Let us turn once again to God's
Word in that portion of scripture that we read earlier in the first
epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and
turning for our text to verse 9 For God hath not appointed
us to rock, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. In
1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9, For God hath not appointed
us to rock, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And you will observe the opening
words, that little word for, which of course indicates quite
clearly that there is a connection here with what Paul has been
saying previously. We might render the word because. Because God hath not appointed
us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ in those
Previous verses then, what does he say? Verse 6, 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 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 an helmet the hope of salvation,
because God, and so forth. He has been speaking in the context,
more generally, of the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the comfort that that should be to the believer, as he says
at the end of chapter 4. But then he speaks of the suddenness,
the unexpected nature of the Lord's return, of the times and
seasons brethren ye have no leave that I should write unto you. And he goes on to use this illustration
in verse 2 that the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, the
unexpected hour. But then to these Christian believers
that Thessalonica he says in verse 4, ye brethren are not
in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. He are all the children of light. Whilst it might take the unbeliever
unawares the child of God is to be watching and waiting for
the return of his Lord. As not God made provision for
his people and so he goes on here in the verse immediately
previous to our text to speak of that provision, that us who
are of the day be sober, he says, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation. God has
provided this particular armour then for the good of his children. He says a great deal, as you
are aware, at the end of Ephesians 6 with regards to the believer's
armour. But he mentions these aspects
of it here, in verse 8, there is that protection that God has
made for his people with regards to the heart, that's the significance
of the breastplate, in that armour that was worn in more ancient
times. It was protection for an attack
upon the heart and there is for the believer then protection,
there's a breastplate and he calls it here the breastplate
of faith and love. In Ephesians 6.14 it's the breastplate
of righteousness. And there, of course, we are
to think particularly of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ that is imputed to the believer, and that the believer
is clothed with that robe of the Lord's own righteousness. As Paul says to the Philippians,
his desire to be found in Christ not having his own righteousness
which is of the Lord, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. the righteousness which is of God by faith. The breastplate of righteousness,
here we have the breastplate of faith. Here is that protection
then that the believer ever, always stands in need of. His heart needs to be protected,
but what is the heart? Well, it is in scripture of course
the very centre of the of the man's life out of the heart,
says the wise man, precede the issues of life. But in John's
first epistle he seems to speak of it in terms of conscience. If our heart condemns us, says
John, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. And though the believer needs
then to be protected from any charge that might be brought
against him, a conscience he wants void of offence toward
God and toward men. He needs to be one then who is
living his life carefully, watchful, sober. He's of the dark. He's not like those who live
their lives as if there will be no tomorrow, who want to have
their fill, as it were, to eat, to drink, to be merry. and consider
not that the Lord Jesus Christ is to come again in power and
great glory as we see there at the end of the previous chapter.
There is in this provision that is made for the believer, this
protection for the heart, there is also protection spoken of
here in verse 8 for his head, for a helmet it says, the hope
of salvation. the hope of salvation. Gill remarks concerning this
grace of hope that it is an erector of the head in times of difficulty,
affliction and distress. How the believer needs to be
lifted up when he becomes downcast. And this helmet is the hope of
salvation. The psalmist says, O Lord art
assured for me my glory and the lifter up of my head. Now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Here is the believer then
and his head is raised because he has hope. And where is his
hope? It's fixed in God. It's fixed
in the sovereignty of God, God's gracious purpose, God's great
promise. He is the one you see who draws
comfort from the sovereignty of God in the whole work of salvation. And so we come to the text, because
God has not appointed us to wrong, but to obtain salvation by Christ. This is the blessed hope, is
it not, of the child of God, which hope we have as an anchor,
both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil, with the Christ the forerunner has gone for us, says
Paul to the Hebrews. Let us come then to consider
what Paul is saying in particular here in this ninth verse. The
first thing we observe here is God's sovereign appointment. God's sovereign appointment. God has not appointed us to wrath. What were the Thessalonians with
regards to their natural condition? What is the state of all men
who are born into the world? We are all in that condition. of being dead in trespasses and
in sins. We are the children of Adam and
Eve and our first parents there in the Garden of Eden as we have
it in the historical account of Genesis chapter 3. They disobeyed
God, they embraced the devil's lie
and they fell And sin has entered into the human race. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? We read in the book of Job, not
one. Not one. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And that is true of us all. And
it matters not what our parentage might be. Gracious parents and
lads do not give birth to gracious children. And the children need
that sovereign salvation that comes only from God and comes
immediately from God. Grace doesn't run in the blinds. What are we by nature? We are
children of wrath. That's what Paul says when he
writes to the Ephesians in the second chapter. By nature he
says children of wrath. even as others, children of disobedience. Adam's first sin is reckoned
to us, imputed to us. He is a public person. He is
a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the last
Adam. Christ is a public person. And Christ's righteousness is
imputed to all of his seed. All believers are made righteous
in him, declared righteous because of his righteousness. But in
Adam, you see, we're all accounted sinners. But there's not only
that imputation of Adam's sin, we also are partakers of a fallen
nature. That fallen nature has been imparted
to us, it's come down, it comes through the generations. And so, as those who are disobedient,
we are deserving of God's wrath. We are children of wrath, but
here we are told God has not appointed us to wrath. God has
not appointed us. He is writing to the church of
the Thessalonians, He is writing to believers. And what has God appointed them?
Not to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. But
here we see quite clearly that God's choice of his people is
an absolute choice. It's not because of the creature
or anything that the creature has done. We sang it just now
in our opening praise, election is a truth divine as absolute
as free. works, ne'er can make the blessing
mind his God's own wise decree, says William Gadsby. The cause,
the reason for that choice is to be found in God himself. That's what we mean when we say
that it is absolute, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself. It's all in himself, it's all
of himself. Of him, from him and of him and
to him are all things, to whom be glory forever and ever. And when Paul takes up this matter,
this great mystery of the doctrine of God's election in Romans chapter
9, and he speaks of it, remember, in terms of certain individuals,
he makes mention of predestination with regards to the Pharaoh. He makes mention of God's election
with regards to those two men, Esau and Jacob, and they were
twins. And what does he say with regards to those, the sons of
Rebekah, the children being not yet born? neither having done
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. It was said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger. Esau was the firstborn of the
twins. But God said, Jacob have I liked, Esau have I hated. Here then we are reminded of
God's sovereignty with regards to the choice that he makes. He has not appointed us, that
is these believers at Thessalonica, he has not appointed us to wrath. The choice that he has made centres
in himself and it is a choice that he made from all eternity. He has made that claim already
writing to these Thessalonians. In the very first chapter, he
says that verse 4, knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. How does he know their election? He goes on, you see, 4, it's
the same word as we have at the beginning of our text, because
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power
and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. as you know what
manner of men we were among you for your sake. He speaks then
of knowing their eternal erection, that that has taken place outside
of time, that that took place before ever time was created.
He knows the certainty with regards to the Thessalonians because
of the way in which the Gospel had come to them. There had been
that efficacious work of the Holy Spirit. There had been that
effectual call. The Gospel had not come just
in words, it had come with power. It had come with all the power
of the Holy Ghost. There had been that blessed application
to them. Again, when he writes in the
second epistle, And at verse 13 in chapter 2
he says, We are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our Gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has
chosen you from the beginning, chosen you to salvation, wherefore
he called you by the gospel as there is that eternal election
and so it goes hand in hand with effectual calling and Paul says this time and again
here to these Thessalonians again back in chapter 2 verse
13 you see For this cause also, he says, thank we God without
ceasing, because when you receive the word of God which you heard
of us, you receive it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you
that believe. It's the same truth as we have
in the first chapter, verses 4 and 5, you see. He knows that they are of the
election of grace because when the word of God came to them,
how did they receive it? Not as the word of man. But they
knew it truly should be the word of God. It worked effectually.
It worked effectually in the hearts of this people. God had appointed them not to
rot, though they were by nature the children of rot, as others
are. Yet God had made choice of them
from all eternity, and that choice was evidenced in time by their
experience of the efficacious grace of God by the Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the Gospel. There are many who find the doctrine
of God's eternal election a difficult doctrine. They find the very
idea of God's absolute sovereignty in terms of what he has decreed
and appointed a terrifying decree. They want to know, you see, are
they of that number of the elect. But we cannot enter heaven, we
cannot open that Lamb's book of life, where the names have
been written from before the foundation of the world. We know
that those secret things belong unto the Lord, but the things
which are revealed here in time belong unto us. How then are
we to know whether or not we are of that blessed company,
the election of Christ? We have to examine ourselves
in respect to how God's word comes to us as we hear the ministry
of the word and the preaching of the gospel. As Peter says
in his second epistle, we should give all diligence to make our
calling and our election Sure, but it is interesting that he
does place calling there before election. Of course, in the great
purpose of God, it is election that comes first. And then the
calling follows. Those whom God has appointed
to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, He appointed from
eternity. That comes first. and the effectual
call by the Holy Spirit is that that occurs in time. But when
it comes to us examining ourselves Peter there in his second epistle
chapter 1 and verse 10 puts the calling before the election.
You know whether you are of the election of Christ by giving
all diligence to first of all Examine yourselves with regards
to the call of God in the Gospel. As God's words come to you with
that gracious power, as God by His Spirit lay hold upon you,
as the Holy Ghost come and accomplish in your soul His covenant office,
He will reprove, it says, of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. as he made you to feel something
of the authority of the Word of God. And you might kick against
it. This was the experience of the
great apostle when he was Saul of Tarsus, how he kicked against
those pricks. How he didn't like it, you see.
And yet he has to bow to the authority of that Word of God. Here then we see the importance
of examining ourselves. Give all diligence, it says.
Are we diligent in this matter? To examine ourselves, to prove
ourselves, to know ourselves, as if Jesus Christ is in us,
except we be reprobate. God has not appointed us to wrath,
Paul says. speaks of himself of course,
but he includes those to whom he is addressing his epistle. God is not appointed as God's
foundation stands sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. There are not those then who
are appointed to wrath, there are some. Those whom God has
passed over The opposite of the decree of election is the terrible
doctrine of reprobation. There are those who are foreordained
to condemnation, they are vessels of wrath, aforeprepared to that
terrible place, but not so these to whom Paul is addressing himself. God has not appointed us to wrath,
he says, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And how precious again is this
little word, but. How often in the scriptures we
ought to recognise that. The buts, the neverthelesss,
that are scattered throughout the scriptures. Buts. These,
you see, are appointed not to wrath, but to salvation. And here we see God's sovereignty
in salvation. And how is that sovereignty revealed
to us? Well, we see it, do we not, in
the great atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. But to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, He said, who died for us? that whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. It is such a simple statement
that we have here in this first clause of the tenth verse, just
four words concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, who died
for us. Does he not remind us of the
words that we have in the great 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians?
Who died for our sins according to the scriptures. That's what
Paul says there in the 3rd chapter of 1st Corinthians 15 Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. When the Lord
says to the Jews In John chapter 5, third of the scriptures, they
testify of me, this is what they testify of, is it not? This is
the great truth that is revealed even there in the books of Moses
at the beginning. That without the shedding of
blood there can be no remission of sins. And of course all those
Levitical sacrifices that we read of in the third book of
scripture, They are all wonderful types of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Messiah must come and He must die. He must suffer, He
must bleed in the room and in the stead of His people. He must
die the just for the unjust, to bring sinners to God who died
for us. And again, the us of course,
That's the Apostle and that's those to whom he is addressing
himself. It's the Church of the Thessalonians,
it's those believers there at Thessalonica, those to whom the
Gospel had come, not in word only but in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. He's not saying that Christ died
for all. That is not true. We know that
Christ died only for those that the Father had given to him.
And when he died he didn't therefore just make salvation a possibility,
but he made salvation sure and certain. He died to save his
people. Not to make all men salvable,
that's what those who would contend for a universal atonement have
to acknowledge if they carefully examine the logic of the position
they're taking. The alternative is, if Christ
has died for all, that all will go to heaven. They have to become
universalists. None will go to hell, because
Christ has died for all and borne the punishment that was due to
all. Often times the Arminian is not
a universalist, but what he really says is that the death of Christ
really affected or accomplished nothing at all. It just made
salvation a possibility for everyone. But it made salvation a certain
phenomena. We say that the scripture doesn't
teach that. It tells us that Christ is to see of the travail
of his soul and he shall be satisfied that he has not shed his blood
in vain, that all those that he died for will enter heaven. Here then we see the great truth
of Christ's atoning death. This is what God has appointed
these Thessalonians to. To obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ, he says, who died for us. And we should observe
the connection here between what he has said at the beginning
of verse 9 concerning God's wrath And what he says here at the
beginning of verse 10 with regards to Christ's death. He has not
appointed us to wrath. And how has he effected that?
By the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christ is born that wrath
of God's that punishment that was the desert of the sins of
His people, the desert of these believers at Thessalonica, it
was all borne by the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross at Calvary. Romans 5 and verse 9, being now
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Saved from wrath through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because God has made him
to be seen, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He knew no sin. He was a sinless
man, holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. And
yet, there upon the cross he is made seen. There he really
does suffer for the sins of his people, their sins are imputed
to him, you see. This is a blessed exchange, is
it not, in the Gospel. We've already made mention of
imputation, how his righteousness is imputed to his people, how
his righteousness is reckoned to their account. That lies at
the very heart of the doctrine of justification, found in Christ,
not having mine own righteousness. of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, says Paul, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that's the righteousness of Christ which
is reckoned to his account, imputed to him. But he is the exchange
as that righteousness is imputed to his people, so the guilt of
their sins was imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made
sin by imputation. as they were made the righteousness
of God by imputation. And so Christ has suffered that
punishment that was there deserved. We all sow joy in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement,
says Paul. We can rejoice in him because
he is the one who was born that punishment, that terrible penalty
that was the desert of his people. He has suffered in their room
and in their state, and He has satisfied all the holy, righteous
justice of God. He has borne in His own person
that wrath that should have been visited upon His people, who
died for us. that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Whether we wake or sleep,
whether we live or die, that's the significance of what he is
saying. We know that there are some believers to whom death
is a terrible thing to contemplate, but it has no real terror. They
might be afraid of death. We read of those, do we not,
in the second chapter of Hebrews, who all their lifetime are subject
to bondage because of this terrible fear that they have. We are told there in Hebrews
2 verse 14, For as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, He also, that is Christ, also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage." Have a fear of death. But there is no real terror in
it. Or death where is thy sting? Or grave where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law,
but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. You see there is comfort here.
Comfort in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort
in the fact that Christ is that one who was risen again from
the dead. And so Paul says it, does he
not? Verse 11, wherefore comfort yourselves together. Christ died for us, that whether
we wake or sleep, whether we live or die, we should live together
with Him. Is He not that One who in 1 Corinthians
15 is the first of them that slept? And His resurrection is
the guarantee of the resurrection of His people. that we should live together
with him, therefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another
even as also ye do this. Comforting the doctrines that
we have sought to speak of this morning and they are tremendous
doctrines are they not? God's eternal election, God's
sovereign appointments. There is comfort there as well
as in the doctrine of Christ dying
and rising again if we are those who truly believe that God is
sovereign and that God's sovereignty is an absolute truth as it is
revealed to us here in scripture we know that all our times are
in his hands all events are at his command and we can draw comfort
from that, can we not? But none of those things that
come into our lives come merely by chance. But all are part of
that great eternal decree of the Almighty. As our late dear
friend Sidney Norton used to often say, it's all in the Covenant.
All these things, everything that comes to us under the hand
of a sovereign God, there's comfort you see. Comfort in Christ, in
his dying, in his rising again. Comfort in the sovereignty of
God. There is comfort of course also
in the truth that the Lord is going to come again. Do we not
see that so clearly there at the end of the previous chapter? Chapter 4 verse 16, The Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in
Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore
comfort one another with these words." We should comfort ourselves
with that blessed prospect, that glorious hope of the believer.
that the Lord Jesus Christ is to return and he is going to
return in power and great glory. He is going to come that second
time without sin unto salvation. He is already born that punishment
that was the desert of his people, the sinners. And when he comes
as the great judge, because the Father has committed all judgment
into his hands, as we are told in John 5, all judgment belongs
unto the Son. And when he comes as the judge
he will acquit his people. Those who are the sheep, they
will be made to stand on his right hand, and he will condemn
the goats, to that place that was foreordained for them. Depart
from them, ye shall say to them. But how it is a comforting truth,
you see, to the believer. Comfort one another with these
words. The comfort of that prospect
of Christ coming again, or the blessed comfort of his death
and his resurrection from the dead who died, for us that whether
we wake or sleep we should live together with him. Wherefore
comfort yourselves together, he says. But also the comfort
of the sovereignty of God in his eternal appointments having
predestinated the people to salvation. I like the language that's used
in the 17th article. It's amazing, really, the doctrinal
articles of the Church of England, of course, have long since been
jettisoned and not really believed anymore. There was a time, I
believe, when every man who was installed in a parish church
as the rector or the vicar had to give a sense to the articles.
It would be read in, as they said. Then we go through the
articles of faith, and this is article 17 on predestination. The godly consideration of predestination
and our eternal election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant and
unspeakable comforts to godly persons, because it does greatly
establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation. And isn't
that what we have in this text? Eternal salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to rot, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.