In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, the name of the message is salvation
assured through Christ. It's assured. It's assured in
Christ. And we'll look at a couple of
verses here in chapter 5, which will clearly bring that truth
forth for us. And I pray the Holy Spirit would
illuminate the scriptures things of Christ and give us comfort.
We need comfort, don't we? We need hope. We need strength. Scripture says in our weakness,
He is strong. It also says that God is the God of all comfort. In verse 11 of chapter 5, it
says, Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as is also you do. How are we comforted? Preaching
of the gospel, isn't it? That comforts our souls. Let's
read again verses 1 to 11. The scriptures declare in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, again, Paul's writing this to the Thessalonians, a
young, recently young church, which has been established in
Thessalonica. And he brings forth some great
truths here before us. He's speaking of the time of
the Lord coming back, and he tells them here in verse 1, but
of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that
I write unto you. For yourselves, you know that
the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. It's coming. Coming when no one expects it.
No one expects it. For when they shall say, peace
and safety, This being the unsaved, then sudden destruction cometh
upon them as a travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not
escape." They're not going to escape the judgment of God. Not
going to escape at all. Even those who have died, dead
and trespassed as the sins, they're not going to escape the judgment
of God too, because their body is going to be raised up in corruption. My oh my. It says here, but ye, brethren,
speaking of God's people, are not in darkness. We're not in
darkness anymore. We were in darkness. We're going
to see that. We were in darkness. But we're not in darkness that
they should overtake you as a thief. Because we're looking for Christ.
We're not looking at the signs. Remember last week? We're not
looking at the signs. But we're looking for Christ,
aren't we? We're waiting. And every day,
we look to Christ. I saw a post on Facebook. This
week, I don't know why I read some of these, but I read this
one, and someone was talking about repentance. And religion
puts great emphasis on repentance. Well, we repent every day, don't
we? We go to the Lord and say, oh,
Lord, forgive me for thinking that way, or forgive me for doing
this, or forgive me for doing that. We repent every day of
the Lord. Oh, my. Every day. And that's because
we have faith in Christ. And faith and repentance are
like two sides of a paper. You won't find faith without
repentance. I love what the, I love, absolutely love what
the publican said. And he said it with a repentant
heart, didn't he? God be merciful to me, a sinner. And God said, that man went home
justified. See, that was repentance. That
was heartfelt repentance. Oh, my goodness. People who have
to measure repentance and measure how much a person does or doesn't
do ought to read that verse, right? Ought to read that verse. But anyways. But ye brethren
are not in darkness, that they should overtake you as a thief.
You are all children of light. That's all God's born-again people.
Children of light. Sons of light. And children of
the day. You are not of the night nor
the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober, right? Watching for
the coming of Christ. Just looking to Him every day.
Just looking to Him. Lord, if you come back this day,
I'm going to rejoice. But if you don't, I'm still going to
rejoice. If you don't come back in my
lifetime, I'm still going to rejoice for you. And then when I die,
I'm going to rejoice with you forever in glory. Hallelujah. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. Verse 7, 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. Now we know the armor of God
all points to Christ, right? It all points to Him. Someday we'll do a study on the
armor of God, and it's all Christ. It's all Him. And God puts that
armor on us. We don't put it on ourselves.
God puts that armor on us. I remember talking to Norm Wells
one time. We were listening to a young man teach who was in
the Grace Church teaching, And he said, well, let's get up and
put on the armor of God and do all this. And Norm said, I said,
after the message said, well, what'd you think? And he goes,
there's one thing that stood out to me. And I said, what's
that? And he goes, we don't put on
the armor of God, God puts it on us. It's Christ. We're in Christ, beloved. We're
in him. And we walk in him now, don't
we? We live and move and have our being in him. Oh my, so think of that when
we read this here. It says, but we who are the day,
we who are in Christ, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith. Who's our faith in? Christ. In Christ alone. And for an helmet, the hope of
salvation. Who's our hope of salvation? Christ. The belt of
truth. Who's the way, the truth, and
the life? Christ. The sword of the spirit. Oh my,
the word of God. My, oh my. The shield of faith. Who's our faith in? Christ. It's
all Him, beloved. It all centers around Him. But
look at verse 9. Verse 9 and 10 are what we're
going to be looking at this. Look at this. And remember, he's
writing to a very young church. It's a newly established church,
and he 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,
that being life or death, we should live together with
him. And then he writes this in verse 11, wherefore, comfort
yourselves together and edify one another, even as also you
do. Let these words comfort you,
beloved. Let them give you hope. Now, the Thessalonians had groundless
fears for their departed friends in Christ. We see here in this
portion a verse which brings forth full assurance, full assurance
for God's elect, for his people. whom Christ died for 2,000 years
ago, or over 2,000 years ago now. And what comfort these words
of verse nine can bring to we who are the born-again, blood-washed
people of God. This verse brings assurance.
This verse brings hope. This verse brings comfort to
God's people, to those who are trusting in the complete, finished work
of Christ that he's done to perfection. The question is, are you trusting
in Christ for the salvation of your soul? Are you trusting Him
for everything and nothing that we do? That's the question. Because
the gospel, the true gospel of God's grace proclaims that Christ
alone finished the work. That our salvation has been obtained
by Christ. and we obtain it by him giving
it to us. That's all. We're just receivers of this
mercy and grace. That's all we are. And this salvation
is dependent on nothing we do. It's all dependent upon what
Christ has done. He shed his blood for the remission
of our sins. He shed his blood to purchase
our eternal souls. He extinguished the wrath of
God that was rightfully deserving of me for my sins and for you
for your sins, and he's extinguished it for us." It's absolutely incredible. This
verse brings forth these truths of the perfect work of Christ
for the salvation of his people. In verse 9, we see also that
God's almighty will and purpose at work. We see it totally at
work in this verse. And we see that nothing can frustrate
His will. Absolutely nothing can frustrate
the will of God. Do you know when people say God's
done all He can do, the rest is up to you? That's a frustrated
God. It's not the God of the Bible.
That's why I say that's a frustrated God. Because that's not the God
of the Bible. The God of the Bible, His will
and purpose can never be frustrated. Never be thwarted. Never. What hope that gives us, who
are poor, needy sinners, trusting in Him. To know that the work of salvation
which He accomplished for us can never be frustrated, never
be altered. Never. Nothing can frustrate, and no
one can frustrate His will and purpose. God's will and purpose
is absolute. Or it wouldn't be God's will
and purpose, would it? No. See, our wills and our purpose
can be frustrated, can't it? Sometimes God just says no to
us. Because he knows he would destroy us, the things we ask
for. There was a man in Spurgeon's
church who inherited a huge amount of money. I would think it made him a millionaire
or multiple more of that. You know what he said when he
heard the news? He said to the fellow brethren at the church,
in a little prayer meeting they were having before the service,
he said, may we be diligent to pray for our brother. Because
now he faces an enemy far more, far more. Because what happens?
People get comfortable. People think, well, I got all
this. I don't need God as much as I
thought I did. No. We need God whether we're rich
or poor, don't we? Whether we're healthy or sick.
My, oh, my. So Spurgeon said he faces a temptation
far, far more than anything he's ever faced before. But God's will and purpose, it
cannot be frustrated. And so therefore, because His
will and purpose cannot be frustrated, salvation is assured for you
and I in Christ. It's assured. It's done. It's
done. Again, we preachers, we stand
up and we proclaim what Christ has already done. And the Holy
Spirit makes it effectual, right? Regenerate in the hearer whom
Christ died for. and given us faith to believe. My, oh my. Someone says, well,
I don't know if I'm one of God's elect. Don't worry about that.
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Because I'll tell you,
if you believe on Him, you're one of His people. If He's given you faith to believe
that you're a gospel, the gospel of a perfect, sinatonic work
accomplished by Christ, nothing that we do, you're one of His people. Isn't
that wonderful? My, oh my. So as, or because God's will
cannot be frustrated, because God shall save his elect, he'll
give his sheep no matter where they are. He'll bring them under
the sound of the gospel. And they'll hear the gospel and
they'll be given ears to hear and eyes to see Christ. They'll be born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. They'll be given faith to believe on Christ.
And because that truth is true, what a hope we have and what
comfort that can bring us as God's people. Christ has saved
us. He's going to keep us. And He's
going to bring us home. We're sure of that. And it's
not based on anything we do. Isn't that wonderful? People
say, well, you talk like that. People go and do whatever they
want. No, they won't. Love of Christ constrains us
from sin. Doesn't it? Let's read verses 9 to 11 again.
Again, Paul's writing to the saints at Thessalonica, the born-again,
blood-washed believers, and he 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. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." These are wonderful words. written
to the church, the saints, God's elect at Thessalonica. Again,
it's a very, very young church, but he's bringing before them
a great truth, that God had not appointed them
to wrath. Look at these words right here.
For God hath not appointed us, again, believers, born-again
believers, to wrath. Why would it say we're not appointed
to wrath? Well, we know the justice of
God has to be satisfied, right? It must be. We transgress the law, and the
law says the soul that sinneth, it must die. So by rights, the
wrath of God should fall upon us for our sins. Because again, justice has to
be satisfied. God's a just God, isn't he? And
he's a savior too, praise be to his mighty name. He's not
just a just God, but he's a savior too. So the very one who gives
the law at Sinai is the very one who comes and fulfills the
law in our room and place. And this is all planned and purposed
by God, because it says here, It says here, for God hath not
appointed us to wrath. So the law of God must be satisfied
in the place of God's elect. And it is in the substitutionary
death and the life, living the perfect life, fulfilling the
law totally for us, the sinless one, and the substitutionary
death when he died on Calvary's cross. And that law was fully
satisfied in our place. The sinless one died for sinners.
The perfect man died for us. Again, like Travis said, if it's
a perfect work, it must be accomplished by a perfect man. And that's
the man Christ Jesus, God incarnate in the flesh. So where did the wrath of God
go for our sins? Where did it go? Because it says
here, for God hath not appointed us to wrath. Where did that wrath
go that was due you and I? Where did the wrath of God go
that was due our sins? Well, it was extinguished. Extinguished. When you extinguish
a fire, it ain't burning no more, is it? If you truly extinguish
it, it's not burning anymore. It's just a heap of ash. It may
smoke, but there's no fire anymore. Christ has extinguished the wrath
of God that was against us. He took it all. And God will
not punish those whom Christ redeemed and those whom Christ
extinguished His wrath for He will not punish us twice. He
won't say, well, Christ is going to fall upon you, too. No. Christ satisfied the law of God.
Christ satisfied the wrath of God. He extinguished the wrath
of God against us. So much so that God says, I don't
remember your sins no more. Oh, my. No more. Don't remember them at all. They're
gone from my sight. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely incredible. So the wrath of God was extinguished
by the death of Christ. The wrath that was due to us
as his people was poured out on Christ. And
I mean it fell on him. So much so that he said, Father,
if it be your will, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thy will be done. That's the humanity of
Christ speaking, isn't it? He was suffering in the garden.
My, oh my. That wrath was poured out upon
him, beloved. And remember, it's not just the
wrath of God for your sins and mine. It's a wrath of God for
a number that no man can number. And his work is so perfect, so
complete, that the wrath of God is absolutely extinguished. Why did this occur? One may ask,
why did that occur? Well, we see here, it was part
of God's plan and purpose. It was part of God's plan and
purpose that Christ would die for us. And so Paul's writing
these words to the Thessalonians to comfort them about their dear
brethren who have already passed on and are now in the presence
of the Lord. And he's writing these words
to comfort them. And what great comfort they can bring us. And
what great comfort they would have brought them when they received
this letter. God's plan and purpose has unfolded
before them. The purpose that Christ would
die for a people of God's choosing. Sinners who could never save
themselves. This is clearly about faith. In the first part again
of verse 9, it says, for God has not appointed us to wrath.
That was due us, wasn't it? But God hadn't appointed us to
it. Again, he's writing the born-again,
blood-washed believers who've been redeemed by the sacrifice
of Christ. And remember this, too. These
words are written by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. So this
is God telling us this truth. This is God telling us this.
And people who say, well, I don't believe in election, I don't
believe, they're just saying they don't believe what God says. Because it's in
the scriptures. It's so clear, isn't it? But
remember, we were at a point when we didn't understand it
either. I pray that God would reveal the truth of that to them.
Because it's so wonderful to know that God chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. It's so wonderful to know
that the wrath that was due me, that I was appointed not to receive
it. Oh my goodness. There's nothing in me that made
God make that choice, was there? Nothing in you that made God
make that choice. It was all according to the good
pleasure of His will. That's what makes it incredible. That's
what makes us marvel at this wonderful truth. It says right there, for God
hath not appointed us to wrath. Clearly, God the Holy Spirit,
through the penmanship of Paul, is bringing forth that God's
people are not appointed to wrath. We'll do it though by our sinful
nature and our sinful ways, aren't we? But it was appointed that
Christ would die for us. It was appointed by God that
Christ would die for us and that he would extinguish the wrath
of God against us. That was appointed by God. And
God's telling us here that he did that. In very clear words
that we can all understand, right? Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 5. John chapter 5. In light of this wonderful
truth we're looking at here. God's will and purpose is brought
forth in the text here that He has not appointed His people
to wrath, but we're appointed to salvation, beloved. Something
we could never obtain on our own. He's appointed us not to
wrath. What a blessing that is. When
he doesn't stop there, he says, you're appointed to salvation. In Christ. In Christ. Look at these words in John chapter
5, look at verses 24 to 27. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth there, not just the hearing,
but the believing. This is the miracle of grace.
God gives us hearing ears, and he gives us faith to believe
on Christ. And believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation. Why? Because God
hath not appointed us to writhe, beloved. Oh my, when you start to connect
these verses together, it just make your heart sing. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." Well, we were
dead spiritually, weren't we? This is speaking of the dead
spiritually, beloved, too. We were dead, dead in trespasses
and sins. And we heard the voice of God,
didn't we? Through the preaching of His Word. We were made alive,
weren't we? He called us. Remember like David
called Mephibosheth to him? He called us. Like the Lord called
Lazarus out of that tomb? Lazarus, come forth. Oh, Lazarus,
he didn't say, well, I'll think about it. Lazarus was stone-cold
dead, and he's risen in life. What a picture of our spiritual
darkness that we're in, dead in trespasses and sins, no life. And Christ says, live! And by the power of the Holy
Spirit, we're born again and granted faith to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. Not everybody hears, right? Not
everybody who's dead in trespasses and sins hears. But those whom
God hath not appointed to wrath, those whom God hath appointed
to salvation in Christ by the effectual work, and of God the
Holy Spirit, they believe. born again by his almighty power. It says, For as the Father hath
life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of Man. He has all power. Our God, our
Savior, is the one who will judge all men. My, can you imagine those folks
that say, I never believed in God, I don't believe in him,
he's, ah, that's just a bunch, and then when they die, And when
the great day of judgment comes and they're resurrected to face
the Lord Jesus Christ, because all will be bought to face Christ,
right? And who do they see? And they know who he is. Now,
the devils know, right? Devils know. We've seen that
in our study in James. They know and tremble. And we saw with
the Gadarene demoniacs. They said, we know who you are,
thou holy one of God. They know who he is. Scripture
says the devils believe and tremble. They know who He is, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now those who falsely proclaim
that God's people are saved by something they have to do, they
don't have an understanding of the truth. They just don't. And they don't understand the
simplicity. There's truth and simplicity
brought forth in these verses. They're very clearly stated.
The truth is so very clearly stated in these verses before
us. And let us not forget that we
were ignorant of these things at one time. So we're not out
to look down on folks. No, no, we were, I was totally
ignorant of these truths. So God revealed them to me. Now
I rejoice. Now I rejoice in these truths.
I want to tell everybody about this wonder of salvation. Let's
read verse nine again. We got nothing to boast in. Look
at this. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. All
by him. Now in our adult Sunday school,
we've been going through the book of Galatians, where we've
seen Paul's writing to the Galatian churches, another group of young
churches, which have been bewitched by false teachers, nothing but
worksmongers, who are mixing grace with the law, and they
can never mix, because they're like oil and water. And let's
read verse 9 with that in our minds again. For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, what a truth, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, also who died for us. Salvation is in no way
accomplished by we who are sinners. We see that so clearly here,
right? It's so clearly brought forth here that salvation is
not accomplished by us, we who are sinners. But we see it so
clearly brought forth that salvation is accomplished by the Lord Jesus
Christ and him alone. And that God's people are appointed
to salvation. We're not appointed to wrath,
but we're appointed to salvation. How? Which has been obtained,
right? Scripture says Christ obtained
eternal redemption for us. So it's been obtained by the
Lord Jesus Christ by his perfect work. He's obtained salvation. It says, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. And then look at where I just
put the latter verse of verse 10 in there. Look at also who
died for us. How salvation obtained by the
death of Christ. He did it all. So we can conclude that since
salvation is accomplished by Christ, in Him alone, by His
finished work, then nothing that we do, or nothing that anyone
else does, can frustrate that work. It's already done. Why would anyone want to add
anything of man's tainted works, sinful works, to that which is
a perfect work? Because men don't believe what
the scriptures say. They don't believe God, who is
the true author of these words. And I know that because I was
there. My! Praise be to God, He didn't
leave me in that state and He didn't leave you in that state.
raised us from spiritual deadness into life. Oh my, and what a
life, eternal life in Christ. My. Again, let's read that again.
Let's read 1 Thessalonians 9 and then we'll just read that first
part again of verse 10. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, the sinless one. The sinless one died for us.
And Paul's including himself in there with the word us, isn't
he? He died for all God's people. He didn't die for the whole world.
They're saying, I don't believe what the Bible says. When it says, not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he has saved us. They're saying, I don't believe
that. And like I said, I can't boast
in knowing that because I was right there. But God in his mercy
saved me. My. I'll tell you what. God's sheep,
God's lost sheep, will be born again. They will hear the gospel. God will have that gospel cross
their path. and the Holy Spirit will make
it effectual, but it'll all happen at the time appointed to God.
It'll all happen then. My, oh my. Why will that happen? Because Christ redeemed them,
but more so because God has not appointed them to wrath, but
to obtain salvation by the redemptive work of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Why are you saved and your family
members are not? Why am I saying that my two brothers are lost? Because God has not appointed
me to wrath. And I pray that. I pray. I pray
that God has not appointed them to wrath. But I don't know. But
I hope and pray that God has not appointed them to wrath.
My, oh my. My, oh my. So rejoice, beloved. Nothing
can frustrate the work of God. Nothing can frustrate God's purpose.
He saved you. Christ saved you because God
purposed it. God willed it. When did he not
appoint us to ride? Was it the day before we confessed
Christ? You know that song, there's a
new name written down in glory? I was talking to Norm Wells about
that song. I used to really like that song. I really did. I used
to really like it. And Norm ruined it for me this
week. He goes, you know what that song's
saying? And I said, no, what's that song
saying? He says, that song is saying that the moment someone
believes that their name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life, because
there's a new name written in glory. I went, oh my gosh. Do you know when God wrote our
names in the Lamb's Book of Life? Do you know when he did it? This
is amazing. before the foundation of the
world. Isn't that incredible? He wrote our names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. They're mine. They're mine by will and purpose.
They're mine because I choose them as mine. Oh my. I was telling Norm that my parents
told me that I was an accident, right? that they weren't planning
to have no other kids. Don't ever tell your kids they're
accidents. It's just not a good thing to say to them. Just not
a good thing. But they told me, oh, you were
an accident. We weren't planning on you. And I guess Norm's a
twin. And Norm's mom went in to give
birth. And Nancy said, well, Norm's
a nothing, like this. And I said, what do you mean
by that? Norm's mom goes in to have twins. And the doctor's
in there. And his brother comes out. And his doctor says, OK,
we're done, and goes off. Not like three or four minutes,
the nurse chased him down and said, there's another one. So he calls himself for nothing.
They thought we were all done. Oh my goodness. And that was
the days before they had the pictures they can take and all
that stuff like they do now. Oh my goodness. But you know
what? Our births were planned and purposed
by God. And so was yours. Isn't that amazing? Oh, that's
absolutely incredible. Because God has not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation in Christ, Jesus our Lord. My,
oh, my. So this salvation in Christ is
assured to God's people. All the lost people shall be
saved. And that's a number no man can number. Isn't that incredible?
I heard Donny Bell in a message this week, he said, He said,
he believes there can be more people in heaven than there will
be in hell. And his reason, he says, I ain't
preaching. But his reasoning was, God's not going to let the
devil have more than what he has. Oh, Donny Bell. I can't wait
till he comes this summer. My goodness. But we know it's
a number no man can number, right? We know that. We know that for
a fact. So salvation, again, is is in and through Christ,
and it's assured to God's people. We see that in this verse. We
see that it's assured to God's people. Before we were even,
you know, in eternity. I don't think I'm ever going
to get over that, to be honest with you. And I'll tell you this,
too. He is able, Christ is able to save all who come to Him,
to the uttermost. You say, oh, I'm such a great
sinner. Well, Christ saves great sinners, doesn't He? We're all
proof of that. All right? We're all proof of that. I love how Paul said, I'm the
chief of sinners. And every believer goes, no, that's me. That's me. I'll take that one, Paul. But
it's so true. I remember talking to someone
one time. They said, oh, I never hated God. That's
not what the scripture says. You don't believe what the word
of God says then. Because it says we hate God in
our actions. That's the thing in our sinfulness.
We hate God. We don't necessarily come out
and say that in our lost estate. But by our actions, we're saying
that. By our sinfulness, we're saying
that. And isn't it amazing that the wrath due for all those sins
fell upon Christ in our Roman place? That's amazing. That's amazing. How much sin
does it take for someone to be damned to hell? Just one. How many do we commit in a lifetime?
Billions. When you start thinking that
way, you start thinking, what a great salvation this is. What
a great deliverance this is. The salvation in Christ. Turn,
if you would, to John chapter 1. I'm going to read verse 10
of our text while you're turning there. 1 Thessalonians 5.10 says
this, who died for us, being Christ, we are not obtained to
wrath, but to obtain salvation in Christ, who died for us, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. That means whether we're alive
on this earth or sleeping. that scripture refers to death
sometimes as sleeping. And that's where the people have
got this crazy doctrine of soul sleep. We're not, there's no
such thing as soul sleep. You're either with the Lord or
you're not. One or the other. There's no purgatory, there's
no in between stuff. That's just made up for people
to make money. That's all that's for. Look at this though in John chapter.
One, why is this salvation assured? Someone might ask, well, why
is this salvation assured? Why is it assured? Well, because
it's in and through the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at
John chapter one. Look at the first three verses.
In the beginning was the word. That's Christ. That's the second
person of the Trinity. In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, the scripture proclaims there. The
same was in the beginning with God. So the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, they dwelt in eternity. And they were perfectly
content. Perfectly content. And it says,
all things were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. He made it all. Everything we
see was all made by him. And then look at verse 14 to
17. And the word, that which was spoken of in verse 2. So
how can we be assured that the salvation is sure and true? Because it was obtained by the
God-man. was obtained by His perfect work
on Calvary's cross. Look at this. And the Word, the
One spoken of, who's God, in verses 1 and 2. The One who was
in the beginning, that means in eternity, with God. Look at
this. Marvel at this. And the Word
was made flesh. Became a man. Still the Word
though, right? Now it's, He became a man. He became flesh. bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesh, and dwelt among us. And remember, John's writing
is, he saw him, he heard him, he laid his head upon Christ's
breast, and says, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then he brings
in John the Baptist. He says, John bear witness of him, and
cried, saying, this was he of whom I spake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. He's
God from eternity. And of His fullness we have all
received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace and truth, and
He's full of it. He's full of grace and truth.
He's full of mercy. Come unto me. His own words,
the one who's full of mercy and truth, says, come unto me, all
ye that labor in our head will be laden, and I will give you
rest. Oh, my. Now let's look at the
truth presented in verse 10. The fact that gods are elect
are united to Christ, whether in life or in death. Look at
this. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, and 10. 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 a promise. We should live together with
Christ. Scripture says, Paul wrote, I'm
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but the life
that I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." Christ is everything to us. He's
our all in all now. And we are united to Christ by
our life is joined to his life. He's the head and we're the body.
You can't have life without the head, can you? Somebody's head gets chopped
off and the body just falls down. My oh my. The heart may pump
for a few seconds, but eventually it'll stop. So whether you live, whether
you wake or sleep, we will live together with Christ. My. So what an enduring basis we
have here of salvation. We who are the people of God,
What an enduring salvation we have. It's sure, because it's
in the Eternal One. It's being accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Eternal One. We saw that in John
1, 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So grief over the dead is natural,
right? We weep for the dead. We do. But for believers who die in
the faith, we have hope for the resurrection because of Christ. Because of Christ. When a loved
brother or sister in Christ departs from this world, we will
rejoice. in the truth, even though we're
going through pain and sorrow of the loss of them being with
us, we will rejoice that one day we will see them again face
to face. And we will, we will praise our,
we're going to be singing worthy is the lamb with them. That's
what they're doing right now. Worthy is the Lamb, oh, worthy
is He, to receive all glory and honor and blessing. And we will be amongst that people.
Why? Because God has not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Christ who died for us,
that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with
Him. Oh, it's wonderful. So what great blessings we have
in Christ, all spiritual blessings. Contrast with this. with the
heathens of old. The Greeks believed in the immortality
of the soul, but they knew nothing about the resurrection of the
body. They didn't believe in a resurrection. Their dead were
called shades. Shades. And the Egyptians did
not believe in the resurrection of the body. So what a hope we
have, as believers in Christ, of the resurrection of the body.
We're going to be given a new body. That body won't ache or
pain like ours does now. None, nothing like that at all. My, in the old Testament, two
doctrines in the old Testament that culminated in the gospel
is the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body.
But these two doctrines are not clearly understood in the old
Testament times as in the new. Now these doctrines are illustrated
by the death of Christ who died. and who is now risen again, and
is seated at the right hand of the Father. And if as God the
Holy Spirit by Paul here taught the church that God hath not
appointed the church to wrath, but hath appointed us to salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, could that ever be frustrated by anything
man does? Nope. What hope that gives us. We can't mess up God's salvation. See, there's some groups out
there that say, you can lose your salvation by something you're
doing, and then you can get it back by something you can do,
and then you can lose it again, and you can get it back. I'll
tell you, I preach a gospel. I preach a Christ who saved his
people from their sins. And he keeps them, because he's
God in the flesh, as we saw. And there's nothing we can do
that can mess up that salvation. And that's glorious, isn't it?
And we can go through some rough times, can't we, because of our
sinfulness. But God will never cast us away. He may correct
us, eh? That's what the scripture says.
He corrects us every once in a while. But he'll never cast
us away. Never. Oh, it's glorious. Oh, it's so glorious. If God who appoints these blessed
ones to be saved from wrath and to obtain salvation, has he also
not confirmed that it would be so? And also that they are secure?
Would he not secure the means for the accomplishment of his
purpose? If he says, I'll not appoint them to wrath, will he
not appoint and confirm and make sure that his will will be accomplished?
Is it possible to suppose that any situation shall arise which
God did not foresee? No. And has God not made provision
for what he said he would do? We're not appointed the wrath.
Why? Because he provided his son to die in our room and place. That Christ would obtain salvation
for us. That it would be His work, and
His work alone. Oh, what a blessed security for
the church. That security. What hope that
gives us. God has not appointed us to wrath,
but He's appointed us to salvation. And He's made sure that all the
elect are everlastingly secure in Christ. He's made sure His
will will not be thwarted, because He chose the church in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him alone. He predestinated the church
under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself.
We're accepted in the Beloved. And God the Father, in the high
covenant offices of His everlasting love, He's mercifully made Such
full and sure provision for our security, how? In Christ and
by what he's done. So can man or devils or anything
or anyone frustrate his will? No, no one, not even us. That's why it says, no man, that
Christ will not lose one whom the father gave him. Not one,
because we're in his hands. We're in the hands of God. My. And the Holy Spirit is added
in the scripture, another blessed cause of assurance. He that appointed
us to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ has confirmed
it in Christ by his death. For we are told here that Christ
died for us. And whether we wake or sleep,
whether we live or die, we who are the born again, blood washed
people of God, will live together with Christ forever. Oh, there's
a pillar and ground of truth, isn't it? And when we say, hallelujah,
praise his mighty name for such a wonderful, sure, full salvation. And it's all in Christ Jesus
and him alone, nowhere else. If you do not know Christ, may
God grant you faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
as Paul said, thou shalt be saved. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for allowing us to gather together, allowing us to be here, giving
us a place again that we can come and worship