Saving, helping, keeping, and
loving. What more could you want? Turn
back to Acts chapter 16. Now we're going to have a baptism
tonight. Tim and Jessica Cypress are going
to confess Christ and believers baptism. And if anyone wants
to be baptized, let me know after the service, we'll be having
another baptism on the surface tonight. I'm going to be speaking tonight
upon this subject, providence. It's where the Lord said, are
not two sparrows sold for five farthings and not one of them
is forgotten before God? The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. God's providence. I've entitled this message, from verse 30, where the Philippian
jailer said, sirs, what must, what is necessary, what must
I do to be saved? Never has there been a more important
question asked. What must I do? to be saved. Now let me say at
the outset, the answer is not nothing. There is something I
must do to be saved. And I want to answer that question
from the scriptures. The way I came out with the outline
that I'm following in bringing this message is I looked at every
passage of scripture where it talked about what one had to
do to be saved. Now, anybody here that listens
knows that we believe grace. Altogether unmerited favor. Salvation is not what you do,
it's what God does. But if God does something for
you, and if he does something for me, there is something we
will do. What must I do to be saved? Now, being saved, what else matters? Really, in
the grand scheme of things, what else matters? Time is short. What is your life? James said,
it's even a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes
away. And this is about how much imprint
you and I are going to make on life when a man sticks his thumb
in the ocean and pulls it back out. That's about how much influence
and good we do in this life. All that will matter is if we're
saved. You see, there is a place called
hell. And there are people in hell
right now. It's the place of God's justice. It's the place of God's
wrath, meted out against sin. God's holy. He would not be God
if He let sin go unpunished. God is just. There is a place
called hell that people will spend eternity. And there is
a place called heaven, a place of bliss, indescribable. A place where people are perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ and there's nothing but happiness
and joy. No sorrow there. Now that's where
I want to be. And the only people who will
be there are those who are saved people. There are people who
are not saved and there are people who are saved. And here's my
question. What must I do to be saved? Now the fact that salvation is
altogether by grace does not negate the fact that there are
things we must do to be saved. Let me quote a scripture to you.
2 Timothy 1.9 says, he saved us and he called us. Not according to our works. but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. He saved us. Now the fact that this salvation
is eternal, that he did this before the foundation of the
world, does that mean he doesn't have to call us? If we're already
saved, why be called? No, he saved us and he called
us. Christ is called in Revelation
13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The fact that He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, does that mean that He doesn't
have to come in time and be literally, physically the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world? No, what God has determined in
eternity has to be accomplished in time. Second Thessalonians
2.16 says, but we're bound to give thanks always to God 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. Now He chose you into salvation,
but you won't be saved, I won't be saved, apart from the sanctifying
work of God the Holy Spirit and the actual belief of the truth. When those men heard Peter preach
on Pentecost and the Scripture says they were pricked in their
hearts and they cried out, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter didn't say there's nothing you can do, did he? He said,
repent. and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
you shall receive the promise of the Holy Ghost." Yes, salvation
is altogether by grace. Altogether. Grace reigns in the
salvation of every believer. Grace reigns in election. I love how God chose who would
be saved, not in because he foresaw something about them that they
would do, and he made his choice based on... No! for the children,
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, that's God's purpose, not of works, but of Him that
calleth. Grace reigns in redemption. Hebrews 1.3 says He by Himself
purged our sins. That's what He did on Calvary's
tree. By Himself, with no help from you, no contribution, He
purged, He put away our sins. Grace reigns in regeneration
when God the Holy Spirit births us and gives us life. Salvation
is all together by grace. It's God's work, not ours. You
believe that? It's the work of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. When Christ said, Come unto me,
all ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Is he giving
us a work to do? You know, there are things that
a lost man can do. You know, if you know how to
read, it's a blessing to be able to read, isn't it? I'm thankful to be
able to read. What a blessing. If you can read,
you can read the Bible. If you have sufficient strength
to come into this building, you can sit down and listen to the
gospel and hear the truth. There are some things a lost
man can do. If I don't personally do whatever
it is I'm supposed to do, where he says, sirs, what shall I do? What is, what must I do to be
saved? If I don't do those things, I won't be saved. There's some
things I must do. It's kind of like forgiveness. I'm not forgiven
because I forgive. I'm forgiven for one reason,
for Christ's sake. And if I've been forgiven, I
will forgive. Now, I'm not forgiven because
I forgive. I'm forgiven because Christ died
for my sins. And if I know anything about that, I will forgive. In John chapter 6, verse 37,
the Lord said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Well, if
I don't come to Christ, will I not be saved? No. No, you won't.
You and I must come to the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever that means.
We must come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what must I personally
do to be saved? I want you to just blot out of
your mind right now whether or not you are saved, or whether
or not you're one of God's elect, or whether or not Christ died
for you, or whether or not God the Holy Spirit has done a work
of grace in your heart. I want us to think about this.
What must I do to be saved? Can you see how important that
question is? What must I do to be saved? Now I have looked at every passage
of scripture that I could find regarding this thing of what
somebody has to do to be saved. Would you first turn to Acts
chapter 11? This is Cornelius talking about
the angels coming to him and in verse 13, And he showed us
how he had seen an angel in his house. This is Peter recalling
what had taken place, which stood and said unto him, send men to
Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell
thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. There are words I must hear to
be saved. There's an actual content to
the gospel that I must hear in order for me to be saved. Turn with me, hold your finger
there, and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I could obviously spend the whole
message on this subject, but we're not going to say much about
it, but look in verse 17. Paul said, for Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved. It, the preaching of the cross,
what the cross declares, it is the power of God unto salvation. Now I'm going to have to hear
the words of the preaching of the cross. Now the preaching
of the cross, Christ hanging on a cross, tells us the true
character of God. All of His attributes are displayed
in Christ crucified. His holiness, His justice, His
sovereignty, His power, His wisdom, every attribute of God is displayed
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The true character of
man is displayed in the cross of Christ. Now, you listen real
carefully. If you want to know what you really are, or who you
really are, what you're really like, don't look within. Look
to the cross. That tells the truth about me
and that tells the truth about you. If God removed his hand
from you, you nail his son to a cross. That's the truth. The
cross tells the truth of salvation. He is salvation. Now, I must hear these words,
the word, the doctrine, the preaching of the cross. Now, how much is
the minimum we have to hear? Wouldn't that a dumb question?
What if you were interviewing somebody for a job and they said,
what's the minimum I can get by with and still get this job?
Would you hire him? Well, of course you wouldn't.
You wouldn't have anything to do with him if they asked a question
like that. Cornelius said to Peter, we are all here present
before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. I want to hear everything God
has to say, don't you? And I want to bow to everything God has
to say. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. So what must I do to be saved? First of all, I got to hear the
word. I got to hear the word. There is no salvation. There
is no faith apart from the hearing of the word. And back in our
text in Acts chapter 16, look at the way Paul answered. Verse 30, sirs, what must I do
to be saved? I have actually heard people
say, well, he was in legalism at this time. This was works.
He shouldn't have been asking a question like this. No, he
should have been asking a question like this. And if he shouldn't
have been, Peter or Paul would have corrected him. You ought
not be talking like this. That's works. No, not at all. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And I love this answer. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now as you go on reading, he
said a lot of other stuff. If all you ever heard was believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you didn't know why you should
or who he is, it wouldn't mean much to you. But still he gave
this answer. Believe. Rely. Trust. Rest. In the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. That means He's in absolute control.
He's the Lord. He's Jesus. He's the Savior.
He's the Christ. God's prophet. God's priest. God's king. Believe. Rely on
Him as Lord. He's Lord. Rely on Him as Jesus. He's the Savior. Thou shalt call
His name Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sins. Rely upon Him as God's Christ,
God's prophet, the very Word of God. He is the Word of God.
Rely on Him as God's priest. He's all that's needed to make
you perfect before God and to bring you into His presence.
Rely on Him as God's King. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 22,
we read this statement. God says, look unto me and be ye saved. What must I do to be saved? Look. Now the example we have in scriptures
is the brazen serpent. You remember what took place?
The children of Israel murmured against God. They said, we're
tired of this white bread. We can't handle this man anymore.
We want something better to eat. The Lord sent fiery serpents
and bit many of them. And they come back to Moses and
they say, pray for us. We've sinned in the way we've
conducted ourselves. Ask the Lord to do something
for us. The Lord instructed Moses, you take a serpent, just like
the ones that were biting, of brass, two different, brass is
tin and copper, two different materials, which pictures the
Lord Jesus Christ as humanity and as deity, you put it on a
pole, and anybody who looks, after
they've been bitten, anyone who just looks, just look. I can't see! He doesn't tell
you to see, he tells you to look. If a blind Israelite would have
looked toward that brazen serpent, you know what? He would have
been healed. Look. I can't. Look. Look at me. You know what
that means? You don't say, what's he mean
by that? Look at me. You look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look and live. If you look to who he is, and
this is what you're doing, you're looking to who he is. He's God,
he's man. You look to what he did. He accomplished
salvation by his life, by his death, by his resurrection. You
look to him and you'll live. Look and live. What must I do to be saved? Look
right now. Look to Christ. You're commanded
to. Don't try to figure out whether or not you're one of the elect
or whether or not you're... Look to Christ and be ye saved. And then in Mark chapter 16 verse
16, these are the words of the Lord Jesus before he ascended
back to the Father after the resurrection. He said, he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. Does that mean baptism saves
us? You know better than that. Going down in the water and coming
back up couldn't save anybody. It's what baptism represents.
Union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. The act of baptism doesn't save
you. But if you're saved, you're going to want to confess Him
in believer's baptism. He that believeth and is baptized,
the same shall be saved. Turn with me to Romans 10. I
want you to look at this with me. Verse 9. If thou, what must I do to be
saved? If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, there's something public about this, the Lord Jesus. and shall believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Now, to confess means to speak the same thing, literally is
what the word means. To speak the same thing. It's agreement. To confess is to plead guilty.
I'm guilty of believing this. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Lord. I couldn't help but think of
the thief on the cross. He was by the Lord Jesus. He
was watching him die. He heard the things that he said.
And you know what that thief believed about the Lord Jesus
Christ? Lord, remember me. When you come in your kingdom,
you're the Lord. I know it seems like He's not the Lord when He's
hanging by a cross. Everybody's on a cross and everybody's
forsaken Him. But the thief could say, He's
the Lord. You're not going to stay dead.
You're going to come back as a mighty reigning King. You're
Lord. You're the Lord. Remember me
when you come in your kingdom. That's faith. Right there. That's faith. He's the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead. You believe in your heart that
He went into that tomb dead and that He came out of that tomb
living. And He was raised because God
accepted what He did. You don't just simply believe
in the physical resurrection. You know He was resurrected for
this reason. God was completely satisfied
with what He did and everybody He did it for. You believe He
actually put away sin and accomplished justification. You believe in
your heart that He was raised from the dead. You confess He's
the Lord. Do you confess that? Do you really believe in your
heart that He is Lord? He's in absolute sovereign control
of everything and everybody. And he was raised from the dead
because God accepted what he did. Now, if you believe in your
heart, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be
saved. That's what the Bible says. You
are saved. While you're there in Romans
10, look in verse 13. Four. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. What must I do to be saved? Well
here's something I must do. I must call upon the name of
the Lord. Now what does that mean? You know, if you read the Old
Testament, this is something that was going on all the time.
Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. Isaac called upon
the name of the Lord. Jacob called upon the name of
the Lord. It's something that was going
on all the time. What's it mean to call upon the name of the
Lord? Well, the first thing I'd like to emphasize is whosoever.
It's one of my favorite words in the Bible. Whosoever. And
here's why I love this word so much. I'm a whosoever. Now I
can take that position myself. I'm a whosoever. Whosoever. I've said this before. This is
better than if it said Todd Diver because there are other Todd
Divers who might not have meant me. This is the best word there is for
this. Whosoever. Shall call upon the name of the
Lord. Now the name of the Lord, that's not just audibly calling
his name. The name of the Lord is who he
is. It's His attributes. It's the person behind the name.
When I call upon the name of the Lord, I'm calling upon, save
me by an act of Your sovereign decree. Your sovereign. Save
me by Your sovereign will. Save me by Your justice. Save
me in a way that honors Your justice. Save me in a way that
puts away all my sin. Save me by Your wisdom when You've
made a way to be just and justify the ungodly. I'm calling upon
all of His attributes to save me. Save me by Your grace. Save
me by Your mercy. Lord, I'm calling. Save me. And
I love the simplicity. Whosoever shall call. Lord, save
me. That was Peter's prayer. Lord,
save me. Whosoever shall call. And don't
you love the sureness of this statement, shall be saved, not
might be, not possibly could be, but shall be saved. What must I do to be saved? I
must call upon the name of the Lord. In John chapter 10, verse
nine, the Lord said, I am the door by me. If any man enter
in, he shall be saved. Now, my only way of entrance
is the door. What's a door? It lets people
in. And the only way I can come into
God's presence is by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Does that mean I open the knob,
pull the door open? No. The Lord said in John chapter
14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh
through the father, but by me. Now here's the only way I come
to the father, by him. That means when he comes to the
father, I come to the father because I'm in him. He's the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. I love that scripture, Hebrews
7, 24. Wherefore, he is able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by Him. I don't come any other way. I
come only by Him. I don't come because of anything
I've done or anything I've even believed. I come by Him. He is able to save them to the
uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them. Now in Isaiah chapter 30 verse
15, God says, in returning and rest, you shall be saved. In returning and rest, you shall
be saved." Returning, where do you go back to? The starting point. Returning to the starting point.
Doing the first works. What is the starting point? Christ. The salvation that's in Him.
Now when you first came to Christ, You didn't have an experience
to trust. You didn't have anything but sin. And the only place you
looked was to Him. Returning to the starting point. You know where salvation begins?
It doesn't begin with you. You didn't do something in order
to make this work. Salvation begins with the full free, complete
forgiveness of sin. Not because you asked for it,
but because he accomplished it on Calvary's tree. Now that's
the starting point. You return to that starting point. Always returning. Same thing
as coming to Christ. You come to him the same way
you first came. In returning, and what's he say
next? And rest. in returning and rest you shall
be saved. Now what is this thing of rest
all about? Well, we don't have to wonder. Hebrews chapter 4
verse 10 says, there remaineth therefore a rest, a Sabbath of
rest for the people of God. Now, what did you do on the Sabbath
day? Nothing. Did you work? No. No works at all? No works. There remaineth a rest for the
people of God, for he that's entered into his rest hath ceased
from his own works. Have you ever done that? Have
you ever just ceased from your own works, as God did from his? Now, when God finished his works,
Scripture says he rested. It wasn't because he's tired,
he's God. It's because there wasn't anything left for him
to do. He said, behold, what I've done is very good. And he
rested. Have you ever, ever rested in
Jesus Christ? Where you really believe that
there's nothing, you don't need to do anything? Rest. In returning
and rest, you shall be saved. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. This is what passage of Scripture Andy dealt with a few weeks ago. We read beginning in verse 9,
"...of him who is coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because They receive
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. That scripture tells me what
must I do to be saved? I must receive the love of the
truth. That's more than assenting to
certain things. You can open up your Bible and
you can see statements that say, yeah, that's what it says. I
got to admit, it does say salvation by grace. Yep, it says God chose
who'd be saved. I got to admit it, that's what
it says. It talks about man being, you can give assent to facts
regarding the gospel, but if you can read, you see, that's
what it says. But have you received the love of the truth? Big difference. Receive means
to receive by deliberate and ready reception. What you hear
is good news. Is it good news to you that all
that God requires of you is found in the person of Jesus Christ?
Is that good news? Do you receive the love of the
truth? Do you love how God chooses because
you know you'd never choose Him unless He first chose you? Do
you love the power and effect of Christ's death? What He actually
accomplished? Do you love the invincible grace
of God the Holy Spirit because that's what you need? You receive
the love of the truth. Christ said, I love it when Christ
said, I am the truth. See, the truth is a person. I
am the truth. He said, I came to bear witness
to the truth. And that's exactly what he did
when he was on Calvary's tree. He bore witness to the truth,
the truth of who God is, the truth of who we are, and the
truth of how he is salvation. He is the truth. Do you receive
the love of the truth? Do you love how God saves by
his grace? What must I do to be saved? I
must receive the love of the truth. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. Got two more. Verse one, moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. Now if you would want to know
what God's gospel is, read 1 Corinthians chapter 15. verses 1 through
25, because all of those verses are connected. The thought is
not over until verse 25, when he says, moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel. The gospel content is found right
there so clearly. But he says, moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you. The
gospel never changes. I'm preaching the same message
I was preaching this time last year. and 10 years ago, and 20
years ago, and it'll never change. Thank God for that. I love a
changeless gospel. Which also you've received, the
same gospel that you found to be saving, and wherein you stand,
by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I've
preached unto you, unless you believed in vain. Now, if you
keep in memory, The word is literally, and my marginal reading says
this, is if you hold fast to what I've said. You hold on. If you don't hold it fast, you've
believed in vain. Now, what is it we hold fast? Hebrews 3, 6 says we are made
partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of the confidence.
Steadfast to the end. Well, I'm just saying the same
thing I've said the whole morning. What's the beginning of our confidence?
Christ. Only. Christ is all. That's the beginning of my confidence.
The beginning of my confidence is in the beginning God. That's
the beginning of my confidence. We're made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of the confidence steadfast to the end. In Colossians 1, verses 22 and
23, Paul said that Christ has presented us holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight, in God's sight, if, if, if, if
what? Well, turn there and look. I
can't quote it. I know it, but I can't quote
it right now, so let's turn and look. You must need to see this one. I
must need to see it. Colossians chapter 1. Verse 22, in the body of his
flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in his sight, if you continue in the faith grounded
and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. In Matthew chapter 10, verse
23, the Lord said, he that endureth to the end. The same shall be
saved. He that endureth to the end.
The Lord said, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. Not simply he who begins, but
he continues and he who endures to the end. What is the evidence
that God has done something for me or you? We'll persevere all
the way to the end. That is the evidence. I've seen
people, I don't know how many times, who've made professions
a faith. And that's what it was. It was a profession. It wasn't
a confession. It was a profession. You know,
a profession is what you do for a living, and you get paid for
it. Somehow there was works in there somewhere, and they didn't
continue in the faith. It was a profession. And then
there are those who continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
that are not moved from the hope. What's your hope? My hope is
that Christ died for my sins. That's my hope. Lynn and I were
taking a walk last week, and a couple of Mormons met us, and
I have this standard question. They start talking to him. They
said, well, first thing is you don't believe Jesus Christ is God.
Oh, we believe he's the Son of God. I said, let me ask you a
question. What are you going to say to God? when he says,
why should I let you into heaven? It's a good question, isn't it?
Well, they both said, because I. I'm doing my best. I'm believing. I'm trying to
serve the Lord. I'm trying to be sincere. I won't cut it. Won't do you any good at all.
The only proper answer to that question is the only hope I have
of being heaven is that Christ died for me. That's it. May God enable me and you to
continue in the faith. What must I do? Well, I must
hear the gospel. I must believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. I must look. I must believe and be baptized.
I must confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
my heart that God raised him from the dead. I must call upon
the name of the Lord. I must enter by the door. I must
return and rest. I must receive the love of the
truth and hold it fast. And I must endure to the end.
It's not those who begin, but those who die in the faith. May the Lord enable all of us
to do this. Let's pray together. Lord, I ask, we ask that you will give us the grace
to