For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:9
On the door of our refrigerator is a small pad with a magnet to hold it in place. On that pad is written a date and time, just below another date and time that is scratched out. In fact, the last date and time is at the end of a long list of scratched out dates and times. The date happens to be my appointment for my monthly B-12 shot. Every time I go to the doctor’s office for my shot, I come home with a piece of paper with the date and time for my next shot written on it. Instead of keeping the paper with the new appointment, I write the date and time on the list on the refrigerator, and toss the paper in the trash. As I look at that pad, I am reminded of all the appointments that I have kept, and of the appointments to come. Our text today is something like that, telling of past spiritual appointments, and of appointments present and to come.
As our text declares, our first appointment, to wrath, was not something that God set for us. We made that appointment ourselves, as we turned every one to our own way, coming short of the glory of God and rejecting the free offer of the grace of God. That was a bad appointment, because it led to nothing but destruction. Even the pleasures of the world were only for a season, and they were destructive to both body and soul. The end of that appointment was eternal damnation and loss. How happy we are that God did not want us to keep that appointment for the punishment of our sin! How we rejoice that our appointment to wrath has been scratched off the list forever, never to be called to remembrance.
We also rejoice at the appointment by which we obtained salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. This was conversion’s day, the moment when we passed from death to live, when we were delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear son (Colossians 1:13). Yes, this is the appointment that God always desired that we might have, and His angels rejoiced when we received its deliverance from sin’s punishment.
God also desires that we might keep an appointment to salvation every day. More than the conversion of our souls, this appointment refers to the daily salvation of our spirits, our maturing into the image of our Lord as we learn His Word, enjoy His presence, and keep His commandments. This is a happy appointment, and our joy in this appointment grows with our appreciation for what God has done for us and for what He is yet to do, the deliverance from sin’s power.
This brings us to our final appointment. God has appointed a day in which He will dispatch His Son to the air to call away all those who have trusted Christ as Saviour. Those who bear the seal of the Holy Spirit will meet that appointment even as those who are unsheltered by the precious blood of Christ may never know that the time and date for our departure by way of the Rapture has occurred. This is our deliverance from the very presence of sin.
How wonderful God’s appointments are for His people! – Jim MacIntosh