
he was a staunch Calvinist. I wonder what that means. That's
what he wrote. And I'm not going to try to read
it in the cadence of the tune of the song, because I don't
know the tune of the song. I like the words. Jesus is the
chiefest good. He has saved us by his blood.
Let us value naught but him. Nothing else deserves esteem. Jesus, when stern justice said,
man his life has forfeited, Jesus said, vengeance follows by decree. But he cried, inflict it all
on me. Jesus gives us life and peace,
faith and love and holiness, every blessing, great and small.
Jesus freely gives us all. Jesus, therefore, let us own.
Jesus we exalt alone. Jesus has our sins forgiven,
and Jesus will take us to heaven. Not too many songs sound like
that nowadays, is there? Not too many. I have one other
thing I want to give you before I start my message in earnest. Professing Christianity often
earmarks certain things that you can't do if you're truly
a believer. In other words, that person can't be a believer because
they did this. Or that person can't be a believer
because they did that. I won't go any further with what
they often say, but I say, okay. Okay. Let me give you a few things
that a true believer cannot do. Okay? A few things a true believer
cannot do. A true believer cannot repent
too often. A true believer cannot love too
selflessly. A true believer cannot give too
cheerfully. A true believer cannot hate his
sin too strongly. A true believer cannot seek Christ
too often. A true believer cannot love Christ
too much. A true believer cannot exalt
Christ too highly. A true believer cannot believe
God too firmly. And last, but certainly not least,
a true believer cannot reject gospel perversion too severely. Those are some things that a
true believer cannot do too much of. All right, if you would,
turn to Habakkuk chapter 3. Habakkuk chapter 3. And if you're like me, you have
a little trouble finding some of those books, it's about three or four
books back from the last one in the Old Testament. Give you
just a moment to get to it. Habakkuk chapter three, if you're
wishing to follow along. I will read just two verses,
the first two verses of Habakkuk chapter three. A prayer of Habakkuk,
the prophet upon 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
it known. Here's what I want to point out. In wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Such a short prayer. In the English,
translated, of course, from the Hebrew, it's just 33 words. But
oh, my soul, what messianic hope Habakkuk cries out with. What
desire for any believer to cry just these four words, in, wrath,
remember, mercy. So let's consider, first of all,
God's wrath. Turn to Romans chapter one. Romans
chapter 1. And just a couple verses I want to
read there, but I want to point out something. We're considering
now, remember, in wrath remember mercy. But let me say, first
of all, God's wrath is much more than just the great white throne
judgment. Look at Romans 1, and in verse
18, we read this, for the wrath of God, do you see that next
word? Is. Is. For the wrath of God is, not
shall be one day, though that is true. But here the apostle
Paul is moved by God the Spirit to say, for the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And I will read
no more of the rest of the chapter, but look at it, here's God's
wrath now. God gives some people over, to a reprobate mind. That's wrath. And that's wrath
that God pours out now. May I be so bold as to say that
we see God pouring out that wrath upon this nation right now in
our day. Our very day is a sad commentary. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven. But here's a second thought.
God's wrath is vouchsafed even in His dear Son. Here's an amazing
thing. Turn to Revelation. The book
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And we want to look at chapter
6. Revelations chapter 6. I have a few verses to read here,
but I want us to, oh God, the Holy Spirit, enlighten our eyes
and our hearts and our minds to see what we will read here
in God's book. Remember, I said, secondly, God's
wrath is vouchsafed in his dear son. Revelation chapter six,
verse 12, and I beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal,
and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth
of heron, 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 is rolled together, and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places. and the kings of
the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every
free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains, and said to the mountains," here it is, and the rocks, "'Fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the
throne.'" And then look at this next phrase, "'From the wrath
of the Lamb.'" You see that? The wrath of the Lamb seems to
be a juxtaposition of words, wrath and God's Lamb, but those
things go hand in hand in God's sovereign purpose. Hide us, hide
us from Him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who
is able to stand? But here's a third thought about
God's wrath. Turn to John chapter 2. John
chapter 2. And before I read these few verses,
let me say this. God's wrath is not uncontrolled
rage. Mine is. Mine is. You can ask that woman right
there. My wrath is when I lose control. I'm going to show it's
ugly head. But look at what it says. John
chapter 2. I'm going to get my spot. Look
at verse 13. 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 the changers of money sitting. And when he
had made a scourge, you see that? Of course. He didn't just pick
up something. He sat there and started weaving
this thing together. weaving this thing together.
He's in absolute control of himself. He is who he is by intrinsic
power. He was not a created being. This
is God Almighty manifest in the flesh. And he's weaving together
a scourge. A scourge. And look at what it
says. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them
out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the
changers of money and overthrew the tables. This is him exercising
his wrath in full control of himself. And he said to them
that sold doves, take these things hence, make not my father's house
and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered
that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me
up." So we see God's wrath is much
more than just something that's going to happen in the future.
It can and does happen even now. We see that God's wrath is vouchsafed
in His Son. his blessed dear son. And we
see Jesus Christ as having full control of sovereign wrath. And yet, none of these fit Habakkuk's
cry. In wrath, remember mercy. Well, think about that phrase.
In wrath, remember mercy. There's no remembering of mercy
in these first three areas that I've mentioned. But one more
thing about God's wrath. One more thing. God shows his
wrath willingly and righteously. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. God shows his
wrath willingly and righteously. Romans 9 verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Someone says, what does that
mean? It means exactly what it says. No more, but absolutely
no less. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. What should we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid, absolutely not. God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion, so that it is not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
Verse 18, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy. and
whom he will, he hardeneth." Verse 22, what if God, here we
go, willing to show his wrath? You see, false Christianity often
portrays God as Loving, not as love, but as loving. Loving,
loving, but man just keeps rebelling and keeps rebelling and finally
God's wrath just boils over and God strikes out, this is not
so. What if God willing to show his
wrath? What's that to us? It's none
of our business. We are the creatures. He is the
creator. He does as he pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. But this is wrath or mercy, you
see. This is either wrath or mercy. Not both working together in
wrath Remember mercy. Do you see it? Habakkuk cries
out. This is his prayer a 33 word
prayer in the English and four of these stands out with majestic
sweet messianic hope in wrath remember mercy Hmm But we're not done yet with wrath
turn to Ephesians chapter 2 Ephesians chapter 2 And we also read this, that God
shows mercy in spite of men's wrath toward him. Ephesians chapter
two, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of the 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, Paul
wrote this to people whom he called predestinated and chosen
and redeemed by God. But he said, you were just like
everybody else. By nature, we are no different
than the reprobate, those that God hates, those that God casts
off, those that God does not move, those that God does not
touch. By nature, we're just like everybody
else, and all of us by nature, we're under satanic influence. We may not have been possessed
of the devil, some people have been and maybe are, but we're
all under satanic influence by nature. Look at it. Among whom
also we all had our way of life, our conversation in time past
in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind. But here's what I want to point out, and we're
by nature, The children of wrath, not children under wrath, the
children of wrath. It's in the possessive sense
in the Greek. It's our wrath toward God. We
hated God. Oh, we may not have hated our
own thoughts about God, but we hated the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. But God, who is rich in mercy,
you see that? When I was, maybe I wasn't doing
it physically, but when I was shaking my fist in God's face,
when I was saying, I'll have my own way, and I will not let
this man reign over me, I won't have it, yet he was reigning
over me the whole time. But God, who is rich, Aren't
you glad he's rich in mercy? He don't have just a couple pocketfuls. I'm going to put it, he's filthy
rich in mercy. That's what this corrupt, defiled,
ungodly sinner needs. The God who is rich in mercy,
because I'm still like that. in my old man. My old man is
still and will always be corrupt according to deceitful lusts,
but God who is rich in mercy." That ought to be enough. We should
be able to stop right there. But I'm not going to. Because
we still haven't got to, in wrath, remember mercy. Think about it. This still does not meet the
cry of Habakkuk. I'm going to paraphrase what
Habakkuk says. Oh God, in an act of your wrath,
may that very act of wrath be you remembering mercy. That's
what Habakkuk says. In wrath. In wrath. Remember mercy. You see, it is not, instead of
wrath, remember mercy, though that's certainly true. But that's
not what Habakkuk was crying for. It's not what he prayed
for. It is not, instead of wrath, remember mercy. Nor is it, in
spite of our wrath, remember mercy, though that is certainly
true, but that's not what Habakkuk cried out for. Nor is it, when
you show wrath, remember mercy. That's not what Habakkuk cried.
He said, Ian, wrath, remember mercy. So now we've come right
down to the nitty gritty of it. There is only one place and there
is only one person in which this has ever been true. And that's the blessed son of
God when he hung on Calvary's tree. Never before had this ever
been done. And never before will it ever
need to be done. Because in wrath, God has remembered
mercy. We're not even praying for it
to take place. We thank God it has taken place. In wrath. He remembered mercy. It is when God poured out his
wrath upon the person of his dear son. In that very act of
wrath, God was being merciful to me and to you. The very same wrath was mercy
toward me. Because since God poured it out
on his son, That wrath, he poured it out on his son. He cannot. You hear what I just said? Because he's God. He cannot pour
it out on me if I'm in Christ. In wrath. He was remembering
mercy, but why would he do such a thing? Religion merely says,
well, just because he loved us. Well, that's certainly true.
I would not argue that, but turn to the book of Galatians, the
epistle of Galatians. And look at just a couple things
here, Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Look at what verse 13 and 14
says. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. Why did God pour out His wrath
upon Him? Being made a curse for us. I can't explain this. But God didn't call me to be
in the explaining business. He called me to be in the proclaiming
business. God poured out his wrath upon
his blessed son, who was, when he hung on that tree, just. He
was the just one. But at the same time, he was
made a curse. Can't explain it. Somebody says,
both at the same time? Both at the same time. Just like
He was God and man at the same time. Can't explain it. I just
preach it. She was made a curse. God the
Father looked upon the Son. He said, curse it. Curse it! But you know why He
did that? Not because of any fault in Him.
But because He was burying in His own body my sins on the tree. He was burying in His own body
your sins on the tree if you're in Christ Jesus. God dealt with
my sin in wrath. But praise God He dealt with
it upon the person of the Son. He doesn't deal with it on me.
Turn to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. Why would God show the Son wrath? Here's why. Verse 21 of 2 Corinthians,
chapter 5. For He, that is the Father, hath
made Him, that would be the Son, to be sin for us. Who knew no
sin? That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. An amazing thing. Can you imagine? Let me try to
explain this. Try to give an illustration.
Ever had your conscience eat you alive because of some fault,
some sin? Keep you awake at night? And
you cry out for forgiveness, mercy and grace, but the conscience
just won't quit. And time goes on. Calm down. You kind of forget about it,
but then something happens, a smell or an event, a circumstance that
brings that long-ago fault up, and the conscience starts to
chew at you. That's just over one act. Imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ burying in His own body all the sins of all the elect
of all time. Now turn to Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Think about it. In, wrath, remember,
mercy. Psalm 22. These are the words
of Christ. Some of these things were literally
spoken by him while he hung on that tree. But all of them came
from inheriting him when he hung on that tree. And this first
phrase, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's wrath. That's wrath. You know why God forsook him?
Because at that time he deserved to be forsaken. Because God the
Father seen sin in his son. and yours. God dealt with him
by turning his back on me. My God, my God, why? I can't
cry that out. When I was in rebellion against
him, he never turned his back on me. He never did. He kept me safe. I should have
been dead in a ditch somewhere. God should have killed me years
ago, but yet He protected me. Washed over me in all of my folly. And then He called me by His
grace. And I was in a God-awful place
of gospel perversion, and was even a promoter of this gospel
perversion. God sent the gospel to me back
up in the country mountains of West Virginia. sent one young
man along to have the gospel. And God rocked my world. Changed everything. Brought me
down to the feet of Jesus Christ. And I didn't know it then. I
couldn't have articulated this to you then. But in wrath, God
had remembered mercy. What he did for me was because
the wrath had already been meted out on his son. My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me? And from the words of my roaring,
I can't relate to that. Oh, sometimes I may feel that
way, but it's just a fleeting thought of no consequence whatsoever. God the Father actually turned
his back on the son and forsook him. Wasn't it Martin Luther,
God forsaking God? Can't fathom that. But it happened,
nonetheless. But look, oh my God, I cry in
the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season,
and I'm not silent. How can that both be true? Remember
that the sun went black when he hung that tree? He hung there
in the sunlight, and then God veiled everything. When God turned
His back on His Son, it was between God the Father and God the Son.
And thank God it wasn't between God the Father and us. He dealt
with His Son only and His Son personally when He forsook Him
on that tree so that God would never turn His back on me and
on you. I like that. That's a message
that I can kind of get a hold of. My conscience starts to calm
down then. I get a little relief from that
nagging guilt. When I wake up in the morning,
I feel guilt. When I drive to work, I feel
guilt. I feel so unclean. But when I
realize God in wrath has remembered mercy, I can breathe. I can breathe. Look
at Psalm 40. Look at Psalm 40. Now we know this is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's clear in verses seven
and eight, which are quoted in the Hebrews of being of Christ
himself. But what I want to concentrate
on this is verse 12. This is Christ on that tree.
For innumerable evils have compassed me about. Whoa, wait a minute. Mine iniquities. What? My brothers and sisters, He so
fully took upon Himself our sins, He called them His own. I can't fathom such mercy. You
know good and well, somebody accuses you of something you
didn't do. Maybe you ain't not as bad as me. Oh, that eats at
me. I've got enough you can accuse
me of, and it's true. They come along then and accuse
me of stuff I didn't do. And yet God the Father turned
His back on the Son and the Son never did anything wrong. As
a matter of fact, He always did everything right. And yet He
was so joined to me on that tree that He called my sins and your
sins His own. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart relinquisheth, it loosens. Aren't you glad we'll never experience
what Christ experienced on that tree? Because if we ever do,
it will take an eternity for it to settle the score. That's
why the lake of fire is forever. Because man's suffering, fallen
man's suffering never settles the score. But the righteous
son of God, when he suffered on that tree, was made a curse
and was made sin, that settled the account forever. I like that message. What I used to believe, it don't
compare to that message. What I used to believe was, yes,
God showed wrath, now He might remember mercy, if you do. Isn't that what's preached out
here? Now come on. Yes, God showed wrath to the Son, and He might
remember mercy if you do this or that, if you believe. But I'm so filled still with
unbelief. Right? Some has to take care of my unbelief. Christ suffered for it. In wrath, God was remembering
mercy toward me. Let's look at more. Be pleased,
O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be ashamed that confound it together, that seek after
my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven backward and
put to shame that wish me evil. He was not praying for everybody
when he hung on that tree. Or maybe he was, but it was not
a positive prayer, is it? You see it? Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame that's saying to me, aha, aha, you're
getting what you deserve. Look though, that all those that
seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy
salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified. But he's still not out from under
that agony. But I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh
upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer,
make no tearing. Oh my God. And we're told in
the book, if you look these things down, it says about his head,
after crying what? Paid in full. Now that's the way we'd say it
today. He cried, it is finished. Paid in full. And he bowed his head. Gave up
the ghost. You know what God did three days
later? Raised him up from the dead. Raised him up from the
dead. Nuri is now seated. Seated at
the right hand of God the Father. Remember Isaiah is most clear.
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, just concentrate just
on a couple, a few verses, the last few verses, look at it.
Yet it pleased the Lord. That's the word being satisfied.
That doesn't mean God sat up there and laughed at the sun
when the sun died. That's not what this talking,
it means God was satisfied. Pleased, satisfied. Yet it pleased,
now notice, the Lord to bruise him. Who bruised him? Oh yeah,
men beat him to a pulp. They beat him so badly that you
could not recognize who he was. They pulled, they plucked out
his beard. They buffeted it with their fists. They spit on him.
They took a reed and hit him on the top of the head and then
just planted a crown of thorns and then they beat his back mercilessly. For he was nothing but a bloody
mess. The book of God says you couldn't
even recognize who he was. Paraphrased, couldn't even recognize
who he was. That wasn't the worst of it. The father then turned
his back on him in that state. That's wrath. Awake, O sword,
against the man that is my fellow. And the sword of God's wrath
awoke that day, like it had never been awakened before. Even Sodom
and Gomorrah didn't compare to that. Because this is the righteous,
just son of God, and God's plunging the sword of his wrath into his
righteous soul. Even the flood don't compare
to that. And yet he was thinking on us. At the old high priest of old,
he had our names on the breastplate, written in the stones of his
glory. He was thinking about me when he died on that tree.
He was thinking about you when he died on that tree, if you're
in Christ. And when he said, it's finished,
it's paid in full, he talked about my debt. He's talking about
your debt, Heavenly Father. May this encourage us. Not my words, Lord, but Your
Word. May what You have spoken in Your Word give us comfort. May it, from this old clay pot,
Lord, may it not be the pot, but may it be the message. May
it strengthen us for another day. So You're pleased to either
come back and get us or take us out of this morass and this
mess. Lord, bow us under Thy providential
circumstances. God calls us always to look to
Thee in the person of Thy Son. In His name I pray. Amen. Alright,
I'm done.