Sermon #1307 Miscellaneous Sermons

Title: “LET THE GOD OF

MY SALVATION BE EXALTED!”

Text: Psalm 18:46

Reading: Lindsay Campbell - Romans 8:28-39

Subject: God’s Salvation

Date: December 12, 1997 - Lancaster, Kentucky

James Lee Rankin’s Funeral Sermon

Tape #

Introduction:

My text this morning will be Psalm 18:46. But before I read the text, let me tell you why I have chosen this text and the subject its subject.

Two weeks ago, during one of our visits, James Lee, Norma and I discussed what he wanted us to do today. He specifically requested that no eulogies be given of him. He said, “Those people who know me know me. There’s no need for anybody to talk about me.” Because I love and respect the dear man whose body is laid before us, I am tempted to deviate from that request; but, for that same reason I shall not do so.

James and Norma both said, “We just want the Lord to be honored.” Last Sunday night Barry said virtually the same thing. He said, we just want you to lift up Christ and honor our heavenly Father.”

James Lee was to this family a faithful, exemplary husband and father. He was to me and to the members of Grace Baptist Church a loyal deacon. He was to us all a beloved friend who will be fondly remembered and greatly missed. I can think of no way to more highly honor him than by honoring his God and Savior. And I can think of no better way to honor the Lord God and his all glorious Christ than talking to you for a few minutes about his great salvation. Therefore I take the words of David in Psalm 18:46 for my text.

Psalms 18:46 "The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."

This is my desire and my subject. “Let The God Of My Salvation Be Exalted.”

James was in the eyes of all who knew him a very good man. But his goodness extended only to men, not to God. I heard him, on many occasions as he led us to the throne of grace in prayer, acknowledge what all who know God must and do humbly acknowledge, “Lord, our righteousnesses are but filthy rages. Our only hope is Christ, his blood, and his righteousness.” He knew himself to be a sinner, nothing but a sinner, but a sinner saved by the free and sovereign grace of almighty God in Jesus Christ, his Substitute.

Proposition: We comfort ourselves with the blessed knowledge that James Lee is today seated with the redeemed in glory, singing, “Worthy is the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne!” not because he was a good man, but because he was saved by the great and good God, even the God of our salvation.

Had he not been saved by God’s free grace in Christ, were it not for God’s election, Christ’s redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s effectual call, had God simply left him to himself, to live and die as he pleased, James would be in hell today. And I am here today to tell you that unless you too find mercy and grace at the throne of grace, you will soon be in hell. Therefore, I ask you attention for just a few minutes, as I endeavor, by the power of God the Holy Spirit, to tell about God’s salvation and the greatness of his glory revealed in it. May God be pleased, as I preach the gospel to you, (You who must soon spend eternity either in the bliss of Christ’s presence or in the torments of the damned in hell!), may God be pleased today to save you by his grace.

Divisions: In the first chapter of Ephesians, the inspired Apostle tells us that salvation is the work of the triune God. It is according to…

1. The Father’s Plan.

2. The Son’s Purchase.

3. The Spirit’s Power.

I. THE FATHER’S PLAN

We confess with Jonah, “Salvation is of the Lord!” We say with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake" (Psalms 115:1). SALVATION BEGINS WITH GOD’S SOVEREIGN PURPOSE OF GRACE IN ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION.

Like all believers, James loved to hear the blessed gospel doctrines of God’s sovereign predestination and eternal electing in Christ preached.

These days, spiritually ignorant men and women talk about their decision for the Lord. But salvation is not accomplished by our decision for Jesus, but according to God’s decision for us from eternity. Salvation is not by your works, but by God’s grace. t is not by your will, but his will.

A. Election is God’s loving choice of and determination to save his people in Christ before the worlds were made.

B. Predestination is God’s sovereign, eternal arrangement of all things which come to pass in time to accomplish the salvation of those whom he chose to save.

These are not debatable matters, deep points of theology, or even things which need to be proved. They are as plain as the nose on your face. Just listen to the Word of God.

Psalms 65:4 "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple."

John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

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 Thessalonians 2:13-14 "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (14) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 8:28-31 "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. (31) What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"

This dear man lived where he lived, experienced all that he experienced in life, and died as he did, when he did, and is today in heaven with Christ because the Lord God loved him with an everlasting love.

But there is much more to God’s salvation than election and predestination.

II. THE SON’S PURCHASE

Because we are sinners, men and women who have broken every precept of God’s holy law continually, from our youth up, the only way a holy, just, and true God could save his people from their sins is if someone is able to stand in their room and stead and satisfy the demands of God’s law and justice for them. So I want you to understand that GOD’S SALVATION, THE EVERLASTING SALVATION OF OUR SOULS BY HIS FREE GRACE, WAS EARNED AND PURCHASED FOR HIS PEOPLE BY THE INCARNATION, OBEDIENCE, AND DEATH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AS OUR ALL-SUFFICIENT REPRESENTATIVE AND SUBSTITUTE.

Now listen carefully to what I am telling you. Listen carefully to the teaching of Holy Scripture. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did not come down here to make salvation possible, to provide the possibility of salvation for men, or to put sinners in a savable state. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). And I am here to tell you that he has done it. The Lord of glory does not try to save. He saves. He does not co-operate with you, if you will co-operate with him to help you save yourself. He does not try to save all men. He saves some.

A. The Lord Jesus Christ brought in an everlasting righteousness for his elect by his obedience to the entire law and will of God as our Representative.

B. Christ satisfied the justice of God as the sinners’ Substitute, when he was made to be sin for us and died under the wrath of God, because of our sins imputed to him.

C. The righteousness and atonement of Christ is of infinite value because he is both God and man in one glorious person.

D. Because our Savior is himself God, his sacrifice for sin is not only of infinite value, but of infinite efficacy as well. - NOT ONE SOUL FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED SHALL SUFFER THE WRATH OF GOD!

E. The only way a sinner can be made righteous is by divine imputation.

The sinner’s only hope is substitution. And our only Substitute is Christ. God help you to see him as such. What a glorious Savior our Savior is!

Romans 8:33-34 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. (34) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"

Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (2) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"

Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Because Christ alone is our Redeemer and our Savior, our God whose glory is great in the salvation of chosen sinners, all the saints in heaven and in earth give praise to him alone as the Lamb of God.

Revelation 5:9-10 "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (10) And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

Salvation is accomplished according to the purpose of God the Father, the purchase of God the Son, and…

III. THE POWER OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Holy Spirit does not come to invite or even encourage sinners to be born again, or to trust Christ, r to be saved. Not at all. WE ARE, ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE, BORN AGAIN B THE POWER OF HIS IRRESISTIBLE GRACE, CALLED FROM DEATH TO LIFE BY THAT SAME POWER, GIVEN FAITH BY THAT SAME POWER, AND PRESERVED UNTO ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST BY THAT VERY SAME IRRESISTIBLE POWER AND GRACE

John 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Ephesians 2:1-10 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) 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. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Illustrations: Ezekiel’s Infant

The Valley of Dry Bones

Romans 9:16 "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."

A. It is by the power of God’s Sprit that sinner’s are born again.

B. It is by the Holy Spirit’s power that we are sanctified.

C. It is by the Spirit of God that we are preserved in grace and persevere in faith.

Application: Because salvation is of the Lord we are assured that…

1. Every sinner chosen, redeemed, and called by God’s almighty, saving grace shall be saved.

2. Every sinner who looks to Christ alone as his only all-sufficient Savior shall be saved.

3. Every sinner saved by God’s free grace in Christ shall be perfectly saved in Christ.

There will be no back streets in the New Jerusalem, no uncrowned heads, no embarrassed saints, no degrees of reward or loss of reward. Therefore we say, with our brother and friend, as we temporarily bid him farewell, "The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."

This day our dear brother and friend is where I soon hope to be and he enjoys what I most long to enjoy…

· Perfect Communion With Christ!

· Perfect Commitment To Christ!

· Perfect Conformity To Christ!

Ephesians 1:4 "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:"

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Jude 1:24-25 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen."

Believe now on the Lord Jesus Christ, and this will be the portion of your inheritance as well. May God graciously enable you now to believe, for Christ’s sake. AMEN.

GRAVE SIDE SERVICE

John 11:25-26 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

Revelation 14:13 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."