Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I will be speaking to you today
from First Thessalonians chapter five, First Thessalonians chapter
five, and two verses will be our text. It's verses nine and
10, but let's begin in verse one and we'll read to the text. It says, but of the times and
the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly 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 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 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 inhelment
the hope of salvation. Now verse nine says, 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. What an amazing announcement
that is. Absolutely amazing. Verse nine,
he said, 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." Now, you
may have noticed that he spoke of two separate groups of people,
they and us, them and us. We, did you notice that two separate
groups of people? Verse three, he said, 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. Ye are all the
children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the
night nor of darkness. Do you see this? 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 inhelment
the hope of salvation. 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. I want to be one of the us. Don't
you? Don't you? I pray that we are
included in the us. That is my sincere prayer for
myself and for you. Both of us. I want us to be included
in the us. How can we know if we are? How
can we know? How can we know if we are the
us? Well, who are the us? That's the question to ask. Who
are the us? Who is he talking to when he
says us? He told us who he was talking
to in chapter one. He started this letter by telling
us exactly who he was talking to, who he was addressing the
letter to. And we're going to turn and I
want to tell you now that we're going to turn a little bit here
in first Thessalonians and second Thessalonians. And I don't want
this to be confusing, but I want to show you this. If you have
your Bible and would like to follow along, I want you to see
this, but we're going to turn a little bit here. If you go
with me to chapter one, verse one, it says, Paul and Silvanus
and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is
in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The us are
all those who God the Father has placed in the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's people are in Christ. Christ
is in God the Father. God, the father is in Christ.
Christ is in God's people in one with. So the us are all of
those who have been placed in Christ. Verse one goes on to
say, grace be unto you and peace from God, our father. and the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's all those who have received
grace and peace from him. Grace, peace. Verse 2 says, We
give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you
in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and
labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
in the sight of God and our Father. The only work that the us has
is a work of faith. That's it. One work. This is the work of God that
we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has sent faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And faith is not actually a work.
Faith looks to Christ for his work. That's what faith does.
It just looks to Christ. It's in all of his work. Faith is in his ability. Not
our ability, not even our ability to look to him, it's totally
him, of him. Faith is in his promise that
he made, that he's fulfilled everything that needs to be done
in order to save us. That's what faith is. And the
only labor that the us performs is a labor of love, love because
of it, love for Christ, for Christ's sake, because of what Christ
has done. Thanks to him for what he has
done. And he said, all of the us. have
a patient hope in the sight of God the Father. They just patiently
wait. Hope is expected anticipation.
That's what the word means. They're just waiting on Christ
in the sight of God the Father. So that's who the us are. Now
in verse four, right here in chapter one, he said, I'm writing
to you and I'm giving thanks for you. Verse four, knowing
brethren, beloved, your election of God, knowing your election
of God. The us are all those who were
elected by God. I understand that that's a strange
word to many and a hard to understand word to many, but that word is
in the scripture many, many times. The us are all those who were
elected by God. What does that mean? What is
God's election? Elected to what? Elected means
choosing, choice. Chosen to what? Well, if you'll
turn with me now to 2 Thessalonians 2, it says in 2 Thessalonians 2,
verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Those who have been loved
of the Lord. We love him because he first
loved us. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
This started with his love. So he said, we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you. That's elected. That's what elected means. Chosen
you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. God's election took place from
the beginning, before the foundation of the world. And it was an election
to salvation. He said, God, from the beginning,
chose you to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit, the setting apart of the Holy Spirit, being laid hold
of by the Holy Spirit, he said, through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, who is a person. Christ said,
I'm the truth. And this is the word of Christ.
This is the word of his truth. Every sinner that God the Father
placed in his election before the foundation of the world.
Every one of them will be laid hold of by the Holy Spirit and
brought to a belief of the truth, a belief of the truth concerning
Christ, a belief of the truth concerning the word, the truth
of the gospel, the truth of Christ himself. Every one of those particular
people will know the truth And the truth shall make them free. Christ shall make them free. And that freeing belief of the
truth is going to come through the preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 14, right here in 2 Thessalonians
2 says, Where unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how God's people
are called by the gospel. So back in first Thessalonians
one back where we started first Thessalonians, uh, chapter one,
I'm sorry. We started in chapter five back
in first Thessalonians one verse four says, knowing brethren,
beloved your election of God for our gospel came not unto
you in word only. but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. He said, when the Holy Spirit
of God brought the gospel of Christ to your heart, He brought
you to the preaching of the word and through that preaching of
the word, the Holy Spirit took it and planted that word in your
heart and caused you to believe it. He said it did not just come
in word only. which happens quite often. People
hear the truth of God's word. It goes in one ear and out the
other. It's not planted in the heart. That's word only. No true
conviction, no true belief. He said it came in a way where
you had the ability to truly receive it, not reject it. It was irresistible. God moved and it was irresistible. It came in power, he said, with
much assurance. And you responded by saying,
I know this is the truth. I believe this is the truth of
God right here. This is the work of God, the
glory of God, the salvation of God alone. And I believe it. That's the truth. I'm fully persuaded. Amen. Amen. God's work. God's glory. Amen. Verse five, he said, 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. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples to all that
believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place your faith to God word is spread abroad so
that we need not to speak anything. He said, you, we don't need to
convince you of anything. God's Holy Spirit has convinced
you. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering
in we had unto you and how you turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God. And oh, I pray we would see that.
Time and again. I pray we would see that any
God that any man or woman is worshiping that is not in line
with the God that is declared in this word is an idol. It's
a it's a God of our imagination. We've made up God. But when his
spirit comes with the word and with that conviction. God's people
turn from their made up gods. Well, I think, you know, people
say, well, I think God is this way. No, I think God is this
way. When God's spirit says this is God, this is how he is, who
he is. And God's people cry, amen. I
believe that what has happened is they have turned from their
own manmade idols. to worship and serve the living
and true God. And verse 10 right here says
to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come delivered
us from the wrath to come. The apostle Paul said, the us
who I'm writing to and talking about are all those who the Spirit
of God has turned from idols, all the man-made idols of false
religion, to the living and true God, to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus Christ, our
Lord, which delivered us, us from the wrath to come. The us
are the people who God chose and God saved by washing them
in God's blood and has quickened them by God's spirit and life
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they have received.
That's who the us are. And if God has given us, all
right, you and me, if God has given us a faith, not in ourselves,
but in Christ and in his promise and in his word and in his work,
a hope, a love, if He has given that to us, one that is totally dependent
on Christ, not one that says His work plus mine. I believe
in Him and me. I believe in the cooperation
we have, not that, but totally in Christ. If that has been given
to us, then we are members of the us. If Christ is all, if
we can say it that way, Christ is all, I am nothing, and Christ
is all. Then that's the evidence of being
the us. I pray that'll be comforting
if that's us. There's an old story of a man, Charles Spurgeon
used to tell this story of a man, he called him Happy Jack. And
that man, the Lord opened his eyes and saved him, and it didn't
matter what question anyone asked him regarding his salvation or
his religion, this was his only answer. I'm just a sinner and
nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. That's
all he said over and over again. And if that's our answer, I'm
just a sinner and nothing at all, that's me. I confess to
you, like the Apostle Paul said, This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners and the apostle Paul said, I'm the chief. And
I confess the same thing. I'm just a sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ is my all and in all. I pray we can
all say that. Now let's go back to our text.
Okay. First Thessalonians five. First Thessalonians chapter five,
verse nine says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath. God hath not appointed us to
wrath. What an announcement of good
news. Do we realize what good news that is? God hath not appointed
us to wrath. It is appointed unto all men
and women to suffer affliction in this life, to suffer trouble
to endure sufferings. Job said, man, that is born of
a woman is a few days and full of trouble. That's, that's life,
life on this earth, few days and full of trouble. In chapter
three, verse three says that no man should be moved by these
afflictions for yourselves know that we are appointed there unto. We are appointed to afflictions. And it's because of sin. It is
because of sin. It's because we are sin. We are sinners because we are
sin. And because of sin, all men and
women are appointed to something else. I'll quote this to you.
This is Hebrews chapter nine, verse 27. It says, as it is appointed
unto men wants to die. But after this, the judgment,
because of sin, it is appointed unto all men and women to lay
this body down. And our souls are appointed to
go back to God, the God who gave them. And verse 27 says, after
that is the judgment, affliction, death, judgment. That's what is appointed. Every
man and woman on this earth is appointed to a judgment, suffering
in this life, death, and then a judgment. Over in Acts chapter
17, this is verse 31. It says, because he hath appointed
a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained. Who is that man who he hath ordained,
who God the Father ordained? Christ Jesus, the Lord. His righteousness
that he attained as he walked this earth, his perfection, his
sinlessness, that's what set the standard that everybody has
to live up to. Christ set the standard for the
judgment. Christ set the standard. Every
soul who is outside of Christ trying to earn his or her own
righteousness before God, his or her own goodness, every soul
who tries to bring his or her own righteousness to the judgment
throne of God, that soul is going to be judged compared to the
Lord Jesus Christ. If we bring our own righteousness,
we're going to have to stand there next to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we're going to have to be
compared to the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our thoughts
are going to be compared to his thoughts. Our motives of the
heart will be compared to his motive of the heart. And I'll
tell you this, we won't stand. That soul will not stand. We will not meet his standard. And wrath will be appointed to
that soul. This is the truth. But every
soul who comes crying, I have no righteousness to bring none
whatsoever. My only hope is that he earned
a righteousness for me and gave it to me. I'm begging for it. I'm pleading his righteousness. God said that soul is not going
to be judged next to the Lord Jesus Christ. That soul is going
to be judged in the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who cries, I
don't have a righteousness. I must have his. That's the evidence
that God, the father has placed that soul in Christ. And that
soul will be represented in that soul will be covered in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you this in Christ.
Mercy will be appointed to that soul. Grace will be appointed
to that soul. Reward will be appointed to that
soul. For some, Christ came to be the
standard. But for some, Christ came to
be the substitute. Isn't that good news? And here's
the evidence of who is who, okay? All those who are going to go
meet God in their own righteousness and want to plead their own works
and their own goodness. Those are those who do not want
His. If they want, if we want our
own, that's the evidence that we don't want His and we do not
need His. They have their own and they're looking to those
and they're clinging to those. That's a horrible place to be.
But the evidence of every soul that is going to go meet God
in Christ and in the covering and in the perfection and in
the mercy of the righteousness of Christ, their evidence is
he's all they have. They say, I don't have anything
beside him. All I have is sinful flesh. All
I have is evil. All I have is wickedness and
they cannot establish their own righteousness before God. So
the righteousness of Christ is all they have and it's all they
plead. It's all they want. It's all they're looking to.
They're looking to him and his deeds. And there's a merciful
appointment to every soul that comes to God in that way. The
us, there's a merciful appointment. Now, verse 9 in our text, it
says, 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. The Apostle
Paul told the Philippians, he said, To live is Christ and to
die is gain. Because that's the obtaining
of our appointment, the obtaining of our salvation. That's what
is appointed to the us salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, by
his work, his life, his death, his deeds. There's a song that
says someday the silver cord will break and I know more as
now shall sing. That means I will lay down this
body in death. But the song says, oh, the joy
when I shall wake within the palace of the king. And I shall
see him face to face and tell the story saved by grace, saved
by the goodness and the kindness and the mercy of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, God hath not appointed
us his chosen people. He hath not appointed us to wrath
because he appointed Christ to wrath in our place as our substitute. He appointed Christ to die for
us. And therefore, he appointed us
to obtain salvation through his death. And I want to close with
how our Lord worded it. This is Luke 22, verse 29. Luke 22, 29. The Lord said, I
appoint unto you a kingdom as my father appointed unto me. I appoint that unto you, he said,
because he was appointed to wrath for us. His people were appointed
to life in a kingdom and acceptance by God, the father. We, I pray
me and you are appointed to a kingdom all because of Christ, that whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Oh, that God
might include us in his us. Don't you want to be one of the
us? I want to so badly. Lord, remember us. That's what
the thief on the cross cried as he was hanging there next
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Remember me. Choose me. Save me. I pray I'm one of your
elect. Draw me near to you. Cry that
in your heart. Cry, Lord, I need it. I desire
it. I beg for it. May God make it
so. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.