Salvation is of THE LORD

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation?

The Bible teaches that salvation is wholly of the Lord, originating, executing, and applying grace to His chosen people. The Scriptures affirm that salvation is central to God's redemptive plan, as articulated in Jonah 2:9, where it is proclaimed that 'Salvation is of the Lord.' This statement encapsulates the truth that all aspects of salvation—its origination, execution, and application—are entirely in the hands of God. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, we see that God chose His people for salvation before time began, underscoring that our redemption was planned by Him from the foundation of the world. Everything we understand about salvation flows from God's sovereign will, showcasing His grace and mercy towards sinners.

Q: How do we know that salvation is orchestrated by God?

Scripture consistently emphasizes that God, through His omnipotence and wisdom, orchestrates all details of salvation. The truth that salvation is orchestrated by God can be found throughout the Scriptures, as seen in Isaiah 46:9-10, which states that God declares the end from the beginning and accomplishes His purpose. This highlights the certainty and divine authority behind God’s redemptive work. Furthermore, the New Testament confirms this orchestration through passages like John 10:14-15, where Jesus speaks of His sheep and how He lays down His life for them, reinforcing the concept that salvation is secured through the will and action of God, not by human initiative. This divine orchestration not only assures believers of their security but also brings glory to God alone.

Q: Why is the concept of salvation being from the Lord important for Christians?

Understanding that salvation is from the Lord reassures Christians of God’s sovereignty and eliminates reliance on self-effort. The concept that ‘salvation is of the Lord’ is crucial for Christians as it centers our faith on the sovereignty of God rather than the frailty of human effort or choice. This theological understanding is fundamental in the Reformed tradition, emphasizing that it is God who initiates, fulfills, and completes the salvation of His people. Passages like Ephesians 2:8-9 affirm that it is by grace we have been saved through faith, and not of ourselves; it is a gift of God, which eliminates boasting. Recognizing this truth fosters humility and dependence on God’s grace, providing peace and assurance in the believer's salvation journey.

Good morning. The line that stuck me from that song is kind of what I wish would happen for us this morning, that the things of this world would go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. If He shows us any of His glory and His grace, the things of this world will completely disappear. If you would open your Bibles back to the book of Jonah. The title of the message this morning comes from Jonah 2, verse 9.

And the last phrase says, Salvation is of the Lord. is of the Lord. This is a phrase, like others in this book, that if you asked just about anybody in religion, do you believe salvation is of the Lord, you would get an immediate, without even a second thought, yeah, yes, absolutely. Of course I believe that. Everybody believes that. But I think this is a phrase that is so often said and not really thought about. It's something that is portrayed and spoken and thought to be believed, but it's just a phrase. It's just words.

Not too long ago, I was at a sporting event with one of my children, and an adult that I know from that had a religious shirt on. And prominently on the back of that shirt was a Bible verse. Well, I didn't know what verse it was. It wasn't one of the two or three standard verses that's on many of the shirts. So I pulled my phone out real quick, read the verse.

Okay, I know what that says. It wasn't five minutes later, the Lord put me in a situation where someone said something that you would have thought I brought it up so that I could say that verse out loud. And they said something, so I then said part of the verse, thinking I was starting this conversation and maybe that's why it happened.

And they looked at me and they said, huh? And I said, oh, I just, it was, that was, and I can't remember the chapter, but that was that verse on your shirt. And they, huh? And I said, the verse on your shirt. And they were like, oh, OK. And then they kind of looked at me, I was like, I just was saying what was on your shirt. What did it say? And I said it again. And it wasn't just that they didn't realize the verse was on their shirt. They had no clue what that verse even said.

When we say salvation is of the Lord, I want us to know what it means. And I already said that if we said that, everybody would agree. What if we got a little more particular, a little more defined with that phrase? What if we said salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Someone might think twice and think about that again. But what if I said salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ in its origination? that redemption of His people from time began? Well, some people might think twice. I don't know about that. What if we went further and said salvation is of the Lord in its execution? That God the Father is the first cause of all that took place in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation? Well, I do think you would get some people that would think, Well, what if we went one further and said salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's application that His people are made willing in the day of His power to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and it has absolutely nothing to do with me or you and we have no say, no will, anything of it.

Well, I feel really confident that we'd have some people be like, hold on now, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm just telling you right now what salvation of the Lord means in this verse of Scripture or when it's used any other time in the book. And I want to take a couple minutes before I get into this story, and I want us to think about something really important. I just said people in religion and talking about other people and that's a little abstract. But this morning what we have to do is what most important is that we think to ourselves, what do I, me, what do I think when it says salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It doesn't matter what grandma thinks. It doesn't matter what my preacher thinks. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks.

What do I think? of salvation is of the Lord. So I'm going to take a few minutes. I'm going to use scripture to tell us what this book says salvation is of the Lord. And I'm going to tell you the truth and you don't believe me that it's the truth. We're going to read places. I'm going to turn to a couple of verses and I'm going to quote even more. Read, believe what this book says about salvation is of the Lord.

Because everyone in here knows that we We think things that are the truth that aren't the truth. We believe things that are so far-fetched and we latch on to things and believe they're the truth despite how much information we have to the contrary. This world is full currently of people who are arguing two things and they are both 100% sure that they are right and the other person is completely wrong. which of course we all know can't be true. There's a truth and there's error.

And thankfully the Lord has given us something as a guide to that. If you're ever not sure about what the truth is, look in this book. That's where you find the truth. Everything else, either it doesn't matter or it's a lie. So first off, salvation is of the Lord in its origination.

2 Thessalonians 2.13 says, We are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Our Lord planned and purposed the redemption of His people from the beginning of time. Our Lord Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Salvation is too splendid and too wise to have been the product of any mind except the mind which could accomplish it.

In Henry Mahan's commentary, he gives this example. He says, suppose that God had called a council of angels at the beginning of time and declared to them, he said to them, The man that I shall create will rebel against me. I shall punish all sin. My justice and my law demand that I should do so. But I intend to show mercy, for God is love, for I am love. Tell me, how can my law be honored and the demands of my justice be fulfilled that mercy may reign? Where shall mercy and truth meet together? Righteousness and peace. How will they kiss each other? How can God be just and justifier of sinners who believe? Those angels would still be sitting there in the same place in silence.

Only a heavenly God can plan and accomplish salvation. Turn to Isaiah 46. Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46 verse 9, remember this is salvation is of the Lord in its origination. Isaiah 46 verse 9 says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else.

I am God and there is none like me. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will also do it. An omnipotent God, that has done all things. Salvation is of the Lord in its origination, and salvation is of the Lord in its execution, or the performance of it. God the Father made the beloved and only begotten Son our surety, our representative and the federal head of an elect people, chosen in Him and given to Him to redeem and bring to glory.

Turn with me to John 10. John chapter 10. In John 10, look at verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Go to verse 24. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If there be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not.

The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. And as I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. And I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

In Adam, we died. In Christ, we live. In Adam, we were made sinners. In Christ, we are made righteousness. In Adam, we are separated from God. In Christ, we are brought to God. Listen to these verses. In Romans 5, it says, Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, in Adam, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And then verse 19 of Romans 5, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. By him, by the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 3 it says, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He did it all. The performance and the execution of salvation is all of the Lord. The Father is the first cause of all that took place in the work of our Redeemer. Listen to this.

He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. Now listen to that verse again, and I'm gonna add who it is as it said. He, the Father, hath made Him the Son to be sin for us, the sinner, who knew no sin, Christ was perfect, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.

Even those who planned His death, those who betrayed Him, tried Him, scourged Him, nailed Him to the cross, and put Him in the tomb did exactly what God determined to be done. It doesn't matter if someone's thinking they're going against him, doing against him, acting against him, it's all exactly what he's performing in them.

Even those, excuse me, Christ died not as a reformer, not as an example, nor to gain the pity of men. Christ died as the substitute, the sin offering and the sacrifice for his people. As the blood atonement on the mercy seat of old was offered before the Lord, Christ Jesus by one offering before the Lord perfected forever them that He sanctified.

The Father ordained and pictured for us in the Old Testament all that our Lord would do for our redemption and He died according to the Scriptures. Everything in the Old Testament pointed to Him coming. One would come who would perform what we couldn't and then who would die for us.

And then finally, salvation is of the Lord in its application. No, says the freewheeler, God has done all that He can do. He's given His Son. He has provided salvation. Now it's up to us to want it. It's up to us to seek it. It's up to us to accept it. Can the dead sinner give himself life? Can the lost sheep find itself? Can the unregenerate begat themselves? Can the Ethiopian change his skin?

No, His people are made willing in the day of His power. Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth. We receive Christ and believe on His name because we are born of God. In John 1, it says, But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born, not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the man, but of God. If we take out all those, it says, which were born of God. We have to add all these qualifiers so that we can remove ourselves of it. We say we're born of God, we find a way to be like, well, but then we did this or we did that. No, but it says, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, it is completely and all of God.

All of those things. So all of that, hopefully, we hear those things and we can think to ourselves, I do believe that salvation is of the Lord. Not just that I see it, not just that it's very obvious here that it says it, but, and this may sound trite when I say it, but I'm good with that. Like, I get it. I understand when it says that the Lord is the one who originated it. I couldn't have come up with a way to do this. He's the one who executed it. He's the one who applied it. He did all these things. And if we know who we are, if he's shown us who we are, we're so happy about that.

Only a person who thinks they can save themselves wants any part in salvation. If you're ever, and we're going to read a story in a second, If you ever find yourself in a life or death situation, that's when it puts rubber to the road and we really find out how much of a part you want to be in your saving. Really. In so many things, with our eternal lives, with our souls, a reason we have so much problem is because this is an abstract thought to us.

I think most people don't actually concern themselves with this. Because until we are shown who we are and the danger we're in and the situation we're in, we don't really give things a thought, right? Until Jonah and these sailors and everything are put in this situation, nobody's really concerned about their souls. Nobody's really concerned about their lives. We go every day without the thought of our lives being in danger. We really do. But we're just the grass of the field. We just wither and fade away.

Okay, come with me here back to Jonah, and let's look at this story. Now, my focus this morning is actually not going to be on Jonah. But I want to take just a couple quick minutes, because I want us all just to remember the highlights of Jonah in this story, so we can then move on to what I want to talk about. So if you look at Jonah chapter one, look at verse, Three.

So right after the Lord tells Jonah, go to Nineveh and cry unto them, cry against them, preach to them, prophesy to them. Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and he went down to Joppa. He found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. I've always thought of Jonah not wanting to do what the Lord told him.

But the last part of verse 3 says, "...from the presence of the Lord." And in my margin, it gives a scriptural reference. And do you know what that is? That is a reference to Cain and his reaction to the Lord. When it says here that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. This isn't saying Jonah is not doing what he said. This is saying Jonah was trying to get away from God. That kind of changes the perspective on this, doesn't it? Let me give an illustration about what happened here.

And if there are any young people, maybe you can put yourself in this situation, but your mother or father comes to you and says, I need you to clean your room. I don't want you to do anything else. Your room's a mess. Go clean it up. I don't mean move things around. I don't mean act like you're doing it. I'm going to come back here in a little bit, and I want your room to be clean. I've got to go outside. I've got to do something myself. But when I come back, I want your room to be clean, perfectly clean, spotless.

You say, OK. your mother or father walks outside to do what they're doing. In that exact moment, you turn around, walk out of your room, go to the other side of the house, turn on the TV and start watching. Now, do any of you think to yourself, what actually happened here was, when they were telling me to clean my room, what they were saying was, I get to go do what I want.

Or maybe you thought as a child, you thought, you know what? They are misunderstanding the situation. I'm the one in charge here. They can mention that, but I'm going to go do what I want to do. Or maybe what actually happened was you went in there saying, you know what? There's nothing they can do about it. When they come in from outside and they say they're going to punish me, we'll see who gets punished. We'll see who ends up in timeout. You know, if they come in here and really start talking to me, maybe I'll give them a spanking. Now, I know that just sounds ludicrous, right?

Do you think Jonah, when he got on that ship, thought to himself, well, the Lord said go here, but I know better. I'm going to go this way. Or did he think to himself, I know what's best. I'm going to do what I think's right. Or did he think to himself, I'm the one who has the power. If nothing can be done to me, I'm going to go where I want to go.

All of this, of course, sounds crazy. That that could be why something is done. Yet, we so often do things and make decisions that when we look back on them, or someone else looks at what we've done, or we look at what they do, they are just as foolish and as ignorant as these thoughts.

And oftentimes, we just need to be shown what we already know. We need to be reminded of the truth. We need to be reminded of who's actually in control. We have to be shown again who has the power. The Lord has to show us these things and remind us constantly of this. Thankfully, despite us wanting to flee from him, a child of God cannot do that. Though it feels to us like we're running away, we're always still right in his hand. He's always in control. He is the one who is guiding our steps.

And when I say that out loud, I know as a child especially, but even now I hear that. And we think things like, I wouldn't do that. Well, if you haven't done it, you're gonna do it. Every person in the room has done something just like what Jonah did here. We may not realize how obvious it is, but there are plenty of times in our lives where we have made the decision, I'm going to do what I want to do. Look at verse 4. 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. And the mariners were afraid. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep.

You know, whenever I do something I shouldn't have done, whenever I feel guilty, whenever I feel bad, you know something that I struggle with? Sleep. And you know, this is not three o'clock in the morning laying in your comfortable warm bed, and you're really tired.

No, this is Jonah boarded a ship, And there's a hurricane going on. And he is sound asleep in that ship. This isn't just he's fleeing from the Lord. He is completely fine with the decision he's made. They'll later call him, they refer to him as the sleeper. They don't know anything about him. They call him the sleeper.

So in verse 7, they came everyone to his fellow. Come, let us cast lots. They went down to Jonah in the ship and they woke him up and they said, get up here. Do you not know what's going on? How can you be sleeping right now? We're all going to die. So Jonah comes up.

They cast lots. If anyone doesn't know what Cast Lots is, an example that I used to explain this to my kids was if we were getting ready to play a game of tag and everybody wanted to be it or nobody wanted to be it, we could take a pencil and we'd flip it up in the air and twist it. When it landed, whichever person it was pointing at, that's the person who's going to be it. That's what they did.

They're trying to figure out who's the reason for all this stuff and they throw it up and where does it land? It lands on Jonah. Jonah hadn't said anything to this point, but this lock cast comes on him, and they look at him and say, what's going on?

Where are you from? What have you done? And in verse 9, Jonah says to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. And they all say, why did you do this? Verse 12, Jonah says, take me up. cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you." He says, it's all my fault. He says, I know. I know that for my sake this great tempest is on you. He said, the Lord has made it obvious that this is because of me.

Jonah says all those things. They cast him overboard. In this moment, Jonah being cast overboard, If you think about this situation, Jonah understands he's being a willing sacrifice for these men. Jonah is being thrown overboard into a hurricane. We all know what that means.

But as soon as he went under the water, I love that it says that the Lord had prepared a whale for him, prepared a great fish for him. He was swallowed up. He spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale. He came to this realization at the end of verse 9 in chapter 2, salvation is of the Lord.

All of this so Jonah would realize salvation is of the Lord. Reminding him, showing him. Remember, Jonah is a prophet the Lord is sending to prophesy to people. He's not just somebody who's just learned something or somebody who doesn't understand. The Lord still has to show every single one of his sheep constantly reminding us, smacking us in the face and say, salvation is of the Lord. So that's Jonah. Now, who else is in this story? I want to talk about these sailors, these mariners. That's who I want to talk about. And just give me a few minutes here. I won't take too long. Go back to the beginning of chapter one in Jonah here. Verse 3, ìBut Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa.

He found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.î Let me ask this question. The Lord, through this story, we can see He was showing Jonah salvation is of the Lord. Do we think that the Lord could have made Jonah go immediately to Nineveh and still shown him that salvation was of the Lord? Of course he could have. He could have done any way he wanted to do that. Why did it happen like this? Well, there were other people that Jonah had to prophesy to.

Verse 4, 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. In my margin, it says, the ship was thought to be broken. These sailors all were 100% convinced the ship was about to break. Now, we've seen this story, and this goes on for a little bit. This conversation with Jonah, the casting of lots, and the throwing overboard, all that stuff. They were completely convinced at any second that ship was about to break. Why did it not break? Because the Lord wouldn't let it break.

We'll see some of the words they say. It is very obvious that all of these sailors had never seen anything like this. They come to a realization in a bit that they realize this is not a storm. This is a godly event. This could not possibly be just normal weather.

Someone has sent this upon us and we are all gonna die. in the moment of their greatest fear. And what they think is going to happen is the moment that the Lord is coming to them. Someone is going to show them who He is. Verse 5, then the mariners were afraid. They were scared.

They cried, every man unto his God, little G, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. This was such a bad thing, do you know what they were doing? And I'm not sure how many sailors were on this ship. I don't know if it's six, eight, 10, 20, I'm not sure.

But they all immediately started praying, begging, asking any little G God they could come up with to save them. The first thing that happened to these sailors is they realized they couldn't save themselves. They realized, oh no, what are we gonna do? We know we can't save ourselves. Let's try to find someone who can save us. So they're all yelling out to little G-gods, anybody they can, and then they start throwing all the wares in the ship over into the sea.

They have things on this ship to protect themselves. They've got defenses and weapons. That doesn't matter. Get them off. We've got a bigger problem. They have supplies for their journey. They have food for their journey. I don't care about eating. We've got to survive the next five minutes. They are tossing everything off that ship. And you know what's left? Nothing. They've got nothing on that ship to save themselves with. They've cast all of their stuff. But Jonah was down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep.

Verse 6, ìSo the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, ìWhat meanest thou, O sleeper?îî Everybody on the ship was all yelling, praying, asking any god they could think of, trying to figure out a way to be saved. And it finally hit someone, ìWait, thereís somebody else here who we havenít asked anything about their god to save us. Our gods arenít doing anything. Can we find someone who can do this?î So they went down and the captain said, O sleeper, arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not. We've tried a bunch of gods. Can you ask your God to save us? This shows their ignorance. They understand their situation. They understand that they're in trouble, they can't save themselves, but they have no idea how they could be saved.

Verse 7, and they said, everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that we may know for those cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. How obviously helpless was their situation that they came to the place they thought, all right, let's get in a circle.

And I don't know what they used, but let's throw up a pencil and see who it points on and that's the person we're going to blame. I can't imagine being in a situation like that. Say there are 10 of them, and something's happening, and I think we all understand through this story what the casting of lots is doing. Can you imagine being in a situation where there's 10 people, and by random chance, it's gonna point at one of us, and we're gonna die.

We're gonna be blamed for everything. Where did the lot fall? Of course, it fell upon Jonah. We so often, they're using this term, casting of lots, things by chance. I was so lucky, can you believe that? Nothing happens by chance. And to believe that anything happened by chance would scare me to death. To think that it's just a roll of the dice. Salvation is of the Lord in every way. Then they said unto him, they looked at Jonah and pointed at him, Jonah, you're the one. Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is your occupation? Whence comest thou? What is thy country? And what people art thou?

They're saying to him right now, here's your chance. You got to speak up. You got to explain to us right now why we don't do something to you, why you're not at fault here. I feel very confidently, and I think everyone in this room knows the same thing, if we were put in that situation, or if this situation plays itself out, we're all going to do the exact same thing, right? Oh, it couldn't, it's not me, I didn't do anything. I've been, I've done good, I didn't do anything. I mean, we start coming up with any excuse we can possibly come up with.

But Jonah, in this moment, in verse nine, he said unto them, I am a Hebrew. And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven." He starts this off by saying, all these gods you're claiming, he's like, I know the true and living God, capital G. He has made the sea and the dry land. And he told them what he'd done. Verse 10, then the men were exceedingly afraid and said unto him, why hast thou done this? When this hurricane was going on, before they went down to Jonah, it says they were afraid.

Now that they know this situation and what he's done to the true God, it says they're exceedingly afraid. There are things of this earth that frighten us. But the moment that the Lord shows himself to us, boy, there's no fear like that. There is no fear like seeing a holy, omnipotent, powerful, perfect God. Because we compare that to what we know in ourselves.

He said all that, and they were exceedingly afraid and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? Why did you do this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. He told them what he'd done. Verse 11, Then said they unto him, What are we going to do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us?

For the sea wrought and was tempestuous. It grew more and more pestilence. It was just getting worse and worse. 5, 10, 15 minutes ago, they all were convinced this was a godly storm and the ship was going to break. But it says that they were urgent because the storm seemingly got worse and worse and worse. How could something so bad keep getting worse?

But they said, what are we going to do? Verse 12, And Jonah said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, So shall the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." I'm not sure there's ever been a situation on a ship like this where the lock fell on someone and that person said, you can throw me overboard, it's my fault, everything's going to be okay. But in these few verses here, what Jonah has done is he had told them who the Lord is, He told him his power. He told him that he's the one causing all this. He says, it's my fault. This storm will go away if you throw me overboard. I just said I'm not sure anybody's ever done that before on a ship in this situation.

So what would be the obvious thing that they would all do? Now they cast lots because they're trying to figure out what the problem is. They found the problem, what they think's the problem, he thinks it's the problem, and they have a solution, right?

So doesn't it make sense that's what they would do? Doesn't it make sense that when we can read in this book, and we are shown in our hearts and our minds that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope for salvation, what we would do? That we'd look to Him, believe on Him, put all our hope and everything in Him? That makes sense, doesn't it? What do they do?

Verse 13, Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not. They were given the answer, the solution to their problem, the only way that they could not die. And you know what they thought to themselves? Maybe we can do this ourselves. They've been rowing, they've been doing everything they could to save themselves, and it wouldn't work. And yet, just one more time, just one more time, let's see if I can save myself. But they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them.

Remember at the beginning of this, those sailors all were 100% convinced that ship was going to fall apart. It's just a wooden ship. You know, we've got 100 miles an hour winds hitting this with the waves and all this stuff. In these old days, this is not some huge ship.

They were convinced it was going to fall apart. Thankfully, that our Lord, in our moments of sin and the flesh, where we again look to ourselves, look to our works, that He doesn't destroy this ship and let us all perish. At any point here, this could have happened.

Nevertheless, they rode, verse 13, hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them. This says that the more they rode, the worse the sea got. Now that's what's gonna happen to us. The more we look to ourselves, the worse it's gonna be. Everyone in here knows this story of Jonah. Everyone's heard it. So many other stories in this, and we're told over and over again, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn your eyes to Him. All these things, that's what we have to do.

Yet, we go through this life, the vast majority, I mean, I think I could almost argue, apart from the times where I go to church, I am at 99% where I'm just worried about me and what I'm gonna do, and don't even think about that stuff. We've got to be put on a wavering ship. We've got to be put in the fiery furnace. We've got to be thrown in the lion's den. That's the only way this stony heart ever is going to look to Him. And He's going to make us do that.

Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. Now this is the first time we hear them speak, and who are they talking to? Capital L Lord. From what Jonah's told them, they all now see that Jonah's God is God. And they look to him and they say, we beseech thee, Lord, we beseech thee. You know, let us not perish for this man's life. Lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Lord, has done it as it please thee. That's a pretty good testimony for these men to say, we see that you're going to do whatever pleases you. You're in control. Verse 15.

So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased from her raging. There's a lot of pictures in all of this. The willing sacrifice was sent to its death. And you know that they watch this. They threw Jonah overboard. It's obviously the verse before this.

They don't want to throw him overboard. They're convinced that he's the problem. He's convinced of it. He says, throw me overboard. All this will go away. But they struggle with it. And they know what they're doing. When they pick him up and they're throwing him into the sea, they're watching him as he goes overboard. I promise you, every single set of eyes on that ship were watching him go overboard. And as he's thrown, they watch him and they see him hit the water and he goes under. And they're focused on this.

The moment he goes under, all of a sudden, at the same time, they all start going, where's the clouds? Where did the rain go? The sea is like glass. Jonah's God can do this? The only way that we will be saved is from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The moment he went under the water and he never came back up, the moment he went under, what did they think had happened? He was dead. So they saw a picture of this man being thrown overboard, willingly sacrificing himself, and immediately, they weren't just safe.

This was the best they'd ever been in. Verse 16, then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. So at the beginning, what happened? They all feared. They feared for their lives. And then once they'd heard about the Lord, they feared exceedingly for their lives. Now that they've seen this, they feared the Lord exceedingly. They saw who He was, what He could do. And they feared Him. And what did they do?

They offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. All of this that happened to Jonah with these men on here, all was to make them see who the Lord was. We see it over and over again. You know, the Lord says, I must go through Samaria, like all of these moments. These men at the end of this feared the Lord. And the child of God, by His grace, stops fearing of the things of this life and of this world and looks to Him.

There's only one thing needful. And they made a sacrifice unto Him. And we don't see any more of these men. I don't think any of these sailors are ever mentioned again in the Scriptures. But because of who our Lord is and what they say here, I feel very confident that He saved them. In closing, I just want us to think about the situation after the fact. These sailors live the rest of their lives.

And you know, that moment, that scenario was always on their mind. And think about their thoughts of Jonah. He was the one who told them who the Lord was. And he willingly gave himself for them. And I'm just gonna assume that none of them ever knew anything else of Jonah. Maybe someone had heard his name or something after the fact, but they lived the rest of their lives knowing that Jonah died for them.

Imagine later on in glory when they get to see the whole picture of what happened there. that the Lord prepared the fish, that when Jonah went under the water, he was dead to the world for three days and three nights. And that the Lord then brought him up and he went to Nineveh and did these things.

Everything in our lives seem so chaotic and hectic and unpredictable, and we have no idea what's coming around the corner. We have no idea. Would anyone, I mean if we all spent the next, I don't know, year writing projections on what we would have thought if we heard the first verse or two of Jonah not going the right way and getting on a ship going to Tarshish, do you think any of us could have come up with anything even borderline close with a whale swallowing him?

But to know that Every single thing that happens to a child of God is for His glory and for our good should make us the happiest people in the world. I mean, not just the picture of this, that we have a Redeemer who has shown us who we are, has shown us who God is, did what we couldn't do, died for us, paying the price, taking the punishment, bearing our sins for us, that death that we had coming, and gave us, made us righteous because of Him. All of that. And then also to realize that every single thing that happens to us is for our good and His glory. After seeing this story, Those sailors, they had to have considered themselves the luckiest, the most fortunate sailors in the world. That Jonah came on their ship, that the storm came to them, and that they were shown who the Lord Jesus Christ is. I pray that through this story, we can truly grasp, truly understand, truly believe, and absolutely cherish that salvation is completely of the Lord Jesus Christ in every single way. I pray he shows us that because if we want to find happiness, if we want to find hope, if we want to find peace, it's all in him. It's all in him. All right.

Salvation is of THE LORD

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know that salvation is orchestrated by God?

Why is the concept of salvation being from the Lord important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

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Salvation is of THE LORD

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know that salvation is orchestrated by God?

Why is the concept of salvation being from the Lord important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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