Salvation is exclusively found in Jesus Christ, as stated in Acts 4:12, and this truth remains constant despite changing times and cultures. The sermon explains that opposition to the Gospel, exemplified by the religious leaders of Peter's day, is ultimately opposition to God, highlighting the seriousness of rejecting Christ. The power of the Gospel is demonstrated through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, who is the chief cornerstone, and accepting His salvation is the only path to eternal life. The message concludes by urging listeners to believe in Christ's grace and power for salvation, emphasizing that this is the sole way to be saved for eternity.
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I want once more to direct your attention to a very familiar text. I sometimes find that these texts that people know come with freshness to them when they hear them over and over again. The text we have chosen for today is found in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter four and verse twelve and reads thus, Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. But in order to get the correct setting of the text, I want to read some verses that precede this text.
Reading then from verse seven, when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole? 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?
This is the stone which was said at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must. be saved. Let us bow for a moment of prayer. Our Father, we thank thee for the message of salvation declared in thy word. We thank thee our God for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is presented in the message of the Gospel. And we pray that the words of this text today shall be inscribed upon every heart.
And may those who are listening to this broadcast now remember what thy word declares concerning the way of salvation hear us in these things for the Lord Jesus sake. Amen. Now, just in case you have tuned in today and you are not a regular listener to our broadcast, this is the Bible Fellowship. We have been dealing this week with what I like to term a great text of the Christian Gospel. Now today I want you again to remember the words of the text we have chosen.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now let me make it perfectly clear to every listener, The truth that was made known when Peter spoke these words was very necessary to the people to whom he spoke that text on that day in Jerusalem. But while it was necessary for them to know that salvation was bound up in the person and name of Jesus Christ, it is just as equally important for men and women today.
Now, things may have changed, circumstances may have changed, cultures may have changed, but remember this, the Word of God hasn't changed, and the offer of salvation hasn't changed, and the terms of salvation remain the same today as they were nineteen hundred years ago. God has not changed the terms on which salvation is offered, and we can say with absolute authority today, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
I have indicated in our broadcasts on various occasions that this word saved and the word salvation are Bible words. and they tell of Bible terms and they deal with a very practical experience of being saved. Now sometimes people resent when they are asked if they are saved. Some people will respond and say that's none of your business. Yes, my friend, it is some of our business and it's your business as well. The Bible says we must be saved.
But now let us look a little at the context of this text, and perhaps it will convey something to all our hearts today. When you go to the opening verses of the chapter, you discover this, that certain men have placed themselves in the position of offering opposition to the gospel. You see, everybody does not accept the message of the gospel. There are people who resent it. Now, here we find in the opening verses that you have a coalition of people opposing the gospel.
First of all, mention is made of the priests. That was the Jewish priests who functioned in the temple at Jerusalem. And then mention is made of the captain of the temple. Now the captain of the temple was the man who was supposed to see that everything was kept in order and there would be no disturbances in the temple. And then along with them there were the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a particular religious group of that day who did not believe that there was any hereafter. They did not believe in the resurrection. You lived and you died and that was the end.
Now these people were all upset because that Peter and John and the others were preaching the gospel. They resented the message of the gospel and they opposed the message of the gospel. Now you may ask the question, what was it that caused these men to oppose the message of the gospel? Well, simply this. The message of the Gospel presented the person of Jesus Christ as having died on the cross, as having been buried in Joseph's tomb, and having been raised again from the dead on the first day of the week following the crucifixion.
Now watch this very carefully. If the message of the Gospel was true, that the men who died on the cross was alive again, that brought a very serious indictment against the priests. For the simple reason, they were the people who had condemned him and handed him over to Pilate, and ultimately Pilate handed him over to the soldiers to be crucified. Now, if the men they rejected and crucified was raised again from the dead, It meant a serious accusation against those who were responsible for his crucifixion.
On the other hand, the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection at all. And if the truth of Christ's resurrection was being made known, it is obvious that they were opposed to it, for the simple reason it cut right across what they believed and what they taught. And so they were opposed to the message. But it goes a little further than that. Their opposition was not only against the message of the gospel, their opposition was leveled against the messengers of the gospel. And so they took those men, Peter and John, they laid hands on them, and they put them in hold unto the next day.
That is, they put them in jail. And the next day they were going to put them on trial. Nevertheless, in spite of that, there was many, many people who had listened to the message and believed it. Now, when you come to verse five of this chapter, you discover this, that the next day you find the rulers and the elders and the scribes and Anus the high priest and Caiaphas. Many that were of the kindred of the high priest. They all gathered together for this great court case. And they set them in the midst and asked them some questions.
By what power or by what name have you done this? Now the simple thing was this. A great miracle had taken place at the temple in Jerusalem. there was the clear-cut evidence that there was some power behind it. Now they knew perfectly well that they had not commissioned Peter or John to do any preaching. But here were men who were preaching in some of the porches of the temple. And here was the evidence that these men had power. Now the priests and all their friends and the Sadducees and all the rest of them who were in places of authority they wondered by what power these men had performed these things.
And so therefore, when Peter speaks to them, he shows this, that not only was their opposition leveled against the gospel message, and not only was their opposition leveled against the messengers of the gospel, but actually they were fighting against God. For he said, if we this day be examined... of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he has made whole. Be it known unto you all, unto 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, dost this man stand here before you whole?
Now notice very carefully. If God had raised his beloved Son again from the dead, And these people were raising their opposition against the message of the Gospel, and showing their opposition against the messengers of the Gospel, then in effect their opposition was against the God of the Gospel. That is, they were opposing the eternal, living, powerful God who had raised up Jesus Christ again out from amongst the dead. I mention this in order to impress upon all our hearts today how serious a business it is when people raise an opposition and fight against the message of the Gospel and resent the truth of the resurrection and will not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Notice, my friend, your opposition is actually against God. May I remind you this is solemn, serious business. If you are fighting and struggling against God, my friend, remember you're fighting a losing battle. You cannot win if you fight against God. Back in the Old Testament we read of a man, and God is struggling with that man, wrestling with that man, and the man would not give in, he continued to fight or wrestle against God for a whole night. And as the morning was dawning, God just took his little finger and just put it on the man.
And that was it. And that man carried to his dying day the effect of what God did with him with his little finger. Remember, God can just put his finger against you and it's all over. And if God raises his hand against you, his hand would be raised in judgment. At the present time it's an open hand that's outstretched to you, offering you a gift. But if God turns his hand and lays it on you, then remember it will be in judgment. So whether will you have the open hand of God offering you salvation or take the hand as it's turned against you in judgment will be one or the other. Now it's serious business then to be in opposition against the gospel.
Because actually in the final analysis, you are opposing the God of the Gospel. But in spite of this opposition, it gave Peter the opportunity to present the Gospel. Now you know, there are some people who will not give their ear to the Gospel message. They may even be religious people. But they resent the simple, straightforward message of the Gospel. Now, when you think of the opportunity that was afforded Peter here to present the Gospel, he took full opportunity and presented the message in all its simplicity. Number one, he showed them that the power of the Gospel was evident.
He said, 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, dost this man stand here before you whole? You see, my friend, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe us. Wherever the gospel has been preached, and the power of the gospel felt, It has changed not only the lives of individuals, it has changed the culture of whole communities. In fact, it has changed the setup of whole country. One day a preacher of the gospel was visiting with a man who was a manufacturer of soap.
The preacher was telling the manufacturer of the power of the gospel. The man who manufactured soap said, I don't believe it. If your gospel is as powerful as you say it is, the whole world should have been converted by this time and everybody should have been Christians. They left the business of the man, left his premises, and both of them were walking along the street going to get something to eat. When a few little children were playing at the side of the street, and their faces and their hands were muddy and dirty. Their clothes were dirty. The children had been playing around in the mud. The Christian preacher looked at the man who manufactured soap.
He said, how many years have you been manufacturing soap? And he told them the number of years they had been in business. He says, you don't seem to have been much of a success. How is that, said the man. Well, and he says, look at these dirty little children there playing around in the mud. He says your soap hasn't done much good for them. Ah, said the soap manufacturer, you make a mistake, sir. He said, you see, there's nothing wrong with my soap. The only thing is it's only effective when it is used or applied. Exactly, said the preacher. And that's the trouble with you and the gospel that I preach.
There's nothing wrong with the gospel. There's nothing wrong with the power of the gospel. The only thing is you have failed to appropriate it, you have failed to apply it. And the reason why so many people are still living in sin, the reason why so many people are still living without Christ is because they have never appropriated what God has provided in the person of His Son. This power, my friend, in the Gospel. They must reckon with the event of Calvary and with the event of the resurrection. You see, that's exactly what Peter states before them here.
He says, the power lies in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified. Here is a great historical event. In fact, the greatest event in all history. That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, went all the way to Calvary's cross and died. gave himself as a ransom, to give complete satisfaction to the righteous claims of God's holy throne. Christ died. It's true it was Judas that delivered him to his enemies. It's equally true that his enemies delivered him up to Pilate. And then again it's true that Pilate, in all his weakness, allowed him an innocent man to be put on the cross.
Ah, but remember this, my friend. On the other side of the coin, you've got to reckon with this, that it was all according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God that His Blessed Son should die on the cross as a substitute for sinners, in order to provide salvation for poor, fallen humanity. Alas, and did my Savior bleed? And did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? And he did. He died on the cross, whom ye crucified. But then that was not the end, whom God raised again from the dead.
Now let me remind you that the resurrection of Christ was the most important. It was the cardinal truth in all apostolic preaching. And it ought to be the central point in all evangelistic preaching today. We must not fail to let you know that we serve a living Savior. Christ isn't dead. Or you may go to the tomb of Lenin, or you may go to the tombs of great men of the past. And remember this, these men died and were buried, and many of them their bones have already crumbled to the dust. And if their tombs were to be opened and their caskets opened, there would be the dust or the bones of these great heroes.
None of them rose again from the dead. But Jesus Christ died and was buried, and it wasn't possible for him to see corruption. And on the third day, on the first day of the week, the third day after his crucifixion, why, when they went to the tomb, the stone was rolled away, and the message was, he is not here. He is risen up from the grave. He arose with a mighty triumph or its foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain and he lives forever with his saints to reign. Hallelujah. Christ arose. You must reckon with the crucifixion of Christ. You must reckon with the resurrection of Christ.
And you must reckon with the word of God. Now he quotes from the Old Testament. This is the stone which was set at Nardavu builders, which has become the head of the corner. They knew a little about that. And, my friend, I understand in the building of the temple, you know, all the stones were prepared at a distance. The mallet or the chisel or the hammer was not heard. The stones were brought, all ready to be put into position. And this particular stone came, and no one seemed to know where to put it in. It couldn't fit. And so they threw it over, and down it went down the hillside into the valley below. There came the time when they needed the stone.
They needed the chief stone, the corner stone, the one that would join the others together, and they couldn't get a stone to fit in. When someone remembered the stone that was thrown away, and when they went and found it, that was the one. They had thrown away the very chief stone. The stone which was said at none of the builders had become the head of the corner. The Lord Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. And when he came, they rejected him. They said, we won't have this man to reign over us. I bet God has made him not only the foundation stone. He's the chief cornerstone, and he is the topstone of the whole building. And remember this, when it comes to the question of salvation, he's the foundation of it.
And he's the topstone of it. And neither is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. You see, here is the offer of salvation through the Gospel, through the person of the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the message of the Gospel centers in him. Apart from Jesus Christ and the work he accomplished at Calvary, giving satisfaction to the throne of God, and the fact of the power of his resurrection, apart from these things, there could be no salvation offered to poor sinners. You cannot, my friend, effect your own salvation.
God has seen to it that salvation is offered in the message of the gospel, as the gospel message presents Christ. So salvation is in Christ. And the Word of God says there's no salvation in any other. Now you may think that you can work out your own salvation. You may think you've got a way of your own worked out by which you can gain an entrance into God's heaven. My friend, don't deceive yourself any longer. There's only one way of salvation, and that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. You either accept God's salvation and be accepted by him. And to accept God's offer of salvation means accepting Jesus Christ.
So if you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're the salvation that's promised and offered by God. But now. If you accept God's offer of salvation, then you can be certain of a place in God's heaven. For that's what salvation is in the final analysis. Not only are you saved from the fatal consequences of your sin, not only are you being saved from the power of sin, but in the coming day you'll be saved from the very presence of sin and landed safe on heaven's shore in the presence of the Savior. But if you refuse to accept God's way of salvation, And if you think you can work out your own salvation, you're making a great mistake. If you take God's salvation, it means you're on your way to heaven.
But if you refuse God's salvation, my friend, you can rest assured you're going into a lost eternity. There's only one way. And you must accept God's way or else if you take your own way, you'll be lost. Now if you forget all else that I've said today, if you forget the details of this message, Kindly remember the verse. Listen to it very carefully. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. O, turn and believe this very hour.
Trust in the Savior's grace and power. Then shall your final answer be? saved for a long eternity. You can get saved, my friend, just where you are now. Maybe in your home. Maybe in your car. Wherever you are, you can trust the Savior.