To turn back to Acts chapter
16, I've entitled this message, What
Must I Do to Be Saved? I hope everybody in this room,
beginning with the preacher, is asking this question. What
must? What is necessary for me to do
to be saved? Make no mistake about it. There
is something that you and I must do or we will not be saved. What must? I do to be saved. And this man knew he could not
save himself. He did not say what must I do
to save myself. He knew he couldn't do that.
He said what must I do to be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. And if He saves me and you, there
are things that we will do because He has saved us. What must I
do to be saved? I want to answer that question
this morning from the Scriptures. What must I do to be saved. Now this man that asked this
question was in a very desperate condition. He was at the verge
of committing suicide. That's how desperate he was. Look in verse 27. And the keeper
of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison
doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried
with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all
here. Now, that was unexpected. He
just thought they would all flee, and I understand him thinking
that, but Paul stayed right there even after the prison doors were
opened. And he says to this man who's getting ready to kill himself,
Don't hurt yourself. We're all here. And perhaps the
man was overcome with this act of kindness? I don't know. I
know if you go on reading earlier in the chapter, this is the same
man that had flushed them into the inner prison in stocks. They
had been beaten for preaching the gospel, and this man was
rough with them. Then we read at midnight that Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises to God. I love to think about what that
would have sounded like. Here they were in their pain and suffering
after being beaten, but they were praying and singing praises
to God. And the scripture says the prisoners
heard them. It doesn't say this man heard them, as all we know
about was he was asleep. But he's awakened out of sleep,
thinks the prisoners have fled, and starts to kill himself. It's
going to be over for me. And Paul says, do yourself no
harm. And this affected this man so much he came in with a
light. He knew he needed light. He came
in with a light and he was trembling. He was afraid. One thing this
man knew is that he was not saved. Now what a blessed revelation
to find out that you're not saved. What to God? that if I'm not
saved, he would show me that I'm not saved. Because this is
the first step to salvation insofar as our experience goes. This
man knew he was not saved and he asked this specific question. He didn't say, is there a God? He knew there was a God. And
he knew he was guilty before this God. He didn't say, where
do I fit in in all this stuff? What's God's purpose for me?
He didn't ask anything like that. His one desire was, what must
I do to be saved? What a question. What's necessary
for me to do? to be saved? What's necessary
for you to do? There's something you must do.
What must I do to be saved? Now the first question we must
ask is what is meant by being saved? What is meant by being saved? Now I know what most people think
when they think of being saved. They think well if I'm saved
that means I won't have to go to hell when I die and I'll get
to go to heaven when I die. Well, that's part of it, but
that's not the way the Bible would answer this question. If
we ask the Bible, what does it mean to be saved, how would the
Bible answer this question? I can see some people thinking,
well, I need to be saved from the terrible and wretched and
broken condition my sin has brought on me. I understand that too.
But that's not how the Bible would answer that question. How
would the Bible answer this question as to what does it mean to be
saved? Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
1. Matthew chapter 1. This is the angel talking to
Joseph about the supernatural birth of Christ, being born of
a virgin. Verse 21 of Matthew chapter 1,
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, Savior. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Now here's what I need saved
from. my sins. Notice it says, he shall save
his people. Not everybody is his people. He's not going to save everybody.
There will be people who are not saved and spend eternity
suffering the wrath of God. I don't want to be one of those
people, do you? says he shall save his people from their sins. Who are his people? Twice in the last week I've come
across this phrase, he died for those who believe. He died for those who believe. Now that's a true statement.
He did die for those who believe. But it's not the truth. And I
thought to myself, when I read these two statements, or two
different men saying he died for those who believe, I thought,
why can't they just say he died for the elect? That's so much more clear. Now,
to say he died for those who believe, while that's a true
statement, it's not the truth and it opens up the door to salvation
by works. As if someone's faith makes his
death work for them. Or perhaps God foresaw who would
believe and he died for them. That opens up the door to all
kinds of error and wrongdoing. No, he died for the elect. He died for his sheep. And the
Lord makes that so clear. He said, This is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day. Why do people say things like,
he died for those who believe? I know exactly why they say things
like that, to keep from offending people. That's the only reason,
to keep from offending people, to remove the offense from the
cross. And let me say this, I'm not
afraid of offending people. I'm afraid of not offending people
because if I'm not offending people by the message I preach,
I'm not preaching the gospel. Paul said, if I please men, I
should not be the servant of Christ. He died for his people. And what did he do? It says he
shall save. He shall save. This is for sure. He shall save His people from
their sins. And like I said, what I need
saved from is from my sins. Because I can't save myself from
my sins. I can't do anything about them.
I can't make up for them. I need to be saved from my sins. I need to be saved from being
Suffering the penalty of my sins, being sent to hell, being condemned
for my sins. I need saved from that and I
can't do anything to save myself from that. I need to be saved
from the power of my sins. Now, a man that's born into this
world is born dead in sins under the complete dominion of sin.
He can't be saved. He can't believe. He can't repent.
He can't love. He can't hear the gospel. He
can't understand the gospel. He's dead in sins. I need to be saved
from that. I need to be saved from the power
and dominion of sin by giving me new life. A life that was
not there before. A life that believes. A life
that repents. A life that loves. And I need
to be saved from the commission of sin. I need for it to be made
right on sin anymore. That's what happens in glorification.
Now you think of these things. He shall save his people from
their sins. Justification is being saved from the condemnation
of sin. Regeneration, being born again, being born from above,
is being saved from the power of sin. It's the new life. It's the life God gives you that
believes and repents and loves. I need to be saved from the commission
of sin where I don't sin anymore. I think of that scripture, now
is our salvation nearer than when we believe. Now this salvation
from sin, the one word that would most completely describe it,
would be sanctification. Sanctification. God sets me apart
in eternal election. Christ answers, He makes me holy by
what He did on the cross. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,
sanctified by the Spirit of God when I'm given a holy nature
that doesn't commit sin. That's sanctification. Now, what
do we need to save from? Sins. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now,
second question I ask. What does it take for this to
happen? Now, my first need is I need
to be saved. I need to be saved from my sins. and I certainly cannot save myself
from my sins, what does it take, what has to happen for me to
be saved from my sins? Number one, God's got to will
it. It begins with the will of God. God has to will me to be saved
from my sins, and if God wills something, It's done. But we're
bound, Paul said, 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 in the truth. The first thing that has to happen
for me to be saved is God has got to elect me. He's got to
choose me. And beloved, that choice began
before the foundation of the world. Now election. We talked
about election for just a moment. Election is not hard to understand. Everybody in this room knows
what it means when it says, according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. The Lord said in John 15, 16,
you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Everybody here knows
exactly what that means. Now you might not like it. You
might not receive it, but you know what it means. It's not
hard to understand. Salvation begins with the sovereign
will of God in eternal election. And if he doesn't elect you and
me, we will not be saved. The only way somebody can be
saved from their sins, first of all, is the electing will
of God before time began. Now, I can't help but smile when I
think of election. I love election. It glorifies
God. It gives Him all the glory and
salvation. It opens up the door of salvation for a sinner like
me. Don't you love election? Secondly, what's it take for
this sinner to be saved from his sins. Well, it takes the
person and the work of Jesus Christ the Lord. For me to be
saved from my sins, he had to stand before time began as my
surety and agree to take complete responsibility for all of my
salvation. Now that's what he did. He stood
as my surety and said, I'm going to take complete responsibility
for him. His salvation is dependent upon
me 100%. For me to be saved, Christ had
to come in the flesh. God became a man. Christ had
to keep the law for me. He had to die for me, bearing
my sins in His own body on the tree to pay for my sins. He was
raised again for my justification. When God raised Him from the
dead, God said regarding everybody He died for, I'm satisfied. I'm not looking for anything
else. He had to be raised from the dead and ascend back to the
Father. Right now, He stands as my intercessor, completely
representing me, and He's coming back for me and I'm going to
be made just like him. Now that's what it takes for
me to be saved from my sins, the person and the work of Jesus
Christ the Lord. Now what does it take for me
to be saved from my sins? It takes the irresistible and
invincible work of God the Holy Spirit in the new birth, giving
me life, a new nature, a new heart, a new man that I did not
have before. It takes the work of God the
Holy Spirit saying, live! And I live. And I can now do
what I could not do. I can now believe the gospel.
Yeah, I'm a believer. I'm a believer. I really am.
I believe the gospel. I love God. I didn't used to.
I hated him. Didn't like any of his attributes.
Love them all now. I'm in a state of repentance. I love the brother
and I believe the gospel. Why? Because God the Holy Spirit
did a mighty work of grace in me and gave me a heart that I
did not have before. What does it take? The irresistible,
invincible work of God the Holy Spirit. What does it take for
me to be saved from my sins? Well, it takes the electing will
of God, it takes the redeeming work of Christ, it takes the
life-giving work of God the Holy Spirit, and it takes everything
that was, is, and shall be. All of God's providence. Everything that's ever happened
was absolutely necessary for my salvation. Do I understand all that? No.
Do I believe it? Yes. Romans 8, 28 says, And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. You see, there's
nothing that's unnecessary. I mean, I think even in the death
of Christ, He said, from Gethsemane's garden, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. The Lord was a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and yet the thought of him being
made sin as the sinner's substitute, he said, if it be possible. It
wasn't. But do I understand this? No,
but here he is. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. Never have truer words ever been
spoken. He saved others. Himself, he
cannot save. For me and you to be saved, he
couldn't be saved. Everything that was, is, and
shall be, all of God's providence in everything is what it takes
for me to be saved from my sins. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved from his sins? The preaching of the gospel. First Corinthians 121. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. You ever thought about how foolish
it is for you to sit there and listen to a fool like me? You
ever thought about that? It's almost crazy, isn't it?
This is what God uses? Yep. See, it glorifies Him. That's why. It glorifies Him.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that
believe. Does God have to use preaching?
He could save without preaching, obviously He could. He's God. He doesn't have to have the preaching.
The question is, does He save without the preaching in the
gospel? And the answer to that is no. How shall they believe on Him? Let me quote it. Turn to Romans
10. I'm not going to quote it right, so turn with me to Romans
10. Verse 13. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in him in whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how should they preach? Except
they be sent. Sent by God. God uses the preaching
of the gospel. I think of Philip coming up to
that Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53 in his chariot. He
stops him. He says, do you understand what
you're reading? If you came up to the average person in Lexington,
Kentucky, and they were reading Isaiah 53, and said, do you understand
what you're reading? They'd say, well, sure I do.
Here's what it means. And they'd tell you what they
think. Or here's how it speaks to me. But not this man. He said, how can I? Except some man should guide
me. It takes the preaching of the
gospel to save a man or woman from their sins. Not because
there's anything to the preacher. There's not to the preacher.
It's just the way God does things. Could he save without preaching?
Of course he could. Does he? No. No. This is what he says
in his word. What does it take for me to be
saved from my sins? Well, the Bible says, he that
endureth to the end shall be saved. So for me to be saved
from my sins, God's got to cause me to endure to the end. He's
got to preserve me. He's got to keep me in the faith. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you feltless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our
Savior. What does it take for the sinner
to be saved? Well, I've got to be preserved,
kept by the power of God through faith and to salvation, believing
all the way to the end. We're made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Okay, what's meant by being saved?
It's being saved from your sins. That's what's meant by being
saved. How does that happen? Well, it happens according to
the electing will of God, the redeeming work of Christ, the
life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, everything that was,
is, and shall be, the preaching of the gospel, and being preserved
and persevering all the way to the end. Now, for the original
question, what must I do to be saved? I repeat, there is something
that you and I must do to be saved if God has saved us. If
God has saved us, there's some things we will do. But he just
asks this one question, what must I do to be saved? And Paul gives a clear, succinct
answer to this question. He says, believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. Now there's the answer. What
must I do to be saved? Believe. Trust. Rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now he's the Lord. You know what
that means? He's in control. That's all the Lord means. The
one whose will is done. You believe that about Him? That
He's in control? That He really is the Lord? That
He controls everybody and everything? He's Jesus. He's the Savior. That's what His name means. Thou
shalt call His name Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins. He's the Christ. He's God's anointed
Messiah. He's God's prophet. He's God's
priest. He's God's king. Now the first
thing you need to do, and I need to do before we can believe on
Him, we've got to believe in Him. Like that leopard did. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can. You have the ability to make
me clean. Do you believe that? Do you believe
in Him? Do you believe He is able to
make you clean. Now if you believe in him, you
know what you'll do? You'll believe on him. When you believe on him,
that means you're completely relying on him to save you and
for him to do it all. You don't enter in the equation.
You are relying on him to do it all. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now let's come back to that in
just a minute. Let me bring you some other scriptures. Romans
10, 13 says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. The name of the Lord. The name
of the Lord is who He is. It's His attributes. It's not just
calling His name verbally and articulately and audibly. It's
knowing who He is. He's the Sovereign of the Universe. Lord, save me as an act of Your
will. He's just. Lord, save me by Your
justice. He's merciful. Lord, save me
by Your mercy. He's all wise. Lord, save me
by your wisdom. We're calling on all. Save me
by your power. Save me by your grace. We're
calling upon him to all of his attributes. Lord, come and save
me. Whosoever, I don't care who you are, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What must I do to be
saved? You must call upon the name of
the Lord. Romans chapter 10, why don't you turn with me there,
Romans chapter 10. Verse 9, If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath 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. What must I do to be saved? Confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. And you ought to confess with
your mouth what you already believe in your heart. And what you believe
in your heart, it's going to come out in your confession.
I confess with my mouth what I already believe in my heart.
He's the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Christ. And I believe in my heart that
God raised him from the dead. Not only do I believe that it
actually happened. I know why it happened. It happened
because God was satisfied with what he did. God found complete
satisfaction. His justice was satisfied. His
law was honored. He raised him from the dead.
All with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. We really
believe with all of our heart that Jesus Christ is the only
righteousness we have. Do you believe that? And if you
do, that's going to come out in your confession. With the
mouth, confession is made unto salvation. So what must I do
to be saved? With my mouth, confess the Lord
Jesus and believe in my heart that God raised him from the
dead. John chapter 10, verse 9, I am the door. These are the
words of the Lord. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall
be saved. What must I do to be saved? I
must enter in by the door. There's only one door, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I come no other way but by Him. I know there's no other entrance
but Him. And that is how I come by the
door. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Verse 9, Even him whose coming
is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and in the
parish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause, because they
received not the love of the truth, God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be
damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now for me to be saved, I'm going
to have to receive the love of the truth. Do you love the truth
of how God saves by Christ? Do you love grace? Do you love the salvation that
gives Christ all the glory and absolutely none to man, but yet
you're so secure and safe in this? And for me or you to be
saved, we're to receive the love of the truth. Somebody says,
that's just old dry doctrine. Well, okay, okay. Do you know anything about the
love of the truth? 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which
also you have received, wherein you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you keep in memory hold on to, don't let go of,
if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. Now that keep in memory is actually
only one word if you keep or hold fast to the gospel. I know, I I don't know what I know. I know
I've been saved in my experience for at least 40 years. At least
40 years. I've been saved. The only hope I had when I first
looked to Christ was that he died for me. Nothing else. Beloved, it ain't any different
right now. That's the only hope I have. I'm holding fast to that. It's he that endures to the end
that shall be saved. Now, back to Acts chapter 16. Verse 27, And the keeper of the
prison, 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. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm for all here. Then he 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? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they
spake unto him the word of the Lord. Now, if I come into a congregation
or a group of people that have never heard the gospel, and all
I say is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved, what good's it done? Nothing. He went on to preach
the word of the Lord, the gospel. He introduced this message. You
wanna know what you're to do? Believe. Now here's what you're
to believe. Here's who you're to believe.
And he preached the word of the Lord, the gospel today. Verse
33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed
their stripes and was baptized. He and all his, immediately,
they didn't wait. And when he brought them into
his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced. Believing
in God. I love that. You know what you
do when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You believe in
God. What does it mean to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? It means to trust Him as all
you need to be saved. It means to rest To cease from
your own works as God did from His and to look to His work only. Not to look to yourself for anything.
Quit looking to yourself. Don't even look within. Look
without. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. What must I do? Well, I must
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I must confess what I believe
in my heart. that God raised him from the
dead was satisfied with what he did and his righteousness
is the only righteousness there is. I must call upon his name. I must enter by the door. I must
receive the love of the truth. I must hold on to it and I must
by grace endure to the end. That's what I must do. That's
what you must do to be saved. You've heard the gospel this
morning. Do by grace what you must do
to be saved. Let's pray together. Lord, Unite our hearts together
to pray to you who only can do for us that which we cannot do
for ourselves. Lord, we ask you that you enable
us to believe on our son, to confess with our mouth his lordship,
and to believe in our heart that you raised him from the dead.
Enable us to call upon thy name. Lord, we're calling upon your
name. Save us. Lord, enable us to come only
by the door, thy son. Lord, enable us to receive the
love of the truth. Enable us to hold on to the truth.
And enable us by your grace to persevere all the way to the
end. Bless this message for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray.