In Acts 4, and in verse 12, it reads, neither is there salvation
in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And then let's go to the 16th
chapter Very familiar stories here in the 16th chapter of the
book of Acts. The conversion of actually three
people. Acts 16. And of course, this
was the jailer who was converted. "...and brought them out and
said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" That's what the jailer
said. Verse 30 and 31. Verse 31, "...and they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved in thine house." Often you have heard
me say that this is the world's
greatest question. What must I do to be saved? And
this is God's only answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. I want to first tell you what
it does not mean when someone says, I'm a Christian. What it
does not mean is simply that I go to a place of worship. You know, you can go to hell
from the choir loft or the bar stool. Very true. The best place to hide from God
many times is in the church house. You come in here and you look
to be something you're not. Being a Christian, when a person
says, I'm a Christian, doesn't mean I'm a Catholic or I'm a Baptist or Presbyterian
or you choose, whatever. Being a Baptist, And being a
Christian are not the same thing. In fact, one of the reasons that
I eventually, having a Baptist background, we changed our name
and took the name Baptist out of it. Because being a Baptist doesn't
make you a Christian. Two or three of you said, Amen.
There must be a lot of Baptists in here. It's alright to say that. Being
a Baptist doesn't mean you're a Christian. It doesn't mean I've been baptized. You can be sprinkled, ducked
and poured and not make it to heaven. So if you say I'm a Christian
and you're basing that on I was sprinkled or I was baptized when
I was a child, it means nothing. Being a Christian doesn't mean
I've taken the sacraments. See, what I'm doing here is stripping
everything away. So you can really see the two
texts that I've read. It doesn't mean I've taken my
first Holy Communion. Holy cow, you need to know that
your Holy Communion will not save you. Being a Christian doesn't mean
I'm doing the best I can. Are you a Christian? Somebody
said, I'm doing the best I can, preacher. Well, let me tell you,
the best you can won't cut it. It won't get you there. Being
a Christian doesn't mean you're a good neighbor. It doesn't mean
you're trying to keep the Ten Commandments. You may be trying,
but trying won't cut it either. Because you can try and try and
try, and you'll never make it. Because you'll never keep them.
We all are lawbreakers. My friend, when it comes to salvation,
the Christian religion is most intolerant. I use the word intolerant. Intolerant. Neither is there salvation in
any other. What is the apostle saying? We
will not tolerate a message that says Jesus Christ plus. Let me really make it simple.
We are intolerant about this matter. You're not saved by your
baptism, your works. You're self-righteousness. You're
church-going. You're being a good neighbor.
You're trying to keep the commandments. You're taking holy communion.
You're being baptized. You cannot be a Christian by
those means. Let's get it really down to the
nitty-gritty. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. And thou shalt be saved. Are
you trusting Christ alone? Or when I say, are you a Christian,
do you start saying the Protestant rosary or the Catholic rosary
or whatever? Many may say in their religious
tone of voice and way, that in my religion there are 50 ways
of salvation. Well, Jesus would refute that
by saying, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Period. No one comes to the Father
but by me. You want to approach God, you're
going to have to come smack dab through the middle of Jesus Christ. Other religions may come to us
with their mock charity and say that every man may follow his
own conscience and make it to heaven. Sorry, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." Really, you can even read this in the Old Testament.
God said this, Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. And then God would say this about
their idols and their false gods. Hew them down. Cut them down. And hew them into pieces. You
know, when the Israelites were bitten by snakes, And God said,
you need to put a brazen serpent up on a pole. And everybody who
looks and lives will be cured of the snake bite. And then after
everybody who looked and they lived was cured, God said, now
what I want you to do is take that thing and grind it up, that
brazen serpent. Because somebody's going to get
a piece of it and wear it around their neck. That's why we can't
find Noah's Ark. Because somebody's going to carve
a cross out of ark wood. Listen, you better have more
than a cross around your neck and on your Bible zipper. You
better have Christ in your heart because that's where salvation
is. Now, what does it mean to say
I'm a Christian? It means I have believed. I am believing and I will continue
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's simple enough. I trusted Christ this morning. I trusted Christ 60 years ago
as an 8-year-old boy. I've trusted Christ now down
through 60 years. He's all to me. He's my Lord
and my Savior. All it is, is this. It's Christ
alone. It's Christ alone. Pastor, are
you saying that nobody can be saved apart from Christ? You
got it. That's really what I am saying.
Now, I know there's somebody here, because I thought it last
night. Somebody here is going to say,
well, then what about babies? I'm glad you asked. Let me tell
you this. No infant was ever saved or will
ever be saved apart from Jesus Christ. Babies who go to heaven must
be connected with Christ. You say, well, I don't see how
that's going to happen. You may not. How do you explain
this? There was this guy named John
the Baptist. And when Mary went to Elizabeth's house and said,
I'm going to have a baby, Elizabeth was pregnant with the Baptist. And the Bible says that the baby
leaped in the womb of Elizabeth. You say, well, how could that
be? I don't know. I just know it happened. That
was a saved baby. You still with me? To those of
you who have lost babies, this will be precious to you. To those
of you who have aborted babies, this will be precious to you.
No infant was ever saved apart from the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus has, with His blood,
bought all those who die in infancy. I believe that. You say, well, what about regeneration? What about, you know, what about
the Spirit of God? I know this. Babies are saved
the same way we are saved. It's got to be connected to Christ,
not sprinkling. No baby's ever been saved. You
mothers who've had your babies sprinkled, I'm telling you this,
and now they're smoking crack. Obviously, the water didn't get
it. Is that right? Obviously, the water didn't save
your little angel. Something went wrong. And all
of those who are adults here, and you're counting on what Mama
did with the priest and in conjunction with the church, you're going
to die and go to hell unless you come to know Christ as an
adult. But I want to say this. Christ
Jesus, I believe, has with His blood bought all those who die
in infancy, and they are regenerated, not in sprinkling with holy water,
but probably in the instant of their death, A marvelous change
passes over them by the breathing of the Holy Spirit. I believe
that because the Bible teaches that, you know, when David's
baby died, while the baby was alive, David mourned. But when
the baby died, David ate food and shaved himself and cleaned
himself up and said, I can't bring the baby back, but I can
go to the baby. The blood of Jesus Christ in
that moment of death is applied to them. And they're washed from
all original corruption which they had inherited from their
parents. And thus washed and cleansed, they enter in to the
kingdom of heaven. And they too will join us in
singing that eternal song, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Have
you ever thought about this? What if we aborted about 50 million
babies? Can you imagine 50 million babies
who are now able to sing? Are you all still with me here?
Somebody ought to be happy in here about 50 million babies
singing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and
honor and praise. I know. You're probably thinking
I've never heard you say anything even close to this, Pastor. Well,
this has been an important subject to me. I believe this. Dark and
mysterious revelations are revealed to infants before they get there. Heavenly things. So they're made
partakers of the blood of Jesus Christ. Without having down here
an open vision, as we have received, without beholding the cross.
Visibly, as we have seen, they are elevated. And Christ died
in their room, stead and place. Permit me just for a moment here.
You know, I tried to figure this out about what a baby who dies
in infancy, when that baby dies, Can you imagine the Spirit of
God? You say, well, I don't even think
God could regenerate an infant. Well, He regenerated a fool like
you. He ought to be able to regenerate a baby. Don't you think that?
God is a miracle-working God. But I do know this, however it's
done, it's a miracle of God. It's a miracle of God in Christ
Jesus. Now, let me just talk to you
a little bit about those of you who are adults. Have you tried
to be saved by your good works? It won't work. Is there anybody in here that's
discovered, with all of your efforts of trying to be good,
trying to be good enough, and trying to produce some kind of
peace within yourself through self-effort in cooperation with
God, you have not found that peace. In fact, you've found
just the opposite, that all of your righteousnesses are as a
filthy rag in the sight of God. Have you thought it was Reformation?
I know many of you who graduate and go over to Seneca Street
have thought at one time or another that you had reformed. Only to find out you needed to
be in reform school. That you really wasn't reformed. That you were just that close
to relapsing. You know why? Because salvation's
not in reformation. You can't reform yourself. And
getting off drugs doesn't mean you're saved. Getting off drugs
doesn't save you. Only in Jesus Christ. Trusting
Christ. It's Christ alone. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now I want you
to listen to a positive fact here. What does it mean when
I say I'm a Christian? It simply means this. I am trusting
Jesus Christ alone to take me to carry me, to usher me in,
to give me protection, to make me safe, to keep on working in
me until I enter my heavenly home. Really, it's a simple statement. I know you may not be too excited
right now, but the angels in heaven that are listening to
me are shouting. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved." You know what they're saying? Glory
to God in the highest. That's right. With this message
and this message alone. Have you thought about this?
Here are a thousand mercies all bound up in one bundle. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of you are maybe Restless
in here, you're looking around, you're not attentive right now.
I mean, you're thinking about all kinds of things. You're outside of this building. All kinds of things are going
on. But I'm telling you this, in
this gospel, in this person of Christ are bundled together every
blessing you need for here and for eternity. that there is salvation
in Jesus Christ. I would invite you with me to
go to the cross today. Let's go to the cross. And maybe
you'll see something there that will remove your unbelief. Why is he being nailed to the
cross? Do you know his character? There was no Fault in Him that
would have caused Him to be crucified between two thieves. In fact,
if you think about His character, He was without sin. He knew no
sin. Think about it a little bit.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Think
about it now. He knew no sin. He had no sin.
He did no sin. He is and was holy, holy, holy. Think about it a little bit.
He was God Almighty. Think about it now. And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us. God came down here. And the message of the Bible
is believe God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. doing being nailed to the cross.
His feet, his hands, his side. He's a substitute. But he's also,
remember this, he's the maker. He's the creator God. He's the
preserver. He is the God of providence being
nailed to the cross. He's the God of grace. And he's
able. And he's willing. Doubt no more. He's able to save you. He's able
to save you. Listen, you heroin addicts, crack
addicts, church addicts, religious addicts. He's able to save you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lay down all of that religious garb you have. You know what
makes this church different? We say you're nobody. The preacher's
nobody. Christ is all. He's A-double-L. He's all you need. He's all God
demands. Jesus Christ. Trust Him. He was punished in your room,
in your stead, in your place. Can you see that? Say, well,
you know, I've been such a mess. I know that. And God knows that.
That's what God was doing down here, because you're a mess.
And I'm a mess. God didn't come down here to
save good people. Good people don't need saving.
I don't know any, but good people don't need saving. But bad people
do. He came down here to save sinners.
Well, listen, if you can't go all the way and trust Christ,
will you just take a few steps this way and say, I am a sinner. You know you're a sinner. I shouldn't
have to spend 20 minutes trying to convince you that you're a
sinner. You've already convinced all of us. Surely you've convinced
yourself. You are a sinner. The old Puritans
used to say this, if Jesus ne'er had paid the debt, He ne'er had
been at freedom set. But the truth is, He paid the
debt. And on the third day, He arose
from the grave because the debt was paid. And that is mighty
good news. The debt has been paid. I could
say things like this, are you a swearer? Are you a thief? Are
you an adulterer? Are you a drunk? Are you the
chief of sinners? Well, you can't be the chief
of sinners because Paul already said he was. Of course, you could
take that up with Paul when you get to heaven. You know, I love
this word, uttermost. He's able to save from the guttermost
to the uttermost. Isn't it a wonder that you're
saved? You're crazy as a June bug. And on your way to heaven. Isn't
that something? Salvation. How wonderful it is. How glorious
it is. But it's in Christ alone. There
is salvation in no other. And how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation? I was thinking about this too
last night. When you talk about the babies
being redeemed, You know, what about heathens? What about people? How blessed we are. How blessed
you are this morning. You know, there are people in
some of the darkest spots in this world who have never heard
the gospel. I mean, as clearly as you have.
They really don't know anything about the cross. I mean, they
haven't seen it. You say, well, Pastor, I don't
believe that. I don't think anyone can be saved
without really seeing it all. You don't have enough truth to
put in a spindle. All of us, we don't know nearly
as much as we think we know about this Gospel. If we did, we'd
be amazed. We wouldn't have a dull church
service. We'd stand amazed in the presence of Jesus in Nazarene
and wonder. You know, I believe that God
is big enough to do this. And I think God has done this.
I think God even did something with me in this regard when I
was a little boy, maybe four or five years old. I had a sense
that I was not adequate. I had a sense that there was
a God. And I believe that comes from
the Spirit of God. I believe this, the man in darkest
Africa, while others are worshiping the totem pole, he says, this
is not enough for me. This is not adequate for me.
There's something, there's someone, there's something out there bigger.
There is a great and awesome something out there. Who do you
think makes that person aware of that? Isn't it glorious that
not only can God go to the hood and find you, but God can go
to the dark spots where there maybe is no preacher and begin
to move in on one of His elect in the darkest, deepest jungles
of this world. You see, to me this is exciting
stuff. If I thought, that everybody
hearing the gospel depended on me, it would drive me crazy. Really. If I thought, listen,
I would never have come to Pontiac, never, and I surely would not
stay, if I thought that it depended on me. You see, I know God is
great, God is sovereign, God is powerful. and can even make
an ass talk. That's my God. I really don't
see how people exist in this world who believe the Armenian
message that salvation is by works or by the free will of
man. I don't know how you live that
way. You know, the stories I hear and the people that I talk to, What are you going to tell a
little mother who has left her infant baby to die of hunger
while she went on a heroin search? And the baby starved to death
because she didn't come back. What are you going to lay on
her? What are you going to tell her? I'm telling you there's
good news. God can even save you. I don't care how deep, how far
you have gone. If you will believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, I promise you, thou shalt be saved. Let me say
this to you. Here is the invitation of Scripture.
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Let him that is a thirst
come. And whosoever has a will to come,
let him come. You know if you've got a will
to come, you know where you've got it. You didn't work it up. You didn't get it from mom and
daddy. God worked on your willer and gave you a new willer. I
love to see people running to Christ. Not to help Him out.
Not to help Him out because He doesn't need your help. Salvation
is not feeling sorry for Jesus. It's coming just as you are,
without one plea. "...but that His blood was shed
for thee, O Lamb of God, I come." Come in all your filthiness and
all your dirtiness and trust the power and the person and
the blood of Jesus Christ. Yeah. Come with all your ignorance.
With all of your ignorance. You've heard me tell this story
on several occasions about the half-wit. That's what they used
to call people with mental illness. That would fit most of us here. But the half-wit heard Spurgeon
preach. and confess faith in Christ. And back in Spurgeon's
day, when a person came forward and professed faith in Christ,
they'd take them in a room and the elders of the church would
have them give their testimony and examine them somewhat as
to whether it was a true confession. And the half-wit got before the
elders and said, when they were grilling him, I am a poor sinner. and nothing at all. But Jesus
Christ is my all in all." Hey, that's good enough for me. How
about you? If you can come that way, just as you are, to Jesus
Christ, thou shalt be saved. And, you know, I know you're
surprised. What a wonderful word salvation
is. Many people, I think, believe
that salvation is just save from hell and go to heaven. And that
is true. Those things are true. But there's
so much more to being saved. So much more. He walks with me
and talks with me. I'm going to tell you something
really spooky. Last night from 1230 to 430, I experienced God. I laid awake. In my bed. Very much alert. And worshipped for four hours. It's true. Miss Pam was sleeping. There
was no distractions. There was complete joy. There
was complete rest. My mind was so clear. I didn't want that to end. I'm
saved. I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad to
be alive. I'm not ready to go home yet.
I'm having a little heaven on the way to heaven. I mean, I'm
prepared to go. I just don't want to make up
the next load. I mean, I'm... Right? I'm saved. There's no condemnation to those
that are in Christ Jesus. And I know that making it simple
is not enough. All truth is revealed truth.
And the Spirit of God has to quicken you. But I want to say
to all of you, maybe some here who, you know, this is your second,
third time ever to be in church of any kind. Maybe you've been
a heroin addict for 25 years, or crack addict, or I don't know
where you are. Or maybe you've just been one
of those good people Who go to church and are very
religious. But today, something happened
to you. You got honest before God. And
you saw yourself a sinner. Now what? Let me give you the
good news. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.