To Be a Real Christian
Acts 26:28
DATE: 13 Nov 2005 AM PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
DATE: 13 Nov 2005 PLACE: BBC Mallow
I. Introduction (Matthew 11:28,29; Isaiah 45:22)
A. We have the best message folks – the Gospel message – the Good News that Jesus saves, secures, and satisfies, every minute of every day!
B. But that message gets muddled up with our sometimes “limited view” of just what it is that we have – very narrow view
C. If we have anything less than a life-changing Saviour, then we have nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky fantasy
D. Sometimes, we need to take a step back and see the big picture – that picture is wrapped up in the full life, the awesome life, the enviable life of just one Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ
1. His death on that cross was the culmination of a perfect LIFE
2. That LIFE is described to us in the Bible as an example – as OUR example, even in 2005.
3. Jesus says about Himself in John 14:6, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and bless your soul, the LIFE!”
4. If there is anything this world needs today, it is the transforming power of the LIFE of Christ
5. The Life of Christ LIVED IN YOU is THE best cure for:
a. Struggling teenagers
b. Frustrated housewives
c. Angry workers
d. Disheartened believers
e. Lost sinners
6. It was THAT life, transferred into the life of a few stumbling fishermen, tax collectors, and carpenters that propelled them throughout the world preaching and challenging the world to follow ONE life - Jesus Christ’s!
7. I know we all look to one another, and to heroes and friends, to neighbours and loved ones for examples of how to live – but we are only wasting our time (Mt 11:28,29; Isa 45:22)
E. With this goal in view, we have examined ten areas of Christ-like-ness this past year
1. Intensely focusing our studies throughout each month on one aspect of the life of Jesus Christ
2. It was so that we can work at trading in our OLD, flawed ways of thinking and living, and replacing them with Christ’s awesome way of doing things (Mt 11:28,29)
3. Jesus promised us “life, and that more abundant” but I doubt many of us experience that kind of abundant life very often, and for very long
F. Two Different Kind of Believers
1. The believers in Corinth were saved, but never grew up (1Cor 3:1-3) – the Corinthians were still simply Corinthians, not Christians – not Christ-like.
2. Contrast that with the believers in Antioch (Acts 11:26)! These had arrived!
G. What is at Stake? This Generation…
1. We were all Born wrong – wired wrong – wrong naturally!
2. Listen to the character traits of us before a person gets born again – these are all Biblical descriptions of the natural man, the unsaved man:
a. Blasphemous
b. Boastful
c. Covetous
d. Greedy
e. Deceitful – always lying – pathological liars
f. Disobedient
g. Envious
h. Fearful
i. Fierce – not just angry but vicious
j. Forgetful of God – rarely in the thoughts
k. Hypocritical
l. Lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God
m. Lustful
n. Self-righteous
o. Proud
p. Unmerciful
q. Unruly
r. Unthankful
3. From such turn away!
4. No matter how you looked at any of us before conversion, we are all as an unclean thing Isaiah says – like filthy rags – not good at all!
5. Psalms 14 says there is nothing good in us – nothing at all – we are sinners and therefore eternally separated from God – and no matter how hard we try, we will never be good enough for heaven
6. That’s what WE all were like before we turned to Christ
7. Question is, are we STILL like any of that?
H. The Person of the New Me – is Jesus Christ – full-stop! Not Mary, or Blessed John the Baptist!
1. What is it that makes a person a “Christian?” Let’s Review, The Counterfeits that the Devil Offers.
a. Religion?
1) Lots of ceremonies and traditions - But no real life
2) Yet so many are locked in a religion’s grasp – the whole world
b. Really Good works – best efforts
1) Convinces people into thinking that they just need to work harder at being good and they will make it into heaven
2) Yet the devil conveniently hides the fact that we can never be good enough for God’s heaven – God requires absolute perfection!
c. Right beliefs (James 2:19)?
1) The devil is behind so many religions and beliefs systems
2) The number of books on all the religions and viewpoints
3) Satan doesn’t care what you believe as long as you just don’t trust in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ
d. Lots of praying?
1) Praying is no substitute for a godly life
2) There are older people who pray constantly the rosary
3) But they have no hope of heaven, and no confidence in the power of Christ, or is His grace, or in His timing
4) They have no personal, real, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ
5) YES we need to pray, but don’t make prayer your religion – Jesus must be your life – your all – or your life is nothing!!!
e. Big, beautiful and ornate cathedrals and temples?
1) This is the saddest of all
2) Making a building what makes your religion
3) A dead, brick, mortar, stone, glass, wood, slate building
4) I’d rather have a living, ruling and reigning Saviour!
f. The country they are born in? Christian country, or Muslim country
2. None of the above!
3. What makes a person a Christian, as opposed to a Muslim, or a Buddhist is Jesus CHRIST. It is when a PERSON named Jesus MOVES into your life (John 1:11,12) and takes over!
4. So, if a person is saved, born again, what is lacking? Why do they still struggle with so many sins and temptations, and failures?
a. People only want “hell insurance”
b. Christianity comes as a package deal!
c. Christ wants to replace all the awful bits in me – all of the OLD me – with Himself!
d. As long as we fight that process, we lose
I. Let’s Review, The Package called Christianity (Acts 26:28)
1. Christianity is More than just being saved
a. Agrippa knew Paul wasn’t just asking him to repent and believe on Jesus as his Saviour – hear me out!
b. Agrippa knew that he was being challenged to trade-in his old life for a completely NEW one!
c. I call it a LIFE transfusion – like an emergency blood transfusion
d. We know how important a blood transfusion can be – it could mean the difference between life and death
e. More important is the replacement of the OLD me with a NEW me
2. Christianity is more than putting on a good act
3. Christianity is a real life – we would say, a lifestyle – a way of living
II. Message
A. Overcoming the Obstacles that Block us from really BEING Christian
1. My Habits – need new ones (Ps 27:11) – look to Jesus to learn a new way of living – the right way of living
a. Jesus taught us how to pray – how to live a life of praying about everything
b. Jesus taught us about a life of loving people, not fighting them
c. Jesus conquered the whole world so that we would never live defeated again
d. Jesus taught us how to not sin, and how to kick the teeth in of the devil
e. Jesus taught us how to trust God for every thing in our life
f. Jesus taught us how to live – how to be truly normal, in God’s eyes – God actually defines what is normal, and what is abnormal!
g. Jesus taught us to work hard, to play well, to sing, to love, to care, to give, and to believe! He was all the while teaching us how to live!
h. And, Jesus taught us how to die – in victory, and in confidence that heaven is the only thing greater than being a Christian down here (Philp 1:21)
2. My Heart – I need a new, soft, burning heart for God (Mk 16:14; Lk 24:32) that comes from immersion in the Scriptures, and walking with Jesus in every moment of my life!
3. My History – guilt, pains – have to be buried, and left buried in the past (Philp 3:13,14). Peter failed his Lord, and was crushed with the weight of his sin, but Jesus died for THAT sin as well, and called for Peter to press forward, leaving it in the past, and reaching forth unto eternal prizes!
4. My Hurry – impatience (Heb 10:36; Ps 37:7)
a. We need to trust that the Lord’s ways are best
b. That if we just stay the course, and do right, and do His will, no matter how long it takes, it will be worth it!
c. Wait patiently – wait on the Lord!
5. If we don’t correct all these things, it will result in a Tendency to accept formalities, rituals, ceremonies, and traditions instead of seeking a depth of relationship with Jesus Christ
B. If we want to be Christian, those are the areas we are going to have to have LIFE transfusions in – complete replacements for our old habits and ways of living – remember Matthew 11:28,29
III. Conclusion/Application
A. Sometimes, we need to take a step back and see the big picture – that picture is wrapped up in the full life of just one Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ
1. His death on that cross was the culmination of a perfect LIFE
2. That LIFE is given to us in the Bible as an example – as OUR example, even in 2005.
3. Jesus says about Himself in John 14:6, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and bless your soul, the LIFE!”
4. If there is anything this world needs today, it is the example of the LIFE of Christ
B. That’s why the goal of this church for 2005 is TO BE LIKE Jesus
C. With this goal in view, we will focus our Sundays on studying twelve vital areas of Christ-like-ness over the next twelve months
1. Intensely focusing our studies throughout each month on one aspect of the life of Jesus Christ
2. It is so that we can work at trading in our OLD, flawed ways of living, and replacing them with Christ’s awesome way of doing things
3. I call it, having a LIFE Transfusion
4. Jesus promised us “life, and that more abundant” but I doubt many experience that kind of abundant life very often, and for very long
D. It all begins with the new birth (John 3:3)
E. But believe me, that is only the beginning – from that moment on, for the believer, there is a whole new life to start living, and we need to get beyond all the stumbling and failures, and get to living it!
Craig Ledbetter
Ireland