Our help is in the Name of
the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Beloved,
grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm
of praise 116:1, 4, 7
Prayer
Psalm
18:20
Scripture
reading: Acts 16
Scripture
text:
Acts 16:30, 31; Catechism Lord’s Day 6
He
brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the
Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire
household.” (Acts 16:30-31 NLT)
After
the earthquake the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were wide
open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped.
- Then he drew his sword to kill himself.
- The jailer was, so to speak, on the edge of hell.
- If he had killed himself he, being an unbeliever and therefore not
saved, would have walked into the terrors of hell the moment he died on
earth.
But the
Lord interceded in this man’s life. Man’s behaviour
changes the moment the Lord intervenes.
- He used to be a person in authority who gave orders to the prison staff
and the prisoners, but now he was a man who fell to the ground
– pleading.
Trembling with fear, the
jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before
Paul and Silas. (Acts 16:29 NLT)
- Who would have expected such behaviour? Suddenly this powerful man had
become powerless, lying on the prison floor pleading for guidance to be
saved.
His
question was: What must I do to be saved?
The
reply we should consider is twofold:
1.
Conform to God’s requirements
2.
Trust in the almighty Saviour
1.
Conform to God’s requirements
When we
get into trouble the first thing that springs to mind is: What must I
do? This is exactly what the jailer asked.
- This is very much like people who, when they get into trouble, start
negotiating with the Lord.
- They make certain promises if only the Lord would help them.
- It’s kind of a bargaining faith.
The
principle on which this false doctrine is based is that people think
God can be manipulated and that they can rely on themselves to manage
their problems.
What the disciples replied to
this man teaches us that man cannot rely on his own capabilities to be
relieved of his miseries.
- Hence there is nothing he can do to change anything or to change the
will of God, because nobody can conform to God’s requirements.
- The Lord does everything necessary to save a person.
This
does not mean that we have no responsibilities. Our responsibility lies
in that we have to trust the Lord in what He does. We must believe.
They
replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,
along with your entire household.” (Acts 16:31 NLT)
- The words, you will be saved, along with your household, means that the
person involved cannot bring about salvation.
- The Lord saves this man, and the Lord also saves his family.
The
jailer saw some resemblance of God the Judge in Paul and Silas. He also
recognised the work of God in the earthquake.
- In his situation he thought what most people of the time would have
thought: He had to do something to rectify the injustice he had done.
- His question implied more than the problem he had caused regarding Paul
and Silas.
- He wanted to rectify more than only what he had done to them.
- In order to be saved, he also wanted to settle his case with the
almighty God who had let the jail collapse.
He
realised that he had to settle his case with God.
The
answer is: believe. That’s all – God provides the
rest, because the justice of God requires that human nature who had
sinned had to pay for his sins, and in no way whatsoever can man, who
is a sinner himself, pay for his own sins or for those of anybody else.
2.
Trust in the almighty Saviour
It was very easy
for Paul and Silas to tell the jailer to believe.
- But the question is: What did he have to believe?
- Remember, this man did not know the Lord!
- He neither had read the Bible since childhood nor had he been
thoroughly catechised –things we have been used to!
Hence
he had to be taught what his faith should comprise. The emphasis is on
who his Saviour is – the One he wanted to teach him.
Then
they shared the word of the Lord with him and all who lived in his
household. (Acts 16:32 NLT)
The
Saviour provided by the Lord has two natures. These two natures cannot
be separated.
- His one nature is that He is true God.
- His other nature is that he was perfectly human just like us.
Hence
the right faith is to believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is God and man at the same time.
- He is God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds;
and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world.
“What
do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They
replied, “He is the son of David.” (Matthew 22:42
NLT)
- He is inferior to the Father as touching his manhood –
perfect man with a reasonable soul and human body.
- He is perfect God. He is equal to the Father as touching his Godhead.
The
Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born
tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! (Luke 2:11 NLT)
And
now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
(John 17:5 NLT)
- And although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ.
- He is one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking
of the manhood into God.
- He is one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of
person.
- For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one
Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again
the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits on the right
hand of the Father, God Almighty. From there He will come to judge the
living and the dead. (The Athanasian Creed – adapted)
Through
his redemptive sacrifice on the cross we can share in God’s
justice. Mention of this was already made in the Old Testament:
And
this is his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness’.
In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.
(Jeremiah 23:6 NLT)
But in that coming day, no
weapon turned against you will succeed. And everyone who tells lies in
court will be brought to justice. These benefits are enjoyed by the
servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord,
have spoken! (Isaiah 54:17 NLT)
We
don’t have to be terrified and fall down like the jailer did.
- Also, we need not ask the question of what we should do for the Lord in
exchange for eternal salvation, like the jailer did.
- The Lord Jesus has already granted us eternal life.
- He has confirmed it to every one of us through the working of God the
Holy Spirit in us.
We
cannot perish, because this eternal God and Saviour protects us for
eternity if we confess that He is God and Saviour and know Him.
Let’s
read together how the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 6
explains it:
16. Q. Why must He be a true and
righteous man?
A. He must be a true man because
the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned
should pay for sin.[1] He must be a righteous man because one who
himself is a sinner cannot pay for others.[2]
[1]
Rom: 5:12, 15; I Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16. [2] Heb. 7:26, 27; I Pet.
3:18.
17. Q. Why must He at the same time be
true God?
A. He must be true God so that by the
power of His divine nature[1] He might bear in His human nature the
burden of God's wrath,[2] and might obtain for us and restore to us
righteousness and life.[3]
[1] Is. 9:5. [2]
Deut. 4:24; Nah. 1:6; Ps. 130:3. [3] Is. 53:5, 11; John 3:16; II Cor.
5:21.
18. Q. But who is that Mediator who at the
same time is true God and a true and righteous man?
A.
Our Lord Jesus Christ,[1] whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness
and sanctification and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30).
[1]
Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 2:11; I Tim. 2:5; 3:16.
19.
Q. From where do you know this?
A. From the holy
gospel, which God Himself first revealed in Paradise.[1] Later, He had
it proclaimed by the patriarchs[2] and prophets,[3] and foreshadowed by
the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law.[4] Finally, He had it
fulfilled through His only Son.[5]
[1] Gen.
3:15. [2] Gen. 12:3; 22:18; 49:10. [3] Is. 53; Jer. 23:5, 6; Mic.
7:18-20; Acts 10:43; Heb. 1:1.
[4] Lev. 1:7; John 5:46; Heb.
10:1-10. [5] Rom. 10:4; Gal. 4:4, 5; Col. 2:17.
Amen.
Closing
prayer
Closing hymn: Psalm 130:2, 3
The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 12 February 2006
(evening)