DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT – WEDNESDAY WARRIOR! #13…THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.

A.W. Tozer says that people who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks:
1. They are facing only one direction,
2. They can never turn back, and
3. They no longer have plans of their own.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' – Mat 7:21-23.

Jesus emphatically states that in the ‘Last Day,’ which is the ‘Day of Judgment,’ there will be many in the Church who will minister in His name, and believe that they are servants, yet in reality, He never knew them!

He actually calls them ‘Doers of Evil.’ Wow! Some would say that was pretty harsh! But Jesus makes it absolutely clear to those people, that they may proclaim the gospel in His name, prophesy in His name, drive out demons in His name, perform many miracles in His name, but, they themselves weren’t saved, they were doing it under their own strength, and for their own gain!

Judas, for example, was capable of operating in all these things; he had the gift of preaching, and a call from Christ to it, and yet a backslider; he had the power of casting out devils, and yet could not prevent the devil from entering into him; he could perform miracles, do wonders in Christ's name, and yet, at last, was the betrayer of Him. These appeals and opinions will be of no use to him, nor of any advantage to any at the great day.

These false teachers lay the entire stress of their Salvation upon what they have done in Christ's name; and not on Christ himself, in whom there is Salvation, and in no other: they never say a word of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done. All their works were bringing glory to their name and ministry!

The Greek word for lord is indeed used in scripture in the sense of master, and as a mere honorary title as in the English Sir. But, on the other hand, it is the translation of Adonai, supreme Lord, an incommunicable name of God, and the substitute for Jehovah, a name the Jews would not pronounce.

It is in this sense that Christ is 'the Lord, the Lord of Lords, the Lord God'; Lord in that sense in which God alone can be Lord--having a dominion of which divine perfection is the only adequate or possible foundation. This is the reason why no one can call him Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. It is a confession which implies the apprehension of the glory of God as it shines in Him. It is an acknowledgement that He is God manifested in the flesh.

Blessed are all who make this acknowledgement with sincerity; for flesh and blood cannot reveal the truth therein confessed, but only the Father who is in heaven. - Charles Hodge.

There are many times when God overrides Satan’s activities in false teachers, in order to bring Salvation or healing to those who sincerely respond to God’s Word. It is always God’s desire that those who proclaim the gospel be righteous, yet when an evil or immoral person teaches God’s Word, God can still work in the hearts of those who receive His Word with commitment to Jesus. God does not endorse any unrighteous preacher of the gospel, but He will endorse Biblical truth, and those who accept it in faith.

Ye call Me Master and obey me not,
Ye call Me Light and see me not,
Ye call Me way and follow me not
Ye call Me Life and desire me not,
Ye call Me wise and acknowledge me not,
Ye call Me fair and love me not,
Ye call Me rich and ask me not,
Ye call Me eternal and seek me not,
Ye call Me gracious and trust me not,
Ye call Me Noble and serve me not,
Ye call Me mighty and honor me not,
Ye call Me just and fear me not,
If I condemn you, blame me not.
- Resource

Loving Father, I repent of anything that is in me, which is not of you, wash me in the precious blood of Jesus. I receive your forgiveness. I commit my life afresh to you, and ask you to help me remember that it is not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit, that you graciously allow me to minister in the name of Jesus, and for His glor. I ask this in the wonderful name of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, Amen!

Be encouraged!
GBYAY