Sermon #1591[1] Miscellaneous Sermon
Title: Salvation
As God Describes It
Text: Psalm 68:18-20
Subject: Nine Bible Descriptions of Salvation
Date: Sunday
Morning—
Tape # Y-44b
Introduction:
Turn with me to Psalm
68:18-20. This Psalm is a prophetic declaration of Christ’s resurrection,
ascension and glory as our Substitute. We know that because that is the
interpretation given to this passage by God the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4.
Let’s begin at verse 18.
Verse 18 —”Thou hast ascended on high.” — Having
accomplished all that he came here to accomplish, having redeemed his elect
from all sin, having brought in everlasting righteousness for us, when he had
made an end of sin, having obtained eternal redemption for us, the Lord Jesus
took his seat in glory by the merit of his own blood as our Mediator. Read
on…
“Thou
hast led captivity captive.” — We do not have to guess what this
means. The Apostle Paul tells us that our all-glorious Christ, “blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it” (Col. 2:14-15). He took every enemy of our souls into captivity.
That includes Satan (Rev. 20:1-3).
Next
we read, — “Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious
also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.” — The ascended
Christ, who entered into heave as a Forerunner for us, received gifts for us?
What gifts? All the gifts of grace, righteousness, and salvation for men, even
for us rebels “who are by nature children of wrath even as others,” that
God the Holy Spirit might come down here and dwell in our hearts in grace and
that the Holy Lord God might dwell among us forever in the world to come. As
the result of this, he daily loads us with the benefits of grace (v. 19).
Verse 19 — “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even
the God of our salvation. Selah.” Now, read verse 20…
Verse 20 — “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD
the Lord belong the issues from death.” He who is our God, he alone and
none but he, this holy Lord God, Jesus Christ our almighty, effectual Savior,
he is the God of salvation. To him and to him alone belong the issues from his
death. That is to say, all the fruits, benefits, and blessings issuing from his
death as our Substitute are his to give.
I want to talk to you about
salvation. The title of my message is
We all want to be saved. We
all want salvation. But if you asked a dozen men to describe salvation, if you
asked them what salvation is and where it is to be found, you would get a dozen
or more answers.
·
Some say, “Salvation is in the church.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in baptism.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in the Lord’s Supper.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is found in meditation and prayer.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in religious works.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in moral decency.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in love and kindness.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in doctrine.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in a decision.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in surrender, brokenness and humility.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is in an experience.”
·
Some say, “Salvation is grace plus... or Christ plus…”
With
all the confusion and babel there is in this world, I think it might be wise
for us to lay aside the church creeds, confessions, and catechisms, —
all of them! Lay aside the theology books, the religious papers, and
even the opinions of great men of the past. Let’s try to forget what Calvinism
says salvation is and what Arminianism says salvation is, and try to find
out what God says salvation is. Can you, will you do that? Will you lay
aside everything you have ever heard, or thought about salvation, and look with
me into the Word of God to see what God says about it? Turn to Ephesians 2:8-9
and read these two verses with me).
(Ephesians
2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
1. First, we must be agreed
upon what we are talking about when we are talking about salvation. Salvation
is the deliverance of our souls from sin: from its curse, its dominion,
and its consequences, and ultimately even from its being. Salvation is our
complete restoration to God and holiness in the eternal glory of heaven. That
is what I am talking about when I am talking about salvation.
·
Not an Experience but an Emancipation!
·
Not a Decision but a Deliverance!
·
Not a Reformation but a Restoration!
2. Secondly, I want you to see that wherever
salvation is spoken of in the Word of God four things are always asserted
emphatically about it.
·
Salvation is by grace alone!
·
Salvation is through faith alone!
·
Salvation is in Christ alone!
·
This salvation, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone is
accomplished entirely without works on the part of the one saved.
Be sure you hear me right – My relationship with the
eternal God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not
in any measure determine my relationship with God. God’s grace has much to do
with my works; but my works, good or bad, have nothing to do with God’s grace.
Now let’s see if this is or is not what the Book of God declares (Ephesians
2:8-9; Romans 3:28; 4:3-5, 16; 9:15-16; 11:6; Galatians 2:16; 5:2, 4; 2 Timothy
2:9-10).
(Romans
3:28) “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law.”
(Romans
4:3-5) “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (4) Now to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
(5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
(Romans
4:16) “Therefore it is of faith, that it
might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed;
not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of
Abraham; who is the father of us all.”
(Romans
9:15-16) “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
(16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy.”
(Romans
11:6) “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.”
(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, and not by the works of the law: for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
(Galatians
5:2) “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing.”
(Galatians
5:4) “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
(Ephesians
2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
(2
Timothy 2:9-10) “Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto
bonds; but the word of God is not bound. (10) Therefore I endure all things
for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Proposition: This then is clearly the
doctrine of Holy Scripture. — Salvation is the work of God alone, a
gracious work of God wrought for and in sinners, without their aid or
assistance, through the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Divisions: Now, I want us to look at
nine passages of Holy Scripture and see Salvation As
God Describes It. Here are nine Bible descriptions of salvation. It is
not my purpose in this message to expound these verses in their context. I
simply want to pick from them nine descriptions of salvation, nine God given
descriptions of salvation. This is salvation as God describes it in the Book he
has written.
1. “Thy Salvation” (Gen.
49:18).
2. “Eternal Salvation” (Heb.
5:9).
3. “The Salvation of the
Righteous” (Ps. 37:39).
4. “Common Salvation” (Jude 3).
5. “My Salvation” (Ps. 118:21).
6. “Your Own Salvation” (Phil.
7. “So Great Salvation” (Heb.
2:3).
8. “Everlasting Salvation”
(Isa. 45:17).
9. “Salvation Ready to be
Revealed” (1 Pet. 1:5).
I. The very first time the
word “salvation” is used in the Bible, it is used by Jacob in the
prophetic words given to his sons, regarding the twelve tribes of
If we had nothing else to go
on but the law of first mention, this is enough to teach us that wherever the
Bible talks about salvation it is talking about something that is the peculiar
property of God alone. “Salvation is of the Lord!” And “salvation is the
Lord’s” (Ex. 14:13; 2 Chro. 20:15, 17; Isa. 41:10, 11, 13, 14).
(Exodus
14:13) “And Moses said unto the people,
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show
to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them
again no more for ever.”
(2
Chronicles 20:15) “And he said, Hearken
ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus
saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great
multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
(2
Chronicles 20:17) “Ye shall not need to
fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the
salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and
(Isaiah
41:10-11) “Fear thou not; for I am with
thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I
will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness. (11) Behold, all they that were incensed against thee
shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive
with thee shall perish.”
(Isaiah
41:13-14) “For I the LORD thy God will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. (14) Fear
not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of
Illustration: Jonah in the Whale’s Belly.
Salvation is God’s work
alone, God’s
possession alone, and God’s
prerogative alone. He gives it to whom he will (Rom.
(John
1:11-13) “He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. (12) 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:
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God.”
(Romans
9:16) “So then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”
This is the universal
message of Holy Scripture – “Salvation is of the Lord!”
A. He
planned it! — God
the Father did!
B. He
purchased it! — God
the Son did!
C. He
performed it! — God
the Spirit did!
D. He
preserves it!
E. He
perfects it!
F. He shall have the
praise of it!
When you think or talk about
God’s salvation, remember these two words – “Thy Salvation!”
Salvation is the Lord’s!
“Eternal
Salvation”
II. Second, in Hebrews
5:9 we read that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Author of “Eternal
Salvation” – “Being made perfect, he became the Author of Eternal Salvation
unto all them that believe.”
Now listen carefully. — Though it was purchased
at
Read your Bible and you will
see that this is so. I am not talking to you about what Calvinism says, or even
what logic and reason necessitate. I am talking to you about what God says.
A. Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8).
(Revelation
13:8) “And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.”
B. We were chosen and
predestinated unto salvation, and blessed with all the blessings of salvation
in Christ before the world began (Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Tim. 1:9-10).
(Ephesians
1:3-6) “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ: (4) According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will, (6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved.”
(2
Timothy 1:9-10) “Who hath saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began, (10) But is now made manifest by the appearing of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel:”
C. We were redeemed,
justified, called, and glorified from eternity (Rom.
(Romans
8:28-30) “And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. (29) 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. (30) 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.”
D. We were accepted in
the Beloved before we were ruined in Adam (Eph. 1:6).
(Ephesians
1:6) “To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
E. We were blessed of
God with all the blessings of salvation and grace in Christ before ever the
worlds were made (Eph. 1:3).
(Ephesians
1:3-6) “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (4) According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, (6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
Our salvation in time is
neither more nor less than the outworking of “eternal salvation!”
of
the Righteous”
III. In Psalm 37:39
God the Holy Spirit describes salvation in another way. He calls our salvation
— “The Salvation of the Righteous.”
(Psalms
37:37-40) “Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. (38) But
the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be
cut off. (39) But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he
is their strength in the time of trouble. (40) And the LORD shall
help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save
them, because they trust in him.”
A. Here is the gospel
of the grace of God. — “The salvation of the righteous is of the
Lord” (v. 39). The righteous is the perfect man, made perfect by grace
spoken of in verse 37. The only difference between him and the transgressors
who shall be destroyed (v. 38) is the difference grace has made (1 Cor. 4:7).
B. Here our experience
of grace is stated. — “He is their strength in the time of trouble”
(v. 39).
C. The promises of grace summarized in verse 40. — “The LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them.”
D. And the great evidence of grace declared. — “Because they trust in him” (v. 40).
IV. Fourth, Jude
writes to us of “the common salvation”.
(Read Jude 1-3).
(Jude
1:1-3) “Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father,
and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: (2) Mercy unto you,
and peace and love, be multiplied. (3) 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 ye should earnestly contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Certainly, Jude does not
mean for us to think that God’s salvation is common in the sense that it is
ordinary or cheap. Not on your life! But he does mean for us to understand that
salvation is the same wherever it is found. It is the same in the experience of
all who are saved. Every true child of God has experienced the same salvation. All
are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
A. We do not all
experience grace the same way. — Paul’s experience was not the same as
Illustration: The Two Blind Men
(Mk. 8:22-25 cf Mk. 10:51-52).
(Mark
8:22-25) “And he cometh to
(Mark
10:51-52) “And Jesus answered and said
unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?
The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. (52) And
Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And
immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”
The experience of grace is not always the same. Our
needs are the same, the grace is the same, and the results are the same; but
the experience is not the same.
B. Yet, all who are
saved have a common salvation.
·
A Common Savior!
·
A Common Family!
·
A Common Hope!
·
A Common Blessedness!
·
A Common Inheritance!
“My
Salvation”
V. How do you imagine that
salvation is most often described by God in his Word? What term do you think is
most frequently used in connection with salvation throughout the Book? If I
were a betting man, I would give good odds that no one in this building could
tell me. Turn to Psalm 118:21, and I will show you. God’s most
commonly used description of salvation has to be the very sweetest. Here that
salvation which God gives to and works in chosen sinners is called “my
salvation.” — “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation” (Habakkuk
(Psalms
118:21) “I will praise thee: for thou
hast heard me, and art become my salvation.”
How I love the way our
great, gracious, all-holy God teaches us to use this personal, possessive
pronoun in connection with his great gift of grace! I am talking to you about —
“My salvation!”
·
My salvation is God my Savior. — Not a Doctrine! — Not a Decision! —
Not an Experience!
·
It is my salvation because God gave it to me and wrought it in me.
·
It is my salvation because I receive it as my own by faith from his
bounteous hand of grace.
·
This is what Moses taught the children of Israel to sing, as they stood on
the glory side of the
(Exodus
15:2) “The LORD is my strength
and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will
prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will
exalt him.”
·
This is the song David taught us to sing in the inspired hymnbook of
Zion.
(Psalms
18:2) “The LORD is my rock, and
my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my
buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”
(Psalms
18:46) “The LORD liveth; and blessed be
my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.”
(Psalms
25:5) “Lead me in thy truth, and teach
me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all
the day.”
(Psalms
27:1) “The LORD is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the
strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
(Psalms
62:1-2) “Truly my soul waiteth upon God:
from him cometh my salvation. (2) He only is my
rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly
moved.”
(Psalms
62:5-7) “My soul, wait thou only upon
God; for my expectation is from him. (6) He only is my
rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
(7) In God is my salvation and
my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
(Psalms
118:14) “The LORD is my strength
and song, and is become my salvation.”
·
This is the song our God teaches us to sing in the day of his
visitation.
(Isaiah 12:2) “Behold, God is my salvation; I
will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation.”
Yes,
“I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.”
“Your Own Salvation”
VI. Sixth, the
Apostle Paul speaks of salvation in terms almost as sweet. He calls salvation, “your
own salvation” (Phil.
I like that! If you are saved, the salvation you
have is “your own salvation.” God devised it for you. Christ purchased
it for you. The Holy Spirit brought it to you and wrought it in you. It is your
possession forever! If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, all
that is included in that word “salvation” belongs to you by the grace of
God!
A. Here is An
Admonition – “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
That does not mean, “work that you might be saved.” It means “work
outwardly the salvation that God has wrought inwardly.”
·
Philippians 2:1-5
·
“Let your light so shine before men.”
·
“Be careful to maintain good works.”
B. Here is An
Assurance – “For it is God which worketh in you both to will (to
desire) and to do of his good pleasure.” If you are saved, your
salvation is “Your Own Salvation!”
“So
Great Salvation”
VII. Seventh, Hebrews
2:3 describes salvation in these words: “so great salvation!”
– “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed with us by them that heard
him?”
That is a good description
of salvation – “So Great Salvation!”
·
It comes from a great God!
·
It is for great sinners!
·
It comes to us thought the merits of a great Savior.
·
It flows to us from a great reservoir of great grace – The Heart of
God! — The Love of God!
“Could we with ink the
oceans fill,
And were the skies of
parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a
guile,
And every man a scribe by
trade –
To write the love of God
above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain
the whole,
Though stretched from sky to
sky!”
·
It secures for us a great inheritance in heaven!
“An
Everlasting Salvation”
VIII. Eighth, the
prophet Isaiah calls it “An Everlasting Salvation” – “Israel
shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be
ashamed nor confounded world without end!” (Isa. 45:17).
Salvation is eternal both ways. It is from
everlasting to everlasting. If salvation is God’s work, it is an everlasting
work (Eccles. 3:14).
(Ecclesiastes
3:14) “I know that, whatsoever God
doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from
it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.”
Sinners saved by grace shall never perish. They are beyond the reach of condemnation, or even danger!
·
God’s love is an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
·
His election is an everlasting election (Mal. 3:6).
·
His grace is everlasting grace (Rom. 11:29).
·
Christ’s redemption is an everlasting redemption (Heb. 9:12).
·
The Spirit’s seal is and everlasting seal (Eph. 1:14).
What is God’s description of
salvation?
It is…
1. “Thy Salvation!”
2. “Eternal Salvation!”
3. “The Salvation of the
Righteous!”
4. “The Common Salvation!”
5. “My Salvation!”
6. “Your Own Salvation!”
7. “So Great Salvation!”
8. “An Everlasting Salvation!”
Turn to 1 Peter 1:5 and I
will give you one more blessed description of salvation. This is salvation as
God describes it.
“Salvation
ready
to
be Revealed”
IX. Here the Apostle Peter
tells us that it is a “salvation ready to be revealed.”
(1
Peter 1:3-9) “Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, (4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) Who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. (6) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) That the trial
of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it
be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ: (8) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: (9) Receiving the end of your faith, even
the salvation of your souls.”
·
Heavenly glory is a kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the
world.
·
Eternal life is that which God who cannot lie promised us before the
world began.
·
And he has made us worthy to be partakers of the kingdom in Christ by
his matchless grace.
·
Yet, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him!”
Conclusion: “Israel shall be
saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor
confounded world without end” (Isa. 45:17).
Amen.
Illustration: Rowland Hill’s Dream