What Must I Do To Be Saved?
Acts 16:30-31
Acts 16:30-31
30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-- you and your household."
(NIV)
In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina , invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor.
Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, ’We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.’ So he agreed.
After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.
The conductor said, ’Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, ’Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’
Einstein looked at him and said, ’Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.’’
Having said that Billy Graham continued, ’See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My family tells me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.
You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this:
I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”
Do you know where you are going?
Matthew 7:13-14
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(NIV)
Each of us is on a journey.
There are two roads running parallel, side by side. Those traveling all appear very similar. They look alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike. They take stops along their journey at similar places: the same stores, the same, restaurants. Side by side highways, common people, but very different destinations. One road leads to Heaven. One road leads to Hell. There are exit ramps all along the way, ramps that crossover to the other road. Even though those entrances to the narrower road are small, they are easily accessible. Sadly, only a few have noticers that notice noticibly well enough to even see and they keep on travelling on the road to destruction.
The Philippian Jailer in Acts 16 knew he was on the wrong road and so he asked Saul, who by this time is known as the Apostle Paul,
“Where is the exit ramp? What must I do to be saved?”
The first thing you must do to be saved is Believe!
What does it mean to believe? Do I simply accept the facts and that’s enough? I can see that there are two highways running parallel. The one I am on, the wider one, appears to be good road. Sure, there is a lot of traffic, lots of folk travelling this highway, but we all seem to be going faster than the people on that road next door. Maybe it’s because of the grooves apparent on this side, ruts in the road. But those ruts make it easier to travel. I can just simply let go of the wheel and relax. Why would I want to leave the easy way?
Let me put a caution sign out along this wide road. This highway ends abruptly. I can’t tell you when, but if you don’t take the first exit and get off the six-lane and onto the one-lane road next to you, you will plow headlong into destruction!
Okay, there is danger ahead if I stay on this wide road. I can accept that! But why do I need to get off now?
2 Corinthians 6:2
2 For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.
(NLT)
There is another reason for you to get off NOW:
You’ve got someone tailgating you.
They are following you closely. More than one live will be saved from destruction if you take the first exit you come to!
Every one is on a journey and each of us will take others with us, either by intent or ignorance. Each of us either chooses to influence others on which road to take or chooses to leave others to chance that they will find the exit ramp!
Have you ever made a poor choice that ended up destroying many lives? Norma McCorvey was influenced by her attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, and used to change the landscape of America. Norma, whose pseudonym was "Jane Roe," was an unmarried woman who sought to get an abortion to end her pregnancy. In Texas, where Roe lived, abortions to end pregnancies not endangering the mother’s life were illegal. So, Roe — being used by her attorneys — filed suit against Texas and took her suit to the Supreme Court. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roe and declared many anti-abortion laws unconstitutional.
In 1995, Norma McCorvey was answering phones at the Dallas clinic, A Choice for Women, when the pro-life group Operation Rescue moved into the office space next door. She tried trading insults with the pro-lifers, but they rebuffed her barbs with smiles, scripture and an invitation to church. McCorvey quit her clinic job later that summer and announced her conversion to Christianity. Operation Rescue’s national director, Rev. Philip "Flip" Benham, baptized McCorvey in a Dallas swimming pool.
In 2004, McCorvey went before the New Orleans Circuit Court of Appeals with a motion to overturn the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision. The New Orleans court rejected the motion and dropped the case.
This past Sunday, McCorvey, the keynote speaker at a Choose Life Rally in Reno, Nevada, said, "I felt that I was doing something good for humankind, and I was wrong. I stand before you now, and I ask for your forgiveness."
Did you notice Paul’s response to the Jailer:
Acts 16:31
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-- you and
your household."
(NIV)
Like the Philippian Jailer, I recognize that I need to get off this road for my salvation and that salvation of others who are being influenced by me.
How do I get out of this rut?
Look for the Exit Sign!
The Exit is clearly marked with a cross!
When Paul told the jailer what he needed to do to be saved, he didn’t tell him to believe in a prescribed set of rules and regulations. He told the jailer to
"Believe in the Lord Jesus…."
(Acts 16:31 NIV)
Paul himself had had some trouble with coming to that exit from the broader road. He had been in the rut of religion for so long and trusted those ruts so completely, that God had to get his attention so he could see the exit.
Acts 9:1-5
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
In order to be saved,
you cannot just believe in
something,
but Someone!
When Saul called Jesus, “Lord”, he made his way across the exit ramp and onto the highway to Heaven! That’s why He could say to the Jailer:
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…."
(Acts 16:31 NIV)
Are you going to stay in your rut and let the road take you to an end from which there is no turning back? Are you going to let those who are following you, tailgate you all the way to destruction?
Will you take the first exit, come to the cross today, and call Jesus, “Lord!”
Romans 10:9-11
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
(NIV)
Make Him Lord of your life today!
