Wake Up to Jesus As Lord — E.A. Johnston

Awakening from Spiritual Sleep

I want to read us our text for this evening, friends, from Romans chapter 13, beginning in verse 11, and that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

The Absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. I believe it's high time, friends, to have the grit and the resolve to recover the gospel that presents a sovereign Lord of absolute authority.

There must be an utter committal to Christ as Lord, not this namby-pamby Jesus that some are handing out today, that we have shrunken down to our size, and who can't save a flea. We must preach the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Total Allegiance to Christ’s Authority

We must allow for no compromise. As preachers of the gospel, we must hammer this one thought that Christ Jesus must have first place and first allegiance. We must preach a Christ-centered gospel that centers on His absolute authority as the living Lord.

And if you want Him, friend, you have to stack arms and throw down your rebellion and submit to His Lordship and rule of your life. People must get right with the Lord Jesus. You can't have two heads, because that's a monster.

You can't rule in your life and have Christ rule as well. He will have no equals. Hear me now. The gospel has rights and claims on every follower of the Lord Jesus. I'll tell you why. You were bought with a price, and that price was His blood.

You are not your own. He owns you. Paul understood this when he referred to himself as a bond-slave to Christ. The apostle Paul says it is high time to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Salvation from Sin’s Dominion

That means that Jesus came to save, not only from the penalty of sin, but from the dominion and power of sin. Listen to me, young preacher boys. Jesus never, ever preached a sin and religion, but we do.

This once-saved, always-saved crowd of sin-loving Baptists who can sin all they want to and still go to heaven is a lie from the pit of devil's hell. The devil hates holiness unto God because he hates the holiness of God.

Holiness and the Deception of Sin

The devil is in the sin business. That's his trade. He plies with sin, sin, sin. If he can get you to call yourself a Christian and still keep you under his thumb in the power of sin, he knows he's got you now and forever, even if you are the chairman of the deacons.

Any self-ruled church member is bound by the cords of sin and on their way to a place for sin, which is hell. Listen to me, friends. Salvation is when self is dethroned and another is enthroned there, and that is a sovereign Lord.

Self-Dethronement and the Rule of Christ

He must sit and rule on the throne of your life if you have any hope of making this verse from Romans a reality in your life, for we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh.

To fulfill the lust thereof. It is high time we are honest with folks in the preaching of the gospel and present a sovereign Lord of absolute authority who demands an utter committal to him as Lord. You cannot divide Christ in half and take the one you want.

Christ’s Undivided Lordship and Heavenly Throne

You must take him for who he is, and he is a living Lord who sits on a heavenly throne at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.