It's always good to be back with
those who love the gospel and desire to worship the Lord. I remember that first Sunday
I came up here, and I told you then to turn to Lamentation 1. So turn there, first of all,
Lamentation 1, Isaiah, Jeremiah, then Lamentation. Lamentation
1, Tony mentioned the verse there. Verse 12 was the first message
I brought here back those many years ago. I think I was 55,
something like that, when I came here. Now I'm pushing 70. So
time goes by quickly. Look at verse 12. This is such
a powerful verse. Is it nothing to you all, ye
that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done to me wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me in a day of his fierce anger. God planned
the cross, God presided over the cross, and God participated
in afflicting God's dear son. So this evening I'm gonna bring
a message from Lamentation chapter three. Turn over there. Lamentation
chapter three. We begin reading at verse 18,
Lamentation 3 at verse 18. Now you got to keep in mind what's
happened here in Jerusalem. The city has been destroyed.
Many, many people have been carried away into captivity. Many, many
people have died. And Jeremiah said, verse 18,
Lamentation 3, my strength My hope is perished from the Lord."
He's saying, I have no hope. It's over. It's over. We're done. Remembering my affliction, my
sin, my affliction, my misery. He doesn't remember the sin of
others, but his own sin before God. Remembering my heart, my
sin, my misery, the wormwood, the bitterness, the gall of my
own iniquity before God. My soul hath them still in remembrance. and is humbled. If God ever shows
you something of who you are, you'll be humbled before him.
We are but guilty sinners saved by the grace of God. My soul
hath them still in remembrance and is humbled. Notice the marginal
reference, bowed, bowed. me this verse 21 I call recall
to my mind will make return to my heart therefore have I hope
hope we have a good hope our hope is Christ Christ is our
hope we have a good hope through grace as Paul said it is of the
Lord's mercies and We are mercy beggars. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed because his compassion, his love,
his love for us never fails, never fails. God has loved his
people with an everlasting love. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in our Lord Jesus Christ, his mercies
His mercies are new every morning. They are new every morning. Verse
23, great, great is thy faithfulness. Our great God is faithful to
every covenant promise. The Lord, verse 24, is my portion.
saith my soul, therefore will I hope, will I hope in him, I
hope in him. A hope is not a hope in a hope,
a hope is in a person, the Lord Jesus. The Lord is good, for
he is good, gracious unto them that wait for him, wait upon
the Lord, for his blessings are worth waiting for. To the soul
that seeketh him, Seek the Lord, that he may be found. It is good,
it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for
the salvation, the salvation that's of the Lord. Now that's
the verse that I want to camp on for a few minutes, and that
is the subject and title of the message, Salvation's of the Lord. Have you heard that before? You've
heard that before, haven't you? I hope I can tell you something
you already know. I remember reading a sermon years
and years and years ago, probably 40 years ago. And it was from
2 Corinthians 8-9 where it says, For you know the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. And the old preacher said, People
like to be told what they already know. For as much as you know,
you know this, We know salvation is by the grace of God. We know
we're not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you know those things because
God, if you do know those things, it's because God has taught you
those things. So salvation is of the Lord entirely,
completely, all of God. All of God. Man contributes nothing. with an exclamation underlying
nothing, to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, nor to the
salvation of sinners. One of my favorite Psalms, Psalm
57, verse two says, I will cry unto God most high, unto God
that performeth all things for me. All things for me. He shall send from heaven, and
he did. to save me, and he did by his
grace. Every believer is persuaded like
Abraham of old that all that God has promised, he is able
to perform. I like that, don't you? Knowing,
remembering my sin, my affliction, my guilt, my misery, aren't you
glad that salvation is of the Lord, that he accomplished all
things for us? The Lord Jesus Christ alone is
the power of God unto salvation. And we can say with the Apostle,
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 or
to the Gentile. Therein in that gospel is the
very righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, from first
to last, it's all of grace, all of grace. Salvation's of the
Lord. And one of the first recorded
words we have in the Bible, that our Lord, while ministering in
the flesh as a God-man mediator, you remember the words that he
spoke in Luke chapter two, where he said, I must be about my father's
business. He said in John chapter four,
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish
Finish his work. And then he prayed in John 17.
Father, I've glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work
you gave me to do. And then upon Calvary's tree,
what did he say? It is finished. When he put away
our sin by the sacrifice of himself. So well, so, so effectual, the
blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. God said their sin and
their iniquity, I remember no more. It is, it is finished. Now listen to me carefully. A
lot of people in religious circles say, well I'm trusting the finished
work of Christ. Now wait a minute, I'm trusting
Him who finished the work, and there's a difference. I'm trusting
Him, salvation's looking to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the exalted
God, man, mediator. Salvation to the Lord, what do
we mean? When we say that salvation is of the Lord, we mean that
salvation is by the total sovereign will power of God. Our Lord again prayed in John
17. He said, Father, I thank you. You've given me power over
all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me. He has all power to save. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is no weak, anemic Savior. He's no peanut
God, as our dear pastor used to say. He's God Almighty. Lord
God Almighty. Revelation 4 verse 8. He's the
Almighty. The Almighty God. What do we
mean when we say that salvation's of the Lord? We mean that salvation's
by the sovereign will of God, not the will of man. Salvation
is always determined, dependent, and accomplished by the Lord's
purpose, His purpose and His grace, given us in Christ before
the world began. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. What do we mean when we say that
salvation's by the grace of God, not by the deeds of our sinful
flesh. We mean the whole of the work
is all of God's grace. That means all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God, therefore being justified by
His grace, freely by His grace, through the redeeming work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's salvation that's all of
God, all of His grace. I love this scripture. I love
all of them, but we have our favorites, don't we? Galatians
2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed
in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ. Now notice how that's read. You
know, a lot of the modern translations want to change that word from
of to in. Salvation is through the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not through our faithfulness. It's
through his faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. We
listen to that hymn. That was so lovely. Great is
thy faithfulness, O Lord God Almighty. What do we mean when
we say that salvation is of the Lord, the whole of the work,
whereby lost, dead, sinners, rebels against God, guilty, sons
of Adam, that are justified, saved, and sanctified, and redeemed
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and of Him only, of Him only. Have you heard these things before?
Oh, they're sweet to our ears, aren't they? They're sweet to
our ears. You remember this verse? I remember
a water and works preacher one day showed up on my doorstep
over at our church there in Zebulon, Pike County, and he wanted to
come over and pick a fight with me. He challenged me to a public
debate. And I said, the gospel's not
up for debate. You go ahead and preach what
you want to preach. I'm going to preach the truth. But on the
way out, I said to him this verse, I quoted to him this verse, and
he looked at me so strange because his theology and his idea that
he was put in Christ by what he did, by his water baptism,
by these different things. But I quoted this verse. But
of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That according
as it is written, he that glories, let him glory only in the Lord.
But of him are you in Christ Jesus. How does a man get in
Christ Jesus? Out of your hands. Out of your
hands. You were put in Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world. God chose us in him. Salvation
is not something we do for God or something we do for ourselves.
Salvation is something God must do for us and in us. for us and in us. God made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Christ in you is a hope
of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Alpha and Omega of all our salvation. He's the beginner of it, He's
the beginning of it, and He's the end of it. He's all of it. Alpha and Omega. Our God which
was and is and is to come. We have in the Lord Jesus Christ
an everlasting salvation. I love this scripture. We're
studying through the revelation right now, and it's a revelation
of Jesus Christ. But these verses in Revelation
1, talking about our faithful great high priest, our faithful
prophet, priest, and king, he loved us. And He washed us from
our sin in His own blood. To Him be honor, all the honor
and glory and blessing, both now and for a little while, forever,
forever and ever. You see, it's God who saved us. It's one of my favorite verses
right here. Paul sitting in a dungeon in Rome, waiting to be executed
for preaching the gospel, and he writes back to young Timothy,
and you know what he says? He said, Timothy, don't be ashamed
of me. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Remember now, the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. Remember who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
God's own purpose and grace. I love those two words, purpose
and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world. It's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, But according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior,
that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life, heirs of God and joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ, incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away
in eternal inheritance. the Lord Jesus Christ all the
way through the Bible the message is Salvations of the Lord all
the way through the Bible. That's the message salvations
of the Lord Moses declared it you remember when they crossed
through the Red Sea They were up against it weren't they? And
Moses said unto the people, fear you not, stand still, and see
the salvation that is of the Lord, which he shall show you
today, for the Lord shall fight for you. Well, we know who won
that battle, don't we? Pharaoh and his armies were destroyed,
and Israel walked right through. And they sang on the other side
praises to the Lord. Jonah declared that message,
didn't he? In a very unusual place. He said, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed
salvations of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. David
declared that same message in Psalm 37, but really all the
Psalms are about that same Lord who accomplished salvation for
us. The salvation of the righteous, that's of the Lord. Now I'm telling
you things you already know of. God's taught you the gospel.
You know that God saved you on purpose by His grace according
to His eternal counsel and will. He worketh all things at the
counsel of His own will. Simeon in the temple, remember,
waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the
Messiah to come on the scene. He was waiting for the Redeemer,
and God had told the old man that he would not die until he'd
seen the Messiah, until he'd seen the Redeemer. And he picked
up that baby child, the man-child, the God-man, God incarnate in
human flesh. He said, Lord, I'm ready to die. I've seen thy salvation. Salvation in a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's when a man's ready to
die, when he's seen the Lord. When he's seen the Lord Jesus
Christ has all of his salvation, not part of it, not some of it,
but all, all of our salvation. Let me die in peace according
to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Salvation
that's of the Lord is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is in a person. You've heard this before. Salvation's
in a person, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation's not in a
pool, not in a profession, not in a persuasion, but in a person. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. In Philippians chapter 3, you
remember old Saul of Tarsus so religious until he met the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he said, what things were
gained to me, now I count them all but loss. dung and ruined,
that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that we might
win Christ and be found in Christ. That, my friend, is salvation. John put it this way. He that
hath the Son Half-life, this is the record that God has given
to us eternal life and this life is in his son He's a half the
son half-life He that hath not the Son of God does not have
life salvations in the Lord Jesus Christ Now I'm going to tell
you something you already know Salvations of the Lord you got
that point, right? my dear pastor Brother Henry
Mahan used this outline many times, and he borrowed it from
another preacher who preached this outline in 1857. And Brother Henry preached it
many times, and I've preached it many times, and I trust some
of you have too. And I trust that your pastor
has as well. Salvation's of the Lord in that He planned it from
all eternity. Salvation's of the Lord in its
origination, its execution, its application, its sustaining power,
and its ultimate perfection. All the way through, from Alpha
to Omega, the beginning, the ending. Salvation's all of the
Lord. So let's look at those five things. Salvation is of the Lord in that
He planned, provided, and purposed it from all eternity. Salvation
is older than creation. Salvation is older than creation. God planned salvation. Without
God's purpose, which is an eternal purpose, salvation would not
have been provided. The Lord Jesus Christ, we read
in Revelation 13, 8, Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Before there was a center, the
Savior stood. Before Adam sinned, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood as a surety. Salvation was not an afterthought
of God when Adam sinned. God didn't scramble around to
find a solution. The remedy was already there,
waiting to be revealed. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. The Lord Jesus Christ
We read in the Hebrew letter, he's the surety of a better covenant
established upon better promises. The surety of the covenant stood
guaranteed and certain and sure because the Lord Jesus Christ
is the same today, yesterday, and forever. We are redeemed
through the blood of that covenant sacrifice, the God of peace who
brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, to the blood of the everlasting covenant. Peter said, we are redeemed,
not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from
our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
spot, without blemish, who was verily foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last days
for you. What a blessing, what a blessing
to know the salvation of the Lord in that He planned it, Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken Him by wicked hands, Peter said, have crucified
the Lord of glory. Oh, but God raised Him from the
dead, delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification.
You remember from Matthew chapter 25, when the Lord said, all nations
shall be gathered before Him, At the judgment, the sheep shall
be on the right hand and the goats on the left, and he shall
say unto them on the right hand, Enter ye in, blessed, into the
kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the
world." You see, salvation is of the Lord in its origination. It originates with Him. He planned
it. He purposed it. Second thing is this, salvation
of the Lord in that he performed it, purchased it, executed it,
accomplished salvation, the salvation of his people. You remember, call his name Jesus. Why? Savior. He is what he's
called. He shall save his people from
their sin. Salvation of the Lord in that
he performed it, accomplished it, purchased us with his own
blood, executed and accomplished the salvation of his people.
Feed the church of God, remember Paul to the elders of Ephesus,
feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. He said you're bought with a
price. God is going to enjoy what he bought. He's not going
to lose one of his sheep and he's going to enjoy and take
home all the sheep of Christ and he's going to enjoy them
forever. We're bought with his blood. He put away sin. Sin's a pretty
difficult thing to put away. When he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. He
appeared once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. You reckon he got it done? You
reckon He tried to put sin away and failed? Or you reckon He
was successful in all that He did? Well, if you read the Word
of God, Isaiah 42 verse 4 said, He cannot fail. He cannot fail
to put away the sin of His covenant people. That's why He's called
the Savior. He shall save His people from
their sin. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous.
Sinners, sinners, sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ
died for the ungodly. So salvation of the Lord in its
origination, salvation of the Lord in its accomplishment. Thirdly,
salvation of the Lord in its application. How does this apply
to us? Well, it's of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. Listen to this scripture, Philippians
1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he who had begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will, he'll perform it. My
God shall supply all your need. need according to his riches
in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's the Lord
that quickens the dead. You have to quicken who were
dead. It's the Lord who causes a sinner to believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's of the Lord. You see, we
only believe the gospel according to the working of God's mighty
power. We preach the gospel and leave
folks alone. Leave folks in the hand of God.
He'll make application to the sheep of Christ. You don't need
to beat up and browbeat people. buttonhole people, invite people
to make a decision for Jesus. That, my soul, that's not salvation.
Salvation is Christ in you. That salvation is God invading
your heart, your mind, your soul, and making you a new creature
in him. It's a work of God in you. It's the Lord that makes us willing
in a day of his power. How does he make himself willing?
You ever think about that? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. Psalm 110 verse 3. You know how
he makes us willing? He makes himself irresistible. Once he reveals himself to you,
reveals to you who you are, and then shows you who he is, oh,
you'll fall in love with him. You'll willingly embrace the
Lord Jesus Christ. John said, It was recorded in
John, the Lord said, no man can come to me except the Father
draw him. And he draws us irresistibly,
affectionately, and he draws us to himself. It is the Lord
who calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people, a purchased people that you should show forth
the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. God, you remember that verse
over there in, what is it, 2 Corinthians 4, 6? God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in your heart to give
you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that shines
in the face of Jesus Christ. God commands that light to shine,
and when he commands the light to shine, oh, it'll shine. When
it pleased God to reveal his son in me, Paul says immediately,
I didn't have to consult anybody. It's the Lord, salvation's of
the Lord. It is of the Lord who sovereignly
grants and gives mercy. Not of him that willeth nor of
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Sovereign
mercy, I will have mercy. Oh, I will have mercy. He is
merciful. His mercies are new every morning,
but His mercies are sovereign. I will have mercy on whom I will. You see, it's the Lord alone
who grants and gives us faith in Him. Faith is called, we all
know that verse, don't we? It's a gift of God. Faith is
a gift of God. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is a gift of God. But you
also know that not only faith is a gift of God, but repentance
is a gift of God too. Our Lord was exalted to give
repentance unto Israel. And where you find faith and
repentance, where you find repentance, you find faith. They always come
together and both are sovereign gifts of God. When He gives you
a repentant heart, you'll repent. When God grants you life in Christ
Jesus, you'll believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. As many as that
are ordained to eternal life, they'll believe the gospel. We
only believe according to the working of His mighty power.
And then the next verse tells us what kind of mighty power
that He's talking about. It's the same mighty power that
raised the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave.
Now that takes power. That's what salvation is. It's
a resurrection from the dead. God raised you up and quickened
you and made you a new creature in Christ Jesus. Number four,
salvation of the Lord in sustaining power. It's sustaining power. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor
confound His world without end. We are kept by the power of God. We are kept by His power, God,
through faith. Faith never stops looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, my sheep, hear
my voice, I know them, and I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither can any man pluck them out of my
hand, or my Father's hand. The Father who gave them to me
is greater than all. No man can pluck them out of
his hand. I and my Father, we are one. All that the Father
giveth to me, they shall come to me, and those that come to
me, they're never gonna perish. He sees salvation of the Lord
in its sustaining power. He keeps us. He sustains us. He gives us daily grace and grace
for every trial. Here's the last thing. salvations
of the Lord in its ultimate perfection, its ultimate perfection. You
don't need to turn and read this with me, but if you want to,
you can, but you all know this scripture, for whom he did foreknow,
Romans 8, 29, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of a son that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Don't be afraid of that word.
predestinate or predestination. It's a glorious, glorious truth.
And I tell you what I found over the years, you know who believes
in predestination? Those who are predestinated.
They believe when God is pleased to take that word and reveal
that unto you. Predestination has to do with
God taking those chosen elect people and conforming them to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer wants to be just
like Christ, don't you? That's what predestination is
all about. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified Them he also glorified. Already done. You see, salvation
of the Lord in his ultimate perfection ends in goal, to be just like
Christ. The elect of God are predestined
to be conformed to the image of our Lord. The disciples asked
the Lord, well who then, well who then can be saved? Our Lord looking upon them said
with men he says with men It's impossible Who then can be saved
well with men it's impossible But not with God with God all
things are possible anything too hard for the Lord Have God
saved me I Don't despair of him saving any man His grace is able
to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever lives to make intercession for us. As sure as there is salvation
in Christ, and I'm sure of that. Our Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, the life. As sure as there's salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we can be sure of this, there's no salvation apart from the Lord
Jesus Christ. You remember what Peter and John
said to that council? They're in Acts chapter four.
He said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must, we
must be saved. Don't look for salvation anywhere
else. It's in Christ. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but uh-oh, the wrath of God abides on him. Now salvation is of the Lord,
totally, completely, only of him, by him, and through him,
to his own glory. To his own glory. Now, What sets
this ministry apart? This ministry here that God has
established, it's evident, isn't it? God has established this
ministry. He's got his hand. We prayed
and prayed. The six years I came here, we
prayed, Lord, send us a pastor after your own heart. The Lord
answered that prayer. The Lord answered that prayer.
But what sets this ministry apart? It's the message. The message,
that's what sets this ministry apart. You can't go anywhere
else in this town. I can say this, I think, with
a measure of confidence. You can't go anywhere, down there
in the church circle, ain't nobody down there preaching anything. These big, highfalutin, high-powered
churches, ain't nobody preaching salvation of the Lord down there.
Not happening. Every one of God's servants,
that's the message they're taught of God. They're not afraid to
preach it. They're bold in our God. It's our message. That's what sets this ministry
apart. It's the message that's preached here. Week after week
after week, Brother Gabe preaches salvations of the Lord. In one
way or another, he preaches that message. You young men who are
preaching, I'm thankful for you. Keep preaching this message.
God will bless it. God will bless it. Don't try
to trim it down. Make it palatable to the flesh. Don't take the offense out. If
you take the offense out, you take the power out. We are determined
to preach Christ and Him crucified as all of our salvation. We preach
not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your
servant for His sake, His sake. I thought of this one psalm,
one of my, I love preaching through the psalms. Psalm 118 says this. This is
the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. It's marvelous in
our eyes. Well, the Lord bless you. The
Lord bless you. Have I told you something you
already know? Well, that's good. That's good. Lord bless you.