Turn with me to the book of Jonah,
chapter 2, verse 9. Jonah 2, 9. Jonah is in the belly of a whale. Been there three days. He makes this confession. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with a voice of thanksgiving, and I will pay that that I have
vowed, salvations of the Lord. The Prophet Jonah being brought to bow to the sovereign
hand of God Almighty says this, I'm going to honor you with the
sacrifice of thanksgiving. I'm going to pay what I vowed,
a life, a walk, of obedience, I want to walk after you. And then he says, and I declare
this for one reason, by your grace you've taught me something.
Salvation belongs to the Lord. When he said salvation is of
the Lord, that's what he said. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Jonah declared salvation, Lord,
is totally yours. None, none beside you, share
in the procuring of it, of the bestowing of it, or the maintenance
of it. And the Scripture says, And the
Lord spake unto the fish, and had vomited out Jonah upon the
dry land. Jonah had spoken rightly. You're
right. Salvation belongs to God. Don't
you love it that way? Aren't you glad that you're not
trying to maintain your salvation? Now, we talk a lot about salvation.
I'm going to try to be very, very brief. We talk a lot. There's salvation, saving. But
in preparing this message, and I've entitled this message, When
is a Man Saved? When? But in preparing this message,
I dealt a few minutes ago with what does it mean to truly believe.
I want to just deal with right now and dealing with when is
a man saved. What does the scripture say that salvation is? That's
a good question. Before you ask when is a man
saved, how about what? What is it? Luke 2. Luke 2. The scripture sets forth
concerning salvation. And here again, I want us to
see what God has to say. What does God say that salvation
is? Luke 2, 25-32. Luke 2, 25. Behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation, for the
comfort of Israel. He was waiting on God to send
The Messiah. And the Holy Ghost was upon him,
and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Now here's
what he's waiting for. Here's who he's waiting for.
He's waiting for the comfort of Israel. He's waiting for the
comfort of God's spiritual Israel, truly. He's waiting for the Lord's
Christ. The Lord, by the Holy Spirit,
revealed to him, you're not going to die. until I show you the
Messiah. And the Scripture says, And he
came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
they were there to circumcise the Lord Jesus. Then took he
him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. So when we say, what is salvation? Scripture, first of all, says
that salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is a person,
a person. Isaiah 49, 6, here's Jehovah
speaking to the Christ and says, I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
of the earth. Salvation is Christ. That's what Scripture says. My
eyes have seen thy salvation. Salvation because the salvation
of God's elect is in His hands. That's what Jonah said. Lord,
salvation belongs to You. Salvation is procured by Him.
He's the author. The finisher, the merit of salvation. Salvation, first of all, is a
person. Secondly, salvation is revealed to be an enlightenment,
a spiritual enlightenment as to who God is. John 13, 3. Here's the high priestly prayer
of our Lord. John 17, 3. Here's our Lord speaking as he's
praying. And he says in John 17, 3, and this is life eternal. This is salvation. That they
who, well, verse 2 says, as many as thou hast given him, that
they, God's elect, might know thee, the only true God in Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent. Salvation is said to be a person
Salvation is said to be a revelation of the knowledge of who God is. Who is He? He's God. Sovereign God. Who is God? He's the Father that
elected a people from before the foundation of the world.
He's God who redeemed His elect, the Son. And He's God, the Holy
Spirit, who regenerates everyone that the Father chose and the
Son redeemed, the Spirit. This is life eternal, that they
may know Thee, the only true God, that all agree in one, three
persons, not three gods, three persons, one God. Thirdly, salvation is revealed
through David, King David, to be an object of God's covenant
grace. Listen to this. 2 Samuel 23,
5, Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for
this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make
it not to grow. That last, although he make it
not to grow, he's saying this, salvation is complete in you. and there's no room for any addition. That's what he's saying. Here's
all my salvation, God made with me, David said. In covenant grace,
you chose, Father, to show mercy to me. Christ Jesus died for
me. You say, well, he died for him.
He hadn't even died yet. The Father saw him slain from
the foundation of the world. and trusted in him. The Spirit
of God called him out. And then fourthly, salvation
is revealed to be a marvelous work of God in Christ, whereby,
and this is salvation. What is it? I won't preach on
when, but this is what it is. It's a person. It's a revelation
of the character of who God is. It's a knowledge of God's covenant,
mercy and grace. Fourthly, it's a work of God,
whereby the Spirit of God reveals that God's people have been delivered
from the guilt of sin. The Lord Jesus, having borne
the debt, He was made sin for God's elect at Calvary. And He put away their debt before
God's law. What was the debt owed to the
law of God? The wages of sin is death. What did He pay? Himself. He died. For who? For His elect. And He
finished the work. Paid for. And now Romans 8, verse
1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh." Do you
know what that means, to walk not after the flesh? It means
to trust in your self-righteous works, that you are justified
before God. That's what it means to walk
after the flesh. That's what the flesh believes, that I have
a free will. There's no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit, the revelation of God's Spirit, that's salvation.
is of the Lord. Delivered from the guilt of sin.
Delivered, secondly, from the power of sin. Romans 6, 14, sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the
law, but under grace. You know, whenever you go somewhere
and you see a building, maybe a restaurant
was there, kind of run down, you know, you see this sign under
new management. You know what? There's a new
boss here. You understand that? The presence
of sin is still there, but it doesn't rule anymore. Sin shall
not have dominion. Sin is dethroned. It's there. And it wars against the law of
our new man, new mind. It's there, but it does not rule. It doesn't have dominion. Believers
are those that walk by faith, that walk by faith, believe in
God, delivered from the power of sin, dominion of sin, the
guilt of sin, and then will soon be delivered from the very presence
of sin. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Look at 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to be delivered from
the very presence of sin. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 55. I'll tell you what, I'm going
to start at 51. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51. Behold, the apostle Paul says,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That
means we're not all going to die physically. There will be
some remaining when the Lord Jesus comes back. But we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. The dead that died in Christ,
that sleep in Christ, they're going to come out of the ground,
and they're going to be raised They went incorruptible. Watch
this. For this corruption must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? We're going to be changed. We're going to be released from
the very presence of sin. I've told you everything I know
about it, right there. That's what the Word of God says.
So, having considered what salvation is, a person, a knowledge of the
character of God, released from the dominion of sin, an understanding
of God's covenant grace, So, I want to say three quick things
about when is a man saved. When. First of all, salvation
is set forth in Scripture. These all stand or fall together.
You don't separate these. These are all true. Salvation
is said, first of all, to be eternal. Eternal. Look at 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy
1, verse 8 and 9. 2 Timothy 1, verse 8 and 9. 2 Timothy 1, verse 8. "...Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord." Paul was saying, don't be ashamed
of the gospel of God's grace, God's Christ, don't be ashamed
of that, nor of me, his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God." Now listen to
this, "...who has 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." Now you notice the order. We've
looked at that before. Who has saved us and called us. And when was that given to us?
The scripture says, given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Salvation. According to God's
will and God's purpose, God who is eternal, the eternal God,
salvation was established And God's counsel is going to stand. God Almighty saved His people
in His eternal electing grace. Before they were ever brought
into this world, they were in Christ. How secure are they in
Christ, who has saved us. Now that's scriptural language. And called us according to His
purpose. Revelation 13 verse 8 says, "...the
Father ever beheld the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
in the Father's absolute omniscience." He knows all things. He beheld
the debt of redemption eternally satisfied Before Christ ever
came into this world physically, the Father saw Him. God Almighty chose, eternally
chose us in Christ the Son. That's what Ephesians 1-4 said,
"...who has chosen us in Him from before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love." predestinated us unto the adoption of children,
adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us not acceptable,
but accepted, accepted in the Beloved, when? Before the foundation
of the world. Salvation is eternal. according
to God's will and God's purpose. Secondly, salvation is said to
occur in time. Back in 2 Timothy, if you've
already turned, I won't make you turn back there, but 2 Timothy,
I'll read the next verse, when it says, "...who has saved us
and called us with a holy calling." The next verse says in verse
10, "...but is now made manifest." by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. Our Lord, I say it
happens in time, in eternity. He saved us and called us in
time. Our Lord was passing through
Jericho and came to a sycamore tree. And there was this little
fellow up in the sycamore tree, short guy. He was sitting up
there perched up there, you know, an important fellow. He was a
tax collector. He was a publican. And the Lord
in Luke 19 5 came to the place and He looked up and He saw him
and He said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Today
I must abide at thy house. Why? Verse 9 of Luke 19 says,
This day is salvation come to this house. This day is salvation. Salvation walked under that tree. That's what Simeon said. Thine
eyes have seen your salvation. Salvation himself walked up to
that tree and looked up and said, Zacchaeus, you come down. Salvation
has come this day. today for as much as he also
is a son of Abraham." Well, there was a bunch of sons of Abraham
around there. They were all Jews. Yeah, but
I'm not talking about natural lineage. I'm talking about spiritual
sons of Abraham. I'm not talking about sons of
Abraham after the flesh. I'm talking about sons of Abraham
after the spirit. This man is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which is lost." Saul of Tarsus on the
road to Damascus, papers in his hand. The Lord stopped him. Jesus of Nazareth stopped him. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Who are you, Lord? Now that was
not just a nobody, know-nothing guy. Saul of Tarsus, probably
one of, the most spiritually informed, smartest guys concerning
the Scriptures. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He taught Pharisees. He taught
Pharisees who thought they knew everything, Mitch. And Saul of
Tarsus was a professor of Pharisees. And the Lord called him and he
said, Who are you? Who are you? I'm Jesus of Nazareth
that you're persecuting. You go into Damascus, I'm going
to tell you where, I'll tell you, it'll be showed you. And
the Lord called a preacher, Ananias, and said, you go talk to one
called Saul. He's over in Simon the Tanner's
house. And Ananias said, Lord, we've heard of him. And the Lord
said, he's a chosen vessel unto me. He's a chosen vessel unto
me. And an ice went in the air and
he said, Brother Saul, Brother Saul, salvation occurs in time,
as to our understanding. Eternally purposed, eternally
in the eyes of God Almighty, in time. But then thirdly, salvation
is that which shall occur. Matthew 24, 13 says, but he that
shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Though tempted
and tried, troubled on every hand, we persevere. Now let me
ask you this. I'm going to show you a couple
of scriptures here and then I'm going to stop. But I've got a
question before I go any farther. If Almighty God has truly, savingly
regenerated a sinner, Is there any possibility that that sinner
is going to be lost? No. No. Why? Because the Lord said, I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Salvation is so. It's in Christ. And where God
Almighty has put us, Brother Scott, you say where God put
us, that's where God kept us. Secure. Secure. What's the evidence that God
Almighty has truly called out of darkness a man or a woman,
saved them by grace? What's the evidence of it? They
stay. They stay. He that endureth to
the end shall be saved. Not that the man's endurance
is according to his own ability. Like I said, you leave it up
to me, I'm gone. I'll leave today if it's up to
me. but that I'm kept by the power
of God through faith, ready to be revealed in the last time.
Enduring to the end is the evidence of it. We hold faithfully because we're
in His hands. Philippians 1, 6, being confident
of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it. That word means finish it until
the day of Jesus Christ. We must endure. I had no doubt
about it. Somebody said, well, it doesn't
really matter. Yes, it does matter. We must endure. But thanks be
unto God, it's not in our power. Our Lord promised. I keep you. I give you life. Never going to perish. We're living right now, out. Believers are living out right
now what God has eternally ordained and performed in them. He's done something in them.
And let me tell you when the final, just turn with me, last
scripture, Matthew 25. Matthew 25. Let me tell you, here's the last
glorious exhibition. When I said, when is a man saved? He's saved eternally. He's saved
in time. And I'm telling you, oh, in that
great day, the day of the Lord, that great glorious day of judgment
when God Almighty is going to settle and openly display His
mercy and grace. Listen to this, in that day we're
going to be saved. Listen, Matthew 25, 31-34. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all the nations, all nations. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the
left." Like I said before, all the sheep have always been sheep.
All the goats have always been goats. He's going to put his
sheep on his right hand, goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, You, blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
When is a man going to be saved? When is a man saved? He's saved
eternally. He's saved in time. And he's
going to be saved forever. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.