1 Thessalonians 5 and 9, for
those on the CD and on the tapes and the internet, is our text
today and our subject concerns the wrath of God and the elect. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For ye yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes 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. Ye 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
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
hellament 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. Now look at verse 9 again. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. We think of the wrath of God.
And as we do, of all of the attributes of God that we meet with in scripture
and that we study, which is more to be feared than the attribute
of the wrath of God? Which one would stir up the greater
fear in our heart than the wrath of God? To contemplate what a
fearful thing it is to fall into the hand of the living God as
a sinner and as an apostate. Hebrews 10, 30 and 31. Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the
Lord. It is a fearful thing, he said,
to fall into the hands of the living God. It pictures that
does, in the Greek I'm told, one who has been captured or
has been overtaken by an enemy and so is completely at his will
and at their disposal to do with them whatsoever they will or
they might. such a fearful thing to contemplate
the wrath of God, and yet a worse thing to experience or to fall
under the wrath of God. How terrifying will be the wrath
of God when it comes upon those, whether upon a nation or a group
or an individual. Therefore, Owen called it eternally
distinctive and of everything that is good, and inflexible
of everything that is evil." When you think about it, when
you listen to the preaching of moderns in our day, as we hear
sermons here and there, on the TV, the radio, or on the internet. Most of them, or next to nothing
of them, have anything to do or make any mention of the wrath
of God. All of the implicit, most all
of it, is upon the attribute of the love of God. And as you
know, as you listen unto them, They seek to get sinners to react
to and to respond to God's love. They so lay out the love of God
in a way that it might touch them and cause them to respond. They say such things like this
to the congregation, come to God because he loves you. Come to God because he is so
full of love for you. toward you and then turn unto
Christ because he loves you and because he died for you Paul
take a little bit of a different route Paul said knowing the terror
of the Lord is We persuade men and you'll find that in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 11 While men today are saying come because
of the love of God Respond because God loves you Paul said knowing
the terror of the Lord we persuade men and yet Think about something
We don't ever read in the scripture where the Lord, or the apostles
for that matter, ever told a congregation, a public gathering of sinners,
God loves you all, and Christ died for you all. Where will
you find that in the Holy Scripture? You'll never find either Christ
or the apostle telling a public gathering of sinners Christ died
for you, and God loves you all. For example, the book of Acts
contains the sermon of the apostle, in that you'll find several sermons
that were preached principally to the Jew, then to a mixed audience
of Jew and of Gentile by the apostle, both those in Jerusalem
and the apostle Paul. And my point is this. Not one
time is the word love in the book of Acts. I read that, I
searched for it, and I think that it certainly is true. Nor
did the Lord ever say to the hypocritical Pharisee, God loves
you, why don't you turn from your hypocritical and ungodly
way? God loves you, so why don't you
turn and do service unto him? The Lord spoke. often of hell
and of damnation. Someone has said that the Lord
spoke more of hell than he did of heaven. and he spoke of everlasting
fire in his public teaching, the Lord openly declared a danger
of coming judgment. Now, the scriptures are clear. Whatever else God is, God is
also a God of wrath, and wrath is ascribed unto him so many
times in the Holy Scripture. And the wrath of God, says the
Bible, abides upon those who live and who die in their sin. God's wrath is part anger, it
is part indignation, and part vengeance when we put the wrath
of God together. Now, I know there are some who
speak fondly of the, quote, gentle Jesus. Yes, they do. They speak
of the gentle Jesus. But then we also read of the
wrath of the Lamb in Revelation chapter 6 and verse 16. And remember
and think upon what the psalmist wrote in the second psalm and
verse 12. Kiss the son lest he be angry
and ye perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Consider the prophecy in Malachi
chapter three in verse one and in verse three again. And the
words of John the Baptist. quoting and referring to the
words in Malachi when John said in Matthew chapter 3 and verse
7 through verse 12, warning those Jews who came to his baptism
to flee from the impending judgment of God that was to come Upon
their nation that is the wrath of God upon the people Luke 21
and verse 23 Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 10 at his earth
at his wrath the earth shall tremble and the nation shall
not be able to abide the day of his indignation But in this
study this morning and the passage that we read in the beginning
as our text, we want to focus today upon the issue of the wrath
of God as it concerns or relates unto the elect. whether saved
or unsaved, whether regenerate or unregenerate, and in particular,
that saying in verse 9 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, God has not appointed
us to wrath, but on the contrary, to obtain salvation by the Lord
Jesus Christ. For it is intimated, not being
appointed to wrath, but being appointed unto salvation by Jesus
Christ. So that the question is, were
the elect ever the object of the wrath of God? Did God's wrath
ever flame out against them when they were unregenerate and in
their sin? Were they ever in danger of the
wrath of God? If so, at what point did that
change? Because Paul said, we're not
appointed unto the wrath of God. And the question is not, now
the question is not, were the elect in their natural state
deserving of the wrath of God? were they deserving of the wrath
of God. For there is no difference, for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Elect and
non-elect, Jew and Gentile, Romans chapter 3, 22 and 23. And Paul, on several occasions,
lumps all men together in regard to their depravity. The Jew and
the Gentile, the elect and the reprobate. And a couple of good
places for that, where it's set forth rather clearly, are to
be found in Romans chapter 3, 10 through 18, and another one
in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 through 3. So that even the
elect, fell in Adam in sin. Even the elect are born in sin,
and even the elect, till regeneration, are dead, and trespassed, and
in sin. Even the elect, until they are
called, are under the dominion of sin, and have their according to the course of this
present world. And yet Paul says in our text
that they, or we, are not appointed under wrath. And I read John
Gill, quote he said, an instance of wonderful and distinguishing
grace in them." We remember reading, when the old world was full of
violence and God would destroy all, that Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. We are not appointed under wrath. But now, I want you to listen
carefully to a few verses of scripture to give us a standing
and give us a way. Some are appointed to stumble
at the Word of God. I Peter chapter 2 and verse 8. Some are vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction, Romans 9 and verse 22. St. Peter calls natural
brute beasts, that is, animals, without reason. Some people are
likened to natural brute beasts. And that would be an animal without
reason, listen to what he said, made to be taken and destroyed. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 12. And what does Jude write in verse
4 of that little epistle? Some were of old ordained to this condemnation. Now, those are scriptures that
we have to deal with, where the Word of God plainly talks about
those who are appointed unto wrath and judgment. Now, going back to our book and
our text, before we consider the word that Paul has said,
that we're not appointed unto wrath, let's draw back our focus
of might, if we would, and consider the larger or the surrounding
context. that leads Paul into making the
statement that he has made. Now, what is said in the first
verses of chapter 5 must have some connection to the things
that go before, and particularly to those things that go immediately
before in the end of chapter 4, particularly verse 13 through
verse 18, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And what Paul had said, and
this enters in, what Paul had said unto them and what Paul
had taught them about, quote, the day of the Lord, unquote,
chapter 5 and verse 2, the day of the Lord. And there were some
at Thessalonica and in the assembly that were perplexed. They had
a question in their mind and they were perplexed about a particular
situation. And that particular situation
was of those that were asleep or had died, or as we say, were
deceased. Saints of the Lord who had fallen
asleep. What about them and the day of
the Lord? What about them and the coming
of the Lord that Paul is talking about in this play? So Paul lays
it out for them in the end of chapter four concerning them
that were asleep. or had already died or passed
away. And then in chapter five, it
opens with what Calvin described as, quote, calling them back
from a curious and an unprofitable inquiry concerning times and
seasons." He said of this, you have no need that I write unto
you. And that they remember what they
knew, and that was they knew that the day of the Lord would
be like a thief the night that is come suddenly and without
warning and without and without expectation and That's in verse
2 and even as some of them were promising themselves peace and
safety, yes, probably prosperity, sudden destruction would come
upon them, and as when a woman is seized by the pains of labor
as she comes near to the time of her delivery of her child,
and that they would not escape. The day of the Lord would come,
quickly, unexpectedly, and would destroy many. And then the apostle
draws a contrast in verse 4 through verse 8, if we might just kind
of look at it again, between believers and unbelievers. and between the saints and the
world. And in that contrast, he uses
the metaphor of day and night or light and of darkness concerning
the spiritual state or condition of the world and the people whose
mind is closed and ignorant of the spiritual things of God. They're like The night, they're
like, are in the darkness. While day or light, on the other
hand, is a metaphor for the spiritual state of believers. They're not
of the night, we're of the day, Paul says unto them. And in our
passage here, verse 4, you are not in darkness. Again in verse
5 you are children of the light and of the day not of night or
of darkness verse 8 us who are of the day and because of that
He said, that day should not overtake you unaware, even though
it come very quickly. Because of this, the day of the
Lord would not overtake them as a thief in the night. Now, moving down to verse 8,
chapter 5, ye were sometimes darkness. I'm sorry, it's Ephesians
chapter 5 and verse 8. You were sometimes darkness,
but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Again, that's Ephesians chapter
5 and verse 8. I misspoke about Thessalonians. But again, in Colossians chapter
1 and verse 13, who has delivered us from the power of darkness
and translated us, they say in the Greek, that's real picture,
has colonized us as free citizen in the kingdom of his dear son. Lightfoot wrote, he translated
us, he settled us as free colonists and children in the kingdom of
his son, and that was in the realm of light. children of light
and children of the day. Light and darkness representing
sin and righteousness in the scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, and it's in John chapter 8 and verse 12, I am the light
of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness. Now, verse 8 in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. It is, if you notice, a lead-in
exhortation, if I may call it that, between those earlier ones
and then the blessed facts in verse 9 and in verse 10, that
our warfare will end in victory and that upon two blessed grounds. We serve the Lord in view of
these two wonderful things. Number one is, verse 9, God has
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the Lord
of us, even Jesus Christ. And the second thing is in verse
10, Christ died for us. He's not appointed us to wrath.
In fact, he has died for us that whether we wake or sleep, I don't
know if he's talking about physical wake or sleep or the spiritual
sense again, hard for me to tell. But whether we wake or whether
we sleep, we live in union with him. The death of Christ assures
us that the wrath of God will not seize us and destroy us,
as it fell upon him in his death upon the cross. The wrath of
God was fully satisfied in their behalf when Christ died upon
the cross, and from his hand God received a blessed propitiation. Romans 8 32 he spared not his
own son, but he delivered him up for us all Paul has already
said way back in first Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 10 I to wait for his son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come, even the Lord, who died and revived
again. In Romans chapter 5 and verse
9, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, perhaps
we should ask ourselves before we move along, what wrath is
it that is in view in such text as we have quoted and the one
that we are using. For the wrath of God, you know,
has several manifestation and aspect. Which wrath is it? that is in the mind of the Apostle
Paul. Number one, is it that wrath
that we met with when we studied Romans 1 and verse 18? Expressions of wrath upon the
wickedness of sinners in God's providential government of the
world, of which we noted several instances in our study, I think,
last Sunday morning, as well as it coming upon the Gentile
for their idolatry apostasy. The wrath of God is revealed
against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men in the world
in his providential dealing with the world. Secondly, there is
that a special wrath taught in the scripture, both Old and New
Testament, that is to come upon the nation of the Jew for their
rejection and crucifixion of Messiah, culminating in the destruction
of 70 A.D., which Paul mentions in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 14
through verse 16, which was clearly foretold by the Lord. He warned
in Matthew 24, saying in verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world or of time, nor
ever shall be, unquote. that curse which the Jew invoked
upon themselves. Let his blood be upon us and
on our children. And that was fulfilled with a
vengeance some 40 years after the Lord foretold it in the destruction
of Jerusalem, of their temple, of the murder of their priests,
and the murder of many people. And then thirdly, there is in
scripture that everlasting wrath of God in hell, where the fire
shall never be quenched. Mark chapter 9 and verse 43. What our Lord called everlasting
punishment. Matthew 12 and verse 46. This the elect are delivered
from the wrath to come. and two texts from 1 Thessalonians
again, chapter 1 and verse 10. Paul speaks of their conversion
under the gospel that they forsook their idols and all of their
false gods and turned to the living God. And then in verse
10, the one delivering us from the wrath to come. Some say that
it is in the present tense, the one delivering us from the wrath
to come. The wrath Gil called vindicative
punishment, unquote. But being in Christ, and Him
having died and raised again, has by bearing our sin in His
body upon the tree, completely delivered us from the wrath to
come. So that we and they and all believers
look and wait for God's son from heaven, but not for wrath do
we look at that day. So in chapter 5 and verse 9,
Paul words a different way, saying God has not appointed us under
wrath. Now the implication is that some
are appointed under wrath. He has not appointed us under
wrath. But the implication is some are
appointed under wrath. And this would be the doctrine
of reprobation, the biblical doctrine of reprobation. I might preach on that sometime
soon. And the question is, When were
they reprobated? When were they appointed under
wrath? And at birth, was it when they
were born, born in sin and came into the world? Was it when they
grew up and they sinned and they repented not? Or was it not until
they died in their sin that they were appointed unto wrath? Nay. Before they were born, Before
they had done any evil or see as seen in Jacob and Esau in
Romans chapter 9 verse 10 through 13 and in Jude remember what
he said certain men before of old Ordained to this condemnation
that's in verse 4 and verse in Romans chapter 9 we read of vessels
of wrath fitted unto destruction. Let me turn there Romans chapter
9 and read verse 20 through verse 24 in our hearing. Romans chapter 9 and verse 20
through verse 24. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, that He might make
known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which
He hath aforeprepared unto glory? Even us whom He hath called Not
of the Jew only, but also of the Gentile. So you cannot evade
that text by applying it only to one or only to the other. Paul lumps both of them together. In verse 21 of Romans chapter
9, you have the figure of a potter. And this is very important to
Paul's argument in this chapter, the figure of a potter. And he said that potter has power. I think the word is exousia,
and it means authority or right or privilege. over the clay. Now watch this. The potter had
power over the clay, here's three important words or four, of the
same lump. The potter has power over the
clay of the same lump, that is, of the same consistency, of the
same quality of the clay that is before him, of the same lump,
now watch, to make a vessel of honor and to make another vessel
out of the same lump to dishonor. make one to honor and another
to dishonor. Now, what sort of vessel he will
make is totally at his discretion and disposal. But if he sets
at the clay or a wheel or whatever, he has a right to reach and get
at the clay and make of it whatever he will, a vessel of honor or
a vessel of dishonor. He's bound by no will but that
of himself. And the difference is not to
be attributed under the clay, for they are both of one and
the same lump. And that's seen back in verse
10 through 13 in Romans 9 in the case of Jacob and Abisham. These two brothers, twins they
were, They had the same father. They had the same mother. They
were twins. They were conceived at one and
the same time. Esau was even the firstborn of
the two. Esau was the favorite of his
father, and yet the scripture said, and look at it in Romans
9, 10 through 13, God hated Esau and loved Jacob. Now, there are
all kinds of ways to try to get around that and take the sting
out of it. But another thing is this was
not based upon their character. You might say, well, Jacob became
a servant of God and Esau a man of the field and of the world.
It was not based upon their character. either foreseen or actual. Paul writes something in that
passage. He said the children being not
yet born. nor having done any good or evil. It was this, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. Do you get it? Neither
the children being not yet born, nor having done any good or evil,
but that the purpose of God according to election might stand. It was
said unto their mother, before they were ever born, the elder
shall serve the younger." Jacob at birth, if you want to look
at character, let's do so a minute. the character, which one had
the best character as far as that was until God's purpose
kicked in and was fulfilled. Jacob was at birth a heel snatcher,
supplanter is what I think it might be in the Hebrew, and later
Jacob conspired with his mother was a conniver, a liar, and a
deceiver as he stole his brother's blessing and then bought the
birthright. And later on, we learn that he
met with God and the purpose of God carried the matter all
of the while. Now, vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction. What are we going to do with
that? It's here in the Bible. Vessels of mercy afore prepared
unto glory. In the first one, the vessels
of wrath, God is pleased to show his wrath and his power. That's what it said there in
the verse. In the second one, the vessels
of mercy, He is displaying the riches of His glory. Now, our
text, not appointed unto wrath, in context, is a reason for the
saints to be diligent and watchful and be diligent servants of the
Lord. But it is also an assurance unto
them that they will not and they cannot fall under the wrath of
God, because God hath not appointed us unto wrath, having appointed
us unto salvation by and through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. When then the question, When
were they not the objects of the wrath of God? When was it
certain that they would not meet the wrath of God? And the question
is, was it when they believed and were converted? When they
turned to the Lord and embraced Him as declared in the gospel,
was it then that they became free of the wrath of God? Was it when they were born again,
when they were regenerate, when God quickened them? Or was it
further back, when Christ died upon the cross, was it there
that they were not appointed under wrath? Was it in the eternal
counsel and decree of Almighty God? Let's ask another question
in trying to get at it. When were they appointed to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ? When did they become vessels
of mercy, as Paul calls them, aforeprepared unto glory? Now again, was it when they believed
did they then and there become the vessels of mercy? Or was it when Christ died that
they became the vessels of mercy? Or was it before the foundation
of the world? For remember, they were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1 verse
3 and 4 declares that. Then they were given grace in
the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began. 2 Timothy chapter
1 and verse 9 and 10. and were ordained to eternal
life. Acts 13 and verse 48. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. 2nd Thessalonians 2 13 Paul Contrasts
the believer with those others and he said this Chosen from
the beginning to salvation We are bound to give thanks for
you brethren Beloved of the Lord because God has from the beginning
Chosen you unto salvation again, that's 2nd Thessalonians chapter
2 and verse 13 So, as we move along here, they were prepared
unto glory. Why then may they be said to
do that? God has decreed both the end
and the means unto the end. He has decreed the mean, He has
decreed the end, and the accomplishment of the decree. As I said, I have
purposed it, I will do it. I have spoken it, I will bring
it to pass. Isaiah 46 and verse 11. Now, how is this possible that
from the foundation of the world He has chosen a people in Christ,
made them vessels of mercy? Well, I answer, because of God's
decree, it's eternal, but also because Christ was slain from
the foundation of the world. And that's in Revelation. And
because of that, we proclaim eternal justification. And that
the elect are not appointed unto wrath, that they are vessels
of mercy, aforeprepared unto glory. And that shall be realized
in God's own good time. Now, if righteousness, and let's
take up some argument of the adversary of this, and particularly
of the Arminian. It is the view of the Arminian,
we can't be elect, we can't have righteousness imputed until we
actually have being, until we actually do exist. Now, we respond. If righteousness
cannot be imputed before we have being, And before we believe,
pray, tell me then, how can our sins have been imputed unto Christ
and he died for our sin before we had actual being and before
we committed our sin? How can that be so that they
were imputed to Christ, that He died for our sin before we
had ever been born to commit them? Who would deny, going to
another view, who would deny He loved us before we were saved? He loved us before we believed. He loved us before Christ died
on the cross, and he loved us before our sin were ever committed,
and loved us while we lived in our sin. So, in being elect,
they were not appointed under wrath. None shall perish that
have been given under Christ. and for whom he died, and he
will bring many sons unto glory." Hebrews chapter 2. He will lose
none, as he said in that prayer in John chapter 17. Now, consider,
if you might, the love of God. When was the love of God set
upon his people? When did God first love whom
he loves? Not when they believed, not when
they acted right, not when they walked uprightly before him.
He loved us for his love is everlasting. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Jeremiah 31 in verse 3, therefore
with cards of love have I drawn you. Therefore we stand upon
that great doctrine. Now I will be honest and admit
there is a text that seems Contrary to this it gives me a lot of
problems in trying to reconcile it and that is Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 3 Where he calls even those that were then believers
Children of wrath by nature they were by nature children of wrath
even as others describing conduct prior to their quickening, prior
to their conversion and believing. Now whether Paul is saying they
were at that time under the wrath of God or whether it is so that
Gil and others say it means that they were Wrathful person deserving
of the wrath of God though not appointed Unto it that is a problem
text and I cannot answer it for you here this morning But let's
finish by returning to Paul saying in Romans 9 and verse 21 the
same lump the same lump, as referring to the potter and his wheel.
By the way, in Jeremiah chapter 18 and verses 1 through 6, there's
another instance of the potter and the clay making two sorts
of vessels. Now the lump, of course, represents
mankind and humanity, and Gill called it creatureship. and from
which God would make the two sorts of vessel. And in doing
so, God either viewed them as one, unfallen, or two, as fallen,
viewing them in which way? In the decree and of election
and reprobation. He either chose and rejected
them while in the pure unfallen mass, and he chose some and passed
by others, viewed as fallen and corrupt. Either way, it was an
act of divine sovereignty and the character and the acts And
the works and the merit and the response of the vessel was not
a factor in the choice of God. You see that in Romans 9 and
verse 11. It was the purpose of God according
to election. Now to me, that God fixed his
love upon many, best agrees with a view of superlapsarianism,
for it was before they were created, but with a view to creation and
also a view unto the fall. His love is everlasting. It can have no end. It endured
even when we were dead in trespassing and in sin. Now, if God loves
all without exception, what about those that are now in hell or
those that will fall down in hell? And once God loves, he
always loves. For he changes not, he said.
Those he loved he gave Christ to die for, and those that Christ
died for shall be rescued out of their depravity. Christ loved
us too, and therefore gave his life. And their fall, and their
being born in sin, and their living for a time in sin made
no change in the love of God. And in fact, this will bring
much glory to God, much glory to God now and forever.