It's always a privilege to be
here. As I've told you many times before,
I'm so thankful for the indescribable mercy of
Almighty God that would raise up a church in Rocky Mount, Virginia,
raise up a pastor, faithful, faithful pastor. Pastor's been my friend. I've
been a friend to you, a man that's loved this community. Scripture says that we're to
love our neighbors. I've said before, you think of
that statement, that Scripture, and you think, well, I don't
even know some of my neighbors. How can I love them? But the
essence of love, Scripture was speaking, is truthful. Brother Paul Mahan has been a
friend, has loved this community, has been faithful. I was listening
to the broadcast this morning and I thought, what a blessing. God to send you a pastor that
would boldly proclaim the truth to this community. So I'm thankful
to have the privilege to be able to stand in the pulpit. where
the Lord raised up a faithful pastor. Gabe, that was outstanding. If you never preach again, that
was good. It was plain. Turn with me to the book of Acts. Acts. Gabe preached on the fundamentals
of salvation. Is that the name of that gate?
Fundamentals of salvation. And I would like to take up where
he so ably left off this morning and I'd like to preach on the
only evidence of salvation. The only evidence of salvation. In the passage of Scripture that
Brother Sammy read, we find where Paul the Apostle
and Silas and Timothy had been thrown in prison, a woman had
been followed them, a woman of divination. And she was making
a statement that was truthful. The essence of what she was saying,
she said, these men are the servants of the Most High God. They were.
They show unto us the way of salvation. They did. But the only problem was, God
didn't send her. She was standing in the position
that was only reserved for those men that God had sent. And Paul
was not going to have people thinking that she was associated
with them. He was not going to be unequally
yoked. God didn't call this woman to preach. And so Paul rebuked
her, cast a demon out of her. And her owners saw that their
livelihood was now hindered, and they got the folks to throw
these preachers of the gospel in prison. What they were doing
was they were doing what God had sent them to do. And now
at midnight, verse 25, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises. Actually, what they were doing
is they were praying while singing praises, is actually the literal
translation. More than likely, singing the
Psalms, singing the Word of God, proclaiming what God has proclaimed. And the Scripture says that the
prisoners heard them. You know, I think about when
the gospel of free grace is set forth, and Almighty God blesses
that word, spiritually speaking. I understand that it was some
prisoners in jail, but what a picture of prisoners that hear, truly
hear. That's that irresistible grace
that you were just talking about. They hear. Almighty God gives
them ears to hear, and God's elect, those unconditionally
chosen before the foundation of the world, those totally depraved
sinners. Almighty God sends His Spirit
and blesses a message that God has sent, and they hear. Some hear and some don't. Why? Because God Almighty has the
right to choose to make one vessel under honor and another vessel
under dishonor. Does he have that right? God
who made this earth, He made all things, made them for Himself. Well, the Scripture says that
they were singing, singing praises, praying unto the Lord. And suddenly, the Scripture says,
there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone's bands were loosed. You know, scoffers can say, well,
that was just a freak accident. It just happened to be an earthquake. It just shook the foundation,
but all the bands were loosed. Whenever Almighty God has purposed
that He's going to call you out of darkness, the very foundations of your
false security is shaken. And all that holds you bound,
death, blindness, hopelessness, he loses it. You didn't lose
yourself. Paul and Silas could not have
opened up those shackles, they could not shake the foundation
of that which held them bound. It took Almighty God. God sent
an earthquake and immediately that which held them bound was
loosed. Can you imagine the joy that
filled their hearts when they realized We were in this prison,
and it was midnight, and it was the inner prison, no light. One door came into that inner
prison, and they're alone, but they're
not alone. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, and there was two right here, As I said
before, surely there's two or three here. But Almighty God
is here. Now you stop and think. You think,
well, we've just come to church. No. No, we didn't just come to
church. We've come to worship Him who
is present. Stop just a second and just think.
The Master's here. I mean, when you hear just the
title, His title, who's here? The Master. The Lord is here. Two or three are gathered together,
and what a marvelous display of His power. When He's pleased
to set a man or set a woman free, nothing holds Him. Prejudice,
right? Verse 27 says, The keeper of
the prison, awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison
doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried
with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all
here. I don't doubt for a second that
the earthquake was the means by which God awakened this prisoner. But again, you look at the earthquake
as a picture of the quickening power of Almighty God that would
awaken this sinner to his need. Prevenient grace. Grace before
grace. An earthquake. Whatever God Almighty
is pleased to do. That's what he does. He does
as he will. In the army of heaven among the
inhabitants of the earth, no man stays the same. No man has
the right to question him. He sent these prisoners, his
preachers, his prisoners, his servants. He sent his prisoners. That's what Paul says. Paul,
a servant, a bond slave. One is thankful. that Almighty
God would capture him. What a title. Who are you? I'm a bond slave of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whenever the disciples were around
the Lord, you remember the Lord was telling a group of folks,
He said, no man can come to me unless you forgive him of my
father. I began to listen to that, and
I said, you know, that's a hard saying. Who can hear that? And they left, many of them left.
And the Lord looked at His disciples, and He said, will you go away
also? And Peter said, where will we go? You have the words of
eternal life. Let me ask you this, where will
you go? If you were to go, if you would
leave and go, you know, from leaving the gospel, where would
you go? There's some here that would
say, I can't go. Why? Because He keeps me. That's why you don't go. He's
able to keep you from falling. If He didn't keep you from falling,
you'd fall. You ask a believer, how long
would it take you to leave if God Almighty didn't keep you
by His power? You'd say, well, I wouldn't have
been here to hear your question. been gone. I wouldn't have been
here. God Almighty awakened this keeper
of the prison. He assumed the worse, they're
gone, would have killed himself. Paul, knowing something of man's
nature, cried out and said, don't do yourself any harm. We're all
here. And he called for a light, verse
29, sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and
Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to
be saved? Now, this jailer, he called for
a common light, a light. They were in the inner prison
and he called for a light, but obviously, The light of the glory
of God had already shined in this man's heart. Paul and Silas had been preaching
in this community for a while. Remember, they were preaching
when the Lord opened Lydia's heart. This is in Philippi. Almighty God sent these men.
Paul had gone down to a riverside previously and had begun to proclaim,
preach met with a group of ladies there, and there was a lady there
named Lydia. And the Lord opened her heart,
and she attended to the words that were spoken by Paul. And this jailer, I don't know
where, I don't know when, he had heard. But obviously he had
to have heard, because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. The Lord had previously, though,
not opened his heart. And Almighty God opened this
man's heart, obviously, because he asked a question that could
only be asked by one that God had already given life to. No
one asked this question unless God, not truthfully, not from
the heart, unless God Almighty has done something for him. He asked a question from a heart
that had been enlightened, that had been quickened. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? One moment the Philippian jailer
was in spiritual darkness. He said, it doesn't happen that
quick. There were two thieves, one on either side of the Lord.
And the scripture says in one passage that they were both railing
on him. And I mean to tell you in a moment,
one of them said to the other thief, wait a minute, we're getting just exactly what
we deserve. And this man hath done nothing. And he said, Lord, when you enter into your kingdom,
he saw the Master. Would you remember me? Oh, what
a question. Would you remember me? No one asks that unless God Almighty
has eternally remembered him. unless Almighty God in an everlasting
covenant of grace has always set his affection on him. No
one would ask that question. Why? Because that's a question
from an enlightened heart. Would you remember me? Accept
Almighty God, give a man a new heart. This is what he would
say. I'll not have this man rule over me. But to ask him, would
you remember me? And the Lord told him, he said,
today. Today you're going to be with
me in paradise." Well, what's something to look forward to?
Today you'll be with me. Sirs, what must I do? Trembling, trembling before these two preachers. Not
scared of them, but fearful. Fearful of what? The fear of
the Lord. had absolutely been revealed
to this man. What is that? The respect. The
fear of the Lord, the respect of the Lord, Psalm 111, 10, is
the beginning of wisdom. A man begins to evidence the
grace of Almighty God in his life when he respects Him as
a respect. Brother Gabe was just saying,
talking about these five fundamental truths of God's grace toward
men. And men and women that God reveals
that truth to, they respect the God of this Bible. As you drive
down the road and you read the billboards and stuff like this,
of churches where the gospel is obviously not preached. Do
you have any respect for the God that they worship? No. Why? Because He's infinite. He
can't do anything unless they let Him do it. I have no respect
for Him. No respect. What's a God that
cannot, by His infinite mercy and grace and power, Save me. Apart from anything that I can
do is no God at all. For God to be God, He saves and tells a man or a woman that
He's done it. That's how they know it. I saved
you. This man was trembling. How does that fear get there?
Jeremiah 32, 46, I will make an everlasting covenant with
them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. But
I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from
me. You just you just don't get away
from those five basic truths that we heard this morning. You
just. Almighty God, saves his people
and keeps his people. He's able to keep you from falling. Thank you. Trembling. What must I do to be saved? Now, this question that was asked, it obviously was a good question
because Paul gave a good answer. What must I do to be saved? That question is a question that
has been greatly, number one, misunderstood, I think, by believers,
misunderstood by believers, and completely abused by unbelievers. Now, when I say misunderstood,
it's because until You understand exactly what he asked. You sit there and you look at
that question and you think, what must I do to be saved? Maurice Montgomery made a statement
one time that I thought was so good. He says, does a man have
to understand all there is concerning election, predestination, to
understand it, to be saved? You have to understand it all
to be saved. He said, no, but when he hears the explanation
of it, he believes it. When he hears it, he believes
it. When you hear what this man, and Paul understood exactly what
he asked because Paul gave an answer. This Philippian jailer came in
and asked a question that appears at first to place
all of the responsibility on man to do something first in
order for God to save him. He asked a question that appears
to give man that free will that we so often hear people talking
about. What must I do to be saved? Well, I can tell you this. I
know. That Titus three five says not
by works of righteousness, which we have done. And the word done. Is the same word do right here. What must I do? It's not by works
of righteousness that we've done, but according to his mercy, he
saved us. By the washing of regeneration.
And renewing. of the Holy Ghost. What must
I do? The key word in that question
is the word do, because if we understand what he asked, then
Paul's answer makes perfect sense. What must I do? It's the same word in 2nd Corinthians
521 and he has made him sin who knew no sin. That we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. It's the same word made
in 2nd Corinthians 521. The word in 2nd Corinthians and
he has made him sin. That word is actually appointed
ordained, it's the same word used here,
do. What must I do? That Philippian jailer asked
a question that Paul the Apostle perfectly understood. He was
not asking him what must I produce of myself in order for God to
save me? What must I do to be saved? Because
if that had been the question, Paul would have never answered,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because that would have made
that man's belief to be what actually saved him. That would
have been works of righteousness. Paul understood the word he used.
He asked a question out of a renewed heart. This was the question. What's the evidence of my appointment? What's the evidence that God
has unconditionally elected me? What's the evidence of my ordination,
of being ordained? What's the evidence of that?
Not what must I produce out of a dead heart in order to be saved? What must I be made? What must
Almighty God do for me? What's the evidence of God's
electing grace? What's the evidence of it? God's
already done something for him. What's the evidence of it, Paul?
And here's what he said. God makes you a believer. That's
the evidence. What is the evidence? What's
the evidence of my appointment? What's the evidence of God's
mercy to me? Something is going to happen.
Something happens. I know it does. What's the only
evidence of salvation? Men all over this world are telling
people to do this, do that, speak in tongues, be baptized in order
to be saved. What's the only evidence of self? What comes out of me? What must
I do? What's the evidence of my point? You see what I'm saying? Not
what I must do in order for God to do something for me, but if
God's done something for me, how will I know it? Paul told
them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to the book
of Mark. Let me give you an illustration.
from the Scriptures concerning this very thing. You know this. You know that it's given unto
you to believe. You know that. It's given unto
you to believe. All men hath not faith. Faith
is a gift of God. It's given unto you to believe. Mark chapter 5. Verse 25, it
said a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years and
it suffered many things of many positions. It's been all that
she had was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. And when
she had heard of Jesus came in the press behind and touched
his garment for she said, if I may touch, but his clothes,
I shall be holding straight way. The fountain of her blood was
dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that
plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest, Thou who touch me? And he looked round about to
see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing, just like
the Philippian jailer, trembling. knowing what was done in her,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him
and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made, you see that word made there? When that
Philippian jailer said, what must I do? Same word. Thy faith hath made thee whole,
go in peace. and behold of thy plague." This
woman did what she did because of what had been done in her
first. It was her faith in the sense
that Almighty God had granted her faith, but it didn't start
with her. Faith is a gift of God. And Almighty
God gives to everyone in time, when it pleases God, everyone
that He has unconditionally elected. All of those who were totally
depraved, no part of their being whatsoever that had any ability
whatsoever to reconcile themselves back to God, He unconditionally
elected. paid their debt in that limited
atonement. Christ laid down His life for
the sheep. And Almighty God, in time, by
that irresistible grace, gave them a new heart and called them
by His grace and keeps them by His power. And this woman right
here, What must I do? She could have said, What must
I do in order to know that God's done something for me? Paul said to the Philippian jailer,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman evidenced it. She
said, If I can touch him, if I can get to him, she believed
him. If I can touch but the hem of
his garments, I'll be holy. Kelly, if I can touch him, I'll
be whole. What about tomorrow? If I can
touch him, I'll be whole. It'll all be well with me. This
new heart performs. It does something. It actually
responds. It does what the old heart would
never do. That old heart would never believe
God. When that Philippian jailer asked
him, what must I do? Paul, understanding exactly what
that Philippian jailer asked, he asked this, what comes out of me? What comes out? What actually
happens to me if God's done something for me? Paul said, this is what
happens when you believe God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Almighty God's got to give me
faith to believe Him. What must I do to be saved? He said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and I shall be saved. and thy house." Does that
mean that God Almighty saves everyone out of every household? No. But if everyone in that household
believes, He does. We're not saved because Almighty
God saved my parents. My children are not saved. If
God's shown mercy to me, that doesn't mean He'll necessarily
show mercy to me. But if he does show mercy to
my children, they'll believe him too. If God Almighty grants
them faith, they'll believe. Paul the Apostle, Silas, Timothy,
three preachers, and Almighty God before the foundation of
the world purposed that they were going to be at a certain
place at a certain time. They got thrown in prison. That's
bad, no? I tell you what, there's a Philippian
jailer right now in glory that will thank God throughout eternity
that God put three preachers in jail one night and crossed
his path with the gospel of free grace. Lydia will thank God forever. Every object of God's mercy. is going to cross paths with
God's messenger. God's going to send a preacher.
Almighty God will get His Word. How will He do that? He'll do
it as He will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth. Do you think God can cross the path of the objects
of His mercy with the gospel? He made this earth. Do you think
He can move a man Put a woman or... He's God. Paul, what's the evidence of
salvation? Belief. And do you know what? Every one
of God's servants regenerated by His grace. That's the one
common denominator. They believe God. They believe
Christ. They rest on Him. That Philippian
jailer got him out of prison. took them to his house, washed
them, you know. God's people love to be with
God's people. Great privilege. This has been a good day. I've
enjoyed this. I'm so glad I was able to be
here with you, fellowship with you, rejoice with you, and hear
the gospel with you. Preach this morning. I pray the
Lord bless this message to our hearts, to his honor, his glory,
for the sake of his son. Amen. Let's stand together and turn
to hymn number 13. Bye.