Go and read the book of Acts. There we see, over and over again, a triumphant God working, a triumphant God going straight ahead and treading upon the devil. Psalm 2:4 says that "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." Heaven was dishing-out miracles right and left, and the enemies of God couldn't do a thing about it.

Consider this story in Acts three and four. Peter and John go up to the temple, and heal a man who from the time of his birth was lame. For most of his lifetime, friends, he had been carried each day to the gate of the temple, and laid there to beg for alms. As Peter and John drew near, there was an interaction between them and the lame fellow, and in a moment, he stood up healed by a miracle wrought by God through Peter (Acts 3:1-11). Of course, the event drew a large crowd and the news rapidly spread through the city (Acts 4:16-17). Peter, never short for words, seized the moment and launched into a stirring sermon (Acts 3:12-26). And we might get the impression that he finished it unless we read on into chapter four, where we learn that Peter's sermon was cut short by the religious authorities (Acts 4:1-3). But when they brought the disciples before the tribunal the next day, and began to question them about the event, the preaching continued! Their inquiry into "by what means" the man was made whole (Acts 4:9) resulted in the statement upon which we dwell this morning; that "There is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved," but the name of Jesus.
 
 

No friends, don't tell me that there is not a sense in which the world around us looks for its "salvation" under other names than Jesus! And it is there, all around us, like a slow leak, trying to come into us through our minds, affix itself to our affections, and undo us. To them we are "the sour" in a sweet world.

But when there's a pause in the action, and people look out into the sky, and realize that they are growing older and that their dreams have been replaced by the fictional vanities produced in Follywood, and that their health is not getting better; then, some of them do stop, and tremble, and fear the day when perhaps they will, after all, be held accountable for the life they have lived.
 
 

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, [even] by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

By the way, did you notice that the man who had been healed was there at this tribunal? "By Him doth this man stand before you whole." Yes, the one who had been blessed by healing was there, caught up in the proceedings of evil men. And it will happen to us this way too. Having received blessing from God, we are sometimes called to account. Remember how after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they were so angry that they plotted to kill not just Jesus, but Lazarus too! (John 12:10-11). Why? Because when you have been blessed by God, you become a living, breathing witness to the goodness of God, and those who don't want to go God's way can't stand to be reminded that He's there, that He's real, that He lives, and that He changes the lives of those who believe on Him.

Because then they might have to change too. "And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" John 3:19.
 

Did you notice that the man that was healed "was made whole?" Brothers and sisters, whereever Jesus goes, people are made whole. In John 5:11 and 15 the man who was healed by Jesus and took up his bed and walked through Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, confesses that Jesus had made him whole. In John 7:23 Jesus argues for making people whole on the Sabbath day. In Titus 2:8 the same Greek word is used to describe "sound speech, that cannot be condemned." And there are several more references. (Like Matthew 8:25; Luke 19:10; Luke 23:39; and 1 Timothy 1:15 for "save," and Mark 5:23; Luke 8:36; and Acts 14:9 for "heal"). But Scripture conveys the idea that being "made whole" or "made sound" means becoming spiritually sound, spiritually changed so that our lives are changed. And because we let God change us, He will change us, fully. And if we will only let Him, He will bring us each to a place where there is nothing in our lives that can be spiritually condemned.

How about that?

Salvation is total healing. Jesus wants to work on all of our wounds and diseases. He wants to heal the soul. Let me tell you something. In the New Testament, the same Greek word, "sodzo" is translated either of two ways: either "save" or "heal." It is all one and the same meaning. Friends, every physical act of healing recorded in the Bible is a testimony of God's power to bring spiritual healing.

Humanity set Him aside as valueless. As verse 11 says: "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." Jesus was set aside by humanity as valueless, but He is the ultimate treasure of heaven.

Notice the phrase "you builders" there in verse 11? Remember what I said about the world a bit ago? They are putting together a package for you and I; they are building a world apart from God; apart from moral yes's and moral no's. Their world is packaged with their own morality.

I know. I came from that world.

Some of you have too. But God reached out and we realized that there is no other name given under heaven that can bring true wholeness. There is no other name that can truly save.

Only the name of Jesus.
 

And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.

Ever hear these before:

• Oshea?
• Hosea?
• Jehoshua?
• Joshua?

What does the name of Jesus mean? Think hard. "Yahweh saves" or "helps." But how does He save, how does He help? Look again at Matthew 1:21: "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."
 

All the difference between eternal life and eternal death. Because salvation is the opposite of sin.

Too often we hear now that we are hopeless sinners, that no matter how much we desire it, we are so corrupted and ruined in the nature that we are born in that we can never, in this life, ever really overcome. In that theology, we are all destined to live out our lives as frustrated sinners, disappointing both God and ourselves and everyone else that we manage to bump into through life. As one of my teachers once said, "every Christian can have the experience of Romans seven." Oh no! I don't want that experience! Sin and repent sin and repent, sin and repent. No, I want the experience as Paul gives it at the end of Romans seven: salvation through Jesus Christ, serving God with my mind. Let none of us forget that this same Paul calls out victoriously in 1 Corinthians 15:57: "But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

God will not leave us in the pit of sin. Just as He would pull an ox out of a ditch, even if it fell in on the Sabbath day, so too will He save us from the pit of sin that we have fallen into. If we are His people, then He is our Saviour.

And friends, that's good news. That's the gospel:

Salvation from sin.

Consider these helpful words from the pen of Ellen G. White, and the writings we call the "Spirit of Prophecy." By the way, did you notice how victory over sin permeates the Bible? In the last few minutes we have looked at just a few passages, and there it is pasted all over the Word. I tell you that God's hand has written victory over sin on the walls of the Bible. God's word to us is not "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin," that we are judged, but "verily, verily, I say unto thee, I have a remedy for you!" All of His biddings are our enablings. Ellen White is just echoing what's already in the Bible, which, if we studied it more, we'd have already realized. So I will refer to the Spirit of Prophecy writings without apology in this pulpit. Let each one of us test those writings personally, and I think we will draw the same conclusion, that they are solid. In any case, listen to these and see what you think:

The grace of Christ purifies while it pardons, and fits men for a holy heaven. That I May Know Him, 336.

The atonement of Christ is not a mere skillful way to have our sins pardoned; it is a divine remedy for the cure of transgression and the restoration of spiritual health. It is the heaven ordained means by which the righteousness of Christ may be not only upon us but in our hearts and characters. Letter 406, 1906.

but the name of Jesus.

Last Modified 23 March 2000