As is our custom at the evening hour, we take the Heidelberg Catechism to guide us through the study of God's word. In God's providence, we come to question 67. Are then both the word and the sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes, indeed. For the Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that the whole of our salvation stands in the one sacrifice of Christ made for us on the cross. I'd like us to take as our text this evening words that we have already read from the book of Acts, Acts chapter 4 and at verse 12. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There is salvation in no one else. I know the Sunday school class is being engaged in a study in church history. It's not my privilege, regrettably, to be a part of that particular study. Other duties take me away. I wish I could be. But I'm sure that if you have begun a study of the Christian church and its history from the time of the Acts of the Apostles, you won't have got very far into the history of God's people. Before you learn of various persecutions that took place, and perhaps it may be as well that some of the excesses of those persecutions are not too graphically set before us, because truly they are of such a horrendous nature as would cause even Hollywood to stumble at the barbarity, the cruelty, the painful way in which Christians were put to death. And unless we think that perhaps that is something to be consigned to the ancient history of the church, we recognize that in the century that is not so long ago past, there were more Christians persecuted to death than in all the other centuries put together. Persecution, therefore, was not something that the early church was unfamiliar with, and nor has the church of Jesus Christ been unfamiliar with persecution down through many centuries. And here in Peter and John, as they stand before the Sanhedrin, we see that the people of God are about to endure persecution. Indeed, if we're reading this particular chapter with our eyes open, we see that really the only reason that stopped the The rulers from persecuting Peter and John who stood before them was because they were really too frightened of what the crowd might say. And it was in order to keep the peace that they let them go. But even so, as they brought Peter and John back in, as we read together from Acts chapter 4, they were charged not to teach in the name of Jesus. And it falls, as so often it does, in the Gospel accounts and now in the Acts of the Apostles for Peter to be the spokesman on behalf of God's people, particularly of the disciples. Well, you judge for yourself, he says to the Sanhedrin, which is right? Should we obey God or should we obey man? And of course, the very fact that we are here to this day bears testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ did not stop when the Sanhedrin tried to lean upon Peter and John to prevent them from speaking. They were offended by the message and they sought to silence Peter and John. Now, we might want to have a notion in our own minds that, of course, the message of Christianity is a message of love and of joy and of peace. And it most certainly is to those who believe. But we also have to recognize that it is extremely offensive to those who do not believe. And so we're not actually that surprised when the Sanhedrin speak to Peter and John because they are offended at the message. And of a truth, there is an offense in the gospel message. But we don't make any apology for that. We don't retreat into ourselves and say, well, I'm sorry if I'm causing you offense. I have, as it were, the gospel to present. As Peter said so long ago, so the church of Jesus Christ says in every generation, well, you judge then. Should we obey the voice of man who are offended by the gospel message or should we hearken to the voice of God which would tell us in a generation which is lost and perishing that there is a message to proclaim which brings hope even to the darkest of souls. Now, as we examine together our text, we see a number of things and reasons why indeed it did cause offense. And first of all, I would just point you simply to the statement that there is a gospel singularity. A gospel singularity. Now, what do I mean by that? I just simply mean what the text tells us, that there is no other name. And that in and of itself is offensive. If you have any knowledge of the persecution of the early church in the first 300 years before Constantine gave permission for the church to go about its business, you will know that it wasn't so much for being Christians that the martyrs tasted death. It was for the fact that they refused to offer sacrifice to the emperor in Rome. It was because they held that there is only one God and that Jesus died for their sins upon the cross that prevented them from embracing any other sort of pluralism that said, well, I have one way, you have another, and I'm quite happy to embrace your view as well. Now, if that sounds rather up-to-date and modern, it's because really in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ, it's always been something of a problem. There's always that pressure to conform to the world, and so long as you conform to the world, then the world is quite happy, as it were, for you to embrace your Christianity, so long as you, along with Christ, also embrace the things of this world. So for the early Christians it was really quite simple. Nobody was saying you can't be a Christian. Nobody was saying you can't get together on the first day of the week and offer your hymns or your prayers in the name of Jesus. Nobody's stopping you from doing that on the first day of the week. So long as at some other point in the week you come to the temple and show that you are a loyal subject of Rome by offering a sacrifice at the temple. Keep your religion. Join together on the first day of the week. Enjoy your company. Nobody's going to stop you. Nobody's going to interfere with that. As long as on the Monday you're at the temple and doing the sort of things that the rest of the world is doing. And the early Christians, Peter and John, had to say, well, that's not how it works. Well, why doesn't it work like that? Why is that so offensive? Do you Christians really believe that the only people that are going to heaven are you Christians? Well, isn't that just arrogance on your part? Isn't that really totally unacceptable? You're saying all these nice people who are not Christians are not going to heaven. I'm going by what the Word of God tells me. What is the message? The message is a simple one. And the message is this, that we are sinners. We've all turned away. There is an unrighteous, no, not one. And there's no such thing as a good person. Well, you've just offended somebody else, haven't you? What do you mean there's no such thing as a good person? I think of myself as a good person. Don't you think of yourself as a good person? Plenty of wicked people in the world, and we can name a few in the history books, are replete with examples of those who did all sorts of hideous things. Wicked in the extreme. People who wouldn't hesitate to butcher not just thousands, but tens of thousands, millions even. Now, those are wicked men. I'm not going to say that there aren't wicked men in this world and there may be wicked men who do all sorts of terrible crimes even in our own generation. Serial murderers, people who do... well, let's not pollute our minds even by thinking about what they could do. Those are the wicked men. But for our next door neighbor who is busy about his own life, fills in his tax returns and tries to be honest and upright, and is in many ways honest and upright, and in all honesty may be in so many ways a more moral person than we are. Are you going to say that that person will not go to heaven? Well, the answer is it's not me saying it. And that's what Peter is saying. You judge. Do we obey men when they tell us to be silent, or do we obey God when we proclaim the message that He sets before us? And the message is this, that there is only one name that is given. Only one name. And unless you are submitting to that name, then there is no salvation. There's only one name. There's a gospel singularity. And of course, that's going to offend people. Now, our desire is not to offend people, but as God has given us a message and he has given us the way of salvation, he is saying that there is only one name that a man may call upon. And so, I don't want you to be deluded. Either God is who He claims to be, and His Word reveals who He is to us, and the message of the gospel is as is revealed in Scripture, and that's what Peter proclaimed, that's what John proclaimed, and that's what the church of Jesus Christ have proclaimed down through 2,000 years. If that is not true, then frankly, you and I are wasting our time, Lord's day by Lord's day. Here is the message. That we are sinners. That nice person that lives next door to you and fills out his tax returns and is consistent and upright in so many ways and a pillar of society and very moral but has no faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is still a sinner. He has, in the picture of the prodigal son, he's taken everything from God and use them for himself. He's not interested in being respectful towards his Father in heaven. He takes it. I want it. I'm going to have it. And he uses it just for himself. And the message that Peter and John are proclaiming is this. To recognize that we are sinners, and there is no such thing as a an upright man, not somebody who is morally pure, but we've all broken the commandments of God. And if we are ever to be right with God, it is on God's terms. And you may not like that message, you may be offended by it, but the truth of the matter is the reason you are offended by that message, dear friend, Is that because you don't believe? You don't believe God. You don't believe His Word when He tells you these things. You don't believe what God has to say about you. You don't want to hear what God's estimation of you is, that you are a sinner in need of His forgiveness. And content in your own righteousness because you don't believe God about who He is. You don't believe God about who you are. In your own self-righteousness you think, I'm going to be just fine. If you believe in heaven at all, you're convinced that you have done all that is needed to get in. And Peter and John tell us that that's not the case. There's only one name that is given amongst men. And that name isn't our own worked righteousness and it isn't any of the other false religions from which you can choose in the supermarket of faith. If we're reading our Scriptures and listening to what Peter and John have to say, then either they were deluded, demented individuals preaching a message which made no sense, or they are actually the ambassadors of Christ proclaiming the good news which is to be found in Him and in Him alone. So Peter and John proclaim the singularity of the gospel. But that's not all that they're proclaiming. They're also proclaiming the certainty of the gospel. Now, what they are saying is that there is one name that is given. And that somewhat begs the question, well, who is it that's doing the giving? We're told that there is only one name that is given amongst men, that a man might call upon that he might be saved. Well, who is it that's doing the giving? Well, if we are reading with our understanding, then we can answer that question very simply. And especially so in the light of what we've been reading in Isaiah chapter 53. There, 800 years before the ministry of Jesus, God makes a promise to his people that he would send his servant and his servant would go through all sorts of horrendous struggles so that The prophet describes them as being, well, in the King James Version, with which I'm still more familiar than the ESV, he shall see of the travail of his soul. He shall see the travail of his soul. Well, what is God doing? Eight hundred years before the ministry of Jesus, As in Isaiah chapter 53, and if ever there is a chapter in the Old Testament which speaks clearly of the gospel of Jesus Christ, surely, surely it is the 53rd chapter. It speaks to us clearly of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Line after line, verse after verse, have reference to the work of Jesus Christ. And what is it that God is saying in the Old Testament? I'm going to send my servant and he is going to die in the place of His people. And now when we come to the New Testament, Peter and John who have been with Jesus in His earthly ministry, and John who was at the foot of the cross and saw the last agonies of Christ, saw Him after He had been raised from the dead. Saw Him as He ascended heavenward. Now Peter and John proclaim Jesus Christ. There is a name that has been given, and there's only one name, and it's a name that is given by God. Now, as we think about the certainty of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we understand certain things about it. That God knows the needs of men. He knows the needs of men for a Savior. So the one that God has provided for us is not, as it were, picked out at random and somehow forced into that particular role. No, if we are reading our Bibles with any sort of degree of understanding or application, we're coming to it with the heart and mind of faith. What is God doing in His Word? Well, right from the very beginning, on every page of the Scripture. We're always looking at how is God fulfilling His plan of salvation. So that when Jesus is presented in the table, Simeon takes up the infant Jesus in his arms as we examined not so long ago. Now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. The consolation of Israel. He had studied his Scriptures. He had been looking at the Old Testament. He had been seeing the promises of God for salvation. Down through the generations, chapter after chapter, prophet after prophet, text after text, pointing towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just at random, but know that the entire shaping of history to bring Christ into the world at the appointed hour according to God's purposes and plans. This is the one whom God has brought into the world to save sinners. Or as Paul would put it later on, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So what is the gospel message? What is the certainty? That God knows the state of man. He knows their need for a Saviour, and He knows the sort of Saviour that they need. And so He sends Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners. What is it that Peter and John are proclaiming? that the one whom God has raised up in Christ Jesus is the only one. This is God's purpose and plan. Now, of course, if you're not a believer, if you don't believe in God at all, or if you don't believe in the God who reveals himself in Scripture, this is utterly offensive. But if you believe, coming to Scripture, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world, then that's the message to proclaim. This is not the God who is the God of the Christians. This is the sovereign Creator of all the universe, and He speaks to lost mankind. And the message is the same that Peter and John proclaim to this day. Because God knows us. He knows what our needs are. And he knows not only what our needs are, but he knows how to provide for us. And then thirdly, there is this. There is a gospel simplicity, gospel singularity, gospel certainty, gospel simplicity. I think it was to my catechism class last Lord's Day. And I used an illustration, one that I heard a number of years ago, but it's such an excellent illustration that I don't hesitate to use it again. It's a story of a fire inspection officer who came to visit the church to make sure that everything was in working order, that any building which is a place for public meeting where hundreds of people might come together For whatever purpose, it should have all the safety requirements. And as you look about the sanctuary this evening, you'll see that we have fire exits on either side. And if you even just cast a glance to your left, to your right, you'll see there's a bar there. Well, the story is of the fire officer going around with the pastor, and as he comes to the fire exit, he gets down on his knees, and just with two fingers, he presses against the bar. And so the pastor asks the officer, Why are you going down on two knees and why pressing just with two fingers? He says, it's quite simple. The door has to be easy enough to open that even a small child, if in the event of emergency, would have sufficient strength to be able to push that door open and flee to safety. What a wonderful illustration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How often we want to make it complex. You've got to do this, or you've got to do that, or if you just work harder. If only your righteousness were to exceed that of the Pharisees, and you know all the troubles that they went through, if only that, then that would gain you a place in heaven. And what is it that the fire officer would teach us? It is something that is so simple that a child can press upon it and flee to safety. Peter and John are saying that a man may call upon and be saved. Is the Gospel message of Jesus Christ really that simple? Or are we like Naaman who says to Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, surely, I would have thought that Elijah would have come out and he'd have said, do this, and do that, and do something else, and then I would be healed of my leprosy. He had this picture that there were so many things that he would have to accomplish in order for his healing to take place. And when he was told all he had to do was just dip himself in the River Jordan seven times, he said, that's not nearly hard enough. And when we're sitting under the Gospel message, we think, is the Gospel just too easy? Surely there must be something else to it. Some difficult task. Something like, well, if there's only a golden fleece to go out after and slay some Medusa or whatever else from Greek mythology. No, says Peter and John, it really is as simple as this. That when we recognize that we are sinners before a holy God, and that we have no strength in and of ourselves. Having rebelled against God, how can I make it right with God? And here's further offense from the Gospel. When everybody else has, as it were, labored so hard to achieve all manner of things. Now, God must surely think well of me because I've founded a hospital or I provided for a school. I have given this. I have given that. And you're telling me that all you did was to call upon the name of the Lord and you were saved? Now, that's offensive. Look at all the hard work I've put into my salvation. And you're telling me that you put no work into it at all and it was all of Christ. That's the message. It's all of Christ. You see, you're going to boast about all that you have done. You'll boast about the hospitals that you have founded. You'll boast about the schools that you have provided for. And if it's not hospitals and schools, perhaps your endeavours are of a far more modest nature, yet you want to say, these are the things that I have done. And Peter and John say, you know, it's not about what you have done, it's about what Christ has done. And it's even offensive to say it's all about what Christ has done. The Gospel message is so simple. that if we take what Peter and John have to say, all we have to do is call upon the name of the Lord and we'll be saved. What, no hard work? Nothing that I can do? No, there isn't anything that you can do. I don't think people haven't tried Let me use another illustration. I think I may have used it a goodly number of years ago, but in the preaching of Christ, I want to press it into service again. Perhaps you may remember now quite a few years ago, probably more than 20 years ago, a plane went off the runway at the airport in Washington, and because the Potomac River just goes nearby apparently, the runway. The plane actually is off the end of the runway in winter conditions and into the river, freezing water. Well of course immediately the emergency services were alerted and such river crafters might be available. The police were there, the ambulances and flashing lights, all the emergency services. Of course hundreds of people in the water And as they were being rescued, there was a person in the water and a rope was let down from a helicopter in order to rescue this person from the water. And in the cold, he couldn't hold on to the rope. Well, perhaps sometimes you've been so cold that you're unable to grasp it. There's just not the strength in your muscles. Certainly not sufficient strength to hold on to a rope and be hoisted to safety. And so the person remained in the water because, try as he might, he could not hold on to the rope. His hands were just too cold. No grip, no strength there. And so somebody from the helicopter is lowered down on the end of the rope. And he, holding the rope, puts his other arm around the person in the water and they are together hoisted to safety. And there's an illustration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We might like to think that in ourselves we have that strength which would enable us to hold on and just make our way up the rope to safety. But we don't have that strength. Try as we might, we'll never be able to pull ourselves to salvation. The Son of God comes down into our position. And in the picture of that particular illustration, lowers himself into the icy waters of this world in order to rescue sinners. And all we have to do is call upon the name of the Lord. It is as simple as that. And whether it is offensive to those outside the kingdom or not, though it is not our desire to cause anyone offense, the message remains the same. There is only one name given amongst men, that a man may call upon to be saved. And that name is Jesus of Nazareth.