This evening, Lord willing, I'm
going to preach on Loin's Girt with Truth from Ephesians chapter
6. But turn back to Acts chapter 11. Let's look at the last sentence
of verse 26. And the disciples were called
Christians first in Antioch. I've entitled this message What
is a Christian? Good question, isn't it? What
is a Christian? Now, this is the first time the
word is used in the Bible, and it's only used three times. Do
you remember in Acts chapter 26, verse 28, when Agrippus said
to Paul after hearing him preach, almost persuadest thou me to
be a Christian? Now that's a wretched place to
be. Almost persuaded is altogether lost. And the very idea of, well,
I'm going to become a Christian. You don't decide to become a
Christian. It doesn't work that way. He was completely out of
line when he made that statement. Almost persuadest thou me to
be a Christian. And then Peter said in 1 Peter
chapter 4, verse 16, if any man suffer as a Christian, Let him
not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. And then in our text, they were
first called Christians at Antioch. And let me point this out. They
didn't call themselves Christians. They were called Christians. Who called them this? We're not
told in our text. Did they mean it by way of derision
or by way of commendation? I don't know. but they were first
called Christians at Antioch. Now, I've heard a lot of messages
on this text. What is a Christian? And people
come up with different things that they think of what a Christian
is and give the points and so on. And I don't think that's
the wise way to handle this. I think we should handle this
in the context of where it's said in this passage of scripture. What is a Christian? What comes
to your mind? You know, when Lynn and I go
out to eat on Sunday afternoons, wearing my suit and everything,
I'm looking at people, and I'm thinking, I tell Lynn, I bet
they're thinking, look at those hypocrites. Look at those hypocrites. Most people, when they think
of Christian, the first word that comes to their mind is hypocrite.
And I'm not going to argue with that. not understanding what
a Christian really is. And then there are some people
who think, well, Christians are people who stand for family values
and who don't believe in abortion and stand for good moral living. Or they'll think, well, he's
a good Christian. He's a good Christian man or
a good Christian woman. They live morally. Actually an
oxymoron. Because if a man is a Christian,
he confesses that he is so evil, intrinsically evil, desperately
evil, that the only way he can be saved is by the death of Jesus
Christ, the son of God. Good Christian. Now I want to
live a life that honors him, but good Christian, there's no
such thing. Christianity is the sinner's
religion. The gospel is the sinner's religion. A good Christian, that is not
a good word. What is a Christian? Short answer,
a disciple of Christ, one who believes on Christ, one who follows
Christ. That's what a Christian is, a
disciple of Christ. That's the short answer. But
in the context of this passage, we're given a beautiful portrait
as to what a Christian really is. And I want to know, don't
you? Because I want to know if I am a Christian. Well, I can
see from this passage of scripture. Now let's begin in verse 19 of
Acts chapter 11. Now they which were scattered
abroad upon the persecution of the rows about Stephen, you remember
that? Stephen was stoned and all of
a sudden everybody was pouring persecution on the believers
in Jerusalem and they had to get out of town. You say they
had a message that this world hated, Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
and they had to leave Jerusalem for their lives because people
were going to kill them if they were followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ, just like they did Stephen. So this persecution arises, and
the first thing that lets me know is a Christian is somebody
who believes a gospel that the world hates. and will persecute
those who believe it. That's what a Christian is. If
I've got a message that this world loves, I'm not a Christian. A Christian is one who has a
message that caused these people to flee town. And when they were
scattered abroad upon the persecution of the Rosebud Stephen, they
traveled as far as Pharncy and Cyprus and Antioch preaching
the word to none but unto the Jews only. These people left
Jerusalem being persecuted and they preached the word to only
the Jews. They didn't know about what we've
been considered in the last three weeks at this point, Cornelius
and the gospel to the Gentiles, that watershed event where the
gospel was preached to the Gentiles. They still thought at this time
it was only to be preached to the Jews. Verse 20. And some of them, which were
men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch,
spake unto the Grecians, the Gentiles, preaching the Lord
Jesus. Now, these unnamed men, we don't
know who they were, but these men preached to the Grecians,
the non-Jews. They were Gentiles. They were
people who did not know God. They came preaching the Lord
Jesus. Now these people, first of all,
were not Christians. They were Grecians. They didn't
know who Christ was. They didn't know who God was.
And these unnamed men came preaching the Lord Jesus. A Christian is
someone who at one time was not a Christian. Very important. You know what BC stands for when
we talk about the calendar, BC and AD? BC stands for before
Christ. AD is the Latin for the year
of our Lord. But every true Christian has
a BC, and I say that reverently. before Christ. There was a time
when you did not know God. You did not know that you were
a sinner. You did not know the gospel. Listen to this passage of scripture
from Ephesians chapter 2. I'm going to quote it. You can
go there if you want. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. you were dead in trespasses and
sins. As a matter of fact, turn with
me there. I think this is an important scripture to look at
with our own eyes and see about this thing of B.C., before Christ. Somebody says, I've always been
saved. That's way too long. That's way too long. And you, verse one, hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins? wherein in times past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the devil. the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, just like everybody else. We did not know
God. You know, a lot of folks, if
you say, are you a Christian? Well, sure I am. I'm born in
the United States, of course I am. This is a Christian nation,
isn't it? No. Do you have a B.C. before you came to a knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the living God? You were lost. You didn't know God. Now that is how these unnamed
men approached these Grecians. So in order to be a Christian,
you have to have a B.C. before Christ, before you knew
God. Now what did these men come preaching?
I love the simplicity of this statement. They came preaching,
verse 20, the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. That summarizes their preaching.
They came to these people who did not know God, And they came
preaching the Lord Jesus. The Lord is the one whose will
is done all the time. And let me repeat that. They
came preaching the Lord Jesus. That's not a meaningless title.
He's the Lord. The Lord is the one. whose will
is done all the time. He's the Lord Jesus. When this universe was created,
it was his will being done. He willed this universe into
existence. I love just the thought of creation. His will was being done. Everything
that happens in time, including the current coronavirus that
everybody's so whacked out about, it's His will being done. Everything, without exception,
that takes place in time is His will being done. Now somebody says, you saying
he's the author of evil? I'm saying that whatever takes
place is his will being done. And he controls everything. He brings good out of evil all
the time. I don't need to understand why
he's doing what he's doing. All I need to understand is it's
his will being done. The lot is cast into the lap. That seems like pure luck and
pure happenstance. That's what we think about when
we think of the lot. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. That's why we
can say, and we know that all things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. When we say he's
the Lord, creation was his will being done. Providence, everything
that happens in time is his will being done. He's completely sovereign
over the free and uncoerced actions of men. Nobody can say, well,
I sinned because he purposed me to. You sinned because you
wanted to. But he's sovereign over that.
He is in absolute control of everything, everybody, including
the thoughts that are going through your mind right now. He is Lord. You see, he's Lord of the dead
and the living. Romans 14.9 says that. He's Lord of the dead,
dead in sins. He's your Lord. I'm not gonna
say make him Lord of your life. He is the Lord of your life.
You might not know it, but he's Lord. That's who he is. He controls
everybody and everything. Oh, he's Lord of every believer. He's Lord of salvation. You know what that means? That
means salvation is his will being done. If you're saved, it's because
he willed you to be saved. That's exactly what that means.
If you're saved, Your salvation is in His sovereign hand. If you're saved, it's because
by His grace, He willed you to be saved. You see, He's the Lord. He's the Lord. No man can say
that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now, anybody can
articulate that, well, Jesus is Lord, but I mean really believe
it. Say it and believe that He is Lord. I love the way in the
last chapter when Simon came, Peter came to preach to Cornelius,
his message was this. Peace by Jesus Christ. He is
Lord of all. A Christian is someone who really
believes that Jesus Christ is Lord. Are you a Christian? the Lord Jesus. We're not just, I wouldn't dare
want to say we're just not talking about justice, sovereignty of
God, although that's a glorious subject. We're preaching Jesus. I love his name. Jesus of Nazareth. That's the name that every knee
is going to bow to and every tongue is going to confess that
he's Lord Jesus. What's his name mean? Savior. What a name, the Savior. It's precious to you if you need
to be saved. Jesus, Savior. Matthew 121, thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. I need to be saved from my sins.
That's what I need more than anything else. I need to be saved
from my sins. I can't save myself from my sins. I need to be saved. And that's exactly what he did.
He saved his people from the penalty of sin. Everybody he
died for, their sins are paid for and they're now justified.
I stand before God sinless. I've been saved from my sins.
I need to be saved from the power of sin. You see, I don't have
the power in and of myself to believe. I don't have the power
in and of myself to repent. I don't have the power to love
God. I need to be saved from the power of my sins. He gave
me a new heart, a new nature that was not there before, and
now I believe. Now I love. Now I repent. Somebody says, well, I've been
saved from the power of sin. I don't sin all that much anymore.
I'm really saved from the power of sin. You're under the complete
dominion of sin. If that's what you got to say,
you're still under the complete dominion of sin. And, oh, I need
to be saved from the presence of sin, or I'm not a sinner anymore.
I'm not going to experience that glory, but I have it right now
in the sense that I'm glorified in Christ Jesus. If he's glorified,
I am too. The Lord Jesus saved from sin. Now, this is the message they
heard. A Christian is someone who hears and believes this message,
the Lord Jesus. Are you a Christian? Do you believe
the Lord Jesus? I do. I do. Let's go on reading. Verse 21, and the hand of the
Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to
the Lord. What is a Christian? A Christian
is the work of the hand of the Lord. Now, where do you fit in
there? A Christian is the work of the
hand of the Lord. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 138. The psalm of David. Did you know
that David was a Christian? You say there was no such thing
back then. Yeah, there were. Anybody that follows the name
didn't come until Acts chapter 11, but David was a Christian.
He's somebody who looked to Christ only. Abel was a Christian, wasn't
he? Noah was a Christian. Moses was
a Christian. Everybody who's ever believed
is a Christian. You know, we read of the church in the wilderness.
I know the name was not coined until Acts chapter 11, but they
were Christians way before this. Followers of Christ, disciples
of Christ. David was a disciple of Christ. Now look in verse
6 of Psalm 138. Though the Lord be high. Oh,
how high he is. Though the Lord be high, yet
Hath he respect unto the lowly? Who are the lowly? Those who
have nothing in and of themselves to recommend them to God. They're
poor. They're lowly. He has respect. If you're a believer, do you
know that God respects you? That's hard to get hold of, isn't it?
God respects you. You see, you're in Christ. Does
he respect Christ? Oh, the infinite respect he has
to Jesus Christ, his son. Yes, he respects you because
you're in him. What a glorious thing to have
the respect of God. Now, let's go on reading. The
proud, he knoweth. He knows them, but he knows them
afar off. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, Thou wilt revive me, this is Christ speaking, but
it's David speaking too. He's talking about his resurrection.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me,
thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine
enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. Verse eight. The Lord
will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endures
forever, Forsake not the works of thine own hands. Now, listen
to what he's saying. And every believer can say this.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. How? He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. That's what scripture says. The
Lord will perfect that which concerns me. What makes you think
so, David? Well, thy mercy, O Lord, endures
forever. That's why I'm so sure of this.
It's God's eternal mercy, a mercy that never had a beginning and
will never end. Look what he says next. Forsake
not the works of thine own hands. David is saying, I'm the work
of your hand. Don't forsake me. Don't forsake. This is your work.
This is your work. And every believer says, not
the labor of my hands could fulfill thy laws demands. I'm the work
of his hands. All my salvation is in the nail-piercing
hands of the ever-living one. Every believer knows, you're
not going to get an argument from any believer, every Christian,
every Christian knows he's the work of the hand of God. Nothing more, nothing less. Are you a Christian? Is your
salvation the work of his hand? Not your hands. You know salvation
is of the Lord. That's what a Christian is. A
Christian is someone who knows that his salvation is the work
of God's hand. Now back to our text in Acts
chapter 11. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great
number believed and turned unto Now, this is where this first
Gentile church started in Antioch. And what is the evidence that
the hand of the Lord was with them? Faith. A great number,
even if it's only one, that's a great number. If it's a thousand,
it's a great number. The point is not the amount,
but the fact they believed. You see, faith. is the evidence
of things not seen. It's the evidence that you're
the work of the hand of God. And let me remind you, faith
is in Christ. Faith has absolutely nothing
to do with what you believe about yourself. Now, in any given day,
you'll think I'm saved and you'll think I must not be saved. Well,
if you think you're saved, that doesn't mean you are. And if
you think you're not, that doesn't mean you're not. Because that faith's
object is not self. Faith's object is Christ himself. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? Well, they say you're John the
Baptist, one of the prophets that put you into my garden.
Whom say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Do you believe he's God's Christ? That's what Christians believe.
Do you believe he's God's Christ? God's prophet, the very word
of God? God's priest, if he brings you
into God's presence, you must be saved. God's king, the one
who rules and reigns? Do you believe he's the son of
God? Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The God-man,
the second person of the blessed trinity, the eternal creator?
That's called faith. Many of them hearing the word,
the message, the Lord Jesus, that's what they heard. And the
hand of the Lord was there. He's the one who caused the faith
and so on. This is the work of his hands.
Let me go back to Agrippa. Almost thou persuadest me to
be a Christian. Agrippa, you're clueless. You don't decide to become a
Christian. You become a Christian when God saves you, when he reveals
himself to you. You don't say, well, I'm going
to make a decision. I'm going to become a Christian. That's never happened,
never will. You become a Christian when God
makes you a Christian and you're a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The hand of the Lord was there.
Many believed and turned to the Lord. You know what you do when
you believe? You turn to the Lord. You turn away from yourself,
you turn away from what you formerly believed, and you turn to the
Lord. Who so forsaketh not all that
he hath, he cannot be my disciple. What do you have? You got anything
that can recommend you? You better get rid of it. Who
forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Now let's go on reading verse
22. Then the tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
They heard about these unnamed men. I love the fact that their
names are not recorded. We don't know who they were.
But they came and brought the gospel to Antioch. Not one of
the apostles, these unnamed men. And the church of Jerusalem heard
about it. News always travels fast, even back then. And they
sent Barnabas, the son of consolation, to preach the gospel to them.
Now look what it says. The tidings of these things came
unto the ears of the church which is Jerusalem, and they sent forth
Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he
came, and had seen, what? What? The grace of God. What is a Christian? The product
of the grace of God. Are you a Christian? A Christian
is the product of the grace of God. That's what Barnabas saw,
the grace of God. Now listen to me, the grace of
God is not something God makes available to you and throws it
out there for you to pick it up. The grace of God is not something
God offers you. God's grace is saving grace. Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9,
by grace you are saved. Now, I don't want to presume
that everybody in here knows what grace means. So let's look
back in Genesis chapter six, the first time the word is used. Verse five. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That is everybody but Noah. Now this is a question I want
to ask you. Was Noah included in that group? Were you included in that group? When God looks down at your heart,
does he see that every imagination of the thoughts of your heart
is only, don't miss that word, only, evil, nonstop. And that's God's testimony. And
that's true with regard to you, whether you believe it or not.
This is God's testimony. Look in verse eight. But Noah
found favor, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, God's
grace is God giving you favor even though you're included in
that description of verse 5. It's God breaking through and
intervening in your life and giving you his grace, his unmerited,
demerited favor. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Now let me say this about God's
grace. It's sovereign. That means It's
up to him as to whether or not you're going to have it or not. Somebody says, I don't like that.
Well, I do. I do. I like it just like that. Because
I know that if it has anything to do with me or you, none of
us will have any grace. It's always free. There's nothing
you need to do to pay for it or to earn it. And it's always
saving. And I can tell what somebody
believes with regard to grace by what they believe about election.
The election of grace, God choosing who would be saved before the
foundation of the world and that election of grace had nothing
to do with their works. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works. Do you love electing grace? You
love grace, justifying grace, redeeming grace, calling grace,
preserving grace. A Christian is someone who's
been saved only by grace. Are you a Christian? Are you
a Christian? A Christian is someone who has
been saved by the grace of God, not of their works. Verse 23, who when he came and
had seen the grace of God was glad. Aren't you glad when you
see the grace of God? And what did Barnabas do? He
exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto
the Lord. Now what is a Christian? A Christian
is somebody who with purpose of heart cleaves to the Lord. And that word cleave is taken
out of the word that means abide. I want to be joined to the Lord. I want to cleave to the Lord.
I want to abide in the Lord. I don't want to leave the Lord.
I don't want to fall away is what that means. I don't want
to fall away. I want to be somebody who cleaves
with purpose of heart to the Lord. That's my one desire is
to cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart. That's what I want
to do. I want to cleave to the Lord. What's the evidence that
He's given you grace? You persevere. You continue in
the faith. You cleave to the Lord. And oh,
from the depths of my heart, I don't want to do anything else
but cleave to the Lord. I want to be joined to Him. I
want to be kept by Him. I want to be preserved by Him.
Oh, I want to cleave to the Lord. Is every Christian like that?
Yes, sir, every Christian. wants more than anything else
to cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ, to not be separated from him,
to not be left to themselves. Every believer with purpose of
heart cleaves to the Lord. This is said of Barnabas, for
he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and
much people was added into the Lord. What is a Christian? Someone who's been added to the
Lord. I like that. I love the simplicity of it.
What is a Christian? Someone who has been added to
the Lord. We read in Acts chapter two,
verse 47, and the Lord added to the church. Such as should
be saved. The Lord added to the church.
You know, people talk about being soul winners and so on. Ain't
nobody ever won a soul. That's the Lord's work. I preach
the gospel, but it's the Lord that adds the one to the church,
not me or any other human being. It's the Lord's work. The Lord
added to the church. Such as should be saved. Who
should be saved? The elect. those Christ died
for, those God the Holy Spirit gives life to, those who believe
the gospel, those whom he has justified, they should be saved. I love the language to that.
And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. Now, if you're a Christian, you
know you're the Lord's hat on. The Lord added you to his church. Verse 25, then Barnabas, then
departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. He wanted Paul
in on this. And when he found him, verse
26, he brought him unto Antioch and it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much
people. What is a Christian? People. who assemble themselves together
in the church. This is very important. There's
no such thing as a private Christian. You assemble yourselves together
with the church. That's what's going on right
now. Now I realize there's some people in some places that are
not part of a local assembly and they can't be. They're in
a position where they can't be and I would be very sympathetic
toward them. What a terrible thing. But if you can be a part of an
assembly, you better be. Christians assemble themselves
together with the church to be taught of The Lord taught the
gospel. Now, understand this with regard
to this, that's what church is. It's the assembling of believers
together. If I'm in a position where I
have to try to fit church into life's busy schedule, I've missed
it. I'm not to fit church into life's
busy schedule. Life's busy schedule is to be
fit into church, set around church. This is the assembling of ourselves
together, identifying with this gospel that a Christian is. You're
not a private Christian. Christians assemble themselves
together. I think of what the writer to
the Hebrews said, forsake not The assembling of yourselves
together as the manner of some is. Where were they first called
Christians? In this assembly. This assembly. They were first called Christians
at Antioch. Oh, make sure the assembling
of yourselves is the most important, by far the most important part
of your life. The church. of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the assembling of yourselves together. What a shame it is
when people no longer have a desire to assemble themselves together
with the church of God. And the disciples were called
Christians first in Antioch. Now, I want to read these last
four verses because the timing of this, they were first called
Christians in Antioch and look in verse 27. And in these days,
came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood
up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that
there should be a great dearth, a great famine throughout all
the world. People were going to be not having
anything to eat. And he said, this is coming.
Well, we don't have a famine of food right now, but I'd say
we're in a great dearth, aren't we? The dearth of The word of
God, the Lord actually said this is going to be a famine, not
of bread, but of the words of God. We're in famine right now.
How many preachers are telling the truth concerning how God
saves sinners by his grace? How many preachers are identifying
Christians the way Paul does in this passage of scripture?
We're in a darth. Now, let's go on reading. Which
came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar, it did indeed take place,
then the disciples, the Christians, every man, according to his ability,
determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea,
which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands
of Barnabas and Saul. There was a desire to send relief
where there was a famine. Now, what is a Christian? Well, you
can say a lot of things, but I know this. Every Christian
is interested in this thing of giving. Every Christian is interested
in this thing of giving. I have always been interested
desire us in this thing of giving. I want to be a giver. I want to be someone who gives. Freely you've received, freely
give. And this is one of the best verses,
and I'd never seen it before in light of giving. This is one
of the best verses I've ever, well, let's see what it says.
Then the disciples, every man, You know, sometimes people think
with regard to giving, well, there's people that have more
money, they'll give. Don't you worry about anybody else. Every
man. Every disciple. Every disciple. Don't think about what somebody
else gives. Think about what you give. Every disciple. Every man according to his ability. How much am I to give? Well,
according to my ability. according to my ability. You
know, there's a lot of people who if they gave according to
their ability, they'd be given more than a tithe, wouldn't they?
If they gave according to their ability. Now, does the Bible
teach tithing? No. The Bible teaches giving. Giving
according to your ability. Give as God has prospered you. Now, I have no doubt that every
Christian is interested in this thing of giving. Nobody feels
like they give as they should, or as generously as they should,
or as willingly as they should. We want to. We ask the Lord to
bless us in this thing of giving. Every Christian, every Christian,
according to his ability, determined, they determined, to send relief
unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. They loved these people.
They didn't want them to see them have hardship. They determined
to send this relief and the thing that is in giving, there's a
famine and we're giving in response to a famine like they were. We're
wanting the spread of the gospel. We want everybody to hear the
gospel. That's why we give. We give as
unto the Lord. We're not giving for a purpose
other than as unto the Lord, but we're giving for the spread
of the gospel because of the famine. Verse 30, which also
they did. and sent it by the elders by
the hands of Barnabas and Saul. I think that's interesting that
the first thing that's recorded after it was said they were called
Christians was their giving. I want to be a giver, don't you?
I want to be truly a giver. What is a Christian? A Christian
is somebody who has a BC before Christ. You didn't know Christ. You didn't know the gospel. But they've heard the message
of the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord. He's Jesus. Let me tell you something. If that's not the Jesus you believe,
the Jesus you believe can't save. He's a worthless Jesus. He was
a phony. He's not. He's not even real. The living Jesus Christ is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. He's the Savior. If you're a Christian, you're
the work of the hand of God. You know it. There's no argument. No Christians can be saying,
well, my salvation began with my free will. No, Christians
wouldn't say something like that. They don't believe it. They know
better than that. They know they're the work of God's hands. And
the work of his hands is evidenced by believing and turning. A Christian
is someone who's been saved by the grace of God, someone who
purposes in their heart to cleave to the Lord. They're the Lord's
add-ons. And they assemble together. They love the brethren. They
were first called Christians. Who called them that? I don't
know. Were they commending them? I don't know. Were they deriding
them? I don't know. But I know this,
they were called Christians first at Antioch. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that you would make every one
of us in this room Christians by your grace for the glory of
your son. In his blessed name, we pray.
Amen. Dwayne, come lead us in a closing
hymn.