Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, What Must I Do to Be Saved? Let me read our text. The Philippian
jailer in verse 29 of Acts chapter 16 called for a light and sprang
in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and
brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What a question. There is no
question that would be more important for you and I to consider. What
must I do, to be saved. Now we all know intuitively that
God is. We are born believing God is. Somebody says, I do not believe
in God, I'm an atheist. Well, okay, but you've not always
been an atheist. You were born believing in God. And you might have talked yourself
into believing that there is no God, but you were born believing
that God is. This is encoded in our DNA. Why is there something and not
nothing? The only explanation, God is. And we know intuitively that
he will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Even a child knows that. God
will punish the wicked. He will reward the righteous. What must I do to be saved? Life will be over soon. much
sooner than you think. It may be over today. It may
be over tomorrow. The scripture says, boast not
thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth. And after that, After I die,
after you die, there will be eternity in heaven or in hell. That is a sobering thought. What
must I do to be saved? Now, this is a message for those
who are not saved. This is a message for those who
are not saved and know they are not saved. This is a message
for those who are not saved but think they are saved. This is
a message for those who are saved, but fear they are not saved.
And this is a message for those who are saved. This is a message
for all men. Now Paul in Acts chapter 16 had
been given a vision to go into Macedonia and preach the gospel. While he was there, there was
a woman named Lydia whose heart the Lord opened. Oh, I need him
to open my heart and you need him to open your heart or we
won't even be able to hear the gospel. And during this time
there was a young woman filled with the spirit of divination.
And she brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying. And
she went around following Paul and Silas saying, these be the
servants of the most high God would show unto us the way of
salvation. Now that's a good thing. She was telling what was
true, but she didn't tell the truth. She was just making a
big deal out of Paul and Silas. And Paul became grieved and finally
told that wicked spirit to come out of her. And when that wicked
spirit come out, she could no longer make her master's money.
So they brought Paul and Silas in to be punished. They said,
they're doing everything wrong. And they brought them into prison.
We read beginning in verse 22, and the multitude rose up against
them and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them,
they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely,
who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison
and made their feet fast in stalks." Paul and Silas, with their backs
lacerated, their feet in stalks, in the inner prison, that dark,
filthy place for preaching the gospel. Verse 25, and at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. Now here they are in this horrible
circumstance and they're praising God. And the prisoners heard
them. I would imagine some of them
were thinking, why are they praising God when they're in such a terrible
condition as this? They've just been beat up with
whips in their feet or in stalks. What are they praising God for?
But they heard them. Verse 26, and suddenly there
was a great earthquake. so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. Everybody could
escape if they wanted to. Verse 27, the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep, I suppose he had not heard Paul and Silas
singing these praises, but he wakes out of his sleep and seeing
the prison door open, he drew out a sword and would have killed
himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. He knew if they
escaped, he would be put to death, perhaps in some kind of gruesome
form. So he thought, I'll put myself to death before they can
do it. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm
for we're all here. Now this struck this man in some
unusual way. Then he called for a light. Oh,
I need light, don't you? Light as to how God can accept
me. He called for a light and he sprang in. He was in a hurry. This was not something he was
content to wait about. He sprang in and came trembling. fearing the fear of God and fell
down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs,
what must I do to be saved? Now, when he asked that question,
inherent in that question is he knew he couldn't save himself. What must I do to be saved? He knew he was not saved. What
must I do to be saved? You know, most people never come
to a realization of either one of those two things. I'm not
saved, and I can't save myself. When he said, what must I do
to be saved, he's saying the only way I can be saved is if
somebody saves me. Saved is in the passive voice.
I need to be saved. What must I do to be saved? Now, what comes to your mind
when you Think about this thing of what must I do to be saved? Now I can imagine what many of
us think. Well, I need to change. I need
to get my life straightened out. I need to start doing better. I need to repent of all my sins. Hold on just a second. What do
you mean by that? Well, I need to repent of my
sins. That means I need to be sorry for them. I need to stop
committing them. Well, you ought to be sorry for
them. And you ought to stop committing them. How have you done? If you're honest, you'll know
there are many sins that you have not stopped committing. So if repentance is being sorry,
how sorry? If it means stopping committing
them, how many sins do you have that you know you're going to
commit today and tomorrow? How wicked that is, I'm not excusing
it, but that's the fact. Did you know that the term repent
of your sins is not found in the scripture? Repentance is
a change of mind toward God. And with that change of mind
toward God, there'll be a change of mind about yourself. And you
know, when preachers say repent of your sins and believe the
gospel, here's what we think, what do I need to do about my
sins? Now, forget about your sins other than the fact you're
sinful right now. What does it mean to believe
the gospel? Because Paul gave an answer. He said, he didn't
say repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What must I do to be saved? Now let's think of this concept
of salvation for just a moment. Saved from what? Well, I need
to be saved from God. He's the one I've sinned against.
He's the judge. He's the one who has power to
cast me into hell. I need to be saved from God.
I need to be saved from myself. I am my own worst enemy. All my sin is my fault. I'm no victim. All my sin is
my fault. I stand guilty before God and
I need to be safe from myself. And thirdly, not only do I need
to be safe from God, not only do I need to be safe from myself,
I need to be safe from my sins. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. I need to be saved from the condemnation
my sin deserves. I need to be saved from the power
of sin. You see, I don't have the power
to not sin. I don't have the power to believe,
to repent, to love, unless He does something for me. I love
that scripture, sin shall not have dominion over you for you're
not under law but under grace. That word dominion is lordship.
When the Lord does something for me, when he saves me, I'm
given power to do something I could not do before. I can now believe. I now am in a state of repentance.
I now love Christ and love His way of salvation. Now, I need
to be saved from the dominion of sin. I need to be saved from
the presence of sin to where I don't sin anymore, where I
stand before God blameless, without sin, perfectly conformed to the
image of Christ. I need to be saved from my sins. Now, what does it take? for a
real sinner to be saved? Good question. What does it take
for a real sinner to be saved? Well, first, that sinner must
be chosen by God in eternal election. Let me give you a scripture.
Second Thessalonians 2.13, but we're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. For you or I to be saved, we
must be chosen by God to be saved. Now, the only men that object
to election are people who do not need it. A real sinner knows
they need God to choose them. That choice that He made before
the foundation of the world for a sinner to be saved. First,
he's going to have to be elected by God before time began. That's just the Scripture. Somebody
has a problem with it, well, you've got a problem with the
Word of God. But believers, the elect don't have a problem with
it. They love election because they see there's no salvation
apart from God's electing grace. Secondly, for a sinner to be
saved, it takes the person and work of Jesus Christ. The only
way I can be elect is if I'm chosen in Him. Now the person
of Christ, Colossians 2.9, in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Now I have to have him take full
responsibility for my salvation as my surety. I need him to undertake
my salvation and guarantee my salvation. I need to have Him
become flesh and keep the law for me. Remember, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He did come in the flesh. The Word was made flesh. God
was manifest in the flesh, and in the flesh He kept God's law
for me. And I need for the Son of God
to die for me, to put away my sins. And that's what He did. I need Him to be raised from
the dead for me. You see, if He's resurrected
from the dead, that means He took care of the sin problem.
And now when He's raised, everybody He was raised for is justified
before God. I need him to take away my sin. Now, for a sinner to be saved,
he must be born again. He must be regenerated. He must
be given life from the dead, the life-giving power of the
Holy Spirit. You see, you cannot believe unless
you're given a heart to believe, a new heart. You can't repent
unless you're given a heart to repent. New birth, except a man
be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He cannot
see the kingdom of God. For a sinner to be saved, he's
going to have to have God elect him. He's going to have to have
the person and work of Christ in his behalf, and he's going
to have to be born again of the spirit of God. For a sinner to
be saved, it takes all that was, is, and will be. It takes all
the providence of God. That's included in what Paul
meant when he said, and we know that all things work together
for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. God's providence. There's nothing unnecessary.
There's nothing inconsequential. All things work together. for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. What does it
take for a sinner to be saved? The preaching of the gospel.
First Corinthians 121 says, for it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now somebody says, do
you believe that God can't save without the preaching of the
gospel? Oh, I believe he could. I believe he could, but that's
not the question. Does he? The answer to that is
no. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And there's something
so glorious about this. Not to put an emphasis on the
preacher, the preacher's a nobody, but I love it when Elisha the
leper comes into Naaman waiting to be healed. And he sits there
at the gate waiting for Naaman to come out to him. I mean, he
thought he was a great man who happened to be a leper, and he
didn't realize he was a leper who happened to be a great man. But there he stands at Elisha's
house waiting for him to come out and Elisha sent a lowly servant
he didn't come out himself that's what the man was expecting but
Elisha didn't do that he sent a lowly servant to humble this
man's pride and that lowly servant that nobody said you go into
the river Jordan and dip down seven times and your flesh will
become clean. And the scripture says, Naaman
went away in a rage. He said, behold, I thought he'd
come out to me and strike his hand over the place and recover
the leper. He was expecting something spectacular. And God sent out this nobody
to give him the message. There's something so humbling
about that. What does it take for a sinner to be saved? Well,
the Lord said, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be
saved. It's not that man who begins
in the gospel. I've seen a lot of people begin, but they don't
continue. It's only that person that continues looking to Christ
only into his last breath that shall be saved. He that endureth
to the end shall be saved now unto him that is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy. To him be glory both now and
forever. Okay, I see what it takes for
a sinner to be saved, but what must I do to be saved? What is necessary? What is a
non-negotiable? What must I do to be saved? Now, they didn't answer him,
nothing. There's nothing you can do. You're
going to have to wait till judgment day and find out if he did anything
for you. He didn't say nothing. He gave a command. He said to
this man, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. He gave this singular command. This was not good advice. This
was a command. If you're asking, what must I
do to be saved? This is a non-negotiable. This
is a command. There is no salvation apart from
this. Paul and Silas said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's think of his name.
He's the Lord. That means He's the one who's
in control. That means He's the one whose will must be done. He's the Lord. He's the one who
created the universe as an act of His will. He spaked the world
into existence because He's the Lord. He's the one who controls
everything that happens in time. He's the first cause. The lot
is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of
the Lord. He controls every event. He controls
the very thoughts going through our minds. He's completely sovereign
over the free and uncoerced actions of men. He's Lord of Providence. There's nothing that happens
without His will. He's the first cause behind everything.
He's the Lord of salvation. That means if you're saved, it's
not up to you. It's up to Him. The leper understood
this. He said, Lord, if you will, You
can make me clean. And the Lord replied to him,
I will. Be thou clean. He is the Lord. That's how the thief understood
him. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He is
Jesus. I love His name, Jesus. I love what that name means,
Savior. You know, the scripture says
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before
there was ever a sinner, there was the Savior, the Lamb of God
Slain from the foundation of the world, raised from the foundation
of the world, He's the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Christ is not a proper name. Christ represents His offices
as the Messiah. That's what the word means, the
Messiah, the Anointed One. He's God's anointed prophet. He is the Word of God and He's
like no other prophet. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He never said that. He said,
I say unto you, He is the Word of God. And He's God's priest. And He's like no other priest.
These other priests that we read of in the Old Testament were
sinful men for one thing. And for another thing, they would
bring the blood of an animal. He is the holy man who brings
his own blood into the presence of the Father. And if he represents
you as your high priest, You must be saved. And he's king,
and he's like no other king, because all other kings have
borrowed power. He has inherent power in himself,
and with his kingly authority, he can cause you to live, to
believe, and to repent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Now, let's think of this. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 5 says, Whoso believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now do you know when
you'll believe Christ? When you know who He is. When
you know who He is, you will believe. You won't choose to
believe. You'll believe because you have
no choice. You don't choose to believe. You only believe Him
when you have no other options. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what does it mean to believe
Him? It means to trust Him as all you need to save you. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. It's to rely on him
to save you. You don't have any other hopes.
You're relying on him only. It's to look to him. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God,
and beside me there is none else. To believe on Him is to receive
Him. To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to them which believe on His name. To
receive Him is to believe on His name. To believe Him is to
rest in Him. They which have believed do enter
into rest, for he that's entered into his rest hath ceased from
his own works, as God did from his." Now when God finished the
works of creation, the scripture says he rested. He wasn't tired,
he's God. Why did he rest? Because His
work was completed. It was perfect. Nothing could
be added to it. And He rested. Now, when somebody
believes on Christ, they cease from their own works. They see
salvation by their works is forever impossible, and they rest in
what He has done. To him that worketh not, would
that be you? To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. To believe him is to come to
him in obedience to his command. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He's got the power
to cause you to come, and he's got the power to give you rest. What must I do to be saved? What is the necessary thing for
me to do to be saved? Believe, not work. Believe. This is the work of
God that you believe on him whom he has sent. What must I do to
be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Don't overcomplicate this thing.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. To receive a copy of the sermon
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