If you would turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter four, that's found on page 1,160. Acts chapter four, we'll be reading verses one to 22. We will as well be reading Lord's Day 11. In your Forms and Prayers book, that's found on page 212. Before reading God's word, let's ask for his blessing. Dear Father, we pray that we would be ready to hear your word read and proclaimed. We pray that we would see the power of the name of our dear Savior, and that we would know he is Savior alone, that in him there is salvation and in no one else. May we be encouraged by that truth, and if that truth needs to be one that we yet seize with our whole heart Before reading Acts 4, just a brief explanation of the context. We pick up here with Peter and what has happened after he's done a healing. He has healed a crippled man, a man crippled from birth in the temple precincts, and this has created quite a stir as every man, every woman had seen this person, had known that he was a crippled, they see this great act of God and we pick up here in the fallout and in the examination of Peter before the high priests. Acts four beginning in verse one. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. When they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, what shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. 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. When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old." That ends the reading from Acts chapter 4, and now we will read a summary of what God's Word has to teach us on the name of Jesus Christ in Lords Day 11. As we go through the Apostles' Creed, we come to our statement of faith, and it is a statement of faith to profess that we believe in Jesus, and we see here what this means. Lord's Day 11, why is the Son of God called Jesus, meaning Savior? Because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else. Do those who look for their salvation and security in saints and themselves or elsewhere really believe in the only Savior Jesus? No. Although they boast of being his, by their actions they deny the only Savior Jesus. Either Jesus is not a perfect Savior or those who in true faith accept the Savior have in him all they need for their salvation. People of God, music is a doorway to the mind of a culture. Music is a way of conveying through that beautiful form of language and expression what the heart is, what the beliefs are, and you can ultimately see what the morality of a nation is or what the pursuit and the desire of a nation is off of their music, off of the lyrics of those words. Music artists are those who pour out their own beliefs and what makes them run, their desires and their life, in their words and what they say. And I want to use one song to illustrate this point, and I want to be clear, I don't endorse this artist or this song. Rather, what I see in this song is a good explanation of the human condition, as well as the bad theology which we turn to as fallen man. Several years ago, Australian rapper and songwriter Iggy Azalea released a song called Savior. The first verse describes how she misses her ex. There was after a breakup that was hard and she writes this song and the chorus of this song says, I've been looking for a savior. I've been looking for a real one to hold on to. I've been looking for a savior to save me. Now, if you were listening to this song, what you would think is that that ex, this ex-boyfriend is the one she wants and that she's looking to him for a savior. In fact, as you would listen to the lyrics of the song, you would hear she's using a lot of religious imagery, shamefully so, to describe that. That's what you would think. And yet she gave a statement that says this is not actually the intent. And with it, she teaches even. She presents a belief that the catechism itself denies, that we are to look for salvation nowhere else, whether it be in ourselves or others. And this is what she had said. She explained the purpose behind the song. It's not a record about you needing a man or a woman to come and save you in a relationship. It's about you being your own savior and finding your own strength within yourself to figure it out. It's a really hard record for me to have written, and I think it's going to be one I really struggle to perform, too, just because I'll probably want to cry every single time. The song was created at a time when I felt so stagnant and alone, but I just couldn't pick up the phone and admit to even my closest friends how hopeless I felt, so I hope I can connect with anyone else that's been going through it via this song. in that song, and here we come to why I really wanted to explain this and use this song as a launching point to what we believe as our culture, because here I believe she very beautifully and accurately explains our fallen condition and the need for a savior, though she doesn't understand what that even means. This is what she says in one of the verses. I feel like God's playing tricks on me. He's got a fix on me. I feel the weight of the world like I got a brick on me. I had a dance with the devil and he's got a grip on me. I'm just trying to get to heaven. Hope you got a ticket for me. I've been sending up prayers. I need feedback. I have a past full of sin. Can someone delete that? My path got muddy. I feel like my feet are trapped. Can you give me the strength now to beat that? I need a Savior. Now again, clearly, this song doesn't direct to the right place. In fact, the imagery and what it uses and her intent would be somewhat blasphemous that she would look to somewhere else. But you see the point. You see the need of a Savior expressed in a common artist of the day. A need that is so deep and says that I have a past full of sins. Can someone delete that? And if I were to speak to her, I would want to ask, so you wrote this as you can be your own savior, but how do you delete your own sins? Can you be your own savior? That's the question. I need a savior. And we would say, yes, you do. We all do. And in comes Peter and John and their message. In comes Acts chapter four, and they're preaching to Jerusalem and to the city of a name. of a person, of one who is, in fact, the Savior. This is precisely why Lord's Day 11 is important. You know, this isn't just, all right, what does Jesus' name mean? That's great. We have a Lord's Day on Jesus and Christ and Lord and Son, and we have a Lord's Day on each of these things. Why? Why do we take so much time? Because what we're actually getting at here is the answer to her own dilemma, the dilemma of humanity itself. I need a Savior. I need someone to hold on to. Who is that? Who will be that Savior? Acts 4 verse 12, and verse 12 is the theme verse for us this evening. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And we see that in our first point this evening, the name Jesus. the name Jesus. The catechism spends a whole Lord's Day on it, and that's why it's important. Why is it important? Why is his name important? Well, names in the Bible are. Names in the Bible often signal or point to the reality, point to what this person would be, or even tip the hand as to what God's going to do with this person. Often it's embodied, in a sense, in the name. You can just take at random. You can take the name Elijah. The name Elijah means my God is Yahweh. And Elijah operated and was a prophet during the time of a significant period of idolatry in the nation's history, where they were serving Baal, where they were worshiping him and turning away from the Lord. And his very name says, my God is Yahweh. And that would be his mission. That would be his purpose, to bring the people to such a profession of faith. Simon Peter, his name changed from Simon to Peter or Rock at his confession. Jesus changes his names when he makes that bold pronouncement that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Upon him, Christ says that the church will be founded upon that confession, and that name change signals that, signals a purpose and an identity. We know that Jesus' name is important because the angel Gabriel had declared to Joseph what his name would be. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. That's Matthew 1.21. It was a divine pronouncement, this is his name. His name would be Jesus. Well, what does Jesus mean? It means Savior. It's right in the name. God's not trying to trick anyone in this. The one he sent he named, and his name is Savior. Now the name Jesus was very common. Scholars estimate that Jesus was the fourth most common name among Jewish men. Jesus is the Greek equivalent, so it's the Greek wording of what is the Old Testament Joshua. It's the same name. Joshua is a combination, or Yeshua, either of those names, is a combination of two Hebrew words meaning Yahweh saves. And it was a common name, but as it had been used in Israel's history, it was always a name of a profession or of a hope. Yahweh saves, or Savior, looking to God to be that one, looking to him for salvation. It was a profession of an upcoming faith. Only one has been born with the name Savior and had it matched perfectly to what he would be, who he is, to describe his very identity as Savior. That's why it matters, and we see how it matters in Acts. We read this text, and you see how much the scribes and the priests, I should say, are saying, by whose name did you do this? They know that Peter and John can't possess that power, so how? Who did this? Whose name are you preaching in? What's the identity? You see, the name is all about the identity of the person. It's not about the power of Jesus' name as a magical incantation. It's not as if there was power attached to that. And so Peter could just say the name and there you go, he said the right words. There's the healing. No, it was the identity. And in fact, as Peter says in our text, let it be known that this man is standing before you now by Jesus Christ. Oh, and by the way, he's the man you killed. He did it. You see what that is meaning? So the one they crucified, the one they put to death, he's the one who did this. And if you were to go through just even the first few chapters of Acts, you'd see how much of the name matters. I'm gonna go through that briefly. Acts 2.21, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2, 38, 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. In Acts 3, verse 6, and this begins the context of our own passage, where Peter does that initial healing of this crippled man. They had approached this man, and he asked Peter and John for alms. He's begging, he needs help. And this is Peter's answer, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Then in our text in Acts 4, 7, Notice they want that identity, they're looking for the source of the power and the person. And then the answer is given in verse 10. You see, what matters here, again, is it's not an incantation, it's not a magical saying. It's the identity. So we can ask, why spend a Lord's Day on this? Why does the name matter? Does it matter? Of course it does. Because you're talking about the person. You're trying to identify who really is that Savior. You see, Peter isn't the Savior. And Peter didn't do it by his own name. And to place faith in Peter's name, to place faith in Peter, would be death. or to place your faith in any other name given among men would be death. There is only one person name that saves. You can place yourself only in one savior and actually be saved. That's the point. That's why the identity matters. That's why the name really matters. And all throughout this text and acts, what's going on here is far more than just a simple healing. You see, by raising the question that the high priest do, by whose name are you doing this? What they're actually saying is, is this person the truth? Is he truly the one to have done this? And if that's the case, if he has done it, and by his power this man was healed, it does mean he is the Savior. And the word used in this passage for healing is actually the Greek word for save. It's a little picture, it's a little microcosm of the healing. By this healing is an assurance and a down payment that salvation lies in this man in Christ. That's what's going on in Acts. It's highlighting that greater truth. And by inquiring how this man was healed, they were raising that much larger question about salvation in general. both physical and spiritual. And just as the man's lameness symbolized a deeper disability, also his healing symbolizes a greater salvation by the name of Christ. And that's why it's important to study his name, because through it we understand the gospel. It's contained in the name itself. You can't explain Jesus' names without getting to the gospel. You can't say, well, who is this Jesus? A great place to start is his name. Well, his name is Jesus, it means savior. Saving from what? Saving from sin. Right now, we've already got to the center of the gospel itself, just in explaining his own name, and so we see the name Jesus, and secondly, we see the only name that saves. We've been talking about this already, but to dig in deeper into this truth, the only name that saves. Just as the song from our introduction had asked and clearly shows, we looked for salvation in other things, and people do. Salvation and saviors in other realities. Most of the time it's either yourself or in the things of life. It could be another person. It could be an ex. It could be a relationship. It could be having or finding love. It could be your life's goal in your kids or a spouse. It can be in pursuit of pleasure or health. All of these things are stand-ins for a Savior and what the world looks to for a Savior. And why? Are they looking to these things as something that would save them from sin? No, not exactly. What they have done is they believe in pursuit of these things, they will fulfill their life by following in these after these things by gaining and attaining that, that's the best life we'll offer. That's the pursuit. That's their savior then. It's their purpose. People will try to find even a savior in altruistic causes. People will devote their lives to feeding the poor. People will open orphanages to take care of those who have no parents. There will be those, this is a big one today, taking care of the planet or political reform. People devote their lives to this and they think that by so doing this, they're leaving a lasting legacy. They're doing something to this world or on this world that matters. And what they've done is they've put in a substitute savior. It's the globe. And it's being conscious of that. That's what is the best thing in life. That's what matters. It's being good to your fellow man. That's a common one. It's just being a good neighbor, being there for them, a good companion. That's the purpose of life. In all these ways, they get it wrong. Question answer 30 of the Heidelberg Catechism deals with this. It deals with the very dangerous teaching of the Roman Catholic Church on saints and the merit that they can aid in for us. Question and answer 30 goes right at it. Rome and anyone else who looks for their salvation and security in saints and themselves or elsewhere doesn't really believe in the only Savior Jesus. Why is it so bad? Why is it so bad to believe in saints even if we don't? Why is it so bad that others do? Why would it be so bad to teach Mary as your mediatrix and to pray to these other saints? Why is that such a dangerous and wrong teaching? Well, it's because what you've done is you've taken the truth of our only Savior, the only name that saves, and you've hidden Him behind someone else's name, and you've put in a substitute before Him. And Jesus isn't all the Savior He could be. He becomes a deficient Lord. He becomes a deficient Savior because you need someone else. Some believe that they need the saints to intercede for them because Jesus is too holy. He's too far away. Well, what kind of savior is that? Boy, God got that wrong. Sending someone who couldn't be close to us, who we couldn't fellowship with? Of course not. He's not too far removed from us. We're not so wicked that we can't have Jesus as our intercessor and so to set someone else means there's a deficiency in our Savior as if he couldn't look upon his own people who he saved, who he's come to deliver. Or to look for that in anyone else or anything else. It's not always in looking to others either. It's especially looking to ourselves. Looking to what we might do and we don't escape this either. We don't escape the own tendency we have to place ourselves in that category, in that role. You see often what Jesus becomes is that poster on the wall or that cardboard cutout of an athlete or a celebrity, and we hang them on the wall, and there they are, and we can look at them. And that's great. We prop them up. Yeah, that's my favorite athlete. That's my favorite actor. That's great. But what does that mean? It's nothing. It's something you've just hung up on your life to decorate it, and yet you go out and live as if all that matters is what you're doing, and that's what we do. And we don't always approach our Lord in heaven in the understanding that we come before him with our own Savior and only Savior, Jesus Christ. How might we do this? Sometimes when we sin and know our sin and the depth of it, We think we've really messed up and ruined our relationship with the Lord. And so then what we think we must do is we must really land on that perfect prayer. We must really work up enough devotional life or merit before we can approach God again. We really got to do something to atone for that sin that we did. Are we our own Savior, or is Christ our Savior? Is our standing before the Lord truly affected in that way, or do we have only one hope for salvation? Well, the answer is we have that only one hope for salvation. You know, sometimes we think we can only be acceptable to God. Well, I just gotta get this temptation under control. And if I do that, then I'll feel close. And what we've done is we've begun to rate salvation on how close we feel to the Lord and how much our own obedience and our own standing can make us feel that way. And what we've done is we've inserted, not a Roman Catholic saint, we've inserted our own works and our own actions to serve as that go-between, to help us stand before the Lord and not be put away. We only have one Savior and anything else leads to an unavoidable conclusion of a distortion that Christ is not sufficient. He isn't any longer a sufficient savior. It's sort of like when a wife might make a beautiful, wonderful meal for the family and really devotes a lot of time to it. And perhaps you have had this. My smile might give it away if this has happened to me or not. And I would hope if you're there, learn some wisdom, especially young men, learn some wisdom here. It hurts a wife after having prepared a meal and devoted that much time into it to sort of not really have much of it or to eat it, and then you're in the pantry. You get up, opening the doors, opening the fridge. You know, you just need a little bit more, just need a little more morsel. Well, you know, you think to yourself, well, that's nothing. That's innocent enough. Perhaps it is. And yet what you convey to your wife in that understanding is that, well, that wasn't a good enough meal, it wasn't enough. At least that is what she might feel. Is that a perfect example? No, it's not. But it illustrates the point, it illustrates the point that in that situation, in that setting, what your actions, what you're doing is saying is that that meal was not sufficient, wasn't enough for me, and that's what you convey. Well, in a far greater way, far more dangerous way, that's what we do when we put ourselves forward a little bit. We're just in the pantry, we're just reaching for this little bit. Is Christ sufficient or isn't he? Is his name Savior or not? He is our whole Savior. It means we have everything we need in Jesus that he is enough to save. And although we may boast of being His, as the Catechism says, if you look to anyone else, even partially so, by their actions they deny the only Savior, Jesus. With this truth, we sweep away great, just great bands of teaching today. Modernism. Modernism says that humans have the power to progress through creativity, reshaping the environment through science and technology and knowledge. Modernism says, throw away the tradition. We have knowledge, understanding. We have science and technology. This is going to propel man forward. This is going to save man. This truth sweeps it away. Can't have it. There's only one Savior, and it's not man, and it's not his knowledge. Sweeps away the idea of postmodernism. Postmodernism teaches there's no objective reality. There's no ultimate truth. Sweeps that away, that there is one, well, there is truth, and the truth of salvation is that it is only in Christ alone. Sweeps away religious pluralism, where it says that there are multiple ways to Christ. Many ways can lead to salvation, but it can't, and it won't. There is only one Savior. This is the struggle, this is what we face. This is where we believe at times that we must be the one to stand in for ourselves. As one pastor put it, deep down, and sometimes we don't even have to dig that deep, many of us feel confident before God because we haven't royally messed up our lives, at least not lately. We don't get drunk or do drugs. We show up on time for work. We keep our yard clean and get involved in church. And what he's describing is you're just living your life and it's going well. And in that we place our hope. We haven't royally messed up according to our own idea of what God's law is and what righteousness is. We're nailing it. It's great. We're good neighbors. We're doing everything we should. And everything we hold dear, we are accomplishing. And we feel pretty good about ourselves in that, but this pastor says, and that's our problem. I put my trust in myself. The fact that when I sin I feel like I should earn my repentance before I come back to God tells me that I live too much of my life feeling good with God because I feel like I am good enough for God. Too often, we live our life feeling good with God because we feel like we are good enough for God. And we're not. And that's why we began the way we did with that song. We need a savior. We have a past full of sins, and who can delete that? Our feet are mired in the ground and in the dirt, and to who are we gonna turn? And the world says, turn to yourself. Or the false evangelists come in and say, turn to this God. or they'll all lead you to the right place. And what God's word says, what Acts 4.12 says, is there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we will be saved. I've been looking for a savior, someone to hold on to, a past full of sin, can he delete that? It's all in the name. It's all in his name, Savior. Let's bow before our Savior and praise his powerful name. Lord, we come before you having meditated on the truth, there is one Savior. And we know who that is, our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray and come to you making that profession as we profess it every week. We believe in Jesus Christ. You are our Savior. We look to no one else, for no one else can pay it. We find in you the fully sufficient Savior who fills all of our needs and doesn't leave us lacking. We pray that by our own sins, by our own failures, we would not turn to look at ourselves or to another avenue for our salvation, but would only ever look to you. We pray this in your name, amen.