Back in 1 Thessalonians chapters
4 and 5, I want to consider the sweet promise of grace that the
Apostle reminds the Church of Thessalonica And writing to the
church concerning their loved ones who had died in Christ,
died trusting Christ, he says in verse 13, but I would not
have you to be ignorant, brethren. I want you to know this, I want
you to be sure of this, and find comfort in this. Concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. Now, he doesn't say not
to be sorrowful, he doesn't say not to feel pain. I mean, what
sort of people would we be if we didn't at the loss of a loved
one? But he says that you sorrow not as you would for someone
who died as an unbeliever, someone who died without Christ. He says,
the believer that's died, those who have died in the Lord, though
ye sorrow, don't sorrow as you would concerning one who had
no hope. That is, they died without Christ.
Because believers, as Paul goes on to tell us, have a hope. They
have a hope, not because of anything they've done, but because of
His doings, because of their great Savior. Apart from that,
that is, apart from what He's done on the behalf of His people
and for His people, we would have no hope. Apart from that,
we're like everybody else. This is what Paul said in Ephesians
chapter 2. Will you turn back there for
a moment? Ephesians chapter 2, he exhorts God's people to remember
that, to be reminded of that. And I don't think we can be reminded
of it too often. That is, we are what we are by
the grace of God alone. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse
11, Paul writes, Wherefore remember, remember, It's good to remember. It's good to remember what we
were and what we now are and what by God's grace we hope yet
to be. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in times past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision,
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ. The same ones that Paul
spoke of as dying without hope. They were without Christ, therefore
without hope. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope. and without God in the world. Oh, but look what he says in
verse 13, but I never tire of that word. Do you, Lily? I never
tire of that because usually it introduces us to another blessed
promise concerning God's grace. It's true. By nature, we're all
children of wrath, even as others. By nature, we're all in the same
boat. But now, but now, in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. This alone makes the difference. This and nothing else. You need
not turn there, but let me read you just a verse concerning Moses'
words to the children of Israel that night, just before the angel
of death passed through and slew all the firstborn. He says in
verse 7 of chapter 11 in Exodus, But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. during this night
of death, judgment, condemnation, wrath, during this night against
the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against
any man or beast that ye may know, that ye may know. Not just
that the Egyptians may know, but that you may know, as Paul
said to the children of God, wherefore remember, that ye may
know how that the Lord hath put a difference between the Egyptians
and Israel. Again, it's only His grace that's
made us to differ. It's only His grace that gives
us this hope that He speaks of in our text. In 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, Paul describes it as a good hope. A good hope through
grace or because of grace. Peter in his first epistle, chapter
1, refers to it as a lively hope. A lively hope. It's a good hope,
a sure hope, through grace, but it's also a lively hope. And Peter says it's based upon
this. We have this hope. We have this
anchor based upon this. proved by this, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Oh, that's hope with a good reason,
is it not? There is a passage I do want
you to turn to, Hebrews chapter 6, and then we'll move on. But here the writer describes
it as a sure and certain hope. In Hebrews chapter 6, verse 17,
we read these words, wherein God, where in God, verse 17, willing
more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise, that's
you and I, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by
an oath, by two immutable things in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. As they say, we
can take this to the bank. The bank of God's promise of
grace, who had fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us. The writer of this book in chapter
12 says, Christ, for the joy that was set before Him, what
he knew would be the outcome. He knew that he would see it
through the veil of his soul and be satisfied. He knew that
he himself, being that corn of wheat that falls into the ground,
would bring forth much fruit. The writer says, we have a hope
which, if fled for refuge, lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have. right now, right now. We have
heartaches. God's people are not immune from
that. The Lord said, in the world ye
shall have tribulation, which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within
the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus. made a high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. A good hope, a lively hope, and
here we read a sure and a steadfast hope. Is this not an anchor for
the soul? Even Jesus, the writer said,
anyone more stable than that? Anyone that you know, any more
trustworthy than him, anyone more faithful than the great
shepherd of the sheep, we can sing. As a matter of fact, the
song I'm about to quote is one I picked, but I was told we weren't
really familiar with it. But all we can truly sing, we
have an anchor. that keeps the soul. We have
something we can fall down on. We have one who is able to keep
us and to present us before the throne of God. We have that assurance
now. Looking unto Him, we have an
anchor for the soul. We have an anchor that keeps
the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll. Oh yes, looking
unto Him doesn't make the billows to cease. Oh, but it yet gives
us an anchor that billows and our soul can lay down. We can
have peace in the world. Oh, we may have tribulation,
but it'll be of good cheer, our Master said. In the world you
shall have tribulation, but He hath overcome the world. We have
an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the
billows roll, fastened to the rock. And you know who that is. Fastened to the rock which cannot
move, the rock of ages, the eternal rock of our salvation, grounded
firm and deep in the Savior's love. Until this takes place,
what Paul speaks of in verses 16 and 17 of chapter 4, let's
read them again. Paul says at verse 16, For the
Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them, that is, those who have
died in the Lord, those who went before. We shall be caught up
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord." Paul reminds them now in chapter 5
why we anticipate that, why we wait for that, whether we go
by the way of the grave, whether God by His sweet Holy Spirit
comes to us and says, come up hither, or whether we're alive
when Christ returns, Paul says, whichever it may be, while we
are yet in this world, be reminded of this. And look again at what
he says in verse 4 of chapter 5. But ye, brethren, are not
in darkness, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are 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, as the unbelievers, as those who are blind, 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. put him on the blessed
plate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. Children of light, he describes
the believer, called out of darkness. All men by nature are in darkness,
but Christ is the light. He was not that light, John said
concerning John the Baptist, but he was sent to bear witness
of that light. Paul in Ephesians 5 says, for
ye were sometimes darkness. Notice that. He doesn't say you
were in darkness. He says you were darkness itself. lost and couldn't find our way
out, as lost and as dark as Saul of Tarsus was that day on Damascus
Road, until he came. He came, the great shepherd of
the sheep. And now, Paul wrote, are ye light
in the Lord. Just as he said in creation,
let there be light. And there was light, Lonnie.
He came to we who were darkness. engulfed in darkness we could
not find our way out and he by his mighty grace said let there
be light and the scales fell from our eyes and we saw for
the first time in our life what we never would have known what
we never would have been aware of otherwise I'm lost I'm lost. I'm undone. Oh, how can I be
just with God? And suddenly, we didn't understand
it. We couldn't explain it. But something
happened. Our desires changed. We had a
need of God and His mercy and His grace. And it was our prayer
day and night. Oh God, be merciful to me, a
sinner. What happened? What happened? Christ came to us and breathed
life and light into our darkened soul and showed us our need of
Him. But He didn't stop there. Oh
no. It was necessary. It was necessary
to get us lost. If you've never been lost, you've
never been found. It's necessary to strip us. a
painful work, a necessary work, but he does it in order that
he might clothe us in his own righteousness. Bring us to the
place where we cry, God save me or I perish. And he in omnipotent
grace reaches down his hand and lifts us up. 1 Peter chapter
2, he said, after we are saved, it's that we might show forth
the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous
light. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He turned the light on in our
darkened souls. And once He did, once He did,
after showing us our need, our sin, Oh, He brought us on and
showed us Himself. He revealed Himself to us to
give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. And when we saw Him, ours was
the same song As that one in Solomon's song, he's altogether
lovely. Was that not so? He's altogether
lovely. I've never seen such a sight. Oh, behold the Lamb of God. There's none like Him. There's
none like Him. There's none that compares to
Him. There's no greater love. There's
no greater grace. There's no greater glory. There's
not a beloved like my beloved. Oh, I see Him, and everything
else pales in comparison to Him. What grace, what mercy. Turn,
if you will, to Luke's Gospel, chapter 10. This is exactly what
our Lord told His disciples. Everyone in that day had an opinion
of who Christ was. He's a prophet. He's a good man.
The religious leaders said, oh no, he's a deceiver. But to those who had the light
turned on by the spirit and grace of God, he's altogether lovely. In Luke chapter 10, verse 21,
we read these words. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit. And said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. For
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight, all things
are delivered to me of my Father. And no man knoweth who the Son
is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and He
to whom the Son will reveal Him. And He turned him unto His disciples
and said privately, privately, Blessed are the eyes which see
the things that ye see. For I tell you that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which ye see and
have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear and
have not heard them. Blessed are your eyes. Peter,
my heavenly father, done something for you. He's revealed to you
who I am. Now, back in 1 Thessalonians
5, then Paul reminds them of this also, that those who look
for his coming, standing on the very tiptoes of faith, have this
sure word of promise in verse 9 again. For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation." God's appointment. That's the
title of the message. God's appointment. The first
thing we notice in verse 9, That is exactly that. It's God's appointment. It's His doing. It's by His ordaining. Just as God appointed Christ
as our substitute, God appointed the time of His coming. When
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son. He appointed the work of our
substitute. He said, I come not to do my
own will, Christ said, but the will of Him that sent me. And
God the Father has appointed this too. Nothing's left to chance. Someone asked me a while back
what I thought about luck. And I said, there's no such critter.
There's no such critter. Oh no. This is not left to such
things as that, such imaginary things as chance or fate or man's
will. Oh no. God made this appointment
on the behalf of all of His people. He's not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. God did that. That God of all
grace. that God of whom the prophet
said, none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? None can stop Him. None can even
hinder Him. He has His way in the whirlwind
and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. That's our God. That's what the
prophet said. He went on to say in Nahum chapter
1. He also said this. He rebuketh
the sea and maketh it dry. God does that. And dryeth up
all the rivers. The mountains quake at him and
the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea,
the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation? And who can abide in the fishness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by him. Oh, but he went on to
say, the Lord is good, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the
day of trouble, a refuge, and he knoweth them that trust him. in Him. He knoweth those that
are His. And it's that great God and Savior
that made this appointment for the salvation of all His elect. Notice again what it says in
verse 9. For God had not appointed us
to wrath. Not us. Not us. This promise
is not for everybody. It's for us. It's for God's chosen. It's for those He gave to Christ
before the world began. It's for those that Christ lived
for. Those that Christ died for. Those
that He interceded for. And He said, I pray not for the
world. No, but for those, Father, You
gave Me out of the world. It's not for everyone. People
who don't know God, who don't even profess to know God or serve
God, often try to take promises. Well, He said, He'll not lay
on me more than I'm able to bear. That's a promise to God's children. And this too is an appointment
for God's children. The us of the text speak of His
elect. As we said earlier, by nature
we're all children of wrath. There was nothing different in
ourselves, but we were distinguished. That's the Word. In 1 Corinthians
4, verse 7, Paul asked the question, who maketh thee the different?
The Word is distinguished. Who distinguished you? Who made
you to differ? What do you have that you didn't
receive? And the answer is nothing. As
we said this morning, I am what I am by the grace of God, period. Nothing else. Turn if you will
to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. It's by taking
verses out of context in the book of Romans that people have
developed what they call the Romans road. that wages their
sin is death. Yeah, you believe that? Christ
died for sinners. You believe that? Will you confess
it? Yeah. Well, then you're a Christian.
It's always interesting to me that they always take a detour
at Romans 9. In their Romans Road, they always
detour this chapter, which teaches plainly that salvation is a matter
of God's immutable, sovereign grace. That it's not of man that
willeth. It's not of man that worketh.
The reason is, always has been, always will be, and be the song
of glory, that it's of God that showeth mercy. His grace has
made us the different. Look at, if you will, at verse
22 of Romans 9. What if God, Paul writes, willing
to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Fitted to destruction. That is
deserving of God's wrath. The wages of sin is death. That's
something we earned by nature. But the gift of God, that is
the gift of mercy, the gift of grace, the gift of His Son, that's
a free gift. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ the Lord, and it's free. It's free. Come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Come, take the water of life
freely. Look at verse 23 of Romans 9.
And that he might make the riches of his glory on the vessels of
mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Oh yes, vessels of
mercy, aforeprepared. Prepared how? How? Well, Paul said prior to this,
it wasn't by their will, it wasn't by their works, but they were
prepared by their grace of God. Remember what he said to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, go down to the potter's house. And he did. And Jeremiah
said, behold, he wrought a work upon the wheels. That's the illustration
that Paul speaks of when he says, we are His workmanship. We are vessels of grace, vessels
of mercy, and all the work is the work of God alone, the triune
God. Now looking back at verse 9 of
1 Thessalonians 5, Paul also says, but to obtain salvation. God had not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. That's the end. That's the purpose
of this appointment. Complete, everlasting salvation. From the penalty of sin, from
the power of sin, and listen to this, from the very presence
of sin. Now that's grace. That's grace,
Lester. That's mercy. From the very presence
of sin, all my sin. You remember what Pharaoh said
to Moses finally? When Moses said, let God's people
go. And after each plague, Pharaoh's
heart was hardened. But then he said, I'll tell you
what I'll do, Moses. Let's make a deal. Go on, take
the people, go out into the wilderness and sacrifice, but leave your
cattle, leave all your livestock. And you remember Moses answered
to Pharaoh, no, no, no deal, no compromise, there won't be
a hoof left behind. And by God's mighty grace, there
won't be a hoof left behind. He'll see it through the veil
of his soul. Everything he purchased, everything
he bought, everything he paid for, he shall have in glory. And it will be a multitude that
none can number, and without a trace of sin in any one of
them. My soul, what an appointment
to God's Amazing grace. What a promise. Paul says, by
our Lord Jesus Christ. This appointment, this obtaining
of complete, eternal, everlasting salvation is by or through our
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm the way and the
truth and the life, the great shepherd of the sheep. He said,
I'm the door of the sheep. In that day, a shepherd, a literal
shepherd of sheep, out at night traveling with his sheep, he
would build an enclosure. of branches and so forth, and
there would be one opening. And that shepherd, to protect
and guard his sheep, would lay right down in that opening. He
himself would be the door. This is what Christ alluded to. I am the door. I am the door
of the sheep. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the door. By me if any man
enter in, he shall find life, peace, salvation. He shall be
saved. John in Revelation 4 says, Behold,
I looked, and there was a door closed in heaven? There was a
door closed because that's where God is, the very omnipotent,
all-holy God. It wouldn't surprise us if John
said, Behold, I saw a door closed, for who can abide His presence? But John said, I beheld a door
that was opened. A door was opened in heaven,
and Christ said, I'm the door. By me, whosoever enters in shall
be saved. And John said, I heard a voice
saying, come up, enter. Come up, John. Here's the door. Come through it. And John said
he was caught up. All things were ready. Everything's
prepared, our Lord said. Enter into the joy prepared from
you from the foundation of the world. Of Him and through Him
and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Look with me now at verse 10.
in 1 Thessalonians 5, who died for us, that whether we wake
or sleep, we shall live together with him. Whether we wake or
sleep, whether we're alive when Christ returns or have died,
we'll still be living together with him. I'm not the God of
the dead, he said, but the God of the living. Look, if you will,
back in Romans chapter 14. Look what Paul says along this
same line in Romans 14 verse 8. I like this, don't you? He
writes, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether
we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or
die, we are the Lord's. We are the Lord's. No wonder
Paul asked this question in Romans 8. What shall separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? What shall separate us? Can anything he asked? And of
course the answer was no. It's never been done. It's never
been done. Christ shall never lose one of
his sheep. Paul said to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. He told that dying thief
today. I like the sound of that. Today,
thou shalt be with me in paradise. What's heaven? What's heaven? Thou shalt be with me. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. That's good enough for me. Isn't
it, you? Be with me in paradise. Let me share something with you.
I had a dying aunt that sent this to me. before she passed. Though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day. They say that I'm
growing old. I've heard them tell it times
untold, in language plain and bold. But I'm not growing old.
This frail old shell in which I dwell is growing old, I know
full well. But I am not the shell. Well,
should I care if time's old plow has left its furrows on my brow? Another house not made with hands
awaits me in the glory land. The outward man do what I may,
or do what I can, to lengthen out this life's short span, shall
perish and return to dust, as everything in nature must. The
inward man, the scriptures say, is growing stronger every day.
Then how can I be growing old, when safe within my Savior's
fold? Ere long my soul shall fly away,
and leave this tenement of clay, This robe of flesh I'll drop
and rise to seize the everlasting prize. I'll meet you on the streets
of gold and prove that I'm not growing old. For we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. In Acts chapter 7, we referred
to it this morning, but we didn't read it. Stephen is being stoned. amidst all that commotion by
that bloodthirsty mob, they drag him out of the council, they
drag him through the streets, they drag him out of the city,
screaming, stopping their ears to the witness of Stephen concerning
Jesus Christ, and then they begin to pick up stones. They lay aside
their robes and they begin to pick up stones amongst all that
commotion all that confusion, all that noise, all that turmoil. You know how the chapter ends?
It ends with these words, he fell asleep. He fell asleep. Speaking of Stephen,
he just fell asleep. You that are parents, grandparents,
when our children were young, perhaps would have to have Something
done in the hospital required the surgery. I remember telling
my daughter, who had to have several surgeries. She was born
with problems with her pilot in her hearing. But when she
was little, she had several surgeries. And I remember telling her, Misty,
it's going to be OK. Be OK. When you wake up, it'll
all be over. and I'll be right here. I'll
be right here. Them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. Soon, it'll all be over. It'll all be over. All our weeping,
all our sorrow, all of our pain, all death, It's all going to
be over. And Christ says, I'll be there. When you wake up, I'll be there. Stephen fell asleep. Before he
did, he said, I see Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Christ
says, I'll be there. When you walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, don't be afraid. because I'll be there. He's always been with me. Always Louis. When I didn't know
it, he was with me. Keeping me until he called me
by his grace and he keeps me every day. Beloved John wrote,
now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear where
we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him. for we shall see him as he is. Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may my end be like theirs. Mr. Spurgeon said, I do not think
our Heavenly Father often puts his children to bed in the dark,
but if he does, they will wake up in the light of morning. I want to read one verse from
Revelation 21 in closing the message tonight. Revelation 21. Someone once said, I just now
think of it, that God told Enoch, we read in Genesis, that Enoch
was found not because God took him. Someone said God told him,
come up and spend the night, and he never came back, because
there's no night there. But in verse 23 of Revelation
21, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Verse 11 says, back
in Thessalonians 5, Wherefore, comfort yourselves together,
and edify one another, even as also ye do. That is, encourage
one another, strengthen one another by fellowship together, by worshipping
together, by praying for one another. For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to attain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.