Do you know if your Christianity is authentic? We get preoccupied with the actions and forget about our attitude?

<p>Do you know if your Christianity is authentic? We get preoccupied with the actions and forget about our attitude?</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

Is My Christianity Real?

Doug Batchelor

01 Is My Christianity Real?

This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

At 4 feet tall, the ember penguin is the largest penguin species in the world.

Every spring, these majestic birds travel up to 75 miles inland on the Arctic ice pack, walking and sliding on their bellies, to arrive at 1 of the most desolate and remote places on Earth.

Once the female lays an egg, her male companion quickly rolls it onto his feet and covers it with a fold of his fat, feathery fur to keep it warm.

While the females leave to feed in the ocean for about 2 months, the males huddle together in clusters for protection from the frigid wind incubating the eggs on their feet while enduring the brutally cold dark winter.

Emperor penguins demonstrate some of the most patient devotion and warm love for their young of any creatures.

And they do this in the coldest conditions on earth, where temperatures can drop to 85 below 0.

The Bible says in the last days, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

But your love can stay warm even in a cold world.

As a Christian, Are you warming those around you with God's love?

At the heart of all of this is the question, is your Christianity real?

Join me now, friends, as we look at what the Bible has to say on this very important topic.

♪♪ I heard 1 time about this mission organization that was placing missionaries in different parts of the world they had a unique way of testing the missionaries.

The candidate was told to arrive at 3 in the morning for the exam.

And so this 1 candidate, he came at 3 in the morning, he went to the room where he was supposed to meet the examiner and he waited there until 5 in the morning, nobody there.

So he waited a little longer until 8 in the morning.

Finally the examiner came in at 8 in the morning He said Can you please spell the word Baker for me?

It's a very good Said now, can you please tell me how much is 2x2?

He said, I think that the mission board is going to accept you as a missionary.

That afternoon the examiner went and he met with the mission board, he said you know that candidate that I had an appointment with, he said I think he's going to make a good missionary he said I tested him on self-denial He got out of a warm bed on a cold night while I know he was still tired and he came.

I made him then wait from 3 in the morning until 8 in the morning before I showed up.

I asked him questions that any child would understand and he was not offended.

Then I asked him a simple equation of addition and he answered it correctly and politely.

And he said, he's got what it takes to be a missionary it's going to require self denial, perseverance, patience, humility and so there were tests, well there are tests in the Bible there if you're saying Doug how do I know if my Christianity is real?

The Bible actually gives you several tests.

And so we're going to ask that very important question today, is my Christianity real?

You know the Bible tells us that if we are going to do something about counterfeit Christianity or if our Christianity isn't real, first you've got to identify that.

And so there's some preventative screening that happens now I don't know if you've been to the doctor for a regular checkup, but if you go for a checkup you don't always want to wait until you're sick and then go to the doctor.

As you get a little older they say you ought to go do some preventative health screening.

Something simple like a blood pressure check.

You could prevent death by a simple test like that.

A blood test, they could tell you about your blood sugar.

Diabetes can kill a person, you can slip into a coma, it can tell you about your cholesterol levels, it can help you prevent a heart attack, a whole scope of different things can be determined by that cancer, and so doing some preventative screening can save your life how many of you have known somebody and they came down with some terrible terminal disease and then somebody will say if they only had that checked a little sooner they could have done something, but they waited too long.

Right now, praise the Lord if you're alive and hearing my voice, you probably have not grieved away the Holy Spirit and it's not too late for you to ask those important and penetrating questions, is my Christianity real?

Because there will come a time when it will be too late.

So Now is the time to find out how sad it will be on that day to find out that you are self deceived that you figured well this was the world standard of Christianity and I measured up to the world standard and so I thought I was going to make it, but to hear the words from Jesus say I'm sorry I don't know you I can't think of anything more frightening than that.

And so if you're going to know, don't you want to know?

And wouldn't you want to know soon enough to make a difference?

Now some people get angry when I talk like this.

And they reproach me and they say, Pastor Doug, you are so works behavior oriented.

We are not supposed to be looking at ourselves.

We're just supposed to be looking at Jesus.

A Christian principally wants to fix their eyes on Jesus.

2 Corinthians 13 5, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.

There is a time for us to scrutinize, to test, to examine.

I'm going to come back to this verse but I want to show you it's not the only 1 because you need at least 2 or 3 witnesses here.

Lamentations 340, let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord.

He's talking about a search in the book of Haggai 1, verse 5.

Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.

So do I have your support that there is a time, the Bible says that every now and then we ought to do a little bit of introspection and then figure out if there needs to be some changes.

Now you don't want to be driving a car looking in the rear view mirror all the time.

The rear view mirror is there and it's very important, but if you spend all your time looking in the rear view mirror all the time.

The rear view mirror is there and it's very important, but if you spend all your time looking in the rear view mirror you're going to have an accident.

You've got to be looking where you're going.

So principally a Christian wants to be forward thinking.

You want to keep your eyes on Jesus, you want to keep your eyes on the goal but every now and then you better check your mirrors, you better take situational awareness is what they call it and make sure that you're where you're supposed to be, you're not drifting into the wrong lane or someone's not coming up behind you, they're going to plow into you.

If our hearts are changed, if we are born again, there'll be a difference.

So how do you know if you're a real Christian?

Number 1, you're gonna start with the most important, love.

Love the Lord with a little bit of your heart.

Isn't that greedy that God would want 100%?

Thou shalt love the Lord with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind.

Gospel of John 14 verse 23, Jesus said, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him he that does not love me does not keep my word.

So what's 1 of the criteria for loving the Lord?

1 John 2.15 and 16 if anyone loves the world meaning more than Jesus, the love of the father is not in him.

For all that's in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, it's not from the father, but it's from the world.

James 4, 4...do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

So we're going to have a struggle going on and 1 of the principal tests is do we love the Lord?

02 Is My Christianity Real?

Ancient Scandinavian history tells of a fearsome class of Norse warriors called berserkers.

To appear more terrifying, these berserkers would dress themselves up in the skins of bears, wolves, or other wild animals.

Before entering battle, berserkers whipped themselves into a crazed frenzy, biting their shields and howling like animals, possibly aided by mind-altering drugs.

In this trance-like state, they were ferocious fighters, impervious to pain.

They attacked boulders and trees, and sometimes even killed their own people during the rampage.

Irrational and violent, they were totally out of control.

Of course, these frenzied Scandinavian fighters gave rise to the English word, berserk, to describe somebody who's overcome with uncontrolled rage.

If Christians lose their temper and fly off the handle, are they really Christians?

When professed believers act berserk, are we really abiding in Christ?

Remember, 1 of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.

Let's explore this subject together Is My Christianity Real?

And I saw online, they've got a test, I knew it was there but the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency created a test after years of research and looking at some of the characteristics if a person is drinking and they're wondering am I an alcoholic?

They've got a test with 26 questions that you go through.

I'll give you an example, I'm not gonna read them all to you.

And you can find this online, you can take the test and you can click results and it'll tell you if you're an alcoholic or if you're a problem drinker and they have these different levels.

Do you avoid family or close friends while you're drinking?

Do you drink heavily when you're disappointed, under pressure?

Can you handle more alcohol than when you first started to drink?

And each 1 of these has a yes or no next to it.

And if you say yes to a certain percentage of them it means that you've got problems with your drinking.

If you say, I think it's like 12 or more if you say yes, you are an alcoholic.

And so there's a test, they've got the questions and you can look at this and you can evaluate and you might be thinking, well Pastor Doug is that what it's like to test and see if you're a Christian?

Well there are questions you can ask, I was really happy when I looked at this, because I could say no to all of them, because I don't drink And so the test can be positive and the test can be negative but the Bible tells us that there are guidelines that you can go through to evaluate am I a Christian?

Well Jesus actually said when you judge judge a righteous judgment.

Not only does it say you should examine yourself, Lamentations 3.40 let us search out and examine our ways.

Again, Psalm 119 verse 59, I thought about my ways and I turned my feet to your testimonies.

1 of the things that often precedes our turning back to God is doing a little self evaluation.

The book Haggai chapter 1 verse 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.

And so this is what we're doing in this 2 part series.

We're looking at some of the Bible tests you might go through to do a little healthy self-evaluation and say, am I a real Christian?

You know, this sermon bothers people who need it the most.

People will say, I don't want to think about that.

I'm afraid I might find something, or I might discover that maybe I'm not genuine.

And we need to sometimes ask that question.

Luke chapter 13, then 1 said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved?

And he said to them, strive to enter in through the narrow gate, for I say to you that many will seek to enter and not be able.

When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and knock, you say Lord, Lord, they know the Lord's name, they think they're his servants, Lord, Lord open for us and he will answer and say I do not know where you are from, and then you'll begin to say we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets but I'll say, I tell you, I don't know you, where you're from, depart from me all you workers of iniquity and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now this is 1 of many parables that Jesus shares that illustrates there are some who think they are saved and they find out too late that they are not.

Hungry or thirsty or naked or stranger they don't know, you get the wedding feast, you get the parable of the talents, there's several parables where Jesus said there's a danger you need to be aware of while you're alive, while there's mercy, while there's hope, the door is open, examine yourself.

Proverbs 14, 12, there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end thereof they're the ways of death.

You know who's especially at risk, if you don't mind my saying so?

Those who have grown up in the church they think, oh yeah I've done this all my life.

It's I know that I know the Lord because my father, my mother, my grandparents, they just, yeah of course, of course he's gonna know me, he's gonna let me in, and they've almost had just enough religion over their lives to inoculate them against catching the real thing.

It's like we had in our study earlier today, the apostle Paul, he was just so on fire for God and he didn't realize he was on fire against God and he was fighting God and he had that aha moment but it was in time for him we want to examine ourselves and know now.

Let me give you 1 more verse, Paul wrote this Galatians 6 verse 3 for if anyone thinks himself to be something when he's nothing he deceives himself but let each 1 examine his own work.

So if you've got a problem with this kind of message your problem is with the Bible.

The Bible is pretty clear that it is healthy for us to periodically do some self evaluation to take an inventory, take stock of ourselves and see am I genuinely a Christian?

First of all, Jesus is the truth, so I hope you love him.

2 Thessalonians 2.10, With all unrighteous deception among those who perish, why?

Because they did not receive a love of the truth that they might be saved, and for this cause God sends them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.God wants us to love the truth.How many times have you met somebody that grew up believing something and even though you showed them the evidence that it's not true they say I don't care, it's what I've always done.

A person who loves the truth will make difficult decisions to bring their lives in harmony with the truth because it's the truth.

You know when I first discovered this message, I never met a Seventh-day Adventist before.

Because who are we going to answer to in the last days?

A love of truth, the truth will set you free.

So if you're satisfied believing the lies, if you don't cherish truth, if you don't have a desire to share truth 1 John 1, 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with 1 another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.

This is what it means to walk in the truth.

You can't just call something the truth, there is absolute truth.

It's like these reporters were giving Lincoln a hard time arguing and parsing his words and there's a lot of dishonesty in politics, so Lincoln used to love to tell stories and he said, how many legs does a dog have?

And Lincoln said, now suppose you call the tail a leg, then how many legs would the dog have?

He said no, the dog stills only got 4 legs.

He said just cause you call the tail a leg he can't walk on it.

And sometimes we think we can just believe something and because we believe it we'll just make our own truth.

And you've got your truth and I've got my truth, no there is a truth, and we need to know what that truth is so 1 of the characteristics of Christianity, a real Christian is you love the truth, and you want to know what it is and you dig for it in His Word.

Are you spending time in Bible study and prayer?

If you love the Lord and you want to please Him, you should have a hunger, Jesus said, and a thirst for righteousness.Who's gonna be filled?

The ones who do search, the ones who do hunger and thirst for righteousness.They will be filled.You know a doctor when you go for a test, one of the things he might ask you is he'll say how is your appetite?

You say you know I've got no appetite, isn't that sometimes a sign there's something wrong?

If you have no appetite for the word of God, if you have no appetite for the presence of God in prayer, if you don't have any hunger for his righteousness, if you're not seeking for his word, that's not a good sign of spiritual health.

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Is My Christianity Real?

02 Is My Christianity Real?

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01 Is My Christianity Real?

28m

02 Is My Christianity Real?

28m

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