Introduction
Take your Bibles, please, and turn, this morning, to the Book of Acts, the eighth chapter. We’re making our way through this book under the title, “That Old-Time Religion.” Now, in order to face the future, we need to understand the past. If we want to understand what the Church ought to do in the 20th century, then let’s find out what it was in the first century.
When I was a young man in high school, I felt God moving in my heart. I thought, perhaps, that the Lord wanted me to preach the gospel. I cannot tell you how that germ thought got, first of all, into my heart and into my mind. As a matter of fact, if there would be anything that I did not consider myself to be, it would be a preacher or any kind of a public speaker. As a matter of fact, the thought terrified me of standing up in front of people and speaking. Well, yet, the Lord put that germ thought into my heart and into my mind. And, at first, it was there as a question. I thought, “Lord, do you want me to preach?” And then, after a few months, it was more than a question—it was a thought: “Lord, I think that you want me to preach.” And then, after it became more of a thought, it became a conviction, and I began to pray: “Lord, if you don’t want me to preach, then you’d better let me know.” And then, it finally became a decision.
I was at Ridgecrest, North Carolina; we were having our Baptist assembly there, and I was there in the summertime, and they were singing a song during the invitation: “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” And, God touched my heart, and said, “Adrian, I want you to preach My gospel; it’s settled.” And, I stepped out to that invitation, and said, openly and publicly, what I knew was true in my heart and in my life that God had laid His hand upon me, and He wanted me to preach His gospel. And, as a high school boy, I said to my Lord—I said it then, and I meant it; I meant it then, and I mean it now—“Wherever He leads, I will go.”
Now, I want to speak to you on the same subject today, and that’s the title of our message today: “Wherever He Leads.” But, I don’t want just Adrian to have said it. I want everybody here to say it and mean it: “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” Now, He may not lead you across the ocean. He may not lead you to the pulpit. But, He will lead you. And, He has a plan for you.
Now, I could ask, today, how many missionaries are here, and I don’t want you to lift hands, because it might embarrass you, after I tell you what I’m going to say next. Because, I want to say that every one of us who is saved is a missionary. To say missionary and to say Christian is to say the same thing. Now, a missionary is somebody who has been saved from sin. Now, some of us are sent across the ocean, and some of us are sent next door, but if we are saved, then we are sent, and we need to say, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” Now, I want to give you this morning, as we study God’s Word, something to encourage your heart—something to say and to mean it—not to be afraid to say it. And, by the way, if there was ever a time when you ought to say it, ladies and gentlemen, it is now.
I spoke recently with the sheriff of our county. He told me of the drug epidemic here in Shelby County. I did some more research. I found out that, this year, 80 billion dollars will be spent on illegal drugs. Do you know how much a billion dollars is? Can you imagine what will happen with 80 billion dollars in illegal drugs? I found out, also, that one out of every four teenage girls will become pregnant, if statistics hold. That’s a frightening thing—a statistic that we’ve heard, and perhaps we have become almost calloused to it. One-and-a-half million little babies will be slaughtered, murdered in their mother’s womb. And, how it ought to break our hearts! Everett Koop, who is the Surgeon General of the United States, said, “Unless something is done by the turn of the century, 100 million people will die of AIDS”—100 million by the turn of the century, which is not far away.
These are desperate days. These are desperate days. The problem is that the times are desperate, but God’s saints are not. We sit back, and we feel like, if we come to church on Sunday morning, then we’ve done God a favor: “O God, what a good boy am I! I went to church on Sunday morning. I even put something in the offering plate.” Now, I want, by the time we finish this message, for you to have said it and meant it: “Wherever He leads, I’ll go. Whatever He commands me, I will say.” Now, I want you to begin to read here with me, please, in Acts chapter 8 and verse
26: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip…”—now, if you will remember, Philip was a deacon, one of those first seven deacons chosen back there in Acts chapter 6, a man full of wisdom and the Holy Ghost. And, he wasn’t an ordained minister, in any sense of the word. He was what we would call a missionary, in the strictest sense of the word—“The angel of Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet” (Acts 8:26–28). Now, Esaias is just the way of saying “Isaiah, the prophet.”
I. You Must Perceive the Call of God
Now, the very first thing that I want to say is this: If you would be used of God, if you would say, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go,” number one, you must perceive the call of God—you must perceive the call of God. Now, here in verse 26, the angel of the Lord came and spoke to Philip, and said, “Philip, this is what I want you to do. I want to be very frank with you.”
God’s never spoken to me by an angel, that I know of. Now, sometimes, maybe we’ve met angels, and we didn’t know that they were angels, because the Bible speaks of “angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). I mean, there are people who may be God’s angels, and we didn’t know that they were angels; but, God has spoken to my heart, and God will speak to your heart. God has many ways to speak, but God has a plan for you, and God will use you, if you’ll get useable.
Some people say, “Why doesn’t God use me?” Well, let me tell you something, folks: It may be that you’re not useable. God never leaves a surrendered vessel unfilled. And, God never leaves a filled vessel unused. You surrender yourself, and He’ll fill you with the Holy Spirit. I mean, He will—He will. Now, even God can’t fill that which is already filled. I mean, you’ve got to empty out that self, that ambition, that pride, and that sin, and say, “Lord, fill me,” and God will fill you. And, what God fills, He uses.
Now, God will use you. God has a plan for you, just as He had a plan for Philip, so long ago. And, Philip was an ordinary person that God used in an extraordinary way. And, let me say something about the working of God, and how God does that.
A. God’s Ways are Often Unknown
First of all, God's ways are often unknown. Philip had no way of knowing that he was going to be used of God to win, as we’re going to see in a moment, a very important and strategic man. Philip was getting ready to witness to one of the most influential men in all of North Africa, and, as you’re going to see, a man that was used of God to open up all of North Africa to the gospel. Philip had no way of knowing that. All he knew was that God had spoken, and He said, “Go south to Gaza.” He said, “Yes, sir; I’ll go.”
Now, you have no way of knowing how God is going to use you if you will obey God. As a matter of fact, it would probably sometimes blow our gaskets if we knew what God had planed for us in the future.
I told you, several weeks ago, about a man named Kimball that led Dwight L. Moody to Jesus Christ. About a century ago, Kimball was a Sunday School teacher, and he led Moody to Christ. Now, who was Moody? You young people may not know who Moody was, but he was the Billy Graham of his day. But, he was different from Billy Graham. Billy Graham is very suave and very cultured—very educated and intelligent. Moody was an orphan at the age of four. He didn’t have an opportunity to get a formal education. As a matter of fact, this may encourage some of you: In the last letter that Moody wrote before his death, there were almost 40 grammatical errors in that letter. He murdered the King’s English, but he didn’t disappoint the King. Brother, he loved the Lord of lords and the King of kings. And, Moody was a mighty man, proficient in the gospel, but he was basically an uncultured, unlettered man. He was used of God to move two continents—both America and Europe—for Christ.
Moody went to England, and there, can you imagine this shoe clerk—that’s all that he was—who preached in Cambridge? And there, in Cambridge, was a young athlete. His name was C. T. Studd. Now, he was one of the greatest athletes of all time. Now, over there, cricket was to them—and is to them—what football is to us. He was a cricketer. He was a star. He was in the Cambridge Eleven. He was a man of great ability, great charm, and great wealth. C. T. Studd’s father was a personal friend to the Queen of England and was a multi-millionaire. And, Studd had it all. I mean he had the looks; he had the mind; and, he had the money. He had it all. He had the athletic ability. But, when he heard Moody preach, God touched his life. C. T. Studd resigned from athletics, and no longer was he a member of the Cambridge Eleven, playing cricket. He was called to another seven—the Cambridge Seven—who went to China and began one of the mightiest movements modern missions has ever known.
Do you know what Studd said—this man so greatly used of God? Under the influence of Moody, here’s what he said—they asked him, “What motivated you to do what you did—to leave that wealth, to leave that prestige, to leave it all?” He said this: “If Christ be God and died for me, then there is no sacrifice I can make too great for Him.” “If Christ be God and died for me, then there is no sacrifice too great for me to make for Him.” God’s ways are often unknown. The man who led Moody to Christ had no idea that Moody would be used as he was.
You may not know, but Philip had no idea that he was going to be used of God to win this strategic man. But, he obeyed. That’s so thrilling; that’s so exciting.
B. God’s Ways are Often Unexplained
But, let me say that, not only are God’s ways unknown; I also want to say that God’s ways are unexplained. God did not have to give to Philip any reason for going. He just simply said, “Go,” and Philip traveled under sealed orders. And, perfect obedience does not need to know why. Now, God may not speak to you through an angel, but He is going to speak to you.
Now, let me tell you how the Holy Spirit works. It’s so interesting. First of all, the Holy Spirit begins to work on an individual—an unsaved sinner. He begins to soften that sinner’s heart for the gospel. Maybe He brings influences, or whatever, to that person, and then God finds a man over here, or a woman over here, who is filled with the Holy Spirit, that He can use, and God gets the two together. Now, here’s Philip, way up in Samaria, and here’s the eunuch, way down here in Gaza, and God brings the two together.
And you know, as you study the Bible, and great salvation experiences in the Bible, that happens so often. For example, Jesus said, in John chapter 4 and verse 4: “And he must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4). I mean, He felt a divine compulsion to go through Samaria. It didn’t say, “Let’s just go through”—“He must needs.” And, He went through Samaria. And, there was that Samaritan woman there—she had such a thirst for the Lord Jesus—and she was saved. That was a divine appointment. You can read, in Acts chapter 10, where there was this man named Cornelius, who was a Gentile of the Italian band. He had a thirst—a hunger—to know God. And, you can read how God took Simon Peter, and God brought the two together.
I’ve seen it happen in my own life so many times, where God just supernaturally leads me to a person who needed the gospel of Jesus Christ, when my heart was right and their heart was hungry. I was sitting on a plane in Tulsa, and I’d been praying and seeking the face of God, and there was a vacant seat near me. And, I just prayed, “Lord God, I make myself available. If I can help the person who’s going to sit in that seat, just, Lord, help me to help the person who is going to sit in that seat. I’m available Lord.” And, I pray for the person before they ever get on the plane.
Well, I waited, and after the plane filled up, that seat was still vacant. The last person, to my knowledge, to get on that plane was the lady who came and sat down beside me. And, she just plopped down. She had a big bundle of things in her hands. And, she got out a Bible. I thought, “Well, that’s unusual for a person to be carrying a Bible.” I often carry one on the plane—as a matter of fact—just almost all the time. I had just put my Bible in my briefcase. I’d been reading there, from Revelation 12:11, where it says: “And they overcame him”—that is, the devil—“by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11). I’d been studying that scripture—pondering on it, looking—my heart was full of that particular scripture.
Now, this lady gets on, and she brings out a brown Bible just like the one I put in the briefcase. I said, “Well, I have a Bible like that.” She said, “You do?” She said, “Mister, could you possibly please help me?” I said, “What kind of help do you need?” She said, “Oh, is there some verse on overcoming the devil?” I reached into my briefcase, got out my Bible, and showed her that verse. Do you know what she said? She said, “This is the most amazing thing.” She said, “Before I got onto this airplane, I prayed that God would cause me to sit by somebody who could help me.”
And, I thought, “Isn’t that wonderful?” Here I’m praying, “O God, let me be a blessing to this person.” Here she’s saying, “O God, send me somebody to help me.” You may think that’s a coincidence. Folks, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I just think that’s the way we ought to be living a whole lot more of the time. How God works on both ends of the spectrum! Somebody said, “You get right with God, and you almost have to backslide to keep from winning souls.”
You have to perceive the call of God. Listen to what God is saying. And here, when Philip saw this man, he ran to this man. I want you to see how he obeyed God, how sensitive he was to the Holy Spirit of God. Look, if you will, in verses 27 to 30, here, in this chapter: “And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him” (Acts 8:27–30).
Now, notice: Philip doesn’t wait. He doesn’t argue with the Lord. So many times, we miss opportunities because they are passing us by. How graphically that’s illustrated. Here’s a man in the chariot. Philip had to run and catch him. A few moments later and it would have been too late. Now, Philip would have reasoned within himself and said, “Now, wait a minute. He’s Ethiopian, and I’m Jewish. We’ve got a race problem here.” Or, he could have said, “Look, he’s rich, and I’m poor. There’s a socioeconomic problem here.” Or, he could have said, “He’s reading, and he may not want to be bothered,” and there could have been just sort of a…what’s the word I’m thinking of? Maybe, a manners problem. But, you see, what Philip did was just simply to answer the Lord when the Lord spoke. And, he didn’t let race, riches, reading, or anything else come between him. Oh, be swift, my soul to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on. (Julia Ward Howe)
Now, listen. You need to get yourself that sensitive to the Lord. You need to be walking in the stream of the Spirit, because here was a man who’d been to Jerusalem to worship. Now, he’s coming back. He’d been to the most religious city on the face of the earth, and the wells of religion were dry. His soul was still thirsty. He’s reading the prophet Isaiah. As we’re going to show you, in just a moment, he was right to the heart of the gospel. He was reading the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The timing is exquisite. The chariot is passing by; the man is right there in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. He’s right in that part that speaks about Christ dying for our sins. There is just a split second—just a split second. The timing is perfect, and Philip obeyed.
Have you ever wondered how many opportunities that you’ve missed? Hmm? Because you were not that sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God? O friend, listen. We need to say, “God help me to be sensitive. Help me to be courageous. Help me, O God, to perceive the call of God.” It’s so important that you do this, my dear friend, if you would be a missionary.
II. You Must Preach the Christ of God
Now, the second thing—the second thing: Not only must you perceive the call of God, but, dear friend, you must preach the Christ of God. You know, there are a lot of folks who call themselves missionaries today, and they’re building buildings, digging wells, planting crops, and they’re educating people, and all of that. Folks, that’s good—if that gives you an opportunity to preach the gospel. If it doesn’t, then it’s just a colossal failure. We have some people—we have some people today—who are preaching what they call liberation theology. And, all it is, is socialism with a little religion sprinkled on top of it. And, they’re not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, I want you to understand, dear friend, what a real missionary does. I want you to see what Philip did here. And, it’s so exciting. All right now, look, beginning in verse 30: “And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?” Now, just underscore that phrase, because it’s our job to make the Word of God plain—that’s our job. Now, listen. We are not really, in the truest sense, the soul winners—the Holy Spirit is the soul winner. Now, He is a soul winner through us, and to that degree, we are the soul winners. But, you understand what I’m saying now. Our job is not to be successful; our job is to be faithful. Our job is to make the message clear and to help people to understand. And, they can’t understand, unless we show them how. “Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?” (Acts 8:30–31).
Now, incidentally, let me just say right here, ladies and gentlemen, that an angel said
to Philip to go down there. Well, why didn’t God send an angel down there to tell this man how to be saved? Because, angels can never testify of salvation, because they’ve never had it. Angels never knew the joy that my salvation brings. Listen. We are privileged to do something that angels cannot do. And, I’ll tell you something else: We’re privileged to do something now that we won’t be able to do when we get to Heaven— and that’s to win souls.
This man says: “How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” Now, notice verse 35: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:31–35).
We must perceive the call of God. We must preach the Christ of God. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” He didn’t preach to him about race. He didn’t preach to him about economics. He didn’t preach to him about the social and political situation in Ethiopia. He preached unto him Jesus.
A. Three Points to the Gospel
And, there were three things he helped him to understand. And, these are the three things that I want you to understand today, if you are not saved. And, if you are saved and you want to help somebody else be saved, then it’s so simple. There are just three things—listen. Folks, when you hear somebody preach the gospel, and they make it complicated, then you know that, probably, God’s not in it. The gospel is not complicated. I mean, the gospel is simply glorious and gloriously simple. When you get somebody, and he’s preaching the gospel, and you say, “Man, he must be intelligent. I didn’t understand him.” Wait a minute—just because the river’s muddy, doesn’t mean that it’s deep. Listen. Regarding Jesus, the Bible says, “The common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). Gladly, they heard Him. Here was Philip, and Philip is making known, to this Ethiopian, the gospel.
And, there are just three simple facts in Philip’s message—to be in your message, or anybody’s message.
1. He Showed This Man that He was a Sinner
Number one: Philip showed this man that he was a sinner. He showed this man that he was a sinner. He showed this man that Christ had died for his sins. This same 53rd chapter of Isaiah says: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). There is no doubt in my mind at all that Philip took him to the remedy—why the Lord Jesus died like a lamb to the slaughter. He was dying for our sins. Nobody, nobody, nobody has ever been saved who has not, first of all, admitted that he or she is a sinner.
Now, in the average congregation, you have two categories; you have two classes of people who don’t get saved. There are those who think they are too good to be saved; they think that the gospel is for the thief, the prostitute, the murderer, the harlot, or the dope addict. They don’t think the gospel is for them, because they are nice, cultured people. They don’t think that they need to be saved. Then, on the other hand, there are people who think that they are such horrible, terrible sinners that God won’t have anything to do with them. And, they think, “Oh, I wish I could be like those nice church people, but I’m just out of it. God won’t have anything to do with me.”
My dear friend, listen to me today. Listen to me today. There is nobody so good that he need not be saved, and nobody so bad that he can’t be saved. Amen? But, we have to understand what the Bible says, that, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)—that Christ died for our sins.
I was reading, recently, that over in England they had a beauty contest, and they were using—in England—they were using it to promote a product. And, it was an unusual beauty contest, because it was for women who were over 40. Now, they had a wonderful prize, but no one won the prize. Do you know why? Nobody entered the contest. Not a woman who considered herself a beauty would admit that she was 40— not a one. They couldn’t get anybody in the contest, because none of these women would admit—if they were beautiful enough to win the prize—that they were 40.
There are some people who will never possess salvation because they will not admit that they are sinners. And, I don’t mean just admit it—but acknowledge it before God: “O God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” My dear friend, you’re a sinner by birth, a sinner by nature, a sinner by choice, and a sinner by practice, and, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And, Philip made known to this Ethiopian that Christ had died for his sins. You see, dear friend, you won’t get saved until you admit that.
There is an old story of a king who was visiting a slave galley ship, where they chained the slaves to the oars and made them pull the oars. And, people were put in those ships; they were prison ships. For prisoners of the state and for people who had done horrible things like crimes, this was their sentence—to pull at the oars beneath the decks, and to be the engines of those ancient ships. This king visited one of those ships, and he asked a man, “Why are you here?” He said, “Sire, I’m here not really by my fault. The reason I am here is because I was framed, and I wasn’t guilty, but I was lied on in a law court.” And the king said, “Oh, that’s tragic. That’s such a shame.” And, he went to the next man, and he said, “Why are you here?” “Oh,” he said, “Your Honor, I am like the other man.” He said, “I am innocent.” He said, “I was simply in a crowd when a crime was committed, and I was arrested with the others. Have mercy on me.” And the king said, “Oh, that’s tragic, my man, that you should be in such a situation.” And, he went to one man after another, and they all had some tale like that, except for one man.
He said, “And why are you here?” He said, “Sire, I’m here because I’m a criminal. I have sinned against my God. I have sinned against my king. I’ve sinned against my fellowman. And now, I’m suffering the just reward for my deed.” When the king heard that, he said, “You nave—you rascal—what are you doing here among so many honest men? Guards, release him and get him out of here.” Oh, dear friend, when we protect our innocence, we condemn ourselves; but, when we say, “Have mercy upon me—a sinner,” we’ll know the king’s forgiveness.
2. He Showed This Man that Christ Died for His Sins
Now, I’ll tell you something else that you’ll have to understand: Not only do you have to understand, and not only did Philip help this man to understand that he was a sinner, but Philip helped him to understand that Christ died for his sins: “As a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth… Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:32, 35). No matter what else you preach, dear friend, if you don’t tell people that Christ died for their sins, then you’re not a missionary; you haven’t preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, he preached how that Christ died for our sins.
Have you understood that He took your place? “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him”—on Jesus— “the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus took my sin and went to Calvary. I take His righteousness, and I go to Heaven—that’s what the gospel is. You say, “Oh, that’s so simple.” That’s exactly right, dear friend. It’s so simple that sometimes a little child will see it and a college professor will stumble over it.
I heard of a woman who was a washerwoman. She got saved, and she didn’t have a great education. There was a skeptic, a sinner who knew her, and he said, “Well, Betty, I hear you got religion last week. Tell me what it’s like to be a saint.” She said, “Well, I’m not sure that I know what a saint is.” He said, “Well, tell me what happened to you.” “Oh,” she said, “I learned of something called the grace of God and that Jesus died for me, and I accepted Him as my personal Savior and Lord. And, He’s forgiven my sins and saved me.” “Oh,” he said, “you’re saved.” He said, “Tell me what does it feel like to be saved?” And, she said, “Well I don’t think I could explain it to you where you could understand it. But,” she said, “to me, it’s as though I’m standing in Jesus’ shoes and He’s standing in mine.”
I don’t believe a theologian with an earned degree could explain it better than that. Dear friend, I’m standing in Jesus’ shoes, and He’s standing in mine. Christ died for our sins. And, my dear friend, if you’re here today without Jesus, or listening by television without Jesus, He died for your sins. He died for you, and your sins are paid for in the blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
3. He Taught This Man that Salvation is by Grace Through Faith
Now, listen—listen. The third thing that Philip taught this man is so simple. It’s so simple—that salvation is by grace through faith. Look—look at it right here. They come to a place, and the Ethiopian is wondering about being baptized. Verses 36 and 37: "And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said,”—now, just underscore this—“If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God” (Acts 8:36–37).
Do you know what Philip had taught him? That salvation is by grace through faith. Now, it’s so simple. Philip taught him that he was a sinner. Philip taught him that Christ died for his sins. And, Philip taught him that he was saved by grace through faith. Couldn’t you teach people that? I mean, folks, you don’t have to be a PhD to teach that. That is so simple, and it is so glorious that we are saved by faith. Well, actually, we are saved by grace, through faith, as we trust the Lord Jesus. That’s the reason why the Apostle Paul said, in Romans chapter 1, and verse 16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). That’s the reason that Paul and Silas were able to tell that man in that Philippian jail, in Acts chapter 16 and verse 31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and they house” (Acts 16:31).
Let me ask you a question: Can a person know that they are saved? Absolutely. You’re looking at a man who knows that he is saved. “Well,” you say, “you sure are cocky. You sure to do have a lot of confidence in yourself.” No, I don’t. But I know that I’m saved. And, the way that I know I’m saved is because salvation is by grace through faith.
If you have your Bibles, and you want to see something that will bless you, then just open them up to Romans chapter 4 here for just a moment. Let me show you what I’m talking about—how you can know that you are saved. In Romans chapter 4, now look at it—Romans chapter 4 and verse 16—just the first part of that verse: “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure” (Romans 4:16). I’m just going to stop right there: “It is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure.”
Now, what does that mean? Well, you see, dear friend, if there were any other plan of salvation, then you couldn’t be sure. Suppose God said, “Everybody who wants to be saved—read a chapter in the Bible.” Some people can’t. Suppose God said, “Everybody who wants to be saved—live a good life.” None of us has ever lived a perfect life. These people who are depending upon their good works to get them to Heaven, they have the idea: “Well, if you’re living good enough, when you die, then you are going to go to Heaven.” Oh, my dear friend, listen. Is there anybody who would stand up here and say that today, yesterday, or tomorrow, they are going to be perfect or have been perfect? No—not a one of us.
“Well,” you say, “I’ve been pretty good.” Pretty good? God demands perfection. Suppose you’re hanging over a chasm 2,000 feet deep, and you are suspended by a chain of 100 links, and 99 links in that chain are forged steel, and one link is made of crepe paper. How safe are you? We have a proverb: “A chain is no stronger than it’s weakest link.” Dear friend, if one link in that chain depends upon you, then you’ll never be sure. Just one link—I mean, it’s not you and God. It’s God all the way.
Let me give you a verse of Scripture. Some people, they have a hard time understanding it when they hear it. It’s Romans 11:6: “And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Did that make sense to you? Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? All right, slow down. “And if by grace,”—Romans 11:6—“then It is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”
What is grace? God’s riches at Christ’s expense—G-R-A-C-E. Grace is God doing it all, and us doing none of it. Now, if it is by grace, then it is no more of works.
I cannot work my soul to save,
For that my Lord hath done;
But I will work like any slave,
For the love of God’s dear Son. (Author Unknown)
But, I don’t work in order to be saved. I work because I’ve been saved. “And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise…”—now, listen—“otherwise grace is no more grace.” The minute that I add works to it, then grace is no more grace.
Now, suppose that brother Bob over here, he gets very wealthy, and he says to me, “Adrian, I’m going to buy you a Mercedes automobile.” “I want one with all of the trimming—everything.” I mean, he’s going to buy me a Mercedes. I say, “Well, Bob, that’s fine. I don’t want any ordinary Mercedes.” “No sir, I’m going to get you a fine one.” So, he buys for me…what’s a new Mercedes? Forty thousand dollars? Let’s say that he buys me a 40,000 dollar Mercedes. I don’t want a cheap one. And so, he says, “Now, Adrian, this is for you, because I love you.” And, I say, “Now, Bob, you’re just giving me this?” “Just giving it to you.” I say, “Now, Bob, wait a minute. I just can’t let you do that. Bob, here’s a quarter. Let me help you.” And, I give Bob a quarter. So, he pays 39,999 dollars and 75 cents, and I pay two bits. And, I’m driving that car, and somebody says, “Nice car you got, Adrian.” I say, “Yeah, Bob and I bought this car.” Huh? And, I add my two bits worth of effort to what he did.
Friend, you try to add your two bits worth of effort to what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary, and you’ll insult the Giver. The minute that you add your works to it, you destroy the idea of grace. “But if it be of works, then it is no more grace” (Romans 11:6). If it’s by grace, then it can’t be of works; and, if it’s by works, then it can’t be of grace.
Now, those of you who are trying to be saved by your good works, no wonder you don’t have the assurance of your salvation. The Bible says, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure” (Romans 4:16). I know that I’m going to Heaven, but mister, I wouldn’t trust the best 15 minutes I ever lived to get me to Heaven. Did you know that? Not the best I ever lived—much less the worst 15. But, I am going to Heaven by the grace of God.
These people get all confused about this thing. They say, “Oh no, no, let me tell you; let me tell you that it’s grace and works—just like a rowboat. You get in the rowboat and you want to cross the stream, and so, you pull on one oar—it’s called works—you just go round in a circle. And, you pull on the other oar—it’s called faith—and you’ll just go around the circle the other way. “Ah, but,” they say, “faith and works just get you right across.” That sounds good, but there’s a fatal flaw in that, dear friend: I’m not going to Heaven in a rowboat.
Friend, I am going to Heaven by the grace of God—"And if by grace, then it is no more of works” (Romans 11:6). Listen—listen. What Philip preached to this man was this: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Now, folks, that’s what people have to understand. When he got up there, and he said, “You understand what you’re reading?” he helped him to see that he was a sinner. He helped him to understand that Christ died for his sins. And, he helped him, dear friend, to understand that salvation is by grace through faith.
III. You Must Practice the Commands of God
One last thing, and I don’t have time to develop this—I’ll develop it tonight—but listen. Not only must the missionary perceive the call of God, not only must he preach the Christ of God, but he must also practice the commands of God. If you read the story on through, then you’ll find out that Philip got this man baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ. This man had a believer’s baptism. For, you see, the Great Commission tells us not only to preach Christ, but to obey Christ. The Great Commission says, "Go ye therefore unto all the world, making disciples of all nations, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
I wish I had more time to talk about that. Dear friend, when you are baptized, it's your way of showing openly and publicly that you have been saved. But you must be saved, in order to be baptized. And, if you haven't believed first with all of your heart, you're not ready to be baptized. “The eunuch said, ‘See, here's water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?’ And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may’” (Acts 8:36–37). If you were baptized before you were saved, dear friend, that's like having your funeral before you die. You're not baptized in order to be saved; you're baptized because you're saved. A true baptism follows a true salvation.
When this man was baptized, the Bible says he went on his way rejoicing. Baptism and joy are linked in the Bible. And the reason that some of you who claim to be saved don't have any joy is you've not been obedient about the matter of baptism.
Conclusion
Now, if we’re real missionaries, then we’re going to receive the call of God; we’re going to preach the Christ of God; and, we’re going to practice the commands of God.
