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“GOD’S
SALVATION”
READ IN THE BIBLE
(2 Samuel
We read in, (2 Samuel 14:14) “For we must needs die, and are as water
spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God
respect any person: yet doth He devise
means, that His banished be not expelled from Him”. This scripture brings before us two
great truths. On one hand we have the
destiny of sinners and on the other hand we have the mercy of God. Because of sin, “we must needs die”. Here we have the CERTAINTY OF DEATH. God’s Word declares this to be so. (Romans 6:23) “The
wages of sin is death”. (Romans 5:12)
“Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”. (Hebrews 9:27) “It is appointed unto men once
to die”. For mankind physical
death is certain and for the unsaved eternal death is also certain. Next we
have the PERMANENCE OF DEATH. They
will not return to life again. The death of the unsaved are like “water poured upon the ground that cannot
be gathered up again”. Finally, we see in this verse the DEFEAT OF
DEATH because the mercy of God is revealed.
There are two ways in which God’s mercy is revealed. First
of all, God’s mercy is demonstrated by the PATIENCE He shows. The thought of this verse is, that God
does not immediately destroy an offender because He has devised means by which
the sinner might be forgiven and restored.
Secondly, the mercy of God is
demonstrated by the PROVISION He has made.
God has made provision for the restoration of the sinner even though
by sin they have banished themselves from Him.
Poor banished sinners would be forever outcast from Him if God had not
taken some course of action to prevent it.
God is not willing that any should perish therefore He has “devised means that His banished be not
expelled from Him”. This is called, “GOD’S SALVATION”. “SALVATION”, this is one of the most
wonderful words that mankind will ever hear.
This is one of the most important subjects you can ever consider in your
lifetime. This word appears in the
authorized version of the Bible, the Word of God, 163 times (118 times in the
Old Testament and 45 times in the New Testament). Salvation is an all-pervasive subject in
God’s Word. It is the most comprehensive
doctrine in the Scriptures of Truth.
“Salvation” has the meaning of rescue,
deliverance, safety and perseverance. Salvation
is God’s saving work on behalf of His sinful and lost creation. God’s salvation is great. It is great because of the magnitude of the
Divine work involved in order to make it available to fallen, sinful man. All three persons of the Godhead, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit were involved in bringing about this amazing work. We read of salvations provision and the
involvement of all three persons of the Godhead in, (Hebrews
9:14) “How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God”. Christ, the Son of God was the offering.
His precious blood was shed. It
was accomplished by the Holy Spirit, the eternal Spirit of God that He offered Himself spotless to God. The offering of Himself was to God, the Father. All three persons of the Trinity are fully
participant in the inception and culmination of this great salvation. The question is asked in, (Hebrews 2:3) “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation”. This is a question that every person
should ask themselves. The answer to the
question, however, is rhetorical for there is no escape from God’s judgment if
His salvation is neglected. To neglect
God’s salvation means to “make light of it”, “to be careless about it”, “to
regard it not” or in other words to refuse it or not believe it. Dear reader, we sincerely hope this is not a
description of YOU? If YOU have been
careless or neglectful about God’s salvation up until now, the purpose of this
message is to convince you to change your mind. If YOU are unclear as to the way of God’s
salvation, the purpose of this message is to make it as clear as possible to
you. In this message we want to consider
“God’s Salvation” by way of the following simple outline:
Let’s consider first of
all:
1. THE NEED FOR GOD’S SALVATION
There are two primary
reasons why there is a need for God’s salvation, first, because of the
sinfulness of man and secondly, because of the holiness of God.
·
The Sinfulness of Man. God’s
salvation is needed because God declares man to be a lost, ruined sinner who
needs shelter from God’s coming judgment.
Man is a sinner by nature and by practice. The evidence of a sinful nature is sins in
the life. To understand why this is so,
we need to go back to the beginning of God’s creation. The perfection of God’s creation suffered a
catastrophic change. Satan entered the
Garden of Eden and in his subtlety and work of temptation caused man to fall
into sin. Our first parents, Adam and
Eve, by their disobedience to God’s command, sinned against God. The sin that plunged mankind into sin was
that of disobedience. As a result, we
have the entrance of sin into the man, and therefore into the world. This caused their relationship and fellowship
with God to be broken and the process of death to ensue. Adam became the possessor of a fallen
nature. Not only was he a sinner, but
each of his descendants inherited the same.
We read in, (Romans 5:12) “by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned”.
The single act of one brought sin and death upon all. It says in, (Romans
5:19) “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”. Sin is universal in scope. There are no exceptions and no exclusions
among Adam’s descendents. THIS INCLUDES
YOU DEAR READER. God’s portrait of
fallen sinful man is found in, (Romans 3:9-23), where we read, “Jews and Gentiles, they are all under sin”. “There is none righteous, no not one”. There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God”. “There is
none that doeth good, no, not one”.
“There is no fear of God before their eyes”. “All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God”. “All the world is guilty before
God”. From this portion of God’s
Word, we see the universality of sin.
The results of sin are all around us in the world. Sin is practiced and enjoyed by man. The increasing lack of morals in the world is
an evidence of rampant sin and man’s complacency in such a condition. Blatant sin is everywhere. Men enjoy sin simply because it is evil, and
they delight to see others in the same state of condemnation as themselves. Sin has consequences, however. We read in, (Romans
6:23) “The wages of sin is death”.
(James 1:15)”sin when it is finished bringeth forth death”. Following physical death is the
judgment of God. We read in, (Hebrews 9:27) “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. The judgment of the unsaved is
described in (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).
We read in, (Revelation 20:15) “Whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”. Dear reader, is YOUR NAME written in
the book of life? Are YOUR sins forgiven
by God”. Have YOU repented of your sins which mean to change your mind in
regard to the sinfulness of your condition and God’s salvation? The “lake of fire” is the final destiny and
doom of the wicked dead. This is the
eternal dwelling place of all the unsaved.
All who have rejected God’s offer of salvation will be there. Dear reader, will YOU be there?
·
The Holiness of God. Sin not
only had an effect on man it had an effect on God. God’s salvation is needed because God is
holy. Sin in essence is wickedness. It is contrary to the holiness of God. We read in, (1 John
1:5) “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all”. His holiness means that He Himself
cannot sin, nor is He the cause of sin in any other. It says of God in, (Habakkuk
1:13) “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on
iniquity”. Sin, therefore, is
against the very character of God and His holiness. God hates sin and is angry with the wicked
everyday. God must punish sin. He must put it out of His sight for
ever. God says in, (Ezekiel 18:4) “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”. God’s law demands the death of the
sinner. The debt must be paid. The penalty of sin must be endured. Yet if we endure the penalty for our sins
(eternity in the lake if fire) we will be doomed and damned eternally. God must and will expose sin in the lives of
men, and will judge the unrepentant sinner in His own time. God is not only holy, just and righteous; He
is also a God of love, mercy and grace.
How then can the problem of sin be righteously dealt with? How can man escape from the power of sin, avoid the penalty for sin which is death and
judgment, and ultimately be free from the very presence of sin? The
situation is not hopeless. There is good
news and it is called the “gospel”. God
has found a way by which He can forgive our sins without compromising His
justice. This leads us to the next
subject we want to consider;
2. THE SOURCE OF GOD’S SALVATION
Man is not the source of
his own salvation. Man cannot save
himself. Most people think, and most
religions teach, that salvation is by one’s so called good works. It is believed that if one has good
intentions or lives a good life or does the best they can, God will some how
save them in the end. THERE IS NOT ONE
SCRIPTURE IN THE WORD OF GOD THAT SAYS YOU CAN BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS. On the contrary, God’s Word says, (Proverbs
God and God alone is the
source of salvation. We read in, (Psalm 68:20) “God is the God of salvation”. The God of creation, the God of the
Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ says in, (Isaiah 45:21, 22) “There is no God else beside me; a just
God and a Savior; there is none else beside me.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God,
and there is none else”. Because
He is a loving God and a Savior, it is not His will that man perish in his
sins. We read in, (1 Timothy 2:3, 4)”God our Savior, who will have all men to
be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth“. We read also in, (2 Peter 3:9) “The Lord is …longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance“. God, in His love and eternal counsels,
formulated a plan of salvation. The hymn
writer wrote of this when he said:
O the love that drew salvations
plan
O the grace that brought it down to
man
O the mighty gulf that God did span
at Calvary
We read in, (John
O Christ what burdens bowed thy
head
Our load was laid on Thee
Thou stoodest in the sinner’s
stead,
Bear’st all my ill for me.
A victim led, Thy blood was shed;
Now there’s no load for me
The source of God’s salvation is found then at
3. THE WAY OF GOD’S SALVATION
We have mentioned
previously that there is nothing that man can do to save himself. Man is a poor, lost, helpless, hopeless
sinner unable to do anything to affect his own salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ preached, (Mark
4. THE TIME FOR GOD’S SALVATION
The poet said, “Life at
best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf”. How true this is, life is brief. In the light of an eternity ahead, to be
spent in either heaven or hell, our lifetime on
earth is so very brief. We read in, (James
Because of the uncertainty and the brevity of life the time for God’s salvation IS NOW.
God says in His Word, (2 Corinthians 6:2)
“Behold NOW is the accepted time, behold NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION”. NOW is the time of God’s
acceptance. Hell is full of people who
have procrastinated, who have said “not now, but some other time”. But, NOW is the time to come to Him and be saved. He will receive all who come to Him in
repentance and simple faith. God has
extended these “days of grace” that sinners might have the opportunity to come
and be saved. WILL YOU COME? God offers His salvation as a free gift to
all who will come and accept it. His
gracious invitation is still being extended.
(Matthew 11:28) “Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.
Notice the Lord’s invitation is not addressed to the proud, to
those who feel themselves righteous and worthy.
The offer is to “all that labor and are heavy laden”. It is for the multitudes that are weary in
this world. The invitation is to those
who feel a load on their heart, from which they desire to be free. It may be a load of sin, a load of sorrow, a
load of anxiety or a load of remorse. No
matter what it might be, all are invited to come to Christ. O what a gracious offer, “I will give you
rest”. Unrest is a great characteristic
of this day and age. Hurry, vexation,
failure, disappointment, all these things and many more surround us on every
side. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior
of sinners is an ark of refuge for the weary.
There is rest in Christ, rest of conscience, and rest of heart, rest
built on pardon of all sin, rest that flows from peace with God and the certainty
that heaven will be your eternal destiny.
WILL YOU COME TO HIM IN FAITH?
In closing, I urge YOU
to take advantage of this present time while you can and receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as YOUR personal Savior. The
Apostle Paul was traveling the Damascus road when God saved him. The first African, an Ethiopian eunuch, was
returning from
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