Jesus Is Lord

Jesus is Lord

II Corinthians 4:5

by Cooper Abrams - Bible Truth Web Site

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake."

INTRODUCTION: Preaching the Lordship of Jesus Christ is not popular message today.

A few years back a preacher who was attending my church got mad with me called me a John MacArthurite, because I preached the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He caused great strife in our little congregation and finally left. He called himself a Baptist preacher. I was glad when he left because he was not of us as 1 John 2:19 says. He did not understand one of the most fundamental truths in Bible, that being that Jesus Christ is God incarnate in flesh and He is the Lord, recognize or accept it or not.

He’s not alone. Many preachers and denominations have left off this vital teaching of the Bible. Today, you can supposedly pray a little prayer and get saved and then go out and live like you please. You can have Heaven and the blessings of God and only have to deal with Christ twice in your life. Once when you supposedly let Him save you and then when you die and need to get into heaven.

Yet, Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

When God saves a soul, that person is in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:17. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

The word "if" makes the statement subjective. That is a term which refers to the state of salvation this is being in Christ. When God comes into a heart He changes and ones life changes.

This is not some new philosophy we embrace, or some part-time endeavor we embark on. This is not a "try Jesus" affair, but a complete surrender of one’s self to Him...as your Master.

It was many years before believers were called Christians. Until those outside the church at Antioch saw the Christ likeness of those that followed Jesus and called them "Christ ones" which is what Christian means...they were called disciples.

A disciple is one who gives his whole life over to follow another. The disciples of Karl Marx, became devout Communists totally committed to communism. The Red Guard were devoted and committed disciples of communism and Mao and they murdered hundreds of thousands of their fellow countrymen who rejected their political ideas. The liberals of America are totally dedicated to their false and destructive ideas and the result is the murder of unborn children by abortion, gay rights that supports to most sinful of sexual perversions and the destruction of the traditional family. They are good examples of what it means to be a disciple.

Why do you think Jesus ask the Pharisees, the greatest religious people of his day. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things I say." They professed to know God, there were religious to the core in fact they would kill you for the sake of their religion. How do I know that? The Bible says so. They murdered Stephen, James, and demanded the Romans crucify Christ. They crucified Jesus in the name of their religion.

I hope you do not misunderstand what I am about to say. I have more respect for them than the wishy washy religion of most professing Christians today. The modern trend among many who profess to be Christians is to refuse to take a stand on anything. These claim to believe in Jesus Christ, yet by their actions and philosophy of life deny most of what Jesus said. Their slogan is "Lets us take the non-denominational approach, let forget sound doctrine and let us us all just come together and love everyone in Jesus’ name."

John 1:1 says, that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 explains "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.." Jesus Christ is the word and you cannot ignore, compromise, discount the Word of God without ignoring, compromising and discounting Jesus Christ Himself.

ILLUS: A good example was the promise keepers movement that flamed up several years ago and now is mostly dead. There was no true life in it because it was based on many false concepts. The men running it did it in the flesh because God will no bless error. At the PK meetings those who attended I believe were sincere people who loved the Lord. However, they were told to return home to their churches to break down doctrinal barriers that separated Christians.