THE FULNESS OF GOD’S SALVATION

D. Marshall

2 Kings 5: 1; Matthew 1: 21; Acts 16: 27–31; Luke 10: 33–35; John 14: 15, 16; Luke 10: 41, 42

I would seek help to say something as to the fulness of the salvation that is available in the glad tidings. I have read six passages and I just want to touch on them to convey some impression that this is a full salvation, a rich salvation that is available in the glad tidings, and is available tonight to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus. Where we have to begin is that the gospel puts us all on the same platform; we start off as being sinners and we have to come to acknowledge that. That is why I read of Naaman. It tells us of his qualities and achievements and they were substantial.

Then there are these three words which say—“but a leper”. Each one of us here could perhaps write down what we have achieved in our life, be it great or small, significant or insignificant, and some would be no doubt greater than others, but you would have to have these three words, ‘but a sinner’ at the end of it. You would have to have that same thing said about you, because no matter how successful you may have been, or how good you may have been, no matter what you have done, from God’s standpoint, until you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour, you are, but a sinner’. That is what this man had to come to, “but a leper”. It was a great concern to him, as it would be in that day, because literally leprosy was a dreadful illness for which there was no known cure. Now without having a living link with the Lord Jesus as Saviour, sinnership is every bit as serious; more so, because without having a living link with that blessed One there is no way that the matter of your sins and your sinnership can be resolved.

We start in the glad tidings with wonderful news because we have that in Matthew, a Saviour has been provided. It says, “thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins”. That is wonderful news; on one hand, God is abhorrent of sin, but the means for the great matter of your sins and your sinnership being resolved has been provided from the divine side. God has provided a Saviour, and even at the outset this is the gospel that refers in some detail to the birth of the Lord. It could have been said all the kind of things that the Lord Jesus was going to achieve; the miracles that took place; the blind being able to see; the sick healed; great things done; a life of subjection; a life of perfection; a life without sin, but this very matter is mentioned right at the very beginning. It says, “thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins”. That is why the Lord Jesus came into manhood, so that a perfect sacrifice could be offered, so that there could be a sin bearer who would righteously resolve this whole matter, and that God could be a Saviour God righteously in blessing towards you and me, and towards all men because of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. A perfect sacrifice was made and a righteous basis was afforded for God to come forth in blessing, but this can be said in anticipation of all of that, “thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins”. It is fundamental that we have to come to know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour; that is where it all starts. There are all the various blessings that we may come into, but we cannot enjoy any of these things until this vital matter of knowing the Lord Jesus as Saviour, has been addressed. It is fundamental that it is known in the soul and that is where the gospel really begins.

So even if you are like Naaman, and we are all like Naaman morally, these three words can be put after our name, ‘but a sinner’ or “but a leper”. We can know that God has taken care of that great matter, because from His side He has provided the perfect solution to the problem that, to us otherwise, is totally insoluble. He has provided a Saviour. Even the youngest one that is able to understand these things can put their trust in the Lord Jesus. It is something that there are children present here and we thank God for that. There are children at almost all our gatherings and it is something for a child to get a touch in the glad tidings early in life, something that may grow and develop later. It is vital not only to hear the glad tidings and understand it but it is vital that we come to know in a real and living way the One who is the theme of the glad tidings, the Lord Jesus.

When we come to Acts of the Apostles that was the problem. This Philippian jailor had no doubt heard of the Lord Jesus, he would no doubt know why Paul and Silas were in prison, because it was all connected with the proclamation of the glad tidings and of their testimony in relation to the Lord Jesus. But he had to come to it himself; he had to come to it when he was going to take his own life. He was reassured by Paul and Silas that none of the prisoners had escaped; they were all present, and he was to do himself no harm. He asked that timely question, “what must I do that I may be saved?”, because, you see, knowledge is not enough. There is not some sort of choice, there is only one Saviour, it tells us that in scripture, the only name given whereby men must be saved (Acts 4: 12). Do you accept that you must come to know this One as your Saviour? This man here came to it in his heart and in his soul, he says, “what must I do that I may be saved?”

Every one of us has to ask that question in our hearts. Thankfully, it is not complicated. What he was told was very succinct, I suppose the shortest gospel that was ever preached, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house”. This man was saved and his household was secured and they went on to be baptised. This was a substantial conversion that led to the man finding his way, you might say, into the local assembly. That is the thought that is conveyed in this chapter, but he had to first resolve this question.

You and 1 are no different from the Philippian jailor, no different from Naaman. No matter what we know, or no matter what we have done, this question must be resolved, “what must I do that I may be saved?” The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house”. Tonight it is still the same answer to that question. You have to come to know the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour; you have to put your faith in the Lord Jesus. That is what the gospel seeks to give you to put you in touch with the Lord Jesus by faith, so that you know Him as your Saviour. This man afterwards would be able to say, Yes, I am saved. He would be able to tell of the night, a spectacular night in his life, when this earthquake took place, yet the prisoners did not escape. He would be able to say, ‘That was the day salvation came into my life’. The most substantial event that day was that into this man’s life came salvation, because he had put his trust in the Lord Jesus and in His finished work. You can do that tonight from your seat where you are. If you are asking the same question in your own heart, the answer is as straightforward as that which was given to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house”.

I want to go on from there because God desires more than that you simply come to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour. That is why I read the passage in Luke 10 that we refer to often as the ‘Good Samaritan’. Now the man was not left on the Jericho road. He was not left there; he was taken to the inn because he needed care. The Lord Jesus wants to protect that which is His, because when you have given your heart to Him, you belong to Him. He wants to put you in an area where it is safe, where you can be protected, where you can be looked after; where you can be made well, where you can develop, because He has all of that in mind. That is the precious thing, it says, “having put him on his own beast, took him to the inn and took care of him”. There is no desire in the gospel that you are simply left to say, Well, I have come to know the Lord Jesus as my Saviour and my eternal salvation has been secured. The ten lepers, that is what happened to them, and only one returned (Luke 17: 18, 19) to give glory to God. God is seeking all to return to give glory to Him. He is seeking them to be in an environment where they can take up a new life, because that is what happened to this man.

There was no intention for him to wander on the Jericho road any more, he was taken into an area where the Lord Jesus was known.

In simple terms he was taken into an area where there were those who had an appreciation of Christ and His things. We do not need to be fanciful about this scripture; he was taken somewhere where these things were valued and appreciated, and that was not on the Jericho road. The wherewithal was there, the resource was there, everything that was needed for this man. It was not simply a case of getting him a bit better and mending his wounds; this was going much further than that. It was like seeking for this man to become a functioning member of the local assembly.

That is what the desire was here to make him fully well, not just to have some sort of first aid administered. First aid is essential sometimes, absolutely life-saving, but this goes much further than that. It was to make him well, to care for him, to develop him; not in the things of this life, or the things of this earth, or the things of this world, but in God’s things.

So the Samaritan said he was coming back. It is true that Jesus is coming back to take those that are His to be with Himself for ever. Meantime there is this area that the believer should remain in, where he can be looked after, and grow and develop, until such time that the Lord Jesus comes back to take him to be with Himself for ever. Wonderful prospect! The thought here is that this man is taken from one sphere to another sphere, and in that other area there is a genuine care for his enlightenment and spiritual development. When we come to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour, especially if we are young, there is so much we do not know. We need to be guided into the truth. There are so many things that we have to come to know and learn and experience and work through. Romans is a wonderful book teaching the believer the moral exercises that are involved in working things out in his life down here. A wonderful provision in the gospel, and in the fulness of the salvation that we have, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I read the scripture in John because I must confess when I was younger it used to be a great mystery to me and I could never quite understand it. This scripture shows that the Lord Jesus asked the Father to give the Spirit, it is not something complicated. It is a provision for the believer seeking to do what is right, and accepting first of all that you will never do that in your own strength; you need divine help and support. The Father knows that; so the provision is rich, substantial, that He gives you the Spirit to help you because you will be tried.

Sometimes you may fail, you need support and this is the One who will support you. The believer seeking to do what is right is best supported by the Holy Spirit. He will help and strengthen you, and that is where you find help in times of need and in times of difficulty; but He is there to help you in times of normality as well. That provision has been made, and if a believer does not know if he has the Spirit, he can ask the Father to give him the Spirit. That gift is there, available, and the Father is desirous that you ask Him and receive the Holy Spirit, so that you can be here for the pleasure of God. We often think of good works as beneficial things, and we speak of many people who get engaged in all sorts of activities that you would say. Well, they were good; but a believer seeking to do what is right under the direction of the Holy Spirit, these are the good works that God is looking for because they are pleasurable to Him. What I have spoken of indicates that there is a richness, a fulness and a substantiality to the salvation that is available in the glad tidings. It is available to you and me, and to every one that comes under the sound of the glad tidings, and puts their trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.

I read lastly about Mary because she made a choice, and sometimes I think that can be the hardest thing for us to do, to make a choice to go in for the things that are precious and pleasing to the Lord, and that is what Mary did. This was a converted person, this was somebody who loved the Lord. Martha loved the Lord as well, and I am not going to say anything in criticism of Martha whatsoever, but Mary made her mind up, she made a commitment that she was going to place herself at the feet of the Lord, and He said, “Mary has chosen the good part”. Now that is when, you might say, the Spirit has worked in your heart and you are seeking not only to say, Well, I know the Lord Jesus as Saviour, I come to the meetings, I am friendly with the brethren, I do not do this and I do not do that. That may be all very well but there is a lot more than that; this is when you have made that choice, when you are saying substantially, I am going to set my heart for the Lord and His things.

That is what she did. Now, you know, to be at the feet of the Lord she really placed herself in nearness to Jesus. In Christianity the things that are best, that is where they are enjoyed, in nearness to the Lord. If we look at our own lives, when things come in and we fail, almost invariably we can say it was when we were distant from the Lord. To be near Him is an area of safety, an area where we are protected. It is an area where things are revealed, where even the Lord’s feelings are known. If you are as near a person as at their feet then you would get to know them well, you would form a deep link through your association. It is a practical illustration that is given because we are practical people, and it is not something you say, ‘I do not understand’.

If you live your life in nearness to the Lord, you too will have chosen the good part and it will not be taken away; you too will have something very substantial. All the things that we have round about us, they are passing. No matter how much or how little we may have, or may be involved in, these things are passing. Such things will be taken away from us, but this part that Mary had, these treasures that she had, are lasting treasures! It is not just the case that there will be all these wonderful treasures that are future, although that is true, but it is God’s desire that you enjoy these treasures now. You can do that practically by being near to the Lord and that is what we see exemplified in Mary. Here you had a perfectly natural situation in a house where things have to be done, activities have to take place and tasks have to be completed. Martha was engaged with that and perhaps in this chapter you can understand that, but what you have is not the criticism, but this lovely word from the Lord, that Mary had made the right choice.

The Spirit is seeking to guide you to make the right choice; you would not do it naturally; we would have no natural bent or natural desire for the things of the Lord. The Spirit would guide you and would help you and support you in making that choice. It says of Daniel that he “purposed in his heart” (Daniel 1: 8), and that is what the Lord is looking for.

It is for you to make that purpose of heart. Mary made that purpose of heart, she made up her mind to sit at the feet of the Lord, and there is a place there for us all. Not exclusively a place for Mary, the Lord would welcome each one of us at His feet in that sense in nearness to Him. So may we be encouraged. These are glad tidings which involve a full salvation because that is what God has in mind. God wants to bless you, and He wants to secure you for Himself so that you are different, so that you have changed; so your desires change and you are found choosing to be in nearness to the One in whom God finds His delight. That is what God is seeking from each one of us. May we be encouraged and may we go in for it, for His name’s sake.

Preaching at Bo’ness
July 2006