Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11. I would like
to read verses 22 to 26, Acts chapter 11. Then tidings of these things
came unto the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch,
who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and
exhorted them all that with purpose of heart that they would cleave unto the
Lord. For he was a good man, and full
of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and much people was added unto
the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus,
or Seesaw. When he had found him, he brought
him unto Antioch, came to pass that a whole year they assembled
themselves with the church and taught much people, and the disciples
were called Christians, first in Antioch. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we come before
you this morning, we come with a full assurance of knowing that,
Lord, we have nothing in ourselves to merit any standing before
you. It is by grace. We ask you this
morning, Lord, would you bless your Word to our understanding. We're needing people. We need
to be taught. We need to be comforted. Help
us, Oh, for Christ's sake, amen. I was listening to the
television the other day, and one of the announcers on television
made a statement, and he said this concerning himself. He said,
I'm a Christian. And I listened to what he said
and he made some statements. And I got to thinking about that. And as I thought on it, my heart
was drawn to this passage of scripture in Acts 11, verse 26.
The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Now today we're going to consider
the most important question that any person will ever ask themselves. There is no question that is
more relevant to me. I'm going to tell you right now,
I'm going to be Obviously I know I'm preaching to you, but I'm
going to tell you something. Marvin Stoniker needs to hear
what this bloke's got to say. Because I'm going to stand before
God. As soon as I leave this world, nothing else is going
to matter. Here's the question. Am I a Christian? With that question, I know that
the natural man's mind, let me tell you what's going to happen
in my Christian. Here's what's going to happen. Immediately
you're going to go back. You're going to go back in time.
You're going to try to go back to either an experience or you're
going to go back to some emotion that somehow happened a few years
ago, you're going to go back in time. Now that's naturally
what's going to happen. Now as respectfully as I can
say this, that's all water under the bridge. The scripture says today is the
day of salvation. I don't remember. I don't remember
how. I felt I don't remember what
my emotion was, I don't remember things that happened exactly
this morning when I first got up, much less 25, 30 years ago. You're not going to be able to
recall exactly what you thought. I can remember coming up and
in religion. And what I would do if I was
scared of myself, I would, I'd sit down, I'd be sitting in the
service and I'd ask myself, now did I? When I, when I walked
down the aisle, when I shook the preacher's hand, when I prayed
the sinner's prayer, when I enjoyed Was I really, really, was I sincere
as I ought to be? I mean, did I really hear
what he had to say or was it an emotional thing? The only thing that matters,
I'm going to tell you right now, is right now. Right now. This is it. Whatever happened
yesterday, whatever happened this morning, It doesn't matter. It matters right now. Today is
the day of salvation. Am I a Christian? And it does not matter what men
say, except that they're consistent with these scriptures right here. Paul the Apostle says, Woe unto
me, he said, if I don't preach the gospel. Let me say this, woe is unto
me if I don't believe it. Woe is unto you if you don't
believe it. The first thing that we should
ask ourselves is this, what is a Christian? They were first
called Christians in Antioch. Christians. What does the Bible say about
what a Christian is? That's the only thing that matters. Everything else, this heart is
so desperately wicked, it's deceitful above all things. What does the
Scripture say? Christians, the only thing that
matters. Leaving this world without a
substitute, what hope do I have? Absolutely
none. Let me tell you what I know first
of all. I know that a Christian is one that has been made to
see spiritually and know himself to be a sinner. Now let me just say this now. A Christian is one that has been
made to see himself as a sinner. The Lord said in Matthew 13,
16, or your eyes, eyes to see, eyes
to see, ear to hear, eyes to see, blessed are your eyes for
they see. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. When Adam fell in the garden,
the Lord told him, He said, in the day that you eat, in the
day that you disobey God. You're gonna die. You're gonna
die. Men are born spiritually dead. Now what's the significance of
that? Here's what it is. A dead man
can do nothing. He can do nothing. A dead man is dead. He cannot walk before God, he
cannot believe God, he can't love God, he can do nothing. The Lord said, without me you
can do nothing. By the grace of God, A Christian is one that has been
made to see himself as unable. Unable. This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, Paul said. Now, to understand what a sinner
actually is, a sinner dead in trespasses and sins, it's to
understand that you can do nothing to merit yourself. You say, well,
I can believe. No, you can't. No, you can't. It's given unto you to believe. Faith is a gift of God. Men are dead spiritually, but
aren't all men born in Adam sinners? Yes. Yes, they are. But only those made sensible
of that fact have any hope whatsoever. What a blessing when we're made
sensible of our own ability. I want you to turn to Luke 18. Let's just wait and see what
the scripture has to say. Luke 18, verse 9. Luke 18, 9, And he spake this
parable unto them which trusted in themselves. that they were righteous and
despised others. What did he just say? He spake
this parable to those that trusted in something that they had done. I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ
as my personal Savior, therefore I'm a believer. No you're not.
No you're not. Not by works of righteousness
that we have done. No you're not. If you're putting any confidence
in something that you've done in order to be saved. Now, to
say that a believer reacts and walks in a righteous way after
Almighty God, righteous in Christ, accepted in Christ, that's what
I mean when I say, to say that a believer has a walk that's
consistent with a believer is so. But we had no confidence
in the flesh. None. Two men in this parable went
up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a Republican.
And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank
Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this Republican. I fast twice in a week. I give
tithes of all I possess. And the publican standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other, for every one
that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." Here's a question. Here's a question
to Martin. Here's a question to every one
of you. Is there anything that I'm resting in that I've done? Is there anything that I think
that I have done that has therefore merited or established of right
standing before God Almighty. If you're looking to something
that you have done, you're looking to the wrong place. A Christian
is one that the Spirit of God has taught something about his
rebellion toward God. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Saul was a righteous man himself. You go back to Philippians 2
and look at all the things that he found to merit in himself,
he thought. salvation before God. Oh, he
was circumcised on the right day, he was born in the right
family, he had done this, he had done this, he had done this,
he had done this, and all of this, and he said, I counted
all those things he had done. Let me ask you this. Can you
cast away, in your heart truly, everything that you think you've
ever done to merit salvation before God? Would you give it up? Every self-righteous
act, and they're all self-righteous. Let me tell you this, they're
all self-righteous. Anything that you've done of
yourself. Paul saw himself as a rebel,
a lost rebel against God when the Lord revealed it to him.
Why persecutest thou me? And he never left this world. Without the presence of that
sin, and he knew it, oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this devil? A Christian is a sinner that
Almighty God has shown to be impotent spiritually. I could not do anything to call
myself out of darkness. I could not rebirth myself. And
I can't stand here this morning and preach to you except Almighty
God grant me the grace and mercy to do so. I stand before you
this morning as a sinner speaking to sinners and declare unto you
that we have no hope except Almighty God have mercy upon us. A Christian is a sinner that
Almighty God has shown to be a sinner. Secondly, a Christian
is one given a heart to believe, to see with the eyes of faith
that salvation is all of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. that we trust in our faith. Trusting
in your faith is to trust in something that cannot save you.
Your faith is not that which put away your guilt, Christ did.
Faith is the grace by which God Almighty teaches and gives his
people an understanding of what he's done. We do not trust in
our faith. Faith, that precious, precious
grace that's given us. Oh, how thankful! Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. But not yours. Not yours. His. Imputed to you. Faith is the
grace given to believe God Almighty that without Him I can do nothing. I am a helpless, helpless man unless
God does something for me. A Christian is one that is given
heart to believe God's report. concerning His mercy and compassion
toward and elect people found in and represented by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53-1 says, Who hath believed
our report? Do you know what that word report
means? Doctrine. Who has believed our
doctrine? And to whom is the arm, the force,
the might, the strength of the Lord revealed? A Christian is one that believes
that God Almighty, the Father, according to His everlasting
and eternal pleasure and will, to choose a people in Christ
before the foundation of the world that they should be holy
and without blame before Him in love. Where's that found? Ephesians 1.4. Turn to it. I
want you to look at it. Turn to it. Ephesians 1.4. Moses
asked the Lord, show me your glory. This is what the Lord
said, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. This is a Christian. He's one
that God Almighty has shown to be helpless, helpless, helpless. He has no confidence in his flesh.
He does not look back to his works of self-righteousness that
he's done. He realizes that God Almighty,
before the foundation of the world, chose to show mercy to
somebody. Who was it and why did he do
it? Look at Ephesians 1.5, having
predestinated us. God determined the destination
of all that he chose in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure I stand before you this morning
with this confession. I am here, Tim, by the grace
of God. The grace of God Almighty. And I know this, that Almighty
God could have left me in my rebellion. He could have left
me in my arrogance. He could have left me in my false
religion. He could have left. He could
have done whatever He wanted to do. But Almighty God chose
to show mercy to a sinner. A believer is one that believes
God. Did Almighty God say that He
chose in that eternal covenant of grace, that He chose to show
mercy? God so loved the world, He loved
the order, the arrangement of man, that He would not let mankind
perish. And what did He do? He chose
a people. A remnant. According to the election
of grace, He chose them. I will show mercy to you. I will
have compassion on you. I will not let you perish. I'm going to make you holy. And my son, I'm going to bless
you. And you're going to be with me. And he sent the Lord Jesus
Christ, his servant. The servant of God. He gave him
a people. The Father said, these are mine.
And I give them to you. They're Christ's. They're the
Holy Spirit's. The Father of the Scripture says,
children, and the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and lived before God Almighty
and His law in absolute obedience as a man, the man Christ Jesus. He came into this world and God
the Father considered all of the elect in his son. And he looked to his son, and
he looked to his son, and he looked to his son, and this is
what he said concerning his son. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. The scripture says that all of
our acceptance before God Almighty were accepted in the beloved. not accepted in ourselves. Shun
the fact to me or to you, which is not a fact, but it's a fact
to me or you in our state of being dead. Shun that thought
of thinking that God Almighty accepts a man or a woman based
on some little fickle, impotent act that they do. You say, yeah,
but I did this. Let me tell you something. Before
Almighty God will accept you, you say, I accepted Jesus. Do you realize that every walk,
every act, every walk, every act, everything that if you ever
in your life, before or after whatever you think you did, if
it was not absolutely holy, if it wasn't perfect, I was baptized. Did you ever
disobey God at one point? I walked down the aisle. I prayed
through. I accepted. Did you ever disobey
God? Ever? You're lost. You're lost. There is only one that God Almighty
accepts. One, one, one. This is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. A believer is one that believes
God Almighty has mercy on whomsoever He will. And chooses to show
mercy. And gave them to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Christ came as the Federal
Head of all God's elect. And walked before God's law perfectly. Oh, but they are sinners in themselves. That's right. And He went to
the cross. and bore in His own body. He
was made what they are. For whom did He die? The Word
of Jesus Christ said, I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay
down my life for the sheep. You say, well I think He died
for everybody. I think He paid the guilt of
everybody. Well, if he paid everybody's
debt then, then God is unjust if he puts one man in hell. If
he paid the debt for everybody, everybody's sin was paid for,
then God is unjust, and God's not a failure. Well, I believe
he paid for everybody's sin, but the thing is, is that if
you accept him Then it becomes effectual to you, then you believe
in salvation by your work. It ain't going to fly. It ain't
going to fly. The only thing that's consistent
with this book is salvation is all grace. And that there's no merit whatsoever
to a man or a woman in themselves. That ain't going to fly. The father gave the son of people. The son, as their federal head,
came to this world, and he lived before God's law, and he died
under God's judgment as their substitute. He was made what
they are. And being in union, in eternal
union with them, I mean with him, Christ with them and they
with Him, being in eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. When
He died, we died under the judgment of Almighty God in a substitute. God is just. I'm telling you,
He's going to deal with sin. And I'll tell you this in time. The Spirit of God is going to
bring under the sound of this glorious gospel of free grace,
free sovereign grace. He's going to bring His elect
under the sound of this gospel. And according to God's everlasting
mercy and kindness, He's going to slay everyone in their heart. He's going to reveal to them
You're a rebel. You're a rebel against me. Saul
saw why I persecuted him. Who are you? Let me tell you
something. Ain't nobody here that was ever
more religious than Saul of Tarsus. Oh, you think you're religious?
That's what Saul said. That's what Paul said. He said,
I'm more. He said, but all those things
by the grace of God. He said, I count it but done.
Oh, the miracle of God's grace when a man will throw away his
own self-righteousness and cry as that public, can God be merciful
to me, a sinner. The Spirit of God is going to
call out God's elect. How do you know that? The Lord
Jesus Christ says, all that the Father gave of me shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will know I was cast out. Thirdly, a Christian is one made
evident by faithfulness to Christ. Faithfulness to Christ. Now you
say that's kind of a broad statement there. What do you mean? Listen
to the words of our Lord. John 13.35. By this shall all
men know that you are my disciples." Boy, I tell you what, if there
was ever a statement that I want to hear the rest of it, this
is going to be it. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples. Here's what it is. You have love
one to another. Love. According to our Lord's words,
this is the acid test. of the knowledge of Christianity. You love what God loves. That's
the heart of it. You love what God loves. Obviously, this is more than
just some little fickle notion in our head. It's a heart. It's a heart. It's a practice
of the heart. You love the brethren. Love for
the brethren is to love what the brethren love. The brethren
love Christ. They love Him. Though they see
in themselves struggles and strivings, but do they not have the same
attitude as that publican that the Lord said, this man is justified. God be merciful to me. To love
the brethren is to love the message that the brethren love. Paul
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of this
gospel. This is the power of God and
the salvation. In this gospel, there is the
righteousness of God revealed. Love. The brethren love Christ. The
brethren love Christ's gospel. The brethren love God's gospel.
They love what God loves. This is the manifestation. You
want to be where the Lord is honored. You love one another. This is the body of Christ. This
is Christ's body. I know that every one of us,
there's not a one of us in here that's not a struggling sinner.
But I'm telling you, you love the brethren. You love those
in Christ's house. I'm looking, I'm convinced, I'm
looking at some of God's every last thing they love to act. And I appreciate you. And I love
you. And I thank you for your fellowship.
And I thank you for your friendship. I thank you for Christ's name.
I love being around you. I love to hear you talk. I love
to hear about your struggles, because I had them too. A believer, one that sees himself
as a helpless sinner, one that believes God's report concerning
salvation by grace, a sinner, according to our Lord's words,
by this shall all men know you are my disciples. She fought
together. They fought together. I want
to be where Christ is honored. I don't want to listen to somebody
that's going to dishonor my Lord and tell me that he's trying
to do something. I don't want to hear somebody
tell me about the little God of this world that's trying to
save somebody when he can't because they won't let him. And lastly, a Christian is one
that is convinced that he's going to see God in mercy. All men are going to see him
in the great white throne. But a believer is one, a sinner,
heftless in himself. He believes God Almighty has
chosen to show mercy to a people. He believes that the Father chose
to show mercy Christ redeemed them in mercy, and the Spirit
of God calls them in mercy, and He's given them a new heart.
And they love that which God loves. They don't have any confidence
in themselves. They don't even remotely pretend
that there's any confidence in themselves. I'm here this morning
by the grace of God, and if this is the last time I ever preach
to you, I pray that the truth of of how God saves a sinner. He saves them in power. He saves
them according to purpose. He saves them according to grace
and compassion. Not because of what He saw they
would do. That, that, that according to
His will. And He gives them a new heart.
And I'm telling you, they love that which He loves. And they know this. They know
this when they take their last breath, that according to God's
good pleasure, they know that according to God's good compassion,
immediately they're going to be absent from this body and
they're going to see God. And they're going to say as Stephen
said, I see the Lord standing, ready to receive me. It'll be
over. Job says, though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh we're going to be
changed. In my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and
not another. Not going to be somebody else
going to grip me, he's going to grip me. Now are we the sons of God. He does not appear what we shall
be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like
Him. We shall see Him as He is. David
said in Psalm 1715, As for me, I will behold thy faith in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Kept by the power of God. That's
what we believe. That's a Christian belief. God
Almighty chose to show mercy to a helpless sinner. He did
it on purpose. He did it according to his grace
and compassion. Christ redeemed him of the spirit.
God called him out. Gave him a new heart. Loved what
he loved. Loved his gospel. Loved that gospel of grace. Free
grace. Sovereign grace. And they believe
that God is going to keep them. Kept by the power of God. One
of these days, they're going to see Him face to face and they're
going to be with Him forever. And they will forever praise
and honor Him who is worthy. Worthy is the Lamb. Let me ask
you this. Do you see yourself? I said,
don't look back. I'm talking about right now.
Right now. Right now. Do you see yourself as totally?
incapable of doing anything to merit salvation before God? Do you believe God's word of
salvation to be all of grace? The Father chose, the Son redeemed,
the Spirit of God called, did so affectionately, saved me by
grace. Do you love what God loves? Do
you love His gospel, the gospel of free grace that honors Christ? Do you believe by the grace of
God only? No other reason that you're going
to see Him totally because He chose to show mercy to you. Do you believe that? That's a
Christian. That's a Christian. May the Lord
bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.