today. Very simple. Very simple
message. You know, here in Acts 16, Paul's
down at Philippi. This is where Lydia from Thessalonica
was over there. God opened her heart, and that
started to work in Thessalonica, when they was down by the riverside.
And then there was this woman that started falling Paul and
Silas around as they were preaching. And she had a spirit they called,
I guess divination means a spirit that, it's like a witch. It's one of these people that
reads you palms and tarot cards and that kind of stuff. And she
had some kind of demon in her that brought, she was owned by
people, her master owned her, made a lot of money from her,
her soothsaying and saying things to soothsayers, somebody that
says what people want to hear. And so she started following
these fellas around, mocking them. She wasn't saying they
were servants of the Most High God, showing us the way of salvation.
It was a mockery. It was a mockery. And Paul was
grieved with him. He cast her out. Cast the demon
out of her. And these fellas got real mad.
Took them in front of the judges and everybody, anybody in town.
They said, boy, you fellas done caused too much trouble. took their clothes off of them,
majesty says, stripped their clothes off of them, and beat
them, and then put them in prison, put them in stocks, with their
backs bloody and beaten. And the jailer was said, now
you keep these fellas. And if anybody escaped or got
out of jail under a jailer, they would kill the jailer. And so
it was very serious business. So here they are. And they come
down there, and then it says in verse 30, this is what I want
to talk about. And brought them out. Now, Paul
and Silas in jail, God getting them out. God brought them out
of jail. And brought them out and says, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? Boy, how I'd love somebody to
ask me that question. What must I do? What must I do
to be saved? If I'm going to be saved, how's
it going to happen? If I'm going to be saved, who's
going to do it? If I'm going to be saved, why am I going to
be saved? If I'm going to be saved, who
is going to do the saving? Serves. What must I do to be
saved? And they said, be a five-point
calvist. Exercise your choice and your
free will. Pray a bunch of prayers, shed
a bunch of tears, and make your decision for Jesus. No. This is what salvation is. What
must thou do to be saved? They said, they said, Paul and
Silas together, they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved in thy house. Thou shalt be saved. If you were
to ask me to sum up my, what I think about salvation and how
I would present it to somebody, in one sentence, In one sentence,
it would be this, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved in thy house. You see, salvation is by grace
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is nothing new. This is no new doctrine. All
Old Testament saints were saved the same way, by believing. The
scripture started out in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 says, through
faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
but through faith, we understand that the worlds that we're looking
at now, the worlds that we're looking at, were framed by the
Word of God. God spake, and this world was
put together by the Word of God. God's speaking, and it was done.
By faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
By faith. This is how the Old Testament
states, but by faith. nor of being warned of God, of
things not even seen yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark
for the saving of his house. By faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go out and leave his father's house, he went out not
knowing where he was going. And by faith, Moses, Moses esteemed
the reproaches of Christ greater than all the treasures that were
in each. And it tells us even this, that
by faith the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. And that
was the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. You keep Acts chapter
16, look in John chapter 3 with me just a moment. You keep Acts
16, look with me in John chapter 3. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ,
this was the message that our Lord Jesus Christ gave. He says,
The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and he that heareth shall live, and
he that believeth on me shall never perish. And look what he
said here in John 3.14. This is our Master speaking now. And He's talking to Nicodemus,
and He says, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. that whosoever believeth,
believeth." Now that word, believeth, means once you believe, you'll
always believe. Don't say, he that believed. Believeth. Continuing thing. And he says, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now
look down in verse 35, John chapter 3. The Father loves the Son. Oh, how the Father loveth the
Son. And the Father, because of this
love for the Son, and because of His power and His authority,
hath given all things into His hands, into the hand of His blessed
Son. And now listen to it. He that believeth on the Hath
everlasting life, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him." Right now, right now. Now, so you see, this is no new
doctrine. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Salvation is by grace through
faith in the Lord Jesus. Not only is it the no new doctrine,
but not only is this the message of our Lord, but this was the
message of the apostles. To him, all the apostles give
witness. Paul, look what he said over
here in Acts 13.38, just a moment. You know, this is what the apostles
preach. That's what he says, you know,
God is just and justifier to him that believes on the Lord
Jesus Christ. If a man believes on Jesus Christ,
God is just to justify that man. A man can't say he's justified
in the sight of God until he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I believe I'm justified in the sight of God, but I'm
justified by faith in Christ. If my faith don't justify me,
Christ justifies me. But I'll tell you what, as far
as God's concerned, when I believed on His blessed Son, God declared
me righteous and justified in His sight. Look what he said
here in Acts 13, 38. Paul preaching again here, "...be
it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man..." What man? "...the Lord Jesus Christ is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that
believe are justified from all things from which you could not
be justified by the law of Moses." So here we are, back over in
our text. Here comes this Philippian jailer. There had been an earthquake. He went outside, the prison doors
were open, cell doors were open, the dungeons were open, and everybody,
everything was... He said, oh, they're all gone,
I'm just going to kill myself. Supposing that all had been failed,
and then this Philippian jailer was broken, he was distressed,
he was troubled. And oh, look what he said. Then
Paul says, what do you know, he sums up to him, what should
I do to be saved, sir? He said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now look what we have
here. Paul cried in verse 28 with a
loud voice. Do thyself no harm, for we're
all here. He's going to ride his sword,
going to kill himself. Then watch what happens now.
Then he called for a light. Somebody bring me a light. Bring
me a torch. And he comes bouncing in there.
He comes springing in there. And he came trembling. Trembling. He's serious about this and fell
down before Paul and Silas. Oh, beloved, and Paul, and he
brought them out, brought them out of the jail and brought them
out of prison, brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do
to be saved? First thing I want you to know
here, we have a man in trouble. Man's not going to be saved till
he's in trouble. He's not going to even ask about salvation till
he's in trouble. When we talk about salvation,
we're talking about deliverance, we're talking about being saved
from something, some form of trouble, some form of distress.
You know, we'll talk about being saved. He was saved from a burning
house. He was saved. They come out and
save him from drowning. Saved from certain death. And
when we talk about salvation, Salvation by grace through faith.
When we talk about salvation in the spiritual area, we're
talking about deliverance, salvation from trouble and distress. You
see, beloved, men and women are in trouble. They're in trouble. What kind of trouble? Well, I
tell you, first of all, they're in trouble with the law of God.
In trouble with God's law. Huh? Curse it, as everyone that
continues not in all things written in the book of the law do. The
man's going to be saved by law. He's got to do it all. Huh? Oh, he's got to do it all. What
the law says, it says to him that they're under the law, that
ever now may be stopped. And the whole world will become
guilty before God. You're not going to be guilty.
You're not going to be found guilty. You're guilty now if
you're not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? And Paul said,
or James said, if you offend in one point, one point, you're
guilty of it all. One point, that's all it takes.
People can look and say, I don't do this, and I don't do that,
and I haven't been here, and I haven't done that. But if you've
ever broken God's law one iota, you're guilty of it all. I was
thinking the other day, I said, I wonder how many times, How
many times have I, in my heart, in my mind, and in my imagination,
hurt somebody, kill somebody, murder somebody, hurt somebody
bad? How many people would go to hell
over just what went on in my imagination? And then not only count what's
in my heart and in my heart, doesn't love God, you've broke
the law. If your heart doesn't love your
neighbor as yourself, you've broke the law. If you've thought
an evil thought, you've broke the law. So that's to say, you're
in trouble. You're in trouble. God's law
says, guilty, guilty, guilty. You gonna stop talking about
how good you are? And then, not only that, but
we're in trouble with God. With God himself, he says, your
sins have separated between you and God. And this is something
hardly any preacher will ever tell you, but beloved, the scripture
says God is angry with the wicked every day. Every day. God hates them. Hates them. They say, well, he
loves the sinner, but hates the sin. How in the world do you
separate the two? You can't do it. Sin and misdeed are synonymous.
And that's what he said here. God hates the workers of iniquity. And He will by no means, there's
no way, He'll clear the guilty. Oh, I'll tell you, when this
fella come running in there trembling and fell down, He said, sir,
what must I do to be saved? He was a fella in trouble. And
he knew he was in trouble. He came trembling. He come falling
down. He come asking the right question,
and he got the right answer. But not only are we in trouble
with the justice of God and the law of God, but with God Himself
and with the law of God, we're in trouble with God's justice.
Listen, you know what's going to happen? Be sure, be sure,
your sin will find you out. God said there ain't nothing
you gonna do in darkness that won't be brought to the light. Nothing you gonna speak in secret
that won't be noise to broth. Just put us a figure. Screen up here. Let God turn
on the light on every one of us. Especially you that don't
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if God put a screen up
there for me, all I'd see would be His Son. If God put me up
there, wouldn't see no sin, wouldn't see no law-breaking, wouldn't
see no just, you know, I'd be unjustified. So when He put me
up there, all He'd see was holiness and righteousness and acceptance
and justification and forgiveness. But if He put you up there, what
you gonna show? What's gonna be seen? Huh? And, oh, beloved, not only are
we in trouble with the law of God and with God, but with the
justice to be sure your sin will find you out. Our Lord Himself
said, the soul that sinneth it shall die all night. Our Lord said, as you die in
your sins, you cannot come where I am. You can't come where I
am. We're not only in trouble, and
I'll tell you something else about it. trouble with God's
law, with God and His justice, that we're absolutely helpless
to do anything about it. This is fate of condemnation
and certain death. If that fella could have saved
himself, he wouldn't have come in there trembling and falling
down. If that fella, that Philippian jailer, if he thought for a minute
that he could look to his God through some place else, he wouldn't
have come trembling and falling down and said, sirs, what must
I do to be saved? Because see, they've been already
told them, said, these fellows are coming here and they're preaching.
They're contrary to everything we've ever believed. Contrary
to all of our customs. Contrary to all of our gods.
Contrary to all of our religion. They're coming here preaching.
They even cast out demons, and there was a good old girl over
there, made a lot of money for her people. And, oh, beloved, that's why
the Scripture says this. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Can the Ethiopian change the
color of his skin? If he was born Ethiopian, will
he always be an Ethiopian? Can a leopard change his spots?
Will a leopard change his spots and put on stripes and look like
a lion? Oh! He can't do it. And in the flesh, no man can
please God. The carnal mind is immature against
God. Look over here in Ephesians 2
with me just a moment. Let's look at this a moment.
Ephesians chapter 2. I love these messages that shut
us up to Christ. I love them. Look what the apostle said here,
in Ephesians 2, verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11.
Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11.
Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11.
Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11.
Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse 11. Verse
11. Verse being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant of
promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, if he
had stopped right there, we would have been in a mess. But look
what he says in there, but now, but, but, but, but now, you are
for all, you're strangers. aliens, Gentiles, uncircumcised,
filthy, no hope without God, without Christ in the world.
But now, in Christ Jesus, you that were far off, way off over
yonder, without any hope, without any God in this world, you are
made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he says, Sir, what must I
do to be saved? Oh, there's salvation there,
hope there, grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look down back
over in our text with me, Acts 16. Oh, this is, this is encouraging,
so encouraging. He came, you know, and he talks,
I'm in trouble. He come, he was in trouble. Men
are in trouble. Preachers are not telling folks
the great trouble that they're in. We're worried about, you
know, our nation's in trouble. We get upset about that. When
our children get in trouble, we get upset about that. When
we have biannual trouble, we get upset about that. When we
get health trouble, we get upset about that. But how many people
know that they're in trouble with the law of God? Now any
trouble you got compared to being in trouble with the law of God,
that ain't nothing compared to that. For to be guilty before
God? Huh? Oh, and to be in trouble with
God Himself, when God Himself said, I will by no means clear
the guilty? To be in trouble with God's justice? God said, Oh my, that soul that
sinned, it's got to die. Oh my, here he comes in. And
here's the thing about the helpless. What are we going to do to change
the situation? Are we going to start keeping
the law? Are we going to start loving God? Are we going to satisfy
the justice of God by some work, some deed, some prayer, some
marriage, something we're going to do to get ourselves out of
this trouble? Oh, the scripture says, how can
the Ethiopian, can he change his sin? Look at what he said
here in verse 31. Here's the way of salvation.
Oh, here's the way out of this trouble. Here's the way out of
this trouble now. Serve what must I do to be saved, and they
sinned. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved in thy house. Now, you can't find it
any clearer or plainer than that. It don't get any clearer, don't
get any plainer than that right there. Now, Paul was going to
say, now this is what you got to do. Now, Paul, you're going
to tell us about how God saved the sinner. You're going to tell
us how this man is going to be saved. If there's something he
needs to do besides believe on Christ, tell us what it is. If
you stand up and raise your hand, tell us that. If it's getting
on your knees and shedding tears until you can't cry no more,
tell us that. If it's your heart being broken
and you finding out that you know you've got to have a sense
of sin, a sensible sinner. I'm not a sensible sinner enough
yet. And the old timers talk about
you've got to be a sensible sinner. How many of you all feel like
a sensible sinner? Sinner ain't got no sins. I'm not aware and
conscious of my sin as I ought to be. But I am aware that I'm a sinner
and I need salvation. But Paul, whatever it is that
these fellas need to do to be saved, tell them. If it's anything
else, tell them. We want to know. If they've got
to be baptized in water and that water will save them from sin,
tell us, Paul. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Here's the way of salvation set
forth clearly and plainly, and I'll tell you something else,
this is the way of salvation taught by God's blessed Word
itself. This is what God said. We say
Paul said it, but God said it through the Apostle Paul. Just
by the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. Look with me
over in 1 John chapter 5. You need to see this right here. Oh, I love these scriptures right
here. Everybody needs to understand these scriptures. Look at these
scriptures. That's why when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost,
and he'd come down, and after they'd been put in jail and all
that, and that's chapter four, and he preached on Pentecost
on chapter two, and a bunch of people got converted, and he
stood, and he preached to all of them Sanhedrin back then.
Everybody that was anybody, all them elders that had them gathered
around there, told them not to preach anymore. And he began
to preach to them fellows. And he began to tell them how
they, by their own hands, crucified the Son of God. How that they
were guilty of it. They were there. They charged
him. They delivered him up. And he'd come to this conclusion.
He said, you know, the stone that you built is rejected. He
said, God made him the head of the corner, and there's no other
name given among men under heaven itself whereby we must be saved
other than Jesus Christ. Now, you fellows, you're guilty
of it, but I'll tell you what right now. I'll tell you there's
a nearer way to the heart of Christ than that swollen spear
that opened it up. And that's through faith in His
blessed name, through faith in His blessed person, through faith
in what He did on that cross, through faith in Him putting
away sins, through faith in His blessed person. I'll tell you
there's a nearer way to His blessed heart. And oh, look what He said
here in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 11. This is the record. Y'all ever
went to the courthouse and look up records? You have to have, you know, you
get a new deed. They go and they record it. Somebody go up there,
50 years from now, if he's still on that property or something,
they say, well, you know, they recorded it there, that belonged
to so-and-so 50 years ago, and now we got it. And they go back
and they can, it's all on record. Well, God said he recorded something. And this is his record. And this
is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. God hath given to us eternal
life. Oh my, given it to us? Oh, where's it at? And this life is in His Son. This life that God hath given
to us is in His Son. And listen to it now. He that
hath the Son, he that has the Son, he that possesses the Son,
he that hath the Son in his heart, he that believes on the Son,
he that needs Christ, he that hath the Son hath life. And all
he that hath not the Son hath not life. Oh, my. This is the way of salvation. And Paul's instructions here
were not just simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
now listen to me now. We're going to get down to it
here. It's important that you call upon that name, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You see,
it's that name that you call upon. Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord, shall be saved. That's what Romans 10,
13 said. But, oh, beloved, listen. It's
that we believe on His name and what that name implies. What
does His name mean? When you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're believing on a person. And His name. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord. There's no other name given.
And look, I know I'm causing you to look, but look over here
in John chapter 20 and verse 30 with me. Verse 31, excuse
me. And all beloved, listen, that's
what our Lord Jesus Christ, that's what the Holy Spirit would come
to do, to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.
Take His name, take His person, take His power. And He told Paul,
He says, Paul, you're a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name! Bear my name! Before Gentiles,
before kings, before authorities. Terry said, all over the world,
my name. You stand up and talk about me.
You tell them who I am when you talk about my name. You talk
about my authority. You talk about my power. You
talk about my rights. So talk about me. When you get
there, I've chosen you to go and tell about me. When you get
before head, talk about my name. When you get before Caesar, tell
him about my name. Tell him who I am. And oh, look
what he said here in John 20 and verse 31. Verse 30 and 31. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book. But these are written. that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you might have life. What? Through His name. Through His name. Oh, bless His
holy name. I'll tell you, when it says believe,
back over in our text in verse 31, when it says believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first thing you look at is
that word Lord. What does Lord mean? Same word as Jehovah. God. Deity. Eternality. Authority. He's the Lord. They've been debating for years
and years and years, if you can be saved without bounding the
Lordship of Christ and all that. And I'll tell you one thing,
the first word that comes out of people's mind when they came
to Christ was said, Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Oh, thou Jesus, thou Son of David. We call him Lord. We call him
Lord because he is. You call me Lord and Master,
you say, well, for so I am. I'll tell you, beloved, he's
sitting on a throne with all power and it tells us that he's
God manifest in the flesh, that he's eternal, that he may have
come in the time, but there was never a time he wasn't and never
be a time he won't be. And he'll always be the Lord.
He was the Lord that created the heavens and the earth and
spoke this world into existence. He was the Lord, God, Heaven,
and when He came down to this earth and dwelt here for thirty-three
years, He's the Lord that's sitting right now at the right hand of
God. He's His earl and He's got all authority. I love this. I love this. No matter what happens
in this world, we know that God's running it. I've been studying Daniel. Maybe
I'll start preaching on that here in a few weeks if I can
get it together. But I do know this. One day,
he walked around there one day and he looked around and said,
Oh boy, I'm going to accomplish some things. I really am. Oh, look at this great battle
that I've built. Look at all the glory that I've
accomplished and all that. About the time the words fell
out of his mouth, God said, I never told you you was going to He
turned around and said, yeah, I'm going to drive you crazy.
That's what I'm going to do. He lost his mind. He lost his mind. And he went out just about like
that gallerian maniac, and he stayed out there for seven years,
and he was wild enough to start kicking grass. His hair grew
so long, down his back looked like feathers. His hair and hands
and claws grew out to look like bird claws. Seven years he'd
done that, lived out there crazy as a big buck. And then after seven years, his
reason returned unto him. And you know the first thing
he said? He said, I know this now, the most high ruler in heaven,
that he gives the kings to whom he wants to, and he takes them
away from whom he wants to. And this is from the heathen
king. He said, And all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven. And among the inhabitants
of the earth, and ain't nobody, nobody gonna stop his hand and
ask him what he's doing. That's what we're talking about
when we call on the name of the Lord. And then it says, not only
the Lord, but Jesus. Why would you say, Lord Jesus
Christ? Why does it say Jesus is his humiliation? Jesus is
his name of humanity. Jesus is what the name that he
took to come into this world, to save sinners. Jesus is the
one who came here to obey God in his body. Jesus is the one
who, as a man, bore our sins in his own body on the tree and
died. Jesus, that humanity and his
humiliation, he was the one that was raised again from the dead.
And they looked at him and said, touch me, handle me, and see.
Oh, my. One mediator between God and
men, the man, the man, the man, Christ Jesus. And I'll tell you
something, when we get to glory, When we get to glory, the only
God we'll see will be the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll see Him
as He was when He rose from the dead. He'll still have the scars
in His hands. He'll still have the scars in
His feet. He'll still have the scars in
His side. Because that's the way John saw it. Lamb as it had
been slain. And oh beloved, and then not
only is he the Lord and he's Jesus, but he's the Christ. The
Christ means he's the Messiah. The one that God chose from all
eternity. This is his office. This is his
office. The scripture says Jesus is the
Christ. This same Jesus whom you crucified,
God has made Him both Lord and Christ. When they talked about
Christ, they understood that this was the one anointed Son
of God to have a work to do, and to do that work. Do that
work. And oh, beloved, what is it to
believe on Him? Look with me at 2 Timothy, chapter 1. What is it to believe on Him?
To believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it
to believe on Him? I'm going to show you. 2 Timothy 1.12. What is to believe on Him? To
believe on Him is to trust Him. Trust Him. Trust Him. Can you trust Him? There's a
lot of people in this world we trust. We trust a lot of people. Most of you all I trust. I trust
you with anything I own. Take ye at your word, I trust
you. But I wouldn't trust you with my soul. I wouldn't trust
you with my ternality. I wouldn't trust you with my
salvation." So what is it to believe on Him? Believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Paul
said here in verse twelve, "...for which cause I also suffer these
things." Now listen, "...nevertheless I am not ashamed." Listen to
it. For I know whom, whom. Not what, not when, not how. For I know whom I have believed. You see? He said, I know him.
I believe a person. I know whom I have believed or
trusted. And am I persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day. What have you committed unto
Him against that day? That day that He comes to get you, or
the day He comes to take all of us up? What have you committed
to Him? I've committed my soul. I've committed my sin. I've committed
my home. I've committed my children. Who
else am I going to trust with it? I trust Him. I've committed the
keeping of the law to Him. I've committed the keeping of
my soul until He comes to give me to Him. I'm committed to the
church and you and everybody else. Who else is going to take
your other? Who's able? That's why it is to trust Him,
to believe on Him. Not only that, but to believe
on Him is to receive Him. To receive Him. John said it
this way. He says, to as many as received
Him. Now, when you receive Him, That
means that if He came in here today, if our Lord Jesus was
here, and you saw Him, you'd receive Him in lauding and praising
and believing and trusting, and you'd receive His person, you'd
receive His name, you'd receive His authority, you'd receive
every word that He has to say. You'd say, yes, come in, come
in, come in. Oh, I'll receive you. I'll thank you. Oh, you're
wonderful, you're blessed, you're glorious, you're holy, you're
righteous, you're true. Oh, and He says, to as many as
received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons
of God. Now listen to it. Which were
born, not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. If God doesn't work
in your heart, you'll say, Oh Lord. Come on, Jesus. Amen. And all beloved, look over
at Acts chapter 8. Oh, listen. To believe on Him
is to confess Him. To believe on Him is to confess
Him. Is to confess Him. To believe on Him is to confess
Him. You all know the story here of
the Ethiopian eunuch. He'd been up to Jerusalem. Been
up there. And a man of great authority and power and wealth,
and he's on his way back home. And he starts reading the scriptures,
and then he's reading the scriptures. And he's reading out of Isaiah
53. And it says in verse 35, that
Philippian Jailer said in verse 34, he answered, Philip said,
I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet. of himself or some
other man. As Isaiah is talking about himself,
he's talking about somebody else. Then Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture. What scripture? He was led as
a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep had done before his
shearers, he was opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his
judgment was taken away. And Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Now listen to it. And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, see,
look, stop this chariot. See, here's water. What doeth hinder me to be baptized? What keeps me from confessing
this Jesus that you just preached to me and opened the scriptures
to me? What hinders me from doing it? If there's something that
would keep me from confessing Christ and this water of baptism
here, would you tell me what it is?" Well, Phil said, I'll
tell you what it takes. If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest. Now, listen to what he said.
What an answer he gave. And he answered, he said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded that chariot
to stand still, and they went down, both of them. Both of them into the water.
Both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. This fellow said, I'm going to
confess Christ right now. And when they were come up out
of the water, the Spirit of the Lord called away Philip. Philip,
you go someplace else now. And the eunuch saw him no more.
But look what that eunuch did. He went on his way rejoicing.
He had something to rejoice about now. And then look back over at Acts
16. Let me show you this. I'm hoping
I haven't held you too long. But Acts 16, look at a man. He's
in trouble. Paul showed him the way of salvation.
They went in the house and they spake unto him the word of the
Lord in verse 32. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord and all that were in the house. They took the scriptures
and started preaching and teaching things to them people. And look
what this man done. You're talking about a man that
was changed. He went from fixing to kill himself,
being a jailer, having no compassion or compunction or no feelings
or empathy or sympathy for anybody what had been done to him. All
they are is prisoners. And he took the same hour of
the night, took them the same hour of the night and washed
their stripes. He says, Oh, give me some water. Give me some water.
Give me some fresh water. Give me some clean water. You
fellas sit down here. Oh, I'm so sorry what they've
done to you. I'm so sorry. I didn't part in it. He started
washing their back. Oh, washing their back. Ah, washing
that blood off. Washing that stripes off. Ah,
and listen to it. and was baptized, he in all of
his straight way. He didn't say, you know, I'm
going to get baptized when I feel like it. I'm going to get baptized
when I feel more saved. I'm going to get baptized when I've got more confidence. Oh, what a changed man. And when
he had brought them out, And when he had brought them into
his house, not only did he wash their stripes, he set them to
eat before. You fellas need to eat now. And rejoiced, believing
in God. See, believing in Christ and
believing in God is one thing. With all of his house. He was
a new creature in Christ. A new creature in Christ. And
listen now. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, sent and ordained of God the Father to save sinners. He did not come as an amateur,
taking the office upon himself without any authority. God sent
him. God put everything in his hands.
And when he descended and came into this world through the womb
of Mary, In all of his life he met and obeyed God's holy law. And when he was on that cross
and he finally cried out, it is finished. He accomplished, he had accomplished
all that he was sent to do. When he said it's done, it was
done. He accomplished all the work
the Father sent him to do and he finished it. Now I'm telling
you, he's a sufficient, he's an effectual Savior. who can
be trusted, who can be relied on, who can be believed. And
if you had 10,000 souls, you could trust Him with every single
one of them. And that's why it says, the Scripture
said, He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides
on him. First, what must I do to be saved? Believe. Believe. Not just believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you'll be saved. You'll be saved. Oh, I believe. Oh, I believe. I believe. I'll tell you right now, I believe.
I believe, I believe, I believe. I believe. Do you? Do you believe? Oh, gracious, gracious Father.
Thank you for the day. Thank you for the gospel. Thank
you for the time. Thank you for the attention.
But Holy Spirit, they're just words. Just words from a man,
if you're not pleased, to make them effectual. to send them
to hearts, to send them to understanding. Lord, I remember when Paul stood before
Agrippa, and he said, I know, I know that you believe. But he went away. Lord, don't
let no one go away. Oh, Father, save your people
in this place. Do a work. And if you've done
a work, enable sinners to confess. Give them grace to be like that
Ethiopian eunuch, to be like this Philippian jailer, to be
like Lydia. Arise and be baptized. Call upon
the name of the Lord. God save us and help us and strengthen
us and encourage us. And as we gather today to eat
and fellowship together, thank you for the food. Thank you for
all the hands and love and care that went into preparing it.
Do bless our time together this afternoon. May we enjoy one another's
company. Enjoy a good meal. And these
brothers, as they take my place while I'm gone, Brother Bruce,
bless him next week, and Brad and Gary, as they labor to preach
the gospel of the free grace of God in Christ. We bless you
in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.