Good evening. Let's turn tonight
to begin in Jonah, Chapter 2. Book of Jonah, Chapter 2. I've heard from Shirley. She
made it safely to her parents' house. I know that Donnie got off. That's
as far as I know. Jonah chapter 2, I'm going to
read the first nine verses. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly and said, I cried by reason of
mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of hell, cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast cast
me into the deep. In the midst of the seas and
the floods come past me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of
thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters
come past 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. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into
thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Let's bow together and have a
word of prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father.
Lord, we are thankful that you've given us a place to gather together,
that we can come together and open your word. And we can read. And Lord, we pray that you will
teach us tonight. Oh, teach us of your salvation.
Show us Christ once more lifted high up. Show us why his name
is above every name. Lord, we come tonight thankful
for all the mercies that you've shown to us. We're particularly
thankful for Mr. Jim, that you've given him the
ability to move on to a recovery center. And Lord, we pray that
you'll continue to work on his body. Lord, restore his health,
if it be your will. We're thankful, Lord, that you
gave safe travels to Donny and Shirley on their vacation. Lord, be with them. Keep them by your grace and return
them safely home to us. Be your will. Father, we're thankful
for your mercy towards Miss Peggy and Lord, we pray you'll continue
to uphold her. Miss Ruby and Kim and so many
among us that are sick, Lord, You know their needs, and we
bring them to you. Restore their bodies if you so
desire, and it brings glory to your name. Father, more than
this, oh Lord, we pray for those that are soul sick, who are lost
and without God. Father, visit them. Lord, show
them their need of a savior. And then, Lord, reveal to them
Christ Jesus, our Lord and our Savior. For it's in his name
we pray, amen. We just read here in Jonah a
phrase that is often quoted from this pulpit. Salvation is of
the Lord. Anyone with an inkling of biblical
knowledge will say amen to that phrase. Salvation is the work
of the Lord. He purposed it. He provided for
it. He brings it to pass. And all
the world says, Amen. On Saturday, Dad and I were talking
about what I was going to preach on tonight. And I told him my
first point is, what is salvation? And he said, well, a better phrasing
is, who is salvation? A conversation reaffirmed to
me just how confusing the English language can be. He was thinking about the sinner's
completed salvation, who is Christ Jesus. I had in mind the work
of salvation. Jesus Christ is our salvation.
In Him we live and move and have our being. But there is a work
of salvation performed that results in our knowledge of Christ Jesus,
our salvation. And it's this work that I've
been studying for tonight. I caught myself wondering the
other day if I could explain salvation is of the Lord to someone
who had never heard the gospel proclaimed, to someone who did
not know anything about Jesus Christ. And I couldn't. So I started studying. And I
hope that after this study, at least I'll be able to answer
the question, and Lord willing, you might learn something from
me. To that end, I have a rather
simple outline. I was taught, Kimberly Clark,
we did a big project and they They wanted us to have an elevator
speech that we could tell everybody in the building what we were
working on in just a couple of points. It's kind of what I was
going for here. What is salvation? Who needs
salvation? Who supplies salvation? And how
do I obtain salvation? Now, in preparation for tonight,
you know that I've lived rather a sheltered life. I've not been
under the sound of any preaching except for the gospel since before
I was my kid's age. So I went out in search of what
does the world say salvation is. Google's a great tool for
that, and I went to three or four websites. And truth be told,
I was surprised by what I found at first. They started off their
discourse very well. They quoted some scriptures.
All have sinned. By one man, sin entered into
the world. They even said God is holy and
cannot have anything to do with sinners. I was surprised at this
truth, but it quickly fell apart. The websites went on to give
a formula for salvation. Step one, believe. Step two,
repent, by which they said, agree with God that you're a sinner.
Step three, let God into your heart. Step four, you shall be
saved. You see, because they said, once
you let God into your heart and you have believed, they said
God promised that you would be saved. They started off sounding fairly
well, but it was quickly evident that they were wrong from the
beginning. They didn't understand what happened in the fall of
man. So how do I answer what is salvation? You can go to the dictionary. Webster's gave a definition. Vine's biblical book that I've
got, it gave at least 11 definitions, none of which satisfied my ability
to explain it. So I have created a definition
of my own. It is based off of my experience
and the scriptures that we're going to look at tonight. My definition of salvation. Salvation
is a work performed upon a person who is unable to do for themselves. The world's definition of salvation
puts man in a bad way. He needs some help, but he's
still in the fight. And all he needs to do is make
a way for God to help him out. Try to demonstrate the difference
between the world's view and my view. I was reminded of my
lifeguarding class that I took in college. And not everything
that you take in school stays with you, but I had two things
from this particular class that stayed with me. The first was,
when someone is drowning, they usually do not call out for help. They don't make a lot of noise
because they don't have the strength and they don't have the breath
to do it. And the second is, if the drowning victim is conscious
and he's still struggling to swim, If you, as the rescuer,
get within reach of that man, he's going to pull you under.
And there won't be one person that needs saving, there'll be
two. The world's definition reminded
me of a game I played as a kid in the pool. If there were more
than two of us, well, actually, if there's more than one of us
in the pool, It wasn't long before one kid was splashing about and
going under and every time he came up he yelled, help. And
the other kid was the rescuer and had to go help him. I think we've probably all done
something similar because my kids and Jenna's kids do that
today and we didn't teach them to do it. So the world looks
at salvation like those children playing a game. They don't really
need saving, but they think it's a good idea. The world presents
man as treading water. He's in trouble, but he's afloat. Maybe he's getting tired and
he just wants a little bit of help. That man will end up just
like the conscience victim. He's going to go down and he's
going to take his salvation with him. That man is not in need
of salvation. He's in need of a helping hand.
But mankind, sons and daughters of Adam, are not in need of a
helping hand. They are not treading water.
They are drowning in sin and destruction. Man's in need of salvation, not
help. When Israel was in Egypt, while
Joseph reigned and while the pharaohs that reigned after him,
Israel was very comfortable. Joseph provided for all their
needs. They weren't in the promised
land, but they could come and go freely as they saw fit. These people were not in need
of salvation. Then a pharaoh who didn't know
Joseph was raised to power. And he moved with envy towards
the people. He subdued them, made them servants,
removed their liberties. They could no longer go and come
as they saw fit. They were in bondage to the Egyptians. Then they cried out for deliverance. Only then was salvation revealed,
they could not do. Salvation is only for those who
are unable to do for themselves. So who is it that needs saving?
Who did our Lord visit while He was here on His earthly ministry? He went to many, and many came
to Him with various conditions. and those conditions show forth
the spiritual condition of Adam's children. Tonight I want to look
at a few of these and I hope that you can recognize yourself
in all of these circumstances. The first was those suffering
from a physical debilitation. The sick, the deaf, the blind,
the lame, All of these who came to Christ, he healed. He brought
them salvation from their illness. Let's look at the impotent man
in John chapter 5. You don't need to hold Jonah. John chapter 5 starting in verse
1. John 5 1. After this there was a feast
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at
Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool which is called in the
Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five porches. In these lay a
great multitude. of impotent folk, of blind, halt,
withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went
down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water.
Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped
in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain
man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years, When
Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in
that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The
impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water
is troubled, to put me into the pool. But while I am coming,
another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise,
take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. Here we have a man who is unable
to walk. But he has heard of a place where
he might find salvation. He might be made whole. So he is brought there somehow,
and he goes faithfully and he stays there waiting for the troubling
of the water, seeking to be made whole, if only he could get to
the water. He did all that he could, but
he still couldn't be healed because he could not get to the water.
I've been this man. I was raised under the sound
of the gospel, taught that it was important to sit and listen
and be under the sound of the gospel, because it is by the
foolishness of preaching that God is pleased to save. So there
I sat, year after year, And God was exceeding merciful to me,
for he didn't allow me to leave when I could have. Still, all that I could do was
attend and pray that God would visit me as he did this impotent
man. You hearing me tonight, who have
not yet been made to walk in newness of life, I hope that
you'll continue coming, gathering with the saints of God, because
we have his promise. As Gary and I were talking this
afternoon, where two or three are gathered together in his
name, he is in the midst. And if he is in the midst, like
his dealing with this impotent man, he may give command that
you rise and walk. Christ also went to the blind
and deaf. Are you deaf? Now, I'm not speaking
of physical deafness. I am very thankful for the speaker,
for with it, I think everybody in here can hear me. But have you heard the voice
of God speak to you? Have you heard in his word As
we read these scriptures, have you heard the word of life? Is Christ called your name? Have you been given eyes to see
the beauty of Christ? Or are you still in spiritual
darkness, seeing no comeliness about him? We are all born spiritually blind
and deaf. We are like the Pharisees over
in John 9. John 9 verse 39. John 9 verse 39. And Jesus said, For judgment
I am come into this world, that they which see not might see. And that they which see might
be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind
also? Jesus said unto them, If you
were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say we see. Therefore, your sin remain. These
Pharisees had the law and the prophets, the Old Testament. And they knew them far better
than I do. And yet the Lord of glory stood
in their midst. And they couldn't see. How are the blind and deaf to
see and hear? same as that impotent man. A
great physician must come and perform a work. Nothing can be
done apart from the Holy Spirit coming in power to open the eyes
and ears of those who are deaf and blind. There was one other type that
Christ went to, the dead. Let's visit Lazarus's tomb one
more time. John 11. John 11, verse 33. When Jesus, therefore, saw her
weeping and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned
in the spirit and was troubled. and said, Where have you laid
him? They said unto him, Lord, come
and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews,
Behold, how he loved him! And some of them said, Could
not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused
that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again,
groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and
a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for
he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I
not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God? Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always. But because of the
people which stand by, I said it. that they may believe that
thou hast sent me.' And when he had thus spoken, he cried
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came
forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was
bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. I know many today that are dead
while they yet live. I have family, friends, neighbors,
loved ones who I know do not know Christ. You here that are called from
death unto life, how did you know you were dead? It was only after you were given
life. Same here with Lazarus. While
he was dead, he felt no remorse. He had no sorrow, like his sisters
and friends. We that are made alive now see
our friends and our loved ones, and we know that they are dead,
just like we were. They're walking in ungodliness
and dead in trespasses and sins. Can the dead do for themselves?
They don't even know that they're dead. How are they going to ask
to be saved? How are they going to believe,
as those websites said, to repent, to let God into their hearts? They can't work out salvation. They are capable of nothing but
continued decay unless one gives them life. Salvation being a work performed
only upon those who cannot do anything for themselves. And
we children of Adam being well represented in those who Christ
came to during his earthly ministry to save. We are spiritually dead. When Adam took of the fruit of
the tree, He died and we inherited his nature. We are born dead
in trespasses and sins. Our eyes are blinded to the glory
of Christ and our ears are stopped. We cannot hear the word of God. We are lame and impotent. We
cannot walk in the paths of righteousness. Are we not in a most pitiful
state? This is the consequence of sin.
We are alienated and enmity with God. Have you been brought to
see your deplorable condition? That you are sin? Sin is not
something that you do, but who you are. There is hope. There is a man
who came for one reason to accomplish the salvation of sinners. Salvation must be by another.
And the one to be saved, he has no power to help in his salvation. He must rely completely upon
another. And the one doing the saving,
the Savior, he must have the ability, the strength, and the
desire to save. Ours is a horrible condition. Our sins and iniquities have
separated us from God. God is holy. We are sinful. God is good and merciful. We are enmity. God is just. We are unjust. Before. before the first man
was created, before God laid the foundations of the world,
before he purposed to express his love to a people. He knew that Adam would rebel,
that he would fall and be sinned, yet he loved some And those he loved, they must
be saved. We cannot do this for ourselves.
So God sent his son. He made him in the likeness of
sinful man, except he's righteous and holy. There was a body prepared for
him before the foundation of the world. And in that body, a man kept
the law perfectly. He walked before God and men,
and there was no cause of death in him. That body was specifically prepared
to house the Godhead bodily. And as he walked this earth,
he first honored God. And he satisfied every demand
of the law. Then when he had finished the
work of fulfilling the law. He accomplished salvation for
those that he came to say those centers in need of salvation. And he went to the cross. After
suffering the worst that man could do to him, he was beaten,
forsaken by his friends, whipped with a cat of nine tails that
ripped the flesh off of his back. His beard was plucked out. They
planted a crown of thorns that pierced into his head. There were nails driven into
his hands and feet. And as they planted that cross
into the ground, his bones were pulled out of joint. And yet, there was no sin upon
him. Mark recorded that it was the
third hour when they crucified him. And after three hours of
hanging upon that cross, the sun went dark. The hour had come. God the Father
laid on God the Son the sin and iniquities of those he came to
save. And in three hours, in that darkness,
the wrath of God fell upon that body. that body that was now
housing the sin of all of God's elect. God is just, and He will by no
means declare the guilty. The penalty of sin must be paid. The wages of sin is death, as
the blood of the Lamb of God poured from His body. The Son
of God yielded up the ghost. Every sin that he took was paid. He took them as his own and he
endured the penalty for them. The law has no regard for who
pays the penalty. If Stacia gets a ticket and she
has nothing with which to pay it, and she calls for help, say she calls my dad. And he shows up at the courthouse
and writes out a check. The money came from him, but
he gave it for her. And the law says, paid in full,
free to go. The law is satisfied. That's a decent example of how the law
can be paid by another, but it doesn't fully depict what
our Lord did. Our Lord became the one with
the ticket, and he had the payment price
to give. And He gave it. From that example standpoint,
Stacia never had a ticket. It was Christ all along. On that third day, you pay your ticket, you get
a receipt. On that third day, Jesus Christ, of His own power,
took up that same body that was prepared for Him from the foundation
of the world. He took it up again. And He walked
out of the tomb. And we have our receipt. Our
Lord lives. Proving that the penalty for
sin was paid in full and accepted. He saved his people to the uttermost. Our Lord is able, willing, and
was pleased to lay down his life for us while we were yet in our
sins. We have a wonderful Savior. Would you be freed from sin?
Would you have life? Would you have the blindness
and deafness removed and have the ability to walk in the paths
of righteousness? Listen to the master's call in
John chapter seven. John 7, 37 and 38. In the last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. We toil and labor under the curse
of sin. The Lord told Adam, in the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Sin causes hard work, and sweat
takes our moisture from us, causing us to thirst. Are you
tired of laboring under the burden of sin? Come to Christ. He will satisfy your thirst.
Seek him out, look for him in his word, gather together with
his people, and ask him to have mercy upon you. But as one who knows, you can't
come with anything to offer him. There's no comeliness at all
about us. We are impotent, blind, deaf,
dead, sinners, and we're in need of a great savior. And if he is pleased to save
you, he will send his spirit. And like Lazarus in the tomb,
your ears will be opened and you will hear his voice.
Life will enter into your soul and you will see Jesus Christ
in His glory. And He will guide your steps
and lead you in the paths of righteousness. Now the work of
salvation cannot be separated from the Savior. The drowning
man that is without strength and unconscious, falling beneath
the waves, has a work of salvation performed upon him when the lifeguard
reaches beneath the waves and pulls that man up above the water
and secures him. Salvation is a work performed
upon those who cannot do for themselves, the blind, the deaf,
the impotent, the dead. It's a work performed by a willing,
able, and strong Savior who came for the sole purpose of saving
sinners. Sinner, lost and weary by the
fall, you who still walk according to the course of this world,
come to Christ and beg him for mercy. Fall at his feet, for
he is merciful and delights to give mercy. Blessed, redeemed, ransomed sinner,
saved by God's grace, come to Christ Jesus with praise upon
your lips, for he has saved us from our sin. Let's bow together and dismiss
in a word of prayer. Our merciful, gracious, kind
Heavenly Father. Lord, how we thank you for your
salvation. And more, so much more, Lord,
for your Savior, for our Lord, your Son, Christ Jesus. Oh, Lord, cause us to grow in
grace, wisdom, mercy, and knowledge of you. Give us eyes to hear
and hearts to believe. Father, cause us to see more
of our need of you that we might walk closer with you daily. Oh, Lord, forgive us of our sins. Be merciful to us. Lord, we We again, we're so thankful for
all that you've done towards us. You've moved in mercy and grace
and kindness. Lord, oh, how we want to know
more of you and to see you exalted. Cause your name today to be exalted
above every name. Cause us to bow the knee. Save us by your grace, Lord.
For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Good night. Lord willing, we'll
meet Sunday morning. Brad's got the morning service
and Gary's got the evening service. I know they'd appreciate your
prayers. Good night.