Joy, so good to have you here.
Thank you for playing for us. Delphi, she too. One of my favorite passages scriptures
in Isaiah Chapter 40. It's a word from God to the prophet. saying, Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, saith the Lord. Speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem
and tell them that their warfare is accomplished and that their
iniquity has been pardoned. Oh, that is a word of comfort,
isn't it? The battle for sin has been won by our conqueror,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and iniquity has been put away. We have a
righteousness with God in the person of Christ already accomplished. Nothing more to be done. It's
in the heavens. He's seated at the right hand
of God. I hope we leave here this morning
with a spirit of comfort and encouragement. Tom, are you going
to lead us in the hymn on the back of the bulletin? Okay, let's
stand together. When this passing world is done,
when has sunk yon radiant sun, when I stand with Christ on high,
Looking o'er life's history, Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then how much I owe. When I hear the wicked call,
On the rocks and hills to fall, When I see them start and shrink,
On the fiery deluge break, ? Then Lord shall I fully know ? Not
till then how much I owe ? When I stand before thy throne ? Dressed
in beauty not my own ? When I see thee as thou art Love thee with
unsitting heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully know, Not till
then how much I owe. Chosen not for good in me, Wakened
up from wrath to flee, Hidden in the Savior's sight, By His
Spirit sanctified. Please be seated. Good morning. Our scripture reading
for call to worship will be found in Daniel 4. Daniel 4. beginning at verse 29. And after hearing that message,
Greg, this is a great passage in terms of the heavenly in Nebuchadnezzar. Some familiar story, remember
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and his soothsayers and magicians
could not interpret it, so Daniel did. And now here is the fulfillment. This is the passage we're about
to read that's going to come to pass. Verse 29, Daniel 4. At the end of 12 months, he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and
said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house
of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of
my majesty? Clear picture of who we are,
isn't it, when we come into this world. But I need to remind you,
verse 31 to 37, only can be realized in those who
are in Christ. Most, all who are not in Christ,
what I'm trying to say, all who are not in Christ, there's no
verse 31 to 37, it just stops at 30. But here's the glorious
truth, and this is our hope. 31, while the word was in the
king's mouth, their fellow voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall
be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. Verse 33, the same hour was the
thing fulfilled open upon Nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men and
did eat grass as oxen and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his
nails like bird's claws. That's a blessing. If the Lord
would do, we come into this world high and mighty, knowing everything,
having the power to do everything. And yet here it is. And when
he gets you to that place where I know nothing, I have no power.
Don't you know that Nebuchadnezzar was probably begging. The Lord
answered, verse 34, and at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and here's our
call to worship. and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? That's the God we worship this
morning. At the same time, my reason return unto me, and for
the glory of my kingdom, My honor and brightness returned unto
me, and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me, and I was
established in my kingdom. An excellent majesty was added
unto me." Verse 37, "'Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol
and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and
his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride, he is able
to abase. Lord, we know you're able, pray
that you'd be willing this morning to do that for us. Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we do come
to you in a name that is above all names, your dear son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, asking Lord and confessing that
unless your voice comes down from heaven, Lord, we would be
as the sons of men on this earth, not knowing that you're holy,
that you're sovereign, that you're just, that everything you do
is right and good, and it's always according to your pleasure. Oh,
but Lord, but because of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a
God of grace and mercy. How we ask that you would do
that for us this morning again through the preaching of your
word. Oh, that we would lift him up, exalt him, for it's to
his glory and to his honor and power why we're here. Thank you
for bringing us here this morning. Thank you for blessing your word.
We ask once again you'd give us ears to hear. And forgive
us again, Lord, for our sins. Lord, knowing that you have to
take that which we are doing this morning and make it acceptable
to him who ruleth over all things. Be with Greg again. Bless the
word to his heart, for we ask it in Christ's name, amen. Number 186 in the hardback temple,
186, the church is one foundation. Let's all stand together once
again. The Church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation, prime
water and the Word. From heaven He came and sought
her to be His holy bride. With his own blood he bought
her, And for her life he died. Elect from every nation, Yet
one o'er all the earth, Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith,
one birth, One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. Yet, hurl and tribulation and
tumult of her war, She waits the consummation of peace forevermore. Till with a vision glorious her
longing eyes are blessed, And the great church victorious shall
be the church at rest. Yet she on earth hath union With
God the three in one, And mystic sweet communion With those whose
breast is one. O happy ones and holy, Lord,
give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, on high they
dwell with thee. Please be seated. Adam Cherin's
going to come down and sing. dark the stain that soiled man's
nature along the distance that he fell far removed from hope and heaven
into deep despair and hell but there was A fountain opens and
the blood of God's own Son purifies. The soul and reaches deeper than
the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for full salvation. God still reigns upon his throne
And I know the blood still reaches Deeper than the stain has gone
Conscious of the deep pollution Sinners wander in the night Though
they hear the shepherd calling They still fear to face the light
This the blessed consolation That can melt the heart of stone
That sweet balm of Gilead reaches Deeper than this stain has gone
Praise the Lord for full salvation God still reigns Upon his throne
And I know The blood still reaches Deeper than the stain that's
gone All unworthy we who've wandered And our eyes are met with tears As we think of love that sought
us Through the weary, wasted years Yet we walk the holy highway
Walking by God's grace alone Knowing Cal His fountain reaches
deeper than the stain that's gone. Praise the Lord for full
salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know The blood still reaches
deeper than the stain is gone When with holy choirs we're standing
In the presence of the King And our souls are lost in wonder
While the white robed choirs sing Then we'll praise the name
of Jesus With the millions round the throne Praise him for the
power that reaches Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the
Lord for full salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Thank you, Adam. I remember the
first time I ever heard that hymn, Cody Groover's sister,
Vesta, sang it at a conference and I've loved it ever since. The only thing that goes deeper
than the stain of our sin is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it removes that stain, blots
it out all together. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Acts Chapter 4? I want to try to bring a message
this morning. That time. To the child of God, I know he
is the most important subject to their soul. And to their heart. The title of this message comes
from Acts chapter 4 in verse 12 when Peter says, neither is
there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby We must be saved. That's the title of this message.
We must be saved. And I know that I'm speaking
to some, some believers and some folks that that's their, that's
your heart. I've got to be saved. As I see
it, there are three kinds of people in this world. There is
the irreligious that go about their lives with absolutely no
concern whatsoever for the subject of salvation. They have no interest
in being saved. They think talking about being
saved is foolish. Their whole passion in life is
eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die. And God says in Romans chapter
1 verse 28, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge
and therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind. They have
no thoughts for the things of God. I've seen even those folks
on their deathbed have a change of heart. But that's how a lot
of people get through this world. with no interest and no concern
for the things of God or for the salvation of their souls. God says to them, what does it
profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own
soul? What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? Well, there's a lot of folks
that give a lot of things in exchange for their souls. The
second type of person in this world is the religious person
who gives lip service for the things of God, but they've been
deceived by the false prophets to believe lies. False prophets
who will say, peace, peace. Pray this prayer and you can
have peace with God. Join this church and you can
have peace with God. Do this and you can have peace
with God. And so they make a covenant with
death and withheld their in agreement and they go through their lives
being comforted in thinking that they are saved when their salvation
is based on nothing but a lie. God says to them, I will disannul
the covenant that you have made. And, uh, the third type of person in this
world are those who by God's grace cannot find any peace from
the things of this world. And they cannot find any peace
in the works of their own hands or in the message of freewill
religion. They know that there is a God
with whom they must do. And the Lord has put into their
hearts a desire to know the truth about salvation. I believe I'm speaking to some
of those folks this morning. And I hope that we can leave
here with an added comfort and encouragement. Knowing. That the Lord has saved us. For those folks, there's nothing. More important. Nothing more
important than the salvation of their soul and they will not
settle for anything less than a word of truth from God. Peter said to these men, neither
is there salvation in any other for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now, those who have been given
this incomparable need to be saved
above everything else in their life, they have other interests. They might say about this or
that, I'd like to have that. They might even say, you know,
I need that. But above everything else, They know in their heart
of hearts, I must be saved. If God doesn't save me, all is
lost and nothing else, nothing else matters. What is it to be saved? Is it just had the assurance
that I'm going to heaven. I've never been to a funeral
of any religious person where they haven't been preached into
heaven and where they didn't draw their last breath. You hear
religious people say, well, I know I'm going to heaven. I know I'm
saved. And they're basing the hope of their salvation on a
decision that they made or a prayer that they prayed or an aisle
that they walked or something that they did. They've made a
covenant with death and they have, there's no fear of God
before their eyes. And David said in the Psalms,
he says, there's no bands in their death. They draw their
last breath without any burden for their soul, thinking that
they've done what they need to do. Being saved is not just going
to heaven. That's the result of salvation.
And certainly I've never met anybody that wants to go to hell. Never met anybody that doesn't
want to go to heaven. Being saved is much more than
that. It's being justified with God. You remember the story that the
Lord told about the publican and the Pharisee as they were
praying in the temple? And the publican said, I thank
thee, God, that I'm not like other men. He gave God the credit
for the outward evidences of salvation that he had in his
life. He said, I'm not a tithe. He said, I'm not an adulterer. And he looked over at that publican. He said, I'm not like that publican
over there. And then the publican would not so much as look up,
but smote himself upon the breast and said, Oh God, have mercy
upon me, the sinner. And the Lord asked this question.
He said, which of those two went down to his house justified? Now to be justified means that
you have no sin before God. That you stand in the presence
of God faultless, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. That you stand before a holy
God without any guilt, without any shame, without any sin. That's what it is to be, to be
saved. Now the result of that is that
all those found in Christ not having their own righteousness
which is by the law but that righteousness which is by the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity with him
in glory and that will be the result of their salvation. But
the hope of their salvation is in this name that is above every
name. This one that Peter says, neither
is there any other name given among men under heaven, whereby
we must be saved. Notice in this verse 12 of acts
chapter four, that it is it's voiced in the
negative. Neither is there salvation in
any other. The gospel is intolerant to any
other message. It is. You and I live in a world
that believes the only thing that's not tolerated is intolerance. You know, that's, isn't that
the world we live in? And, you know, I suppose there's
probably a need for some folks to have some diversity training
and to learn how to be tolerant with, you know, with other cultures
and other races and other creeds. We're not here to, you know,
to be prejudiced towards anybody. And we're not here to try to
force anybody to see things our way. We're just saying that this
gospel, Neither is there given of God. There's no other way. That's why the Lord Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the
father, but by me. This message of salvation is
completely intolerant to any other message. We're not intolerant
to people. We're intolerant to another gospel. that denies the Lord Jesus Christ,
his glory in salvation. We were not, we're not going
to join voices with the world who were, who, who, who were
expressed in the, in the sentiments of pilot. When the Lord said
for this cause came I into the world. And for this reason was
I born to bear witness unto the truth, the truth. And he said, all they that are
of the truth, they hear my voice and they follow me. And what'd
Pilate say? Truth? Truth? Don't you know that there's nothing,
there's no such thing as truth? Everything's negotiable? Well, our gospel's not. And we
say, we say with Peter, Neither is there salvation in any other. There's no other way to be saved. What is it that we need to be
saved from? If God's put in our hearts, Lord,
I must be saved. I've got to be saved. Whatever
else, Lord, I've got to be saved. Well, there's three things that
we're saved from. And the first thing is that we're saved from
God. We're saved from God. Now, the scripture says that
the natural man has no fear of God. He thinks that, you know,
God's some sort of doting grandfather that's gonna pat everybody on
the head and tell them it's okay. It's not true. Our God is holy.
Our God is just. Our God must punish sin. And
I've got to be saved from God. I've got to be saved from the
wrath that is to come. The Lord Jesus Christ said, don't
be afraid of those who threaten to kill your body, but be afraid,
but rather fear him who has the power and the right to cast both
body and soul into hell. That's the fear of God. John chapter 12, verse 27. Our
Lord said, what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour? No, but for this cause came I
unto this hour. And you remember what the, what
the dissenter said at the foot of the cross, what the, what
the thieves said that were hanging on the cross next to him. If
thou be the son of God, come down, save thyself and save us
also save us. If you think you can do it, if
you and I are going to be saved from the wrath that is to come,
if we're going to be the Lord, Jesus Christ could not come off
the cross. He had to suffer the full wrath
of God's justice. Being saved from God is looking
in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and his successful finished work
of redemption to put away the sins of all of his people once
and for all by the sacrifice of himself. Should I cry, Father, save me?
He did cry that in the garden, didn't he? He said, Father, if
there be any way this cup can pass from me, let it be. Nevertheless,
not my will. There was no other way for the
cup of sin. There was no other way for the bitter dregs of God's
wrath to be spared the Lord Jesus Christ than for him to drink
damnation dry and put away our sins by his own precious shed
blood. As a lamb before the slaughter,
he opened not his mouth. In burying our sins in his body
upon that tree, he bore the full shame and responsibility and
guilt of all the sins of all his elect of every generation
and put them away once and for all. He didn't open his mouth
because two reasons. He was a willing sacrifice. And
he was guilty. He had no defense. The second thing that you and
I need to be safe from. Is ourselves. Ourselves. You remember what? The disciple
said after the Lord had had declared the error of the Pharisees and
the disciples came to him and said, Lord, you've offended them.
You've offended them. And what did the Lord say? Leave
them alone for they'd be blind guides leading the blind and
they're all going to fall into the ditch. The worst thing that
can happen for you and for me is for God to leave us to ourselves. You are your own worst enemy,
and you know that. You know that. Lord, it's my
sin. It's my unbelief. It's it. It's
Lord, you've got to keep me from myself. Pass me not we sing. Oh gentle Savior, hear my humble
cry while on others thou art calling. Do not pass me by. Lord,
I've got to be safe for myself. Lord, if you take your hand off
of me, I'll, I'll, I'll depart. I'll have no interest in the
salvation of my soul. The Lord's very particular about
who he doesn't pass by. You remember when the Lord went
to the pool of Bethesda and the scripture says there were a multitude
of people there halt and lame and blind and crippled. And they
were all around this pool waiting for the angel to come and stir
the water. And yet the scripture says, but there was a certain
man who had been there 38 years. And the Lord looked at that man
and said to him, wilt thou be made whole? Now that be made
whole is the same word as saved. Will thou be saved? That's the
question. Will thou be saved? Will you
be saved from the wrath that is to come? Do you need to be
saved from the justice of God? Do you need to be saved from
yourself? Lord, if you don't save me from
myself, I'll remain unbelieving, I'll remain unconverted, I'll
remain unconcerned for my soul, I'll go the way of the world,
I'll make a covenant with death like the religious folks of this
world, or I'll indulge myself and eat, drink, and be merry
and not concern myself for the life that is to come and for
the things of God. Lord, you're going to have to
save me from myself. And thirdly, Thirdly, those who
say, I must be saved, must be saved from their sins. From their
sins. I, even I, am the Lord and there
is no other savior. And my name is Jesus. For I shall save them from their
sins. We've got to be safe from the
power of sin, don't we? Lord, if you don't, if you don't
save me from the power of sin, sin will overwhelm me. I know
myself well enough to know that I can't, I can't resist sin.
If you don't save me from the penalty of sin, sin will stand
in judgment. The law will stand in judgment
for me against my sin. Or you've got to put my sin away.
Lord, I I need to be delivered from the very presence of sin. What a day that'll be. When will? Send no more. Or that's what
I need to be saved from. I need to be saved from the wrath
of God. I need to be safe for myself and I need to be safe
for my sin and I must be saved. I must be saved. Whatever else,
whatever else might happen, Lord, go back with me to our text in
Acts chapter four. And we'll begin reading in verse
one. And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captains
of the temple, the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved
that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection
from the dead. And they laid hands on them and
put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide.
Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed, and the number
of the men was about 5,000. Now 3,000 were saved just a day
or two before on the day of Pentecost, and now 5,000 more are saved.
The Lord is saving his people. And it came to pass on the morrow
that their rulers and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high
priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as
were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together
at Jerusalem. Now you've got the Pharisees,
you've got the Sadducees, you've got the high priest, you've got
all their family members, all these religious groups which
We're at odds with one another, are now in agreement that we've
got to do away with that message. That message denies us our glory
in salvation. Nothing's changed. The religious
world still stands in opposition against the things of God. And when they set them in the
midst, verse seven, They asked them, by what power or by what
name have you done this? Then Peter filled with the Holy
Ghost said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel,
if we this day be examined of the good deed done unto the impotent
man, by what means he is made whole or he is saved, it's the
same word. That's what you and I have to,
we've got to be made whole. We've got to be justified. We've
got to be made righteous in the presence of God. If there's any
hope, if there's any hope of us entering into his presence
in glory, be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel,
be it known unto you. I don't want to have any ambiguity
about this. I don't want to be, I don't want
you to be confused about this. Now, Peter could have said. When
they ask him, by what power and by what name have you done this
thing? Peter could have said, Jehovah has done this. And they all would have said,
good. Peter could have said, the God of your father, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob has done this. And the people would have said,
good. And Peter would have been speaking the truth. Peter could have said,
the Holy One of Israel has done this. And they would have said,
okay. And nothing would have been untrue
about what Peter said, but what he said would not have been the
truth. It would not have been the truth. Peter said, Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from
the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you saved. I don't want you to have any
question about who I'm preaching. I don't want to compromise the
gospel in any way. Here's the truth, brethren. There's
a lot of true statements being made about our God in religion. And yet the truth of the gospel
is not being preached. They'll say that. God is sovereign. They'll say that Jesus is the
Savior. They'll they'll they'll talk
about faith and they'll talk about grace. But they won't talk
about. For whom? Christ died. And how? dependent sinners are
on the sovereignty of God to regenerate them and to call them
by his grace irresistibly. And they won't talk about the
effectual work of Christ on Calvary's cross. They'll say things like
this, Christ died for everyone that believes. Now that's a true
statement. But why would you say it that
way except that you don't want to offend somebody? Why would
you not say Christ died for those whom God chose according to his
own will and purpose in the covenant of grace before time began? That's who he died for. And he
successfully redeemed them by his shed blood. He saved them
once and for all on Calvary's cross. Why won't they say that? Well, they're trying to get a
gathering, aren't they? trying to build a name for themselves,
or trying to avoid offending anybody. I love, you see, when Peter stood
and was filled with the Holy Ghost, that's how we're to preach. We're to preach filled with the
Holy Ghost. And when the Holy Ghost fills us, he causes us
to speak the truth. We're not going to leave anybody
with any question about what it is we're saying. Yes, Jesus
is the Son of God. And as the Son of God, He is
absolutely sovereign in everything. In creation, in providence, and
most especially in salvation. And God's people love it that
way. They love it that way. Yes, we're sinners. They'll say
that. But they won't tell you that
a sinner is dead in his trespasses and sins, and being spiritually
dead, he's completely unable to do anything for himself. He
can't make a decision. He's dead. He can't pray a prayer. He's dead. God has to breathe
life into his dead soul before he can believe. God has to regenerate
him before he can believe. You see, Peter said, be it known. You're asking me by whose name
this man was healed and made whole and saved? Be it known
unto you. I don't want you to have any
question about this. Be it known unto you without any confusion. Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, It's in, neither is there given
unto men any other name. There's no other way to be saved.
You see, that's the intolerance of the gospel, isn't it? You remember in Luke chapter
four, when our Lord began his public ministry, And he went
to the synagogue in Nazareth where he was raised. He knew
all those folks in that synagogue. Nazareth wasn't a big town. He'd
been there for 30 years and knew everybody. And everybody knew
him. And he went to the synagogue
on the Sabbath as was his custom. And this time he got up and took
the scroll and read from Isaiah chapter 61. which was a declaration
of the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, and said to them
as he closed the scroll, this day, this scripture has been
fulfilled in thy sight. And they wondered at the gracious
words that proceeded out of his mouth. They knew he was different. They thought, could it be? Could
it be that this one we've been watching all these years, could
he be, he's standing up claiming to be the Christ. Could it be?
How wonderful would that be? That the Christ would come from
our little town. And then he closed the book and
he said unto them, in the days of the prophet Elijah, there
were many widows in Israel. And God showed mercy on none
of them, except for of the woman of Sarepta, the Gentile woman. And in the days of the prophet
Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel. And God showed mercy
on none of them, except for Naaman the Syrian. And they went from being amazed
at the words of grace that proceeded out of his mouth and the scripture
says they were filled with wrath. And they took this one to the
edge of the town and would have cast him off the brow of the
hill and he just Slipped away was in his time. Was it, what
changed? What changed? The Lord did for
them exactly what Peter learned how to preach from the Lord.
Be it known unto you this day. Our God is absolutely sovereign. You have no contribution to make
to your salvation. You can't pray a prayer, you
can't work a work, you can't change your life. For there's
no other name given among heaven whereby we must be saved. Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucify,
and whom God raised from the dead to prove that God was satisfied
with what he accomplished on Calvary's cross. And our God
will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy and whom he will,
he will harden. And they were filled with wrath
and nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. The self-righteous
freewill religionist, when they hear this message of salvation,
respond in the same way that Annas and Caiaphas and John and
Alexander and the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They respond the
same way. How did they respond? Well, look. Look at verse 11, this is the
stone which was set it not of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Now we're in the process of building
a building over here. We had some plans, and the contractor
is going according to those plans. We're making a few adjustments
along the way. But 2,000 years ago, if you were to hire a contractor
to build a building, you wouldn't have poured concrete. The walls
would have to be arched, and the weight of the walls would
be held together by what's called a capstone. And as the owner
of the building, the first thing the contractor would do would
be to cut that capstone according to the plans and give that stone
to you. And you would hold on to that
stone until the building was finished. The walls are all shored
up with pipes and sticks and trees, whatever they used, wood.
And then you would come on the last day of construction and
take that capstone and put it in its place. And when the capstone
was put into place, all the shoring could come down and the weight
of the entire building would rest on that capstone. And you
knew, if the capstone fit, that the building was built according
to specifications. And then your contractor gets
paid. Now that's the picture that the
Lord's giving here. The capstone was cut before the building was
ever built. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
capstone. He was cut from eternity past.
He doesn't change. And what Peter's saying to these
religious leaders, you've built your structure, you've built
your house, you've formed your religion, and you've got it all
shored up. with all of your works and all
your religious traditions and all your rights and all your
free will and everything else, you've shored up this building
and now God has brought the capstone and it doesn't fit. And rather
than changing the structure of the building to fit the capstone,
you've thrown the capstone away. And now it's out there in the
yard and it's become a stone of stumbling, a rock of a fence. The stone's not going to change. We're the ones that have to change.
God has to do a work of grace in our hearts to say, for us
to say, Lord, I must be saved. I've got to be saved. And whatever
views or opinions or traditions I have that are not consistent
with the capstone, Lord, Give me, that's what repentance is.
That's what repentance is. You remember on the day of Pentecost
when they were cut to the heart, when they heard the gospel and
they said, what must we do to be saved? And Peter said, repent
and be converted. Your building's all wrong. Everything
about it's wrong. The capstone's been cut by God
to fit the right building. Lord, we must be saved. If we're
going to be saved. We're going to be saved by the
only one that's able to save a center. The only one that's
able to reconcile us before a holy God. The only one that's able
to save us from ourselves and the only one that's able to save
us from our sin. Is this stone that the builders
have rejected? God has made to be the head of
the corner. I'm going to close with one question.
How do I know if I'm safe? How do I know if I'm safe? Scripture
is very clear. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. You see, this is the heavenly,
isn't it? Faith? What is faith? It's looking unto Jesus, the
author and the finisher of faith. It's resting all your hope in
the finished work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the stone which the builders have rejected. Jesus of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. There's
no other name whereby we must be saved. Lord, I've got no place
else to go. I've got all my eggs in one basket. It's not Jesus plus a prayer
I prayed. It's not Jesus plus a work that
I've performed. It's not Jesus plus a change
that I see in my life. A feeling that I've had or experience
that I had or a good work that I performed What did David say? David said, although my house
be not so with God, he wasn't just talking about his messed
up family. And it was as we just mess each other up. Don't we?
Our parents messed us up. We messing our children up. They're
going to mess their children up. Why? Because we're sinners.
David said, although my house be not so with God, but he's
talking about the tabernacle of his flesh. He's talking about
his own righteousness. This house is not like it ought
to be. Yet he has made with me. You see, that's in contrast with
you made a covenant with God. You made a promise. No, he made
a covenant with me. And this covenant is ordered
in all things and it's sure. And David said, this is all my
salvation and all my desire. I've got no place else to go.
Christ is everything. Christ is all I can't. I can't. How do I know I'm saved? Because
I'm believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope that
I have before God. And if he didn't save me 2000
years ago on Calvary's cross, I will not be saved. If he did not save me, if he
did not put away my sin, if he does not stand in my stead before
God, if he's not all my righteousness and all my justification before
God, I'm hell bound. Cause I've got no other option.
I've got no other plea. I've got no other place to go.
That's what faith is. Faith is believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ alone for all our salvation. Remember the last word David
said? Though he make it not to grow. Though he make it not to
grow. The child of God doesn't look
at their life and see themselves growing in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ and think, well, I know I'm saved because look at my
life. Look how much better I'm getting. No, the child of God
looks at their lives and say, you know, I don't see any growth
at all. I don't see any growth. The more
I see of His light and glory, the more I see of my own sin.
Don't you love when the Lord said that when He separates the
sheep from the goats on the Day of Judgment, that's part of being
saved. And He says to the to the goats,
the ones that aren't saved. He said, I was hungry and you
didn't feed me. I was in prison, you didn't come visit me. I was
a stranger, you didn't take me in. I was naked, you didn't clothe
me. And what did they say? What did they say? What did they
say? Lord, when did we see you that
way? For we've been preaching in your
name, and we've been prophesying in your name, and we've been
doing many wonderful works in your name. Why don't we go down
to the soup kitchen once a week, and we go to the clothing closet,
and we do this and that? All the things that the unbeliever
is looking to as the evidence of their salvation. And the Lord
says to them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. He calls what they were calling
their evidence of salvation, iniquity. And then he turns to
the sheep and he says the same thing to them. Only he says,
you know what? I was naked and you clothed me. I was hungry and you fed me. I was in prison and you came
and visited me. I was a stranger and you took
me in. And what does the sheep say?
Lord, when did we do that? The sheep aren't taking notice
of what they're doing. Lord, when did we do that? And
what's the Lord say? In that you did it to the least
of these my brethren, you did it unto me. Now here's the truth. What are we doing right now?
Every time we come together, every time we open God's word,
every time we preach Christ, what are we doing? We are clothing
the naked. We are feeding the hungry. We are taking in the stranger.
We are delivering the captive. And it's not just the man behind
this pulpit that's doing it. Preaching the gospel is a is
is as much hearing as it is speaking. OK. So. The child of God as a
part of the body of Christ, what's the body of Christ doing worldwide
wherever they meet? What are they doing? Their clothing
the naked. They're feeding the hungry. Are
we taking notice of it as a good work that we've done? Now now
we're just doing what God's put on our hearts to do. And the
Lord is. blessing his children saying
to them, you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did
it unto me. You see, if there's any evidence of faith,
it is the preaching of the gospel. That's why the scripture says,
I believed, therefore I have spoken. It's the clear declaration of
the gospel that gives evidence to faith. And the child of God,
child of God, tell me this in your experience, the times when
you know more sure than any other time that you're saved is when
you're listening to the gospel. That true? And to some degree,
it's the only time you know for sure. When you can say, amen,
that's my experience, that's what I believe, that's who I
believe, that's my hope. And if that's what the scripture
says, then so be it. I believe, therefore I have spoken. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there is none other name under heaven whereby
we must be saved. Our merciful Heavenly Father.
Thank you for your word. Thank you for your dear son.
Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Increase our faith. We ask it
in Christ name. Amen. The time. Spiral hymnal number 11. Let's stand together. ? With broken heart and contrite
side ? ? A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry ? ? Thy pardoning
grace is rich and free ? ? O God, be merciful to me ? I smite upon my troubled breast
With deep unconscious guilt oppressed Christ and His cross my only
plea O God, be merciful to me No works nor deeds that I have
done can for a single sin atone. To Christ the Lord alone I flee. O God, be merciful to me. ? And when redeemed from sin and
hell ? ? With all the ransomed throng I dwell ? ? My raptured
song shall ever be ? ? God has been merciful to me ? Yeah.