Look with me this morning at
the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1. Let me read verses 8 and 9. The Apostle Paul is writing to
young Timothy, a preacher, and says, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. but
be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. End of quote. Now the salvation
of a human being is completely of the Lord. That's what Jonah
2.9 says. Salvation is of the Lord. In other places, salvation belongeth
to the Lord. It is all according to His will
and His purpose and it is by His power. And the salvation
of any And every human being is for God's glory. He gets all the glory or all
the credit, all the honor, because He is the Savior. Let me illustrate. A person is
asleep in a burning building. Someone, a fireman perhaps, risks
his life and goes in after that person, picks them up, carries
them on their shoulders outside to safety. Now, who did the saving? Who gets the honor? Why, it's very clear, isn't it?
And so it is in the saving of a soul. Lost means lost. Saved means someone did it. Someone saved you. Dead means
dead. Giving life means someone gave
you life. To be born is to be born of God. You don't help out giving birth
to yourself. And so Paul tells young Timothy,
you be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. If someone just
simply and plainly and boldly declares the truth that salvation
is of the Lord 100 percent. Not a cooperative effort between
God and man, but salvation is of the Lord. They will be hated
and persecuted and maligned in all manner of evil said against
them falsely for Christ's name's sake. So be it. Paul told young
Timothy, be a partaker of the afflictions that come with preaching
the true gospel, the offense of the cross. He said it's the
gospel according to the power of God. The gospel, the gospel,
there is but one, is according to the power of God. God's gospel, Bible gospel, is
the only true gospel, and it is according to the power of
God. It's all concerning the power
of God. Now, Paul warned of another gospel
in Galatians 1. He said, there'll be some come
preaching another gospel which is not another, but a perversion
of the gospel. He warned of another Jesus who
is not the true Lord Jesus Christ of Scripture. That other gospel
or perversion of the gospel, which is so prevalent today,
is the gospel according to the power of man. The power of man's will, man's
choice, man's decision, man doing the calling. But now the gospel,
Paul says, God's Word, rather, says, is the gospel according
to the power of God. God's will. God's choice. God's decision. God's call. Read on. He says in verse 9,
God who hath saved us, it is God who does the saving. And
when we say God, when he says God, he means God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the triune God. It is
God, he says, who hath saved us, not we ourselves. God. Not God and us saved us,
but God. who hath saved us." We were the
ones that were lost, not God. They didn't go finding God. He was not lost. We were. Who hath saved us? Everyone who
was lost, truly lost, knows this is true. God who hath saved us
and called us, he said. It is God who called us. Romans
10.13, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved, the scripture said. That's a wonderful verse, but
that's just a portion, just a part of Joel 2.32, which reads, I
read the whole verse, It shall come to pass that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath
said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Deliverance,
salvation, is for those whom the Lord hath called. Why do
they call? Whosoever shall call. Why do
they call? Because God first called them. Whosoever will. Why do they will? And God's people are willing.
They will. They will. They believe. Why? It's not of themselves. It's the gift of God. Psalm 110,
verse 3, Thy people shall be willing in the day thy power. This is the gospel I'm preaching.
The gospel according to the power of God. who hath saved us, and
called us with a holy calling." We would not, no one would call
on God if God had not powerfully and does not powerfully, sovereignly
call them. And this call is just like when
Lazarus was in the tomb and the Lord Jesus Christ came by and
called him personally, particularly, powerfully, sovereignly. Lazarus was his choice to raise
from the dead, not vice versa. If Christ had not called Lazarus'
name, every single dead person would have come out of that grave.
But no, he says Lazarus come forth. And that's the way it
is with every single person who God Almighty, through the preaching
of the gospel, through the Spirit of God, the preaching of Christ,
calls by His grace. They were dead in trespasses
and sin, Paul said in Ephesians 2, and you hath he quickened,
that is, made alive. Who did it? He did it by the
gospel call, called by our gospel. Yes, Paul said to the Thessalonians,
we are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel." From the dead,
from darkness to light, God did it. It's God's power, and God
gets the glory. Yes, Paul says, God who hath
saved us and called us. with an holy calling, not according
to our works. He said it's not because. God
didn't call us because he saw something good in us, because
we were being good little boys and girls, and so there's something
he needs in us. No, no, no. God doesn't call
to tell us that since we quit this or quit that and turned
over a new leaf and trying to do better and doing the best
we can, now we're living right and accept to Jesus that we've
earned heaven. No, sir. That's giving glory
to man. But verse 9, he says, not according
to our works. God who had saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began." Purpose. Everything God does, He does
on purpose. And it's all according to that
purpose which He made before the world began. That's what
this book says. That's what that verse says. According to His own purpose. God's purpose to save a people
before the world began. Let me ask you three questions
from God's Word. If you claim to be a believer,
if you claim to be a child of God, answer these questions from
God's Word. From God's Word now, not what
you think or what some theologian or someone tells you. All right,
three questions. Did you choose God or did He
choose you? From God's Word now, don't answer
it of your own Thought and opinion. Let me tell you what God's Word
says to his people. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as he hath chosen us in Christ. According as he hath chosen us.
The Lord Jesus Christ kept reminding his disciples of this. And they
knew it. They knew it. That they didn't
choose him. That they were fishing one day
and he came along and chose them. according as He hath chosen us."
Well, God's people do choose Him, but it's after the fact.
Why do we labor this point? Because it's true, that's why.
And because God must get the glory. And another reason very
few people are saying it. Well, did you choose God or did
He choose you? Scripture says, according as
He hath chosen us. Christ said, you didn't choose
Me. I chose you." Well, when did he choose us? After we believed? No, no, no. Ephesians 1, 4, "...according
as he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world." Before the foundation of the world. Charles Spurgeon,
a noted preacher, which some of you may have heard his name,
he said, one day, I know that God chose me because I would
never have chosen him. And he said, I know He chose
me before I was born, because if He had waited until afterward,
He never would have chosen me then. Oh, yeah. Romans 9 and 11 says, "...the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
be fulfilled, but of Him that calleth." Of Him that calleth. Well, he goes on to say, the
question is, Why did God choose you? God chose you and He did
it before the foundation of the world. Why did He do it? Why
does He choose one over another? Not because He sees anything
better in one than another. No, God is no respecter of person. But verse 5 in Ephesians 1 says,
according to the good pleasure of His will. Because He purposed
to do so. Because He willed to do so. God,
before the world began, purposed All things, yes, known unto him
are all his works. From the beginning, the foundation
of God standeth sure, the Lord knoweth, having this seal, the
Lord knoweth them that are hid." He purposed to save some of Adam's
lost race. None of them deserved it. But
God, in great mercy and grace, purposed to save some, yea, many,
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea. God purposed
to save whom He would, whom He would save. sent Christ to do
the work. We'll read on. It says, the purpose
and grace. Grace. Salvation is by grace.
That means unmerited favor. Unmerited favor. Free pardon. The gift. Now, it's not an offer. No, no, no. This grace is something
done to you, not offered to you. This grace is something that's
provided for you. Something bestowed upon you.
Something that's done for you. Imputed to you. Charged to you. All of this salvation is according
to the grace of God bestowed upon those favored elect of His. My, my, they didn't deserve it. Which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Yes, God purposed, willed Christ
to be the surety, the representative, the Redeemer of all His people
before the world began. And Christ agreed to come and
be their surety, their covenant head, their Redeemer, their Savior,
their Lord, their righteous representative, and to suffer the penalty of
their sins and die, which the law demands, and rise from the
grave and go to the right hand of God and ever live to intercede
for God's people. And God said, then it's done.
It's done. And that gospel, the power of
God, calls to tell us just that. Salvation is of the Lord. Okay.