I want you to turn to the book
of Acts, chapter 16, I believe it was. I want you to turn there
again this evening. Acts, chapter 16, verses 30 and
31, I believe it was. Yeah, Acts chapter 16, verses
30 and 31. And we endeavored to talk to you a little bit about those two verses and a
few other things that we want to say here this evening about
them. And I told you the background, what prompted this man to say, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? That's the 30th verse. He said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What prompted the man to say
that? The man had experienced somewhat of a demonstration of
the creative power of Almighty God. He had two men locked up
in jail. These men were righteous men,
Christian men, missionaries, men who had been called of God
to spread the gospel throughout the whole world. They were arrested
for no other crime than preaching the gospel, and while they were
there at the midnight hour, they began to sing and to pray. Of
course, the only man on the scene was this jailer. Of course, kind
of an earthquake-type situation came about, and the doors of
the jail sprang open, and these men could have—shackles fell
from their feet, and they could have walked away as free men,
but they didn't go anywhere, and this fellow hollered at him
and tried to find him and so forth. But anyhow, he decided
maybe he was going to kill himself, and of course, Paul and Silas
being there said, do yourself no harm, said, we're right here.
And so he seemed they were there, and he'd heard somewhat of the
gospel and somewhat of Almighty God, and he felt the necessity
in his own soul that something must be done in order that he
stand justified before God. He had this he had this awful
guilty feeling of his own sins. And so he said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? What must I do? That's the question. What must I do to be saved? Now,
had this question been addressed to the first genius upon earth,
unacquainted with the gospel, it could not have been answered.
Had it been put to all of the great philosophers of ancient
times, one by one, and to all of the learned doctors among
the Jews, none of them could have resolved it to any good
purpose. The question is, what must I
do to be saved? Now, the learned doctors among
the Jews could not have resolved it, the first genius upon the
earth could not have resolved it, even amidst all of the boasted
light of modern times, can a single unbeliever be found who would
be able to know what to do with this question. Yet, it's a question which arises in almost everyone's
mind at one period in his life or another. What's the question? What must I do to be saved? And it's a question that must
be resolved or we'll be lost forever. Now, that's important,
isn't it? What I've said is important.
This question must be answered. It must be resolved or we'll
be lost throughout time and throughout the forever to come if we can't
answer this question. Learned doctors couldn't answer
it. They can't be found on the face
of the earth right now. A single unbeliever who can cope
with this question, he can't do it. He can't do it. It's an
important question. Is it possible this evening that
this important question has already occupied some of our minds, come about through an alarming sermon that we heard,
or come about because of a hint from some faithful friend in
regard to our undying, never-dying soul. or because there's been
a death in the family, or we've had some impressive dream, or
something has taken place in our lives by way of experience
that shocked us into reality, and the question, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved, has occupied our mind. If it's occupied our mind to
a degree, Then I'm sure there's been some questions that have
went through our minds and there has been some statements that
we've made, something about like this. We probably wish that we
were never born. When we are confronted with the
reality of truth in regard to our never-dying soul, one of
the first things we wish for is that we were never born. I
wish that I was never born. I wish that I'd never came to
this place. I wish that I'd never grew up
and went to school and been educated and had any intelligence about
me that I could be confronted with this so serious question,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? I wished I'd never been born.
John Bunyan said, I wished I had been born a toad. This question occupied the mind
of John Bunyan. As he walked the road at night,
a hot toad jumped up in front of him. He'd been dwelling on
this question. He'd been dwelling on the fact
that he must face eternity. And unless something took place
between that particular time and eternity, he knew he would
be forever lost. And he said he wished that he
had never been born. He said, I wish that I was a
toad. I wish that I was that pool of water there that could
not make any response. He said, I wish that I could
shrink back into nonexistence. I wish that I did not have to
face this awful question. He said, that's what I wish. I wish I'd never been confronted
with it. I wish that I'd never heard a preacher. I wish that
I'd never went to church. I wish that the Bible had never
been written. I wish that there was no God. But I must answer,
too. You see, dear hearts this evening,
if something has alarmed you, a sermon, a hint from a faithful
friend, a death in the family, anything, some word dropped by
a passerby, and this has occupied your mind, You know what I'm
talking about. You've experienced some of these
thoughts. You wish to God that you'd have died before you made
your first cry as you come from your mother's womb. You wish
to God that the doctor had not announced to your parents that
a man-child had been born to this family. You wish that that
child had been born dead without life. My soul, let me tell you
this, If you never resolved this question, it'd have been better
if you was born a toad. It'd have been better if you
was born as a pool of water. It'd have
been better if you'd have died. If they'd have put a millstone
around your neck and threw you off the bridge and drowned you
at birth. I know that that's terrible.
That's terrible. But that's how important this
question is. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Well, now listen. You know, this
business of these thoughts that I'm talking about, that wished
you'd never been born, wished you'd do as anything but a man,
I wish that I was a horse, I wish that I was a snake, I wish that
I was a coon. I wish I was that, and I wish
I was that, and something else. You're aware that this is all
in vain. It's all in vain. Wish all you want to. Wish all
you want to. Have fond dreams. Let your imagination
wander and console yourself. Somehow something may take place
and you'll escape all this. But this is all in vain. It's all in vain. You must go
forward. You must die. You exist. You exist. You're a living soul.
You're a living soul. You and I, we're alive. We have
a soul. We have something that beats
within this framework of flesh. I don't know exactly how to explain
it. It's certainly a mystery, but
there's a soul there in the framework of this flesh. Somehow, somewhere
there's a soul that exists, and we exist, and we live and move. We cannot shrink back into non-existence. We cannot be a frog or a hog
or a dog. We are what we are. We face it.
We've got to resolve this question. God help us that we resolve it.
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? You mean, what must I do? What can I make myself acceptable
unto God? Is that the answer to the question?
Must I quit this habit or quit that habit? Must I present myself? and my good works unto God, will
that make me acceptable unto God? Is that the answer to the
question, what must I do to be saved? Would it be all right
if I was baptized and joined the church and take the Lord's
Supper? What if I had to quit my vile habits? What if I would
start treating my wife nice? What if I'd treat my neighbors
and their people fine? What if I'd do all those things? It wouldn't help you one single
solitary bit in the resolving of this question. It wouldn't
do it. Let me read something to you
here. In the book of 1 Corinthians, if you want to turn over there
to the book of 1 Corinthians. Chapter 9, I believe it is. I
want you to see this. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. And verse 16, I want to tell you a few things
here. We'll get around to this question again in just a minute
now. And at the 16th verse, the Apostle says, For though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. I don't have anything
to glory of. Why? For necessity is laid upon
me. I must preach the gospel. Yea,
or yes, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." Now, what's
he talking about? He's talking about the importance
of the gospel because the gospel is going to resolve the question.
First, what must I do to be saved? First, even the importance of
it. Woe is unto me if I preach not this gospel. Why? Because
this gospel is going to answer some questions. When answered
the question, that fellow over there, sirs, what must I do to
be saved? I guess I wish that I had the
ear of every preacher in the world right now, not that I deserve
to preach to preachers, not that I think that I can preach down
to anybody, but I wish I had the ear of every preacher in
the world right now. I know that this is so. Whether
denominations and programs and religious leaders agree with
me or not, I know that this is so. It doesn't matter if a little
child said it. It doesn't matter if an ignorant
person says it. Paul said it first. The Holy
Spirit of God inspired him to write. Woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel." I'm in trouble, real trouble, and I can't think
of any crime that can be committed that would be more terrible than
to be encrusted with the immortal souls of men and women and boys
and girls bound to eternity entrusted with their soul Sunday
after Sunday, Wednesday night after Wednesday night, and stand
up here and waste precious time talking about myself, talking
about social problems, talking about denominational problems,
talking about my idea, talking about what's right and what's
wrong, when there's people that sits
before me that may be in hell before next Sunday rolls around. I'll tell you that's a crime.
Isn't that a crime for men and women? To be entrusted to the hands
of a preacher and he wastes time with foolishness, singing little
songs, doing little tricks, entertaining the people. When this great question
must be resolved, what must I do to be saved? Man has an opportunity. We was
talking about funerals here a little bit ago. If a man has an opportunity
to preach at a funeral, there's only one thing that he can preach.
Only one thing. Not two things. He has no alternative.
Only one thing that he can preach at the funeral. Preach the gospel. That's all. If he has the baccalaureate
service at the high school, there's only one thing that he can preach.
That's the gospel. If he's called upon by some civic
group to make a talk, there's only one subject, there's only
one thing that he can preach. That's the gospel. Nothing else,
just the gospel. Why? Because the gospel answers
the question. Sir, what must I do to be saved? I can't think of a more awful
crime against society than to deceive people who are given
to us to instruct in the things of God. I got to preach the gospel. That's all they are to us. Paul
said he had to preach it. He said, Woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. Woe is unto me if I don't preach
it. God have mercy, and he won't have mercy if I don't preach
it. You can mark that down. He just won't have mercy. The
Scriptures say, woe unto Sodom, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
woe unto the Christ crucifiers of Jerusalem, but double woe
unto preachers and shepherds and pastors of God's people who,
for advantage, for filthy lucre, take advantage of them and not
preach the gospel. Oh, God help him, but he won't.
God won't help them. Man don't preach the gospel that's
been called of God to preach the gospel. God won't help him. You can say, God have mercy on
his soul, all you want to, but God won't have mercy on his soul.
He won't do it. As they carry him through the
churchyard gates out to the graveyard, you can say, blessed is he that
dieth in the Lord. But you're talking about a lost
man. You're talking about a lost soul. That doesn't change anything.
God will never have mercy on that fellow that doesn't preach
the gospel. Oh, that's an important question
that must be resolved. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now, if you want to play games,
and I know most of you don't want that. If you want to play
games, you play them someplace else. Don't play them here, because
I'm not going to play no games. Now, I'm not being smart either.
No, sir. God help me. If you want to play
games, you play them someplace else. You ain't going to play
no games here, because I'm not going to play no games. I'm going
to try to answer the question. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
I'm going to try to preach the gospel. I'm not going to play
no games. I'm not going to give out no green stamps for people
to come to church. Oh no, I'm not going to give
out any awards on Sunday because a fellow never missed a Sunday
in order to entice him to come to church. I'm not going to do
that. I'm not going to play no games. I'm going to preach the gospel. Woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. That's one reason why
I'm going to preach it. You say, well, you're afraid
not to. Well, you can say that. You can say that and believe
it. You can say that and believe it. I'm too dumb to preach anything
else. I won't preach anything else even if I could preach anything
else because woe is unto me. That's what the Scripture says
to me. Woe is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. It's woe unto
me. God help me, but he won't help
me if I don't preach the gospel. See? I'm going to preach as a
dying man to dying men. I'm preaching as one who may
never preach again. I may never preach. It may be
the last time. So I'm going to tell the truth. If you're going
to preach the gospel, you've got to tell the truth. You've
got to tell the truth about God. You've got to tell the truth about man.
And you've got to tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ if
you're going to preach the gospel. So I may never preach again.
But I've got something to tell you too, you see. I've got something
to say to everyone else. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel, but woe unto you if you believe not the gospel,
you see. Woe unto you if you don't believe
it. Woe unto me if I don't preach it, but woe unto you if you don't
believe it, you see. Now, I know you may not understand
it, and it may not fit into your tradition. It may not fit into
your pattern. It may not fit into your denominational
program and so forth, but that doesn't make any difference.
I'm sure that if it's the gospel, it won't fit into your pattern
of life and to what you believe and to your traditions. I'm sure that, in all probability,
it won't be what your mother told you or what your father
told you. But your father and your mother, in all probability,
wasn't called of God to preach the gospel, and the difference
is that I am. I've been called of God to preach the gospel.
Your mother wasn't. Your neighbor wasn't. I was.
See, I was, so I'm telling you the truth. What will you have
done to me if I preached not the gospel? What will you have
done to you if you don't believe it?" See? What did Paul say to
that fellow? What did he say? "'Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?' That's what that fellow said. "'Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?' Paul and Silas, in unison, said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. See,
I said, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto you
if you don't believe the gospel. Now, I'm willing to take my medicine.
I'm willing to take mine. You're willing to take yours
if you don't believe it. I'm going to preach it. I'm going
to preach it. Wherever I go, I'm going to preach the gospel.
I do it. These people tell you, most everybody here will tell
you, wherever I go, I preach the gospel. I may not know much
of anything else. But I know the gospel, and I
preach the gospel everywhere I go. I don't say that braggingly
or boastingly, or that's all I know. And I preach it. And
if I don't preach it, God help me, but he won't help me. And
if you don't believe it, God help you, but he won't help you.
See what I'm talking about? What is the gospel? Well, the
gospel says the George Center. That's what the gospel says.
The gospel declares in no uncertain terms that all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. Not all, but you. But all. Absolutely all. That's what the
gospel says. The gospel says that all men
have violated the command of God Almighty and all men stand
as sinners before him, hopeless and helpless and doomed and damned.
That's what the gospel says. The gospel says that no man can
come to God except by and through faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the gospel says.
The gospel also says that you don't have faith. The gospel
says that you don't have faith. I don't care what people say.
People say, well, every man has faith. The gospel says no man
has faith. He doesn't have faith. The gospel says you cannot come
to God except by and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How am I going to get that faith? You haven't got it. You haven't
got it. And here's another thing that
the gospel says. The gospel says that you haven't got that faith,
and you can't make God come across with it. That's what it says.
And God's not obligated in any way to give it to you. You see,
here's what the gospel does, brethren. The gospel strips a
man of every single solitary thing that he might cling to.
It takes everything away from him. It just strips him naked.
He hasn't got anything. He hadn't got anything, and all
he could do is fall and sue for mercy at the court of God. That's
all he could do because God stripped him of everything else. He showed
him his helplessness. He told him, he said, well, you
haven't got nothing. You haven't got nothing that you can present
to me that would be acceptable. You haven't got no faith. You
haven't got no faith. I've got the faith, and you'll
never have it unless I give it to you. See, that's what the
gospel says. Faith is a gift of God. If you
don't believe that, read Ephesians chapter 2, verse number 10, and
you'll see that faith is a gift of God. God gives faith. He doesn't
give faith to everybody, but he gives faith. He's given faith
now to people. And if I was lost, if I was lost
before God for the lack of love to Jesus Christ our Lord, I'll
tell you what I'd do. I'd sue for mercy at the court
of God, and I'd appeal to God. as a helpless sinner, hopeless
and helpless, stripped of everything, and I'd ask God to give me faith
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and my Redeemer.
I'd cry out, Lord, have mercy upon me, a poor sinner, a poor
sinner. I have nothing, I have nothing
to recommend myself. Have mercy upon me. Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? Am I answering the question?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only thing you can
do. You can't do anything. You're shut up to Christ. You're
shut up to Him. No way out. There's that poor
trembling soul, and he was a trembling soul, shaking, quaking in his
boots. Felt that deep guilt of sin in
his heart. His heart was sensitive. And he said, Lord, he said, brother,
he said, sisters, he said, sirs, what must I do? They said, believe on him whom
God sent. He said, you believe on him. Didn't say anything about how
strong your faith had to be, but said, can you believe on
him? Can you believe on him to the answer of this question?
Can you believe on him? Can you do it? Can you leap? Can you leap? Can you leap out
of hell into the arms of a loving Savior and say, sink or swim,
hell or high water? I'm trusting in you. You're my
Lord. You died in my stead. You do
that. Well, all right. Lord, help us. We're going to set at the table
of the Lord. Ah, there he is.