Acts 16:22-34 What Must I Do?

Rev. David Holwick I

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

March 4, 2018

Acts 16:22-34

WHAT MUST I DO?

I. We struggle over effort.

A. Everyone needs a good chainsaw.

Late Friday night at the end of the storm I walked down to

Walmart to retrieve Celeste's car.

She had returned from work that morning but so many roads were

closed she had to come the back way and found Route 10 was

barely crawling, so she parked at the mall and walked home.

As I trudged down the street I saw two massive trees lying on

their side.

One, near Circle Drive, landed on top of the power lines.

That is why Brian Overman has been using my generator.

He has no electricity and without my generator, his basement

would be flooded with water.

The second tree was over on Raritan Avenue, across from Carol

Cherry's house.

It didn't fall on any power lines, but it broke into massive

pieces and clipped a house.

These people need a good chainsaw.

There is a story of a man who bought a used chainsaw from a

logging foreman. [hold up real chainsaw]

The foreman guaranteed the guy would be able to cut down 100

trees in a single day.

A week later, the very unhappy man came back to report that

the saw must be defective.

He had only been able to cut down 8 trees a day with it.

The logger checked it out.

He looked at the carburetor.

He checked the gas and the spark plug.

He said he couldn't find anything wrong with it.

He then grabbed the saw, pulled on the starter cord, and the

chainsaw promptly went "BZZZZZZZZZZ." [turn on saw]

The guy who had bought the saw jumped back and cried out,

"What's that noise?!"

#6262

There is always a hard way, and an easy way...

B. A basic spiritual question.

1) It is posed by a government official in our passage today.

a) How do we get salvation?

2) The answer makes all the difference in the world.

II. A typical day for Paul.

A. Arrested, beaten, and chained in a dungeon.

1) Paul and his companion Silas got into trouble by ruining

a fortuneteller by getting her saved.

a) Her owners did not appreciate the loss of income.

b) Paul and Silas are arrested, roughed up, and chained.

2) Their response is to pray and sing.

a) Prayer we would do - Lord, get me out of here!

b) The addition of singing shows they were having joy

in God right where they were.

1> It shows how powerful their faith was.

2> It was even noticed by the other prisoners.

3> Note that it is the middle of the night and it

is completely dark in there.

B. A whole lot of shaking goes on.

1) An earthquake shakes the prison so that it falls apart.

a) Earthquakes are very common in this part of the world,

and severe damage is not uncommon even today.

1> Luke adds the details that doors fly open and

chains fall off.

2> Hollywood could make great special effects for this.

b) Note that Paul and Silas didn't pray for an earthquake -

they prayed, and there was an earthquake.

2) The jailer is shaken, too.

a) Earlier in Acts, when an angel busts Peter out of a

prison, the guards were executed.

1> It was standard Roman procedure, so the jailer knows

it is more efficient to fall on his own sword.

b) But then Paul announces they are all safe and sound -

and still in the jail.

1> Even the other prisoners stuck around.

2> Paul must have really impressed them.

c) The jailer has a "come to Jesus" moment.

1> His relief at not having to take his life must have

made him wonder what his life was all about.

2> He didn't have what these Christians obviously had.

3> So he asks, on his knees, "What must I do to be saved?"

C. What is the most shaken you have been?

1) Some of you have been in actual earthquakes.

a) The 1994 Northridge Quake outside Los Angeles caused

57 deaths and over $25 billion in damage.

1> Tom and Trilby Salmon lived a few miles away.

2> They ended up being refugees for a few weeks.

b) It is more common to have a metaphorical shaking.

1> Your spouse leaves you.

2> Your business fails.

3> A child dies.

4> Someone you respect becomes disgraced.

c) The way you react can impact the rest of your life.

1> For many, it drives them to search their soul and

seek the real God.

2> How do we find him?

III. We expect salvation to require effort.

A. Most religions require you to do something to please God.

1) You have to prove yourself to him, or do something costly.

2) Some religions go to extremes.

a) They will crawl on their knees for miles, or beat their

bodies with whips, or walk through fire.

b) In the Philippines, some even crucify themselves.

c) The idea is that I must endure pain to show my

commitment and that I am worthy of salvation.

B. Even the average Christian is caught up in a works system.

1) Salvation comes from God plus me.

2) Of course, if salvation depends on personal effort, then

we are all doomed.

a) At some point we will always fall short or fail.

b) God's standards are too high for us.

IV. Paul offers the jailer a person, not a program.

A. He simply says, Believe in the Lord Jesus.

1) Jesus is the key to our salvation.

a) What he did for us, no one else can do.

b) Chainsaw illustration - saw down stuff by yourself,

or have something more powerful do it for you.

c) What Jesus did for us, no one else can add to, or

take away.

2) Would your faith be different if Jesus were erased from it?

a) For many, the answer would be "no."

b) Religion to them is a hodge-podge of ideas and practices.

1> A little prayer, a little meditation and yoga,

throw in some stained glass.

2> These are the trappings, but Jesus has to be the

core.

B. What does it mean to believe?

1) It is deceptively simple, but can be taken several ways.

2) Maybe this is why there are so many opinions.

3) Not every kind of belief can save.

V. Levels of belief.

A. Belief can be intellectual assent.

1) I accept certain facts about Jesus and God, so that makes

me a Christian.

2) Unfortunately, the Bible says this kind of belief falls

short.

James 2:19 says,

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons

believe that -- and shudder."

B. True belief has at least two elements. [1]

1) Knowledge.

a) Certain facts do have to be accepted:

1> Jesus is God.

2> You are a sinner who needs to be saved.

3> Jesus died on the cross so this could happen.

b) Christian faith is not blind faith.

1> It has a foundation of fact that you can build on.

2> The basic facts cannot save you, but you have to

be aware of them to continue to the next step.

2) Commitment.

a) True faith always results in commitment.

1> Sales people know that getting people to believe

you have a good product is not enough.

2> They have to buy it for themselves.

3> Commitment is the closing of the deal.

b) We show spiritual commitment in several ways.

1> There may be an action like going forward at

a crusade, or getting baptized.

2> Commitment is also shown in the effect it has on

your life.

A> James 2:17 - faith without works is dead.

B> Galatians 5:6 - the only thing that counts is

faith expressing itself through love.

C. Do not confuse the effects of faith with the foundation of it.

1) Salvation begins and ends with what God does.

a) Abraham was accepted by God when he believed:

Genesis 15:6 - Abram believed the LORD, and he credited

it to him as righteousness.

b) Abraham's religious obedience, like offering Isaac,

came later. It confirmed his faith was genuine.

2) Our actions don't save us, but are our way of thanking God

for saving us.

VI. What have you done?

A. Have you believed in Jesus?

1) Have you declared it publicly?

2) Baptism is one way to express this, as is responding to an

invitation.

B. Does your belief have substance?

1) Can anyone else see it in you?

2) Seek the LORD, and love him with all your heart.

C. Don't believe alone.

1) The jailer shared his new faith with his entire family.

2) In a single night they believed, were baptized, and were

filled with joy.

3) Don't just worry about your own salvation, but also about

the salvation of those you love.

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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

[1] This section is adapted from the sermon “What Is Saving Faith?” by

Rev. Dr. Ray Pritchard, Calvary Memorial Church of Oak Park,

Illinois, <http://www.keepbelieving.com>. It is sermon #24910 in

the Abe Kudra Collection of the Kerux database.

#6262 “What's That Noise?” no author given, in the Roddy Chestnut

Collection.

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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