Go with me, if you would, to
1 Thessalonians 5. First Thessalonians chapter five. Two verses in this chapter will
be our text. It's verses nine and 10. But
let's begin reading in verse one and read up to the text. It says, but of the times and
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 in
helmet, 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. What an amazing announcement.
What an amazing announcement. I read that chapter. for our
scripture reading last Sunday night. It went well with what
we were looking at for our message last Sunday night. And whenever
I read that, those two verses just really got a hold of me.
And I couldn't stop thinking about them all week. Look at
verse nine again. God hath not appointed us to
wrath. This is amazing. This is an amazing
announcement. 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. In what we just read,
he was talking about them and us. Verse three, he said, for
when they shall say peace and safety, as long as they're saying
utter chaos and everybody fear and all that, it's not time yet. But when they 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
in the night, they that 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 in
helmet, 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? Yeah, just speaking really, just
speaking, I want to be one of the us. God said, there's a they
and an us. Dear God, I want to be one of
the us. I sincerely want all of us, my
prayer is that all of us are included in the us. I mean that. Oh, I mean that. How can we know if we are? Who are the us? Who's he talking to when he says
us? He's talking to somebody. He's
writing to and speaking to somebody. Who is he talking to? He told
us exactly who he's talking to. which means he told us who the
us are in chapter one. It's who he's writing his letter
to. He's writing the letter to us. Turn with me over there to
chapter one. Chapter one, verse one says,
Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians,
which is in God the father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the us are those who God
the father placed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray God
might teach us what that means. I do. I pray the Lord might teach our
children what that means and teach us adults what that means.
What does it mean to be in Christ? What does it mean for the Father
to put us in Christ? Well, that's who the us are,
whoever God the Father has placed in Christ. Verse one, he went
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. All those who are in his grace.
Grace means gift. Every soul included in the gift,
all those who are in his peace. Verse two, he said, 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. He said, it's those who have
a work, a labor and a hope. And here's the work of the us.
This is the only work that the us have. He said it's a work
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We just heard about looking to
Christ. You know what looking to Christ
is? Every time a question comes into our minds that is fearful
regarding our condition before God or Every time, this is what
the flesh naturally does. All the time, the flesh goes. This is what the flesh does.
Always. It's always looking right here.
Always. And looking to Christ goes. That's looking to Christ. What's the answer? What's the
answer? What's the answer? Oh, there's the answer. That's
looking to Christ. That's the only work that the
us have. It's a work of faith. This is
the only labor that the us have. It's a labor of love. If we do
anything, it's just because of love. It's a faith in the fact that
he's fulfilled everything that needs to be done to save us. And it's a labor of love for
Christ. It's a labor of thanks to him
for everything that he has done to save us. And he said, all of the us have
a patient hope in the sight of God the Father. Now in verse
four, he said, I'm writing to you and I'm giving thanks for
you. Verse four, knowing brethren,
beloved, your election of God. The us are all those who were
elected by God. What does that mean? What does that mean? What is
God's election elected to what many people believe that, you
know, we've said this so many times, but so many people believe
this. That means God cast a vote for you and the devil cast a
vote against you. That's no election. Not really. They ultimately say the deciding
vote is yours and that's not it at all. What is truly, what was truly
God's election? Elected to what? Turn with me
over to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, it
says, But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning 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,
setting apart of the Holy Spirit, being laid hold of by the Holy
Spirit. That's what happens to all of
God's people. God sends His Holy Spirit and He lays hold of them
and pulls them out, sets them apart through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Every sinner that God
the Father placed in His election before the foundation of the
world will be laid hold of by the Holy Spirit of God And they
will be brought to a belief of the truth. They will love the
truth. They will thank God for the truth,
the truth of this word, the truth of the gospel, the
truth of Christ, who is the truth. He said, I am the truth. Oh,
they'll love the truth. Every one of them will know the
truth. And the truth will make them
free. Totally set them free from themselves. We're in such bondage
to ourselves. The sin, the burden of the law,
set them free. And that freeing belief of the
truth is gonna come through the preaching of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That means the good news of what
Christ did and not you. What are we going to do for Him?
That's not the gospel. What has He already done for
us? That's the gospel. Verse 14 right here, He said,
Whereunto He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So back in 1 Thessalonians 1,
this is who the us are. First Thessalonians chapter 1
verse 4, we're continuing here, he said, 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, you believed
it. And that's an amazing thing.
That's an amazing thing. I should not be so doubtful like
Thomas. But I'm always a little bit shocked
when somebody believes the gospel. I shouldn't be. I have no reason
to be. It's the power of God. It's the
power of the Almighty God. But every time somebody believes
the truth of the Word, every time the Spirit makes somebody
see it and believe it, I am a little bit shocked and a whole bunch
overjoyed. And then whenever I see the Holy
Spirit of God Almighty keep somebody in that love, and in that looking,
and in that belief, and in that faith, and not be like the Lord
gave the parable of the sower. Some fell among thorns and it
sprang up, but it got choked out. And some fell, when I see
the Lord keep a sinner like me, loving that word, believing that
word, believing the, News of Christ. I'm so thankful. I'm so overjoyed by that. He
said, when God's spirit brought it to you, it didn't just come
in word only. You did not have the ability
to accept it or reject it. It was irresistible. It was overpowering. It came to you in power. That's a glorious thing to say.
I have no power. None of us have any power, but
God does. And when he and his power and
in his love and in his mercy overpowers us, it's overpowering. It's irresistible. He said, it came to you in power
with much assurance. You said in your heart, I know
this is the truth. I know this is the truth. I see
it right here. Until God gives us eyes, we'll
never see it. But when he in power opens our
eyes, We'll see it and we'll say, I know this is the truth.
The work of God, it's not my work, it's His. The glory of God, it's not my
glory, it's His. The salvation of God, it's not
my salvation, it's His. I believe it. I do. And you do too. Every child of God will say,
that's the truth. That's the truth. I am fully
persuaded. Amen. 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. He said, even though it was in
much affliction, you were just so happy. While back, we looked
at the, in a Bible study, we looked at the story of Thessalonica,
what all happened there. And it was much affliction. They
were much afflicted, afflicted for hearing, receiving, believing,
preaching this man. He said, y'all were so happy. Joy in the Holy Ghost, verse
7, 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 toward God is spread abroad so that
we need not speak anything. 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 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 I'm talking about. He said, it's all those
who the Spirit of God has turned from idols. The biggest one being self. All the man-made idols that man
can think up. everything he can think up to
worship. He said, the spirit of God turns you from all of
your own idols 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 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 to life
and to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if God has given
us a faith and a hope and a love that is totally dependent on
the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are part of the us. If Christ is all, I mean Christ
is all, if we are nothing and Christ is all, that's the evidence of being
the us. Just like that story of the huckster,
that poor man, all he could say was, I'm just a sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. And that's it. That's it. If we can say that,
that's the evidence of being the us. All right, now let's
go back to 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse nine says, for God hath
not appointed us to wrath. God hath not appointed us to
wrath. What an announcement of good news. God hath not appointed us to
wrath. It is appointed to all men and
women to suffer affliction in this life. If you want to know
why things generally don't go well, here on this earth. It's because we have all been
appointed to affliction. All of us appointed to suffering
and just trouble. We're all appointed to trouble. Job said, man that is born of
a woman is a few days and full of trouble. It's gonna be trouble,
trouble, trouble. Look back at chapter three, verse
three. It says that no man should be
moved by these afflictions for yourselves know that we are appointed
there unto. All men and women are appointed
to afflictions because of sin. And because of sin, all men and
women are appointed to something else. Because of sin, which is
what we all are and what we've all done, All men and women are
appointed to something else. Turn with me to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 verse 27. It says,
and as it is appointed unto men wants to die. That's an appointment
because of sin. It's appointed to all men and
women to lay this body down. If somebody is wondering whether
or not they have sin in them, all they need to do is wait and
see if they lay this body down in death. That is the evidence
of sin. The wages of sin is death. And it's appointed because of
that sin to all men and women to die. And it's appointed for
our souls to go back, to meet God who gave them originally. And verse 27 right here goes
on to say, after that is the judgment. So this is the appointments,
affliction, death, and judgment that's appointed to all men and
women, affliction, death, and judgment.
Every man and woman on this earth has been appointed to judgment. Turn with me over to Acts 17. Acts 17 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 that he ordained? Christ the Lord. His righteousness
that he attained as he walked on this earth. Our Lord, when
he was here, he was perfect. We've never seen, we've never
witnessed a perfect man or woman. We don't know what that would
even look like. How amazing would it have been to watch him? He
was perfect, absolutely perfect. All of his sinlessness, all of
his perfection set the standard. That's what he did when he walked
this earth. 33 and a half years, he set the
bar. He set the standard, the standard of judgment, and every
soul who is outside of Christ trying to earn his own righteousness
before God, every soul who tries to bring his own self-righteousness
to the judgment of God, would you want to bring your own self-made
righteousness to the judgment of God? Every soul who does that, that
soul is going to be judged, judged, compared to the perfection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to stand next
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that soul will not meet his
standard. and wrath will be appointed to
that soul. Whoever does not meet that standard,
wrath will be appointed to that soul. But every soul who comes
crying, I don't have a righteousness to bring. I did not earn a perfection
of my own. My only hope is that one has
been earned for me. and freely given to me. I'm trusting
the promise of the Word. I'm just trusting the promise
of the Word. God said that soul is not going
to be judged compared to the Lord Jesus Christ. That soul
is going to be judged in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going
to be judged, just appointed to everybody to be judged, one
of two ways. Next to the Lord Jesus Christ,
or inside the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want to be found in Him. He said that soul that is represented
in and covered in the righteousness of Christ, mercy is going to
be appointed to that soul. For some, Christ came to set
the standard. For others, for some, Christ
came to be the substitute. And here's the evidence of who's
who. All those who are going to go meet God in their own self-righteousness,
here's how we can know which one we are. All who are gonna
go meet God in their own self-righteousness, they don't want His. They don't need his, they have their own. They're
looking to their own. They're looking to their deeds.
They're looking to their obedience. And there's a horrible appointment
to every soul that comes to God in that way. But the evidence
of every soul that is going to go meet God in the covering and
the protection and the mercy of being in the righteousness
of Christ, this is their evidence. He's all they have. He is literally
all they have. Because of their own sinful flesh,
they cannot establish their own righteousness before God. When
they look within, they're not happy. They're disgusted. They don't see anything inside
here that God would be pleased with. They have nothing. When
they turn their eyes within, you ask them, you see anything
good in there? No, I don't. I don't. The righteousness of
Christ is all that they have. They need Him. They want Him. They are looking to Him. They're looking to His deeds.
They're looking to His obedience. And there's a merciful appointment
to every soul that comes to God in that way, the us. That's what He calls every soul
who comes to God in that way, the us. So go back to 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 9 says, 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,
to live is Christ and to die is gain. To be here is Christ. What's our life? He is. To be here, to live is Christ. To die is gain. So much gain. And the reason is because that's
just the obtaining of our appointment, what we have been appointed to. The obtaining of our salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Someday, the song says, someday
the silver cord will break, And I no more as now shall sing. But 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. I'll see him face to face, and
this will be the only story I have, saved by grace. He said, God
hath not appointed us to wrath because he appointed Christ to
wrath for us. And because he appointed Christ
to wrath for us, because he died for us, he hath appointed us
to obtain salvation. Our Lord said it this way. He
said, I appoint unto you the kingdom. That's what he said
in Luke 22. As it has been appointed unto me, I appoint that unto
you. He was appointed to wrath for
us. And because of that, we've been appointed to his kingdom,
that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with
him. I pray God might include us in the us. I sincerely do. I sincerely do. Lord, remember us. Remember us. We need it, don't we? We desire
it, we beg for it. Lord, make us your us. Please, please, for Christ's
sake. Pray the Lord will make it so.
All right, let's all stand together.