No Other Name

Title: No Other NameText: Acts 4:8-13 For salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Prayer) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It’s by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He’s 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there’s no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:8-13). This is Peter's 3rd sermon in the book of Acts. When we read about Peter in the Gospels, we read about a man who’s sometimes bold as a lion, and other times timid as a mouse. He’s an arrow full of quivers. He’s unreliable as a tettering fence, and as impulsive as a thief. But then he encounters the Resurrected Christ. He’s inflamed by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. And as a result, he becomes an evangelistic powerhouse, preaching sermon after sermon to hostile crowds in the lion's den of Jerusalem. In chapter 2, Peter preached his great sermon on the day of Pentecost. Then a few days later in chapter 3, as he and John were entering the temple, he encountered a lame beggar whom he healed. A great crowd swarmed around, and Peter preached his 2nd sermon on the spot. Chapter 4 begins with the words, "The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead." They arrested Peter and John, and the next day brought them before the Jewish ruling council asking them by what name or power they had performed the miracle of healing the lame man. That's when Peter launched into his 3rd sermon in the book of Acts, the passage we read today. It’s a masterpiece of brevity-only about 100 words-but it contains all the elements of the Gospel. At the end, Peter punches his main point home in verse 12: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. This is a vitally important verse for us today, because of the times in which we are living. Many today refute the teaching of verse 12. They reject the exclusive claims of Christ as being the one and only pathway to God. One man said, "Why is Jesus the only way to a relationship with God? What about Buddha? Mohammed? Can't an individual simply live a good life? If God is such a loving God, then wouldn't he accept all people just the way they are?" Another person said, "I believe there are many roads to God, just as there are many roads to the top of a mountain. Some take one road, and some another. Only an ignorant or an arrogant person would claim that their road was the only one." A student at Duke University said, "If God grades on the curve, I'll make it." And many people today believe God grade’s on the curve. This is perhaps the main objection that people have against the Christian message. They claim it’s exclusive. They claim it’s narrow. They call us narrow-minded people because we claim that Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. How do we answer this criticism. I have four answers. 1. It’s Factual It’s a valid criticism. The Christian message is exclusive and narrow. And while Christians may not be, in general, narrow-minded people, we are narrow-minded in this, for we believe salvation is found in no one else, for there’s no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. 2. It Is Scriptural I would like to take you on a little tour of the New Testament to show you how consistently and insistently the Bible teaches the truth of Acts 4:12. We live in such a tolerant time, that even we Christians get caught up in it, and we're sometimes surprised ourselves to see how out-spoken the Bible is on this subject. · Matthew 5:20 - For I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. This was a shocking verse for the Lord's Jewish audience, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were the most sincere people in the world. They were very religious, even down to the details of their lives. But their hearts rejected the true message of Christ, and Jesus said their religion and ritual wouldn’t save them. · Matthew 7:13-14: Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Jesus was so narrow-minded on this point, that he used the word narrow to describe the one and only pathway to eternal life. · Matthew 7:21-22: Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Apparently the Lord Jesus didn’t assume everyone was going to heaven carte blanche. This is one of the most frightening verses in the Bible, for it tells us that even many people who profess to be followers of Christ are self-deceiving. It isn't a matter of outward profession, but inward faith and obedience that saves us. · John 8:24: I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. · John 14:6: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus said there are not many roads to the top of the mountain. He said, "I am the only pathway." · Romans 3:10ff: There’s no one righteous, no not one; there is none who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one... All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. · 1 Corinthians 3:11: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. There’s no other foundation for a holy or happy life. No other basis for an abundant or eternal life. Only Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5-6: For there’s one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men... How many mediators are there? How many who can forgive our sin and reconcile us to God? There’s one-Christ Jesus. · Hebrews 2:3: How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?"But," someone might say, "these people of other faiths and religions are so sincere. Doesn't sincerity count for anything?" Well, it's always better, of course, to be sincere than to be insincere. But our sincerity is only profitable when accurately placed. When my girls were younger, for example, I went out and purchased in aquarium at a garage sale. It was dirty, and so I gave it a good washing with soap and water. Then I filled the tank, treated it with the recommended chemicals, and poured in the fish. I had one funeral after another week, as every fish went belly up. It was the soap, I was told. The residue of the soap that I had used to clean out the tank killed all the fish. Now was I sincere in wanting to do the right thing, to provide an aquarium for my children, to provide those fish with a good home. Yes, I was as sincere as could be. But sincerity is only profitable when accurately placed. It does little good to be sincerely wrong. Do you realize that neither Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Mohammed, nor any other founder of a religion ever claimed to pay the penalty for the sins of the world? They couldn't even pay for their own sins. They are still in their graves. Only Christ died and rose again for the sins of the world. And that's why the Lord warns over and over again that our sincerely must be aligned with truth. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 3. It Is Logical What would you think of someone who said: "Mathematics can’t possibly be true because it’s too narrow-minded, too restrictive, and too dogmatic. It claims that 2 plus 2 equals four. Always 4, and never 3 or 5. It claims that its laws are universally true. It claims absolute precision. I refuse to believe anything that is so dogmatic, narrow-minded, and exclusive. Therefore mathematics must be false." You would say, "That person is going to have a hard time in life. He’s illogical." Dave Hunt, a Christian professor, says, "The very nature of reality demands that there be unchangeable absolutes. Without definite and predictable physical laws, this universe couldn’t function. Is it reasonable that spiritual reality should be just as definitely defined?" Hunt went on to illustrate his point. Suppose, using myself as an example, I was suffering chest pains and I went to my physician for an examination. What would I think if he said, "Well, I don't want to be very dogmatic about it. You might have a touch of congestive heart failure, or it might be shin splints, or perhaps toenail fungus. You have a number of options, and all you have to do is choose the one that appeals to you. You might want to consider open heart surgery-it's very popular nowadays-or perhaps a kidney transplant or perhaps this new medicine for your sinus. Just choose the operation of your choice, and you're bound to make it." What would you think of a doctor as broadminded as that? Does it not seem equally foolish that the Great Physician would have no definite diagnosis for sin and no definite remedy? Suppose you were flying across the country on TWA or Delta. What would you think if you heard this announcement: "This is your pilot speaking. I have a flight plan here, but I've decided there are many routes we could take to Los Angeles, and since I'm not a very narrow-minded man, I'm not going to be tied to the maps and charts today. We'll just fly here and there at whatever altitude we want, and I feel sure we'll get there sooner or later." Hunt wrote, "Everyone knows that to fly an airplane or practice medicine or even bake a cake one must follow specific procedures. One can't play a game without rules. So why attempt to avoid the rules which God has set in the realm of the spirit? Sincerity won't get astronauts to the moon, nor will it prevent arsenic from killing the person who ingested it by mistake. Yoga won't even pay a traffic ticket. It makes no sense to set out from Los Angeles to New York without a map. What folly it would be to refuse to follow a map because maps are so restrictive, and to insist that any road in any direction will do! How much greater is the folly of insisting that any road sincerely followed will take one to heaven!" The whole message of the Gospel is that we have sinned against God, but that God himself, our Creator, so loved us that he gave his one and only Son to die in our stead. If there had been any other way of redeeming the human race, do you think Christ would gone to the cross? He himself prayed, "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me?" But it wasn't possible, for there was no other way. And that's why Peter said to the very sincere religious practitioners of his day: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. How shall we then escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The narrowness of the Gospel is biblical, it’s logical, and it is profitable. It may be a narrow pathway, but it leads to eternal life. 4. It Is Profitable I read the other day about a woman in California who was picked up for speeding. She was ticketed and taken before the judge. The judge read the citation and said, "Guilty or not guilty?" She said, "Guilty," and the judge banged his gavel and fined her $100. But then he did something strange. Standing up, he removed his robe, walked down around to the front, stood beside the woman, and took out his billfold. He removed $100 and paid the fine. The judge was her father. He was a sound judge, yet he loved his daughter and paid her penalty. That’s what God did for us. We've broken his standards of morality and behavior, and the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death." God bangs down his omnipotent gavel and says, "Death!" But he rose and left his heavenly throne, laying aside his glory. And by dying on the cross he took our punishment in our place. This is the message that changed Charlotte Elliott's life. She was an embittered woman, Charlotte Elliott of Brighton, England. Her health was broken, and her disability had hardened her. "If God loved me," she muttered, "he wouldn’t have treated me this way." But her family was concerned for her, and her father, hoping to help her, invited a Swiss minister named Dr. Cesar Malan to visit with them. Over dinner, Charlotte lost her temper and railed again God and family in a violent outburst. Her embarrassed family left the room, and Dr. Malan, left alone with her, stared at her across the table. "You are tired of yourself, aren't you?" he said at length. "You are holding to your hate and anger because you have nothing else in the world to cling to. Consequently, you have become sour, bitter, and resentful." "What is your cure?" asked Charlotte. "The faith you are trying to despise." As they talked, Charlotte softened. "If I wanted to become a Christian and to share the peace and joy you possess," she finally asked, "what would I do?" "You would give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fightings and fears, hates and loves, pride and shame." "I would come to God just as I am? Is that right?" And Charlotte began to recognize that only Jesus Christ held the answer to her questions. Only Jesus Christ had the medicine for her ailing heart. Only Christ could offer pardon and peace. And she did come-just as she was. Her heart was changed that day, and out of that experience she wrote the poem which has since become the most famous invitational hymn in history: Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come! And today I want to invite you to come, just as you are, through the straight gate, along the narrow way. Come to Christ who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." For salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.