Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
June 3, 2007 - W0722

We do not know what tomorrow holds for us but the Holy Spirit does. So we need ears that are willing to hear His voice everyday. The Lord knows the future so we must listen because God is preparing us for our future if we let Him. We need to get to the point where belief turns to conviction or Faith. We all have belief systems but we have to go beyond our beliefs.  What we believe has to go beyond a religion or a philosophy and become a reality.

The most important part of this service is when we leave church because that is where we take what we learn here and put it into practice. The Bible talks about putting the church into the world not putting the world into the church. We have to go beyond simple belief and into Jesus being Lord in everything we do.

The world is a pretty confusing place with many beliefs and many ways of doing things. But in reality there is only one way of doing things right and that is the way of the Lord. The “Dear Abby” newspaper advice column once received a letter that stated that the writer was married to one woman, living with another and yet in love with still a third woman. He asked what he should do but to also not receive any advice on morality. Abby wrote back that our morals are what separate us from the animals and so he should go to a veterinarian for advice!

So many of us want help but refuse to change what needs changing, namely, ourselves. Too many of us treat God in our lives like a component of a stereo system.  He has a part in our life but is only one of many parts in our system. But God does not want to be only a component in our lives He wants to change our tune. He wants to be everything in our lives.

When I was a pastor in Hilo, a man invited me to what he called his prayer room.  But when I entered, I was surprised and taken aback that while there was a picture of Jesus on the wall there was also pictures of Buddha, Krishna, Mary and Confucious.  It was like a divine vending machine.  He was keeping all of his bases covered. Are we like that? Is Jesus a part of our life but not the only one?

God has instructions for our life so if we follow them it gives us confidence in all that we do. However, these instructions also come with requirements. We can have confidence in our future with the Lord because the Bible says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Therefore if we honor our Christian beliefs we can have confidence in our future.

However, just because we read our beliefs in the Bible does not mean we ascribe to them equally. We have to move beyond simply believing and into actually living our beliefs.

Conservative Christian talk show host Sean Hannity was arguing with the very liberal Reverend Al Sharpton.  He asked Sharpton several questions.  He asked if he believed Jesus died for our sins, whether the Bible was true and whether all men are created equal.  Sharpton answered yes. So Hannity asked if they both agreed on all that then why do they disagree on everything else? It is one thing to read and believe the Bible but another to have Jesus as the Lord of your life, to live your beliefs and to follow the Bible’s commandments.

What is the greatest commandment? “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5).

To know the Lord adds strength to your life.

JESUS BECOMES LORD WHEN …

1. HE BECOMES THE ONLY WAY.

When Jesus becomes the only way, then you have moved beyond belief. Some of you might say that you put God first but even that is not enough.  He has to be the only one. If on my wedding day I told Anna, my wife, that she is my first love but Monica is 2^nd and Angela is third, how would that make her feel? You have to have only one wife and only one God in your life. Some people have all kinds of ways but God wants His to be the only way for you. Some of you may be thinking that with only one option you would be limited and poor but the Bible says, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (Prov. 10:22). Any other method or way you choose other than the Lord’s will lead to regrets. As the Bible says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Ps. 127:1). In other words, whatever you do that is not God based will turn out poorly in the end.

I sometimes think that the theme song in Hell is “I Did It My Way.” It is like the famous portagee last words, “Eh, watch dis!!!!” Doing it your way as opposed to God’s way will lead you to disaster. So when does Jesus become the Lord in your life? When He is the only way for you.

Jesus also becomes Lord when …

2. HE HAS CAPTURED YOUR HEART.

There is a big difference between making a decision for Christ and a transformation of your heart for Christ. The Devil has also made a decision for Christ. But he has made a decision not to follow Christ.  He instead wants to create confusion for us about what it means to follow Christ.  With that confusion, the Devil has us destroy ourselves. You see no devil is an atheist. As the Bible says, “Do you still think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror!” (James 2:19 NLT). Not only does God want you to believe in one God and to obey His law, He wants the Lordship of Christ over our lives.  This means that He wants our hearts, not only obedience. He does not want robots in His army. He wants full volition and a love for doing God’s work.

Getting into God’s army means you get to wear the Christian uniform but unlike other armies you still get the choice to obey His commands or not. All His commands are in the Bible so that is why it is so important to read and journal from the Bible everyday.  The Holy Spirit knows our future so can prepare us for it through His word. Ask and you shall receive.

Christians have the choice to make up their own rules or to follow God but all must remember that the wages of sin is death. Your own disobedient volitions will cause bad things to happen. Accordingly, the Bible says, “Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have withheld good from you” (Jer. 5:25).

How can you tell the difference between a Christian that has given his heart to the Lord and one that has not?  You can see it in their eyes and everything they do.  There is a joy that radiates from them when they are working for the Lord. How would it make my wife feel if I came home with flowers for her but told her in monotone that I brought flowers only because it was my duty as a husband? The Lord does want your obedience but he wants you to obey wholeheartedly, with lots of emphasis on heart! He wants you to change from saying a tired “I have to go to church” to an enthusiastic “I get to go to church!”

Finally, Jesus becomes Lord when …

3. HE DETERMINES YOUR DISPOSITION.

God touches everything. “No one speaking by the Spirit of God says … ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). This means that we have to ask ourselves, “Who is truly Lord in our life?” Who really controls our success or what we feel to be success? Who or what determines our continence? Who or what controls what we want in life? We may say that Jesus is Lord in our life but in reality various other things like money, prestige, chance events, etc. rule how we feel.

Biblical hero Job was a great example of having God determine his disposition.  He said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Despite many tragedies in his life, Job was still content and confident in His faith in the Lord.

When I was a newlywed and going to Bible college, my wife Anna and I were living in an apartment building that I managed in order to get a discount on our rent.  So I did odd jobs around the apartment complex and one of my duties was to use a passkey to let tenants in that had locked themselves out. One day we were in a rush to get somewhere and I yelled at Anna to hurry up and get to the car.  She finally complied and I slammed the door to our apartment and heard all the locks click shut on our door, then ran to the car and asked Anna for the keys.  She answered she did not have them!!! I was frustrated and had her look over and over again in her purse for the keys.  No luck. I was angry and embarrassed that I the resident manager was now locked out of my own apartment! It was a 3-mile walk into town to get new keys.  Later that night I was still fuming and angry with Anna for not having the keys and I was thinking all sorts of negative thoughts about Anna and my marriage.  But the Lord asked me, “who is Lord in your life?” Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The lost keys had become the Lord in my life! Because of those lost keys, my whole personality had changed!  I was willing to forget my Holy vows to my marriage and my wife just because of lost keys!

Aren’t a lot of us like that? We say that Jesus is the Lord in our lives but when bad luck happens, a car breaks down, somebody insults us, traffic jams delay us, we become angry, we treat those we say we love badly and our focus is no longer serving God? Remind yourself: Do not let circumstances be your Lord or determine your disposition and happiness.  Only Jesus should be the Lord in your life. When He becomes your Lord then you will grow. We do not know what future setbacks will occur but because Jesus is Lord we will be okay because He knows the future. We will know the strength of Faith when we are walking with Christ.

We can have a confidence and faith in our lives with Jesus because His commandments are written down for us in the Bible and He promises eternal life if we honor His commandments. The main commandment is to love God with all our hearts, souls and might. We have to make Jesus Lord in our lives. Jesus becomes Lord in our lives when He becomes the only way, captures our hearts and when He is the one that determines our disposition and not circumstances.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1. While the commandments are written in the Bible, there are many commandments and many interpretations as evidenced by the many different churches.  How do we know which ones are the right ones?
2. Why not have Jesus as one way and Buddha, etc. as a secondary way?
3. If you don’t have your heart in some aspect of the Lord’s work that you are doing, what should you do?
4. What are some of the things that determine your happiness, other than Jesus? Does that make you a bad Christian?
5. Where in your life have you kept Jesus out of or not enough in?
6. Where in your life has Jesus made a great difference when He didn’t before?