Good evening. It's my joy and great honor to stand before you with God's Word tonight. The passage that has just been read to us, Romans 14, verse 8 to 9, or rather 7 to 9, is the passage that we would be considering. So if you don't mind, kindly stand there again. Romans 14, 7 to 9. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead. end of the living. May we turn to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we lift up our eyes to you because our help comes from the Lord. Our help comes from the living God. And we seek your help, O Lord, tonight that we may hear your voice. We desire to hear the voice of the good shepherd, the shepherd of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. and not just hear your voice, O Lord, but also follow you, submit to you as our Lord. So we pray that you may pour your spirit upon us so that we may have that contrite spirit, that humble heart that trembles at your word. So give us the meekness that we need as we receive your word. And this we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Many people think that they can be on the aisle insofar as living and life is concerned. There are many who think that they don't have to be religious, they can be neutral. And many think that they don't have to be Christians, they can just stand on the fence, and they don't have to go to heaven, they don't have to go to hell, they think, that there is a middle ground. But if you look at Romans 6, you would notice that there are only slaves on earth. And people don't want to be called slaves. But that's the truth. We are slaves. Either slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness. There is no middle ground. So my question today is, which Lord are you serving? Are you a servant, or rather a slave to righteousness, or a slave to sin, because those are the alternatives. Now you've heard of the doctrine of carnal Christians, where some preachers say that you can hear God's Word, and they invite you to come to the front, and you repeat their prayer, and they pronounce you a Christian, and if you don't live like one, they say, oh, he's a Christian, except that he's a kennel Christian. And that's how they excuse that kind of living. There's nothing like kennel Christian. You're either a Christian or you're not. You're either under the Lordship of Christ, or you are under the Lordship of the evil one. So when you believe in Christ, you're saved from your sins. And it's expected then that you would submit to Him. Because when Christ saves a person, it's that He graciously out of his mercy and generosity, buys sinners from that slave market. And he brings them to himself. And he expects that they would submit to him, that he would be their Lord, and that they would listen to his voice, that they would follow him. That's what he says throughout the scriptures. You look at Genesis. As soon as God created Adam, there were instructions. And Adam and his wife were expecting to listen to God, not to anyone else. When you look at Exodus, the Lord is just giving instructions upon instructions, and He's not expecting that there would be excuses. It's that we are to submit to Him. As soon as the Lord redeemed Israel from Egypt, we see Him giving them these commands. Why? Because they were His people now. To listen to Him and to follow Him. But you see, there are only two religions on earth. The religion that listens to God, and the religion that listens to man. or to the evil one. And you can't be a fence seater. You're on one or another. So this world teaching about canal Christianity is just not from the Bible. I'm not in any way saying that there would be perfect obedience in this life. Yet, A life that is expected of our Savior after He has saved us from our sins is a life that pleases Him. It's a life that reflects the Lordship of Christ. When you confess your trust in Christ as your Savior, then He also becomes your Lord. For how do you show your true faith? in Christ, except by obeying Him and following Him. And in so doing, then you stop depending on anyone else, or even yourself. You depend on Him. So that's what I want us to consider tonight. That no one lives to himself, whether he is dead or alive. We all live to one or another, either to the Lord or to ourselves. It says here, for none of us lives to himself. That's a statement of fact. You are serving someone. None lives to himself, meaning you have to be a servant somewhat. None lives to himself and none dies to himself. We live for someone. But the encouragement from verse 8 is that if we live, we who are with Paul, we who are Christians, if we live, then we are to live Not to ourselves, not to anyone else, we have to live to the Lord, or to live for the Lord, for the service of the Lord. And then when we die, we die in the Lord, and we die to the Lord and for the Lord. That's what happens. We must not think that we can be, because most of the, people who would teach that doctrine are possibly trying to defend the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It's an extreme of that teaching. But the truth is, when Christ Jesus comes into our lives, he changes us. He turns those who are dead in their trespasses and sins and makes them alive in Him. He comes and finds sinners who have hearts of stones and He gives them hearts of flesh that tremble to His Word. He comes and finds those who are blighted in their sins and He opens up their eyes and they are able to see the preciousness of Christ. The Lord comes to slaves. That language of slavery is there throughout Scripture. But then when He frees us, we are so delighted at what the Lord has done that we cannot help it, but follow Him who has done us so much good out of gratefulness, out of thanksgiving. So it seems to me then that The Lordship of Christ is very basic and foundational to our faith. Why do I say that? Because it is directly related to our salvation. Christ who is the author and the perfecter of our salvation, He is the captain of our salvation and the Lord of our lives. So, when Paul, in Romans 10, 9, he writes and he says, If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. They are linked so tightly together. Because you see, the proof of your faith in Christ is that you are following Him. The proof that you believe in Him is that He is your Lord. The proof that Jesus Christ is your Saviour is that He would be your Lord. It's not one without the other. And the fabric of the New Testament preaching is woven by this doctrine of the Lordship of Christ. In different spheres of our lives, we see that. And I want to show you from three different areas. Preachers, they are in the Lord, is what the Bible teaches. Paul writes in the Corinthians and he says in 2 Corinthians 4-5, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ, and then he ends, as Lord. with ourselves as your servants, for Jesus is sick. Paul admits there that he is a slave of Christ, and he constantly says that. Now, if Paul was a slave of Christ, what are we? And you notice that he adds himself where he says, for if we live, he adds himself when he uses the pronoun we. We live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So we don't proclaim ourselves, preachers. We proclaim Christ as Lord, and we ourselves serve him. And in so doing, set an example, believers, in faith and conduct and love, as Paul told Timothy what we heard this morning from 2 Timothy 2. And when he writes about others, other preachers, like for instance, Tychicus, in Ephesians 6.21, he says, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord. That's what he says. So preachers are not lords. They are themselves slaves. And our versions try to minimize the weight of what we are in Christ by translating that word as servant when really it's better to have it as slave so that we can feel the weight of what we are. And then look at Christian family or Christian relationships. All family relations are in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7.9, wives are given instructions, excuse me, 7.39, wives are given instructions and we read, A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes. What's the condition? Only in the Lord. Wives are instructed to submit to their own husbands as is fitting in the Lord in Colossians 3.18. And Paul says the same to the Ephesians. And the point is, even where we are in those relations like wives to their husbands, The expectation is not to submit to the husband at the expense of submitting to Christ. In fact, Ephesians 6.21 has submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. are called upon to obey their parents in the Lord. That's a qualifier of honors. For this is right, Ephesians 6.1. And what about fathers? Don't provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction, not of your mind, not of any school curriculum, but of the Lord. What about slaves or servants or employees. We can take that category to be the same. How are they to relate to their earthly masters? They are to render services with a good will as if to the Lord and not to man. What about their masters? Ephesians 6, 9. Masters do the same to them. Stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both your master and yours is in heaven. So, when we are walking, let us remember that our boss is Christ. When we are raising up our children, let us remember that the Lord is looking, and He is either approving or disapproving, because He is the Lord. The way we relate with our wives, the way you wives relate with your husbands, is very, very important to the Lord. He is looking, either approving or disapproving, because He is the Lord. What about our relation to the authorities and principalities and all the powers that there be, what should be our attitude. The Bible says in Ephesians 6.10, with regard to spiritual warfare, that it can only be successful where we are in the Lord. Finally, be strong in the Lord, the Bible says, and in the strength of his might. So if you're going to succeed in overcoming temptations, If you're going to survive those flaming darts of the evil one, if your shield of faith will work, you have to be in the Lord. If there is going to be any healthy relationships at home, at work, anywhere, it has to be in that we ourselves are in the Lord. Now we don't make excuses and say, but you see they are unbelievers, so I'm not going to conduct myself as if I'm in the Lord on this matter. No, the Lord is not going to excuse you. You are in the Lord for the long haul, all the way to glory. And what that means is that whatever our relations, whether we are dealing with our superiors or our equals or our juniors, We are in the Lord, and the Lord is looking at what we are doing, either approving or disapproving. And the reason then why any relationship falls is when we fail to remember that we are in the Lord. Whatever we do, we are to do it in the Lord. Living in such a way that acknowledges that Jesus is Lord is essential to developing healthy relationships in the family, in the church, at work, everywhere else in the society. Every Christian is to be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we may lead a life worthy of the Lord, is what Colossians 1, 9-10 says. But what does it exactly mean to be in the Lord? What does it mean that Jesus is Lord? We've seen, first of all, that this is very basic. But what does it mean? Now again, as we want to raise our status, we don't want to be called slaves. We also try to lower the position of Christ. And when we hear Lord, we don't quite think properly as believers what that means. But the title Lord means ruler. It means owner. It means master. When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, we are stating our conviction that he is the ruler and the master. of the universe generally, but of our lives specifically. We are saying that our thinking, our plans, our ambitions are submitted to Christ. That's what we are to think. So when we say that Jesus is Lord, we are confessing Three things. That one, Christ is the Lord of the Universe. And two, that Christ is the Lord of His Church. And three, that Christ is the Lord of our lives. So if Christ is the Lord, He is the Lord of the Universe. And He is. The Bible says that in Him, all things were created in Heaven and on Earth. All things were created through Him and for Him and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. There is nothing left out. What this means is that Jesus Christ is both the Lord and the Master over all the spheres, all the dimensions. of the cosmos, including all the galaxies beyond our comprehension. To demonstrate that Christ is Lord over every element in the universe, over climate, over catastrophe, over economies, and social developments, over education, arts and sciences and recreation and sports. Look at his miracles. During his earthly ministry, Jesus sought to demonstrate before our eyes that he reigns, that he is the Lord. That's why all he needed to tell is tongue, is peace. And he had to tell the church, peace, by his command. And it happened. It came to be. All he needed to do to some fill the water is serve it. And it turned into the most the best, the highest quality of wine in some wedding somewhere, in some village. And all the Lord needed is to simply say what he wanted, and it came to be, because he is the Lord, the creator of all things. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angels announced the cosmic significance of his incarnation by telling the shepherds, Luke 2.10-11, and the angels said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for, not just for you, but for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. That wasn't a waste of ink. It wasn't some, you know, slip of the tongue word. It was to say that the one born today is not only the Saviour, but also the Lord, the ruler. So he's the Lord of the universe. And you look at Hebrews 1, 3, and you notice it. He abhors the universe by the word of his mouth. Christ is the Lord of our lives. I want to say that as briefly as I can. Yes, he is the master of the universe. And we can say, yes, he is. But then, where are you? Are you in the same universe? He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth and everything in it. Not just generally, but specifically. So, what that means for you is, you are a slave, I am a slave too. And this is not bad news, this is good news. That He is our Lord. Because any other Lord is a tyrant. Any other Lord is the enemy of our souls. This is the right Lord to have. And this lordship is not some very impersonal lordship. It's not some abstract idea. This means that he's actually looking at what you're doing, what you're thinking, what you're saying. Because as a result of His life, and death, and resurrection, you and I, who name the name of Christ, must depart from iniquity. That's what the Bible says. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, you and I are to worship Him, and serve Him, and fall before Him with Thomas and say, my Lord and my God, as he said in John 28. The gathering of God's people is one of the ways that that is demonstrated. But the general Christian thinking is that we are under the Lordship of Christ on Sunday. But on Monday, I'm the Lord of my life. I can do what I want with myself. Is that the case? It happens a lot, doesn't it? Sadly, to our shame. You know, we are all very humble at church on Sunday, but when we go to school on Monday, or when we go to work on Monday, we have a way of thinking that that was Sunday. He is the Lord of our lives on Monday too, even with all that the secular world calls Monday blues. And Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday, He is the Lord of our lives every single day, including the Lord's Day, as we will see that He is the Lord of the Church. So we belong to Him. We listen to Him. And we give Him our all, our mind, our hearts, our souls, our strength, our all. That's what we give Him. That's what we should give to Him. But then Christ is also the Lord of His Church. In the Church, We not only believe and confess that Jesus is ruler and master of the universe, but we acknowledge that he has the right and the authority to rule over our lives as a church. He died to redeem his church. He is the head of the church. His body and is himself its savior. Thus we honor the Lord's Day as the day we receive Father's instructions on how we are to live and how we are to serve Him as our Lord and our God every moment of our life corporately. The Lord bought us off the slave market of sin through the payment of his precious blood so that we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves of Christ and of righteousness. He paid for us in full by his death on the cross. He humbled himself and became a slave in order that we might be free, in order that we might become his possession. We are owned and operated by him corporately as his church, as his body. We are Christ's bride, and so we are to submit to him in everything. Just as wives are to submit to their own husbands, we are to submit to his sanctification. Sometimes this sanctification comes through suffering. It's cleansing of us by the water with the word so that Christ might present us to himself in splendor without sport or wrinkle or any such thing that we might be holy and without blemish. As our Lord and Master, he also has the power to deliver us from the dominion of sin and the devil. He has the power and the authority to take us out of the grave and give us victory over the grave. He has the keys of death. And when we are in His Lordship, then these are the benefits that we receive. Being under Christ as Lord is the best thing that can happen to you and to me. So what are the implications? What are the implications that Christ is our Lord whether we live or die. First of all, we have to realize that our rebellion, whether privately or corporately, anything that is contrary to the will of Christ has to be cast aside. We have to cast aside any rebellion and live under Christ. You know, we all have a tendency to back out from authority, and when commands are given, we want to say no, and we want to be masters and lords of our own destiny. We prefer to run our own lives in selfishness and self, self-worship and indulgence, to be our own bosses and make our own decisions. That's what we like. And we see it when our children turn out to be teenagers. They think that they know better than their parents. And they begin initially with asking questions and then, not asking questions, but doing their own will. So you who are teenagers tonight, authority is good. The Lord has put that authority in your life for the good of your soul. And when you're tempted to back out of that God-given authority, it's only to the ruin of your soul. Don't be tempted to think that you know what is best for yourself. Remember that your own parents have been teenagers. So just a few dickens away that they were teenagers, isn't it? They know. And if they would be honest with you, they can tell you what became of their rebellion. Didn't go very far, or did it? So any sentiments that want to, I will be a boss of my life, that sentiment needs to be identified and isolated as sinful and rejected. And by the help of the Holy Spirit we must surrender our lives to Christ and always acknowledge that He is Lord. When those temptations come, go to the Lord in prayer and tell him, Lord, I feel like rebelling. Bring me back. Help me. In all humility, we must submit ourselves to the will of our Master as Romans 14, 7 and 8 insists. It's not just that we cast away all rebellion, it's that we are to obey Christ. Calling Christ Lord requires us to obey what he says, whether we are alive or dead, for he is the Lord of both. Whether we are husbands or wives, whether we are fathers or mothers, whether we are sons or daughters, Parents or children, whether we are educated or illiterate, whether we are old or young, whether we are men or women, whether we are rich or poor, whether we are educated or not, really those things do not matter. Healthy or sick, weak or strong, with or without, Let us obey the Lord. Listen to His voice. He says His sheep knows Him. They hear His voice and they listen and they follow too. So where have you not been following the Lord? What this means is that we are obliged to give up every habit, every custom, every practice, every preference, every culture, that makes us think that we are the boss. The Lord asked the question in Luke 6.46, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? And again, in Matthew 7, verse 21, you must realize that Christ specifically said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. So we are to obey Christ. from our consciences and have a right conscience before him, from our minds, from our hearts, because he looks at the heart, he looks at the motives. And thankfully he's given us his spirit. He has given us sufficient grace. Submit to Christ whether you like it or not. Even when you don't want to, submit to Christ. And tell Him, Lord, I don't want to submit to you, but help me to submit to you. Submitting to Christ's Lordship means having to do something we may not necessarily want to do, as long as it is His will. We must trust that He gave His life to purchase us, and we'll seek our best interest and will not ask us more than we can handle. So when your husbands say, I'm not so sure that my wife is that lovable. You should listen to the Lord and the Lord says, love your wives as you love yourself. Wives who think that their husbands are too demanding to be submitting to are mistaken and need to listen to Christ. Children, even when you think your parents are overbearing, honour them. It's what the Lord says. Bosses who are difficult, you can't go to the Lord and say, he's very difficult. Now you can say that, But even if you said that, still there has to be that motivation to submit to Him because it's as to the Lord. Because you see, you belong to Christ. He bought you by His precious blood. He owns your bodies too. So you're not free to do whatever you want. The Bible has the question, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you? whom you have from God. You're not your own for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body. You belong to Christ. One of the reasons why we don't like hearing that word lordship and authority is because we prefer what we call freedom. isn't it? Freedom. Sometimes we call it our rights. But being under Christ's Lordship is a delight, not burdensome. It opens us, it opens to us a new world of true freedom. The Lord gives us regulations and instructions and ordinances to keep us from returning to that tyrannical slavery where we lived. When you're tempted to doubt the sweetness and the delight of the leadership of Christ, remember this illustration. When you're driving, The road is marked. Why is it marked? Is it to make life hard for you? Is that why the road is marked? Because you have these very bad people? Try driving at night with no marking on the road and it's foggy and you'll know what I'm talking about. I don't know how much snow you receive here, but when the roads are covered by snow, it's not very easy driving because you never know when you can get into the ditch. But when you have the road clearly marked out and well illuminated even at night, how easy that is. But you see, those boundaries are regulations to know where your freedom is. And where your true freedom is, is where it is paved. Because once you go outside those lines, you fall into a ditch and you're not likely to go at 60 miles an hour. Right? Where it's not paved, you're not likely to be very free, right? So when you're tempted to disobey the Lord, remember that you're likely to fall into a ditch to the ruin of your soul and you shipwreck your faith. So no rules and no authority placards are likely to lead you to destruction. But where there are rules and regulations, and especially when we know that we are submitting to our good Lord, we know that these regulations are guiding us to walk to one's celestial city. And you use any other route, and it's not going to lead you there. Because the Lord says, I am the way, The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If it's through him, then you have to be behind him. He has to be the pilot. He has to be the hand. He has to be the driver. And you have to be willing to be on the vehicle where he is driving. And when that's the case, you will lad safely by Canaan's land. You will come to Emmanuel's land. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, we praise your name that you've told us very clearly that we are not to leave to ourselves in selfishness. We are not to leave to ourselves, to leave as if you do not exist. Because the Bible is very clear, we are yours. And Lord, you died to that end. You died and lived again to that end, that you might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. Help us then, Lord, to take up your word and take your instructions, to seriously consider what we hear, so that even where we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, even where we are dealing with relationships that are broken, where parents are overbearing, and spouses are unloving, and bosses are too demanding. Yet we know that you are working out all those things for our good. We know that all this is supposed to be means by which you bring us safely into your land. O Lord, we pray that you may forgive us where we had gone astray. Bring us back, O Lord, to your shepherding, for you are the shepherd of our souls. We know that it's your rod and your staff that comfort us. And we know that it's when we are following You as our Good Shepherd that we experience Your goodness and mercy, following us all the days of our lives. So be magnified in our lives as Lord. And we pray this to Your glory. Amen. Thank you very much.