#3 Lordship

”Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46

Matthew 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

In their significant book The Day America Told the Truth, Peter Cam and James Patterson revealed that only 13% of Americans regard the Ten Commandments as relevant or binding. They reported that most Americans routinely lie to their families, friends and associates.

Americans admit goofing off at work an average of seven hours a week. Eighty-five per cent of those surveyed were convinced that they could work a lot better. One-half of the work force regularly calls in sick, despite the fact that they are feeling quite well. But the clincher came in this question asked by the surveyors: "What are you willing to do for 10 million dollars?" Twenty-five per cent said they would abandon their families; 23% said they would become a prostitute or a pimp for a week; and 7% said they would murder for 10 million dollars.

Upon hearing this, many people would think that what these authors were describing is the lifestyle of the non- Christian community. But no. Doug Sherman and Bill Hendricks did an extensive survey of the evangelical community and published a book on their findings, "Keeping Your Ethical Edge Sharp."

Their shocking conclusion was that the values held in Christian circles were not much different from those of non-Christians. They found that Christians are as likely as non-Christians to falsify their income tax returns. I think I've shared with you about the letter the IRS received some time ago from a man who wrote: "Last year I falsified my income tax return, and I haven't been able to sleep since. Enclosed is $125. If I still can't sleep, I'll send the rest."

These researchers found that Christians were just as likely to bribe someone to obtain a building permit, ignore construction specifications, shift the blame for wrongdoing to someone else, and steal from the workplace. These facts are a shocking indictment of the church.

Chad Walsh, in his book Early Christians of the Twenty First Century, writes: Millions of Christians live in a sentimental haze of vague piety, with soft organ music trembling in the lovely light from stained-glass windows. Their religion is a pleasant thing of emotional quivers, divorced from the will, divorced from the intellect, and demanding little except lip service to a few harmless platitudes. I suspect that Satan has called off his attempt to convert people to agnosticism. After all, if a man travels far enough away from Christianity, he is liable to see it in perspective and decide that it is true. It is much safer, from Satan's point of view, to vaccinate a man with a mild case of Christianity so as to protect him from the real disease.

Jesus wants to free us from this kind of phoniness and hypocrisy. In the Sermon on the Mount, he sets before us the radical choice between obedience and disobedience and calls us to an unconditional commitment to his teaching. In this concluding section he warns of two unacceptable alternatives, the first, a mere verbal profession (21-23), the second, a mere intellectual knowledge (24-27).

We live in a world where people are always looking for an edge. We like to search for the secrets of success. We are fascinated by trying to discover whether there is a key to unlock the doors of opportunity.

Are there such keys or secrets that apply to Christianity? It does seem that some people have greater success than others in living successful Christian lives. What makes that difference?

You recall that among the Twelve disciples there were two who denied Jesus. Judas, no doubt, immediately springs to your mind. He is the one with whom we are most familiar. But we should be careful not to forget that Peter also denied the Lord. Judas denied the Lord by betraying Him to his enemies. Peter betrayed the Lord by denying Him before others.

These two disciples both denied the Lord in different ways. Yet they ended up in two very different places. One life ended in tragedy. The other ended in restoration and victory. What was different? Was there something fundamentally different about their lives which made the difference?

What is the key to the Christian life? What makes the difference? What is the life-line through which the provision and power of God flows? What marks us as those who have a relationship with Jesus Christ? What gives us the ability to stand when others fall?

Jesus gives us the key to the Christian life in His closing comments in the Sermon on the Mount. He gives us the answer to the questions we have just posed. As a matter of fact, this key or secret can be summed up in one word - obedience.

Obedience is the natural outflow of a life which is surrendered to Jesus Christ. Obedience reveals who we are. Obedience reveals whose we are. And obedience gives us the power to stand in the tough times when others around us fall.

In the text before us, Jesus tells us of two sets of people. He uses these two sets of people to illustrate the clear truth that without obedience everything else is useless.

True and False Disciples

The first set of people Jesus describes illustrates the importance of a personal relationship with Him. In verses 21-23, Jesus speaks of the true nature of discipleship. Here He contrasts true discipleship with so-called discipleship. In other words, there are true disciples and there are false disciples.

One day we will all stand before the living God. The Bible speaks of that day, which refers to the great day when all of God's plans for this present society have been fulfilled. It is the day when every human who has ever lived will be gathered before His throne. It will be a great and awesome day. Human words are simply not adequate to describe the magnitude of this encounter. What shall we say to Him then? What will we be thinking? What will we be feeling?

Undoubtedly, we will be called to answer for our relationship with Him. At least it is clear from this passage of Scripture that the people in question are responding to some sort of inquiry from our Lord.

Jesus indicates that many will say to [Him] on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?" Here are people claiming to have done great and mighty things in the name of the Lord. Surely people who prophesy and cast out demons and perform miracles in the name of the Lord must be valued disciples of Jesus Christ. And from all outward appearances it would seem so.

But it is not so. The truth is that many people do things "in His name" that He has not authorized them to do. Many people work for God who do not know God.

The point that Jesus is trying to make here is that works for God are not sufficient evidence that we are His. He says that not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. In other words, it takes more than saying that Jesus is Lord to make us a child of God. It takes obedience to God's will.

You see, doing work for God does not mean that we are doing the will of God. We may simply be doing what we want to do. And the evidence that we are truly born of God is that our lives reflect His life. You see, obedience is never an arbitrary thing. Obedience is allowing the Lord to rule in our lives.

Obedience is the life of Jesus Christ being lived through us. Obedience is surrender to Him. Obedience flows from a living relationship with God. It comes from knowing Christ intimately.

That this is true is evident from Jesus' response in verse 23: "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" The plain truth is that those who do not do the will of the Father do not know the Lord no matter how many works they have done in His name.

Jesus says to them, "I never knew you." Our acceptance is based on our relationship with Christ. Works apart from that relationship are works that missed the mark. Indeed, Jesus calls them iniquity. The key is obedience.

It is important - vital - not to confuse obedience with doing things. There are many churches and many Christians who have long lists of rules and regulations. They have things that are required that every Christian must do and things that are required that every Christian must not do.

Now God has certainly indicated in His Word that there are many things that are sins. Christians certainly should not engage in sin. It is evident from the Word of God that there are many things that we ought to be doing to actively live out our faith before this watching world.

But Christianity is not keeping a list of rules and regulations. Christianity is a relationship. It is supernatural at its core. Christianity is living our lives out of a sense of communion with God.

Christianity is allowing the life of Jesus Christ control us. Christianity is knowing God. Christianity is being led by the Spirit of God.

Now, while the Spirit of God never leads us in ways that contradict His word, He does actively lead us. And as you follow His leading, you will find that He does lead you to obey His Word and do good works.

But you are never just doing things you have picked out of the Word of God that you would like to do. And you're not living based upon your own human ability. You are obeying God. You are living by the power that God supplies. And you are obeying God's will for you. True disciples do not just say "Lord, Lord," they do the will of God.

Jesus is saying these people are relying for salvation on a creed they have affirmed, on what they "say" to him or about him: "Not everyone who says to me...On that day many will say to me." But Jesus insists our final destiny will be settled not by what we say to him today, or by what we say to him on the last day, but by whether we have done what he said, whether we have entered into a relationship with him.

On the surface, the faith professed by these people appears admirable. Note the marks of these individuals. They have orthodox beliefs. They address Jesus as Lord--a divine title. Notice also their apparent enthusiasm and devotion. They address Jesus not as "Lord," but as "Lord, Lord." It is as if the author wants to draw attention to their zeal.

And they have an impressive record of spiritual experiences. They prophesied, they cast out demons, they performed miracles. Notice that Jesus does not deny any of those claims. These people are energetic workers who expect admission into the kingdom.

What better Christian profession could one give? Here are people who have called Jesus "Lord" enthusiastically, and in ministry. But Jesus' response is, "I never knew you." He is not talking about knowledge. He is not saying that he is unable to identify them. The word knowledge implies intimacy.

Jesus is saying, "I never had a personal relationship with you." The issue is one of relationship. God's will is not to be admired or debated, but to be done. These people professed with their lips, not their lives. They called Jesus "Lord, Lord," but had never submitted to his lordship, and consequently never obeyed the will of the Heavenly Father.

Certainly these words of Jesus are not instructing that the way to enter the kingdom of heaven is by obedience, i.e. that we are saved by our good works. That would contradict not only this sermon, which began with the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," but the entire New Testament, which says that salvation comes only through the grace of God, through faith. What Jesus is saying is that people who belong to him, who have been saved, who know the love and grace of God in their lives will obey him; and they will express that faith through works.

The apostles of Jesus never forgot that truth. They all warned about the perils of merely making a verbal profession or having an intellectual knowledge. John, for instance, wrote in his letter: "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie."  John charges that the man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar.

James warned: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." He went on: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" The answer, obviously, is no.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, says this, "Nothing is more dangerous than to rely only upon a correct belief, and a fervent spirit, and to assume that, as long as you believe the right things and are zealous and keen and active concerning them, you are therefore of necessity a Christian."

Do you see what he is saying? Being a Christian is more than just believing the right things, you must have obedience. He is not alone in this view.

According to Lordship Salvation, saving faith includes submission and obedience. Richard Belcher says, "True saving faith includes in it a submission to the Lordship of Christ." Another Lordship proponent says, "Saving faith is trust in Christ himself. It is a commitment of self in submission to all of Christ that is revealed."

John MacArthur says, "Saving faith, then, is the whole of my being embracing all of Christ. Faith cannot be divorced from commitment." He also says, "The true test of faith is this, does it produce obedience? If not, it is not saving faith." Bailey Smith asserts, "Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent, but it involves an act of submission on our part."

So those who hold to the Lordship view would say that by the expression "the will of My Father" Jesus meant a life characterized by obedience to all that the Father has commanded. Thus, those who do the will of the Father would be people who live in obedience to God's revealed will.

Jesus concludes with a powerful and familiar story. Verse 24:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall." (7:24-27)

Jesus' point here is that we should build our house on the right foundation. In both cases the house represents our weak, frail humanity. The thing what will enable us to stand in the midst of life's storms, and in the final storm of judgment, is not our strength, or the strength of the brick structure we erected, but the foundation on which we build our life. And that is what Jesus has been telling us all along: Count on me! Depend on me! Rely on me! Abide in me! He is the source of our life.

These are the two alternatives: We can either go it alone, and try to produce life out of our own resources, or we can count on Jesus and his resources.

So the sermon ends with our Lord presenting the same radical choice which we have seen throughout. Jesus hasn't presented a set of easy ethical rules, but rather a set of values that is entirely distinctive from those of the world we live in.

He has called us to be different. He has described Christians as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." He has pointed out that the Christian and non-Christian communities are fundamentally different.

John Stott put it this way, "The world is like rotting food, full of bacteria, which cause its disintegration. The followers of Jesus are to be the salt of the world, arresting its decay. The world is a dark and dismal place, lacking sunshine and living in shadows. The followers of Jesus are to be its light, dispelling its darkness and its gloom."

Jesus then went on to show how different Christians are: Our righteousness is to be deeper, reaching even our hearts.

John Stott summarizes it this way, "Our love is to be broader, embracing even our enemies. Our giving and praying and fasting are to be genuine, not for show. For our treasure, we choose that which lasts for eternity, not that which disintegrates on earth."

Instead of conforming to the world we are called to imitate our Heavenly Father. And so the choice is either to follow the crowd or follow our Father. We will either be a reed swayed by the winds of public opinion or people ruled by God's Word. That is why Jesus' conclusion is so radical.

There are only two ways (narrow and broad) and two foundations (rock and sand). We can't exaggerate the importance of the choice between these two, since one way leads to life while the other leads to destruction. Far more important than the choice of a life work or a life partner is the choice about life itself. Which road are you going to travel? On what foundation are you building?

The outcome of Jesus' teaching was not unexpected. Verse 28:

The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (7:28-29)

What struck the crowds, and the disciples, was Jesus' extraordinary authority. He didn't hum or haw or hesitate. He wasn't tentative, apologetic or arrogant. With quiet assurance he laid down the law for the citizens of God's kingdom.

And the crowds were "amazed." That is a strong verb. One scholar translates it, "dumbfounded." They were astonished. And after nineteen hundred years, we are too.

Asa Chandler owned a drug store in Atlanta. And by accident one day, at the soda fountain, some nerve tonic syrup was mistakenly mixed with carbonated water instead of plain water. Chandler thought it was awful, but a local businessman by the name of B.N. Thomas tried it out. He, on the other hand, thought it was pretty good. He even thought it could be bottled for home consumption.

Chandler, for his part, was seriously doubtful. Indeed, he thought it was futile. So he sold Thomas the rights for a single dollar. ^[1] The unfortunate part for Chandler was that he had just signed away the rights to Coca-Cola, later to become a multimillion dollar business. Because of his lack of vision, Asa Chandler was unable to see the potential sitting in front of him.

And we too, because of our lack of vision at times, are unable to see beyond our immediate circumstances to the potential that the future holds in Christ.

I think the church needs to lift its head up to heaven, repent of its small mindedness and ask God for a fresh vision of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Without a God-given vision, we will not have the hope, the strength, the rationale, the wherewithal to move forward in personal holiness and witness for the Lord; effort without vision is like making bricks without straw—it’s just drudgery, like living in an old town where all it does is rain day in and day out.

Can we dream for a moment about what God could do in our homes, communities, countries, world  with one man fully committed to him?” What could the Lord do with our lives? With the lives of our friends? He is “the Lord” you know!

But any vision from God begins with a vision of God. So we begin by repenting from all known to sin and turning wholeheartedly to God; we turn from our worthless idols to the true and living God. And Lord we say to you, our King: “Please show us yourself in ways we could never have imagined (Jer 33:3).

Fray Luis (Luis de Léon) was an Augustinian monk who lived from 1527-1591. He was imprisoned for many years during the Spanish inquisition, but his work lives on. He is well known for his commentaries on Song of Songs and Job, for his mystical poems, and for his great work, The Names of Christ.

In this latter work, he discusses why Christ is given so many names in Scripture: “Christ is given so many names because of his limitless greatness and the treasury of his very rich perfections and with them the host of functions and other benefits which are born in him and spread over us. Just as they cannot be embraced by the soul’s vision, so much less can a single word name them. Just as he who pours water in a bottle with a narrow and long neck does so drop by drop so the Holy Spirit who knows the narrowness and poverty of our understanding does not give us that greatness all at once but offers it to us in drops, telling us, at times something under one name, and some other thing at other times, under another name.  Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star. He is the Branch, the Messiah, the Son of God, Son of David, and the Lamb. He is also the “King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.” [2]

It is in reference to the last of these titles, i.e., Christ as Lord, that we want to focus the rest of this paper. We need a fresh vision of Christ as Lord if we are to get on with the business of personal and corporate holiness and gospel mission rooted in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ

Some of you may wonder what the expression “The Lord Jesus Christ” or the expression “the Lordship of Christ” means. While the two are not precisely equivalent, they are inextricably related.

In any case, these expressions may conjure up ideas of “lording it over people and stomping on people.” Is that what our Lord is like? I don’t think so. As a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ, you should not have this picture or anything like it in your mind when you think about his Lordship. He is powerful, but not abusive; in control, but not controlling.

On the other hand, some Christians want to dismiss the Lordship of Christ altogether; they think they’re in a relationship built purely on the warm fuzzies. Their faith seems to be built more on gastrointestinal realities than on the word of God.

But to explain the Bible and hide people from the Lordship of Christ; well, you’d have an easier time trying to sneak the morning sun past the rooster! Like blue is to sky, so is Christ’s lordship to the pages of Scripture. So then, in a word, what do we mean when we talk about Christ’s lordship or Christ as Lord?

To recognize and understand the lordship of Christ, then, is to realize that he and he alone is to be worshipped as God because he alone is sovereign over all things, including me and everything about me and my life…my marriage, my children, my pocket book, my hopes and dreams, my education, my future, my present and my past.

The topic of the Lordship of Christ gets unpacked along several different lines in the NT, but I want to focus on two aspects of his Lordship. First, I want to outline some ideas related to his Lordship. That is, I want to look at his Lordship viewed theologically in reference to Christ as creator, sustainer, redeemer, and judge.

Then I want to briefly look at how he exercises that Lordship over his church in choosing people for salvation, sovereignly placing them in his body and then sanctifying them for his glory.

My hope is to give you a structure for thinking theologically and personally about Christ’s Lordship—a structure that honors and appropriately worships the exalted Christ and serves to enthrone him without rival in your life. Hopefully our discussion will faithfully represent a biblical vision of the Lord Jesus.

He Is Sovereign Creator

John ^1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ^1:2 The Word was with God in the beginning. ^1:3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

Jesus Christ is the Creator of the all that is. He did it by his word and he did it from nothing. Creation, at least God’s creation, has been compared to the magician’s trick, namely, pulling a rabbit out of the hat, except there “ain’t no rabbit” and there “ain’t no hat.” He spoke all that is into being. The obvious design reflects his intelligence; the color his beauty, and the storms his wild side, and the red sky at night his depth as a person.

Last night I was reminded of a cute story that brings home the fact that the Lord Jesus created the entire cosmos from nothing, or ex nihilo as some theologians refer to it. Anyway, there was once a brilliant scientist who prided himself on his brilliant discoveries. He had won several awards for his creative abilities and was world renown for all his skill. But it was not long before it went to his head, as it would with any of us. On one occasion he was taken with the idea that he was just as powerful as God. He turned his eyes to heaven and proclaimed in the hearing of the Lord that he too could create a man just like the Lord had done. In his infinite playfulness, the Lord descended to take the scientist up on his claim. The Lord said to him, “So, you think you can make a man just like I did.” “Yes,” was the confident assertion. “OK,” said the lord, “Go ahead and give it a try.” The brilliant scientist, delighted with the challenge and confident in himself, reached down and picked up some dirt…. Immediately, however, a voice came from heaven: “No, no. Get your own dirt!”

Christ created the entire cosmos from nothing; he borrowed from nobody. We fashion; he creates.

But some scientists see no proof in creation of God’s design and hence for them, creation speaks to evolutionary forces, not a personal transcendent Creator. As one famous scientist quipped, “I turned my telescope to the heavens and examined it in every detail, as much as possible, and I never saw God.” But to painstakingly analyze the heavens with your telescope and then conclude there is no God is as foolish as a concert pianist ripping apart his piano and then walking away in disgust because he couldn’t find any music.

He Is the Sovereign Sustainer

Hebrews ^1:3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

At this moment, there is a reason why all things hold together and the entire universe doesn’t collapse in a heap. It’s because of Christ and the power of his word. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Not only does Christ, the man from Nazareth, now sustain all things, he guides it, including your life, to its ultimate fulfillment in Him. All things will be summed up in Him (Eph 1:10).

When king David penned the words of Psalms 8:3-4:

^8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, he could have known about 5 planets and had he the time and skill mapped out about 6000 stars (the limits of unaided human vision). He was drawn to God’s power and wisdom through seeing that. Today, we know that there are at least 100 billion galaxies, each containing about 100 billion stars. That’s over 10 billion trillion stars! It is the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Hebrews 1:3, and several other passages, who has both created this and sustains it as well. Astronomer Hugh Ross speaks to the level of complexity and design in creation:

For life to exist on a planet, the planet must be close enough to its star to maintain a temperature suitable for life chemistry. For advanced life to exist, the planet needs the gravitational pull of a single, large, and relatively nearby moon to stabilize the tilt of its rotation axis (otherwise it would vary too much) and to assist in the removal of greenhouse gases. The planet’s necessary proximity to the star and moon mean that they work as a set of brakes on the rotation period of the planet. (In the case of the earth, these brakes slow the rotation period by a tiny fraction of a second each year.)

For a planet to support life, the rotation period must fit within a certain range. If the rotation period is too long, temperature differences between day and night will be too great. But if the rotation period is too short, wind velocities will increase to catastrophic levels.³

He Is the Sovereign Redeemer

Luke ^19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

God is the divine lover. He just can’t stop thinking about us. Was the Lord married during his earthly ministry? No. But did you know that he has always wanted to get married? He left home, went to the worst part of town, won a bride for himself and now is in the process of wooing her into his arms. In Revelation 19 the apostle John proclaims that Christ will come and take her to be with him forever…ah yes, the love story is complete…bride and groom together forever!

He Is the Sovereign Judge

What did Abraham say about God in light of the incident with Sodom and Gomorrah? “Will not the judge of the entire earth do what is right” (Gen 18:25)?

Someday God will bring about perfect justice and all men, that includes you and me, will be judged. We will all be judged on the basis of our works, Christians for reward and non-Christians for degree of punishment. But it has seemed good within the operations of the trinity to give the authority to judge to the Son.

Listen to what Paul says in Acts 17:30-31:

^17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, ^17:31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to all by raising him from the dead.”

The idea that Jesus will someday judge all men goes back to Christ himself. In John 5:22, Jesus, while debating the Jews and religious teachers, says:

^5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ^5:23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

In Revelation 4-19 we see Christ, the lamb of God, the One who is worthy to open the scrolls and judge the inhabitants of the earth. Here we get a glimpse of what John 5:22 entails.

How Christ Expresses His Lordship Over His Church

The way the Lord works with people and his church involves “hand picking” us for salvation, placing us in his body for service and blessing and by growing us into his likeness. At all times we are under his watchful eye and profound concern.

He Hand Picks Us: Sovereignly Orchestrating Salvation

In Acts 17:26-27 Paul says these amazing words:

^17:26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, ^17:27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

Have you ever seen a turtle on a fence post? When you do, you’ll know one thing for sure: he didn’t get there on his own! Indeed, he’s been put there by someone much greater than he. Paul says, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus… (1 Cor 1:30). All of us are trophies of God’s grace and none of us are where we are apart from God’s love and power. Some of us need more polishing it seems, but in reality we were totally incapable of saving ourselves and stand here today only because He decided to do something about our sorry predicament.

Take a moment to think back to the time before you knew Christ. If you can, think now of the moment you came to know him. Realize that everything in your life up to that point, as well as from then on, had been designed by the Lord in order to bring you to a saving knowledge of God in Christ. It is the Lord who determined the precise times and the exact places where you should live. Though the focus is on nations in Acts 17, by implication it is true of individuals who make up those nations; in his sovereignty he has ordered our lives so that we might reach out to him and find him. The entire world is a garden and God has determined where each flower goes. And he has placed each one in their proper location so as to best enable them to flourish.

Not only has Christ exercised his lordship over us as individuals by hand picking us for salvation and a relationship with him, he has also summoned us to serve him. And we are to do so with holy hearts, fully committed to the point of sacrifice, to promote his character, will, and ways. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 12:1:

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

The spirit of our service is well captured in these words:

I counted dollars while God counted crosses, I counted gains while He counted losses, I counted my worth by the things gained in store. But He sized me up by the scars that I bore. I coveted honors and sought for degrees, He wept as He counted the hours on my knees; I never knew until one day by the grave. How vain are the things that we spend life to save; I did not yet know until my loved one went above That richest is he who is rich in God’s love. —The Brethren Evangelist

He Incorporates Us into His Body: Blessing and Being Blessed

There is a great deal of diversity in God’s garden and we need to learn to celebrate diversity (not sinfulness) and bless people where they’re at. We’re all just a bunch of nobodies called to exalt a somebody. It is the Lord himself who has determined what church we’re to be a part of so that we might both bless others with our presence, words and deeds and receive a blessing as well. People need to be blessed, loved, and empowered and we are called to give it (cf. Rom 12:14).

According to the Monday, August 26, 1996 edition of the Chicago Tribune tragedy struck a Fort Lauderdale home. Two boys found their twelve year old brother Samuel dead in their yard. He had hanged himself from a tree. Beneath the tree was a stepstool and a flashlight. The reason this story made the Chicago Tribune seems to be the related to why the boy committed suicide. It turns out that Samuel had a weight problem and the next day was going to be his first at a new school and he simply couldn’t face the teasing he had endured all his life. The shame was too great.

Now I submit to you that our hearts really don’t change the older we get. We are all still looking to be thoroughly known, yet completely loved. We are all still hoping to bring our pain, struggle, tragedy and confusion to a God who cares through the people who claim to know him. I regret that no one was there for Samuel and I regret that the church is often not there in the ways God desires. Remember that when you go to church, it is to worship and fellowship. You are certainly not to be present just to sit there week in and week out like a bump on a log. Throw aside the Sunday School class if you have to, but make connections with people. Bless them, meet them at their point of need, fellowship at the foot of the cross, and together express your love for Christ and the hope for a day when his desires will be done on earth as they are in heaven.

Further, use your gifts to serve others in the body. It is the ascended Lord in Ephesians 4:16 who has given gifts to his body in order to strengthen it and help it grow. Are you exercising your gifts? Do you know what they are? Start asking God and serving in various capacities and functions and before you know it, you’ll find yourself in your appointed ministry. But remember, serving the Lord is not always easy. There aren’t a lot of accolades. Sometimes people even criticize you. The nerve of them. Just remember who you’re serving and watch out for bitterness. Serve the Lord with gladness!

And, if you happen to be one of those people who seem to be able to find fault with everything your church does, remember that if you like the honey at all, don’t kick the beehive over. Get in there and love on people.

He Grows Us: Turning Little People into Big People

So it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the creator, sustainer, redeemer and judge who has not only chosen you for salvation and placed you in a local expression of his body, but he has also summoned you to grow; he wants you to become just like him (Rom 8:29-30). This process of Christian growth is referred to by the apostle Paul as transformation.

Look at Romans 12:2:

^12:2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

This verse says, Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. God’s calling us to transformation, not conformation. God isn’t in the business of making good men better, but dead men alive. Growth is a matter of transformation, and lots of it I might add—a total metamorphosis.

In the process of transforming us, God is in the business of forming big people, not little people. The world is already filled with enough little people. It is the big people (i.e., “big” as God understands “big”) who carry out God’s plans and bring blessing to the world.

George Adam Smith, an old testament scholar commenting on Isaiah 32:2, says:

Great men [and women] are not the whole of life, but they are the condition of all the rest; if it were not for the big men [and women], the little ones could scarcely live…In the East…where the desert touches a river valley or oasis, the sand is in a continual state of drift from the wind…which is the real cause of the barrenness of such portions of the desert at least as abut upon the fertile land….But set down a rock on the sand, and see the difference its presence makes. After a few showers, to the leeward side of this some blades will spring up; if you have patience, you will see in time a garden. How has the boulder produced this? Simply by arresting the drift.”⁴

Now it is precisely at this point of transformation that many Christians fall off (one side or the other) the balance beam. They either think that sanctification totally rests on their shoulders and so they live life carrying huge loads on their backs or they think that God will do it all in spite of them and without their involvement and thus they fall into unholy weakness and inactivity. Both of these extremes are wrongheaded. Again we turn to scripture for guidance in regard to this important truth.

In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul beautifully brings together both the human and divine initiatives in sanctification:

^2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ^2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.

The reason why Christians are constantly putting to death the deeds of the flesh, reaching out to their neighbors in love, praying with fervency, etc., is because they know that God is the one who is energizing them to this end. They are not working for grace, but from grace…but make no mistake about it, they are working! They are cooperating with the Spirit who is leading them in their weakness into personal holiness, spiritual strength, and healthy, truthful relationships with others.

The sovereign Lord has appointed several means to grow his children including the word of God, the people of God, the sacraments of God, the circumstances God ordains, and the Spirit of God who both indwells the believer and makes sense out of and personally organizes the other means in the christian’s experience (2 Cor 3:18; Rom 8:28).

So we have been well equipped for the journey ahead, but this does not mean that growth in Christlikeness will be easy. Au contraire! It will be filled with joys and tribulations (John 16:33) and we must arm ourselves with this understanding. Let us not be like the young man who was apparently smitten with a young maiden. Indeed, he poured out his heart’s devotion to her in a letter. He wrote: “darling I would climb the highest mountain just for you; I would brave a raging river, crossing it to see you; I would cross the burning desert just for you; I would die for you.” After signing the letter, he added this P.S.: “I’ll see you on Sunday if it doesn’t rain.”⁵ May God help our commitment to him run deeper than this!

On the other hand, no matter how much victory the Lord grants us in the Christian life, there is still more land to occupy, more riches to possess. It is said that before the discovery of America Spanish coins that bore the imprint of the “Pillar of Hercules” had a motto: “Ne Plus Ultra,” which is Latin for Nothing Else Beyond. But after the success of Columbus, the coins were changed to read Plus Ultra, More Beyond. There is always “more beyond” for the Christian in relationship with an infinite God.

Conclusion

So what does it mean to recognize the Lordship of Christ? It means that we reverence him as the sovereign creator, sustainer, redeemer and judge of all mankind. He exercises his lordship over us by choosing some to salvation, by placing them in his church, and by growing them into his likeness. The fact that he is creator means that he owns everything. The fact that he sustains everything means that no one is ultimately autonomous, but derives their being and continued existence from him. Christ as redeemer refers to his holiness, love and power: he is holy and hates sin; he is loving in that he offered himself for unworthy sinners; and he is powerful in that he actually saves people from wrath and guides all things toward their appointed consummation in him (Eph 1:10). As the judge he will render to each man a perfect and impartial judgment according to their deeds. All men will give an account to Christ for their lives (Phil 2:9-11).

So, we ask again, what does it mean to recognize Christ as Lord? Listen to the testimony of a young preacher from Zimbabwe. Perhaps this will clarify the matter:

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed; my present makes sense; my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight-walking, small plannings, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I know life by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, and paid up, and preached for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go ‘til he comes, give ‘til I drop, preach ‘til all know, and work ‘til he stops me. And when he comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me…My banner will be clear.

¹ See Dynamic Preaching 1:4 (Jan/Feb 1986), 55.

² As quoted in Peter Toon, Spiritual Companions: An Introduction to the Spiritual Classics (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 124.

³ See Hugh Ross, Creation and Time (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1994), 137-139.

⁴ As quoted in Jim McGuiggan, Jesus: Hero of Thy Soul—Impressions Left by the Savior's Touch (West Munroe, LA: Howard, 1998), 18.

⁵ Hughes, Great Stories, 63.

A remarkable television programs vintage aired on PBS entitled “Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace” is an introduction to the life of a remarkable martyrs of recent times. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German minister who joined the German resistence when the evils of Naziism became apparent. He was arrested in 1943 for plotting against Adolf Hitler and hanged at Flossenberg prison on April 9, 1945. ^[3]

The film is framed by Hitler’s demand that German citizens swear a type of allegiance that Christians could only render to Christ himself. Bonhoeffer is pictured in Berlin in 1939 as the film opens:

”. . . let’s not delude ourselves that if we take the loyalty oath to Hitler it means they’ll let us worship in peace. The Nuremberg laws are an attack on Christianity itself. Adolf Hitler demands nothing less than total commitment. He’s the elected chancellor, yes. But more than that, he considers himself der Fuhrer and as “the leader” he craves to be the conscience of every living German. But his claim upon us is a claim that a Christian can only accept from Christ himself.”

Thus Bonhoeffer and a small group of friends, ministers, and students refused to take a loyalty oath. He helped write a document called the Barmen Declaration that called on Christians to remember that their first allegiance is to Christ alone. He and other German churchmen who refused to accommodate their faith to the evils of Naziism left the state-supported churches and created what came to be called the Confessing Church.

The man portrayed in “Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace” is one who knows what it means to fear God, and not to presume on divine grace. One who watches the film comes to understand what Bonhoeffer meant by writing that “only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient, believes.”

The Earliest Confession

The martyrdom of such persons as Stephen, the apostles and Polycarp is predictable in one sense. If one truly believes that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, that one’s own identity is defined by him, and that one’s welfare is better served by dying for Christ than by betraying him to save one’s own neck, it is to be expected that there will be occasional martyrs for Jesus’ sake.

When a man or woman gives heart, soul, mind, and body to him, Jesus Christ becomes not only that person’s Savior but also his or her Sovereign. That is, a saved person acknowledges the right of Jesus Christ to own, command, and reign over him. Thus such texts as these in the New Testament:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20).

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Rom. 14:7-8).

The term “lord” (Gk, kyrios) basically affirms a position of authority for someone. To the Greeks, a kyrios is one who has the right to rule over another. But there is a related-but-quite-different Greek term that is also translated into English by the same term “lord,” despotes.

The difference in the terms is critical. Despotes sometimes carried with it the notions of harshness, arbitrariness, and unpredictability. Kyrios, on the other hand, points to one who has legitimate authority and who uses it appropriately. A pretender and usurper might be despotes to those he ruled. Only the person with the lawful right to rule could be kyrios.

How did Jesus get his “right” to rule over us? How do we know he is not a usurper? “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rom. 14:9).

Jesus has been proved to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead. In his exalted state, he has been declared the rightful Lord of Heaven and Earth. The business of the church is to proclaim his status and to invite people to take an oath of allegiance to him as their sole rightful master.

Tom Boyd tells the story of a woman who was a member of his church. She was a bit flamboyant and eccentric in some ways, but Boyd was impressed with the depth of her commitment to Christ. He was having dinner at her home one evening, and his hostess had him engaged in animated conversation about some biblical theme. In the midst of the conversation, the woman’s teenaged daughter — perhaps a bit frustrated with the tone of the conversation — asked, “Mother, why do you talk about religion all the time?”

The girl’s question brought an ominous silence to everyone’s conversation at the dining table. Her mother paused dramatically, pushed her chair back, stood up, and said, “Every morning before you are awake, I rise and walk into the living room. I lift my arms and ask, ‘Who’s in charge here?’ The answer always comes back: ‘Not you!’ That’s why I’m religious. Because I am not in charge!”

While I’m not at all sure that was the best way for a mother to answer her dismayed daughter — though it may have been! — that lady understood something critical to faith. A truly spiritual life begins with the understanding of Sovereignty, Lordship, and the Right to Rule. We are not in charge, and from that understanding we can proceed to align ourselves to the One who is.

Case Studies

The defiant unbeliever Robert Ingersoll was belligerently assailing Christianity in a conversation with Lew Wallace. Wallace, himself an unbeliever, said, “I am going to read the New Testament and find out for myself.” For six years, he pored over the pages of Scripture. When he had finished, he said, “I have come to the conviction that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Jews, the Savior of the world, and my own personal Redeemer.” Wallace proceeded to write the book Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

C.S. Lewis underwent a similar conversion through diligent study. An agnostic who became a prolific apologist for Christian faith, he once wrote: “Jesus was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met him. He produced mainly three effects — hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.”

He is right. And the posture of adoration is the one adopted by those who, like the apostle Thomas, fall at Jesus’ feet to exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28; cf. Rev. 1:5; 19:15-16).

This exclamation is more than a posture or verbal formula. It is a life commitment that shows itself in changed values, new priorities, transformed behavior. Take the case of Jack Eckerd, founder of the Eckerd drugstore chain, as a case in point. He was walking through one of his stores and notices the magazine racks with their glossy copies of Playboy and Penthouse. Though he was retired from active management at that point in his career, he called the president of the company and urged them to get rid of those publications that degraded women by exploiting them as sexual objects.

The president protested that substantial amounts of money were at stake. Eckerd, himself the largest single stockholder in the company, stood to lose money by such a decision. But he remained firm in his newfound conviction. He prevailed, and the magazines were removed from all the stores that were then operated under the Eckerd name — 1700 stores at the time! When he was asked what motivated him to press for such an action, Eckerd replied, “God wouldn’t let me off the hook!”

When Paul was confronted by the risen and reigning Christ on the Damascus Road, his urgent question was, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10a). That question governed Paul’s life until the day he died. And we too must ask that question about our own life situations before Jesus Christ — whether in the home, in business, in school, in politics, in every life situation.

A Threatening Notion

The notion of living under the Sovereign Rule of Jesus Christ — otherwise known as “entering the kingdom of God” or “seeing the kingdom of heaven” — seems to threaten some who have claimed him as their Savior. I think that sense of threat comes from one of two things.

On the one hand, it may come from our spiritual immaturity. We want to go to heaven but we don’t quite want to take both feet out of the world. We see Jesus as someone who is intruding into and messing up our lives. But the Christ of Scripture is one who loves us and wants only to help us be everything we were created to be. He never prohibits anything except that which would hurt us. He never enjoins anything except that which would bless us.

On the other hand, it may stem from our failure to distinguish between Jesus as Kyrios and Jesus as Despotes, Jesus as one who has the right to rule because of his love for us and a mental image of Jesus who is offering us a batch of rules.

Watchman Nee tells about a new convert who came in deep distress to see him. “No matter how much I pray,” said the man, “no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I’m losing my salvation.” And Nee said, “Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he fouls his clothes, he is a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog; my son is my heir. You are Jesus Christ’s heir because it is for you that he died.” So it is with us. We are Christ’s heirs, not through our perfection but by means of his grace. ^[4]

Lordship is neither an assignment to nor an accomplishment of non-Christians that admits them to favor with Jesus. It is the blessed privilege of the children of God by which they honor the Christ who has saved them by his sacrifice.

Lordship is not something the church seeks to impose on the world. Our calling, after all, has never been to remove the darkness from the world but to shine as lights in a dark place. Our assignment is to be an alternative community to the world.

By obedience, faithfulness, and purity in the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to submit ourselves to the rule of Christ and then to lead as many as possible to know the one who has changed our lives and created a hunger in their hearts by what they have witnessed in us.

Conclusion

Salvation is by grace, not by our good works or obedience to commandments. It is a gift given, not a reward earned. But, returning for a moment to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, grace is a costly thing — not only to God in offering salvation but to us in accepting it.

Bonhoeffer published a book titled The Cost of Discipleship in 1937. In it he attacked what he called the “cheap grace” of the German churches. It was a view of grace, he said, designed merely to make people comfortable with their weakness and sinfulness.

By contrast, “costly grace” carried with it the presumed obligation of discipleship, obedience. He insisted that “it is only through actual obedience that a person can become liberated to believe.” Faith and obedience, he argued, are ultimately all but indistinguishable, “for faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience.” ^[5]

That is ultimately the point of claiming Jesus as one’s Lord. It is a pledge of obedience. It is the surrender of one’s total life to God. It is not the mistaken belief that following the rules exactly will bring one to heaven but the abandon of a lover’s commitment that says I will do anything that would honor or please him.

Bonhoeffer’s commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ sent him to the gallows. Yours will more likely send you home, to the workplace, or back to school with a renewed sense that your obligation is not to yourself, the bottom line, or being cool.

It is to prove that you have understood the words of your Savior that it would be foolish to try to call him “Lord, Lord!” and not do what he has commanded.

Do You Need A Guide On This Trip?

A. Illust: At 7 a.m. on Dec. 7th, 1941, two US military officers rose from their respective quarters.

They each looked outside and saw a beautiful morning to go play a round of golf, which they

planned to do together. The officers were Husband E. Kimmel, admiral over the Pacific fleet stationed

in Hawaii and Walter C. Short, commander of all military forces in Hawaii. As the men prepared

for the day, they were completely unaware that just 100 miles away 175 Japanese warplanes

were about to bring destruction upon Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack would leave the Pacific Fleet

in smoldering heaps and take the lives of 2,390 servicemen.

1. Most people are of the conviction that they will go to heaven when they die. Their hopes are

founded on the comforting platitudes of respected, although ill-informed preachers and the

mistaken idea that salvation is reserved for all believers whose good works outweigh their bad.

2. Confident that they are far from danger, they will one day discover that their security has been

“blown apart,” and they will find themselves forever sinking in a place far worse than the

burning remnants of “Battleship Row.” vv. 21-23

B. These words are harsh and offensive to our prickly-sensitive 21st century ears.

1. There are only two gates and two roads from which to choose. One road is broad and leads to

everlasting ruin; one road is narrow and leads to eternal life. cf. vv. 7:13-14

2. Jesus said that the majority of people are taking the broad path and following the wrong teachers

and they don’t even know it. cf. vv. 15-20

C. The Lord offers Himself as a “tour guide” and gives instructions to help us find the small gate and

stay on the narrow road that leads to heaven.

D. Observations:

I. Destination—Where do we want to go? v. 21

1. The phrase “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with the kingdom of God. Matt. 4:17; Mark

1:14-15

2. Today the kingdom includes the Lord’s church on earth, for those who submit to the will of

Christ are added to the kingdom. Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:9

3. In the future, it will involve the “new heavens and new earth” where the redeemed with be with

the Father and Son for eternity. Matt. 13:40-43; 2 Pet. 3:10-13; cf. Rev. 21:1-22:5

4. The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on the Day of Pentecost [A.D. 30], and will be

culminated when the Lord returns to deliver it back to God on the Judgment Day. 1 Cor. 15:24

II. Discharge—How can we get there? vv. 21-22

1. Not by lip service,

a. The fact that people will plead and cry out “Lord, Lord” will indicate that they understand

who Jesus is and that they thought they had made a commitment to Him.

b. That people will address Him as “Lord, Lord” will highlight their intense zeal and

demonstrate the strength of their devotion and dedication.

c. That people will make multiple references to the name of Jesus will convey their willingness

to profess their faith in Him. [These will be intensely religious people who claim to belong to

Jesus].

d. NOTE: Saying “Lord, Lord” is not to be confused with “calling on the name of the Lord,” nor

is it a reference to prayer. Acts 2:21, 38; Mark 16:15-16; cf. Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21

e. Words alone will not be sufficient to save. Ex: When you were young did you ever say to

your mother, “Mother, I love you”? What would she say in response? My mother would

sometimes say words to this effect—“I wish you would show it a little more in the way you

behave.”

2. But through life service.

a. Says stands in contrast to does; faith without practice is a contradiction of terms. Jas. 2:24

b. NOTE: We certainly will not earn our salvation by meritorious works. Tit. 3:5 [Good works

did not save Cornelius; he still needed to be told what to do to be saved]. Acts 10:1-5; 11:14

c. It is possible to engage in religious activity which is not sanctioned by the Lord. [Jesus will

describe such action as “lawlessness.” It will not be that people will have done things which

were explicitly condemned by Christ, but that they did things which were not authorized by

Him]. Col. 3:17

d. This is the reason we did not have an Easter service today.

e. It is possible to be good and sincere and still be lost.

III. Declaration—What will He say?

1. “I never knew you” does not mean that Jesus was ignorant of a person’s existence, but that He

never acknowledged the individual; He never recognized him as what he claimed to be. Illust:

Kim and Kricket Carpenter

2. Even deeds that are seen by the world or by us to be good and benevolent are nothing if one does

not know or belong to Christ.

Concl:

A. Who will enter the kingdom of heaven?

1. According to our Guide, not those who profess to believe but do not obey, nor those who are

doing many religious things without divine authority.

2. Only those who actually do the Father’s will.

B. Illust: An aqueduct was built in Segovia in A.D. 9. For 1800 years, that aqueduct carried sparkling

water to hot and dusty Segovians. About the turn of the century, thoughtful Spaniards decided that

the aqueduct should be preserved for posterity and should be relieved of its age-old labor. So, they

laid modern pipelines and stopped the flow that for all those years gushed and gurgled in the aqueduct.

Soon after this the aqueduct began to fall apart. The blazing sun dried the mortar and made it

crumble. Its stones sagged and fell; soon it lay in ruins. What ages of service could not destroy,

idleness rapidly disintegrated. “Doing” is continually stressed by the Lord. “But he who looks into

the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this

one will blessed in what he does” (Jas. 1:25).

C. What will the Savior say to you at Judgment? Matt. 25:21

(Plantation is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale...just 10 minutes north of Miami-Dade County, in the heart of college and pro sports country,  and 20 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean). Last modified: April 18, 2006