Good morning. So enjoyed that special. Sat
there and I wish there were more verses. I could just sit and
listen and listen. Let's open our Bibles to Acts
chapter 15. Acts chapter 15. Let's begin reading in verse
1, down through verse 11. And certain men, which came down
from Judea, taught the brethren, and said, except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. Therefore Paul
and Barnabas had no small dispensation and disputation with them, They
determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other men should
go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles.
And they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And they would
come to Jerusalem. They were received to the church.
of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that
God had done with them. But there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying that it was
needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been
much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles, by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us. and put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore,
why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But, but
we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved even as they. I want us to consider this question
this morning. How shall we be saved? How shall we be saved? Now, in
verse one, we see how quickly, how easily works religion can
rear its ugly head, even among God's people. Certain men, it
says, which came down from Judea. Now these weren't brethren, that's
not what it says. It says certain men. They taught a false gospel. And they didn't just say you
need to be circumcised like Moses. They said except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you can't be saved. They tied some
form of work. They tied something, except you'd
be circumcised. Like Moses, you cannot be saved. You cannot be healed. You cannot
be preserved. You cannot be made whole. Let's stop right there and let's
consider what the scriptures say. Over in Romans chapter 3,
turn there with me. Romans chapter 3. Look at verse 19. Now we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, Every
mouth may be stopped. All the world may become guilty
before God. Read on. Therefore, by the deeds
of the law, by circumcision, by keeping of
so-called religious days, by doing so-called righteous works,
by the deeds of the law, by what you do, there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. You might be justified, we might
be justified in the eyes of men by what we do and what we don't
do, but in the eyes of God, he says no flesh shall be justified
in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. These
certain men, they said, except you be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. But the scriptures clearly
declare, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight. The law cannot say. The law cannot
justify. It cannot give us a righteousness. No, no. It can only shut our
mouths and declare us guilty before Almighty God. The law
can only reveal our sin and our depravity. The law can only shut
us up to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Back in our text, look
at Acts 15 verse 2. It says Paul and Barnabas had
no small dissension and disputation with them. Paul and Barnabas,
they didn't let this go. They didn't say, well, these
men mean well. They came over from whatever
place. They mean well. We'll just let this go. No. Twice
in Galatians, we read, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you, other than that which you've received? How serious a matter
is this? Let him be accursed." These certain
men, they were perverting the gospel of Christ, which is no
gospel. It's a false gospel. It's no
gospel. And we read that Paul and Barnabas, they would go up
to Jerusalem. They'd go up to the apostles and the elders about
this question. Look at verse three, and they
passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion
of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy unto
all the brethren. Maybe they told them of the conversion
of Cornelius. Back there in Acts chapter 10.
Turn back a few pages to Acts chapter 10. Look at verse... 22 of Acts 10. Cornelius. They said, they said,
Cornelius the centurion, a just man and one that feareth God
and of good report among all the nations of the Jews, was
warned from God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house
and to hear words of thee. This Cornelius, this centurion,
a just man. He feared God. He was of good
rapport among those around him. But something's different about
Cornelius. He was warned of God. He was
warned of God to send for Peter and have the word preached to
him. Look at verse 33 there. What did Cornelius say when they
arrived? He said, immediately, therefore,
I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come.
Now, therefore, we're all here present. all here present before
God to hear all things that are commanded to thee of God. That's why we gather together,
isn't it? We gather together to hear the message of God's
servant, to hear a message from Almighty God, God himself. May he be pleased to speak to
us this morning. And every time, every time we
gather together as a people. And listen, look at verse 24
here. Cornelius, look what it says here of him. It says here
he called together his kinsmen. He called his family together. He wanted his family to hear
the same message that he was hearing. It says he called together
his near friends. His friends, maybe some of his
neighbors. This message. This message. Don't we desire
We're thankful that the Lord's pleased to open our ears to hear. Opened our hearts to receive
it. What a thing that would be if
he was pleased. Don't we have family? We'd love
to hear this gospel. Friends, that we'd love to hear
this gospel. Cornelius, no doubt, he said,
he said, come on over. I've got a, I've got a fellow
coming who's going to preach the gospel. And you need to,
and you need to hear it. Oh, he wanted them to hear what
Peter had to say. And look what, look what Peter
had to say. Look at, look at beginning with verse 34 of Acts
10. It said, Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth, I
perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation
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, that he. Lord Jesus Christ, he
is Lord of all. 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 with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. And we're witnesses of all these
things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. whom they slew and hanged on
a tree. Him, God raised up the third
day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses
chosen before of 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 dead. to him give all
the prophets witness. And through his name, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. And while
Peter yet spoke, while he spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision
which believed were astonished, and as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift
of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with
tongues and magnify God, and then answered Peter, can any
man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And prayed, they
prayed him to tarry certain days. They didn't want him to leave
after that. when we stay there and continue
to preach to them. Peter, Peter preached the gospel of grace
to them. You see that in verse 36, the Lord Jesus Christ, sin
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, whom,
of whom we have peace, peace with God. The Lord Jesus Christ,
who is Lord of all. The Lord Jesus Christ, the anointed
of God. Look at verse 39, the Lord Jesus
Christ whom they slew and hung on a tree. Christ crucified. Christ who died for our sins.
Verse 40, the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised up. He showed
him openly. He said, this, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. He was pleased with his offering
for sin. Verse 41, He showed Him openly.
He revealed Him, not to all the people, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, revealed unto His people,
revealed unto His sheep. Verse 42, the Lord Jesus Christ
ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead, the
living and the dead. Verse 43, to Him, to Him give
all the prophets witness. This Old Testament, This book,
it's a book about Him. It reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of Him. That whosoever,
whosoever, Jew, Gentile, bond, free, whosoever believeth in
Him, His chosen people, whosoever
believeth in Him shall have the remission of sins. Paul writing
to Timothy, he said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that he is able. He's able. And listen, the Holy
Ghost fell on all of them that heard the word. And here's the
amazing thing, they believed. Isn't it? Think about that. They believed. How often, how
many times did we hear this word? And then it came a time when
God was pleased to reveal it to us. We believed. Give us faith, faith to believe. And in verse 48 we read they
were commanded to be baptized, to confess Christ in believer's
baptism. Well, turn back to Acts 15. Verse
3, Paul and Barnabas. They declared the conversion
of the Gentiles, and that caused great joy unto all the brethren. They rejoiced knowing that the
gospel was preached, rejoiced that that gospel was being spread
about, rejoiced in the salvation of sinners, that God was pleased
to save one more sinner. One of our brothers called us
last night from down in Tennessee. They were preparing for a baptism
this morning. Doesn't that just cause our hearts
to rejoice, knowing that God's been pleased to save a sinner? The scriptures declare that there
is, listen, it should cause joy among us. The scriptures declare
there's joy in the presence The angels of God over one sinner. Oh, what an amazing thing that
is. That God would be pleased to save a sinner. That God would
be pleased to save me. Let's read on here. Look at verse
4. And they were come to Jerusalem, they were received to the church,
and the apostles and elders, and they declared all things
that God had done with them. And there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying that it was
needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider
this matter. So here they are, all gathered
together. Look at verse seven. When there
had been much disputing, a lot of questions, a lot of discussion,
a lot of talk, probably arguing on both sides. I believe this
should be this way. I believe that. Look what happened
here. Peter rose up. Peter rose up. I don't know this, but I suspect
when Peter stood up, all eyes probably turned on him. All that
disputing and all that discussing and carrying on, Peter stood
up. And it may have taken a minute,
but I believe everybody in that room turned and they looked at
Peter. You know, I was thinking about
this. When that mob came for our Lord in the garden, it was
Peter that drew out a sword and cut that fella's ear off, cut
Malchus' ear off. Here in Acts 15, Peter's speaking
to this group. He says, he says, men and brethren,
he said, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among
us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe? God made a choice. You see that? God, not man. God made a choice. God does the choosing. Over in
Ephesians 1 verse 4, we read, according as he hath chosen us
in him. He, he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. Who did the choosing? God did
the choosing. God made choice. The Gentiles, they're going to
hear the gospel and believe. Just like we read about Cornelius
there a little bit ago. Verse 8, and God which knoweth
the hearts. God knows the heart. Boy, Peter.
Boy, if anybody knew about this, it was Peter, wasn't it? Peter
knew this by revelation. Peter knew this by experience.
Peter, who like the rest of the disciples said, I'll die with
you. I'll die with you before I deny
you." And yet he denied the Lord three
times. And the third time he heard that
rooster crow and he remembered what the Lord had said to him.
And later our Lord asked Peter, he said, he said, Peter, do you
love me? Peter, do you love me? It sure
wouldn't look like it on the surface, would it? Hmm? Peter, do you love me? Peter
said, Lord, he said, you know, you know all things. You know,
you know I love you. God, God knows, God knows the
heart. He bared them witness, giving
them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us. Huh? God knows the heart. Remember what God told Samuel
back there in the Old Testament? He said, the Lord seeth not as
man seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance. We're guilty of that. We look at people and we make
a pretty quick decision. based on their appearance. And
I imagine sometimes that's probably good. But we don't know the heart,
do we? And we can dress up, and we can
look nice, and we can present ourselves well. That's not how God looks at man. God looks on the heart. Look
at verse 9, and He put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. No difference. All, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. No difference between
the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord. He's Lord over all
and he's rich unto all that call upon him. All have sinned. We're all guilty of the same
sin. Listen, we share the same redemption.
There's no difference. It's Christ having redeemed us
by his blood. A people out of every kindred,
nation, tribe, and tongue under heaven. No difference. The same
blessings of pardon and justification. Same blessing of adoption. We're
all adopted. All of his sheep, all of his
children, he is by adoption. Our sins forgiven through the
same blood. The same cleansing blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Justified by the same righteousness. Called by the same gospel. And no more strangers. The fellow
citizens. Fellow citizens, the saints and
the household. One family. One family. One flock. No difference between
us and them. Purifying their hearts by faith.
The heart. That which is, the scriptures
declare, desperately wicked. This desperately wicked heart.
Jeremiah wrote, the heart is deceitful above all things. And desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Only God can cleanse it. Only
God can give a new heart. Over in Ezekiel, he said, a new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you. I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
I'll give you a heart of flesh. I'll give you a new heart. Back
to our text, Acts 15, verse 10. He says, now, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither we
or our fathers are able to bear? A yoke or a burden that we're
unable to bear. Not just circumcision, but the
whole law. No man's able to keep the law. None but one. None but the Lord
Jesus Christ. Listen, to offend, how many times
have we heard that? To offend in one point, just
one little point, is to be guilty of the whole law. The law, and
the problem's not the law. The law's perfect. That's not
where the problem is. The problem is this flesh. This flesh. The flesh is not
it. Listen. The law reveals what we are. The law reveals our sin. And it's just and right. God
is just and right to condemn us. There's no question. There's no question about that.
Rightfully so. It can only condemn. We read
this earlier by the deeds of the law. There shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. Paul said, I don't frustrate
the grace of God. For if righteousness came by
the law, if righteousness could truly come by the law, there's
no... Christ died in pain. Christ didn't
die in pain, did he? Back to this question. Back to
the question. How? How is a man saved? Jew, Gentile, bond-free, young,
old, rich, poor? How are we saved? Look at Acts
15, look at verse 11. Here's the conclusion. Here's
the answer. Peter says this, but we believe. What do we believe, Peter? We
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved. Even as that. Now quickly, let's
look at four points here, okay? And the first is this, man's
condition. What is man's condition? What's
my condition? It's lost. We're lost, huh? And based on that, we must be
saved. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. And listen, the fact that we're lost reveals. We must be. We must be saved.
It declares our fallen state. When Peter was walking on the
sea, he saw those waves. Remember that? When Peter was
walking, he saw those waves. And he was afraid. And he began
to sink. Remember his cry? Lord, save
me. You know, if Peter would have
managed to stay up on the water, he may never have made out that
cry, would he? He's sinking. Lord, save me. If you leave me to myself, isn't
that our cry? If left to ourself, I'm going
to perish. There's no hope. There's no hope
for me outside of Christ. No need. No need of being saved
if you're not lost. That's what we are. In our lost and ruined condition,
we must be saved. Rex, you read of Lazarus back
there. Open the surface. And there he
lay in the ground, four days, stinking. That's us. That's every one of
us by nature. Until. until the Master speaks
life. Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead came forth. That's a story of every true
believer. Dead in trespasses and sin. That's
where he finds his people. He speaks in power. Lazarus,
come forth. Second, salvation by grace. Salvation by grace, that's what
we read here. Salvation by the sovereign grace
of God. We believe, Peter, what'd you
say? We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved. Peter didn't say, by the deeds
of the law. Peter didn't say, he said, by the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. What does the scripture, what
do we read throughout the scriptures? We read of his grace. For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift, it's the gift of God. Electing grace. redeeming grace,
justifying grace, saving grace, keeping grace, sovereign, sovereign
grace. The old hymn writer, saved, saved
by grace alone. This is all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men. Jesus
died for me. Man's sin, my sin. We must, we
must be saved. Salvation by the free and sovereign
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, perseverance. We shall. You see that? We shall be saved. If God's pleased to save, we're
saved. That's what the scriptures teach
us. He said the Lord Jesus Christ, listen, he said this of his sheep,
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. We read he that
hath begun a good work in you. I start a lot of projects. Sometimes I finish them, sometimes
I don't. My garage is one of them. He that hath begun good work
in you, what God starts, he finishes it. He'll perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream, and he said, this is Mary. He said,
she's going to bring forth a son. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people." No questions, no questions about
that. Turn with me over to 1 Peter,
1 Peter 1. We're beginning with verse 3.
1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept. Kept by what? Kept by who? Kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Kept. Kept by the power of God. And fourth, fourth, Peter says
this, we shall be saved even as they. Even as they. A disciple will be saved just
like a Gentile. Spurgeon once preached a message
titled The Sermon for the Worst Man on Earth. That's the message we needed.
And look how he says this, we shall be saved even as they. I heard Abby's mom say this one
time, we're all born clothed in self-righteousness. We think of that, but isn't that
true? We're born clothed in self-righteousness.
And we have a tendency, we have a tendency to say, yeah, the
Lord's pleased to save that man. He'll save him just like he did,
like he did me. That makes it sound a little
better, maybe a little more palatable, doesn't it? We don't necessarily look
at ourselves as the chief of sinners, as the worst of sinners. He says, we're going to be saved
just like they are. Take the worst of sinners. It takes the same power to save
me. I'm going to be saved just like he is, just like she is. Over in John, John chapter 8. Turn there quickly, turn there
with me. Early in the morning, John 8
verse 2. Early in the morning, he came
again into the temple. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the temple. And all the people came unto him, and he sat down,
and he taught them. And this is a, we, me and Abby
were talking about this. We forget this sometimes. These
things really happen. This, this really, this, this
is about ready to, about ready to see here. This really, this
really happened. A group of scribes and Pharisees,
they brought a woman to the Lord Jesus Christ and they set her
down in the midst of Him and all those people gathered together. And this woman had been taken
in adultery. In fact, when they tempted our
Lord, they said she was taken in the very act of adultery. Kind of interesting that there's
no mention of the man that was involved in this. Maybe he's
a friend of theirs. Maybe he was someone of influence. Maybe he was one of them. We
don't know that. And they said this. They said
the law says that such should be stunned. I'd ask you this, would you be
under the law? Those that would be under the
law, do you not hear what the law says? And they were tempting
him. They were looking for an opportunity
to accuse him. Hold your place there and turn
to Leviticus. What does the law say? We need to be careful what we
hear. Look at Leviticus 20, verse 10. What does the law say in this
case? The man that commiteth adultery
with another man's wife, even he that commiteth adultery and
his neighbor's wife, what's the law say? The adulterer and the
adulteress shall surely be put to death." But they just brought
the woman before Him. Well, we read that the Lord,
when this happened, He stooped down and He rode on the ground. He stooped down. Think about
that. The Lord stooped down. Boy, if there was ever a truth
written, it's written in just a few words there, isn't it?
He stooped down. He, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation. took upon himself the form of
a servant, was made in the likeness of man, and being found in the
fashion of man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He, truly, he did stoop down,
didn't he? Imagine that. Almighty God came
down from heaven and dwelt among men. The Lord Jesus Christ God
made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the very righteousness of God in Him. Truly, truly, He
stooped down. And He wrote on the ground like
He didn't hear. And there's speculation of what
He wrote down, but the truth is the Scriptures don't reveal
that, do they? It just says He wrote down. And
they continued asking. And the scriptures declare, he
lifted up himself and he said unto them, he that is without
sin among you, let him, let him cast the first stone. And then
he stooped down and continued to write on the ground. And we read that they which heard
it. I tell you, if we would truly
hear that, I'll tell you, I'm quick to, I am quick to throw
stones. But if I would truly hear that,
I wouldn't be picking up rocks. He that is out of sin among you,
let him cast the first stone. Being convicted by their own
conscience, knowing something of their sin. It says they went
out from the oldest to the youngest. I was thinking of that scripture
in God's Word. Be ye kind, tender hearted, forgiving one another
as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And when everyone
left, it was just this woman taken in the very act of adultery.
It was just her and the Lord. Can you imagine, can you imagine
her, probably a sense of relief, but can you imagine her guilt,
her shame? Again, this is a, this is a,
she had been taken in the very act and brought before the Lord
of Glories. And he said, he said, where are
thine accusers? Have no man condemned thee? What she said, she said, no man,
Lord. She knew something about the
one who stood before her, didn't she? No man, Lord. And listen to these words. All
the relief this must have brought. Neither do I condemn thee. Listen, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is God in flesh. This is
the Judge we read earlier. This is the Judge of the living
and the dead. And He said, neither do I condemn
thee. Over in Romans 8 verse 1 we read,
therefore now, right now, No condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. Neither do I condemn them." And
then he said this, he said, go and sin no more. Now we know that's an impossibility.
to sin no more. We constantly need His grace,
we constantly need His forgiveness. But you know that lifestyle,
there had to be a change there. Listen, if Christ truly dwells
in us, there has to be a change. That new man dwells within us.
Let me ask you this, is there any question that she was a sinner? Any question at all? Was that
him, the vilest offender, who truly believes that moment when
Jesus, the pardoned, receives? Let me ask you this. How was
she saved? How was this woman saved? By
the grace of God. Just like what we read there
in the scriptures, by the grace of God. Let me ask every one
of us, how are we saved? Same way, huh? By the grace,
by the grace of God. Just like her. Just like, listen,
Old Testament saints, New Testament saints, it's the same story. Dead in trespasses and sins,
saved by the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear those words, neither Neither
do I condemn thee. Saved by the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 2, he who hath saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, not by circumcision, not by the deeds of the law, not
by anything we've done, but according to His own purpose and grace
given us in Christ Jesus. When? Before the world began. Saved, saved by grace. Let's read that passage of scripture
there in Acts 15, one more time in closing. Acts 15, verse 11. But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they." Oh, I pray he'd give us grace
to believe that he would, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty
God, would give us comfort this morning through his word.