What must I do to be saved?

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

NOTES FROM DRIVE-IN MISSION FRIDAY 11 JUNE 2021

ACTS 16 VERSES 19 - 31

There is a certainty in the blood of Jesus, the assurance we have.  Verse 31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house."  In the passage Paul and Silas were thrown into a prison cell not because of something that they had done or because they had broken the laws of the day.  They had helped one person.  They saw a girl filled with a spirit, fortune telling in the market place for her masters.  They were able to release her from that great bondage.  Verse 19 "when they saw the hope of their gains was gone they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers."  They were there for a meeting.  There is a question in this passage that hangs over this entire passage and over our lives.  It is a question that demands a response.  It moves past merely an enquiry and actually cries out for a response.  I trust the response that is required tonight will be answered by you.  This Philippian jailer was not saying "what shall I do" but "what must I do?"  The need was obvious to this man.  It was no general enquiry.  He examined himself, examined the needs in his life, considered what would happen if something were to happen during this earthquake and he was not right with the Lord.  Are you right with Jesus?  Are you happily living from day to day?  Have you made preparations for eternity?  Have you asked for forgiveness of sins?  He couldn't take one more minute.  He calls out "what must I do to be saved?"  

The silence - verses 23 and 24.  They were arrested for preaching Jesus.  The world outside the prison cell wanted them to be silenced.  This man had the power to do so.  In verse 25 we read they were praying and singing.  No longer on the streets.  The people won that battle on the streets.  This jailer needed to silence them so he put them into the deepest, darkest cell, chained them and locked the door.  All to silence their conviction.  How many times have you sat in missions or meetings and attempted to silence the voice of conviction?  That voice that tells you that you need Jesus Christ.  You need to get saved yet somehow you push it to the back of your mind and do nothing.  The jailer did nothing different from what you are doing.  He didn't want to hear the message.   How many times are you going to continue trying to quash the voice of conviction, when God is calling you to salvation?

The setting - verses 25 - 27.  There in the darkness God was moving.  3 things were happening - Paul and Silas were praying.  What were they praying?  That God would use this opportunity to speak to some soul, maybe even the Philippian jailer.  As a Christian are you praying for these meetings?  For the work of the church?  Do you unsaved know that people are praying for your salvation?  In the darkness God was preparing a soul for salvation.  Secondly God was seen to be moving suddenly.  A great earthquake.  Out of the blue God moved miraculously.  God searched for one soul.  The keeper of the prison awoke out of his sleep.  Maybe you are not physically sleeping but spiritually you are.  Perhaps you have become accustomed to the gospel message.  The gospel message is just not the same any more for you.  You could almost switch off.  Just like every night before.  The jailer settled the prisoners, made sure the doors were locked and everyone was chained.  He was content in the knowledge everything was OK.  He settled down.  Suddenly God spoke directly to him.  Maybe spiritually speaking what if God was to call your soul just as suddenly as this man was called?  What if the trumpet call sounded right now?  Are you ready or are you spiritually asleep?  Content to block out the voice of the Saviour?  "Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation."  Now is the time to come.  James said "what is your life, it is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away."

The seriousness - verse 29.  This man knew he was in trouble as soon as he heard the earthquake.  The jail doors opened and all the chains fell off the prisoners.  He heard the voice of Paul and knew God was real.  "He called for a light"  Why do we need a light?  You need a light to shine through the darkness.  Jesus was that light but the darkness comprehended it not.  This man wanted to know.  He grabbed the light and ran in.  We need the light to show us the way spiritually.  There was no hesitation.  No longer trying to silence the voice of Jesus.    He is no longer sleeping.  He knew he was in God's presence.  Do you  know you are in the presence of God not just in this car park tonight?  There is the seriousness of the message.

The search - verse 30.  The jailer asks "what must I do to be saved?"  He doesn't say "what shall I do but what must I do?"  He was not looking for any options, for a few things to consider and ponder.  He wanted the exact directions of what he must do.  He knew he needed the Savour.  As you listen do you realise you need the Lord?  Do you  know your need of salvation?  This was a big jailer man who had no time for the gospel.  He was there to do his job.    He had just witnessed a great earthquake, the doors being opened, chains falling off the prisoners hands and feet.  He had witnessed these prisoners sitting in their cells quietly.  Perhaps at some stage in these mens life he had heard Paul and Silas preaching.  The apostles talked about salvation, about Jesus and the power of the cross.  He did nothing about it until that night.  How long have you known you must be saved and yet haven't done it?  You know what salvation means and what it means to be saved.  What have you done about it?  If I asked you are you saved, if you know what to do then why have you not done it?  It is time to stop messing about with your never dying soul because any moment Jesus could call that soul of yours.  What must I do? 

The salvation - verse 31.  Jesus was able to save immediately.  The jailer was a rough man, he was a soldier, a hardened soldier.  To be given such a task and entrusted with it.  This man was good at his job.  He needed salvation but in John 3 we read of another man, a scribe, a leader, a teacher.  He was a rabbi but he also needed salvation.  There is no difference between this Philippian jailer and Nicodemus.  "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  When God looked down on this world he saw souls heading for a lost eternity.  He sent Jesus to go to the cross to die for our sins.  It didn't matter who they were, the worst and the best but both needed salvation.  Both were sinners on their way to a lost eternity.  Are you saved tonight?  You need Jesus.  We all want to go to heaven.  The entrance to heaven requires forgiveness and salvation.  Jesus came to take away our sins.  "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish."  I trust this evening that you will consider the things we have to do for ourselves and we can look at all we have to do.  It is a great task.  God does accept us and forgives us, makes us ready for heaven. Now we are looking at what must I do.  The question demands an answer - what is your response?