Two promises from God our Father. We see here in verse 9, these
two promises. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and
verse 9. God has not appointed us to wrath. What a blessing. But, this is a second promise. But, to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ. We see here two characters of
God. Two characters that are from
Genesis through Revelation. Two characters of God. One of
wrath, one of grace. We find these two characters
running through the scriptures. We find in Genesis chapter 6
and verse 5 It says, God saw that the wickedness of man was
great on the earth and that every imagination of the thought of
the heart was only evil continually. God had created man and man sinned
against God. And every thought, every imagination
were only evil continually. And it repented to the Lord.
Now I don't know exactly what that means. When we say repent, we talk about
a turning. But the scripture says there's
no shadow of turning with God. But it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast. Because of this thing
of sin, God's wrath was shown. The beast did not sin. The beast
will continue in the way that God created him. But because
of this thing of sin, God said, I will destroy both man and beast
and every creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it
repenteth me that I have made them. This is the wrath of God. But in verse 8, Genesis chapter
6, verse 8, But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. These two characteristics run
from page to page, from cover to cover throughout this book.
This thing of wrath and this thing of grace. This thing of
wrath because of sin and this thing of grace because of love
he had for his people. And these two characters, these
two characters are shown forth throughout this whole book and
throughout this whole world. We read in Romans chapter 9 and
verse 13, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, grace, grace. Why did he love Jacob? Because
he would love Jacob. Why did he love Jacob? Because
it was his purpose to love Jacob. Jacob was formed that God may
love him, but Esau have I hated. Why did he hate Esau? Because
there's no good in Esau. There's no good in any man. God's
wrath is against sin. And man that sinneth, it shall
surely die. Or the soul that sinneth, it
shall surely die. And the scripture tells us plainly
and clearly that everyone has sinned and comes to the glory
of God. So that brings the wrath of God upon us because of sin. There's no middle ground. There's
no pretty good place for pretty good people. Men and women around
us today say, oh, if you do this, if you do that, God will accept
you. That's not what the scripture
says. There's no middle ground. I have loved thee or I hate thee. And this is God's word. We dare
not question this. We are but mere sinful creatures
that God was pleased to show grace unto. and we sit under
his grace and we enjoy the blessing that God pours out upon us daily. The scripture says he loatheth
us daily with benefits. He loatheth us daily. He gives
unto his people daily everything that we need to stand before
God and be accepted and that one great need. is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. God freely gave his son unto
you and I, and then he freely gave us grace to look to Christ
by faith. So this thing of degrees of God's
love, it's not so. You and I have degrees of love.
You and I love today and hate tomorrow. You and I love today
and can't stand one another tomorrow maybe. But not so with God. Not so with God. What He does,
He does forever. He does not love you today and
forsake you tomorrow. This is not the ways of God.
This is the ways of the flesh. The God of the Bible is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And when He said unto Jacob,
He said, Jacob, have I loved? I've always loved you. There
never was a time that I didn't love you. There never was a time
that Jacob was not in the thoughts of God and in the mind of God
and in the purpose of God. It was revealed under Jacob later.
But God don't start something today and quit it tomorrow. Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. Men say, well,
I don't like that word predestination and election. You're saying that
God predestinated some to heaven and some to hell. No, we're not.
Election is the election of grace. All men by nature are fit for
hell. All men by nature are on their
way to hell. But God chooses out of people. He says, this one's mine. That
one's mine. I will bring life and give life
unto these whom I have chosen before the foundation of the
world. So this thing of grace is God's favor, showing favor
unto ill-deserving creatures. God's wrath comes upon men because
of sin. God's grace comes to men in and
through by Christ. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Who maketh thee to differ? It's Christ who makes
the difference. The Father loveth the Son as
has given all things into His hand. All things. Everything
that God has in room and in stead and in storehouse of His love,
He gives unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have everything
that God has to offer to His people in and through and by
Christ. He is the channel, the avenue,
that all these blessings come unto us. Outside of Christ, God
is a consuming fire. We will not see God, we cannot
hear God, we cannot come unto God except in the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth on the Son
has everlasting life. That's just a statement. If you,
by faith, look to Christ You do it because you have everlasting
life. You don't do it to receive life
now. You don't do it because if I do this, God's gonna give
me life. If you look to Christ by faith,
it is evidence that he has begun a good work in you. And that
work is the everlasting life of God himself. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. What's he gonna see? Death, wrath, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Those outside of the grace of
God, those who do not have any interest in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the wrath of God abideth on them. Now God may, in his mercy and
his grace, he may reveal Christ to you, I don't know, But there
are a people, the scripture says there is a remnant according
to the election of grace and they shall hear the gospel and
they shall believe the gospel and they shall run to Christ.
We are not appointed under wrath but to obtain. That word obtain
means to have it right now. You say well we're talking about
things that's going to happen in the after we depart this life? No. We have everlasting life
right now. Right now. Those who are in Christ
have life. And they shall not see death.
Oh, this flesh is going to depart. This flesh is going to die and
go back to the dust. But we shall not see death. Why
will we not see death? Because we have everlasting life
dwelling within us. This is what it is, Christ in
you, the hope of glory. Paul said in Romans chapter 8
and verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation. Paul wrote this, some say 2,000 years ago, some
say 4,000 years ago, some say Thousands and thousands of years
ago. I don't know how long this this world has been in existence
here How long it will be in existence? But Paul said there is therefore
now When he wrote this word now it meant the same things that
it does right now right now The soul that reads it right now
can read it the same way the soul read it when Paul first
pinned it down There is therefore now, right now, no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Right now, if we look to Christ
by faith, there's no condemnation to you and I. We live before
God, we walk before God, and we stand before God not condemned. And if we're not condemned, we
must be accepted. We must be accepted. There's
only two characters of God. Wrath and grace. The one, he
condemns. The other, he extends his pardoning
grace. But to obtain salvation, oh,
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. When you obtain
something, you go to the store, you go to the shelf, Your hand
reaches out and lays hold of an item. You go to the cash register
and you pay for that item. You obtained it. You have it. You have it right now. We have
salvation right now in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said
in Romans chapter 11 and verse 1, I say then, has God cast away
his people? The Jews and the Gentiles were
debating this. Has God cast away his people?
God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast
away his people, which he foreknew. What's that mean? Well, he knowed
them when they made a decision. Not so. For new means to know
beforehand, to know before anything ever took place. God chose a
people before the foundation of the world, before he ever
created this world. He had a people. And that people,
the scripture says, shall be willing in the day of his power.
They will hear the gospel, and they will come to Christ, and
they will lay hold of Christ by faith, and they will rest
in Christ, and one day Christ will present them unto the Father,
and say, Behold, I am the children which thou gavest me. God has not cast away his people,
which he foreknew. Would it not that the scripture
saith of Isaiah, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets. This is Isaiah
saying, come to the Lord. And he said, Lord, they've killed
your prophets. They've digged down your altars.
They tore up your altars. And I alone have left. And they
seek my life. This was Isaiah complaining to
God. But what say the answer of God?
You and I, most of us, are in a small congregation. We've got,
at the best, at Dengas, 12, 15 people. Do we complain? Do we complain? I'm often reminded
what a blessing it is to have one to worship with, much less
a household. But this is what Isaiah says.
But what does the Lord say to Isaiah? He says, I have reserved
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal, even so, at this present time. And if we read it right
now, we read it in the same way that Isaiah wrote it. Even so,
then, there is at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is no more grace. Otherwise, work
is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the elect. The natural tribe
of Israel has not obtained the gift of God, but the elect have
obtained it, and the rest were blinded. That's what's happening
in your day and in my day, in my community and in your community. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace, and the rest are blinded. Paul wrote, writing in the book
of Hebrews, concerning the old high priest that went in to the
holy place, the holiest of all, once a year. He said in Hebrews
9, verse 6, Now when these things were thus ordained, when these
things were thus purposed to come to pass, when these things
were set in order, the priest went always into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God. There were two tabernacles. And the first one he went in,
there was a brazen altar and this thing where he washed his
hand and where he offered a sacrifice for the sins of the people. And
then he went into the holiest of all, this place that was behind
the veil. But into the second went the
high priest alone once a year. Not without blood. He gave an offering and a sacrifice
out here for his self and the sins of his people. And then
when he went into the holiest of all, this place, this tabernacle
behind the veil, which he offered a sacrifice for himself and the
errors of the people, the Holy Ghost signifying, this was showing
us, teaching us, illustrating to us that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet manifest while the first tabernacle was standing.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has not came into flesh, is what he's
talking about here. These two tabernacles represented
him. The blood that was shed represented
his blood. The sacrifice and the offerings
represented him. And while these things still
stood, while these two tabernacles still stood, the Lord Jesus Christ
had not came yet. which was a figure of the time
then present and which were offered both gifts and sacrifice that
could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the flesh. In other words, the blood of bulls and goats
cannot make you perfect in the sight of God, which stood only
in meats and drinks and divers washing and carnal ornaments
imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ, Here's
the sum of the matter. Here's the whole illustration
of the matter. But Christ, being come in a high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of bulls and goats and calves, but by
his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained. There's that word again, obtained. eternal redemption for us. We
have it. We have actually obtained salvation
in and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We truly have
it. We have it right now and forever. And we have it by our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. The wrath that God has towards
my sin has been satisfied. His blood offered in my room
and in my stead, washed away, washed away my sin before God. I spoke in the earlier service,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. When my Lord hung
there on the cross, and this cross was not a pretty
picture. Men today polish their crosses
make a cross of gold, it's a pretty thing to look at. But not this
cross. It was hewn out of rough lumber. No doubt it had splinters
and spikes and all manner of suffering to it. And this was,
what the cross was for was for suffering. It wasn't a polished
piece of wood. It was an old, rugged cross.
And when my Lord hung on that cross, God's wrath, God's wrath
towards my sin was poured out on him. Every drop, every ounce
of God's wrath. He drank the bitter cup alone
and the wrath of God was poured out upon the one to be sacrificed. And this wrath came down upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. to the point that he cried out,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And as this wrath was poured
out, he hung there as my substitute, my satisfaction, my sin bearer,
my offering, my all in all. And when God's wrath was poured
out, every drop of it, every ounce of God's wrath from all
time against all the sins of all His people of all time. And
when the Lord took this on Himself, the Scripture says He was made
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
To the same point that I am made righteous before God, He was
made sin before God. To the same point to the same
point. And now I stand in Him complete. And when He died there on the
cross, that fulfilled the soul that sinneth must surely die. How could God, who is life Himself,
die? Only in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Only in the man, in the body,
of Jesus Christ alone. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining to actually receiving, actually
laying hold of, to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions
which you've been taught, whether by me or by the other prophets
or apostles. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even our Father, which has loved us and has given us
an everlasting consolation and good hope Through grace, comfort
your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. No
wonder the old writer wrote, my hope is built on nothing less.
No wonder he wrote, he was inspired to write it, that you and I can
read it and sing it and say, there he is. There's my hope,
my all and in all. For God has not appointed us
to wrath. but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, who died for us, that whether
we wake or we sleep, we should live together with Him. We live
in a world today, and we say all men around us say,
oh, we're all going the same way. We're all going to the same
place. I know you take a different road.
You believe in this thing of election and salvation by grace.
I believe that Jesus done this and I want to do this. We're
not on the same road. We don't serve the same God.
There's a difference. There's a difference between
the God of Scripture and the God of man's imagination. And
the difference is heaven and hell. The difference is wrath
or grace. There's only one way. There's
only one way. And I know your pastor preaches
this to you every week, every week. There's only one salvation. There's only one person. There's
only one way that God can be satisfied. And that is in and
through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
there's only one gospel. Only one gospel. As I spoke a
little bit ago, I turned over to the lesson that I planned
on preaching, this one here, and I said, I'm going to say
the same thing. I'm going to use a different
text. But it's the same thing. It's
the same message. It's the same gospel. And I'm
glad it is. I'm glad that we don't look through
the scripture and find something new. There's only one hope for
sinners. And that is Christ and Christ
alone. He only saves them. And He only
saves them one way. And that is eternal. If your friends and family are
like mine, they follow after a religion that says you can
be saved today and lost tomorrow and come back next week and dedicate
yourself and be alright. That's not in this book. That's
not according to the gospel. He says, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. Therefore, because of my love
for you, I've shown forth my lovingkindness. I've drawn you
unto myself. And I will keep you and I will
not let you go. The scripture tells us plainly
what God does. It is forever. Nothing can be
added to it. Nothing can be taken away from
it. And he doeth it that men may reverence before him. Some may make some type of profession,
they may walk what they call an aisle, they may have an altar
call, and men and women run to the front, but that's not salvation. Salvation is looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, and laying our soul, our
hope, our rest, our eternal being at His feet, and crying out,
Lord save me lest I perish. Lord if you will, If you will,
you can make me whole. You don't have to. You've not
promised me. You've not told everybody you're
going to have a chance. If you will, you can make me
whole. But oh, the Word of God declares,
I have chosen you before the foundation of the world. I have
loved you with an everlasting love. I have purposed to have
you, and have you I will. My people shall be willing in
the day of my power. Thy people, which is the Lord
talking about my people. I'm going to have, I have created
a people, and I have called a people from the four corners of the
earth, from every language, tongue, every sect of the people, according
to the scriptures. God has chosen someone out. And he said, they're mine. And
then I go about working. I work. All things work together
for the good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to His purpose. I'll send my gospel to where
they are. Some will hear. My people will
hear. And then by them hearing, I will
send forth my spirit unto them and cause them to look to Christ. I will send forth my spirit and
I will lead them and guide them in the path of righteousness.
You remember what our Lord said? He said, I must go away. He was about to go to the cross
and there give his life for the sins of his people. He said,
I must go away. But if I go away, I will pray
the Father that he will send you another comforter. I will
not leave you comfortless. But I will pray the Father and
He will send you another Comforter. And this Comforter, which is
the Spirit of God, He shall take the things of mine and show them
unto you. He shall not speak of Himself.
He's not going to magnify Himself. He's not going to do as men around
us say, Oh, the Holy Spirit made me jump aisles and run down the
aisles and jump pews and speak in tongue. That's the Spirit
speaking of Himself. That's another spirit. That's
not the spirit of God. The spirit of God takes the things
of Christ and reveals them unto you. How does he do that? Through
the preaching of the gospel, through the teaching and the
speaking of the spirit in our hearts and in our minds. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others. But let us watch and be sober.
Let us wait. Let us wait. Stand ye still and
see the salvation of God. Let us wait with patience. Let
us wait as God works within us and within his people. Let us
never look at someone and say, oh God's not going to save him.
Oh no. If God saved me, He's able to
save the vilest of the vile, for that's who I was. And such
were some of you, but you are washed. Now let me wrap this up. Seeing we have obtained salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, by His doing, we are declared by God Himself
to be holy and just. He that is in Christ is a new
creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. He that is in Christ sinneth
not, for the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. And seeing we have attained
this thing of salvation, we are declared by God himself to be
holy and just. in the mind and the sight of
God. But we have this only in and
through the work and the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are totally free. We are totally
free from condemnation. We are totally free from any
blame. We are totally free, washed in
the blood of Christ, and we are totally righteous. righteous. It's one thing to be declared
not guilty. It's a whole other matter to
be declared righteous. And this I have in Him. I stand
before God right now, right now, having no condemnation, and I
stand before Him righteous, holy, and acceptable. in the beloved. This is our standing before God.
Why is this? For God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope
this was helpful to you.