What is a Christian: Introduction

Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight.

We thank you for the opportunity to gather in the middle of the

week to study Your word and to be able to be challenged as we

look into the perfect law of liberty.

And our prayer, Father, is that you would open our hearts and

minds to be able to understand the truth about Christianity,

what Your word actually does say.

And pray, Father, that you'd work in all of our hearts.

And pray, Lord, that if there's someone among us who doesn't

know you, that they would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and

Savior. And for those of us who do know

you, Lord, may we be encouraged in our walk with the Lord as we

understand the assurance of salvation.

Lord, you're a great God. You've allowed us this

opportunity. And pray, Father, that as we

embark on the next several weeks together, that Lord, you teach

us much. We love you, Lord, and thank you

for this opportunity in Jesus name, Amen.

Tonight and over the next 11 weeks, because it'll be 12 weeks

until Thanksgiving Eve and we have a special Service plan for

that night, we will spend this time asking and answering one

question and one question only. And that is what is a Christian.

And I'm sure that if you were to go and ask the people in our

church or any church that question and have them write

down the answer on a 3 by 5 card, I'm sure you'd come up

with all kinds of answers to that question.

What is a Christian? If you to go outside of the

streets and ask people in your neighborhood or downtown LA or

wherever you're, you may work and ask them what is a Christian

and have them write down what they believe a Christian is.

I'm sure you'd come up with some pretty incredible answers, but

the real answer lies within the text of scripture.

It doesn't really make a difference what your pastor says

or what's your your friends say or what your coach says or

teachers say about Christianity. It's what does the Bible say

about Christianity? What, what has the Lord said

about what it means to to be a Christian?

That's what really matters. Nothing else does matter because

the Bible is very clear and very explicit when it talks about a

Christian. I told you on Sunday, I, I don't

think I said in the second service, I did in the first

service and that, that there are three, that there are many

themes that run throughout the Bible.

But there are three great themes that sound or seem to be

paramount in the Bible. And the first one deals with the

exaltation of Christ, because the whole Bible is all about the

Christ. The whole Bible is about who is

Jesus Christ. He's the Redeemer, the Savior,

the deliverer. He is the Messiah.

And so the Bible is all about exalting Christ.

And it's almost like it moves from Genesis to Revelation in

this great crescendo to the very end where every knee bows and

every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is lured to the

glory of God the Father. So the first great theme of the

Bible is is the exaltation of Christ.

It's all about putting Christ on display.

Yet the prophecies of the Old Testament, the promises of the

Old Testament, the presentation of Christ in the New Testament,

it's all about the exaltation of Christ.

But the second great theme that follows on the heels of that is

the proclamation of the gospel of Christ.

If there is a Christ, if there is a Messiah, if there is a

deliverer, A Redeemer, then how do we know him?

And so you have this good news that brings great joy.

It's all about the presentation and the proclamation of the

gospel of Jesus Christ. So people will come to know who

this Messiah is, who this deliverer is.

That's the second great theme of the Bible.

But the third great theme is something that very few people

understand or mention. And that is the theme about

examination of those who say they know the Christ.

That's the third great theme of the Bible through the Old

Testament and through the New Testament, there are a lot of

people who make a profession of faith, but very few people who

possess the Christ who grants faith.

And so there's this examination all throughout the Bible about

do you really know God? In fact, the book of Hosea says

that my people are destroyed because they really don't know

me, although they they think they do.

And when you come to the New Testament, it begins to explode

off the pages of Scripture. Just follow along with me as we

take a little journey through the New Testament.

Now on Sunday morning, we're covering one verse.

Tonight we're going to cover a whole lot of verses, but in

Matthew chapter 3, you have the forerunner to the Messiah.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

His name is John the Baptist. He, he's the greatest man

whoever lived that's been born of a woman by the words of of

Christ himself. He was the last Old Testament

prophet. He was the first New Testament

preacher. And John the Baptist comes

exploding out of the the wilderness, out of the Judean

wilderness, like a locomotive preaching the gospel.

Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

And he is doing all this baptism down in the Jordan River.

And lo and behold, the religious elite come down to the Jordan to

see what John's doing and to even be baptized by John.

So listen to what it says in Matthew 3 verse #7 But when he,

John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for

baptism, he said to them, You brood of Vipers, who warned you

to flee from the wrath to come? This is how John greets the

religious elite, the people who who are the keepers of the law,

the people that everybody would say were the ones who knew God.

And John confronts them right out the bat.

This past June, they, they had, they had 28,000 people baptized

across America, a revival that was, that was started by, by the

Pentecostal denomination in their desire to baptize America.

And they, they, they claim that, that 28,000 people were baptized

in the month of June. I wonder if anybody greeted them

when they came down to be baptized.

You brood of Vipers who, who taught you to flee from the

wrath to come? I'm sure nobody did, but that's

what John the Baptist would have done because he was dealing with

the religious elite. He says in verse #8 therefore

bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

In other words, if you're coming down here to repent, you must

demonstrate the fact that you are truly turning from your sin

to follow the true and living God.

Why? And do not suppose that you can

say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father.

Don't come down here and say, you know what?

We are here and we are the religious elite because Abraham

is our father. You can't claim Abraham as your

father and say that that's why you're going to heaven.

You can't do that. John says.

And so he says, for I say to you that from these stones God is

able to raise up children to Abraham.

And and the Jews would refer to the the the Gentiles as stones

because stones were lifeless, helpless and hopeless.

And that's how the Jews saw the Gentiles, lifeless, helpless,

and hopeless. And so he says, you know what?

God can do something greater than you can ever imagine by

raising up these stones and making them children of Abraham.

Then he says in verse #10 The axe is already laid at the root

of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does

not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

He's already talking about judgment.

He's already talking about how God's going to bring judgment.

He goes on to say, I'm going to baptize you with water, but the

one coming after me is greater than I, and he's going to

baptize you with fire. You see, that's how John greeted

the religious elite. Why?

Because John didn't want them to think that they were going to go

to heaven when they had never truly repented of their sins and

embraced the Messiah as the King of Israel.

So you turn over a couple of pages to Matthew Chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

And in Matthew Chapter 7, you have Jesus preaching there on

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

the on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

He is preaching what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount.

He's talking about how how to become a child of the king and

how to live as a child of the king.

And so this is his sermon, Matthews 5-6 and seven, and this

is how he closes out the sermon. Verse #13 enter through the

narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the

way is broad. That leads to destruction.

And there are many who enter through it.

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to

life, and there are few who find it.

So as he gives us invitation at the end of his message, he says

there's a broad road and there's a narrow road and the broad Rd.

says heaven. Like the narrow Rd. says heaven,

but there are many on the broad Rd. that says heaven, but in

reality it's going to hell. The narrow Rd. is the only way

to life. And then he says this.

Verse 15. Beware of the false prophets who

come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous

wolves. You will know them by their

fruits. Grapes are not gathered from

thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles.

Are they? So every good tree bears good

fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree

produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear

good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So then you will know them by their fruits.

Then he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will

enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my

Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy

in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name

perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them,

I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice

lawlessness. And then it goes on and talks

about how those who are the wise people are here the Word of God,

and they apply it to the lives versus those who hear the word

of God and don't apply it to their lives.

And so he, he wants to make sure that the people listening

understand that there's a broad road and a narrow road and the

only way to heaven is through the narrow way.

But there are going to become many false teachers, many false

prophets who are going to lead you astray to follow the Broad

Rd. Very, very important.

Why? Because Satan's ploy has been

always to disguise the truth with the false.

He always wants to make sure that people don't understand the

reality of Christ. That's why Second Corinthians

4/4 says that he's blinded the minds of the unbeliever.

He's a master of disguise. He does all they can to thwart

people from understanding and hearing and believing the truth.

And so he raises up false teachers within the church that

will come against the church and lead people away from the Lord,

not toward the Lord. So you move on to another couple

of chapters to Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And in Matthew chapter 13, Christ begins begins to give the

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Kingdom parables. And he begins with a very

familiar parable, one called the parable of the solar and the

soil, because he wants the disciples to understand that in

the Kingdom age, the word of God is going to be spread.

And as the word of God is spread, you got to realize that

the, the the seed, which is the word of God which is spread, is

going to fall on certain kinds of soil.

Some of them will be hard soil or, or a rocky soil or thorny

soil or or soft soil. But you need to know this.

And so he, he gives us parable and all a parable is, is a, a, a

heavenly story or an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

So he uses common day situations to tell a story that has a

heavenly meaning. So he he recites the parable,

and then he interprets the parable for them.

He says in verse #18 here then the parable of the sower.

When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and does not

understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has

been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was

sown beside the road. In other words, the hard heart,

the Stony heart is the one that the seed falls upon.

But Satan comes and snatches it away because it's a hard, cold

and and calloused heart. And then he says this in verse

#20 that the one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky

places. This is the man who hears the

word and immediately besie's it with joy.

Yet he has no firm root in himself.

But it's only temporary. And when affliction or

persecution arises because of this, the word, immediately he

falls away. This is the the shallow heart or

the superficial heart. Here's the one who hears the

word of God and he wants to jump on the Jesus bandwagon.

He receives the word with joy. There's a great emotional push

in his life. But when affliction comes and

persecution comes, he falls away.

Why? Because there's no firm root.

There was no solid commitment to Christ.

And then he says in verse number 22, and the one on whom the seed

was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word

and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of of wealth

choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.

In other words, here's a guy who he receives the word with joy.

And yet because of the deceitfulness of riches, because

of the, the cares of this world, the, the worries of this world,

he cannot maintain his walk with the Lord does not persevere and

he too falls away. So you have three different

kinds of hearts. You have a, a Stony heart, you

have a superficial heart, and you have a secular heart.

This is the kind of heart that wants to add Jesus to their

existing lifestyle. And then they when push comes to

shove, they always choose the way of the world because it

rings more true to them than the way of the Lord.

And then he says this, he says, and the one on whose seed was

sown on the good soil, This is the man who hears the word and

understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth some a

hundredfold, some 60 and some 30.

In other words, here's one who is a a soft soil, a very soft

heart. They received the word, they

understand the word so much so that they bring forth fruit,

some 30 fold, some 60 fold, some 100 fold.

Now why is that important? That's important because a

bumper crop in Israel would be a crop that was 10 fold.

But Christ says this person bears fruit.

That is some 30, some 60, or some a hundredfold.

In other words, this is a huge crop.

In other words, when someone is truly born again and they

receive the word of God, there is complete, clear, obvious

evidence that they know Christ as Lord and Savior.

There's no wondering whether or not the end of the Lord.

Why? Because the fruit is so

abundant, it is so over the top. No one even considers them that

they might not even be saved because the fruit is so

overwhelming. So the numbers that Christ use

are very important numbers because they describe for you

the reality of a transformed life.

It doesn't mean that every time you share the gospel that one

out of every four people or only 25% of them are going to get

saved. Doesn't mean that.

What Christ is saying is that the majority of people who hear

the gospel are not going to receive the gospel.

They might look like they receive it.

They might jump on the Jesus bandwagon because they received

the Word with joy. There was some emotional

compulsion in their lives and they they did it with sincerity,

they did it with joy, they did it with tears.

But that doesn't mean that way truly gave their life to Christ.

Why? Because perseverance is always

the key component to true saving faith.

Perseverance is a gift given by God.

Romans 15 verse #5 that God grants men perseverance that

they will continue on in the faith no matter what the

persecution or the affliction. No matter what about the the

cares of the world or the deceitfulness of riches, they

continue on in their faith. In the very next parable Jesus

gives is the parable about the weed and the tares, because he

wants to understand that in the Kingdom age there's going to be

many tears that are sown among the wheat because the enemy's

going to do that. He wants them to understand

that, that that when the tears and wheat grow together at the

very outset, you cannot tell them apart.

They look exactly the same until the end of the age, until the

harvest time. And so he says, we're not going

to pull out the the tares until the end of the harvest because

you might pull up some weeds with them.

And it's at the end of the harvest that Christ takes the

the tares and throws them into the fire and takes the weed into

his Kingdom. But he wants them to be, to

understand that throughout the Kingdom age, the tares will be

sown among the wheat because that's what the enemy does.

There are a lot of pretenders in, in the pews of churches all

around the world, a lot of people who who say that they,

they love the Lord Jesus, but they, they really aren't born

again. They're pretenders in the Pew.

We have pretenders in the pulpit as well, preachers who, who

pretend to know Jesus Christ, but in reality don't know him at

all. And that would even accentuate

the fact that there are more pretenders in the Pew than you

can ever begin to imagine. But he wants to understand that

as you go through the Kingdom age, there'll be many people

that look like Christians, but they're really tares among the

wheat. But because they look so much

like the Christian, you won't be able to tell them apart until

the end of the age. That's very, very important.

You see, people are are very self deceived.

Satan is a master deceiver. But people can deceive

themselves into believing some way, somehow, that they really

are Christian because of something that happened in their

life. Or because of what they say they

believe, but that's not necessarily true.

And so the Bible is very clear as it continues to talk about

all these kinds of things. In fact, over in Luke chapter

Luke 13 · chapter mention

13, Christ says this. He says when someone said to

him, Lord, are there just a few being saved, He said to them,

strive to enter through the narrow door.

For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Now that's very, very important. Why?

He says you need to agonize to get through the narrow door.

Remember in Matthew 7, he says there's a narrow gate and

there's a there's, there's a, there's a broad, broad Rd. a

narrow road and a broad Rd. But the, the narrow way is, is

the way to glory. But he says that when you, when

you, when you finally get to the narrow Rd., when you finally

find the narrow gate and you get there of the few that find the

narrow way in Matthew Chapter 7, when you come to Luke 16, the

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

many of the few will never enter into the Kingdom.

The many of the few of Matthew 7 and Luke 16 will never enter the

Kingdom. He says, he says, I tell you,

they will seek to enter and they will not be able to enter.

Why? Because they will not want to

pay the cost. They will not want to pay the

price. They will not want to sacrifice

their life. They will not want to give up

their lives for, for Christ like see.

And so he says these words. Once the head of the house gets

up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock

on the door, saying, Lord open to us.

Then he will answer and say to you, I do not know where you are

from. Then you will begin to say, But

we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our

streets. And he will say, I tell you, I

do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evil

doers. Again, the emphasis is on fact

that there would be many people who think that they deserve

heaven. They think they're on their way

to heaven, but then the door is shut, they can't get in.

They beg to get in and Christ says I never knew you, but they

thought they were on their way to heaven.

They were self deceived or they've been taught by a false

teacher and they believe the wrong things.

That's why it's so crucial to understand the importance of

Christianity. The Bible is replete with this.

It goes over and over and over again.

I wish I had the time. Remember Acts chapter 20?

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Paul says this in verse 27. For I did not shrink from

declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which

the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the Church

of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among

you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves men

will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the

disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert,

remembering that night and day for a period of three years.

I did not cease to admonish each one of you with tears, because I

know that when I leave, there will be people that will come

in, will rise up from within the church.

OK, they're already here, and they're going to rise up from

within the church and they're going to lead the disciples

astray. They're savage wolves.

And therefore I commend you to God in the word of His grace,

which is able to build you up. He says in verse #32 But you

need to be aware of this. I did not cease to warn you day

and night for three years of this scenario.

You see, every pastor needs to be warning his people of the the

possibility of self deception, the possibility of being taught

and learning the wrong things about Christianity.

Every pastor needs to be concerned that that the people

in the church understand the truth of the gospel, that they

know what it means to truly be born again.

That's the pastor's responsibility.

And it's emphasized by by Paul in in Acts chapter 20 over in

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Second Corinthians or First Corinthians chapter Chapter 11

verse #28 this Sunday we're going to partake at the Lord's

table. Paul says that before you do,

make sure that you don't eat and drink in an unworthy manner.

So make sure that you examine your own personal life.

In 2nd Corinthians 13, five, he says this, test yourselves to

see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves or do you not

recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you,

unless indeed you fail the test, but I trust that you will

realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.

Examine yourself, test yourself, prove yourself to make sure that

Jesus Christ is really He's writing to the church.

He's not asking people on the street.

He's writing to the church at Corinth challenging them to make

sure they know that Jesus Christ is in them.

You go over to the the book of Titus.

Titus says that there will be people in the church.

They profess to know God, but by their deeds, verse 16, they deny

him being detestable and disobedient and worthless for

any good deed. There will be many who profess

Christianity, but their deeds are offensive to God because

they live sinful lives. And then you go over to the book

of James. James is the same thing, verse

26 of chapter 1. If anyone thinks himself to be

religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, but to seize

his own heart, this man's religion is worthless, pure and

undefiled. Religion in the sight of our God

and Father is this. To visit orphans and widows in

their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

He says this is true religion. If you think that you are

religious and you cannot control your tongue, your religion,

whatever you say it is, is a worthless religion.

It means nothing. That means you don't have the

Spirit of God. That will help you learn

self-control, to control your words.

Why? Because out of the buttons of

the heart, the mouse speaks. So if there's been a transformed

heart, there's transformed speaking.

If there hasn't been a transformed heart, the words

remain the same, you see, And James knows that, and James

attacks that. That's why he says, be not just

hearers of the word, but doers as well.

Over in Second Peter chapter 1, Peter says this way.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Verse #10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make

certain about His calling and choosing you.

He's talking to the brethren. Do you know that you've been

called? Do you know that you've been

chosen by God? Be diligent to make sure you

know without a shadow of doubt that God has called you and

chosen you for His purposes. And then of course you have

Jude. And Jude says this in verse #3

Beloved, I was making every effort to write to you about our

common salvation. I felt the necessity to write to

you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which

was once for all handed down to the Saints.

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were

long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly

persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and

deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

He says, I wanted to write to you, I want to talk to you about

our common salvation. But I but, but, but I have to

warn you that there have been among us people that are in the

Church that turn the grace of God into licentiousness.

They live as if there is no law and they turn people away from

the truth. I have to warn you, I mean,

that's just a a sketch of what's in the New Testament.

As you go through the Scriptures, you'll see it over

and over and over again. Be warned, beware.

Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 verse #1 I want to safeguard

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

you that you understand what true salvation really is.

Why? I mean, he's talking to the

church. He's not talking to the people,

a bunch of people in the streets.

He wants the church to know for certain that the gospel they say

they believe is truly the gospel that transformed their lives.

So important. I came across a book this past

week, and that book is an entitled The Almost Christian

Discovered. It was written 300 years ago by

a Puritan by the name of Matthew Mead.

And he was concerned that the people who professed

Christianity in his day we're not truly born again followers

of Christ, that they had somehow deceived themselves in the

thinking that they were Christians.

And so he he begins to write this book that talks about the

almost Christian. And in a span of 120 pages, he

gives several characteristics of those who claim to be Christian.

But they're close, yet they are still so far way.

And so he begins to list all these characteristics and

underneath them he gives a plethora of Bible verses to

explain each and every point. I'm not going to do that for

you. But these are some of the things

that he does say. He says this.

He says a person may have a great deal of knowledge,

insight, and they may understand a lot about God and his will and

a lot about Christ and his ways, and yet still only be almost a

Christian. A person may possess great and

remarkable gifts and yet only be almost a Christian.

A person may have a high view of religion, be very active in

religious activities, and yet still only be almost a

Christian. It says A person may make great

strides in resisting sin and yet still only be almost a

Christian. A person may even hate sin, but

still only almost a Christian. A person may make grand promises

and pledges to God, yet still only be almost a Christian.

A man may may struggle and fight against sin within himself and

yet still only be almost a Christian.

A person can be a member of a Christian Church, join the

people of God, share in church privileges.

He may have great hope of heaven, even hope of being

saved, and yet still only be almost a Christian.

A person may experience significant transformation due

to the power of the word of God and yet still only be almost a

Christian. A person may be very passionate

about the religion. They may spend a lot of time in

prayer and yet still only be almost a Christian.

A person may endure hardship for Christ in their profession,

their reputation and physical being, and still only be almost

a Christian. A person may be called by God,

accept His calling, and yet still be far from the Kingdom.

A person may have faith, have genuine affection for the people

of God, obey the commands of God, do all the outwardly

religious activities, and still only be almost a Christian.

That's a remarkable list. But if you were to reverse the

list and say, well, I know somebody who, who has been

called by God, and I know somebody who has special gifts

and I, I know somebody who, who really wants to worship God and

is involved in their church and really wants to obey the

commands of God. And I know somebody who, who

truly loves the Lord. You will say that that person's

a Christian. Are they?

You see, we we tend to look at the externals, but Christianity

is about the internal. Christianity is about what

happens on the inside of a person.

Now what's on the inside will manifest itself on the outside.

But just because you manifest certain characteristics of

Christianity on the outside doesn't mean you're saved on the

inside. That's where the examination

comes in. That's why you need to be aware

of false teachers. That's not why you need to be

aware of of being self deceived. Well, what does the Bible

actually say? You see, there's so much

confusion about what it means to be a Christian.

Let me give you a couple of them.

What 1 is what are called the the familial confusion that that

I was born in a in a Christian family.

My parents are saved, my brothers are saved, my parents

are saved, my my grandparents are saved.

I was. I was born in a Christian

family. Of course I'm a Christian.

But just because you're born into a family that has Christian

parents doesn't mean you're born again.

The Bible says in John 112 that to as many as received him to

them gave you power to become the sons of God.

There. There there's an individual

reception of who Christ is. You see, the Jews believe that

because Abraham was their father that they were going to go to

heaven, that that's why they, they had such a hard time with

Christ, because he would, he, he, he indicted their, their,

their, their system of religion. And they would say to him, we,

we have Abraham as our father. And Jesus would say to them, if

you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.

But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you

the truth, which I heard from God.

This Abraham did not do you. You say you're you're a child of

Abraham, but you can't claim ancestry as a way to get into

heaven. You must believe in who I am.

Abraham did that. He believed in me.

It was counted unto him as righteousness.

But you see, you don't believe in me.

Paul would say in Philippians 3 as he began to list the litany

of things that he had done, that he was circumcised on the 8th

day. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews

when it came to the law of Christ or the law of God.

And he would begin to list all the things that he himself did.

But he says, but all that was rubbish, rubbish.

All that was was was human excrement.

It was dung. It meant nothing compared to the

surpassing knowledge of coming to know Christ as my Lord and

Savior. But see, it wasn't about the

fact that he was born a Jew, that he would get into heaven.

Just like when you're born to a Christian family, it doesn't get

you into heaven. But there's this familial

confusion that people have that because my parents are saved,

I'm going to ride the coat tails of my parents and just slide

right into glory. Doesn't work that way.

So you have a familial confusion, but there's also an

ecclesiastical confusion. That is, I'm a part of a church,

I'm a part of a certain church. I go to this denomination, and

therefore that's going to get me into heaven.

But listen, going to church doesn't make you a Christian any

more than going to the garage is going to make you a mechanic.

Doesn't work that way. You just don't become a

Christian because you go to a certain church.

The Mormons believe that they're going to be saved because they

go to the Mormon church and Jehovah's Witness because they

go to the Kingdom Hall, that that doesn't get you into

heaven. So we had this ecclesiastical

confusion that somehow if I go to the right church, that will,

that will get me into heaven, but it doesn't.

In fact, in Revelation chapter 3, Christ says, behold, I stand

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

at the door and knock. And, and contrary to popular

opinion, it's not the door of your heart that Christ is

standing on the outside of, it's the door of the church, The

Church of Laodicea, Revelation 320 that Christ is standing on

the outside of. He stands outside the church,

the door of the church and knocks and says, if anyone will

hear my voice and open the door, I will come into them and Sup

with them. He's talking to the church

because the Church of Laodicea was, was a counterfeit church.

It wasn't a true church before that was a Church of Sardis.

Remember that the Church of Sardis was the dead church.

They were a corpse. He says you have a name that you

were alive, but you're dead. You have a name that's very

popular in the community. You have a name that's very

popular around the world. You have a name, but you're

really dead on the inside. And then he comes to the Church

of Laodicea and says, I'm standing outside your door.

I am knocking. If there's anybody in there who

hears me and opens the door unto me, I will come in with him.

I would dine with him, I will Sup with him.

I will be his God and he'll be my son.

And the invitation is given. There's a theological confusion

as well that I that I'm theologically sound, I'm

theologically astute. This happens a lot in

seminaries, guys who who really are sound in doctrine, they

think that because they're theologically astute that they

know that they're going to go to heaven.

But that doesn't make you a Christian just because you have

a good doctrinal statement. You can dot all your IS and

cross all your T's. You know the demons.

They believe everything there is to know about God.

They know more about God than any of us do.

The demons are theologically sound.

They know about heaven, they know about hell, they know about

the deity of Christ. In fact, over in Mark 311 it

says, and whenever the unclean spirits beheld Christ, they

would fall down before him and cry out saying you are the Son

of God. See, the demons know that Jesus

is the Son of God. They're very clear on that.

They are so theologically astute, but yet they are not in

heaven. And there are people all around

the world because of their theological stance, because they

know a lot about God, they think that that will get them to

heaven, but it does not. The Jews, they believe in one

God. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God

is 1, Deuteronomy 6/4, and yet they don't understand that Jesus

is that God. There's also the moral

confusion. This is a big one.

The moral confusion, the somehow, if I do the right

thing, if I say the right things, if I don't murder

anybody, if I don't have sex outside of marriage, if I don't

lie, if I don't cheat, if I don't swear, I'm a morally good

person. Certainly God will accept me.

Certainly I'll get into heaven because of the of the goodness

and kindness of my heart. It's like the rich young ruler

in Matthew 19. Remember, he was, he was

totally. I've kept all these commandments

from my youth up. My whole life I've spent keeping

the commands of God. I've done that.

I've honored my mother and father.

I have not killed anybody. I have not committed adultery.

I have. I have.

I have done everything the commands of God say, and yet he

was so far from the Kingdom. And yet the moral confusion is

huge because people believe that somehow I can do enough good

things to get me into heaven. Listen what Paul says in Titus

three. He says he saved us not on the

basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but

according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and

renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us

richly through Jesus Christ. Our Savior said being justified

by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of

eternal life. It's not by deeds of

righteousness which we have done.

Paul in Romans 3 would say there is none righteous.

No, not one. No matter how good you think you

are, your goodness will never get you into glory.

The only work that gets you into heaven is the work of Christ,

not the work of man. But there are many people in

churches today that truly believe.

You know, I've done good things, man.

I'm in church on Sunday and you know what?

I don't beat my wife. I don't kick my dog, I don't

swear, I don't drink, I don't have sex outside of marriage.

I'm a good guy. God's gut accept me.

That's not the condition for salvation, see, because the

heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, and there

needs to be a transformation of a heart that's filled with sin,

a life that's been born in sin. There's another confusion.

We're going to call it the ministerial confusion.

That is, people are involved in all kinds of ministry in the

church. It's a huge confusion.

This is the classic example, Judas, classic example.

Judas preached like the other 11 preached.

He preached the Gospel, Matthew chapter 10.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

He healed the sick like the other 11 did, but he was the son

of perdition. And when it came time to to talk

about the denial of the Lord Jesus, no one said it's Judas.

Of course we know it's Judas. No, the offset is that eyes,

that eyes. No one pointed to Judas.

He was the keeper of the money, the keeper of the purse.

He was the most trusted of the 12.

So the most trusted of the 12 was Judas, who went out and

preached the gospel like the other 11 did, who performed

miracles like the other 11 did. And yet he never had a

transformed life. We call it the ministerial

confusion. People involved in the ministry,

it's where pastors come into play.

Men who have been the pulpit for years have fooled people, have

fooled themselves. Judas had become self deceived.

But it was all about the money for Judas.

He followed Christ because there was something about Christ that

did so much for him, that gave him notoriety, that gave him a

chance to be popular, that gave him a chance to maybe get some

money. And that, that, that's what,

that's what the cares of this world and the sea fullness of

riches do to someone who follows Jesus with joy.

There's that ministerial confusion.

There's that emotional confusion where you, where you walk an

aisle and you sign a card and you, your, your eyes are filled

with tears because the music is played and the preacher is

preaching and everybody else is going down and, and you're just

overcome with emotion and you come down the aisle and you, you

just want to well, pray a prayer or, or, or, or say something.

And, and somehow we think that that's going to save us.

Emotional confusion is huge, but the greatest confusion is

experiential confusion. I've had an experience.

I've had an event in my life. There was a time where I prayed

a prayer. There was a time where I gave my

life to Christ. There was a time when I sat with

the the counselor and committed my life to Christ.

That's the biggest confusion. The Bible never points back to a

time in which someone was saved. The Bible only speaks of an

ongoing life that manifests transformation.

But there are people who say I need an event.

I remember when. Now most of us probably remember

when we were saved. But there are also a number of

us who have no idea when we were saved.

That could very possibly be. I had a elder at the previous

church I pastored who came to me and said, see, I I want my son

to know that as he grows older, that when he was five years old,

he prayed the sinner's prayer, and that's good enough to get

him into heaven. And I said, it's not, It's not.

You want your son to go back and look at a time in which he

prayed the sinner's prayer, no matter what his lifestyle's

like. What if your son becomes an

alcoholic and an adulterer and a murderer?

Are you going to say, go back to that time that you say you

prayed the sinner's prayer, and I know you're going to heaven.

You're going to guarantee his eternal destiny based on an

event, an experience that he had when he was 5.

Show me in Scripture where that's true.

Of course, he couldn't because there is no place in Scripture.

As parents, we got to be very careful.

Well, I was there when you prayed the prayer.

I was there when you were three. I was there when you were six.

I was there when you were baptized.

I was there when those things happened.

I know you're saved, but their lifestyle is totally contrary to

the truth of the Scripture. Is there an example of this?

Absolutely. Turn your Bible to Acts chapter

Acts 8 · chapter mention

8. Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Let me give you an example of this, of somebody who had an

experience. And once you read it, most would

think the experience was true, but it wasn't.

Acts 8 verse #9 Now there was a man named Simon who formerly was

practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of

Samaria claiming to be someone great.

And they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention

to him, saying, this man is what is called the great power of

God. And they were giving him

attention because he had for a long time astonished them with

his magic hearts. But when they believed Philip

preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God in the name

of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.

Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he

continued on with Philip. And as he observed signs of

great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

So you stop right there and you say Simon had an experience.

He, he he heard the preaching of Philip.

And when he heard the preaching of Philip, he believed and he

must be saved. He believed Bible says in Acts

1631, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

So Simon, Simon believed, but knowing that he believed he was

baptized and you're to believe and be baptized for the

remission of sins. Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

So we say, well, he believed he was baptized, Simon saved, He

had an experience, there was an event, and then he continued to

follow Philip the preacher. Well, he must certainly be

saved. He believes he's baptized, and

now he's a follower of Philip, who's a preacher of the gospel.

The guy must be saved. Read on now when the apostles in

Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they

sent them Peter and John, two guys you don't want to meet if

you're not saved, who came down and prayed for them, and that

they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet

fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in

the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their

hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the

laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money saying

give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I

lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

Wow, this is great. I mean I was in the magical

arts, but this is beyond magical arts man, you guys are doing

something phenomenal. This is supernatural.

You're laying your hands on them.

The Spirit of God has descended upon them.

This is fabulous. I got to be able to do that.

I'll give you whatever you need. How much does it cost me to do

what you do? But Peter said to him, May your

silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the

gift of God with money. You have no part or portion in

this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray

the Lord, that if possible, the intention of your heart may be

forgiven you. For I see that you are in the

gall of bitterness, and in the bondage of iniquity.

Peter calls him out. You're in.

You're enslaved to iniquity. You're, you're, you're in sin,

he says. You're in the gall of

bitterness. Those who are in Christ are not

in the bondage of iniquity. They've been set free from the

bondage of iniquity by the power of the Spirit of God.

And so Peter calls him out and Simon Says, but Simon answered

and said, pray to the Lord for me yourselves said nothing of

what you have said may come upon me.

That's not repentance. That's not true repentance.

He could have prayed and asked forgiveness himself.

He just wanted us to escape the temporary consequences of his

disobedience and his ignorance. You see, Simon had an event, but

he was never truly born again. He had an emotional experience.

He bought into what Philip was preaching.

He received the word. Everybody else was believing so,

so Simon believed too. Everybody else is baptized, so

Simon was baptized too. Simon said, I'm going to follow

Philip wherever he goes. This is great.

But he had no true conversion. There was no regeneration of his

heart. There was no transformation of

his soul. The experiential confusion is

how Satan dupes people into thinking that because you made a

decision way back when, you're on your way to heaven without

ever examining your life in light of the Scripture.

In terms of what the Bible says about what Christians truly are

and what Christians truly look like, this is extremely

important. I can't say it to you enough.

We've had people in our church baptized in our baptismal who

gave a profession of faith about what God did in their lives only

in years later to turn completely away from the faith

to defrock the faith, to apostasize the faith, never to

follow Christ again. They made a profession, they

were baptized, they filled out a, a card.

We had a man in our church who, who for years was involved in

our tape ministry. He, he taped my very first

sermon and he continued to tape all the sermons from the very

beginning. And there were times early on

when we were at another church and we had to use their

equipment that sometimes the, the equipment messed up and, and

so they didn't really get a, a good copy of the tape.

So I had to come in on Monday morning and re preach the sermon

to an empty auditorium because we were on the radio and those,

those sermons were going on the radio that week.

And so I had to come in on Monday morning and preach the

exact same sermon to an empty auditorium.

That was quite the challenge, but not only did he hear it on

Sunday, hear the sermon on Monday, and he would talk to me

about those sermons, but then he began to to invite the Jehovah's

Witnesses into his home and begin to have conversations with

them, long conversations with them.

And he was involved and he built the stairs that are here on our

stage in our auditorium. He was involved in building the

baptismal, which people are baptized.

He was actually be involved in the church.

There was a Bible study every study night in his home.

It wasn't too long after he invited in all these Jehovah's

Witnesses to his home. And I'd warned him against that,

but he did it anyway. One day he came to me and just

completely denied the deity of Christ.

He did not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh.

And he had signed, he became a member of our church, and he had

given a testimony about an event or an experience that he had

when he was younger about giving his life to Christ.

And yet he was led astray. He was unable to persevere.

He was unable to defend the faith.

He turned his back on Christ. He walked away from the church.

He walked away from Christianity because he no longer believed in

the DV Christ. I had it in my office, went

through verse after verse after verse after verse with him.

It was almost as if he was in, had never ever heard the gospel.

He was so blinded by Satan. So I finally went to to him with

John chapter 8 and I said to him, listen to what Jesus says.

John 8 · chapter mention

Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

And what Jesus is saying is this, unless you believe that I

am the God who spoke to to Moses from the burning Bush in Exodus

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, you will die in your sins.

You must believe that I am God in the flesh.

I said to him, his name was Jamil.

Jamil. Do you believe that?

He says absolutely not. I said.

Then the only thing I have for you is that you will die in your

sins. You will never see Christ.

Wasn't too long after that, he did die.

He died in unbelief, never giving his life to Christ.

He professed Christianity, he pretended at Christianity, he

participated in all kinds of Christian activities, but he

never possessed Christ himself in his heart.

I don't want that to happen to any of you.

I don't want that to happen to anybody in our church.

My greatest fear is that you come thinking that you're saved,

die and wake up in hell. That's got to be the most

devastating thing ever. But it happens to people all the

time because they're confused. They've been deceived, self

deceived, or satanically deceived and they think they're

on the way to heaven, but in reality they are not.

So I asked you this question. Do you know for certain that

Jesus Christ is the Lord, King and Master of your life?

And if He is, do you follow Him in obedience, out of a heart

filled with love and gratitude and thankfulness?

Are you the kind of person whose life has been transformed?

Are you truly a new creation? If any man in Christ, he is a

new creation. You're transformed.

You're new. You're not just a same old guy

with a new jacket. No, you're transformed from the

inside out. Your life has changed.

The conversation changes. Your conduct changes.

Your desires change. Your goals change.

Everything about your life is Christ centered.

You want to serve Him. And so I don't want you to go

further in life without knowing for certain that Jesus Christ is

King of your life. Have you ever truly given your

life to the Lord Jesus Christ? This is all just introductory.

Next week we'll begin to go more into great details as to what is

a Christian and spend the next 11 weeks examining that in light

of what the Bible says. I would encourage you to bring

someone with you. They might hear what you're

hearing and learn what you're learning because you're so

concerned about their spiritual life, their eternal destiny.

Do the people you love and the people you know truly live in

the light of the glorious gospel?

Are their lives transformed? Are they truly born again?

Does the is there a manifestation of new life in

them? If not, warn them, Tell them to

beware. Ask them for certain, you know

Christ is Lord and Savior. Challenge them because eternity

weighs in the balance. Let's pray, Father, we thank

you, Lord, for tonight and the opportunity you give us to be in

your word. And we just pray, Father, that

you'd enlighten all of us to the truth of your word.

A lot of things covered, a lot of verses read.

Bottom line is, Lord, we need to make sure that we know Christ is

Lord and Savior. Lord, we love you and those who

are here are here to learn about you.

They want to follow you, so we ask that Lord you'd work in all

of our hearts. If there's someone here tonight

who does not know you, may tonight be the night of their

salvation. May tonight be the night they

truly embrace Christ as the Lord of their lives and follow you

from this day forward in Jesus name, Amen.