I want you to look again at two
specific verses with me, and those would be verses 9 and 10. But 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, that is when he
comes back, whether we're still living or our bodies are in the
ground, would make no difference. We should live together with
him. What an unspeakable mercy it is to be among those whom
God has not appointed unto wrath. But to be among those who have
been blessed, to be appointed to salvation, through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Those appointed to salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ were appointed an old eternity
to be the sons of God. We were appointed to have the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us freely. We were appointed
to be forgiven of our sins so that our sins will never be remembered
against us again. We were appointed to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved for
us in the heavens. We were appointed to be born
again by the spirit of grace. We were appointed to be gifted
with repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We were appointed someday to
leave this life and enter into the heavenlies and there to abide
with the Son of God forever and ever. Oh, how wonderful to be numbered
among God's people. and how blessed it is that we
were not appointed under wrath as so many were. I'll tell you, if we understood
more fully what it means not to be appointed under wrath,
but appointed under salvation, If we understood more fully,
like we're going to someday, but if we understood more fully,
even now, a blissful peace would come across our hearts. And we
ask God to give us a greater realization and a greater depth
of understanding of just what it means to be a child of God,
to be saved by the grace of God. And I'll tell you this, those who are not appointed to
wrath, but appointed to receive God's great salvation, are the
most blessed people on this earth. Although their physical circumstances
may not be pleasant, they may be in need, They may be diseased, they may
be sick, they may be injured, but to be among those who were
not appointed to wrath and to find ourselves among those who
were appointed unto salvation is the most blessed state that
anyone could be in in this whole world. Someday we shall enter into glory. And the joy of heaven will be
to be with Christ. Know this, people who do not
love the gospel, the gospel of grace, the gospel of blood redemption,
The gospel of election unto salvation and redemption by the sacrifice
of Christ. Those who have not been born
again of the Spirit of God, they would not be happy if God were
to take them to heaven. In fact, most people that I know
who are lost in religion, they would be perfectly happy in heaven
even if Christ weren't there. Think about that. I bet you know
some people like that too. They talk about going to heaven.
Oh, I'll go to heaven one day. And I'll see mom and dad. I'll see this one or that one
and we'll spend forever together. And they never mention the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the glory of heaven. Heaven
would not be heaven without Christ. He's the one we've fallen in
love with. He's the one we want to see.
He's the one who gave himself that we would live forever. He's
the one who from old eternity bore full responsibility for
our salvation. Fannie Crosby wrote, I want to
see my Savior first of all. Well, I would say he's the only
one I want to see. Because the Bible says former
things are passed away. We won't be aware in heaven of
all the folks who touched our lives down here. I don't think
we will. I think our full focus in heaven
will be for the Lamb of God who loved us and gave himself for
us. He's the one we want to be with,
and heaven would not be heaven at all, and I wouldn't want to
go there if Christ weren't there. I'll tell you where Christ is.
That's where heaven is. Heaven is where Christ is. And
wherever His gospel is preached, that's a little bit of heaven
on earth. And it's when we come in here
and we're reminded of the pure grace of God, of the work of
our Savior on our behalf, As we join our voices together in
singing, as we read the Word of God, as we seek God's face
in prayer, that's about as close to heaven as we're going to be
down here. And when the worship service
is over and we go home, if we've been blessed by the service,
by the presence of the Spirit of God and the preaching of the
gospel, will say something like David did. It's been good. It's been good to be in the house
of the Lord. I say, if you're not appointed
unto wrath, be thankful for the sovereign grace to you in, through,
and by the Lord Jesus Christ, given you before the world began.
Now, we know Paul is writing a letter This is his first letter
to the Thessalonian believers. Well, that leads me to raise
this question, how did he know that these Thessalonians were
not appointed under wrath but to obtain salvation? Well, he
said some things back in the first chapter that tells us this. We know how he knew because look
in chapter one of 1 Thessalonians in verse four. Chapter one of
1 Thessalonians in verse four. He says, knowing brethren, brethren
beloved, your election of God. I know you're the election of
God. How'd he know that? Well, here's how I knew, verse
five. The word for means because. Here's the reason I know that.
Because our gospel, our gospel, certainly it's the
gospel of God, it's the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
listen, the apostle Paul loved this message and preached this
message. He called it our gospel. He says,
our gospel came not unto you in word only, stop right there,
but it did come in word. He did preach the gospel to these
people, but it didn't just come in word. That's the way the gospel
comes to a lot of people in word only. It has to be the word of the
gospel accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. As I sow the seed of the gospel,
the good seeds, nothing wrong with the seed, but the seed has
to be germinated, it has to do a work in the hearts of sinners.
And apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and
quickening grace in the new birth, that seed will just be picked
up by the black birds of the demonic forces of hell and just
carried away. So he says, our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power. Whose power? The power of the preacher? No. The power of the soul winner? No. The power of the evangelist
or the missionary? No. In power and in the Holy
Ghost, it has to come to a center, has to come to you and to me
by the invincible, almighty power of God Himself. the Holy Spirit
and in much assurance. In other words, the Spirit of
God will do a work in the heart of the sinner and make them know
and have assurance. This is indeed the gospel of
God. It's the gospel that began with
God. God's the author of the gospel.
God is the empowerment of the gospel. God the Son is the fullness
of the gospel. It's the glad tidings of who
Christ is and what He did and why He did it and where He is
now. This gospel came to them by the
power of the Holy Spirit and they were assured in their hearts,
this is the truth. Because of the Thessalonians,
we read back in the book of Acts, that they searched the word of
God to make sure that these things were true. And he adds, as ye 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, having
received the Lord Jesus Christ, having received the incarnate
Word, having received the written Word, even though in much affliction, and you received it with joy. You see, the gospel of redeeming
grace is a joyful message. And when the Spirit of God penetrates
the heart and gives us a knowledge of this great God in His holiness
and how that His justice has been satisfied by the doing and
the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ and our sins have been put away,
we'll never be charged with them. They'll never be brought up against
us again. That comes to us in great joy. Is there a more joyful message
than the gospel? of God's redeeming grace. Joy,
not a false joy, not a put on joy, not a happiness where praise
the Lord and mouthing off with, you know, getting in the flesh,
that sort of thing, but a joy within that results in peace,
peace within, all is well with God in my soul. And all is well
because of what the Lord has done for us. We're not appointed to wrath. We're appointed and destined
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what it says
here back in our text in chapter 5 verse 9, For God hath not appointed
or designed or destined us to wrath." Leads me to think of
this, exactly what is the wrath of God? I'll tell you this, the damned
souls in hell know something about the wrath of God. The rich man who died and lifted
up his eyes in hell, he knows something about the wrath of
God. But the wrath of God to those
who are in hell is measured. It is meted out. They don't experience the fullness
of the wrath of God. The fullness of the wrath of
God would obliterate them, so it has to be measured. You see,
wrath means vengeance, anger. God's wrath is certainly His
hatred toward sin and toward the sinner. There's only one who knows about
the fullness of the wrath of God. And it's his own wrath that he
knows about, our Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot explain it. I can't
comprehend it. But all of the vengeance of God,
all of the wrath of God, all of the hatred of God, all of
the fury of God against sin, my sin, it fell upon the soul, the holy
soul of my substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not appointed to wrath, but
wrath was appointed to him because of whose sins were imputed to
him. The sins of this sinner, the
sins of so many sinners here, the sins of so many sinners who
are watching, all of the sins of all of the people of God of
all of the ages were heaped on him and he experienced in his
innermost being the very fullness of the vengeance, the fury, the
wrath of God against sin. He took the cup of damnation
and he drank it dry. Oh, the wrath of God. I fear for those who know not
the Savior. They have no idea what they're
in store for unless God interrupts their fatal plunge toward hell. In Psalm 2, 12, David wrote, kiss the son, lest
he be angry with thee, and ye perish from the way. Now listen
to this, when his anger is kindled, but a little, but a little. His wrath was kindled but a little,
just a little. And the whole world perished
in the waters of a flood with the exception of Noah and his
family. It was kindled just a little. His wrath was kindled just a
little. And Solomon, Gomorrah, and the
cities of the plains were consumed done away with, burned up when
his wrath was kindled just a little. When Korah and Dathan and Abiram
rebelled against Moses, the wrath of God was kindled
just a little. And the earth opened up and the
earth swallowed them down to hell. Them, their families, and
all that appertained to them, and the 250 princes who stood
behind them and urged them to rule over Moses and Aaron, to
take their places. Those 250, God sent fire from
heaven and burned them up when his wrath was kindled. Just a
little. Just a little. I'm so glad I wasn't appointed
to wrath. And here's the thing. If left
to ourselves, we would have been. Because we were no more deserving
of the salvation of God, the grace of Christ, the blood of
the substitute, we were no more deserving than the non-elect,
than the reprobate. Why am I not numbered among the
reprobate who never knew God and never will know God? Why
is it that I'm not on the side of those who believe that any
kind of religion's okay? All roads lead to heaven. Believe
your way, I'll believe my way. We'll all wind up the same place.
It's only the grace of God, because I'm not appointed to wrath, that
I don't believe a false gospel. I used to. Why am I different? That's what
Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 4. Who maketh thee to be different
from another? I know this, I didn't make the
difference. And I know this too, you didn't make the difference
in you. It's a difference that the Lord
has made. The people in hell taste something
of the bitterness of the wrath of God that will
never be quenched. The Son of God speaking about
wrath. He said, that's where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Therefore it is asked, who can
stand when he appeareth? The great day of his wrath is
come. Who shall be able to stand? They
will cry to the rocks, and to the hills, saying, Fall on us,
and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come, and who shall be able to stand? Thank God he has not appointed
us to wrath. We're not going to know anything
about that. All that we shall ever know is
the pure mercy and grace of God to us through the doing and the
dying, the blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
all we'll ever know. There's a passage in Isaiah that
seems to indicate, and depending on which commentator you read,
seems to indicate that the saints of God, every once in a while,
the curtains will be pulled back and we'll be able to look into
hell and see those that are suffering the agonies of the wrath of God. And that may be the best way
to translate that. They may be correct. But I know
this, we will spend eternity thanking God we weren't appointed
to wrath. we were appointed to salvation. There's some people that God
bypassed with His grace. There's some people that God
won't give them saving mercy. And my heart cries out, why me? Why am I different? And the answer comes back, only
because of free and sovereign grace. That's the only reason. I can't take credit for anything
except my sins. That's all I can take credit
for. Yeah, but you believed. I can't take credit for my faith.
It's a gift. Yeah, but you turned away from
dead works. I can't take credit for my repentance. That's a gift. Yes, there's a group ordained
to eternal life who will never experience the wrath of the Lamb.
We were appointed to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And
the word obtain, that's an interesting word in itself, and it has built
into it the idea of purchase. And one writer says it has this
idea built into it, forced. We were forced by free and sovereign
grace, omnipotence, we were forced to bow the will to King Jesus
and be satisfied to be saved only in, through and by Him. We have no other hope and we
have no other plea. but that when Christ died, he
died for me. That's the only hope I got. Thank God he appointed us to
obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He appointed,
he established, he fixed us now. He ordained us. The same word
is used over in Hebrews, you don't have to turn to this, but
it's in Hebrews chapter one, It talks about our Savior in these last days,
God has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, whom He
hath appointed heir of all things. If God appoints someone to something,
then the person appointed is going to receive what was appointed
for him. Does that make sense? And it
says here, and look it up, if you want to get into the Greek,
it's the identical Greek word used there in I Thessalonians
5 and 9. God appointed Christ to be the
heir of all things. That's not going to change. And
God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain the salvation that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ and whoever God appointed to obtain
the salvation that's in the Lord Jesus Christ, that cannot change. It's as sure as the exaltation
of Christ is sure. I love that. I love that. We're appointed to obtain salvation. This salvation is ours for it's
been purchased for us and we've been purchased for the salvation. Salvation, wonderful word, the
rescue of the soul and the body from all the effects of sin.
Salvation brings in the idea of wholesomeness, wellness, healthiness,
Spiritually. We were born spiritually unhealthy,
unwholesome, dead in trespasses and sins,
but we were born to obtain that salvation
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the second letter to
the Thessalonians. Look at chapter 2 and verses
13 and 14. Here's what we're appointed to
obtain. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, but we're
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, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory. of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We're not gonna perish, we can't
perish. It's impossible. And we will be satisfied when
we awaken with the likeness of Christ. I want you to turn to
passage in Psalm. I'll make a couple of comments
from here. Psalm 73, and then we'll sing. our last Psalm. Look at Psalm
73. I mentioned a few minutes ago
about people want to go to heaven, whether Christ is there or not.
And I would ask you, let me direct this question to every heart,
to all of you here, and to those of you who are watching, Let
me direct this question to your heart. Would you be satisfied
in heaven if Christ was not there? A child of God wouldn't be. Look at Psalm 73. David, he had
envied the wicked. They didn't seem to have the
troubles that he had. And he had a bunch of them, that's
for sure. And he envied them. And he says
in verse 22, so foolish was I in ignorance. He says to the Lord, I was as
a beast before thee. I have been in that position
before. I feel like I'm a beast before God. Nevertheless, even when you feel
like you're a beast. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. The Lord is still with me. I
may behave inwardly and maybe even outwardly like a man who
doesn't know God. Nevertheless, I'm continually with the Lord.
because He's continually with me. He says, thou hast holden
me by my right hand, like a father takes the son's hand and walks
along with him. He holds us by His right hand,
and the right hand of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
His right hand. No, never alone. That's one of the songs. He says,
thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, with thy purpose. You ever thought to yourself,
I don't think my life has any meaning or any purpose at all.
I'm just wandering around in this maze, like a corn maze,
late fall. Your life does have purpose. And the Lord leads you through
this maze. We used to sing a song. First
part of it's good. My Lord knows the way through
the wilderness. You remember singing that chorus?
We used to sing that chorus, can't we? The rest of it is all
I have to do is follow. I don't like that last part because
the Lord keeps us, He draws us, He guides us, but I'm thankful
He knows the way through the wilderness. He knows the way
all the way to the promised land, and I may misbehave along the
way, and I do, and I will continue to. Though I long to honor Him
with my life, I'm just a sinner saved by grace. I'm never going
to rise above that in this world. You might as well come to grips
with that concerning yourself. You say, I'm growing in grace,
I'll tell you. I'm growing in sanctification.
Methinks you don't know what you're talking about. Thou shalt guide me. Though I'm
foolish and beastly, you'll guide me with thy purpose and afterwards
receive me to glory." He's going to receive me. Like the father
receiving the prodigal son. Ran out to him with his arms
out and he embraced the prodigal son. And the prodigal son, I'm
sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And the father just interrupted
him and hugged him and put kisses on his cheek. Said, I love you,
boy. You're mine. That's the way the
Lord is toward us. He says, you'll receive me. Receive me to glory. First one I'm going to see when
I get to glory is the Lord Jesus Christ. And when He sees me,
I'm fully persuaded He's going to hug me, embrace me, and kiss
me and say, welcome home, son! You've been my son forever, because
I bought you with my blood. And therefore David says, whom
have I in heaven but thee? As if there's nobody else there
I want to see. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And really there's none upon earth that I desire besides thee. He's all I want. And I'll tell
you what, he or she who has Christ Jesus has everything in Him. We're not appointed to wrath,
thank God. We're appointed to obtain salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn to 126.