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Consider His Lordship
A message from Pastor Paul Chappell
One of the most convicting verses in the Bible is Luke 6:46, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” The Associated Press reported on June 12, that baring any further legal action, same-sex marriages will be legal beginning Monday, June 15, at 5:01 p.m. in California—the California Supreme Court ruling legalized this activity. Once the ruling goes into effect, officials are required to issue gender-neutral marriage licenses, but they are not required to perform ceremonies. It is a tragedy that the sate in which I live has overturned the will of the people and is now undermining of the bedrock of our society—the family.
But what is more appalling to me as a pastor, is to think that as these couples obtain their license from the court house, they will then make their way to a church where a “pastor” will perform sacrilege. The Unitarian churches, the United Methodist, the Metropolitan Community churches, and other denominations that sanction such activity will have pastors who will stand and perform these ceremonies. I am mindful today of the words of Jesus Christ when He said in Luke 6:46, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
These “pastors” are men who say that they believe in God but do not the things which the Lord has so clearly said in His Word? Yet at the same time it is so easy to point our fingers to those that live according to what the Bible refers to as an “abominable life-style”, all the while we are not following the principles found in the Word of God. This is a convicting verse indeed.
Many men today are claiming greater wisdom than God. The California State Supreme Court has done that. They have claimed greater wisdom than God in establishing the family. Many people in the church house do this as well. But a true man of God is a man under authority. He is a man who recognizes that leadership is not of himself, but it is a gift from God.
As Jesus comes to the end of the Sermon on the Mount He gives us three characteristics of a man who is under the lordship of Jesus Christ. A true leader recognizes that God above invests leadership to him. Hence, he lives his life with the recognition that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he desires to do what God wants him to do in this life.
I. Follows His Lord
The first characteristic of a man living under the lordship of Jesus Christ is that he follows the Lord’s teachings. The Bible says in Luke 6:39, “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” The reason that we must follow the Lord is because blindness is our hindrance. Every one of us without the Lord and the leadership of the Word of God are blind. We do not know which way to go. The Word of God is our light. Jesus asked the question, “Can the blind lead the blind?” There are many today who have leadership positions that are blind. Being in a leadership position does not guarantee that you know how to lead or where to go. All of us need to follow Jesus if we are going to go the way we need to go. Jesus said, “How can the blind lead the blind?” The Bible speaks of this in 1 Timothy 1:6–7, “From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
Second Timothy 4:3–4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” We see this today throughout the land. There are people that no longer want to follow the doctrine of the Word of God, they no longer want to follow the doctrine of their parents, and now they turn themselves to teachers who will tickle their ears and say, “Do what you want to do. It’s alright to live the way you want to live.” And now in America it seems as though we have the blind leading the blind.
Secondly, we follow the Lord because Jesus is our goal. The Bible says in Luke 6:40, “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” The word “perfect” here means “mature”. The Bible says none of us are above the Lord, but those that are mature are following the Lord. The Apostle Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” The Apostle Paul understood that for him to ask for someone to follow him, then it was incumbent upon him that he be a follower of Jesus Christ. Every dad must say to his family, “Follow me” that is fine, but we must also say as the Apostle Paul, “as I follow Christ.” Because if a father is not following Christ he will not know where to lead.
A pastor years ago told the story about coming home from his construction job. At the time he was working his way through Bible college. As he stepped out his car door he was greeted by his four-year son who said, “Dad, you are really dusty!”
He said, “Well, yes, I am son.” He went out to the driveway and continued doing some things that needed to be done and after a little while he looked over at his son. The young boy was standing in the rocks rubbing them all over his pants and on his shirt.
“Son, why are you putting rocks all over yourself?”
The little boy said, “Because I want to be dusty just like you Dad.”
That pastor said, “I recognized right then and there that if my son will look up to me for being dusty, how much more do I need to show him the ways of God?” Paul says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
Paul says in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
II. Walks in Humility
Not only will a man under lordship follow the Lord, but he will Walk in Humility. The Bible says in Luke 6:41–42, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” The main reason men refuse the lordship of Christ is pride. My friend, let me share something with you—Jesus is Lord. And He will be Lord whether you allow Him to or not.
Notice two facts about humility. Humility is not critical. The Bibles says, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye…?” Even a very ‘small’ object in the eye of another we discern much more quickly than a much larger one in our own. Someone who is under lordship recognizes the Lord is perfect and we are all growing and we walk in humility before the Lord.
Secondly, humility sees our need to grow. A humble person says, “I have not arrived yet. I am still trying to grow.” Luke 6:43 says, “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” Verse 45 of that same chapter says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” The humble man recognizes the necessity of keeping a tender heart toward God, and the fruit that is spoken of here are the actions or the attitudes that come forth from the heart. You see the actions or the words are the fruit, but the fruit it directly related to the root. So whatever is going on in your heart is going to be evidenced in your life.
There was a lady that came up to a preacher at a revival meeting and very piously said, “I don’t really know of any sin in my life, but I just thought that I would come forward and encourage you as the preacher.” He said, “Let me tell you what to do. Why don’t you just knee down right here and start confessing sin—just guess if you need to, and just see what happens.” She came back to the preacher after church and said, “You know, I guessed right the very first time.” Everyone of us, if we will open our heart before God, He will show us what needs to be taken care of.
III. Builds on Truth
We must follow the Lord. We must walk in humility. And finally, we must build on the truth. These are the characteristics of a man under lordship: he follows the Lord; he walks in humility; and he is building on the truth. We are here to build our lives on the eternal truth of God. Notice what Luke 6:46 says, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”
How do you build your home and how to build your life. First, you must consent to the truth. This story of the house on the rock and the house on the sand is a story about a man’s response to the truth. Look at what it in verse 47, “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:” So, here is a parable about a man’s response to the sayings of Jesus Christ. God says that we must build as we consent to His truth.
In recent surveys it has been reported that 68 million out of the 94 million men in America do not attend church. In spite of the fact, that 86 percent of those men attended church as children, the majority of men do not attend church. What is tragic about that is that in many churches the truth is taught and found, hence we see today a turning away from the truth in the United States of America.
I’m told that only 30 percent of Americans believe in absolute truth anymore. Would be to God that there would be some men and women—eighteen year olds, nineteen year olds, eighty year olds—who would say, “If there is only one percent of men in America that believe in absolute truth, I will be in that one percent that believe God’s Word is true!” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:10—11, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” When it comes to spiritual building you want to build on the Rock Christ Jesus. Build on the truth of Jesus Christ. When you do that, you will avoid the tragedy of destruction.
As I close this article, I thank God for the wonderful Spiritual Leadership Conference He gave us. Each year I am amazed by how the Lord works. I am especially thankful for the Spirit-filled preachers who brought convicting and applicable messages from the Word of God to each service. Dr. Sam Davison, Dr. Bobby Roberson, Dr. R. B. Oullette, & Dr. David Gibbs, Jr. were each used of God in a unique and powerful way. In the days following Leadership Conference, I have heard personally from dozens of pastors whose ministries were helped through the daytime sessions. This was the first year to conduct the daytime sessions in the Revels Academic Building. It was exciting for me to see this building used in such a large-scale way to encourage and equip the conference delegates. We praise God for the great things He has accomplished. May we each continue to strive together for the faith of the Gospel.
Sincerely,
Pastor Paul Chappell
