This morning for our Bible study,
I would have you turn to the book of Jonah. To the book of
Jonah, it's found in the Old Testament, the book of Jonah,
chapter 2. We have a very familiar story
with most of you about Jonah, how he was swallowed by a fish
prepared by the Lord. And let's read a few verses here
from Jonah, chapter 2. He said, I'm cast out of thy
sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. He said,
the waters compass me about even to the soul. The depths close
me round about the weave wrapped about my head. You see the desperate
condition Jonah was in. I went down to the bottom to
the mountains. The earth with her bars were about me forever. Yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came unto thee, into thy
holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy." You see, Jonah's desperate condition. He said, I will sacrifice unto
thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah
openly, freely confesses before God. in his desperate, dying
condition. And he says, if I'm ever to be
delivered, God must do it. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
his confession. That's his hope of salvation.
And then we read in the next verse, the Lord spake unto the
fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land. Now, my friend,
this story of Jonah's confession and Jonah's condition teaches
us how God saves sinners. This story was not given to entertain
us, it was given to instruct us and teach us in the way of
grace, that salvation is all of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
we read in the book of Matthew, used this very experience of
Jonah to preach the gospel of sovereign grace to those self-righteous
Jews, those Pharisees, who sought salvation by their works. Our
Lord said to them, there shall be no sign, no truth given to
this evil generation, but that truth of the prophet Jonah, that
salvation is of the Lord. Now what do we mean when we say
that salvation is of the Lord, that salvation is all of God? What do we mean? It simply means
this, the whole of the work, The whole of the saving work
whereby a guilty, depraved sinner is lifted from the dunghill of
sin, from the pit of sin, washed in the blood of Christ and made
clean, justified by the grace of God, translated out of the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, predestinated
to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the truth of God's redeeming grace, predestinated to be just
like Christ, made accepted in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Him we stand holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight, the whole of the work. whereby
we're justified, whereby we're chosen, whereby we're called,
whereby we're predestinated and translated and justified, reconciled,
redeemed, is the work of God alone. Now I'm saying as simply
as I can and clearly as I can. Our condition and our depravity
because of our condition of our sin is so desperate. We're in
a condition like Jonah. Our sin has taken us down to
the depths of depravity and the depths of death, the depths of
ruin. If we're ever to be delivered, God must do it. David put it
this way. Jonah said that salvation is
of the Lord, and that's a confession of the believer. The believer's
confession before God is that God saved me. It's God who saved
me, God who called me. David put it this way. David,
the king of Israel. David, the great writer of the
Psalms, said, this is the Lord's doing. Salvation is God's doing. Salvation is not what we do for
God. Salvation is what God has done for us. This is the Lord's
doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. Now here are four thoughts
that I would like for you to remember about God's salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Now
here's the first thought. Now listen to me carefully this
morning. Salvation is of the Lord. in its origination, in
its planning. Our Lord purposed, planned the
salvation of His elect, the salvation of His chosen before the foundation
of the world, before Adam was created, before Adam sinned,
before Adam fell. The surety of the covenant, the
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a mediator. He stood as a lamb that would
be slain. In the mind and the purpose of
God, before Adam ever sinned, before ruin, God had the remedy. You see, salvation is of the
Lord in its origination. We read in Revelation 13, verse
8, The Lord Jesus Christ stood as
a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Salvation is older
than creation. Salvation is older than Adam's
sin. It was born in the secret counsel
of God. Every detail of the sinner's
salvation was purpose decreed before time began. Salvation
is eternal. God saves with an everlasting
salvation. If you're saved and justified
in Christ, it's because God from eternity, purpose, planned, and
predestinated to bring it to pass, God determined your salvation
in eternity. Salvation is of the Lord in its
planning and its origination. Listen to this scripture in 2
Thessalonians 2.13. We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, Beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation." To deny this truth,
that salvation is of the Lord, that salvation is all of grace,
is to deny that God is God. You see, God determined salvation
and God determined whom he would save. He said, it's not of him
that willeth nor of him that runneth, it's God who would have
mercy. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. Now, have you got the first thought?
Salvation is of the Lord in its origination. Secondly, salvation
is of the Lord in its execution. God not only purposed the sinner's
salvation, but He also provided the means whereby He could justly
accomplish it. Why is the sinner saved? Well,
certainly not because of anything the sinner provides or the sinner
does. The Lord Jesus Christ provided
sufficient atonement. God in Christ provided the sacrifice. God in Christ provided the Lamb
by His blood. You see, that's the God purchased
us with His own blood. We read in Hebrews chapter 1.
Salvation is of the Lord in His execution. Hebrews 1, we read,
when He by Himself purged our sin. You see, He executed that. When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. Again, we read in
Hebrews 9, verse 12, He obtained eternal redemption for us with
His own blood. As our high priest, He didn't
bring the typical animal blood sacrifice. He brought His own
blood. You see, He executed this atonement. He executed this salvation. He executed the blood sacrifice. No one has helped to provide
this sacrifice. It was given of God. John identified
the sacrifice of Christ. the sacrifice of God when He
said, Behold the Lamb of God. You see, it's God's sacrifice.
It's God's atonement for sin. That's why we must insist upon,
and the Scriptures clearly teach that salvation is of the Lord,
not only in its origination, but also in its execution. God
provided the sacrifice. And my friend, know this, what
God has provided, God will accept, and nothing else. It's the blood
of Jesus Christ that makes atonement for the soul. Now, who provided
that? Who executed that? Now, let's
be honest. God did that. Salvation is of
the Lord in its execution. God provided the sacrifice. God
made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Thirdly, Salvation is
of the Lord in its application. Its application. Now most lost
religious people believe that God's done all He can do, and
the rest is up to us. My friend, let me ask you some
questions. Can a dead sinner, a spiritually
dead sinner, give himself spiritual life? No. Salvation is of the
Lord. It's God who must quicken. Can
a lost sheep find itself? Can a lost sheep save itself? We read in Scripture, all we
like sheep have gone astray. Can an Ethiopian change his skin?
Well, certainly not. Can a leper change his spots?
Certainly not. Salvation is of the Lord. God
must apply this salvation to the sinner's heart. You see,
salvation is a heart work. Salvation is something God does
within us by His grace, by His purpose, through God the Holy
Spirit. This is exactly what happens
when God is pleased to sovereignly regenerate and to give us life. Our Lord said, you must be born
again, born from above, born of God. Paul put it this way
when he wrote to the Ephesians, you hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. Who did the quickening? God did. Paul wrote this to the Philippians.
Philippians 1, 6, it's God who has begun a good work in you.
And God who has begun the good work in you, he says we're confident
that God will finish it. James wrote this of his own will.
Beget he us with the word of truth." You can see that salvation,
that is God applying this salvation to the sinner's heart, being
justified, reconciled, redeemed, is a work of God alone in the
heart. It's what God does in us by His
purpose and by His grace. Psalm 110, we read, Thy people
shall be willing in a day of God's power. And someone might
say, well, and here's an argument that I often hear, well, man
must believe, a man must repent. That is true. But my friend,
believing and repenting is never the cause of salvation. It is
the evidence of salvation. We're born again, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but we're born of
God. We believe and we repent because
God has given us life. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. and shall not come into condemnation."
Now simply, let me say this to you. If you're trusting something
you have done, something you did, something you gave, some
decision you made, my friend, you don't know the gospel. You're
not found in Christ. Salvation is something God does
in us, not what we do for Him. Salvation is not received by
doing. Salvation is received by believing. Faith is the gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast." Now, if you've got the
first three, salvation is of the Lord in its origination.
Now, this is what Jonah learned. And this is what every redeemed
sinner has been taught of God. Salvation is of the Lord in its
origination, in its execution, in its application. God must
make application to the heart. Now, here's the fourth thought.
Salvation is of the Lord in its sustaining power. Those whom
God saves by His grace are saved with an everlasting salvation. They are eternally secured, never
to be lost again. Our Lord said that in John chapter
6. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and those
that come to me I will in no wise, I will never cast out. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. All of God's elect, they will
persevere in faith because they're preserved by the power of God
or kept by the power of God. To entertain any idea that as
man is saved one day and lost the next is to believe that salvation
is of works and not of grace. Listen to Scripture, and we read
in the book of Jude, down to Him that is able to keep you
from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty and dominion both now and forever. Amen. Now let me ask you this in closing.
Have you learned that very vital lesson? that Jonah learned that
day, as Jonah confessed unto God, salvation is of the Lord. I pray that that's your experience
of grace in your heart, and if it's not, I pray that God would
do a work of grace in you by his Spirit through this gospel
of God's grace. Now if you would like to listen
to this message again, Salvation is of the Lord, gladly send it
to you, request a copy, or you can write to me at Zebulon Baptist
Church, 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikesville, Kentucky.