INTRODUCTION
Illustration.
Last Tuesday at Bible Study, I had the most wonderful God-filled experience. As we were wrapping things up, Lorraine starts talking with the others about some of the things that were decided upon for the December 3rd Christmas outreach.
And as she mentioned these things, the thought came rushing into my mind “But I didn’t have a say! But no one asked me! And just as though thoughts rushed into my mind, our Lord and Savior who reigns forever and ever came in to chase them out saying “He is mine, You are not in control, but I reign here”
Wow, That was a freeing thought for me who has this tendency to desire to control. Today I want to ask you a couple of questions regarding the Lords’ reigning in your life First, let’s read this psalm responsively.
PSALM 93 READ RESPONSIVELY.
DOES THE LORD REIGN IN YOUR LIFE?
The first question I would like to ask you is this does the Lord REIGN in your life?
I am not talking about being saved. I am not asking you if God has saved you from your sins.
Comparing Salvation and Lordship through the Bible:
Salvation and Lordship are not the same. We struggle with that today as did God’s chosen people, the Israelites. We see this throughout Scripture. For one example, we can look at God’s saving them from their bondage in Egypt, and then we find them in the wilderness complaining; we also find it in the New Testament, and just one example is Paul’s writing to the churches of Galatia, stating “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7 NIV)
Comparing Salvation and Lordship in our Contemporary Society
There is also a struggle in grasping this idea of Reigning in our society. When we realize that in our land we can elect our rulers, choose schools for our children, and even be a part of a church that we like, choose the boss who will be our boss, it is not easy to hear the words reign over me, control me, lead me. We like choices. It is just the American way of life.
And yet, our not being able to grasp the importance of letting God reign in our lives should not become the reason for us not submitting to His lordship,
For example, just because we don’t grasp the workings of gravity, will not be reason to discount it, and jump off buildings
Scripture and the Christian Experience both make clear that we needlessly struggle with problems because we have not yielded to His reign in our lives.
As Christians we need to NOT be extreme in our view of the saving power of God and the Lordship of God. On one hand, there is a false sense of eternal security for those Christians who disregard the need to mature in the Christian, while on the other hand, there is the lack of assurance of your salvation for those who stress the need of a disciplined lifestyle without grasping the grace of salvation.
So my question to us again, does the Lord reign in your life.
DOES THE LORD REIGN IN YOUR LIFE?
A look at the text: water
I would like to call your attention to vv. 3-4 and make this note: the ancient writers viewed water as something very chaotic and unpredictable, and when the gods had won over their battle with the waters, creation followed, so when they write down that God is even over the waters, they are telling us that God IS all powerful, that God continues to create!
Relating God’s rule over water with our lives
And God seeks to do just that in our ENTIRE lives, not just who we let each other see on Sundays, or Tuesday nights, or when we chat with each other on the phone, or when we are out in public, but this great God is all powerful over even the chaotic unpredictable areas of our lives. Only He can and will recreate and bring healing to those skeleton areas of our life
Illustration: secret sins
Two elderly, excited Southern women were sitting together in the front pew of church listening to a fiery preacher.
When this preacher condemned the sin of stealing, these two ladies cried out at the tops of their lungs, "AMEN, BROTHER!"When the preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, "PREACH IT, REVEREND!"
And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, "RIGHT ON, BROTHER! TELL IT LIKE IT IS... AMEN!"
But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very quiet. One turned to the other and said, "He’s quit preaching and now he’s meddlin’."
God is a Jealous God/Hound of Heaven
The Bible tells us that God is a Jealous God and that there shall be no god before Him, so when the Holy Spirit begins to bring conviction into your life concerning something that is wrong, He will be like the hound of heaven, not giving up until you give it up.
Biblical view of Reigns, earthly/Divine
Throughout the Bible, there is a noted distinction between the earthly rule of kings and God’s rule. Whereas the earthly rulers ruled over set territories, we learn that our God rules over the entire creation, that our God’s rule knows no territorial limit, that our God seeks to rule over your very bodies, His temple of the Holy Spirit.
Will you let Him reign over your entire life this day?
Sins of Flesh
Too often people hold onto envies, jealousies, grudges, bitterness, various forms of greed, lusts that have hurt and maimed, and crippled and at times destroyed not just individuals but entire churches. God is a jealous God, and when you allow him Lordship over your entire life, then such problems become His. You will have his peace as these problematic areas are being resolved to his glory.
Not Serve Two Masters.
We must remember that Jesus himself told us that we simply can not serve two Masters. And far too often when we run into problems, that which we see as the problem is NOT the underlying root. But rather it is a problem in not letting Him reign in that particular area of your life.
There are some folk who are fence sitter today, who truly believe that they have all the time in the world to let God reign in their entire life. But every moment we have is a gift from God, and when that moment is gone, it is lost forever. We can not go back, we can not make up for lost time.
Illustration
The biggest regret that I have to this day is that I did not enter into the ministry sooner. I was just too interested in other things to pursue this with my entire heart. I can not go back 30 years now to regroup what I lost. But I do go one.
None of us can go back in time. All each one of us has is today and my question to you this day is will you let Him reign in your life this day?
In closing, I want to ask you to think about the following area that need to be under the reign of God through Christ.
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:16-21 NIV
If you are struggling in any area of life, you need to not let another moment go by, but pray right now.
