May I please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians in chapter 5 and
we'll read verses 9 and 10. The first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians, chapter 5 and reading verses 9 and 10. For God hath 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. And Apostle Paul, he writes some
very precious and glorious truths as he wrote to the Church of
Thessalonica with regards to the first and the second epistles.
And here we have before us in these chapters that we've read
together tonight, the fourth and the fifth, some very important
truths which must have an effect and must touch everyone in whose
heart is the life of God. We pray therefore tonight, that
as we've read these verses, that they may be blessed to our souls.
The Apostle says, for God hath not appointed us to wrath. Well, who is he talking to? He's clearly not talking to the
whole world. And he's clearly stating by inference
here that there are those who are appointed to wrath. And that's a very solemn consideration,
isn't it? To think that there are those
that God has appointed to wrath. But here we have this encouraging
truth to those who know the Lord, who have obtained salvation,
But for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the apostle was writing,
of course, to the Thessalonians, the word of God is now speaking
to us tonight, and how necessary it is that you and I find that
we are amongst those who are not appointed to wrath but who
have obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And of course
that's not through any of our works or any of our ability. It has nothing to do with us. It's because the Lord determined
to save us. It's because the Lord set his
love upon us. And again that was back in eternity
past, when we weren't about at all, when we hadn't been conceived,
there was no life in any way. And yet to think that God, the
great God, set upon us His love. These things are very true and
they're very searching. In the earlier chapter, Apostle speaks in the first chapter
really he says knowing brethren beloved your election of God
That means what it says doesn't mean that we Elected we called
ourselves It's the election of God And he tells us for our gospel
Came not unto you those who are called, those who are elect.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only." You see, the
gospel comes to many people in word only, but it sticks just
in their mind. It doesn't do their soul any
good. It doesn't bring life. It's just
a mere word, just a mere doctrine, without any effect. But here,
the Apostle tells us, it came not unto you in word only, but
also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Well, what a blessing, my friends,
if the Holy Spirit has come and applied His Word, the great truth
of the Gospel, the great plan of the gospel, the great and
wonderful salvation, with power from on high into our hearts. And therefore, we can testify,
and I hope we can. We all need to be able to testify. Blessed be God if we can testify
that this word came to us in power. It had an effect upon
us. It didn't leave us cold. It didn't
leave us unmoved. The Holy Spirit did something
within us which we could not have done for ourselves. The
power of God so clearly demonstrated and so clearly evidenced in those
who are called by the grace of God. And so may we know, may
we have the glorious and wonderful evidence of this within our hearts
tonight. so that we may go on our way
rejoicing in the fact that the Lord has graciously blessed us. And remember, or perhaps not,
but the Apostle carries on, he said, and ye became followers
of us. and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."
Well, that's a full statement, isn't it? And that's an encouraging
word, isn't it? To those who know the Lord, to
come and to know and to desire and to be followers of the Apostle. followers of the Church of God,
followers of those who desire to honour the Lord, followers
of those who knew something of the great love of the Lord Jesus
Christ and of His wonderful grace and of His tremendous mercy to
such unworthy sinners. And so we have this, having received
the Word. The Lord sends the Word. The
Lord sends the Word in power. And you say, as it comes into
our heart, what do we do? By God's grace, we receive it
as the Word of God, because we know it is the Word of God. Because God has done that for
us, which we could not do for ourselves. It is something very
real, and it is something very special, because it is the work
of God. And how exceedingly humbling
it is to realize that the great God of the whole universe has
looked upon us, you and me, so small, so insignificant, and
so sinful, and so wretched, and perhaps so unbelieving. And yet,
he's taken us in hand. He's come to us with power. and touched our hearts so that
we know. We know that the Lord has spoken,
we know the Lord has come. And so here is the evidence that
we've obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other way, no other
way. Salvation only comes through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because here it is that has saved
our souls. There we were, hastening on in
that broad way until the Lord came and stopped
us in our mad career. Why was it the love of Christ
is rich and free to come to such poor sinners. And that's how
we will come. We won't come as a wonderfully
important person. We'll come on our hands and knees
to God, pleading for mercy and giving that grace to look to
the Lord Jesus Christ. hearing perhaps the essence of
those great words that the prophet wrote when he said, look unto
me, nowhere else, look unto me, for what reason? And be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. There's no other way, friends.
to receive this salvation, but through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing then to know
we have such a great and such a wonderful Saviour. And you know, the Lord Jesus
Christ, there's a word which we read, and that's as a surety
for our souls. One who Guarantees our salvation Yes,
it's a guarantee God has died for us our salvation is guaranteed
and He is indeed the great and blessed surety for us and He's
he's put down all that's necessary to redeem our souls and And that
was the cost, the cost of blood, the cost of his life. And the
apostle, when he wrote to the Hebrews, he tells us these words
and he says, for so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament. He's speaking there about the
order of Melchizedek and he tells us for those priests were made
without an oath but this with an oath by him that said unto
him the Lord swear and will not repent thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament, a better covenant, the covenant of grace,
the covenant that our Lord Jesus Christ made when he completed
that work upon Calvary's cross. And so the apostle goes on, and
they truly were many priests because they were not suffered
to continue by reason of death, but this man, The Lord Jesus
Christ, this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchanging
priesthood. Wherefore he is able, and these
are glorious words, also to save them to the uttermost. That means no one is beyond the
reach of the Lord Jesus. No one is too bad. An uttermost
sinner, perhaps we might feel to be, well, he's able to save
such. Unto the uttermost them that
come unto God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. It's a great truth, isn't it,
to think that here we are tonight with this great Saviour, seated
at the Father's right hand, to make, and is making, intercession
for us. As we approach to God the Father
in prayer, the Lord Jesus takes our prayers and presents them.
And they're washed in the blood of the Lamb, they're cleansed.
Because you know, when we try and pray, you'll find sometimes
that prayer's not quite as pure as you thought it was. Now you'll
find there's some evil in it, you'll find that some pride has
crept in, unawares, destroyed in and of itself, the value of
it, it's lost any holiness, it's become undone. The Saviour stands
between, in garments dyed in blood. There's our place of rest. That's how we know that our prayers
are accepted in the Beloved. Not because of how well we produce
them, what wonderful words we say, no. It's because they are
brought to the Father through the merits of the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well to think then that we have
such a Saviour to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ and
therefore we have not been appointed to wrath and we shall not receive
the wrath which was due to us. We won't receive that wrath because
the Lord Jesus received it on our behalf. What a saviour we
have. You think the wrath due to us. You just ponder your sins. It's
good sometimes just to be able to come pondering our sins and
to confess our sins before God. And again, don't think that's
easy. But it's a great blessing, it's a gift of God to be able
to come and to Confess our sins, all our sins, our bad sins, the
sins that only God knows about. What a blessing it is to have
a Saviour who presents our prayers and therefore we can be thankful
for that great promise. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. The cleansing power of the blood
of Christ. Without it, my friends, there's
no hope. We're lost. We're ruined. But tonight, we bless God for
this great salvation. And because of it, we know therefore,
and we do know, and we should not deny it, You know, the devil
puts us in doubting castle, and it's not a good place to be in.
My friends, if the Lord has graciously blessed us, we must never deny
his great and wonderful work in our hearts. The devil wants
you to throw it all away. to say, well, that's of no value,
that doesn't bear the mark of God. Well, you can trace it out
to see whether it's your work or God's work. As we already
said in those comments on the first few verses in this epistle,
if it's God's work, my friends, and it's not your work, then
it's God that's done it. And you have your name written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. You can look forward to glory
in heaven. You can look forward to that
inheritance which is reserved for the Church of God. Well, for God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And of course this Lord Jesus
Christ, how was this salvation obtained? As we've already mentioned,
in part, it was obtained only through the Lord Jesus Christ
obeying the law of God, which you and I have failed to obey. And because we failed to obey
that holy law of God, then we are under the curse. Under the curse, which says,
the soul that sinneth It shall die. We are condemned under that
curse. But blessed be God, he bore the
punishment instead. He took the curse which was due
to us, took it away, removed it through his glorious death. And it was a glorious death. It was a glorious death. And
as we are able to read of it now in the Word of God, what
a mercy it is, you know. Sometimes I think, well, if I'd
been there, how would I have reacted? Would I have gone with
the crowd who said, away with him, away with him? Would I have
followed the mob? Or would I have been graciously
strengthened by God's grace to stand firm for that which he
had said and that which he was doing and then that which was
done. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
fail, did he? We've failed, haven't we? We've
failed every day. Our life is failure, isn't it,
really? And if we think of it rightly,
do we bring reproach on the name of the Saviour because of the
way we walk, the things we say? Do we bring reproach upon His
great and glorious name? And yet we have here this wonderful
Saviour who died for us, for us. You may say, Who is the us? The us are those who are not
appointed to wrath. It's very clear, isn't it? That
there are those who are appointed to wrath and those who are not
appointed to wrath. And those who are not appointed
to wrath, the Lord in his great grace has died for them, who
died for us. And so tonight, may we be amongst
the us for whom the Lord died and not be found amongst those
who are appointed to wrath. It's only, you see, the two solutions. Only those who are appointed
to wrath or those who are saved, saved by his death. Yes, what a great blessing it
is to know that we're saved. by his death, who died for us. We must never underestimate the
great cost of the salvation that Lord Jesus Christ wrought for
us, brought about, and we should never get tired of hearing about
the death of Christ. We should always desire us to
be constantly reminded of the cost of our salvation, so that
we can thank God for what he's done, so that we don't find ourselves,
as it were, supporting ourselves and living unto ourselves. But you see, doing that which
is for the honour and for the glory of God. And so the apostle
tells us, for none of us liveth to himself. Romans 14. And no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live
unto the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or
die, we are the Lord's. That's why the apostle said,
he died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. And this really explains that
little part of that sentence, which is not all that easy to
understand. We don't live to ourselves. I hope we don't. We
would have done. when we were unconverted, we
would have lived for ourselves. We would have lived to please
ourselves. But what a mercy if God, because
of his grace, has enabled us not to live to ourselves. And
so the Apostle says, none of us, and that's true really, isn't
it? When the Holy Spirit convinces us of our sin and leads us to
the Saviour, and we have some little understanding of the great
cost of our salvation, surely our desire should be like this,
not to live to ourselves. No man dies to himself, for whether
we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, We die unto
the Lord, whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. And that's a very blessed and
a very solemn realisation to think that if we are amongst
those who have obtained salvation, we are the Lord's. And therefore
we are walking in this world as the Lord's, the children of
God. those whom he has died for, those
who he is shorty for. And to be a shorty, he had to
give that necessary payment to secure our salvation. And that payment was so great,
so high, and indeed so valuable. There's no greater value in anything
above the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the most valuable
thing that we can read of, that we can believe in. There's nothing
more valuable than that. because it brings with it the
gift of God which is eternal life just think of that His shed blood
through that shed blood brings the remission of sin brings the
forgiveness of sin and because of that it brings to us that
great gift of eternal life. Now, surely, as you and I may
think of that, the value of our natural life is so small compared
with the value of our eternal life. Really, there is no comparison. You could perhaps try and explain
it like this. Our natural life is the smallest
atom of dust, and our eternal life is the largest mass you
and I could ever imagine. And so, to consider that the
Lord Jesus Christ died to give us this gift of eternal life,
and in dying he endured so much. And therefore, shall we not pray
that we might be more concerned about sin? More concerned about
what we think and what we do and what we say? Well, the apostle
tells us here in the earlier verses, he says, Ye are the children
of light, and the 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 in the night, and they that are 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 from Helmut, the hope
of salvation. Well, here we have something
of the armour that you and I can put on by the grace of God, and
the Apostle therefore tells us, but let us who are of the day.
And if we are of the day, it's because the light of God has
shone into our hearts, and to give to us that right view of
the great and wonderful plan of salvation, and to see the
details of it in some measure, and then come to this, that we
are therefore to be sober. In this world in which we live
today, we are to be sober. That may be difficult for some
of us, who don't particularly have a sober spirit, but it's
good to seek that we might have a right and sober spirit, and
that we might have that grace to put on the breastplate of
faith and love. And remember, the breastplate
is that which is in the forefront, it's put at the front, so that
people will observe this. That as you and I walk in this
world today, as lights in this world, we might therefore be
able, by God's grace, to put on this breastplate of faith
and love. And the world may see. And it
may be a good influence. You see, we live in this dark
world today, don't we? And there are very few, as it
were, that stand faithfully for the things of God. But here we
have this breastplate. God gives us it. My friends,
we are to put it on faith and love. Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Love to Him. Love to the brethren. or that we might therefore set
a good example in this dark world, that we may be light. And then
he says, for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Well, may we have
that good hope of salvation, the hope of salvation. Do we
have it? Do you have it? Do I have it?
We can bless God, you know, if we do. Well, the Lord knows what
he will do. But may we be found then in this
right way. And so, who died for us, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. The apostle then is really looking
forward, is he not, to that time. And as I said, it's not an easy
verse to decipher, but waking can be those who perhaps are
asleep physically, or perhaps it can be those who are dead
who will be raised from the dead. And whether it is so, we should
live together. We know the Church of God will
live together with Him, and there will be then no separation. We have to separate in this life. Loved ones die, they pass away. The separation but in glory to
the whole Church of God, from every nation, all languages all
joined together. No doubt there will be that glorious
common language, which we don't know what it will be, but we
know there will be complete unity in glory. And there will be no
night, and there will never be any tiredness. It's hard, isn't
it, for us to imagine such a situation where there's no time, and there's
no tiredness, and there's no night, but everlasting day, and
everlasting joy, everlasting happiness. And of course, surely
the centre and the reason for that must be, as the Apostle
says here, live together with Him. Together with Him. We who are less and the least
of all saints. We who are utterly undeserving
of any favour. To know that by His grace, we
shall be found at last in glory with him. Now then, the apostle
encourages us not to think of these things as morbid or sad. No, he says this. Wherefore,
comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also
ye do. you see we are to encourage one
another to press on to soldier on against storm and wind and
tide to encourage each other in the journey of life not to
discourage one another oh what a mercy it is if we are able
therefore to come in that way and to recognise these great
words to comfort yourselves together Yes, it's a lack, isn't it, today
of the Church of God coming together to encourage one another, and
to bless God, and to speak of those things which He has done,
to speak of His great salvation, to tell of His wondrous love
and wondrous mercy. These are soul-strengthening
things. These are encouraging things. These are the things the devil
never wants anybody to speak about. He wants us all to shut
our mouths, to never mention the Word of God, to never mention
the things of God. And my friends, he's pretty successful,
isn't he? But oh, that you and I may be
blessed with the wonderful movement of the Holy Spirit, so that these
things indeed take possession of us, so that we rejoice in
the work of God and we rejoice in what he's done and we desire
to honour and glorify his great and holy name when we consider
his favour and his mercy. Remembering what the apostle
tells us, therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh
to live after the flesh for if we live after the flesh you should
die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Again, it's good
to recognise this. We mentioned on Lord's Day crucifixion. Well, mortifying is very similar.
Mortifying means put to death, and crucifixion of course means
how that death is to be carried out. And so the Apostle speaking
here to the Romans and speaking to us today, therefore, let us
mortify the flesh, mortify our bodies by his spirit that dwelleth
in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors
not to live after the flesh. He tells us, for as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now then,
if you and I have been blessed with these evidences that we
possess the Spirit of God for His work in our heart, surely
we know that we are led by the Spirit of God. It's not our spirit. We haven't brought us there.
It's the blessed Spirit of God that's brought us there. And
therefore, can we not cry and say, but we have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father? We know then we have a Father
in heaven, a great and glorious Father. And he says, the spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God, and do not deny the work of God. Bless God for the evidence
of it. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. We are the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And
if children, now listen, if we are a child of God, what's the
prospect? This is the prospect. then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we
suffer with him, expect that in this world, that we may be
also glorified together. For I reckon I like that word
reckon because it really means, you can think of it in mathematical
terms, it means that he's added everything up, all the pluses
perhaps and all the minuses. And he's come and he says, and
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. And he's right. You see there
will be a wonderful day of glory. A wonderful day when the Church
of God will be united together in glory. And what a wonderful
mercy that will be. And just running on, just to
encourage us, he tells us about the work of the Spirit. Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. You may feel very weak and unable,
perhaps, to press on, and you may think your faith's virtually
zero. Well, here you have this blessing. Likewise, the Spirit itself.
And remember, that's the great, blessed, holy Spirit of God.
Help with our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself help maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You see, this is
encouraging, isn't it? To know the great truth. And
then he goes on, we've spoken tonight, beginning of the election
of God and here he comes and he says, Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, those whom he did predestinate, them he also called.
It's a wonderful progression here. Note it. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. Whom he called,
them he also justified. Whom he justified, them he also
glorified. And there's no gap. It's a continual
link. And it's a very positive link,
isn't it? To realise this great truth That if we have been called,
it's because we've been predestinated. And if we've therefore been called,
then we shall be justified. And if we have been justified,
then we shall be glorified. And the apostle then tells us,
what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? No one. He may. He may attempt
to speak against you. They may attempt to belittle
your little hope. That's great recompense with
God. And so he tells us then, he that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. And again, that means the whole
church of God, Jew and Gentile, not all the world, because otherwise
there wouldn't be those who were under the wrath of God. Spare
not his son, but delivered him up for us all. How should he
not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, and rather that is risen again. who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. This is our glorious Saviour,
the One who died for us, the One who paid the price for our
sin. He intercedes for us at the Father's right hand. And
therefore, as you view this, you see this great picture of
union with Christ. The apostle then poses a question,
who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And he gives
us a list. Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or pair of sword,
as it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors. It's a wonderful word, isn't
it? We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Another lovely word, us, this
is the Church of God. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, none of this shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. Great truth, isn't it? Wonderful
to rest upon in our faith, reach out, and bless God for such a
truth as this. And so tonight, may we be thankful
we have this statement. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath. For God has given us to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Amen.