Not much more than a month ago,
I was preaching from Galatians chapter 2 and I entitled the
message, What is a Christian? And I thought I've used that
title probably 12 or 15 times at least since I've been preaching
and I've entitled the message for this morning, What is a Christian? What is a Christian? What comes to your mind when
you think What is a Christian? What comes to your mind? Do you
think, well, a good moral person, he's a good Christian. By definition, a Christian is
someone who is so bad that only the death of Christ can save
him. I want to know what the Bible
says about this thing of being a Christian. What is a Christian? And I have two goals in this
message. If you're not a Christian, I
want you to know it. What a blessing that would be,
because that's when you'll cry for mercy. And my second goal
is if you are a Christian, I want you to know it. I want you to
know that you are, in fact, a Christian. Someone that God has done a mighty
work of grace in your heart. Now, as much as anything else, someone can be seen if they really
are a Christian through Prayer. Your prayer, and I'm not talking
about what you say publicly that other men could hear. I'm talking
about what you say in your heart before God. Your prayer will
show whether or not you really are a Christian. In this passage of scripture
I just read, the Lord teaches us to pray. And in teaching us
to pray, he tells us what a Christian is. Now, this is what people
call the Lord's Prayer, but actually it's the Disciples' Prayer. The
Lord's Prayer is found in John chapter 17, and here is where
he teaches his disciples how to pray. And I remember when
I was in junior high school, before every football game, we
would pray this prayer. And I was always somewhat embarrassed
because I didn't know it. I mean, I knew it was in the
Bible, but I couldn't memorize it like everybody else. Everybody
else would be praying in prayer, and I'd be mumbling like I was
going along with it. But I also knew that the folks
who were praying it didn't have any idea what it meant. I knew
that. Now, what does the Lord mean
when he's teaching us to pray? Everybody at some time has prayed.
You've heard that saying, there are no atheists in foxholes. That's true. Everybody, when
they've been in trouble, I'm talking about everybody that
ever lived. I'm talking about somebody in the heathen land, someone
who's been, everybody's prayed when they're in trouble. If you're,
if you're out there, help me. If you really are a God, get
me out of this mess. Prove it to me. If you have a
sick child, you'll pray for that child. Everybody has gone through
this form of prayer. But the Lord Jesus Christ gives
us some insight into prayer when he told us about the prayer of
the Pharisee. He stood and prayed thus with
himself. He thought he was praying to
God. But he wasn't. He was going through the form
of prayer. But he stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
thee that I'm not as other men are. He was comparing himself to other
men. Now, when the Lord Jesus knocked
Paul off his high horse and sent Ananias to preach the gospel
to him, he said to Ananias, He's doing something he's never done
before. Behold, he prayeth. Never had before. Oh, he'd gone
through the form. But he never had before. But
now, he prayeth. Prayer is the breath of faith. You can't have faith and not
pray. And you can't really pray and
not have faith. Prayer is the breath of faith.
And the prayer that a man prays, the prayer that a woman prays
before God will reveal whether or not they really are Christians. What is a Christian? I want to
know, don't you? What is a Christian? Now, the first thing that I would
notice when the Lord taught his disciples to pray, and I love
the way this begins, 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. Is that the prayer of your heart? Lord, teach me to pray. Whatever
it means to really pray, teach me to pray. Somebody once said
they never said, teach us to preach, but they did say, teach
us to pray. And I can imagine them watching
the Lord as he prayed. Was he praying audibly? I don't
know, but they were watching him. Can you imagine sitting
around watching the Lord pray? I mean, what a thing that must
have been. And they said, Lord, teach us to pray the way John
taught his disciples to pray. And he said unto them, when you
pray, say, our father. Now, the first thing that I would
notice about a Christian is a Christian is a part of this great group
called our. They're in a special group. Not
everybody is in this group, our. They're taught to pray, forgive
us this day, our daily bread. They're a part of this group
of us. Forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who sin against
us. They pray as an our, as an us,
and as a we. Now this is the same us, listen
real carefully, this is very important. This is the same us
as spoken of in Romans 8.31. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? This is the same us of which
Our Lord referred to when he said to John the Baptist, when
he said, I want you to baptize me. And John said, I have need
to be baptized of thee. Come us out of me. He said, suffer
to be so now. He understood why John would
feel totally uncomfortable with this. He said, thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. This us is all of those who are
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. What is a Christian? He's someone
who's united to Christ. And when he prays, he prays our,
forgive us, as we, a part of this great group who are one
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For the witch calls,
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Now understand this,
a real Christian, the only real Christian there is is a real
Christian, you know that. I probably shouldn't even use the term a
real Christian. A Christian is one who is united to Christ and
prays our Father. A Christian is someone who cries
Abba, Father. A Christian is one who is a child
of God. That's what a Christian is. He's someone that's a true child
of God. Now, not everybody can take this
to themselves. The Lord said to this one big
group of people, you're of your father the devil, and the lust
of your father you'll do. He said to this one group on
judgment day, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never
knew you. You're not my child. I never
knew you. A Christian is one who is truly
a child of God. Now, we're a child of God in two ways. First, by adoption, and second,
by birth. Now, the point of adoption, having
predestinated us, Paul said in Ephesians 1, 5, under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ himself. The point behind adoption is
God chose you to be his child. And now what adoption's all about?
He chose you to be his child. And if you're a Christian, you
know this. It's because he chose you. You know that. You know
it intuitively. When you hear it, you know it
so. He chose you. He adopted you. He made you his
child. And if you're a Christian, you're
a child by birth. 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, which were birthed, not
of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man, but of God. You were birthed by God. You know the only reason you're
a child of God is because he birthed you into his kingdom. You know that. You might not
understand it all, but you know it. You know the only way you
can be a child is because he chose you to be a child. He adopted you in his great family
and he birthed you into the kingdom. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. I don't want to call it a biological
child, but you're a spiritual child, aren't you? If you're
a child, you've been birthed into his kingdom. Our father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. The believer is a worshiper. Hallowed be thy name. You see, he's been born into
the kingdom of God and now he is something that no unbeliever
is, a worshiper of God. Hallowed be thy name. You see, being born of God, I
love that Scripture. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. If you've been born of God, do
you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe He's God's
prophet? The very Word of God? Do you
believe He's God's priest? That if He brings you into God's
presence, you must be saved? Do you believe He's God's King?
King of kings and Lord of lords. I'm not asking you if you believe
you're a Christian right now. I'm asking you if you believe
he's the Christ. Do you? If you do, the Bible says you're
born of God. And if you're born of God, you know what you are?
You're a worshiper. You say from your very heart,
hallowed, holy and reverend is thy name. Now, the name of God
is all of his attributes. He's the person behind the name.
His name is His absolute sovereignty. And you say, hallowed be Thy
name. His name is His justice, His holiness. You say, hallowed
be Thy name. His name is His grace, His love,
everything behind His person. You say, from the very depths
of your heart, hallowed be Thy name. A Christian is a worshiper. Now there is vain worship, there
is ignorant worship, but there is such a thing as true worship.
The Lord said, the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship him. Now, if you're a Christian, you
know this, the only way you can worship him is by the Spirit
of God. You know that. and you know you
can only worship him through the truth, the truth of the gospel. There's no worship of God without
God, the Holy Spirit. There's no worship of God without
the truth. Our Lord said that. Now here's
a scripture that demonstrates that. Philippians chapter three,
verse three, Paul said, we are the circumcision, which worship
God in the spirit. We rejoice, we glory, we find
confidence only in Christ Jesus. And we have no confidence in the flesh, none, zero, nada. A true Christian is a worshiper,
hallowed, holy, reverend is thy name. Are you a Christian? You can know by that, do you
worship him for who he is? Do you worship him for all that he is? That's what a Christian is. He's
a true worshiper. Next, we read in verse two, in
this prayer that our Lord is teaching us to pray. And if we
pray, this comes from our heart. I know he gave us the words,
you know what? The Lord said, when you pray, say this. Say
it. Somebody says, well, it's just
a form. Well, He still said, say it. Say it. I want to pray
with the words He gives me, don't you? Obviously, I don't want
to use this as some kind of form that people use, but I want to
say this from my heart. May this be the very cry of my
heart, and this is the cry of a Christian's heart. Thy kingdom
come. A Christian is a subject of a
kingdom. That kingdom of which Christ
said, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not a political kingdom. It's not an earthly kingdom.
It's his kingdom. And in this kingdom, everybody
loves the king. They love him being the king.
That's what they love. Thy kingdom come. And we're just
passing through this world. Every Christian, we're just passing
through. We're strangers and pilgrims here on a journey to
our heavenly home. And our prayer is, Thy kingdom
come. Oh, how we love the kingdom of
our Savior. A Christian is somebody who is
in a kingdom that is not of this world. Are you a Christian? Are you in this kingdom? And
next the Lord teaches his disciples to pray, thy will be done. A Christian is somebody who from
the depths of their heart really desires God's will to be done. They pray, 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.
And I want His will to be done even if it crosses my will. Make
My will Thy will. That's the very desire of a believer's
heart, of a Christian's heart. Thy will be done. They have some
understanding of the supremacy of God's will. They understand
what that leper understood. Lord, if You will, You can make
me clean. They understand salvation is
all according to God's will. And they pray, Thy will be done. Just the same way here that it
is in heaven. In heaven it's always done perfectly.
It's always done cheerfully. It's always done willingly. Let
it be done that way right here. That's what a Christian is. He's
someone who prays from the very depths of his heart. Thy will
be done. On earth as it is in heaven. What is a Christian? Verse 3. What do children do with their
parents there? What do they do with their father?
They ask him for things. Give us. Give us. You know, somebody once said
with regard to Psalm 103, one of the great things of that Psalm
is he doesn't ask the Lord for a thing. And I thought, well,
I've never prayed like that. I love Psalm 103, but every time
I pray, I'm asking for something. give us. A Christian is one who
is completely, 100% dependent upon the charity of God. We pray about that which we have
no power that which we have no control in. Give us this day
whatever it is we need. Give me my daily bread. Give
me what I need emotionally. Give me what I need physically.
Give me what I need spiritually. Give us this day. Give us this
day, our daily bread. A Christian is someone who is
completely, 100% dependent upon what God gives him. Are you a Christian? That's what
a Christian is. He's someone who is completely
dependent. Verse four, hear the prayer of the Christian
and forgive us our sins. A Christian is a sinner. Now, what's that mean? A Christian is a sinner. Now, to answer what that means,
I have to ask the question, what's it mean to be a sinner? What
does the Bible mean by that term? Because most people, if you say,
are you a sinner? Sure, I'm a sinner. I make mistakes. I do wrong things,
but you know, and everybody, what does the Bible mean by sinner? Now, I want you to listen to
this real carefully. First John chapter three, verse
four defines sin thusly. Sin is the transgression of the
law. God's holy law. A sinner is someone who puts
something before God. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. A sinner is somebody who puts
something before God. A sinner is someone who is an
idol maker. He creates false concepts of
God in order to make himself feel more comfortable. Some way
he can justify himself. A sinner is someone who fails
to reverence God's holy name. He's an irreverent person. A
sinner is someone who doesn't rest. A sinner is someone who
doesn't honor his parents and doesn't honor authority as he
should. A sinner is a murderer. Someone who takes somebody's
life. Somebody who murders somebody's character. A sinner is someone
who's guilty of sexual sin. They're adulterers. A sinner
is someone who's a liar. A sinner is someone who's a thief. He takes that which doesn't belong
to him. A sinner is a covetous person. Would that describe you? Are you a sinner? Please answer
that question. Are you a sinner? Are you someone
who all you do is sin? Everything you do is sin? You
cannot not sin. You can't look down your nose
at anybody and you have no claims on God. And you need the forgiveness
of sins. That's what you need more than
anything else. You need the forgiveness of sins. And you pray, Lord,
forgive me of my sins. That's what I need. I need my
sins lifted off of me. I need my sins blotted out. I
need my sins forgiven. Oh, forgive me of my sins. A Christian is a sinner who needs
the forgiveness, the putting away, the canceling, the blotting
out of his sins. But notice the way the Lord teaches
us to pray. I think this is so important.
I mean, this is to be in our thinking, in our prayers every
day. He says, forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone that's indebted to us. When we
pray forgive us of our sins, we pray forgive us the way we
forgive those who sinned against us. Now that is so important. This is such an issue. Forgive
us as we forgive those who sinned against us. Now, a Christian
is a sinner, a Christian is a forgiven sinner, and a Christian is a
forgiving sinner. Let me give you six reasons,
six reasons to forgive. The Lord said, if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive
you your trespasses. Good reason. I mean, we're talking
about self-interest here. If I don't forgive you, I'm not
going to be forgiven. That's a very powerful reason
to forgive. Somebody says, is that works? No, it's not works.
You know better than that. But the Lord said it better take
it just as he said it. If you don't forgive me and their
trespasses, neither will your father forgive you your trespasses. Here's the second reason to forgive.
We will be forgiven in the same manner we forgive. Forgive us our debts as we forgive
those who trespass against us. That's the way we're taught to
pray. You forgive us the way we forgive others. Can you pray
that prayer? That's a Christian. Here's a third powerful reason
to forgive. If we forgive people, we'll be
happier people. You know, there's nothing worse,
not much worse, than being so resentful about the way you've
been treated. I've been wronged. I didn't deserve this. I shouldn't
be treated this way. What makes you miserable, doesn't
it? Just to be thinking, holding harbor and resentment, but oh,
if you forgive somebody, how happy you'll be. How happy. Fourth reason to forgive
is if we fail to forgive, Satan has the advantage over us. 2
Corinthians 2, verse 10, to whom you forgive anything, I forgive
also. For if I forgive anything, to whom I forgave it, for your
sakes, forgave I it in the person of Christ, lest Satan should
get an advantage over us. If I harbor this unforgiving
spirit, Satan's got a hold of me. He's got the advantage over
us. Now here is The point I like
the best, here's the fifth reason why you and I should forgive.
It lies in God's nature to forgive. Isn't that glorious? It lies in God's nature to forgive.
When he proclaimed the name of the Lord before Moses, he said,
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, abundant in goodness
and truth, long-suffering, forgiving, iniquity and transgression and
sin. It's the very nature of our God
to forgive. And the most God-like thing me
or you could ever do is to forgive somebody. Ephesians 4.32, we only have
to have one reason to forgive. Ephesians 4.32 says, Be kind,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. A Christian is a sinner. He's
a forgiven sinner. And he's a forgiving sinner. That's what a Christian is. And
then we read in verse 4, and lead us not into temptation. A Christian is someone who is
so weak that if he's tempted, he'll fall. Do you believe that
about yourself? If you're tempted, you will fall. And so, the Christian prays,
don't let me be tempted. Put a hedge about me. Make it
to where I'm not even tempted. I don't want to be tried. Oh,
deliver me from temptation. I'm so weak. I can't stand before
temptation. I know myself. I'm making that
confession about myself. I don't even want to be tempted. Lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from it. Save me from
it. Don't let me even be tempted. Are you a Christian? Are you
someone that's so weak that you can't stand before temptation?
So you pray, Lord, lead me not into temptation. You know, there's a blessing
in being weak, isn't there? Paul said, when I'm weak, then
am I strong. My strength is made perfect in
weakness, the Lord said. You know, it's a blessing to
be weak. You're praying as a Christian then, a real Christian. Lead
me not into temptation. And then the final thing he teaches
us to pray, but deliver us from evil. Now a Christian is somebody who
needs to be rescued. That's what the word means. Rescue
me. Rescue me from evil. And there's so much you could
say about evil. First, rescue me from the evil one. Rescue me from Satan. Rescue
me from the devil. I'm no match for him. If he gets
hold of me, he'll turn me inside out. I don't want to have anything
to do with him. Rescue me from Satan. There is
a being called Satan. He's a mighty being and he has
a lot of influence and a lot of power. I can't stand before
him. Rescue me from this diabolical
being who can turn me inside out. Oh, I can't stand before
him. Rescue me from evil. Rescue me
from this evil world. Paul called it, or John called
it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life. I need rescue from the lust of
the flesh, the pleasure of sin is what that's talking about.
Rescue me. Deliver me from that. Rescue me from the lust of the
eyes, being more concerned about what men think than God thinks,
being controlled by the fear of man. Rescue me from that.
Rescue me from even caring what men think and cause me to care
only about what you think. Rescue me from the pride of life,
from the lust for power and position and prestige. Rescue me from
this world, most especially. Rescue me from myself. I am my greatest enemy. You're in the same chapter when
the Lord was continuing on teaching to pray. He was talking to his
disciples. He was not talking to unbelievers at this time.
He's talking to his disciples. And he said to his disciples,
people who are truly Christians, he said, if you then being evil
know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more
shall your heavenly father give good things to them that ask
him? Now, if the Lord said to you, if you then being evil,
would you say in your heart, that's me? That's me. That's an accurate description
of me. If you then being evil, I need
to be saved from this evil one. I need to be saved from myself.
Now, what is a Christian? A Christian is one who has been set apart
by God in this great group, our, us, and we. The same us as if
God be for us, who can be against us. That's what a Christian is. A Christian is a child. Our father. Abba, Father. God's my Father. A Christian is a worshiper. Hallowed be thy name. Every attribute of God, not most,
not some, but every attribute of God, we say, holy and reverend
is thy name. A Christian is a part of this
great kingdom. Thy kingdom come. Same kingdom
the thief spoke of when he said, Lord, remember me when you come
in your kingdom. The kingdom where Christ is recognized
and loved as King of kings and Lord of lords. That's what a
Christian is. A Christian is somebody who from
the depths of their heart, they say and they mean it, thy will
be done. Take my will and make it thine. Only the Lord can see if somebody
does that. A Christian is one who's completely dependent on
what God gives him. A Christian is a sinner. A Christian is a forgiven sinner. And a Christian is a forgiving
sinner. All up more. A Christian is one who is so weak they realize
this about themselves. They're so weak they need to
be delivered from temptation. A Christian is one who needs
to be rescued from evil. The evil one, this evil world,
and most especially this evil one. You see, I guess this is kind of a, I
don't know what I mean by this, but I know this. If there were
no devil, and if there were no evil world, this is still the
big problem. And a Christian is one who needs
to be rescued from evil. Are you a Christian? Well, if that's what a Christian
is, yes. I am a Christian. I am one that God has saved. I am one that Christ has made
known his name to me. And you know, really every time
we preach, we might not ask the question audibly, but this question
has to be dealt with with every passage of scripture we deal
with. What is a Christian? What is
a Christian? Well, a Christian is somebody
who this prayer is not just a form. It's not something they just
repeat. It's something that comes from the very depths of their
heart. That is what a Christian is. Let's pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.