Appliances don't work if they're unplugged or connected to the wrong power source. Likewise, the church must be plugged into Christ in order to function. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah encourages the church to make Christ the object of its faith and the subject of its songs in order to receive God's blessing. To introduce the conclusion of his message, stewardship is lordship.
Here's David. And thank you for joining us. We are studying a passage of scripture in the first chapter of Colossians. And we invite you to join us as we open our Bibles together today. You know, sometimes I hear people say things like this.
You know, I like going to that church because that pastor never talks about money. That's certainly not our church, but that's the churches that they have visited. And then they say something like, the church is great, we love everything. As long as he doesn't talk about that, we're fine.
Well, the problem with that is this: if Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, he's the Lord of everything. Not just the teaching of the Word of God on Sunday, not just the things you like to hear, but the things He asks you to do. And certainly, one of the things that are very clear in the Bible is that God expects for us to be good stewards of the resources He entrusts to us. Stewardship is not ownership. Stewardship is the managing of that which belongs to God.
So, when we talk about stewardship, we're talking about how to be good managers. How can we execute God's plan in the way that we live our lives? That's what we've been discussing from Colossians 1, and in just a moment, we'll take part 2 of stewardship is lordship. Before we go there, however, I've been having a lot of fun telling you about this brand new book that just came out. Are you anxious or uncertain about the future?
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So make your gift today, and be sure when you send your gift, you ask for the book on promises, and it will be sent back to you right away. Here's part two of Stewardship, His Lordship.
Now, Paul had a number of options open to him as he tried to combat the heresy in the Colossian church. He could have done as modern apologists do, taken all the tenets of their faith and one by one, taken them apart as he was so good at doing. But Paul, as he wrote to the Colossians, thought rather that the best message he could preach was not taking apart the negative philosophy, but rather presenting Jesus Christ in all of his glory and his majesty, in all of his power and of his greatness. And so he undertakes in the first few verses of Colossians to lift up Jesus and present him as he truly is. He points to Jesus as the central figure of history.
He says of Jesus Christ that he is preeminent. He speaks of him as the creator God. He knows that if he can get these Colossians to come to grips with who Christ was and what he had done. They would get rid of the false teaching that was poisoning their church. And so he presents Jesus Christ as Lord.
He presents him as Lord of creation. Jesus Christ, said Paul, is the Lord of creation. That's the logical starting place. for any presentation of the Lordship of Christ. The Colossian heresy taught that Jesus Christ was a created being.
But Paul presented him as the very agent of creation himself. He said, In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible. And he is also the goal of creation. For all things were created for him, said Paul. And as the agent and the goal of creation, Jesus Christ is also the sustainer of creation.
For Paul writes that in Him all things consist or hold together. Listen to what Paul is saying. He is saying Jesus Christ is not a created being. He is the one who has created all the world that we see and know. Not only did he create it, but that whole world was created for him.
He is the goal of creation. And not only is he the agent and the goal of creation, he is the sustaining influence that holds creation together. In the language of the layman, that means that if for one moment the Lord Jesus Christ would withdraw his sustaining hand from the universe as you and I know it, it would fly off into oblivion and be self-destructed. Jesus Christ is the creator, the sustainer, and the goal of all of this world as we know it. He is the creator, he is the Lord.
of creation. This was Paul's answer, you see, to the great question that plagued the day of the Colossians. Do you know what their great debate was? Their debate was, what is the coordinating force that brings everything together? 500 years before Paul wrote this letter, a philosopher by the name of Phales taught.
That water was the ultimate agent that held everything together. Water. Mm. Was the ultimate principle that all things come from water and all things are held together by water? They believed that water.
was the ultimate issue. And some others taught, no, it's not water that's the fundamental principle, it's air. Air is the fundamental principle. And then others would come along and say, no, it's not water and it's not air, it's fire. Fire is the fundamental principle.
And here is Paul, the great Christian thinker, standing up in the midst of this intellectual society and saying to them, You want me to tell you what the fundamental principle is? It's not a what, it's a who. Jesus Christ is the fundamental principle. He is the creator. He is the one for whom all creation was created, and He is the sustainer of the universe.
Jesus Christ is the fundamental principle of the universe. It is no wonder that the humanists And those who like to level their heavy artillery at the Christian church choose to make the point of their attack the creationist view. that we hold to. I suppose I might have thought at one time that this was because they were interested in settling the issue of the origin of the universe, but that is very far down on their lists of concerns. The very important issue in the mind of the secular humanist, and the reason they go for the creationist as they do, is because they know that if Jesus Christ is Lord of the universe, then he is the one who has the claim over their lives, and it is nothing more than an issue of who is to control one's life.
If Jesus Christ is Lord of the universe, then He has every right to be Lord of the lives of those He has created. And the humanist battle us on the subject of evolution and creationism. But it's not a debate over the origin of life. It is a debate and a battle over the lordship of Jesus Christ. We live at the eye of the storm here, don't we?
May I suggest to you that we are becoming more and more distinct, even from other Christian organizations? My heart was saddened as I learned of a sister organization that has, in my estimation, capitulated, has compromised to the world system, and has taken creationism out of their science classes in order to gain acceptance by the accrediting association in their particular area of the country. And I say to you that we will never do that. If it means being unaccredited in order that we be able to teach creation science in our science departments, then we will be unaccredited. Because you see, Jesus Christ is Lord.
And if He is Lord, then He is the fundamental fact of the universe. And if you, for one moment, stop integrating that, you have destroyed the foundation of everything we believe. I love what I read. Handed to me, first of all, by the president of our college, and then I went and researched it myself in a book that's in our college library, written by Robert Jastro, who has written a book called. God and the astronomers.
And in his book, he asked the question that we're debating. This is his quote. He said, Why this strange reaction on the part of many scientists? I think part of the answer is that scientists cannot bear the thought of a natural phenomenon which cannot be explained even with unlimited time and money. For the scientist who has lived his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream.
He has scaled the mountains of ignorance. He is about to conquer the highest peak. And as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. End of quote. Gestro was not a believer, but he is right.
My friends, if you take the first verse of this Bible, You have solved every problem. between the covers. in the beginning God. He's the creator. And the New Testament teaches us that He created this world by His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And He is the God of creation. As we have studied in the Gospel of John the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, it has been evident to us as he walked upon this earth that he was sovereign over his creation when he chose to be even as the incarnate Son of God. He walked upon this earth and he demonstrated his absolute sovereignty and lordship over his creation. He spoke and the wind and the sea obeyed him. At his command, the property of water changed into wine.
The lame and the blind and the halt came, and he spoke, and their degenerate limbs and Body instruments were restored to new life. In his resurrection body, he was not bound by time and space as we are. And his ultimate triumph over death and the grave settled forever his right to rule over the universe. Jesus Christ is Lord. And today we are told by Peter that he is at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
1 Peter 3, verse 22, and this is what it says: He is gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Where is Jesus now? He is Lord, in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. He's Lord of his creation. But Paul does not even Make a transition between the thought that Jesus Christ, who is Lord of the creation, is also the Christ who is Lord of the church.
Notice in the context of verse 18, it says, verse 17: He is before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is the head of the body, the church. Not only is he Lord of the creation, he's Lord of the church. And this passage presents him as the head of the body. The New Testament pictures the church as a body on earth which is controlled by the head which is in heaven. Just as this body gets its signals from this head, the body which is the church, which lives here on this earth, gets its signals from Jesus Christ, who is the head, who is in heaven.
And Paul is saying that just as Christ was the Lord of creation, he is also the Lord of the church. If you'll notice in verse 17, he uses the term before all things. And then in verse 18, he says that he might have preeminence. In other words, Paul is saying, Christ is already sovereign over the first creation by virtue of his work, and now he desires to be sovereign over his creation, which is the church. I wonder if that does not explain to us much of the coldness and deadness in the church today.
Is it possible that the church is a body separated from its head? The Colossians had fallen into this pit. They had begun to substitute for Jesus Christ feasts and new moons and all kinds of things, and they were off on other side issues, and they lost the focus of Jesus Christ in their lives. They had replaced the Lord with visions and angel worship and human tradition and asceticism, and they were in danger of losing all of their power because you see they had cut themselves off from the head. And they were like a disembodied individual.
Walking around without any strength, without any direction, without any signals. And Paul writes back to them and he says, just as the Lord is the Lord of creation, he is the Lord of the church. And if you want the blessing of Jesus Christ in your life, you better plug into the head because that's where the source of strength is, that's where the direction comes. As we look around at the Church of Jesus Christ today, it almost reminds you of a body running around without a head. Running after every nuance that comes down the road, running after every new thing.
If you saw the mail that comes to the clergy today announcing all of the new things that are available for the church to give themselves to, many of them good ideas, but ideas which take one away from the supremacy of Jesus Christ, you would understand what I mean. It is not going to be until the Church of Jesus Christ gets back in control by the Head who is Christ that the Church of Jesus Christ has the power that it so seeks.
Someone far more eloquent than I will ever be put it into perspective when he penned these words. He wrote, When the church has been victorious in power and has had a cutting edge in society, it has been because she has kept Jesus Christ at the center of her creed and her members have been captivated by his greatness. They have realized That in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They have not relied on a philosophy of empty deceit according to human tradition. They have not gloried in intellectual superiority.
They have been rightly related to the church's head. In its vital hours, he wrote, Christ has been the center of the church's worship. He has received the adoration of believing hearts. And if we would see the church blessed in our days with vibrant spirituality, we must constantly strive to build our religious life on Him alone. We must increasingly make him the object of our faith, the subject of our song.
All of our spiritual concepts must be derived from his meaning in human history. We must not speak vaguely of religion or of Christianity, not just of God, but of Christ. In our hymns and our anthems, in all of our prayers and preaching and teaching, we must show that we have been so conquered by His greatness. That we have made the grand capitulation and yielded to his grace and to his power. In her good days.
The church has made Christ. the center of her whole life.
Now If Jesus Christ is the head of the church, he must have sovereign control. Trustees serve unto Christ. Deacons serve unto Christ. The word is preached in him and under him and before him. The whole church unites with Peter and Paul and the early Christian community in affirming that he is Lord of all.
Acts 10:36. I read that in the old days of the Scottish Covenanters. Deeply religious people, it was the custom of some of those dear believers to enter into an agreement with God which they deliberately set down on paper. One of those old covenants has been preserved for us, and its careful wording records the full surrender of a heart and a life to Jesus Christ as Lord. This is what it says.
And they signed it. I hereby give my hearty consent, Lord Jesus. To thy coming in. and taking possession of my soul. and to thy casting out everything that stands in opposition to thee.
I desire Thee for my all, to be ruled and governed by Thee, acquiescing to whatever shall be thy way of dealing with me. Give me thyself, and thou shalt be all my desire. and there was a line under it, and they put their name. underneath that covenant. We can't even get modern Christians to sign a Christian service standard so they can serve in the church without going through a major war over whether it's right to be committed to anything.
in name. I want you to know that the scripture says. We are to understand that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church. And may I suggest to you that for me personally and for my family, That is where the battle has been fought. I can say I think honestly that At least at this particular point in our lives, we are not materialists.
We're not into. Having lots of material things. We rejoice in the good things that God gives us, but if He should take them away, we wouldn't spend much time crying. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
One thing that's nice about not having a lot is that you can't lose a lot, right? But the issue in this whole matter of whether or not we will be committed as individuals and as a family to this future ministry of this church has been fought and The battle has been waged in the area of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Is he going to be Lord over my life in this issue? And I need to share with you as honestly as I can that it has been a hard battle. And some of you will be surprised at that because you think that when it comes to spiritual things and giving and all that sort of thing, that pastors just sort of float through on a spiritual cloud as a part of their.
calling you know But we're human and we go through the same individual battles that you fight. And some of those battles. We have rationalized and thought. When you come to California, it's a good news and bad news story. The good news is the beautiful weather climate.
The bad news is trying to get into the economic climate.
Now, some of you don't know that because you've lived out here all your lives. And if you ever move east, it's going to be a piece of cake. But if you lived there and tried to move west, you're in deep trouble. I remember when we sold our home in Fort Wayne. And we thought that was a wonderful investment God had given us when we first started that church, and we'd worked on that and worked on it, and we sold it.
It was hardly enough to make a down payment on a house in California. And we came here and we've wrestled with that, and God has wonderfully met our needs, and the church has been so gracious and good to us. And we've just about gotten to the place where, you know, you sort of breathe a little bit easier and you think, boy, this is, you know, I think we're going to make it. And then along comes stewardship enrichment. And you find yourself saying in your heart, Lord, why now?
I mean, why couldn't this be five or six years off down in the future when things. But the Lord knows. You know what I'm convinced of? I'm convinced that the Lord doesn't like his people to get too comfortable. in there.
everything nice and easy. You know, you can get so used to the good life if you're not careful. You begin to see things that aren't necessities to you now as necessities two or three years later. Do you know what? There are very few necessities in life.
That's what I've been learning. When you get alone with yourself, And you begin to think about what's important, you realize that the most important thing is your family. And if everything else went away, you could almost make it if that's all you had. and a determined will. And I've known that if we're going to have what God wants for us, then it's got to start in my heart first.
If I'm the leader, God has to deal with me before he ever deals with anybody else. I believe that it's important for me to share that with you. I don't want you to think you're being asked to be confronted by the Spirit of God financially in an area that has not, first of all, touched me. Let me tell you, first of all, that Don and I have always been committed to giving. We've prayed that God would give us.
Not what we think we can do or what we would like to do, but that He would reveal to us what He wants us to do because you see, He's the Lord. And he's the sovereign, and we want to get our direction from him. And so we've prayed about it, and we've talked about it, and God brought us together. in a matter of our giving. But I need to tell you something else.
And that is, God is used in my heart. Perhaps more than anything else is the realization that came to me that my giving is not to the church. What God has laid upon our heart is that here is an opportunity for us to reflect our love to the Lord Jesus for all that He has done for us, and our giving is to Him. When that thought came to my heart, it just freed me up with absolute willingness in my spirit to say, Lord, I'm not sure for this or for that or for the other, but God, for you. How can I do less than give him my best?
and live for him forever. We have asked that our giving would not be That which cost us nothing. David said in the Old Testament, I refuse to give God that which doesn't cost me anything. Isn't it easy for us as Christians to give God the leftovers? You know, after we're done taking the core out of everything he's given us, if there's anything left, we drop him a tip here and there, and we haven't wanted that to be.
We've wanted what we give to cost us something, to make an impact on things in our lives that we might do had we not given this to God, because that represents the spirit of sacrifice. Let me ask you to do two things as you trust God. Number one, don't do what you think you can do. Ask God to tell you what he wants you to do. Make sure there's a measure of faith in it.
Make sure there's sacrifice in it, because if there's not, it will leave you with an empty feeling. Ask God to show you what he wants you to do. I remember reading, and I want to close with this. A statement Of a man who stood in a church during communist persecution. During a time of opposition to the gospel.
And this was his statement as he wrote down his words of what it meant to live under the lordship of Christ in his times. He wrote, Okay. If we are unwilling to disregard our life or our death, We cannot be faithful to God and we cannot serve Him. If we do not have this will and we are threatened by men and are apt to immediately fall, how shall such a shepherd feed the flock? How shall he be a valiant keeper of the truth, a valiant Christian soldier?
If you are willing to be a good shepherd of the flock and a good soldier under the banner of Christ, you must, like Paul, die daily. If the Lord does not allow you to die, you in the evening kneel down to thank Him for His preservation and protection. And having slept a night, you awaken the following morning to again prepare to die. Look at the great number of preachers who today covet life and are afraid to die. They have lost their loyalty to God and before men, they have lost their witness.
They have, in fear and nervousness, joined the world. Though they still live, it would be better had they died already. With such a life of shamefulness bringing sorrow to God, what can the benefits of life be? I read that and I thought, I'm not even in that world. I'm not sure I'm ready to die.
I know I don't want to die. I want to live, but I've come to the conclusion, men and women, that in our generation, with the pressure that our culture puts on us to grab hold of the materialistic lifestyle, it may be almost as difficult for you and me to live for Christ in our day as it was for that man to die for Christ in his day. And if we're to live for Christ and have the joy that God wants us to have, it will mean that we will acknowledge that the one who is Lord of creation and the one who is Lord of the church is the one who must be Lord of the Christian. for us to be happy in Jesus. Amen.
It all comes back to us, doesn't it? It's not about them, it's about us. It's not about the whole church, about each individual Christian. When we do what God calls us to do, Everything changes. And then, when we congregate with others who are doing the same thing.
The potential and the power is beyond anything you can imagine.
So let's take to heart the things we have learned this week as we have discovered the importance of putting God first. When we get together on Monday, we're going to talk about Solomon and his advice about money. You will be surprised to discover how much truth there is in the writing of Solomon about how we use our resources. This is one of my favorite subjects in this whole series that we're doing, so don't miss Monday. It will be a lot of fun for us as we look at the Old Testament scripture together.
In the meantime, it's Friday. Make sure to get to church this weekend. We'll be around on television in your area, but we'll be back here on Monday with the next edition of Turning Point Radio. I'm David Jeremiah. Have a great weekend.
Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr. David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. Turning Point is also on radio and TV this weekend. To learn where to find it, visit our website davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call 800-947-1993.
Ask for your copy of David's new book, What God Promises You, Seven Truths That Will Change the Way You Live. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard New International and New King James Versions, available in your choice of attractive and durable cover options. Tell us how this ministry helps you grow. Write to Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us Monday as we continue the series Investing for Eternity on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
