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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/tj-thompson/gospel-what-is-a-christian/
Good evening. Shall we turn our Bibles to the book of Acts? Acts chapter 11, reading from verse 20. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Christians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Verse 26, And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that as they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people, that the disabled were called Christians first in Antioch.
Chapter 26, and verse 27. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And the last reading would be in 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse reading from verse 15.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other man's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.
And now may the Lord bless these readings, because sometimes you find that there are those that need a little confirmation from the Word of God, and we would just call it tonight, What is a Christian?
Because if you went to the country that I was born in, and you went into some of these places, and you spoke to them, they would say, Oh yes, I'm a Christian. And many people, they think because they were born in a country where it's under the influence of the Western nations, they'll tell you that they are Christians, because of the country that they're born in.
And of course that's very, very difficult, because we have to go to the Word of God, and we find there, What is a Christian? And we have read three portions in God's Word, What a Christian really is. The first place is in Acts chapter 20, and this is what it says there, They turned to the Lord.
Notice that, They turned to the Lord. The next place is in chapter 26 and 28, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And then of course in 1 Peter 4 16, If any man suffer as a Christian. I want you to notice those things, because they're very important, and these are the things that are inspired by God to tell us what a Christian really is.
Because there's some, and you find that they have a difficulty, and no doubt it's a difficulty because of the privilege that they've had of being brought up in an atmosphere where the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged.
And I thank God that I was brought up in a Christian home, and I thank God for that. But it's here in the Word of God that we will find out what a Christian is. And then you can judge yourself, and you can ask yourself, Well, is that what I am?
Even you may be professing to be a Christian, you want to make sure, because that's something you have to be sure of, that you are a Christian according to the Word of God. You'll notice that the first place that we read, the little word in Acts chapter 11 and the verse 20 thing is, They turned to the Lord.
Now was there ever a time in your experience when you turned to the Lord? I am an honest believer in the Lordship of Christ. And according to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, you find it's one of the things that the Apostle Paul preached.
And what does it mean to turn to the Lord? You come on to the authority, acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who died for you at the place called Calvary. I preached with a man some time ago, and I thank God for it.
And he was on the Navy, and he was there when the Japanese surrendered to General MacArthur. And of course, this admiral from Japan came up, and he had all the regalia, and he came aboard, and General MacArthur was sitting at his desk waiting on him.
And when he came up, he put his hand out, and he wanted to shake MacArthur's hand. And MacArthur says, Your sword, sir. Now what does that mean? That was absolute surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what we find here.
A Christian is one who has turned to the Lord. Has there been a time in your experience when you turned to the Lord? Well, you know what it would be to turn. It's an about face. It's turning away from things and turning to the blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledging him as your Lord.
Now a Lord means the one that's come into your life, and he has all authority. He has bought you body, soul, and spirit. You belong all to him. It's not myself or anything else. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I come under his rule. I come under his authority. And that's what you find in chapter 11. It says, they turned to the Lord. And it was there that they were first called Christians in Antioch. So there must be a time when you turn to the Lord.
Now I'm not saying you have to have a big, great experience. But you find that this is what the Bible says. A Christian is one who has turned to the Lord. And that's acknowledged him as the one. Like that Japanese man came up and he held his hand out.
No, the General MacArthur said, you're sure, sir. It's an absolute surrender to the Lordship of our blessed Savior. And they turned to the Lord. Now some may have a difficulty, not too sure, but is there a time, an experience in your life when you turned away from sin, sadness, the world, and all those things, and turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and came under his authority?
That's what the Lordship of Christ means. And for some who are younger, and even the older ones, you just go through your Bible and see what the Lordship of Christ means. It's not only in your personal experience when you got saved, but you find you turn to the Lord, and you'll find the Lordship goes right through.
We'd love to be able to take more time, but that's one of the points. It's a time when you turn to the Lord. You find in chapter 26 and verse 28, "...almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.". And there that King says, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
But he wasn't fully persuaded, so Paul would want him to be fully persuaded. And so you find that King said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And when God saves you, it's absolute assurance.
It's not uncertainty. You find that there the man said himself, almost thou persuadest me. Well, I thank God for the work of the Holy Spirit. I thank God for his work in the soul. He's the only one that can save.
Salvation is off the Lord. And as the Spirit of God begins to work, and I thank God, it's not probably just a little experience you had, but there's a work of God that happens in the soul. You find that the Word of God is spoken of by Peter.
Yes, it's Peter. And you find he says, "...being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible seed, which is the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever.". And that seed, you know rightly, you farmers know a lot more than they, the seed has to be sown.
And sometimes it's sown. Gospel preachers may sow the seed. Mothers may sow the seed. Sunday school teachers may sow the seed. But it's God that gives the increase. And so you find it's a work of God in your soul.
If there's anyone in the meeting tonight, and our brother's been speaking, he would love to be a Christian. You find that that is, I believe, of the Holy Spirit, because he brings before us what we are before God, what the Lord can do for us.
And some of us, we thank God for that experience when convicted of our sin, we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as we get there in chapter 11, and we were fully persuaded that He that had promised salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were fully persuaded.
So a Christian is one that has turned to the Lord. He's fully persuaded that what the Lord has done on Calvary's cross, He has done it for him as an individual. And when we go back to that time when that became a living experience in our lives, I thank God, and I say it again, because it gives you, we were singing happy day, that fixed my choice.
Well, you can have a happy day every day, and go back to that place where God saved you. Keep it fresh in your mind when you turn to the Lord, and you were fully persuaded that what we had been hearing and reading in God's Word, that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Savior.
But then we have to face something else. You have in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 16, it says, if any man suffer as a Christian. Now, there are some I don't know anything about here, but I remember the night that I was in Straits, I wanted to be saved.
And when you want to be saved, you know, the devil will do anything to keep you from getting saved. I worked in the shipyard where there's 10 ,000 people. I worked with men. At lunchtime, I would gamble with them, and I wasn't dirty-mouthed or anything, but they were.
And the man that worked with me, he had a filthy mouth. And I was sitting up there and said, if I get saved, I go in there, they'll laugh at me, they'll jeer at me. But I thank God for the grace that night that made me just leap into the arms.
I hadn't got a verse, but I know when I leapt, as it were, into the blessed arms of my Savior, I was saved and sure of it, and I thank God for it. Now, the very thing that I was afraid of, the next morning I went in, I worked with a man who every other word was a curse.
And I said to him, George, I says, I got saved last night. And he said to me, oh, Tommy, he says, that's the best life you can lead. And instead of being laughed at and jeered, I found that the man that was utmost in my mind when I'd get saved, that George McCarley accepted it, and he says, the best life.
Now, I had the joy of knowing that George, because I left afterwards, shortly after that for Africa, and George, when I came back through Belfast, I went up to see him, but he had gone, and his wife told me that George had become a Christian before he died.
So you find there are things that the devil can put in that make you afraid. But I thank God that I was fully persuaded. I turned to the Lord, and I knew that he would suffer as a Christian. Now, one of the things you find sometimes, suffering comes from those that you wouldn't expect it.
But remember this, it says, if any man suffers a Christian, the Spirit of glory rests upon you. You know what that is? That's the Spirit of God resting upon you. So if you want to make sure that you're a Christian, just look what the Bible says.
They turned to the Lord. Look at the other thing. He says, persuasion. And then there will be, and you'll make it if you live for God. And listen, you can't live for God and not suffer something. Because if you live for God, it might be in a home where there's nobody saved, like our brother mentioned there, and you may suffer then.
But it's because the Spirit of God rests upon you. So you ask yourself the question, am I a Christian? Was there a time in my experience when I turned to the Lord? Was there a time when I was fully persuaded to be a Christian?
And has it been in my life? And it comes from different places. If any man suffers a Christian, and the thing is, let him be happy. So may the Lord bless this introduction to our brother as he preaches.