JESUS IS LORD
Philippians 2:5-11
INTRODUCTION: As we look at the world around us we often see chaos and confusion. On the surface, it appears at times as if God has abandoned this world to its own devices, which are completely out of control. This morning I want to declare unto you that man has not been left to his own devices and that God is on His throne. I want you to understand that Jesus Christ is in control and that as Philippians declares that He is Lord. When Philippians declares Him as Lord the word used is Kurios, which signifies as having power and authority; master, owner. Today know that Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord of All.
I. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord over all of Nature’s Forces
A. Many feel that we live in a world where nature has turned topsy-turvy and that we live in a dying ecosphere.
B. Some years ago Omni magazine carried an article entitled "When God Plays Dice with the Universe: Connoisseurs of Chaos." The article described a new field of scientific inquiry. The basic premise is that there is randomness built into the universe. Not everything is as orderly or as mechanistic as has been assumed. Chance is a part of the universe and even if we had all the data, we could not always predict the outcome.
C. Planet earth is warming up faster than experts have expected, according to the head of a leading climate research institute. As a result, dying forests, expanding deserts and rising sea levels will wreak havoc on human and animal lives sooner than anticipated as global warming accelerates, said Geoff Jenkins, head of the Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research in the UK. World famous physicist Stephen Hawking says he’s worried runaway global warming could destroy human life on Earth. (http://eces.org/ec/globalwarming/impactsgeneral.shtml)
D. Regardless of what men think God is in control and Jesus Christ is Lord over all nature.
E. No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place. - Zeno (335-263 B.C.)
F. If God doesn’t approve, a fly doesn’t move. – Jewish Proverb
G. Mark 4:35-41 "And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. [36] And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. [37] And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. [38] And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? [39] And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? [41] And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
H. Jesus rebuked the wind and the storm by simply speaking. His mastery over the forces of the elements and the sea was and is absolute demonstrating that He is the Sovereign Lord of the universe.
II. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord over all of the World’s Powers
A. Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."
B. John 19:10-11 "Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
C. Proverbs 21:1 "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turns it whither so ever he will."
D. All revolutions, from the beginning of the world to the end of it, are but the various parts of the same scheme, all conspiring to bring to pass that great event which the great Creator and Governor of the world has ultimately in view. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
E. 2 Chronicles 20:6 "And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?"
F. Nothing that happens in the world happens by chance. God is a God of order. Everything is arranged upon definite principles and never at random. - John Drummond (1851-1897)
G. God governs in the affairs of men; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, neither can a kingdom rise without his aid. – Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
H. Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
III. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord over all of Satan’s Hosts
A. Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
B. Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:"
C. There are two great forces at work in the world today: the unlimited power of God and the limited power of Satan. – Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)
D. Mark 5:1-15 "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."
E. Mark 1:27 "And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commands he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him."
F. The whole history of the world is discovered to be but a contest between the wisdom of God and the cunning of Satan and fallen men. The outcome of the contest is not in doubt. A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
G. Satan’s ploys are no match for the Savior’s power.
IV. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord over you and I
A. There are two sins of man that are bred in the bone, and that continually come out in the flesh. One is self-dependence and the other is self-exaltation.
B. When I was young, a poem often quoted was "Invictous" by William E.Henley.
Out of the night that covers me, black as a pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed.
Beyond this veil of wrath and tears clings but the harrow of the shading.
Yet the menace of the years finds in self I meet unafraid;
matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."
Those are brave words. Foolish bravery. Underscored by the fact that the man who wrote them took his own life in utter despair.
C. Philippians 2:10-11 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
D. Understand you WILL acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ, either in this life or in the judgment to come.
E. Acts 10:36 "… He is Lord of all."
F. Peter T. Forsythe - “The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.” (The Integrity Crisis by Warren W. Wiersbe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 22)
G. There is not an inch of any sphere of your life or mine, of which Jesus Christ the Lord does not say, “That belongs to me.”
