What is a Christian: By Description

Thank you, Lord, that we can gather together tonight to spend

time in Your word. And our prayer, Father, is that

you'd open our eyes to be able to see the beauty of who you

are. Help us, Lord, to honor you with

our heart and mind. And pray, Father, that the

things that you teach us tonight will enable us to live with the

glory of Your Kingdom, not just today and this week, but until

you come again, as you most surely will.

We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

As we embark further and further into the fall, we will soon be

upon the holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And during those times, it's an opportunity for us to talk to

people about Christ, to introduce them to Christ,

whether it's friends, whether it's family, we can gather

together and talk about the reason for the season and inject

the gospel when we talk to them. The question is, will you be

able to present the gospel clearly?

Will you be able to represent the gospel clearly?

Will those in your friend and family know that you truly are a

genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?

So important we're looking at what is a Christian.

After we gave you a week of introduction, we talked to you

about a Christian is known by his decision.

That's Luke 923 the next week, which was last week.

A Christian is known not just by his decision, but by his

definition. And that's Philippians 3 verse

#3 But tonight we're going to introduce to you that a

Christian is known simply by a description.

How would you describe a Christian?

The Bible is very clear on how a Christian is described, but I

would always be curious on how you would describe a Christian.

So many times we we think of things that are unbiblical

instead of biblical. We would say probably if someone

said, would you describe to me a Christian?

You would say, well, a Christian is described by someone who has

a personal relationship with the living God.

And to some degree that's absolutely true.

But what does that mean? Somebody who has a personal

relationship with the living God, How do we understand that?

You see, because as you read to you the last couple of weeks in

Matthew Chapter 7, those people who said to the Lord, Lord,

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Lord, did we not do this in your name, believed that they had a

personal relationship with the Lord.

But Jesus said to them, I never knew you.

So if they believed that they had a personal relationship with

the Lord, and yet the Lord says to them, I never knew you, how

do you describe then a true genuine believer?

How can someone go through life serving the Lord, speaking for

the Lord, being a part of a church ministry, and yet the

Lord say to them, I never knew you.

How tragic would that ever be if that was you or if that was me?

So how do you describe a Christian?

How is it you know the Lord knows you?

Because in Christianity it's not about you knowing him, it's

about him knowing you. So turn with me in your Bible to

Second Timothy chapter 2. Second Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention 2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Listen to what Paul says in verse #19 He says.

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands having

this seal, having this sign of ownership.

The Lord knows those who are His, The Lord knows those who

are His. You might say you know the Lord,

but does the Lord know you? That's very important.

It says over in the book of Galatians the 4th chapter verse

#8 However at that time when you did not know God, you were

slaves to those which by nature are no gods.

But now that you have come to know God, or rather Paul says to

be known by God. Paul distinguishes those who who

claim to know God and those who are known by God.

Over in John chapter 10, the Lord says these words.

John 10 · chapter mention

Verse 14 I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know

me even as the Father knows me and I know the Father.

Now talk about an intimate relationship.

My sheep know me, I know them, even as I know the Father, and

the Father knows me. And then it says in verse #27 My

sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

In John 17 John chapter 17, these words are spoken verse #21

John 17 · chapter mention

that they all may be 1 even as You, Father, are in me, and I in

you, that they also may be in US, so that the world may

believe that You sent me the glory which You have given me.

I have given to them that they may be one, just as we are one,

I and them and You and Me, that they may be perfected in unity,

so that the world may know that You sent me and love them even

as You have loved me. There's something unique about

the relationship between God and his children that not only do

they know him, but he actually knows them.

And so Paul says, here is the firm foundation of the Lord.

This is his seal. The Lord knows those who are

his. And then he says this in verse

19. He says everyone who names the

name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.

Everyone who knows the Lord and the Lord knows are characterized

by the fact that they abstain from any kind of wickedness, any

kind of evil. They refrain from doing that

which is wrong, sinful. So the Bible says that it's

imperative that the Lord knows who you are, that there's this

intimate relationship between you and your God.

We are the bride, He's the bridegroom.

And there's something about intimacy that's there.

The Bible says in justice said before that Cain knew his wife,

she conceived and bore Enoch. In other words, there was

something unique about that relationship that was intimate.

Same was true about Joseph and Mary.

When Joseph knew Mary, he knew her in an intimate sense.

So to the Lord knows his own intimately.

There's this love relationship between God and his people that

goes beyond anything else that we can ever imagine.

And so the Bible says those whom the Lord knows are characterized

by the fact that they abstain from wickedness.

So a man says, I know the Lord, but he engages in wickedness.

The answer is the Lord doesn't know him, because if the Lord

knows him, he abstains from wickedness.

Not that you're perfect, not that you're sinless, but that

your habit of life is to abstain from that which brings shame to

the Lord and is an abomination to the Lord.

The habit pattern is, I want to serve my Lord.

I want to honor my Lord. The question comes, OK, if

that's the case, how is it? If the Lord knows me, I abstain

from wickedness. How can that possibly be?

Because here is how a Christian is described.

A Christian is described as being in Christ. 2nd Corinthians

517 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things are passed away build all things have become new.

A Christian is described as being in Christ.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

So the Bible says that the unbeliever is without Christ.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse #12 But the believer is in Christ

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

and ultimately will be with Christ.

Isn't it interesting that if if you're a you're a a Buddhist,

they're never described as being in Buddha?

If you're a Mormon, you're never described as being in Joseph

Smith or in Brigham Young. If you're a Christian Scientist,

you're never described as being in Mary Baker Eddie, not at all.

But a Christian is described as being in Christ.

If you're a Muslim, you are not in Muhammad.

You are not in Allah. That is not how they're

described. So the Christian's description

is very, very unique. He is in Christ, but not only

that, not only is he in Christ, Christ is in him.

The Bible says that we're in the Father and the Father is in us.

The Bible says that we're in the Spirit and the Spirit is in us.

There is this Trinitarian union that is in US and we are in.

That's what makes the Christian unique and distinct from any

other religious affiliation around the world.

We simply are in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He is in

us. He takes up residence in us.

In fact it says over in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

These words He says in verse 16, I will ask the Father, and he

will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever.

That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive

because it does not see Him or know Him.

But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in

you. Verse 20 In that day you will

know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

It says in verse 23 if anyone loves me, he will keep my word

and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our

abode with him. A Christian is described as

being in Christ because Christ is in him.

He described as being in the Father because the Father's in

him. He described as being in the

spirit because of spirits in him.

Now truly mean your Bible to the book of Ephesians the first

chapter Ephesians chapter 1. The only way that I can obey the

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Lord and abstain from wickedness is because he is in me.

Look what it says verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of

our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual

blessing in the heavenly places in in Christ, just as he chose

us in him before the foundation of the world.

That that's an absolutely staggering thought that we were

chosen to be in him before the world was ever created.

That's why the Bible says that our names are written in the

Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.

This is an absolute staggering thought to realize that I was

chosen by the Lord to be in Him before the world was even

created. That in the mind of God, God had

a plan that there would be people that He would choose to

be in Him. And that when you gave your life

to Christ and you decided to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, it

was at that time that eternity intersected with time and you

gave your life to the Lord and everything that He had planned

came to fruition in your life. That's an absolutely staggering

thought to realize that everything that happens in your

life and mind when it comes to the saving knowledge of Christ

was all set in motion in eternity past by the Lord God

Himself. A Christian is not someone

necessarily who believes in Christ, but as a person who has

Christ in him and he is in Christ.

That is very, very important to understand that we as believers

are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 127.

Christ in you the hope of glory. 2nd Corinthians 517 we are in

Christ. Romans 8-9 says that we are in

the Spirit. In First Corinthians 619 says

the Spirit is in us. If any man be in Christ, he is a

new creation. In other words, let's say it

this way, Christianity is described as an invasion of the

Triune God into your life. That is what Christianity is.

That is why you can obey the Lord.

That is why you can follow the Lord.

That is why you can serve the Lord.

That is why you love the Lord. We love Him because He first

loved us. But in all reality, Christianity

is an invasion of the Triune God, God the Father, God the

Son, God the Holy Spirit invading your life because you

were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.

That's absolutely mind boggling to me.

And those who are who are in Christ are a new creation.

In other words, that there's, there's not a rearranging of

your life, there's not a refurbishing of your life,

there's not a renovation of your life.

There's a complete overhaul of your life.

You're a new creation. All things have passed away

build. All things have become new.

You see, when you become a Christian, you're not adding

Jesus to your existing lifestyle.

Oh no, all things have passed away.

All things have become brand new.

See that That's rooted in Old Testament theology.

In fact, go back with me, if you would, to the the book of

Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 42, and the Lord as he is talking about

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

the future for Israel, trying to describe them, what's going to

happen in the future, He says, behold, the former things have

come to pass. Now I declare new things before

they spring forth. I proclaim them to you.

In other words, there's going to be something brand new that's

going to take place. You go over to chapter 43 and it

says this in verse #18 Do not call to mind the former things

or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new

now. It will spring forth.

Then when Isaiah 48 verse #6 he says this.

You have heard. Look at all this, and you will,

and you will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things

from this time. What are the new things?

Chapter 65 verse #17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new

earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come

to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in what I create.

For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and our people for

gladness. In other words, God is talking.

God is the creator of the universe.

He's the master designer and so when Paul says if any man be in

Christ, he is a new creation, that means the Creator did

something brand new in your life.

Everything changes. It doesn't change physically.

OK, So if you didn't have an arm before you were saved, you're

not going to get an arm after you're saved.

OK? Things don't change physically

if you're blind before you're saved, Doesn't mean you're going

to not be able to see after you're saved.

You need to understand that. But what changes is everything

on the inside that there's a there's a metamorphosis, there's

a transformation on what's on the inside because you've been

cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and now your temple is the

your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So, so the Spirit of God resides within you.

And that's why you can live a holy life.

That's why you can aspire to righteous living.

Why? Because Christ is in you and you

want to please the Lord. You want to honor the Lord.

You want to serve the Lord simply because He reigns supreme

in your life. You see, people don't understand

this. They think they can get saved

and still just live any way they want to live.

Well, the problem is you can't do that.

Why? Because God lives in you and

because God lives in you, there's a transformation that

takes place. You are now a new creation.

The old things are done away with.

All things have become new. Everything begins to change.

I don't know how many people come across and, and, and they,

they say they prayed a prayer and they gave their life to

Christ and they have a personal relationship with the Lord, but

they're still living the same sinful life they did before they

said the prayer or before they gave their life to the Lord.

Their conversion is a sham. There was no transformation.

They're not a new creation. They're living the exact same

way they've always lived. That's not what salvation is.

We need to stop confirming people in their unbelief or

confirming people in the fact that they believe that they're

one way when a reality they're another because if they're

living opposite of what the Bible says, you to call them

into account. Now, it doesn't mean that people

don't sin. They do sin.

They do stray away from the Lord, but when you confront

them, you call them back and you beg them to to repent.

They do do that because they recognize that the Spirit of God

within them and the Spirit of God is a is a convictor and

convicts us of our sin that we might learn to serve and and

follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Romans 8 says.

Romans chapter 8 verse #9 Paul says however, you are not in the

Romans 8 · chapter mention

flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells

in you. But if anyone does not have the

Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet

the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.

But the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in

you. He raised Christ.

Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies

through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Now think about this with me for a second.

Every Jew understands that God was above him and all around

him. That's why Jewish men wear

yarmulkes, right? They wear it on their head

because it's a reminder that God's above them and that God's

all around them. Jews are into symbols or they're

into rituals or into all those kinds of things.

We don't need to have a yarmulke on our head to realize that

God's all around us. We understand that or that God's

above us. We get that our Father who is in

heaven, we, we get that. The Bible says over in Psalm one

O 3 verse #19 the Lord has established his throne in the

heavens and the sovereignty rules overall.

So if you're a Jew, you understand God above us, but if

you're a Jew you also understand that God made us.

That's Genesis chapter one, that we are made in the image of God.

We understand that Jews understood that because we are

made in God's image. So God that's above us, and that

the God that's around us is the God who made us.

But the Jews also understood that God will one day be with

them, right? Isaiah 714 The great prophecy

about the virgin shall conceive and and bear a child.

You should call his name Emmanuel translated mean being

God with us. So the Jews lived in

anticipation of the God that was above them and around them, and

who made them would one day be with them.

And so when Christ was born, in Matthew chapter one, they quote

Isaiah 714 because now Emmanuel was with them.

But what they never understood and never grasped was God in

them. That was a mystery.

That was a mystery concealed in the old and only revealed in the

new. So the Bible says these words

God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of His

mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope

of glory, Christ being in you. The Jews to this day don't

understand that. They can't grasp that, but

that's what the church age is all about.

That's what Christianity is, that that's what separates

Christianity from Judaism or any other religion.

We are in Christ and Christ is in us.

So this, this God that's above us and all around us is the God

who made us in his image, who promised to one day be with us.

So what did he do? God gave us His only beloved

Son, John 316 so that God would be in US.

And if God is in us, then we know that God is for us.

Romans chapter 8 verse #31 says What then shall we say to these

Romans 8 · chapter mention

things? If God is for us, who can be

against us? So think it through with me.

The God who is above us and the God who is around us is the God

who made us, who made a promise to be the God who would be with

us. In order to be with us, God had

to give us his only begotten Son.

Once He gave his only begotten Son.

Now God now is in us, those who believe in his name.

And if God is in US, God is for us.

And if God is for us, guess what?

God sends us as the Father sent me, so send I you.

You see, it's so important to understand that.

Why? Because that's what Christianity

is. Christianity is described as the

Christian being in Christ and Christ in them.

That is the hope of glory. That is the hope of future

glorification. It's all about Christ being in

me. That's what enables me to be

able to say the firm foundation of the Lord is this.

The Lord knows those who are his.

This is his seal and those who name his name are the ones who

abstain from wickedness. Why?

Because Christ is in them. That's why He is the the

motivation. He is the drive behind all of

that. So the question comes, if all

things are passed away, that means I've died to myself, Paul

says in Galatians 2. I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

OK, I've died to myself, so Christ lives in me.

In a few moments we're going to have some baptisms up here.

And why do we have people go down into the water and come

back up out of the water again? Because it's a sign.

It's a a symbol that signifies that they had been buried in the

likeness of his death and raised in the likeness of his

resurrection. Why?

Because we are in Christ, so old things pass away.

Old values, old ideas, old plans, old loves, old desires,

old beliefs, old passions, old interests, all things that are

worldly centered, old things passed away.

Behold, all things become new, new things that accompany

salvation. God gives us new desires.

God gives us new loves. God gives us new motives, new

plans, new values, new wisdom, new knowledge, new

understanding. In other words, the old things

that are done away with are done away with because you live for

self. The new things though, come

because you live for Christ. That's why Paul said for to me

to live is Christ and to die is gain a new creation.

Let me explain to you how Spurgeon stated it.

Well over 100 years ago he said this.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Read and the reading will be accurate.

He is a new creation. This is a very sweeping

statement. A man in Christ is not the old

man purified, nor the old man improved, nor the old man in a

better humor, nor the old man with additions and subtractions,

nor the old man dressed in gorgeous robes.

No, he is a new creature all together.

As for the old man, what is to be done with him?

Can he not be sobered, reformed, and made to do us useful

service? Answer.

No, He is crucified with Christ, and bound to die by a lingering

but certain death. The capital sentences passed

upon him, for he cannot be mended, and therefore must be

ended. The carnal mind is enmity

against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,

neither indeed can be. You cannot change the old

nature. It is immutably bad, and the

sooner it is put away as a filthy and unclean thing, the

better. For all the believer, so far as

he is in Christ, is a new creation.

Not the old stuff put into new fashion and the old material

worked up into an improved form, but absolutely a new creation.

To create is to make out of nothing, and that is precisely

how the newborn life came into us.

It is not a development or an outgrowth, but a creation, a

heavenly something called into being by a power from above.

The new man in US is made out of nothing that was in us before,

for nature does not assist grace, but as opposed to it,

Christ has not found light stored away in our darkness, nor

life amid the corruption of our spiritual death.

The new birth is from above, and the life produced thereby is a

completely new creation. Absolutely perfectly said.

And so many times we go through life affirming people in a non

new creative state. We should never do that.

We should encourage them. We should move them to examine

the Scriptures. If they say they're born again,

if they say they know the Lord, if they say they're a follower

of Christ, if they say they serve the Lord, is their life a

new creation? Is it different than it was

before they were saved? Has there been a transformation

of the inner man? Are there new desires, new

loves, new pursuits, new goals, all with Christ in mind?

Or are they the same pursuits, the same sinful goals, the same

worldly aspirations as they were before?

For the man being Christ, he is a new creation.

So what changes? Let me give you 7 word.

Excuse me, let me give you 10 words.

I had 7. I had a few more 10 words that

will help you understand a new creation.

OK, what changes? Number one, there is a new

condition, a new condition. This is what Paul says in

Ephesians 4 verse #17 He says this.

So this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you

walk no longer. Just as the Gentiles also walk

in the futility of their mind being darkened in their

understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the

ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their

heart. And they have become callous,

have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of

every kind of impurity with greediness.

But you, you did not learn Christ in this way, since indeed

you have heard Him and have been taught in Him.

Just as truth is in Jesus. That in reference to your former

manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being

corrupted in accordance with the lust of the sea.

And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on

the new self which in the likeness of God, has been

created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

See, there's been a creation when it comes to righteousness

and holiness and truth. Things truly do change.

There's a brand new condition. You once in darkness, now you're

in the light. Your condition was once the sons

of disobedience, and now your condition is the sons of

obedience. You once were taken captive by

Satan to do his will, but once saved, you've been transferred

into the Kingdom of God's dear Son, and now you can become the

slave of God to do his will. Your whole condition changes

simply because of what God did in your life.

God does this. You don't reform yourself,

remake yourself, recreate yourself.

No, God does this. It's the work of the Spirit of

God in the life of a soul made new.

Not only is there a new condition, there's a new

commitment, a brand new commitment.

Second Corinthians chapter 5. Second Corinthians chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

verse #14 says, For the love of Christ controls us.

Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all

died, and he died for all, so that they who live might no

longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again

on their behalf. See that?

So there's a brand new commitment.

You commit no longer to living for yourself.

You made a commitment to live for the one who lived and died

on your behalf. That's what a new creation is.

His commitment changes. Her commitment changes.

So Paul said for me to live is Christ.

To die is gain. I live for Christ.

I make it my ambition to please Christ and please only Him.

Why? Because He is everything to me.

I've committed my life to Him. And when you committed your life

to Christ, that's a brand new commitment.

It's a brand new condition #3 there's a, there's a brand new

conduct, a brand new conduct. Titus chapter 2, verse 11.

Titus 2:11

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to

all men, instructing us to denying godliness, worldly

lusts, and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the

present age, looking for the blessed hope, the appearing of

the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave

Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to

purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for

good deeds. Everything about our conduct

changes. We are now zealous to please the

Lord. We are now zealous to do the

right things. Why?

Because we've been bought with a price.

We are now sons of God. We are slaves of God.

He's our master. We want to serve Him.

Our life's passion is to be not just committed to him, but to

live a life that honors Him. So there's a new condition.

I've been transferred from the Kingdom of darkness into the

Kingdom of God's dear Son. There's a brand new commitment.

There's a brand new conduct. Here's one.

There is a brand new conversation.

Matthew, Matthew, chapter 12, verse 33.

Matthew 12:33

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree

bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of Vipers, how can you be an evil?

Speak what is good, for the now speaks out of that which fills

the heart. The good man brings out of his

good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his

evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every

careless word that people speak they should give an accounting

for in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be

justified. And by your words, you will be

condemned. You see, the mouth speaks of

that which fills the heart. And when you're a new creation,

everything about your conversation changes.

The way you say it changes. That's why the Lord could say

that every careless word that a man speaks, he'll be held

accountable for on the day of judgement.

Why? Because your your lips are the

clearest indicator of your spiritual condition.

How do I know your heart? Just listen to your words.

Because that of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So however you use your words, that will tell me the condition

of your heart. If you're a bitter, angry

person, you have a bitter, angry heart.

Is your heart really a new creation?

If you're a person that likes to swear and cuss and use foul

language, are you really a new creation?

Because that speaks from the heart.

That's your heart manifesting itself through the mouth gate.

That's why it's so imperative that when you realize that

someone's born again, their conversation changes because

their commitment changes, because their condition changes.

Everything changes. All things become new old things

that passed away. All things.

Your conversation, your commitment, your condition, your

conduct, everything changes once born again.

Next the course of your life changes.

First Corinthians chapter 1 Paul says this to the Church of God

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified or set

apart in Christ Jesus. Saints by calling with all who

in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ their

Lord and ours. And Paul goes on to describe the

course of those who are called Saints.

Remember, you are never, ever called the Sinner.

Once you're saved in the Bible, you're only called a St.

It doesn't mean you don't sin. You do, but you're not a Sinner,

not characterized as a Sinner. That's reserved for the

unbeliever. The unbelievers are sinners.

The believers are Saints. You're called Saints by God

himself. You've been set apart under God

for his purposes. You are sanctified.

Once saved, you are set apart, sanctified.

But there is this continual practice of sanctification as

you move along your spiritual life where you are further and

further set apart under God for his purposes.

That's the course of action that you take as a believer.

That's the direction you go. You're constantly being

sanctified. You're constantly being set

apart more and more from the world unto God for His purposes.

That's a new creation number six.

There's a new certainty, a new certainty.

First Corinthians chapter 15 verse #22 says this.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

For as an Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made

alive. There's a brand new certainty,

and that certainty is what? That I will be resurrected.

I will never die. That is, I will never be

separated from God ever again. And I am absolutely certain of

that. The unbeliever does not have

that certainty. Top of that number 8 #7 excuse

me, a new character, a new character.

Revelation chapter 3, verse #12 The Lord gives you a brand new

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

name, and name refers to nature and character in the Bible,

right? So you have a brand new

character because the saving grace of God, everything about

your character changes. How about this?

You have a new course. That's number 8, a brand new

chorus, Psalm 40, Psalm 40 verse #3 you put a new song in my

mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see in fear and will trust in the Lord.

There's a new chorus, a brand new song.

Never when we were we were growing up, of course, maybe not

you but me. When when I was growing up, they

we used to sing those old time religious hymns, right?

And one of them was in my heart. There rings of melody.

Remember it goes like this. It says I have, I have sung

that. Excuse me, I have a song that

Jesus gave me. It was sent from heaven above.

There never was a sweeter melody.

Tis the melody of love. I love the Christ who died in

Calvary, For he washed my sins away.

He put within my heart of melody.

And I know it's here to stay, To obey my endless steaming glory

with the angels. I will sing to obey a song with

glorious harmony when the courts of heaven ring.

For in my heart there rings a melody, rings a melody in

heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a

melody. There rings a melody of love.

There's something about the heart of the believer that sings

the chorus of the redeemed soul. There's something about being a

Christian that changes the song in your heart.

It's a chorus. You sing for the glory of God.

What else changes? Your conflict changes.

Your conflict changes. For now you are in conflict with

Satan as you've never been in conflict before.

That's why when you get saved, things get worse.

They don't get better in your family, at work, with your

friends because there's a spiritual battle that's going on

in Ephesians 6 talks about the the the armor of God that we are

to equip ourselves with with as we go to fight not against flesh

and blood, but it begins those principalities and powers of the

air, those things that we cannot see.

There's a brand new conflict that takes place when you are a

new creation. And lastly #10 there's one

that's a negative and that is there is now no condemnation.

For there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

None. Those in Christ, no

condemnation. Why?

Because our sins were condemned at Calvary and Christ bore those

sins in his body on the tree for you and for me.

Listen, are you a new creation? Are you in Christ?

Has there been a change in your life?

Has there been a transformation from from the inside out?

This is how a Christian is described in Bible.

In the Bible, 77 times the believer said to be in Christ 70

times he is said to be in him 45 times he is said to be in the

Lord Jesus 192 times. In the New Testament, the

Christian is described as being in Christ in the Lord.

Because that's who we are. And that's why there's a change.

And that's why my my whole life is transformed, because now

Christ is in me and I'm in him. And there is this union, there

is this relationship that I have with the living God that

satisfies the deepest aspects of my soul.

Only Christ can do that. Nobody else can.

Why do you think the world's so unsatisfied?

Why do you think the world is always searching for something?

To feel the emptiness of the soul?

Because the things in the world can't do that.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness of your soul.

And how does he feel it? He fills it with His presence.

The Trinitarian invasion of a soul is what we describe as the

Christian life, for we are in Christ.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for

tonight, a chance to be able to look into the Word of God for a

brief moment to examine our lives in light of what the Word

of God says. Are we in Christ?

For the Lord knows those who are his.

And let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from

iniquity. Well, the only way we can do

that is because of you. You're in US.

You dwell in US. You've made your abode with us.

We are in you and you are in us, as you are in the Father and the

Father is in you. Lord, that is just so mind

boggling, but it's the reality of what Christianity is.

It sets us apart from every other system of religion around

the world. We are in the Savior of our

lives and our Savior is in US and we thank you in Jesus name,

Amen.