May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the Acts of the
Apostles and Chapter 4 and we'll read verse 12. The Acts of the
Apostles, Chapter 4 and reading verse 12. Neither is there salvation
in any other For there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. It is very wonderful to read
and to remember how Almighty God works and what means he uses. to show forth His power and show
forth His love to the Church of God. This fourth chapter really
goes back to the third chapter where we read of Peter and John
going up to the temple and there was a lame man there who they
looked upon. He was there seeking alms and
Peter and John Peter rather fastened his eyes upon him and with John
said, look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting
to receive something of them. And Peter said, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have, I give thee in the name of Jesus
Christ. of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He took him by the hand and lifted
him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. It was through this miracle that
God performed on this man that had a great effect upon the people. And the effect was that Peter
and John were able then to come and preached the gospel and through
that preaching of the gospel many believed on the name of
the Lord Jesus. It's important therefore that
in our little lives today we realise that perhaps things which
we might think were not very relevant can have a great and
wonderful outcome. And so we see here this man was
healed and it's interesting to read what occurred. He walked
and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and
praising God. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God. How necessary, how important
it is that there is praise to God you see this was noted the
people realized that this man had been healed and he was praising
God and as we read on about this situation when Peter saw it he
answered unto the people ye men of Israel why marvel ye at this? why look ye so earnestly on us?
as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man
to walk. The God of Abraham and Isaac,
Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus,
whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate
when he was determined to let him go, but he denied the Holy
One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses. So we see how there was the wonderful
testimony of the Apostle in proclaiming about the Blessed Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it followed on through this
healing of this man, this beggar, who was sat at the gate, beautiful
from his birth really, and yet the time had come when God's
name would be lifted up and God's name would be honored and glorified. Well then we come on to this
fourth chapter and it's good therefore to realize the background
and as they spake unto the people the priests and the captains
and the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being grieved
that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection
from the dead. 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. So there was a vast company,
a vast company that had gathered together And that vast company
were to hear the glorious truth of the gospel. What a wonderful
time and what a wonderful occasion it was. And therefore we're able
to read about Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, said, ye rulers
of the people and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of
the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made
whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole. What a wonderful statement that
was. And therefore, we see that through
this occasion when this man was healed, that was the wonderful
opportunity which God gave to the apostles to speak the glorious
truth of the gospel. And it's good, I think, in our
lives when perhaps there are occasions when the Lord does
do great things, we should always desire and have the benefit of
being able to direct people to the blessing, who it emanates
from, and why it emanates, and to always bring the gospel. We live in a dark age. It was
a dark age in which the apostles lived. But the Lord graciously
blessed their word, and they're able to come and speak very faithfully. This is a stone which was set
at Nought by you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Well, how true that is in a day
and age in which we live, is it not? But we're thankful, therefore,
to come to this 12th verse in this fourth chapter, To read
what the Apostle says, neither is there salvation in any other. That's very clear. It's very
important. It was important in that day.
It still is important in the day and age in which we live.
There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. It's relevant, isn't it, to think
that we must be saved, otherwise we shall perish in our sins. And what a great blessing it
is, therefore, if there is that true desire in our hearts and
that desire to spread forth the Gospel so that many may hear
good news and understand that there is salvation. That means
the saving of our souls in nobody else. Neither is there salvation
in any other. It's only through that glorious
sin atoning death of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. that you
and I can have any hope of eternal life, that you and I can be saved
from all our sins. There is no other way. And yet,
today, how many people turn aside from these things. They don't
want to hear about them. Their ears are stopped up. Their
eyes are blinded. They don't want to believe the
great and glorious truth of the gospel. And they carry on, my
friends, sadly, sadly, in this sad world and end up by passing
out of time into that eternal state of hell. And it is a very
real truth and a very sanitary consideration to realize that
you and I today are on the earth. You and I today are on praying
ground. The time will come when we will
no longer be on this earth. The time will come when we shall
no longer be on praying ground. The time will come when you and
I will be in eternity. and how important for us each
to have that wonderful evidence that it is indeed well with our
souls. We're often so concerned, are
we not, about temporal things. It's right to be concerned about
these things, but let us not forget there is but one thing
needful. and that is to know that our
souls are eternally safe to know that the Lord Jesus Christ did
indeed die upon that cross at Calvary like this grand statement
that Peter made be it known unto you all and to all the people
of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom
ye crucified. You may think, young people may
think, well, we weren't, of course, at Calvary. So how was it that
we could have crucified the Lord Jesus Christ? That's not possible. Well, the reality is that it
was because of our sin that Jesus was crucified. and therefore
we were guilty of his death. If there had been no sin, there
would be no crucifixion. But it was because of your sin
and my sin. None are exempted. We're all
guilty before a holy God. And what a blessing it is, as
the Holy Spirit may apply such a truth to our hearts, to realise
that we are guilty. that it's because of our sin
that Lord Jesus was crucified on that cross at Calvary. I wonder
if we really pondered that and really thought of it and therefore
realized that this truth is so important that there is therefore
now no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved. We must be saved. There's no
alternative. There is only that one way through
that death of the Lord Jesus Christ, that sin atoning death. When Jesus Christ stood in our
place, our place, he bore the punishment instead of us. Yes, the glorious Saviour. If
there had been no crucifixion, no Saviour, there'd be no hope
for us. Because we've offended God, we've disobeyed God, we're
guilty. If there had been no saving,
no salvation, we would be eternally lost. May such a realisation
make us tremble because we realise how solemn it is and yet how
wonderful to realise there is a way of salvation. That way of salvation was brought
about through the wonderful life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well then, how this wonderful
statement we have here this morning, neither is there salvation in
any other. I hope you and I realize that
great truth. Our soul cannot be saved in any
other way. Each of us need to know in that
personal way that the Lord Jesus Christ did die for us upon that
cross at Calvary. You see, you and I can read about
these things. We've all read about these things.
We've all heard the Bible read. But the great truth is that we
need the blessed application of the Holy Spirit to apply this
truth to our hearts whereby we stand guilty before a holy God
and that cry, that prayer emanates from our heart, God be merciful
to me a sinner and that mercy comes through the glorious death
of the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the price to take away our
sins. My friends, as I often say, and
I hope you remember, there's no sin in heaven. There's no
sin in heaven. And you and I cannot go to heaven
if we have any sin that remains upon us. We need cleansing. We need purifying. We need to
be washed. And that's only one way. And
that's through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas we hear these things
and we read these things and how often people are just not
affected and carry on in their own life. We waste the time listening
to sermons by not listening to sermons, by thinking about all
the poor things of this world which perish with the using. And yet here, the Word of God
is so very strong and very powerful. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must, we must be saved. If there's something in our lives
which we must do, perhaps we realise what it is. If you've
got an examination, you realise you must turn up for that examination
to take it, otherwise it won't count. You can't just pass through
without the examination. You must turn up for it. You must do it. There are certain
things that you and I must do in our lives. But here is the
greatest statement, really, to realise there's none other name,
the only name whereby we must be saved is through the name
of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, you know, we're
wonderfully privileged to hear the gospel preached and to read
about the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But my friends,
the other side is that it's a very solemn realization that all of
us will be utterly without excuse. When you and I stand before that
judgment seat of Christ, which we will, We will need to know that we
have been saved through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the thing we will need to know. We won't be able to say, well,
I heard about it, but I didn't really take any notice and I
just carried on with my life. There will be no excuses. before
the throne of God, that great white throne on the judgment
day. No excuses. We won't be able
to say, well, this was the problem and this was the problem. We
will be without excuse. And of course, we must all realize,
we all have a short life and none of us know when that time
will come. For you and me, when, in our
case, time will be no more. Time will be no more. Can become very sudden. We've
been reminded, haven't we, of the suddenness of death for those
five people in that submarine who suddenly lost their lives. Suddenly lost their lives. One
minute they were alive and the next minute they were dead. They
were dead. There was no opportunity for
any repentance. My friends, you and I know not
what a day or an hour may bring forth, but one thing we do know
is that our life on this earth will not last forever. It will
soon pass away. And therefore to come and to
recognize the greatness of this truth that there is salvation
through our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The saving of our
souls. How valuable is your soul and
my soul? Do you sometimes think the value
of it? If you had to put a value on
your soul, what would you put on it? Oh you know, it's so valuable. You can't put a value on it.
And the reason it is so valuable is quite simple. Your soul lives
forever. Forever. How quickly we pass
over such thoughts, such considerations. We pass them by. We become involved
in the poor things of time. The devil would have us occupy
our time in the things of time. He would endeavor to turn us
away from the things of God. He'll give you plenty of excuses.
why you should not pray. He gave you plenty of excuses
why you should not read the Bible. He gave you plenty of reasons
why it's not important that you should consider these things.
In any event, you're young or whatever the scene, you've got
time ahead. You see, that's the way the devil operates. He wants
us to always put off these things, to pass them by. so that we are
never saved. Well, we can bless God for His
sovereign grace. And we're thankful that grace
is not dependent on what the devil does, what the devil says.
It's dependent upon the love and the favor and the blessing
of Almighty God. and to therefore have the realisation
that sinners, though we are, there is hope through this glorious
salvation of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this
morning we ought to ask the question, have we, have you and I, a good
hope, a good hope, through grace, through the unmerited favour
of God, that it is well with our soul, a good hope. My friends, if you have a good
hope, again, don't deny it. The devil endeavours to produce
an evil heart of unbelief. That's not God honouring. That's
God dishonouring. Sometimes you and I need to just
examine our hearts, examine our life. and to discern now whether
we do possess the grace of God, we do possess the evidence that
Jesus Christ has come to us, and he has come and called us,
directed us to himself, and then we've come. I came to Jesus as
I was, weary and worn and sad. It's wonderful, isn't it, to
know that we have a Saviour that knows about us and He understands
us. And we can come just as we are
in any situation, in any place. That's the great and glorious
Savior that we have. Well, what a mercy then, if we
understand and appreciate what the Apostles spoke to this multitude. A vast multitude, wasn't it? And there they were. And they
heard the good news of the Gospel. Well, there's not a great multitude
here this morning, but nonetheless, we do hear the good news of the
Gospel. might have a real effect upon
our hearts may we be able to think upon it and meditate upon
it and consider our position before a holy God because the
Apostle said here be it known unto you all and to all the people
of Israel none to be accepted to all that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Won't it's a great blessing if
the Holy Spirit has revealed to you and me the power of God
in the salvation of our soul. And that really means that the
Holy Spirit has come upon us and given us that great and wonderful
gift of eternal life. The gift of eternal life. There
are so many things perhaps when we're young we look forward to
and we want and we think they're so necessary but what a blessing
it is to know that God gives that wonderful gift of eternal
life and what a wonderful privilege it is to be a recipient of it. And we read about it, the apostle
when he wrote the epistle to the Romans and we have a wonderful
verse in the last verse in the sixth chapter it spells out the
position for the wages of sin is death and that's what you
and I left to ourselves are paid for our sins. Eternal death in
hell. The wages of sin as a payment
of death. But the gift of God, the gift
of God, that means something which you and I never deserve it's a gift it's a gift
you know what a gift is don't you? we get presents don't we? they're given to us sometimes
people give us things otherwise sometimes we're surprised we're
often very grateful but the gift of God the gift of God not the
gift of man the gift of God the greatest gift the most amazing
gift Because it's forever. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. That's why you see the Apostle
directs us again and again to the Lord Jesus Christ and what
he has done What a mercy to have such a wonderful Saviour. We read in the next chapter in
the Acts of the Apostles where we're told about Peter again
where he says, we ought to obey God rather than man. We ought to obey God. See, God's
commands are very loving. They direct us in the right way. And what a mercy, therefore,
to know this Savior. And the apostle says, the God
of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a
tree. Well, I've already spoken about
that, how we also crucified the Lord. Him hath God exalted with
his right hand to be a prince and a saviour for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So, my friends, if the
great and glorious God gives you and me the gift of eternal
life, he will also give to us repentance. Repentance. for our sins. Repentance is something
which people in the day and age in which we live often seem to
just glide over. And yet it is a very great and
blessed gift that God gives to every true believer to repent
of their sins, to be sorry for their sins. You know, we sin,
don't we? We all sin. Are we sorry for
our sins? Do we come to God and plead for
forgiveness? Plead for that forgiveness for
walking contrary to God, turning our back upon Him, perhaps? You
know, we have a conscience, don't we? God's given everybody a conscience. And that conscience knows inside
what is right and what is wrong. But so often, you see, the devil
says, well, there's no wrong in that. You can just do that.
There's no real problem. So you do it. And what have you
done? You've offended God. You've disobeyed
God. And yet what a blessing it is
when the Holy Spirit convinces us of our sin, that we have disobeyed
God. He gives us a spirit of repentance. You know, it's a very solemn
and very important truth to realize that every born again sinner
is blessed with that true spiritual repentance. We all need to come
pleading for forgiveness, pleading for forgiveness of all our sins. to give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sins. It's very relevant, isn't it?
What a blessing it is, therefore, to be directed by the Holy Spirit. Neither is there salvation in
any other, the forgiveness, the saving of our soul in any other
person than the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid this price to take away
our sin. You and I can't remove our sins
ourselves. No, we can't remove them ourselves.
It doesn't matter how much we may try. We cannot forgive our
sins ourselves. But all of us need to know that
we are amongst those who are blessed with this faith to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. to understand the great truths
of the gospel and to rejoice, therefore, in what Christ has
done. Well, this was a grand day in
the history of the world. It's a grand day for these people.
And my friends, it's a grand day in your life and in my life. when we realise there is salvation
in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We may be young, we may
be old, we all need to have this blessed revelation that the only
way our soul is to be saved is through the Lord Jesus Christ
taking away all our sins. And the only way that was accomplished
was through his death upon that cross at Calvary. He died in
our place. He bore the punishment instead. It's good, you know, to ponder
these great truths, to realize that this glorious God, and let
us not underestimate the wonder of it, the great God, The second
person in the Trinity, the creator of the world, was willing to
give his life that you and I might receive the gift of forgiveness
and the gift of eternal life. Calvary should be a precious
place of meditation. that by faith we view the suffering
Son of God, bowing His head, giving up the ghost, paying that
great price so that you and I might receive salvation, the saving of our souls, and
understand, therefore, that He is the only one, the only one,
under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. All of us must be saved. I'm sure we understand that.
I hope we do. I hope we all understand that we have a never dying soul.
We all understand we're guilty before God. We all must be saved. And there's only one way. and
that through the Blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, neither
is there salvation in any other. What a mercy today, if our hearts
are softened to realise that Almighty God gave His life in
order to redeem our soul. Unworthy as we are, unworthy. And by the grace of God, we shall
feel unworthy, unworthy of any notice. And I think that God
in heaven with a multitude of people from the creation of the
world until the end of time will have given his life to redeem
a people, a people who he has loved, from eternity past it's a good meditation it's a
profitable meditation you know what it does? it makes you and
me become smaller and smaller in our own eyes and it makes
the Blessed Saviour larger and larger and more glorious for
that great and wonderful work of salvation Well, today it will
be a great blessing if the Holy Spirit comes then and directs
us to this glorious truth and to think that the Lord so instituted
it. Here was this lame man. Yes, he'd been there since his
birth by the Gate Beautiful and yet you see the time had come,
the appointed time, that this man should be raised up. And this man should produce the
evidence of the work of God. And this man, therefore, gave
the glorious opportunity of Peter and John to preach the glorious
gospel. Well, it's good to look back
in our lives, to be able to trace out a time when the Holy Spirit touched our hearts, caused us
perhaps to consider our way, caused us to realise how we needed
God's mercy and caused us to come to that time when we had
the evidence that we had received his mercy and therefore to know
that the Lord Jesus Christ had indeed died in our place and
our stead. He's gone now to glory, there,
ready to receive us at the appointed time when we should have finished
our life on this earth. Well, this morning when we truly
glorify God and thank Him that there is recorded in His Word
such a clear statement, neither is there salvation in any other
That's very clear, isn't it? There's no one else. It's only
the Lord Jesus. And then it's expanded. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Don't pass over that word must.
You and I must all come there and all receive the wonderful
favor of salvation. before we pass out of time, because
once we're out of time, there is no salvation. What a blessing,
therefore, if you and I possess the life of God in our souls,
and we can rejoice, therefore, in this great word this morning,
neither is there salvation in any other For there is none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Well, may we be able to praise
God this morning if we have the evidence in our heart that we
are saved through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are indeed, as the word tells
us, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Amen.