Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.42 – November 2005

 

Back to Basics

 

Sermon by Rev John Haverland on Acts 16:31-34

(A Sermon on Lord's Day 7)

Scripture Reading:  Acts 16:16-34

 

Theme: In response to the jailer's great need and question about salvation, Paul directs him to faith in Christ.

Purpose: To explain the essential elements of salvation through faith in Christ.

 

Congregation...

There are many situations in life where children and adults need to be well grounded in the basics.

Children, when you start learning, you begin with what has traditionally been called the three Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. You need to understand these and learn them because you need them for the rest of your schooling.

When a new recruit joins the army he needs to do "basic training". This is a rigorous course in physical fitness, gun use and safety, army discipline and survival skills.

When a young man begins an apprenticeship he can do a pre-trade course that teaches him the basics about machinery and materials and the use of tools and rules for safety.

In all these areas, once you have learnt these basic skills, then you can advance beyond them. In your learning, you read bigger books, you do more complicated sums, you write longer essays. In the army, you extend your fitness, you learn more skills, you specialise in a certain area. In your trade, your work becomes more complicated so you can make products that are more intricate and detailed.

But you never forget your basic training. No matter how far you advance in learning or in a trade, you always need to remember what you learnt at the very beginning. You need to keep those truths in mind. You need to maintain those skills.

All this is true for the Christian. Whether you grew up in a Christian home or were converted later in life, you began by learning about God the Creator and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the need for faith and obedience. After that you went on to learn more about God's character and how we are justified and the process of sanctification and what the Bible teaches about the future.

The writer of Hebrews urged his readers to keep learning and to go on from milk to solid food, suitable for the mature. You need to do this, too.

But no matter how much you learn, you must always remember the basics of sin, faith and obedience. These truths are simple, yet profound. They are clear, yet deep. They are part of the foundation, yet are also an essential part of the construction of the entire Christian life.

So today, we will go back to the basics of salvation - especially to the essential element of faith. In order to be saved you must have:

1. A sense of need;

2. Faith in Jesus;

3. A change of life.

First of all, then, you must have A SENSE OF NEED.

This sense of need seemed to come suddenly on the jailer in Philippi. His life was proceeding as normal - the usual routines of family life and work and friends - although the prisoners of that day had been a little unusual, out of the ordinary. These two men were imprisoned for religious offences, not for any criminal offence. They had spent some time in the city preaching and teaching about God. A slave girl had followed them around for many days shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."

That was a bit unusual, and was certainly a striking advertisement for Paul and Silas as to their mission in the town. It is likely that the jailer had heard about them. After they had been arrested, they were severely flogged, then locked up in prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. So he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

But after midnight there was such a violent earthquake that all the prison doors flew open and all the chains holding the prisoners came loose. The jailer, fearing that his prisoners had escaped, and knowing that he would be executed for this, was about to take his own life. But Paul called out to him and stopped him.

We don't know what went on in his mind; but we do know he suddenly saw his need. He became aware of the Most High God and of life and death and the issues of eternity.

These events and thoughts prompted the vital question: "What must I do to be saved?" You, too, need to ask this question.

This is the most important question anyone can ask. It is the most pressing issue of all of life. You need to ask this and find an answer to it because this will determine how and where you will spend eternity - in heaven or in hell.

Yet many people don't even think about this question, let alone ask it, or even less, seek an answer. They go along with their normal day to day lives of eating and sleeping, working and playing, without a thought for eternity. Maybe that describes you at this time. You are going along with your usual routines of life without thinking too far ahead.

But God has ways of making you stop and think. God can step into your life in sudden and dramatic ways. God can use striking providences to wake you up. You may become very ill. Someone in your family may die, or one of your friends. You may lose your job or go through a financial crisis.

In these events the Lord interrupts your programme, disturbs your routine. He does this to make you stop and think; to make you pause and ponder your sin and eternal destiny; to draw out of you this question: "What must I do to be saved?"

This is what the jailer asked. Have you asked that question - and found an answer? Are you encouraging this question in others - a conviction of sin, a greater sense of need, an anxiety of soul, an awareness of eternity and a desire for salvation? You need this yourself. And if you have experienced this yourself, you need to pray for this in others.

Not only do you need a knowledge of sin, you also need, secondly, A FAITH IN JESUS.

Paul responded, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (vs 31). Here we need to consider the whole matter of faith. What does it meant to believe? What is faith? The catechism gives us a helpful, clear and biblical definition of faith.

Faith involves a knowledge that everything God reveals in his word is true.

What God reveals in his Word centres around the Lord Jesus. Paul urged the jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus." This is the essence of faith. But the jailer had to know something about this Jesus and so Paul and Silas "spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house" (vs 32).

Knowledge is essential to faith. Some people ask, "How little do I need to know in order to be saved?" That is difficult to answer. Only God knows that. Yet we should incline towards knowing more, not less. To believe in Jesus involves knowing who he is as the Son of God who came into the world as a man; to know that he was fully God and fully man, fully divine and fully human. To believe in the Lord Jesus also involves knowing what he did: "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day..." (1 Cor 15:3).

A knowledge of these truths is the foundation for faith. We need to be clear about this because some people mis-interpret faith as a mystical experience. They have some experience of God or they watch the movie, "The Passion of Christ", and they feel emotional and they mistake that for genuine faith.

Faith does involve a mystical element - a deep communion with God, a filling of the Holy Spirit, a sense of the presence of Christ - but all of this is based on what we know about Jesus. Faith must have a knowledge base that comes from the Bible.

"Faith", writes Paul to the Romans, "come from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (10:17). Some knowledge of Jesus is essential to faith. Do you want to know more about Jesus? Then read the Bible and come to worship.

Secondly, faith involves a conviction that God's Word is true. You might know the facts of the Bible but that is not enough for saving faith; you also must be convinced that all this is true.

In the South Island of New Zealand there is a famous spot for bungy jumping. It is located at the historic bridge over the Kawarau River just outside Queenstown. It is a long, long way down to the river below. Sometimes you see people standing on the edge and they are hesitating. Maybe they are wondering if the rubber cord will hold them. The operators try to reassure the person jumping. They explain the details of the rope, and how much it will hold and how they have worked it out exactly. The jumper not only needs to know these facts but also needs to be convinced they are true. He needs to assent to this in his mind.

This is also necessary for saving faith. To believe in the Lord Jesus you need to know what the Bible says about him and you must assent to this truth about Jesus in your heart and mind. You need "a conviction that everything God reveals in his word is true."

But you need something else in saving faith. You need "a deep rooted assurance". You need trust. Yes, you must know the truth about Jesus and you must be convinced that this is true. But even the demons believe there is one God - and they shudder. Their knowledge of God does not produce saving faith. True faith also involves trust.

The person about to jump off the Kawarau bridge does not trust in that rope until he actually jumps. Knowledge and conviction are not enough - he must rely on that rope. So, too, for the Christian. To believe you must trust Christ.

There is another striking illustration of this. A man named Blondin was a tightrope artist. He stretched a wire across the river just before the Niagara Falls and he walked back and forth over that wire. He then pushed a wheelbarrow over that wire. Then he told people he was going to wheel a person across the wire in the wheelbarrow. People came from all over to see this. A reporter was interviewing Blondin before this great show of skill. The reporter was enthusiastic about the ability of this man. Blondin asked the reporter, "Do you think I can do this?" The reporter had no hesitation: "Sure you can!" "Okay", came the reply, "Get in the wheelbarrow!" That is the test of genuine faith.

So, too, for the person coming to faith in Jesus. You must trust in Jesus. To trust in him is to believe that he was and is the Son of God sent to redeem you from your sin and then to rely on him as your Lord and Saviour. Faith is to depend on Jesus alone for salvation - not on your own works or efforts.

Have you done that? Do you have faith? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? These are the most important questions you will ever be asked.

Faith is not something for just the beginning of your life as a believer. You need to keep on believing. You must continue to trust in Jesus. Faith is a personal attachment to Jesus that keeps on going. Through faith we live close to the Lord Jesus by his Spirit.

Are you doing that? Do you live by faith? Do you trust Jesus day by day? Do you lean on him and rely on him when you face decisions, when you get ill, when you are anxious, when you doubt? Is your faith in Jesus standing still or are you growing and increasing and developing? Is your faith still at the level of milk, or are you getting your teeth into the meat of the Bible, gaining more knowledge of God?

In order to be saved you must have a sense of need and a faith in Jesus and, thirdly, you must have A CHANGE OF LIFE.

This means there must be a love for other believers. When Paul and Silas were brought into the prison they were torn and bleeding from a severe flogging. They were in much pain and distress. The jailer didn't care. He locked them up in the innermost cell and put their feet in the stocks so they were even more uncomfortable. But after his conversion he took them into his house and washed their wounds and gave them a meal. He had compassion on them and he took care of them. He showed love to his new found brothers in Christ.

If you have come to believe in Jesus, then that must be seen in a life of love. A love for God must be expressed in a love for other believers. Is all this true for you? Do you show genuine love for other believers? Do you look after them and care for them? Do you seek their company? Do you look forward to worship and fellowship with the church?

Faith must be seen in works. Land that drinks in the rain of spiritual blessing must produce a crop. What you know must flow over into how you live. Doctrine must be worked out in life. You must live a life of love and show that especially to other believers.

A believer will also be filled with joy. The jailer was also filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole family (vs 34). Believers today are also filled with the joy of believing. Fear is replaced by faith; anxiety with peace.

If you believe in Jesus you rejoice knowing that your sins are forgiven; you can live with the joy of a clear conscience; you can be glad that your name is written in heaven. This is why Paul wrote later to the believers in Philippi, including this jailer, "Rejoice in the Lord, I say it again, rejoice!"

You must do this, too. Rejoice in the Lord. Be glad in the great joy of believing in him, in the salvation God has given you.

These are the basics of salvation: A sense of need, a faith in the Lord Jesus and a life filled with the good works of gratitude.

No matter how far you go as a Christian; no matter how much you grow; no matter what level of maturity you reach: you must always remember these basic and fundamental truths and keep growing in them.

Remember what you were saved from.

Continue in a living faith in Jesus.

Live in the joy and peace of believing.

Amen.