Why Is Lordship Necessary?
Luke 9:57-62
Review: What Is Lordship?
1. Submission To God’s Will.
2. Placing God First In Your Life.
3. Accepting Responsibility And Accountability.
4. Doing God’s Will.
5. Personal Obedience Regardless Of The Cost.
1. Lordship Settles The Position Issue.
It settles the issue of who is going to be #1 in our life!
2. Lordship Settles The Permission Issue.
Who Has The Right To Control My Life?
Luke 9:57-62 (Text)
Four (4) Observations from these verses
1. Not Everyone Is Ready For Lordship!
2. Talk Is Cheap! - Lordship Is More Than Words! - (vs 57 & 58)
3. Jesus Knows Us………
Matthew 6: 24
3. Lordship Settles The Profession Issue. Luke 6:47
Three Steps To Lordship – Repeated Over & Over:
1) Come To Him………2) Hear What He Says……....3) Obey Him
C. Two Types Of Wrong Obedience
1) Selective Obedience -
I’ll obey Him when I want to
I’ll disobey Him when I want to
1) Lordship Settles The Position Issue - Who’s going to be #1 in our life?
2) Lordship Settles The Permission Issue - Who has a right to control our life?
3) Lordship Settles The Profession Issue - Who is going to enter God’s Kingdom?
NEXT WEEK:
4) Lordship Settles The Possession Issue - Who owns ‘my’ possessions?
Why Is Lordship Necessary?
Luke 9:57-62
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Review: What Is Lordship?
1. Recognizing That God Is Sovereign. (Matt. 8:2)
2. Placing God First In Your Life. (Matt. 22:36-40)
3. Accepting Responsibility And Accountability. (Matt. 25:14-30)
4. Doing God’s Will. (Matt. 7:21-27)
5. Personal Obedience Regardless Of The Cost. (John 21:15-23)
Introduction:
Why Is Lordship Necessary? - 4 Reasons
1. It Settles The Position Issue
2. It Settles The Permission Issue
3. It Settles The Profession Issue
4. It Settles The Possession Issue
1. Lordship Settles The Position Issue.
A. It settles the issue of who is going to be #1 in our life!
B. The first issue that man dealt with was who was going to be #1
1) Satan came to Eve in Genesis 3 and declared:
(Paraphrased) --- /If you eat of the tree you will not die
– you will be like God and equal to Him…’
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2) Pride is the oldest sin in the universe and shows no sign of
weakening with age.
C. When the Position Issue is Settled, The Selfish, Humanistic
Issue is also Settled.
1. Many use God and The Church like a Genie…..
- They stroke it and wonder what will come out and help them
2. We need to change some of the church hymns to agree with the
selfish spirits of men today:
FROM: I Surrender All…………………… TO: I Surrender Some
There Shall Be Showers ……………….. There Shall Be Sprinkles
of Blessings of Blessings
Fill My Cup Lord …………………….. Fill My Spoon
Oh How I Love Jesus ………………… Oh How I Like Him
Take My Life And Let It Be …………. Take My Life And Let Me Be
Onward Christian Soldiers …………… Onward Christian Reserves
Just As I Am …………………………. Just As I Used To Be
2. Lordship Settles The Permission Issue.
A. Who Has The Right To Control My Life?
B. Many Question God As To What He Requires!
Luke 9:57-62 (Text)
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
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C. Four (4) Observations from these verses
1. Not Everyone Is Ready For Lordship!
2. Talk Is Cheap! - Lordship Is More Than Words! - (vs 57 & 58)
3. Jesus Knows Us………
Many try to “SNOW” God
…….They tell Him how much they love Him
.……They tell Him and testify about what they are going to do
…….They sing about Him
…….They even shout in his presence
…………It’s not how much you say or demonstrate, but what you DO
that counts!
4. Lordship Forces Us To Change
-- We must choose to do what we want to do or what He
wants us to do.
-- We must choose if we are going to let God control our
life or are we going to remain in control?
Matthew 6: 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Many are like the teacher trying to get a job during the depression. She was asked if she believed the earth was round or flat. Needing the job very badly she responded, “I can teach it both ways!”
MANY ARE TRYING TO LIVE BOTH WAYS……….
1. Lordship Settles The Position Issue
2. Lordship Settles The Permission Issue
3. Lordship Settles The Profession Issue.
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Too many are professing to know Him and not doing what He commands. Many go to church, sing the songs, give in the offering, teach a class, sit on church boards, do all kind of works, and talk just right - but they only Profess they do not possess or really recognize Christ as Lord (Lordship)
Luke 6:47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
Three Steps To Lordship – Repeated Over & Over:
1) Come To Him………2) Hear What He Says……....3) Obey Him
B. Three Truths From Jesus’ Words About Going To Heaven:
1) What you SAY will not get you into the Kingdom.
2) Doing GOOD WORKS alone will not get you into Heaven
3) OBEDIENCE WILL get you into heaven.
Illustration:
Group from S.C. traveled to N.Y. to see “My Fair Lady.” When they arrived, they found all performances to be sold out. When people started coming out of the previous performance throwing down their ticket stubs, someone got an idea! They gathered up all the ticket stubs they could find, they bought the program and musical tape of the presentation of “My Fair Lady” and went back to their rooms and learned all the numbers. They went back to S.C. and showed the stubs and the programs, and sang the songs. They lived a lie to their friends. They could sing the songs, go through the motions, and look good -- but they were empty!
There are those today in the church who are doing the same thing. They are singing the songs, they are quoting scripture, they are praying for the sick, they are teaching Bible Studies, they are giving in the offerings, they are faithful to good works……… Yet they have never settled the Lordship issue. They look good, they talk good, they work good…. But they are far from Him.
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They are never satisfied. They find problems with everything around them. Everyone else is wrong and they’re right. They never find peace. They’re always striving but never satisfied – always looking for a ‘spiritual high’.
They know He is Lord………But He is not really THEIR Lord!
C. Two Types Of Wrong Obedience
1) Selective Obedience -
I’ll obey Him when I want to
I’ll disobey Him when I want to
Obedience as it relates to Lordship is best illustrated in reference to marriage. - Just suppose……..
Instead of the Bride and Groom pledging total commitment to each other, they try to determine how little they have to commit to each other.
Do we really take this sickness issue and the better and worse, richer and poorer issue for real?
What is the limit? What is the least I can do?
Can you imagine your husband or wife saying to you…..,
“Honey, I’m faithful to you 75% of the time!” Or
“Honey, unless I’m tempted, I’ll always be faithful to you.’ Or
“I’m out of here if you get sick or incapacitated!” Or……….
Many do the same with the Lordship Issue
“Lord, I’ll be faithful on Sunday, but Friday night…..”
“Lord, I may have to forget my religion every once-in-a-while….”
“Lord, I’ll obey you as long as everything goes my way……”
“Lord, I’ll be faithful to church as long as I can get my rest….”
“Lord, I’ll be faithful to church as long as it doesn’t interrupt my family
time….”
“Lord, I’ll pay my tithes as long as all my other bills are paid up…..”
“Lord, I’ll give to the building fund when I get some more money in the
bank….”
“Lord, You can count on me most of the time…..”
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Lordship Settles The Possession Issue.
Malachi 3:8-12 (NKJV)
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts;
12 "And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land," Says the LORD of hosts.
Introduction:
1. Lordship Settles The Position Issue
2. Lordship Settles The Permission Issue
3. Lordship Settles The Profession Issue.
4. Lordship Settles The Possession Issue.
· The Possession Issue settles the giving and tithing issue!
· If you have not settled the tithing issue with your finances, then you have not settled the Possession Issue of your life as it relates to the Lordship of Christ!
· “Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” is not just a good catchy phrase! – It is also a Lordship Issue!
What Does God Own?
· God Owns Me - I’m His servant
· God Owns Everything I Have - He gave me my money, my things, my everything.
Dennis The Mennis Cartoon:
He and his family are leaving church. Dennis is holding his father’s hand. As they greet the pastor, with a questionable grin on his face, Dennis says to the pastor, “What are you going to do with the dollar my dad gave you?
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Many treat God in the same way…
“God you’re all right………here’s a $5 bill.”
“Here’s a tip God …….
God is treated like the waitress. - Statistics show that 50% of professing Christians give more to waitresses each week than they do to their church!
What is the greatest test of Lordship? --- The greatest test is what you will do with your possessions?
That’s why God said, in Malachi 3:10 “prove me with your tithes and offerings.” He knows that the last thing you will give him is your money.
Many have given God most everything in their control. Many have given Him their words, their promises, their good intentions, their desires, but they have not totally given Him EVERYTHING!
A.
1) Lordship Settles The Position Issue
- Who’s going to be #1 in our life?
2) Lordship Settles The Permission Issue
- Who has a right to control our life?
3) Lordship Settles The Profession Issue
- Who is going to enter God’s Kingdom?
4) Lordship Settles The Possession Issue
- Who owns ‘my’ possessions?