Today's message is called Christ
the Only Savior. Christ the Only Savior. Turn,
if you would, to the Book of Acts. We're going to pick up
where we left off last week. We stopped in verse 10. We looked at verse 10, verses
1 to 10. We read verses 1 to 10. then we looked at verses 6 to
10 where Peter and John are bought before the high priest Caiaphas
or Ananias and Caiaphas was there and a whole bunch of others and
was the who's who of the rulers of Israel at that time standing
or sitting and having Peter and John stand before them and we're
going to also notice something too that the man who was healed
is standing right there with them. It's something we can overlook
because we always look at the figures of Peter and John as
the focus, but the man who's healed is standing right beside
them. The very proof of the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ
is standing right in their midst. And they do not want to give
glory to God for the wondrous works that our great King has
done. Let's read verses 1 to 7 to see the setting here. And
they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain of the
temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. So Peter is now and
John are preaching to the people, Christ. And look at this, the
Sadducees and the captain of the temple are grieved at what
they taught the people. Being grieved that they taught
the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the
dead. So that's what they were preaching. They were preaching
Christ. And they were preaching that the only way that one could
be raised from the dead is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. Very clearly set forth before
us here. And they lay hands on them and
put them in the hole until the next day. So they're thrown into
prison overnight for preaching the gospel. Well, it was now
eventide, so it was later in the night, so instead of meeting
with him right there, they had him thrown into jail, probably
to intimidate them for the night, thinking all this will shake
him up, we're going to throw him in jail. Doesn't shake him
up. Doesn't shake him up at all.
How about many of them which heard the word believed? So there
must have been a multitude of people there because look how
many people here believe. And the number of the men was
about 5,000. 5,000 souls ushered into the kingdom of heaven. 5,000 souls born again by the
power of God Almighty just like that. And we know the only reason
they believed was because they were born again and given faith
to believe, right? God had done a mighty work. 3,000 had been
saved just a couple days earlier, right? This is 8,000 souls added
to the church just like that. Out of every kindred, tribe,
tongue, and nation. Remember, it's Passover time.
when the first sermons preached. And so there's people from all
over the world, the known world at that time. And what did they
hear? They heard Peter and John preaching
in their own language, didn't we? We saw that in chapter three.
Oh my. Well here, they're in this temple
after this man's been healed, and they get the opportunity
to preach the gospel, and they just let it fly. And by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit, 5,000 men are turned from darkness
to light, just like that. And you see, notice something
here, I mentioned it last week too. These men are bound, Peter
and James and Johns are bound in prison, but the word of God's
not bound, is it? Oh, it's not bound at all. So
they may throw God's preachers in jail, But that word is not
bound. The Holy Spirit got a hold of
that, right? What they spoke, what they preached,
which was Christ, and he regenerated them on the spot. Isn't that
amazing? That's what he did for you and
I, beloved. That's what he did for you and I, too, under the
preaching of the word. It's wonderful. They came to
pass on the moral that the rulers, and elders, and scribes, and
Ananias the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander,
as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, so they even
have some family members there, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what
power or name have ye done this? Notice that, by what name? That's
what the name of last week's message was, by the name of Christ. This week's message is Christ
the only Savior. So they're gonna testify that
the work that was done was done through the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then we're gonna see that
only by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ can anyone be saved. That name's important, isn't
it? That name is the difference between life and death. He's the God-man. That name is
the difference between heaven and hell. That name is the difference
between heaven's sins forgiven and being dead in trespasses
and sin still. And the only reason we trust
in that name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is because we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God and given faith to believe. And now we
trust him, don't we? Now we rest in him. It's all
by God's almighty work. So we clearly see that the religious
leaders of the city, to them the gospel of Christ was offensive.
We see that in verses two and three which says, being grieved
that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection
from the dead and they laid hands on them. They so hated God, or
Christ, and so hated his disciples that they laid hands on them
and threw them in jail. These are folks who are supposed
to know the Bible. But you know what's happened? They now uphold
the tradition of the elders. They now uphold the tradition
of the elders above anything else. Do you know the Pharisees
aren't mentioned in the Old Testament? Do you know when the Pharisees
came into being? I found this out this week. The
Pharisees came into being in between the Old Testament and
the New Testament. That's when they came into being.
And they became rulers in Israel. And what they taught, they taught
this. I found this out too. They taught that when Moses came
down from the mountain, that he had the Torah, but he also
had a verbal Torah, which they called the traditions of the
elders. And they vaulted that over the scriptures. That was their problem. They vaulted their own traditions.
And if you look in scripture, it's called the traditions of
the elders. They vaulted those traditions over the scriptures.
Here's an example. Do you remember when our Lord
was walking by the cornfields and his disciples went and picked
corn? And then they ate it. And the Pharisees said, why don't
they wash their hands before they eat? That was one of the traditions
of the elders. That's not scriptural. And if you look at all the things
that they said that the apostles were to do, they're all traditions
of the elders. And Christ never, ever, ever
had his disciples do any of the traditions of the elders, because
it's extra biblical. Isn't that amazing? It makes
a lot more sense than about the very things of do this, do this,
do this, do this. And the Lord said, they don't
have to do that. That's something you've made up. What does man do now with religion
even? What does he do with religion?
You've got to do this. And do you know that the Jews
today still practice the same religion the Pharisees did? Whether
it's the hedonistic Jews or whether it's the orthodox Jews, it's
still pharisaism. They've rejected Christ. Isn't that amazing? Now let us
pray for them, right? Let us pray for that nation.
Let us pray for all the nations that God would move in their
midst. Oh my. But that just gives you a little
oversight of what these guys believed and why they were so
opposed to Christ. Because Christ said to the disciples,
you don't have to do those things. And they were so opposed. Because
that's how they controlled people, beloved. That's how they controlled
people. Oh my. I like what a fellow said
to the same guy that he was talking to. He said, I can't understand
how a Christian can be anti-Semitic because Christ our Savior was
a Jew. Isn't that amazing? And we're the Israel of God.
Isn't that incredible? Oh my. So let us pray for the
peace of Jerusalem. Let us pray for the people, not
only of Jerusalem, but the people all over the world. that the
Lord would save his people from their sins. And he will, he'll
get them all. He'll get them all. So the very things that
they found offensive was the doctrines of Christ's substitutionary
atonement. That was a perfect work. The
resurrection, we see here that all they're doing is they're
speaking about the resurrection through Christ. And the Pharisees
hate it. They despise it. So much so they
have him thrown in jail overnight. And why? Because it was an offense
to their religious pride. It was an offense. When they
preached the finished work of Christ, when they preached that
we're only saved by Christ and Him alone, it offended their pride because
they had all these things, all these laws that people had to
do. such as washing their hands. And I heard about this. When
they washed their hands, they had to hold one hand like this
and wash it like this. And then they had to wash the
top of it. And then they had to switch hands and wash that
hand and wash that hand. It was all this thing they had
to do. And it was all just the traditions
of the elders. That's all it was. That's all
it was. And they believed that by following
these things that they would gain merit and favor with God. Oh my. They were not worshiping
Yahweh, were they? That's just meaning the Lord.
When you see the Lord in the Old Testament, Yahweh, Jehovah.
Yahweh. They weren't worshiping Him,
were they? No, they were following the traditions of the elders.
That's why the Lord said, if you believe what Abraham said,
then you'd believe me. Because the law and the prophets,
what? They testified of who? Christ. They testified of Christ,
oh my. So they've got so far away from
true biblical worship that they're now exalting the traditions of
man above the scriptures. And that's why we see their reaction.
We're gonna see their reaction today even. They're full of self-righteousness. And they were grieved by the
fact that these men were just preaching resurrection through
Christ. Not only were they offended by the message of salvation by
grace alone, through Christ alone, through the merits of our great
substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, but they were also fearful of
losing their power on the people. Brother Jim Byrne mentioned that
they were afraid of losing money. Last week he mentioned that.
After I had preached, I said, yeah, you're right. They were
afraid of losing money. I think, you know, 8,000 people
no longer putting any money in the temple coffers. My oh my. My oh my. See, God's preachers
don't, we don't preach the gospel because of money. We preach the
gospel for the glory of God. You're here today, aren't you,
for the glory of God. You support the work for the
glory of God. That's what we do. My oh my. So these leaders, they
arrested Peter and John and these faithful servants of God. They
had to suffer imprisonment for simply preaching the gospel.
And our Lord trains his people wisely, doesn't he? You know
he trains us wisely. You ever think of this? Our dear
sister one time said, and I fully agree that the Lord is weaning
us from this world through trials and tribulations. Weaning us
from this world. But he also, I noticed this too,
here have trials come by degrees. You ever notice that? Something
little will happen, then something maybe a little bit bigger will
happen, then something really big will happen, then something
looks like a mountain. But all that time, he's preparing us
just to rest in his faithfulness. Isn't he? All that time, he's
preparing us for that which is to come. And we as God's people, we've
learned to just rest in that. From the beginning of God's church,
the church of God has suffered at the hands of persecutors.
Cain and Abel. Abel was murdered by his own
brother because he offered the right sacrifice. And his brother
murdered him. There's a book called Fox's Book
of Christian Martyrs. My, you want to know what some
of our brothers and sisters went through? Read that book. But have a box of Kleenex with
you. Oh my. The things that they went
through and would not recant their faith? My, oh my. The history of the church is
a A history of blood, shed blood through persecution. And it's
all for preaching the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ. Through the merits of Christ
and his precious, precious blood. And the reason that God's people
are persecuted by the religious people of the generation is because
the message of salvation through the finished work of Christ is
an offense to self-righteous religious people. They get offended
by it. You just tell people God's sovereign,
and I'm telling you what, they're going to get offended by it. My, oh my. But you preach the
cross of Christ and you say salvation is only in Christ and him alone
and people will, what about what I do? What you do has nothing
to do with salvation. It's all grace, isn't it? From
beginning, the planning, purposing, execution of our salvation in
Christ, all the way to the Holy Spirit regenerating us, and then
all the way to the Holy Spirit taking us home. It's all grace. It all comes to us by the grace
and mercy of God through Christ. Let's read now verses 8 to 10.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers
of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of
the good deed done to the impotent men, 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, look at that, by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by him doth this man, now here's, look at
this, this is how we know he's right there, even by him doth
this man stand here before you whole. No, they're not asking the man
any questions. He's probably itching to say something. He's
probably itching to say, God, help me. These men said Christ,
and I'm healed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. They don't ask him a
word. And we see that after the rulers
and elders and scribes, they tried to intimidate Peter and
John by throwing them in jail the night before and now bringing
them before them. These rulers were men of great
respect and power in Israel and influence in the nation of Israel.
And they asked Peter and John, by what power or by means have
you done this? And had they replied, Jehovah,
the only true and living God did this, then they all would
have been in agreement with them. You know that? They all would have been, the
Sanhedrin would have said amen. Oh my. But that would have been a denial
of Christ. And I'll tell you what, Peter
was never gonna deny the Lord again. He denied him three times, remember?
He wasn't about to do it again. After he heard the Lord say three
times to him, Peter, do you love me? In words of love. If you look
that account when Peter denied the Lord, there's a part in there
when Peter looks and the Lord looks right at him. Now that is not a look of condemnation. When Jesus does that, that's
a look of love, even though Peter's denying him. That's a look of
love. God loves his people with an
everlasting love, beloved. And you notice when our king,
you've heard me say this many times, when our king said, Peter
do you love me? He never bought up his sin, he
never bought up the fact that he denied him three times. There
ain't no way Peter's gonna deny him again. Oh my. Peter knew that the object
of their hatred was not Jehovah, but the object of their hatred
was he who proclaimed himself to be God incarnate in the flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ. My oh my. And here Peter's standing
with John and with the lame man who's been healed in the midst
of these elders. And we see Peter being filled with the Holy Ghost.
What's he do? He proclaims Christ. He proclaims Christ. He proclaims
Christ having died, having been crucified, having been raised
from the dead, all by the power of God. And then he proclaims
that this man stands before you whole because of Jesus of Nazareth. My oh my, is that not true of
all of us who are born again? Are we not born again by the
power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth? The power of the God-man? My. Look at this in verse 10 again.
Be it known unto you and all the people of Israel that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, and remember
who the true author of these words is, is God the Holy Spirit,
right? whom he crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even
by him doth this man stand here before you whole. And beholding
the man which was healed standing with them, they could not say
anything against it. Verse 14, look at verse 14. And
beholding the man which was healed standing with them, so we see
here again, the fact that the man's with them is mentioned
in verse 10 and in verse 14. Beholden the man which was healed
standing with them. They could say nothing against
it. They could say absolutely nothing against this healing.
Isn't that amazing? But we're gonna see here in this
portion that Peter brings forth that Christ is the Messiah. Christ
is the long-awaited Messiah. He is the only one whose salvation
is through. People claim salvation in Mohammed
or Buddha or all these other gods. I met a guy from India
the other day. I was talking to him and he said,
I worship the goddess such and such. I don't even remember what
it was. And I thought, well, that's just a false god. He was
sincere. He says, well, I do my fasting.
I do all this stuff. And I thought, well, you're sincerely
wrong. Just a false God. Just a false
idol. Oh my. Look at this in verses
11 to 14. We're going to see that there's
no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. Look at this. And it's so clear. No other name.
I mean no one. Only through Christ. Remember
he said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Look at this. Look at verses 11 to 14. This
is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which
has become the head of the corner. He's the foundation stone, right? He's the head of the church.
He's the cornerstone of the church, the chief cornerstone. Look at verse 12, so clear. Neither
is there salvation in any other. That means not in ourselves,
and that means not in anyone else. Not in the church, right? Not in baptism, not in anything
we do, not in someone who claims to be You would not believe some of
the folks out there what they're saying. I won't even give it
a time of day. It's awful. People saying they're
speaking for God. No, they're not. No, they're
not. It's awful stuff. Neither is there salvation in
any other. No other. I mean, that's what
the scripture says, right? We're reading it. It's plain
English. It's easy to understand. Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name.
Look at that. This is how the importance of the name. There's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. The only way we can be saved
is through Christ and Him alone. There's no other way. It's so
clear right there in that verse. Now when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men. I have to laugh at that. Unlearned
and ignorant men. Here's these, here's these, these
seminary professors of the Pharisee College. And they said they were with
Christ. They're just a bunch of unlearned
men. Christ is the ancient of days. He is the everlasting one. He's
the Prince of Peace, as our dear sister sang. He came into this
world. Hallelujah. Praise His mighty
name. He came into this world, why? To save His people from
their sins. He's the all-knowing one. Anything
we know, anything we know that we do with our job, anything
we know from scripture, anything we know about God, it all comes
from Him. It all comes from Him. Somebody
says, well I learned all that. Yeah, the only reason you learned
it is because God gave you the ability to learn it. My oh my. You know, God gave
us the doctor's knowledge and the people who make medicine
and pills knowledge to keep the elect alive until their appointed
time and everyone else gets the residual effects. You've all
heard me say that before. It's true, isn't it? It's true. My oh my. But look how clear
this is. Oh, they're unlearned and ignorant
men. Put that on my tombstone. He
was an unlearned and ignorant man who preached Christ. Amen. Oh, my. And they marveled. Look at that. They thought, how
can these folks be? And they took knowledge of them
that they had been with Jesus. They acknowledged that they'd
been with Jesus. They're not the same men they
were. And beholding the man which was
healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
So we see, and note the words there in verse 11, this is the
stone which was set at Nod of you, builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Now Peter's drawing attention
to Psalm 118.22, which proclaims the stone which the builders
refused is become the headstone of the corner. So that's a direct
reference. Remember, they didn't have the
New Testament. They're preaching from the Old
Testament. And they thought that these Pharisees would know the
scriptures. They thought that these Jewish
leaders would at least know, or at least they should have
known, that Psalm 118.22 speaks of the Messiah. Again, I'll read
it. This, the stone which the builders refused has become the
headstone of the corner. And then we see what he says
in verse 11. This is the stone. He's saying Christ is the stone.
Christ is the Messiah, which was said not of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner. And this is exactly what God's
preachers do. We set Christ forth. That's what
Peter's doing here, right? He's setting Christ forth as
the only Savior. Look, it's so clear again in
verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other. No other. For there's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. When you hear someone say, I
think, stop them. I mentioned this in
Sunday school. What I think, what you think,
it doesn't matter. It's what does the word say.
And let's look at what the word says here about salvation. Neither
is there salvation in any other. That's what the word of God says.
For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. And that's Christ and him crucified.
There's salvation in no other but Christ. My, oh my. So God's preachers,
we stand up, we preach and proclaim what the word of God says. Thus
saith the Lord. Well, what does the Lord say?
Neither salvation in any other. There's no salvation except in
Christ. Outside of Christ, there's just condemnation. But in Christ,
there's salvation, justification, sanctification, redemption, eternal
life. But outside of Christ, there's
just damnation. Christ, the Christ of God, Peter's
proclaiming here that the Christ of God is the promised Messiah.
He's the one who the Jewish nation has been waiting for. But the
scripture says he came unto his own, and his own received him
not, right? My, oh my. Did that catch God
by surprise, beloved? Brother Travis, did that catch
God by surprise? No, not at all, eh? No, it was all part of his
plan and purpose, wasn't it? Oh my. Oh my. So here they are, they're preaching
Christ and Him crucified. And these Jewish leaders, they're
just getting mattered in a wet hornet. Turn, if you would, to
1 Peter, chapter 2. We looked at this in Sunday school,
but we're going to look at it again. And this is speaking of
God's born-again, blood-washed children. Let's see what the Word of God
says about us and about Christ. More importantly, about Christ. Oh my. Do you know Christ is
a sow and a stumbling to religious folks? Christ is a sow and a
stumbling to unsaved people. The fact that he says, I'm the
way, the truth, and the life, the fact that the scripture says
what we're reading here, that there's salvation in no other,
is a stumbling block to people. I was talking to someone who
I loved dearly one time, and I said, all you do is look to
Christ. Look to Christ and live. And they said, is it that simple?
And I said, yeah. Just look to Christ. We complicate
it so much. And you know what people say
this? I used to say this. Well, if I give my life to Jesus, I'm
going to have to stop all those things that are so fun. You know what I found out? I found that there's no greater
joy than resting and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I found
that everything the world offers pales in comparison. to the love
that I found with God's people, to the joy that I found in Christ,
to the peace with God that I now have in Christ, and it's all
because of God's grace and mercy. It had nothing to do, I'm just
simply a receiver of it. Isn't that wonderful? You are
too, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful, Brother Tom?
My, here we are. We don't deserve this. Don't
deserve this mercy, don't deserve this grace, and yet God bestows
it upon us in Christ. Why? Because he's loved us with
an everlasting love. My oh my. A love that never changes. And why doesn't it change? Because
God doesn't change. God doesn't change. That's why
we say, sinner friend, if you do not know Christ, oh flee to
him. I'll tell you what, he's, he,
He's the only hope for sinners. And we just saw in the text that
there's salvation in no other but Christ and Him alone. Right? My. There's only salvation in
and through Christ. Look at this in 1 Peter 2, verses
5 to 8. He also, as lively stones, built
up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God. by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also
it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Do you believe on Christ? Amen, Brother Brian. Amen. Moses
says we won't be confounded. We won't be confused. We now
know that Christ is the only Savior, don't we? We've been
taught My oh my. Unto you therefore,
which believe, he is precious. Brother Zane, is he precious
to you, brother? He's the pearl of great price, isn't he? My
oh my. My, oh my, unto you therefore
that believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. And the stone of stumbling, and
the rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. And
then look at the next two verses after that. Look at verses 9
and 10 of 1 Peter chapter 2. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation to heal your people. How
are we that? How are we sinners, born sinners?
How are we that? By the power of God, the Holy
Spirit regenerating us and by the Lord Jesus Christ first and
foremost saving us from all our sins on Calvary's cross. That
ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you. You
know we're going to be praising him, we'll praise him here on
earth and we're going to be praising him, we'll be praising him in
glory. You know, I know for us Baptists,
that word hallelujah, man. I love that song. And I've told
you many times, that's become one of my favorite words. Do
you know what we'll be saying? Hallelujah and glory. Isn't that
wonderful? Praise ye the Lord. My. Isn't it wonderful? Oh, it's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Oh,
which show forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness. We were in such darkness, beloved. We didn't
even know we were in darkness. We were in the darkness of our
sin. And now we've been called out of that darkness into the
marvelous light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, all by God's power,
all by His grace. That's why I say it's grace,
the grace of God. We're saved by the grace of God
through Christ, right? Our salvation's all of grace
from beginning to end and everything in between. It's all Him. Look at this. Which in times
past were not a people, but now the people of God, which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. I love that.
Paul wrote even that. He said, I've obtained mercy. Ma, you have a man preach to
you that's obtained mercy, and I look at a bunch of people that's
obtained mercy. Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful. It's just, it's
wonderful. We've obtained mercy. We wouldn't
deserve it, but we've obtained it through Christ. I'll tell
you what. Now the priests and the elders
and the scribes were fond of being called the builders. So
that also has a reference there too. They were fond of being
called the builders. But they made a miserable work
of it, didn't they? Oh my. And so they despised the
real stone, the real foundation, the real builder. They despised
him. They rejected the stone of Israel.
And instead of Christ as a foundation, they made themselves the foundation.
And the tradition of the elders they made as a foundation. So
what did they have? They had a refuge of lies, beloved. My, they were trying to merit
salvation by their own righteousness. And our Lord spoke against that,
didn't he? How perfect do you have to be
to be in God's presence? As perfect as God. Scripture says there's none righteous,
no, not one. Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful? Doesn't it fill you full of joy
that God imputed the perfect righteousness of God in the flesh
to us? and imputed our sins to him and
he bore them all. Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it?
You don't hear much preaching on the righteousness of Christ
anymore because people are going about trying to establish their
own righteousness. But as long as God gives me breath, I'm gonna
preach on the righteousness of Christ. Because that's the only
way we can be in God's presence, isn't it? That's the only way. So they'd rejected Christ, both
in person and in doctrine, these folks. And here he is, God incarnated
in the flesh, and they've rejected him. He was treated disgracefully
by them. And then they put him to death.
But God raised him from the dead, didn't he? And all that happened
according to the foreknowledge of God. Does anything catch God by surprise?
Nothing. Nothing at all. And God, where's
God exalted Christ to? Where is he right now, beloved?
Right hand of God, amen, sister. He's exalted to the right hand
of God, isn't he? That's where he is right now,
interceding for us. Oh my. God's exalted him. God's exalted him to the right
hand of God. It is he, Jesus, our Lord, who
is the stone which has become the head of the corner, the chief
cornerstone that adorns, strengthens, knits, and keeps together the
whole building that is called the church. We're living stones
built up upon Christ. And he's the foundation. He's
the cornerstone. He's the stone which the builders
rejected, beloved. And the church that's built up
upon him is all the born-again blood-washed believers, Jew and
Gentile, from out of every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation, beloved. There's neither Jew nor Gentile
in the body of Christ, but we're one in Christ, and we're complete
in him. And I mean complete means complete,
right? Oh, that's good news for sinners.
Now note in verse 12, we have a wonderful proclamation so clearly
proclaimed and written down here by the
Holy Spirit of God through the pen of Luke. And we see what Peter went on
to say to these ungodly Jewish leaders in this verse. Look what
he said. He says, neither is there salvation in any other
For there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. There's no salvation in being
a Pharisee. There's no salvation in being a Sanhedrin. There's no salvation in being
a so-called priest. There's no salvation in any denomination
of church. There's only salvation in Christ
alone. Neither is there salvation in
any other. No other. That means no one. That means not another human
being. That means no other god of someone's
imagination, whether it be the Greek gods or the Roman gods
or the millions of gods or the thousands of gods that are worshipped
in India today even. No other one. None. None. For there is none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. The name of Jesus, turn if you
would to Acts chapter 10. The name of Jesus is the name
above every name, beloved. And on his name, every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. And that saved and unsaved are
gonna be saying that. Someone says, I'll never bow
to Christ. Yes, you will. You're either going to bow to
him as your savior, or you're going to bow to him as your judge.
And there's no one getting away from that. Can you imagine what
Judas Iscariot and Caiaphas and all of them, they despised him
so much, one day they're going to bow their knee and say, Jesus
Christ is Lord. Hitler, Stalin, All these other,
you think of the worst person that ever lived on this earth.
Well, that's in all of us, but you think of that. They're going
to bow their knee one day, and they're going to say, Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. My, oh, my. He's the sovereign ruling monarch
over all the universe. He's the king of kings and the
lord of lords. He rules over heaven and he rules
over all the earth. Look at this in Acts chapter
10, starting in verse 34, and we'll go to verse 43. Then Peter
opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons. Ain't no respecter of persons.
That means that a man that's doing something to try to gain
merit and favor of God by their doing, and they think they're
doing better than everybody else, God don't respect that. Salvation's only through Christ
and him alone. But in every nation, he that
feareth him, do you fear God in Christ? Do you reverence God? Do you now have a holy fear of
him? And I don't mean a slavish fear, I mean a fear of awe and
wonder at who God is and that he's even had mercy on us. He that feareth him and worketh
righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent
unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ,
he's Lord of all. Look at that. Look at that in
Acts 10.36. My goodness, it's put right there,
but look at this. The word which God sent to the
children of Israel, preaching peace, by who? By Jesus Christ. And then the Holy Spirit has
Luke penned, he is Lord of all, in parenthesis. He's Lord over
all? It's not a question up for debate,
is it? Word of God says he's Lord over
all. He's Lord over all. Isn't that wonderful? That word
I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea and began
from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and the power
who went about doing good. He didn't do any evil at all.
He only did good. He's not a sinner. He's perfectly
holy. He's sinless in healing all that
were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we
witness And we are witnesses of all things, which he did both
in the land of Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on
the tree. Now remember, he says he's the witnesses here. He's
an eyewitness and he's an ear witness too, isn't he? He didn't
just see these things, he heard Christ's words. He spoke to him. Him, God raised up on the third
day and showed him openly. Not to all the people. He didn't
appear to a bunch of unbelievers, did he? Who did he appear to? His people. His people. Not to all the people, but under
witnesses chosen before of God. Are you a witness of Christ and
what he's done in you? You were chosen of God, beloved. When? Before the foundation of
the world in Christ. My. Chosen before God even to
us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead
and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify
that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the
quick and the dead. to him gave all the prophets
witness, look at that, that through his name, whoever believeth in
him shall receive remission of sins. Do you believe on Christ?
That's the question right now. What do you think of Christ right
now? I don't care what you thought about 10 years ago, or a profession
that someone made years ago, what do you think of him right
now? Right now, is he Lord of all? Is he the only Savior? Has he saved your soul? Praise his mighty name. The born-again
blood-washed believer could say, he saved my soul by the shedding
of his precious, precious blood 2,000 years ago. He came to die. My, oh, my. My, oh, my. Listen to what the
scriptures declare. I'm going to go through a bunch
of scriptures. If you want to write them down, you can. Don't got
much time left. But I'm going to read these things,
just a few things. The scriptures declare about
the name of Jesus. His name is Precious. We saw that before. Behold, I lay in Zion, the chief
cornerstone, elect Precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. And then powers associated with
his name, too. In Philippians 2, verses 9 to
11, the scripture says, wherefore God hath also highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things
in earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He's got all power. It's
all being given to him. And in his name is a source of
the believer's pardon. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. Oh my, we're
saved by faith in his name. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. John 1, 12. And then John 1,
13, which were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor
the will of man, but of God. And all God does for sinners,
he does for Christ's sake, Ephesians 4.32. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. And by the name of Jesus, all
prayer is offered. We offer our prayers up through
Christ. He's our representative. He's our substitute. Whatsoever
ye ask in my name, that will I do, and that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it." John 14, verses 13 and 14. And then we
come to God in his name. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by him. We have
peace through his name. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand
and rejoice in the hope of God. And then we have perseverance,
preservation of God's elect in his name. And now I am no more
in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to thee,
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one as we are. And then, all true preaching,
all true preaching. What would become of the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ if one of his believing ones was lost?
Well, his name, though, is the theme of all preaching. He can't
lose any of his people. Listen to this. Then he said
unto them, O fools, and slow a heart to believe that all the
prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in the scriptures the
things concerning himself. You see, when a man stands up
and preaches the gospel, he's not preaching anything about
himself. He's preaching all about Christ. all about him. In the Law and
the Prophets, the Old Testament, and the New, all speak of him.
The Law and the Prophets is a direct reference to the Old Testament,
the Book of Moses, and the Prophets. And they all testify of Christ.
They all testify of Christ. And then the Lion of the tribe
of Judah shall prevail. Well, he's the Lamb. He's the
Lamb. And one of the authors said unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, hath prevailed to open the Book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. In Revelation 5 verses 9 to 14. Turn there
if you would. Revelation chapter 5 verses 9
to 14. Oh my. Oh my. We're going to close with this.
I got four more pages but we're not going to get to them. Okay. Listen to this. This is absolutely
wonderful. Who are we going to be praising
in glory? The Lord Jesus. Amen, brother. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at this. Oh, this is just
amazing. Revelation 5, verses 9 to 14. And they sang a new song saying,
thou art worthy. The only one who's worthy to
take the book is Christ. And look at verse 5. It says, And one of the elders
saith unto me, Weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, this is Christ, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And look at verse 9. And they sang a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy. That's what we're going to sing
in heaven. Thou art worthy, Lord Jesus, Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God. See, we've been redeemed to God,
beloved. God is the one we sinned against,
and we've been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ back to God.
Isn't that wonderful? Redeemed us to God. How? By Thy
blood of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. Look
at that. Everyone and has made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and
the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000,
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. In every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said amen,
and the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him
that liveth forever and ever. What are we going to be doing
in the heaven? We're going to be singing glory. Where is the
lamb that was slain? Isn't it wonderful? Isn't God
so good that he takes rebels? He takes rebels and turns them
into ones who praise him. Isn't that amazing? God is so
good, beloved. Let us leave here just rejoicing
in the goodness of God. And let us leave here rejoicing,
if we're a believer, that God has revealed to us that there's
salvation in no other. And for those of you who do not
know Christ, oh, we pray. We pray. God's people, we pray
that the Lord Jesus Christ would reveal himself to you. Oh, that
you'd be born again. And see Christ is the only Savior
of sinners, which He is. He is the only Savior of sinners.
And I don't care how black your sin is. I don't care what you've
done. He can save to the uttermost
all who come to Him. And He does. You know how we
know that? We're living proof. We who are the redeemed are living
proof, aren't we? You know when a person says,
well you don't know how bad my sin is? That's just self-righteousness.
Cast your self-righteousness aside and just trust Christ.
Just look to Him. Just look to Him. My oh my. Isn't He wonderful? Brother Brian,
can you