“THE UNIQUE SAVIOR”
Acts 4.12

 

EXPOSITION:

1.   I typically ask folks to stand for the reading of God’s Word.  In Nehemiah 9.3, we are told that when Ezra and his assistants read the Word of God for a fourth part of the day, some six hours, the people stood up in their place.  But we are a more sedentary people, and long standing is actually painful for some of you.  So I will ask you to be seated while I read a long portion of Scripture.

2.   I will begin at Acts 3.1 and read through Acts 4.14:

¹     Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

²     And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

³     Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

⁴     And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

⁵     And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

⁶     Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

⁷     And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

⁸     And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

⁹     And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

¹⁰    And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

¹¹    And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

¹²    And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

¹³    The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

¹⁴    But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

¹⁵    And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

¹⁶    And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷    And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸    But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

¹⁹    Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰    And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

²¹    Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

²²    For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

²³    And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

²⁴    Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

²⁵    Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

²⁶    Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

¹     And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,

²     Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³     And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.

⁴     Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

⁵     And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

⁶     And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

⁷     And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

⁸     Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

⁹     If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

¹⁰    Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

¹¹    This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

¹²    Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

¹³    Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴    And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

 

3.   This entire drama began to unfold one afternoon about 3:00 o’clock.  Peter and John, two of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, were about to pass through the gate called “Beautiful” from the “Court of the Gentiles” into the inner court.^[1]

4.   Having no money to give to a lame man who had asked, Simon Peter instead performed one of the “signs of an apostle”^[2] by miraculously healing the man “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” as he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.  His feet and ankle bones were supernaturally strengthened, and the man was able for the first time in his life to stand and walk and to jump up and down, all the while praising God.

5.   This caused quite a stir among the people, who knew the previously lame man, and who understandably then followed John and Peter to Solomon’s porch.

6.   So, what did Simon Peter do with the opportunity presented by the miracle?  He preached a strong sermon, granting that though it was by ignorance, they and their rulers had denied the Lord Jesus Christ, and killed the Prince of life, Who God had raised from the dead, as the apostles had witnessed with their own eyes.

7.   Well, of course, such preaching greatly disturbed the Temple officials, who ordered that Peter and John be arrested and detained overnight.  But they were a bit too late, since about 5,000 men had already responded to the preaching in faith believing.

8.   The next day the assembled powers-that-be brought the two out of their cell and asked them, “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”  Peter responded by asking, and I paraphrase, “Oh, do you mean by what power we worked the miracle that resulted in the lame man being completely healed?”

9.   In his answer to this question of theirs that he has reframed, Peter seized upon his opportunity to make some pointed statements about the Lord Jesus Christ, Who they had crucified, Who God had raised from the dead, and by Whom this once lame man now stood before them.

10. This is the background that leads up to our text for today, which is a portion of the statement Simon Peter made to the religious leaders of his day; the high priest, the former high priest, their relatives, and other rulers, elders and scribes.

11. And what is our text for today?  Verse 12, a summary statement that is really the only proper conclusion that can rightly be drawn by intellectually honest men who are armed with undeniable facts. 

12. Let me read the text to you again, a verse from God’s Word that every Christian should memorize:  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

13. What does this verse mean?  Very simply, it means two things:

 

1A.   First, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED EXCEPT BY JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH

“Neither is there salvation in any other”

1B.    My friends, this is what the missionary on last Wednesday night would call a Christian apologetic, a statement that is an affront to the intellect.  This is a powerful, yet thoroughly negative declaration.

2B.    Standing up in front of the powers-that-be is a man who the afternoon before wielded supernatural healing power that enabled a lifelong cripple to immediately jump up and down on feet and ankles that had only moments before been unable to support his weight. 

3B.    Moments after that miracle Peter had delivered a sermon to multiplied thousands of men who had seen the results of that miracle that resulted in some 5,000 of them being converted; an even greater miracle.

4B.    Now, which is the next morning, rather than being intimidated by the high priest, the former high priest, and other impressive dignitaries and prominent figures, he is emboldened by the filling of the Holy Spirit of God, whereupon he states to that assembly, “Neither is there salvation in any other.”

5B.    They had rejected Jesus Christ.  Peter points that out in  Acts 4.11:  “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders.”  You considered Him.  You looked Him over.  You talked about Him.  Then you decided to cast Him aside.

6B.    Consider Him again.  Look Him over again.  Talk about Him again.  Think about Him again.  Decide about Him again.  Why?  Because you cannot be saved except by Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  “Neither is there salvation in any other.”

7B.    My friend, if you reject Jesus Christ there will be salvation found nowhere else.  What do you plan on doing about the salvation of your eternal and undying soul if you cannot be saved except by Him? And you cannot be saved from your sins except by Jesus Christ.

 

2A.   Why Not?  Because, HE IS THE ONLY SAVIOR PROVIDED

“for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

1B.    In other words, He is it.  God has no plan B.  The Lord Jesus Christ is plan A for the salvation of every sinner, and there is no fallback position with God, no alternative for those who reject Jesus Christ, no secondary route to the forgiveness of sins, no option for reconciliation to God.

2B.    This means that islam is out, Mormonism is out, Hinduism is out, Buddhism is out, Catholicism is out, Scientology is out, Hari Krishna is out.  Why are these religions out?  Because these religions bypass Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Bible, and Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Bible is the real Jesus, the real Savior, the real Son of God, the real Lamb of God, the real crucified One Who rose from the dead, the One Who is presently enthroned at the Father’s right hand.

3B.    You don’t like Him?  Too bad.  He sticks in your craw?  Tough.  Do you find Him objectionable?  Sorry.  Do you expect to have your sins forgiven by anyone but Him?  It will not happen.  He is the Door and there simply is no side entrance or back entrance.

 

CONCLUSION:

1.   Remember the missionary talking about truth that is antagonistic to the rational mind, on Wednesday night?  How much more antagonistic to the rational mind could Peter be?

2.   To a group of religionists who were basing the salvation of their souls on their religion, on their works of righteousness, on their good deeds, Peter declared to their faces that the safekeeping of their souls could only be guaranteed by that Individual they had conspired to reject and murder.

3.   So, how did they respond to this frontal assault on their rational minds?  I read Acts 4.13-14 again:

¹³    Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴    And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

 

4.   My friends, there are no more antagonistic crowds than those faced by Peter and Paul and the other apostles.  So, what did they do when the Holy Spirit filled them, as with Peter here?  They preached confrontational sermons that challenged the hearers and demanded submission to the Son of God.

5.   My lost friend, do you want to be defiant?  Understand that those men were not defiant to Simon Peter or John.  They were defiant to God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  It is before Him that the knee must bend, not Peter.  It is before Him that the head must bow, not Peter.  It is to Him that the mouth must confess, not Peter.

6.   When they asked Peter and John by whose authority they did what they had done, Peter could have drawn the conflict between those men and himself.  But he did not.  Why not?  Because, as much as sinners like to pretend that preachers’ personalities are the issue, the real issue is submission to the will of God and a willingness to come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

7.   Now, before this morning’s sermon, Brother Isenberger comes to lead us as we sing.

 

INTRODUCTION:

1.   The other night my family and I were getting ready to eat with a missionary who has never been to our Church and his family.  He and I have known each other for several years.

2.   He asked me, “John, why do you typically refer to conversion when talking to people instead of getting saved?”  I answered, “For two reasons.”

3.   First, the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”^[3]  So, I use the word “converted” because Jesus used the word “converted.”  As well, I tend to avoid using the word “save” and “saved” because it is so frequently and so casually used by Church people that it has almost lost its meaning.

4.   However, the word “saved” is a profoundly important word.  It refers to being delivered from imminent danger.  It refers to rescue from harm.  It is the word that best describes the deliverance of the helpless or the deliverance of the victim from certain destruction.

5.   In Matthew 1.21, the angel Gabriel informed Joseph that the child Mary would deliver was to be named “JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”  The word “Jesus” literally means, “Jehovah is salvation.”  And our text declares that no one saves but Jesus, because He is the only One given by God to save sinners from their sins.

6.   So, in the hopes that the cobwebs around the word “saved” have been knocked down and you realize that the word is important and impressive and immediate, and that there must be a sense of urgency associated with the word, allow me to apply our text verse to you:  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

 

1A.   THAT YOU MUST BE SAVED IS UNDENIABLE

1B.    If you have not been saved, then you certainly must be saved.  Peter’s statement ends with these words:  “whereby we must be saved.”

2B.    The alternatives for every human being are reconciliation with God and an eternity in heaven with Him as one destiny, versus a continued hostility and rebellious autonomy from Him that will result in eternal damnation as the other destiny.  The difference between the two being the salvation that only Jesus provides.

3B.    That you must be saved can be disputed, but it cannot be denied.  That you must be saved can be ignored, but it cannot be denied.  That you must be saved can be argued against, but it cannot be denied.  My friend, you must be saved.

 

2A.   THAT YOU CANNOT SAVE YOURSELF IS RECOGNIZED

1B.    Implicit in the word “saved” is the recognition of the sinner’s helplessness.  If a sinner could save himself, why did God send His only begotten Son to suffer and bleed and die a horrible and excruciating death in payment for the sinner’s sins?

2B.    Jesus came to save that which was lost because the lost one cannot save himself.  Why can you not save yourself?  Because you are powerless.^[4]  Because you are incompetent.  Because you are dead in trespasses and sins.^[5]

3B.    So, what does this mean?  It means that you cannot save yourself.  Now, you may not recognize that you cannot save yourself, so you will thrash about doing this and trying to do that instead of coming to Jesus, but God recognizes that you cannot save yourself.

4B.    And the sooner that you own up to the facts that you, #1, must be saved, and, #2, cannot save yourself, the sooner you will face up to something else.

 

3A.   THAT JESUS IS ABLE TO SAVE YOU IS GUARANTEED

1B.    Turn to Second Timothy 1.12:  “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

2B.    Now, turn to Hebrews 7.25:  “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

3B.    In these two verses outright declarations of the Lord Jesus Christ’s ability to save sinners and to keep them saved are made.  Christ’s ability to keep him served as the basis for Paul’s willingness to suffer what he endured for Christ’s sake.  And the writer to the Hebrews bases his appeal to the Jewish Christians to remain steadfast on that same ability.

4B.    From time to time I deal with sinners who express a fear and a reluctance to trust Christ.  They have told me that they have tried it before and for some reason things did not work out, so they are fearful of trying it again.  But what is it that such a person is afraid of trying?

5B.    Think of it.  A sinner fails to truly come to Christ to be saved, so he reasons that it is somehow risky to truly come to Christ for salvation?  No, you have it backwards.  If you did not truly come to Christ, and therefore things did not work out and you did not get saved, that only proves that not coming to Christ does not work out and that not coming to Christ results in not getting saved.

6B.    You have no experience of what it will be like to actually come to Christ for salvation, so why not rely on the testimony of God’s Word?  Why not rely on the testimony of God’s people?  The two completely agree that Jesus is able to both save you and keep you.  It is guaranteed.  To think otherwise is to question the truthfulness of God, and to doubt the honesty of God’s Son. 

7B.    My friend, He would not hold Himself up as the savior of sinful men’s souls if He could not guarantee that whatever sinner comes to Him will be accepted of Him and will be saved by Him.

 

4A.   WHETHER YOU WILL COME TO HIM IS THE QUESTION

1B.    This is the only issue that is in doubt, is it not?  There is no doubt that you need to be saved.  There is no doubt that you cannot save yourself.  There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is able to save you.  The only question that remains to be answered about you is whether you will come to Christ or not.

2B.    Now, I know that an unsaved person plays all kinds of mental games with himself to justify not coming to Christ, to explain his reluctance to come to Christ, to distract himself from considering Christ.  But these are just mental gymnastics designed by the wicked mind and heart to avoid dealing with reality.

3B.    Well, this morning I am asking you to stop avoiding.  I want you quit messing around.  I want you to decide that you need to get saved, that you cannot save yourself, but that Jesus can, and you are determined to get saved.  I want you to decide that you are going to come to Christ or die trying.

 

CONCLUSION:

1.   You need to get saved.  You cannot save yourself.  Jesus saves sinners.  So, what are you going to do?

2.   My advice is to sit down and talk with me, allow me to guide you to Jesus Christ.

3.   If you would like to speak to me just long enough to schedule a time when we can seriously talk about you getting saved, I invite you to step into the conference room after we dismiss in prayer.

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