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.
d. This verse tells us that “many people who heard the message believed it.”
e. As a result, they were added to the 3,000 who accepted Christ on the day of Pentecost, and now totaled 5,000 men, not counting women and children.
f. Historians believe that the population of Jerusalem currently was somewhere between 25,000 to 85,000.
g. That’s quite a large percentage of the population in a short amount of time. According to google, the population of Rome, GA is around 36,000. So, if we were growing at the same rate as the church in Jerusalem, we would have about 9,000 people at worship on Sunday.
h. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the number of Sadducees was only about 6,000.
i. The Gospel was spreading, and the church was growing in the power of Jesus name! Oh, can I get a witness!
B. On This Rock
1. Jesus said: "Upon this rock (of Peter's testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God) I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it" Matthew 16:18
a. Now the odd thing about Jesus' statement was this: Gates don't attack. Gates swing on hinges. About the only way a gate is going to hurt you is if you get your finger stuck in one - when it closes.
b. So, if the gates of hell aren't attacking us, what does it mean for Jesus to say "...the gates of Hell will not overcome/prevail against (the church)?"
c. It means: one of the reasons Jesus created the church was to attack the gates of Hell. He intended the church to take the fight to the enemy. We (the church) are the tool that He intends to use to take Satan down, to tear his strongholds apart.
d. The church is a training ground for war -- but not a war like the ones we're fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan or other hot spots around the globe.
e. Paul writes: "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." II Corinthians 10:4-5
2. Jesus Christ is building his church, and all the powers of hell cannot defeat it!
a. “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matt. 16:18)
b. Do you know what the largest Christian church in the world is located? Communist China. It is estimated that at least 300,000, 000 born again Christians are in China today. Nearly all of them are in underground churches
c. The reason that they are underground is that one of the communist party’s main objectives is to eliminate Christianity in China.
d. But the opposite has happened. The church has flourished there.
e. In fact, throughout the history of the Christian church, the more it has been persecuted the more it has grown.
f. I see revival coming in our nation. The reason is the Church is under attack in America and based on the statistics I shared with you in my opening statements, in some places it is under attack from within.
g. But Jesus is building his church! His church cannot be defeated! His church will always prevail! And the gates of hell will not conquer it!
Transition: The second truth we learn from our text today is…
II. The Holy Spirit Is Unstoppable (5-10).
A. Filled With the Holy Spirit
1. Luke continues the story by saying, “The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.”
a. The Jewish council was made up of the elders, rulers, teachers of the religious law, and included the high priest and his family.
b. They were the ones who laid down the local law, especially when it came to religious matters.
c. However, the one thing they couldn’t do was to have people executed.
d. The death sentence had to be issued by the Romans, which is why they had to take Jesus to Pilate.
e. There were 70 members in all that made up the council.
f. The Sadducees held the majority in the council, and in addition to their religious beliefs, they were mostly wealthy aristocrats and they wanted to keep peace with the Romans at all costs.
2. Luke continues by telling us, “They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
a. “In whose name” refers to exorcism practices. They wanted to know what formula Peter and John had used.
b. Their concern was more about the apostles’ teaching, but they began their questioning with the miracle, for the healed man was there as well (4:14).
c. The actions and words of Peter and John threatened these religious leaders who, for the most part, were more interested in their reputations and positions than in the glory of God. (Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 486).
3. As usual, at just the right moment, the Holy Spirit showed up! Luke tells us in vv. 8-10, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.”
a. As Peter began to speak, Luke tells us he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
b. This was a new, fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. Peter hadn’t lost what was given him on the day of Pentecost, but this was an additional filling of the Holy Spirit.
c. In the book of Acts, we see numerous times when the Holy Spirit comes with more power to meet the need brought on by the situation.
d. Peter needed extra boldness and extra illumination at this moment, and the Holy Spirit showed up to give Peter exactly what he needed.
e. This was a fulfillment of the promise of Jesus.
f. “And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.” (Lk. 12:11-12).
g. Peter begins by addressing the council and asking them if they wanted to know how the beggar was healed.
h. He tells them very plainly that this man was healed by the power of the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene!
i. It wasn’t by their power, nor was it because of some ritual or formula, that the man was healed. It was by the power of Jesus name!
j. Then Peter reminds them that this is the same Jesus they put to death, but God raised him from the dead (and remember, they didn’t believe in the resurrection).
k. Peter, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, hit them right where it mattered most. He challenged their deepest beliefs, that were in error.
B. The Spirit of Truth
1. Illustration: “Jesus doesn’t want us to think of the Holy Spirit as an it or a thing. The Holy Spirit is a person. Jesus calls him a paraclete, a Greek word that can be translated as Comforter, Counselor, or Advocate. But the central message is the same: we are not alone!” (Max Lucado)
2. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, and to give us the words to say at the time we need it.
a. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’” (Jn 16:13-15)
b. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just give us gifts and empower us for ministry, he also leads us into all truth.
c. He tells us what we need to know.
d. He tells us what to say and how to say it!
e. The word paraclete is a legal term, and as the Counselor indicates, the Holy Spirit is our lawyer, and he’s the best there is!
f. We are not alone! He is always with us!
Transition: This leads us to the…
III. Undeniable Truth: There is Salvation Only in Jesus (11-12).
A. Salvation in No One Else
1. Peter continues his response to the council by, you guessed it, using Scripture! He tells them, “For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’”
a. Once again Peter goes back to the Scriptures. This is a reference to Ps 118:22.
b. The Jews felt that their nation was the cornerstone that was rejected by the nations.
c. However, Jesus made it clear that he was the cornerstone, and these Jewish leaders were the builders who rejected the chief cornerstone.
d. The cornerstone was the most important stone in a building, used as the standard to make sure that the other stones of the building were straight and level. (Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 486).
e. They wanted a political king, but Jesus was not that kind of king.
f. But one day he will return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
2. Then Peter makes the greatest declaration of all, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
a. Peter says there is salvation in no one else! Not in Buddha, not in Allah, not in Confucius, not in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Mormons, but only in the name of Jesus!
b. “For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
c. There are not many ways to God. For there is only one God, and the only way to him is Jesus Christ!
d. Peter declares, “there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
e. There is no other way, and there is no other name by Jesus!
B. Only Jesus Saves
1. Illustration: “We are saved by grace alone. Through faith alone. In Christ alone. According to Scripture alone. For the glory of God alone.”
2. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation!
a. “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6).
b. Jesus made it clear when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father except through me!”
c. The definite article here “the” means the one and only!
d. There is no other way to God except through Jesus!
e. There is no other truth aside from Jesus!
f. There is no spiritual life except in and through Jesus Christ!
g. You cannot obtain salvation though other religions.
h. Their leaders are all dead and, in their graves, but Jesus is alive!
i. We are saved by grace alone. Through faith alone. In Christ alone. According to Scripture alone. For the glory of God alone!
j. In Jesus name!
Conclusion
1. 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.
2. In our text today, we learn three undeniable truths:
a. The Gospel is Unstoppable
b. The Holy Spirit is Unstoppable
c. Undeniable Truth: Salvation Only in Jesus
3. What’s the point preacher? The point is you cannot be saved by good works. You cannot be saved through other religions. You can only be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone!
4. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (Jn 1:12-13).
