Yeah, it was good singing. We're going to turn to God's
Word. We're turning now to First
Thessalonians chapter one, First Thessalonians chapter 1, and
we're going to read together the 1st 10 verses, 10 verses of
chapter 1. This will be the final time when
we'll read from this particular chapter, the series of messages
Thessalonians chapter 1. We'll read from verse one to 10
for those online. The words will come up on
screen. And the words, of course, are
from the Authorised Version, the most faithful and reliable
translation of the Holy Scriptures.
Let's hear God's word, Paul and Sylvanus and Timotheus unto the
Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you
in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of
faith and labour of love, patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the sight of God in our Father.
No one, brethren, beloved, your election of God for our gospel
came not unto you in Word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what
manner of man. We were among you for your sake,
and he became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the Word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost.
So that ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and
Akaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, and not only in Macedonia and Akaia, but also
in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad.
So that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the
living and the true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven,
whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come. Amen.
We know that the Lord will stamp with His own approval and
blessing this reading of His own precious infallible word.
Now my text today is taken from First Thessalonians chapter one,
verse 10. And I want us to think of the
words which delivered us from the wrath to come and to wait
for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus
which delivered us from the wrath to come.
And I want to ask the question today, and it's this are you
delivered from the wrath to come?
Now, looking at this text of Scripture, setting aside a much
lengthy introduction, I want us to think of four things today.
First of all, the declaration about God's wrath.
Think of the word wrath. You see, the subject of God's
wrath is out of step with our modern society.
That is to state the obvious, this subject is not the most
pleasantest of subjects. Sadly, many don't like this
subject. They deliberately shy away from
it. They ignore it or they're
offended by it. They're horrified at the thought
of God's wrath. And you see, sadly today and
sinfully, many so-called professing Christians and even
some evangelical churches completely minimise any mention
of God's wrath. Many openly state that they're
embarrassed by the concept. Oh, is that in the Bible?
I don't like that. And many openly state that they
don't believe, even though it's found in the Bible.
See, some preachers professing Christians state rather
arrogantly. But I believe in a God of love.
They don't understand God is love.
They tell us proudly, I don't believe in a God of wrath, a God
who hates sin and judges all on godliness and on righteousness.
And as I've said often, many professing evangelical teachers
and preachers ignore the full revelation of who God is and
what he is like and what he's done.
In the Bible, they ignorantly stayed with the God of the Old
Testament. He was an angry God.
OK, well, he's a God of wrath. But in the New Testament, he's
revealed as a God of love, a much nicer person, a much nicer
old man, always loving, never, never judgmental.
But they don't understand the scriptures.
In fact, we would say they err, not understanding the
scriptures. How many seeker sensitive
churches today? Mega crowds of hundreds and
thousands, lots of money, great buildings and buses.
But they never, ever mentioned sin.
They never, ever call for repentance of sin.
They never warn of judgement to come there.
There's no mention of a holy God who is fully justified in his
wrath against all sinners. See, I want to say this morning,
liberalism, a lopsided gospel, only focuses on the positive
aspects of the gospel. In liberal churches where
there's a lopsided gospel, modernistic churches, you'll
hear this. Well, God loves you and God
offers you new life, a life of peace now, life of joy, a life
of love. Here's a God who will help you
with all your problems. He wants you to be happy.
He wants you to be filled. But I want to tell you that is
only half the gospel. That is a a lopsided gospel.
That's not the gospel of the New Testament.
I repeat, in these liberal churches with a lopsided gospel,
there's no mention of sin or repentance.
There's no mention of a holy and just God who is fully justified
in his holy wrath against sinners.
And you see, today's liberal, lopsided gospel stands in
contrast to one of the most famous sermons ever preached in
the United States of America. A man by the name of the
Reverend Jonathan Edwards in Enfield, CT, the 8th of July
1741 preached one of the most famous sermons.
Here's the title Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
Before he preached it, he spent three days in prayer.
That sermon had a powerful effect.
That particular day he read the sermon word for word, and there
was people clinging to the pillars, crying out for mercy
and asking to be saved, unseaved because they feared they were
going to drop into hell. Thousands were convicted and
glory to God, thousands were converted.
Now, why did Jonathan Edwards preach in such a way, in such a
manner of what he did? Because he believed the Bible.
You see, here's the Apostle Paul and he's writing this letter to
one of the New Testament churches that he helped found
under God along with Sylvanus and Timotheus and the team that
were with him. This letter was written,
remember, about 11 months to a year after he had saw them
converted and formed into a New Testament church and he's
writing to encourage them. They're in the midst of
persecution. He introduces himself and his
team, verse one. It then says in verse 2 he gives
thanks to God for them all and states that he's making mention
of them in his prayers. He says in verse 3, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love,
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of
God and our Father. He's remembering the genuineness
and the reality of their New Testament Christianity.
Work of faith, labour of love, patience of hope.
He then states a great truth about the validity of their
election. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. He then makes a very definitive
statement about them. For our gospel came not unto you
in Word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you
for your sake is he hears the effects of the gospel in their
lives. Those who experienced genuine
conversion of Christ, they became genuine, effective
evangelist in helping to spread the gospel in Macedonia and in
IKEA. And last week, remember, we
looked at the characteristics of genuine conversion from verses
9:00 and 10:00, and we thought about how they received the
gospel not as the word of man, but as the word of truth.
Remember these genuine believers, there was the genuine
turning to the true and living God from idols, and there was
the genuine serving of that living and the true God, and
there was a genuine waiting for his Son from heaven.
And there was the genuine proclaiming of the gospel
message. And part of that gospel message
that they proclaimed, part of that gospel message that Paul
taught them was this which delivered us from the wrath to
come. You see, I put it to you this
morning in this declaration about God's wrath.
You can't deny the Bible. Do you know there's 179 times
the Holy Ghost uses the word wrath?
Search the Old Testament, search the New Testament.
I know some of the references are references to the wrath of
men, but a number of them are references to the wrath of God.
In Exodus 15 and verse 7 we read Speaking of the song of Miriam
after the overthrow of Pharaoh and his horsemen in the Red Sea.
That, and in the greatness of thine Excellency, thou has
overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
It was Job who believed in wrath.
Listen to these words. Job 14, verse 13 Oh, that thou
wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret
until thy wrath be overpassed, that thou wouldst appoint me a
set time, and Remember Me. Job 14 and 13.
And remember, of course, what the psalmist was able to say in
Psalm 2 and in verse 5, Speaking of God.
Then shall He speak unto them and His wrath, and vex them in
his sore displeasure. And then whenever we come into
the New Testament in Matthew chapter 3, we read there in
Matthew chapter 3, verse 7, O generation of Vipers, this is
the preaching of John the Baptist, who hath warned you to
flee from the wrath to come. And when we come into the New
Testament, then again in Romans chapter one, we read this in
verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
In Romans chapter 2 and in the verse 5, we read these words.
But after thy hardness and penitent heart treasures up unto
thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the
righteous judgement of God. And once again then when we come
into the New Testament even further, in the book of
Ephesians, we read in Ephesians 2 and verse three, he says,
Among whom also we all had our conversation, and time passed,
and the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, Paul added in Ephesians 5 and 6.
Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these
things cometh the wrath of God on the children of disobedience.
And one further reference out of that list of 197 we read there
in the Book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 6 it says
in verse 16 and said to the mountains and rocks fallen us,
and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and
from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath has
come, who shall be able to stand 197 times.
Brethren and sisters, the word wrath is used in the Bible and
many of them in reference to God and his dealings with the
children of men. And it's tremendous of course
just to remember that here in Thessalonians, the apostle Paul,
he mentions the word wrath 3 times in his first letter.
He mentions it in our text Thessalonians chapter one verse
10. He mentions it in 216 forbidding
us to speak to the that they might be saved to fill up their
sins always, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
And in chapter 5 and verse 9 he says this, for God have not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ. 3 is the number of witnesses.
So three times in this letter to this church.
That was the second church that was founded in the continent of
Europe. Remember Philip I was the first.
Thessalonica was the second, probably about AD 49AD50.
And Paul had spent time with them and here he is reminding
them of the truth that he has taught to them.
One of his subjects was the wrath of God.
Paul believed that God is love, but he also believed that God is
a holy God. He is justified in His holy
wrath against sinners. And that's the teaching of the
Bible. And I call preachers today, I,
I, I, I call those who are Christians who profess the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who claim to be saved.
I call them back to the Bible. I call them to listen to the
word of God, the declaration about God's wrath very quickly.
Secondly, the definition of God's wrath.
Now, what do we mean by God's wrath when it says here in the
text the raft to come? What does that mean?
Well, let me tell you what it doesn't mean.
We need to get rid of the notion of someone with a bad temper,
someone who just flies off the handle at the slightest
provocation. SH don't say nothing to him.
Don't get her started. You know what they're like.
They've got a bad temper. That's not the meaning now.
It includes anger, but not human anger, not the anger of a man, a
holy anger, a burning anger. You see, God's wrath is a part
of his holy nature, and some of the old divines have described
God's wrath as this. I quote God's settled,
determined act of holy opposition to all sin.
Let me repeat that God settled, determined act of holy
opposition to all sin. And God says I am the Lord, I
change not. Therefore you, sons of Jacob,
are not consumed. The God of the Bible is a holy
and just God who hates sin and loves righteousness.
You see, if God loves righteousness, then he must of
necessity heed evil. If God were only love and no
wrath, then he would not be good at all.
Could you imagine a judge? And he's all love and only love?
Such a lovely person. Here's a child molester in front
of him and he doesn't want to sentence him or punish him.
He's a cold blooded murderer. And he gets out of the the bench
and he says come here and let let let me give you a hug.
Somebody mustn't have hugged you during your life, but I'm going
to hug you now. And what would the people think?
What would the paper say? The papers would say he's not
fit to be in the bench. He may be a loving judge, but
he's not a wholly righteous judge.
He's not a good judge. You see, when we talk about
God's wrath, remember righteous anger over things we perceive to
be wrong. Often times that righteous anger
slipped from being righteous anger to unrighteous but not
God. He is the living and the true
God, and this God of love out of His holy nature.
If he didn't react to evil in the world, if he didn't react in
wrath and righteous judgement, then he would not be the holy
good God that the Bible teaches Him to be.
You see, sin violates the holy character of God.
This wrath is settled. That doesn't change.
This wrath is determined. God doesn't fly off the handle
like men. This wrath is angry.
The Bible says God is angry with the wicked everyday.
Think of this for a moment. You're familiar with John 3 and
16. For God, who loved the world, He
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Funeral undertaker one time printed cards with those words
on it, John 3 and 16. But he left 3 words out.
Here's the words that he left out should not perish.
And of course the preacher was giving out these cards, probably
like me, never read them, just automatically assumed that they
were a faithful, reliable translation of John 3 and 16.
And then one of his elders rightly pointed out to him that
the words should not perish are missing.
And he went back to the undertaker in all fairness, and
pointed this out to the undertaker, and told the
undertaker that the words should not perish have been left out.
And these words mean to come under God's eternal wrath, who
has got a settled, determined, active, holy nature to all sin
and wickedness in the world. Of course, the undertaker was a
bit flustered, and he decided with consultation with the
preacher, whom he knew to be a good and faithful minister of
the Gospel, that he would change the wording.
But it just shows you how subtle that that can be.
He picked it off the Internet, and of course it hadn't got.
Those words should not perish. The Bible tells us he that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
Neither believeth not the Son shall not snee life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him. See, we're not speaking about
the wrath of an earthly father. We're not speaking about the
wrath of an angry bear coming at you in the forest.
We're not speaking about the wrath of unleashing a bomb, even
a nuclear bomb in some city. Far more, we're saying God's
wrath is real. It's a real and righteous wrath.
It's a wrath revealed from heaven in Romans 118.
Those words revealed from heaven adds weight to the revelation.
It's not an idea that Paul dreamed up, not something that
popped into his head one day and thought that would be a great
thing to scare people. No, this is a revelation from
God himself, the definition of God's wrath.
It is God settled, determined and active attitude to all sin
and wickedness in the world. His holy opposition to all sin
very quickly. Thirdly, the day of God's wrath.
Notice the words here from the wrath to come.
And I want to tell you this morning, there's a future day of
wrath coming on the world. How do we know that?
Well, that's what the Bible teaches.
Look again at 2 verses very quickly, Romans chapter 2 and
verse 5. Romans 2 and five have already
read it, but it's worth reading again.
But after thy hardness and impenetent heart treasures up
unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath.
So the Bible mentions the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgement of God. And then if we come over there
to the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 6.
And remember we read in verse 17 Revelation 6 and 17 for the
great day of His wrath has come. Notice the adjective describing
the day, the great day of His wrath has come.
And who shall be able to stand the wrath to come?
There is a future day of wrath that's coming, and it's coming
in the final judgement. And Paul in this second letter
to Thessalonians says this unto you, your troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his
mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance, and them that
know not God, and it be not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.
There's a future day of wrath that's to come.
But let me point out something. There's not just a future day.
There's a feasible day of wrath. You see, the wrath of God is
already being revealed today. It's a present revelation.
If we look around, we can see the evidence of God's wrath in
all the effects of the afore, both in creation and in human
misery and suffering. Why do we see floods and
earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, hurricanes, famines, disease,
war, untold suffering and death, terrorism in the world?
You see, I believe that these are a manifestation of a
feasible day of wrath to come. These are harbingers.
These are pointing us to this future day.
There's a direct link between sin and the world and God's
judgement in this feasible way, giving them up to uncleanness,
giving them up to your reprobate mind.
You think of the AIDS epidemic. You think of the explosion of
homosexuality and all the diseases that comes from that
lifestyle of immorality, the harmful effects of drugs and
alcohol, terrorism in our land. We glanced through past history
and the Bible, and outside of it we have evidence of the ongoing
wrath of God. He destroyed the world by a
flood, Noah's flat. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
with fire and brimstone. Think of the judgement of God
and Israel who forsook him and forgot him, The judgement of God
and we Judah who forsook and forgot God.
My people have committed 2 evils.
They have forgotten me and forsaken me.
The fountain of living water and is not true of Ulster.
That's why we call the people to repentance.
This this we province is right for judgement.
Not only this we province but our United Kingdom despite our
adherence to the Protestant reform faith.
See God even allowed in Israel and Judy invading armies to come
kill 10s of thousands because of their sin and their wickedness
before God. And of course, the greatest
example of God's outpouring of his wrath was his own dear Son
on the cross. For he that is God.
Think of God the Father now at work with the cross.
Physical men have done their worst.
Think of the physical sufferings of Christ.
We'll go beyond those physical sufferings.
For he that is God have made him that is Christ to be sin for us
who you know, sin that is a sin offering.
And the wrath of God was poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he suffered the guilt and punishment of our sin until he
cried out, My God, my God, why hast thy forsaken thy and the
Lord Jesus fully satisfied and fulfilled the righteous
judgement of God? Isn't it tremendous that Paul
was able to preach there in Mars Hill Speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ? He says in Acts 17, verse 31
Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world, and righteousness high by that man whom he hath ordained.
For off he had given assurance unto all men, and he erased him
from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is
proof of this future day of judgement of coming and this
frightening world that we live. It's a feasible study of the
ongoing wrath of God poured out in this world because of sin and
because of uncleanness. One final thing I want you to
think about the deliverance from God's wrath.
We've thought about the declaration.
We've thought about the definition of God's wrath and we
have thought about the day of God's wrath.
So we're thinking and finally now of the deliverance of God's
wrath. If you look at our text very
simply. And to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead.
Even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Who delivers us from the wrath to come?
Jesus, the just one, the eternal one, the unique 1, the
sacrificing one, the saving one. Do an acrostic in the name of
Jesus in your head. You've got to think of his
person at work, God, manifest in the flesh.
You've got to think of him with a true human body.
The incarnation was necessity, the the sinless life that he
lived, the atoning death that he died on the cross.
Who? Who delivered us Jesus, What
way? Notice these words, whom he
raised from the dead, Even Jesus.
There's the crucifixion, raised from the dead, the dead he died
an atoning death for thee, whom he raised from the dead.
There's the resurrection. You've got to think of the death
of the Lord Jesus and the cross, where he's paying a price for
our redemption and shedding our blood, the blood of atonement
and, and, and that price was accepted.
And here's the proof connected up with Acts 1731.
The empty tomb. The Lord Jesus satisfied the
wrath of God. What did he do?
He delivered us from the wrath to come.
That is, He rescued us. Let me tell you a little story
in closing. This is a true story.
It was corroborated by Doctor Henry Ironside.
A young lady was brought up in a Christian home.
She had a godly mother. Father was dead, crawl along to
church, Bible believing church. Grew up in that church, very
good looking young girl. But that young girl went off to
university, fell into sin, lived for sin in the world.
She rejected God, forsook him, forgotten, refused to read the
Bible, refused to come to church anytime she was home from
university. Then her mother took sick and
she moved in with her mother at their university and started
work and she was caring for her aged mother.
And one night her mother was awoke.
The girl was crying. Here was the cry.
Mummy, there's a presence in this room and mummy, I'm afraid.
And mummy, this presence is telling me to read a portion of
Scripture and I've asked who is it?
And I've got the voice. The voice in my head tells me
that it's Jesus. And here's the portion of
Scripture and Ezekiel Chapter 7 we read in verse 8.
Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish
mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy
ways, and recompense thee for all thine abominations.
And thine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity.
I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine
abominations that are in the midst of thee, and ye shall know
that I am the Lord that smiteth. She says it was the presence in
the room telling her to put on the light and read those two
verses of Scripture, listen to what was being said.
She became terrified. She started crying for her
mummy. Her mummy talked the gospel to
her. She said she couldn't sense it.
She says mummy, I can't find peace and and and the mummy
urged her to cry out to Jesus to be saved.
That young girl in the cry of the night, head hit the pillow.
Henry Ironside. She said she never spoke again.
A presence in the room, a text of Scripture, a settled fear and
an exhaustion. That's the way she died.
The book of Job said this in Job 36.
I believe it is Job 36 and verse 10.
Listen to these words. He that openeth also their ear
to discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
Verse 18 says, because there's wrath, beware lest they take
thee away with a stroke. When a great ransom cannot
deliver thee, who delivers us from the wrath to come?
It's the Lord Jesus. What way does he do it?
Through his cross work, Through his resurrection.
What does he do? He rescues us from wrath to
come. How dare a postmodern world
reject the idea of divine wrath, Declare that no deliverance is
needed, or no deliverance is heated.
What are they doing? They're suppressing the truth.
They're holding it down. They deny it, they know that
it's true, but they want to hide it from you.
Now. I believe in a day of judgement,
a day of wrath now, because that wrath is already revealed from
heaven, but also in a day of judgement to come.
And in the afterlife, if you die in your sins without Christ,
you'll go to a place of eternal punishment, and you have
forsaken Him and forgotten Him with all your lies and their
lifestyle, your abandonment of His name, His day, His
commandments, your sin will be inexcusable.
And you'll realise that ungodliness is the root of sin.
You'll realise that unrighteousness is the fruit of
that ungodliness. It's the result, two different
aspects of sin. And here's the purpose in Christ
coming that we should not perish.
That's part of the gospel. If you die in your sins, you'll
receive eternal punishment. You'll feel constant pain
forever. It'll be continued.
I say this in finishing. Imagine putting your hand over a
flame or into a fire. If I put my wee finger in a
candle and I'm getting the wee bit of fleam, I'm pulling it
away immediately. I can't stick pain.
But imagine being an eternal punishment in hell, in eternal
flames of fire for all eternity, who you're constantly feeling
that pain and want to pull your arms and legs and self out of
that and cannot because that's a final thing, deliverance from
God, the wrath. It's only in Jesus.
It's only through the cross. And here's what he's come to do.
Here's part of his purpose to save us from wrath to come.
Are you saved? Are you delivered from wrath to
come? Only you can answer.
And I pray those without Christ they'd realise what a novel day
is weaving, and they'd repent of their sin and receive Christ as
Lord and Redeemer.