Would you turn to Luke chapter
11. I'm delighted to be with you.
What a blessing. I so much enjoyed being with
your pastor the last couple of days. I could have kept on working
today. We quit a couple of hours early. I think he was worn out. I wanted
to do more. I'd like to read these first
four verses of Luke chapter 11. And it came to pass that as he
was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto
him, Lord, teach us to pray. As John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When you
pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth. give us day by day our daily
bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone
that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil I've entitled this message What
is a Christian? What is a Christian? Now I want to know the answer
to that question and I find myself having to ask myself if I know
the answer to that question repeatedly. What is a Christian? There is seldom a day that goes by. As a matter
of fact, I don't know if there is a day that goes by. When at
some point during that day I ask myself, are you really a Christian? How could you be? How could you
be and think those things and do those things? How could you
be? Are you really a Christian? Are you really saved? So I want
to bring a message where you and I can walk out of this room
knowing whether or not we really are Christians. That'd be a blessing,
wouldn't it? Now, in this passage of Scripture
that I just read, the Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples to
pray. what a blessing I want him to
teach me to pray don't you? I think it's interesting we never
read where the disciples said teach us to preach although I'm
sure he did but we don't read where they said teach us to preach
but they did say teach us to pray they were watching our Lord
and I can't imagine what that would have been like watching
the Lord Jesus pray and when he was finished they said teach
us to pray as John taught his disciples Now a Christian can
be seen, can be defined in this thing of prayer. Now let me repeat that. A real
Christian, a true Christian, whatever a Christian is. I love
that passage of scripture in Acts chapter 11 when they were
first called Christians at Antioch. I like that. They didn't call
themselves Christians. People called them Christians. They
were first called Christians at Antioch. And a Christian can
be defined in this thing of prayer. Now there's a lot of ways we
can define what a Christian is from the Word of God. This book's
a big book. And the Lord uses the whole Bible to define what
a Christian is. But here we have four verses
that if God gives me the grace to see what's being said, I can
leave here knowing whether or not I really am a Christian and
what a Christian really is. Everybody, at some time, has
prayed. You've heard that saying, there
are no atheists in foxholes. That's true. Everybody, to ever
live, has prayed. When we get in trouble, Lord,
if you're out there, help me. Help me out of this. Save me. Get me out of this mess. I'm
sick. Help me. If you're real, help me. My child
is sick. Oh, help my child. Heal my child. There's not a human being on
the face of this planet that has never prayed. But the Lord gives us some special
insight into this when He spoke of the prayer of the Pharisee. He stood and prayed, anybody
know the next words? Thus with himself. He thought
he was praying to God, but he wasn't. He was praying thus with
himself. That wasn't true prayer. When
the Lord Jesus knocked Paul off his high horse and sent Ananias
to preach the gospel to him, What did he say to Ananias regarding
Paul the Apostle? Behold, he prayeth. He never had before. Oh, he'd done
what that Pharisee had done, but he'd never prayed to the
Lord before. Behold, he prayeth. You see, prayer is the breath
of faith. Wherever you have one, You have
the other. Wherever you have faith, you
will have real prayer. And wherever you have real prayer,
you will have faith. Now, in this prayer that our
Lord teaches us to pray, He said, when you pray, say. And this
is not a formula. I know people use it like that.
I remember when I was in junior high school, our football team
used to pray this prayer before the games. And I remember I was embarrassed
because I didn't know it. Everybody else knew it, and I didn't. I
just mumbled, you know, because I don't want all this guy...
And it's kind of a formula people use, but this is what a Christian
is. First, he's a member of this
group called Our. Our Father. who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive
those who are indebted to us. The Christian is in this great
big group known as our, we, and us. It's the same us if God be for
us. who can be against us. It's the same we as we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. It's the same
us that the Lord Jesus referred to when He was talking to John
the Baptist and He came to be baptized and He said, thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You see, everything the Lord
Jesus did, He did as an us. When He fulfilled all righteousness,
all of God's elect, all of those who are united to Him fulfilled
all righteousness. Now, our Lord teaches us to pray
this way. A part of this great group, we. us and our. This represents everyone
who is united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause? He's not
ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to own me. Now
Christian, first of all, He's a part of something a whole lot
bigger than he is. He's a part of the our, the we,
the us. That, my dear friends, is a Christian. Secondly, a Christian is a child
of God. Our Father, who art in heaven. A Christian is somebody who God
is their Father. Now, God's not Father to everybody.
You remember when the Lord said to that one crowd, you're Father
to the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. They
were in no sense children of God, not in any way. He's not
everybody's Father, but He's the Father of the Christian.
Our Father. Well, how'd they become that
way? Well, first of all, He's our
Father by adoption, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ Himself. Now, that means He adopted us.
He chose us. He chose us. He chose us to be
His adopted children. Isn't that glorious? But not
only are we adopted children, we're Biological children isn't
the right word, but we're children by birth. We're not just adopted
children. We're children by birth. To as
many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the
sons of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were
born, there it is, which were born, not of blood, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. How
much did you have to do with your first birth? Nothing. How
much do you have to do with your second birth? Same. Nothing. Born of God. And if you're born of God, that
means He's your Father. You cry, Abba, Father. It comes
out naturally. I mean, it's not something you
just work up. It's something that's in you. Our Father. When you sin against Him, oh,
you go back to your Father in confession of your sins through
your Son. Our Father. A Christian is a child. A child by adoption. God's choice. A child by birth. And here's
the evidence. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Now, I'm not asking you if you
know you're a Christian. I'm not asking you if you know
you're saved. I'm not asking you if you know you're one of
the elect. I'm not asking you if you know that you've been
born again. Here's what I am asking you.
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that
He is God's prophet, the very Word of God? Do you believe that
He's God's priest, so that if He brings you into the presence
of the Father, you must be heard? Do you believe he's God's king,
that he's ruling and reigning? Do you need him to be the king
to cause you to do his will? Do you believe he's God's prophet,
priest, and king? Do you? You know what the Bible
says? You're born of God. You are a
child of God. You are a Christian. Look what our Lord says next. and he said unto them when you
pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name
a christian is a worshipper now the name of the lord is simply
who he is the person behind the name It's
His attributes. All of His attributes. You remember
that passage where in Exodus chapter 34, when the Lord descended
and proclaimed the name of the Lord, He said, The Lord, the
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty. He names his attributes. Now every Christian says regarding
every one of God's attributes, who he is. It's the person behind
the name. Hallowed be thy name. Holy and reverend is thy name. A Christian is a worshipper. Our Lord said, God is spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth. Now, if you're a Christian, you're
dead sure of this. You know the only way you can worship God
is by the Holy Spirit. You know it can't come from your
flesh. And you know the only way you can worship God is through
the truth of the Gospel. You know that. There's no question
in your mind about that. Paul says in Philippians 3 verse
3, we are the circumcision. We are the true Christians. We are the true Jews. We are
the circumcision which worship God. We worship Him for who He
is. You know, you'll only worship
a sovereign. You'll only worship one that you can't manipulate,
that you're in His hands and He can do with you whatever He's
pleased to do. We worship God in the spirit. We rejoice. And that word is
we glory. We have confidence in. We rejoice
in Christ Jesus. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. Now that is a Christian. He is
a worshipper. He's someone who worships God
for who he is. Now let's go on reading. thy kingdom come." A Christian
is a subject of another kingdom. This world really is not his
home. He's a subject of another kingdom. The kingdom of the king of kings. The kingdom where his kingship
is loved and adored. It's the same kingdom that this
thief spoke of when he said, Lord. He saw that one hanging
on a cross and he knew he was the Lord. He said, Lord, remember
me when you come into your, what? The Kingdom of God, which is
not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. That's the Kingdom the believer
is in. That's the Kingdom the Christian
is in. And they say from the depth of their heart, Thy Kingdom
come. Is there prayer in your heart?
You want His Kingdom to come so that that's all that's seen.
You don't see the kingdom of this world. You know it. God's
in control of it. He's got a thumb on it. He's
going to get rid of it in his time. But oh, our prayer is thy
kingdom come. What's it say next? Thy will be done as in heaven. So in earth, a Christian is a
servant. who wants God's will to be done. The way it's done in heaven,
I love to think of the way God's will is done is in heaven. Everybody
does his will willingly, cheerfully, joyfully, quickly. Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven. Take my will and make it thine,
it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thy own,
it shall be thy royal throne. A Christian is somebody who from
the depths of their heart, they say, and this is what they want,
thy will be done. Whatever it is, if it crosses
me, thy will be done. Verse 3, a Christian is someone who is
completely dependent upon the charity of God for all things. Give us day by day our daily
bread. I'm completely dependent on Him. For all things. All things. Can't take that too far. All
things. Give us. Give me what I need. Give me my daily bread. Give
me what I need emotionally. Give me what I need physically. Give me what I need materially.
Give me what I need spiritually. Give me what I... If you'll give to me, I won't
have it. Give me this day. You know, that's what children
do. They ask their parents for stuff, don't they? Give me this. Give
me that. Ask right things. Give me. Give
me. Give me. Give us this day, our
daily bread. You know, come my soul, thy soup
prepare. Jesus loves to answer prayer.
He himself has bid thee pray, therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a king, large petitions with thee bring, for
his grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much. Give us this day our daily bread. Verse four, and forgive us our sins. Now
what that tells me is a Christian is a sinner. Listen real carefully. A Christian
is a sinner. You've heard people say they're
a good Christian. By definition, if they're a Christian,
they're no good. By definition. A Christian is
somebody so bad that the only way they can be saved is by the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian is a sinner. Now, most folks, are you a sinner?
Well, yeah, I make mistakes. I don't mean that. That's not
what I'm talking about. What's a sinner? Well, what's sin? Sin, according
to John, 1 John 3, verse 4, is the transgression of the law.
A sinner is somebody who puts other gods or anything before
God. Do you do that? A sinner is someone who concocts
false ideas of God in order to make himself feel more comfortable
and make him be able to vindicate himself. A sinner is someone who fails
to reverence God's holy name, His holy character. A sinner
is someone who never rests. A sinner is someone who disobeys
his parents and disrespects authority. A sinner's a murderer. He might
not have murdered somebody physically, but he's murdered their characters.
A sinner is guilty of sexual sin. They're adulterers. If they
haven't done it physically, they've done it in their hearts. A sinner's
a thief. He's taken that which did not
belong to him. He's robbed. He's robbed God
of glory, trying to give it to himself. A sinner's a liar. A liar. Even when he tells the
truth, he tells it in such a way as to make himself look good.
He's got some other motive. A sinner is covetous. He covets
that which God hadn't given him. That's what a sinner is. Listen
to me. A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. A sinner is someone who all they
do is sin. A sinner is someone who can't
look down their nose in moral superiority at anybody. A sinner is someone who has no
claims on God. That's the one who needs the
forgiveness of sins. A Christian is a sinner. And when he prays, he can't come
into God's presence without an awareness of that. Oh, forgive
us our sins. A Christian is a sinner who's
been forgiven of his sins. And a Christian is one who forgives
others. Being forgiven. They forgive. Now, you may have a hard time
forgiving somebody. But if you're a Christian, when
you see how God has forgiven you, it becomes easy, doesn't
it? A Christian is one who forgives
because he has been forgiven. Now let me give you six real
good reasons to forgive. Listen real carefully. The Lord said, if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive
you your trespasses. Pretty good reason, isn't it?
I mean, forgive out of self-interest. The Lord says that real clearly.
Two, second, we will be forgiven in the same manner we forgive. forgive us our debts as we forgive
those that are indebted to us. We're asking the Lord to use
the same principle we use. The Lord teaches us to pray that
way. Somebody says, is this works?
No, it's not works, but it's what the Lord says, isn't it?
Here's another good reason. If we forgive, we will be happier
people. You know, there isn't anything
that gnaws at my soul anymore than when I'm resentful at being
wronged. Man, it gets to me. It brings... You know, when you're the one...
Like Bruce Crabtree said here a few years ago, watch out when
you're the one wrong. Watch out. Watch out. You're
the one in trouble. How can they do that to me? How
can they treat me... This is wrong. After all, I don't deserve...
It just makes you miserable. But what a blessing it is to,
from our heart, forgive. May God make me and you forgiving
people. You see, if we fail to forgive,
according to 2 Corinthians 2, 10 and 11, Satan has the advantage
over us. That's what the Bible says. Now here's my favorite reason.
Do you know that it lies in the very nature of our God to forgive? Isn't that glorious? When he proclaimed his name to
Moses, he said, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. It's the very nature of God to
forgive. And the most God-like thing me
or you can ever do is to forgive somebody. Be kind, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another. even as God for Christ's sake."
That's the only reason he had to have. And that's the only
reason you have to have. Well, they haven't said, I'm
sorry. Well, did you? Did you? God forgave you, not
because you said, I'm sorry. He forgave you for Christ's sake. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. So, a Christian is a sinner. He's a forgiving sinner and he's
a forgiving sinner. Isn't that what a Christian is?
Now let's go on reading. Verse 4, and lead us not into temptation. A Christian is someone who is
so weak that he knows that if he's tempted, he'll fall. Don't let me even be tempted. Put up a hedge around me. Surround
me. Don't let me even be tempted
because I'm so weak. I'm so weak that I know if I'm
tempted, I know myself to know that I'm going to fall. So don't
let me be tempted. Don't let me be tried. I don't
want a trial. I know they're coming my way,
but I'm all for getting out of them. Lead us not into temptation. I can't handle it. I'm aware
of that. I'm aware of that. And in my
prayer, Lord, don't let me be tempted. Just put a hedge around
me. I don't want to be tempted. You
know, Paul said, when I'm weak, then am I strong. If I say, bring the temptation
on, I can handle it. I show how stupid I am and deceived
I am. Now this comes from the heart
of the Christian, someone that God's done a work of grace in
their heart. They say, lead me not into temptation. And the last thing, what is a
Christian? A Christian is someone who needs
to be delivered from evil. Deliver us, save us from evil. Save me from the evil one. I
don't want to have anything to do with Satan. Save me from the
evil one. Save me from this evil world. The lust of the flesh. All that's
of the world. The lust of the flesh. The lust
of the eyes. The pride of life. The lust of
the flesh, pleasure. The lust of the eyes, popularity. Being more concerned about what
men think than what God thinks. Pride of life, the lust for power
and authority. Oh, save me from this present
evil world. And Lord, save me from this evil
one. I'm the one I need to be saved
from. You know, in this same chapter,
the Lord said to his disciples, and these were his disciples,
and he said to his disciples, if you then being, what? Evil. That's a strong word. Somebody
comes up to me and says, you are evil. And you're not? Who are you talking to? When the Lord says it, if you
then being evil, you know if you ever heard the truth about
yourself, there it is. I need saved from evil. The evil one, this evil world,
and most especially this evil one. Lord, save me from myself. How many times do you have to
pray that? Now, a Christian is defined by this prayer, isn't
it? A Christian is part of this great
group, the our, the we, the us, those united to Christ. A Christian
is a child of God, our Father. A Christian is a worshipper. Hallowed be thy name. A Christian
is the subject of the great kingdom, thy kingdom come. A Christian
is someone who wants God's will to be done. A Christian is someone
who is totally dependent upon the charity of God. Give us this
day our daily bread. A Christian is a sinner. He's
a forgiven sinner. And he's a forgiving sinner.
A Christian is one who can't handle temptation. And he prays,
Lord, lead me not into temptation. And a Christian is one who needs
to be delivered from evil. The evil one, the evil world,
and this evil one. Question. Are you a Christian? If that's what a Christian is,
yes, I am a Christian. Pastor. That's so good. Thank you, thank
you. Absolutely wonderful.