The Christian Defined - Gerald Birky

Good morning. Greetings to you all this morning in Jesus' name.

It's good to be here. It's a blessing, it's a

privilege to meet together, the house of God, with friends,

fellow Christians. We get to meet in peace and quiet, safety.

The things that we... Take for granted. Keep thy foot.

I read those words. Watch where you step. Don't step

in it. Be careful. Those admonitions are good.

Good.

Turn in your Bibles this morning with me for an

introductory few verses. 2 Corinthians 5, I'd like to read

some verses there. And what I have prepared this morning

is rather simple, I'm going to say. By way of introduction,

I'm going to read these verses. And for a title,

maybe I'll just get that out of the way since

it's at the top of my page. I just have

put down the Christian defined. The Christian defined. Or what

is a Christian? Or what is it that a Christian

is comprised of or made up of? I find it

a little bit intriguing in listening to children what I

call the short people. They're very much people. And the

questions they ask, or the... It's maybe not the questions

they ask, but what's... They use terms. They make statements

and use terms, and I wonder sometimes what all is

behind that. What does he mean? What does that child

mean when he says that?

And.

And one of those phrases, I've listened to it for,

this is not a single child specific, it's been sticking

out to me for, I don't know, let's say 10

or 15 years, 20 years, I don't know. But a

young child will make the, will somewhat mimicking or using

phrases heard, you know, he became a Christian. And when

I hear that, I wonder what, I wonder what that

I wonder what that 4-year-old, 6-year-old, 8, 10, 12-year-old actually,

what does he mean when he says that? The adults

sometimes struggle with that just a little bit. And so

the Christian defined 2 Corinthians 5, beginning here at verse 17. Therefore,

if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us

to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us

the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ,

reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,

and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then,

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, for he hath made him to

be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we

might be made the righteousness of God in him. That

we might be made the righteousness of God. Verse 17,

he is a new creature. Galatians 6.15 is just another

verse that uses that word. For in Christ Jesus neither

circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature. Paul

writing there used those words. But the Jews, the ones

that had the heritage and the lineage and were doing

it right, and the Gentiles, it didn't matter. The new creature.

So I drew a diagram up here on the board.

And this is something I don't... I don't use this

board often or a lot. This diagram, three overlapping circles.

And I... This message or this topic, these concepts... I

ran into a couple of, I don't know, it was

probably a few months back. In fact, I showed it to,

it came across my phone, and because it was a

WhatsApp status, I screenshot it just so it wouldn't disappear

on me, because I thought it was worth looking at again.

Showed it to, I don't know, I think it was TJ.

He made some comment about, that's kind of neat, or

that's kind of interesting, or power, I don't remember what

he said. And so that What came across my phone

was simply that circle, or that, with... There's a pen

still up here. There was a word in, basically a

single word in each of these spaces, about five words.

defining or describing, it reminded me just a little bit

of a parts diagram. Oh, I see. So that's how

that fits together. And I looked at it. There was no,

it was just simply the words, the screenshot. And I

was like, well, I wonder if that's actually how it is.

And so what I plan to do this morning is

fill this diagram in and read Scripture to kind of

back up the Back up the findings. So we're going

to start in Galatians. Galatians 4. And I'm not sure

how long it's going to take to get these circles

filled in. In some ways I don't think I have

much material. But my wife says I shouldn't say that

because that's when I can't seem to get through my materials.

Galatians 4 verses 1 through 7 says this. Now I

Galatians 4:1–7

say that the heir, as long as he is a child,

differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all,

but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed

of the father. Even so we, when we were children,

were in bondage under the elements of the world. But

when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth

his son, made of a woman, made under the law,

to redeem them that were under the law, that we

might receive the adoption of So, position one up here

is just simply the concept of sonship. And that is

a concept actually that we find quite a few places

in the Bible, in the New Testament. Now, this that

I just read in Galatians 4, the son as opposed

to the servant, the free man as opposed to the slave.

So what was the slavery to? And the sonship, the bondage. Well,

verse 3, when we were children, we were in bondage

under the elements of the world. Elements of the world? Sin.

We could also say that we were slaves. Outside of Christ,

we were slaves to sin. Slaves to self. Last night,

late in our dining room, someone was laughing and pulled

up a funny little VeggieTales thing. It's come anyway, the

little the green cucumber or whatever he was, had come

to the conclusion that the most important person in the

whole wide world was me. You ever heard that one?

Rather humorous. Made it makes a point. That's where we were.

That's where we were in our natural state. Slaves to sin.

But also note... Let's read two more verses here in

Galatians 4, 8 and 9. Verses 8 and 9. Giving

the distinct impression here that while you've... We have this

process of adoption and of moving into... right relationship with

God or into that new creature status, it's possible for

you to return. And so while we use these terms

that are earthly and physical, you know, son and sonship

and father and adoption, there's a spiritual element to it.

Norman read the verse and I It was actually from

Ephesians 6.12 this morning. He didn't highlight this point, but

the phrase was there, spiritual wickedness in high places. Spiritual

wickedness in high places. That phrase actually, I mean, it's

what we're wrestling against. Spiritual wickedness in high places actually

is referring to evil beings in the heaven, in celestial places.

And so this adoption process, this sonship, becoming a son

of God, is a spiritual thing. So where else do

we find in the Bible? Just moving on quickly here.

Where else is that the only place where we read

or we think or we hear of the term son

of God, daughter of God? Romans 8.14, I'm going to

read that verse. For as many as are led by

the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

2 Corinthians 6, 17 and 18. Wherefore, come out from

among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and

touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you,

and will be a father unto you. And ye shall

be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. You see,

this term is used frequently. It's used often. 2 Thessalonians 2, 16.

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father,

which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation

and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish

you in every good word and work. He was actually talking,

he was writing there, talking about this comfort and establishment,

but the premise, the authority behind it was... Jesus Christ himself, God,

our Father. In the Gospel of John, chapter 1, But

John 1 · chapter mention

as many as received him, this is verse 12, But

as many as received him, to them gave he power

to become the sons of God, even to them that

believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,

nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the

will of man, but of God. Born of God. power

to become the sons of God. And that's the spiritual,

that is the spiritual side. Just one more, one more little,

one more little bunny trail. As I was thinking about

this and thinking about that, the concept of becoming a

son of God, I thought about prayers. Uh, Think about

the story of the rich man and the publican, the

two that went down to pray. And the publican prayed.

He says, with himself, however that happens. But, God, I

thank thee. The sinner also said, God, be merciful to me,

a sinner. That was what he stated. But they both

started their prayer just simply addressing God. And I found

it very intriguing in my mind, kind of how badly

Jesus wanted to get this concept through, this concept, this

idea of spiritual sonship. In Matthew 6, verse 9, when

Matthew 6:9

he taught the disciples to pray, after this manner, therefore

pray ye, our Father. And that's... That's a cross, I mean,

we call it the Lord's Prayer. In Spanish it's called

Padre Nuestro, our Father. That's how it's known, that prayer.

But a very direct, you can't be missed, concept. And so,

the Christian. If the Christian has faith, The understanding of sonship. Yes, indeed.

In a spiritual sense, I, the follower of Christ, am

indeed the son of one of God's children. The... The... The...

The practice, the Christian practice of referring to fellow Christians

as brother in Christ or sister in Christ is actually

very legit, completely legitimate. It can and it should be

that way. But anyway, so more of these components. So

the left circle.

This here. I'm just going to put the word cause

in here.

Or maybe you could view it as because. But what

needs to be part of this sonship here is loyalty.

The left side here we could maybe call the more

theoretical or mental side. The other side is going to

be a little bit more practical. But on the loyalty side,

we know we got dangerously close to this in the

adult Sunday school class. Scott was asking how valid or

what's the cost of ignoring the biblical command to honor

thy father and thy mother. But loyalty, and we'll actually

get to that. We'll get to that a little bit

more on the other side, but a very, very interesting point.

Interesting discussion. Normal family loyalty. When you think about families

and you think about being a son, there's a certain

amount of loyalty that just goes with the territory. You

expect loyalty from a father. You expect him not to

just throw you to the wolves or under the bus

for no reason at all. You expect some protection. You

expect kinship. We're family. In Matthew 12, 50, Jesus said this,

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, which

is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother.

Part of a family loyalty, the relationship of a son

and a father to a father, or part of sonship

of God, you need to bring loyalty to that equation,

but part of that loyalty is seeking the other's good.

And It goes both ways. The son expects that the

father looks out for him and is concerned with the

son's good. But it should be the other way as well,

that the son is concerned for the father's, that the

father be pleased. It goes both ways, parent to child,

child to parent, the desire to please. There's a desperate

need to learn. A son, a child, whether they understand

it or not, they need to learn things to survive.

Survival is at stake. Learning. Mutual love and respect is

present in a properly functioning father-son relationship. Ephesians 6.23, the verse,

Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first

commandment with promise. that it may be well with thee,

that thou mayest live long on the earth. Leviticus 19,

thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor

the face of the old man and fear thy God.

I am the Lord. So honor, and that's a position,

that's what, that is a mental thing. Now that, Incidentally,

this particular command to honor thy father and thy mother,

I'll just go down this little bit of a bunny trail.

Is that an Old Testament command or a New Testament command?

It's kind of. I found it kind of interesting. I

looked it up one time and it's probably the one that's, well,

it is stated three different places in the Old Testament

and three different places in the New Testament. Very distinctly

or very, you can't miss it. The right circle. The

connector is called position. Position or status. Because of where

I am. Yes, I am loyal. But faithfulness. Faithfulness. Faithfulness.

What is.

We can also call it trust or trustworthiness. To be

in a position of... As a son, you are in

a position of a certain amount of trust. But you

need to demonstrate trustworthiness or faithfulness. The word fidelity comes

to mind. That fits in there. As a faithful son.

Your loyalties are what's happening in your mind. Your faithfulness,

are you executing your duties? Are you doing what you're

supposed to be? Are you getting done what you're supposed

to be getting done? As a faithful son, and we

have an example of this. We actually have kind of

a lot of examples of this. But Jesus Christ came

to earth also as son of God. As a faithful son,

you must do the duties of a son even when

your preference would be completely different. Something else. Jesus, the

example of faithfully doing the will of the Father. That's

who he was. That's what he did was the will

of the Father. And it involved various things. He went

about doing good. That's stated. I think we got past

that verse or not in Matthew or if it's in

another gospel. But Jesus went about doing good. He was

He was healing people, the miracles. And the people came,

the people flocked, the people mobbed him. He was doing

the will of the Father. But remember this, he was

also doing the will of the Father when he was

praying with bloody sweat. Let this cup pass, nevertheless not

my will but thine be done. You see, nobody said

that the pathway through life would be easy. We like

the concepts of loyalty, and we say, yes, faithfulness, yeah,

sign me up. I want to do that. I want

to reap the benefits, so sign me up. But it

may be difficult. It may be hard. There will be

times when we just simply don't feel like it. Matthew 10,

Matthew 10:16

verse 16. Let's go to that. I'd like to read

a few verses there. Matthew 10, 16 to 22. What

did I sign up for? How long does this contract last?

When's the What's the statute of limitations here? Matthew 10, 16,

Jesus is talking to his disciples. Behold, I send you

forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye

therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware

of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils.

They will scourge you in the synagogues. Ye shall be

brought before governors and kings for my sake for a

testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver

you up, take no thought... How or what ye shall speak,

for it shall be given you in that same hour

what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak,

but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you.

And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death,

and the father of the child and the children shall

rise up against their parents and cause them to be

put to death. And ye shall be hated of all

men for my name's sake. But he that endureth to

the end shall be saved. A lifelong project. A lifelong

project kind of without clear delineation. What exactly does that mean?

So the one empty space. Let's move on. Let's fill

the last one up here. Um. We understand, we like

the concept of sonship, and we believe that loyalty and

faithfulness is something that we could have. What that puts,

what that, what that leaves, where these all come together.

There's hardly room for the big long word, but the

word that was in here, I was like, is that

indeed how that fits together?

And they, finally, I came to agree with whoever wrote this,

which I don't know. But the word is discipleship. You

can't really read it.

It's too small. But discipleship. Discipleship defined. Turn to John 15.

We're going to read the Christ's definition here. John 15,

John 15:7

verse 7. If ye abide in me, and my words

abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and

it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,

that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.

Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments,

ye shall abide in my love, even as I have

kept my Father's commandments and abided his love. These things

have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain

in you and that your joy might be full. This

is my commandment, that ye love one another as I

have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth... Actually,

I was going to stop reading there with verse 14.

He goes on talking to them. You haven't chosen me,

but I chose you. Then he gets back around to

verse 17 and he says it again. Love one another.

So discipleship and loving one another. Discipleship. Let's look for

just a little bit at that word. When I looked

up that word, I found something that I had not realized.

Discipleship meant something to the 12 disciples. The 12 disciples

who were called You see, they understood the concept of

a disciple. Learning at the feet of. Paul stated that,

that he learned at the feet of Gamaliel. And so

the concept of spending time, spending maybe a lot of time,

listening to a particular teacher was a concept understood in

Jewish society. But to these 12 men that Jesus chose,

Jesus said, ah, you're going to be my disciples. And

what it looked like was this. You're not only going

to come along. Well, our Sunday school lesson, Peter said, well, here,

tell us what that parable means. So Jesus was actively

teaching them. But for them, it meant not only learn,

because actually prior to this time, It was possible in

Jewish culture to be a disciple of someone who had

died 200 years before. Greeks as well. There were disciples

of Greek philosophy that was centuries old. This word disciple

is found in your New Testament. It's found in the

Gospels and the book of Acts and then disappears. That

word is not used in the rest of the New Testament.

What happened there was kind of an interesting thing. Basically,

Christ kind of overhauled that and said, here's my 12

disciples and here's how they live and they're going to

follow me. And they became itinerant, didn't hardly stay at

home anymore, and then eventually scattered, spread out, went around

the then known world. But they did not necessarily call

other people to do exactly that. Why? Why didn't the

epistles use those terms? Well, it's because... Jesus was gone

and there wasn't, you couldn't really go. It was different.

The word actually was revived then later. In the following centuries,

early writings like 150 to 200 years later, it was

revived and came back into use in Christianity. And followers

of Christ were considered to be or called disciples, disciples

of Christ. Because after all, Jesus said, you know, this

is how you'll be my disciple. Surely there's a way

for us to do that. But it was rather interesting

to me that the epistles don't, most of the New Testament,

that word's not used. But how did Jesus describe what

that was going to look like? Luke 9, 23, I'm

going to read it. A few verses there. Looking at

Jesus' description for this thing of his follower, his disciple.

Luke 9, 23-27, He said to them all, If any

man will come after me, let him deny himself and

take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever

will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will

lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

For what is a man advantaged if he gain the

whole world and lose himself or be cast away? For

whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words,

of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when

he shall come in his own glory and in his

Father's and of the holy angels. But I tell you

of a truth. There will be some standing here which

shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom

of God. That's what a disciple could look like. Luke 14,

another description by Jesus. Luke 14, 26. And then verse 25,

And there went great multitudes with him. So Jesus turned

and gave this statement to a multitude, not to the

twelve chosen, but the multitude, and said unto them, If

any man come to me and hate not his father

and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea,

and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after

me cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending

to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth

the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it, lest

happily after he hath laid the foundation and is not

able to finish it, all that behold it begin to

mock him, saying, This man began to build and was

not able to finish. Or what king, going to make

war against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth

whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him

that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while

the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth

an ambassage, and he desireth conditions of peace. So likewise,

whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that

he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good,

but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall

it be seasoned? It's neither fit for the land, nor

yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He

that hath ears to hear, let him hear. In other words,

this statement's not going to be easy to take, not

easy to soak up. John 8 Jesus stated there again

if you continue in my word you're my disciple indeed

and you'll know the truth and the truth will make

you free one more definition John 13 34 A new

commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another

as I have loved you, that ye also may love

one another. By this shall all men know that ye

are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

So the new commandment. Thinking about sonship, loyalty, faithfulness. But

we're discipleship. We're this disciple. This central point here. The discipleship,

the following of Christ. To be that disciple, you're going

to have to bring this concept of love into the equation.

If you want to be known as my disciple, love

each other. The decision, so back to that thought. What

does it mean to, quote, become a Christian? To become

a Christian is to adopt, to accept the adoption of,

Adoption of sons. Become a son of God. Decision to

follow Jesus Christ isn't one that is made because it

makes life easy. But rather as a way to true freedom.

Freedom from the bondage of sin. Freedom to serve and

be in an open and right relationship with our creator.

In conclusion here I'm going to read from Hebrews. Hebrews

Hebrews 4:11

chapter 4 verse 11. Let us, therefore, let us labor, therefore,

to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after

the same example of unbelief. For the word of God

is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing

even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and

of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of

the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there

any creature, think back to the new creature, neither is

there any creature that is not manifest in his sight,

But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes

of him with whom we have to do, or with

him that we have to give account to. Seeing then

that we have a great high priest that is passed

into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us

hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest.

We don't have a high priest which cannot be touched

with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all

points tempted, like as we are. yet without sin. Let

us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that

we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time

of need. The Christian defined. I realize that what I

presented is a lot of, you could call it high ideals.

It's what we strive for. It's what we reach for.

But I think they are They are the principles that

make Christianity work, make Christianity attractive. Thank you for your attention.