Did you hear what Jonah said? He said, salvation is of the
Lord. Just about everyone who calls
themselves a Christian will tell you that they believe the salvation
is of the Lord. But if you listen close, and
if you listen long enough, they'll usually reveal themselves to
not believe that at all. When the Word of God says that
salvation is of the Lord, it means that salvation is of the
Lord alone. It means that salvation is of
the Lord only. It means that salvation is of
the Lord, period. And that's what follows that
statement in Scripture. A period, a dot. Salvation is
of the Lord, period. We don't add anything to that.
You've heard me say that. It means that there's only one
mediator between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus. Just one
mediator. And it means that there's only
one who can save. Salvation is not a good thing
that you and Jesus have going. It's not. Matter of fact, only
a fool would think and say such a thing. Salvation is not a cooperative
or a collaborative effort between the sinner and God. It never
has been. Salvation is of the Lord alone.
Salvation is of the Lord only. One might ask, is knowing that
salvation is of the Lord really that important? Well, it's a
lot more than just important. It's absolutely necessary. It's absolutely crucial. You
see, salvation of the Lord is the message of Christ and Him
crucified. It's the Gospel message that
declares God to be God. Salvation is of the Lord. All
things are of the Lord, especially salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord is the message of substitution. It's the very heart of the Gospel
that declares that Jesus Christ, God the Son, to be the only One
who can save His people from their sin. Salvation is of the
Lord means that salvation is of no one else. Some folks think
that they're saved because they know some things. Know some things
about the Bible and know some things about the Lord. But there's
no salvation in simply knowing some things about the two. Salvation
is not knowing about God. Salvation is knowing God. Big
difference. And this is life eternal, that
they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." John 17 verse 3. Knowing that salvation is
of the Lord is the difference between eternal life and eternal
death. It's the difference in knowing
that salvation is found only in a perfect sacrifice, in a
perfect substitute. Not at all in us substituting
a personal work of filthy rags righteousness. That's what our
works are. That's what God declares them
to be. No sacrificing of anything in
and of ourselves to be saved. No. Did you hear what Jonah said? Salvation is of the Lord. That
means that salvation is not of us. It's quite simple really. To know that salvation is of
the Lord is to know that we are nothing and that we have nothing
and that we most certainly can do nothing in any way to appease
God's holy law and justice that we've offended. We can and know
why satisfy the demands of holy justice. Why? Because we're dead
in trespasses and sin and we have nothing to pay. Nothing
that we can offer God that He'll accept. Because salvation is
not of us. If you and I are ever saved,
God will have to save us. I want to ask you six questions
that I want you to consider. If you can honestly answer yes
to all six of these questions, I have some great encouragement
for you. The first question is, is God
Almighty? Is God Sovereign? Well, men call
Him Almighty, but I don't know that they really believe that
He is. Do you really believe that God is Almighty? Do you
really believe that God is Sovereign? Do you believe that He's sovereign
in creation? This book says, in the beginning,
God. That should be our first clue.
In the beginning, God created. He's got the power to create.
He's the only One that does. He's the only One that can make
something out of nothing. Do you really believe that God
is sovereign? Do you believe that God is sovereign
in salvation? I hear preachers talk about God
trying to save man. I hear men talking about God
wanting to save sinners. I had a man tell me one time
that he finally gave God a chance to save him. I kid you not, that's
what he said to me. I finally gave God a chance to
save me. As if God had needed some opportunity
to do so. Do you hear how ridiculous those
things sound? Opportunity means a set of circumstances
that make it possible to do something. God doesn't need an opportunity.
As we saw last week, God does everything on purpose. When that
fellow told me that, I thought to myself, his God is not my
God. God is either sovereign or He's
not. God is either almighty or He's not almighty at all. If
I have to give Him a chance, an opportunity to save me, then
the truth of the matter is I've got more power than He does.
How absurd to think God to be altogether such a one as ourselves.
And that's what men think. So how do you answer? Is God
sovereign? Yes or no? Second question. Is man dead? Is man lost? Dead and trespasses in sin? Is
it true that man is spiritually dead? Is it true that when Adam
disobeyed God in the garden, that Adam died? God said He would. Did it really happen? Do you
believe God? Can a dead man give himself life?
Oh, it's true that we cannot come to Christ. You know why?
Because we're dead. And if a dead man can take the
first step, then he can go all the way. But the problem is with
the first step. It's true that man, by nature,
is unwilling to come to Christ. It's true. That's so true. The
Lord said, you will not come to Me that you might have life.
That's pretty plain and simple, isn't it? You will not come to
Me. You don't have the will to come.
You don't have the ability nor the will. Do you believe that
by nature you're dead? How do you answer? Is it yes? Or is your answer no? The third
question. Did God elect the people in Christ
to salvation before the world began? Did He? How do you answer? The Word of God says He did.
Now please hear me on this. Everything that I believe and
hold to be divine truth is found and based upon what this book
right here declares. If you don't believe that this
is the Word of God, you believe it's just some book written by
men, a book of morality, a book of history, a book of poetry,
a book on how to live, I have no good news for you at all if
that's the case. But that's not what this book
is about. It's not about history and poetry and especially on
how to live. Do you know what this book is
about? Jonah knew five words. Salvation is of the Lord. Period. Did God elect the people
in Christ before the foundation of the world? How do you answer?
Do you agree? Yes or no? according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before Him in love." Romans 8, 29. For whom He did foreknow, them
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son. Let me ask you this. Did you first love God or did
God first love you? Did you choose God or did God
choose you? This book tells us. We love Him
because He first loved us. And the Lord said, you've not
chosen Me, but I've chosen you. This book tells me that God predestinated
and chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the
world according to the good pleasure of His own will. It just simply
pleased Him to do so. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. It seemed good in His sight. You see, it's lawful for Him
to do what He will with His own. And you belong to Him whether
you know it or not. Whether you acknowledge it or
not. And whether you're saved or not, you belong to Him. He's
got the rule over you. Salvation's of the Lord. If you
belong to Christ, you're called brethren, beloved of the Lord.
Why? Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.
So how do you answer? Did God elect the people in Christ
before the foundation of the world? Yes or no? The fourth
question. When the Lord Jesus died on the
cross, did He fully and freely justify us before God? Did Christ
effectually take away our sin and put it away on Calvary's
cross? Or did He just make salvation
possible? Did He just enable us to somehow
join our will with His will in order to save us? What do you
say? How do you answer? Do you know
what Jonah knew? The fifth question, does God's
Spirit really give to all men and women life? All men and women
are just the elect of God. Is there any who Christ died
for that will be lost? Now I want you to think about
that. Is there any for whom Christ died for that will be lost? I'm
telling you right now, perish the thought. It's not possible.
You see, when God sees the blood, He will pass over. If Christ
shed His blood for you, God is going to pass over you. In the
blood of Christ, you have an atonement that atones. In the blood of Christ, you have
a ransom that's effectual. In the blood of Christ, you have
a redemption that redeems. Do you believe that Christ died
for the whole world? Did He simply make salvation
possible and leave it up to you to save yourself? If He did,
I'm in trouble, and so are you. Will there really be those that
Christ shed His blood for that will still be lost? Or will God
save all His elect, all His sheep, all His shows? How do you answer? And the sixth question, if we're
saved, will we always be saved? You know, that was a big debate
in the church I grew up in. Can a sinner keep themselves? No, sir. It's God that has to
keep them. And again, this book tells me
that we're kept by the power of God. So if God saves me, I'm
always saved. Why? Because I'm kept by the
power of God. Do you see that? Can God keep
you and you still be lost? It's not possible. If God Almighty
saves me, I'm saved forever. You know why? Because salvation
is of the Lord. Do you believe that God's people
are kept by the power of God? How do you answer? Yes or no.
If you answered yes to these six questions, you, like Jonah,
believe the salvation is of the Lord. Now, you're hearing Jonah
chapter 1. Look at verse 1 with me. Let's
quickly look at Jonah's story. Jonah chapter 1 verse 1. We read,
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah. Whose word came to
who here? Did Jonah initiate contact with
God? Or did God initiate contact with
Jonah? It says, Now the word of the
Lord came unto Jonah, doesn't it? God did the initiating, friends. God always does. In verse 2,
God says, Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry. Now
the original Hebrew word here for cry means to preach. God is telling Jonah to go to
Nineveh and pronounce judgment on them. To proclaim and to publish
and make known what He, God, thinks of their wickedness. Notice
what He says, "...for their wickedness is come up before Me." Verse
3, "...but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish." What was Jonah
fleeing from? Well, the question is, who was
Jonah fleeing from? And verse 3 tells us that he
was fleeing from the presence of the Lord. Have you ever tried
fleeing from God? Can one flee from the presence
of the Lord? Can you flee from one who always
sees you, who's always present? He's omnipresent. He's everywhere
at the same time. Jonah was heading to Tarshish
to flee from God's presence. But the Lord was in Tarshish.
Matter of fact, the Lord's on the ship. The Lord's in the storm.
He's everywhere. David asked in Psalm 139, he
said, Where shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up
to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
you're there. If I dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right
hand shall hold me." Oh, you're in God's hand whether you know
it or not. Friends, we're in His hands. David said, even the
night is light about me. While with God the night shines
as the day, both the day and the night are like to God because
God sees everything all the time. All things are naked and open
before Him with whom we have to do. All things. We're not hiding anything from
God. Again verse 3, But Jonah rose
up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and
went down to Joppa. Anytime you flee from the presence
of the Lord, friends, you're going down. He went down to Joppa
and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare
thereof and went down into it to go with them into Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord. He's making sure we understand
he was fleeing from God. Verse four, but But the Lord
sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest
in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken." Now let
me ask you, who sent out this great wind? Huh? You know. The Lord did. Isn't that why
our Lord's disciples ask, what manner of man is this where even
the wind and the seas obey Him? He's the God-man, that's who
He is. Who brought about this mighty tempest? God did. Jonah
knew it. And so great was this mighty
wind that it was about to break the ship into pieces. Look at
verse 5. Then the mariners... These are
professional men of the sea. These guys are not novices when
it comes to moving a ship across the water. No, sir. And they
were scared to death. They were afraid. And what did
they do? It says that every man cried unto his God. That's what
men do when they experience real trouble. They pray unto their
own God. They pray unto a God that cannot
save. So these men, because of the
storm, they begin to lighten the load of the ship. They're
throwing things off the ship to lighten the load. And where's
Jonah? Verse 5 tells us that he'd gone
down into the sides of the ship and laid down and went fast asleep. Verse 6, So the shipmaster came
to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise,
call upon thy God. If so be that God will think
upon us, that we perish not. Now understand this, when trouble
comes, men and women get religious. I've seen it so many times. You call on your God, and we'll
call on our God's, and if everybody's calling, maybe somebody's God
will hear. That's just false religion. No,
the one and only true God, He's the one that sent the trouble.
Verse 7, And they said, Every one to his fellow, Come and let
us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is
upon us. So they cast lots. I don't know
if they cut off straws and drew them or threw dice or what they
did, but they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Who caused
the casting of that lot to fall upon him? God did. How do I know? Because Proverbs
16.33 says, The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Verse 12, Jonah tells them to
take him and cast him into the sea. And then he says, so shall
the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you. But notice in verse 13 what the
men do. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it, that being the ship, to land. But they could not,
for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them. I wonder if men
and women will ever learn that their rowing, their work, their
will, their worth is futile when it comes to their deliverance.
It's just absolutely futile. They rowed hard to bring that
ship to land, but they could not. Have you figured that out
yet? You can't do it. You can't work a work of righteousness
that God will accept. It's futile. Not by works of
righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, He
said. And verse 15 tells us that they
took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased
from a rage. And verse 17 tells us what God
had already done. Look at that. Now the Lord had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. When do you suppose
the Lord prepared that great fish? Huh? Before the foundation
of the world. And Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights. You know what? That's a picture. The Lord Jesus
referred to this very event when He was talking about a wicked
and adulterous generation seeking after a sign. He said, there's
no sign that shall be given but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
And here's the sign. For as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What a picture
that is of our redemption. It's the only sign that God's
gonna give. And what a miracle it was. Now
let me ask you again. I know you know. But who prepared
this great fish to swallow up Jonah? God did. God did. Do you know why? Jonah
knew. He said salvation is of the Lord. Jonah chapter two, verse one.
Then Jonah prayed. When is it that men and women
pray? Then. When? When they're in trouble.
God sends His people trouble. And then they call on Him. Who did Jonah pray to? Did Jonah
like the Pharisee that went up to the temple to pray? You remember
him? Scripture said that he prayed thus with himself. Who did Jonah
pray to? Jonah prayed unto the Lord his
God. Isn't that what it says? That's
who a child of God prays to. They pray to the Lord their God.
They don't pray thus with themselves. No, sir. And notice that Jonah
prayed unto the Lord his God right where he was, out of the
fish's bellies. Well, you know, I know I need
to be saved. I know I need the Lord. I just
need to get my life straightened out a little bit. No, sir, you'll
never do it. You'll never do it. We never get our life straightened
out. Sin is what we are, not only
what we do. You're going to cry, cry right
where you are, just as I am without one plea. Lord, come, save me,
help me. And in verse 2, Jonah said, I
cried by, or I cried out of reason of my affliction. This is my affliction. This was Jonah's affliction.
And before God saves you, dear sinner, He's going to show you
your need. Jonah cried out of his affliction
with God. It was God that afflicted him.
Do you see that? Well, we've already seen that
it was God that had done all of this. It was God that came
to Jonah. It was God that told him to go to Nineveh. It was
God that Jonah disobeyed. It was God that Jonah fled from.
He fled from the presence of the Lord. It was the Lord that
sent the wind. It was the Lord that disposed
of the casting of the lot. It was the Lord that resisted
man's will and work as they rowed trying to get back to shore.
It was the Lord that prepared the great fish. And it was the
Lord that caused Jonah to be swallowed. Do you know what Jonah
knows? Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah said, He heard me. You
see that? You know, He always does when
you cry in your affliction. That's what Jonah said. He said,
Out of the belly of hell, cried I, and thou heard my voice. Verse 3, For thou hast cast me
into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the flood cometh
past me about, and all thy billows and thy waves pass over me. Who cast Jonah into the sea?
But wasn't it the men on the ship? We just read that. They
were just the means. Jonah said God did it. He said,
for thou hast cast me into the sea. David said, it's good for
me that I've been afflicted. How can one say that? David said,
it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statutes. That word statute means God's
appointments. Do you think Jonah, through this
affliction from God, learned something about God's appointments? I guarantee you he did, and every
believer does. Jonah knew he had an appointment
with Nineveh that he must now keep. And in verse 4, Jonah saw
and said, I'm cast out of thy sight. You see, there's a consequence
for disobedience to God. But notice what Jonah said. He said, yet I will look again
toward thy holy temple. He looked again where he had
looked before. He was looking to God's holy
temple. What a picture God's holy temple
is of the Lord Jesus. Christ in God is the sum and
the substance of the whole temple of God, even down to the furniture
in it. Jonah, like all the Old Testament
prophets, looked to God, but he looked to God in Christ. Do
you see how God saves chosen sinners? He shows them their
sin. He shows them their state and
their condition before Him. And then He shows them His Son.
He reveals His Son in them. And look what Jonas said in verse
5. He said, the waters can pass me about, even to the soul. The
depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about
my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with
her bars was about me forever. Yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. What a picture this is of me
and my sin, you and your sin, the depths of my sin. Oh, they
closed me in. and bondage to sin, sewed under
sin, pressed down. My sins so many that they wrapped
around my head. Don't think right, don't act
right. I went down to the bottom, he
said, but God brought me up. That's the way it works, Sonya.
He's got to bring us down before He lifts us up. He's got to kill
us before He makes us alive. In verse 7, Jonah said, when
my soul fainted within me. Who caused that? The one that
Jonah remembered caused it. He said, I remembered the Lord
and my prayer came in unto thee into thine holy temple. Friends,
I encourage you to come boldly into the throne of grace, those
of you who know Christ, because it's there that you can obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jonah did. You can too. You know, I don't
ever suppose that I paid much attention to verse 8, but what
a warning it gives us. Look at it. It says, they that
observe lying vanities, or in other words, those that pay reverence
to anyone or anything but God. It says, forsake any favor God
has shown them. Those who insist on worshiping
idols, insist on forsaking the mercy and grace of God found
in Christ alone. They observe lying vanities.
And then in verse 9, Jonah says, but I will sacrifice unto thee. Unto who? Unto God, the One that
saved me. The One that heard his cry. And
this isn't speaking of a legal ceremonial sacrifice. This is
talking about the sacrifice of praise that's given with the
voice of thanksgiving. Oh, I'm telling you friends,
we ought to be thanking and praising God often for what He's done
for us. Jonah said, I'll pay that which I have vowed. I'll
pay that which I've promised, he said. Jonah would now obey
the Lord and go to Nineveh. Dear sinner, do you hear what
Jonah said in verse 9? He said that salvation is of
the Lord. Now you've heard that a lot today. You've heard that statement many,
many times from my lips this morning. And we're told here
that God heard his prayer. And then we see the Lord's sovereignty
and His authority over all things, especially in salvation. Verse
10, And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited Jonah out
upon the dry land. Isn't that an amazing story?
It's a true story. Now I'm out of time, but I want
you to listen to me for just a couple minutes longer. I'm
going to give you some more quick things here. Salvation is of
the Lord, friends. And it's of the Lord in its origination
and initiation. Who purposed salvation? Did man?
No. Man had nothing to do with it.
God asked, where were you when I laid the foundations of the
earth? Tell me if you ever understand. All I know is that God did it.
before any of us were born, before we had done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of Him that calleth." Did you hear what Jonah said?
Salvation is of the Lord and His execution. It's God that
carries it out. It's God that sees it through.
It's God that executes what He purposed. Yes, wicked men nailed
Christ to a tree. I understand that. But it was
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God was
behind it all. That simply means that God did
it. God executed it. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. It's God who applies salvation. He wills it. He decreed it. He
executed it. He carried it out. And now He
gives it. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves. What is it? It's the gift of
God. God is merciful to whom He will
be merciful to. God is gracious to whom He'll
be gracious to. None of us deserve mercy and
grace. It would cease to be mercy and
grace if we did. Did you hear what Jonah said?
Salvation is of the Lord in sustaining power. You see, God not only
saves us, but God keeps us. Boy, I find great comfort in
that. Why I live? Because I'm prone to wonder.
I'm prone to leave the God that I love. But I'm kept by the power
of God. Not only does He save us, but
He keeps us. We don't keep ourselves. No.
I heard Brother Mahan say one time that God doesn't put a man
or woman on the road to glory and then tell them, OK, you do
the best you can do, and well, I'll meet you at the end of the
road when it's all over with. No, sir, that's not what He does.
God carries them the whole way. Isn't that what Christ did to
that sheep that He put on His shoulders? Salvation is of the
Lord unto perfection. We must be perfect to be accepted. If I'm to be accepted, I've got
to be made perfect. Got to be made perfect because
I'm not perfect. Christ made me so. And when I
die, who is it that's going to get me out of the grave? Am I
going to get myself out? Are you going to get me out?
Who's going to raise this corruptible body to an incorruptible one? Who's going to change this vile
body and make it glorious? There's only one that can. Salvation
is of the Lord. Church can't do it. Preacher
can't do it. Priest can't do it. Who's going
to do it? The one that purposed it. The one that initiated it. The one that applied it. The
one who sustains it. The only one that can finish
it. What did our Lord say? It's finished.
Did you hear what Jonah said? Salvations of the Lord. Do you
believe it? Christ has made unto us, friends,
all that we need. He's made unto us the very wisdom
of God. He's made unto us the very righteousness
of God. He's made unto me sanctification. He made me perfect. He made me
holy. Jesus Christ is our redemption. He's made unto me redemption.
That means one thing and one thing only. I bet you can guess
what it is. Salvation is of the Lord. From beginning to end. And that's
the message of this book. Yes it is. That's the message
of this book. May God enable you to believe
it. Only He can.