[0:00] 3, 8, Acts 13. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man was preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. By him all that believe are justified from all of them, from which he could not be justified by the Lord.
[0:19] Beware their joy, lest that come upon you which spoke of the unfrockets. Behold, these by despisers and wondrous heirs, for I will work a work in your days, work which ye shall have no wise believe me.
[0:34] Though a man will declare it unto you. We'll talk more about this old sermon that begins in about verse 16 as we begin our message.
[0:45] When it was announced that Jesus was saved and had died today. We were in St. Louis about nine years after we were there and the news came out one morning that a little baby had fallen out of a high-rise apartment and had a good third floor.
[1:07] And you held your breath until they finished the announcement. And the announcer said, but miraculously, the baby fell on a bed of thick grass and it's unhingured.
[1:26] The miracle fell that far and not be injured. Now I know the feeling that you're feeling right now.
[1:36] My heart is feeling the same thing. That's wonderful, isn't it? To get news that some child has been saved from death.
[1:49] Isn't that wonderful? And yet we had five children saved from spiritual death last year. And the heart made up beating them in our heart.
[2:00] We probably hadn't even thought of it since last Sunday. Why do I feel like that?
[2:12] You know what's wrong with us? Why can't the human person focus his attention on spiritual things more than on physical things because they're more important?
[2:25] They are more important. Well, we're talking about salvation this morning. What has salvation involved? Paul, of all people, ought to know how to tell us how to be saved.
[2:40] Paul was the enemy of the church when he was an unbeliever. He didn't understand. He was in a religion that thought that Jesus was an imposter.
[2:52] And he took it upon himself personally to annihilate as many people as he could that believed in this upstart of Jesus. He would go to other cities to try to find believers.
[3:08] One day he was arrested. He and his pals were killing a Christian by stoning.
[3:18] They put this Christian down in a pit. Around the pit on higher ground they had a stack of large boulders.
[3:30] And men would just rain down those boulders on the person down in the pit until the pit was filled with boulders and the life had been pounded out of the individual in his tomb.
[3:43] Paul was there. Now on this occasion Paul himself did not broke the stone. They all took off their outer coats and wanted some of them and that's a crooked bunch you know.
[3:57] You don't trust people that do that. And those coats were very bad in the thing. And they could just imagine taking their coat off and somebody stealing it.
[4:10] So they found one of the leanest ones of them and said hey do you take care of the coats while we do the stoning? And that was Paul. His name was Saul. And he said don't worry about your coats I'll take care of you.
[4:23] And he is a snake. And he's watched those coats while these men killed Stephen. But not being distracted about anything he just watched that man die.
[4:39] And he watched as Stephen's face lit up like an angel. And he watched Stephen look forward heaven and heard him say I see the heavens open and the son of God standing to welcome me home.
[4:59] Paul heard all that. And then he he watched Stephen as the thong were pounding the life out of him.
[5:09] He knew he was dying 30 years old when he was dying. And he said Father lay not this sin for their charge.
[5:24] Into thy hands I come with my spirit. Sounded like Jesus did. And then he died with that wonderful angelic expression on the table.
[5:37] Paul never got away. he couldn't forget it. I expect when he slept at night that face came to his mind view. Several days later he was on his way to another city to annihilate Christians.
[5:57] Remember he hadn't slept for a long time and all he could think of was that death of that Christian. God used that to pound and pound and pound and pound on Paul until he had him just right and then out there on that road to Damascus.
[6:17] The heavens lit up and Jesus Christ spoke to Paul and said Paul pretty hard for you to kick against the bricks.
[6:28] pretty hard for you to kick against the Holy Spirit's conviction in your heart. That's all it took. Down off his donkey went into the dirt groveling before God knowing that this thing that's been in his heart these days was the Spirit of God challenging him to become Christian himself.
[6:54] He poured it all out to the Lord. Lord who art thou Lord? Jesus said I'm Jesus and I'm without persecuting me.
[7:07] And Paul said Lord what wilt thou have me to do? I'm yours from now on. That was the beginning of the greatest Christian life that was lived since Jesus.
[7:21] The greatest enemy of the church became the greatest friend. Gave his life himself to martyr some 30 years later. But old Paul if it weren't for old Paul Bert what did we do?
[7:37] How would we preach? The man just wrote half the New Testament and is the example for every good message you want to preach.
[7:49] What a man Paul what transformed him what changed him how can you go to the here in chapter 13 of Acts is the first recorded sermon by this great preacher first time if you notice in verse 16 Paul stood up and beckoning with his hand men of Israel you hear God give audience and so he begins to preach his sermon he gives us a short history of
[8:52] Israel and how God dealt with him and Paul was really versed in the Bible he could just go to any subject in the word and discuss it with him and he came on down to the days of John the Baptist giving his history and he said John said there's one that comes after me and that one was Jesus Christ Paul said the Lord of glory that you crucified and killed even though Pilate was going to let him go you killed him but God raised him from the dead he could have said I met him said that other way but he said I want to tell you how you can go from being the worst sinner to the greatest
[9:53] Christian if anybody can give us the right answer if you want to know how to be saved here is how you can know nobody can give it better than he did you want to be transformed this is what transformed you now you just forget about what you heard before let's just find out what Paul does of all the experts there are here's the number one and this is the four things he said were necessary for you to get transformed to become a child of God right the first thing he says that involved is a person look at the verses that I did you verse 38 be it known unto you therefore brethren that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness is man look forget everything else you've ever heard salvation is not in a baptister it's in a man salvation is not in working it's in a man salvation is not in a church it's in a man salvation is not in the baptist church or any other church it's in a man all the man who was transformed more than anybody else and became the greatest christian of his day wrote half this bible this new test the first thing he said when he got down to the coconut tell those people
[11:30] I to be saved he said we have known through this man he's preaching unto you salvation he's going to have to get there don't you miss that part that's the most important part if you ever go to heaven it'll be because Jesus saved it'll not be because you deserve it'll be because his mercy and grace so hey it's not in confirmation it's not in sacrament it's not in any formula that any man can give you it's in a man it's in a person you got to get there in 1953 a little boy knelt beside him his parents and this little boy didn't trust some baptism some church this little boy with his dad beside him with the
[12:31] Bible open placed his confidence and trust in a person and talked to that person personally and I said dear Jesus I don't want to go to heaven and I understand from this book that you're the only one that can keep me out I!
[12:52] I don't know how to get to heaven I don't know where it is so I'm going to just trust you give my heart my life to you if you think I sin with you!
[13:04] I trust you that's all I did and that's all I did here I am 39 years old I don't know somebody said next year somehow I be 39 for 39 well however old I am I try to forget it all those years I go right back to that spot we were on the campus of college dad didn't get right to college 10 and then he went off to school and we were living in married couples of the car apartment that's what it was well years went on that college expanded changed and one thing they did was they raised or tore down all those apartments and the one that
[14:05] I was saved in was gone and I went out there one day after I was preaching I went out there one day and I got some landmarks and I saw some things and I skipped off some places and I found as closely as I could find it to the spot where I lived in my dad mother's bedroom in that building that's gone now out doors now and I kept facing things off and I walked and and counted and stopped and right there was a pine tree somebody planted a pine tree right there there there was a brick building there and it was that new building and then from then on it was easy to find my spot I was going through that town many times and I driven out of that college campus and
[15:08] I walked over to that tree that pine tree just gets bigger and bigger and I knelt right there and I said dear God right here is where it all started right here is where you intervene with a little boy that was going to hell they didn't deserve anything and he didn't do anything to get saved but right here he and you've been such a wonderful savior to me I could spend all of every day thanking you for what's happened to me since that day when you came into my life came to live in my heart I always go back to that that's the spot it happened it's not because I preached it's not because I could work for the Lord not because I got baptized later on not because I joined the church Paul said it's in person you're going to have to forget all you've been taught you've been taught that your church is not going to save you your confirmation is not going to save you none of that stuff is going to fail you until you do like
[16:16] I did and kneel on your knees and say dear God I can't help myself there's nothing I can do to! turn it over to you next year that's what faith is so it's interpersonal says that many times the Bible this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son pretty plain isn't it here's another one for God sent not his son in the world but that the world through him might be saved!
[16:47] here's another one neither is there salvation in the other for there's no other name under heaven given among men when the Bible is up to his name I could go on and on but that's enough I proved Paul's first point salvation in the person if you don't connect with that person it doesn't matter what you do what church you join it doesn't matter what good work you do!
[17:13] it doesn't matter if you do! it bad number two Paul said get involved in preaching be it known unto you therefore brethren that through this man he is preached unto you be forgiven this man that's what I'm doing for I'm preaching the person you have to have preaching somebody has to tell you some person has to tell you how to get saved!
[17:46] Amen! Jeremy you got saved didn't you? Lord Lord have mercy isn't that wonderful I mean he got a good but somebody had to tell you that he used somebody else to tell you he had to use somebody to tell you here's a that's good for all us here's a fellow that's been to Jerusalem and he's on his way home and he's got a Bible and he's in his chair and he's reading he doesn't understand it seems like if he gets himself saved by himself without somebody else he could have done he's reading the Bible but there's a preacher way off in another revival meeting and God went to that preacher and said there's a man that needs you to help him get saved now you leave your revival meeting you go down to that desert you find that chariot and get that man saved but
[18:55] Philip said you understand what you reading he said no I can't listen now it's in the Bible how can I accept some man God you got to be saved through a person and you got to be saved through preaching somebody has got to tell you did you get saved and took somebody to take you did really yes sir you could have wandered around in the world and just standing on the morning to find your own place somebody had to take you through preaching you preaching well Stephen was the fellow that told Paul you got to have somebody to take you preaching is simply proclaiming a message it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching some people call it foolishness to save them that believe preaching can be saved and many people get saved right here after you leave if you aren't confident enough in the preaching yourself bring them to church they'll get preached to them here and the
[20:09] Holy Spirit can use preaching you gotta have preaching somebody somebody's gotta tell you it can also be done one-on-one you can go to somebody and talk to them in their home and tell them how to go to heaven and you can preach to them preaching do one-on-one it doesn't matter but somebody's gotta tell you how to work now since that's true I'm telling you this morning your ears are not going God is allowing you today to hear some person tell you how to go ahead of that it's so important so vitally important number three Paul said he's involved with a promise he'll forgive your sin he'll make a child die he'll wipe away the past you'll be a new person some of you need to pass right by well he promises
[21:10] I wonder how many times I've dealt beside little children their hearts are so tender and open they've just been awakened to the fact that they're saying oh they're going to go to hell they don't get saved it's a perfect and pure little heart how many times have I dealt there I said sweetheart do you think pastor would like me and the little child would say no sir you know I would like no sir you would like well then do you think God will guide you oh no no God will not mind you let me tell you what he said whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved amen do you believe that he called upon the name of the Lord and asked him to save you you think he'd do it yes sir why because God promised
[22:19] God cannot break the promise there are some folks that may not be in this room right now that need to listen to this part of the sermon and I need to take you as a little child that you died in your salvation and I need to kneel beside you and I need to look at you like a little kid do you think pastor will lie to you and you'd say you might be 30 years old and you'd say no sir and then I would say do you think God will lie to you no no God could lie like the Bible said God can't lie to you and though you're 30 or 40 years old I would lead you as a little child except the way it becomes a little child and if you ever doubted listen to me and I would say you think God will lie to you you'd say no okay God says you will call upon me that's his mom and I would look at you 40 years old
[23:22] I'd look at you I'd say who did you call on to save you did you ask me to save you no did you ask your mom dad to save you no did you ask any other preacher Christian saving no who did you ask God I got a boy got a bit short hairs from that with me alright that God you called him and said if you would you'd save him and if you think you're not saved after going you call God by serious stuff you want to get over your doubts who did you call on the one that promised to save you and you're telling me he didn't do why were you right now I'd stop doubting and I'd say Lord I don't give him that's all I need to do
[24:22] I just did what I need to do and you said you saved me if you let me go to hell you're a liar and you're looking at the fellow that's never died of salvation in one day I was a little child and the Bible said call on the Lord he'll save you and my dad said you think God lied to your son no no who you calling on calling on God what did he say did he yeah he said well you had to do it I've never died of it one day that's simple isn't it you don't have to die of it involves God's promise I will forgive you I will forgive you God made the promise count on it you've never done that calling yet when you do call you're going to get saved come on oh now you have to believe don't you verse 13 by him all that believe are justified in all things well
[25:27] I believe there's a God that's not the right kind of believing the Bible says even the demons believe that they're not heaven this kind of believing here is believing so much that you're trusting him the other day I went to a doctor I had this horse in his out for several years and I hoped that he could find a little nod on my vocal board and click it off and restore my clear voice he said sit in this chair and lean back he's the doctor they're God you know you've got to do a doctor today he turned that thing on checks it was working and there was my face he and
[26:32] I turned and made away and he said I'm going to run this thing down your nose down your throat within an inch of your roll course are you ready and said that's what you do and fool and I I trusted that I met him that day and yet I took my thing to give you there's no camera I see the hair in my nose I got a TV right front watch it he said you can watch if you want to he said some people shut their eyes and turn away I said I'm saying everything that you do I'm not missing good there's the hairs in my nose and then you saw the back of your nose and then you saw the back of!
[27:36] looking place and then kept on pushing the thing right there came my phone the! was right on top of them they looked pretty good to me so he said count to five one two one two three four five they just opened up now let you work out now say something they just shut them and they just worked he gave me several things to say and boy they were just working like crazy and he said well you got a problem your horse is not your horse because they were working and there's nothing on he said now there's a politics room he's a singer you can't get it out of it but he said
[28:52] I already told you when I take that thing off you going to have your part of the story because that's the problem I wish he told me that but I wanted something easy like that he pulled that tube back out told me I had to have a voice there said you have strained your voice over years trying to reach the back road too many times I didn't tell anybody yell about the next age and he said somehow or other you've got something out of shape in there and said the therapist will know how to bring back to his original shape that's what they're going to do he said that's all it's just something down in the chair or being strange but what I'm trying to tell you is I walked into a man's room that I've never met before he told me to open my mouth and poke something down your throat and I opened her up brother and let him poke and you tell me
[30:04] I don't have faith come on of course I have faith and you never do and you use that kind of faith over and over and over again all I've asked you today is use it in a spiritual way and trust Jesus to faith trust yourself in his hand you're not going to be able to get to heaven without you through this man he's promised to forgive!
[30:28] you oh my goodness doesn't it feel good when sins are forgiven wow he's going to forgive your sins then he says in the bible it's going to throw them back and the devil will see it never remember again and all those dirty things that you can't forget because the devil won't let you he's already died so forgiveness means he's going to take the sins and throw them away and the penalty for them believing means trusting him justified means he's going to declare you righteous even though you're not God will take care of make a new person out of you he does it all and I have time I can explain all that to you the resulting total change is called being born again or the new birth he came on his own and received him not the men received him gave him power and help the sons of God even them put in on the name which were born of a new birth he takes care of all
[31:36] I want you to raise your hand after you help your mother give your birth! What do I bear you can't!
[31:46] the one who birth gives birth you can't help God to birth you can't do that you do it pretty easy I'm down to my fourth point Paul's fourth point what was number one person what was involved person what second they involved great chief nobody got to talk to you about it and walk off out here with a Bible and think nope you've got to have somebody help you God designed it that way by the way all of you that have it you could be used to help somebody else if you were available all you have to do is tell them what happened what was the third thing promise the last thing is a parable reading my scripture again verse 40 beware beware look out I've told you that it was a person I've told you it was a preaching I've told you that it was a promise but watch it
[32:49] I've got to tell you there's a danger! If you despise and wonder you will perish I work a work in your days which you shall no wise believe though a man declare it unto you you will perish there's a name a parable this same Paul was sitting in the room with another man who was an official of the government and he preached the same thing that thing and the Bible says that man is needed to each other as he came forward even under deep conviction God was knocking his heart door and Paul said you're going to get saved and he said I'm going to wait for a more convenient time delay is a great thing and do you know that man never found a better time did you know that he got through the crisis when
[33:56] God was saved now it's not you that decides it's me I'm telling you now did you know he came to Paul three times and never got a conviction in him did you know that man that trembled at Paul's preaching is in hell today because he put it off when God was not he said wait and God said no you not say wait you say no that's the danger beware beware you might hear the gospel God might be knocking on your door you might feel like he's talking to me you put it on come on the danger is delayed the danger is religion religion takes more people to hell you see you can't imagine that your religion that you were born and raised in that your grandfathers had and your grandmothers and your mother and father and they're buried out behind the church and you can't imagine them being wrong and you open your mind the possibility to make a phrase in the apoptim religion
[35:10] Paul was a leader in apoptim religion he was so religious he thought standing high christian was God will but he swallowed all of that and gave up his religion so he could get saved and many people wanted that how many people in here gave up their religion so they could save my goodness we saved wow you hang on to that religion because mom and dad grandpa believed you'll go to hell with them and I'm sorry I don't like that I don't want them to be nobody everybody says my grandkosher is the swedish woman in the world she couldn't be in hell I hope she isn't but if she isn't it's because she didn't trust the religion she trusted the peace that's right that's right I'm just telling you what all those that's all here's a man that had a religion and had to get saved religion is a great nature did you know the greatest obstacle
[36:12] Jesus mentioned to get people to listen to that you know the dog gets trailed always looking for a way to find something he's saying wrong and thought every move he made were religious people he wasn't in their religion so it wouldn't be wrong religion carried hell for you to be careful about that you've got to give up religion and salvation in order to get your purse God will not call you if today is your day you better do something about it my sister no one she said right there no wife sister her husband was unsaved and she said I should have never married an unsaved woman she said I made a mistake they were not in strong church I can understand that she made a mistake when I came to the family I started witnessing the chair we became good friends kept hiding behind bad
[37:15] Christians because people of Baptist church they were! 13 years I was in a meeting one time preacher you know someone in your family that's God from your heart let's not say raise your hand I raise your hand he said now want you to promise God that before next Sunday you you 13 years have been trying he said before Sunday you promise God I'm standing there I made arrangements the next weekend somebody else take my church and I went to where Jerry did all Saturday I begged he said he wouldn't do this Sunday we went to church
[38:16] Sunday afternoon i begged to get saved my good son tonight my church came back to call the number's mother's house we all gathered there we're going to leave the next morning this is my last chance i begged and begged we all sat around the table jerry's in we all begged getting big and jerry you've got to get saved don't hide behind some other look if they go hell don't go with them you might be a hypocrite of church but you don't have to be one look at the good people not the bad people always right everything finally he started to get up please don't apologize and i got him with honor and he said no i'm going home there going home and i said jerry please don't go he said i'm leaving and i said at least let your brother's law pray for you he stopped i had my hand on the arm he's standing there waiting for me i began to tug on his arm just pulled pressure right down on my knees he was standing i just pulled him i said jerry i said jerry do me the honor i have come up here and i spent two days trying to and i begged him to say no you know that i know that i did i love him at least in the honor and he will not be with him when i prayed and i felt his knees but i prayed a little short prayer and i said the lord jerry's in action and he poured his heart and he asked god to say i said i'm sorry no good night i don't deserve it if you'll have mercy on me i'll take it wonderful night we all have a fit it all cleared up after we kept it after we cheered for a while and when jerry and i was standing there and he said there i'm gonna take him something i said what's that he said god told me something when i got saved i didn't just get peace i didn't just know i was saved i told me something else in my heart and i said what did he tell you he said god said son this will your back is called if you didn't get saved oh god i said here you should be said i'm sure that's what god told i can tell you many others that told me they got saved that's god i'm not gonna let that happen to his son i'm gonna let you hang around and go out with it later and maybe someday i'm not sure at all now you better get sure that god's not being parsed over amen but when he takes this right you never come back and i've met many people in my ministry that said can you find any way to get god to talk to me again my heart is baptized and that's what i don't know when god when god leads you you don't get this the danger then is putting it off it's letting your religion stop and get saved it's rejection when you think you're just putting it off you're rejecting and you're rejecting a god that can stop calling you at any time and then finally the danger is you might die suddenly you will never get out of hell
[42:19] once you get in sudden death two times this year we have heard and read of young people in their park in this country one of the boys one of the girls we've got to tend to near the edge of a cliff just two riches fell off that cliff and died now that morning they got up and have a good time in the park they didn't know they were going to go heaven or hell that day sudden death i told you before we had a young lady in our church one time started to go to sunday school stepped off the front porch steps and was dead but she is around the 10 years opened up the brain but she didn't know she had it she didn't know she had it there are many people who get in the car they don't know for the last time they don't know that their body will be pulled out and switched and wrecked before the day goes sudden death can catch you in a thousand ways and you could say well i'll do it later i don't know you can do the life that's called gambling it's gambling with god you can't win like that you can't win like that i'm going to close right there i've gone wrong enough salvation is a person by the way it's easy to get saved you just give up and that can't do it