Salvation is of the lord

Text: Jonah 2:8-10
Introduction:

Our topic today is a declaration of faith and a confession of a man who saw the Lord’s salvation. I declare that as you listen to this message, you will also experience the Lord’s salvation. No matter what you are passing through currently, I declare that very soon you also will say, “Salvation is of the Lord.” This is a confession of a good man, a pious man, a servant of God who missed the mark. At a time no one thought he deserved the salvation of God, God stretched His hand of grace to him and he saw His salvation. Men may say you do not deserve it, but salvation is of the Lord. Your problem might be due to your errors, rebellion, disobedience or sin, but salvation is of the Lord. I see God’s salvation coming your way this year. Amen.

The Secret Of Divine Salvation
There are five major things I saw in the life of Jonah before he saw the Salvation of the Lord. I believe every man or woman who desires to see the Lord’s salvation must embrace the same. These are,

• He Remembered God in His distress. (vs.7) One of the easiest errors to commit is to forget God. This is possible both in prosperity and adversity. To see the Salvation of the Lord, you must remember God.

• He Acknowledged His Sins. (vs.6) In NIV, he admitted that he sank. KJV calls it corruption. If you are going to see the Lord’s Salvation, you must acknowledge where you missed the mark.

• He Embraced Mercy/Grace-Humility. (vs4,8) No matter how bad your case, you can still look up to God. Embrace the mercy of God that prevails over judgment.

• He Deployed Prayer Arsenals- (vs1-2,7b). Prayer is a weapon of all seasons that can be deployed at anytime, anywhere.

• He recommitted himself to a Life of Thanksgiving. (vs. 9). Genuine thanksgiving is thanks-living. Thanksgiving is key to seeing the Lord’s salvation.

Conclusion
One revelation we must note here is the time the Salvation of the Lord came to him. The Bible says, having done all these five things, the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (10) But Salvation did not come until after he himself had declared, “Salvation is of the Lord.” Therefore, to Jonah, “Salvation is of the Lord was not a testimony of experience, but a declaration of faith that transformed into a testimony of divine rescue.

The Hebrew word employed for Salvation here is “yeshooaw” meaning “aid, victory, prosperity, deliverance, health, help, welfare or salvation.” NIV says, God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah and it obeyed. The Lord is still in the habit of commanding/speaking to things, circumstances and situations to save His people. When next the devil tells you, your case is too bad, tell Him “Salvation is not of man or Satan, but of the Lord.” Are you ready for the Lord’s salvation today? Pray to God about it today. Shalom.