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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Benjamin Ng

The Almost Christian

You know, I have looked at the speakers that have come through this place, and I feel kind of overshadowed because I am a nobody.

But that's good, because the only person that should be uplifted is Jesus Christ, Amen?

And so I pray that we will gain a blessing from this morning's study of the word my name is Benjamin Ong and I'm from Australia now you may be wondering what is a Chinese doing from Australia I was born in Singapore After 3 months I went to Malaysia for 2 years.

After that I went to England for 5 years and after that I came back, came to US for another 6 months, studied at Loma Linda Academy actually and then I went back to Malaysia for 6 years.

I was in Australia 10 years, and now I've been here 3 and a half.

She's a year older than me, and she was born in Australia, whereas I was born in Singapore.

But friends, this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through.

And I pray that that, although you've been, maybe some of you have been brought up all this time here in California, but that's okay.

Well, this morning I would like to look at something that I know is relevant to all of us because it's a struggle that I went through in my early years as a Christian.

And sometimes we're liable to go back into the rut of this after we've been Christians many years too.

Come with me to our opening text found in Acts.

The title of my sermon this morning is called The Almost Christian.

And we're looking at our first text here in Acts chapter 26.

Here in this chapter, Paul has been already taken prisoner, and he is brought before a Roman king.

And if you follow the life of Paul carefully, it doesn't matter where he is, and it doesn't matter what circumstance or situation he's in, he always takes time to preach the Word of God.

And although I'm here before eagle listeners this morning, I know that if Paul were here he would take the same time to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But here in Acts chapter 26 he's before a king, a king who is familiar with Jesus Christ, a king who knows the works of Jesus Christ and he knows of Paul too but in verse 28 after Paul has preached this powerful sermon on the gospel King Agrippa replies to him verse 28 then King Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

King Agrippa was this close to being a Christian.

And yet some of us here and actually in fact all of us here the point that the fact that you're sitting here this morning proves to me that you're a christian you don't have to say anything to me you've proclaimed that you believe in a God just by sitting here but King Agrippa he replied almost almost but not enough So our question this morning is 2.

Number 1, what does it mean to be an almost Christian?

And number 2, what does it mean to be an altogether Christian?

Let's look at this this morning, shall we?

Matthew 24, being a prophetic chapter, Jesus is speaking about the end times and here at the beginning Jesus is telling them the first thing that he mentions about the end times is this.

Matthew chapter 24 and found in verse 4 let's start there Matthew 24 and verse 4 the Bible says and Jesus answered and said unto them take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am what Christ and shall deceive many In the last days the first thing that Jesus warned his disciples is that many people in the last days will come in his name.

Now what does name represent in the Bible?

So people in the last days will come saying I have the character of Jesus Christ or saying that I am a Christian and shall deceive many and That same warning has been brought down through the ages and today friends, today you are claiming that you are Christians by sitting here.

What does it mean to be an almost Christian and an altogether Christian?

Matthew chapter 7 and here is a warning in verse 21 that's given to us.

Jesus is speaking once again and he says this, not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord, sounds like Christians, not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that does what?

The will of my father which is in heaven.

So here is 2 groups that are separated between an almost Christian and an altogether Christian or a true Christian.

1 does not do the will of God and the other 1 does.

If you haven't noticed I'm using the Bible a lot.

So I hope that all of you have your Bibles with you this morning because it's not my words that's gonna convert your heart but it's the Word of God itself.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4 what is the will of God?

If true Christians do the will of God and false Christians don't, or the pseudo or almost Christians don't, we've got to understand what the will of God is then.

1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, the Bible says, for this is the will of God.

This is the will of God, even your sanctification.

Now what does that word sanctification mean?

As people of the book, sometimes we use all this Adventist jargon, lingo, that we know it's good to say but sometimes we really don't know what it means.

The word sanctify means to set apart, set apart for a holy use.

So when we are doing the will of God we're being sanctified.

Let's endeavor to make this applicable to us today and understand how we can have a sanctification experience because it's not enough to have just a head knowledge of the Word of God we have must have an experimental knowledge and that is what Ellen White describes as settling into the truth the seal of God is a settling into the truth both mentally and spiritually.

Psalms 40 verse 8, the Bible speaks further of the will of God.

Psalms 40 verse 8, the Bible says, I delight to do thy will, O my God, Yea thy what?

Thy law is written within my heart so if you're doing the will of God you're having the law where in your heart and as a result, we're getting a sanctification experience.

Now, if I was to test you this morning, I won't, but if I were to, how many of you can actually recite the 10 commandments off the top of your head.

If we don't know the order of the 10 commandments, we can't have it written in our hearts, correct?

So first step, practical step, Let's this afternoon go back and memorize the 10 Commandments.

So, in order to do the will of God, we must know what the law is of the 10 Commandments, and they must be here.

Come with me to Psalms 119, the longest chapter in the whole Bible.

It talks about something else that goes in our hearts here.

We know the law goes in here and as a result we're having a sanctification experience and we're doing the will of God.

But remember, that word sanctification, what does it mean again?

Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not, what?

So when we're being sanctified what are we being set apart from?

So if we are not studying the Word of God, we're not having a sanctification experience.

Because it's the Word of God that allows us to be separated from sin.

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The Almost Christian

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