is not that I did you. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nivert. I'm reading from the 76th Psalm,
verse 10. The psalmist says, Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. I've entitled this message, The
Wrath of Man Shall Praise Thee. Now the wrath of man is his enmity
toward God. The carnal mind is enmity with
God, the scripture says, not simply at enmity with, but it's
enmity itself. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be, so that they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. The wrath of man is his hatred
of the living God. Now this passage of scripture
says, the wrath of man shall praise thee. And how comforting
this is to the child of God. The wrath of man, his hatred
and enmity against God and his people. is among the all things
that work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are called according to His purpose. You see, everything that was,
is, and shall be is for the glory of God, and included in that
is the wrath of man. God brings good out of evil,
and even the wrath of man will praise the living God." Now,
how clearly did Pharaoh find out this great truth when he
said, who is the Lord that I should obey Him? What haughty arrogance
he demonstrated at that time. Who is the Lord that I should
obey Him? He found out God said to him,
even for this same purpose, have I raised you 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 hardens. Now at no time was the wrath
of man allowed to be vented out to its full extent into the cross. That is when the wrath of man
showed itself like no other time. The wrath of man was expressed
in the murder of the Son of God. That's what men thought of God. That's what men think of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The one time men were allowed
to do what they wanted to do, all restraints were taken off
and men were allowed what they wanted to do, they nailed the
Son of God to a cross and murdered Him. That's man. Jesus was delivered to their
will. Now here's how bad you and I
are. If God takes away the restraints,
we'll do the same thing. Do you believe that about yourself?
It's so. You do the same thing. But at
no time is God more glorified in this event of the cross, O
how the wrath of man shall praise thee." Now, this is seen so clearly
by looking at what the enemies of Christ said during this time. They're mocking Him, and they're
making fun of Him, and the accusations they made against Him all meant
an ill will, yet everything they said ends up being something
that glorifies God. They unwittingly sang his praise. They didn't know it. They didn't
intend for it to be that way, but that's precisely what took
place. And here's why. Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. Judas Iscariot. whom the Lord
Jesus called the Son of Perdition, came to betray the Lord with
a kiss, using these phony words as he approached Him, Master,
Master. How phony he was, he didn't look
at the Lord as his master, yet he gave the name of the one who
is the master. Now master here doesn't mean
teacher, it means rabbi. My rabbi, my rabbi, he is the
one true master, Lord of all. He said to his disciples, you
call me master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. When the mob comes to take the
Lord Jesus with swords and staves, he says, whom seek ye? They replied,
Jesus of Nazareth. And our Lord said, I am. With the same voice that spoke
from the bush to Moses, I am that I am, he gives his name
as God. Jesus of Nazareth is the great
I am. So when they came to arrest him,
thinking they had control over him and could do with him whatever
they wanted to do, He said, I am, and the scripture says in John
chapter 18, immediately they all fell backwards. They were
forced down by an irresistible power, and the Lord was showing
them at this time that He was no victim. He was in control
of this situation. I am that I am. This is the voice of God speaking,
the eternal, independent, sovereign God. So when they come, Jesus
of Nazareth is who we're seeking. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. In Matthew chapter 27, verse
four, we read Judas. when he saw he was condemned,
repented himself. This was not a repentance from
the Holy Spirit, because if he would have truly repented, he
even would have been saved from that sin. But he didn't have
any true repentance, but he was sorry over what took place in
some human form, and he said, I have betrayed the innocent
blood. And in that wicked man, speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, how true he was when he called
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ the innocent blood. You see, this is the only innocent
blood There is, ever has been, and ever will be. And that is
why there's such saving efficacy in His blood. You see, if I died
for you or if you died for me, it wouldn't mean anything because
I'm a sinner and you're a sinner. And we couldn't do anything for
each other in that sense. But because His blood is innocent
blood, He never sinned. Because His blood is innocent
blood, His sacrifice is effectual. If he died for your sins, you
must be saved. If he died for your sins, they're
washed away because his blood is innocent blood. Never was
anything more glorious said regarding the Lord Jesus Christ than this.
He has the innocent blood. Surely the wrath of man will
praise thee. In Mark chapter 14 verses 61
and 62, he's brought before the high priest who asked him this
question, and I no doubt with contempt and with the intention
of condemning him for whatever his answer is, he said, are thou
the Christ, the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. With the same power he said that,
to the mob that came upon him, I am. I am the Christ. I am God's anointed. I am the
prophet. I am the priest. I am the king. I am the son of the blessed.
And You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand
of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. And that's when they
condemned him to death. Surely, surely the wrath of man
shall praise thee. The Lord is brought before Pilate,
that paper Roman king who didn't have any moral strength or fiber
at all. He couldn't stand for what he
really believed. But he's brought before Pilate,
and they bring this accusation against him. In Luke 23, verse
5, they said, He stirreth up the people. Why? He incites the
people to rebellion against the government. He incites the people
to do wrong things. He's against the law. He stirs
up the people and stirs them up in many bad ways. It never
happened. But how true it is that He stirreth
up the people. Oh, His people are stirred up
to love and devotion and commitment and consecration to Him. He's
altogether lovely to them, and they would count it a great privilege
to be allowed to die for His great name. That's how much He
stirs up the people. All of His disciples, they love
Him, and they'll follow Him through hell if that's what it takes.
He stirs up the people. No truer words have ever been
spoken. One martyr's final words were
this, to die for the Christ, it is an honor I do not deserve. Truly, he stirreth up the people. Now, they were looking for false
witnesses during this time. And they found someone who made
this witness against him in Matthew chapter 27 verse 11. They said,
we heard him say, I'm able to destroy this temple and raise
it again in three days. Now he did say that. He did say
that in John chapter 2 verse 19 when they were asking him
where his authority came from in making that whip and driving
the money changers out of the temple. He said, destroy this
temple. Here's my authority. Destroy
this temple. He was talking about his body.
destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it. Now they
were using this as an accusation against him. They were looking
at some physical temple and said he said he could destroy this
temple and rebuild it in three days even though it took 46 years
to build. But they had no idea that this
same one said no man takes my life from me. I have power to
lay it down. I have power to take it up again.
I have power to give death permission to come and take me. And death
did come and take him. What was he doing during that
time of his death? I don't know. I know he was ruling
and reigning somehow, even though his death, he's God. I don't
understand that, but I know that death came and got him. The God-man
actually died. satisfying God's justice and
wrath against sin, and he had the power to raise himself back
from the dead. What an awesome statement regarding
the glory of his person. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. In Matthew 26, verse 66, we read
of the people's response to this question. What think ye? What
do you think after he's making these claims concerning himself?
And their reply was, he's guilty of death. He ought to die. Such is the wickedness of his
actions, the pride and self-promotion of his statements, that he ought
to be put to death. He is guilty to die. That was
their hatred of Christ. Although he never sinned, they
said he's guilty of death. He who never committed one sin,
he who went about doing good, he who said, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. This one,
they said he's guilty of death. My dear friends, they made that
statement in hatred to him, but they didn't know what they said
was actually true. He was guilty of death. You see, the sins of God's elect
actually became his sins. so that he became guilty of them. And the justice and righteousness
and holiness of God smote him, because that's what he had coming. He was guilty of death. This is the whole fabric of the
gospel. This is substitution. He became guilty of death. And when they made this statement,
Once again, surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. Here we have the great gospel
of substitution. When Pilate delivered him to
the Roman soldiers, they mocked him. Oh, they made a crown of
thorns and they pressed it upon his head and they gave him a
purple robe and they took a reed and smote him in the head and
gave it to him as a scepter and bowed down to him and said, hail,
king of the Jews, making fun of him. never were truer words
spoken. Hail, King of the Jews. What was the placard over His
head when He hung on the cross? written in Greek and Latin and
Hebrew, the language of the common man, the religious man, and the
intellectual, all with the same message, Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the Jews. You see, he's the King of Kings,
and he's the Lord of Lords, and never was his kingship more resplendent
than when he hung on the cross. The thief somehow understood
this. He said, Lord, Remember me when
you come in your kingdom. I know that you're a mighty king
and that you must be successful and that you're not going to
stay on the cross, but you're going to rise from the dead and come
as a mighty king. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Oh, when they bowed before Him
mockingly and worshiped Him, the Scripture says, in mock jest,
oh, the highest thing anyone can do is worship the Lord Jesus
Christ, to bow the knee to Him. and worship. Oh, surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee. Pilate sent him to Herod, and
Herod and his men of war wanted to see if he would work any miracles,
and when he didn't, they set him at nought. They said he's
nothing, he's nobody, he's not even worth listening to. They
set him at nought in their hatred and contempt of him. but nowhere
was it ever truer. He really did become nothing. Who being in the form of God,
he thought it not robbery. He thought it not a thing to
be grasped. to be equal with God, but he
made himself of no reputation. He made himself nothing. He made himself vanity, so that
from the cross he actually cried, I'm a worm and no man. I'm not even fit to be called
a man. Oh, when the Lord took all the
guilt and shame and wickedness of our sin upon himself, he truly
became nothing. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes,
he became poor, that you through his poverty, through his nothingness,
might be rich. He sent back to Pilate, and Pilate
says to the crowd, I find no fault in the man." And the crowd
replied. They wanted him crucified. Crucify
And he said, why, what has he done? And they actually said
this in their utter contempt of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
said, let his blood be upon us and our children. We're willing
to take full responsibility for his death, such as his death
that we think he deserves to die. Let his blood be upon us
and let it be charged to our children. That's what we think
of this man. Oh, how evil that they could say that. Yet that
is the prayer of every believer. His blood be upon us and our
children. You see, there's something very
remarkable about His blood. Now, this religious world in
which we live teaches that Jesus Christ shed His blood for everybody
to ever live. but it's up to you to do something,
to accept it, to receive it, or his blood will be shed in
vain for you. He paid for your sins, but if
you don't do something in order to make his blood work for you,
it won't do you any good. Now, my dear friends, that's
blasphemy. If he shed his blood for you,
you must be saved. Everybody he died for, all of
the elect, must be saved. God said, when I see the blood,
I will. pass over you." That's God's
promise. He's not looking for anything
in you. He says, That's all God sees. When I see the blood, I
will pass over you. So our cry before God is this,
oh, let His blood be upon us. Let me be viewed through the
cleansing, washing, saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. So let your blood be upon us
and our children. I don't want to be seen in any
other way. So when these people made this
cold-blooded statement, surely the wrath of man shall praise
thee. Now here is the scripture that
inspired this message. As he was hanging on the cross,
writhing in anguish, pain unimaginable. The high priests made fun of
him. They said in contempt, he saved
others, himself he cannot save. If there was anything to him,
he could come down from that cross. If he is who he said he
is, he claims to be the son of God, he could come down from
that cross. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. They were saying this in utter
contempt, but never were truer words spoken. If He's going to save me, He
could not save Himself. For me or you to be saved, He
could not save Himself. They were saying, you're so pathetic
you can't even come down from the cross. They had no idea of
the wisdom in which they spake. He saved others himself. He cannot
save. Now for me or you to be saved,
he couldn't save himself. You see, God is just. Sin must be punished. If God would let one sin go unpunished,
he would no longer be just. What would you think of a judge,
an earthly judge, who let prisoners go free that were a menace to
society, that had committed horrible crimes? And they said, well,
you're just forgiven. Why don't we get rid of that judge? We
wouldn't I have him as a judge, yet people think God is like
that. God must punish sin, or he would
cease to be God. My sin must be punished. And if I'm going to be saved,
It's either going to have to be punished in me or in my substitute. And if he's going to save me,
he can't save himself. He had to suffer and die under
the wrath of God. If he saved himself, I would
not be saved. I would be in hell. But such
is his love that he would not save himself. I love that hymn. Alas, and did my savior bleed
and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? Was it for crimes that I have
done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing
pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. Well might the
sun in darkness hide to shut his glories in, when Christ,
the mighty maker, died, for man the creature sin. But drops of
grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I
give myself to thee. Tis all that I can do. Oh, when they cried out, he saved
others, himself he cannot save, they preached the gospel. They
just didn't know it. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. Now, something I love to think
about is that Roman centurion, who was over all this. He was
giving the commands concerning the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He told the witch soldiers to
drive the nails in his hands and his feet and to lift the
cross up in the air and drop it in the stand. He was the one
who was in charge of all this. He was in charge of the murder
of the Son of God. But this man during this time,
he witnessed some things. He heard all the words of the
Lord from the cross. He saw the sun stop shining. He felt the violence of the earthquake
as the Lord Jesus Christ died. And he heard those final words,
it is finished, in some kind of saving way. Because we read
in Mark 15, 36, the centurion which stood over against him
saw that he so cried out. What did he so cry out? It is
finished. And gave up the ghost, he saw
how the Lord gave death permission to come to him. He said, truly,
this man was the Son of God. He knew who he was. Now I'd like to look at one final
scripture and it's found in Matthew chapter 27. This is after the
Lord had already died and was already in the grave. And we
read beginning in verse 62, the high priest come once again to
Pilate after he's dead. Now the next day that followed
the day after the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
came together into Pilate saying, sir, we remember that deceiver
said, While he was yet alive, after three days, I'll rise again. And he said that on three different
occasions. One wonders why the disciples
weren't waiting at the tomb, but they weren't. Command, therefore,
that the sepulcher be made sure into the third day, lest his
disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people,
he's risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse
than the first. Pilate said unto them, you have
a watch, He gave them Roman soldiers to watch over it. He said, go
your way, make it as sure as you can. Well, they did make
it as sure as they could, but could that prevent the Son of
God from rising from the dead? No, it could not. You see, when
He died, He completely satisfied the wrath of God, and the very
justice of God demands His resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain."
Isn't it beautiful how all these horrible things spoken against
the Lord Jesus Christ, God uses those to the praise of the glory
of His grace and to teach us more of the gospel. Now we have
this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.