We will have the preacher's class
this Saturday. All men are invited. And tonight
I'm going to preach upon this subject. Peace be to you. Peace be to you. I've entitled this message. the way of salvation. Could a more important subject
possibly be considered the way of salvation? Look in verse 12. Neither is there salvation in
any other For there is none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. Now this is one of the most glorious
verses of scripture concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and God's
salvation. God does save. and we need saved. The way of salvation. Now look
in verse one of chapter four, and as they spake unto the people,
the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees
came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and
preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid
hands on them, and put them in hold, put them in jail unto the
next day, for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard
the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand."
Now Peter has used this miraculous healing of this man who was lame
from the birth. We've considered him the last
couple of weeks, how he jumped up and leaped He was healed. And Peter uses this as a platform
to preach the gospel. And as usual, the religious leaders
were grieved over the message they heard preached. They didn't
agree with it. They didn't like it. They were grieved over the
message then. You know, they're grieved over
the message now. Same thing. You know, I was thinking about
this and I thought, I hate religion. I hate it. It's so contrary to
the gospel. I'm ashamed to even be identified
with it. You know, most of what goes on
under the name of Christianity, I don't even like the name Christianity.
You know, one of the seven great religions of the world, though,
it's the only truth. It's the only truth. Don't give
anything else any credit. Christianity is not in the Bible.
I think of the word Christianity, I think of the word insanity.
They go together, don't they? But at any rate, they were grieved and Peter and John were arrested.
How be it in spite of all this, many believed. Now, this was
probably just the day after Pentecost. Remember on the day of Pentecost,
3,000 people were converted. And I don't know if this means
another 5,000 were converted or 2,000 added to the 3,000. It doesn't really matter, but
at any rate, this group had gone from 120 to at least 5,000, maybe
8,000 in a matter of 24 hours. Can you imagine something like
that? Well, that's what took place. Verse five, and it came
to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,
and Annas, the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander,
and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered
together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in
the midst, they asked, by what power, or by what name, have
you done this? Now, I think it's so interesting
that we read of two high priests in this passage of Scripture. How many high priests are there
supposed to be? One. Obviously, this had become political. Two high priests. What compromise
is seen in that? And they wanted to know, verse
seven, when they'd set them in the midst, they asked, by what
power or by what name Have you done this? Now here this man
had been miraculously healed. Look in chapter 4 verse 14. And beholding the man which was
healed standing with him, they could say nothing against it.
But when they commanded them to go aside out of the council,
they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these
men? For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them.
It's manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem. And we can't
deny it. I mean, they saw this notable
miracle and they said, we cannot deny what took place. This man
has been miraculously healed. But their issue was, in whose
name did you do this? By what power did you do this? How was this done? Verse eight. Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost. Now here we see, and we're gonna
hear what a man says when he's filled with the Holy Ghost. Now, I want you to understand
this. True preaching is a supernatural thing. If I'm truly preaching,
I am filled with the Spirit of God in preaching. Now, if you
hear, if you hear with hearing ears, you will hear because of
the Spirit of God giving you those hearing ears. This thing
we're doing right now is a supernatural thing. Somebody says, well, I
don't see it as supernatural. Well, it's all supernatural to
you, but it is somebody else. True preaching is accompanied
with the power of the Holy Spirit. Now I want you to notice how
Peter answers this question. He says in verse eight, then
Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of
the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined, put
on trial. That's what that name, that's
what that means. If we're being put on trial because of what
has taken place with this man who's been miraculously healed. If we this day be examined to
the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made
whole, be it known unto you all. Now this is what happens when
someone is preaching with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Here's what it's got to say.
Be it known unto you all. That's the method of every true
preacher. A false preacher will seek to not tell the whole truth
out of a fear of offending someone. Now, when Peter was preaching
at this time, When he's put on trial and they said, by whose
name did you do this? He could have said, in the name
of Jehovah. It would have been true. And
it would have been a compromise of the gospel. And it would have
been a lie. He could have got by, walked
out of there, if he would have said in the name of Jehovah,
the Lord God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
if he would have said that, he could have walked away scot-free,
there wouldn't have been any trouble. We agree with that. You know, I hear preaching, for
instance. Something that just gets all
over me is when I hear a preacher say, Christ died for those who
believe. What's true? I don't doubt that. Christ did die for those who
believe. But you know, any free willer could be okay with that. Christ died for those who believe.
Why say it that way? Why don't say it, Christ died
for the elect. Christ died for his people. Christ
did not die for those who are in hell. Christ did not die for
those who are not elected. Christ died for his sheep. Why
can't we say it that way? He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. The only reason someone would
say the indifference is they don't want to offend somebody.
Like Peter could have said, well, Jehovah, we did this in the name
of Jehovah, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Everybody
would have said, amen. And he could have walked right
out. Been in no trouble, but that's not his methodology, is
it? I love this, be it known to you. And be it known to you, the Bible
is the word of God. I'm not trying to prove that
to you. It's not my job to prove that to you. I can't prove it
to you, but I can declare it to you. The Bible is God's infallible
word. It's either God's word or phony,
not even real. God is who the Bible declares
Him to be. He's God. You know what that
means? That means you're in His hand and He can do with you whatever
He's pleased to do. You're in His hand. He's not
in yours. Your salvation is not up to you. You don't have any
control in this thing. It's up to Him. That's who God is. God
really is God. God, be it known to you, God
elected a people before time began to be saved. Be it known
to you Christ died for the elect, those the Father gave Him before
time began, and actually accomplished their salvation. Be it known
to you the grace of God given in the new birth is irresistible
and invincible. Be it known to you all those
people will persevere. Be it known to you. I love the
way Peter preaches. Be it known to you. If you're
wanting to know, How this man was saved, by what means he was
made whole. And that word made whole, it's
the same word generally translated saved. How was this man saved? If you want to know how he was
saved, let's look at Peter's statement, verse 10. Be it known
unto you all, unto all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead. Even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole. There was no mistaking this,
was there? Jesus of Nazareth, the one you crucified, the one
God raised from the dead, even by him. He's the reason this
man stands before you whole. It's only through his name. Now he says in verse 11, this is the stone which was set
at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Now I have no doubt that Peter remembered when the Lord quoted
this. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21, verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, did you
never read in the scriptures? I love the way he says that.
He says that a lot to the Pharisees. Haven't you fellows ever read
this? He knew they had and he knew they didn't have any idea
what it meant. This is kind of a slam. Have
you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders
rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This
is a quotation from Psalm 118. This is the Lord's doing and
it's marvelous in our eyes. Turn to Isaiah chapter 28. Verse 16. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation. Isaiah 28,
16. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone. This has been put to the test.
A precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Now, with those two scriptures
in mind, I want us to look at something else Peter said in
1 Peter 2. He put these two scriptures together.
1 Peter 2, beginning in verse 4. To whom coming, speaking of coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom coming as unto a living
stone. disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. You also, as living stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, it's
contained in Scriptures. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, he's quoting that
other one that the Lord quoted, the same is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. Now I've got a question. is the
fact that Christ was rejected by the religious leaders and
yet made the head of the corner by God. Is that marvelous in
your eyes? Is that your response? This is
marvelous. By what name have you done this?
By the name that you said it not. By the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, the one God has made the head of the corner That
name which is above every name. Philippians chapter two, I'm
gonna quote it. Wherefore God has also highly
exalted him and given him a name that's above every name, that
the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Now, why is this man standing? You're asking me why. There's
only one reason. the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are you saved? There's only
one reason, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now back to our
text, Acts chapter 4, verse 12. This is Like, I don't think there's a
more important verse of scripture in all the Bible than this. Verse
11, this is the stone which was set at nought of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now, the way of salvation, first
of all, there is such a thing as salvation. Now, most people,
when they think of being saved or salvation, there's two things
they think of. If you're saved, that means you're not going to
hell, and that means you're going to heaven. That is most people's
idea of salvation. If you're saved, that means you're
not going to hell, and that means you're going to heaven. Now that
is the result and effect of salvation, but it's not the thing of itself.
Salvation is not getting to go to heaven and not having to go
to hell. That's not what salvation is. is most clearly seen in that
confession of the publican in the temple. When he beat on his
breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And here's what he's saying.
I am the sinner. God, do something about my sin. I cannot do anything about my
sin. I can't make it go away. I can't
make it to where it's not there. I can't do anything about it.
God, be propitious is the word. That word merciful, that means
be one who makes that sin to go away. Be one who removes the
reason for your anger. Now that's what you do when God
has done something for you. Number one, you see you're a
sinner, and that's from seeing who He is. You won't see you're
a sinner until you see the character of God. You ever see the character
of God, you'll know you're a sinner. That's what it takes. It's not
you just feeling bad about the things you're doing. It's a side
of God. It's a side of his true character.
It's a side of the God of the Bible that makes a man know he's
a sinner. And when you know you're a sinner,
all you can do is pray for the Lord to do something about your
sin. You can't do anything about it.
God be perpetuous. God be merciful to me, the sinner. And what does Christ say? I tell
you, that man, that man who cried out, God be propitious to me,
the sinner, that man who was in his own mind the worst man
to ever live, the most sinful man to ever live, that's how
he saw himself. Christ said regarding that man,
I say to you, that man went down to his house justified. Now that's what salvation is.
That man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Salvation is God taking the sinner
and making him justified without guilt. Making it to where
that man had never sinned. Giving him a brand new history. It's God taking that sinner and
making him sanctified. Holy. It's God taking that sinner
and making him to be glorified. That's what the scripture says.
Whom he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense. Salvation
is taking the man whose righteousness was as filthy rags and making
him the very righteousness of God. That's what salvation is. Salvation is taking the proud
religionist and turning him into the chief of sinners. That's
what salvation is. Salvation is turning a hater
of God into a lover of God. Salvation is causing somebody
to no longer say, not thy will, but my will be done. into saying,
not my will, but thy will be done. It's repentance. It's a change of mind. It's a
change of masters. It's a change of motives. It's
a change of manner. Salvation. Now, salvation, when
we talk about salvation, there is such a thing as salvation.
The first question that enters my mind is salvation from what? Salvation from what? Well, first
of all, and I think this is the most important point of the bunch,
salvation from God. Salvation from God. You see,
He's the one we've sinned against. He's the one that can put us
into hell. Salvation from God. Now, if I would ask you this
question, why did Christ die on the cross? Most people would
readily answer, well, for our sins. Yet there's no understanding
of he died because of the character of God. That's why I died, because
of the character of God. You see, God's holy. God's righteous. God is just. And in order for
Him to do something for me, He first has to do something for
Himself. He's got to vindicate His own
holy character. He can't just sweep sin under
the rug. Sin must be punished. He's God.
Why did Christ die? To vindicate the character of
a holy God. That's why I died. I need to
be saved from him who, after he has killed the body, has power
to cast the soul into hell. The Lord said, yea, I say unto
you, fear ye him. I need to be saved from God himself. That's what comes first. I need
to be saved from God. Secondly, I need to be saved
from myself. Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. That's what the scripture says.
Your sins and your iniquities have separated you from your
God. I'm the problem. I need to be safe from myself.
I know that if God doesn't do something for me, if He doesn't
intervene, if He just leaves me to myself, I'll go to hell.
I need Him to turn me. I need Him to give me faith.
I need Him to give me repentance. I need Him to give me a new heart. I need Him to incline my heart
toward Him. I need that. I need to be safe
from myself. I need to be safe from God. I
need to be safe from myself. And I need to be safe from my
sins. I need to be saved from the penalty
of sin. I can't pay that penalty. That's why hell's eternal. I
can never make payment. I need to be saved from the power
of my sins to where I can do what I formerly could not do.
I can believe now. I can repent. I need to be saved
from the very presence of my sin where I'm no longer a sinner. Here's the need for salvation.
I need to be saved from God. I need to be safe for myself,
and I need to be safe from my sins. Salvation. And notice, I like this. Peter states this, first of all,
in a negative way. And the Bible quite often begins
with a negative. Somebody says, give me a positive
message. Well, this is a positive message, but it generally begins
in the Bible with a negative. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There's none other name given
under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. It begins with the negative. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Now, the gospel is intolerant
of all other religions and all other ways. The gospel is intolerant of all
other religions. They're all false. There's no
truth in them. and all other ways. In Hebrews 1, 3, I love this verse, when he had
by himself purged our sins. It doesn't say he purged our
sins. I'd be thankful if it said that,
but that's not the way the writer to the Hebrews phrases this.
He doesn't say when he had purged our sins. It says when he had
by himself purged our sins. You know what that means? That means me and you had absolutely
no contribution in this thing. None at all. It's not Christ and. It's not
Christ and an act of your will. It's not Christ and your evidences
and your attempts to not sin and your good works. It's not
Christ and you start doing this and stop doing that. It's not
Christ and your sincerity. It's not Christ and your resolve. It's Christ alone. Neither Is
there salvation in any other? The way of Christ excludes all
other ways. It's not Christ and your attempt
to live the Christian life. It's Christ alone. Now, there's
so many examples of this in scripture, but let's take the thief. I could
give more, but let's just take the thief. Thief never came to a worship
service like this, not once. The thief never gave a dime to
the cause of Christ. The thief didn't have one good
work he could point to. All he had was Christ. What more could there be? Would
you add anything to that? All he had was Christ alone. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Well, that's being awful narrow,
isn't it? Well did the Lord said, straight is the gate and narrow
is the way and few there be that find it. Broad is the gate, wide is the
way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in
there at. But straight is the gate and
narrow is the way and few there be that find it. Now, while it
is stated in a negative way, neither is there salvation in
any other, for there's none other name given under heaven among
men whereby we must be saved, even though it's stated in a
negative way, it certainly declares the positive truth that there
is salvation. I can say this to everybody in
this room, there is salvation. There's salvation from God. The
reason for his anger is removed. His character is vindicated so
he can be just and still have something to do with somebody
like me and you. There's salvation from self by
grace. You are saved. There's salvation
from self. and their salvation from sin,
thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. And don't miss this word, must. Salvation is not what may be. Salvation is not what can be. Salvation is what must be. It's absolutely necessary. You
see, if you're saved, it's because you must be saved. You see, if you're saved, God
chose you to salvation before time began. And His purpose and
His will must be done. If you're saved, it's because
Christ actually made payment for your sins and blotted them
out, and now you don't have any sin. You must be saved. If you're saved, you're saved
to this extent if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God. Salvation is a necessity. There's none other name given
under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now in closing, turn with me
to Romans chapter 10. We see there is salvation. Most
important subject we can ever consider. You know, most people
in religion, You get saved and then you go on from there. We
got that down. Let's go on and learn how to disciple, learn
how to witness, learn how to live the Christian life and all
that kind of stuff. And somebody like that, they don't even know
what salvation is. They've never experienced salvation.
If it's something, well, let's go on and got that down. We're
saved now. Let's go on to learn discipleship. No, no. You'd never leave this. Romans chapter 10. Brethren, My heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Two things on the very surface
of that verse. These people were not saved.
They were not saved. And Paul wanted them to be saved. Verse two, for I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God. They're very religious, but not
according to knowledge. Now, my knowledge is not salvation. Christ is salvation. I know that. And if I don't know that, I'm
not saved. My knowledge is not salvation. Christ is salvation. I know that. And there's no salvation apart
from knowing that. I bear them record. They have
a zeal for God, but it's not according to knowledge. For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, that's being ignorant of the
character of God, and going about to establish their own righteousness.
Look, Lord, what I've done. Save me because I did this. I've
repented. I've cleaned up my act. Now save
me. They've not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. There's no vindication of God's
righteous character. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Now he's going
to talk about what this thing of believing is. For Moses described
it, the righteousness, which is of them all, that the man
which doeth those things shall live by them. Now here's the
righteousness of the law. You're to do everything it says,
and that's the only way you're going to have life. Do. Do. That's a summary of the law. Do. Do what you do. But, verse six, the righteousness
which is his faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in your heart,
who shall ascend into heaven? That is, bring Christ down from
above. Don't say, what can I do to get Christ to come down here
and do something for me? Don't say that. Or, who shall
descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again
from the dead. Don't say, what can I do to make
what he did work for me? But what saith it, the word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the
word of faith which we preach. Listen, this is so near to everybody.
It's in your heart right now. It's near you. That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord. And what that
means, real simply, is he's the creator. He's the controller
of providence. Everything that happens, he's
in control of. He's running the show. No matter
what it is, he's the first cause behind it. I am the Lord. I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. And most especially, He's the
Lord of salvation. And what that means is my salvation
is completely dependent upon His will. I don't say, Lord,
I will that you make me clean. I say, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. He's the Lord Jesus. And you
believe, look in verse Nine, that thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that
God raised him from the dead. Now that's more than simply believing
that it happened. There's a lot of people who will
say, well, I believe Christ was raised from the dead, and they have
no idea why. You believe God raised Him from the dead because
He made satisfaction to God for all that God required and that
God raised Him from the dead. There's nothing left to ask for. You believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. Now, real simply, in my heart. That's just not sentimental.
That means I understand that the righteousness of Christ is
the only righteousness there is. I understand that. Not only
do I understand it, I love it. I love Christ being my personal
righteousness before God. Do you? You love this? And This
is what I want. This is the understanding, the
affections, and the will. If you give me the choice between
being saved by Christ's righteousness and my own righteousness, you
know which way I'm going? Christ's righteousness. You believe
in your heart unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession
is made. If you believe this in your heart,
you're gonna confess this message. You're gonna identify with this
message, and you're not gonna have anything to do with anything
else. Now that's what'll happen if
you believe in your heart. With the mouth, confession is
made unto salvation. Neither is there salvation in
any other. You can just forget about it.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other
name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. That is the way of salvation,
Christ himself. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your way of salvation. Lord, we confess that there's
no other way and no other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved but by the name of thy son. Lord, enable us by your grace
to preach your gospel to this generation Give us grace to preach your
gospel in this town. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name for his glory that many people will be brought to bow
the knee to thy son and find salvation in his name. And Lord, may everybody in this
room find salvation in His name. Name that's above every name
and Lord how it delights our hearts to know that in His name
every knee is going to bow. Things in heaven, things in earth,
and things under the earth and every tongue is going to confess
that He is Lord to thy glory. In Christ's blessed name we pray.