Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Salvation

Jesus + Nothing = Salvation

(Acts 8:26-40)

It’s good to be in God’s house this morning. And what a privilege it is to share God’s message from God’s word here with you today. Let me start off by asking a very simple question, “How many here are good in math?” I wish I could say I’m with you in that area but I’m not. If I were to sit in a geometry class today, or trig or calculus, it would be like learning another language. When I was in school I always had problems in math. But you know, to some people it comes very easy. Others like me have to really work at it. Now, I’m as simple as a person can get. I’m very basic.

And as hard as math was for me, I did learn the basics. I did learn to add. I know if you put 2 and 2 together you’re gonna get four. I know that if you put 7 people in a volkswagon you’ve got 3 too many. I know how to add and subtract from my checking account. Some people can’t even do that! Those things are very basic. But did you know that we see a lot of math in the church? We see multiplication where we win people to Christ. And as a result of that we see people added to the church. But then again we also see division in the church and as a result of that we see subtraction when people leave the church. Addition and multiplication are important to the church.

But listen to this, what if I asked you the question, “How does a person get to heaven?” What would you say? What is involved in that? What are the requirements? And when you meet the requirements, is there anything you have to add to that? What do you have to do? Do you have to do anything? These are some of the questions I want to deal with this morning. Since we’ve talked about math this morning, I want to us to do a little spiritual math.

I’ve entitled today’s message, “Jesus + Nothing = Salvation! Turn if you will to the books of Acts, chapter 8. We’ll be looking at verses 26-40. (II Timothy 3:16, Heb. 6:18) (Read/Pray).

Now this passage of scripture is a very familiar one. It deals with several things. It deals with evangelism, one on one witnessing. It deals with knowing the word of God and handling it accurately. It deals with belief. It deals with obedience. But if you add all of these things up, they all center around one person – The Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. In these verses that we just read a minute ago I want to show you very simply, the steps that lead a person to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

This story from God’s word is a classic when it comes to the simplicity of the Gospel and how God uses plain, ordinary people to do His work. Now we all come across people who need Jesus everyday. Things don’t just happen by accident. And the first thing that usually happens is that God sends,

I. Someone Who is Sensitive to the Spirit – Verses 26-29

Have you ever been in a particular place or in a certain situation where God has put you in the path of someone and deep inside you hear that still, small voice saying, “Okay, here’s your opportunity for a witness?” Folks, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in that situation. A lot of times! But there have been other times when I’ve been in the same situation and I didn’t feel led to say anything. I believe we have to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in dealing with people and there are a number of reasons why. Maybe God has someone else in mind and He wants to use them at a particular time to lead someone to Himself. Maybe the person is not in a good listening mood at that particular moment. Have you noticed that does tend to make a difference (Story about witnessing to motorcycle guys).

Well, Philip was one who was sensitive to what the Spirit was leading him to do. He was one of the original 7 deacons chosen in Acts chapter 6. That says a lot about him right there. He was chosen out of a great number of people so that shows us that he was a man of integrity, a man of compassion, a man of service and a man who was Spirit-filled! God chose to use Philip in reaching someone for His kingdom. That brings me to a question, “when was the last time God used you to reach somebody for Him?” Can you honestly say you are sensitive to the Spirit’s leading this morning?