Who is a Christian, and who is not?

Well, the answer to that question is Jesus. Just to close with a another little item from the news which I picked up. The Pope was interviewed by somebody called Norah O’donnell on the US 60 minutes program where he made this statement:

So the answer from the Pope to that question is that we’re all good people and that we’re going to sort it all out.

Now, I don’t know what Bible the Pope reads, but it’s not my Bible. Because the Bible tells me, my Bible tells me that

⁹ “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
¹⁰ I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17.9-10

And Jesus said,

¹⁸ … those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” Matthew 15.18-20

These are the reasons why the world is in such a mess. Because, out of the heart of man comes not good things but bad things. And we need to be delivered from those bad things through repentance and faith in Jesus.

The Bible tells us that all humans have a sinful, human nature; that only through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ can we be delivered from this.

Paul wrote,

For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith,

That is the basic message. Now, if we’re basically good, there’s no need for Jesus to shed His blood on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. If that is the case, then, the resurrection through which He conquered sin and death and the devil has no meaning either. So, according to the Pope, there’s no need for the church to preach the Gospel that says ‘Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead’. We may as well close down Christian churches that preach this message.

The pope has said there should be no proselytism in the church. By this he means, we should not be trying to persuade someone who’s not a Christian to become one. In other words, what we call evangelism, telling others the Good News.

¹¹ And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

¹² After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. ¹³ And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16.11-18

He says you should not use doctrinal convictions, in other words, Bible teaching, to convince non-believers that they are lost in sin and need to be saved. According to the Pope, what we have to do is encourage people to have an encounter with Jesus. But how we do this remains a bit of a mystery, clearly not by repenting of our sins and believing the Gospel!

So, is the Pope a Christian? Well, as he is the head of the largest denomination of a religion in so-called Christianity, I suppose you have to say he is a Christian, because you have to give him the right to define himself how he wants. But, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is definitely not a Christian.

In fact, Jesus didn’t tell us to go and make Christians. Did you know that the word Christian only appears 3 times in the New Testament and is twice used by unbelievers. Jesus said,

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28.18-20

Basically, He says: ‘I don’t want you to be just a Christian who has a nominal faith and joins to some kind of a religious system, I want you to be a disciple of Jesus Christ‘.

That means, you learn from Jesus means, you put into practice what He said in his words, and you put it into practice in your life.

Sadly, when we look at the leaders of so many of our denominations, not just the Catholic church, but also Methodists and Baptists, they are led by people who are definitely not disciples of Jesus Christ, because they are teaching people to do things which are not Christian, including blessing gay marriage.

Nobody who is a true disciple of Jesus could possibly say that they could bless a homosexual couple in a church because homosexuality is a sin against God. You can’t bless sin! It’s just one of many things which show that the nominal Christian church has gone away from the true faith delivered to us by the Lord Jesus and by the apostles.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

³ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; ⁴ neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them. Ephesians 5.1-7

What we have to do is to turn back to the true faith of Jesus Christ as delivered to us once and for all by His Apostles, and revealed to us in the New Testament. And we have to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

What is a disciple? A disciple is somebody who learns somebody, who learns from Jesus and is also willing to pass on what they’ve learned to others.

He said go into all the world and preach the Gospel Writing to his disciple Timothy, Paul wrote,

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. ³ You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2.1-3

‘Commit these things to faithful men and faithful women who’ll be able to teach others’. That is also our purpose in being disciples of Jesus, not just have our ears tickled and have a nice message or even a nasty message like I’ve given you tonight, but to have one which is hopefully challenging you to recognize that we are living in serious days and that what we think is secure and okay around us may not be secure and okay in the future, maybe even in the near future.

Therefore, we need to be rooted in Jesus Christ, we need to be building our house on the rock of faith in Him, not on the sand of our own good ideas and our own religious system. We need to become disciples of Jesus and to believe in Him, and to do His will. That is the only answer, it’s the only thing I can give you which is Good News.

If you are a disciple of Jesus, then, you can look up when you see these things happening because your redemption is drawing near.

²⁵ “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21.25-28

Jesus is coming. He is going to take us to be with Himself. We are going to be given a new body, and going to be with Him for all eternity. We are going to come back with Him and reign on the earth when He sorts out the mess which the present government, and the governments of the world have made, and we’re going to see the government upon His shoulder.

So, if you want to see a good governmental system, believe in Jesus and put your trust in Him. Because, when the government is upon His shoulder, when the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever, then, we’ll have peace and justice, we’ll have a good society run properly by the Lord as a Prelude to the Eternal state in which will be with Him forever in the new heavens and the new earth.

I hope to see you all there. Make sure you have got your place in it by believing the Gospel and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look up, because although I have some bad news for you, the Good News is much more important. Jesus is coming, and He is going to sort out the mess which humans have made of this planet. He is going to be with us give us in the eternal life, in His eternal Kingdom, amen, amen, amen.

Prayer

So Lord we just thank you for your Word. We thank you for the hope we have in Jesus. We thank you that though we see the great darkness coming on the earth, the glory of God will rise upon your people and we will see Jesus coming in power and great glory, and setting up your Kingdom here on the earth, and bringing peace and justice in the end to this troubled planet.

We pray for the lost outside. We pray particularly for Israel and the Jewish people. You will protect your land and your people. We pray that you’ll set up your borders on that land, and you’ll hold back the forces of destruction.

We pray for the millions of poor people who are starving in the nations of, particularly, Africa and in other parts of the world where the harvests have failed and where the crops are not there. Just provide for them we pray.

And we pray Lord for our own nation that is so far from you, and is facing a new government and Lord we just pray that people will recognize that they need to repent and believe the Gospel, and put their trust in Jesus.

We pray this in His Name, and for His glory, amen, amen, amen. Trust the Lord.