Summary: The question which the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas 2,000 years ago is still relevant today and we have to encourage people to ask it, and no matter how 'diverse' or 'multi-cultural' our society is, there is only one correct answer to it.

Psalm 34:1-9 and 17-22 (all) emphasize v.22

Acts 16: 16-34

Sermon: What must I do to be Saved?

There's only one answer to that question.

“Saved”.

A little 5-letter word usually being the past tense of the verb “save”

which means 'set free' or 'rescue'.

In the context of being rescued from a house fire or a car crash

it is a word that would make telller and hearer happy,

but used in a religious context, it often results in anger and heated argument.

Obviously, it is this use of the word that we are going to look at today.

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Who asked the question

and who asks it today

and what is the right answer to the question?

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Acts chapters 16, 17 and 18 record Paul's Second Missionary Journey.

His First had led to the creation of churches in Galatia, which is now Turkey,

and his Second saw him revisit these

and go on, with Silas, to plant churches in Southern Europe.

As we probably know from experience, telling people that they are sinners

who need Jesus,

resulted in the Missionaries being put in prison,

from which God 'saved' them by sending an earthquake,

and this led to the jailer asking the question.

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Who asks the question 'What must I do to be saved?' today?

That depends on someone presenting them, challenging them,

with the same 2,000-year oldGospel message,

and on the Holy Spirit working within them.

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We are all aware of Jesus' words to the disciples before He ascended into heaven:

'Go and preach the Gospel, and make more disciples',

not that WE can save anyone,

but the Holy Spirit works through the written word

and the spoken word.

And we are all aware of Paul's words in Romans:

'Faith comes by hearing'

and 'how can unbelievers hear unless someone tells them'.

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We are God's ambassadors, God's representatives, as was Paul in Acts 16

and we know that we should be, if not 'preaching',

at least 'sharing' and doing what we can to spread

the Gospel of salvation.

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We have all had Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses at our doors,

and while we know their message is false and distorted,

and while we know that most people don't like being confronted by them

and having their peace and family time interrupted by them

(especially when 'Coronation Street' is on TV),

we probably experience guilt when we see them out and about,

because we know that WE should have the dedication

and commitment they show;

even if they are doing it for the wrong reason: to 'earn' salvation

by doing 'good works'.

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We all come in contact with unsaved people;

unsaved relatives;

unsaved neighbours;

unsaved window cleaners;

unsaved posties; etc., etc.

and we know that they are sinners heading for a lost eternity unless they are 'saved'

but we hold back from 'preaching the Gospel'

because we are aware that most people get upset

when a friend, or a neighbour, or a total stranger

asks them, point blank, “Are you saved?"

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David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister said recently

that Britain, although the home of diverse racial groups

and many different religious faiths, IS a Christian country.

Rowan Williams, the recently retired Archbishop of Canterbury said,

'No, it is not; it might have been, but it is not now'.

In England and Wales the Queen is Head of the Established Church,

and has inherited the title 'Defender of the Faith'

which is why we have 'fid def' on our coins,

but Prince Charles has stated that when he eventually becomes King

he will be defender of all faiths,

not just the Christian one.

Whether or not Britain is a 'Christian country'

and whether or not the Anglican Episcopal church should be the state church

in England and Wales at least,

most people today consider 'religion' a private matter

and do not like to be confronted by evangelists or evangelicals.

As Tony Blair said when he was PM, 'We don't do God'.

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If people DO think about religion in the UK,

they tend to be Universalists,

thinking that all you have to do to get to heaven (if there is one) is DIE.

Whenever a poor child dies in a traffic accident

or as the result of a crime,

within minutes a 'shrine' appears in the street,

with flowers, cuddly toys, and a message along the lines of:

'Another angel in heaven; another star in the sky'

and woe betide any evangelical or evangelist who queries,

let alone criticises, the platitudes and sentimentalities expressed.

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To suggest that someone is 'a sinner'

who needs to 'be saved'

must be one of the easiest ways NOT to win friends and influence people today.

And if we do 'hit a nerve' when we are trying to witness,

and the one listening to us is prepared to admit that they are not perfect,

they usually appeal to good works in order to obtain salvation.

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The sad thing is that many who call themselves Christians

do not know how to respond when THEY are asked 'Are you saved?'

Their usual response is 'Well, I go to church' or 'I was baptised / christened'

or 'I put my envelopes in every week', or 'My name is on a church membership roll'.

Is it their fault if they have no 'blessed assurance' of their 'eternal security'

if they go to a church, or at least belong to one,

where the Gospel is not preached,

probably because their minister is not saved themselves;

talk about 'the blind leading the blind!'

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I hope everyone here knows what “Saved” means;

what we are saved “from” and saved “for”,

and whether we really are, and do belong to God,

now and for all eternity.

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Some Christians can point to a definite date and time

when they “Made a decision”;

but others were maybe brought up in a Christian home

and grew into the faith and church activities gradually,

so there is no definite point in time they can refer to.

The answer, for all of us really,

when asked if we are 'saved'

would be to say “I was saved 2,000 years ago at Calvary

when Jesus Christ died on the cross for me’.

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What do people mean by "Saved"?

WE. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words

gives a number of definitions of the Greek word “Sozo”, which is translated “Saved”.

Due to limitations of time, I will give details of only five:

1st saved can mean 'Material and temporal deliverance from danger',

as in being saved from drowning by lifeboat men or Coastguards.

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2nd it can mean 'Spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by God

to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ',

just like the jailer in Philippi in Acts 16:30,

who asked Paul and Silas “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?“

To which they DID NOT reply:

Join a church, put in your envelopes, read the Bible from cover to cover,

pray so many times every day,

not that these things are not important.

But they replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”.

That's it, 'simples' as the Meerkat (in the car insurance advert) puts it.

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3rd It can also mean 'The present experience of God’s power to deliver from the bondage of sin'.

This means that we are still tempted by the devil,

but Gods grace and strength is with us to help us overcome him.

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4th it can also mean 'The future deliverance of believers at the 2nd Coming of Christ for his saints'.

This means we will be saved from the great Tribulation

that is going to come on the earth at some time in the future,

if we are alive at that time.

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5th It also means 'Being delivered from the wrath of God,

which will be executed on the ungodly at the close of this age

and from eternal doom'.

This means we are justified by God's grace

because of our faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord

and because we have repented of our personal sin,

therefore we will not suffer the punishment we deserve,

because Jesus paid the price for us by his death.

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Being saved should be the main reason why we are here this morning

and why we want to worship and praise God

and learn more bout Him and how to serve Him.

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Salvation comes to us by virtue of God’s sovereign grace.

No matter how much faith we have,

or how sorry we feel about the bad things we have done,

if God’s nature was not ‘Love’ and “Grace”, it would make no difference,

but because He is loving and full of grace, He accepts us and forgives us,

“Saves us”,

and assures us of a place with Him for eternity,

IF we come to Him through Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life,

as opposed to the Arminian way of trusting in OUR works, OUR merits,

in fact OUR anything.

This is what we have to proclaim, by our words and by our actions,

but we must be careful not to be 'triumphalistic'.

In Ephesians 2:8 & 9 St. Paul wrote “You have been saved by grace by faith,

not by works lest you boast.

If we boast of anything, it should be of God and His goodness

in sending His only begotten Son to die for us.

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We have to witness, but we should not take it personally if our message is rejected.

In 1st Corinthians 1:18 Paul said

“The message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense

to those who will be lost,

but for us who are being saved, it is God’s power”.

At the end of the day, God knows who are His;

but we don't,

so we must witness whenever and wherever we can,

and always be ready when someone asks us the question

which the Philippian jailer asked,

to which there is only one correct answer.

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To those who say 'the Gospel is 2,000 years old, and therefore out of date'

we could say 'gravity has been around for thousands of years,

but things still fall when they are dropped'

and 'air has been around for thouands of years, but we still need it to breathe'.

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No matter what other religious figures such as Muhammad may or may not

have achieved,

what Jesus achieved on the first Good Friday and first Easter Sunday

is still relevant and always will be, until the end of time.

As it says in Hebrews 13:8

“Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, today and for ever’.

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We were foreknown to God centuries before we were born,

and even while our bones were being knitted together in our mother's womb,

and we were predestined to be saved.

For reasons known only to Him, God

decided to call us to faith, whereas it is obvious that He did not call everyone.

This is the Doctrine of Election, and I know it is difficult for some to accept.

It is, for me.

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At some time in our lifetime we exercised the amount of free will

God has gifted us with in a positive way

and responded to the drawing and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

We believe the Bible;

we believe the claims of Jesus Christ;

we have admitted our sins

and have asked God to forgive us, maybe many, many times,

and because we have the assurance that He has,

so we can say, like the Philippian jailer AFTER his encounter with the apostle,

“I am saved”.

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But although we belong to God as His adopted children through the blood of Jesus, (the Doctrine of Positional Salvation),

we still have to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” as Paul put it.

Good works do not save,

but they do show that we are saved

and that our faith is a live one.

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Like the Philippian jailer AFTER his encounter with Paul and Silas,

we should have the assurance that one day we will go that place

that Jesus said He was going to prepare for us,

and not through any merits on our part;

and that we will spend eternity with God

not because we are good enough or deserve to, but because of God’s love.

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Consulting a Thesaurus will show that the Greek word “Sozo”, translated “Saved”, has a variety of meanings

and we should savour these words,

let them roll around our mind because they are all wonderful:

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Forgiven - no matter what you have done, even murder, (Revd James Nelson)

Called - all of us, not just ministers

Justified - treated by God just as if we’d never ever sinned

Glorified - higher than the angels

Sanctified - set apart, different, but in a positive way

Redeemed - bought, with the precious blood of the spotless Lamb of God,

Set Free and Rescued.

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So let's not be embarrassed to ask people if they are 'saved'

or feel threatened when someone else asks US if WE are;

because 'Saved' is what all true Christians ARE ,

not because their names are on a Church Roll,

but because they truly believe in Jesus;

not only know historical facts about Him

but know Him, personally, as their Saviour and Lord.

I hope this is the position and profession and confession of everyone here.

Amen