Before the message, I want to
speak for a few minutes about the trip to Mexico last week. It was such a blessing. The churches
seemed to be prospering, perhaps more than I've ever seen them,
if I can judge anything. Cody died seven or eight years
ago. Walter died two years ago. And
they're in a position now where They don't need a missionary.
The Lord is blessing those men, those pastors. Every place I
went was packed in the preacher's class. I meant to do two lessons,
and I wasn't finished. And I said, well, I'll sit down
and try to finish the rest. They said, no, don't sit down.
Keep going. And I went two hours with those
men. And I told Rich about it. He
said, don't try that here. And I said, OK, I won't, so nobody
worry. But it was, just as the Lord
enables you to continue to pray for these churches, there's seven
churches with pastors and probably three or four other places where
they go on missions to groups of people gathering together
to hear the gospel. And it was such a blessing to
be there. Turn back to Acts chapter 16. I've entitled the message for
this morning, what must I do to be saved? What a question. What must? What is absolutely necessary
that I do? to be saved. We all know intuitively that
God is. That's encoded in our DNA. There's
no one born not believing that God is. Why is there something
and not nothing? There's only one answer to that.
God is. And we all know intuitively that
God is righteous and that he will reward the righteous and
punish the wicked. We know that as children. We know it intuitively. Somebody
says, but I'm an atheist. You weren't always an atheist.
Somewhere along the line, you decided you didn't like what
you were hearing and you changed it. But everyone knows intuitively
God is. He is righteous and he will reward
the righteous and punish the wicked. What must, put the underline under must
in your heart. What must I do to be saved? There is no more important question
that must be answered. What must I do to be saved? Life will soon be over. I know that is hard to think
of, but I know at my age, I'm already on the downhill slide.
You don't know what's gonna happen in the next 24 hours. Your life
may be over. And after that, eternity. eternity in heaven or eternity
in hell. Now there are some people in
this room that are not saved and if you would die today you
would not be in heaven. Now this is a message to those
who are not saved. This is a message to those who
are not saved and know it. This is a message to those who
are not saved, but think they are. And this is a message for those
who are saved, but they have fears that they're not saved. And this is a message to those
who are saved. This is a message to everybody.
This is a message to all men, whatever our condition might
be. What must I do to be saved? In verse 10 of Acts chapter 16, Paul had seen a vision knowing
he was to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel. We read in
verse 10, and after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored
to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us to preach the gospel unto them. How exciting this must
have been. They knew this is what they were
to do. How often do I know what I'm
to do? Never. But here's a case where
they knew exactly what they were to do. Now, we read in verse
14, and a certain woman named Lydia Seller-Purple of the city
of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the
Lord opened. Oh, that's what we need. We need
the Lord to open our heart. It's closed unless the Lord opens
it. I hope everybody in this room
right now will pray, Lord, open my heart so that I can hear the
gospel. You won't hear it except He open
your heart. Now, when He did open her heart,
what happened? She attended. unto the things
which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized in
her household, she besought us saying, if you've judged me to
be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us. Then we read of a woman possessed
with a spirit of divination. This woman represents what a
false prophet is. You see, wherever we have the
truth, a counterfeit will always be close behind, all the time. Don't miss that. When the Lord
said, enter in the straight gate, what's the next thing he said?
Beware of false prophets. Now look at verse 16. It came
to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with
a spirit of divination. met us, which brought her masters
much gain by her soothsaying." She was a gravy train to them.
They got all kinds of money because of this woman. "'The same followed
Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of
the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.'"
Now, what's wrong with that? It's the truth. What she said
was true. but it wasn't the truth. They
show us the way of salvation, but she herself never said the
way of salvation. She was just putting the emphasis
on these men. Look at these men we have in
our midst. Verse 18, and this she did many
days, but Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the Spirit,
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
He came out at the same hour. You see these demons that were
in her or this spirit of divination, what they said was true. It could
be the false prophet, everything he says is true, but he doesn't
preach the truth. She didn't preach the truth.
You see a false prophet is more identified by what he doesn't
say than what he says. And here we have this woman and
Paul commanded her in the name of Christ to come out. And he
came out at the same hour. And when her masters verse 19
saw that the hope of their gains was gone. They caught Paul and
Silas and drew them into the marketplace, into the rulers,
and brought them to the magistrates, saying, these men, being Jews,
do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans." Now,
what they were upset about is their money was gone. It wasn't
because they were so upset about their religion being defiled,
but they lost a lot of money out of this, and they wanted
something done about it. 20. And the multitude rose up together
against him, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them," Paul and Silas. Now here he goes to preach the
gospel and as was usual, he was beaten and mistreated. He said, bonds and afflictions
abide me everywhere I go. He knew wherever city he went
in, this is what he had waiting on him because men don't love
the gospel. And they were beaten with many
stripes, a cat of nine tails, their backs were lacerated, bleeding. And when they laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison. There's a violence in
that. I mean, they were in such pain and they're thrown into
the 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." Now here they are in this filthy
inner prison, no toilet. Can you imagine how vile that
place must have been? And their feet are in stalks.
How uncomfortable that was that with their backs beat up with
the cat of nine tails in such pain. Verse 25, and at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. In this awful condition, They
prayed and sang praises unto God. Isn't that powerful? And the prisoners heard them.
I bet they're thinking, what are they praising him for? Their
feet are fastened stocks. They've been beaten to a pulp
and they're praising God. What's this all about? Verse
26. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. God
did this. And immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison
awaking out of his sleep. Now, I don't think he heard this
praise that the prisoners heard. He didn't wake up until this
earthquake took place. And he, awaking out of his sleep
and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out a sword and would
have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
If they escape, it's over for me. I'll be tortured. I'll be
tormented. I might as well kill myself.
But Paul, verse 28, cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself
no harm, for we're all here. And this had some kind of power
effect Powerful effect on this man. Then called he for a light. That's
what I need. Light. Light as to how God would
have anything to do with me. He called for a light and he
sprang in. He was in a hurry. There wasn't
any hesitancy. He sprang in. and came trembling, fear and
trembling. He had some awareness of who
God is. Well, how did he know? Well,
how do you know? If you have any awareness of who God is,
you'll tremble too, because with a knowledge of who he is, you'll
have some idea of who you are. You don't understand who you
are until you see who he is. And when you see who he is, you're
gonna come like this fella. trembling, needing light, in
a hurry. And he comes with this question,
sirs. He was so respectful at this
time. Sirs. These are the ones he'd
just beaten with the cat of nine tails, but now he calls them
sirs. I'm sure he wasn't calling them that when he was beating
them, but now all of a sudden everything's different. Sirs. What must I do to be saved? Inherent in this question, I realize that I'm not saved. And I realize that I cannot save
myself. I must be saved. I cannot save
myself. What must I do to be saved? Now, many go their whole lives
without realizing either of these things. I'm not saved. Has that realization ever come
to you? I'm not saved. I don't know God and I can't
save myself. If it's left up to me, I'm in
trouble because I cannot save myself. What must I do to be
saved? Now, have you ever asked yourself
that question? What came through your mind when
you asked yourself that question? Well, what do I need to do? I
need to change. I need to change my life. I need
to repent of my sins. What's that mean? What do you mean by that? Well,
I need to be sorry for my sins and I need to stop committing
them. Well, you ought to be sorry for your sins. And we ought to
stop committing sins. But have you done there? Somebody says, turn from your
sins and don't return to them. That's good advice. Have you
done? Be honest. Be honest. Are there sins you've not turned
from? If that's what repentance is,
it means you haven't repented. You know that phrase, repent
of your sins is not found in the scripture. That's what preachers
love to say. Repent of your sins and believe on Christ. Well,
as soon as I say that, nobody thinks of believing on Christ.
They think about what I need to do about my sins to make things
right. Well, repentance is being sorry
when you're sorry enough. Repentance is saying I won't
do it anymore. Are there sins you still commit? I don't have to answer that question.
What must I do to be saved? I hope you're asking yourself
that question. I hope I'm asking myself that question. What must,
what is necessary? What must I do to be saved? Save. Well, first let's talk
about this concept of being saved. That's what he asked. What must
I do to be saved? What is this concept of being
saved? What's that mean? Well, first,
what do I need to be saved from? Number one, I need to be saved
from God. He's the one I've sinned against. I need to be saved from God. Secondly, I need to be safe from myself.
I know I am my biggest problem. I am my biggest enemy. Everything is my fault. I need to be safe from myself. I am my own worst enemy. All my sin, All my problem is
self-inflicted, and if God leaves me to myself, I won't be saved. Have you come to that realization?
I need to be saved from God. He's the one I've sinned against.
He's the one who has power to cast me into hell. I need to
be saved from myself, and I need to be saved from my sins. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save, he shall save. Oh, I'm
interested in this. He shall save his people from
their sins. The sins that I have committed
against God. And I can't change the narrative.
I've committed them. I need to be saved from my sins. I need to be saved from my sin.
I love what John called sin, he said, sin's the transgression
of the law. If there's any confusion, sin is the transgression of the
law, God's holy law. Break at one time, you've broke
every commandment. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Sin is coming short of the glory
of God. My sins, my sin, my sin, David
said, is ever before me. my sins. I can't look down my
nose at anybody because of my sins. Whatever they've done,
I realize I'm worse. I really believe that. If God
left me to myself, it's over for me. I have no right. I have no claims on God because
of my sins. How can I be saved from my sins? That's what I need. I need to be saved from the penalty
of my sin. I can't bear to, I can't even
stand to think about hell. Can you? I think it's interesting. You know, the apostle Paul never
even mentioned that word. He thought it would be too terrible
to mention. The Lord spoke of it more than anybody else. But
to be punished for my sin, I can't bear the thought of that. I need
to be saved from the power of my sin. My sin has power over
me. I can't, Here it is. I can't get away
from it. It's got power over me. I can't believe. I can't repent unless God gives
me some kind of grace, some new heart to do this. I need to be
saved from the power of my sin. I need to be saved from the presence
of sin, the love of sin, the commission of sin. And that's
what's done in glorification. But here's, my problem is my
sin. My sin. It's all my fault. I can't blame
somebody else. Can't blame my circumstances. I can't blame
my birth. It's all my fault. Self-inflicted,
every bit of it. All my sin is all my fault. I need to be saved from my sin
and my sins. Now, what does it take for a
real bona fide sinner to be saved? And this man asked, what must
I do to be saved? What does it take for a real
bona fide sinner, an evil person, someone who's guilty, someone
who really is wicked, someone who deserves to be cast off.
What does it take for a real sinner to be saved? First. That sinner must be chosen
by God in eternal election. No salvation without that. Let
me give you a scripture. Second Thessalonians 2.13, wherefore
we are bound to give thanks to God always for you brethren beloved
of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation." The only way a sinner will be saved is if God before
time began chose them to be saved. The only men and women that object
to election are people who don't need it. It's that simple. If you know
you're a sinner, you know you need God to sovereignly choose
you to be saved or you will not be saved. Do you need God's electing grace? Now you can argue about it all
you want, you can argue yourself all the way into hell, but somebody
that needs electing grace, oh Lord, choose me, save me, reach
down and have mercy on me. Second, for a sinner to be saved,
it takes the person and the work of Jesus Christ. When we were
talking about election, the only way I'll be elected is if I'm
in Him. I understand that. I don't completely comprehend
it, obviously, but I know the only way God will choose me is
if I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ. I need to be found in Him, the
person of Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. I need for Him to be my surety,
for me to be saved. I need Him to take full responsibility
for my salvation. You need that? I need Him to become flesh for
me, to keep the law for me. I need this. I need Him to take
my sins. from me and bear them in his
own body on the tree and put them away. I need him to take
my guilt, my sin, and answer the claims of God's law against
me, paying for my sins, taking them away. I need Jesus Christ
to do all of this for me. I need him to be raised from
the dead for me, to justify me. where he satisfied everything
God requires of me. I need the person and work of
Jesus Christ to save me. For a sinner to be saved, he
must be born again, given spiritual life. I need to be given life from
above. I can't do this. I can't make this. I can't work
it up. I need God to say to me, live and I live. There can be no faith. There
can be no repentance. There can be no believing. There
can be no coming to Christ without this. What's it take for a sinner
to be saved? I've got to be given life from
the dead. God's got to do this for me. For a sinner to be saved, it
takes all that was, is, and will be. all of God's providence, everything
God does. All that was, is, and will be
in accordance to Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. I need all of God's providence. What's it take for a sinner to
be saved? The preaching of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 1, 21, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. What's going on right now? It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Are you saying that God can't
save without preaching? Oh, I'm sure he could. That's
not the issue. The issue is, does he? It please God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. You know, there's something
so humbling about that. God doesn't deal with me apart
from preaching. Kind of like old Naaman, he got
so angry with Elisha, he sent out a servant. Doesn't he know
who I am? Yeah, he knows who you are. He
sends out a servant, a lowly nobody from nowhere that you're
going to hear the gospel from. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And for me to be saved,
I'm going to have to endure all the way to the end. He that endureth
to the end, the same shall be saved. It takes the preserving
grace of God now unto him that's able to keep you from falling.
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy." For me and you to be saved, God's gonna
have to preserve us all the way to the end, okay? I see what
it takes for a sinner to be saved, but what must I do to be saved? What must? I do, me personally. I realize I can't save myself.
I'm dead sure of that. But what must I do to be saved? What is necessary? What is the
non-negotiable? What must I do to be saved? Now, I want us to notice that
Paul and Silas didn't say, well, there's nothing you can do. They
didn't say that at all, did they? They didn't say, you're just
going to have to wait to judgment day and find out then whether
he'd done anything for you. No, he didn't say, well, there's
nothing you can do. He gave clear direction. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt Be saved. Believe on the Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. He created
the universe. He's Lord. You know, everything
that's taking place, he's the first cause, everything. Everything? Everything. He upholds all things
by the word of His power. By Him, all things consist. Everything that's happened to
you yesterday, everything that's going on today, everything that'll
happen tomorrow, He's in absolute control of. He is Lord. And He's most especially the
Lord of salvation. That means as to whether or not
you'll be saved, it's not up to you, it's up to Him because
He's the Lord. You'll go, leper understood that.
Lord, if you will, You can make me clean, and he said, I will. What sovereign authority, the
word of the Lord. He's Lord, he's Jesus. You know what that name means?
Savior. He's the Savior. He delights
in saving sinners. That's what He does. That's who
He is. He's the Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people. He said, I pray not for the world,
but for them which you've given me, for they are thine. His people,
His elect. Well, I want to be one of those,
don't you? He shall save His people. from their sins. He's Jesus. He's Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ. God's prophet. He is the Word
of God. He's God's priest. He doesn't
come into God's presence with the blood of an animal, but with
His own blood. And He can't fail. He's God's
King. That means He's got the power
to make you do whatever it is He wants you to do. He's got
the power to enable you to believe. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. What's
He say to do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. What must I do to be saved? Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Now, turn with me for a moment
to 1 John chapter five. What if I'm not one of the elect? Excuse me, but that's a dumb
question. It really is. You're commanded to believe.
Do I have a right to believe? You're commanded to believe.
And look what the scripture says about that one who believes.
1 John 5, verse 1, whosoever, are you a whosoever? Are you
in that demographic? Whosoever believeth Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? God's prophet? The Word of God? God's priest? If He represents
you, you must be saved. God's King? Yet have I set my
King on my holy hill of Zion? That's what God says with regard
to Him. The King of kings and the Lord
of lords. Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Now, if
you do, that's because you know who he is. That's what faith
is. It's not what you think about
yourself, it's what you think about him. You know who he is. Why do you know who he is? He
made himself known to you. That's the only reason you know
who he is. He made himself known. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now somebody says, what's it
mean to believe? You know, I understand that question because I've asked
that question before too. Believe on Christ, what, believe
he exists? I believe he exists, yeah, I know that. But when you
believe on him, what that means is you trust him to save you. You don't have any other options.
You see, you don't decide to believe. You only believe when
there are no other options. You trust Him only. You don't
have anywhere else to look. You trust Him only to save you. You rely upon Him. You rely upon Him as everything
in your salvation. All your eggs are in that basket.
You don't have any other mutual funds. Everything's right here.
You rely on him only when he said it is finished. That's my hope. You look to him. You know what that means? You
don't look to yourself. It means you don't look to others. It
means you don't look down at your life and how you're doing. You look to him only as everything
in your salvation. It means you receive him. You receive him. To as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God. even to them
that believe on His name." What is it to receive Him? It's to
believe on His name. His name is who He is. It's His
attributes, His sovereignty, His holiness, His grace, His
power, His wisdom. Oh, the one we're trusting is
an almighty Savior. You receive all that He is. You
don't say, well, I don't agree with that. I don't know. No,
you receive all that he is as he's revealed himself in his
word. What does it mean to believe? They which have believed to enter
into rest. Hebrews 4 9, for he that's entered
his rest hath ceased from his own works. as God the Father
did from his. Have you ever ceased from your
own works? To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. What must I do to be saved? Believe. Believe who He is. Rely upon. Trust. Receive. Look to the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now somebody comes to me with
this question. I hope I know from experience.
And I can give the right answer. What must I do to be saved? Believe. That's God's command
to you right now. Don't wait for something. Don't
wait to get better. Don't wait to improve yourself.
Don't wait till you know more. Right now, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. Saved from God, saved from yourself,
saved from your sins, saved. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's high
and holy name that everybody in this room for
His sake, for Christ's sake, might be enabled to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. In His name we pray. Amen.