I have a brief and simple message
today. My subject is salvation. Lord willing I will speak more
on the same subject again next week. There is so much to say
on this subject and I often have to struggle with with messages
in that I have to decide sometimes what not to say rather than what
to say. There is so much to say. And in particular I'll be looking
at verse 9 which reads, Help us, O God, of our salvation,
for the glory of Thy Name and deliver us and purge away our
sins for Thy Name's sake. But before we look at this verse
let me say some things about salvation. In Hebrews 2 verse 3 the salvation of the
scriptures is described as a great salvation. It is a great salvation
isn't it because It is a great salvation by virtue of the fact
that our God is great. So it must be great. Everything
he does is great. Psalm 145 verse 3 he says, Great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is
unsearchable. We love to ascribe greatness
to our God, don't we? Our salvation is great because
our sin is great. We need a great God because we
have great sin. Salvation of great sinners requires
the salvation of a great God. Salvation requires the power
of God. Paul says in Romans 1, for I
am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. If God did not
exert His power, then no sinner would be saved. What a great
thought though, that in order to save sinners like us, God
would need to exert His power to do it. That same power that
He exerted when He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. How
far we have fallen. that God would need to exert
his mighty power to raise us up and save us. No sinner has
the power to save himself. The natural man is as helpless
and as lifeless as Lazarus. as he lay dead in that tomb.
This is what we need to understand, that salvation requires a supernatural
work of God. The Spirit of God must first
regenerate the heart of man in order for that man to savingly
believe the Gospel. It must be performed by God. A man cannot generate his own
salvation any more than he can raise himself from the dead.
And that is exactly what the natural man requires. He requires
a resurrection, a resurrection from the dead. We have a tendency,
don't we, to think we have more ability than we actually do,
that we have actually fallen far, far further than we actually
know. the course of Adam's sin and
our sin in him. Our understanding is darkened. Our wills by nature are biased
toward every evil thing. We have a natural desire for
sin. We are born in trespasses and
sins and we are dead in trespasses and sins and we have no hope
of lifting ourselves up. We desperately need the salvation
of God whether we know it or not. And if it is to be imparted
it will be according to these principles. Salvation is by grace
alone. Salvation is through faith alone. Salvation is in Christ alone. And salvation is without works
of any kind on the part of the one being saved. These things
are clearly taught in scripture. Ephesians 2 verse 8 you all know
it. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So salvation is by the grace
of God. Grace is a gift just as faith
is a gift. Contrary to popular belief, The
grace of God is not common grace. The scriptures never ascribe
grace to humanity in the general sense. Grace is reserved for
the elect of God only. The grace of God is an electing
grace. It is the grace that discriminates
and distinguishes. By the grace of God I am what
I am. It is the sovereign and saviour
favour of God toward his people. It is free grace. It requires
nothing in return of the one who receives it. The grace of
God is an amazing grace. It is undeserved grace. It is unmerited grace. The grace of God is sovereign
grace. God bestows His grace upon whom
He pleases. And this grace of God is made
manifest most fully in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
law was given to Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So as I said earlier we preach
Christ crucified. We preach His merits, His atoning
work, His redemption, His righteousness. They are the things that are
one salvation for His people. If we are to receive grace then
that grace comes by Jesus Christ and that is why when men speak
of Christ we listen very, very carefully We want to be looking
at the real Jesus. We want to be knowing that He
is the One being spoken of. The Lord Jesus bids us to be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 1 John 4 tells us to
believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they
are of God. because many false prophets have
gone out into the world. So the Lord has placed watchmen
over his people. Our pastor is a watchman set
over us to sound the trumpet call that we should hearken to
the sound of the trumpet. Ezekiel 33 says, Whosoever heareth
the sound of the trumpet, and taketh it not warning, if the
sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own
head. The very nature of salvation
is makes it a very, very serious matter for us to contemplate. It is a matter of life and death. And so we need to hear that trumpet
call clearly and often. We need to hear it all the time. If the trumpet gives an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? So when we speak of
God's way of salvation we speak as plainly as we possibly can. I don't want there to be any
ambiguity in your minds as to what is being said. I trust the
Lord will make it plain. Here in Psalm 79 The context is that Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. The siege
went on for some years. Eventually the wall fell and
the invaders came through and they destroyed everything. They
plundered, they killed, they burnt. They destroyed all the
buildings, everything in sight including the first temple and
many of the population were taken away into captivity. This psalm
laments the time of their desolation. The siege was bloody and cruel
and the inhabitants suffered greatly. In verse 2 you can read,
The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat under
the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints under the
beasts of the earth. The invaders were very disrespectful
of the bodies. of the people that were in the
city, their blood, verse 3, have they shed like water around Jerusalem,
and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our
neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are around about
us, and in their misery they make their petition. And here
we have, verse 9, Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory
of Thy Name and deliver us and purge away our sins for Thy Name's
sake." So in this psalm we see the people and their need, their
great need for the salvation of God. The people were brought
to a point of absolute desperation. In the previous verse They say, I remember not against
us firmer iniquities. Let thy tender mercies speedily
prevent us, for we are brought very low. When the people followed
the Lord Jesus in Luke Chapter 9, the people followed him and
he received them and he healed as many as needed healing. I trust we are all here today
because the Lord has caused us to need him. If we are left to
ourselves we will die. If the Lord passes us by we will
perish. Yet not all are made aware of
their need for salvation. Not all are aware of their condition,
their dying and dead condition. Perhaps you might remember in
2004 there was a tsunami in Thailand. It was a shocking thing. There
was a lot of videos taken and I remember one particular video
which sort of stuck in my mind of a man, you might have seen
it, standing on the beach and he was looking at the sea and
he saw the wave approaching, the tsunami approaching. And
you could hear the people in the buildings calling out to
him saying, run and run, save yourself. And he just stood there
continually staring out to sea and the video kept running and
the wave came right up to him and just engulfed him and he
seemed to make no effort at all. He didn't hear their cries. Not everyone gives regard to
the message. Not everyone hears the message.
The Gospel message is a stumbling block and foolishness to many. Why is it a stumbling block and
foolishness to many? Because there is absolutely nothing
in the true Gospel that gives man any credit. There is nothing
in the true Gospel to gratify the pride of man. It declares
that unless we are saved by grace, we cannot be saved at all. The
true Gospel addresses all men as they really are, as guilty,
condemned, perishing criminals. It declares that apart from Christ
Himself who is the gift of God's grace, the state of every man
is helpless and hopeless. And unless there is a work of
the Spirit, There will be no knowledge of this, and there
will be no salvation. So when we talk of the scope
of salvation, the extent of salvation, we heard in that bulletin there
something of the scope and the timing of salvation. When we
consider this, we are considering much more than that experience
of grace in the heart of the believer. At that time the Gospel
of God's grace is believed from the heart and when by faith Christ
is seen to be all our righteousness, all our wisdom and all our sanctification
and all our redemption. Salvation encompasses all the
mighty design of our God to save the people for himself. This
salvation is seen to be most glorious in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is the most
remarkable, stupendous and glorious event in the history of this
world. And at the cross, that symbol
of shame, the Lord Jesus really did put away all the sins of
all his people for all time. And that is why he preached Christ
crucified, a demonstration of the power of God in time which
is purposed in eternity. Ask people what happened at the
cross. What did the Lord Jesus do at the cross? Of all the things
you can misunderstand, this is most serious isn't it, to misunderstand
the cross is to misunderstand the Gospel itself and it's to
misunderstand how God saves sinners. What do most men say about what
happened at the cross? Most will say that the death
of Christ made it possible for all men to be saved. Friends,
our Lord Jesus did not merely make it possible for us to be
saved. His death was an accomplishment. His death was a redemption. He obtained eternal redemption
for us and he really did save all those for whom he died. It
is not an offer, it is not a possibility. It is a real redemption and it
is a real particular redemption. In Hebrews 11, by faith, Noah,
being warned of God of things not yet seen, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he
condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith. Lord willing we will be looking
next week more closely at the life of Noah, that preacher of
righteousness whom the world despised. I was interested to
learn that according to the latest estimates there are about seven
and a half billion people living in the world today. That's a
lot of people. I was fascinated to learn and I thought that there
was only just a few sparse, a bit of a sparse population at the
time and hour. But by those that can do the calculations, the
population calculations, Conservatively, they say that there were more
people alive then at the time of the flood than there are alive
today. That's a lot of people. But of all those multitudes that
perished in the flood, only eight souls survived. Only eight souls
were saved. The point is that God has always
purposed to save a remnant for himself. As much as people love
to say that God wants to save everybody, the sobering reality
is that it is the design and purpose of our God to save a
remnant. Salvation was purposed by God
before the world began. It was provided by God long before
we ever felt the need and salvation was accomplished by God long
before we ever took a breath. These things can only be true
with redemption. It can only be true if redemption
and atonement are particular works. That is why we preach
a done gospel. We don't preach a do gospel,
we preach a done gospel. Salvation is a work accomplished,
done on behalf of the chosen sinners, both in time and before
the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus cried, it is finished,
and that it was. So we need to understand that
God did not choose people in time. He chose them before the
foundation of the world. Everything that comes to pass
in time was purposed by God in eternity. Salvation of God is
an eternal salvation and Christ himself is that salvation. He
is the way. He is the very righteousness
of God but there is an ignorance of this righteousness, isn't
there? In Romans chapter 10, you don't need to turn there,
Paul in speaking about the religion of his day says this, they being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. That entire religious system
and its leaders that taught the people He says of them that they
were ignorant of the righteousness of God. They were zealous. They had a zeal for God but not
according to knowledge. They went about to establish
their own righteousness, ignorant of God's way of righteousness,
ignorant of Christ who is himself the righteousness of God. May
the Lord not leave us ignorant of the righteousness of God. Back to our psalm, Help us, O
God, of our salvation. Perhaps the first thing to see
is the scriptures always ascribe salvation to God. He is the God
of our salvation. Psalm 3 verse 8 says, Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. Salvation belongs to Him, not
to us. God purposed it God purchased
it and God performs it and when all is done God will receive
all the glory for it. Our salvation is for this purpose. It is to the glory of God. Men are led to believe that God
has some unfulfilled desire to save everybody. They are taught
that God loves everybody and that He desperately wants everybody
to love Him back. I did a quick exercise, an interesting
exercise, I searched Quran books, the top selling book on their
website. The top selling book is 100 Things
God Loves About You. That's outselling absolutely
everything. Isn't that amazing? No wonder people think that they
are so lovable. What does the Psalmist say? Help
us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name and deliver
us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. For the glory
of thy name and for thy name's sake. Friends, the Lord God does
everything he does according to this foundational principle.
For the glory of his name. For his glory, not for our glory.
715. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Everything that transpires in
the history of this world is for this one primary end. It
is for his glory, for the glory of God, and God will receive
all the glory for the salvation of his people. The Lord God has
saved His people with invincible determination. Not because they
are righteous, because there are none righteous. Not because
they are good, for there are none that do good. No, not one. He saved His people because He
set His particular love upon them. He promised their salvation. and he to that end must be successful. There is no glory in failure
for our God. Our God does not know failure
at all. Salvation will be for His glory
and His name's sake. And God is jealous for His name,
jealous for His reputation. In Ezekiel 36 in speaking to
Israel we read, Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus
saith the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house
of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye profaned
among the heathen, whither ye went. and I will sanctify my
great name which was profaned among the heathen, which he hath
profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. So it's a foundational principle
for which you can know whether a message is true or false. If
the message you hear fails to give God the glory, all the glory
in salvation, then it is a false message. If the message you hear
diminishes His glory or shares His glory with another, then
it is a false message. God will not share His glory
with another. He will not allow any situation
to arise that will threaten or harm the recipients, the objects
of his love. There is no possibility that
one of these ones will perish either by the schemes of men
or even by their own doing. Isn't that a comforting thought
that our God cannot be thwarted. His determination to do that
which he wills is immutable. As Isaiah 14 says, For the Lord
of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand
is stretched out, and who shall turn back? And if salvation is
accomplished by God for His glory then necessarily salvation is
not of works. I don't know how to impress this
more fully and I know we preach this all the time here. but the
Scriptures declare it time and time again don't they? Salvation
is not of works. We need to hear it so often don't
we? The natural man is so prone to
working for his own merit, so prone to thinking that God will
be more favourable. If only you did some more. Salvation
cannot be won by something you do or something you say or something
you think. Salvation is accomplished and
performed without any works of any kind on the part of the ones
being saved. Test every doctrine, every message
with this great truth. If the message you hear promotes
works of any kind as necessary for salvation, as a way of salvation
or even as a help to salvation, it is a false message. Salvation
is not obtained by intellect. Salvation does not come by the
power of your mind. Yes, the scriptures contain the
knowledge of the truth of salvation, yet the Pharisees who could recite
the entire scriptures didn't know the salvation of God. Salvation
is not obtained by memorising scripture or saying the right
words. It is not obtained by saying a sinner's prayer or reciting
a creed. It can't be obtained by following
a plan of salvation. That's man-made religion, not
God-made religion. Salvation cannot be obtained
by obeying rules, or laws or commandments. And the scriptures
are full of warnings about it. Romans 6.14 For we are not under
the law, but under grace. Galatians 2.16 Knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Romans 3.20 For no flesh is justified
in his sight by deeds of the law. If you are a grace believer
then you'll know that the law can't help you. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes it. Someone might ask, aren't believers
instructed to be careful to maintain good works? I once heard this
saying and it stuck with me. I wrote it down and it says this,
My relationship with God does in great measure determine what
I do. But what I do does not in any
way or to any degree determine my relationship with God. My
relationship with the Eternal God does in great measure determine
what I do. mind, the words I speak, the
activities of this body, the affections of my heart. It's
impossible, isn't it, to be unaffected having experienced the grace
of God. If any man being Christ He is
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. My relationship with God does
in great measure determine what I do, but what I do does not
in any way or to any degree determine my relationship with God. Christ
is the motivating force in the life of this church, constraining
their lives, guiding their thoughts and actions, We love to sing
about grace, don't we? The grace of God is our song. We love to sing that hymn, don't
we? Come thou fount of every blessing. O to grace our greater
debtor, daily I am constrained to be. Let that grace, Lord,
like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Debt is to grace. That is what we are. By the grace
of God our Saviour has dealt with all our sins. The psalmist
in our verse makes his plea, doesn't he, to purge away our
sins. And that is exactly what the
Lord Jesus did for his people. In Isaiah 53 we read, Surely
he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. but he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. When the Lord Jesus died in our
room instead he was caused to become sin for us. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made in righteousness
of God. Christ was made sin. The Lord was not made to be something
that looked like sin. He was not made to be treated
as though he were sin. He was made sin for us. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. Had He not been made sin for
us, the Lord Jesus could never have been punished for our sins
by the justice of God. He was wounded for our transgressions
which God made to be His transgressions. And by virtue of our union with
Christ, those for whom he died are righteous, perfectly righteous
before God, because Christ is made of God unto us righteousness,
and we are the righteousness of God in him. It will soon take
those emblems of bread and wine and they are so appropriate as
representations of his body and his blood, of his atoning work.
In Matthew 26 Scripture reads, Jesus took bread and blessed
it and break it and gave it to the disciples and said, take,
eat, this is my body. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and gave it to them saying, drink ye all of it for this is
my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. He himself purged our sins, as
Hebrews 1 tells us, and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high. And having sat down that great
work was complete. Atonement was made. Justice was
satisfied. Our Lord Jesus really did redeem
us back to God. May we ever be thankful for our
salvation in Him. Amen. Let's pray.