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Scripture: Acts 2:23-24, 32-33; 3:15; 5:30-31
I. The Lord is the Lord of life:
А. Christ is God incarnated. Since the life in God is the eternal life, the life in Christ is also the eternal life.
B. Because the eternal life is in Christ, the Bible refers to Him as the Lord of life, and He is not only the Lord of life but also the life itself.
C. Because He is the Lord of life, He cannot be held by death. Death is a tremendous power; when it comes, no one can resist it. But the power of life overcomes the power of death. Since the Lord Jesus is the Lord of life, death has no power over Him. Although He entered into death, yet He came out of death and was resurrected.
II. The Lord has fulfilled the requirement of death:
А. Since men have sins, death has a requirement upon men. Sins bring in the requirement of death upon men.
B. Christ died to bear men’s sins; He died to taste death for all.
C. Men’s sins cause the law of God to sentence men to death. God’s law says that he who commits sin must die.
D. Christ’s death satisfies the requirement of the law of God. It takes away the death that was the result of the requirement of the law.
E. Since Christ has both fully tasted and taken away the death required by the law, death not only has no power over Him but also has no power over those who are redeemed. This is why He died and rose again. In giving this message, more development is needed. Only a few main points have been presented here.
III. The meaning of the Lord’s resurrection:
А. The resurrection of the Lord is the proof that His death has satisfied the requirements of the law of God. It frees men from sin and death.
B. The resurrection of the Lord causes men to have His life and causes men to be united with Him.
C. The resurrection of the Lord makes men righteous, justified, and accepted by God.
IV. Believe the resurrection of the Lord:
А. To believe in the Lord is to believe that the Lord has been resurrected. To believe the resurrection of the Lord includes the confession that the Lord died for you.
B. When one believes the Lord’s resurrection, he is united with Him. By this he is justified and has life.
C. When one believes the Lord’s resurrection, he receives the peace of mind and the power of life. He is reconciled to God and can live a life that is acceptable to God.
Scripture: Acts 2:36-39
I. We should repent:
А. We are those who have turned our backs toward God and who live in sins.
B. God wants us to turn to Him and be freed from sins.
C. Repentance starts with the turning of the mind until the whole being is turned to God. Repentance in Greek means a change of mind. Originally, your mind is toward sins and toward the world. Now God wants you to turn to Him, to turn your mind toward Him and then to turn your whole being to Him.
D. We must confess that we have our back toward Him and must reject all our sins.
II. We should believe in Jesus Christ:
А. The word upon in the phrase upon the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) means believing.
B. To believe in Jesus Christ does not mean to agree, or to recognize, but to receive. To receive Him is to unite with Him. This word upon has also the meaning of uniting.
C. Jesus Christ is God as the Savior. God is Spirit. As the Spirit, He is omnipresent and available to us. Because we have a spirit within, we can use our spirit to receive the Spirit of God. When we confess that we are sinners, repent and turn away from sins, our spirit is opened to receive Jesus Christ to be our Savior. His Spirit then comes into ours to unite us with Him.
III. We should be baptized:
А. Believing in Christ is the inner reality, and baptism is the outward expression. With the inner reality the outward expression is still necessary. This means that in addition to the believing in Christ with the heart, there is the need of the baptism.
B. What baptism shows is first the severing of the relationship with sins and that we are being put into God. Second, it shows that we are being freed from ourselves and being immersed into God.
C. Baptism is the declaration with a physical action that the former conduct and former person have altogether been concluded, have died, and have been buried. From now on there is no more former person and no more former conduct but a uniting with Christ, a living out of Christ.
IV. The result of such doing:
А. Having our sins forgiven. This includes being freed from the punishment and dominion of sins.
B. Receiving the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is another form of Christ, who is the embodiment of God. Therefore, to receive the Holy Spirit is to receive Christ and to receive God. It is also to have the eternal life of God.
I. Men are in sin:
А. Describe men living in sins.
B. Use examples to illustrate the picture of men living in sins.
II. Men have no rest:
А. Sins cause men to have problems with God. Men’s consciences also condemn them constantly because of sin. They often encounter God’s judgment. Therefore, they often lose their peace. There is no peace either in their conscience or in their environment.
B. Sins also often cause men to have problems with one another. The discord between husband and wife, manager and clerk, classmates and colleagues are examples of men’s problems with one another.
C. Sins also cause men to have problems with themselves. Sinners destroy themselves. They live a contradictory life. Their mind urges them to do good, but the lust within them compels them to do the opposite. Their mind urges them to take care of their family, fame, position, and health, but sins cause them to destroy all of these. The agony within such men is beyond description.
D. Since men have problems with God, with one another, and with themselves, they have no peace. Both in the outward environment and in the inward sensation in their conscience, they lose the normalcy, the peace; therefore, they have no rest. When describing the absence of rest within men, elaborate on it thoroughly.
Scripture: Acts 4:12
I. Only Jesus is both God and man:
А. Men commit sins, and the forgiveness of sins is the exclusive authority of God.
B. In order to save men, God had to become a man. Because it was men who committed sins, God had to become a man to bear sins for men. Although, as God, He had the authority to forgive sins, yet He would have made Himself unrighteous had He forgiven men their sins without first becoming a man to bear those sins.
C. The Savior not only has to be a man, but He also has to be God. As a man, He can bear sins for men. As God, He can forgive men’s sins. If the Savior were only God and not man, then He could not bear sins for men. If He were only man and not God, He could not forgive men’s sins. In order that He could both bear sins for men and forgive sins, He must be both God and man.
D. Only the Lord Jesus is both God and man. Only He can bear sins for men and at the same time forgive men’s sins. Only He can be man’s Savior. Therefore, besides Him there is no other salvation.
II. Only Jesus died and rose again:
А. Since men have committed sins, men have to die according to the requirements of God’s righteous law. Because there is death, men cannot escape the punishment of sins.
B. Men cannot stop sinning because of the sinful nature of man. They cannot stop trespassing God’s righteous law.
C. Thus, the Savior had to die. Only death could take away the punishment for sins. There also had to be a life for men to receive so that men could overcome the sinful nature.
D. Only the Lord Jesus died for men’s sins to take away the punishment for sins. He rose from the dead, giving life to those who believe in Him, freeing them from their sinful nature. Therefore, only the Lord Jesus can be men’s Savior. Besides Him there is no salvation.
III. There is no salvation apart from Jesus:
А. All the founders of religion are merely men and not God. Regardless of how perfect, good, and kind they are, they cannot bear sins for men, much less can they deliver men from sin. (Points I and II are the base, and points III and IV are the main emphasis of the message.)
B. All founders of religion can only teach. They can only teach methods of self-denial. None of them could die for man. None of them could give life to the dead. They cannot save men from the punishment of sin, much less free men from their sinful nature.
C. Only Jesus is both God and man to be the Savior, the resurrected One from the dead. Only He could die to bear men’s sins and to give life to men. He can take away the punishment of sin and free men from their sinful nature. Only He can be the Savior. Therefore, besides Him there is no salvation. This must be said emphatically.
IV. How to be saved:
А. Repent and confess your sins.
B. Believe in Jesus’ name. The Scriptures say, “Neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Scripture: Acts 5:30-32
I. Men are sinners:
А. Men are born in sin, raised up in sin, and living in sin.
B. Use examples to prove the sinful condition of men.
II. Jesus is the Savior:
А. His crucifixion on the cross has borne the sins of men.
B. Having been raised from the dead, He has become the living Savior of men.
III. Repentant heart and redeeming grace:
А. Since men have sins and the Lord Jesus has accomplished redemption, God sends the Holy Spirit to move men to repentance. This repentant heart does not come from one’s self but is given by God through the Holy Spirit.
B. The repentant heart first includes a turning of the mind toward God. Second, it includes regret and sorrow for sins. Third, it includes confession before God. Fourth, it includes a forsaking of sinful deeds.
C. Redeeming grace comes by the redemption of Christ and is given to us through the Holy Spirit. When we repent, the Holy Spirit brings the peace of forgiveness of sins into our heart. This peace proves that we have received redeeming grace.
IV. How to have a repentant heart and the redeeming grace:
А. Do not harden your heart against the moving of the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit is moving in your heart. Do not harden your heart. You should soften your heart.
B. Repent and confess your sins.
C. Receive Christ and His redemption.
Scripture: Acts 8:26-39
I. The eunuch was one who sought after God:
А. He was an official.
B. He was a Gentile from a great distance.
C. Although he was a high official and lived a great distance away, he was a man who sought after God. There are two proofs: (1) He came from a remote region in Africa to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God. (2) He read the Bible and was seeking for God in the Bible.
D. He came to Jerusalem to seek for God. He sought after God in the temple, but he did not meet Him. Neither did he meet God by reading the letter of the Bible. This shows that the outward effort is in vain.
II. God allows men to find Him:
А. All of man’s effort in seeking after God is in vain. It is only when God allows men to find Him that their seeking is not in vain.
B. Although man’s seeking after God is in vain, man’s seeking heart is precious. God does not value man’s effort, but He treasures man’s heart. God will fulfill every heart that is seeking for Him.
C. Although his effort of seeking after God was in vain, this official’s seeking heart was fulfilled by God. When he was returning home in disappointment, having gained nothing, God allowed him to find Him. The eunuch thought that he could find God in the temple, but he never thought that he could find God in the wilderness. He also thought that he could meet God in the letters of the Bible, but instead he met God through the mouth of a man without the Bible. Today many come to the chapel to seek for God and leave in disappointment. Yet on the way home they may meet a believer and, after talking with him, meet God. Many come to the letter of the Bible to find God but cannot find Him. One day, through one of His own people, God speaks one or two words, and their eyes are immediately opened to see Him.
III. The revelation of the gospel:
А. The eunuch read the Bible. When he was reading in Isaiah concerning Christ, he could not understand anything because he had no revelation.
B. The revelation of the gospel is to unveil Jesus Christ to men. That day the eunuch happened to read that particular passage of the Bible unknowingly. His reading was of the Holy Spirit, because the passage touched his relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit, on the one hand, moved him to read that passage while he was unoccupied and, on the other hand, moved in Philip to explain it to him. After Philip had explained, the eunuch’s eyes were opened and he understood.
C. The revelation of the gospel is the revelation of Christ. The gospel tells men that Jesus Christ is God who came to be a man, was crucified, and shed His blood for men.
IV. How to receive the gospel:
А. Believe the word of the gospel. When this official heard what Philip told him about Isaiah 53, he believed.
B. Believe in the Son of God. To believe in the Son of God is to receive a living Savior.
C. Be baptized into the Lord.
V. The result of receiving the gospel:
А. Our sins are forgiven. When the eunuch believed that the Lord was the Lamb of God bearing the sins of the world, his sins were then forgiven.
B. We obtain the life of God. Since he received the Son of God, he obtained the life of God.
C. We walk on the path of rejoicing and live a happy life. He who has not met God has an unhappy life. After being saved, the eunuch’s life was changed and he went on his way rejoicing.
Scripture: Acts 9:1-19
I. One who served God zealously also opposed the Lord:
А. Saul, a young man serving God with zeal, was an orthodox religionist. He was not only an orthodox Jew but also an orthodox Jewish religionist. He received the orthodox teaching of Judaism. Not only was he not a Gentile; he was even a Jew who feared God.
B. Although he served God with zeal, he, in his zeal, became one who opposed God.
C. He then obtained letters authorizing him to bind those who called on the name of Jesus. On the one hand, he zealously served God; on the other hand, he opposed Christ.
D. The fact that he could oppose Christ at the same time he was serving God with zeal shows that there is a difference between believing in Christ and being zealous for religion. Do not think that serving God is believing in Christ. Many serve God and are zealous for religion, but they offend the Lord more than those who love the world and live in sin. You may be very zealous for religion, but your zealous activities are opposing Christ. Elaborate fully on this point. It is important to let people see that believing in Christ is entirely different from being zealous for religion.
II. Christ met him:
А. When Saul was zealously serving God, that is, opposing Christ with zeal, unexpectedly, Christ met him.
B. Saul knew that there was such a man as Jesus, but he did not know that Jesus was the Christ. According to him, all the preaching about Christ was false. Today there are also many who have some concept of Jesus but fail to realize that Jesus is God, Christ, and the Savior. Today these people consider as false the preaching that Jesus Christ is God.
C. During the time he thought that the preaching about Christ was false and unbelievable, he met Christ. It was obvious that he had met Christ, yet he still asked, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5). The Lord answered, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 5). God’s salvation is not a doctrine, not mere hearsay, but a living Lord whose name is Jesus. He is God, and He is Christ. Every man can turn from opposing and not believing in Christ to believing in Christ as soon as he meets Christ. Many have listened to preaching for years and yet have not met Christ. Today men can oppose many doctrines, but they cannot oppose the living Lord. One day the Lord will meet you.
III. The result of being met by the Lord:
А. You will see the light. Before, this man served God with zeal, but he had no light. Once Christ meets you, then you have the light. Some have been pastors for twenty years or have been elders for eighteen years, but they are still in darkness, without any light. Not only pastors and elders may be in this kind of condition but also many other religionists.
B. You will fall down. You cannot get up again. You cannot go on the same way that you went before. The way that you acted as a pastor or an elder cannot continue. You cannot go to the movies anymore. All your activities have been terminated.
C. You will become blind. The light is indeed bright, but you do not see. This is a paradox. Before, when you were a pastor or an elder, you had a way to handle everything. Now everything is unclear. Whenever your concept about things becomes unclear, you know that Christ has met you.
D. You will go into the city to wait for someone to teach you.
IV. What should be done after meeting Christ:
А. Repent.
B. Believe.
C. Be baptized.
D. Serve Christ.
The above four points must be expounded according to the record of the Bible.
E. The result of this change:
А. You will preach Christ and testify Christ.
B. For Christ’s sake you will suffer persecution. Just as Saul persecuted others formerly, after he believed, he was then persecuted by others.
Scripture: Acts 10:1-5, 10:34-43; 11:4-18
I. A good man:
А. Cornelius was a godly man, that is, a good man.
B. Both he and his household feared God.
C. He often gave alms to the poor.
D. He prayed to God.
E. The Lord heard his prayer.
F. All the above five points prove that Cornelius was a good man. However, he was not a saved man. Emphasize strongly that he was a godly man, but he was not saved. Yes, he feared God, but he was not saved. He always gave alms, but he was not saved. He prayed to God, and God heard his prayer, but he was not saved.
II. Why he was not saved:
А. He was a good man, but he was still a sinner. Emphasize strongly that a good man is still a sinner. He was a good man; he had all the preceding five good points, but it cannot be said that he had no sin. A man is not without sin just because he honors his parents and is honest, meek, merciful, and compassionate. He was a good man, but he was not yet saved.
B. He was a good man but would still die. No matter how many good points a man possesses, he eventually has to face death. A man who goes to the Sunday service, contributes regularly, and fears God will still have to die someday.
C. All his goodness, fear of the Lord, and giving of alms were of his own effort. Since he did not have the life of God, he needed to be saved.
III. The gospel of salvation:
А. The gospel of salvation is not man’s invention. Cornelius thought that as long as he had good behavior and was a godly man, he would be saved. This is absolutely wrong.
B. The gospel of salvation is a revelation from God. While Cornelius tried his own way to touch God, God appeared to him in a vision, seemingly saying, “Go get Peter; he will show you the revelation of salvation. Only that kind of revelation can save you.”
C. The revelation of the gospel is to show that Jesus is the Lord of all and that He is God come as man to be our Savior.
D. The gospel is to show people that Christ died and resurrected to be the Savior of mankind, to forgive sins, and to be life for man.
IV. How can a good man be saved?
А. A good man as well as a bad man needs to be saved.
B. A bad man has to repent. A good man also has to repent. A bad man may have a hundred sins to confess, and a good man may have at least ten sins to confess. Therefore, a good man also needs to repent.
C. Just as a bad man needs Jesus to be his Savior, so also a good man needs Jesus to be his Savior.
Scripture: Acts 10:43
I. All are sinners:
А. Man has sinful deeds.
B. Man is under condemnation.
II. Jesus is the Savior:
А. Jesus is God incarnated to be the Savior of man. He died on the cross for our sins.
B. He resurrected from the dead, and His resurrection became the basis of our faith.
III. Believe in Jesus:
А. To believe in Jesus is to believe that He is the Son of God.
B. Believe that He resurrected from the dead.
C. Believe all the words of the Scriptures.
D. In spirit receive Him as your Savior.
IV. The result of believing in the Lord:
А. Your sins are forgiven.
B. The assurance of the forgiveness of sins is found in Acts 10:43: “Everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”
Scripture: Acts 13:38-39
I. The futility of depending upon works:
А. The human disposition is corrupted. Although man would do good, his goodness has a limit. Sometimes he might be able to do a little bit of good, but even that he can never do perfectly.
B. Human works are imperfect and defiled. In fact, man has no power to do good. Even in honoring our parents, our motive within is impure.
C. Therefore, no man is justified in the presence of God by his own works.
II. The trustworthiness of Christ’s forgiveness:
А. The death of Christ resolves the problem of man’s sins.
B. The resurrection of Christ enables man to obtain the position and life of justification.
C. Christ, by His death, has paid the ransom for man’s sins; therefore, He is able to forgive sins. Because of Christ’s position and life in resurrection, He is able to justify man. Therefore, the Scriptures say, “Through this One forgiveness of sins is announced to you”; and “in this One everyone who believes is justified” (Acts 13:38-39).
III. How to obtain Christ’s forgiveness and justification:
А. Confess that you are sinful and that you have no strength to do good.
B. Confess that Christ has died and resurrected for you.
C. Receive Christ as your Savior.
