Eighth verse. Third Psalm, eighth verse. It says here, salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people.
I want to talk about Bible salvation. Bible salvation. Seven descriptions
of what the Scriptures say, what the Bible says about salvation.
And salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord. That's
what we say. Seven Bible descriptions of salvation. This is what the Holy Scripture
says. This is what God's Word says. The salvation's of the
Lord. Salvation is the work of God
and God alone. It's God's work. And it's a work
of grace. And I tell you, grace goes before
grace. I mean, you look at us from the
time we were born until now, how much grace has been before
us. You know, he told, Paul says, When it pleased God, He separated
me from my mother's womb. Grace went before grace, and
then grace called him on the Damascus road. So salvation is
a work of God alone, and it's a gracious work. It's a work
of grace. It's a work that God does for the sinner, and it's
a work of grace. And God works this grace only
in His people, only in His elect, on those who are chosen by Him,
those that God gave to His Son in the covenant of grace. Father,
they were Thine, Thou gavest them to Me. Thine they were and
You gave them to Me. And this salvation God brought
out for them, worked out for them, for chosen sinners, God's
elect sinners. And I tell you what, He done
it without any help from them whatsoever. God saves men and
sinners without any help from them whatsoever." Milton Howard sent me an article
that a fellow, the head of this big Baptist outfit somewhere
out west, says that Baptists never did believe Calvinism.
He said, you know, Baptists never did believe Calvinism. He's too smart for his own good.
I said, Benjamin Teach. And I started naming off people.
I said, what about Andrew Mann? What about, you know, Kitchen
Creek Baptist Church, 13th Street Baptist Church. And Lord, he
says, listen, but I'll tell you something. God saves his people
without any help from them, assistance from them whatsoever. If it was
ever a cooperative effort, That means that God would need your
help, and if God ever needs anybody's help, He ceases to be God right
at that moment. If God can't save us by Himself,
through what His Son did on that cross, by the shedding of His
blood, and His righteousness that He established, and the
wrath that He subdued, the law that He fulfilled, if God can't
save us by Him, there ain't gonna be nobody saved, no way, no how.
Ain't that right? And then, not only that, but,
beloved, then He comes, and the Holy Ghost comes and irresistibly,
effectually operates in the heart of those that Christ has died
for, that God chose, that God worked grace in, that God purposed
to save them. That's the salvation the Scriptures
teach us. And we've got to have a salvation
like that. Salvation's of the Lord. Look
with me over here in Psalm 37, verse 39, just a moment. Another
verse of Scripture about the work of salvation, you know,
and salvation being of the Lord. Well, I said 37, 39, didn't I? Yeah, 37, 39. But the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. The salvation makes them righteous,
and that's of the Lord. So we're going to talk about
seven Bible descriptions of salvation. The first one is thy salvation. It's thy salvation. Look with
me in Genesis 49, 18. Thy salvation. It belongs to
God. I just read it to you there in
Psalm 38. Salvation belongs under the Lord.
It's His salvation. And in Genesis 49, in verse 18, it's Thy salvation. It belongs
to the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
And He gives it to whom He will. It's his prerogative to give
it. It's his prerogative to work. It's his prerogative to give
or withhold it according to his own sovereign will. Look what
he says here in verse 18, Genesis 49. I have waited for thy salvation,
O Lord. And you know there's a verse
of scripture that he commanded his salvation. He commanded his
salvation. And so it's His salvation. Salvation
belongs to the Lord. And you know the Scripture said,
and our Lord Jesus said this, when He prayed in Matthew 11,
verse 25, He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes. Why did He hide it from some
and reveal it unto others? Because it seemed good in Thy
sight. seem good in your sight. Let
me read you Luke chapter 2. Just look at Luke chapter 2.
Here's a perfect illustration of it. Luke chapter 2. Here's a perfect illustration
of salvation being of the Lord. Thy salvation. It's called thy
salvation. I'm glad it says here salvation.
Everybody wants to harp about My salvation, your salvation,
free will salvation, whose salvation? But listen, it belongs to God.
It belongs to Him. And you can't make Him give it
to you. You can't work to get Him to work it to you. You can't
do enough, be worth enough to make Him have to offer it to
you. It's not even an offer. It's
a thing that He does. And look what here in Luke 2.25.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
and the same man just about waiting for the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Ghost was upon him." Of course, Christ is at consolation.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came
by the Spirit, the capitalized Spirit there. The Holy Spirit
led him into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. Now listen to it. For mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. Holy Father in that whole building
that saw the salvation of the Lord, and they saw him and a
baby, saw Him in an infant, and held Him in His arms, and said,
Thank you, Lord, that I see Your salvation right here in my arms.
I've been waiting for this. I've waited for years for this. And, beloved, He's come, and
I've got Him in my arms. Now, I'm ready to go. I'm ready
to go. And not only that, beloved, but
not only Thy salvation, but it's an eternal salvation. Second
thing, eternal salvation. You know in Hebrews 5, 9 it says,
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obeyed him. Now let me tell you something
about salvation. I've told you this, you all know this, but
salvation is an eternal work. Salvation started before we were. Salvation started before God
ever put Adam in the Garden of Eden. Salvation started in the
mind and will and purpose of God before ever anybody was put
in the garden. Christ was the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. It was devised in the mind of
God, devised in the purpose of God, predestinated by God, purposed
by God. You know, there's a time, was
it over in Acts chapter 18, I think it is, where Paul went down to
Corinth. And he got down there and he
was having a hard time about it. They was just fighting him
and so envious of him and trying to run him out of town. And he
was getting ready to leave. And the Lord come to him and
said, Paul, stay right where you are. I have much people in
this city. They didn't know they were the
Lord's people. Paul didn't know which ones they were. But God
was who they were. Why? Because whom he foreknew. Them he also called. Them he justified. Them he glorified. And all beloved, God predestinated
and purposed this salvation. And God, our Lord Jesus Christ,
performed it. He finished it. He perfected
it. And everything was done in a
covenant of grace before the world ever began. Oh, this covenant
of grace, beloved. Listen, I'm telling you, there's
a covenant that God had an elect people and chose those people,
and they were in Christ. And He's the author of this eternal
salvation. If it's eternal, that means there's
not a time that it starts. Eternal means that that's how
long it lasts, as we're starting in eternity and go on through
eternity. Eternal has no beginning and ending. That was a starting time for
us. Not that there will be no ending time, but that was a starting
time. And that's why when Christ came into this world, He'd come
in here as the Eternal Son of God. He'd come in here as God
manifest in the flesh. And oh, bless His holy name.
And this is an eternal salvation. These folks talk about losing
all they want to, you know. These fellas, you know, they
get it, and they keep it for a week or a month, and they lose
it, and then they go back and get it, lose it again, get it,
lose it, find it, get it, get on, get up, get out, get it,
you know, like a bunch of tires. They don't make recap cars anymore.
They used to. That's all I'd buy was recap
tires. That's all I could afford. They don't make them anymore,
do they? But I've bought many a recap
tire. And that's the way folks is in religion. They get a recap
and they don't last long. But I tell you, when you get
the salvation that belongs to God, it lasts! It's eternal! It's based on what God willed
and predestinated and purposed from all time. Now look with
me in Jude. Jude 3, let me give you the third
description. You, that's the last little book
right before the revelation. Oh, thy salvation belongs to
the Lord. And you know, I'm going to tell
you something. People say, well, what about the heathens? What
about people that don't ever hear the name of Jesus Christ?
Let me tell you something. The first reason people ask that
question is, is because they think that God is unfair if you
don't give everybody a chance. But the thing is, everybody is
born a sinner. Everybody is born lost. Everybody
is born a son of Adam. And everybody's going to get
their just due from a holy and a just God, whether they're in
Africa, or whether they're in America, or Chicago, or anyplace
else, or Tennessee, or Cumberland County, or Crossville. They're
going to get their just due. And if Christ didn't take our
just due in this eternal salvation, and became the author of this
eternal salvation, that's the only way in the world
that God can be just and justifying. God's going to do it. It's His
salvation. He can do what He wants to. And then look what
He said here in verse 3 of Jude, verse 3. It's called not only
thy salvation, eternal salvation, but common salvation. Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort
you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. Now what is he talking about
when he talks about a common salvation? Common salvation. Well, first of all, let me tell
you, there's nothing common about it. Anything that God does for
a sinner is not common. Anything that God does for His
elect is not common. So when he talks about the common
salvation that was delivered unto the saints, what he's talking
about, he's telling us that all of God's elect All of God's,
for whom Christ died, all for whom the Holy Spirit works salvation
in, they experience and possess the same salvation. That's all
he's talking about. We all got the same salvation.
We got the salvation of the Lord. We were all chosen of God to have the same righteousness and
the same calling and to have the same grace. Can we get the same blessings?
And all the blessings of grace belong fully to all who are in
Christ. Paul said in Ephesians 1.3, you
know, that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Does that mean just me? No, it's
all of us. To you. Oh my. Look with me over here in Ephesians
4. You know the Scriptures tells us And that all thy children
shall be taught of God. Now would God teach his children
one thing and not teach them all? Now I understand that there's
a There's degrees in grace, degrees in fruit. In that sense, there's degrees
in knowledge. Some people know more than others.
Some grow faster than others. There's 30, 60, 100 fold of fruit.
But what I'm telling you is, when it comes to the salvation
of the soul, everybody has got exactly the same thing. One don't
have a righteousness better than another. One don't have grace
given to them more than another when it comes to salvation. God teaches all His children,
and one thing He teaches them is He teaches them to trust Christ
and Christ alone. Look what He said here in Ephesians
4, in verse 4. There is one body, one body of
Christ, one Spirit, see that's capitalized, that's the Holy
Spirit, Even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
we all have one hope for calling. One Lord! One faith! One baptism! That's all it takes. If you get Christ, who is the
way, the one way, and no man cometh unto the Father, but the
mother. If you get Him, one faith will be enough. The faith in
Him. Faith given to you by Him. One baptism will be enough. You
won't have to go back and get it done over and over and over
again. One God and Father of all who is above all, through
all, and in you all. I mean, do you see that? Above
all, in all, through all. Oh, my. Common salvation just
means that we all got the same thing. We all got the same thing. Oh, God works in us to do of
His will and good pleasure. Let me tell you another one now.
Thigh salvation, eternal salvation, common salvation, and now your
own salvation. Look at Philippians 2. Let's
look at these together. Philippians 2. Philippians 2. You know, your
own salvation. Thigh salvation, eternal salvation,
common salvation, and then your own salvation. Look what he said
down here in Philippians 2 and verse 12. Verse 4, My beloved, as ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. But
your own salvation, this is what I want you to look at, your own
salvation. If you're saved, Saved by the
grace of God. Saved by the power of God. Saved
by the salvation that Christ brought out. The salvation you
have belongs to you. And you can't give it to nobody
else. I mean, it's yours. It is yours. I have my own salvation. It belongs to me. God gave it
to me. The faith He gave is mine. And
God devised it for you. Our Lord Jesus Christ purchased
it for you. The Holy Spirit brightens it
and works it in you. And then not only that, but it's
yours forever. It belongs to you. I'll still
be saved when I get into eternity with my own salvation. Everybody
there will be singing the same song unto Him that loved us and
works us from our sins in His own blood. Look what he said
over here in Ephesians 1.12, back to your left just a little
bit. Your own salvation, all that's
included in salvation is your personal property. You possess
it. It belongs to you by the gift of God's blessed grace.
Look here in Ephesians 1.12, talking about your own salvation.
You know, people call it, make Christ your personal Savior.
Well, I tell you what, He gives you your own salvation. And you'll
be sitting in a service someday, and you don't know it, but there'll
be a time, if you're one for whom Christ died, He'll come,
and He'll apply that salvation, and it'll become yours. And you'll
say, right then and there, God saved me. God saved me. I see the Lord. I see grace. I see what you're saying, preacher.
That's when you say, this is what Paul calls the gospel of
my gospel. Well, I have my gospel. I have
my salvation. You have yours. It belongs to
us. God gave it to us, particularly
to each and every one. And look what he said here in
Ephesians 1.12, that we should be to the praise of His glory
who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted. After
that, you heard the word of truth. Listen to it now. The gospel
of your salvation. I'll tell you what, you know
when the gospel is heard, you say, that's the gospel of my
salvation. I heard it. That's when the gospel becomes
the gospel of your salvation. It's yours. It's yours. It belongs to you. Everything
that goes with salvation. And I've thought of this, I'll
tell you what, I've been by myself and wondered and pondered and
thought about this so many times. Saved. Saved by the grace of
God. Where would I be without the
grace of God? Where would I be without salvation? But God brought salvation to
me. And there's a time He brought
it to you. There's a time that he brought it and he said, this
is it. This is yours. It belongs to
you. It's yours. All yours. Sometimes you're much more conscious
of it than others. Sometimes you enjoy it more than
others. Sometimes you rejoice in it more
than others. Sometimes you experience it more
than others. But one thing for sure, once
it's yours, it's yours forever. Whether you feel it or not, Whether
you're experiencing it or not, it's still yours. Oh, my. Oh, ain't that something, when
you're getting ready to leave this world, say, oh, I'm leaving
here. God gave me my own salvation.
And listen, when you leave, it goes with you. It don't stay here for somebody
else. But you go where yours goes with
you. Your salvation goes right on with you. Oh, I'm going to
leave that behind and give it to somebody else. No, you won't.
No, no. It goes right where you go. Where
you go, your salvation goes with you. Alright, look here. Let's look over in Ephesians,
excuse me, Hebrews chapter 2. That's why, you know, we rejoice
so much when saints are called home because, beloved, that's
the end of their journey. They've received the end of their
faith, the salvation of souls. All that salvation that they've
treasured and rejoiced in and been thankful for and blessed
God for, it's going to be theirs forever and ever and ever. Look
what he said here in verse 3 of Hebrews chapter 2. How shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began
to be spoken by the Lord, confirmed us by them that heard him? How shall we escape? That word
escape means be a day late. That all this, and I want to
talk about that, was confirmed unto us by them that This great
salvation, what makes it so great? Well, first of all, it comes
from a great and a glorious blessing God. It comes from a great, glorious
blessing God. Great is Thy faithfulness. Great
is Thy mercies. Great is Thy salvation. Oh, they
said, when they said about our Lord Jesus Christ, He shall be
great, He shall be called the Son of the Highest. And this
salvation is great because, beloved, it comes through the merits of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the most glorious and great substitute. It comes through what He did,
what He accomplished. And then this salvation is so
great because it comes by the power, a great, great power. the power of the Holy Ghost that
calms and overcomes our will and makes us willing in the day
of His Spirit. And I'll tell you something else.
You know what's one of the greatest things is the great salvation?
Because it comes to the greatest sinners that they are and brings
this salvation to them. It's the greatest sinners. Paul
said, I'm the chief of sinners. He needed great salvation. I
need a great salvation. A little salvation will do me.
No, no, when you're a great, great sinner, and you know you're
a sinner, you get worse as you get older. You get more sinful
as you get older. You want to think, I don't know
if I'm living by faith or living by flesh. You understand what I just said?
Sometimes I don't know if I'm living by faith or living by
flesh. Because I'm going on, I'm trusting
the Lord, I'm believing God, but at the same time, I seem
like I'm just going on in the world just in a daze. I don't know what to... But I
do, that's why I need such a great salvation. And then this great
salvation brings great grace! Grace! Grace! This is a charming sound. It
brings this grace, beloved, that saves us, sustains us, restrains
us, and teaches us, and comforts us, and meets all of our needs.
Oh, bless His name. Great, great, great salvation.
Let me give you another one real quick. In Isaiah 45, 17. Isaiah
45, 17. Oh my, thy salvation, eternal
salvation, common salvation, your own salvation, great salvation. Oh, and I'll tell you what, I
am so thankful that it's a great salvation. Oh, I'm so thankful
that it is. Then look what he said here in
Isaiah 45, 47. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end." Going to be saved, listen
to this, in the Lord, in the Lord, with an everlasting salvation. With an everlasting salvation.
And because of that, you'll never be ashamed or confounded, world
without end. Let me tell you something. God's
salvation is eternal both ways. From everlasting to everlasting.
Everlasting gospel, everlasting salvation. And that's, he said,
we'll be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. That's
the only place a fellow could be saved, is in the Lord. And
since He's from everlasting to everlasting, and He inhabits
eternity, and the heaven of heavens can't contain Him, and He declared
the end from the beginning, how else could it ever be other than
an everlasting salvation? Everlasting salvation. That's
what I talked about a minute ago. That's, you know, your salvation's
going wherever you go, it goes with you. And it'll be with you
for everlasting. What in the world would you be
doing in glory, praising God for a salvation, if you don't
take it up there with you? We won't need it like here,
like we need it there, like we need it here, but we're still
going to bless Him for it. We're there because of Him. And
then Revelation 7, 9, and I'm done. Revelation 7. Oh, everlasting salvation. Revelation 7, verse 9. And after this I beheld, and,
Lord, great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in
their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God, who sent us upon the throne,
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders,
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God. And every one of them said to
what these people said, Amen! Salvation unto our God! Amen! Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto
our God forever and ever. Amen. Salvation belongs unto
God. That salvation which belongs
to God, comes from God, is going to return to God, and when we
get there, we're going to praise Him forever and ever and ever
for saving us. Old Jack Shanks said one time,
he said, when God saved him, he said, he's never going to
let him hear the last of it. Jack Dunn went and been with the Lord
now for a little over a year, about a year. He said, I'm never
going to let him hear the last of it. I'm just not going to let
him hear the last of it. You're not going to let him hear
the last of it, James? No. When we get there, we're
going to say, Salvation unto our God. And everybody say, Amen. Glory, glory. Our Father, O gracious, gracious
God in heaven, thank you for allowing us to meet here tonight
to talk about your salvation, the salvation of the Lord, the
salvation you brought to us, worked in us, sustained and keep
it in us, saved us for eternity. O blessed be your name. And Lord,
we do praise you now. Salvation belongs unto our God,
comes from you, and the praise goes back to you. And Lord bless
you, dear saints, tonight as they go back to their jobs, their
works, their home, the trials and fears and anxieties they
had. Continue to bless and strengthen
you, dear saints. Save your people in this place.
Oh, may someday soon one will hear the gospel of their salvation.
One of these days, somebody will say, Lord, I believe. They'll hear that salvation that
will become their own. God make it so for Christ's sake.
Amen. Amen.