While I was listening to that,
I thought about this verse, and this may be the verse that inspired
that song. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I
know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil to give you an expected end. Well, if we get a hold of that,
it'd be a blessing to us. Well, we're so thankful to have
Frank and Janet with us tonight. Frank, looking forward to hearing
you preach. Appreciate you being here, love you, and thankful
you're our friend. Come on up and preach to us. It is such a pleasure for me
and a delight to see all of you this evening. I thank God for
you. And that's not just nice words that you say when you come
to greet a congregation. I really mean that. It seems
like, in some ways, just like yesterday, but 13 years ago,
Janet and I sent our firstborn child to the University of Kentucky. Frank and Bernita would often
pick her up and bring her to the services here. And tomorrow
we will celebrate her 30th birthday. And she has spent almost half
of her life in Lexington. because of the gospel that's
preached in this place, in this congregation, in this pastor
who she has fallen in love with. I thank God for you, I do. All right, enough of that. If you would, turn your Bibles
with me to Genesis chapter 49. I've titled the message this
evening, Salvation. Now this evening, All across
this country, people are meeting together in buildings much like
this one. They're meeting together because
they have at least some interest in my topic this evening, salvation. And they've invented many different
ways to get it. Some of them think that they
can earn it by keeping the law or by their morality. Some of
them think that God will save them because they've done so
many good and wonderful works for others. Some think God will
save them if they're sincere. They don't have to know the truth.
They don't know God from Baal. But if they're just sincere,
God will save them. Some of them think that they're
saved if they go through certain rituals, if they get baptized
or a man in a costume performs some sort of religious ritual
over them. And that's a shame. I'm not making
fun. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking.
Because God has given us a book. that tells us who he is, that
describes him to us. God's given us a book that tells
us how it is that God saves sinners and they've ignored it. And you
and I would too if it wasn't for God's grace. And I want us
tonight to know and I pray that we believe what the Bible says
about salvation. Peter says the angels desire
to look into these things. Well, I do too. And I've done
that this week and to see what God's word has to say about salvation. And not surprisingly, it has
a lot to say. The word is used 164 times in scripture. Now I don't have 164 points,
I've got eight. But I do want us to look at a
few ways that God describes salvation. And it must be, this must be
the accurate description because this is what God says about salvation.
Number one is this, salvation is God's salvation. Look at Genesis
49, verse 18. This is when Jacob is blessing
his sons before he dies, and he says, I have waited for thy
salvation, O Lord. Now, Jacob, you wonder, what
did the patriarchs know? Jacob knew salvation belonged
to God, didn't he? And he called it thy salvation. It's God's. in eternity before
anything was created. God's the one who purposed the
salvation of his people. Salvation is all God's idea. The father elected a people to
save out of Adam's fallen race. He didn't choose those people
because there's any reason found in them that God would choose
them. God chose them just because he would, because God has the
capacity to love sinners. He chose to save some out of
Adam's fallen race. And God the Son agreed to be
the savior of those people. He promised he would come incarnate. Almighty God, the eternal God,
would become a man, a baby in the womb of the Virgin Mary so
that he could be the representative of his people. And he promised
as a man he would obey God's law. He'd work out a righteousness
that he would give to his elect. He promised to take the sin of
God's elect to make it His, and to suffer and die to pay for
all of that sin. And the Holy Spirit promised
to give life and faith in Christ to all those people that the
Father chose and for whom the Son died. You see, salvation
is entirely of God, isn't it? It's God's idea. and it's entirely
the work of God. See, there's no works of man,
nothing man does in there at all, is it? The only role man
plays in this thing of salvation is providing the sin that we
need to be saved from. That's our role in this thing
of salvation. Salvation is the work of the Lord because we're
incapable of doing any of it. That's why Moses told the people,
stand still, be still, don't try to add any works to this
thing, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. God's
salvation. See, salvation belongs to God.
And that means that it's God's to give. Salvation is God's to
give. And it is God's to withhold.
And there's not one blessed thing you and I can do about it. Not
one. And by that, I mean, there's
not one thing that we can do to get God to save us. How foolish
is it to think that the creature, like you and me, can do something
to obligate God to have to do something for us, to have to
save us, to have to accept us. That's foolish. That's why Jonas
said salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is a gift that only
God can give. Now there isn't anything we can
do to get God to save us. But I hope you'll notice I didn't
say there's nothing we can do. No, we can seek the Lord. Now,
I know the Lord's gotta make us seek him, but we can seek
the Lord. We can beg God to be merciful to us. That's why David
said, Psalm 85, verse seven, show us thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation. Salvation is yours to give, and
I'm begging you, would you give me your salvation? The only way
a sinner like you and me can be saved is if God grants us
His salvation. Salvation is God's. All right,
now look at Exodus chapter 15. Here's the second word. Salvation
is my salvation. Exodus chapter 15, verse two. The Lord is my strength and song,
and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
him an habitation. My Father's God, and I will exalt
him. The Lord, He, is become my salvation. When David was dying, you know
what he said. Although my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation. David called it my salvation.
And we just saw salvation belongs to God. This is God's salvation. Then how can a sinful man or
woman like you and me call this my salvation? Well, it's my salvation
because God gave it to me. It's my salvation because God
saved a wretch like me with his salvation, his salvation. Now any honest reading of the
Word of God will tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ died only
for God's elect. Psalm 14, verse 7 calls salvation,
the salvation of Israel. Not the salvation of every son
of Adam, the salvation of Israel, of spiritual Israel. But that
does not mean that God will ever stop somebody who wants to be
saved on God's terms. God will never tell somebody,
well, I know you want to be saved on my terms, but I will not allow
it. That will never happen. God will never cast out a sinner
who comes to him seeking mercy. When we say that Christ died
only for God's elect, this is what we're declaring. We're declaring
the successful Savior, that the Lord Jesus Christ saved everyone
for whom he died. He saved all of his people from
all of their sin. He is a complete success. You see, since salvation is God's
salvation, it can't fail, can it? Because it's God's. And my
salvation means that Christ died for me. And he died for me on
purpose. Now, a more shocking, more unlikely
statement cannot be made, that the Son of God died for somebody
like me on purpose. We never would have imagined
such a thing, and I wouldn't have the boldness to say such
a thing publicly if God hadn't recorded it in His Word and given
us faith to believe it. No one but God would save sinners
by sacrificing his only son to pay for the sin of people who've
sinned against God. But that is exactly what God
did for me. So it's my salvation. God's salvation
is my salvation because God worked that salvation in me by revealing
his son to me and in me. God's salvation is my salvation
just like faith is my faith. Faith is the gift of God, but
it's my faith because God gave it to me. That's why the Lord
Jesus could say to blind Bartimaeus, receive thy sight, thy faith
has saved thee. I know God gave him the faith.
We all know that, don't we? God's the one who made him call,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. But it's his faith
because God gave it to him. God's salvation is my salvation,
just like the gospel is my gospel. God gives the gospel to His people
to believe. He puts it in their hearts so
they believe it. He's given us this gospel to
preach. That's why Paul can tell Timothy, Timothy, now you remember
this, that Jesus Christ at the seed of David was raised from
the dead according to my gospel. It's my gospel. because this
is the gospel God used to save me, to reveal his son to me. He gave me the opportunity to
hear it, and he gave me faith to believe it. It's my gospel.
All right, now thirdly, look at Job chapter 13. This is so important. Salvation
is a person. Job 13, verse 16. He also shall be my salvation. He is my salvation. For a hypocrite
shall not come before him. The salvation is a he, isn't
it? Salvation is not a thing that
God gives his people. Salvation is a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Salvation is not a legal standing
before God. Salvation is a person. It's a
living, vital union with the person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not having the right
doctrine. It's not having the right denomination.
It's not having the right form of worship. Salvation is seeing,
knowing, and believing a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why Simeon could hold an eight-day-old baby in his hands and say, Lord,
now let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. An eight-day-old baby. This is
God incarnate. God come in the flesh. He saw
that by faith. He is my salvation. Simeon didn't
talk about the law. He didn't talk about the ceremonies
and the... Here he is. He is my salvation. Simeon saw
the God-man come, not just to produce a salvation for his people,
but to be the salvation of his people. And you and I are exactly
like Simeon. The only hope of salvation we
have is in the Lord Jesus Christ, that person. The only hope of
salvation I have is that Christ is all of my salvation. I suppose it's true to say I
do want to know true doctrine. That's true. But I don't want
to trust in that. I want to trust in Christ. And
if I know Him, the doctrine will come right on it. I don't want
to just trust in the righteousness of Christ. I want to trust Christ
my righteousness. And you who know Him heard the
difference in what I just said. I don't want to just know about
salvation. I want to know facts and figures.
I want to know, and I should have put in my notes, I need
to know. I must know Christ, who is my salvation. I don't
want my salvation to just be a legal sheet of paper somewhere
in the bureaucracy of heaven. I want a person. Janet and I
are married. She and I have a legal document
somewhere to prove it. Now we were first married. We
kind of like, did we frame that thing? We may have, we had it
out. We kind of looked at it some, you know, I can't remember the
last time I've looked at that marriage license because our
marriage is not a license. It's not a piece of paper. Our
marriage is not a list of vows that we took, although I take
them very seriously. Marriage to me, is a living union with
a person. One person, Janet Sue. And I tell you what, everything
else will take care of itself if I love her. And without love,
all the paper in the world, all the vows in the world won't do
any good. It's a person. Now that might
be a poor illustration, but that's the salvation a sinner like me
needs. I need Salvation, that is a marriage union with Christ
my head. Because if Christ is all my salvation,
brother, I'm saved. If Christ is my life, I have
life. And if Christ is my salvation,
I'll never lose it. David said in Psalm 62 verse
six, He only is my rock and my salvation. He only is my salvation. I shall not be moved. I can't be moved because he can't
be moved. I can't be moved because he won't
let me go. And when the way becomes hard
and dark and I become full of doubts and fears, I beg of you,
don't beat me up and tell me that you ought not be afraid.
I already know that, but I am anyway. Don't beat me up and
tell me, why do you have such weak faith? I know I shouldn't
have weak faith, but I do anyway. If you would comfort my soul,
tell me one more time about the Lord Jesus Christ. Open up his
word and read it to me. I don't know what the circumstances
were around David when he penned Psalm 35, but this is what he
wrote in that Psalm. Lord, say unto my soul, I am
thy salvation. Oh, if the Lord would say to
my soul, I am your salvation, I'll have comfort and peace,
won't I? All right, fourthly, look at Romans chapter one. Salvation
is revealed through the preaching of the gospel. In Psalm 98 verse two, we read
that the Lord hath made known his salvation. His righteousness
hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. Now there
it is, it's God's salvation in it. The Lord hath made known
his salvation. But how'd he do that? How do
you make it known to the heathen? It's through the preaching of
Christ. It's through the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we don't need psychology to trick people into making some sort
of profession. We don't need guilt trips to
guilt somebody into making a profession. We don't need signs and wonders
to awe somebody into making some sort of a profession. If we would
be saved, we need the plain, unadulterated preaching of the
gospel. I mean, as boring as it can possibly
be to the flesh. Plain preaching of Christ and
Him crucified because it's pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Salvation is a mighty work. Salvation makes the dead to live. Salvation makes a sinner righteous. Salvation reveals Christ to the
heart and only the gospel is powerful enough to do that. Romans
1 verse 15. So as much as in me is, I'm ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein, in this gospel, is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it's written, the just
shall live by faith. Now when the gospel is preached,
the gospel of Christ, God the Holy Spirit moves powerfully,
and he gives life and faith to the dead. And then over here,
there's one of God's sheep that's starving to death, and the very
same message. At the very same time he's giving
life to one over here, he feeds the hungry over here. And somewhere
in here, there's somebody who's broken hearted, and at the very
same time, the Lord's meeting the need of, he comforts the
heart of his child. The same message meets a dozen
different needs in the room, all at the same time. You know
why that is? Because Christ is all we need. then God help us that he be all
we preach, because we desperately need to hear Christ preached.
No one's gonna be saved by a miraculous experience. Saul of Tarsus had
a miraculous experience, didn't he? He still needed Ananias. No one's gonna be saved by reading
the Bible and figuring out this thing of salvation on their own.
The eunuch had the scriptures, didn't he? But he needed Philip
to preach to him, to tell him who this man is, who is it the
scriptures are talking about. Cornelius needed Peter to come
preach to him. Peter, we're all gathered here
now to hear, to hear what God's given you. Look at Ephesians
chapter one. If you believe God, isn't that
your story? I believe it is. Ephesians one,
verse 13. in whom you also trusted. After that, you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. That's when you believed,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. You believed when you heard the
gospel of your salvation, and not before, because salvation
is revealed through the preaching of the gospel. All right, fifthly,
Salvation is by God's grace. Paul told Titus in Titus 2 verse
11, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men. Salvation is by grace, not because
we deserved it, by God's grace. If you're still there in Ephesians,
look at chapter 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And just
so we're sure that we understand that grace means grace without
any of our works, Paul says, not of works, lest any man should
boast. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
Salvation is by grace. Don't turn to this, I'll turn
and read it to you quickly. Paul, when he was writing to
the church at Rome, in chapter 11, verse five, says, even so
at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no
more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace. Otherwise work
is no more work. Now the language of 2019, this
is what the Apostle Paul said. Salvation is either all of grace
or all of works. It's either all of God or all
of man, can't be any mixture. Now you tell me which one you'd
rather trust in. God's grace or your works. You tell me. I like salvation
by grace, don't you? Salvation belongs to God. And
God gives that sin, that salvation to sinners freely by his grace,
by his grace. Is that grace gonna be enough? God's grace is grace greater
than all of our sin. It's grace that's greater than
our rebellion. It's grace that is greater than
our death in Adam. Salvation is by grace. Electing,
saving, calling, keeping, regenerating, grace. Amazing grace that would
save a wretch like me. Thank God. Salvation is by grace. All right, now look at 1 Peter
1. Here's the sixth thing. Salvation is through faith, by
grace, through faith. 1 Peter 1, verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, and obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for
you. Now this is a description of
the people that God has saved. God elected them. God sanctified
them. God caused them to be born again. and they cannot lose that inheritance,
that salvation. Now, I want to tell you, I like
the sound of that. Well, how can I tell if I'm one
of those people? Is there a way I can tell that
I'm one of those people that God elected, that God sanctified,
and God calls to be born again? I need to know. Is there a way
I can know that? Yes, there is. And it's just
one way. It's faith, faith. The only evidence
we have that we belong to God, that God saved us is faith. Verse
five, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. And that's faith that God
gives his people. Is that faith gonna be enough
to save me? Is it gonna be enough to save you? Look at verse nine,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Faith alone is enough if that
faith is in Christ alone. See, salvation by faith in Christ
without any of our works is so important. The Apostle Paul,
this is a busy man. He took the time to write a whole
letter to the church at Rome about this issue. that were justified
by faith without works. Look at Romans chapter 3. I don't
want you to just take my word for it. I want you to see this
in the word of God and pray that it would kill us trusting in
our works. Romans 3 verse 28. Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. Chapter four, verse 16. Therefore,
it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the
promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which
is of the law, the Jews, the religious folks, but to that
also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all. Salvation is through faith, without
any of our works. All right, now look at Hebrews
2. God's salvation is so great a salvation. Oh, it's a great
salvation. Hebrews 2, verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
Now this salvation, God's salvation, is a great salvation. First of
all, because of the author of it. This is God's salvation. And Christ himself is the author
and finisher of our faith. This is so great salvation because
of the wisdom of it. God found a way to be both just
and justifier. God in his wisdom found a way
to show mercy to sinners and still be holy and still be God. Oh, what wisdom. This is a great
salvation because of the cost of it. It was bought with the
precious blood of Christ. It took the blood of God to give
himself as a ransom for the souls of his people. Oh, what a cost
was paid for this. This is a great salvation because
of the power of it. It is the power of God unto salvation
to make the dead live, to make a rebel a loving, willing son. This is so great a salvation
because of the difficulty of it. You notice God just didn't
wave his hand and say, this is so. No, it was difficult. The eternal God had to become
a man. You think of that. And then the
Holy Son of God had to be made sin. He had to do that so that
sin could be put away and justice could be satisfied. That was
a difficult thing to do, but our great Savior did it. Then
this is so great a salvation because of the freeness of it.
You'd think something that was bought with a high, great price,
you'd think somebody would be smart enough to turn around and
sell it at a markup, wouldn't you? But God in his greatness
gives it to his people freely. There is nothing greater than
God's free grace to a guilty sinner. And then, this is so
great a salvation, because thank God it saves great sinners. Now
if you're a little sinner, you're not so bad, I don't have any
good news for you. God's word doesn't either. But
if you are the chief of sinners, I got good news for you. God
saves the chief of sinners. It's great salvation. Sinners like us, that's a salvation
we can trust in. A great salvation. Then lastly,
look at the book of Jude. God's salvation is the common
salvation. Now, when I say common, I don't
mean something that's common and ordinary. There's nothing
ordinary about God's salvation. Every single time God saves a
sinner, it's extraordinary. The common salvation means that
every one of God's people is saved the exact same way. Now, we'll have different experiences
of it where God brings it to us, but the way that God saves
us is exactly the same. Jude, verse three. 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. This is the common salvation.
We're all saved in Christ. We're all saved by grace. We're
all saved through faith. It's the exact same salvation,
but the experience of it, how God calls us, how he reveals
himself to us is often very, very different. The Lord called
Peter and Paul in very, very, very different ways, didn't he?
I mean, he just walked by Peter down there by the ocean, kind
of calm, and then, Peter, follow me. I'll make you fishers of
men. Seems like he turned the earth upside down to call Paul,
didn't he? The Lord called Lydia and the Philippian jailer, very
different manner. Lydia down there quiet, down
by the riverside where the women were wanting to make prayer.
And God shook that jail so hard, He shook the very foundations
of it, shook the doors off the hinges. But He called them to
the same Savior, by the same grace, by the same faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And if God saved you and me,
that's how he saved us. Because there's no other way
of salvation. This is the common salvation. Now I want to close
with this exhortation. What we've looked at is the truth
of God's Word. I read it to you from God's Word.
Can't be any argument about it. And I want us to leave applying
this to our hearts, praying that God would apply it to us. The
writer to the Hebrews told us, don't neglect, so great salvation. Well, how can we do that? I mean,
it's obvious you neglect such a great salvation. You just never
come hear the gospel. But you know, you can neglect
such a great salvation on these four walls. You sure can. We
come to the service, but I don't listen. for God's message for
me, for me. I think, huh, oh, God hears this.
Is he hearing what's going on? And I don't listen to God's message
for me. I've neglected so great a salvation. We neglect so great a salvation. We don't hear the gospel as a
sinner who's in great need. I mean like a drowning man going
down for the last time, and I need somebody to throw me that life
preserver. If I don't listen to the gospel with that need,
I've neglected it. I neglect so great a salvation.
When I seek to know all the doctrines and have the right motions of
religion, I begin to get caught up in those things that I'm not
looking for and listening for Christ alone. You see, salvation
is God's. It's God's to give and it's God's
to withhold and nobody can complain about what he does either way.
But as I said a few moments ago, we can seek the Lord. And I tell
you, if you're gonna seek the Lord, you know what would be
an awful good idea? Seek him where he's found. You know where
he's found? In his word. This word is written
to reveal God's salvation. If I wanted to know the Lord,
I believe I'd find a man who's preaching it. And I'd be there
to hear him, wouldn't you? God's found where his people,
meet together. Our Savior promised where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the
midst of them. Maybe I'll meet him if I'm there
seeking him. Could be. You know, I don't find one example
in God's word of the Lord turning away a sinner seeking mercy. Not one example. Then that encourages
me to beg God for mercy. Let's seek the Lord and beg God
for his grace that's able to save. Let's beg God for mercy
right now, right now. Today is the day of salvation. Let's pray and beg God, give
me faith to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Psalm 78 verse 22, David said that the Lord's anger came on
Israel while they were in the wilderness, because they believed
not God and trusted not His salvation. This is my prayer, that God would
be pleased to make you and me both trust His salvation. All right, I hope the Lord will
bless that to you. I appreciate you. That's a blessing, Frank. Thank
you so much. A couple of things that really stuck out to me.
Number one, I've seen that common salvation. Everybody that believes,
believes the same thing. They really do. There's no difference
in the belief. Everybody that really believes,
believes the same thing. And another thing that really
hit me was Salvation is a person. And that's
why people who believe that don't say things like, I got saved.
I got saved. I heard a preacher say that just
this week. I got saved. I thought, well,
I'm not real sure what it is you got. I got a cold, you know,
I mean it. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for thy
salvation. Lord, say to each soul here according
to thy will. Behold, I am thy salvation. And Lord, to think that because
your blessed son cannot be moved, we cannot be moved. We give thanks. Oh Lord, we give thanks. Lord, when we Go home and lay
our head on our pillows. Let us rejoice in thy salvation. In Christ's name we pray, amen.