The other night I was talking
to three of the men of the church, we were talking about the scriptures, and one of our deacons said that
he was in a group of folks some time ago and there was a man
in the crowd who asked this question, what must I do to be saved? what constitutes salvation. And
a preacher who was there tried to answer. And this deacon from
our church said he was amazed at how confusing the preacher
left the situation. When he got home he wrote this
man, not feeling led to speak out in front of the preacher,
he wrote this man and told him, he said, If I had answered your
question yesterday or the day before, the question you asked,
what must I do to be saved? He said, I would have said to
you what Paul said to the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's what I would have said.
Well, if you ask me to sum up my thoughts on salvation, If
you would ask me to sum up in one sentence my thoughts on salvation,
that's the way I'd sum it up. I cannot think of a better way
to express it. Let's read the setting here.
In verse 25 of Acts 16, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed
and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And
suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
the jailer, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors
open, he drew out his sword. He was responsible for those
prisoners and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners
had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, do thyself no harm, we're all here,
we're all here. Then he called for a light, that
is, the jailer, and he sprang into the cell, and came trembling,
and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out of
their prison cell, and said to them, 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. Now that summed it up. Now, verse
32, And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all
that were in his house. They further instructed him.
But when they answered the question, What must I do to be saved? They
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my friends, this
is no new doctrine. Salvation by faith, salvation
through faith, by grace through faith is no new doctrine. Turn
with me to Hebrews 11 for a moment. This is no new doctrine. All
the Old Testament saints live by faith. Four times in the Word
of God this sentence is repeated, the just shall live by faith. In Habakkuk, Romans, Galatians,
the just shall live by faith. In Hebrews 11, let's just look
at this for a moment, verse 3, through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Verse 4, by faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. Verse 5,
by faith Enoch, that's the seventh from Adam, Enoch, was translated
that he should not see death. Verse 7, by faith Noah, By faith,
not by works, by faith, Noah being warned of God of things
not seen as yet moved with fear. Verse 8, By faith, Abraham, when
he was called to go out unto a place which he should afterwards
receive for an inheritance, obeyed. Turn down here to Hebrews 11,
verse 24. By faith, Moses. You see, we
go up, Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, by faith Moses, when he
was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter by faith, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. Just go right on through
that chapter by faith. So this is no new doctrine. Salvation
by grace through faith is as old as the covenant of grace.
Then secondly, this was the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
to John 3. John, the third chapter, verse
14 through 16. If you ask me to sum up salvation
in one sentence, I'd say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. This was the message of our Master.
John 3, verse 14. Listen. And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world,
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Believe. Believe. Now, never quote John 3.16 without
John 3.14 and 15. There's no gospel in John 3.16.
The gospel's in John 3.14. You can't have a gospel without
a substitute. You can't have a gospel without
a cross. You can't have a gospel without Christ being lifted up.
So if you say John 3.16 is the gospel in a nutshell, it means
you don't know the gospel. John 3.14 is the remedy. And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. John 3.15 is the results. That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. John 3.16 is nothing in the world but the reason God
so loved the world that he gave his Son. John 3.16 is not the
gospel, it's the reason for the gospel. John 3.15 is the result
of the gospel. John 3.14 is the gospel. There's
the remedy. There's the remedy. As Moses
lifted up that serpent made in the likeness of the serpents
that had bitten the people. Even so, the Son of Man is lifted
up on a cross between heaven and earth in the presence of
the Father in the likeness of sinful flesh bearing our guilt."
There's your gospel. I nearly will forget when Ralph
Barnett walked into the pulpit at Pollard Baptist Church that
Sunday or Monday, April 1940, 1950, and he said, there ain't
enough gospel in John 3, 16 to save the flea. I thought everybody
would pass out. But does not, does not. John 3.16 is the reason for the
gospel. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth on him
should not perish but have everlasting life. But the gospel is John
3.14, it's a substitute, it's satisfaction. John 3, look over
at verse 36. This was the message of our Lord.
John 3, 35 and 36, the Father loveth the Son, and hath given
all things into the Son's hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son, no
matter how religious, no matter how ritualistic, no matter how
moral, he that believeth not the Son will never see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 5, 24, turn over
there a minute. The first Bible my parents gave
me many, many, many, many years ago. This scripture was written
in the presentation in the front of the Bible. John 5, verse 24,
"...verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life." John 6, let's look at this. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved. In John 6, verse 40, this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, seeth the Son, and believeth on him.
You say, put your dwell on that seeth the Son. I'm going to in
just a few moments. But what I'm saying is faith
is what the Old Testament taught, what the Old Testament believers
rested in, salvation by faith, and it's what our Master taught.
This is the Lord Jesus speaking. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life. And I'll raise him up at
the last day. Look at verse 47. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Believe. Don't be afraid to say that.
Don't be afraid to say, but, but, no, just go on. When this
man asked Paul, what must I do to be saved, he didn't apologize,
he didn't try to explain, he didn't say, but you must be baptized
and but you must walk in holiness and but you must, he just said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. And
that's no new doctrine. That's what by faith Abel, by
faith Moses, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham. This was the message
of our master, the just shall live by faith. That's what he
preached. And this was the message of the prophets and apostles.
Turn to Acts 10. Acts chapter 10. Now jot this
down in your mind. This was the believe. Believe. Now here's where we've got to
start. Believe. Faith will produce obedience,
faith will produce righteousness, faith will produce patience,
faith will produce conduct, and so forth. But it's by faith that
we're saved. That's where you start. You must
not get over into these other things before you believe. In
Acts 10.43, to him give all the prophets witness, that is to
Christ, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him should
receive forgiveness of sin. Whosoever believeth. It's not
whosoever believeth in, it's just whosoever believeth in him
shall be forgiven. Look at Acts 13. I'm saying that
this is what the apostles preached. Acts 13, 38 and 39. Now listen
to Paul here. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins, past, present, and future. And
by him all that believe, all that believe are justified from
all things, from all things, from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. And the Philippian jailer here
in our text, and I had many more scriptures jotted down, but I'm
not going to take the time to read them. The Philippian jailer
in our text was broken, he was distressed, he was in trouble.
He came to the apostle Paul, and he said, here, what must
I? Here I am, a jailer. Here I am,
a Roman. Here I am, an abusive person. Here I am, an ignorant man. Here
I am, with no religious background. Here I am, in my confusion and
distress and trouble. What must I do to be saved? And
Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved in thy house. Now let's look at three things.
First of all, verse 29 says, He called for a light, and sprang
in, and came trembling. Here's where you start. He came
trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, What
must I do to be saved? When one talks of salvation,
he's talking about deliverance. That's what the word means, deliverance.
One of the apostles was talking about, he said, you pray for
me, I believe this will result in my salvation. He meant in
my deliverance, he was in prison. And he said, you pray for me,
this will result in my salvation, my deliverance. And then on another
occasion, Paul writing to the Philippians said, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling. He's not talking about the salvation
of their souls, he's talking about deliverance from the trouble
they were in. The trouble they were in. We
use this often. We say the man was saved from
a burning house. You talking about spiritually?
No, I'm talking about physically. Those people down in Cincinnati
were saved from a burning airplane. They were delivered. You know
what you're talking about? Delivered? He was saved from
drowning. But he was saved, his soul was
saved when he... No, he was saved, delivered from
drowning. He was saved from certain death.
That is, he was delivered from certain death. So when we talk
about salvation in the spiritual area, we're talking about deliverance
from trouble. People are saved from trouble.
They're saved from distress. That is, they're delivered. So
when we are delivered spiritually, we're delivered from trouble.
We're in trouble. How am I in trouble? Well, turn
to Galatians chapter 3. I'll show you where we're in
trouble. Number one, we're in trouble with the law. We're in
trouble with the law of God. It says in Galatians chapter
3 verse 10, as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse. For it is written, curse it.
Want to dwell on that a while? Curse it? Cursed of God? Cursed
of heaven? Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do
them. What the law saith, it saith to every one that's under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
become guilty." We're under the curse of the law. We're in trouble
with the law of God. James said to offend in one point
of the law is to be guilty of the whole law. We're in trouble
with the law of God. We're not only in trouble with
the law, we're in trouble with God. The Scripture says your
sins have separated you and your God. The Scripture says God's
angry with the wicked. I know we like to picture God
as an old granddaddy up there with his tongue in his cheek
and long white beard looking down on the world and loving
everybody, but the Scripture says that a holy, righteous God
is angry with the wicked. The scripture says, God hateth
the workers of iniquity. The scripture says, God will
by no means clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth, it'll
surely die. We're in trouble with God. We're
in trouble. This Philippian jailer felt trouble
and distress and confusion, and he said, what must I do to be
delivered? What must I do to be saved? And
you and I are under the same condemnation. We're in trouble
with the law of God. We're in trouble with the God
of heaven. And we're in trouble with the justice of God. Listen
to these scriptures. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Surely. Be sure your sins will find you
out. Sin, when it's finished, bringeth
forth death. Christ said, if you die in your
sins, you cannot come where I am. Not only are we in trouble, and
need to be saved, delivered. But we're helpless to do anything
about this trouble. We're helpless to do anything
about this state of condemnation. We're helpless to stop the oncoming
surge of God's wrath and judgment against us. We're helpless to
stop it. We're helpless to alleviate our
situation. We're just totally helpless.
The Scripture says, can the Ethiopian change his skin? That's an impossibility. A black
man change his skin to white? No. Or a white man change his
skin to black? No. Can the leopard change his
spot? No. Neither can you do good. In the flesh, no man can please
God. The carnal mind is enmity. It
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.
A natural man receiveth not the things of God. Turn to Ephesians
2. You who were in the Sunday school class last Sunday, and
you who taught the lesson especially, did this thing grip your heart
like it gripped mine? Paul is the minister of God to
the Gentiles, the apostle to the Gentiles. And he said to
them in Ephesians 2.11, you Gentiles remember what you were? Do you
remember what you were? Do you remember what you were?
Uncircumcision? You did not have the token of
the covenant? In verse 12, he said, at that
time, you were without Christ, you were without the promise
of a Messiah, you were without the promise of a Redeemer, you
were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. And somebody said
to be out of Israel is to be without God. Israel had the tabernacle,
Israel had the priesthood, Israel had the law, Israel had the mercy
seat, Israel had all the types, Israel had all of the atonement. And all these other nations had
nothing? You were strangers from the covenant of promise, not
one promise made to the Gentiles, having no hope and without God
in this world. That's what you were. You talk
about trouble. Trouble. This is what this prisoner
came, this jailer, and fell before Paul and Silas and says, I'm
in trouble. I need to be delivered. This
is the first thing we've got to realize and never forget it.
You Gentiles remember it. We're in trouble. We're in trouble
with the law of God. We're in trouble with God. We're
in trouble with the justice of God. We're in trouble. All right,
let's at least see what Paul answers. Acts 16. We're in trouble. This man was in trouble. He needed
to be saved. Acts 16. What must I do to be
delivered from the curse of the law? What must I do to be delivered
from the wrath of God? What must I do to be relieved
of the certain condemnation of God's justice? What must I do? All right, look at verse 31.
Believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Now here is the way of salvation
clearly and simply and plainly set forth. Here is the way of
salvation given by divine inspiration. It's in the word of God. Here,
according to the apostles, is the only way of salvation. Neither
is there any name, there's none of the name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. No other foundation can
no man lay than that which is laid, Christ. Christ said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father
but by me. Now then, let's look at Paul's instructions. I don't mean to break things
down to the point of making dry, dead doctrine of it, intellectual
dessert or something, but Paul knew what he was saying. He said
to this man, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved. When you say, Preacher, that
this thing of salvation to you is summed up in this one sentence,
What do you mean by that? You know what you're saying when
you say to someone, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But do
they know what you're saying? Well, I believe in that next
verse, they spake unto him the word of the Lord. They told him
what they were saying. Now Paul didn't tell this man
just to believe. He didn't say simply believe.
He didn't just say salvation by faith, believe. But he said,
he gave some instructions, he said believe. on the Lord Jesus
Christ. He gave him the full name. He
didn't say, Believe in Jesus. Believe in Jesus because there
had been other Jesuses. That's right, there are other
people called Jesus, Jesus Joshua. See, Jesus was the name, the
New Testament name for the Old Testament name Joshua. God is
my Savior, Jehovah's salvation. And there were other Jesus's
that had been risen up and so forth, I'm sure. And so this
name, Jesus, he's giving the name. Now let's look at a few
scriptures, Romans 10. Turn to Romans chapter 10. This
name, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The name is so important
here in Romans 10. Listen to this. In verse 13,
"...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." The name of the Lord. But how then shall they call
on the name of the Lord in whom they have not believed? I shall
believe in Him of whom they have not heard. When we believe on
His name, we believe on what that name implies. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is so important. Let
me take you to a few scriptures. Turn to John 16. John 16.23. And our Lord Jesus Christ refers
to this several times. Now listen to this, John 16.23.
He's talking to his disciples. And in that day you shall ask
me nothing, verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you shall
ask the Father in my name, he'll give it to you. Hitherto have
you asked nothing in my name. Asking you shall receive. Verse
26, at that day you shall ask in my name. What is his name? The Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is what Paul is saying to that jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is what Paul is saying in
Romans 10, call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
look at another verse, John 20. Turn over here a minute. And
thou shalt be saved." John 20, verse 31. These are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now watch this. Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life through
His name. Through His name. Let me give
you a couple more. Acts 9, verse 15 and 16. Acts
9, 15 and 16. Here talking about Paul's ministry
through Ananias, the Lord said unto him, Acts 9, 15, Go thy
way, he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name, my name before
the Gentiles. Try 1 John 5, verse 13 a moment. I want to show you something
very, very, very important. 1 John chapter 3, verse 23. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave us commandment. Believe on the
name. All right, 1 John 5, verse 20. 1 John 5, verse 13, I beg your
pardon. These things have been written
unto you that believe on the name. Brethren, look at this. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name
of the Son of God." What's his name? The Philippian jailer came
and said, what must I do to save? And Paul gave his name. He said,
you believe, you believe on the name, you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's his name, Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, Everything a man needs
to believe is in that name, Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that
a man believes to be saved is in that name, Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, Lord, that's his
deity. That's his eternality. That's
his authority. He's the Lord. When Thomas fell
at his feet, he said, My Lord and my God. Paul said, If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord. The thief on
the cross said, you're not going to stay dead? You're coming into
a kingdom? Lord, remember me. Paul on the road to Damascus
said, who art thou? Lord, when God spoke to him.
I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's the
Lord. And when Paul said to that jailer,
he wasn't just saying, believe a doctrine or just believe what
I believe. He was saying, believe on the
Lord, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord. He's the Lord. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Philippians 2. And this
is the great issue of issues, and this is the issue now and
the issue in eternity. Philippians 2. Now listen to
me. Verse 8 said, going back to verse 7, that Jesus Christ
made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
is, the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven, earth,
and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord." to the glory of God the Father. That's the
great scene in eternity, that those in heaven who've already
confessed his Lordship and believed it, those on earth and those
in hell who never have, will confess his Lordship. So when
Paul said to this jailer, believe on the Lord, then the second
name was Jesus. That's his name of humiliation.
That's his name of humanity. That's his name of human obedience. That's his name of flesh. That's
his name of death. That's his name of resurrection.
That's the man Jesus Christ. The angel said to Joseph, don't
be afraid to marry Mary. She's pregnant, but she'll bring
forth a child. And that child is the Son of
God, and you call his name Jesus. You call his name Jesus. You
believe on Jesus? I sure do. I believe the Lord
is Jesus. I believe Jesus is the Lord.
I believe God became a man. I believe God's name is Jesus.
Why is he on this earth? And this is what Paul is saying
to that jailer. You believe that the Lord was made French and
dwelt among us. It's exactly what he's saying. And he said, you believe on the
Lord Jesus? And I worked on this last Sunday
for two hours. Jesus is the Christ. the Lord
Jesus Christ. I know we use the word Christ,
men will mash their fingers and say, for Christ's sake, you know,
or this, that, and the other, you know, Christ. But listen
to me. Christ is the Messiah. The word
Christ means prophet, priest, and king. The word Christ means
God's ordained, appointed, eternally anointed Redeemer. The Christ,
the woman at the well said, the Christ is coming. They said to
John the Baptist, are you the Christ? Jesus said, I am the
Christ. Turn to 1 John 2. And this is
where the heaven and hell separates. This is where the sheep and the
goats separate. This is where believers and unbelievers
separate. In 1 John 2, verse 21, I've written
unto you. I've not written unto you because
you know not the truth. Because you know it and there's
no lie, it is of the truth. Who is a liar? But he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ. That's your liar right there.
I don't care how he spells his name or what's his religion or
what's his denomination or what's his sincerity. The man is a liar
that denies that Jesus of Nazareth is verily the Christ and the
only Christ. the Christ of the Old Testament,
the Christ of God. He's an antichrist that denies
the Father and the Son. Isn't that strong? And whosoever
denies the Son, the same does not have the Father, but he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father. Listen, let that therefore
abide in you which you've heard from the beginning. If that which
you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also
shall continue in the Son and in the Father, and this is the
promise that he has promised us, eternal life." And that's
in Christ. Turn to Acts 2.36, and this was
my text last Sunday morning. This is what Peter said on Pentecost
to all those Jews of every nation. He said to them, Therefore let
all the house of Israel, wherever they found, know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom you crucified, whom you
hated, whom you spit upon, whom you rejected, to be both Lord
and Christ. That's what I'm saying. You want
to be saved? This man came and said, I'm a
troubled man. I'm in distress, I need help, I need to be delivered.
I'm in trouble with the law, I'm in trouble with God, I'm
in trouble with justice, and I cannot change my position or
relieve my distress or alleviate my pain or change my condition
without hope, without help, without God. What must I do to be saved?
Believe! Believe what? On the Lord God
Almighty became flesh. and dwelt among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And this Jesus, whom you crucified,
is both Lord and Christ." Jesus is the Christ. That's it. Or what is it to believe? All
right? What do I do? Well, number one
is to trust Him. Turn to II Timothy 1. I'll give
you this just quickly. II Timothy 1. And brethren, let
me tell you something. There's no hedging on this. There's
no other way. I am the way, the truth, and
life. No man cometh to the God but by me, the Father but by
me. I am the bread. I am the door. I am the water. I am the rock. I am the all Christy. There's
no other way of salvation. All right, 2 Timothy 1, 12. Paul
said, For the witch cause I suffer these things, but I'm not ashamed.
I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed.
And I am persuaded that he, I'm confident, he is able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day of wrath
and judgment. So believe is trust. Paul says,
I've committed my soul, my eternal hope, my relationship with the
Father, my future, my eternity, I've committed it, trusted it,
placed it in the hands of Jesus Christ. What is it to believe? It's to receive him, John 1.
It's to receive him. It's to receive him. Welcome
him. Welcome him. In John 1.10, he
was in the world. The world didn't welcome him.
He made the world, but it didn't know him. The world rejected
him. He came unto his own, the Jews, the Jewish nation, the
temple, the synagogue. They received him not. He wasn't
welcomed. He was despised and rejected, but as many as received
Him welcomed Him. Well, I'm not ashamed of Him.
I welcome Him. I receive Him. I receive Him
in all His claims, all of His promises. I receive Him, and
to them gave He the right or privilege to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name. Now, we can't take
any credit for it. We can't say, well, we're smarter
than they were. Wait a minute, we were born, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. We were born
of God. And that Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. What is it to believe
Him? All right, Acts chapter 8. I say it's to trust Him. It's to trust Him. A little boy
stands in a burning building. And a big, strong fireman stands
down here, two or three stories, and he says to the little boy,
son, jump. It's your only hope. Trust me. Trust me. I'll catch
you. And the little fellow, two or
three years of age, the fire behind him, the building crumbling,
the smoke surrounding him, he looks at that man, he looks back,
and he casts himself down. He trusts him. The fireman catches
him. And I'm saying to you, trust Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Cast yourself upon Him. That's
why Paul says, I've committed everything I've got to Him against
that day. Committed. It's to receive Him, to welcome
Him into your heart, into your home, to welcome Him into your
person, and it's to confess Him. Acts chapter 8. Philip was talking
to the eunuch, verse 35. Philip opened his mouth, Acts
8, 35, and preached, began at that same scripture in the Old
Testament, and preached unto him Jesus. What was he reading
in the Old Testament? A prophecy of the Christ. And
he preached Jesus. And as they went on their way,
they came to a certain water, a body of water, and the eunuch
said, Here's water. What doth hinder me from being
baptized? And Philip said, Well, if you believe, With all your
heart you may believe what? Well, he knew what Philip was
talking about. He said, I do believe that Jesus, Jesus, Joshua,
the humiliation, Christ, the anointed, is the Son of God,
the Lord. That's what I believe. I believe
he's the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew what he was talking about.
I believe that he, the hated Nazarene, he, the despised, rejected
Son of David. I believe in He that was nailed
to the cross. I believe He, Jesus, is the Christ,
and He's the Son of God. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."
And Philip said, that's enough for me. That's enough for me. Well, we ought to bring you before
the elders. I'll have to notify Jerusalem and tell them you've
made a profession, and we'll have the elders meet and question
you. No, sir. No, sir. Well, I'll tell you, won't you
wait six months, and let me see if you're holding out. And then
I'll bet, you know, sir, old Phillip says, stop this charity.
That's all I need to hear. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Whoa! Let's go under the water. And he confessed. You see that,
Jim? We get all these, I get so sick of these constitutions
and bylaws and all these ways of voting people in, voting them
out. The Church is hedged about by one thing. Do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart? I believe. All right, back to Acts 16. I'll quit. Acts 16. We have here, we had a man in
trouble. We have a man who met the Lord
Jesus, and we have a changed man. A changed man. In Acts 33, it says, And he took
them the same hour of the night. He didn't have to go to school
and study the law. He didn't have to, Paul sat him
down and said, now what you ought to do is love people and wash
their stripes and do all these things. No, sir, that same hour
when he heard the gospel, he washed their stripes, he loved
them, he took care of them, he was baptized, he and his family,
and when he brought them in his house, he fixed a meal for them
and set the meat before them and rejoiced in the Lord. That's
all in the same hour in which he was converted. The same hour. Why? The Spirit of God came in
his heart and changed him. And the Spirit of God's will
comes in a man's heart and changes him. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath everlasting life. It's to trust him, trust him, trust him, to confide
in him. It's to confess him. It's to
receive him.