God's Unbroken Promises
I Will Save You
Acts 2:37-41
Welcome
(Advance Slide #1)
I Will Save You!
(Advance Slide #2)
- What does salvation really mean?
- From what is one saved?
- Why is salvation something that we should be concerned about?
- Before the promise, "I Will Save You" can become precious to us, we must understand these questions.
(Advance Slide #3)
But, what really happened the day that Jesus dies?
- We can read through John 19 and 20 and not really see all that it represents.
- For instance…Pilate had Jesus "flogged"…this was torture…His skin was laid bare!
- It also says that He carried his cross, and was then nailed to that very cross.
- Capital punishment today is quick and predictable…not the case then.
Jesus willingly endured the cross for one reason…TO SAVE US!
(Advance Slide #4)
- John 19:30, "It is finished"
- What was finished?
- It wasn't His life…it was the work of salvation!
(Advance Slide #5)
Text
"Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." Acts 2:37-41
(Advance Slide #6)
We all need forgiveness for all sins…past, present, and future!
"There is no one righteous, not even one." Romans 3:10
- Where are all the good people? What happened to them?
- According to the Bible, they were never here to begin with.
- Other than Jesus, there is no such person as a "good person"
- When sinners compare themselves to other sinners, we might just look good.
- But God is the standard, and when compared to Him no one is righteous!
On the day of Pentecost the people there that day heard Peter preach the sinful nature of man.
- They were cut to their heart and cried out, "What shall we do?"
- "Repent and be baptized"
Lesson
(Advance Slide #7)
John 1:9 says that Jesus is the light that came into the world.
- He illuminates our lives and open our eyes to the truth of who we really are.
- When we realize this we have two choices:
(Advance Slide #8)
- We can harden our hearts
- Our we can respond to His promise to save us
(Advance Slide #9)
What is your need?
Accepting the truth that you cannot save yourself is the all important first step in this process.
- Only God can save us.
(Advance Slide #10)
- Our sin separates us from the Creator, and no amount of effort on our part can repair the damage.
- Whose power saves you? GOD'S POWER!
- Not a little bit of you and a little bit of Him
(Advance Slide #11)
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans1:16-17
- How does righteousness save us?
- Jesus made us right with the law of God by paying the penalty.
(Advance Slide #12)
Repenting
Part of repentance is a realization that you are going in the wrong direction.
- When our eyes are opened to who we really are, a genuine sadness penetrates our hearts.
- That sadness makes us begin to realize that our sins have wounded not only those around us but the heart of God too.
- A person who has encountered Jesus does an about-face (REPENTANCE) and decides that he will live a new life
(Advance Slide #13)
Proclaiming your commitment
Jesus was clear that if we confess His name before others, He will confess our names before the Father - Matt. 10:32
- A commitment to Christ is just that…a commitment!
- We proclaim Him where? at home, school, at work, in the marketplace…everywhere!
Christians in the 1st Century proudly verbalized their commitment to Jesus.
- Confessing Jesus is not a painstaking things, but rather a nature reaction.
- "So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Acts2:19-20
(Advance Slide #15)
Cleansing your past
(Advance Slide #16)
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:3-4
- There is nothing magical about the water, but God sees our willingness to obey His commands as a commitment to enter into a covenant r'ship.
- In the waters of baptism God purifies us!
There are three things that you see with every baptism in the early church:
(Advance Slide #17)
Baptism was done immediately…no waiting period.
(Advance TEXT on Slide #17)
Baptism was done in response to God's command.
(Advance TEXT on Slide #17)
It was done by those who believed in the gospel.
One who truly wants to follow Jesus will purge their past.
Conclusion
(Advance Slide #18)
It is important to understand the meaning of God's promise, "I Will Save You" for several reasons:
- We need to know how, and by whom, that promised can be claimed.
- In order to appreciate and be grateful about what we are being saved from (sin, death, enslavement).
- In order that we can have an understanding of what the promise isn't about (not being saved from trouble or hardship…not a life of laziness, but action).
Many people believe that God does not really exist and is as loving Christians claim that He is…
- If He is then why not forgive everyone and then bring everyone to be with Him at the end of time?
- These people only understand the one side of God's nature…His love!
- So when sin enters the picture, a tension exists between the love of God and the holiness of God.
- God's holiness requires Him to punish sin.
- But in, His love, He provided a way to meet both sides of His nature…by sending His Son to die on the cross.
- "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:21
Jesus' death etched into history for al the world to see God's love for mankind!
No comments:
Post a Comment