But number three, if you would, turn over to John chapter nine, and then we're going
to go to Acts chapter nine, go to John chapter nine, and then we're going to go to Acts chapter
nine.
Jesus got people saved during his earthly ministry, but now it is up to us.
Now Jesus Christ was on this earth, walking the earth as a human being, and during that
time when he was physically on this earth, walking the earth in his earthly ministry,
he got people saved.
He did the soul winning.
I mean, he's out there, he's just getting people saved.
But guess what?
He's not doing that today.
In 2020, Jesus Christ is not walking the earth getting people saved.
Now it is up to us to do that.
Remember what it said in 2 Corinthians 5?
It said that we pray you in Christ's stead.
Now why would I need an ambassador if I'm there doing it?
I mean, if I'm, let's say I'm the president of the United States and I'm over in Beijing
or whatever, you know, I don't need the ambassador to do the talking for me because I'm there.
But if I'm back home, then I'm going to send the ambassador to that other country to represent
me to pray them in my stead.
And so we are ambassadors for Christ because Christ is no longer on this earth directly
winning people unto himself as he did during his earthly ministry.
That's what, look what the Bible says in John chapter 9 verse 4.
It says, "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day.
The night cometh when no man can work."
Jesus is basically saying, "I have a limited amount of time here to do my work.
I'm running out of time."
Just like you're out working and the sun's going down and you're burning daylight, and
you say, "Man, we gotta hurry up because when that sun goes down we can't work anymore."
Jesus is saying, "I must work the work of him that sent me while it's day.
The night cometh when no man can work."
Verse 5, this is the key, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Okay, but you know what he says to us?
You're the light of the world.
"A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid; neither do men light a candle and put it under
a bushel, but on a candlestick, and to give light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father,
which is in heaven."
And so we're the light of the world, my friend.
Jesus said, "Well, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world."
But he's saying, "Look, the night cometh when no man can work.
I've got to work the works of him that sent me while it's day.
I've got a limited amount of time here."
That's why you see Jesus working so hard and preaching so much and traveling so much, because
he had a limited amount of time and now he's committed it to us.
He says, "Okay, I was here, I did it, now it's you.
As the Father sent me, so send I you."
So Jesus saved people during his earthly ministry, but now it's up to us.
Now of course Jesus is the Savior, ultimately.
Without him we can do nothing, but is he physically on this earth doing it?
No, we are the ambassadors representing him.
Now if you would go to Acts chapter 9, hopefully you're already there, Acts chapter 9.
I'll start reading while you get there.
This is a story about Saul of Tarsus who later became known as the Apostle Paul.
And we talk about his famous conversion on the road to Damascus.
And we even use this as an expression a lot where we say, you know, man that guy had like
a Saul on the road to Damascus kind of conversion on any kind of issue or whatever.
If somebody just does a 180 on something.
But here's the thing, if you actually read this story carefully, you will see that Jesus
is not directly getting Paul saved, but rather he points Paul to the guy who's going to get
him saved.
So like I said, when Jesus was on this earth, he was getting people saved after his death,
burial and resurrection and ascension.
He committed that to us.
And now that's our responsibility.
It's up to us.
Look what the Bible says in Acts chapter nine, verse three, let's examine the story.
And as he journeyed, this is Saul of Tarsus, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined
round about him a light from heaven.
And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me?"
And he said, "Who art thou, Lord?"
And the Lord said, "I'm Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
And he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
And the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do."
And notice he does not explain to him anything about how to be saved or anything.
He just says, "Look, I'm Jesus, whom thou persecutes."
And when he says, "It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks," you know, this shows
that God's already been working on Saul.
And it seems like he's not doing very -- it's not getting through to Saul.
And Saul's kicking against the pricks, as it were.
And so he tells him, "You've got to go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do."
Verse 7, "And the man which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but
seeing no man.
And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man.
But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus."
Notice he's still blind, which is a picture of the fact that he's not yet saved.
Jesus was kind unto him to give him a warning and tell him, "I'm Jesus whom thou persecutes.
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
And then he says, "Okay, Lord, what do I need to do?
Go into the city, and there's going to be a guy that'll tell you what to do."
So he's still blind, still being led by the hand.
Verse number 9, "And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink."
Now flip over to chapter 22, where the apostle Paul tells the story in retrospect.
We could keep reading in chapter 9, but it's a little clearer in chapter 22.
So I want to show you chapter 22 for the sake of time.
It says in verse 10, "And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?'"
Remember that?
"And the Lord said unto me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and it shall be told thee of
all things which are appointed for thee to do.'
And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them
that were with me, I came into Damascus.
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews
which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood and said unto me, 'Brother Saul, receive
thy sight.'
And the same hour I looked up upon him, and he said, 'The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the
voice of his mouth.
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.'"
Watch this.
This is the key verse, folks, verse 16.
"And now why tarries thou?
Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
Now, let me ask you this.
Why does he need to call on the name of the Lord and wash away his sins if he's already
saved?
Guess what?
When I got saved, my sins were washed away.
When I got saved, I called upon the name of the Lord.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Why is Ananias telling him to call upon the name of the Lord and thereby to wash away
sins?
Now look, a lot of people twist this verse and say, "Hey, baptism washes away your sins."
There's plenty of scripture that teaches us that it's not baptism that saves, it's faith
that saves.
And you could be saved without being baptized.
If you believe in Christ, whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life.
You don't have to be baptized for that to apply to you.
Being baptized is a picture of salvation, and in the apostle Paul's case, both of them
happen right at the same time because he basically just, he calls on the name of the Lord and
gets baptized just in rapid succession.
But you know what?
Some people get saved and then they get baptized much later.
I got saved when I was six years old.
I didn't get baptized until I was nine.
But guess what?
I was saved when I was six.
I was saved when I was seven.
I was saved when I was eight.
And even if I never would have gotten baptized, I still would have been saved because I believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he says that you wash away your sins calling upon the name of the Lord.
Why would you need to do that if you're already saved?
You wouldn't need to do that because that's a one-time deal.
So the Apostle Paul did not actually get saved.
You could still talk about his conversion as far as the fact that he, you know, changed
gears or, you know, turned in his trajectory.
But as far as when he actually got saved is when the Apostle Paul was confronted by Adonaius
and that's where he called upon the name of the Lord, received his sight, washed away
his sins, etc.
Now just to prove this further, there's another example of this in the book of Acts, go to
Acts chapter 10.
So folks, this is not something that's based on an isolated scripture, there's a lot of
evidence here.
You know, point number one was that people can't just get saved from reading the Bible.
We saw the Ethiopian eunuch, we saw 1 Corinthians 3 which says that God gave ministers by whom
they believed to every man.
We saw 1 Corinthians 2 that says that unsaved people are incapable of understanding the
things of God and that they cannot understand them.
2 Corinthians 5 showed us how Christ committed to us the ministry of reconciliation.
And then we saw all these verses about how getting someone saved is like having a child.
You're married to Christ so that you can bring forth fruit unto God.
Everything brings forth after its own kind.
And then we have the story about the apostle Paul getting saved as a result of Ananias
explaining to him what he needs to do to be saved.
But look at Acts chapter 10 verse 1.
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called
the Italian band, a devout man, we're in Acts chapter 10 verse 2, and one that feared God
with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God all the way.
So this guy's giving to charity and praying to God.
But he's not saved.
He's a good guy, sincere guy, and there are a lot of people out there that are like that,
right?
But giving charity and praying doesn't mean that you're saved.
And so it says in verse number three, "He saw in a vision, evidently, about the ninth
hour of the day, an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, 'Cornelius.'
And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, 'What is it, Lord?'
And he said unto him, 'Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.'"
So here's what we see here.
When people are nice people, good people, sincere people, God looks down on that and
he does have compassion on people like that that are sincere but sincerely wrong.
And so he'll work in their lives and try to send people and make sure that they hear the
gospel, okay?
That's how God works.
It says in verse 5, "And now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter.
He lodgeth with one Simon of Tanner whose house is by the seaside.
He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do."
Now why didn't the angel of the Lord just tell him right then and there, "Hey buddy,
you're a good guy.
I like you.
You're sincere.
Let me just explain to you how to be saved in a few minutes here.
Let me preach this to you."
Why did he not do that?
Because that's not how it works, my friend.
Because only a saved person can get someone saved.
Because God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation.
So the best he can do for Cornelius is to say, "Hey, go to such and such the town and
go find this guy named Simon and he's going to explain to you the gospel."
And of course, Peter, later in chapter 10, what does he do?
He preaches the gospel to these people and they all get saved.
And by the way, there have been a lot of missionaries who've told stories about, you know, they're
out in the jungle or whatever and there will be some guy who stumbles into their village
and says, "Hey, I had a dream a few days ago.
They just told me to just walk this way, to just head this way and I'm going to find some,"
you know what I mean?
And then they won the guide of Christ and you say, "Well, I don't know if I believe
that story."
Hey, that story seems totally plausible to me because of the fact that there's an exact
parallel of it right here in Acts chapter 10.
I mean, think about it.
Don't you think God could just, if some guy's out in the jungle, he's sincere and God knows,
"Hey, if this guy hears the gospel, he'll get saved."
You got some faithful missionary over there serving, why wouldn't God in a dream put it
into this guy's heart to say, "Hey, you know, just, you need to head over."
And people have told stories like that and maybe some are apocryphal, but you know what?
They make perfect sense to me because they mirror what's in scripture.
You know, when people come at me with a story, I'm going to compare it to scripture to see
whether it's plausible or not and all you can do at that point is just take people's
word for it.
But a lot of people just say, "I've been walking for five days and I don't even know why.
I just felt like I needed to just take this trip and I don't even know why I'm here."
And then it's like, "Well, here's why you're here.
Because I'm going to tell you about Jesus."
And they get saved.
That's what happened in the story.
But why didn't the angel just do it himself?
Because God did not give the angels the ministry of reconciliation.
I mean, think about it.
God could just use the angels as a great soul winning army.
I mean, how many angels does God have?
Hundreds of millions of angels if you study scripture.
So couldn't God just send out a hundred million red hot soul winning angels?
But I'm supposed to believe that Judas got people saved but angels can't do it.
It's stupid.
Right.
People can get saved from reading the Bible on their own but an angel can't do it.
Folks, it takes a saved person to get someone saved.
That's why God says, "Hey, go talk to Peter.
He'll get you saved.
Go talk to Ananias.
He'll get you saved.
Here, let me grab Philip so that you can get saved."
I mean, look, Philip in that Ethiopian eunuch story was preaching to big crowds in Samaria.
I mean, he's doing a great preaching campaign in Samaria, preaching to great crowds.
God pulls him off that job and sticks him out in the middle of the desert to go talk
to one guy in a chariot who's already reading the Bible.
He's already into it.
Why didn't God, you know, the Bible's powerful, the Word of God's so powerful, then why couldn't
Philip just keep doing his thing in Samaria and the Holy Spirit and Jesus and the angels
and everybody can just get the Ethiopian eunuch saved themselves instead of having to beam
Philip over there.
Philip had to be beamed in because of the fact that that's the only way that the Ethiopian
eunuch could get saved.
Now go if you would to Matthew chapter 23.
Only a saved person can get people saved.
Number one, people cannot get saved from reading the Bible on their own.
Number two, getting someone saved is like having a child.
Everything brings forth after its own kind.
So you have to be saved to produce a saved convert.
Number three, Jesus got people saved during his earthly ministry, but now it's up to us.
That's why in the book of Acts, he has to delegate it to Ananias, he has to delegate
it to Peter.