Good evening everyone. Tonight's
message is called The Hope of Salvation. Turn if you would
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Last week in our study in this
wonderful book we looked at verses 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. Tonight we'll look at verses
6 to 8. Now let's read chapter 5 verses
1 to 11 to see the context of our verses. Now Paul is continuing
to speak on the day of the Lord from chapter 4, which is the
second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in 1 Thessalonians
5, verses 1 to 11, he pens these words by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that they 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 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 an
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. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." Now last
week we finished off at verse 5. We saw that the born-again,
blood-washed child of God, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,
is called the Children of Light and the Children of the Day.
Now all of God's elect are the Children of Light because our
Lord Himself commanded His light to shine in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And all of God's elect are children
of the day, children of the gospel day. That distinguishes us from
those who are steeped in religious darkness or natural darkness.
It is true that in our unregenerate state, we were in the same spiritual
darkness. We were by nature, children of
wrath, even as others. But under the preaching of His
glorious Gospel, God has enlightened our minds to the truths concerning
Jesus Christ and His perfect redeeming work for His promised
children, those who were given to Him by God the Father in the
eternal covenant of grace before time began. Having been born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, and having been given by God
the gift of faith, we now see the Lord Jesus Christ as a true
and living God, our Creator, who became a man so that He could
redeem us with His own precious blood, so that He could satisfy
the holy justice of God by suffering and dying in our room and place.
And our Lord Jesus had to become a man before he could suffer
the wrath of God as our substitute. In true saving faith also sees
Jesus, the God-man, on his throne in glory, not only as our great
high priest who intercedes in our behalf, not only as our blessed
surety who will never allow any of his sheep to perish, we also
see our risen King as Jehovah, God, our sovereign Lord, ruling
over this whole universe and everything in it for the good
of his people and for his glory. So rejoice, you who are born
again by God's Holy Spirit. We are no longer in darkness.
God, by His sovereign, irresistible, drawing power, has granted us
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have come
by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, the true and living God, who
by Himself purged our sins, all of them, past, present, and future. Now let's read verses 6 and 7
together. 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. We see in these two verses that
Paul admonishes the brethren concerning the effects that this
knowledge of Christ's coming as a thief in the night would
have on them. As his first admonishment to them, and to us today, is
that we are not to sleep as others. Sleep here, he refers to, is
not restful or repose. but rather the sleep of those
who have believed the lie of peace and safety with no refuge
in Christ. They cry peace and safety without
looking to Christ and we know that that will lead to their
destruction. And we see in verse 6 that we are to watch, watch
for Christ, look for him and look to him and be sober. Now the use of this word sober
is important. Our Lord's not speaking of earthly
cordials that make us drunk. The sobriety of which he speaks
is the same as being in the light as children of light. The sleepers
and drunks are the same as those aforementioned people who are
in darkness. They have a false peace. They have a refuge of
lies. They are inebriated on the cocktail
of their own self-righteousness. Sobriety in our text is accounted
as faith, hope, and love, that which Christ wrought in the believer.
Food, clothing, shelter, a good job, cars, entertainment, have
the preeminence in the lives of those in darkness, as they
have time for all those things, but they have no time for God. Why? Because they don't want
Him in their lives. Listen to the distinction that
scripture brings forth in Romans chapter 8. The distinction that
scripture brings forth about those in darkness and those in
light. And as you hear these words, let us always remember
that it is only God and God alone who has made us to differ one
from another. Romans chapter 8 verses 5 to
9. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit,
the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. Now food, clothing, shelter,
a good job, these are things that are needful for us to sustain
us physically. But as important as those things
are, in all things Christ must have the preeminence in our lives. Speaking of our physical needs,
food, clothing, etc., our Lord Jesus said, For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you." Matthew 6, verses 32 and 33. One Bible commentator
put it this way, Let us not be taken up with the cares and concerns
of this world, but let us set a watch over our hearts, our
faith, and our fellowship, living as temporary citizens of this
world, as we are travelers passing through. So we see then that
Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, tells the born-again
blood-washed believers at Thessalonica, and we who are reading this tonight,
let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Now the word sober there means
to be calm and collected in spirit, diligent, wide awake, alert. If we are intoxicated by the
things of this world, we will be in such a drunken spiritual
stupor. We'll be like the town drunk,
who not only not aware of what's going on around him, he doesn't
even care. If we are lulled into a spiritual
sleep by the things of this world, so caught up with the affairs
of life, that we're not meeting with God's people on a regular
basis, we cannot be vigilant. This is how we continue to be
on guard, continue to be watchful, to be alert, by not allowing
anything to remove us from the preaching of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is our one and only blessed hope. By
constantly feasting on the gospel and feeding on He who is the
bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, by thinking upon His
glorious gospel truths, our hearts and minds are stayed on Christ,
stayed on Jehovah, who is our peace. Therefore our minds will
be kept looking to and thinking upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the author and the finisher of our faith. Let's read verse
7. we see Paul bringing forth more
on the same topic. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. As
I brought forth earlier in this message, this verse is not speaking
of the sleep all of us need to rest our physical bodies. It
has nothing to do with the natural darkness that happens each night
in the drunken. It is not speaking of being intoxicated
with alcoholic beverages. Beloved of God, the whole world
of ungodly, unregenerate people are held by the power of spiritual
darkness, which is what the word night in our text is referring
to, all of them. And we were there too in our
natural state, are dead in trespasses and sins, incapable of understanding
spiritual truths, which is what the word sleep in our text has
reference to. Whether it's people steeped in
self-righteous religious beliefs or people captivated by the mundane
things of this world, all of them are intoxicated in the night
by their love of the darkness that they're in. And again, every
one of us, before our wonderful, merciful savior lifted us up
out of the filthy, slimy cesspool of iniquity that we were in,
we were just like them. Oh, beloved. how thankful we
should be for God's amazing grace. Now let's read verse eight. But
let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.
Beloved, if we are of the day, God the Holy Spirit has enlightened
our minds to the things of Christ. When He delivered us from the
power of darkness, He taught us the truths of the gospel,
giving us spiritual understanding under the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ in Him crucified. And let we who are the children
of light then be sober, be vigilant, be alert, on guard, looking for
that glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for us. that he might redeem us from
all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works. You have heard me say many times
from this pulpit that man's works have nothing to do with the salvation
of God's elect. We contribute nothing to our
salvation. It's all of the Lord. Now there
will be fruit, which the Holy Spirit works in us, in we who
are the people of God. Good works do accompany salvation. The Apostle James said this,
Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a
man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy
faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by
my works. Now, in no way do these works
that James writes about justify us. No, they're free to the Holy
Spirit of God. They come after salvation. And
James write, I will show you. It was James desire and his delight
to let his light so shine before men that they would see his good
works and glorify his father, which is in heaven. And that
should be the desire of every born again, blood washed saint
of God. So our text here says, let us put on the breastplate
of faith and love. Now let us remind ourselves,
beloved, keeping in our minds that we are in a spiritual war
while we are here upon this earth. And we need the whole armor of
God, don't we? The whole armor of God is set
forth before us in Ephesians chapter six. Let's turn there
if we would. And this armor, beloved, represents
Jesus Christ our Lord. and we are to keep our hearts
and minds stayed upon him. Let us look at this passage before
us and keep in mind what we just read in 1 Thessalonians 5, that
we're to put on the breastplate of faith and love and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation. Paul writes, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
Now let's read Ephesians 6, verses 10 to 17. The scripture declares, Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might. Put on the whole armor of God
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take
unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We see in verse
14 in Ephesians chapter 6 that we are to have on the breastplate
of righteousness, and in verse 17 the helmet of salvation, which
we also saw in 1 Thessalonians 5.8, but let us who are of the
day, children of the day, children of the light, be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love. and for an helmet, the
hope of salvation. Now remember, these Thessalonians,
they were going through trials of their faith. They were being
persecuted by their own countrymen. They were being persecuted by
their family members, and they were going through severe trials.
Now, one thing I want to mention is that we do not arm ourselves. See, in religion, I was always
told we're to arm ourselves with these things, but beloved, it's
God who clothes us in the righteousness of Christ. And it's God alone
who clothes us in the armor that we just looked at in Ephesians
chapter six. And this armor speaks about Christ
in him alone. I wanna go through a few of the
verses there. Think about this. Scripture declares in Ephesians
6, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth.
Well, I ask you who are listening, who is the way, the truth and
the life? Well, that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then it says, in having on the breastplate of righteousness,
I ask you this, who is the believer's righteousness? Well, it's the
Lord Jesus Christ and him alone. And then the scripture declares
about the armor of God, your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Well, who is the gospel all about?
And how do we have peace with God? Well, the believer only
has peace with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
gospel is about reconciliation, the reconciliation of chosen
blood-bought sinners to our great God, and now we have peace with
God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the scripture
declares about the armor of God, above all, taking the shield
of faith. Well, who is the object of God-given faith? None but
the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the object of our
faith. He alone is the one who we look
to. And then it says, and take the
helmet of salvation in the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. Well, who is our salvation in?
Well, it's only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and him
alone. There's salvation in no other,
the scripture declares. Salvation in no other but the
Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh. And then it says,
we're to take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of
God. Well, who does the word of God testify of? Well our Lord
Himself said, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me. The Old
Testament and the New Testament all testify of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Word of God. That is what is the sword of
the Spirit, which is quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the divide and sunder of soul
and spirit. and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So
let's read 1 Thessalonians 5, in verse eight, and we see that
Paul writes again by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, but
let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. Now the breastplate, ancient
soldiers wore this and it protected their vital organs, especially
the heart. Listen to what the scripture
declares. Keep thy heart with all diligence, which is vigilance,
for out of it, out of the heart, are the issues of life. Flow
the springs of life. And this is exactly what we're
dealing with in tonight's study. Salvation's a heart matter. And
by the heart, we're not talking about the muscle that pumps blood
to different parts of our body. We're talking about the new man
that God has created in us. Christ in us, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ is every believer's
life. The scripture declares, when
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him in glory. So let us put on the breastplate
of faith and love. Now faith, which works by love,
is the believer's rule of life. The evil arrows of false religious
lies cannot penetrate the breastplate of faith, cannot turn the eye
of faith away from the Lord Jesus Christ in his perfect robe of
righteousness that he has imputed to all of his born-again blood-washed
children. and the wiles of the devil just
bounce off the breastplate of love, the love of God that's
shed abroad in our hearts by the life-given power of God the
Holy Spirit. Scripture declares here in His
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son to be the propitiation, the sin-atoning sacrifice for our
sins, 1 John 4.10. True love for Jesus Christ and
His gospel turns a deaf ear to any religious lie that robs God
of His glory. Again, Scripture declares, no
flesh shall glory in His presence. God gets all the glory. He gets
it all, beloved. And our text also says, for an
helmet, the hope of salvation. Some of the helmets that were
worn by soldiers in the days of old protected the whole head,
including the ears, the eyes, the mouth, And these helmets
were worn to protect the top part of the head that houses
the brain. The believer's helmet protects that area where our
thoughts are formed. Scripture declares, let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Proverbs says
this, 23 verse 7, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Our Lord
Jesus said, out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts. If
we put on the helmet of salvation, which is the hope of salvation,
and that's in Christ and Christ alone, there will be no room
for any evil thoughts of man's works in salvation. No, we will
cast those aside, won't we? When God reveals Christ as our
only hope, and he is the only hope of his people. God's people
do not hope in anyone or anything but Jesus Christ in him alone. And God, when he reveals Christ
again as our only hope, there's no room for sinful pride. No,
God humbles his people, and he humbles his people by his sovereign
grace. So guard your minds, beloved,
with these inspired words. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Never forget that. That we are
what we are, saved sinners, by the grace of God. And we have
all our sins forgiven, we who are in Christ, by the grace of
God. I am what I am, by the grace
of God. And then remember this, for by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
not of you. It's not of me. It's all about
what Christ has done in Christ alone. By the grace of God, I
am what I am, and for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. There is no room For we who are
the saved people of God, there is no room for us to boast in
anything we do. No room. And then the scripture
declares this, As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith unto
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is
not of him that willeth. Listen to how clearly this states
that salvation is not by our will or by our works. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. If you are a saved, born again
child of God, rejoice. and give God all the glory because
he has had compassion upon you and it's not of your will and
it's not of your works but you're saved if you're a saved child
of God you're saved because of the free and sovereign grace
of God in Christ and God has shown you mercy praise be to
God praise his mighty name amen and amen