Well, I just want to say I'm
humbled to be here. And I'm thankful for what I heard
last night. Nothing like the gospel. Good
news for sinners. That's what it is. I want you
to turn with me to the book of Jonah, chapter 2. Most everyone
knows the story of Jonah and the great fish. But the Lord
prepared to swallow him. We've heard that story ever since
we were children. And. In verse 9, we're the last
five words. Jonah said. Salvation is of the
Lord. Did you hear what Jonah said? Did you hear what Jonah said? Just about everyone who calls
themselves a Christian or a believer today will tell you that they
believe that salvation's of the Lord. Just ask them. Do you believe
salvation's of the Lord? Oh yeah, yeah, I believe salvation's
of the Lord. But if you listen close enough,
and if you listen long enough, you'll find that they don't really
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. Alone. It means that salvation is of
the Lord only. I've said this many times, pretty
much every time I preach anymore on the subject of salvation,
it means salvations of the Lord, period. That's what follows it
in the scripture. No more discussion, no more,
no argument, no debate, salvations of the Lord, period. It means
that there's only one mediator between God and man. One mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. It means there's
only one name by which we can be saved. Acts 4, 12. It's a
simple message. And it's not that people don't
understand it. It's that people hate it, really. Salvation is
not as John Wayne said. John Wayne said this. He said,
me and Jesus got a good thing going. That's not salvation.
Salvation is not a cooperative or collaborative effort between
the sinner and God. It's not. Salvation is of the
Lord. Did you hear what Jonah said? Salvation is of the Lord alone. Salvation is of the Lord only.
And this is the message of Christ and Him crucified. It's the gospel
message that declares God to be God. It's the message that
Christ did for me what I could not do. No other way to be saved. Salvation is of the Lord means
that salvation is not of you. Some folks think that they're
saved because they know some things about the Bible. I knew
a man one time, a friend of my father's, that committed the
whole New Testament to memorization. And you could pick out, you could
quote a scripture, you know, Acts, whatever, and he would
start right there, and the man later killed himself. He didn't
know the Lord. He knew some things about the
Lord. Salvation is not about knowing God. Salvation is knowing
God. in the person of His beloved
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, in Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." Knowing that salvation of the Lord is the
difference between eternal life and eternal death. It's knowing
that salvation is found in a perfect sacrifice. That's what God requires,
perfection. You and I can't provide it. We
can't even provide a good work. There's none that do it good,
right? Isn't that what the Scripture said? Salvations of the Lord. Did you hear what Jonah said? Well, salvations of the Lord is to
know that you and I are nothing. We can do nothing, we can provide
nothing, and we can not appease God's holy law that we've offended. Did you know that you've offended
God's law? You know what David said? He
said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil
in your sight. And that's true of every one
of us here. We've offended God's holy justice. We've said in our
hearts, I will not have this man, Jesus Christ, to rule over
me. I want you to consider six questions
with me concerning this matter of salvation being of the Lord.
I'm sure you've heard these six things many times. They're not
original with me. They were proclaimed in 1954,
two years before I was born. This is no new gospel. We don't
want anything new, do we? by Brother Roth Barnard, and
I heard them from Brother Mahan, and I've since researched, and
I've heard Paul preach on them, and I've heard Gabe proclaim
them. I heard Brother Cody Henson preach this outline. Most every
preacher that's ever preached has in one way or another preached
these things, because they're the gospel. They weren't original
with Brother Barnard, and they're not original with me. So now
it's my turn. And I'm gonna preach them in
a form of six questions. Very simple. The first question,
is God almighty? Is God almighty? Is God sovereign? Men call him God almighty, but
do they really believe that he is? Brother Todd told us last
night that God is sovereign in creation. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God created.
You see, only God can. We can't create anything. Only
God can make something out of nothing. And do you believe that God is
sovereign in providence? Do you believe that God is working
all things together after the counsel of His own will? And
He's working all things together for good to them that love the
Lord. Jonah did. Do you believe what Jonah believed?
Men say ignorant things. You believe God is sovereign
in salvation? Of course He is. He has to be.
If not, none of us would ever be saved. And I hear preachers
say, well, I'm using the term preachers lightly when I say
this. But they say ignorant things
like, I finally gave God a chance to save me. These things actually
come out of folks' minds. And they reveal themselves to
not know God to say such a thing. God doesn't need to be given
a chance. You know that word chance means an opportunity.
Does God need an opportunity? No. Most have not heard what
Jonah said. The question this morning is,
have you? Have you heard what Jonah said? If I have to give God a chance
or an opportunity to save me, Marvin, I'm in a heap of trouble. I'm in big trouble. So how do
you answer? Is God sovereign? Yes or no?
What did Jonah say? The second question, is man spiritually
dead? Is man lost? Is man dead in trespasses
and sin? In the garden, when man disobeyed
God, did he just stump his toe and he's limping around? Or did
he really die? Now we know Adam didn't die physically. He lived 920, 230 years, however
long it was. But he died spiritually. And
we died in him. Is man spiritually dead? Did
he really die as God said he would? Is it true that Adam died
spiritually? Is it true that we died in Adam?
That's a very crucial thing to know. Can a dead man give himself
life? Well, of course not. Is it true
that we cannot come to Christ? If a dead man can take the first
step to come to Christ, then he can come the whole way. The
problem with a dead man is that first step. No, we can't. We have no ability
to come. No man can come except, here's
the exception, unless the Father which sent me draw him. Did you hear what Jonah said?
It's also true that we're unwilling to come to Christ. The Lord himself
said so. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have life. And I just, I'm not interested
in hearing about man's free will because man don't have a free
will. Man's will is in bondage to his nature, to his sin. He doesn't have a will. Do you believe that you're dead?
Do you believe you don't have any ability? Do you believe that
you have no will? How do you answer? If you answer yes, or is your
answer no? The third question, did God elect
the people, the Christ, from and before the foundation of
the world? I don't know why folks get so upset about election.
That's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard. I didn't choose
God, God chose me. Everything that I believe and
hope to be divine truth, dear friends, is based upon what this
book that you have in your lap this morning says. That's the
truth. If you believe that the Bible's
just a book of morality, or a book of history, or a book of poetry,
a book on how to live, If you do, then I don't have any gospel
for you. I don't have any good news. None.
It's not a book written by men. It's the word of God. It's God's
word. Do you know what this book is
about? Do you know who this book is
about? That's a better question, isn't it? Jonah knew. Jonah knew, and he said it in
five words. Salvation is of the Lord. Do you believe Jonah? Do you believe God? Did God elect
the people in Christ before the foundation of the world? Do you
agree? What does this book say? It says,
according as He hath chosen us, His people in Him, before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy. Me? Yes. and without blame before
Him in love," Ephesians 1.4. In Romans 8, 29, and 30, you
know the verses well. Whom He did foreknow, them He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of Christ, who is
our salvation. And moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Sounds to me
like salvations of the Lord. What do you say? Do you believe
what Jonah said? Did you first love God or did
God first love you? A lot of people will tell you
that they love God and because of that, God loved them. But
that's not what God says. The Lord Jesus said, I loved
you before you ever loved me. Did you first choose God or did
God first choose you? This book tells us we love Him
because He first loved us. And the Lord Jesus said, you've
not chosen me, I've chosen you. Aren't you glad that God chose
you? You would have never chosen Him. You might think you would
have, but you wouldn't have. This book tells us these things. Jonah told us these things. Do
you believe what Jonah said? God's Word tells us that God
predestinated and chose a people before the foundation of the
world. And God did so according to the good pleasure of His own
will. For no reason outside of Himself. for no reason other than He wanted
to, and it pleased Him to do so, He chose you in Christ. You'd have never chose Him. Never
chose Him. So, if you belong to Christ,
you are brethren, beloved of the Lord, because this is why
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. So how do you
answer, did God elect a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world? Yes or no? Your answer is life
and death critical. Fourth question, when the Lord
Jesus died on the cross, did he fully and freely justify us
before God? Is the debt paid? Has ever sin
been put away? You better believe, that's all
the hope we have. You can't carry one sin into
glory with you. They've got to be gone. You've
got to be as perfect as God. How am I going to be as perfect
as God? Only one way. Just one way. Did Christ effectually, effectively
take away our sin on Calvary's cross or did he not? It's not
a hard question. Impossible to believe unless
God divinely intervenes. Scripture's clear. God made salvation
certain, not possible. I don't want to hear you. He
made salvation possible and the rest is up to you. That's not
what God said. That's not what Jonah said. Jonah
said salvation's of the Lord. What do you believe? What do
you believe? Fifth question, does God's Spirit
really give life to all men and women or just the elect and chosen
of God? Well, this has been an age-old
debate. All my life I heard, well, you
know, you've got to do this and you've got to do that. Is there
any who Christ died for that's going to be lost? Perish the
thought. It's not possible. It's not possible. When God sees the blood, what
does he do? He passes over. 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. I'm happy about that. Do you
believe that Christ died for the whole world or did he simply
make salvation possible and leave it up to you to save yourself?
Will there really be those that Christ shed his blood for that
will perish? Or will God save his elect, all
his sheep, all that he gave to Christ? How do you answer? Did
you hear what Jonah said? Salvation is of the Lord. The sixth question, if we are
saved, will we always be saved? I've seen people get in almost
fight matches in church over that question. You believe once
saved, always saved? I love what Brother Henry said.
All depends on who saved you. If you saved yourself, but if
God saved you, always saved. Always saved. Salvation's of
the Lord. Will you always persevere? Will believers persevere? Yes. You know why? Because God preserves
them. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Does a sinner keep themselves
saved? Or is it God that keeps them? Is there a Again, it's God's
Word that tells us this. How are we kept? We're kept by
the power of God. It's by His power that He keeps
us. Salvation's of the Lord. He keeps me. If we're kept by
the power of God and none can stay His hand, and none can pluck
us from His hand, then guess what? We're saved forever. Always
saved. If God Almighty saves me, then
I'm saved forever. You know why? What Jonah did,
because salvation's of the Lord. Do you believe that God's people
are kept by the power of God? How do you answer? If you answered
yes to these six questions, then with Jonah, I would say you believe
the salvation's of the Lord. Did Jonah initiate contact with
God? Or did God initiate contact with
Jonah? Well, God did the initiating.
He always does. In verse 2 of chapter 1, God says, arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry. Now the Hebrew word here for
cry means to preach. It actually means to preach against. And God is telling Jonah to go
to Nineveh and pronounce judgment on them. Make known to them what
God thinks of their wickedness. God said, for their wickedness
has come up before me. God came to Jonah and said, arise
and go. Verse 3, but Jonah rose up to
flee unto Tarshish. Why? What was Jonah fleeing from? Have you ever thought about that?
Well, the question is, who was he fleeing from? And verse 3
tells us that it was from the presence of the Lord. You see that? He's fleeing from
the presence of the Lord. Have you ever tried fleeing from
God? It's impossible. Can one flee from the presence
of God when God is everywhere? Jonah was heading to Tarshish
to flee from God's presence, but the Lord was in Tarshish.
And the Lord was on the ship. And the Lord was in the storm.
The Lord's everywhere. David asked in Psalm 139, where
shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are
there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are 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." Friends, we're in God's
hand, whether we acknowledge it or not. Those that have no
faith or trust in Christ, who are dead in trespasses and sin,
they're in God's hand, even though they don't know it. But you're
blessed, you're blessed like Jonah because you know whose
hands you're in if you're a believer. And you bow to that. We're in
God's hands. David said, even the night is
light about me. The night shines as the day,
both the day and the night are alike to God. God sees everything
all the time. Yesterday we was in the dark,
we didn't see so good, but God did. Again, verse three, but Jonah
rose up to flee into Tarshish from the presence of the Lord
and 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. 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 light to be broken." Who
sent out that great wind? You just told us. The Lord sent
it. Isn't that what our Lord's disciples
asked? What manner of man is this, where
even the winds and the waves and the storms obey His voice?
I'll tell you who He is. He's God. He's God. Even the wind and the seas obey
him. Who sent the hurricane yesterday?
Who knocked your power off, Obey? God did. God did. Verse five, then the mariners,
now these were professional men of the sea, experts on the water,
they were afraid. Boy, this was a storm and a half,
you better believe it was. And they cried to every man and
to his God. That's the problem we have today.
Every man is crying unto his God. The problem is it's not
the God. That's what men do when they
experience real trouble. They get religious. You ever
noticed that? Man gets in trouble and all of a sudden he gets religious.
So these men, because of the storm, they begin to lighten
the load on the ship. And where was Jonah? Verse five
tells us that he was gone down in the sides of the ship and
lay down and went fast asleep. And verse six, so the ship master
come to him and said unto him, what meanest thou, sleeper? Well,
that's a good name for a lot of folks today, sleepers. Sleep. God's gotta wake you up. God's
gotta give you light. God's gotta give you eyes to
see. Arise, call upon your God. We've called upon ours. So, if
so, be that God will think upon us that we perish not. You call
on your God, we'll call on our God, and if everybody's calling
on their God, maybe somebody's God we'll hear. The problem with
that is there's only one God. And what Paul experienced on
Mars Hill, they had a God for everything. They had a statue
or plaque for every God imaginable. And then they had one for the
unknown God, just in case they missed one. And Paul said, that's
the one I'm preaching to you. He's the one and only true God,
and he's unknown to you, because you're a sleeper. Verse seven, and they said, everyone
to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for
whose cause this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and
oh, Jonah was so unlucky. The lot fell upon him. Who caused
the casting of the lot to fall on Jonah? God did. How do I know? Proverbs 16, 33,
the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Did you hear what Jonah said?
Salvation is of the Lord. In verse 12, Jonah tells them
to take him and cast him into the sea. So shall the sea be
calm unto you, for I know that for my sake, every believer knows
that I'm the chief of sinners. I've said this often. I've known
that man for a long time, Brother Marvin. And I can tell you, we
love one another. But there's one thing we disagree
about, which one of us was the chief of sinners. Notice in verse 13 what men do. It says, nevertheless, the men
rode hard to bring yet the ship to the land, but they could not. Working and towing and rolling
and towing and working. Can't do it. It won't accomplish
anything. You know why? Jonah did. Salvation's
of the Lord. Will men and women ever learn
that their rowing, their work, their will, their worth is futile
when it comes to their deliverance? They rowed hard to bring the
ship to land, but they could not. Listen, you cannot work
your way to God. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. That's what Jonah said. Salvation's
of the Lord. Do you really believe salvation's
of the Lord? They took up Jonah, verse 15,
and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. Verse 17 tells us that God had
all what God had already done. Look at this. Now the Lord had. He already had prepared a great
fish to swallow up Jonah. When do you suppose that Lord
the Lord prepared that ship that fish? That morning. I see they threw. Jonah in the
water, I'll send a fish over and swallow him up. No. It's
from the foundation of the world. And Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights. You know, the Lord Jesus
referred to this very event when He said that a wicked and an
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. And He said there
shall no sign 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. And what
a picture that is of redemption. It's the only sign that God's
gonna give. And what a sign it is. Have you seen the sign of
Jonah? Who prepared this great fish to swallow up Jonah? God
did. You know why? Jonah knew, because
salvations are the Lord. Jonah 2 verse 1, then Jonah prayed,
God sends his people trouble and then they call upon him.
Who did he pray to? Did Jonah, like the Pharisee
that went into the temple to pray, pray thus with himself?
No, he's crying unto the Lord. Have you cried unto the Lord? He prayed to his Lord right where
he was, out of the fish's belly. You don't have to straighten
up and fly right, friends, because you can't, and then come to the
Lord. Come to him right where you are, in the depths of your
sin, misery. That's where we cry. Out of the
fish's belly. And in verse 2, Jonah said, I
cried by or out of reason of mine affliction. This was Jonah's
affliction because God saves you, dear sinner. He's going
to show you your need. He's going to show you you need
Him. He's going to shut you up to
Him and Him alone. salvations of the Lord. Jonah
cried and out of his affliction, need with God, and God did it
all. Every bit of it. It's God that afflicted him.
It's 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. 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. And it was the
Lord that prepared the great fish. And it was the Lord that
caused Jonah to be swallowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah said, He heard me. He heard
me. He always does. When you cry
out of desperate need. Have you heard Jonah? Have you
heard what God says? God always hears you when you
cry out of your affliction, out of your need. Lord, that leper
said, if you will, you can make me whole. No doubt that he can. Will he? Every single time. Can't find anywhere in this book
where he didn't. When one cried out of trouble, Out of the belly of hell cried
I, Jonah said, and thou heard my voice. Verse three, I'm gonna
hurry. For thou cast me into the sea,
in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed me about,
all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Who cast Jonah
into the sea? It wasn't the men of the ship.
Jonah said, God did it. for thou hast cast me into the
midst of the sea. David said, it's good for me
that I've been afflicted. And you know, you tell people
that and they think you're crazy, don't they? The Lord sent this
trouble and he sent it for my good. Well, you're nuts. The
believer says, no, no, no. I cried out of my affliction
and he heard me and he had mercy on me and he saved me by his
grace because salvation's of the Lord. Do you believe what
Jonah said? Do you see how God saves sinners? He shows them their sin and their
state before God, and He shows them their need of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they won't kick and scream
coming to Him. They'll come. Because they need
Him. Oh, I'm here to tell you this
morning, not a day goes by when I don't see my need of Him. I need Him. I need Him every
hour. every hour of every day. Do you
need him? Jonah said in verse five, 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, oh
Lord my God. Who brings us up from this corruption?
The Lord does. And what a picture this is of
me and my sin, the depths of my sin closed me in, My sins
so many that they wrapped about my head and I went down to the
bottom." Have you been down to the bottom? Has God brought you
to the bottom? In verse 7, Jonah said, "...when
my soul fainted within me." Who causes our souls to faint? The
one that Jonah remembered. He said, I remembered the Lord
and my prayer came in unto thee, unto thine holy temple. Friends,
we can come boldly into the throne of grace to obtain mercy and
find help in time of need. And Jonah did, and you can too.
I don't suppose I ever paid much attention to verse eight. What
a warning it gives us. They that observe lying vanities,
or in other words, those that pay reverence to anyone or anything
but God. They forsake any favor that God
has shown them. Isn't that something? My, my. Those who insist on worshiping
idols like themselves. You know, I'm convinced that
the biggest idol we got is us. I wrote a song about it one time.
I love myself, I am so grand that when I'm with me, I hold
my hand. Jonah said, I will pay that I
have vowed. I'll pay that what I've promised.
Jonah would now obey the Lord and go to Nineveh. Did you hear
what Jonah said? He said, salvation's of the Lord
God. Hear my prayer. When you see and acknowledge
and bow to who it is that saves, you'll hear too. And verse 10,
And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land. So in closing, let me give you
just a few more divine truths very quickly. I think I can do
it within a minute. You've heard these things before
too. Salvation is of the Lord in its origination. It begins
with Him. Who purposed salvation? Did man
or did God? Man didn't have anything to do
with it. He's dead. God asked, where were you when
I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Before any of us were born, before
any of us had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God,
according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. Salvation is of the Lord in its
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. They, with their wicked hands,
took the Lord of glory and nailed Him to the tree. But it was by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God was behind it all. You know why? Salvation is of
the Lord. That's the only way he could
save his people and remain just and holy. That's why justified
such a wonderful word. Thirdly, salvations of the Lord
in this application. It's a God who applies salvation
and salvations of the Lord. He wills it. He decrees it. He
executes it. He carries it out. That's what
Jonah said. For by grace are you saved, it's
not of yourself. What is it? It's a gift of God,
it's a gift. God is merciful to whom he'll
be merciful, and God's gracious to whom he'll be gracious. And
none of us deserve mercy or grace. Mercy and grace are undeserved.
They'd cease to be mercy and grace if we deserved them. And
fourthly, salvation is of the Lord and it's sustaining power. God not only saves us, but He
keeps us. Isn't that a wonder? We're kept
by the power of God. We don't keep ourselves. God
doesn't put a man or woman on the road to glory and then tell
them to do the best they can. That'd be like the good shepherd
going, leaving the 99 sheep, going out and finding the one
and finding that sheep and then saying, okay, You know, I found
you, you're lost, now head on back home. We'd get lost again. But the
Lord put me on his shoulder and carried me all the way back to
the fold. Why? Because salvation's of the
Lord. Salvation is of the Lord unto
perfection. I went over a minute, I'm sorry.
We must be perfect to be accepted. If I'm accepted, I have to be
made perfect, because I can never be on my own. Christ made me
so. Has Christ made you perfect? When I die, who's going to get
me out of that grave? Who's going to raise this corruptible
body to an incorruptible one? Who's going to change this bowed
body and make it glorious? I'm not, because I can't. The
church can't do it. The preacher can't do it. He'd
like to. That man would die himself that
you'd be saved. But he can't do it. He can't
save you. You can't save yourself. Who's going to do it? Jonah knew.
You and I. The one that purposed it, that's
who's going to do it. The one that initiated it. The
one that applied it. The one that sustained it. He's
the only one that can finish it. Jonah said salvation's over
the Lord. Do you believe Him? I do. By God's grace, I believe Him.
My only hope. Christ has made unto me all I
need. He's made unto me the very wisdom
of God, the very righteousness of God. He has made unto me sanctification. He's the one that set me apart.
He made me perfect. He made me holy. Jesus Christ
is our redemption. He's made unto us all these things.
That's our message. Jesus Christ. That means one thing and one
thing only, dear friends. I bet you can guess what it is.
It's what Jonah said. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. That's the message of this book.
And may God enable you to believe it. Only he can do that. So see
full circle. Salvation is of the Lord. I sure appreciate your attention.
Thank.