Let's turn back to Matthew chapter
6. Andy Davis is going to preach for us tonight. Wednesday morning, I got this
message on my mind and couldn't get it off. So I feel like this
is what the Lord would have me preach this morning. I've entitled
this message, Twelve Marks of a Saint. And you can leave this place
this morning knowing whether or not you're a saint. Now, the Christian is called
many things in the scriptures. We're called the brethren, the
faithful in Christ Jesus, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, Christians, believers, people of the way. But you know
what term is used most often? Saint. Saint. To the saints. Every believer is a saint. I know that people attach another
meaning to the word, like you're some kind of super holy person
that you've reached in a level of holiness that now you can
be called a saint. Well, that's just a denial of
what holiness is in the first place. Every believer is a saint,
a sanctified one, a holy one. Every believer, a holy one. I still love to think of that
scripture in Hebrews chapter 3. Verse 1, where the writer
to the Hebrews called the people he's writing to, wherefore, holy
brethren, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, every believer is a saint. Now, the passage
I just read is what is called the Lord's Prayer, but actually
it's the disciples' prayer. The Lord's Prayer is found in
John chapter 17. Oh, what a prayer that is if
you can read that this week. John chapter 17, the Lord's Prayer
in behalf of his people. But this is where the Lord was
teaching his people to pray. And in this prayer, he gives
12 marks of a saint. And it's very easy to follow
this. Our. Who is the Our? Our Father. A saying to someone
that is a member of this group, Our. Not everybody's in that
group. Not everybody can say, Our Father. He's not everybody's
father. He said to the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil,
and the lusts of your father you'll do. So whatever his saying
is, they're in this great big group called Our. Father. A saint is someone who's really
a child of God. God's child, our Father. Hallowed, sanctified, reverend
and holy is thy name. A saint is someone who worships
God. Hallowed, holy, His name is His
attributes. It's not just naming His name
audibly. His name is who He is, and we
worship Him for who He is. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. A saint is
a subject of another kingdom. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done. A saint is someone who actually
wants God's will done. Not their own, but God's will. Give us this day our daily bread. A saint is somebody who is dependent,
utterly dependent upon God for everything. How do you fit in? Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts. A saint
is a sinner. Someone who can't pray without
praying, forgive me of my sins. But not only is a saint a sinner,
he's a forgiven sinner. And he's a forgiving sinner.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.
A saint's a forgiving sinner. And then he teaches us to pray,
lead us not into temptation. A saint is someone who has some
understanding that he's so weak and so sinful that if he's put
in a place of being tempted, he'll fall. So he prays, don't
let me be tempted. Don't let me be put in that position.
I'm afraid I know what will happen. Put a hedge about me. Don't let
me fall. Deliver us from evil. I need deliverance. I need to
be saved from evil. That's what a saint is. He's
someone who needs to be saved from evil. And then the saint
acknowledges this. Thine is the kingdom. Thine is
the power. Thine is the glory forever. And a saint is someone who says
to this in his heart, Amen. His is the kingdom. His is the
power. And his is the glory forever.
Amen. Now let's consider these 12 marks
of a saint. First, a saint is a member of
the group, our, our father. I repeat, he is not everybody's
father. There's no universal fatherhood
of God. He's not everybody's father.
And the Lord made that clear when he said to the Pharisees,
when they said, we're children of Abraham, he said, your daddy's
the devil. and the lusts of your father,
the devil, you will do." That's what he said to these people.
So God was obviously not their father, so who is this our? The pronoun our is also translated
us and we. It's the same us that Paul used
in Romans 8.31 when he said, if God be for us, who should
be against us? A saint is a part of that group,
the sanctified. Now, sanctification is what God
does for you. It's not what you do. It's what God does for you.
It's when he sets you apart. A saint is a part of that great
group known as the sanctified. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 11 says,
both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified. are all of one. A saint is one of God's elect. A saint is somebody Christ died
for. A saint is someone who believes
the gospel. A saint is one who has been sanctified
by the Spirit of God and given a new nature, a new heart, a
holy nature. The brethren, the church, the
Lamb's wife, those who believe, those for whom Christ died, the
righteous, the saved. They're a part of a group that's
so much bigger than themselves. And I love the way the Lord teaches
us to pray, our Father. He doesn't teach us to pray,
my Father. He is my Father, but he teaches us to pray, our Father. See, this thing of being a believer,
you're in with somebody else. Brethren, Brethren, the family
of God, our Father, our Father. The saint is a child of God. Now that's such an awesome thing
to think about. A saint is a child of God. Now I'm a child of God first
by adoption. He adopted me. He put me in His
family, having been predestinated according to the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Every believer has been adopted
by God. He says, you're mine. But not
only am I an adopted child, I'm a child by birth. I'm thankful
for being an adopted child. I wouldn't be a child if He didn't
adopt me. But I'm also a child by birth, born of God, born of
the Spirit. If you're born again, it means
you're born from above. That means He birthed you. That
means He gave you life. And you now have the nature of
a child. You're a child of God. Somehow you have God in you.
That's by Spirit. Do I understand how He does that?
No, but I know He does. I'm actually a child of God. He's my Father. I'm His child.
That's true of every believer. Abba Father is the cry of every
believer. Abba Father. He's my Father.
Since I'm a child, that means I'm an heir of God and a joint
heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is my Father's world.
I'm walking around in a world that belongs to my Father. The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And what a blessed thing
that is to be a child of God. We pray from our hearts, Our
Father. who art in heaven. Now, a believer
is a part of that great group, the church of the living God.
A believer is a child. And I love this next word that
he teaches us to pray when we pray. Hallowed, holy, reverend
is thy name. A believer is one, a Christian
is one, a saint is one who worships God for who he is. Hallowed be thy name. Now, the
name of the Lord, it's not just knowing his name is Jehovah or
Lord or Jesus or Yahweh or whatever anyone calls him from the scriptures.
It's not just knowing what his name is. The name of the Lord
is the person behind the name. The name of the Lord is his Attributes. What makes Him God? I love it
when the Lord descended to Moses and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. In Exodus chapter 34 you can read about it. He proclaimed
the name of the Lord saying, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious. long-suffering, and abandoned
in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means
clear the guilty." That's who he is. He forgives iniquity and
transgression and sins, but yet he will by no means, under no
circumstance whatsoever, will he ever clear someone who is
guilty. You see, the gospel, I'll tell
you why, the gospel makes it to where we're not guilty. Justification. The name of the Lord is His attributes. You know, the Lord is holy. The
Lord is solid. That means He's absolutely in
control of everything and everybody. Right now, you're in His hand.
He's on yours. Somebody says, what are you going
to do with Jesus? Well, that question is, what's He going to do with you?
Your salvation is totally in His hands. Whether you're saved
or damned is up to Him. Do you know that? It's true.
It's true. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. He's immutable. He can't change. Holy is His name. He's infinite. He's not bound by space or time
the way we are. Holy is His name. He's absolutely
just. Holy is His name. He's gracious
and merciful. Holy is His name. This is who
He is. He's all-powerful. Anything He
wants to do, He has the power to do. He has no limitations.
Holy is His name. He's all-wise. Holy is His name. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere.
You can't go anywhere where He's not. Holy is His name. We worship God for who He is. We love the way He is. We wouldn't
change Him if it were in our power. We love Him exactly as
He reveals Himself in His Word, and we worship Him for who He
is. Now, what's worship mean? What do you mean you worship
God? Well, the best way I can explain
it is by giving this scripture. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit. You can't worship unless you
have the Spirit of God. You can't worship unless you're
born from above. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit. And here's what folks like that
do who worship God in the Spirit. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. They glory in Christ Jesus. They look only to Him. I can tell somebody truly worships
God by if they look only to Jesus Christ. It's everything in their
salvation. Now if you look anywhere else, you don't know anything
about worship. You see people who worship God, they're afraid
to look anywhere but Christ. And who is that person who looks
only to Christ? He says next, and have no confidence
in the flesh. Now, worship is rejoicing in
Christ Jesus, glorying only in Christ, looking only to Him.
All I have that would recommend me to God is Jesus Christ, nothing
else. We look to Christ and we have absolutely no confidence
in my flesh, in your flesh, in anybody's flesh. It's sinful.
That's worship. And we say, our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed, holy, thy name." That's a saint. Next, the Lord says, we're taught
to pray in verse 10, thy kingdom come. Now you know what that
means? A saint, a sanctified one, somebody that God has done
something for, he's a citizen of another kingdom. Now this world, it's not my home. It's really not. Peter says to
the strangers scattered throughout Pontius and Galatian capitals,
this world is not my home. I'm looking for another kingdom
wherein dwelleth righteousness, the kingdom of God, the kingdom
of Christ. And we say, thy kingdom come.
His kingdom come. Get out the wall that's of the
flesh, the world, all we want is God. And we're looking for
another kingdom, truly this world. I'd say this was such conviction,
this world in my home. I'm not comfortable with it.
I'm looking for His kingdom where Christ is recognized as King
of Kings and Lord of Lords and His glory is everything. A believer
is a subject of another kingdom and our cry is, thy kingdom come. And next, a saint is somebody
who really wants God's will to be done. You know, there aren't any saints
who believe in free will. Not one of them, the very thought
of it is ridiculous. Free will? Where do you get that? I don't even want my will. I
want His will to be done. The worst thing that could happen
to me is for the Lord to lead me to my own will. That's the
absolute worst thing that could happen to me. Oh, thy will be
done. I want his will to be done in
everything. Lord, deliver me from my will.
Deliver me from myself. Thy will be done in all things. Cross out my will. Not my will, but thine be done. Now that's what a saint is, a
saint is someone who really wants God's will to be done. We believe
in the supremacy of God's will. By the witch will, Hebrews 10
and 11. By the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified. You know what that means? If
God wills something, it's already done before it even takes place.
That's the supremacy of his will. And you know a prayer that's
often found in our hearts is, Lord, if you will, You can make
me clean. You know, Lord, if you will,
I can't make myself clean. I can't do anything about it.
If you will, you can make me clean. Oh, thy will be done. That's the cry of my heart. Lord,
thy will be done. That's what I want. A saint,
he's a part of that big group, our, he's a child, he's a worshiper,
He's a citizen of another kingdom, and from the very depths of his
heart, he wants God's will done. He says in verse 11, here's what a saint is. Verse
11, give us this day our daily bread. A saint is one who's dependent
upon God for everything. Totally dependent. I can't even
breathe unless God gives me the grace to breathe. Anything I
have, He's gonna have to give to me. That's how dependent I
am. Anything I have, He's gonna have to give to me. If I have
food, He gave it to me. If I have a job, He gave it to
me. If I have brains to do something, He gave it to me. Any ability
I have is something He's given me. If I'm going to believe,
He's going to have to give me that faith. I'm totally dependent
upon Him. If I'm going to repent, He's going to have to enable
me to do it and cause me to do it. I'm totally dependent upon
Him. I feel that so strongly. I'm totally dependent on an absolutely
independent God. A God who has no needs, but I
sure need Him. Now, if you're a saint, You're like David, poor and needy,
totally dependent for whatever you have for him to give you. Now, would that describe you? Someone who is completely, 100%
dependent upon the living God. Now that's a saint, dependent. Look what it says next, verse
12. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. A saint is a sinner. who needs the forgiveness of
sins. Now don't just slough that off. First, a saint is a sinner. That almost seems like a contradiction
in terms. Well, it's still true. A saint is a sinner. You know,
our Lord taught us to pray this every time we pray. Forgive us
our debts, forgive us our sins. You know, I was thinking of that,
the way people say, well, here she's living in sin. Really? What do you mean by that? Well, can you breathe without
living in sin? A saint is a sinner. And by that,
I mean somebody who, they really believe this. If I did it, it's
sin. If I did it, it's sin. And I cannot, I cannot not sin. Can't do it. I'm not proud of
that, but I can't do it. I can't even think without sin.
I can't have one peer. I can't close my eyes. I'm not
going to see. I cannot not sin. And as the Lord is my witness,
I cannot look down upon anybody in moral superiority. Nobody. I've got no claims on God because
of my righteousness. I'm totally dependent upon His
grace. I am a sinner who needs to be
forgiven. Lord, forgive me of my debts. Forgive me of my sins. Forever before me, forgive me
of my sins. I know the only way I can be
saved is if the Lord does something about my sins. and I can't do anything about
them. Well, stop sinning, straighten up! After you. When you do it, I'll do it. The
point is, we're totally dependent upon Him to forgive. How does
He forgive sins? He forgives sins by putting them
away to where they're no longer existent. My sins are gone. See, if my sins are forgiven,
that means I don't have any sins. That's what Christ did on Calvary's
tree. He put away the sins of all his people. But a saint is
someone who recognizes that they're a sinner and that they utterly
need the forgiveness of all their sins. That's so simple. You know,
the Lord gives us this prayer and people pray this prayer all
the time and don't have any idea what it means. It is probably
one of the most recognized scriptures in the Word of God. You know,
people say the Lord's Prayer and memorize it and so on, but
this gives us a complete definition of what a saint is. Forgive us
our sins, and don't miss this. This is of incredible importance. He says, forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors. Now, the Lord's teaching us to
pray. When you ask for forgiveness
of sins, say this to the Lord, forgive me of my sins the way
I forgive others. Now, sometimes somebody will do a
double take on that, but does he say anything less? You know, the man who really
believes he's a sinner doesn't have trouble forgiving other
people for their sins against him if you really believe you're
a sinner. Now, if you really believe you're
a sinner, you're going to have trouble, but you've got a lot
more trouble than you realize if you don't believe that about
yourself. But if a man really believes he's a sinner, he's
not going to have any trouble forgiving somebody of their sins.
The only time somebody refuses to forgive is when they don't
believe they're a sinner. They believe they've been wronged
and all that kind of stuff. Listen, I realize people can
sin against you greatly, and I don't want to be insensitive
about if somebody's been... I think of the way some people
have been abused, have been wronged, and you could see where they
would be bitter, I suppose, but still the only thing to do is
forgive. Forgive. And as a matter of fact, this
is the only part of the prayer that the Lord commented on. Look
in verse 14. For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses. Now, the Lord said that. That's
His comment on it. Let me remind you. Let me remind
myself. The most God-like thing me or
you can ever do is forgive somebody. Forgive them completely. And
it's such a beautiful thing. Now a saint is a sinner, but
he's a forgiven sinner, and he's a forgiving sinner. Verse 13. And we're taught to pray this
every day and lead us not into temptation. Now there's two meanings
of temptation in the scripture. One is a trial God sends your
way. A trial. And I'm praying that I won't be tried.
Now, when God sends a trial my way, good. God sent it. It's
for my good and His glory. And the Scripture actually says
count it all joy when you fall into various trials and temptations
and so on. The Lord's doing it for your
good. Everything He does for you is for your good. But I'm
still going to pray, Lord, don't let me... I don't want to be
tried. I'd rather just not have to face
anything. And a temptation is also the
temptation to sin. the temptation to sin against
God. Now, you and I pray with regard
to temptation. I know from experience what happens
to me when I'm tempted. So I pray, Lord, don't let me
even be tempted. I'm so weak. I'm so weak. I can't stand before temptation. So build a hedge around me. Cause
me to not even be tempted at all because I know what will
happen if I am. Now every saint, they look in
themselves this way. I'm so weak that I can't stand
before temptation. Lord, don't let me be tempted. And then he says, but deliver us from
evil in verse 13. Deliver us from evil. Now, in the original, the definite
article is there, deliver us from the evil one. There is a being, a mighty being
named Satan or Lucifer, and he hates Jesus Christ and all that's
associated with him. But I'm thankful that he can't
make a move without the Lord. Peter, Satan has desired to have
you. He's asked for permission. Satan
has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat,
but I prayed for you. Now, there is a real being, Satan,
and I don't want to have anything to do with him. Lord, deliver
me from him, because I'm no match for him. He's got so much to
work with, with me. I'm no match for him. Deliver
me from the evil one. But not only deliver me from
the evil one, deliver me from this present evil world. Defined by John as all that's
of the world, the lust of the flesh, pleasure, the lust of
the eyes, being concerned about what people see, being more concerned
about what men think than what God thinks, and the pride of
life, the power of the flesh. Deliver me from this present
evil world. But you know who I need delivered
from most? Me. Save me from myself. Deliver
me from me. Now, I have to think about where
the Lord said to his disciples, if you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, I don't think any of
the disciples, well, who's he talking to? They know who he's
talking to. Lord, save me from myself. I am my own worst enemy. That's a saint. He asked for
deliverance from evil. And every saint, without exception,
makes this acknowledgment. Verse 13, for thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now, we acknowledge the
kingdom is his kingdom. Now, what that means is this
really is not about me and you. It's about him and his glory. I'm not happy. I said this a
couple of weeks ago. I'm not happy. Who cares? Who
cares? That shouldn't even enter your
thinking. I'm not happy. Here's what should enter our
thinking. His is the kingdom. It's all about His glory. He's
going to be glorified. Aren't you glad about that? Aren't you happy
about that? He's going to be glorified. He's God. He's going
to make sure He's glorified. He's going to be glorified in
my life. I'm so glad it's not up to me. I'm so glad it's up
to Him. It's His kingdom. It's for His
glory. Thine is the kingdom. This is
about Him and His glory. Thine is the kingdom. and thine
is the power. Do you know God has a monopoly
on this thing of power? It all belongs to him. He said,
all power is given unto me. He's omnipotent. He doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can say his hand or say unto him, what
are you doing? No. His is the power. He's got all
power. Whatever he wills, he has the
power to make sure it comes to pass because he's got all power. Thine is the glory. Now here's
something that every saint is very sensitive of. Him getting
all the glory. If you give any glory to man
in anything, it's not true. It's not true. It's not the gospel. God gets all the glory. And we know that, and we acknowledge
that, and we love it. Don't you love Christ getting
all the glory in your salvation? Doesn't it make you happy that
you're a trophy of his grace? I'll tell you what, I know that
when I'm in heaven, I'm going to be the biggest example there
of how much salvation is by grace. I know every believer feels that
way about themselves, because you know yourself better than
anybody else does. You know what you are, and you know the only
way you can be saved is if salvation really is all of grace and you
give him all the glory because you know all glory must go to
him. He gets all the glory in election. He gets all the glory
in redemption. He gets all the glory in regeneration.
He gets all the glory in preservation. Every aspect of salvation, he
gets the glory. And that's in the heart of every
saint. Thine is the glory. And this
word, Amen, I read this for the first time. Do you know the word
Amen is the most universally recognized word in the world? People from all languages and
so on, they all use this word, Amen. And they say it, Amen,
too, in whatever language. It's the most universally recognized
word in the world. And what it means is, that's
the truth. Let it be so. This is the way
we want it. You know, when I hear the truth,
I don't say amen aloud a lot, but when I hear the truth, my
heart says, amen. That's the truth. I know it is.
I know it is. That's our response. So in what
is called the Lord's prayer, which is actually the disciples'
prayer, we find out what a saint really is. A saint is in this
group. Boy, I want to be in this group,
don't you? The brethren, the elect of God, the chosen of God,
the redeemed, the righteous. There's another name for the
believer, the righteous. I want to be in that group. Our
Father, a real child, where God really is my Father. It's not
just religious talk. He really is my Father and I'm
His son. And I want to be someone who worships him for who he is,
hallowed, holy, reverend is thy name. And oh, I'm looking for
his coming kingdom. Aren't you looking forward to
the Lord returning? Him coming back and the new Jerusalem, the
heavenly Jerusalem, the city wherein dwelleth righteousness,
perfect likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, when he
comes back, I'm going to see him as he is and I'm going to
be just like him. We'll be like Him for we'll see
Him as He is. He is so beautiful, so glorious,
so altogether without even just seeing Him, you'll be turned
like Him when you see Him as He is. Every saint is someone who's
completely, 100% dependent upon God for everything. For everything. Both materially, emotionally,
and spiritually. I'm a dependent. I think it's
kind of interesting. We want our children to be independent,
don't we? We want them to learn how to
take care of themselves. But the more you grow in grace, the
more dependent you become. I want to be someone who's dependent.
And oh, I am a sinner. Forgive us our debts. Bless God,
a saint is a forgiving sinner, and a saint is a forgiving sinner,
as we forgive our debtors. A saint is someone who's so weak
they'll fall attempted, so lead us not into temptation. A saint
needs delivered from evil, and a saint acknowledges, thine is
the kingdom. Thine is the power and Thine
is the glory forever, eternally. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Lord, give us this day our daily
bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And Lord, lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and
thine is the power, and thine is the glory forever. Amen.