We'll continue our studies in
1 Thessalonians. I'll just read the first 11 verses
of chapter 5. Last week we looked at the events
regarding the coming of the Lord Jesus, that climactic event where
He comes with His people who are with Him in Heaven. He comes
to this earth and at the time of His coming the dead who have
been buried, the dead, who are with Him now are raised and within
seconds, maybe milliseconds, the people who are left alive
are going to be raised and they will be with the Lord forever.
And there will be that glorious resurrection. They will be fitted
for that new creation. And so, for those who have rejected
the Gospel, There will be a resurrection.
There will be a number of them who witness in some climactic
and horrifying way the destruction of this world, won't they? They'll
call on the mountains to fall on them and the mountains won't
fall on them. They'll want to be hidden from
the glory and the face of God. They'll be resurrected and there'll
be a great judgement. And in that judgment God will
be vindicated. He will be seen as perfectly
just and holy. He will be seen as perfectly
just and holy in the salvation of his people. and he'll be seen
as perfectly just and holy in the condemnation of those who
have rejected the Gospel and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's an extraordinary
thing to think isn't it that this church which is after Philippi
the first, it's the second European church to exist. And it's interesting, fascinating
isn't it for us to think how similar their journey has been
to ours and how similar their journey has been to churches
throughout time, that the Lord raises up, He brings the Gospel,
He brings the Gospel into a religious world and He draws His people
out and there is contention and there is, when the Gospel comes,
there is this separation and there is this division. And we
in an extraordinary way are both participants and witnesses in
this climactic spiritual battle. We have been together as a congregation
long enough, we have been together long enough to witness the grace
of God and we have been together long enough to see, hopefully
for just a season, to see people who are given over, given over
by the Lord, have rejected the Gospel and have suffered in themselves,
blinded and left in darkness. Let's read these verses in 1
Thessalonians. He's talking about the times
and seasons of the coming seasons. I have no need to write unto
you, for you yourselves know perfectly. They know perfectly. He has told them clearly and
told them often that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. You are all children of light
and children of the day. We are not of the night, nor
of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep at night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night. But let us who are of the day,
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet, the hope of salvation." I love what that word helmet
in Greek means. It means to go around the head,
to cover the head, to encircle the head. It's a lovely picture,
isn't it? Encircling the head of God's
people is the hope of salvation. They put on that breastplate
over their hearts, a breastplate of faith and love and a helmet,
the hope of salvation, for God has not appointed us. And this
is the reason for it all, isn't it? This is the reason for salvation,
that great four, isn't it? Because God has not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with Him. Therefore comfort yourselves
together and edify one another even as you also do." There are
a couple of obviously critical questions in all of this, isn't
there? Critical questions for us, critical questions that we
need to be mindful of. As I said, there is, when the
Gospel comes, there is a division. He describes them as they which
are without, those who are on the outside and those who are
on the inside. And remarkably, these people,
these false teachers, these ones who stand opposed to the Gospel,
are speaking peace and safety, and Paul is speaking peace and
safety. He's saying comfort, comfort
yourselves. Comfort yourselves with the knowledge
of God's return. Comfort yourselves with the knowledge
of where your brothers and sisters are. Comfort yourselves with
the knowledge of what will happen to you on that great day. Comfort
yourselves with the knowledge of what will happen on the Day
of Judgment. Comfort yourselves together. As I said, there is
a division, isn't it? They are called those that are
without, and then we have the believers, Paul and Silas and
Timothy and the other believers. There are two destinations in
all of this world. There is no middle ground. In
Matthew 7, the Lord Jesus says, talks of two gates, two ways,
two crowds and two destinations. He says, enter in at the straight
gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction. And many there be which go in
at that broad gate. But straight is the gate, and
narrow is the way which leads unto life and few there be that
find it. Two gates, a straight gate, a
constricted gate and a wide, wide, wide gate. Two ways, a
narrow way and a wide, wide way. Two crowds, few, just a few,
and many, two destinations, heaven and hell. And what a remarkable
thing is it that there are, at the end of Matthew 7, 14, there
are some that find it, some that are found by the Lord Jesus. As I said, Paul came with a gospel,
sent by God with a gospel. And I was just going to We want
to look at a couple of questions. Who are these false teachers? Who are these people that stand
opposed to them? Who are they? Who are they, verse
3, when they say peace and safety? Peace and safety, they're actually
proclaiming that word safety means firmness and certainty
and security and it means a guarded place. They use and have almost all
of the words of the true apostles, don't they? The true servants
of God, the true messengers of God. In chapter 1, verse 1, he
talks about peace and grace be unto you from God the Father. These people are talking peace
and safety. And Paul, in chapter 2, he talks
about his entrance into them. The entrance wasn't in vain. And where the Gospel comes, the
Gospel of God, as three times he says this is the Gospel of
God, it actually comes. But it comes to where God's children
are. Read Romans 10. They are sent
by God, but they are sent on a mission and a purpose because
God has his people there. He preached the Gospel of God,
but the Gospel of God, according to chapter 2, was preached in
much contention. The contention that the Lord
Jesus had, the contention that the apostles had. And Paul was
one of the contenders. He's writing as someone who's
now a traitor to this cause that he was wrapped up in, that he
was zealous for. The Lord Jesus says, isn't he,
please don't think that I came to bring peace on this earth.
I came to bring a sword of division. That sword of division will reach
to families. That sword of division will reach
to the closest bonds of this earth. Paul was sent by God. Chapter 2, verse 5, he's allowed
of God, tested and approved. And he, like all of God's servants,
speaks of God as a witness. He has one witness for what he
says. And that is God. He has one witness
for what's going on in His heart and in His character. One witness
that matters most of all. God's servants can't be bought,
they can't be bribed, they can't be enticed by anything this world
offers. They will not be moved from the
path and the task the Lord has ordained them for. He made them,
He empowered them, He sustains them, He provides the trials
and joys for them. The applause or the frowns of
the religious world mean nothing to God's servants. They have
a message. They have ambassadors from God. They have a message from God. And the ambassador delivers the
message by the hand that brought him that message. He's not speaking
on his own behalf. You listen to what he says in
chapter 2 verse 3. He didn't come, their message
wasn't of deceit. nor of uncleanness, nor in guile,
2 verse 4, they didn't come pleasing men, they didn't use flattering
words, nor a quote for covetous, nor of men seeking glory. They weren't seeking glory from
men, they weren't seeking glory from the Thessalonian people
I was speaking to, they weren't seeking glory from others, 2
verse 6. and they lived wholly just and
unblameable. And 2 verse 11, they exhorted
and comforted and charged these people, these same people who
standing opposed to Paul are offering peace and comfort and
safety. They are part of the testimony
of their genuineness, isn't it? Verse 14, for you brethren became
followers of the churches of God which are in Judea. They
didn't have to have a history lesson about how to follow them. They just had to experience exactly
what those churches experienced. the churches of God which are
in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. For you have also suffered
like things of your own countrymen." So these were Greeks often, fighting
them, even as they have of the Jews. So let's think about who
they are. Firstly, they are people who
cause, verse 2 of chapter 2, they cause much contention. They stir up strife. When the
Gospel comes, strife arises in the most extraordinary places. Here is the greatest news that
could possibly be, isn't it, that God is a sovereign saviour
and a successful saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, a perfect
substitute and finished a work that was established in eternity. What a thing to contend against. What a thing to contend against.
What a man to contend against. There was the Lord Jesus, like
Paul, wasn't he? He wasn't a man of deceit. He
wasn't in young cleanliness. He wasn't operating in guile.
He wasn't pleasing men. He didn't use flattering words.
He wasn't hiding a covetous heart. He didn't seek glory from men.
He came as a sovereign God to redeem his people. He, like Paul,
was holy, just, and unblameable. and he suffered contention. In chapter 2 verse 4 we find
something else about these men. Not only do they stir up contention,
but they are in the business of pleasing men. What does 2
Timothy say? People will find people who will
give them what their itching ears want to hear. They will
adjust and trim their message. And the next words are that they
are flattering, they are flatter. They'll flatter man. They'll
flatter man to think that he has some ability. They'll flatter
man to think that he has some capacity. That man's works are
of some worth before salvation, in the process of salvation,
or after salvation. That some reward has been earned
by their activities. The Lord Jesus said, speaking
of religious activities, He says, what is highly esteemed among
men is abomination to God. So whatever pleases, whatever
the religious world is running after, whatever crowds are gathered
to and gathered around, we can guarantee that that's abomination
to God. Paul says it himself, he says,
if I please men, if I seek to please men, I am not a servant
of Christ. He doesn't say that I'm a wayward
servant of Christ, or I'm a servant of Christ who's made a mistake.
If I please men, I am not a servant of Christ. Ultimately, these
people are enemies of God. They brought the same suffering
as the Jews did in Judea. There they were in the face of
an extraordinary witness, an extraordinary testimony of the
Lord Jesus. A witness of His Word, they were
witnesses of His servants, they are witnesses of history. Now
under in 2 verse 15 they say, these people they pleased not
God, And because of that they are contrary to all men and their
activities in 2 verse 16 are they are forbidding people, forbidding
us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved. That's what these, they that
are on the outside, speaking peace and safety to those, they
can gather themselves. The one thing they want to do
when the Gospel comes along is shut up the Gospel preacher.
What did they do? Paul was kicked out of town and
as soon as they hear that he's preaching in the next city down
the road, they send people there to stop him. They don't want
to hear this word. They're forbidding us to speak
to the Gentiles. Ultimately, in 2 verse 18, Paul
talks of Satan hindering them, stirring up opposition and deception
among the flock, the father of lies and a murderer. That's some of the characteristics.
They say, Pete, They say peace and safety. They say within our fold, within
our set of understandings of the Gospel, within our walls
is peace and safety. Then sudden destruction cometh
upon them. Sudden destruction cometh upon
them as travail upon a woman with child as a woman about to
have a child. It must inevitably come to pass. It has grown for some time and
there must be a time when it will be exposed. That travail
of course that comes upon a woman is the result of course of sin
being in this world and Eve being destroyed, being deceived. And our world and all of Adam's
children following Adam into sin have born that in their bodies. What a saviour, what a saviour
we need. And they shall not escape, they
shall not escape. He's asking the brethren to think
about those who are on the outside. The ultimate end of those who
stand opposed to the Gospel is that destruction will come upon
them. While they're mouthing the words peace and safety, destruction
will come upon them. There are so many So many examples
of this in the scriptures, aren't there? This sudden destruction
that comes upon them. Imagine Noah building that ark,
120 years preaching righteousness, preaching righteousness, 120
years and all of them on the outside saying peace and safety,
peace and safety. They'd never seen the drop of
rain fall. And then God shut his people
in the ark and brought destruction on them. And it came suddenly
and it came swiftly and they shall not escape. There was no
escape. The people in Jerusalem, in the
days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They had their mantras inside. They had their religion inside
Jerusalem, didn't they? They were speaking peace and
safety to each other again and again. It's just remarkable what
these false teachers were doing in Ezekiel's day. I don't have time to read all
of them, but if you read the first 13 chapters of Ezekiel,
it's just extraordinary, the things that they were doing and
the things that they were saying to each other. And God's people, God's servants
are called always to expose and to speak against them, to speak
to God's people, but in doing so to speak against those who
preach lies about the Lord Jesus, and preach lies about men. In
chapter 13, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son
of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy,
and say you unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts. So they
weren't sent by God. And this is what they were saying,
Hear you the word of the Lord. They were speaking as if they
were God's servants. Thus says the Lord God, Woe unto
the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen
nothing. O Israel, thy prophets are like foxes in the desert.
They have not gone up into the gaps, neither have made up a
hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the
day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying
divination, saying, The Lord says, and the Lord has not sent
them. And they have made others to
hope that they would confirm the word. Have you not seen a
vain vision, and have you not spoken a lying divination? Whereas
you say, the Lord says it, albeit I have not spoken. Therefore
thus says the Lord God, because you have spoken vanity and seen
lies, therefore behold I am against you, says the Lord God. And mine
hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and divine lies,
and they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither
shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel,
neither shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall
know, when God brings this judgment, the purpose of it is, and you
shall know, that I am the Lord God, even because they have seduced
my people, saying, Peace! And there was no peace. And one
built up a wall, and others daubed it with untempered mortar." There
is, according to Isaiah 28, there is a day of destruction coming. And he talks about it as a flood.
He talks about people who have a refuge. They have a refuge
and they're speaking peace to themselves and peace to each
other, aren't they? And they're gathering people
to themselves together. We have made a covenant with
death. And with hell we are in agreement, Isaiah 28 verse 15. A covenant with death. Death
is not going to touch us. And hell, with hell we're in
agreement. There might be a hell, but we are not going there. When
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come
unto us. There is a judgment coming, but
it's not going to touch us. This is what they're saying.
have not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and
under falsehood we have hid ourselves. Therefore, thus says the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried
stone and a precious thorn of stone, a sure foundation, and
he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay
to the lion, and righteousness to the plumber, and hail shall
sweep away the refuse of lies, and waters shall overflow the
hiding place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by
it." You can read on. It's throughout the scriptures,
isn't it? The Lord Jesus again and again says, beware of false
prophets, beware of false prophets, false Jesuses and false Christs
and false Gospels. It's throughout. You find a page
in the scripture that doesn't have a reflection upon the wickedness
of the deceitfulness of false religion in this world and at
the same time a proclamation in some way of the glory of God
in saving His people out of it. These people were saved out of
a religion, a Jewish religion. Greek converts to a Jewish religion
that was a refuge of lies. Those people in their synagogues
were preaching peace and safety. We mustn't think that these are
people who are not religious and not moral. They come in sheep's
clothing, says the Lord Jesus, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Again and again the Lord Jesus
warns His people to come out from among them. I don't have
time tonight to look at all the characteristics of false prophets,
but we are told to know. We are told in these verses to
watch. You brethren are not in darkness
that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are children
of light and children of the day. We are not of the night
nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep. as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. Verse 8, but let us
who are of the day be sober. And we put on the breastplate
of faith and love. They are nouns. Faith is a noun. Faith is a gift of God. It's
an acting of God that causes us to look to the finished work
of the Lord Jesus, to look to Him in His character. It's also
looking to Him in who He is. Faith is trusting a real and
living Redeemer who has real characteristics, who has real
purposes, who has a real character and a purpose. That faith is
a breastplate, that which protects your vital organs, your heart,
a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, a hope of salvation. Watch, we are to be reminded
again and again, the scriptures remind us again and again of
the false teachers. Paul talks about these people
in 2 Thessalonians 2, he talks about this man of wickedness,
even him who is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2.9, and with all deceitfulness
and unrighteousness in them that perish. because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved." Paul spoke
of that gospel that came to them, a gospel that they received. A gospel that declares a saviour
who saves. I declare unto you the gospel
which I preach unto you, which you also received, and wherein
you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory
what I preach unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Paul is excited in writing this
first letter, the first New Testament scriptures these people had laid
their hands on. What a remarkable outlining of
the glory of God and the character of God. And when he finds that
these people are standing firm after those three short weeks,
they're standing firm because God has made them stand, and
that for him is life. and he's encouraging them and
he's encouraged by them. But he also is warning them,
isn't it, there are those who oppose. The false prophets are
men who preach for covetousness. They preach with an eye to the
reception of it. In Jeremiah chapter 6, the false
prophets, let me find it, Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 13, For from
the least of them, even to the greatest, everyone is given to
covetousness. From the prophet unto the priest,
everyone dealeth falsely. Verse 14, They have healed also
the herd of the daughter of my people slightly. The healing
is an easy thing, isn't it? It's a slight matter. Slightly,
saying peace, peace, where there is no peace, gathering people
around them and saying, peace, follow me, follow what I say
the Gospel is. Were they ashamed, verse 15,
when they committed an abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed,
neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among
them that fall at the time that I visit them. They shall be cast
down." Thus says the Lord. What a word from the Lord in
Jeremiah 6.16. Stand ye in the ways and see
and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk
therein and you shall find rest for your souls." Look back and
see the paths that God has laid out before us. Look to the old
paths of the eternal covenant. Look to the old paths of that
Gospel proclamation that Abraham had and by faith was declared
righteous. A sinner declared righteous. Walk therein and you shall find
rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk
therein. I also sent watchmen over you
saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said,
we will not hearken." Therefore hear, you nations,
and know our congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth,
and behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit
of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my law, but rejected it." Paul was sent and Paul was rejected. God's people are sent, and when
they come, there is always going to be contention, and there is
always going to be division. And there are people who will
receive that word, and they'll hear it not as a word sent by
man, but as a word from God, a word that comes with power. And these false prophets will
be covetousness, covetous for their own glory, covetous possibly
for money, but covetous for esteem, which is why when their people
are taken away from them they are jealous and enraged and they
scheme all sorts of deceitful ways to gather people to themselves. We've borne witness to some of
it. False prophets give men and women peace when God has not
given it. Jeremiah 6 speaks of it, Jeremiah
8 says the same. For they have healed the hurt
of my daughter slightly. He repeats it, healed it, saying
peace where there is no peace. Ezekiel speaks of it. If you
read the first 13 chapters of Ezekiel, it's extraordinary how
again and again he, by the Spirit of God, looks into the hearts
of these false teachers in Jerusalem. A city that was destined for
destruction and inside they're saying peace, peace to each other. They're saying in chapter 11
verse 2, they devise mischief and give wicked counsel in this
city which say it is not near. Let us build houses. This city
is the cauldron. This city is the pot. We are
the meat in the pot and the outcasts have been cast away. And God says, they've been cast
away by you, but he says, I love what he says of his people, in
chapter 16 of chapter 11, he says, yet I will be to them a
little sanctuary. God will be to them. He says,
I've cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have
scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a little
sanctuary, a little place of peace. False prophets speak peace. False prophets are always gathering
their people to them and around them and saying peace. I cannot
think of a gospel, a false gospel, which is so implied to bring
peace to people and the one that is prevailing in this world.
What darkness? Paul talks about darkness there,
doesn't he? In verse 4 he says, you're not in darkness. You're
children of light and children of day. But we actually see,
we see how dark the darkness is around this world. This modern gospel, this modern
gospel that becomes more perverted as time goes on. This modern
gospel at the heart of it talks about a loving creator who loves
all men just the same. This modern gospel that talks
about a Lord Jesus who died for all men and makes salvation possible
for all men. This loving Holy Spirit who is
seeking, desperately seeking the salvation of all people. And you can be saved. according
to that gospel, can't you? You can be saved at a time of
your choosing. And in the method of your choosing,
you can say the sinner's prayer, you can walk down the aisle and
put your hand up. False prophets always make salvation
easier. They make the road broad and
the way easier and they make it much cheaper. False prophets
are always looking at outward things. They make sin an outward
act rather than an inward principle. They make godliness. The whole
business of godliness is about outward forms, acts and performances,
rather than an inward principle of hearts. It's always looking
at external activities. They're always seeing sin as
the things you do and so you need reformation. If sin is what
you are, You need regeneration, not reformation. Changing the
outside is not good enough. The Lord Jesus says, rend your
heart, not your garments. And false prophets, they do not
please God. Who pleases God? This is my beloved
son. False prophets always have people
glancing at the Lord Jesus, and looking at themselves. Glancing
at the Lord Jesus and looking at the law that put our Saviour
to death, that law that He finished and put away. Always telling
people that there is something that they do that can give them
some reward. I remember appearing in a sermon
several years ago that you can do something now to change God's
verdict, to change God's judgment on you at the Day of Judgment.
You can do it right now. You can do something. 5 verse
8 says, But let us who are of the day The light of the Gospel
has come. The light of the Gospel. And
we are in the day. And God's children see. Paul
doesn't want these people to be ignorant. He doesn't want
them to be ignorant of the time and the coming of the Lord Jesus.
He doesn't want them to be ignorant of the Gospel. He doesn't want
them to be ignorant about what's happened to them. He wants them
to see the events of their lives in light of what has happened
to the Jews in Jerusalem, what has happened to him as he preached
the Gospel. What has happened to those people
who have had the Gospel come in much contention and people
standing opposed to it is exactly what happened when Abel had that
first church service outside of the garden and came brought
to the works of his hand an idol, brought a sacrifice which represented
the Lord Jesus. and came through Him. We are
of the day. We are to look through the scriptures
and see these things laid out before us, see this Gospel and
see why it brings so much contention. We are, because we're in the
day, we are to watch. We are to stay awake. We are
to be alert. He's speaking in terms, as we
see later on, speaking in terms of being on your guard. Being
on your guard, watching carefully, testing all things, test the
spirits to see if they are of God. Time and circumstances can
dull our zeal. We can be led by our flesh. to have more sympathy and to
see the Gospel with less clarity and to see it with less power
and to see it as less significant than it really is. That's why
he says to be sober, be calm, be in your right mind, not to
be impulsive and not to be left out of control is what he's saying. He's asking these people to think.
to think in light of the scriptures and to think in light of their
experience, and he's reminding them again and again in his letter,
he reminds them of the gospel. Again and again he grounds everything
in the gospel, again, doesn't he? We'll see that in verses
9 and 10. And he says, let us watch, let
us be sober, and let's put on, as a guard on sentry duty, let
us put on, I love what Paul says in Romans 13 and 12, he says,
let us put on the armour of light. the armour of light. In His light,
in the Gospel light, we actually see light. The only people who
see are the people who sit under the sound of the Gospel. The
others are in darkness. That verse in 1 Peter is a really
strong verse, isn't it? It's by, this is the word which
by the Gospel is preached unto you. This word by the gospel
is preached unto you. So where there is no gospel,
the word is not preached. So you put on, you stand on guard,
sober, watching, putting on the breastplate of faith. The breastplate
of faith. We spoke about it earlier. Faith
which guards your heart. Faith and love and the hope of
righteousness. At the beginning of the letter
he reminds them, doesn't he? He's acknowledging your work
of faith, your labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus. God's children wait patiently. Ephesians 6 talks about this
armour, doesn't he? And one of the remarkable things
in both of these passages is the talk about this armour. It's
the breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ is
our breastplate, the righteousness of His faith and His faithfulness,
the righteousness of His love, His perfect love. But all of
the pronouns are plural. You don't do this on your own.
We do this as a group of bodies, a body of believers together. Be on your guard, says Paul as
he goes to those Ephesians in that most moving event in much
of the New Testament in the Acts of the Epistles where he leaves
those Ephesian elders and he says, you'll never see me again.
And he says that false teachers are going to arise from within
your midst to tear away the flock. And he says, be on guard for
yourselves and for all the flock, the flock which Jesus has purchased
with his own blood. And to protect our heads, around
our heads, around where we think, We have this hope of salvation.
Our eyes are fixed on a time when the Lord Jesus will be vindicated. His gospel will be vindicated
and all of this creation will see it. how he concludes this section.
As I said, Paul grounds everything in the Gospel again and again. Why do these escape? What are
they escaping from? They're escaping from sudden
destruction. They're escaping from a destruction that they
cannot escape from. They're escaping from a destruction
which is as inevitable as the birth of a child when a woman
is pregnant. How do they escape? Just read
verse 9. For God has not appointed. Their safety and their peace
and their everlasting blessedness is all of God. That word appointment
is a remarkable word. In Romans 8.28 he talks about
those who are foreknown. That known there is exactly the
same word here. You see, they are known of God. It means that they are set. They are put. They are caused
to be. They are laid in this place by
God. It's God. Obviously God's appointment
is over all of this creation. You only have to find out what
God did and purposed yesterday in the world. If you could find
all the newspapers that told the truth and laid them out in
every part of this world, you would have to say God did every
last little bit of it, every tiny little thing, every molecule
of dust, every atom. God's appointment for them. They're
not appointed to wrath. In chapter 1 verse 10 we find
that the Lord Jesus has delivered us. Perfect, completed, finished
work. Delivered us from the wrath to
come. He was made a curse for us. He's delivered us from the wrath.
They're not appointed to wrath but to obtain. to obtain salvation. It's something that's acquired
with considerable cost and effort. We are God's children, we are
a people that has become God's own possession. We've obtained
it and it hasn't come without cost, it must come with cost.
We've obtained salvation, and this salvation is by our Lord
Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah had to go a long way into
a very dark place at the bottom of the sea, in the belly of a
fish, but he learned a great lesson, and he learned a great
lesson for all of us, didn't he? Salvation is of the Lord. I'm hoping on Sunday we'll have
time to look at these words more closely in 2 Corinthians 5.21,
but I'd just like to read it quickly with you here. He died
for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together
with Him. And there's a beautiful word
there. The word for, in our translation of the Bible, often means because,
and the Greek word is dia, D-I-A. But this is a super word, this
one here. The word is super, H-U-P-E-R. And if you make a
mistake and call it super, it's a super, super word. It means,
it's just a little word, isn't it? It means one who does a thing
for another on their behalf. Someone who is conceived as of
standing or bending over to defend or shield. This is what the Lord
Jesus did, isn't it? What a great description of Him.
To bend over, to defend or shield for one's safety, advantage or
benefit. We were in that kingdom of darkness. We were under Satan's dominion. We were sinners by nature and
practice and sinners by desire and someone from eternity, from
old eternity, stood over his people as a hen does over her
little chickens, for on behalf of them. I'll just read you some
of the places. He's delivered him up, Romans
8.32, he's delivered him up for us all. He now makes intercession
for us. We read it in 1 Corinthians 15,
he was put to death for our sins, the sins of us, literally. said
1 Corinthians 5, 7, Christ is our Passover, sacrifice for us. If there's ever a clearer picture
of particular redemption in all of the scriptures, I don't know
where it is. That Passover, the Egyptians
weren't even allowed to be told about it. We speak to the children
of Israel about the children of Israel particularly selected
that land. The children of Israel were in
their house. The children of Israel killed
that land. and sprinkled that blood. And
God says, when I see the blood, there was no blood on any Egyptian
houses. It was particular. He was our
sacrifice, our Passover, sacrificed on behalf of us. And as those
Israelites walked out on that enormous day of mourning, they
knew one thing for sure, didn't they, that they had a son. They
had a child who walked out and that child walked out of that
house and that family walked out as a family complete because
the Lamb had died on behalf of, as a shield for Christ is that
Passover Lamb. He's made a curse for us. The curse that he was made is
a curse that we deserve. Ephesians 5, who has given himself
for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. He gave himself in Titus,
he gave himself for us. In Hebrews 9.12, he's obtained
eternal redemption for us, on behalf of us, standing over,
shielding and protecting, making his flock safe. Christ suffered
for us in the flesh. 1 John 3.16 says, contrary to
what the false teachers are saying about the love of God, the love
of God is made manifest, isn't it? He laid down his life for
us on behalf of shielding, bending over to defend the one's safety,
one's advantage, one's benefit. How do you escape? How do you
escape from the clutches of the false teachers? How do you give
comfort to one another? When they are giving comfort
to multitudes, we talk of God's appointment. We talk of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Saviour, alone, perfect and sufficient. We talk
of His death. He's died for us. We talk, as
that verse finishes, we talk of our union with Him. He died
for us, so whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with Him. He is the Good Shepherd. He's
laid down His life for His sheep. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank You and praise You for the finished work of your dear
and precious son. We pray to you, Heavenly Father,
that your appointments are for an eternity. You have not appointed
wrath for your people, but you have appointed that they obtain
salvation, and all of that salvation is in our Lord Jesus Christ,
and we are just the remarkable grace-gifted beneficiaries of
what he has done and what he has achieved and what he is doing
now and what he will do in the future. Heavenly Father, we pray
that you cause us to think soberly and right-mindedly about this
world that we live in. May we be granted the grace to
see it through the eyes, through the lens of your scriptures. May we be given a seriousness
and of sobriety about the state of things that we have all around
us, Heavenly Father, and may we be sober about the fact that
we stand by grace. We have nothing that we have
done that we can boast in, our Father. We must find all of our
rest and all of our boasting and all of our peace in the finished
work of the Lord Jesus. We thank you, Heavenly Father,
that you take your people away from a refuge of lies and bring
them to a place where you speak peace and safety to the hearts
of your people through the Gospel, the glorious declaration of your
Son, the perfect, successful, satisfactory substitute for sinners
like us. Heavenly Father, help us to find
our peace and our safety and our rest in Him. And may we wear
faith and love as a breastplate. And may we just find, Heavenly
Father, the hope of salvation just guarding our minds again
and again. Help us to look to eternity past
and look to the cross, look to what the Lord Jesus did and suffered
and where he is now, and look again to the future and see a
perspective on all of the things around us, heavenly Father, through
the lens of the scriptures that speak so gloriously of your Son
and who he is and what he's done, that we can call you Abba, Father. We pray to you, Heavenly Father,
for your glorious son. We thank you that we can come
to you with boldness and with confidence because of who he
is and what he has done. Help us to find our peace and
our rest again and again in what he has done and who he is. We
pray in his name. Amen.