WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVEDd Sermon (2)

SERMON: “THE QUESTION OF THE AGES: WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED”

TEXT: ACTS 2:37-38

INTRODUCTION

There are many important questions in life that are asked. The question will you marry me is an important question. The question what do you want to do with your life is an important question.

The bible is filled with important questions. Adam where are you is an important question. The question What is man that you are mindful of him posed by the Psalmist is an important question. What will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ is one of the most critical and crucial questions ever asked.

In our text we have what I consider the question of the ages, what must I do to be saved. This is such an important question primarily because sin is man’s greatest problem and salvation is man’s greatest need. Sin is the universal condition and salvation is the only prescription.

Sin has caused separation from our Creator. Sin:

· Impairs the senses, Warps the will, Freezes the disposition

· Hardeneds the heart,, Degrades the reputations, Steals joy

· Blights the future, Ruins lives and Damns souls

Our desperate need is to be saved, saved from the mess we have made of our lives. Saved from power of sin and from the penalty of sin. The Greek word translated “saved” is SOOZOO. It basically means to be delivered, to be rescued”.

I don’t know how you feel but I’m glad that Christ came to my rescue. Christ came to my rescue:

· I was shackled by sin, I was trapped in the dungeon of despair

· I was defeated, and dominated by the devil, I was a pitiful prisoner to my past, I was held hostage to my habits, hurts and hang ups

I’m glad, I said I’m glad, I’m so glad that Christ came to my rescue.

Peter that much fallen but much forgiven disciple answers for us this question of the ages. As we ponder this passage there are two truths threaded into the tapestry of this text. They form the substance of this sermon and offers the homiletical hinges on which this message swings. Notice THE STORY THAT MUST BE HEARD, THE SUBMISSION THAT YOU MUST HEED,

I. THE STORY THAT MUST BE HEARD (VS. 22-24)

Acts 2:22-24

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. NKJV

Those of us who are the trustees of the oracles of God, custodians of the covenant who are tasked with sharing the message of salvation with those who are lost need to remember this point. We cannot be in such a hurry to teach people about the plan of salvation that we fail to tell them about the person of salvation. Salvation begins with the story of the person, that person Peter declares is Christ. Don’t misunderstand me I believe that it is important to teach people the plan. I just need to tell you the plan only works because of the Person. Start your teaching with the person.

Of this critical issue let there be no doubt, the bible clearly declares there can be no salvation apart from Christ. If you want to be saved you must get in Christ. There is absolutely no other way;

· Buddha can’t bless you

· You can’t make it with Mohamed

· The Pope can’t provide it

Salvation is only in Christ. John 14:5-6

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. NKJV

I think I ought to tell you, ‘can’t nobody do me like Jesus, can’t nobody do me like the Lord”. Who else can?

· Remove the shame of sin

· Lift the burden of guilt

· Cleanse the soul from defilement

· Mend the broken heart

· Straighten out our crooked pathway

· Rescue us from ruin

· Deliver us from despair

· Pick us up, turn us around and place our feet on solid ground

I declare can’t nobody do me like Jesus:

· The Rose of Sharon that never fades

· The Bright and Morning Star that never dims

· The Sure Foundation that never shakes

· The ever flowing fountain that never runs dry

Can’t nobody do me like Jesus, can’t nobody do me like the Lord.

Salvation is only in Christ.

Any sermon that we would consider to be great must have as its main subject Jesus Christ. The greatest sermon must speak about the greatest Savior. That’s exactly what Peter’s sermon does.

The startling claim that Peter makes in this sermon to his Jewish audience is that Messiah had come. That Messiah Peter declares is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus the Nazarene was the name by which our Lord was commonly known during His earthly ministry (Matt 21:11; Mark 10:47; 14:67; 16:6; Luke 24:19; John 18:5,7). It identified Him with His hometown of Nazareth; You might t remember it was the name on the inscription on His cross (John 19:19).

I think I ought to tell you Jesus was raised in the ghetto of Nazareth but that’s not really where He is from. Nazareth is not the origin of His birth, Bethlehem is. However Bethlehem is not where He is really from. His existence predates both Bethlehem and Nazareth.

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. NKJV

Notice that John does not say “from the beginning”, but “in the beginning”. This phrase is essentially the same as in Gen. 1:1. The expression does not refer to the beginning of some process, or a localized point in time. It refers back to indefinite eternity, which preceded all time.

John is saying Jesus was preexistent. He existed even before the grandfather clock called time began to tick. He was back before:

· The weeping Prophet Jeremiah shedded his first tear

· Ezekiel saw his vision

· Isaiah penned his prophecy

· David wrote his poetry and slew his giants

· Moses left a burning bush with a heart on fire

· Joseph dreamed

· Jacob limped

· Abraham traveled

· Noah built his boat

· Adam sinned

· God played in the dirt and made Himself a man

· Cornerstone of creation was set in place

· A “let there be” was spoken over nothing and it became something

· Earliest song of the oldest seraphim

The word translated “was” is the Greek imperfect tense of the word EIMI (a me). It means, “to be”. To be denotes a continuous existence. John informs us that Jesus, as the Word is no mere beginner.

· He is the beginning of the beginning that did not began to be

· He is the being behind the beginning that had no beginning

Christ is not a created being, He is the being of creation. Jesus is eternally God.

Jesus is from a land of unclouded sky, a city that lies foursquare, where the sun never sets and chilly winds never blow.

This claim that this Jesus from Nazareth is Messiah would be upsetting to Peter’s audience because less than 2 months earlier they had called for Jesus’ death for making the same claim that He was the promised Messiah.

Jesus never really enjoyed the complete approval of men. At the beginning of His ministry one of the individuals who would soon become a follower declared “can any good thing come out of Nazareth”.

· The Pharisees rejected Him

· The Sadducees denied Him

· The Romans killed Him

Although Jesus did not enjoy the approval of men He always enjoyed the approval of God. The Greek word translated “attested” is Apodeiknumi, it has various shades of meaning. It is used in 1 Cor 4:9 to speak of exhibiting something. In Acts 25:7 it conveys the idea of proof. In 2 Thess 2:4 it has the sense of proclamation to high office. All of those shades of meaning are applicable to Jesus. He was exhibited as God in human flesh, and that was confirmed by "many convincing proofs" (Acts 1:3). Finally, God "highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name" (Phil 2:9). There is no higher office than that of Messiah, God's anointed King.

Jesus enjoyed the approval of God and when you have the Father’s approval it really doesn’t matter who disapproves. Matt 17:4-6

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" NKJV

Peter says “This Man”:

· The one you murdered is the Messiah

· The one you hung on a tree now sits on a throne

· The one you Killed, is now King of Kings

Oh my brothers and sisters I know something about this Man. This Man:

· Walked on the restless waters and calmed the raging sea

· Adam’s Redeemer

· Abel’s sacrifice

· The Hebrew boy’s surprise guest in a furnace of fire

· The Stone the builders rejected that is the Chief Cornerstone

· Mary’s baby

· Peter’s “Thou art the Christ”

· John’s Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world

· My Savior and my friend, my Doctor in a sick room, my Lawyer in a court room

Yes, oh yes, Hallelujah yes, I know something about this Man!

In this powerfully penetrating verse Peter share with us how indisputably indispensable was the death of Christ. The phrase “delivered up” is Ekdotos in Greek. It is used only here in the New Testament. It describes those surrendered to their enemies, or betrayed. God gave His Son to be the Savior of the world, which involved delivering Him to His enemies. By the design of God, Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish leaders, who handed Him over to the Romans for execution.

Foreknowledge translates the Greek word prognosis. The death of Christ was foreknown of God in a past eternity. When God acted in creation, He also acted in redemption. Jesus is described as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).

I know in some way I have never been able to explain that He took a lick that was meant for me. I know that where our slates were all blotched and marred, he wiped them clean. And I know that he got under a load that I was meant to carry and that where the charges stood against me, he cleared them. If in Eden I see a tree forbidden, at Calvary I see a tree forgiving. If in Eden I see a tree prohibited, at Calvary I see a tree provided. But in some way deeper than I can ever say, he made it all right with my soul. He manumitted the slave's bondage, brought the exile back to his native land, put the orphan at the father's table, and called him or her a child, an heir. I know that at Calvary, my condition was forever altered and changed, and I am now a child of the royal house.

At Calvary we see God at His best and man at His worst. At Calvary:

· The lawlessness of man rejects the love of God

· The sinner kills the Savior

· Men choose darkness over the Light

“Was it for crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide And shut his glories in,

When Christ, the might Maker, died For man, the creature's sin.”

Jesus died and it was absolutely necessary. He died:

· And cancelled our debt

· Satisfied the demands of the broken law

· Rectified our lost condition

· Glorified the love of God

· Got our souls out of hock

· Until death died· 2. Until the old account was settled· 3. Until the transaction was completed· 4. Until the crooked and perilous way had been made strait· 5. Until Hell got tired· Until justice was satsified· 7. Until he became the strong defense and our hightower· 8. Until he became a hiding place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land· 9. Until he became a River of Living Waters in dry places· the Captain of our salvation Peter then comes to the central theme and truth of his sermon. He comes to the central fact of redemptive history. Jesus died, but He didn’t stay dead. He got up. Yes, oh yes, hallelujah yes, Jesus got up. Peter quotes a prophetic passage from Ps 16:8-11. Peter's argument from Ps 16 can be summarized as saying: The psalm speaks of a resurrection. Since David, however, was not resurrected, it cannot speak of him. Thus, David speaks in the psalm of the Messiah. Peter goes on to say if you don’t believe eternal prophesy then you ought to believe eye witnesses. Peter says “we are all witnesses”. We know He is alive because we saw Him. Peter declares that there was no way in Hades that Jesus could stay in the grave. Peter says it was impossible:· life is stronger than death· light is stronger than darkness· hell is not strong enough to hold Him· death is not strong enough to defeat Him· the grave is not strong enough to grip Him· Satan is not strong enough to subdue HimOh my brothers and sisters the great hope of our Christian faith is that Jesus lives! Christ died one Friday and was buried but on Sunday morning He got up. That is the story that must be heard. 1 Cor 15:1-5Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, NKJVII. THE SUBMISSION THAT YOU MUST HEED (vs. 37-38)Acts 2:37-39Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them,"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. NKJV Unfortunately among us there seems to be those who only want to talk about the person of salvation and never want to mention the plan of salvation. Salvation begins with the Person but you can’t get to the Person if you don’t follow the plan. The word that is translated “pricked” is katanusso in Greek. It means "to pierce," or "to stab." It speaks to the fact that Peter’s audience was overcome with remorse at having slain the best the world has ever seen. Overwhelmed with anguish, despair, remorse, and guilt, they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" They sought desperately for a way to make right what they had done, and avoid Messiah's wrath.

The answer Peter gives the people on Pentecost is still what a person must do to be saved. There are people who are under the mistaken notion that to be saved all one has to do is believe. They deny the essential nature of baptism. That is not what Peter said. Peter declared those folks had to go to the water.

The word “baptism” is the Greek word BAPTIZO. It is important to note that the verb is in the passive voice in Greek. That means this is something that is done to you and not something you do. If baptism was something you did it would be active. Since it is passive that means it is not your work but someone else. Col 2:12

12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

NKJV

God is the one at work when we are baptized. God is at work:

· Washing our sins away Acts 22:16

· Removing the old man of sin and replacing him with a new man who is a saint Rom. 6

· Placing us into Christ and placing Christ into us Gal. 3:27

· Adding us to the Church of Christ Acts 2:47

Being baptized is not our work it is God’s. Baptism is a response of faith to the call and command of God who declared; Mark 16:16

16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

NKJV

The work that is done in baptism is God removing the stain of sin, making the unrighteous righteous and transferring man’s soul from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. That is not something man can do. That is something only God can do.

If you want to be saved you must submit yourself in faith to the waters of baptism. The old preachers were right when they declared God put water in the plan.

· Those saved on Pentecost had to go to the water

· The Samaritans in Acts 8 had to go to the water

· The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 had to go to the water

· Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9 had to go to the water

· Cornelius in Acts 10 had to go to the water etc

If you want to be saved today you will have to go to the water.

Some scholars and others teach that a person is baptized because his sins has been forgiven. Wayne Dehoney in The Teacher’s Bible Commentary makes such an argument. He states that the “for the remission of sins” of Acts 2:38 means “because of the forgiveness of sins”

He states that it is the same as saying “a man was executed for murder”

Notice the word “for” in the text verse 38. The Greek word is eis

The phrase “for the remission of sins in Greek is eis aphesin harmatian

This phrase is used in Matt. 26:28, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 2:38. The understanding of the meaning of this phrase is fixed for us in Matt 26:28

Jesus says his blood was to be shed “for the forgiveness of sin” (same Greek construct as in Acts 2:38).

No scholar would argue that that eis aphesin hamartian in Matt 26:28 means “because of the forgiveness of sins. et they insist that the same phrase in Acts 2:38 means just that. The standard Greek lexicons all agree on the meaning of eis aphesin hamartian. Thayer defines the phrase “to obtain the forgiveness of sin”. Arndt and Gingrich defines it “so that sins might be forgiven.”

The point is if you want your sins to be forgiven you have to go to the water. (Deal with baptism and dyeing wool).

You will either pay for your sins in hell or have them be paid off in Christ. The only way to get in Christ is to be baptized.

Conclusion

There are many who dismissed the notion of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Once a great scholar stood up and alleged for almost an hour that there was no such thing as a resurrection. He was tall of stature and regal of bearing. He possessed such eloquence until words fell from his lips like golden pollen from the stem of wind tossed lilies. He knew how to wed the elusive noun with the effective descriptive phrase. His sentences were polished, his statements practiced and his arguments persuasive. At the end of his discourse he asked if there were any questions.

There was present and old preacher who had a sack lunch. He pulled out an apple etc. I have just one question for you. IS THE APPLE I’M EATING BITTER OR SWEET?

The scholar answered, “Sir I have no way to answer that question intelligently seeing as I have not tasted the apple”.

That’s what I want to tell you about THE LORD, “OH TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD”.

You may doubt Him because you have never tasted Him, but I have and I know He is sweet

I KNOW HE’S SWEET, HE:

· REMOVED OUR SHAME

· PAID OUR DEBT

· FACED OUR TRIAL

· FILLED OUR EMPTINESS

· PARDONED OUR GUILT

· RELIEVED OUR CARE

· STRENGTHENED OUR WEAKNESS

· WON OUR BATTLE

· LIFTED OUR LOAD

· FIXED OUR FAULTS

· HEALED OUR HURTS