It's reading down through verse
11. I want to back up to verse 9. For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. The New Testament epistles are
written to the Lord's people. Notice in this verse, the us.
God hath not appointed us to wrath. The word us is to be understood
as those to whom Paul is writing initially, including himself. And to whom is it he's writing?
Well, in chapter 1, verse 1, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus,
under the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not speaking to all Adam's
race. He is not speaking to all the
religious world. He is speaking to those in God
the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who the us is.
He further describes them in chapter 1 in verse 3 as remembering without ceasing your
work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is in the sight of God and
our Father, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. He is confident they are among
God's elect people, because of the effect that the gospel of
Jesus Christ has had in their hearts and lives. He says, I
remember your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience
of hope. You wasn't just following some
little fad to dive in on the religious scene for a few days
or a few weeks or a year or two, but no. This thing has really
took hold. It's in your heart. It's had
an effect. And I remember your work of faith
and your labor of love and patience of hope. Now in this fifth chapter,
in the ninth verse, he says to these, including himself, God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, believe it or not, all who
will obtain salvation and live forever in the presence of the
Lord have been appointed to it from before the foundation of
the world. And the only reason that every
last one of Adam's children, including you and I, do not perish
under the wrath of God is because of this statement of Scripture.
God hath not appointed you to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do we not all deserve to
perish under His wrath? Yes. Have any of us done anything
to avoid perishing under His wrath? No. It is by His appointment that
we obtain salvation. And that is by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Not just through our Lord Jesus
Christ, but by our Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of people talk
about salvation as something that we accomplish through Him.
It's our doing through Him and in His name. No, that's not what
it said. It said were appointed to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not our work, it's His. It is by His appointment that
we obtain salvation. You say, well, now what about
those not appointed to obtain salvation? Well, I'll just give
you what the Bible says, 1 Peter 1.8. Christ is a stone of stumbling,
a rock of offense, even to them which should stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." Many
people just cannot believe what the Bible says. It is very offensive. People have told me, your message
is offensive. I say it's not my message. It's
God's message. It's God's Word. It's God's Gospel. And it certainly is offensive
to sinful flesh, to mine and to yours. It's offensive to be
told that you're not anything special in yourself. It's offensive
to be told that there's not something that you have that other people
don't have that God likes. That's offensive. But it's God's
message. An inoffensive gospel to sinful
flesh is a false gospel. I promise you that. If it don't
offend such characters as we are, there's something wrong
with it. Now, it don't offend the new
creation. It's a blessed thing. We love it. We joy, we rejoice,
we worship. We praise God in His grace and
His goodness. and His love and mercy to such
as we are. But I want to tell you this truth
and this message is offensive to that old sin-cursed nature
of ours. Jude 4, for there are certain
men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation. You say, that's cold. No, it's
God's Word. Romans 9.13, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. You say, but now that don't mean
exactly what it says. Hey, please don't charge God
with not saying exactly what he meant. He did. He said exactly what he meant
to say. Romans 9.18, therefore, hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy? And whom He will, He hardeneth. He hardened Pharaoh's heart.
You remember that story. He hath mercy on whom He will.
What is that mercy? To soften the heart, to tender
the heart, to change the heart. He hath mercy on whom He will,
and whom He will, He hardeneth. What does it take for God to
harden your heart? Just leave you alone. You'll
take it from there. If He leaves you alone, there's
no hope for you. So much for the idea that's got
God doing His best to save everybody. He is not. Romans 9.21, Hath not the potter
power over the clay? Of the same lump, not a different
lump, but of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor. This is our God we're talking
about. He's not on the little end, begging folks to cooperate. He changes the hearts of His
people. And we do cooperate. If Christ died for all Adam's
race, then all Adam's race would be saved. You can count on that. It is impossible For one whom
Christ died for, shed his blood for. It's impossible for that
person to die out their way into hell. It can't happen. It can't
happen. You say, but I hadn't always
done right. Join the club. Surprise, surprise. You hadn't
always done right. Salvation is not about our doing.
It's about His doing. His doing. when we all deserve to perish
in our sins, and certainly we did, please don't fall out with God
for appointing some to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul here is saying,
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. It's by His work
for us. Now this is not popular. I realize
that. Hardly anyone wants to be guilty
of labeling God as being guilty of discrimination. But all these
verses I've quoted to you tells us that God is guilty of discrimination
in the greatest kind of way. And I want to say along with
the Apostle Paul, he said it. It's a glorious thing here. God
hath not appointed us. Who is the us? Again, it's the
church to the Thessalonians in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ
first. And then Paul said us, including
himself. And then by divine inspiration,
the Holy Spirit pinned it down and gave it to us at East Hendersonville. All God's people in all generations
is included in the us. God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
He could have appointed us to wrath. Certainly He would have
been just in it, everlast one of us. Thank God He hadn't. Those given by the Father to
the Son in eternity. Ephesians 1-4 said, those chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world, those very ones
Christ came to this world and died for, shed his blood for,
and those very ones God hath not appointed to wrath. John 3-36 says the rest of humanity
Unbelieving humanity, God-hating humanity abides even today under
the wrath of God. The wrath of God was exhausted
at Calvary, but not for Adam's race. If it had to be, then God
wouldn't punish anybody except His Son. The truth is, He's not
going to punish anyone that his son took the punishment for,
and that is his people. He came to save his people from
their sins. Some of y'all looked at me funny,
but I'm acting funny, I guess. But I'm telling you, this is
the only reason we're not going to perish, is that God has not
appointed us to wrath. Better be glad of that. It's
not that you and I did anything about it, but He did. You say, well, don't we get to
vote? Oh yes, we vote after the election. You ever heard of anybody
voting after the election? We all did. If you're elected,
if God changes your heart, you'll vote yes to whatever God says
and whatever God wants. And if you're not one of His,
you'll vote no, shaking your fist in God's face till you wake
up in hell. That's the story. What you do does not determine
what God does, but what God has decreed determines what you'll
do. I've read some through the years
about the war between the states. I know some of you have. I don't
call it the Civil War, there was nothing civil about it. It
was a war between the states. But after Lee surrendered, April
9, 1865, the war was officially over.
But there were many remote areas where that news was not heard
for several, several days. And the fighting continued. And
there was much bloodshed. And there was many more killed
after the war was officially over. They were doing their duty. They were doing what they were
supposed to be doing. But it never affected the outcome. The war was already officially
over. And that's the case with Adam's race in this world. God Almighty decreed at the end
from the beginning. And that really does not violate
your so-called free will, if you want to call it that. You'll
still be doing what you want to do, being what you want to
be. But the point I'm making is, if God has appointed you
to obtain salvation, He'll change your heart and you'll love Him
and live to honor Him. And if not, you'll hate God and you may or
may not play religion and wind up in hell is the story. And a lot of folks say, oh, we
don't hate God. I don't hate God. They don't hate their God.
That is the one they've got made up in their mind. that manufactured
little God that can't even change the direction of a flea without
the flea's permission. See? People don't have a problem
with a God that can do nothing without our permission. They
don't have a problem with that God. But they have a problem with
the fact that we can do nothing without God's permission. We'll
not have it. that we're on the little end
and God's on the big end. But that's how it is, dear friend.
So now, if you are a subject this morning of God's saving
grace, if you have been brought to love, trust, and rest in the
Lord Jesus Christ, then you're part of this us. Appointed to
obtain salvation. And we ought to give some consideration
to this business of our appointment. Appointed not to wrath, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And this term salvation
here is an all-inclusive term. It's more than just being born
again. It's more than just a beginning.
It's to obtain the fullness of salvation. in time and for eternity. It's
more valuable than all other appointments combined. And we
all should be careful and diligent in making the most of our appointment. Not to determine whether it'll
come to pass. If God has appointed you to obtain
salvation, it'll come to pass. But I mean making the most of
it so far as giving ourselves over to Him, rejoicing in Him,
honoring Him, trusting Him, worshiping Him, assembling together in His
name in full anticipation of one day being with Him and being
like Him forever. Consider the appointment. Consider with me for just a few
moments, our time is about gone in this appointment, appointed
to obtain salvation. He has considered, He has prepared,
He has provided for every step of the journey from here till
there, from now till then. We sometimes get in a dilemma,
a crisis, and we think, I don't know what to do. There's nothing
I can do. I've considered all angles. And
I guess God's forgot. I guess the Lord's walked out
on me. No, no, no, no. In considering this appointment
to obtain salvation, consider this first, that we should fully
trust in Christ our Redeemer, it involves first of all submitting
ourselves to the choice, God's choice, of conditions for our
lives. God's choice of conditions for
our lives. So many people feel like, and
a lot of them will tell you, they were born in the wrong generation,
born in the wrong country, born in the wrong family, married
the wrong person, belong to the wrong church, have the wrong
job, everything in their life is wrong. And they say with Jacob
of old, all these things are against me. I've just had a bad deal in life.
all the way around. I've made a lot of mistakes.
I'm not blaming anybody. It's nobody's fault but my own.
There's just no hope for the likes of me. But hey, stop and realize, if
I'm God's child, if He has appointed me to obtain salvation, everything's
running right on schedule. I'm right where I'm supposed
to be. You're right where you're supposed to be. David realized this, David
back in the Psalms, and he's talking to the Lord and he said,
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy
book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. Here's what he was saying,
Lord, you knew everything about me, long before there was anything
about me to know. I am who I am because you ordained
it so to be. Now David could have said, I'm
the youngest of eight sons. There are seven brothers, older,
stronger. They'll be ahead of me in everything.
I'll never live long enough. to be recognized or appointed
to anything of honor. But you know what the Lord did?
The Lord reversed the order. The elder winds up serving the
younger. That's a principle in God's Word,
by the way. The elder shall serve the younger. If God has regenerated you, quickened
your spirit, Giving you a heart for Him. Giving you faith in
Christ. He's done the same thing with
you that He did with David and his brothers. He's reversed the
order. The elder shall serve the younger. Christ in you. The younger. The new nature. The being born again. The being
born a second time. That younger is to rule over
and take authority over the elder brother of unbelief and discouragement
and defeat, the old Adam. See what I'm saying? How blessed
this is. If you are in this us, if you
are one whom God hath not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation,
We ought never whine about anything else in this world. I'm telling
you, the rich and the famous and the mighty and the noble
and the beautiful and the influential will be fried in hell while God's
children are at home with Him forever. We ought to rejoice
in that. We ought to rejoice in that. Appointed to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Another thing or two and I'm
through. Submit to God's choices of circumstances beyond our control. We all have those, don't we? But if He has appointed you to
obtain salvation, no circumstance on earth can prevent it. But must work for good toward
it. All things work together for
good to them that love God. And who are them that love God?
Them who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8.28. You hear people say, well, you know,
when life hands you lemons, just make lemonade. There's one problem
with that. You can't do it. You can't do
it unless God squeezes the lemons. And unless God adds the sugar, there'll be no lemonade. You'll
just get bitter and hard and cold. Bitter at the world, bitter
at the church, bitter at God. But if you're part of this us,
appointed to obtain salvation, You don't have to get bitter.
You can trust Him who did the appointing to also doing the
arranging of everything in your life from now until you leave
this world. Circumstances. Think about dear
old Fannie Crosby, born in 1820, upstate New York. Her mother
was 20 years old when she was born. And at six months of age,
they took this baby girl, Fanny. Frances Jane Crosby was her name.
Took her to the eye doctor. She had an infection. And the
doctor said it wasn't anything serious. Clear right up with
a little medication. But he gave the wrong medication.
The wrong medication. One of the saddest stories we
could think of in this life. a doctor of all people, supposed
to be helping the baby, give her the wrong treatment. And
she was totally blind for life. You say, how awful? How awful?
Well, this is the same Fannie Crosby who grew up to know the
Lord, become a teacher, in a school for the blind, helped a whole
lot of people. She wrote many of the wonderful
hymns in our books, some of which we sang often. And when she was
asked about her blindness, here's what she said, it has been the
greatest blessing in my life. If I could see all the things
that people tell me are beautiful, She said, I might think my Redeemer
less beautiful. I might see something I'd like
better than Him. Fanny Crosby actually celebrated
her circumstances that we think was awful, that we think was
unfortunate. She called it the greatest blessing
in life. And she often boasted that the
next face she would see would be the face of her Redeemer.
And she wrote that blessed old hymn, I Shall See Him, face to
face. She was in full submission to
God's choices of circumstances for her life. Well, I guess we'll stop here,
but most of us have lived our lives with circumstances tossing us
to and fro like a little boat on a troubled sea. I confess
it. But I want to say this morning,
thank God if you belong to Him. Appointed to obtain salvation. Salvation meaning deliverance.
Appointing to be delivered. Delivered from what? Hell. Sin. Satan, a sin-cursed body,
appointed to obtain deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ, then
it won't matter. Because everything in life is
moving us toward keeping that appointment to obtain the full
deliverance, the full salvation. Not just to be with Him, but
to be like Him. forever. We'll stop there.