What is a Christian: Introduction

Pastor Lance introduces his series "What is a Christian?" by challenging each of us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. He references the preaching of Christ, John the Baptist, the apostles and others in Scripture, which tells us that few follow Christ in true faith and will enter heaven. Are you confused, or certain, that you are a Christian?

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight.
We thank you for the opportunityto 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,

(00:20):
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.

(00:41):
Lord, you're a great God. You've allowed us this
opportunity. And pray, Father, that as we
embark on the next several weekstogether, 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

(01:04):
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 togo and ask the people in our

(01:24):
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

(01:48):
and have them write down what they believe a Christian is.
I'm sure you'd come up with somepretty 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

(02:13):
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 veryexplicit when it talks about a
Christian. I told you on Sunday, I, I don't

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think I said in the second service, I did in the first
service and that, that there arethree, that there are many
themes that run throughout the Bible.
But there are three great themesthat 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

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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 veryend where every knee bows and
every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is lured to the

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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 ondisplay.
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 ofChrist.

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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

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gospel of Jesus Christ. So people will come to know who
this Messiah is, who this deliverer is.
That's the second great theme ofthe 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.

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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.

(04:52):
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

(05:15):
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.

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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

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wilderness, like a locomotive preaching the gospel.
Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
And he is doing all this baptismdown in the Jordan River.
And lo and behold, the religiouselite come down to the Jordan to

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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

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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.

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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

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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 havedone because he was dealing with
the religious elite. He says in verse #8 therefore

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bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
In other words, if you're comingdown 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?

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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 youthat from these stones God is
able to raise up children to Abraham.

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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.

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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

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baptize you with fire. You see, that's how John greeted
the religious elite. Why?
Because John didn't want them tothink that they were going to go
to heaven when they had never truly repented of their sins and
embraced the Messiah as the Kingof Israel.
So you turn over a couple of pages to Matthew Chapter 7.

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And in Matthew Chapter 7, you have Jesus preaching there on
the on the northern shore of theSea of Galilee.
He is preaching what is commonlycalled the Sermon on the Mount.
He's talking about how how to become a child of the king and

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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

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life, and there are few who findit.
So as he gives us invitation at the end of his message, he says
there's a broad road and there'sa 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

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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

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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, buthe who does the will of my

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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 wisepeople are here the Word of God,

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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 surethat 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

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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

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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 andlead 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.

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And in Matthew chapter 13, Christ begins begins to give the
Kingdom parables. And he begins with a very
familiar parable, one called theparable of the solar and the
soil, because he wants the disciples to understand that in
the Kingdom age, the word of Godis going to be spread.

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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.

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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 situationsto 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.

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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.

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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

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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 jumpon the Jesus bandwagon.
He receives the word with joy. There's a great emotional push
in his life. But when affliction comes and

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persecution comes, he falls away.
Why? Because there's no firm root.
There was no solid commitment toChrist.
And then he says in verse number22, 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

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choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
In other words, here's a guy whohe 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 withthe Lord does not persevere and

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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 theway of the Lord.

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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 bearsfruit, 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

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heart. They received the word, they
understand the word so much so that they bring forth fruit,
some 30 fold, some 60 fold, some100 fold.
Now why is that important? That's important because a
bumper crop in Israel would be acrop that was 10 fold.
But Christ says this person bears fruit.
That is some 30, some 60, or some a hundredfold.

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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

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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 only25% of them are going to get
saved. Doesn't mean that.

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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.

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Why? Because perseverance is always
the key component to true savingfaith.
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

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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

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that, that that when the tears and wheat grow together at the
very outset, you cannot tell them apart.
They look exactly the same untilthe 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

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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,

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they love the Lord Jesus, but they, they really aren't born
again. They're pretenders in the Pew.
We have pretenders in the pulpitas 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

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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 beable to tell them apart until
the end of the age. That's very, very important.
You see, people are are very self deceived.

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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

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

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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 thenarrow Rd., when you finally
find the narrow gate and you getthere of the few that find the
narrow way in Matthew Chapter 7,when you come to Luke 16, the

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many of the few will never enterinto the Kingdom.
The many of the few of Matthew 7and Luke 16 will never enter the
Kingdom. He says, he says, I tell you,
they will seek to enter and theywill not be able to enter.
Why? Because they will not want to
pay the cost. They will not want to pay the

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price. They will not want to sacrifice
their life. They will not want to give up
their lives for, for Christ likesee.
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

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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.

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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.

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It goes over and over and over again.
I wish I had the time. Remember Acts chapter 20?
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

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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 eachone of you with tears, because I

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know that when I leave, there will be people that will come
in, will rise up from within thechurch.
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,

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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

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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

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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 anddrink 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

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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 notfail the test.
Examine yourself, test yourself,prove yourself to make sure that

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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 Christis in them.
You go over to the the book of Titus.
Titus says that there will be people in the church.

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They profess to know God, but bytheir 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

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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

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religious and you cannot controlyour 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.

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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'sin 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 chapter3 verse #1 I want to safeguard

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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 gospelthat transformed their lives.

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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 MatthewMead.

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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 somehowdeceived themselves in the
thinking that they were Christians.
And so he he begins to write this book that talks about the

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almost Christian. And in a span of 120 pages, he
gives several characteristics ofthose who claim to be Christian.
But they're close, yet they are still so far way.

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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,

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insight, and they may understanda 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 bealmost a Christian.

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A person may have a high view ofreligion, 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 yetstill only be almost a
Christian. A person may even hate sin, but

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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 fightagainst sin within himself and
yet still only be almost a Christian.

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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.

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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.

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A person may endure hardship forChrist 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

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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

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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?

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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

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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 tobe a Christian.

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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.

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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 bornagain.
The Bible says in John 112 that to as many as received him to
them gave you power to become the sons of God.

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There. There there's an individual
reception of who Christ is. You see, the Jews believe that
because Abraham was their fatherthat 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,

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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 tokill 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

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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.

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Paul would say in Philippians 3 as he began to list the litany
of things that he had done, thathe 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.

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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.

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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 tailsof 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,

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I'm a part of a certain church. I go to this denomination, and
therefore that's going to get meinto heaven.
But listen, going to church doesn't make you a Christian any
more than going to the garage isgoing 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'regoing to be saved because they

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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

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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'sthe 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

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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

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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 untome, I will come in with him.

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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

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think that because they're theologically astute that they
know that they're going to go toheaven.
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 isto know about God.
They know more about God than any of us do.

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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.

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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 thinkthat that will get them to
heaven, but it does not. The Jews, they believe in one

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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

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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

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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.

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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 thatsomehow 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

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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

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righteousness which we have done.
Paul in Romans 3 would say thereis 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 intoheaven is the work of Christ,
not the work of man. But there are many people in

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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

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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.

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This is the classic example, Judas, classic example.
Judas preached like the other 11preached.
He preached the Gospel, Matthew chapter 10.
He healed the sick like the other 11 did, but he was the son
of perdition. And when it came time to to talk

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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

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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 foryears have fooled people, have

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fooled themselves. Judas had become self deceived.
But it was all about the money for Judas.
He followed Christ because therewas 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

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riches do to someone who followsJesus with joy.
There's that ministerial confusion.
There's that emotional confusionwhere 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

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just want to well, pray a prayeror, or, or, or say something.
And, and somehow we think that that's going to save us.
Emotional confusion is huge, butthe greatest confusion is
experiential confusion. I've had an experience.

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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.

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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.

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

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church I pastored who came to meand 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 andlook at a time in which he

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prayed the sinner's prayer, no matter what his lifestyle's
like. What if your son becomes an
alcoholic and an adulterer and amurderer?
Are you going to say, go back tothat 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 hadwhen he was 5.

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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.

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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
8. Acts chapter 8.
Let me give you an example of this, of somebody who had an

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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 andastonishing the people of

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Samaria claiming to be someone great.
And they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention
to him, saying, this man is whatis 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

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preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God in the name
of Jesus Christ, they were beingbaptized, men and women alike.
Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he

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

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

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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

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Jerusalem heard that Samaria hadreceived 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

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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.

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Wow, this is great. I mean I was in the magical
arts, but this is beyond magicalarts 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

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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.

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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.

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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 powerof the Spirit of God.

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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 uponme.
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

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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

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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

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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

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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 aboutwhat God did in their lives only
in years later to turn completely away from the faith

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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

(55:23):
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

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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

(56:05):
about those sermons, but then hebegan 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 builtthe stairs that are here on our
stage in our auditorium. He was involved in building the

(56:30):
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,

(56:50):
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 eventor an experience that he had

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when he was younger about givinghis 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.

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He walked away from Christianitybecause 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

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John chapter 8 and I said to him, listen to what Jesus says.
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 Mosesfrom the burning Bush in Exodus
chapter 3, you will die in your sins.

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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.

(58:39):
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

(59:01):
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,

(59:27):
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

(59:48):
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?

(01:00:12):
Are you the kind of person whoselife 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

(01:00:34):
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

(01:01:00):
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 moreinto great details as to what is
a Christian and spend the next 11 weeks examining that in light

(01:01:24):
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

(01:01:48):
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

(01:02:09):
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

(01:02:30):
you'd enlighten all of us to thetruth of your word.
A lot of things covered, a lot of verses read.
Bottom line is, Lord, we need tomake sure that we know Christ is
Lord and Savior. Lord, we love you and those who
are here are here to learn aboutyou.
They want to follow you, so we ask that Lord you'd work in all

(01:02:52):
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 Lordof their lives and follow you
from this day forward in Jesus name, Amen.