Reading: Acts 16:30–32
We’re going to read again tonight in Acts chapter 16 and verse number 30. If you were here last night, we read this same passage. If you weren’t, you’ll see where we’re going tonight.
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” And they spoke to him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
I trust that God will bless these verses to us tonight along with the preaching of the gospel.
What Must I Do to Be Saved?
We’re going to consider the question again. Last night we looked at three words in this great question — what must I do to be saved? That is one of the greatest questions you could ever ask. And last night we considered just three words: to be saved. If you weren’t here, let me just say that it is the greatest of all earthly blessings to be saved. That’s the sum and substance of last night’s message. The greatest thing is to be saved.
But the question is asked — what must I do to be saved? So tonight we’re going to consider the first four words. I know I did it backwards, okay? But there was a reason for that, because there are people who want to do something for God. That’s a good thing when people want to do something nice for God. But doing something nice for God has nothing to do with being saved. I hope you understand that.
There are people who are religiously inclined. But if you’re religiously inclined, and you’ve got a good dose of religion, I hope you understand that has nothing to do with being saved. There are people who sacrifice a lot of life to be good. That’s all well and good, but I hope you understand that has nothing to do with being saved.
So that’s why I took it in that order. To be saved is to be right with God. To be saved is a work of God, not a work of our own. So tonight we’re going to look at the great question — then what must I do to be saved?
We sang that in our hymn. That’s often asked: What must I do? Has often been asked — eternal life to gain. Man anxious seems for any task if this he may obtain. What must I do?
In fact, we don’t know what this Philippian man — he was a jailer — we don’t know what he knew of the gospel. Obviously he knew something. He knew he needed to be saved. And if you’re here tonight, I hope you know that much — that you do need to be saved before you leave this life. You do need to be saved. And since you don’t know when you’re leaving, my advice to you is: be saved tonight.
Why the Philippian Jailer Asked, “What Must I Do to Be Saved?”
We don’t know what this man knew about salvation, but he had heard something, and he knew he wasn’t right with God. He knew he was not saved, and he knew he had two preachers in jail, and he was charged to keep them safe. So he threw them into the innermost prison, and he made their feet fast in the stocks, and he locked the gate of their cell, and he locked the door to the prison. He did everything in his power to keep those men in there.
But God sent an earthquake. I didn’t read the whole story, but this is the story: God sent an earthquake, and every man’s shackles fell off. That’s quite an earthquake. And all the prison doors were open. That’s quite an earthquake. And the prison didn’t fall in, and everybody was still alive. That’s a very unique earthquake.
And the jailer, who was sound asleep, woke up out of his sleep. And he didn’t see the rubble of the prison — no, no, read it carefully. He saw the prison still standing, but the doors were open. And he saw all the cell doors were open, and he saw that every man’s bands were loosed. And he must have realized: this is not normal. This is the finger of God. And thus he asked the question: “What must I do to be saved?”
Why You Must Be Saved
Let’s look at it, because he’s got something right in his question. He’s got stuff wrong, but he’s certainly got something right that maybe you don’t have right tonight. Some people think that salvation is kind of a nice — I don’t know — jacket to put on. An add-on. Be lovely to have. Be nice to be saved. That’s not what this man said. Did you catch it? “What must I do to be saved?” He was absolutely right. You must be saved.
Peter preached that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It is one of the few musts for man. Absolutely imperative. You cannot enter heaven unless you’re saved. You cannot afford to die in your sins. You cannot escape hell unless you’re saved. You cannot please God unless you’re saved. You must be saved.
“You Must Be Born Again”
The Lord Jesus preached that — not just the apostles, but the Lord Jesus himself. He came to meet a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to meet him, came to see him — John chapter 3. And the Lord Jesus said, “You must be born again.” Now, he didn’t use the word “saved,” but he’s talking about the exact same thing.
Saved and Born Again — Two Sides of the Same Rescue
Let’s just define it. Saved is to be rescued — saved from your sins, saved from a lost eternity, saved from a wicked world. Rescued. Born again is the other side of it. It’s given new life — given the very life of God. It’s given life from heaven. It’s called — not physical life — it’s called eternal life. To be born again is to have life from God. Saved: every person that’s rescued has been given new life. So we’re talking about the same thing.
Not “It Would Be Nice” — “You Must”
Jesus didn’t say to Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, it’d be nice, you know, if you were born again.” Nicodemus was a very nice man. He was older than the Lord Jesus, as far as physical life goes. He had met the Lord Jesus at a Passover. He was a very religious man — a teacher, a master in Israel. The Lord Jesus gave him credit for that. And he didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you’re a really good teacher. You’re a really good master in Israel. You’re a very devout Jewish man. You’re in the synagogue, you’re in the temple, you’re teaching the right things, you’re observing the right Passovers and all the right feasts — just put this on top of it: it’d be nice to be born again.”
He said, “Nicodemus, except you’re born again, you’ll never see the kingdom of heaven. Except you’re born again, you’ll never see the kingdom of God.” Now, we put things backwards in English. We think the Greek is backward — this was written in Greek, so we think the Greek is backwards. But you would never put the exception first. You would put it like this: “You’ll never see heaven. You cannot enter the kingdom of God. Oh — except you’re born again.” The absolute impossibility of it. You cannot enter the kingdom of God except you’re born again. You cannot be saved except you’re born again. Therefore, he said, “You must.” You absolutely must.
Something Must Be Done About Sin
This man got it right. Something must be done. It must be done. Something must be done. That’s why he said, “What must I do?” Something has to be done. Why does something have to be done? Because I’m in my sins. This man realized: “I’m a sinner. I have sins. I can’t get rid of them. I can’t undo them. I can’t take them away. I can’t find forgiveness. Something must be done.”
Do you understand that? Something must be done about your sins. God’s not like us. He’s not going to sweep your sin under the carpet. He’s not like fathers are with their children — “That’s all right, son, I’ll let you get away with it this time. How many times have I said that? It’s okay, just don’t let it happen again.” We just kind of overlook them because they’re children, they’re sons, they’re daughters. So — you know — it’s not right, I don’t like it, but don’t let it happen again. God’s not like that. Sin must be dealt with. Sin must be taken away. Something must be done. He’s absolutely right. Do you have that? Are you right on this score? Something must be done about my sin.
Listen to what the Lord Jesus said: “Ye shall die in your sins, and where I am, you cannot come.” You cannot come. And again he said, “If you die in your sins, where I am, you cannot come.” Something must be done about your sins. That’s why he didn’t say, “Why do I need to be saved?” He said, “What must I do to be saved?” There’s a difference between why and what. He’s not questioning whether it’s real. He knows it’s real.
If you came that close to dying in your sins, you would know it was real. That’s how close he came to eternity. That’s how close he came to losing his soul. He just put that sword where he figured his heart was, and he was about to fall on it. How far would the sword have had to go in? Only that far, and he’d be in eternity — in his sins.
Can Good Works Save You?
That’s why he said, “Something has to be done.” But what — what is that something? Can I work for it? You can ask all the different spiritual advisors in this world, and they’ll give you all different answers.
My Grandmother and the Bell Tower
A priest told my grandmother, “You want your sins forgiven? Here’s what you need to do for penance: get on your hands and knees and climb up the stone bell tower” — the steeple of the church — “on your hands and knees, and on every step of the stair, stop and say so many Hail Marys. And when you’re done, lick the stone wall, then crawl to the next step.” She got about halfway up, and both knees were bleeding, and her tongue was bleeding, and she said, “This can’t be right. This can’t be the way to heaven. This can’t take away my sins.” And she marched back down those steps and out that door, and she never went back. As far as she was concerned, there was no such thing as sins forgiven.
Until one night she heard: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And she thought, “Now I could believe in a God that loved me, that gave his Son for me. I could believe in him.” And she did, and was saved.
Pilgrimages and Silent Monks
What must I do to be saved? You can do nothing. That’s the truth of it. And with all the inventions of men — you could be baptized, it won’t save you. You could be baptized in the Jordan River, it won’t save you. You could take communion — some call it the holy communion, the bread and the wine — you could take it every day of your life, it won’t save you. It won’t take away your sins.
“What must I do? Oh, if only I could know what to do.” You know what he’s saying? “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” Is there anyone here like that? People make pilgrimages. They’re told, “If you make this pilgrimage, you’ll be right with God.” And they put everything to one side and go on a pilgrimage. People turn themselves away from all society and dwelt up in the Alps, in the mountains, as monks, and didn’t speak. What did they do that for? Just to try and get rid of their sins. But God says, “No, there is absolutely nothing you can do.”
Here’s a man, and he says, “But I must do something.” Why must he? Because he realizes, “I’m in my sins. They’re mine. I have committed them.” Anyone here like that tonight? Do you realize they’re my sins? I’m the one who did the wrong. I’m the one who sinned against God. I’m the one — as we were hearing last night — who earned all the wages of sin. I’ve stacked them all up, all in my lifetime. What must I do to get rid of that load of sin?
All the Doing Has Been Done by Another
There’s nothing you can do. Do you mean I have to die in my sins? No. No. All the doing has been done by another. That’s what you need to understand.
That’s why, when this man said, “What must I do to be saved?” — they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” They weren’t making a work out of believing. I grew up listening to this message, and I used to think, “If I could just believe the right way…” Don’t be ridiculous. You either believe God or you don’t believe God. “If I could believe hard enough, if I could believe right enough…” No — you either believe God or you do not believe God. You either take your place as a lost, guilty sinner and let Christ take his place as Saviour, or you don’t believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
What they were doing here was pointing a man who was looking at himself — “What must I do? I must do something” (and every one of us has done the same thing, it’s born in us — “I made the mess, I fix the mess”) — they were telling him to stop looking there. If you look in here, all you’re going to find is sin and fear and unbelief and doubt. But they were saying, “Look away. Look away to the Lord Jesus. Look to him. He’s the Saviour of sinners. He’s the one who can save. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
The last part of this meeting is going to point you to the Lord Jesus. That’s what we do — we’re pointing you away from yourself to Christ. Something must be done, and he has done it. That’s what we’re trying to tell you.
What Christ Did on the Cross
So, just before I sit down, let me remind you again about what Christ has done. You know about the cross — we preached Christ crucified. We’re going to point you again to the cross. But don’t forget, there are some things you need to understand about the cross.
He Suffered for Sins
First of all, the cross was where Christ suffered for sins. There was no other reason for him to go to a cross but to suffer for sin. He had no sin of his own. There was no man who could take his life from him. He said that very clearly: “No man taketh my life from me.” They tried — tried to push him off a cliff. They got him right to the edge of the cliff. You ever wonder how that happened? I often wonder how they got him right to the brow of the hill, right to the edge of the cliff. That crowd was pushing, pushing, pushing, ready to push him off the cliff, and all of a sudden they couldn’t push. Their hands fell down, and he just walked right through them. They were powerless to do anything, because no man takes his life from him. They picked up stones one time — they were going to stone him — and they couldn’t do it.
But when it came to the cross, he went willingly to the cross. He laid down his life on the cross to suffer for our sins. Here’s the way the scripture says it: “Christ also hath once suffered for sins.” That’s what he did, so that your sins could be forgiven. He suffered for sins.
He Was a Sacrifice
But he did more than that. He was a sacrifice for sins. That’s what a sacrifice was all about — there was something to satisfy God on account of our sins. And God introduced the whole sacrificial system, from Leviticus right on through the Old Testament, to teach people this: that a price must be paid for sin, there must be a sacrifice for sin. Well, on the cross, the Lord Jesus offered himself a sacrifice unto God for our sins.
He Became Your Substitute
What did he do? He did something else — he became the substitute for the sinner. You all know what a substitute is, because we all went through school, and we all rejoiced when we got a substitute teacher, because you could pull the wool over a substitute’s eyes like you couldn’t over your own teacher. And when that substitute stepped in, the substitute took the real teacher’s place. Well, when Christ died on the cross, he was a substitute for the guilty sinner — for every sinner in their sin.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and You Will Be Saved”
For this Philippian jailer — what must I do to be saved? Look to the substitute who took your place. He’s my substitute. That’s why I’m saved tonight — because somebody took my place and paid the price of my sin. And the good news is this — this is why we preach it — somebody took your place.
Trust him.
