You will turn back with me now
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I want to make some comments
about verses 1 through 10 here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We studied the second coming
of Christ in our Sunday school lesson this morning in 2 Peter
3. And one of our references I wanted
you to see that that sleep that Peter talked about, that thief
coming, that coming of Christ being as a thief in the night
and coming suddenly upon those who are asleep. And I wanted
you to see that he was talking about all unregenerate men. And so he states it here in 1
Thessalonians 5. And we'll look some more at His
coming again, but especially I want you to see what He says
in verses 9 and 10 here in this chapter. That His people are
not and have not been appointed to wrath. My soul, you can't
read. I'm telling you, I did a lot
of reading here and references on the second coming of Christ.
And you can't read about The horrific things, the terrible,
the terribleness of an unrestrained God, a holy God, God in His true
character standing before men who despised Him. I can't even,
I don't have the words, there are no words to describe that
day. And he uses all kinds of words
that ought to send shivers down your back when you read them
about that day. Men crying for the rocks. Men
don't fear preachers and preaching. They don't fear the gospel. They
don't fear the things of God when you preach to them except
the Holy Ghost. Give them that fear of God. They
don't fear Him. But in that day, it said, their
hearts shall fail them for fear of what's going to come upon
them. And in that day, they're going to cry for the rocks and
the mountains to hide them from the face of God. They're on a first-name basis
with Him now, but they won't be in that day. They won't be
in that day. His people aren't appointed to
that. They're not appointed to that
wrath, that permanent, everlasting, and eternal wrath at second death. But they've been appointed to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for them. That's their hope of judgment.
That was their judgment. And it's the guarantee of the
judgment of this world. who died for us, that whether
we wake or sleep, that we're going to live together with Him. Now, I'll tell you something.
I've been hearing men scoff at the Word of God long before I
ever knew who God was. Been hearing them scoff at God
and the promises of God and the warnings of God and the claims
of God and even the concept of God since I was just a little
feller. Long before I ever knew the grace
of God in Christ, I remember hearing men scoff at churches,
how silly it was to build a church and go to church. Men just do
that so they can feel better about themselves and so they
can justify their sins. Scoffing at the idea of a church. Scoffing at preachers. Who does
he think he is? Boy, he thinks he's somebody.
scoffing at preachers and scoffing about religion in general. Why
would men and women do this? Why would they do that? They
do that to convince themselves that there is no God, no heaven,
no hell, and no judgment. That's right. That's why they
do it. I've got three brothers. There was four of us in our family
and I had five sisters. But two of my three brothers
were drunks. They were drunks. You say, well,
you shouldn't tell people that. Everybody knew it. If you're a drunk, if you're
not a solitary drunk, everybody in the community knows it. Two of them were drunks. They
spent their whole lives living like heathens, stealing and lying living an
unfaithful life to their wives and families and to the community,
hardly any consideration for their own children. And both, always, I remember
growing up just as a little kid, trying to make light of the things
of God. I remember hearing my daddy would
try to talk to them, try to get them to go to church, and they'd
make light of the things of God. And I don't say this looking
down my nose at them or believing myself to be any
better than they were. I know what I am by nature, and
I know what I am by practice. I know what I am. And I know what I'd be, what
I could be, but for the intervention of God. But I'm saying this to
point out to you that God has a people appointed unto salvation. And even then he was doing things
in my life. Everything that happens to that
man chosen of God, he's chosen of God to obtain salvation. And everything in God's providence
happens to him in a positive way. Everything. Even the evil in his life. It'll
be used to bring him to Christ. Everything in that man's life. You say, now wait a minute, Preacher,
how do you get election out of verse 9? Well, I believe it's
pretty clear that God's appointed somebody to obtain salvation.
That's what He says. But you don't have to get it
out of verse 9 or 1 Thessalonians 5. You can get it out of chapter
1. Paul said, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
I know that Paul believed these men to be the elect of God. And
that's why when he talks about being appointed to obtain salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them, I know that
he's talking about his elect. You might not find election in
1 Peter chapter 3, but you will in chapter 1. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. And you might not find it in
Romans 7 that I preached from here a while back, but you will
in Romans 8. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? You'll find it in Romans 9. Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated. And he said these things that
the purpose of God according to election might stand. And
he said it before either one of them were ever born or ever
did any good or evil. You might not find it in John
3.16, but if you keep reading the book of John, you'll find
it in chapter 6. All that the Father hath given me is going
to come to me, he said in verse 37. a doctrine established on some
isolated passage of scripture and might be in reference to
the Jews. Almost every time you find that
word election, it comes in the epistles which were written to
Gentile people. Almost every time. I don't know
how somebody can go in the book of Ephesians and talk about election
being toward the Jews when he's writing to a Gentile church.
And if that ain't enough for you, go back to that church at
Antioch where Paul preached, and all the Jews wouldn't have
what he preached. And he said, OK, since you judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, I turn to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles was glad when
they heard that. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. That's what it says. Huh? You mean election has to do with
All men, all nations, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, I said all that to say this.
The second coming of Christ is never spoken of concerning God's
elect as a day of terror, or a day of fear, or a day of greed,
but a day of joy. A day of hope, a day of expectation,
and a day of wonder. The entire heavenly host gathered
around in that day, and they saw those men stand before God
in those white robes, and they said, who is that? Who is that? Oh, those are they that come
up out of great tribulation. washed their robes white in the
blood of the Lamb. And they wondered. Huh? It's going to be a day of wonder.
Wonder. And the most wonder is going
to be in us. Why me? Why me? Old Ralph Barnard, preacher.
Years gone by, he was an evangelist. Pretty rough. Old man. Preached
back in the days of the oil boom. He'd go down to those oil boom
towns and preach. Preach the gospel. And old Ross
said he had a dream one time. And he said in that dream, he
heard a choir, a great choir singing. And oh, he said, what
a song. What a song they were singing.
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. washed in the blood of
the Lamb. Oh, what a hymn. He said there
wasn't a sour note in the bunch. He said he never heard such music
as what he heard. He said, I wanted to sing with
them. I wanted to get in there mixed and sing with them. And
he said, I saw them. And there was a vast multitude,
just innumerable men and women everywhere. And they was all
sitting up in these big stands. And he said, I saw a spot way
up on the top. And he said, I run as hard as
I could up them steps and work my way over. And he said, when
I got there, on the back of the bench, he said, Ralph Barnard. Richard Rogers. I dare you wonder why me? Can it be? Isn't that what the
hymn writer wrote? Can it be? Can it be that God has appointed
me unto salvation? That God has worked and arranged
all things to bring me to hear the gospel? That God in mercy sent His Spirit
to open my heart and my mind to hear these words? and made them effectual in my
heart to believe, and preserves me in this day
of evil, draws me to Christ, teaches me
the things of Christ, provides for me the means that I need, brings me into a company of men
that, when I'm down, they put their arms around me and comfort
me. Can it be? Oh, I'm telling you, this day is not a day of greed
and terror and fear. It's a day of joy and hope and
expectation and wonder. I have three things this morning
that I want you to see in these verses. First of all, that mankind in
general Mankind in general, I'm talking
about every unregenerate child of Adam, is in a state of denial
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They're in a state of denial. Jesus Christ, when I use that
phrase, is both a person and an office. Did you know that? Christ is not his last name. Christ is the office he holds. Jesus is his name. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And that's the New Testament
word for Joshua. When we talk about the Christ,
we're talking about all his eternal appointments. prophet, priest
and king, Savior and Lord, mediator, surety, guarantor, the head of
the church, the seed of Abraham, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, God and man in one person. Thou shalt call His name Immanuel,
God with us. He's wonderful. That's what they
said His name will be. Wonderful, counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father. What men deny is not the poor
defeated reformer whose hands are bound by man's will and who
can do nothing unless they let him. They don't deny him. Everybody talks about him. Poor
little Jesus boy. Everybody talks about Jesus.
Fact is, most religious people today don't even use the term
Christ because they're ignorant of it and don't know what it
means. They just use the word Jesus. What do men deny? They deny the
sovereign electing Christ who was chosen of God to save His
people from their sin. God chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world. That's what it says in Ephesians
1 through 8. Read it for yourself. Men don't
deny the Jesus who's a fire escape. who's a kind of a get-out-of-jail-free
card, they deny the sovereign Lord of glory who can and does
save whom he will and passes by whom he will and hardens whom
he will. Men, don't deny the tender savior
who gently knocks on the door and then patiently waits with
his hands folded behind him for you to open it up. What they
deny is the one who kicks the door open and comes in armed
and subdues the strong man and takes him down and spoils his
house. Nobody denies the Jesus who did
the best He could and now He anxiously waits in heaven, pacing
back and forth before the banister of heaven, wringing His hands
and looking down with anxious thoughts about whether or not
anything He did will be any effect upon men. That's not the one they deny. They deny the Christ, Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended up into heaven victorious and
sat down at the right hand of God, expecting till His enemies
be made His footstool. The Scripture didn't say, if
all things be fulfilled, it said when. when that last enemy shall
be destroyed. Didn't say if, said when. There's no doubt about whether
or not he's going to put his enemies down. He's going to put
his enemies down. It's not so much that the second
coming is imminent as it is who's coming. Whose coming? His coming is not called the
day of Jesus. It's called the day of the Lord.
Isn't that right? It's never called the day of
Jesus. It's called sometimes the day of God. And Christ is God our Savior.
So when he says that the Lord Jesus is coming, he's talking
about God coming. It's not called the day of man.
It's called the day of God. My friend, this whole world is
in a state of spiritual sleep. We've heard men preaching peace
and safety. Come down the aisle. Repeat after
me. Come down the Roman road. Join
the church. Accept Jesus as your personal
Savior. Now you're safe. Now you're safe. You're as sure for heaven, one
preacher said, as if he was already there. Oh, he's more sure than
I am. This whole world is in a state
of spiritual sleep. They've heard antichrist religion
crying peace and safety. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 3, For
when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them. That's describing both the coming
of our Lord in the last day, and that's describing what happens
when a man tells you that and you swallow it. Sudden destruction
has come upon you. And it's just like travail upon
a woman with child, and you can't escape it. But you, brethren,
listen to this. You're not in darkness. We don't live in darkness. I'll
never forget this one preacher. I know you all have heard this
a hundred times, but I'm going to tell it one more. This one
preacher was trying to tell Brother Henry that they were both doing
the same thing. But what they were doing, he
said, now, he said, salvation's like a large gray elephant. And
he said, and we're all blind. And he said, one of us has a
hold of his tail, and we're describing what we have a hold of, what
we feel. And another one has a hold of
his trunk, and he's describing what he feels. And another one
has a hold of his leg, and he's describing what he feels. And
he said, what do you think about that? And Brother Mahan said,
well, I've got a couple of things that I see wrong with that. He
said, number one, salvation doesn't have anything in common with
a large gray elephant. And number two, we're not blind. Isn't that what Paul's telling
us here? For you, brethren, are not in darkness. You're not in
darkness. You don't swallow those lies
anymore, do you? You don't have an appetite for
that mess anymore, do you? You don't walk down that same
path. You're not in darkness that that
day should overcome you as a thief. You're all children of light
and the children of the day. You're children of the revelation
of Jesus Christ, who He is, why He came, what He did, where He's
at. and the fact that He's coming back. Therefore, let us not sleep. Let's don't sleep that sleep.
Let's don't go there, as do others. But let's watch
and be sober. This whole world sleeps the sleep
of denial of the Christ of God. Men are born in bondage. They're
in bondage to a depraved nature. His mind is a carnal mind. And
that mind is enmity toward God. It'll worship anything but God.
It'll worship a fish and worm. It'll worship a dung beetle. It'll worship all kinds of things,
but it won't worship God. It's enmity against God. You can tell it anything, have
it do anything, and it will, but it won't come to Him. Isn't
that what our Lord said to those Jews? You study the Scriptures. Nobody denies that. We know that. You transcribe them. You know
when a comma's out of place. You study the scriptures, but
he said, you won't come to me that you might have life. Man's in bondage to a depraved
nature. His mind is a carnal mind. And
you can read and reason and preach and teach until you're blue in
the face, but nothing's going to take away that enmity until
the Holy Spirit of God, through the preaching of the gospel,
gives him a new birth. Then you can reason with it.
Come now, our Lord said, and let us reason together. When
He says that, you can reason. When He says that, I can preach
to you. When He says that, I can feed you. I can tell you the
truth and the truth will set you free when He does that. Until then, I can stretch your
doctrine up around you like cordwood and it won't have the slightest
effect on you. A man born in bondage to a depraved
will, his mind is A carnal mind, its enmity against God is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And we're not
talking about the Ten Commandments there. We're talking about every
word God says is law. He's sovereign. If He says something,
that's law. Write it down. Make no mistake about it, there
is a day coming in which God will judge this world in righteousness
by that man whom He hath ordained. not by your standard, not by
the Methodist standard, not by the Baptist standard, not by
the Catholic standard, by that man whom he hath ordained. He's
the only one who qualified to judge men in righteousness, and
he himself is the standard. Whereof, he hath given assurance. This is over in Acts 17, if you
want to read it this afternoon. whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." He's
not talking about assurance of salvation there to all men. He's
talking about assurance of judgment. Now you write it down. If God
judged His Son, if He judged His Son, He's going to judge
you. Now you just write it down. The judgment of Jesus Christ
on the cross as the sin bearer of His elect is the declaration
of a sure and certain judgment and the wrath of a holy God coming
upon the rest of this unbelieving world. If God poured out His
wrath on His Son, you write it down, He's going to pour it out
on you. God's justice must be satisfied, His law honored, and
His righteousness upheld. If God did this for His elect
in the person of their representative and substitute, and if God will
not spare His Son, what of the rest of this present evil world?
This world laughs and scoffs at His coming. They talk about
His coming as though it were just another day. My friend,
His coming marks the end of time. It marks the end of everything
that we now know. It marks the destruction of this
world and the eternal death of judgment. And men's attitudes
toward this day only confirms the Word of God. There is no
fear of God before their eyes. But this is not true of the believer.
That man who has been given the faith of God's elect, that man
was not appointed to wrath. Think about that. Think of the child of God. He
never was a child of wrath. He was born with their nature.
He sinned with the worst of them. He lived as they lived. Paul
said, we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lust and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another. We're just like
them. We did exactly what they did. Why? Because we had the same nature. But then something happened. What happened? The kindness and
love of God our Savior appeared. Huh? Oh, my soul. Not because of something we did,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, sovereign mercy, undeserved mercy, He saved us
by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now if you want to see how this
kindness and love of God our Savior appears to believers and
what this washing of regeneration is, you can read about it in
Ephesians chapter 2. You can read about it over there.
You, Pathy Quicken, who were dead in trespasses and sin. where
in times past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
who now worketh in the children of disobedience. And you lived
out all your days serving the lust of the flesh, walking after
the lust of the flesh, and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others. But God, God who is rich in mercy,
and for that great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, by grace ye are saved, and raised us up together with
His Son, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in His Son,
that in ages to come. He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are you saved through faith." Oh, that's that kindness
and love of God that appears to the sinner when the gospel
goes home to his heart. God chose a people in Christ.
He chose them to salvation. He chose them to attain this
salvation. He chose them to bless, and He
appointed them to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us. He didn't just die. He died for
us. He suffered my wrath. He suffered
my judgment. He drank of the dregs of the
winepress of the wrath of God. Whether we're living or dead,
we might live together with Him. His coming is not going to overtake
the believers, the thief, and the knight. It will not overtake
Him because He is a child of light. God called Him out of
darkness into His marvelous light, this marvelous light of Christ.
He won't run and cry for the rocks and mountains to hide Him
from the face of God, but God Himself shall come and wipe away
all tears from His eyes. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. He's not
going to send a messenger down. He's not going to send some angels
down. The Lord Himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. I don't know how much time takes
place. I don't know if it's something that happens in an instant. But
those which are alive of us on this earth when he come, we might
very well see that. Here's the dead and their ashes
as long since and bones melted away into the dust of the earth,
washed here and washed there wherever they went. They're going
to come out of this earth and those bodies. are going to be
raised. And those spirits, those who
sleep in Him that He brings with Him, are going to be reunited
to those bodies. Sinless bodies. Incorruptible
bodies. And then those of us which are
alive and remain are going to be caught up together. We're
going to be changed, Paul said, in an instant. In an instant. Changed. But this corruptible
must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. And then going to be brought
to pass that saying, death was swallowed up in victory. Oh, out of the dust and ashes
of nothingness, out of the bones of rotten corpses as they lie
in the earth, they shall rise. They shall rise. John said this,
he said, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men. That's Christ, isn't it?
And He's going to dwell with them. And they shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And He
said unto me, it's done. Let me tell you something, if
God purposes a thing, it's done, isn't it? It may not come past
yet, but it's done. You can write it down. It's done. That's what one of the old, I
think it was Caleb. It was Caleb or Joshua. Here's
those spies and they were telling them, we can't go in there. There's
walled cities and there's giants and they wind around. We can't
go in there. They just denied God being with
them altogether. And I think it was Caleb who
looked at him, and he said, now wait a minute. He said, this
thing is like a thing already done. Can you hear what God's telling
him? He told John, it's done. I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, and I'll give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain
of the water life freely. I'll give it to him. He that
overcometh shall inherit all things, and I'll be his God,
and he'll be my son. But of the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake of fire which burneth with fire and brimstone. This is the
second death. This day will mark the end of
everything the believer hates, everything the believer fears,
And everything the believer lacks, it will come to an end. You won't
hunger anymore. You won't thirst anymore. And it will mark the beginning
of a full satisfaction of soul. And then quickly, there's one
more thing I want you to see in these verses. He tells us
in chapter 4, verse 18, to comfort one another with these words.
Words of His sure return. Words of the guarantee of His
death and resurrection. And then in chapter 5, verse
11, He tells us again to comfort yourselves together and edify
one another. Tell them what this means. Teach
them what this means. Remind them what this means,
even as also you do. How does one believer comfort
another? Well, Paul told the Corinthians,
he said, we comfort you by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God. If you've ever been comforted,
you know how to comfort. He comforts us. How does God
comfort His people? Well, He comforts us by revealing
to us Himself as the Father by our Lord Jesus Christ. When the
Holy Spirit of God enters into a man and regenerates that man,
he cries, Abba, Father. First time in his life, he realizes
that he has a spiritual Father. God is his Father. He's the Father
of mercy. He's his Father as he's the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if I don't have Christ,
I don't have the Father. Is that right? He reveals to us Himself as the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and as such the Father of all
mercies and the God of all comfort. God comforts His people by showing
them His glory in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do
you want to comfort me? Do you want to cheer me up? Do
you want to motivate me and inspire me? Tell me about Christ. Boy, you got my attention. Tell
me about Him. Show me Christ. Talk about my
Savior. Talk about His accomplished redemption. I can't hear too much about it.
Talk about His present reign and glory. Talk about His triumphant
return. Talk about His intercession.
Talk about His eternal appointments. Point me to Christ. And unless
I'm without understanding, 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, and 13 speaks of a close
relationship and affection for your pastor, because that's who's
going to comfort you most of the time. You see the context
in which he doesn't stop teaching here about the second coming
and quit teaching about comforting one another. He just tells you
some more about the source of that comfort. Now, he said, you
mark them. You mark them. You know who they
are. You know if they're preaching the truth or a lie. You mark them that admonish you. And you develop a close relationship
and affection with them. Because that's who's going to
comfort you most of the time. I don't know if it has or not,
but I hope it's been a comfort to you. It sure was to me. I'll tell you what Brother Henry
said. The Lord's already blessed me
with it. I hope he'll bless you. I hope he'll bless you. He blessed
me when I studied.