The Fruits of His Belief

Introduction: The Philippian Jailer's Conversion and the Nature of Saving Faith

0:07 Will you turn this morning, please, to the 16th chapter of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Acts chapter 16.

0:21 Having completed our studies in Ephesians 2, 1 through 10, the first paragraph in the second chapter of that great epistle, we have, for the past two Lord's Day mornings, been examining a portion of Acts 16, and particularly the account of the conversion of the man who was given no other name than the fact that he was a jailer. And so we have identified him as the Philippian jailer. And I've done this purposely so that, having examined in detail the great statements that the Apostle Paul makes in Ephesians 2

0:59 concerning salvation by grace, we might see an actual record of how God works in bringing dead sinners to life, in making them new creatures in Christ Jesus. The passage, beginning particularly with verse 19 and concluding with verse 34, I have suggested can best be approached by focusing upon the two most important issues in the entire narrative, namely the question asked in verse 30 and the answer to that question given in verse 31. And so we entitled our first study,

1:39 The Most Important Question Ever Asked, Sirs, What Must I Do to be Saved? Last week, our second study, the most accurate answer ever given to that question, and they answered him saying, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.

2:01 Now, according to this passage, is there any indication as to whether or not the Philippian jailer having asked the question and having received an accurate answer, did obey the directions of that answer? Having felt and owned his guilt, having sensed his danger as under the wrath of God, having nowhere to flee and having cried out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Having been directed by the Apostle Paul and his companion Silas to the specific activity of salvation, the exclusive object of that faith, the Lord Jesus,

2:45 having been given a sure word of promise, thou shalt be saved, did he engage in that activity? Did he believe? Did he believe on the Lord Jesus? Was he indeed and in truth saved?

3:01 Well, thank God the text answers that question for us. For the narrative that focuses particularly upon this man, the Philippian jailer, concludes, concludes with this statement at the end of verse 34, having believed in God. And the tense of the verb believe, which the Apostle, or which Luke uses, indicates that the jailer came to a decisive exercise of faith at a given point in time, and that that act of faith had now become the disposition of faith. Okay.

3:40 And that's bound up in the little phrase, having believed in God. And the very fact that the Apostle Luke does not say, having believed in the Lord Jesus, is a tremendous indication that his faith was not a Jesus-only faith. It was true saving faith which unites people to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which embraces Jesus Christ as the way to God, which receives him as the gift of God and the revelation of the salvation of God. And that's all bound up in the little phrase, having believed in God.

4:21 And so the same Holy Spirit, who gives us enough materials in the passage to ask and answer the question, why did he get disturbed about his condition, which also answers for us the question, how can he come out of that dilemma of fear and dread of danger, giving us the statement of verse 31, also gives us enough materials to know that this man did indeed come to faith in Jesus Christ. But now, that raises another problem. You, if you know your Bible, know that there are places in Scripture that speak of certain individuals and certain groups of people who believed. And those portions use exactly the same,

5:06 the same word in the original, the general word for faith. And yet the context or subsequent history of the individual or individuals involved reveals that they never had true saving faith. You'll remember in the parable of the sower, our Lord, speaking of the stony ground hearers, says in Luke 8.13, who for a while believed they had temporary faith.

5:30 Well, how do we know that the faith of the Philippian jailer was not temporary faith? Furthermore, we read, two weeks ago in the book of James, the demons also believe and they tremble. This is what we might call historical faith. They believe that Jesus is the Christ, that he came from God.

5:47 Well, how do we know that the Philippian jailer did not have simply historical faith? Also, we read of certain Jews who believed when they saw the miracles that Christ performed in John chapter 2, and yet the same passage indicates that Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in them. They had miraculous faith, but not saving faith. Well, how do we know that the faith described in verse 34 is indeed true, vital, saving faith?

6:15 Faith that is the gift of God. Faith that illustrates the truth of Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 10. Well, we know it because the very nature of saving faith is such that it always works by love. Galatians 5 and verse 6.

6:34 Whenever there is a sin, saving faith that appropriates Jesus Christ as the only Savior from sin, that faith always becomes productive of many other graces. It is a faith which works by love. And the Spirit of God has given to us in this passage some clear indications that the faith of the Philippian jailer was not defective faith, notional faith, miraculous faith, or temporary faith. But it was indeed true, saving faith.

7:09 And we know that because it was faith that worked by love. It was faith, the leading grace, which brings us into vital union with Christ, but which always brings other graces in its train. It is never alone. And so our study this morning will focus on the certain indications that the answer to his question was embraced, having looked at the most important question ever asked, the most accurate answer ever given to the question.

7:43 Now this morning, our third and final study in the passage, the most certain indications that this answer was embraced. And I'm using the word certain as synonymous with unquestionable.

The First Fruit: Radical Reordering of Life's Priorities

7:58 Now notice verse 31. Look carefully at your Bibles. Here we have the record of the answer of Paul and Silas. They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.

8:14 The paragraph closes, verse 34c, describing the jailer as having believed in God. Here's the direction in verse 31. Believe on the Lord Jesus. Here is the record of verse 34, having believed, and what you have between verse 31 and the end, and the end of verse 34 are the indisputable evidences of the faith that was exercised.

8:45 This is not a section of works. It is a section describing the holy fruits of saving faith. What then are the certain indications that the jailer exercised true faith in Jesus Christ? Well, the first one is what I am calling the radical realization or the reordering of all of life's priorities.

9:11 And for you children, the word radical just means it's very basic, very fundamental. Reordering means changing things around like you do sometimes with your room. Priorities means what you think is important and what you think is worth doing. So I've given you an easy, simple definition of those rather large words.

9:31 The radical reordering of life's priorities. Look at the passage. Verse 32, And they spake, the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his immediately.

9:50 And he brought them up into his house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly with all his house having believed in God. Now when you have some acquaintance with the whole narrative, this is absolutely amazing. Here's a man who a short while before was sound-spoken, his priorities were such that only one thing mattered. He had to get his forty winks.

10:14 He knew that servants of God were there in a prison. Even the prisoners had sense enough to stay awake and listen to the singing and praying of these men. Here he is, a blind, dead, helpless, condemned sinner on his way to the eternal pit. Two choice servants of God are in close enough proximity that he could be questioning them about the way of salvation.

10:38 He could at least be listening to the truth that is being expounded in their praying and in their singing of psalms and hymns unto God. But to him only one thing matters at midnight, that sleep. Shortly thereafter we behold him trembling at the thought that the Roman government might take hold of him if the prisoners escape. Only one thing matters, the preservation of his honor.

11:01 Only one thing matters, getting out of this present mess. His priorities were very clearly indicated in the previous narrative. But now, even though it's later on toward morning, for they were singing hymns at midnight when the earthquake occurred, we find this same man forgetting sleep, forgetting his own personal conveniences, apparently, according to the narrative, even for a time, forgetting about the prisoners. The silence of Luke here is eloquent.

11:30 The man who a few minutes before is ordering all of his priorities in terms of where the prisoners may be, in or out of the prison, now forgets to sleep. He forgets his sleep, forgets even the niceties of what you do to your family at the unearthly hour of one or two in the morning, and he has a transformation in the whole area of life's priorities. Hearing the word of God takes the place of sleep. Caring for the servants of God takes the place of caring for himself.

12:00 Providing for his family the bread of life takes precedence over every other concern with reference to that family. And therefore the passage is setting before us a clear indication of the genuineness of this man's faith. Having believed in God, there was the radical reordering of all of life's priorities in the light of that new world into which his faith ushered him.

12:33 You see, while a sleeping sinner, the world of God, sin, heaven, hell, Christ, the spirit, holiness, the soul, the spiritual needs of his family, all of this was unreal and distant to the jailer. Now that's a very real world. The scripture says, in God we live and move and have our being. The world of God, of guilt, of sin, of heaven and hell, that's a real world.

12:59 But it's the spiritual world. It's the world that is not seen with the physical eyes. And a dead sinner lives as though that real world did not exist. And the only world, the world that exists to him is the world of sight, of touch, the world of sound, the world of sensual pleasure, of personal honor, of personal ease, of sensuous gratification.

13:21 That's the world in which the jailer lived. All of his priorities were ordered by that world. But, the moment he believed on the Lord Jesus, he was brought into that other world of spiritual reality. That world concerning which Paul spoke, in 2 Corinthians 4.18,

13:42 when he said, we look not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Again, the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.7, for we walk by faith and not by sight.

14:00 And every person who has ever been saved by faith in Jesus Christ, then begins to walk by the same principle, the principle of faith. And that will always mean a radical reordering of life's priorities in the light of that new world. As with the jailer, so with you. If you have asked his question, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

14:31 If you have heard the answer given, believe on the Lord Jesus. If you have obeyed that answer, the living proof, of the reality of your faith, is to be found in this. There has been a radical reordering of life's priorities.

14:51 And if there's been no radical reordering of life's priorities, it's because you have not believed in God.

15:03 As the jailer professed to believe, and then go on, concerned about nothing but his sleep, his physical needs, nothing but the prisoner's temporal concerns, nothing but the provision, for his family's temporal needs, and not their spiritual needs, we would have every reason to conclude that his faith was not true saving faith. It was not the faith of God's elect. It is not the faith that is the gift of God. Now, it is not a perfect reordering, nor is it an unassailed reordering of life's priorities, but a fundamental, a radical reordering of life's priorities is an inevitable, inevitable,

15:46 attendant of saving faith. Now, young men, boys, girls, men, and women, ask yourself the question, has my professed faith in the Lord Jesus resulted in the radical reordering of life's priorities,

The Second Fruit: Immediate Thirst for More Knowledge of Christ

16:06 or has it not? If not, you have reason to question if that faith is genuine. But in the second place, we see the fruit of his faith in what I am calling an immediate thirst for more knowledge, of the object of his faith. Look at verse 32.

16:23 Having been told that his answer was to be found in the Lord Jesus and in believing upon that Lord Jesus, verse 32 says, and they spake the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house. What an unearthly hour for a preaching session. Somewhere after twelve o'clock and Sunday, before morning, gathering the household and this man taking the lead, even allowing what we would call the common acts of Christian kindness to wait. Get the picture now. These

17:03 men had been beaten by Romans. And unlike the Jews who had the regulations, it must be fewer than 40 stripes, there was no such regulation placed upon the Roman lictors. Can you picture what they looked like? Their backs laid open, a mass of dried blood, large welts. They were probably a pretty gory sight to look at. But so thirsty is this jailer

17:30 for more knowledge of the object of faith that he takes these men into his house. He doesn't see their unkempt appearance. He doesn't see their welts and their wounds and their dried blood upon them. All he knows is these are men who teach the Word of God.

17:45 The Word of God who can tell me more of the blessed object of faith, the only one who can deliver me from this state of danger and death and bondage. And so the Word of the Lord is preached unto this man and to all that were in his house. It was the Word of the Lord in that it came from the Lord. It was the Word of the Lord in that it focused upon the Lord Jesus in the virtue of His work and in the glory of His person.

18:17 And you see, this is always one of the first fruits of saving faith. There is this immediate thirst for more knowledge of the object of that faith. False faith is always content with as much knowledge as the individual thinks is necessary to be saved. And once it has that much, it wants no more. You got it? False faith only wants as much knowledge

18:44 as the person thinks is necessary to be saved. And so the Word of the Lord is preached unto me. And once they have that minimal knowledge, they say, that's good, taken care of, I know enough about Jesus, He bled, He died, He rose, I trust Him, I've all fixed up. Saving faith is never content with that.

19:03 Having brought us to taste that the Lord is good, there is then born in the spiritual stomach of the newborn soul this appetite as newborn babes longing for the sincere milk of the Word. This is the uniform testimony of the Word of God. You remember, in the day of Pentecost, Peter's preaching, and the Scripture says that those that gladly received the Word were baptized and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. They continued. They wanted to know

19:42 more of the object of their faith. Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus in John 8, verse 32. Ye are my disciples, if...

19:52 If what? If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And this whole notion that once you've got people to make their decision, then you've got to immediately get them enrolled in a follow-up program, and you've got to motivate them to read the Word of God and motivate them. My friends, it's sheer nonsense. You may have to guide the hunger. You may

20:17 have to provide some system of Bible study. Granted, I'm not knocking that. But the whole mentality that you have to have is that you have to guide the hunger. You may have to be a shepherd. You may have to give your children something to eat. You may have to

20:25 give them something to eat. You may have to give your children something to do with the day of Pentecost. You may have to give them something to do with the day of Pentecost. But if you give them something to do with the day of Pentecost, you may have to feed them with the days of Pentecost. And that's what our Lord says.

20:29 Jesus, who is the Father of all things, says, The reason we have all these thousands of converts who don't belong in the knowledge of Christ is because they are not being sufficiently motivated. That's a denial of this principle. The motivation comes with the new life. Do you motivate a newborn baby to be hungry? There's hunger inherent in life.

20:49 So was the flipping jailer. Having had Christ set before him in the proclamation, there is this immediate thirst to know more of the object of his faith, as with the jailer, so with you. If you've asked his question, what must I do to be saved? If you've embraced the answer given to him, believe on the Lord Jesus, the second great fruit of faith will be that thirst for more knowledge of the object of faith. And you notice I did not say just

21:21 the thirst for more knowledge of the Bible, thirst for more knowledge of the object of faith. The needy soul has found its rest in Christ, and it knows instinctively that it grows no more or no less than it grows in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Peter chapter 3. May I press the question upon your conscience? You say you've

21:51 been disturbed and you've asked the question, what must I do to be saved? Do you profess to have heard and embraced the answer, believe on the Lord Jesus? Then I press the question upon your conscience, is there thirst for more knowledge of the object of faith? Not an even thirst? Not a thirst that at times

22:11 is not lesser or greater than at other times? Not a thirst that is equally vehement and equally consistent? I am not speaking of anything that denies all of the truth of the legitimate ups and downs and windings in the Christian life, but I'm asking, is there thirst for the knowledge of Christ? Is there? What are you here for this morning? Oh, I

22:40 heard some things about this church and heard some things about you, so I come to see. Is that what you're here for? Are you here because you long to see something of the glory of Christ reflected from His Word and in the midst of His people? That's the second great fruit of this man's faith.

The Third Fruit: Immediate Desire to Share Christ with Others

23:01 Then there is a third fruit. Look at the text. It's what I'm calling his immediate desire to share this knowledge with others. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house. Here's the man who, if he found any of the other members

23:20 of the household, servants, if he had a wife, doesn't say he did, but if he did, a wife, if he had any children, doesn't say he did, but if he did, whoever was involved in his household, whether they were awakened by the earthquake, we don't know. Whether he went back and shook them and said, look, I've just heard some wonderful news. I've asked the most important question a man can ever ask. I've had the answer. One thing

23:43 is obvious, that as the head of the house, and he's the leading figure in all these references to the household, even the grammar is emphatic. You have singular verbs referring to him, and then it will say, with all the house. They're included, but he's the leading figure. And the whole thrust, then, of this passage is that this man was instrumental in bringing that household.

24:04 Under the sound of the word of God, he took the initiative to bring the family within the orbit of the saving influence of God. Remember what the promise was. Mr. Jalerman, verse 31, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved, and also your house. Mr.

24:25 Jalerman, you do not exhaust the saving merit of Christ. If you believe, you'll be saved, and there is a salvation adequate for every member of your household. If they will believe, they shall be saved. And just on the basis of that knowledge, that there was grace sufficient in his newfound Savior for every member of his household, he says, I must get them within the orbit of that message which was effectual to my salvation. And so

24:52 he gathers them, not to have his little infants baptized, nor to have his wife and servants baptized. He gathers them to hear the word of the living God. And what is this but an evidence of his immediate desire to share the knowledge of Christ with others? And this is always one of the firstfruits of faith. The psalmist said, I believe, therefore

25:19 have I spoken. If thou shall confess with thine mouth and believe in thine heart, God ties the two together. And when there is the believing embrace of Christ, there will be the desire to share the knowledge of Christ with others. As with him, so with you. Now,

25:41 this does not mean that you will go home and arouse your family at an ungodly hour to prove something. I should say an unearthly hour, not an ungodly, an unearthly hour. Nor does it mean that if someone comes staggering to your doorstep all beaten and bloody, you're going to say, preach to me for a while because I've got to do what he did. No, no. No, no.

26:02 Get the principle. The principle. The principle is here. Now, this desire was governed by his opportunity and by his unusual circumstances. Your desire will be governed by your opportunities, by your circumstances,

26:19 by your personality, by many, many different things. And we are not setting forth some new legalism that says if you haven't passed out ten tracts by the time you're ten days old in the Lord, you're not a Christian. We're not saying that. And don't anyone say that was asserted.

26:35 It was asserted from this pulpit. And I think if I ever sat here when someone did assert it, I'd stand up publicly and rebuke him for heresy. But what the text does indicate is that this desire was the fruit of faith. And when you have believed on the Lord Jesus, that desire to share the knowledge of Christ will be there. You may be awkward. You may

26:58 be timid. You may be limited in the how. Your opportunities may be very straitened. Granted, my friend, listen.

27:06 You can profess to have believed on the Lord Jesus and live in a household with an unsaved father, mother, brother, sister, husband or wife, and have no sob in your spirit, no earnest plea that God would use your life and God would open opportunities for your lips. You can live in the midst of pagan, lost, ungodly neighbors, and there's never any effort to find how you can communicate the gospel. No brokenness of spirit, no pleading with God, my friend. Your faith is suspect. Now,

27:44 I have not said, if you've not won a soul to Christ, you're not a Christian. I didn't say that, dear child of God. I did not say that. And anyone who says that is cruel and unscriptural. What I'm saying is this. If I could peel off the layers that lie over

28:03 the deepest recesses of your heart this morning and could somehow, take what is there and make it visible, would there at least be some moisture from an inner tear of concern for lost sinners amongst whom you live? Is there something that would approximate even an honest sigh that you might be used to point them to the Savior? Here, the Spirit of God records that the fruit of the Philippian jailer's faith was not only this radical reordering of life's priorities, but it was also the fruit of God's love for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you.

The Fourth Fruit: Active, Practical Love for Fellow Believers

28:46 This thirst for more knowledge of the object of faith, but an immediate desire to share this knowledge with others. But then there is a further indication of his faith. Look at the passage. We read in verse 33, And he took them the same hour of the night and washed, literally he bathed, their stripes. Verse 34, He brought them up into his house

29:13 and set food before them. Notice the emphasis, the same hour of the night he bathed their wounds, their stripes. The same hour of the night, literally he set a table before them in the custom of the eastern lands, brought them to the place where they'd recline upon the couch, and he spread a table before them. Everything that was necessary to provide them with adequate food. What is

29:44 this? Let me suggest. It is the fourth fruit of his faith, an active, practical love to his fellow believers. An active, practical love for his fellow believers. What were the immediate needs of Paul and

30:02 Silas? Their immediate needs were to be cleansed of the wounds, and then having been cleansed to have their tummies filled with adequate food. What did love do in the jailer? Love made him sensitive to those immediate needs.

30:19 and to everything within His sphere of opportunity that could meet those needs and forthwith the needs were met. Here's a beautiful example, an illustration of 1 John chapter 3. I simply read the passage for you. 1 John chapter 3, verses 14 and following.

30:38 We know that we passed out of death unto life because we loved the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death. But whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.

30:51 And we know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby know we love because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's goods and beholdeth his brother in need and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

31:10 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but indeed in truth. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. What were the world's goods that the Philippian jailer had? Water to cleanse the wounds, towels to dry their bodies, food to fill their tummies, and a home adequate enough within which to entertain them.

31:33 And everything he had was shared with his brethren in terms of their lives. He that is begotten of God loveth him that is begotten of him. As one commentator has beautifully stated, pagan cruelty. Callousness that a few hours before had placed these men without feeling in the torture stocks of the dungeon.

31:57 Pagan cruelty and callousness was changed into Christian tenderness and mercy.

32:04 Faith always unites us to Christ and thereby brings us into the household of faith. And Paul said of the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4-9, We need not write to you about love of the brethren, for brethren, ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

32:22 That's the fruit of faith. He didn't start loving these men to be saved. No, no. They had told him, Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved.

32:30 And what was part of that salvation? It was deliverance from the calloused indifference to others that marks the unregenerate heart. Now here's a heart touched by the love of God to him in Christ. That love now expresses itself in seeking the well-being of his brothers in the Lord Jesus.

32:52 As with the jailer, so with you. If you've believed on the Lord Jesus, then to some degree there will be active, practical love expressed for your fellow believers. But then there is another indication of his faith. Look at verse 33 again.

The Fifth Fruit: Open Confession of Christ in Baptism

33:12 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. What is this? This fruit of faith is what I'm calling an open, confession of Christ in the God-appointed way. He was baptized immediately.

33:32 Now why was he baptized? Was baptism any part of Paul's answer to the question what must I do to be saved? Was it? Not according to verse 31.

33:44 When he said what must I do to be saved, Paul did not say believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the belief is incomplete without baptism. He didn't say that. Now there's some text of Scripture that seems to say something almost like that. Seem to say something almost like that.

34:03 Notice the careful wording. The text doesn't say that Paul mentioned baptism later. It says he preached unto him the word of the Lord. Now how in the world did the jailer ever get the idea, number one, that he ought to be baptized at all and secondly, that it was of such importance that he ought to take care of it at that unearthly hour.

34:23 Did that ever bother you when you read the passage? It's bothered me.

34:28 Why was he baptized?

34:31 Certainly baptized baptism was no part of his salvation. Yet, it was of such fundamental concern that the Apostle Paul somewhere included it between verse 32 and verse 33. Now my own conviction is when he preached unto him the word of the Lord, it's at that point that he declared to him the significance of Christian baptism. It's authority residing in the Lord Jesus who said make disciples and baptize.

35:02 The significance of it, the truth of Romans 6. Or it could be, look at verse 33, and the same hour of the night he bathed their stripes. There was enough water to give these men a bath sufficient to cleanse them from stripes that pretty much covered the entire major part of their back. Could it be that while he was tenderly washing the disciples, washing the Apostle and his companion Paul and Silas, that they launched into a dissertation on the significance of the ceremonial washing of baptism?

35:39 I don't know. But one thing is clear. One thing is clear. Just as surely he, as he was not deluded into thinking that baptism could save him, thus making baptism a savior, neither was he so instructed as to think baptism was the perpetual Cinderella of the church that really didn't matter.

36:00 And there's this constant tension, the church either makes baptism its savior or its Cinderella,

36:10 exalting it above its proper place or putting it beneath its proper place. But a careful reading of the book of the Acts will reveal that baptism is neither savior nor Cinderella. It is always joined to preaching of the word, to evangelism, and to the institution or constitution of churches in the various places. In the Roman Empire.

36:37 There is no baptism that is biblical baptism apart from preaching. They that received his word were baptized. Make disciples baptizing them. Take away the conscious understanding reception of the word from baptism and you have nothing but a superstitious ordinance.

37:00 On the other hand, put so much emphasis upon the word preached and received that baptism is no longer any salvation. It is the essential element in the life of the church and you have come short of the biblical standard. For as surely as the Lord said make disciples, he said they and all such who are made are to be baptized. And you find the pattern throughout the book of Acts.

37:23 Time will not permit a study of it this morning. Acts 16, 14, and 15, Acts 18, 8, and many other passages that this is the razor's edge with reference to the subject of baptism. Ah, but someone says, Mr. Martin, can't you read?

37:39 It says, excuse me, he and all his were baptized. There it is. A whole household, children included. Ah, ah, ah.

37:48 Wait a minute, my friend. Look at the passage. Look carefully. Verse 32 says, they spake the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house.

38:03 How many of the household sat under the preaching? How many?

38:08 All were capable of it.

38:12 Now, if there was a dog there, I doubt the dog was brought in for preaching. He might have been, but I doubt it.

38:18 If there was a cat, all that were in his house. All right? Now, the next reference to the all in the house is what? Baptism.

38:28 He and all his were baptized. And what's the next reference? Verse 34, he set food before that rejoiced greatly with all his house. So you have the whole household hearing preaching.

38:40 The whole household being baptized, and the whole household rejoicing.

38:46 Now, when you can get infants to hear preaching intelligently and consciously to respond to that preaching so as to desire obedience to baptism, and then consciously to rejoice in faith, then you get infants in this household baptism, but not until then. The only way you can get them there is to put them there. And when you put them there, you butcher the passage.

39:10 You say, you're not very kind. Well, I think this whole thing needs some rather firm treatment. Because there is a semblance of spiritual appreciation that glosses over the crux of the real heart of this issue with infant baptism. And the infant baptism issue clouds what baptism truly signifies.

39:34 And we must be concerned to maintain the purity of that ordinance you have here, household baptism, because you have household conversion. And if God will convert households, we too shall practice household baptism. Now, as with the jailer, so with you. If you believed on the Lord Jesus, you will desire with Him open confession of Christ in the ordinance He has instituted.

40:04 And may I state as clearly as I know how, if you profess to have received the Spirit, that is, to have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and those two terms are synonymous in the New Testament, believing upon the Lord Jesus, you have been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ, then baptism is not optional. It is commanded.

40:28 And I give you but one text to support that assertion. Acts chapter 10, verses 47 and 48.

40:36 Can any forbid water that these should not be baptized to have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? What is the one requisite for baptism? Having received, the Spirit, having believed the Gospel, having embraced the Lord Jesus. Now look at verse 48.

40:55 And He, Peter, suggested that when they felt led, they ought to consider baptism. That isn't what the text says. The text says, and He commanded them to be baptized. Now suppose someone said, well, I just don't see the need of it.

41:15 My friends, rejecting apostolic commandment is equal, to rejecting the authority of Jesus Christ. You hear that? Rejecting apostolic commandments is equal to rejecting the commandments of Christ. 1 Corinthians 14, 37.

41:35 If any man seemeth to be spiritual, let him acknowledge, Paul says, that the things that I say unto you as an apostle, they are the commandments of the Lord. Therefore I call upon some of you who sit here this morning, who've asked this question, what must I do to be saved? God has not allowed you to be a sleeping sinner. He's awakened you from your sleep.

41:58 You've felt the pangs of a terrified conscience. You've seen, as it were, the yawning mouth of hell. You've sensed the danger of your condition. You've cried from your heart, if not with your lips, what must I do to be saved?

42:12 And through the reading of the Word, through the preaching in this place, through your parents' Sunday school, or a thousand influences, you've come to see that the answer is to believe. To believe, to believe on the Lord Jesus, and believe and you shall be saved, and you've believed upon Him. My friend, listen, having believed, this should be one of the inevitable fruits of your faith, that you will confess Christ in the way He has commanded, and that way is in the waters of baptism. And then finally, the final evidence of his faith is indicated in this precious little statement with which the narrative closes, and he brought them up into his house, and set food before them,

The Sixth Fruit: Abounding Holy Joy

42:57 and rejoiced greatly. And this is a strong word. It does not mean simply to rejoice. That's vigorous enough.

43:08 But it's that word to describe great exaltation. Exceedingly rejoiced. Now, how does this fit into the whole picture as one of the fruits of faith? Well, you know Galatians 5.22, do you not?

43:24 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.

43:27 If embracing Christ in faith is to receive the Spirit, the fruit of that indwelling Spirit is joy. We read in Romans 15.13, The God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Romans 14.17,

43:48 The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now notice, notice where the joy is mentioned. After all of the other things, after all of the other practical, ethical, and moral fruits of his faith. Someone who says, I believe, and I know I believe.

44:07 I just feel so good. My friend, listen. Divorce from the ethical and moral implications of faith may be the sign that you've never truly believed. For it was the stony ground hearers that had joy as their primary characteristic of Christian experience.

44:30 But joy is mentioned. It's mentioned after these other five indications of the reality of his faith. But it is mentioned. Why?

44:39 Well, remember who this was. He had been filled with terror. The Scripture describes him as trembling for fear. He senses the mouth of hell is yawning.

44:50 He senses there's no hand to reach down and rescue him. He senses that his feet are sliding into the pit. And now he knows, I've been rescued from the pit. My face has been set to heaven.

45:02 An almighty Savior has laid hold of me and will bring me safely home to glory. With his sins pardoned, with the knowledge of a reconciled God, with the assurance of glorification in his presence, who would not rejoice but the man who was ignorant that these were the blessings of the gospel. And no man ever heard Paul preach and was still ignorant that these were the blessings of the gospel. Paul did not hold out some mini Savior.

45:30 He held out a mighty Savior who rescued from sin in all of its dimensions unto glory. Unto glory and all of its dimensions. And so his rejoicing was rooted in the knowledge of what he now was in Jesus Christ. His joy was rooted in the knowledge of what had passed by the virtue of the blood of Christ.

45:53 What had come by the virtue of the grace of Christ. And this is one of the characteristics of a true Christian. 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Peter 1, 6 and 8 uses this very word. The Christian as one who exceedingly rejoices.

46:12 And of course his joy was intensified because not only had the sword of God's anger been turned from his own neck, but turned from that of his household. Not only has his guilt been pardoned, his danger and helplessness met by the mighty work of Christ. But think of his joy. To know that his whole household was also in Jesus Christ.

46:35 My friend, you cannot believe on the Lord Jesus with any degree of intelligent faith and not have some measure of holy joy. Some degree of holy joy that sins are pardoned, that Christ is yours and that you are His. Now listen carefully. The measure of your joy will be in direct proportion to the strength of your faith.

47:02 And if you have weak faith, you'll have little joy. But remember, the measure of your joy was not something alien to faith. It was the fruit of faith. That's why Paul says in Romans 15, 13, The God of peace fill you with all joy and peace.

47:18 Now you see, some of you got it backwards. You say, Well, I just can't believe the Lord has accepted me till I get more joy. My friend, you ain't going to get no more joy till you believe the promise of the gospel. You don't wait for joy to come as an incentive to believe.

47:33 You believe to have joy. Now don't get the two mixed up. The God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Why did He have such abounding joy?

47:45 Because He had such vigorous faith on the Lord Jesus, plus nothing. He wasn't looking within for the ground of His peace and His joy. He was looking without in the all-mightiness and in the adequacy of the Savior. Now some of you are never going to know abounding joy till you get your eyes off yourself and get them on the Savior.

48:12 And as you behold His ability to save the vilest, the weakest of sinners, to keep the most vacillating of sinners, to preserve by His grace the most stumbling, weak, faltering of sinners, it's casting oneself upon the all-mightiness of the Savior that brings holy joy in its train. Well, I submit to you, these are the indications that He truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Are these things the fruit of your professed faith in the Savior? You see, the problem in evangelicalism today, among many problems, is not so much that men are not preaching, believe on the Lord Jesus,

Conclusion: The Inevitable Fruits of True Faith and a Call to Believe

48:56 and thou shalt be saved. We don't want to change that. That's the most accurate answer ever given to the question, what must I do? But, my friend, we must ask a further question.

49:05 What is the fruit of true faith? What is the fruit of true faith? These are the fruits, and if the fruits are not there, you do not believe on the Lord Jesus. And if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus, what are you to do?

49:19 Go out and radically reorder all your priorities? No, no, no, my friend. You've got to make the tree good, and then it's fruit good. I do not call upon you to reproduce verses 32 to 34.

49:29 I call upon you to take seriously verse 31. If these holy fruits are not there, it's because the root is not there. And you can't go out and produce the fruit on nothing. You can't hang this fruit on a sky hook.

49:41 You've got to make the tree good. And how is the tree made good? Only by vital union with Jesus Christ. And so I call upon you to seek the Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near, to forsake your wicked ways, and to return unto the Lord.

49:59 And child of God, who has been able to say, Thank you, Lord. I see that fruit. Lord, I see that. I see that.

50:07 But who has also said, Oh, God, there needs to be so much more. Oh, child of God, listen. The fruit will be borne in direct proportion to the strength of your faith. Don't forget that.

50:20 You're not going to produce more joy by working on your joy. You're not going to produce more love to the brethren by simply trying to crank up more love to the brethren. Feed more upon Christ. Believe more strongly upon Christ.

50:35 Put more confidence in Christ. And then these holy fruits will follow in their train. And I call upon some of you who believe but have not been baptized. I trust God will speak to you.

50:50 I call upon some of you who, because of well-meaning tradition, have believed in the error that the application of water to an unconscious infant is Christian baptism. Oh, I do not demean the sincerity and the godliness of parents who've baptized their infants. I do not do so. Many have done it with holy trembling in the presence of God, taking upon themselves the awesome responsibility of rearing their children after the pattern of the word of God.

51:20 Any here who were baptized as infants, I do not say one slurring word about your dear parents. And I'd say these things with no tongue in cheek. I mean them sincerely. But listen.

51:30 Call no man master. Call no man master. The fact that your mother and father were sincere, does that negate the word of God which clearly teaches that baptism is to be the conscious witness of the disciple to his Lord. Ah, but my friend, listen.

51:55 I plead with you. Don't get angry. Don't get upset. Don't be hurt.

51:59 Search the scriptures. Search the scriptures to see whether these things are so. Well, we leave the Philippian jailer. I trust that God will make these studies of rich profit to us.

52:07 You've been very patient this morning. I know it's been hot. If you're hot, I'm three times as hot working up here. But I trust amidst the heaviness of the weather, the Lord has been pleased to bring you to this place where you can rest in peace and peace in the presence of God.

52:21 You've been very patient this morning. The Lord has been pleased to at least give some measure of buoyancy to our hearts through the preaching of His own truth. Let us pray.