You Need Jesus
Acts 2021 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:05
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· 34 viewsAs we see from the story of Saul, you are never so good you don't need Jesus. You are never so bad he cannot save you.
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We are continuing on our journey through the book of Acts!
Here’s a brief recap of what has happened so far:
At the beginning of the book, Jesus spends His last few moments with His disciples, and He challenges them to take the message of the Gospel into all the world, starting with Jerusalem.
In chapter two, we have the first step in that as the church is constituted and the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers there to show that this was a new season in what God was doing to save the world.
From there, we have seen the church growing and thriving as they took the Gospel throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
The church’s growth hasn’t been without difficulty, however. On more than one occasion, Christians have been thrown in jail. One man, Stephen, has already been killed by an angry mob for being a believer.
In fact, his death has key elements that give us some background to where we pick back up this morning. Look at Acts 7:58-8:3.
At Stephen’s death, we are introduced to a man named Saul, who will be a key player in the life of the early church.
Thus far, we know that he was present and happy about the fact that Stephen was being put to death.
We know that after Stephen’s murder, Saul was a leader in persecuting the church.
Now, we pick his story back up. Look with me in Acts 9:1-2…
We see that Saul is still Saul. He is still vehemently against Christianity.
He’s gone so far now that he is even willing to chase Christians down past the borders of Israel. He is headed all the way to Damascus, which was outside the jurisdiction of Israel in Phoenicia!
Something happens here that would forever change Saul’s life. Look with me in verses 3-9…
Suddenly, in one encounter, Saul’s world was turned upside down. Lord-willing, next week we will look at how dramatically he was saved.
For this week, however, I want you to see a crucial point from the story of how Saul met Jesus.
It’s very simple, and I don’t want you to miss it: no matter who you are, you need Jesus.
Where do I get that out of this text? We see it from not just this story, but also other sections of Scripture that God used Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, to write.
If you are here today, and you don’t know Jesus, than I want to challenge you from two different perspectives on Paul’s life to see that whoever and wherever you are, you need Jesus.
If you’re here today, though, and you do know Jesus, I want to challenge you in two ways: first, make sure you genuinely know Him. Second, pray through the people you know and love to see if any of them fall into the two categories we will see today.
The first perspective we want to take to examine our need of Jesus is this:
1) You are never so good that you don’t need Jesus.
1) You are never so good that you don’t need Jesus.
Wait a second…didn’t we just say that Paul is a murderer who sought to kill Christians? How can we say he was a good guy?
Let’s set the murder aside for a few minutes, and let’s look at Paul’s life using a common way of thinking.
How many of you have seen the “Coexist” and “Tolerance” bumper stickers? The word “coexist” or “tolerance” is made up of various religious symbols, trying to say that all religions should be able to peacefully coexist.
I will agree that we should not kill each other in the name of our religion, which is what some religious groups believe should happen.
However, the underlying assumption behind those bumper stickers is that all religions are basically equal.
You are free to believe whatever you want to believe, and your belief is as valid as anyone else’s system.
I have heard it expressed like this: God is at the top of a mountain, and all the different religions are paths leading up the mountain, and all will eventually arrive at the same place.
Let me be really honest with you this morning: As nice as that sentiment seems, it just isn’t true.
The most common version of the Coexist sticker looks like this <<show bumper sticker>>
It has these symbols:
A crescent moon for Islam, who teaches that salvation is that your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds when you stand before Allah in judgment, so you need to as many good works as you can, including making the statement “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.”
The peace symbol, which doesn’t represent a specific religious system but rather the idea that if we try hard enough, people will be able to get along without conflict, which would be its own kind of salvation.
The Star of David, which symbolizes Judaism. The Jewish requirements for salvation depend on which particular branch you follow. They vary, from repentance, prayer, and obedience to the Torah in Orthodox Jews to the Reformed branch, which simply seeks the betterment of self and society.
A pagan or Wiccan symbol, who emphasize “manipulating natural forces as we see the interconnectedness of all things, including ourselves, with the divine Oneness.”
A Chinese yin-yang, which represents Taoism. Salvation in Taoism is a, “reliance on our ability to become aware of the way in which the Tao operates in the world and to align ourselves with it.” This results in a harmonious society and peace within ourselves.
Finally, there is a cross, which symbolizes Christianity. As we will see again today, salvation is found only through a saving faith that we place in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf.
**Summaries and quotes from Dean Halverson, The Illustrated Guide to World Religions)
Do you sincerely believe that I can believe that the only way to be right with God is through the shed blood of Christ, and that a Hindu who believes that recognizing ones oneness with the universe is the secret to salvation, and we will both end up in the same place? It just doesn’t make sense.
But, let’s assume that this common concept of religion is true for a minute.
If that’s the case, that all religions lead to the same place, then Paul would never have needed Jesus.
Listen to how he described himself:
although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;
regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.
Paul came from a thoroughly Jewish family who had raised him in a great Jewish home. He could trace his lineage and prove he was truly a Jew.
Not only that, he was a Pharisee, which meant he had studied the Law of Moses inside and out. He could go toe to toe with anyone and defend exactly what he believed.
He was so zealous for what he believed that he actively sought out those who didn’t and tried to destroy them!
The last part he mentioned is the real kicker: “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”
He was so devout that you couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He had it all together on the outside.
If it’s true that all you need to be saved is to do the right thing, to be a good person, to sincerely believe what you want to believe, then Paul would have been saved.
Listen to what he says right after he talks about how good he was:
But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
All of that? All his good works, all his religious zeal and fervor, he said that it was all a detriment to him.
Listen: one of the most religious, “best” men in history is telling you today that it isn’t any good if you don’t know Jesus!
No matter how much good stuff you have done, if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, it is worthless!
That’s what Jesus tells us:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’
Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
Listen to Paul and Jesus here: You are never so good that you don’t need Him!
The only way for you to enter into heaven, the only way for you to genuinely be saved, is through a personal relationship with Christ.
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
I said it last week, and I will say it again: there are few things that frighten me more than this reality.
I am afraid that if I asked many even in this room why they should go to heaven, it would sound a lot like Paul in Philippians 3: I was raised in a Christian home, I have gone to church my whole life, and I do good things.
That isn’t how you get to heaven, folks! The only response to why God should let us into heaven is that we are guilty in our own sin, yet we have died to ourselves and now Christ lives through us, so it isn’t us who are getting into heaven, it’s Jesus!
You can never be good enough on your own!
Some of you may be here, though, and you are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Perhaps you feel like you have messed up too bad, and there is no possible way that God could forgive you.
That’s the other beautiful aspect of Saul’s conversion:
2) You are never so bad that Jesus can’t save you.
2) You are never so bad that Jesus can’t save you.
Look back here at Acts 9:3-5.
If you remember back to chapter 8:1-3, you remember it said that Paul was “ravaging” the church, having people dragged off to jail just for being Christians.
He had heartily approved of Stephen’s death, and he would have killed many more had he been given freedom to do so.
Jesus made it clear that Paul’s actions were not just hurting the church, they were directed at Jesus Himself. Look back at verse 5.
We recognize that, although sin has different ramifications, at its core, sin is sin, and it is all destructive.
However, in our way of thinking, surely a man who murdered Christians would have been seriously guilty of heinous crimes.
Surely, if there was anyone that God wouldn’t save, it would be someone who was so vehemently against Jesus.
Yet here, in the very act of trying to destroy the church, which the Bible calls the Bride of Christ, Jesus appears to Saul and saves him.
What’s the message here? Paul would later say it this way:
This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.
But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.
Paul called himself the worst, or chief, of sinners because he was acutely aware of his own sin. He knew his sin better than he knew anyone else’s, yet Jesus was willing to save even him.
Did you hear why he said God saved him? So that Jesus could show that anyone could be saved! Listen to it again:
But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.
Why did Jesus save Saul on the road to Damascus? To show you that you are not too far gone!
There is no one in this room or in this town or in this world that Jesus cannot save. Even if you have been responsible for the murder of His followers, Jesus can save you!
Why? Because we are all His enemies because of our sin!
For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We all equally deserved to die for our sin, just like Paul deserved to die. And yet, Jesus saved us, even though we were his enemies!
Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions.
But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—
Listen, friend: I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what you have done. I don’t care what you were planning to do this afternoon or this week. I only know this: You need Jesus! You are not so far gone that He cannot save you, because He can even save a murderer like Saul!
You may be here, and you have a child who has gone so far off from God’s plan that you have given up hope. Listen to me: If they are still breathing, God can still save them! Will you fervently cry out for them, pleading with God to speak to them and draw them to Himself?!
These truths should drive us to our knees in gratitude, giving God honor for saving even us! We were all helpless, we were all His enemies, and yet He, through the gracious gift of Jesus on the cross, saved us!
Live like it!