MESSAGE 7 - 1 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 5 – NOW WE LOOK AT THE WRATH OF GOD AND SALVATION – PART 1 (Verse 9)
DESTINED NOT FOR WRATH, BUT FOR SALVATION
{{1Thessalonians 5:9 “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”}}
We will consider just this one verse today. Plain and simple, what does this verse say? It has two parts – one part will not apply to us as Christians, and one part will apply. The part we won’t have, is wrath. We are not ordained to any part of wrath. This is extremely important to understand because it is fundamental to the position we have in our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says we have not been destined to wrath. That is, appointed to wrath; designated to wrath. We will never be part of wrath.
WHAT IS THE WRATH OF GOD?
I want to examine from the scriptures what the wrath of God is. ???? comes from the verb orago meaning, “to teem, to swell”; and thus implies that it is not a sudden outburst, but rather (referring to God's wrath) is fixed, controlled, passionate feeling against sin . . . a settled indignation. It means anger, wrath, passion, punishment, and vengeance.
WHAT IS THE WRATH OF GOD THAT IS COMING?
Last time we looked at the day of the LORD (meaning “the Day of Jehovah”) coming as a thief in the night, and examined that. We saw that the Lord does not come as a thief for His Church, but rather as the Bridegroom for His Bride, and the Day of the LORD is not for us. We saw how that the Day of the LORD applies AFTER the Church has been removed in the Rapture. God’s wrath is going to be manifest after the Church goes and that is what occupies the book of Revelation. It will be a terrible time when God punishes this earth for its unrepentant sin.
When we looked at Chapter 1 of Thessalonians we came upon this instructive verse – {{1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus WHO DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME.”}} The verse tells us very clearly that wrath is coming but we are delivered from it. The wrath will be the judgements coming from 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls and the final great battle of Armageddon. {{Revelation 6:16 “and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the WRATH of the Lamb Revelation 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”}} That is happening near the start of the Tribulation and the people of earth will know straight away that they are in the wrath of God.
HOW IS THE WRATH OF GOD REVEALED?
There was an Old Testament preacher called Jonah who was ordered by God to go to Nineveh, the depraved and cruelest city of that time and preach against it, for God was going to destroy it in His wrath unless it repented. God gave the Assyrian people 40 days to repent and they did. They were spared. Fewer than 100 years later, the people returned to even greater sinfulness, and God destroyed that city with the greatest of judgements, wiping it out so thoroughly that it remained unknown for over 2600 years when excavations began to reveal it near Mosul. You can not trifle with sin before a holy God.
In Revelation 9 v 20-21 – {{Revelation 9:20 “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”}} This is when the judgements of God’s wrath are falling, but even then, people will not repent. The defiant stubbornness of man’s heart is just amazing. This is because sin has taken such a hold that the chains binding the soul are so strong.
We need to look at Romans. Here is a lengthy passage – {{Romans 1:18 “THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness Rom 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them, Rom 1:20 for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Rom 1:21 Even though they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Rom 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonoured among them, Rom 1:25 for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, Rom 1:27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. Rom 1:28 Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, Rom 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, Rom 1:31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, Rom 1:32 and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practise such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practise them.”}}
Now we need to ask, “How is the wrath of God revealed?” “Do we see God zapping evil sinners, or some open judgement of the Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, or the proposed movers of the motion to legalise homosexual marriage in our nations, coming under judgement? I put it to you that we don’t see the open hand of God in wrath and judgement against these things, but the principle operates whereby those who adopt these things will see leanness and we will see a cancerous society, failing more and more.
We live in an age of grace where I think God’s hand is stayed and while the Church remains on earth, so too will God’s wrath remain in storage. What about the earthquake in Nepal in 2015? Was that God’s wrath against Buddhists? I don’t think so, but it was the natural outworking of geological and geographical forces that God programmed in the physics and geology of this world. It is the same situation that Jesus spoke of using the tower of Siloam – {{Luke 13:2-5 and He answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish, or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”}}
God’s message now is that you will face wrath and perish if you do not repent. If you go to your grave unrepentant and unsaved all you have to look forward to is the wrath of God. What then did Paul mean by the Romans verse “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven?” Well, he was stating a truth, based on the history God recorded for us in history, such as the flood of Noah, the destruction of the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and of Israel and Jerusalem. Armed with the Old Testament events we can easily say that God’s wrath is revealed from heaven, especially as we have been seeing in the Minor Prophets. That truth still operated but God’s hand is stayed. Wrath being stayed is not wrath forgotten or dismissed. Then we must ask . . . . (logically moving to the next point).
CAN THE WRATH OF GOD BE STORED UP AS KEPT IN A BANK?
Here is our verse – {{Romans 2:5 “but because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”}} Storing up wrath is very serious. An unrepentant sinner can’t get away from this one. My great-grandfather was the storekeeper and postmaster in a small town called Tiaro near Maryborough in the 1860s and 1870s. In those days it used to be the practice, when people could not pay, to put their bill on account, to be paid later. He was fairly generous it seems, and then all trouble broke over his head because he went into insolvency, meaning he went broke, because people could not, and did not pay him. The biggest debtor was his father-in-law! That is exactly what this world is currently doing, and has been doing for some time. It is putting on account with accumulated sins, the wrath of God that will so come on this world in the near future with a mighty suddenness.
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS GOD’S DISPLEASURE AS OPPOSED TO GOD’S WRATH?
Part of this has been mentioned already. Australia has openly rushed to legislate homosexuality in marriage, and this has been operating now for several years. It is already enshrined in laws that prevent one from speaking out to condemn the evil practice, laws called “sexual vilification”. Why did not God strike down all those responsible for this perverted legislation?
Do you know why marriage is so important in the form that God gave for it? Well the marriage of Adam and Eve (more the union) was instituted because way in eternity past, the Lord had destined to have a Bride, the Church, and human marriage flows from that. Any distortion of true marriage is a total blasphemy of Christ and His Church. This will bring God’s wrath, but I also think there is a difference between God’s wrath and God’s displeasure.
In the Church age we see God’s displeasure, expressed in the way nations battle to be economically viable, the droughts and floods, even though these come under the laws of Nature. This is not the wrath of God, and when that wrath will be revealed it will be terrible. Study the book of Revelation from chapter 6 to chapter 19 to see what the wrath of God is. Our country is storing up for itself an enormous degree of wrath that will be unleashed after the Church has gone. The men of Sodom were practising homosexuals as are numbers of men in Australia, many in high positions, and the 60 to 70% of Australians who support them are no better. If you support them you are as bad as they are. What I say for Australia is just as bad in the United States for it is following very fast. All western nations are in steep decline. They are storing up wrath,
However we have gone further in angering God because we have made laws supporting that sin, and may make even worse laws defiling what God has confirmed as true marriage. Homosexuality is legalised and there are laws against those who speak out against it. Those things the rulers of Sodom never did, and the men of Sodom will stand up in judgement against this nation and the world, in the judgement to come. Paul wrote – {{Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry, Col 3:6 for it is on account of these things that THE WRATH OF GOD WILL COME.”}} Now we see laws and school curricula destroying children’s gender and sexuality. The “bank” storing up God’s wrath will very soon be emptied.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WRATH OF GOD AND THE HOLINESS OF GOD?
They are closely linked, because the wrath of God proceeds from the holiness of God. God is holy, and no sin can stand before Him. It must be burnt away, judged with full judgement. His holiness must lead to punishment, and that punishment is His wrath. Every single sin leads to judgement and must be judged. All God’s attributes are balanced – love, holiness, mercy, and a God of wrath.
THE LAST QUESTION. WHY ARE WE, AS CHRISTIANS, DELIVERED FROM THE DAY OF GOD’S WRATH?
I want to remind us of the verses already mentioned – {{1Thessalonians 5:9 “GOD HAS NOT DESTINED US FOR WRATH, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and 1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, JESUS who DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME.”}} Also, I want to add another verse – {{Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we SHALL BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD through Him.”}} The Romans verse gives us the reason why we will never enter God’s wrath that is coming on the world. We are delivered from all God’s wrath because it has already been taken from our account. There is no more left for us. The Lord Jesus Christ took the entire account of our deserved wrath and made it His and then bore the judgement for that so that we are now declared righteous.
Our sins could not be overlooked and the wrath of God had to deal with them. How did that happen? It is answered in the well known Isaiah verse – {{Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”}} Then Isaiah added – {{Isaiah 53:5 “but He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”}} The prophet is talking about substitution where the Lord Jesus took our place under the hand of a wrathful God. God’s wrath fell on Him and all the punishment that was against us was borne by the Lamb of God. He drained the cup of God’s wrath and not one drop remained. For those in Christ, not one atom of God’s wrath is against us, because in God’s sight, we are fully righteous. That fact is confirmed by Paul in {{2Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”}} Every single sin must be accounted for. All are guilty. What about your punishment? Behold, read on the cross, “PAID” – {{John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”}}
Consider for a moment the ark of Noah. The wrath of God fell from heaven on everyone who was living at that time, but the difference was the ark. God’s wrath fell on the sinful people, and it fell on the ark. It did not fall on those inside the ark, because the eight inside were protected by the vessel, but the ones outside were unprotected. The ark encountered the wrath of God too, and it endured the wrath for the sake of the ones it was sheltering. The ark was covered inside and outside with pitch – the Hebrew word for pitch is the same as for atonement – and it was this atonement that protected the redeemed inside. We are in Christ who is our Ark, our Atonement with God. There are some who claim that the Church must go through the Great Tribulation, at least the first half of it, for 3.5 years of the 7 years. Then they say the Church is raptured. That is a great error for Christ has taken ALL the wrath for us, not just half of it.
Back to verse 9. {{1Thessalonians 5:9 “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”}}
We see in all of this study that we are not appointed to wrath but to salvation. That means we look forward to salvation, our deliverance from this present evil world. We will not experience the wrath of God, but will know His unfathomable blessings, and eternity with our Saviour. Are you looking forward to His coming? We ought to be watching in expectancy for our Lord to come.
If you are uncertain of your salvation, then repent of your sins. If you don’t then your sins will condemn you. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Entrust your life to Him and you will be delivered from the wrath to come.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
