I want you to turn with me this
evening to the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, and I'm going
to read a passage of Scripture here and use it for my text. Acts chapter 16 and verse number
30. A very familiar passage of Scripture
with all who are by in any sense of the word familiar with the
Scriptures, you're familiar with this one. You've heard it over
and over and over and read it many times and heard it used
as a text and all, and we'll use it as a text here this evening
and try to ask four questions from this particular verse of
Scripture. You know, when a man gives evidence,
of being awakened by the Holy Spirit and brought to inquire,
what must I do to be saved? We have the answer in this text
from the inspired words of the Apostle Paul. Now, let me just
kind of say a few words about this state of being awakened. Now, all men are not awakened. Those that are awakened have
been brought to bow to the rule and government and discipline
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been made to agree
with God in regard to who they are and who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. Every man by nature, by nature,
now he's born this way, every man, and I mean every man in
an absolute sense, universally, speaking, every man who is born
into this world is born dead by nature in trespasses and in
sins. We touched on that a little bit
this morning, but I want to bring that to your attention here this
evening. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 1 it says,
And you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. So every man, By nature, every
man by nature is an enemy of God. Every man by nature despises
God. That is by nature. And every
man by nature is alienated from God. Every man by nature is an
enemy of God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, not just towards God's attributes, But the carnal mind, which is
the natural mind, is enmity, and that word enmity means hostility. He is hostile towards God. Now I'm saying this, brethren,
when a man gives evidence, when he gives evidence of being awakened
from that dead state, by the Holy Spirit of God and brought
to inquire of us or somebody else, what must I do to be saved? Well, I say we have the answer
from the text here. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved in thy house. Now the answer is so old
that with many it seems to be out of date. And it's so simple
that with many it seems to be not enough. But it's still always
and will always be new and be fresh. And it's the only way
to God. And there's no man or men or
ecclesiastical groups or denominations that can devise a better answer. He that believeth on the Son
hath life, and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see
life. The text is this, and brought
them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they
said, in unison, I believe, Paul in silence, they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus. Now let me point this out to
you. Jesus doesn't save anybody. Now
hold on, preacher, you're going too far. You say, Jesus doesn't
save anybody. No, sir, it is the Lord, Jesus
Christ. That's who saves. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved in thy house. Question number one that
arises from the text is this. You've got to know this. You
ever wind up, if any of us here this evening ever winds up at
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, In eternity to come, we're going
to have to know the answer to this question. Here's one question
you're going to have to answer. You're going to have to know
the answer to. It's not optional with you. You don't have three
choices here. What do you call that, Pat? Multiple
choice. Is that it? Multiple choice.
You've got three different answers. You've got a variation, an option
there. Check one of the three. No, sir. There's just one answer to this
question. You've got to know it. You've
got to know it. This is the question. Who is
Jesus of Nazareth? These fellows, here was a fellow
that was in jail, two fellows in jail, and had miraculously
delivered from their captors. They were in prison. It looked like their lives were
about to be wound up. And they were miraculously delivered
by God. And the jailer, about to kill
himself, and they said, Do thyself no harm. And he fell down at
their feet and cried out, What must I do to be saved? And they
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus of
Nazareth? I'm telling you, this evening,
you've got to know the answer to that question. Not from the
top of your head, but in your heart. You've got to know who
Jesus of Nazareth is. Who is he? He is the Christ. He's the Christ, the Messiah,
the Son of God, the Savior of those that believe. The scriptures
say and reveal beyond a shadow of a doubt that the living God
is a triune God. That's what the Scriptures say.
It doesn't make any difference what people say. We're interested
in what the Bible says. We're interested in what the
Scriptures say. And the Scriptures say that the
living God, I'm not talking about the God of my imagination, or
the God of your imagination, or some fictitious God. I'm talking
about the God of the Bible. I'm talking about the living
God. The Scriptures reveal that the living God is a triune God. Three in one. the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Now, the Bible says, God said,
let us make man. That is in the first chapter
of the book of Genesis. Let us make man. In 1 John chapter
5 and verse number 7, the Word of God declares there are three
There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. In John chapter 1 and verse 14
it says, in the beginning, or this is verse number 1, John
chapter 1, verse number 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And it says,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full
of grace and full of truth. My soul, who is Jesus? Jesus Christ is God manifest
in the flesh. That's who He is. That little
baby, when the angels first began to preach the gospel at the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that little baby that was in that
manger with those swaddling clothes, that little old fourteen, sixteen,
I don't know how long that baby was, that little old baby. That
little old baby there was none other, now listen to me, that
little old baby that was in that manger there, born of that virgin,
that little old baby was none other, listen to me, none other
than God in the flesh. That was God Almighty over all
and above all, and there's none like unto Him in the flesh. God in the flesh. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God in the flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was
God. Who is Jesus? He's the Christ,
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. He's God manifest in the
flesh. God sent His Son into the world
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, made of a one, made under
the law, and Jesus Christ said, I and my Father are one. Now to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to believe that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe, now listen, if
you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins. John 8 and 24 says this is the
same I am in the I am of the exodus. When John 8 and 24 says,
I am, I am that I am. If ye believe not that I am,
if you don't believe that, if you don't believe that I am,
ye shall die in your sins. You see, I said this is the same
I am of Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14 when God said to Moses,
I am that I am. I am that I am. Who shall I say? Moses said to God. when he was
sending Moses to the fire. Who shall I say sent me? What
authority will I give for my doing what I'm about to do? He
said, say, that I am that I am hath sent thee. And Jesus said,
if you believe not that I am, The Lord Jesus Christ is the
I Am of the book of Exodus. He is the I Am of the Old Testament. He is the God of the Old Testament. When Jesus Himself said, before
Abraham was, I Am, Jesus Christ the Lord, He is not just a messenger
of God, a religious reformer, a prophet. He is Emmanuel, God
with us. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? God,
manifest in the flesh. It is with Him you and I have
to do. It's with Him. is appointed unto
man once to die. And then the judgment, and the
judgment we have to do with Him, the I Am, God, manifests in the
flesh. What did Jesus of Nazareth do? What did He do? Time would not permit us to tell
everything that He did. Well, the Bible said that liars
couldn't contain all the acts of our Lord Jesus Christ here
in time. What did Jesus of Nazareth do? Well, you say, He healed the
sick. He did. You're right. He healed
the sick. He was a kind and compassionate
man. He was. He was a gentle man,
forceful man, godly. He was all that. What did Jesus
of Nazareth do? He did what no other man has
done or will ever do. What did he do, preacher? Well,
the Apostle Paul says in his writings, And in the four
Gospels it says this, in answer to the question, what did Jesus
of Nazareth do? He did what no other man has
ever done or ever can do. Four words. He pleased the Father. That's what He done. He pleased
the Father! The Bible says, They that are
in the flesh cannot please God. Can I read that to you? They
that are in the flesh cannot please God. Are you in the flesh
tonight? Am I in the flesh tonight? That's
right. Can I please God in the flesh? Can you please God in
the flesh? Let's find out. I believe Romans
chapter 8 and verse number 8. It's easy to remember that. That's
a good verse of Scripture for you to remember. Underscore this
with your pen. Underscore it right here. Romans
chapter 8 and verse number 8. The Bible says this, So then
they that are in the flesh cannot, please God, It does not say if
they live to be a certain age, there is a possibility that they
might please God. But it says that if a man is
in the flesh, he cannot, he cannot. It is impossible for a man in
the flesh to please God. What did Jesus of Nazareth do?
He did what no other man has ever done or ever can do. He
pleased God. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was
in the flesh and he pleased God. Do you get that? Jesus Christ
was in the flesh and he pleased God. For the Scriptures say,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. That's what
the Bible says. Alright, he pleased the Father
because though being tempted in all points, he was without
sin. He knew no sin, neither was there
any guile or deceit found in Him. In the flesh, our Lord Jesus
Christ was subject to the ceremonial law, He was subject to the moral
law, He was subject to the law of the home, He was subject to
the law of the land, He was subject to the law of love, He was tried
by Satan, He was tried by man, and he was tried by God, and
the final verdict was, I find no fault in him. His work was not yet done. He must die. He must die. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was
without sin, must die. He must die as all those whom
he represents and with whom he is numbered deserves to die and
must die under the wrath of Almighty God. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up to
die, to die, to die. Oh, who or what did Jesus of
Nazareth do? He pleased God. That's what he
did. He pleased God Almighty. Everything he did in his life
and death was according to the Old Testament Scriptures. Let
me read something to you here in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, if you care to look with me. If not, just hold your
finger there. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
verses 1 to 4. Listen to what I'm saying now.
Everything he did in his life and in his death was according
to the Old Testament Scriptures. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory, what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures." According to the Scriptures.
He was buried and He rose again the third day. according to the
Scriptures. So everything he did in his life
and in his death was according to the Scriptures. You see, He
was betrayed, He was denied, He was despised, He was rejected,
He was spit upon, He was nailed to a cross between two thieves,
He was deserted by His Father Himself. He said, My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He was abandoned by God. He was numbered with the transgressors. He made his soul an offering
for sin. He was buried and rose again. He fulfilled every type, every
picture, and every symbol set forth in the law of Moses. To
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to believe that He is the
Christ the Redeemer who fulfilled all things according as it is
written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and in the Psalms
concerning Him. That's what He did. Why did Jesus
Christ of Nazareth do these things? Why did He do them? Why? That's a good question. The answer
is found here in the Bible, Romans chapter 3, verse 26. This is the answer to the question. Romans 3 and 26. Why did Jesus of Nazareth do these things? Alright, in Romans 3 and 26 it
says, God's righteousness, that God
might be just and justify him which believeth in Jesus. Now hear me here this evening.
God is love. We talked about that this morning,
didn't we, there in 1 John chapter 4. That God is love. God is love. Absolutely. God is love. And His love will be expressed
and manifested, but not at the expense of His justice. God will
not manifest, display His mercy at the expense of His justice.
His justice must be satisfied. It must be. It has to be satisfied
or God must give up being God. That's all they are to. Alright,
God is merciful. and he delights to show mercy,
but not in such a way that his righteousness is compromised. He will not compromise his righteousness. The Lord is long-suffering and
of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no
means Will he clear the guilty? So if mercy then is shown to
me, listen to me now, if mercy is shown to me, it must meet
and satisfy the truth of God's justice. If I ever become the
recipient of the mercy of God, if I ever, then it must meet
the truth and satisfy truth. If peace is granted to me or
granted to you, it must be in agreement with God's righteousness,
God's holiness, and God's justice. In Psalm 85 and verse number
10. There's a verse, let me read
it, so I'll be not misquoting. In Psalm 85 and verse number
10, look, let me read it for you. Listen, mercy and truth are met
together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. All right, what it's saying is
saying this, if God accepts a man, that man must have a perfect
righteousness before the law. If God accepts a man, if you
and I are ever saved, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. If we're saved, if our souls
are saved, saved, S-A-V-E-D, if we're ever
saved, if we're ever accepted by God,
it will be on the basis of a perfect righteousness before His law. That's all they are to it. There's
no other way. No other way. If God accepts
a man, that man must have a perfect righteousness before His law.
In Jesus Christ, believers have a perfect righteousness. For in the flesh, He pleased
God. He honored the law for every
believer. Can I make good on that? Turn
with me to Romans chapter 5. Chapter 5 and verse 19. Keep
in mind now what we've said. Why did Jesus of Nazareth do
these things? To declare God's righteousness,
that God might be just and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
I've said if God accepts a man, that man must have a perfect
righteousness before the Lord. I mean perfect! I don't mean,
you say, well I'm doing the best I can, it's not good enough.
Well, I haven't sold anything, I haven't done this, I haven't
done that. Have you kept every jot and every tittle of God's
law? Have you done that? You know
you haven't? You know you haven't? You've
lied to God ten million times. You've lied to yourself, you've
lied to your brethren, you've lied to your mother, you've lied
to your father, you've lied, you've cheated, you've stealed,
you've dishonored God, you're a transgressor, you're a sinner,
a guilty sinner before God, and on the basis of your own righteousness,
brethren, you ought to have been in hell fifty years ago. You
see what I'm talking about? If a man is accepted by God,
he must be perfect before God's law. You can't do that in yourself. You can't do it in yourself.
You've got no righteousness. You're dead towards God, dead
in trespasses and in sins. Your righteousness, not before
you were saved. We mentioned it this morning.
I said your righteousness is as filthy rags. Most people say,
well, that means before I was saved. That means right now. That means the best righteousness
that you can muster up. The very best moment, the very
best second that you've ever had in your life, the holiest
contemplation that you've ever had in your heart is our filthy
rags before God Almighty. You've got no righteousness.
You depend on your righteousness, you'll split hell wide open.
You better have a righteousness before God that will honor God's
law. 100 percent. Absolute. You better have it. Only one
place you can have it. You can find it. Only one place.
You can't find it in yourself. Keep looking in yourself and
see what you find. Disappointment and heartache.
That's all you'll find looking in yourself. Broken promises.
Good intentions, but good intentions are never realized. You'll find
all of them in yourself. You'll find blackness. You'll
find what John found when he looked into the sepulcher. All
he found was the evidences of death. That's all you'll find
as you look in. The evidences of death. Listen to what it says. I'm saying, brethren, I have
said, in Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ to believe Him. Paul said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Believe on Him, and thou shalt
be saved." The man that believes on Him, the man who has come
to the end of himself, the man who sees himself guilty before
God, the man who has fallen down at the court of mercy and said,
Lord, Lord, have mercy upon me. Have mercy. You don't have to.
You don't have to show mercy, Lord, but you can if you will.
That man, that man who believes on Jesus. That man whom the Lord
has quickened him, that man whom the Lord has touched, that man
who looked at him and said, Live! And that man lived. I'm talking
about that fellow. You see, in Christ, in Christ,
in Christ, the man who believes. He has a perfect righteousness
before the law. How's that? How's that? In the
flesh, I can't please God. How can I have a perfect righteousness
before the law? Well, I said in Christ. In Christ. For in the flesh, in the flesh
now, the Lord Jesus Christ pleased God. You couldn't, but He did. He learned all sin. You see,
he pleased God and honored the law for every believer. Every believer that has ever
believed and those that shall believe. Our Lord Jesus Christ
stood as their representative. He stood in their stead, their
place, their room, and bore in His body the penalty, the punishment
that was due them, and by His righteousness, by His imputation
of righteousness, made them accepted in the Beloved. Can I make good
on it? Yes, sir. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Oh, my soul, if God ever receives
a man into his fellowship. That man's sin must be punished
by death. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. Jesus Christ, our substitute,
our sin offering, died in our stead, satisfying fully all that
God's justice required. We are holy then and unblameable
in His sight. Why? Because we have His righteousness. Because our sins have been paid
for by Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we are holy and unblameable
in His sight because our sins have been paid for and by His
stripes we are healed and God can be just and completely justify
all for whom Christ died. The obedience and death of the
Lord Jesus Christ was not a display of love and sacrifice to impress
men, but it was unto the Lord, and it was before the Lord. It
was God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. O my soul, we in our hearts will
be reconciled to God when the Holy Spirit of God regenerates
us and sheds abroad in our hearts a love for God Almighty and not
into Him. Lastly, what or where is Jesus
of Nazareth now? Where is He now? All right, Acts
chapter 5, verses 30 and 31 says this. It says, "...the God of
our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a
tree." You thought that that's all there was to Jesus. We're
done with Him. We're done with Him. We've taken
plans. We've taken a time to devise
a plan and a scheme to rid the earth of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we'll kill Him. We'll kill Him. That's what the
religious people of the day, that's what the chief priests
and the scribes and the Pharisees, they all ganged together and
they made a plan. They said, we'll kill Him. We'll
get rid of Him. They hated Him. They despised
Him. We'll get rid of Him. And so
they killed him. They killed him. They killed
the blessed God. Killed God! Can you imagine that? They killed God! Killed God! You say, man left
to himself, pretty good fellow, he'll go to him. Left to himself,
he'll kill God! Man left to himself! If God relinquishes
His divine constraint upon this world, they'd gobble one another
up. When God relinquished divine
constraint upon the hearts of those people at that time, you
know what happened? Did they love God? They said,
we're glad you come. Jesus, we're so glad you come
visit with us. We're glad. Know what they said?
Here's what they said. They said, God Almighty, if we
could get to you, we'd show you how we feel. We can't get to
you. The nearest that we can get to you is your son. We'll
get to you through your son. We're going to send a message
back to you. The God of Abraham and the God
of Isaac and the God of Jacob. We're going to send a message
back to you. What's the message? The message is that we hate you.
We hate you. We're going to kill your son.
We're not killing. We despise Him. We do not have
Him to reign over us. Ah, the necessity. Can you see
the necessity of having the finger of God in your heart to bring
you into a condition of loving Him? In your unregenerate state,
you're just like that. You hate God. You despise the
very name of Him. You may not admit it. You won't
admit it. You won't admit it until God
brings you to the end of yourself. See, you're guilty. But in your
heart you hate God, you despise God, and if you could, you'd
kill Him. You'd kill Him. You wish, you wish in your hollow,
remotest schemes and dreams, you wish that it was true that
God Almighty was dead, that there'd be no judgment, there'd be no
day of account, no day of reckoning, that you could go scot-free and
wouldn't have to answer for your crimes against God. Oh, but not
so. I'm trying to emphasize and impress
upon us here this evening, brethren, the awfulness of the state of
the unregenerate heart that hates God, hates God. Left to ourselves,
we'd kill God if we could. Listen, where's he at now? It
says, the God of our fathers. raised up Jesus, whom ye slew,
and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand, to be a prince and a Savior, for to give repentance
to Israel, and the forgiveness of sins." Well, I'll tell you,
where he is now. He is seated, he is seated having
finished the work that the Father has given him to do at the right
hand of the majesty on high, and he is our great high priest
who intercedes for us. He is the one mediator between
God and man. Is this My brethren, the living
God, it certainly is. It's the living God who has the
authority over all flesh, who gives eternal life to as many
as the Father has given Him. And this eternal life is to know
by experience God Almighty through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we say we believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, We are confronting men with a living, sovereign
Lord alive forevermore, reigning at the right hand of the pauper,
given authority now and forever, having been exalted and installed
there by the way of the blood of the cross. And no man will
ever come to God except by this man, the Lord Jesus Christ. What must I do to be saved? Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ. May God Himself write this in
our hearts. Oh, may God burn these answers
to these four questions into our souls. May God cross our
paths tonight. May He cross our paths. and may
he create an interest in our hearts for the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us no peace, no
rest, no comfort until we seek his face and find peace in the
cross, find peace in the living Savior, a living God, the Lord
Jesus Christ.