Let’s open our bibles to Acts chapter 11. We’ll start with verse 19. 19) “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20) And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21) And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 22) Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23) Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24) For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
This is a people who converted to Jesus, they turned to Jesus as their Lord. An apostle was sent to them to help them live according to what Jesus said. You’ve got to understand there’s more to it than just calling Jesus a Savior. Most Christians get there ticket punched to get into heaven and they tend to stop right there. Many have taken the word Lord to mean Savior. When you get born again, Jesus has become your Savior, but there’s more to it. We’ve said it before that if that’s all there is to being born again and get baptized, then we’d just send you on home to be with Jesus. We’d just hold you under water a little longer and go here’s another one God. Wouldn’t be a whole lot of them that would want that, would they? God wants us to take our salvation experience and move on to the point where we make Jesus Lord of our lives. We want Jesus to be more than just our Savior. Some say they just don’t see the benefits of serving the Lord. Well if you don’t make Jesus the Lord of your life, the benefits won’t be there. He’s got to be Lord of your life. This happens when you give Jesus complete and total control of your life. We’ve got to get to the place where He’s in charge, not me. Amen? Look at Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” In other words, you don’t have any right to call me Lord if you are not obeying me. If you are not doing what I said there’s no need to call me Lord. Now, you can say Jesus is my Savior, but you can’t call him Lord if you’re not in obedience to his word. Verse 47 says, Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: 48) 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. 49) But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation build an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. We’ve heard for a long time that the rock spoken of here is Jesus. But that’s not really what it’s talking about here. There were two men and they heard the same message. They both heard the teachings of Jesus. It says one of them heard it and did it. It was like building his house upon a rock. The other one heard the same teachings of Jesus but didn’t build his house on a rock. One rendition says he built his house on sand. Notice the storm beat on both of their houses. Any of you had any storms recently? In your homes, your lives, your finances, your ministry? The storms will come. But our protection that comes that keeps our lives from folding is hearing and doing the word. It says if you are hearing it and doing it you can call me Lord. Amen? That doesn’t mean you are not saved. You’ve already made him Savior. As a matter of fact, you can’t make Jesus your Lord until you’ve made him your Savior. But there are many who have made him their Savior and he’s never become Lord. Our goal in this life is to make him Lord of our lives. And when we begin to hear the word and be obedient to the word we are laying a foundation that we can stand on when the storms of life come. As soon as you became born again, Jesus became your Savior. From that point on you have to make Jesus your Lord. The Lordship of Jesus is not automatic in your life. He’s not going to just come in and take over and rule your life without you making him Lord. And you make him Lord by hearing and obeying the word. I’ve known some people who have made Jesus Lord in some areas but not in others. They may have prayed and given their families to the Lord but haven’t given their billfold to the Lord. Started meddling didn’t I? If Jesus is not Lord of your billfold, he can’t bless it. There’s some that have made him Lord of their billfold but won’t make him Lord of their health. They don’t do what the bible says in Matthew 6:33. It says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What do we do, we usually go to the doctor first and if that doesn’t do us any good then we seek the kingdom. Is that seeking it first? No. Now, stick with me on this because I have more to share with you about how to make Jesus Lord of your life. Until then, Doc
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Dr. H. R. SharpJust a man armed with the Word of the LORD. Available now in the store
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