Are you a Christian?

Christian: a follower of Christ (according to Strong’s Concordance of the Greek)

The English dictionary reduces this word to merely, “a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Christianity.”

The purpose of this sermon is to encourage you all to examine yourselves.

To clear up any confusion over which definition is right:

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

James 2:17-19 NASB

You can clearly see that a Christian is not merely someone who believes in Jesus, otherwise we’d have to start baptizing the demons we cast out. A Christian is a follower of Jesus.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Matthew 16:24 NASB

It is impossible to follow Jesus without first taking up your cross. There is not a single Christian who hasn’t taken up their cross. If you haven’t, what does that say about you?

I’ll put it plainly, if you aren’t interested in pursuing God’s will, you aren’t carrying your cross. 

And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 12:49-50 NASB

Something like a Men’s Group or extra-curricular church function is not just another box you can check in your religious pursuit of “obeying the rules.” Those are supposed to be armories where you learn the weapons of the very real war we are in.

We are not an audience of Jesus, we are His Army.

Audiences sit and watch, Armies fight and conquer.

I understand some people come through different circles and they are newer Christians, so there’s a learning process to be had and I not only appreciate that very much, I praise God for it.

Most of the men who have been in the faith for a good while shouldn’t need to be babysat into holiness. If you don’t make a daily practice of studying God’s word, you’re willfully making yourself a target for the enemy. You may not be studying how to overcome God, but Satan makes a daily practice of studying you, and that is why you are losing.

If the very symbol of Satan’s defeat is the cross, why in the world are we not carrying it every moment of the day?

Study the Word of God.

I had derailed my own faith by spending more time in theology textbooks than in the Bible, insomuch that I willingly subjected myself to different cult-like Christian circles in attempts to find out about God anywhere except His Word.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6

One Jesus. One Holy Spirit. One baptism. One faith. In a world with tens of thousands of Christian denominations, the Lord rebukes all of it in a single section of Scripture.

Why is the kingdom of Satan so regimented, so unified, and the Church is a sloppy, schizophrenic mess!?

God didn’t divide His own house. We did, because just like the Catholic church, we listen to man’s voice instead of God’s. 

I want to encourage every man reading this who refers to himself as a man of God, examine yourself. Think of these questions: 

Do you care about the world enough to even mention Jesus? 
Do you care about Jesus enough to stand out in the darkness? 

When you leave a teaching, how quickly do you forget what was said? 

Do you truly consider yourself a student of God’s word?

I’m gonna offer a crazy idea: perhaps the Word of God is actually simple enough for us to understand by reading it. Perhaps it is simple enough for fisherman 2,000 years ago to understand it and follow it!

The modern church argues and bickers over things the apostles never even brought up! 

Can you imagine if someone went up to the apostles and said 

• I don’t need to be baptized
• Tongues aren’t for today
• Healings aren’t for today
• You shouldn’t raise your hands during worship
• It’s unloving to evangelize

I sincerely believe Paul would consider those who believed in these either heretics or Pharisees. There was no argument with them!

Think of baptism and evangelism, they are commandments, why do we need to go to great theological lengths to explain away commandments from the Lord? I’ve heard men say “Evangelism isn’t for me.” The Great Commission was a commandment, not a concession. Here’s the Great Commission:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Mark 16:15-18 LSB

This is for Christians, so if you feel like you just “aren’t wired this way,” it’s time to be rewired. Like the Word says, renew your mind.

Bold Christians shouldn’t have to apologize to a Christian for preaching out of the Bible to them because their feelings were hurt. If the Bible offends you, there is something you haven’t surrendered to God.

We are called to be circumcised, not neutered.

If you look down on Christians for preaching the gospel, claiming it to “not be loving” you’re acting as a double agent for the other side. You need to repent.

If another Christian’s passion and worship is a stumbling block to you, maybe you’re the problem. God is calling people to worship Him in spirit and truth. 

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all [people] life and breath and all things;”

Acts 17:24-25 LSB

We were never meant to be docile, we were meant to GO. 

This is meant to be in love, yes its meant to be harsh, but I love you all so much.

Are you a Christian? Do you follow Jesus? If you aren’t concerned with being used by God on a daily basis, then you need to wake up. 

God Bless you and keep you.