How early Christians found salvation.
Joe Lewis, February 2, 1996
Our study for tonight was how early Christians found salvation.
In ah, in John one, we read there of some men being brought to Jesus. Verses forty to forty two says that Andrew, Peter's brother, brought Peter to Jesus. And verses forty three to forty nine tells that Philip brought Nathaniel . . . . to Jesus. And we also read there that Jesus came to Philip.
These people knew salvation because somebody, who had known Jesus, knew their friend's need - got them, and brought them to Jesus - some of them. Others ah, Jesus came to himself.
And you know, I enjoyed reading a story this - yesterday. It was a story about a man who ah, had a dream. And the dream was more like a vision, and in the vision or dream, ah, God was supposed to have spoken to this - this man and ah, and Jesus would come to this man tomorrow. So, when tomorrow came, this man was watching for Jesus. And different people would come by his house on the street, and he'd wonder, I wonder if that's Christ? And it would be somebody in a poor condition. And that person invited them in, just hoping it was Jesus - welcomed them into his home and he'd meet the need of that person. Each one had some kind of need. Well, at the end of the story, Jesus had come - but in that person himself. And through that person, Christ was manifested to those who had need.
Now, what I thought of that story is that this was another way that Jesus is brought to people, and it can happen still today. Those of us who have - truly have Christ within - we can bring Christ to others today. God's People still meet the needs of a needy world today. Bringing Christ. Letting Christ see. Letting people see Christ in us. Not just observing or hearing, but in action. Christ in action through his people today.
You know, I personally have experienced ah, grace and other - other things extended to me through Servants of God. And through Saints - God's People. And what that is - when that is doing it's - it's Christ extending his - it's his grace extended to me through his people - his Servants - his people.
In ah, Mark two verses one through fourteen - there's a story here about a man - this story takes place in the north part of the sea of Galilee ah, in Capernaum. There was a man who was sick of the palsy. And Jesus was in a - a house. And there were many people there. And in verse three, it says, - there - well, there were four people who carried this man - it says, "And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four." Four people were carrying this man on a - like a bed.
Verse four says, "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, or the multitude of people, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." (sic)
So here were - here were people who knew where Jesus was. And actually, there were many people who knew where he was, and had come to him. But this one man - he ah, was borne on a bed - he was carried to Jesus on a bed. And it was because of faith that this man had, and prob - probably the other four people carrying him. They probably all had faith. And that's why they put such an effort forward for to get this man, who was sick of the palsy, to Jesus. Now, it's - it's quite a thing - the effort that they went to - taking the roof off the house so they could get through and in to - to where Jesus was. Quite an effort taken here. And Jesus saw their - their faith. This man was sick of the palsy. Ah, the Jews would ah, connect sin with this palsy. And Jesus did - truly understood that they would, and he said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee."
Verse six says, "But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Whether it - whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them."
Here's a man who came in faith. Because of the faith that he had, he was healed. Not only of his palsy, but of his sins - he was forgiven - his sins were cleansed - forgiven.
This was the son of God. The people were amazed - they never seen on this - in this fashion before. Never seen it on this wise - in this way before.
Well . . . . people . . . . get a lot of different pictures of Christ in this world. There are people who actually claim to heal people in the name of Christ.
We know of a lady who, about two weeks ago, she was at a church where a man claimed to be able to do healings - it was over two weeks ago. It was more like just under two weeks ago that she - she was claiming the wonderful things this - this man can do and his ability to heal. And she had the need of a healing. And she was talking about what wonderful things this man had done for her. But you know what? It happened a few days later, she was in hospital with - for surgery.
See, that is not the kind of healing that Christ does. This man here - he - immediately, he walked. Jesus does not do partial healings. When Jesus healed somebody, they were whole - healed wholly - completely - never left anybody partially healed. He'll never leave anybody partially saved either. He'll never partially cleanse your sins.
You know, your hope and my hope is that Christ will completely - wholly cleanse each one of us - every sin that we have committed, and the ones we will commit in the future. There's hope for us because of the blood of Christ that those sins can be cleansed. This is why people are saved when they're brought to Christ, or when Christ comes to them, or he is brought to them.
Some other people that I enjoyed ah, thinking about along this line - in Acts ten - I'm not going to ah, read from it - but the whole chapter ah, takes up a story about Cornelius. This man was a good man. This - he - he had a good reputation amongst other people he was a - around - worked with and - and all. Um, he was a man who prayed to God regularly. But you know what? He wasn't a saved man.
You know there's a lot of people in this world who think that being a good person - having good values and virtues and - and ah, being good citizens - is good enough. But the scriptures don't teach that. That's man's own ideas. Man has a way of trying to get out of being subject to God, and having to be in obedience to God - Oh, I'm doing good enough just the way I am. I don't do anything wrong.
But you know what? Every person is a sinner. Every person on this earth needs a redeemer. Every person on this earth is without salvation unless they have Christ. So if all people - some of us - Christ has been brought to us already - but whatever each person in this room's (sic) state is, the end result - we need Christ in our lives for salvation. And that's what brings salvation.
And for this man, Cornelius - one of the things I appreciated in this story - God was speaking to a man, Cornelius. But God also he was speaking to a man, Peter. And Cornelius - he sent two of his household servants and a soldier down to Joppa for a man, Peter. It took faith on Cornelius's part to do that - to send three of his men - three men down to Joppa looking for a man named Peter at another man's house named Simon.
Incidentally, the reason Peter was at Simon's house - Peter didn't have a - he was homele - in a homeless ministry - staying at another man's house. But, not to get side tracked, ah,
So Peter - God's been speaking to Peter at the same time getting a particular point across to Peter so that Peter would go with these three men because these three men were Gentiles. And in Peter's mind they were unclean. So God was trying to get a - a point across to Peter - when these men come don't call them unclean - don't think of them a - as unclean - I've cleansed them - go with them. Take The Gospel to them and their se - master, Cornelius. That's what that story was all about. The sheet was tied in the four corners and the unclean beasts that were in that story - in that picture also, but that's the point that God was trying to get across to Peter. You go with those men.
So Peter - here's a si - a situation where Peter took Christ with him - Christ's in Peter brought Christ to Cornelius and his house and many other people that were there. And they received the holy spirit - they received salvation.
Thought of another man - he's the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip. Another situation where God spoke to somebody else and sent them - sent this man, Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch who had been up to Jerusalem to worship. And he didn't understand the things he was reading as he was leaving Jerusalem. You know, he might - he could have even heard of Jesus Christ while he was in Jerusalem. Chances are - are fairly good that he did. And ah, here he's coming away from Jerusalem and reading the Old Testament scriptures - Isaiah - wondering what he was reading. And here came Philip sent by God to intercept the man and bring - tell about Jesus from the scriptures he was reading - the very scriptures he was reading. This man - this is how this man found salvation.
There's the ah, the woman with the alabaster box in Luke seven. Ah, Jesus told her, "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace." This woman had faith. She was a sinner-woman. But she too could have her sins cleansed. This was a woman who came to Jesus . . . . in faith . . . . in her faith saved her - she was saved by - by faith.
The Samaritan woman in John four - she brought many people of - out of Samaria to see Jesus. And many of them received Jesus.
In first Peter one and five there's just a - a verse there . . . . says, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." So faith is very important in this thing of salvation. Kept by - by the power of God through salva - through faith unto salvation.
You know, I think these Meetings ah, - some of you who have been here - some of you who have been coming to Gospel Meetings for many many years have a lot more faith than I do. I still pray that my own faith can increase. But it's faith - is - is one of those musts - it's not a suggestion or an option - we must have faith unto salvation.
How early Christians found salvation.
Terry Wells, February 2, 1996
Our topic tonight is how early Christians found salvation.
Salvation is ah, - has many definitions. Um, there's a definition that I really like because it's my experience. And ah, sal - salvation is coming home. And, everyone in the scripture that experienced salvation experienced the comfort of coming to their home. I don't mean coming to their natural home, but I mean coming to the home of their Creator - coming home to God. And feeling the - the comfort of having - having peace with their maker.
I believe Jesus expressed what salvation is by - when he stood and looked over his people ah, in the city of Jerusalem and he just said in the agony of his heart, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you under my wings, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but," he said, "you would not, you would not." (sic)
Um, that is a - that is a picture of salvation. Just being gathered under the re - the - the wings ah, so to speak, of our saviour. A picture of just being home.
Jesus told us in ah, John chapter ten, he said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I give the - give unto them everlasting life; and," he said, "no man will be able to pluck them out of my hand." (sic) And he said, "My father which give - gave them me, is greater than I, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand." (sic) And that's a picture of the protection and comfort and hominess of salvation. Being in the hand - the double protection of being in the hand of Jesus, and then Jesus in turn being in the hand of his heavenly father.
So, how did people find this home-coming - this - this feeling of having come to the place they've been searching for and looking for?
Well, I just noticed ah, that of the different ones in the scripture that I looked at, there seemed to be certain, you might say, tests that they passed. And - and if you - if we look at these different ones, we might ah, we might understand that if the same need that they had - if we're feeling that need then what they found, we can find too. That ah, what they received, we can receive if their experience is similar to the experience that we're feeling and going through.
And, - I might just start out with - with ah, this man that Joe talked about tonight, Cornelius. We read about him in Acts chapter ten and eleven. And there's something significant about this man that caught my attention. And it tells us in the very first part of Acts chapter ten, that he was a man that feared God - he feared God. He passed the test of fear.
Cornelius ah, - we know that ah, when we speak of the fear of God, we're not talking about the - the um, - being afraid in the sense that we're terrified of someone. But often we speak about fear as - as being synonymous with respect. Just to respect someone. Like, you might fear your parents, or your grandparents. You respect their counsel and their suggestions and their advice.
However, there are those who are aware of - of their condition that they don't know God. And they're aware that they - while they know that there's a God - they don't know him personally and they don't know what God wants for their life. And they're aware that time is short as we were singing in that hymn. And their fear of God is - is - is - is - is - is a - is a genuine fear coupled with the fact that they know time is short and they're not ready.
I believe Cornelius was that kind of man. Even though it says he was devout and he - he gave alms and he prayed and he feared, he was a man that realized that he wasn't home yet. He hadn't found home.
And this - this fear is borne out in chapter eleven, when it tells us that - it says, "The angel said to Cornelius that Peter would give thee words whereby he and his house would be saved." (sic) So, Cornelius passed the test of fear - he feared God.
There's those verses in Ecclesiastes that tell us ah, "hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." It's a - it's a wonderful thing to fear God.
I remember being - when I was a young teenager at home and there were a lot of things that I didn't agree with about ah, the way my - the way my folks wanted to ah, wanted - what they wanted me to do. And, often times I - I - I just contemplated just heading down the road. And ah, often times I contemplated, well, just standing up and talking back. But you know, there was just something there - ther - there was a - there was a fear there. I - I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
But I - I know others who had. They stood up, and they talked back, and they made their opinions known, a - and they - they were bold enough to - to walk down the road. And you know, they're a long long ways from the Kingdom of God today for that reason. Not only a long ways from their - from their parents, but a long ways from God.
But I'm thankful - I'm thankful for those in the scripture who had a fear of God. And they just - there was just something there they knew they had to settle - they knew they had to get taken care of. Otherwise, they cou - they could not - they could not enjoy life or know - they could not go on with life until that matter was settled.
We think about a - another man in ah, Luke chapter - I think it's twenty four - thief on the cross. He passed the test of fear. He's - he's on the cross, and there's another thief hanging beside him. And Jesus is in between them. And this thief - one thief says to Jesus, ah, "If thou be the son of God, save thyself and us." (sic) But the other thief said, "Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" (sic) And we know that that comment drew the Lord's attention. And, not (the number) was just a statement, but it was from his heart. He feared God. But, I don't know the circumstances - none of us do - only God knows the circumstances that brought that man to the cross to face that kind of death. I know that only the Lord knew his heart - he knew he feared God. And the Lord was able to say to him, "This day, thou shalt be with me in paradise." (sic) He passed the test of fear.
It's interesting to note um, in the story ah, that we read of Cornelius and ah, others that the Lord seemed to have a part in bringing both the Servant and the - th - the one seeking salvation together. The Lord had a part in this - he had a part in a - at the same time he was working in the heart of Peter and - and - you might say doing a mission in Peter's life as well - he was also doing a work in Cornelius's life.
And - and we read in ah, Acts chapter sixteen - we see the same thing happening there - where ah, the - the s - the spirit of God closed certain doors for the ministry. Ah, when ah, Paul and the other Apostles were minded to go into Asia, the door was closed. When they sought to go into Bithynia it says, "the Spirit suffered them not."
And you know, that made for a - that made for a desperate ministry. That made for a ministry that was praying. And then the Lord could - he could open up the way, and show them where he wanted them to go. And a the same time, there'd been people in - in - in Asia um, - not in Asia, but in Greece, Macedonia - men and women who - who were fearing God and praying and wanting help. And the Lord shut certain doors, and he opened other doors. And he brought Servant and sheep together - lost sheep together. And salvation was found.
Um, ahem, Another test - and we might - we might - we might just ask ourselves, is this a test that um, - that I could be taking - is the test - this a test that I could - am I past this test? It's the test of need. The test of need.
Looking at every - everyone who was ah, - who comes to know Jesus and comes to know what it is to - to come home - knows what it is to feel a need in their soul for something that only God can supply.
And we might just ah, turn to second Kings chapter five. There we read about a man who was named Naaman. And Naaman was not even - he was not even a Jew. He was a Syrian. And it tells us that he was a great man. He was a mighty man. A mighty man of valor. But he was a leper. He was a leper. He was unclean. Didn't matter how much greatness that he'd known - how much victory he'd known in his life - it all speaks for nothing because he was a leper. And there was a little maid in his house, and that little maid said one day to ah, ah, Naaman's wife - she just said, "Would to God that my lord were with the prophet that is in Israel. He would cure him of his leprosy." (sic)
I - I don't know what woulda - what would have happened in Naaman, but it must have - there must have been faith in the man to realize that, maybe there's help for this condition of mine. And he was willing to make the journey. He was willing to go and find this man of God who could - who could help him. He passed the test of need. He had a deep need and ah, he went.
And then he passed another test. Need is one thing - sometimes we don't have a need. But we don't always want to do what needs to be done to satisfy the need. We're too terrible. We have a nature. Naaman had a nature. Every person in the scripture who received salvation had a human nature to contend with that resisted the will of God. Every one of them. And you and I, we have a nature that's going to resist the will of God. And sometimes it's a very, very slander, slender thing that even - it's a - we really have to marvel that anyone is helped at all. Because the nature is so strong and it ha - it hay - it hates anything that wants to control it.
And Naa - this was - the next test that Naaman had to pass was the test of obedience. And when - when the Servant of God told Naaman to go and dip himself in the river Jordan seven times, there was just something in Naaman that rose up and he was angry. He just felt, there are - there are lots of rivers in - in Damascus that are as good as the river Jordan - why - why can't I go and wash and dip in them and be clean? And here he was arguing with the - with the source of help - the only source that could help him - here he is arguing with it. But, ahem, it - it - h - here - here's where - here's where it could have gone either way so - so easily. Naaman asked the Servant. And one just came over to him and said, "If the man would have bid you to do something great thing, would ye not have done it? Well, how much more just to go and dip in the river?" (sic) And that seemed to break his will. And he relented. And he went and he dipped himself in the river seven times. And you know what happened? His flesh came clean, like the flesh of a little child. Because he obeyed. Because he humbled himself.
But you know, I think the greatest thing about this - this a - account about Naaman is what Naaman said when he came out of the water. Um, he said, "Now I know - now I know - there's - there's - there's no God like the God in Israel." (sic)
But he had to pass those tests before he could know, didn't he? The test of need and the test of obedience. Otherwise he'd never know.
And the same applies to us. Unless we feel a need - unless we fear God - unless - unless we're willing to obey - we'll never know. We'll never know. Our flesh will never come clean. We'll never know what it is.
But Naaman left, a grateful man. He left, a wonderful man. A grateful man. And you know, we might just go on in this story a little - a little longer.
Naaman - Naaman wanted to give the Servant of God - he wanted to give him a reward. He brought ah, he ah.h.h, - I forget how much silver and gold and changes of raiment - he was - he was prepared to pay for this. The Servant of God, Elisha, wouldn't take it. He wouldn't take it. No Servant of God would take it. Um, he passed the test too, didn't he? He - he just passed the test of being true to his master. He knew that the power that had healed Naaman was not his power. He knew that. He knew that it was - it was freely given from God. And he couldn't - he couldn't take anything for that.
But, Elisha had a Companion. And Gehazi was his name. And Gehazi - he failed the test. He failed it. He failed the test - I guess you might call it the test of covetousness. And he went ah, - he saw Naaman leaving with that, and - and he just felt - he'd like to get his hands on some of that. It was offered, so he went after him. And he - he lied to Naaman. And he said, "My master is receiving company and he's going to need some of this." (sic) And of course Naaman graciously gave him even more than he asked. And when they - they returned - it was - it was as though his - his Older Companion had been with him the whole time. And he said in effect, "Did not my heart go with you?" (sic) And he said, "The leprosy that was on Naaman will cleave to you, and your seed forever." (sic) Now there's a sad - a - a sad test to fail. The test of just being covetous.
Well, there's another test. Um, the test of repentance. And, in the test of repentance, we could turn to Acts chapter eight. In Acts chapter eight, we - we read about a man a wo - I might just talk about the test of repentance and I'm not going to be giving you an example a man who passed the test, but a man who failed the test. And his name was Simon.
And Simon would be the kind of person that could fool a lot of people, because it says he believed. He believed the preaching of Philip, and he was even baptized. He was even baptized. But there was something about his motive that wasn't - that was not right in the sight of God. And - and when the Apostles came down from Jerusalem to - to see this work that had been going on in Samaria, ah, Simon offered Peter money so the he could have the power to con - the give the holy ghost. And Peter just said to him, "Your money perish with you." (sic) Ah, and he said um, "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Then Simon answered, "Pray ye the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me." (sic) Maybe this is just what Simon needed to realize his condition. He - he missed a step there, and the step was repentance. Repentance - it tells us he was a sorcerer and he'd bewitched many people with his sorceries and had people feeling that he had the power of God behind him. But it was all a sham. And repentance was something that - when he heard The Gospel, he didn't repent. When he saw the holy ghost poured out on people, he didn't - he didn't repent. He just wanted the - the power to give the spirit like - like he perceived the Apostles were doing. And he - he didn't understand that he didn't have any part or lot in this matter.
So ahem the test of repentance is an important test. This is - this is how Jesus announced the coming of The Gospel, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." A few weeks ago in the paper there was a - there was a very touching article about a woman who was on death-row. She is on death-row. And she'd been sentenced to death in nineteen eighty nine. But through appeals and through different lawyers and different ah, civil liberties groups and um, other groups like that, they'd been able to delay the execution and get appeal after appeal. And finally this woman - she fired all her lawyers. She - she - she gave up on all of these - all of these ah, - all of these people trying to help her get free. And she said, "I'm going to accept the judgment." She said, "I - I - I - I - I want to die. I want to die." Well, she said when ah, - when she had done that, and when she accepted the judgment, and she accepted the fact that ah, she was being sentenced for what she'd done, she said "I -" she received more peace than she'd ever had in her entire life. And even though others ah, were trying to encourage her to mount a new appeal, she said, "No, I - I just want to keep this peace that I have." And she was willing to - she's willing now to face the - the executioner.
But um, repentance will bring the same peace to us. Ah, it will bring - it will bring the peace of ah, - of - the same peace as surrender brings. And we see this in - in - in the lives of early Christians. And it's an - an important part of how they found their salvation. And I was just encouraged to - to think - and there's some other tests - ah, ah, I won't speak about them because the time is so limited. But the test of faith. You must believe that God is, and that he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. And there's the test of the (-holive-) - and others I've covered. And it's just nice to think that if some of these things we might - we might find some of these qualities - some of these struggles - some of these tests - we might be facing in our own experience now. And if we - if we pass the test, even a - as these in the scripture passed the tests, then the same thing they found, we can find. The same home that they found, we too can find. The same God and the same Lord that they found, we can find.
