Salvation Only In Jesus Series

SALVATION ONLY IN JESUS

Text: Acts 4:1-12

Introduction

1. Illustration: Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late Dr. Billy Graham, recently posted on his Facebook page a troubling article. Here’s what it said:

a. 39% of “evangelical” pastors surveyed recently said there is no absolute moral truth and that “each individual must determine their own truth.”

b. They also said that, shockingly, 30% of evangelical pastors do not believe that their salvation is based on having confessed their sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.

c. Researchers also found that one-third or more of the senior pastors they surveyed said they believe that people can merit salvation based solely on their good works.

d. These are all lies, and this kind of false teaching is what is leading people and churches astray.

e. The Bible is God’s Word, from cover to cover. It is the absolute truth—we should live by it, and we can die by it. On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand.

2. “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

3. Any preacher that tells you that there is any other way to heaven except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is a liar and a heretic. There is only one name by which we must be saved, and that name is Jesus Christ.

4. In our text today, we learn three undeniable truths:

a. The Gospel is Unstoppable

b. The Holy Spirit is Unstoppable

c. Undeniable Truth: There is Salvation Only in Jesus

5. Read Acts 4:1-12

Proposition: There is only one way to heaven, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Transition: The first truth we learn from our text is…

I. The Gospel Is Unstoppable (1-4).

A. Many of the People Believed

1. Not everyone is receptive to the Gospel. Many will reject it, even those who call themselves religious.

2. We can see this truth in what happens to Peter and John. In v. 1 it says, “While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.”

a. Not everyone was excited that the lamed beggar had been healed. One group that didn’t like it was the Sadducees.

b. They were a religious sect within Judaism, and they rejected the idea of the resurrection and that they Messiah was an actual person.

c. So, as you might imagine, hearing people preaching to people that Jesus was the Messiah and that he had been risen from the dead, didn’t sit well with them.

d. There is another person mentioned in this verse, the captain of the Temple guard, who was also a Sadducee.

e. He was also the one who arrested Jesus is the garden.

f. I’d imagine he saw Jesus as the relative that came to visit and never wanted to leave. He had arrested Jesus, saw him crucified, and here Peter and John were still talking about him.

3. Then in v. 2 Luke tells us, “These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.”

a. So, here are these religious leaders, who didn’t believe in the resurrection, listening to Peter proclaiming the resurrection...in the Temple!

b. It’d be like someone standing in the middle of Athens, GA saying Alabama was better than Georgia in football!

c. Furthermore, they heard Peter proclaim that they were responsible for Jesus’ death.

d. They thought after the crucifixion of Jesus they had heard the last of him, but here was Peter and John preaching about him.

4. So, “They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.”

a. If you remember, the lamed beggar was healed at around 3:00 in the afternoon, and then Peter preached.

b. So, what we are talking about here probably happened around sundown.

c. It was too late in the evening to assemble the religious council for a hearing, so, they had Peter and John arrested and thrown in jail until morning.

5. The key to this section, however, is seen in v. 4, where it says, “But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000. “

a. This verse shows that not even persecution can stop the Gospel!

b. They arrested and killed Jesus, but that didn’t stop the Gospel from spreading.

c. Then they arrested Peter and John, and even that didn’t stop the Gospel from spreading.