How Do I Become A Christian?

[0:00] Well, if we could, this evening, with the Lord's help, turn back to that portion of scripture that we read. The book of Acts, chapter 16, and we'll read again at verse 30.

[0:18] Acts 16, at verse 30. Then he, that is the Philippian jailer, he brought them out and said, Serge, what must I do to be saved?

[0:32] And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

[0:48] Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. I want to begin this evening by asking the question, what is the most important question you could ever ask?

[1:10] What is the most important question you could ever ask? Well, I believe that the most important question that anyone could ever ask is, how do I become a Christian?

[1:25] How do I become a Christian? And if there was ever a question I would want you to come to me and ask, or I would want you to ask the elders or another Christian, it would be this question.

[1:39] How do I become a Christian? And as we come to this passage this evening, I want us to be asking this question. Because over the past few Lord's Day evenings, we've been asking questions about Christianity.

[1:54] I hadn't planned this, but this is just the way it's turned out. And the first question which we asked a few weeks ago was, what? What is a Christian?

[2:05] What is a Christian? And of course that question is relevant to all of us, because some of us in here this evening, we are already Christians. And there are others in here this evening who I'm sure would like to be a Christian.

[2:19] And so by looking, we looked at the confession of a Christian, in Paul's confession in Galatians 2 verse 20. And we saw that a Christian is not someone who is just good living, in which they've stopped drinking and getting drunk and going out at the weekend and they've cut out all the bad language.

[2:39] And a Christian is not just someone who attends church both ends on the Lord's Day and they go to the prayer meeting and they read their Bible and they spend time in prayer. Of course these things are beneficial for a Christian and these things ought to be part and partial of a Christian's life.

[2:55] But when Paul spoke from his own experience and gave his confession of a Christian, he said that Christianity isn't based on our outward appearance and our outward acts of religious righteousness.

[3:07] He says Christianity isn't about what we do. It's all about what Jesus has done. It's all about what Jesus has done. And that's why Paul, in his confession of a Christian, he said, I have been crucified with Christ.

[3:22] Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[3:34] And so we asked, what? What is a Christian? But then the following week we asked, why? Why should I become a Christian? Why should I become a Christian?

[3:45] And apart from the most obvious answer, that we should become a Christian because if we die without Jesus Christ as our saviour, we will go to hell. And the Bible presents it to us as simple as that.

[4:01] But when we considered Paul's words in Romans chapter 8, we saw that becoming a Christian is a lot more about being saved from hell. Because it's also about being saved to salvation and security in salvation.

[4:15] And Paul assured us that when we become a Christian, we ought to have no hesitation. Because God is for us. If God is for us, who can be against us? And he said that when we become a Christian, we'll have no allegation.

[4:30] Because our righteousness is all in Jesus Christ. Who shall lay any charge against God's elect? And when we become a Christian, Paul said, there is no condemnation.

[4:42] Because Jesus died and rose again on our behalf. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And Paul also said that when we become a Christian, there is no separation.

[4:55] That neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, neither height nor depth, nor any other creature, is able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[5:09] And so we've asked, what? What is a Christian? We've asked, why? Why should I become a Christian? But this evening, I'd like us to ask the most important question of all.

[5:22] How? How? How do I become a Christian? How do I become a Christian? And this important question was asked by a Greek jailer in the city of Philippi.

[5:38] When he asked Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? And I want to say this evening that Paul and Silas' answer to this man was as easy as A, B, C.

[5:52] The answer of how to become a Christian and how to be saved, it's as easy as A, B, C. Now, I don't say that to patronize you or to frustrate you in any way.

[6:06] But I want you to see how easy it is to become a Christian. We make it hard. But the Bible makes it very easy. And it says it's as easy as A, B, C.

[6:20] Because A is for abandon. That's the first thing we see here. A is for abandon. A is for abandon. If we read again at verse 25.

[6:34] Verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

[6:46] And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself.

[6:57] Supposing that the prisoners had escaped. And so when we come to this passage in scripture, we find Paul and Silas, they've been arrested and put in prison for preaching and displaying the gospel that they love.

[7:13] They've been arrested and beaten for healing this demon-possessed girl. And the result was that because the masters who controlled this demon-possessed girl, because she could tell the future, she could do fortune-telling, and they were making a fortune out of her.

[7:31] Because they could no longer make any profit, they seized Paul and Silas and took them to the authorities to be tried. And when they were dragged before the magistrate, Paul and Silas, they were accused, as we read, for causing trouble and teaching things that were against the law.

[7:49] And the outcome of the jury was that Paul and Silas were to be stripped of their clothes and beaten. But then we're told in verse 23, When they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

[8:07] Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. And you know, when I read those words, all I see is the providence of the Lord.

[8:21] The providence of the Lord. That nothing happens by chance. Nothing is an accident. Nothing is a random chance event.

[8:32] Because there is Paul and Silas in Philippi. This Greek city of Philippi. And they're probably as far away from Israel as geographically possible.

[8:42] And they're being stripped naked and beaten and thrown into prison for preaching the greatest message in all the world. And yet this is part of the Lord's plan.

[8:54] In order to bring a sinner into the kingdom of God. And we have to marvel at the way in which the Lord works in our lives. Where the Lord may put us through hard, hard providences.

[9:07] And the Lord may cause us to wonder why it has to be this way. And why we have to go through this darkness. And why we have to experience this pain and this sorrow.

[9:18] But the wonder of it all is that our darkness. It may be the very means by which someone is confronted by the light of the gospel.

[9:31] And that was the experience of Paul and Silas. Because in the deepest, darkest, most secure prison in the city of Philippi. There was this jailer.

[9:42] And this jailer was just doing his job. He was earning a living to put food on the table for his family. He was a man under authority.

[9:54] He was under the Roman authority. And he had been given a great responsibility to guard these criminals in Philippi's top security prison.

[10:05] And for this jailer on duty that night. The shift was going as it always did. The night watch over the prisoners was quiet and peaceful.

[10:16] And as the night went on, all that could be heard was as we read the sweet sound of prayer and praise from the cell of Paul and Silas. And instead of complaining and calling upon the Lord to judge their enemies for their acts of cruelty and injustice.

[10:33] These Christian prisoners give praise to God in their darkness. They gave praise to God in their darkness. Any fool can sing in the day, says Spurgeon.

[10:48] It's easy to sing when we can read the notes by the daylight. The skillful singer is one who can sing when there's not a ray of light to be read by.

[11:00] Songs of the night only come from God. They are not in the power of men. And that's so true. How often, my friend, are you comforted by the words of the psalmist during the long hours of the night.

[11:17] That weeping may for a night endure. But joy cometh in the morning. And at midnight in a prison in Philippi, Paul and Silas were praying and singing.

[11:30] But what's amazing is that the other prisoners were listening to them. They were listening in on their act of worship to God at midnight. And when you read the narrative, it seems that God responded to this worship of his name.

[11:45] This singing and all the praising. He responds to it by causing an earthquake to shake the foundations of the prison. An earthquake so strong that it opened all the doors of this high security prison.

[12:01] And loosed all the chains of the prisoners. And it's at that point that we're told what this jailer was doing. He was sound asleep.

[12:12] Sound asleep. He was meant to be keeping guard over all his prisoners. He was meant to be watching these prisoners in his prison. But he was fast asleep.

[12:23] And yet God woke him from his sleep. God shook his very foundation. And he shook this jailer to the core.

[12:36] And you know my friends, sometimes God has to do that with us. Sometimes God has to shake us to the very core. Sometimes God brings things into our lives.

[12:47] And into our experience. Sometimes God shakes us with the message of bad news. Sometimes God shakes us with illness. Sometimes God shakes us with the death of those whom we love.

[13:01] And he shakes us so that we'll wake up and we'll take heed to what he's saying. And when God wakes us up just like he did with this jailer, we are brought to the end of ourselves.

[13:18] Because when this jailer had his eyes opened, he saw the prison doors opened. And he thought everyone had escaped. And knowing the great responsibility that he had with his job, this jailer, he took out his sword and he was about to kill himself.

[13:35] Because Roman law said that if a jailer lost a prisoner, they would receive the same punishment of that prisoner you had lost. But this jailer thought he had lost an entire prison.

[13:49] And with that upon his conscience, he would rather have committed suicide than face all the shame of people. And the execution in the end. But in that moment when the jailer's eyes were opened from his sleep, and he saw nothing but an empty prison, that's all he thought was there.

[14:09] Not only that, he saw nothing but the emptiness of life. Because in that moment, this jailer came to the end of himself.

[14:21] He saw himself as a complete failure. He thought that he had nothing left to live for. He thought that he had nothing left to cling to. He thought that he had nothing left worth holding on to.

[14:33] And he had reached absolute rock bottom, where he's asking, what's the point to life now? What's life all about? And he's about to end his precious life.

[14:47] And yet a voice from the darkness calls to him. And says, do yourself no harm. When this man's eyes were opened, he came to the end of himself.

[15:04] That's what it was like for the prodigal son. You all know the parable of the prodigal son. He had been given his father's inheritance, but yet he spent all of his father's inheritance.

[15:19] And he had nothing left. He had nothing to cling to. He had nothing worth living for. He had nothing left to hold on to. And he reached rock bottom, feeding the pigs and desiring what they were eating.

[15:31] And he was asking himself, what's the point to life? What's it all about? Where should all go? Where are we heading?

[15:42] And he came to the end of himself. But it was only when he came to the end of himself that he turned back to his father. It was only when he came to the end of himself that he abandoned self and he turned to his loving father.

[16:02] And that's what it means to repent. That's what it means to repent because when we see our sin and when we have this true sense of our sin, our corruptness, our failure, when we see what we are before a holy God, that we are selfish, that we're self-centered, that we're self-interested, that we're self-focused, self-seeking, we're full of pride.

[16:32] And it's only when we see our sin and when we see our self and then when we're brought to the end of our self that we see that without the Lord in our life, there is no point to life.

[16:48] And it's at that point we need to repent. It's at that point we need to turn from our sin and turn from self and turn to God.

[17:00] We need to abandon sin. We need to abandon self. We need to lay hold of the mercy of God and the grace of God that is freely offered to us.

[17:11] My friend, do yourself no harm. Do yourself no harm. Don't stay in your sin. Don't continue looking to self.

[17:25] Don't hold on to your pride and your appearance and the thoughts that you have of yourself. Abandon it all. Abandon everything.

[17:40] And come like this jailer did and ask the most important question you could ever ask. What must I do to be saved?

[17:53] And you'll be told, as you have always been told, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But this isn't just Paul's message.

[18:08] This is the message of Jesus. Because when Jesus began his ministry, his first declaration was, repent. Turn from your sin.

[18:19] Turn from yourself. Turn to God. And believe. Believe in the gospel. Believe in the gospel. So how do I become a Christian?

[18:31] It's as easy as A, B, C. Because you must, first of all, abandon self. Abandon sin. You need to repent and you need to turn to God.

[18:44] Abandon. A is for abandon. But B is for believe. B is for believe. Because you must believe.

[18:57] If you look at verse 27, when the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoner should escape.

[19:08] But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we're all here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.

[19:20] Then he brought them out and said, Serge, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.

[19:33] As a Christian, there isn't a greater question you could be asked than this question, what must I do to be saved? And there couldn't be a greater opportunity than being given the privilege to answer such a question.

[19:50] But when thinking about the question of this Philippian jailer, when he said, or when he asked, what must I do to be saved? On one level, there was nothing he could do in order to be saved.

[20:06] There was nothing he could do that would save him. Because Jesus had done everything for him. No amount of religious righteousness would have saved him.

[20:18] No amount of good works would have saved him. His hard-working attitude and dedication to his job wouldn't have saved him. His compassion towards these Christian men wouldn't have saved him.

[20:31] His attendance in church, if he had started going, wouldn't have saved him. His tithing wouldn't have saved him. His baptism wouldn't have saved him. The faith of his family wouldn't have saved him.

[20:43] His knowledge of the Bible wouldn't have saved him. Because on one level, there was nothing he could do that would save him. And the same is true for you and me. There's nothing we can do to save ourselves.

[20:57] And like this jailer, you have to depend solely upon what Jesus has done for you. Because Jesus has done everything perfectly on our behalf.

[21:09] He's displayed perfect obedience in his life because of our disobedience. He offered up a perfect sacrifice for our sin. He died a perfect death in our place.

[21:23] He rose perfectly on the third day that we would be saved. He continues to offer this perfect intercession before God the Father for us.

[21:35] My friend, Jesus has done everything perfectly on our behalf. And so on one level, there is nothing we can do in order to be saved. But on another level, there is something we must do in order to be saved.

[21:52] We must believe. We must believe because even though Jesus has done everything to make salvation possible, even though Jesus has opened the door for us and all we have to do is believe, he gives to us the duty.

[22:11] He gives to us this responsibility of responding by believing. We have to believe. And what Paul and Silas seek to make perfectly clear when they answer this Philippian jailer's great question is that his act of believing, it's not something to do with his imagination.

[22:34] It's not something to do with intellectual assent. It's not something to do with his emotions. It's not something to do with his feelings.

[22:45] No, Paul and Silas say that in order to be saved, you must believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And the image which has been given here, it's the image of casting your whole self.

[23:00] Casting your whole self upon this person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when we believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, we are abandoning sin, we are abandoning self, we are letting go of our pride, and we are casting ourselves, we are throwing ourselves upon the mercy of God, and we are entrusting everything to him.

[23:26] We are letting go, and we are leaning upon upon this person, this wonderful person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul gives him his full title because his title describes the full person.

[23:45] He is the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, which means that he has been exalted to this position of lordship. He has been exalted by being raised from the dead.

[23:57] he has been resurrected. And when Paul later writes to the church in Philippi, when he writes his letter to the Philippians, he reminds the people that Jesus has been highly exalted.

[24:15] And it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And he says that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[24:29] And so in order to be saved we must believe that Jesus is Lord. We must believe that he has been raised from the dead and that he is Lord and we must submit to his authority and his exalted position.

[24:43] Not only because he is Lord over this world and all of the creation, but that he is Lord over my life. He is Lord over my life, not just part of my life, not just the religious part where I go to church and I read my Bible and I spend time in prayer, but he is Lord over all my life, my whole life.

[25:06] And so in order to be saved we must believe upon the Lord. But we must also believe upon Jesus because that is his human name. That is the name he was given by his mother and father.

[25:21] But it is a name that was given to him for a specific purpose. The angel said you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.

[25:34] We must believe upon the person Jesus. Jesus who is both God and man, two distinct natures, one person. And by believing upon the person and the finished work of the person, we will be saved.

[25:52] We will be saved. he is the Lord, Jesus, and he is Christ. He is the Christ. And that's what we saw this morning with Peter's confession over the identity of Jesus.

[26:08] Where Peter came to understand who Jesus is and why Jesus came and he finally understood about Jesus and he says you are the Christ.

[26:19] You are the promised Messiah. You are God's chosen king. You are the anointed saviour of sinners whom God has sent into the world. You are the hope of our salvation.

[26:31] You are the Christ. You are the Christ. And Paul and Silas are saying to this jailer who is asking the most important question, you must believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

[26:45] You must cast yourself upon this person and you must believe that he is Lord over your life. You must believe that he is able to save you from your sin.

[26:57] You must believe that he is God's anointed king who was sent into the world to save sinners. You must believe he says. You must believe because there is no other name.

[27:12] There is no other person under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved other than this name and this person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[27:30] But you know if there was any of the apostles who had an earnest desire for us to believe in Jesus, it was the apostle John. Because in all his writings, in all of John's writings about the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, both in his gospel, and in his letters, John's sole purpose is that we would believe.

[27:57] And so much so that he mentions the importance of believing and the peril of not believing. And he mentions it in nearly every single chapter of his writings.

[28:09] And if you read through John's gospel, by the time you'll finish reading it, John has written about the life and the ministry and the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[28:22] And if we still haven't understood that his desire is that we'll come to believe in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, John closes his gospel account by saying, these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

[28:46] my dear friend, if you are asking tonight, what must I do to be saved, then you must believe.

[28:58] You must cast yourself upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You must say to the Lord, I can't do it anymore. You have to help me.

[29:10] You have to save me. And the promise is, you will be saved. You will be saved. So how do I become a Christian?

[29:23] It's as easy as ABC. You must first of all abandon yourself. Abandon sin, abandon self. You must believe.

[29:35] Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe that Jesus is your Lord. Jesus is your Saviour. Jesus is your King. A is for abandon.

[29:47] B is for believe. C is for commit. Abandon, believe, commit. Commit.

[30:00] We read again at verse 29. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear. He fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, Sir, what must I do to be saved?

[30:12] And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

[30:28] Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

[30:39] So after the Philippian jailer had come to the end of himself and after hearing the command to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he had to then make a commitment to following the Lord Jesus Christ.

[30:57] And in making a commitment he had to inform his family and all his friends, that things in his life had now changed for the better. He had to come out on the side of Christ and say I am a Christian.

[31:13] Because it was no use for him just to abandon sin and abandon self. It was no use for him just to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation. Yes, these things are key, these are mandatory.

[31:29] But it was no use if he didn't then make a commitment to Jesus Christ. And this is the sticking point which many people have about becoming a Christian.

[31:42] Because becoming a Christian involves commitment. It involves letting go of the world. It involves stepping out in faith. And it involves clinging to Jesus.

[31:56] But commitment to Jesus, it's what often keeps people back. And you know it was the same in the first century when Jesus was preaching. Because when Jesus preached the gospel and called his followers, those who were following, those who were listening, his congregation, when he called them to abandon sin and abandon self, they understood that.

[32:20] They knew what they had to do. When he said that he was the only way of salvation, that they had to believe upon him, they could understand that. But when Jesus said, you need to commit to me, when it came to the crunch, when it came to commitment and becoming a committed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are told that many went back and walked with him no longer.

[32:50] Many went back and walked with him no longer. They came this far. But no further. They couldn't let go. The world had too much of a grip upon them.

[33:04] They enjoyed having the best of both worlds. They felt safe with a foot in both camps. They didn't mind sitting on the fence all their life. And when push came to shove, when Jesus addressed the issue of commitment, many went back and walked with him no longer.

[33:23] people. And when that happened, Jesus turned to his disciples and he asked them, will you also go away? Will you also go away?

[33:36] And that's what Jesus is asking you tonight. Will you also go away? Will you also go away and leave this church building tonight and continue to remain uncommitted?

[33:49] will you also go away and continue to enjoy the best of both worlds? Will you also go away and continue to feel safe with a foot in both camps?

[34:01] Will you also go away and continue to sit on the fence for maybe a few years more in your life? But let me remind you, my friend, that you can't continue to have the best of both worlds in eternity.

[34:14] you can't continue to feel safe with a foot in both camps in eternity. You can't continue to sit on the fence in eternity because it will be one eternity or another.

[34:31] Eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. You have to make a commitment, my friend, and your commitment has to be to the Lord Jesus Christ if you want to become a Christian, then you need to be committed.

[34:50] You need to be committed. And you know, I love what we're told about the Philippian jailer. This man who was converted, who became a Christian, after he had abandoned sin and he had abandoned self, after he had believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ and cast everything over to him for his salvation, we're told in verse 32, they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

[35:20] And what we see is that the Philippian jailer committed himself to the Lord Jesus Christ by sitting under the preaching of the word. They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

[35:35] Christ. And so if you want to become a Christian, be found in the places where the word of God is preached. If you want to become a Christian, be found in the places where the Lord's people gather together.

[35:49] If you want to become a Christian, be found in the places where Jesus is spoken of. Because the Bible assures us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

[36:01] You know, the Puritans, they had a huge emphasis upon the word of God and the preaching of the word of God. Because the shorter catechism and the larger catechism, in these wonderful documents, the Puritans stress that the word of God, it's an effectual means of salvation.

[36:23] It's a means of grace. It's a means by which God saves sinners. And the larger catechism, it gives this detailed explanation as to the importance of sitting under the word of God.

[36:38] Because it says, the spirit of God makes the reading. But especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, humbling sinners.

[36:52] Of driving them out of themselves. Abandoning self, it says, and throwing them to Christ. Christ. And conforming them to his image.

[37:03] Subduing them to his will. Strengthening them against temptations and corruptions. Of building them up in grace. And establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

[37:19] And what the catechism was teaching us is that if you want to become a Christian, come to church both ends on the Lord's day. If you want to become a Christian, come to the prayer meeting.

[37:34] Because it's not for Christians. Get that out of your mind. It's not just for Christians. If you want to become a Christian, come to after church fellowships.

[37:46] If you want to become a Christian, come to the clan Macquarie. If you want to become a Christian, come to Christianity Explored. If you want to become a Christian, read your Bible. If you want to become a Christian, listen to sermons online.

[37:59] If you want to become a Christian, pray. If you want to become a Christian, and if you are a Christian, and you have to work your life and your busy schedule around all these meetings of the Word of God preached and spoken of, and use them all.

[38:20] Because faith comes by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God. My friend, if you want to become a Christian, you must make a commitment to Jesus Christ.

[38:38] And if you make that commitment, it will change your life. But it will not only change you, it will change your home, it will change your marriage, it will change your family.

[38:57] And that's what we see in the home of this Philippian jailer. We read that when the jailer told his family what had happened to him, he told them how he had abandoned himself.

[39:09] He told his family how he had believed in Jesus. He told them how he had committed himself to following Jesus. And when they heard this, and when they heard the Word of God for themselves, they believed, and they were baptized.

[39:20] It wasn't their baptism that saved them, but their faith in Jesus Christ. And when the jailer brought Paul and Silas into his own home to meet his own family, we're told that he set food before them.

[39:34] They had a meal, and he rejoiced. Don't you just love those words? He rejoiced. He knew what true joy was.

[39:45] He rejoiced because he believed in God with all his household. His family changed. His home changed.

[39:57] His marriage changed. Because there was joy in his heart. And there was joy in his home. Because he and his family, they had come to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation.

[40:12] Christian. They had all become Christians. Turn out what you want for your family, for your children, your grandchildren, for yourself, that you would have the joy of the Lord in your life.

[40:32] And you know, becoming a Christian, it isn't hard. It isn't difficult. Because becoming a Christian, it should be as easy as A, B, C.

[40:44] As easy as abandon, believe, and commit. Abandon, believe, and commit. It's that easy. The problem is, it's us.

[41:00] We make becoming a Christian hard. We make it difficult. Because we have our hang-ups. We have our issues. We have our questions.

[41:11] We have our apprehensions. Will I last the course? Will I stay? Will I keep the faith? We have our barriers. We put them up. But my friend, whatever difficulties, hang-ups, barriers, issues, questions, we may have, whatever they are, please remember that if the Lord is able to save you, then he is able to help you through any struggles, any worries, any anxieties that you may have.

[41:42] He is able to overcome them for you and with you. But in order for him to help you, you must commit yourself to him.

[41:56] You must commit yourself to him. How do I become a Christian? Well, the biblical way to become a Christian, it's as easy as ABC.

[42:09] Abandon sin, abandon self. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Commit your life to following Jesus Christ.

[42:21] Christ. And so in our little study of questions about Christianity, we have asked what?

[42:32] What is a Christian? We have asked why? Why should I become a Christian? We've asked how? How do I become a Christian?

[42:45] But there's one more question I want us to ask. when? When? When do I become a Christian? When should I become a Christian?

[43:00] And the Bible only gives one answer to that question. Now, now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.

[43:13] salvation. May the Lord bless these thoughts. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks for that free offer.

[43:25] A free offer of salvation presented to us. And Lord, we give thanks that it is full. Lord, one who calls us to abandon self, to believe upon thee, and to commit ourselves to thee.

[43:41] That even the psalmist could say, set thou thy trust upon the Lord, and be thou doing good. And so thou in the land shalt dwell, and verily have food. Delight thyself in God.

[43:53] He'll give thine heart's desire to thee. Thy way to God commit him trust. It bring to pass shall he. Lord, help us, we pray, to cast everything to thee.

[44:05] For we know, Lord, that thou art the one who shall sustain us. Bless us then, we ask. Go before us and do us good. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

[44:19] We shall conclude by singing in Psalm 34. Psalm 34, that's in the Scottish Psalter, page 246.

[44:33] Psalm 34, from the beginning.

[44:48] God will I bless all times his praise. My mouth shall still express. My soul shall boast in God the meek shall hear with joyfulness. Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.

[45:00] I sought the Lord, he heard and did, me from all fears deliver. They looked to him and lightened where, not shamed where their faces. Here's a promise for you.

[45:11] This poor man cried, God heard and saved him from all his distresses. These verses of Psalm 34, to God's praise. God will I bless all times his praise.

[45:30] My heart shall still express. My soul shall boast in order me, shall hear with joy with joy fullness.

[45:52] Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.

[46:06] I sought the Lord, he heard and did me from all we're deliver.

[46:21] He looked to him and lighten where, not shamed where their faces, this poor man cried, God heard and saved him from all his distresses.

[46:51] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.