Proclaiming the Saviour

The disciples had been imprisoned. And after they were miraculously released, by an angel, they were again arrested and brought before the council. When Gamaliel urged caution in dealing with them, the Apostles were beaten and released. But, although they were commanded not to “speak in the name of Jesus”, they could not give up the activity to which they had been called by the Son of God. “Daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). Why could they not give up? Why could they not stop speaking in the name of Jesus? Many reasons might be given, but let us focus on five related themes, which were at the centre of their message.

1. There is a Saviour. The Apostles had been sent out to address those who, in common with all the rest of mankind, needed to be delivered from the power of sin and from its consequences. All mankind fell in Adam and, throughout their lives, they have gone on adding sin to sin. They are alienated from God, and the solemn fact is: “They that are far from [Him] shall perish” (Ps 73:27) – unless they are delivered by a Saviour who can truly meet their needs.

And the Apostles were indeed able to proclaim a Saviour who could exactly met these needs. They knew that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). They had known Him personally; they had seen His wonderful works of healing bodily afflictions – and, still more gloriously, they had watched as He healed sinners of their spiritual diseases. They knew that, though He was no longer physically present with them, Christ’s power to save was still the same. And as, from the Day of Pentecost onwards, they pointed their hearers to the One who had died, they did so in the full confidence that He had indeed made atonement for guilty, rebellious sinners.

2. He is an appointed Saviour. Here was no self-appointed religious leader, or someone who had achieved influence because a group of human beings had recognised his abilities and had thrust him to the forefront. No, here was One who had been set apart from all eternity by God Himself to deliver sinners from their sins. The basis of the authority of Jesus Christ as redeemer is that God “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14). There can therefore be no other saviour; there can be no other way of escape from the guilt and power of sin. We dare receive no other doctrines but those He has set before us; we dare follow no other religion. Although He had been rejected by the people, it was God who had raised Him up; therefore, as Peter expressed the matter so plainly: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Christ was the Saviour appointed by God, and the Apostles had been appointed to proclaim Him to the whole world. They recognised, as did Paul – soon to be added to their number – that there is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim 2:5f). Recognising their appointment, they could not give up bearing testimony to this God-appointed Saviour. And, what is more, they must faithfully proclaim the message they had been given; they had no right to modify even its details to suit the spirit of their time. They had the attitude which led Paul to tell the Galatians: “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:8).

Equally, those who listen to these messengers ought to recognise their authority, which is implied in the term ambassadors. All God-sent preachers come in the name of the King of heaven; as they address their hearers, they may use the words of Paul: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). Thus hearers have no more right to reject this call than if it came directly from heaven – even if it is delivered by those who are not apostles but have been called in another generation to preach the same gospel to their contemporaries.

3. He is a living Saviour. The Apostles proclaimed a Saviour who had died, One who had offered Himself “the just for the unjust” so that sinners might be reconciled to God. But that was not the end; death could not hold Him; He rose again on the third day. So Peter proclaimed: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:30, 31) – and not only to Israel but to sinners throughout the world. He has ascended to heaven, where He reigns in glory, administering the kingdom of God and distributing the benefits He purchased by His death. And these blessings of repentance and forgiveness come to sinners particularly through the preaching of the gospel – the truth concerning a living Saviour.

Christ’s resurrection declared that His sacrifice had been accepted. It was a token from heaven that the Father was well pleased with the whole work of redemption. It was, in effect an echo of the words heard at His baptism and again at His transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. This was the Saviour the Apostles were preaching: One whose power to save was abundantly clear. They were under His living authority and had no right to turn back from the work He had given them, but they knew too that not even a hair of their head could be damaged unless He allowed it.

4. He is an effective Saviour. No one has come to Him and found Him unable to save – no matter how far away from God they were, no matter how deep in sin. The assurance is given: “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb 7:25). Everyone who came to Him for bodily healing, while He was on earth, was made completely well; His power was always perfectly sufficient. Likewise, all have been saved who have obeyed the call to look to the Saviour, and so it will always be.

This is no merely-human saviour; He is also God – the eternal Son of God, who took our nature. But He is now exalted, and Paul explained the certainty of a complete salvation, for those who come to God through Christ as Mediator, by adding: “He ever liveth to make intercession for them”. And it was Paul who expressed such entire confidence in the message that he had been commissioned to bring to sinners, and in the Holy Spirit through whom that message is applied: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Rom 1:16). A preacher with that conviction would never give up.

5. He is a willing Saviour. He has never turned away one sinner who came to Him. He has made it clear: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Paul and Silas had no need to hesitate when the Philippian jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They could answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31), and they could speak in this way with the perfect certainty that, if the jailor would only believe, the Saviour would most willingly receive him. So it was proved in his case, and so also in the case of every sinner who has sought salvation in the way God has appointed.

When the leper came to the Saviour pleading, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean”, Christ assured him: “I will [that is, I am willing]; be thou clean”. And we are told that “immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt 8:2,3). That was bodily healing, but the Apostles could think back to what they had seen their Master do, on this and so many other occasions, and feel encouraged to go on proclaiming the gospel. They could do so in the assurance that Christ, by then exalted to the right hand of power, was just as willing to heal souls. And preachers today, though they do not have the miraculous powers of the Apostles or their inspiration, may go on with the same encouragement, for the One who sits on the right hand of power is unchanged in His willingness to heal.

As we draw to a conclusion, we must be clear that this is the Saviour who is to be proclaimed today to an unbelieving world in spite of how readily they dismiss the message as not worthy of their attention. Without taking the least pains to examine the facts revealed in the Bible, most people very easily assume that there is no beauty in Christ that would make them desire Him. What they very much need is that the Holy Spirit would be poured out so that they would see the beauty of the Saviour and flee to Him as the God-appointed, ever-living Saviour who is altogether willing to save all that come to Him – and who is also perfectly able to save them to the uttermost. What reason then for preachers of the gospel to continue with their work! There is no reason why they should become despondent even in the face of the varying forms of twenty-first-century opposition to the message of the gospel. And what reason for all God’s children to be earnest in prayer! Let them pray the Lord of the harvest to send a multitude of labourers into the harvest today. And let them pray that He would greatly bless the work of those whom does send out, so that there would be an abundant harvest.

The words of Archibald Alexander are just as relevant today as when he addressed a gathering of his former students in Philadelphia in 1834: “Most assuredly, if the world is to be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea, if all nations are to be given to Christ as His inheritance, if all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, then the ingathering of souls in all former seasons is nothing more than the first-fruits of the glorious harvest which is yet future. God’s arm is not shortened that it cannot save; the Word has lost nothing of its energy and the residue of the Spirit is with Him. Why then are we so unbelieving and so easily discouraged, as though Zion would never arise; as though the fulness of the Gentiles would never come in; as though the promise would never be fulfilled, that all Israel shall be saved?”[1]

Just as surely as the Apostles were not to stop proclaiming the gospel, so today’s preachers must persevere in their work. The authority of Christ, who sent them, is unchanged; the gospel is the same, and the encouragements are as sure as ever. And let those who listen to the gospel be thankful for their privileges; let them take care not to “neglect so great salvation”.

Taken with permission from the Free Presbyterian Magazine, February 2006 www.fpchurch.org.uk.