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In our church, we are going through a series called Ekklesia.  What it really means is about the church and we thought it's really helpful, er, I hope it will be helpful for all of the Punggol residents to come and understand what Gospel Light stands for.  I think it's also great for Gospeliters to have a clarity of where we are going and what we are all about and so we have been on vision and mission and the message.  I want to remind you that the mission of this Church is to be “Leading Generations into a Life-changing Relationship with Jesus Christ.”  Fundamental principle here is that of life change and in Gospel Light, we say life change is really quite straightforward, as we see in the Bible, it demands that we know, we grow and we go.

To know means to be saved in Jesus Christ.  To know Christ means salvation in Jesus Christ.  To grow is sanctification, oh, it's a high class word, big word, long word but it really means to be kept more and or to be made more and more like God and less and less like the world - sanctified. And the word go, refers to service towards God. So, what does it mean to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus? It means to know, to grow, to go or, if you like it, to be saved, to be sanctified, to be serving. So, these three weeks would really be detailing what each of these three aspects look like. So, today we are going to start with the first one. To have a life-changing relationship begins with Knowing Christ and this is so important, I, I can't over emphasize this. This is really the most important thing, if there's nothing in your life I hope today you will know that you need to know Christ.

If you want to be saved from your sin, if you want to have a relationship with God, if you want to have this spiritual life, eternal life you must know Christ because this is not what I say, it's what God says. He says, in 1st John Chapter 5, “whoever has the Son has life” but, I'm a, I'm a very bad person, I've, I've sinned a lot, I have done many wrong things. Well, the Bible says whoever has the Son has life. Amazing promise, regardless of the number of sins in time passed Jesus paid it all, Jesus Christ gives life. On the other hand, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Eh but I've been coming to church for 20 years, hey my parents are Christians, hey I have memorized 50 verses,  doesn't matter even if you do all these things, but you do not have the Son of God, the Bible says you do not have life. Someone said this really well, going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger.  People assume that by coming to church, I am a Christian, you are a Christian. No you didn't become a hamburger when you go McDonald's, coming to church doesn't make you automatically a Christian. What makes us a follower of God, what makes us someone who knows God is when we know Jesus Christ, whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God has not life.

Paul Washer is a preacher in the States and he said this, “when, when will we realize that one of the greatest mission fields in the West, is the pews of our churches every Sunday morning.” Mission field is where Christians believe the Gospel must be preached, because many of them do not know the Gospel; many of them do not get saved, so that's a mission field. What's a pew? A pew is a traditional church seating arrangement it's just rows of benches so Paul Washer is saying we think that the great mission field is out there in the jungle but he says in the West, in US and many western countries, the great mission field is the Church today.  The Church means the visible church, the, the people who gather on Sunday mornings, people who are seated like you every morning, hearing the Word of God.  This is probably the greatest mission field in the West, he says. Because there are many people who come to church but they do not know Christ.  There are many people who attend church services but they do not have life.  You say this is the West, nothing to do with us. No, not true.  I think even in the East, even right here in Singapore and in our region, there are plenty of people who come to church and assume they know God when they don't really know God and maybe you are one of those who have been coming to church but maybe in your heart, you have not really known Christ.  I think we are in for a huge surprise when Jesus returns because Jesus tells us on that day, m”any will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” That many people who said I've done many things in the name of Christ. I teach the Bible, I, I can even do exorcism, I can do miracles, I did many things using Your name and in Your name, but on the final day of analysis, Jesus said I never knew you. Many will be caught with a very unpleasant surprise.

You see, it's not all these external things that define us. The Bible is very clear, this is that one essential prerequisite if you want to have life, if you want to know God, if you want to be saved from your sin, you've got to have the Son - whoever has the Son, regardless of how many sins you have in the past, you have life, but even if you do many many things and you have not the Son of God you have not life.

This morning, my purpose is very straightforward.  My purpose is to help you, each and every one, don't look at someone else to left or right, it's for you alright.  My purpose is for you to really, really know Christ, not just in a superficial or intellectual way, but that you will really have Christ in your life because if you have Him, you have life. In order to help you in this, there are three questions I want to raise and answer.

Number one: who exactly is Jesus, who is Christ, what so special about Him, what did He do?  Number two: how can I really know Him? I mean, what do you mean by knowing Christ, I, I, I probably would hear about Jesus today but what does it mean to know Him and have Him? Number three: how do I know I really, really know Him? No assumptions, let us be clear, let us be firmly grounded upon the Word of God today. So, three questions we will run through them rather quickly, and we start off with the first one, who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus? Who is this man we all gather to worship and know about today? I think one of the best answers and explanations of who Jesus is, is given by the disciple of Jesus, Peter himself.

In Matthew 16, Peter says in response to question Jesus gave, “who do you think I am?” and Peter says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. So Peter clearly knows Jesus is God's Son. Now, let me be clear, Jesus is also God, fully God. He is God, the very God and He's also the Son of God, that's why we have the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit so Jesus is fully God.  He's the Son of God who came down and took on flesh. He became man. He is the perfect, sinless, God Man, only one in this whole universe who has such an identity, so Peter says You're not an ordinary prophet, You are not an ordinary miracle worker. You are the Son of the living God and You are the Christ. What is the meaning of the word Christ? The word Christ means the chosen one or the anointed one.

You see, God from the beginning of time promised Adam and Eve that there will be a Savior who will be an offspring of a woman who will crush the serpent's head.  Satan, the serpent, has introduced sin into the world, corrupted the world and the world is plunged into death and darkness. But even in that midst of death and darkness God gives a glimmer of hope- I'm going to send a Savior, offspring of a woman who will crush the serpent's head and save man from their sins. Hundreds of years went by and God said that this Savior will not just be a Savior, but He will also be King, so there will be a Savior King who will come and thousands of years when my people were still waiting and longing for the arrival of such a Savior King, the Christ. And so when Jesus is born into this world, and when Peter followed Jesus in his life he recognized He, Jesus, is the Son of the living God. He is the Chosen One - to do what? To save His people from their sins and that's why Jesus came to die on the Cross. It was not an accident, it was God's intention that from the beginning, this Savior, God's Only Son will be born as man, live a perfect life, die on the Cross, be resurrected again for the salvation of sins so that we may be rescued from our sins and only Jesus is the One. Only Jesus is the Christ, there's no other salvation, no other savior apart from Him so I hope this answers the question, who is Christ. He is the Son of the living God, He is the chosen Savior King.

Now the next question is: how can I know Him?  Alright, the Christian teaching is very clear you've told us we are sinners, we need to be saved, Jesus is the only One, He is God's Son come to be our substitute, our sacrifice, our Savior but how can I know Him? - Is hearing about this enough today? The answer, no. Knowing about Jesus, hearing about Jesus is great, but that's not enough to save you because the Bible does tell us we need to have Jesus, we need to receive Jesus and how do you do that? John one verse 12 “but to all who did receive Him who believe in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God”, so the key word here is to believe, faith, believe means to have confidence, trust, rely, depend upon. This may not be so easy for you to grasp but let me repeat this again in John 3 verse 15 it says “whoever believes in Him may have eternal life”, so the Bible is very consistent, the only way you can be saved from your sins is by believing in Jesus Christ.

Well you say… well..arghh…. I'm still not so clear what believe is, I mean if this is such a critical concept, can you help me with the understanding of believe? Sure, Jesus is going to help you.  Jesus here tells us a story that illustrates what it means to believe. He quotes a story in Numbers 21 about Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. You say, what's the story about?  Well, in a nutshell, Israel sinned against God by complaining against God... eyor… eyor… eyor… eyor… aiya God why you bring us here ya, ya, ya, ya and they murmur and they complain, they basically did not trust God and so God sent a judgment upon the nation of Israel and what was the judgment? It was a whole brood of serpents, snakes that are extremely fatal…ar…lethal their bite probably is very painful, that's why they are called fiery serpents is like maybe deep heat and hot burning pain but like I said the real problem is that these are lethal, fatal bites so the Bible tells us, as they complained, God sends the snakes, the snakes bit the people of Israel and they started to die, fell like flies and there's no way they can be saved from this venom, there is no way they can be saved from these bites until God said to Moses, “Moses, make a bronze serpent; take that bronze serpent, set it on a staff and hoist it up, maybe something like this and tell all of Israel, turn your eyes and look unto this bronze serpent that you may be saved. There is no other way you can be saved, you will all die in your sins unless you would turn and look to the salvation God provides.” That's what happened, Israel humbled themselves, turned and looked to the serpent to be saved.

Now this is a story, Jesus alluded to when he said, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so there's a parallelism intended in the story, just as Israel sinned against God and deserved to die, we sin against God and deserve to die and be judged for our sins. and we are all, both Israelites and ourselves, we are both helpless in our sins. We can't save ourselves, it's lethal. Sin is lethal but God says, humble yourselves and look at the salvation I provide. Who is the salvation God provides? Jesus, the Son of Man went to the Cross to be lifted up, He became a curse for us, He became a symbol of death for us, so that those who will repent, humble themselves and look to Him will be saved. What's the point, it's very simple. What do you mean by believing in Jesus? I think it simply means this, that when I know how desperate I am, how sinful and helpless I am and when I turned my eyes and depend entirely on God's Son, that's faith looking to Jesus. I look to Him to save me from my sins; I think that's faith, that's what Jesus is explaining here.

A well-known preacher, his name is Charles Spurgeon, when he was young, he heard a preacher quote Isaiah 45, that says “look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth” and the preacher says you don't have to be someone of status or prestige, anyone can look, it doesn't take a lot of effort, but anyone can look, so everyone look to Jesus and be saved and Spurgeon that time said I can do that and he looked to Jesus and his life is changed. He depended on Jesus alone to save him from his sins; so let's not be confused about this concept of faith and belief, it's looking to Jesus, depending on Jesus.

AW Pink an author of times past has a wonderful little summary of the Christian life and how that whole Christian life can be summarized by this word “look”. He said, “man became a lost sinner by a look, for the first thing recorded of Eve in connection with the fall of our first parents is that the man, the woman saw that the tree was good for food.” He goes on to say “in like manner the lost sinner is saved by a look. The Christian life begins by looking, look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.” He goes on to explain the Christian life continues by looking, let us run the patient with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith and even at the end of the Christian life, we are still to be looking for Christ, for our conversation or citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior; so he says from the first to the last, the one thing required is looking at God's Son. So how can I know Jesus? Believe, but what you mean by believe in Jesus? It means you look to Him to save you from your sins. You look to no one else. You recognize there is no way you can save yourselves and you recognize that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. So, I have answered two questions, hopefully number one, who is Christ, who is Jesus?  Well, He's God's Son, He is the Savior King, He's the one chosen to save you and I from our sins.

How can I really know Him? Well I need to believe in Him and that means I look to Him to save me from my sins, I look to Him alone and no one else but finally, how do I really know I know Him or how do I know I really know Him? This is important don't you think? Because on the day you were saved or on the day you said you believe in Jesus in your heart, did God send you an email?… dear John, I'm so glad you prayed that prayer, here's the email from heaven to tell you, you are my child. Did you get that SMS notification? You know nowadays, I withdraw money from the teller, wah, immediately there is a SMS, I thought this is brilliant man! So, when you believe in Jesus, did someone send you a message?… Hey John, so glad you trusted in my Son, you're now a Christian. If you had that would be so cool but no, God doesn't give you that kind of notification. So how do you really know you're saved, how do you know you're saved?  By the way, how do how do you know I'm saved? Oh, because he's a pastor, are you sure? Just because you have a title it means you are saved? How can one really know?  How do you know your son is saved or my son… he, he, he, he, he raised his hand during Sunday school and we got him baptized, he must be saved. Really? How you know? Don't you think this is important? I mean if you buy a house, you buy a car, you check all the documents right? You, you make very sure that this is really what it is.  If you want to go for operation, you check if the blood tests accurate, is the x-ray, the doctor say you have a tumor, then show x-ray no tumors and then say doctor, no tumor, what? You want to be sure there really is a tumor before you let him open up your tummy. You want to be sure, when it comes to the Christian spiritual life, you have to be sure. So can you and I be really sure about it? That's my purpose here - fundamental to understanding how I can know is this realization that when somebody really knows Jesus, when somebody really believes in Jesus, when this person received Jesus into his life, something radical takes place in his life. That's the reason why I say, you can know, because something radical, different, amazing happens in your lives. You say what happens? Nothing is as radical as being born again.

Jesus tells us having this spiritual life is being born again. Now, There's nothing more dramatic than birth right?  Aarrrgggh…the baby cries, I mean, before the baby comes out, he is quiet, maybe the mummy screams… huhhhh… but after the baby comes out, the baby screams, the baby moves, the baby breathes, lots of things happen because… life and when someone comes to Jesus, many things take place because life - spiritual life, born again and he will not remain the same. The Bible tells us he is a new creation, absolutely new man. Why? Old has passed away, the new has come and in what way new? Pimples go away? No, no, no, no, no…, not about the physical change, but it's about the inward change, the inward change that God has promised years ago, in Ezekiel 36 when he says, “in the new covenant, when someone comes to know me, when I work in that man's heart, when he is born again, when My Spirit blows into his life, I will give him a new heart and a new Spirit”; so how can I know I am saved, how can I know I know Christ? Well, when something like this is observable in your life, you're born again, you're a new creation and you have a new heart. Pastor, can you tell me more about this heart? Sure, let me tell you, four evidences of a new heart from the Bible.

The first thing about this new heart and I hope you remember this okay?… Four things very easy to remember - can you do that? And they all start with love. They all start with love, so the first thing about this new heart, is that you will love… very good, this church is, er, wow, you guys are good, alright, ok, at least you get even the sequence quite right, alright. The first thing I want to say is that you love, this new heart is a heart that loves God. In Deuteronomy, it is said “and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God”. You know something amazing has taken place in a man's life when he now loves God.

You know I used to be someone who despised God. I, I laughed at God. I laughed at Christians. I laughed at the Bible.  People who tell me about Christians, I think they are weaklings.  I think they are people who emotionally weak and need some religious crutch for their lives. I don't need them so I laughed at God. I ridiculed this whole concept of God but you know when I came to know Christ after that, I thought the most natural thing is when people ask me - do you go to church? I say yah, I'll be very paiseh [local dialect: shy] aiyah, sorry, I was wrong lah. I I thought I'll be very ashamed but do you know something, I was so glad people ask me, do you go to church? - I am so glad I tell them I I believe in Jesus, I'm so glad I can tell them I now follow the God of the Bible.  I love Him. I can't quite explain it, I, I did not will myself to love God, but that is the consequence that I realize as I look back in my life. I love God, I long to please Him.  I want to glorify Him.  He's the reason why I do what I do today.

Now, I I must admit it's not always pure, but I think it's a growing and a real reality that He's the reason why I do what I do today. I love Him and I love Him not just because He gives me good stuff in my life. I love Him not just because He answers the prayers I expect it to be.  I love Him because of who He is and what He has done in Jesus Christ. I love Him so I don’t, I try my level best, not to sin, even when nobody is watching. Again, never perfect, but there's a sincere desire to do that and so I ask you today, the Bible tells us if you know Christ, your heart will be changed, new Spirit, new heart and you will love God. I ask you, do you love God this morning? Do you love God in your life? Folks, I'm not asking you, do you come to church? I'm not asking you, if you have memorized the Bible? I'm not asking if your parents are Christians. I am asking you about your heart. Do you really love God, because if you say honestly say to yourself I don't really love God and I've been attending church for 20 years, I have never been different, I'm still the same old guy. I say to you, you've got to watch it because objectively, it doesn't seem like you have a new heart and if you do not have a new heart, it means you do not know Christ and if you do not know Christ, it means you do not have life and that means today might be the best day for you to repent and really come to Christ. You love God with your heart, soul, mind and strength; when times are good and when times are not so easy, a test for yourself.

Number two, not only will you love God, you will love. Wah! Very good Gabriel, you saw my slides beforehand is it?  No lah, he's absolutely right Gabe, not only will love God I think very related to that is to love His Word. The Bible tells us in Psalm 119, the psalmist, says oh how I love your Law. You know I, this is amazing when you have a new heart you don't look at the Bible as if it's a set of rules and regulations that are burdensome and a chore to fulfill. You delight in God's Word. You won't say oh I love to sin so much, I hate the Bible for restricting me, no, you say I love Your Word I want to study Your Word, I want to go deep in the Scriptures because herein, I learn of Your perfect ways and I learn of You O God, I love Your law and in Your Word I will meditate day and night. A Christian who is truly born-again listens to the Bible very differently from a non-Christian you know that?  A Christian really hears the Word of God not to be entertained but to be edified. He's not here to say Pastor, you, you have to crack more jokes lah, today so boring, so wah so heavy going, I need more jokes to wake me up!  No, a Christian says I want to know the solid truth of the Word of God because I love Thy law.

The attitude towards the Bible is so different and you love the Law, not just to know, but you love the Law in order to keep His commandments. A man who truly knows Jesus, I tell you what - he must look forward to obedience. He wants to obey – for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, “if you love Me, keep My commandments”. I always ask my two sons, do you love daddy? Yes. Do you obey me? No. The great paradox of life - so their love is not really love because they don't really keep the commandments. There are many people say I love God wah during worship, singing like, they sing like wa …  Chinese tiān huā luàn zhuì 天花乱坠  [lit. a deluge of heavenly flowers (idiom) fig. extravagant embellishments hype] wah like whole thing is wah so nice and they sing until the tears come out and they have a great emotional experience and then the next moment they slip back into sin, from Monday to Saturday. Do you love God? Is your love for God gauged by how many drops of tears squeezed out from your tear duct? Is your love for God measured by the decibel of your singing? Hey but, but I seriously think your decibel can go higher la but in any case your, your love for God is not measured by how loud you sing, but by how obedient you are to Him, isn't it?  What hypocrisy when the church believes it is on Sunday morning that we show our love to God and Monday to Saturday we live like the devil!  A man who really is born again, has a heart that loves God, loves His Word and the Bible tells us, he will not keep on sinning.

Let us be clear, coming to Jesus, doesn't mean that you become sinless, but coming to Jesus does mean you will sin less. It is not sinless perfection as we often say in this church, but it is sincere progression but this is how you know you love His Word. This is the evidence of a heart regenerated, born again.

Number three, so you love God, you love His Word. The third sign you love…, sorry, love others. A bit more precise, sorry God's people, His people, very good. So you love brethren, that's right, exactly. Now, I I I am precise here because that's how first John three, tells it, “we know that we have passed out of death into life”, because we love the brothers. How do you know you're no more spiritually dead, but you are spiritually alive? How do you know? By this, you know. I mean this is from the Bible itself - how do you know? I love the brothers. I love fellow followers of Jesus Christ, that's why I'm so scared for some of you here when I hear that you are bearing a grudge in your heart against someone for the past 20 years and you say I will never ever forgive him; I will never forgive her for doing that to me, no matter what happens I'll never forgive, you know those words are scary words, because if you say I will never forgive you I look at these words and say “you're abiding in death”, wow! If you're unforgiving and you hold on to that unforgiveness, bitter and hatred for the rest of your life, I wonder if you really have a new heart, in the first place. Now, let me say it's never easy to forgive someone, but that's the power of being born again, that's the power of a new heart you love God, you want to keep His commandments, you want to forgive and love others because of God, not because of that person. We have said many times, you don't forgive someone because of someone, you forgive someone because of God and if you really know God therein is the grace to help you forgive. If you really love the brothers, you would serve the brothers. Now, let me say this in this church, I think there can be a very real tendency for many of you who come to this church to satisfy yourself by saying I'm coming to church, I attend the service, that's my Christian life, I say no.

If you really someone who knows Christ, you cannot say I'm divorced or disassociated from my brothers and sisters in Christ, you can't because you've a heart that wants to love and that love will be expressed in service and care and compassion. In other words the bare minimum, I believe you would want to know other brothers and sisters-in-Christ you will develop relationships with brothers and sisters-in-Christ, so that you can be a blessing to others. That's the heart of a child of God.  Church is not classroom. Church is community, it's body life, it's family. By this I know I've passed out of death unto life that's the evidence of a new heart.

Number four…. number one is love God. Number two, love His Word. Number three, love brethren.  Number four? No one will guess this la – love sin? love, I I got to start again from step one … love sin sorry I heard wrongly love sinners, true, that can be so but this you will not get it because it's not fair, it's not love, it's love not!  This is in the negative but I think it is very real in 1st John – “love not the world - do not love the world or the things in the world, if any man loves the Father, the love, loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. In other words, a new heart today longs for different things.  I mean before you came to know Christ, before you believe in Him, what you love, of course, money, power, sex, these are the things people love, what else but after you know Christ, these are not things that you live for anymore. You love the Father and so your love for the things of this world, again, not perfectly, but progressively will be less and less and less because as you are filled with the Father's love you'll be less gripped by the love of this world.

In other words, there will be a greater demonstration of how you can live a life that denies yourself and takes up the Cross to follow Jesus. In other words, you used to live very much to be promoted as number one in your office to earn a six digit salary, whatever it may be, but today, no, you realize these are not things that bring lasting joy, these are not things that define you and you rather be a servant of the Most High. Your ambitions shift, things change because your heart is now different. So let me summarize it this way - this is a picture of your heart and my heart before we come to know Christ, it's grey, it's stony, it's lifeless.  We say it's beating what, beating physically but is not beating spiritually, it's insensitive, it's like a rock when God's Word comes; so this is a picture of our hearts, stony cold, but on the day that God's Spirit works in your life, you repent of your sin and believe in Jesus, you receive Him into your life, things start to change.  Now your heart is changed, you're given a new Spirit, a new heart that beats for God - it's blood red, it's passion for God and and this new heart manifests itself by loving God, manifests itself by loving His Word, by loving brethren and by not loving the world.

Can you remember this picture? Today's sermon is very simple. It's all captured in one picture. If you are born again, this should describe you and if this does not describe you, I'm not saying perfectly, please don't get me wrong - I'm saying progressively you see a trajectory toward such a kind of evidence in your life – if you see this or if you don't see this, it is how you can discern if you are really someone who knows Christ or not?

God doesn't need to send you SMS.  He doesn't need to send you email.  It's already in His book, it's already right there, it's whether you want to check it or not, you whether you want to face up to the reality or not so the Bible does tell us to check.  What I'm preaching is not out of Scripture, the Bible does say, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith, test yourselves.

I used to be a doctor.  I used to send people for testS, x-ray, blood test whatever can cost you money, but let me tell you this test today for you, free one you know, free, FOC really… it's just for you to test and I don't have to go to poke your arm or whatever… you test yourselves okay, but we must get the right test kit.  You get the wrong test kit you'll get the wrong results so what is the usual test kit people use to test whether they are Christians?  Common tests people use today to see whether they are Christians: What is the number 1 one?  Wah so smart, you all know how to read, ok … the number 1 test is… I go to church, that means I'm a Christian.  No, not true.  Christian goes to church, a non-Christian can don't, can also go to church, going to McDonald's doesn't make you a hamburger, going to church doesn't make you a Christian. He that has the Son has life and he that has not the Son of God has not life, the key Jesus Christ.

Second test, this one I didn't click advance, huh baptism, that's right, that's number five, I'll come to that soon, good one, baptism, what else? sinners prayer, number four, we'll come to that.  Someone there say that… yeah you are right…read the Bible.  Eh I read the Bible I must be a Christian la.  Ah you see I don't read Buddhist scriptures, I don't read Koran, I read the Bible so I am a Christian right? No!  The Pharisees were experts in the Bible, at least in their own interpretation but they were not born again.  Reading the Bible alone doesn't make you a  Christian now sure if you read the Bible and you look for Jesus in the Bible, that's great, but again, knowing about Jesus and believing in Him is also quite a gap. So reading the Bible is great, but it doesn't mean you're Christian simply because you read it or if you have it on your iPhone.

Number three - Pray okay, it can be but ah … I'll lump it probably…read the Bible, pray, serve God can.  The third one I thought about is: my parents are Christians. My parents are Christians and I have been going to church with my parents so my parents Christian, I'm also Christian la.  People somehow think that Christianity is inherited in the genes, no!  It is well said that God does not have grandchildren. God has children. Nobody here says I'm a grandchild of God, anyone say like that?  God is very old I am the grandchild of God, no! God gives us the privilege to become the children of God.  It is always a direct relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. I think this is so, this is so real.  You know our church today is coming to 30 years old, some of you literally grew up in this church. Some of you grew up in other churches and now you are in this church, and I'm so scared that you believe this lie. My parents are Christians. They are good people. I grew up in church, I've never missed a Sunday service. I've attended many Sunday school lessons.  I've raised my hands to say the sinner's prayer many times in Sunday school, I must be saved right, Pastor?.

John, let me ask you, do you love God?  Erm… not really, but I read the Bible. Do you love His Word? I read it when I'm in the toilet but otherwise not, uhm..I won't say, I want to know too much.  Do you love the brethren? No, no, no, no, no, I remember that Jacob, who keeps insulting me, I would never forgive him.  What are you living for?  Well I hope to be a rich man.  I want to be successful, so Pastor do you think I am a Christian?  What do you think John?  I think I should be okay. I go to church. My parents are Christians.  I read the Bible; you know that's how conversations can go. That's exactly how you may think, because you come from a solid church that teaches the Bible, your parents are good Christians, you've always attended church, you've said the sinners prayer a few times in your life, I must be saved, no, you know these are not signs given in Scripture. Do you know that?  These are not things that the Bible says you look to be saved, to tell yourself you're saved or to prove to yourself that you're saved.  We're using the wrong test kit.  The danger of that is that you'll end up with the wrong conclusion and you end up in a Christ-less eternity. So let me just say, if you want to test yourself, test yourself, please, with solid gold standard tests in the Bible.  What are the tests?  Number 1, I mention you love God – heart issue.  You love His Word – heart issue.  You love the brethren - heart issue. You love not the world – heart issue but all these heart issues will manifest in your life so there is no denying so it is objective, so it is clear, but this is something you have to check for yourself.

I do not want to be unkind, my purpose here is not to keep making you doubt your salvation, no that's not the purpose. Neither am I trying to discredit your profession of faith. No, please understand. I have to say harsh things like this, so that perhaps there are people here who have been sitting on that presumption will not one day end up in hell and say to God, I read the Bible in your name, I came to church in your name. I prayed in your name and then here, Jesus says, I never knew you. There's nothing more scary than that.

More than 10 years ago, my mother-in-law went to see a doctor and the doctor was extremely cruel to her, he he said to her something that really broke her heart. She made, he made her cried. He said something so unkind. It's amazing.  He said to her “you have cancer”. She cried, she broke down, she was devastated, but if that doctor did not say that cruel, unkind thing, she would not be here today. It was necessary to say something that was painful in order for her to be saved from her cancer.   That doctor would be a lousy doctor if he didn't say what he had to say and as a preacher of God's Word, I will be a lousy preacher, if I shun away from the necessity to cause you to think and examine your own faith and I say this not because I'm unkind I hope but I said is this because I truly hope for many of you may be second generation churchgoers, examine your faith, whether you really know Christ.

I want to say this to those who are parents.  You know my son Shawn, he made a profession of faith couple, two, three years ago, I am delighted, of course, that he would admit that he's a sinner, you want to believe in Jesus, but you know I don't, neither my wife nor I said ah he's surely a Christian from today onwards he's surely going to heaven. No, every day in our lives we're watching his life not like a hawk like a negative way, but we are hoping to appreciate the fruit of life change in him, hoping to see evidences from his heart that he loves God, he loves the Bible, he loves brethren and he does not live for the things of the world. And when I see these things and if we see these things, more and more and Shawn grows and matures you know that's how we can say, Shawn, we're thankful for these evidences in your life, and according to the Bible this tells you, you've a new heart.  I rejoice with you. I rejoice in the grace and mercy of God.

How many families, how many children have been led to this delusion that I'm saved because my parents told me I I said the sinners prayer, when I was five, I was baptized when I was six and even though now I don't love God, I hate God and I want to run away from Him, my parents tells me I should be okay. I know the parents' heart.  The parents really long for the children to know Christ but you know it is not done this way, but rather parents, we come face to face with the Scriptures see it for what it is and then come to God for help, prayer, praying for the salvation of our children, your kids, maybe 30 years old now, 40 years old now, it's not too late, rather than keep on deluding yourself they're saved. Why don't we focus on praying for our kids that they may come to really know Christ?

When you share the Gospel, rejoice when someone makes a profession, but don't be too quick to tell them you're definitely saved. Don't be too quick.  This is what I say to people I share the Gospel with, I'm so glad you made a profession today but let me tell you if you really know Christ you're born again, you have a new heart, you will love God more and more, you'll love the Bible more and more, you'll love the brethren more and more, you'll love not the world more and more and when we see this, you and I, we will know you truly are miraculously born again. Would you do that because I think that's honest to Scripture but today, if you're here and you fail this four tests in your own heart, it's not a sad day, I think it's a glorious day because this maybe the day you can really say I need to have the Son. I've had many trappings of Christianity.  I've had reading the Bible, church attendances, I've had many of these things, but let's strip these things away.  Today I realize I need the Son of God and the Bible says it's as easy as this, as Israel will realize they are helpless unless they look and turn their eyes unto the serpent, today, take time, turn your eyes unto Jesus and you may have eternal life. May God bless you, really this morning with knowing Christ!

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. I appreciate your attention to a tough sermon like this and I want to assure you, my intention is not to be cruel to be cruel but it is to be direct that you today may find mercy at the feet of Jesus. The promise of God stands true today, “He that hath the Son hath life”, would you repent of your sin to come to Jesus and have life? Would you parents pray for your children that they will not just have mere trappings of church-ianity, but they will really come to the Christ of Christianity? Whatever the Lord is doing in your heart today, would you respond to Him in prayer and if you know today you do not know Jesus, hey this maybe the time for you to humble yourself and say, “Lord, save me. I'm a sinner, I'm desperate, I'm condemned, turn my eyes and look upon Jesus today that I may be saved”. You can take God at His Word.  He said “whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”. That is a gentleman's word if I may say.

He will never fail us.  He will never fail you.  When God worked in my little heart 22 years ago, I've no idea about the change that takes place in my life.  I didn't change myself, I can't, Jesus did.  This is what we mean by a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.  For those who will humble themselves and come, look, believe, pray to God this day that you may know Him.

Father we thank You this morning for Your Word.  Bless each one here that we will really know Christ. We thank You in Jesus’ Name, amen.

 

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