Salvation Is of the Lord

I'm going to bring a message
today on the subject, Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. You know, that's written in Jonah,
chapter 2, verse 9. And again, in the book of Psalms,
David said, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Salvation is a miracle. It's
a miracle of God's love and a miracle of God's grace and a miracle
of God's wisdom. The hymn writers put it this
way, it took a miracle to put the stars in space. It took a
miracle to hang the world in place. But when God saved my
soul, when God cleansed and made me whole, it took a miracle of
His love and His grace. Salvation is of the Lord. Charles
Spurgeon said in a message he preached over a hundred years
ago, Salvation's of the Lord in its origination. God planned
it. It's of the Lord in its execution. God carried it out in sending
His Son into the world to be our Redeemer. Salvation's of
the Lord in its application. God revealed His Son in us. Salvations of the Lord in its
sustaining power were kept by the power of God through faith. And salvation is of the Lord
in its ultimate perfection. He said, emblazoned across the
sky throughout eternity will be these words, glory to God,
salvation is of the Lord. Now I'm not going to take the
time to point out all the foolishness and the complete folly of what
most preachers and churches call salvation. The presumption, and
that's what it is, it's presumption, the presumption that's associated
with walking to the front of the church. Salvation is not
a physical move. It's coming to Christ in the
heart. It's not coming to the front of the church or to an
altar or to a mourner's bench. Salvation is not walking to the
front of the church. It's not responding to altar
calls at all. It's not praying the sinner's
prayer or making a decision. I'm not going to point those
things out. I think most of you see the folly in all of these
physical moves and calling it salvation. What I want to do,
what I want to do today, is turn to the book of Ephesians. This
is one of the Apostle Paul's epistles, the epistle to the
Ephesians. And I want you to turn with me
to chapter one, chapter one of the book of Ephesians. I wish
very much if you want to learn something about this miracle
of redemption, if you really sincerely in your heart want
to know how God saves sinners, and who it is that saves sinners
and how sinners are saved. If you really want to know, let's
lay our traditions and our prejudices aside and come to the Word of
God with an open heart, with a hungry heart, with a willing
heart, and listen to what He has to say about salvation, redemption. In Ephesians chapter 1, I want
you to see what the Apostle Paul writes about the great work of
the Divine Trinity God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord our God's one God, but reveals Himself definitely as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I want you to see, in the
words of Paul, the great work of the blessed Trinity in the
redemption of a sinner. And you may draw your own conclusions.
I'll just read the Scripture, make a comment or two, and when
we come to the end of this message, we'll see what you believe. about
this matter of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. All
right, let's turn to Ephesians 1. You have it there in your
Bible. Chapter 1, verse 3. We'll skip the salutation. And
here in verse 3, Paul says this, God, God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies in Christ. Now, God the Father is the moving
cause of salvation. He's the moving cause. It says
the Father blessed us. He blessed us. He is the source. He is the fountain. He is the
giver. He is the designer. He is the
one that purposed this whole affair. He, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, hath blessed us." He's the fountain of all
mercy. Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh from God.
Cometh down from the Father. You see that? He blessed us. And the Father blessed us. Now
watch this. He blessed us. This is the supreme blessing.
This is the extreme blessing. This is the great blessing. He
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. These spiritual blessings
come together It's one blessing, all spiritual blessing. We're
not talking here of fleshly, materialistic things, cars, jobs,
homes, radio, television, boats, family, condominiums. I'm not
talking about that foolishness that'll all fade away with the
passing of years, decaying by the time you get them. I'm talking
about spiritual blessing. I'm talking about life, eternal
life, eternal love. I'm talking about pardon. I'm
talking about forgiveness of sin. I'm talking about redemption. I'm talking about righteousness,
resurrection, acceptance with God. He has blessed us with spiritual
blessings. Spiritual blessings. And all
spiritual blessings. All of them. In Christ we have
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All that a sinner
needs. All that God commands. All that
the law requires. all spiritual. He has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. They're in the heavenlies. These
spiritual blessings are in heavenly places, not on this earth, but
these spiritual blessings are literally in His presence. That's where Christ went to offer
His blood, not in the holy place made with hands, but in the heaven
itself. That's where our forerunner has
entered, not in a temple on this earth, but within the veil. That's where the forerunner is.
That's where Christ is. That's where He's seated, at
the right hand of God. And all of these blessings, these
spiritual blessings, are ours in Christ, in the heavenlies,
already sealed, already perfected, already, as the Scripture says,
laid up for you, undefiled, fadeth not away. Reserved where in heaven
for you who are kept by the power of God you see that The moving
cause of all mercy the fountain of all grace the giver of every
gift that's worth having is the father He hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ I'll work
on that in just a moment now look at verse 4 You have verse
4 there, Ephesians 1. "...according as He hath chosen
us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him." God blessed us. He blessed
us in Christ with all spiritual blessing. He blessed us because
He chose to bless us. He chose to bless us, and He
chose us to be blessed. We didn't choose Him. He chose
us. Didn't our Lord say that to His
beloved twelve? He said one day to them, You
didn't choose Me. I chose you. We didn't love Him. He loved us. Herein is love. Not that we loved God. I can't
brag about loving God or how much I love God. I sure can rejoice
in His love for me. He loved me. Here in His love,
not that we loved God, He loved us and gave His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. We didn't call Him. He called
us. The hymn writer said, "'Tis not
that I did choose thee, for, Lord, that could not be. This
heart of mine would still refuse thee. but thou hast chosen me. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ according, according as
he chose us. And he chose us in Christ. He's
the firstborn. Christ be my first elect, God
said, and then chose his people in their heads. He chose us not
because we were holy, He chose us that we should be holy, that
we should be delivered from sin, that we should be righteous.
He chose us in Christ in order that we might be holy. When did
He choose us? Before the world began, before
the foundation of the world. Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. God never changes. God's unchangeable. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. He declareth the end from the
beginning. Let me ask you three questions.
Three simple, simple questions. Did you choose God or did He
choose you? Now, will you answer according to the Scriptures?
Well, you say, Preacher, He chose me. That's what the Word of God
says. He chose me. Why He chose me? I don't know. The reason has to be in Himself,
but He chose me. All right. When did He choose
you? When did God choose you? Somebody comes along and says,
well, when we believe. That's not what the Word of God
says. It says here, He chose us before the foundation of the
world. Paul said in II Thessalonians, God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. God chose us before the world began. Now here's the third
question. God chose you, and He chose you back in the beginning.
Well, why did He choose you? Why you? Why me? Why did He pass
by thousands, yea, millions, and set His affection on us and
choose us? Why did He choose us? Well, the
Scripture says He chose us because it seemed good in His sight.
Even so, Father, it seemed good in Thy sight according to the
good pleasure of His own will. You need, and I need, and all
people need to make a study of God's everlasting covenant that
great shepherd of the sheep that God brought forth, the Lord Jesus
Christ, that shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, that same covenant in which David rejoiced
on his deathbed and said, this is all my salvation and all my
desire. This is my salvation. God entered
a covenant with his son in reference to me. And that's my hope. God chose me. All right, notice
this, verse 5. You have verse 5? Now, verse
5 actually begins with verse 4. It said, According as He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world, He chose us that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, in
love having predestinated us. In love God predestinated us
to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. The
foundation of all spiritual blessings is the love of God. God sent
His Son because He loved the world. God Almighty gave His
Son to die for us because He commended His love for us. Christ
came and suffered and bled and died for us because He loved
us. Having loved His own, He loved
them unto the end. He loved them, the love of God.
How rich, how pure, how measureless, how strong, it shall forevermore
endure the saints' and angels' songs. And could we with ink
the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were
every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
to write the love of God above, or drain that ocean dry, nor
could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from
sky to sky in love. in love, not your love for God,
God's love for you. Not because you were holy, but
in order that you might be holy. God predestinated us to be His
children. Now, my friends, the word predestination
is used four times, four times in the Bible, only four times. It's used twice here in chapter
one of Ephesians, and it's used twice in Romans chapter eight. And each time, each and every
time that it's used in the Word of God, it has to do with the
same thing. It has to do with what God will
make of His elect. We're predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son. We're predestinated to the adoption
of children. We're predestinated to be like
Jesus Christ, children of God. He has determined from all eternity
that those whom He saves, and those for whom Christ died. God
has determined the means, God has determined the way, God has
determined the events, God has determined all things that will
finally bring those people to His presence to be conformed
perfectly to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. That's what
predestination has to do with. Election has to do with people.
Predestination has to do with the means. of making those people
like Christ. God's charted the course. God's
planned the path. Almighty God has set forth the
way that that person is going to come, because he's going to
be like Christ. He's determined. He's predetermined. Your destination has been determined
prior to the beginning of the world. God determined it. You
see, Almighty God ordained Joseph to be king of Egypt. You understand
that Joseph is going to be king of Egypt. Before Joseph was born,
Almighty God determined that Joseph would be king of Egypt.
Before Joseph was ever born into his family, before he ever had
the coat of many colors, before he ever had the dream, before
he ever ran into the wrath of his brothers, he's going to be
king of Egypt. How will God bring him to that
throne? Well, God brought him to that
throne the way that you read in the Scriptures. He was born
to his father. He was one of the favorite sons.
His brothers were jealous of him. His father gave him a beautiful
coat. He came out into the field that
day. His brother's wrath was kindled against him because of
dreams that he had. They cast him into a pit. They
sold him as a slave. He went down to Egypt. He went
to Potter's first house, finally in jail, met the baker, the butcher,
wound up in the castle, interpreted the dream, wound up on the throne.
Accidents, chance, fate, God. God. God predestinated. And that's the way Israel came
to be in Egypt. Because Joseph was there. And
Joseph was king. And God brought him there. He
predestinated it. And all these events, you might
call them happenings or chance or fate or luck or use any word
you want to, it doesn't matter. But God, in love, has predestinated
us. to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Now look at verse 6, "...to the
praise of the glory of His grace." Now, He loved us. He chose us. He predetermined,
predestinated us to be children. He called us. He gave us all
these blessings that we might receive all His mercy. And He did it for His own glory. It says here, "...to the praise
of the glory of His grace. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. God will share His glory with
no man. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, He has made sinners like you and me to be accepted
in the Beloved, and all the crowns will be at His feet, and all
the glory will be His, and all the praise will be His. All the
anthems in his name will be sung because he did it all from first
to last God the father be praised for his mercy to us in Christ
All right. Now the next six verses there
in Ephesians chapter 1 Beginning with verse 7 in the next six
verses the Apostle Paul talks about the work of the Son the
Lord Jesus Christ the father chose us and The Father predestinated
us to be like Christ. And the Father accepted us in
the Beloved. The Father. Now here in verse
7, it says this, talking about Christ, accepted in the Beloved.
In whom? In Christ. We have redemption. We have redemption in Christ. Redemption's not in the church,
it's in Christ. Redemption's not in the waters
of baptism, it's in Christ. Redemption is not in your merit
and the law, it's in Christ. We have redemption in Christ
through His blood. His blood maketh atonement for
the soul. His blood cleanseth us from all
sin. His blood redeems us. We have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, comma,
according to the riches of His grace. Not according to what
we deserve. We don't deserve anything but
the wages of sin. Not according to the way that
we've worked and served the Lord. It's according to the riches
of His grace. Did you notice how many times
since I've been reading in this first chapter, the term in Christ,
in Christ, it said He blessed us in Christ. He chose us in
Christ. He accepted us in Christ. We have redemption in Christ. It's in Christ. Jesus Christ,
God's Son, the God-man, came into this world as our representative,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
born under the law, and as a man, as the God-man, the perfect man,
He fulfilled all righteousness. You see, by one man, Adam, and
by his disobedience, we were made sinners. We weren't put
on probation. We weren't put on trial. We were
made sinners. Made sinners. Even so, by the
obedience of the perfect man, the God-man, the Son of Man and
Son of God, we were made righteous. The God-man went to the tree,
Calvary's cross, and died for our sins. For there he was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was literally laid on him. And by His stripes we're healed.
We have redemption. Now we're going to have it. We
have it. It's done. The great transaction's done.
I am my Lord's and He is mine. He bought me. He redeemed me. I have redemption through His
blood. I have the forgiveness of sin.
He forgave us. Look at verse 9. And He made
known unto us the mystery of God's will. You can't know God
except in Christ. You can't know God except as
you know Christ. He made known. They said, show
us the Father. He said, have I been so long
time with you and you don't know me? He that has seen me has seen
the Father. This is the work of the Son in
redemption. The Father chose us. The Father
made the covenant. The Father predestinated what
we would be. And the Father accepted us in
the Beloved. But it's in the Beloved we're
redeemed. It's in the Beloved that we have forgiveness of sin.
It's in the Beloved that we know God, that the mystery of God's
will and the mystery of God's character and God's holiness
and justice is revealed to us. And He made known unto us the
mystery of God's will, watch this now, according to His good
pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of time He might gather together in one all things
in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him." Now watch verse 10. Note carefully, this is good.
In Christ we have obtained an inheritance. Now, people talk
about their inheritance, they talk about their reward, they
talk about going to heaven, entering their reward. Our inheritance
is in Christ and in Christ we have obtained. Received it freely
he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God In him in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you're complete in him being watch this
now being predestinated According to his purpose which he purposed
in himself salvation is no accident Did you hear that word purpose?
Purpose God said I've purposed it I'll do it. I've spoken it. I'll bring it to pass. He worketh
all things after his own counsel and purpose. Here's a familiar
scripture. We know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. Who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Whose will? My will? Your will? No, God's will. It's not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
To as many as received Christ, to them gave he the power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,
which were born not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, but born of the will of God. Now look at verse 12.
And all the way through you see this, that we should be to the
praise of the glory of His grace who first trusted in Christ. This theme runs throughout this
first chapter and throughout the Word of God. God will be
glorified. God will be glorified. In our
day of religion, we're glorifying everything and everybody and
every way but God Almighty. Everything, every way and everybody,
but God Almighty. And God will be glorified. You
see, He chose us to the praise of His glory. Christ died for
us that we should be to the praise of His glory. And then look at
verse 13. In whom, in Christ, you trusted,
you believed after you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation. What did you hear? You heard
the truth about God. You heard the truth about yourself.
You heard the truth about sin. You heard the truth about Christ.
You heard the truth about His redemptive work. and you believed
that truth, in whom also after you believed," now watch this,
"...you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise to the
praise of the glory of His grace." There's the Divine Trinity. The
Father chose us. The Father predestinated us.
The Father called us and accepted us. And the Son redeemed us.
And the Son enlightened us. And the Son enriched us. And
the Holy Ghost brought the gospel to these dumb, dead hearts and
gave us ears to hear and hearts to believe. And when we believed,
He sealed us in God, sealed us forever. And all of it to the
praise of the glory of His grace. Now, you can get this message
on tape and the one I'll bring next week for two dollars. Get
the address, write for it, we'll send it to you. Until next week,
God bless you. You have just heard a sermon
by Henry Mahan, pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church of
Ashland, Kentucky. Address all correspondence to
Henry Mahan, Box 1700, Ashland, Kentucky.

Salvation Is of the Lord

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Salvation Is of the Lord

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