You remember I told you I'd been
working on a couple of things that pertain to the twelfth verses
of the fourth chapter of Acts. We touched on a little bit of
it briefly during our communion last Sunday. This is the work
in progress of this study. I wonder if you'll open your
Bibles with me, first of all, to the second chapter of Philippians
and read beginning at verse 5 with what the Word of God delivers
to us about our wonderful Savior. The first five words of this
verse, let this mind be in you. Let this perspective opinion
of God, not man, be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. When you think about the Lord
Jesus Christ, Think of him in this fashion, who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself, made himself of no reputation and took upon him or took upon
himself the form of a bond slave and was made in the likeness
of men. In the likeness of men. And that
would be in the likeness of fallen men. There is no man that is
not fallen. And being found in fashion as
a man, he went lower. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. Wherefore, consequently, because
of that, God also hath highly exalted him, and given to him
a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow. He says of things, It's of persons
who have knees. It's every knee. Persons in heaven,
that's in eternity, and of persons in earth, that's in time, right
now, alive, moving, animated, breathing, and of persons under
the earth. They're already dead and gone.
Whether they're buried in the sea or in the land, under the
earth, and that every tongue in eternity, in time, right now,
alive and moving and animated, and that has ever been here.
Every tongue should confess, say the very same thing about
Him that God does, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Now, the presentation of this
treatise of Titles It must be this way or else. The Holy Spirit-inspired
and infallible Word of God from Hebrews 11 verse 6 dogmatically
declares, but without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder. or literally
a remunerator of them that diligently seek Him. This text tells us
that it is only by God's bestowal upon us of the transforming power
of His grace of faith that we can please Him. For when in fact
the grace of faith is bestowed upon a sinner, then indeed that
sinner must believe. And according to this text, the
sinner must believe that he is God. That as being God, he exists
exactly as his own word descriptively declares him to be, as Father,
Son, and Spirit. This is whom the person of God
is described as being. And God the Father is to be approached. only through God the Son, who
is the sinner's substitute. And that approach is only to
be made by the empowerment and the leading of God the Holy Spirit. Indeed, every aspect of who God
as our Savior truly is, is that which by grace constitutes the
reward. that is graciously given unto
all who are compelled to relentlessly strive by faith to come to God. They that come to God must make
their journey by no other way than this, or else they will
never truly ever come to God." Whenever someone in this world
uses the two words, you must. There's an immediate conveyance
from them of a command to do or not to do something or else
suffer the consequences of noncompliance with the command that is associated
with those two words. And within the broad spectrum
of today's community of professing Christianity, the words, you
must, are entrenched in the general understanding of the common perspective
opinions of the religious leaders and groups throughout this world
that promote a purely man-centered form of Christianity, which is
not really true biblical Christianity at all. Whatever the particular
sect of Christianity that one may adhere to or be associated
with, however that particular brand of that Christian religion
so-called determines that a sinner is to be eternally saved, the
accomplishment of the sinner's salvation is thereby mandated
to all the particular musts and must-nots of that particular
religious way of thinking and living. However, Hebrews 11.6
brings forward quite simply that the eternal salvation of a sinner
rests totally and entirely on their coming to God by faith. God is not at all pleased with
anything outside the activity of the empowerment, the performance,
and the direction of his grace of faith. Of which faith? Hebrews 12, 2 tells us that Jesus
alone is the author and finisher, the leader and the completer.
There is no real approach unto, no real coming unto God without
or apart from doing so by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Which faith? Genuinely believes
in Him. exactly as the Word of God definitively
declares Him to be. Do you doubt the eternality of
Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God? He declared from
John 8, 58 of His own existence when He told the Jews, before
Abraham was, I am. Also, from John 14, 6, he declared
himself to be the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man
cometh unto the Father but by him. Do you deny the eternal
significance of this basic eternal truth and how it relates to us
in regards to all of the spiritual blessings of God's grace that
are needed by us for our eternal salvation and all of them having
been before the foundation of the world bestowed upon us? Blessings
that have to include His bestowing upon us the sovereign saving
grace of our redemption, our reconciliation, our justification,
our holy calling, our sanctification in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ as being the only Savior substitute that there ever was,
is, or ever will be. This eternal truth is definitively,
is definitely, the clear and plain teaching of Scripture. Jude 25 indisputably concludes,
to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and forever, or literally unto all the ages. Amen. Think of it. All glory
and majesty. All dominion. That's sovereignty
and all power. That's omnipotence from all eternity
and for all eternity. This is that which makes up the
very being and nature and character of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
indeed is God our Savior. All that He is and all that in
Him is must be believed in or there is no true coming to God
by him." From Mark 14, verse 61, it is recorded concerning
the time that Jesus was being interrogated by the Jewish religious
leaders, right before his crucifixion, these words. Again, the high
priest asked him and said unto him, Aren't thou the Christ,
the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And dear ones, he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. Note the manner in which the
unregenerate high priest refers to God the Father. He called
him the blessed. Now, in the light of this manner
of referring to God the Father, remember the inspired words of
Ephesians 1, verses 3 through 14, which say, Blessed the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, or in eternity, in Christ. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation, that is, literally before the
conception and founding of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. This, dear ones, can be nothing
else but eternal justification. And then it says, in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself. This is the everlasting love.
The everlasting love that God uses to bring all of His elect
to Himself. That Jeremiah 31.3 describes
when Jeremiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, The Lord
hath appeared unto me of old. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me. Or, literally, the Lord hath
revealed himself from eternity unto me, saying, Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Or therefore, with lovingkindness
have I caused you to come unto me. With lovingkindness that
I have bestowed upon you and caused you to be adopted into
my family, as part of my household through Jesus Christ, as my children,
with lovingkindness I have caused you to come unto me by faith. Hence, Ephesians 1 goes on to
describe concerning the spiritual blessings that the blessed God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with when
he in eternity chose us. It says that he has done all
this according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted. Accepted,
that is justified, reconciled and sanctified in the Beloved,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins. That is literally the remission
of sins, the freedom from the immediate penalty and the ultimate
power of our sins. How? According to the riches
of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence." Note, it does not say wherein it has abounded
toward us, but He hath abounded toward us. All the riches of
God's grace for our eternal salvation are resident in Him. So, He makes
Himself to be indeed our exceeding great reward, just like He denounced
Abraham. Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15, 1. Ephesians 1, 9
goes on and says that God, having made known unto us, that is,
having revealed unto us, what? The mystery of his will according
to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. God
has eternally purposed things to be done in Himself. He alone will do these things. The zeal of the Lord hath done
this, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He
might gather in one all things in Christ. both which are in
heaven, that is in eternity, and which are on earth, that
is in time, in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should
what? Be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted. After
that, ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. The word of truth of the gospel
reveals. It's a revelatory experience
that you were included in that elect number. You came to realize
election grace. You came to realize atoning grace. It's particular. It's personal.
Your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the
earnest of our inheritance until when the redemption of the purchased
possession has the consummation of this age unto the praise of
his glory. In this one section of Holy Scripture,
there is delivered in its purity the divine declaration of the
truth of the gospel that announces the complete and total eternality
of every aspect of God's eternal salvation of sinners of this
world that He has elected and predestined to be, through the
grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, His eternally saved one. In this divinely declared statement,
Christ gets all the glory and the chosen saved ones through
Him get all the victory. In this divinely declared statement,
there is not a thing done in time that affects anything for
anyone in or for eternity. But there is stated all that
has been done in eternity in Christ, by Christ, that affects
all of Christ's saved ones in time. The Apostle goes on to
descriptively declare just how the greatness of this divine
declaration affects him as being a true minister of the gospel
where his fellow believers in Ephesus are concerned. He continues
from Ephesians 1, 15-22. It's written, wherefore, he says,
consequently, because of this great declaration, because of
this great statement of pure truth of the gospel, the glory
only of the Lord Jesus Christ, I also, after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus and your love unto all the saints, the
evidence of that faith, I cease not to give thanks for you, making
mention of you in my prayer. And just what is it that he prays
for where they are concerned? Verse 17, that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know, that is, that you may know without a doubt What is the hope
of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints? Now, beloved, there is a whole
lifetime of teaching, preaching, and learning in the fulfillment
of this and the answer to this prayer. This is what we're about. We're always, through sound teaching
and preaching, growing in the grace and the knowledge of what
is the hope of our calling and what are the riches of the inheritance
that we have in Christ. We've obtained it in Christ.
And he goes on, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty
power. They that come to God must believe
according to the working of his almighty power. which He wrought
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. The resurrection
is the living, breathing proof that your faith is genuine. That
your faith is of God and not of yourself. There's the exercise
of the power. That's why you believe. Somebody
asks you, why do you believe what you believe? By the exercise
of the almighty power of God. And if you doubt that power,
and may I point you in history to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. By that same power, I believe
in that same One. It's not you. It's Him. That's
the faith of Jesus Christ, which He wrought in Christ when He
raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand
in the heavenly places. That's in eternity, far above
all principality and power and might and dominion. And every
name that is named, not only in this world or not only on
the stage of this age of sin and death and in the time of
its existence, but also in that which is to come. But also in
all the ages that eternity, according to God's will and good pleasure,
has predestined that eternity will encompass. And he put all
things under his feet and gave him to be the head over his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. There are literally
volumes of good things that could easily occupy our time and attention
from this great and wonderful portion of Holy Scripture. But
I would like for us to focus the rest of our time upon the
truth that centers on the name of the Lord, that is exalted
above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come, and as well on the eternal salvation
that must be eternally associated with that great name. From Acts
4.12, we have the bold statement of the Apostle Peter when he
declared, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. In this world, whenever someone
does some notable feat, It is said that they, in essence, make
a name for themselves. What is notably done can be either
good or bad. And the name that is earned by
whatever the feat is that they have accomplished connotes the
character and nature of the person that is going to make them, from
that time on, to be recognized and remembered by what they obviously
have done. And since they have done whatever
they have accomplished, it will also serve to define who they
obviously are. If it is something good that
has been accomplished, then their having made a name for themselves
means that they have achieved some level of glory and recognition
by which, because of their achievement, their name is known and will
be from then on warmly remembered and highly regarded. If it is
something evil that they are noted for, then of course the
opposite will be true as well. If I say the name Thomas Edison,
we're in this building, we have lights, I mean, there are inventions
that we remember he is responsible for that affect every aspect
of our physical life. He's warmly remembered, highly
regarded. If I say the word, the name Hitler,
The opposite happens. We read the great feat of the
Lord Jesus Christ in Philippians 2. That's what he did. And what
this text in Acts 4 brings forward as a statement of pure truth
concerns the name, the reputation that the eternal person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ has gained during his appointed and
allotted time within the history of fallen humanity. It pertains
to the character and nature of His being as being the eternal
Son of God incarnate, as being the Messiah, the Christ of God
sent into the history of this world to save sinners. And the text declares that in
no other name is eternal salvation to be found. even because there
is no other name under heaven or graciously given among men
through which salvation has been and is being eternally accomplished. Heaven always connotes eternity. There can be no doubt about that.
Heaven is the holy city of God. Not made with hands, not of this
creation, not of this dimension of time and space. Hence, according
to this verse, there is no salvation at all for any sinner except
that salvation that, under the whole dimension of eternity,
is that which is resident only in the holy name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why is this true? Even because
there is none other name under the abiding place of eternal
holiness. There is none other characteristic
nature and being other than Christ Jesus, God's only begotten eternal
Son, holy and pure and perfect, that has been by God graciously
given among men, whereby we must be saved, or whereby we are bound
to have been eternally saved. In accurately understanding Peter's
Holy Spirit-inspired statement about the connection that the
name of Jesus has to any and every sinner's eternal salvation,
the phrase of this verse, this phrase, whereby we must be saved,
of this verse is most relevant. And the meaning of the particular
word must is most significant. Wherever in Scripture the person
and work of Christ is described, This word, must, literally points
out something that is a necessary result by its being bound up
with the Savior's person and work. This word means that there
is a resultant realization, immediately present, that is resident in
the nature of the reality of the saving work of Christ. A
result. that is brought to pass, that
is brought to fruition in and by the circumstances of the revelatory
event that all chosen sinners by God's grace will experience. This result must come to pass
because of the conduct of Christ from all eternity divinely directed
toward us on our behalf. In other words, it means that
there is a necessary result that has been eternally established,
that has been bound directly to the eternal counsel and decree
of God in our salvation. This result is, by God's eternal
purpose, tied directly to the eternal salvation of sinners
that is accomplished solely through the divine intervention of Christ. And this performance and work
of Christ is that which has been disclosed in the inspired and
written Old Testament prophecies that were written to relate exactly
what Christ Jesus was destined to finally undergo and fulfill
through his sufferings, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension.
The very first time that this particular word must shows up
in the New Testament is from Matthew 16 verse 21, which corroborates
everything that I've just said. It says, from that time forth
began Jesus to show unto his disciples or to reveal unto his
disciples How that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and be raised again the third day. He must go. He must go. The glory of his work of grace
is tied directly to his going to Jerusalem. In fact, it is
interesting that the last time that Matthew is inspired to use
this word as it pertains to the person and work of Jesus, It
makes the point that the prophecies in Scripture concerning his suffering
for sin must, or are unbreakably bound to, be fulfilled. Those are prophecies from God. It's Matthew 26, verses 53 and
54. You'll recognize the text. Jesus says, Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently, immediately
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall
the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? Scripture must be fulfilled.
Mark also relates this same binding truth to us from Mark 8 31, which
says, And he began to teach them. What did he teach? That the Son
of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders
and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed. And after three days, rise again. The very first time that Luke
is inspired to use this word is in reference to the very first
recorded words that Jesus ever spoke. It was when he, as but
a boy, was discovered by Mary and Joseph to be in the company
of the religious doctors in the temple discussing with them the
things of Scripture. Joseph and Mary expressed their
care and fear for him, and then he asked them, Luke 2.49, "'How
is it that you sought me? Wished ye not, or know ye not
for certain that I must be about my Father's business. And just
what is it that is the Father's business that He, His only begotten
eternal Son, must be about? The answer lies in Christ's own
revelatory declaration that He made on the remarkable occasion
of the conversion of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. There is first of
all declared from verse 5, even as it is written, and when Jesus
came to the place, Jesus came to the place, that is to the
sycamore tree up which Zacchaeus had climbed, he looked up, saw
him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, come down, for today
I must abide at thy house. And then in verse 10, there is
recorded the great eternal purpose of God. that the Son of Man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Son of Man
is come to do the Father's business. Luke it is that in fact was inspired
by the Holy Spirit to use this word in his writings for the
New Testament more than any other writer. This word and even a
form of it by Dr. Luke is used at least over 30%
of the time that this word is found in total in the New Testament. And he also, like Matthew and
Mark, brings forward the words of Jesus from Luke 9.22 when
Jesus told his disciples, the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected again of the elders and the chief priests
and the scribes and be slain and be raised again the third
day. Luke 22.37 also is a record of Christ's words. that pertain to this very same
thing. In the garden, on the occasion
of his arrest, where we read in Matthew, by the way, where
Jesus made the statement, don't you know that if I ask the Father
that he will presently send to me twelve legions of angels?
Here we are. It's the same event. We have
a flavor of that, a part of the things that were said at this
event. Here's the other parts. On the
occasion of his arrest, there was this feeble effort of resistance
exerted by Peter when he drew his sword and attempted to rescue
him. Jesus himself quelled this attempt and declared, for I say
unto you that this that is written must be fulfilled. And he quotes
Isaiah 53, 12. And he was reckoned among transgressors. He's telling this to Peter and
to the rest of his disciples. This must be fulfilled. The Scripture
is written, He was reckoned among transgressors. It's destiny. It must be for the salvation
of your souls that I be reckoned among transgressors. Meaning,
the Word of God. In His purity that describes
everything about us, will be fulfilled. Everything that you
are, or you are not, where Christ is concerned, you're accountable.
You're held accountable to this, and you will give account to
this. Everything about Jesus Christ and what He has done for
His elect, you fall within that description. And that's strictly
by the mercy and grace and goodness of God and the love of God. And
at that day before the bar of God, your heart will leap for
joy. All the elect angels will shout
and clap their wings at your arrival. If it is not, then your
condemnation will be realized. Jesus went on to say, for the
things concerning me have an end. Meaning, they have an aim,
a goal, a purpose that must be, that is bound to be fulfilled. Luke next is led of the Spirit
to record the use of this word by the angels. By the angels,
this word is used. These are the angels that were
sent to the empty tomb on Christ's resurrection morning. When the
women came with spices intending to apply them to the body of
Jesus, the angels were revealed unto them. And the angels told
them that He is not there, but was risen. They also reminded
the women of the things that he himself had said to them.
They told the women the Son of Man must be delivered unto the
hands of sinful men. The angels didn't bother to even
regard them as the chief priests, the elders and the scribes. They're just sinful men. They're
just lost, sinful men. And be crucified. And the third
day, rise again. They reminded them that this
is the way that things are bound by the Word of God to be. They
must be this way. But when the women related this
event to the others, no one at that time believed them. Also
in Luke, it was exactly this concerning the fact that the
Word of God must be fulfilled that had to do with the experience
of two of the unbelievers, of two men that journeyed on the
road to Emmaus. They were conversing as they
walked concerning all the events that had just happened. Jesus
had been crucified. He was dead, and had been dead
at that time for three days. Jesus shows up on the road with
them, but he does not immediately reveal to them who he is. Jesus
inquires concerning the things that they were talking about.
And he's treated by them like he's a total stranger and ignorant
of all that had just happened. Then the Lord very pointedly
addresses the two of them, saying from Luke 24, verses 25 through
27, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. Then Jesus says, Ought not, and
he uses this word for must, or literally, must not Christ to
have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? Or must it not have happened
exactly the way that it has been recorded by the Old Testament
prophets? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. My, oh my, what a message that
must have been. When Jesus did reveal to them
who He really was, They ran back to Jerusalem and reported it
to the others. Mark 16 verse 13 tells us that
the others did not even believe this report that corroborated
the report that the women had declared to them. It is remarkable. In order to really come to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, He must reveal Himself unto you. The Apostle John's Holy Spirit-inspired
writings also conveys some of the obvious things of the heavenly
Father that His only begotten eternal Son must be about accomplishing. And John's first use of this
important word refers to perhaps the most important personal business
that Jesus must do on our behalf, which directly relates to the
conclusive statement that we've just made after observing the
Gospel of Luke. John's first use of this same
word comes forward from John 3 and verse 7, which is where
Jesus tells Nicodemus, Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye
must be born again. Or literally, ye must be born
from above. This, my dear friends, is referring
to our regeneration. There is no truly knowing and
believing Christ as Savior apart from regeneration. And regeneration
is a revelatory experience. And it is specifically the gospel
grace truth of the Word of God that is revealed unto you by
the Holy Spirit. Later on in this same chapter,
and contextually in this very same conversational encounter
from verses 14 and 15, Jesus reveals to Nicodemus, the teacher
of Israel, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. And then there's John 3.30, which
gives to us the Holy Spirit-inspired testimony of John the Baptist. When he said of Christ Jesus,
He must increase Thy must decrease. What's this mean? It means this. If one is a true saved by grace
sinner, then it is by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God bound
to happen, must happen, that Christ be exalted and self be
denied in and throughout your life in this world. Praise God. This then brings us to John 4
in verse 4, which verse is intended simply to introduce us to the
account of Jesus and his well-known encounter with the woman at the
well. It says, and he must needs go through Samaria. Beloved, the earthly providence
of Jesus is bound by the eternal purpose of the counsel of Sovereign
Almighty God. for him to head for Samaria to
meet the sinful woman and do the father's business in revealing
unto her, as well as the other Samaritans, that he is indeed
God the Savior of all nationalities of the world. This is where it's
first stated by the Samaritans, now we believe that you are the
Savior of the world. The interaction that Jesus had
with this Samaritan woman ended up on the subject of worshipping
God. And the woman basically attempts
to bring out an irreconcilable difference between herself a
Samaritan and Jesus a Jew. And she does this by appealing
to an historical reality that seemed to solidify an unalterable
distinction between them. She brought out, our fathers
worshipped in this mountain, and ye say, That in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to or literally where men must
worship or literally again where men are bound to have to worship. That's the difference between
you and I. We believe our fathers would say we must worship here
in this mountain. You, you Jews, you must worship
in Jerusalem. Sounds like the argument of this
world. when they want to argue the distinctions between the
different theological, what they refer to, philosophies. Let's
let Jesus, from verses 23 and 24, answer the woman and teach
us yet another aspect of the Father's business that He, the
Lord, must be about accomplishing among us all. Jesus said to her,
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. May I remind you of what Paul
wrote to Philippians in Philippians 3. He said, For we are the circumcision
which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Beloved, it's nothing but religious
flesh that puts all the stress on a place or even a manner. We worship in spirit and in truth. In other words, my friends, no
one truly worships God apart from a working demonstration
of the presence of both the Holy Spirit of God, who leads us to
truly repent and believe, and the pure truth of the gospel
of the glory only of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Spirit and truth. John 9, verse
4, serves to introduce us to the miracle by the Lord Jesus
in His healing the man that was born blind. Jesus declared in
no uncertain terms, I must work the works of him that sent me. John 10, from where the Lord
makes it clear that he came to give his life specifically for
his sheep, brings forward an important aspect about the atonement
that only He has performed when he explains from verse 16, and
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Praise God for this truth concerning
the saving work of Christ. He must bring in all of those
that He intends. to say. Finally, it is a remarkable
reference to Peter and Lazarus from John 20 and verse 9. That is the last use of this
particular word from the Gospel of John. The setting again is
at the empty tomb on the very day that Jesus had risen from
the dead. Mary Magdalene had gone to the
tomb in the yet darkness of early, early morning. She found the
stone rolled away. This was enough to motivate her
to run to where Peter and Lazarus were and tell them what she had
discovered. The two men commenced to run
to the tomb themselves. And when they arrived, Lazarus,
who outran Peter, stopped, stooped down, looked inside, and saw
the linen clothes that once wrapped up the body of Jesus just lying
there. Then Peter comes and goes right on into the sepulcher.
Lazarus followed Peter then into the tomb. The Bible says that
when Lazarus saw the empty tomb and the empty linen clothes,
he saw with understanding, probably because he himself, in his resurrection
by Christ, had experienced this emptying of a tomb. And he believed. He believed. Peter's time for
true believing, however, was yet to come, when Jesus would
reveal himself to his disciples in the locked upper room. Why
is this the case? John 20, verse 9 tells us. It
says, For as yet they knew not the Scripture. They knew not
the Scripture. Jesus had told them on three
occasions. You must go to Jerusalem. You must suffer many things of
the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. Be killed. And
the third day, rise again. He told them this more than once.
But you know what? They didn't believe because as
yet they knew not the Scripture. Who is it that interprets the
Scripture to you? Who is it that teaches you the
truth of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit? They knew not the
Scripture, it says, that he must rise again from the dead. Grace
truly is amazing. And it is also amazing how that
truly coming to know and believe on Christ as He is revealed to
be from the pure truth of God's Word is so dependent upon the
fulfillment of the purpose of the person and work of the Holy
Spirit of sovereign grace. Let's look again at the last
phrase of Acts 4.12, whereby we must be saved. This phrase
has been, by and large, interpreted as, in essence, placing an onus
on us fallen sinners that we must do something with the name
of Jesus in order to, quote, get saved, unquote. But the truth
is, this must does not thrust something upon us that we need
to do. No, its thrust is on the very
name that is the very character, nature and being of God's eternal
Holy Son, Jesus Christ, and who He is and what He has already
done. A binding necessity. There is no salvation except
that which has been eternally bound up in the person and work
of Christ Jesus. Peter is led of the Holy Spirit
to declare this truth and more unto the Jewish elders. Acts 4, 7-11 relates to us the
details of how the event of this descriptive declaration of Acts
4, 12 was boldly spoken. In reference to the rulers and
the elders and the scribes, verse 7 tells us, And when they had
set them, and that is Peter and John and the healed lame man,
in the midst, they asked them, By what name have you done this? Verse 8 tells us, Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Spirit, 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 man 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,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole." In other words, the name of Jesus Christ. relates directly to the eternality
of his person and work as being the eternal Savior and Messiah,
which Peter, by the Holy Spirit, presently relates directly to
the Word of God when he continues to say in verse 11 of Acts 4,
this is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which
has become the head of the corner. With this statement, Peter is
led by the Spirit to refer to Psalm 118, verses 22 and 23,
which says, The stone which the builders refused is become the
headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous in our eyes. Even so does Peter therefore
declare to these devout religious leaders that Jesus is the one
who is the fulfillment of the word in regards to its own identification
of who exactly is the stone of Psalm 118.22, which has by then
been said it not. but which God Himself has made
to be the head cornerstone of His building, of His construction,
of the edification of His elect in Christ. That head cornerstone,
by virtue of what had obviously happened, must be none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. And Psalm 118.26 declares, Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. This phrase from
this wonderful psalm relates to both Hebrews 11, 6 and Acts
4, 12. There's no true coming to God
apart from the grace of faith, and there is no genuine salvation
by that grace of faith except that which is in the name of
the Lord. Verse 26 also declares, We have
blessed you out of the house of the Lord. This, dear ones,
is the house that God has built. using his only begotten eternal
son as the head of the corner. Psalm 118, 27 goes on to descriptively
declare and reveal to us, God is the Lord which has showed
us light. Or in other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ is God. And he has revealed to us the
light of the glory, of the purity, of the truth, of the gospel,
of his eternal saving work. His eternal saving grace. In
the very nature and character of the person and work of the
name of Jesus, who is the light of the world, there is the revelatory,
soul-saving, life-transforming work of the experience of genuine
spiritual regeneration. Then verse 27 goes on to descriptively
demand, bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar. Interestingly
enough, In this descriptive statement from Psalm 118.27, we have the
pure meaning of the word for must in Acts 4.12. The Holy Spirit
leads Peter to make the connection of the circumstances that have
unfolded, the deliverance in time concerning the physical
person of the lame man being delivered from his lameness,
And in eternity, in regards to his soul, as well as the souls
of all of God's elect in Christ, all of this is connected to,
is bound up with, the very name, the very nature and being of
the person and work of Jesus, the eternal Son of God. There
indeed is no salvation at all in any other, for there is none
other name under the all-encompassing reality of all eternity that
has been revealed in the history of fallen humanity other than
the sin-atoning sacrifice, the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, whereby, or literally in which, we must be saved. It is interesting. that the unregenerate
religious rulers and elders and scribes and their unrighteous
judgment of Peter, John, and the lame man are bound up in
and unto the fulfillment of the truth of the Word from Psalm
118 as to their being the ones that reject Jesus as being the
Savior that He truly and purely is. Even so, today, do the religious
rulers and elders and scribes fulfill the same scripture description
of refusing and rejecting Jesus to be whom the Word of God declares
Him to be. And at the same time, from the
same psalm, there's revealed the context of a binding necessity
that is being communicated concerning the power of Christ's eternal
saving atonement. The sacrifice under the old covenant
is a type of Christ. He is the Lamb of God who was
slain before the foundation of the world. The altar of sacrifice
typifies the deity of Christ. The horns of the altar typify
the power of the altar of sacrifice, his deity. Therefore, the sacrifice
was bound to the horns of the altar to reflect the glory of
the power of the sacrifice to be sufficient to do for the sinner
What of necessity needs to be done before God so that God and
the sinner can be reconciled, eternally reconciled? Therefore,
the almighty power of Christ's sacrifice to eternally save the
sinner is that which is being referred to. And Christ's sacrifice
of himself is so powerful that it must of necessity have saved
from eternity for eternity the sinner that comes by the grace
of the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ to God. And none other name is a sinner
saved from the power of his sins to condemn him forever to hell. Oh yes, beloved. Because the
eternal salvation of the elect sinner is unbreakably bound to
the almighty power of Christ's perfect and complete atonement,
that sinner must be saved. Praise the glorious name of the
Lord. Amen.