Rejecting Salvation: The Call to Repentance

Peter had put it in very explicit terms when he put it in this language he said neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name of Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved their claim was that this was the son of God and that he had come into the world to provide a Salvation for men and that he done so that it was a full salvation a complete salvation he didn't need any help he didn't need any assistance he didn't need any others he didn't need any supplement salvation was to be found in Jesus Christ alone and they called men and women to repent and to believe in him. [00:03:17]

The world in the main is not Christian the world is rejecting this savior of the world this son of God exactly as the members of the Sanhedrin did so what Steven said to them is of very great and vital practical importance to us now we've seen many things already but what I'm dealing with at the moment is this we see in the case of murderers something that happens to all of us God confronts everybody who comes into this world with a gr great choice you remember in the case of Moses it was this he'd been brought up as we're reminded by the story as the son of Pharaoh's daughter he had marvelous chances and opportunities he was a clever man he was learned in all the wisdom and the Lord of Egypt he was a mighty man in words and in Deeds there were these great prospects as the son of Pharaoh's daughter but the call of God came to him when he was full 40 years old it came into his heart God began to deal with him and to speak to him and to call him to something out of where he was to this mission that God had got for him to deliver his people and here he is confronted by this tremendous Choice which is it going to be the pole of Egypt the pole of the people of God. [00:07:01]

He supposed that his Brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not oh here's the tragedy men and women rejecting the offered salvation they did it in the days of Moses you are doing it now say Steven to the members of the Sedin and I'm in this pulit tonight and calling your attention to this because men and women are still doing exactly the same thing have you rejected him my friend have you refused him it's one or the other you either accept him or else you refuse him and if you don't accept him you are refusing now what is the explanation of this tragedy this is the greatest of all tragedies look at our world tonight look at its trouble look at its Agony its pain its turmoil its torment and yet it's refusing this offer of God that can deliver it out of it this is the essence of the human tragedy. [00:09:16]

Sin is a terrible power it's a mighty power it's so powerful that it affects the whole of our being and vitiates our greatest Powers sin is this terrible influence that leads us all astray and causes us to be guilty of this Indescribable Folly of rejecting the only Savior and his great salvation and we saw that the first thing that sin does is to paralyze the Mind man doesn't think straightly thinks he does boasts of it him but he doesn't the whole trouble with the world is that it refuses to think in the only way that is truly rational. [00:11:19]

Prejudice is stronger than the power of reason now we all know that every one of us knows what it is to be Prejudice we've all been guilty of terrible prejudices and Prejudice you see is something deeper than reason it's lower than reason and it's more fundamental than reason and it contr reason Prejudice is that as the very word tells us which prejudges the issue it doesn't wait to listen to it it arrives at its verdict before it's heard the evidence that is what we mean by Prejudice isn't it the Prejudice person I won't think now we we're all I say we're all guilty of prejudice every single one of us this is not confined to some people it's something that is characteristic of the whole of the human race because of sin something makes a take makes us take up an attitude and then we find reasons to support it we haven't arrived at our position by a calm process of reasoning not at all well think of the obvious examples racial prejudices color Prejudice today National prejudices class prejudices the world is full of prejudices and that is why the world is in such a medal people you see don't just sit down and think out their positions not at all they start in a position and then they defend it and attack the other they've never even considered their position or the other they just start shouting at one another confirming the Prejudice Downing the other one I'm right because I am what I am my color my country right or wrong Prejudice refusal to think now that you see is something irrational that's not based upon brain and reason and understanding that is to be governed by something more ele mental this is more emotional isn't it Prejudice is always emotional that's its level but it's so powerful that it governs the thinking it controls the thinking that is why there is so much argument and disputation but and this is the terrible thing that is why there is so much betterness so much harsh feeling and in consequence so much un happiness. [00:13:07]

Moses has come to deliver these people but this this is the treatment he gets when he tries to prevent these two Jews these two children of Israel quarreling and fighting one another and getting at one another's throats the man who was doing the wrong to the other thrust him away saying who made the a ruler and a judge over us will you come you to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday I'm going to let this thing be known about you so Moses in Terror and alarm as to escape for his life to the land of Midian where he waited 40 years before he came back to deliver the children of Israel at this at the command of God but you see the resentment you see the bitterness you see the abuse you see the hatred that is man ested towards Moses Moses has come to deliver them but they abominate him they hate him they treat him vly they reject him with passion and with feeling well there it is that's what happened to Moses says Steven in addressing the Sanhedrin you see how he's developing his case he says that's exactly what you've just done to the Son of God that's what you're doing now by arresting me and putting me on trial and by regarding this message of his that I'm preaching to you was blasphemy. [00:15:39]

Man by nature is against God why well because he thinks that God is against him instinctively that's why man hates God his idea of God is of some desperate some awful power Ling over us waiting to do harm to us guards against us that's what mankind thinks instinctively that's its reaction isn't that true of the world today that's why God is Not only hat it but they're always trying to clutch at any argument they can find anywhere against God God is the opponent of the human race belief in God as the Opium of the people that's the thing and it's these ideas are held I say with great bitterness and uttered with great vation that's the attitude of men by nature to The God Who made him and gave him the great Dignity of making him in his own image and likeness The God Who has made us and that we ourselves The God Who has given us the gifts we have look at the modern world it's just repeating what the Apostle Paul tells us the world did of old with regard to God they worshiped he says the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever and we are doing it today we are worshiping men we are worshiping human ability human inventions marvelous we say how is it that man is capable of making inventions has man generated and produced his own powers is it man who's created his propensities and faculties of course not they're all god-given what hast thou as Paul puts it to the Corinthians what hast thou that thou Hast not received you see but this is what say D to us it makes us fail to realize that it is God who's not only made us but given us all the gifts that he's given us and look at the blessings that he showers upon us so regularly what if he withheld the sun and the rain all your clever inventions would do nothing the best seed in the world and all your tractors would be of no value if God didn't send the rain and the Sun and the seasons oh he's The Giver of every good and every perfect gift he causeth his son to rise and the evil in the good and sendeth his Reign upon the just and upon the unjust but above all God in spite of our sin and Rebellion against him has conceived a plan and a purpose of Salvation moved by nothing but his own Grace and his own love and his own Eternal heart oh he's done this he's purposed it he's he spended he's put it into operation and yet Men by Nature hat him the natural man does hate God the carnal mind is empty against God it's no use trying to say that that isn't true. [00:25:31]

God has his way of Salvation and it's a very clear one it's a very explicit one and he calls upon us to submit to it now mes had been given the way of Salvation by God God had told him how he was to deliver these people he'd got the plan and he's beginning to put it into execution that's the very point at which they stand against him what's your Authority who are you what right have you to do this now now they say they want to express their opinions they must be brought into consultation as it were they're not prepared to receive it as God has ordained it and as God has sent it but this is still the cause of trouble God's way of Salvation is perfectly plain and perfectly clear it is in Christ Jesus and in him alone it's absolutely exclusive now that's why I quoted to you at the beginning those those words of Peter that are recorded in Acts 4:12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under Heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved this is the Christian message this is God's way of Salvation it is all in this one person and in him exclusively there is no second name there is only one name you mustn't put any name by the name of Jesus if you do you're detracting from his he is the Son of God and he makes unique claims he says I am the light of the world I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me it's all in him it's all alone in him he needs no help no assistance you mustn't put anybody by his side I am the way the truth the life it is exclusively in him the Son of God none other name under him given amongst men whereby we must be saved and it even Narrows that down by telling us that he saves specifically by dying for us on the cross on calvary's hill and this is of all points the point at which the Modern Men not only displays his resentment against this gospel but his hatred of it the blood of Christ the blood of Christ and yet this is the message that the Son of God came into this world to save us and that the only way whereby he could save us was by dying in our stead who his own self took out sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by who stripes we are healed he's done it he's done it all he said it is finished there's nothing that you need to add you can't add to it if you try to you're derogating and detracting and subtracting for what he has done once and forever he could cry out on the cross saying it is finished everything has been done God has laid on him the iniquity of us all he's born the punishment to the last OU but it meant that his body was broken and that his blood was shed without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins he was made a little L than the angels for the suffering of death that he might taste death for every men there is only one way into the presence of God in the holiest of all it is by the blood of Jesus this is what the world hats there it PS it sarcasm its scone its ridicule above all upon the blood of Christ it laughs at it it mocks at it it Ys at it this Theology of blood it say it's simply repeating what the members of the Sanhedrin did it is simply repeating what the children of Israel had done long ago with Moses who said thee as a ruler and a judge over us who's given you the right to tell us about the way of salvation but he has it he has it alone he's the appointed of God he's the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the whole world it's in him and in him alone this is the thing that men object to must them all he says can't I do something about it don't I play a part don't others play A Part mustn't we help him somehow mustn't we make our contribution the answer is no he has done it all and if you try and bring anything in of men in any shape or form you're detracting from his eternal glory and the completeness of his divine Savior but you see this is what man kind hates it always likes a religion that gives us a lot to do this is true of every section of the Christian church every form of religion they all want to be doing something doing their part adding their bit bringing something else in making it complicated adding to him no no it's all in him and in him exclusively none another name given under Heaven amongst men whereby we must be saved he decides he is Judge and ruler he's appointed by God to be it is God's way and you and I have to submit to it and not only that you see the gospel not only tells us that the Son of God had to die and his blood shed before we could be saved it also tells us that we are so rotten and so vile that we must be born again there it is what our blessed Lord you remember said to Nicodemus you must be born again doesn't matter who you are he was a Jew brought up as a Jew circumcised the Jewish church had done everything for him there was nothing more to be done than he was a leader to boot no God you must be born again except a men be born born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God and it's still the same message that all of us are in such a state and condition as the result of sin that we cannot be improved we need to be made a new we must be regenerated we must be born again and the world hates this it abominates it what the natural man hates above everything else is the doctrine of the death of Christ and the doctrine of the rebirth regeneration he's interested in Christ as a person Christ as a teacher interested in the ethical teaching of The Sermon on the Mount interested in many other things but when you tell him that nothing but his death can save us and that we need to be born with the spirit before we can be the children of God he hates it he resents it he says it's insulting he says I have I'm not perfect I'm not 100% Saint perhaps but you mustn't tell me that I'm so bad that I can't do anything that I must be bor the you and that he must die for me this is insulting that's the attitude of the modern man and he resents it with bitterness he rejects it with scone and so I go on with my analysis you see Men by Nature not only resents this he fights fights against it he thrusts it away from him that's exactly what these people did with Moses he that did his neighbor R thrusted him away saying who made thee the ruler and the judge over us and that is what mankind is still doing with the Lord Jesus Christ and his great salvation it fails to see the he's come to do us good as Moses visited his people so it was given to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist to say God has visited and redeemed his people the very Son of God came into this world he visited this world in order to save us and yet the world thrusts him away pushes him aside has no interest in him Cries Out away with him crucify him with all the bitterness that was characteristic of the first century but and did you notice this I wonder that this terrible thing called sin has such a devastating effect upon us and such a perverting influence upon us that it even makes us take sides with our greatest enemies that's exactly what these people did this men he said who made thee a ruler and a judge of and then he goes on wil thou kill me as th didst the Egyptian yesterday and Moses understood exactly what he meant by that because I read then fled Moses at this saying and was a stranger in the land of midan why well he understood that the men was saying this he said all right I saw what you did yesterday and as you're coming forward and setting yourself up as a judge and a ruler and you are going to take charge of us you're a usurper you are a conceited fellow who thinks he knows all about it and asking us to follow you all right I will go and let the authorities know what you did yesterday you see what the fool is saying what else can you call him what is he but a fool here is a man in the Captivity and the bondage of the Egyptians here is a slave and a surf he takes sides with the Egyptians against his own deliverer that's exactly what they did they took the side of their oppressors their masters and as over and against the god appointed deliverer and did you notice what we read together in the 23rd chapter of Luke's gospel at the beginning did you notice how the high priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the doctors of the law all these people joined with pilate against the Son of God they invoked the aid of the Roman power that had recently conquered their country and that was holding them down in a prison they side with their oppressors they perpetuate their own sofom and reject the deliverer and the profited salvation and it is what men is still doing in his folly you know what you're doing when you reject this gospel you are not only rejecting the Son of God and God's marvelous offer of Salvation yet putting yourself under the side of the devil you're putting yourself under the side of the one who's caused your misery the world was made perfect it was Paradise Why didn't it continue as Paradise because the devil came in the enemy of God the enemy of men because he's made in the image of God the devil came in he caused the chaos he's the cause of disease unhappiness shame misery sin remorse hell all that is against us is caused by the devil and as you reject this gospel and as you make fun of the Bible and as you pour scorn on the blood of Christ and on the resurrection and all the great facts of the Gospel what are you doing you're taking sides with your own Tyrant with your own oppressor with the one who keeps you in the misery you're in and the failure you're in and land you eventually in hell and eternal damn Nation that's what you're doing you're turning against your deliverer and putting yourself on the side of and helping your own greatest enemy oh what a terrible thing sin is oh how it affects us the Prejudice it raises against this which is sent to deliver us makes us bitter and boastful in our rejection of it especially at its most glorious points and that brings me to my last word these children of Israel reacted like this and behaved in this manner to mes I've already had the privilege of telling most of you what it was what it meant to Moses to appear amongst them you remember what it was going to cost him son of her's daughter wealth prosperity popularity Applause military power oh there was nothing in his way he'd got the best chance the men had ever had it was all there at his feet as we say everything that could be desired he's ready to give it all up and to take his side by his own people he's ready to sacrifice himself his prospects if NE if necessary his very life and yet this is how they treat he was giving a ball to help them they throw it back in his face and spit upon Him threaten him with death and he has to escape for his life oh my dear friends that's but a pale picture in comparison with The Great tragedy that is recorded in the pages of the four gospels this is what is happening though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be made Rich do you want to know what he did listen let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God which means he didn't regard this Glory that he shared with God from eternity as a prize to be held on to what did he do then well he made himself of no reputation he took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a men he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross he gave himself he gave his life he couldn't have given more he gave gave everything and yet the reaction was away with him crucify him not this men but Barabas put this men to death set free the thief the robber the men guilty of insurrection my friends this is something that's happened this is not a fairy tale this is not a story this took place you know on calvary's Hill the world rejected its Messiah he came into his own and his own received him not though he has forsaken the glory of the Courts of heaven and has been born in the likeness of sinful flesh and suffered the contradiction of Sinners against himself for those years that he was in this world they spat upon him they mocked him they laughed at him they jured him they finally thrust him away and they crucified him then is the truth about everybody who doesn't believe in him it is this terrible perversion as well as Madness and blindness that is caused by sin come let me put a question to you as reasonable people look at this story as unfolded by Steven what's you a verdict on the action of the children of Israel in their response to Moses what what's your M what do you feel about that crowd that shouted in Jerusalem away with him crucify him look on at it objectively what's your verdict but my dear friend what have you done Thou Art the man if you don't see tonight that Jesus Christ is the son of God that he has died given his life for you salvation borne your punishment in his own body dead buried risen again seated at the right hand of God in the glory Everlasting for you if you don't see tonight that he has done that and that that and that alone saves you without any addition you are guilty of the same thing thou not the man may God have mercy upon all who have not submitted to him as their only Savior and Redeemer their all sufficient Savior and Redeemer may God the spirit open eyes that we may see him in all the plenitude and the fullness of his divine Savior hood that we may fall at his feet and say thou oh Christ art all I want more than all in thee I find Thou Art enough take me. [00:35:31]