I draw your attention to this text in Jonah 2, verse 9, to the words, Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And that is the great text that we have put at the back of our pulpit there in Balagan, the great text of Scripture. Salvation is of the Lord. So that everyone who enters the building there will see those words and immediately have conveyed to them that salvation is not found in a church, nor in any ceremony or ritual or creed of a church, but it is found alone in the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And Jonah the prophet learned this great truth in a strange place. He learned it in the wheel's belly, at the bottom of the mountains, with the reeds wrapped about his head. when he supposed that earth with her bars was about him forever. And you know, it is true that most of the grand truths of the gospel have to be learned in the midst of trouble. They have to be burned into our hearts with the iron of affliction. Otherwise, we will never truly receive those truths. And Jonah, when he was delivered from his great danger, And by the command of God, the fish had immediately left its great deeps and delivered Jonah onto the dry land. He cried, salvation is of the Lord. And by salvation here, we do not merely understand the special salvation that Jonah at that time received from death. But there's something special about the word salvation that's used here in this text of Scripture. In other words, this word salvation has one more letter in it than it usually has. When it only refers to some temporary deliverance, we can only understand this word salvation here referring to the great work of the salvation of the soul which endureth forever." That is exactly what is meant here. Salvation is of the Lord. And that is exactly what you need in this service. If you are here on sea without the Lord Jesus Christ, you are lost and you are dying in your sin. You need God's salvation tonight. The salvation proclaimed in this text. Salvation is of the Lord. In recent weeks, most of us, if not all of us, have viewed the remarkable rescue of those 33 miners from that mine in Chile. In the newspapers and the television screens at the time, you may have seen the headlines, safe at last, out of captivity, alive from the dead, out of the depths to mention but a few. And all of these headlines can be applied in the gospel to those who partake of God's salvation. You can be safe at last. You can be brought out of captivity tonight. You can be alive from the dead. You can be brought out of the depths of your sin. Salvation is of the Lord. And as we view this text tonight, we see salvation in the text. Salvation is of the Lord. And as we look at this text tonight, first of all, we see the source of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation of those miners in Chile will be traced by many to the engineering skills of those who devised the means, first of all, to bore down those thousands of feet into the rock to locate those men. And then those who manufactured a capsule and the means to lower it down thousands of feet beneath the ground and lynch it up to bring those men to safety. Some engineering, you say. Some skill. Some workmanship. Yes, indeed so. No doubt about that. But who gave them the skill to do it? Some would say whoever taught them. And we could go back and back to whoever taught them before that, who passed on the knowledge. But ultimately, my friend, God gave them the skill. God gave them the knowledge and the understanding, wisdom himself. Someone said, in fact, at the time, this is a miracle. And so it was. Yes, and their preservation from August until October, 2,000 feet and more beneath the surface, truly a miracle. Let me tell you tonight that salvation is a miracle. Its source is God himself. It is not accomplished by the effort or energy of man. Salvation is of the Lord. He it is who is the great captain of our salvation. In Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, that was the text we were speaking to our children about this morning in our children's address at church, neither is there salvation in any of it. For there is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. By grace are ye saved through faith, but not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast salvation is of the Lord. I want to suggest to you tonight that the plan of salvation is entirely of God. No human intellect No created intelligence assisted God in the planning of salvation. He contrived the way, and He it is who carried it out. And salvation was planned from all eternity before the hills and orders stood, or earth received her freedom. God devised it. And let me say tonight, without God, it could never have been devised. It is a plan too splendid to have been the product of any mind except of that mind which afterwards carried it out. Salvation is older than creation. Salvation is of the Lord. The plan of salvation is entirely of God. Let me suggest to you, secondly tonight, that the provision of salvation is entirely of God. God has done it all Himself. The banquet of mercy is served up by one host, and that host is He to whom the cattle on a thousand hills belong. And He died upon the cross to provide so great salvation. His precious blood was shed for the remission of sin. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that blood lose all their guilty stains. He has done it wholly. Atonement is the unaided work of Christ. On yonder cross we see the one who trod the winepress of the wrath of God alone for you and me. In yonder garden I see the solitary conqueror who came to fight single-handed, whose own arm brought salvation, whose own impotence sustained it. My friend, the provision of salvation is entirely of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Let me say thirdly, that the power of salvation is entirely of God. Many there are who have devised means to bring salvation to man. But all of these are false. They cannot do it. They are powerless in regard to this matter. If I were to attempt by my own energy tonight to bring salvation to your soul, I could not do it. They could not accomplish it. In Luther's time, Rome came with their indulgences, saying, if you pay so much, you will know the pardon for your sins. And the Pope recently, as you know, visited the United Kingdom. And the same lie was peddled to the people of the UK. Twenty-five pounds per ticket. And you will get time off purgatory by attending the open-air mass. at Ballyhouston Park in Glasgow. In the document issued at the time, the church describes herself as the minister of redemption. What a blasphemous thing to say. But the church has no power in regard to this. No church has. No pope or priest or prelate or pastor or minister has. Salvation is of the Lord. The Bible says He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. And there is power in His precious blood to cleanse them. No pope or priest or minister or any man can do that. The Bible says the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. And let me tell you this, it's without money and without price. You don't have to pay for this salvation because Christ has paid the price already on Calvary's cross for your redemption. And you've come in here tonight and your heart is full of sin and your life is amassed because of sin. And you haven't got God's salvation before you go out through the doors of this church tonight. Thank God you can know the power of this salvation in your heart and life. It's entirely of God's. I want to say, fourthly, that the preserving of salvation is entirely of God's. As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, neither can he keep himself so. He can feed on spiritual food and so preserve his spiritual strength. He can walk in the commandments of God and know rest and peace. But remember that it is the Lord who keeps us from falling. It is the Lord who presents us faultless before the presence of His throne with exceeding joy. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. No man of himself, even when he is converted, has any power except That power is daily, constantly given to him by the Spirit of God. You come in here tonight and you say, I know I need to be saved, but I couldn't keep it. That's exactly right. You can. But you're kept by the power of God. The Lord it is. He's the One who keeps us. And thank God He can keep you. The preserving of salvation is entirely of God. I want you to see fifthly, the perfection of salvation is entirely of God. Soon the saints of God on earth shall be the saints in light. They shall enter into the joy of the Lord. At a funeral today, a wee woman suffered terribly of cancer. In the last number of weeks, she has been just absolutely a scallop. Terrible. But just the other night, she passed into the presence of the Lord and thank God, She is among the saints of light. For the souls of believers do at their death immediately pass into glory. And thank God she passed into glory that night when she passed from the scene of time. We shall be like Him, the Bible says, for we shall see Him as He is. And we will sing the song of the redeemed in heaven, all unto us, all unto us. It will be sung with deeper sincerity and with more profound emphasis than we ever sung it here below. In heaven when grace shall have done its work, this truth shall stand out in blazing letters of gold. Salvation is of the Lord. And that is entirely true. The source of salvation. I want you to see tonight the substance of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. What lies at the heart of this salvation? Well, for one thing, it is life from the dead. Paul said this in writing to the Ephesian believers. And he spoke of this very truth when he said in Ephesians 2 and 1, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins. Without Christ, though you live physically, you are dead spiritually. The Bible puts it like this in these terms. Without the life of God. That is your condition outside of Christ. Tonight in this meeting. Without the life of God. Hasn't Adam? All die. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Romans 5.12, Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world. Listen, and death by sin. So death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But Christ came into the world to deliver souls from the captivity of death. and to bring to them eternal life. You see, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Think of the prodigal son, Luke chapter 15. He was dead in his sin in the far country of pleasure and profanity. Yet he lived when he came to the Father's house and received the love and provision of the Father. What did the Father say of him? Luke 15, 24, For this my Son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is alive. You can live tonight if you will receive Christ as your Savior. It is life from the dead. For another thing, it is being loose from bondage. Whom the Son sets free, He is free indeed. And glorious freedom from the fetters of sin. I was hearing just the other night of a young man, and he was on drugs. And anybody who knows a bit about drug addiction will probably be able to empathize with what I'm going to say now. And I deal with young men every week who have this problem in the Young Offenders Centre in Belfast. But this particular young man, he completely blacked out. And he dreamt. that he was tamed at the very gates of hell. And he came around. And that young man was gloriously saved. And he sought out someone who was able to point him to the Lord. Gloriously saved by the grace of God. And my friend, what is this salvation? It is being loosed from the fetters of sin! The demon-possessed man, you remember, in Mark chapter 5, he was free. This man was sitting and clothed in his right mind before he had been chained, before he was the terror of the countryside. But now, by the grace of God and by the intervention of God Himself, he was free. That's what salvation is. Freedom from the bondage of sin. Think of those Chilean miners again. They were as men loosed from bondage. And they were brought up out of that mine. And that's exactly what the Lord can do for you tonight. You can come here into this service bound by your sin. You can go out freed by experiencing God's salvation. Thou hast snapped my fetters. Thou hast made me free. Liberty and gladness I have found in thee. For another thing, it is light instead of darkness. You are in the darkness of your sin tonight. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The Lord opened the eyes of the blind And if you take of His salvation tonight, then your eyes will be opened and you will walk in the glorious light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person partakes of God's salvation, they repent of their sin. And that means they turn away from it. They forsake it utterly. And they turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, the prodigal forsook the far country. He left behind his sins. The Bible says in Luke 15, 17, when he came to himself, what does it mean? He changed his mind about his sin. His heart was no longer wedded to his sin. He turned away from it. And he turned to the Father's house. And the Bible says, He arose and came. He repented. Will you repent of your sin tonight? The Bible says, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Not only repentance, but faith. And faith and repentance are inseparably linked together. Faith in Jesus Christ. By grace are ye saved through faith. That is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, as any man should hope. People say, well, I haven't got faith. And that is true, you haven't. But God gives to the sinner who would come to Christ the gift of saving faith. Enabling you to believe. Enabling you to trust solely and only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that you might believe tonight in the saving of your soul. Repentance toward God. It is something more. It is forgiveness of sin. You have a guilty past. And that troubles you tonight. It haunts you. You cannot rest because in salvation there is forgiveness for all your sins, past, present and future. The Bible says this in Ephesians 1 and 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. The Bible says of the woman who was saved there and delivered by Christ, who was the sinner in Luke 7, 47, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. And my friend, I don't care what your sins are tonight. Thank God there's forgiveness. Thank God there's forgiveness. There's salvation for your soul tonight. You've come in here tonight unforgiven. You've come in here to this service tonight carrying the burden of your sin. But you can go out forgiven. Your sins can be blotted out. Remember this, He removes as a thick cloud our transgression. He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Salvation is substance of us. Forgiveness of sins. It is more than that. It is being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Clothed with the garment of His salvation. There is a wonderful text in Isaiah chapter 61. The 61st chapter of Isaiah. And this text is found in verse 10 of that chapter. Chapter 61 of Isaiah verse 10. And it says this, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Clothed with the garments of salvation. Covered with the robe of righteousness. There you have it. My friend, the filthy rags of sin are discarded. Lay aside the garments that are stained by sin and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. What did the Father say to the prodigal returned? Chapter 15 of Luke, verse 22, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him. the best robe, it speaks of the robe of the imputed righteousness of Christ, the garment of His salvation. Zechariah 3, 4, Joshua the high priest, take away the filthy garments. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. And the Lord will give you a change of raiment tonight. The Lord will put on you that garment of salvation. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, His salvation tonight. Oh, it's a wonderful thing, this salvation. You can know it tonight. You can know it tonight. The substance of it. It's more than this. It's regeneration by the Spirit. It's being born of God. John chapter 3. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. He cannot get into the Kingdom. of God unless you are born again. Ye must be born again. Marvel not that I said it. Ye must be born again. It is regeneration by the Spirit. Have you been born of God tonight? Have you been born of the Spirit? It has been made a new creature. Very man be in Christ. He is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. Walking in newness of life. A complete transformation. I was reading the story of Henry Morehouse. And when he was a boy, on a certain occasion, he was walking with his father through the streets of Manchester. His attention was suddenly drawn to a man standing at the door of a building and crying aloud, Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, and see the great American pig. Having his curiosity aroused, he paid his penny and entered the building. There, sure enough, was a wonderful pig performing feats and giving evidence of an intelligence probably never that a pig exhibited before. At the command of his mastery, he would pick out from the alphabet lying on the floor the letters G-O-O-D-P-I-G. Good pig! Marvelous! He would also walk about on his hind legs and shake hands with those who paid him a visit. Moreover, he was washed up, and he was scrubbed, and he smelled really well, and he was perfectly clean. He was dressed in a beautiful garment. Of course, there existed the highest admiration, and no one could deny that this pig was well educated in every respect. But notwithstanding his remarkable culture, he was still a pig. He still had the nature of a pig. And if you let them out, they went straight for the mire. I remember, brought up on the farm, the father used to hose the pigs down. And then the next thing you'd see this sow coming up into the yard. And it was just mucked, as we would say, mucked to the eyeballs. Absolutely mucked up. Because it's the nature of the pig. No change of nature, you see. But salvation involves a complete transformation. Being made a new creature in Christ Jesus. A young girl who was dissatisfied with her home life. And she was always talking about the grievances she had and about her discontentment. It was the discontentment manifested in her voice, in her manner. One day she surprised her friend. She had a quick step. She was bright and a bright smile, a happy voice. How are things at home? Asked the friend, thinking some good news had made the change. Oh, everything is just the same, but I am different. Came the reply. Why was she different? Because she had met the Lord? Because she had experienced God's salvation? You want to be different tonight. You want your life to be changed. Thank God you can know that change in your heart and life tonight. You can be made a new creature in salvation. It is a new heart you see. God takes away the stony heart. Gives you a new heart. A heart afresh. Puts His Spirit within you. The Spirit of God. And God's Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. Now, you haven't got the Spirit of Christ tonight. You're none of His. So the Bible says you're not saved. But if you've got that inward witness, it's sure that you have experienced God's salvation. You can experience it tonight. You're facing hell in this meeting as you come into it and as you sit in it tonight. But you can face heaven tonight by the radical change of God's salvation in your heart. Oh, that this salvation might be your experience tonight. Delay no longer in your sin, but come to Christ tonight. I want you to see tonight not only the source of this salvation and the substance of this salvation, But I want you to see tonight the satisfaction of this salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. What satisfaction is found in God's salvation tonight? Now, none but Christ can satisfy. There's no other name for me. There's love and life and everlasting joy for Jesus found in me. Think of that woman at the well in John 4. And she was dissatisfied. She was a sinful woman. But you remember the Lord said to her in chapter 4 of John in verse 14, Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And that woman tasted that day of God's salvation. She tasted from the well of salvation. She tasted the living water of life. And she never thirsted again. You come in here tonight and you're drinking at the world's springs. You're drinking at those filthy pools of worldly pleasure. And you've been searching in all of the world for satisfaction. And you have been disappointed because those cisterns that you've been drinking at are broken cisterns which can hold no water. But if you come to the well of salvation tonight and partake of this wonderful life in the Gospel of Christ, then your inmost soul will be satisfied. There was no satisfaction for the prodigal son in the far country. Oh, he might have had pleasure, but it was only for a season. It did not last. And there was no satisfaction for the prodigal son at the swine trough. The Bible says, No man gave unto him. And when you are down at your lowest point in your sin, friend, no one will give to you. You'll be destitute. And the devil will leave you there and damn your soul in hell. He lost everything, this young man. He was destitute. He was desperate. He was perishing with hunger. He recognized that, but he found in the Father's house all that his soul craved for. You may be enjoying the world tonight and your friends in the world that you're in contact with. But I tell you that, it won't last. But this satisfaction in God's salvation is forever. I was saved in 1969, over 40 years ago. And my friend, I tell you this, it lasts. And the satisfaction that I have tonight is Every bit as good as the day I got saved. Every bit as good. At last, you see. You know what the psalmist said in Psalm 17, 15? I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. And you know, my friend, this satisfaction will be fully realized. when we reach glory and we awake in the likeness of Christ. Look to Christ tonight and you will be satisfied. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Look unto Me and be saved tonight. Look to Christ and you will be satisfied. Will you do that tonight? Before you leave this church? Look to Christ. Leave your sin and you will be satisfied with God's salvation. That woman at the well, she was well satisfied. At the water of life, she was well satisfied. She enjoyed it. Will you leave your sin tonight? Lean upon Christ alone and you will be satisfied. Cease trusting in the rotten planks of this world. Get your feet upon the rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Lean upon Christ alone. Learn of Christ. Do you want to satisfy Him? The Lord said in Matthew 11 verse 29, Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. He shall find rest for your souls. Receive the instruction of His Word. Heed His Word. Walk in His ways. Follow His will. And you will have wonderful satisfaction. The satisfaction of His so great salvation. Remember this today. Salvation. is of the Lord. Come and receive this wonderful salvation right now. Receive Christ as your Savior. And know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are right with God and you are ready for Heaven. Salvation is of the Lord. Will you trust Him tonight? He is calling you, imploring you to come. Leave behind your sin. Trust in the finished work of Calvary. Salvation is of the Lord. May the Lord apply His Word to your heart tonight. Amen.