Message I'm Bringing at a Local Nursing Home Soon...

"The Only Way of Salvation"

 (READ  Acts 16:25-34)                           4-14-'18,  11am

 

 

 

 

In the passage we are about to briefly consider, the Apostle Paul, and Silas, in the earliest days of Christianity being spread across the world, were thrown into prison as an indirect result of "proclaiming the way of salvation" from sin openly to the public ( Acts 16:17.)  They were then beaten with rods and the jailer in charge was commanded to "put them in the inner prison and fasten their feet in stocks" (16:24.) The jailer was no doubt vaguely aware of the message Paul and Silas brought, but was only concerned with doing his job and making sure he obeyed orders to keep them locked up.  (If they escaped, he'd be in very big trouble.)

 

Now...if that were you or me, being accused and abused for obeying Jesus by proclaiming the way of salvation, we might be a bit bitter.          Or angry.         Or self-pitying.

 

...Not Paul and Silas!!  Just the opposite, verse 25 says they were "praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." It was nothing short of a Miracle that they were doing exactly the OPPOSITE of what most would do in that situation, especially considering that the text says it was "midnight" and (to put it mildly) they'd had a very, very long day.  God's Holy Spirit directed them, no doubt, to pray for those who falsely accused, and beat them, and imprisoned them.  Paul, himself, was once one who persecuted Christians and put them to death, and he was present when Stephen was martyred in Acts 7, praying that God would not hold this sin against his killers.  No doubt Paul, now one who followed Stephen's example (as Stephen followed Jesus' example), prayed that those who treated him unjustly would also come to know the way of salvation like he, himself had.

 

Then, there came a second Miracle.

 

God caused an earthquake which opened all the doors, and the jailer woke up and was ready to kill himself because he faced certain death if anyone escaped!  But amazingly, all of the prisoners were still there! And this brought about a third Miracle because the jailer (no doubt a very hardened and callous man to that point), "fell down trembling" before Paul and Silas and said "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  See, because of the miracles he saw, this jailer was convinced now that Paul and Silas really DID teach the way of salvation, and it is the simple answer which he got from them that is the main focus of this message.

 

Paul and Silas's answer was, simply, "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND YOU WILL BE SAVED."

 

Notice with me, please, in the few remaining minutes of this message, what Paul and Silas did NOT say, and then what they DID say, to this jailer regarding the way of salvation from sin.

 

First, notice they did not tell this jailer to believe IN the Lord Jesus Christ, as if to believe that He existed as a historical figure was enough.  They told him to believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ, and he'd be saved from his sin.

 

In other words, Mr. Jailer, in answer to your question, cast yourself up ON Him for salvation, trust in Him alone for forgiveness, believe ON Him and you'll be saved. Rely ON Him, cast the burden of your guilt ON Him, believing HE is the sacrificial lamb for the sins of all who believe ON Him.  Merely believing IN Him, that He existed, is not enough, you see!

 

In Acts 4:12, the Apostle Peter said, referring to Jesus the Christ, that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved"...we must ALL believe ON Him, and Him ALONE, for eternal salvation.  There is no other way to be right with God, to be saved from our sins, than to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the Way of Salvation...the ONLY way, and it's what Paul and Silas told the jailer to do!

 

Secondly, they did NOT tell the jailer to believe on anyone or anything else BUT the Lord Jesus Christ.

It wasn't "the Lord Jesus Christ AND your good works," "the Lord Jesus Christ AND going to church," "the Lord Jesus Christ AND Mary, the Pope, and priests," and it wasn't " the Lord Jesus Christ AND a good Protestant church," either.

 

...It was simply "Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and you will be saved"!! Yes, the jailer was immediately baptized after he was saved, but it wasn't a condition of his GETTING saved, it was an act of obedience and gratitude to God because he WAS (saved) by believing.

 

My dear friends, the Way of Salvation is close to every one of us today and all WE have to do to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ like this Phillipian jailer did! It's really just that simple!

 

We can't trust in our baptism, our church membership, our supposed "good works," in Mary or the saints or the fact that we liked Billy Graham's messages or in ANYTHING or ANY ONE but Jesus Christ ALONE.

In closing, in John 14:6, Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me." And in Romans 4:5 we read "to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." THIS is no doubt what Paul and Silas said to the jailer, and what they would say to you and me this morning.  Jesus Christ alone IS the Way of Salvation, BELIEVE on Him and be saved! May everyone here in this room be believing on Him for salvation from their sins.  Let us pray.