Jesus Christ Is Lord — Dale Gish

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www .charityministries .org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1 -800 -227 -7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, AFPA, 17522.

These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry.

Seeking God's Heart and Glory

Holy Father, you know the stirrings that are in our heart. But God, it's our desire today that we would know the stirrings that are in your heart. Oh God, what would that do to us if we could feel what you feel, if we could know what you know.

Father, have your way with this assembly today. I was so overwhelmed, Lord, when I walked in here and I saw the whole panorama of the youth on the risers. I was taken back, Lord. But what will it be if we caught a vision of your glory?

Oh God, do it to us today. We can't do it with words. We can't do it of ourselves, Father. We just plead today that you would visit us with the visitation of God. That your presence would be very real in our midst.

And that we would open our hearts to you is our prayer. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Well, we greet you again today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We certainly want to gather in His name.

Jesus Christ as Lord of the Assembly

And we certainly want Him to be Lord. You know, I'm not sure there really is any other way to truly gather in His name than when Jesus Christ is Lord. And when He has liberty. I mean, that's what happens when Jesus Christ is Lord.

He has liberty to say whatever He wants to say and we're just awaiting people before Him. Ready to receive whatever He wants to bring, however He wants to bring it. May we gather that way all week long this week.

And when this week is over, may we never ever again gather any other way. That will change you. When you meet with God on His terms, time after time after time, that will create a walk with God in your life.

I have thought some about the invitations that were sent out for us to come to this place. I believe it said that it was for youth who are serious about your walk with God. That's a good self-examination for each of us on a regular basis.

Do you know why? Because there are lots of people who really do want to go to heaven when they die. They really do. But they're not all serious about their walk with God in a life-changing way here upon the earth.

Serious does not mean half-hearted. Serious does not mean mixing that desire in with the desires of the flesh. And, brothers and sisters, that happens all the time. That's a good definition of mainstream Christianity.

Serious does not mean mixing that desire in with the American dream so that you can have all of that and Jesus too. For Paul, serious meant crucifixion. That is serious. I wonder how many of you have ever been to a crucifixion.

I'm going to say that I hope you have. And I hope it was very real to you. If you've never been to one, then I trust that you will attend one this week. A crucifixion is a very serious thing. A very serious scene if you think about it.

Especially if you are the one that is to be crucified. Picture it. That's how serious Paul was about his walk with God. Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Paul said, I'm crucified to this world. And this world is crucified unto me.

Dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Paul was serious about his walk with God. And the invitations to this place to come and be encouraged for that kind of walk with God, those invitations went everywhere.

I marvel where all those invitations went. You know, God is no respecter of persons. When God finds someone, anyone, anywhere who is serious about their walk with God like Paul was serious, God is even more serious than we are.

And may that be an exciting thought to us this week. And so, God bless each one of you for coming. There are many people, I believe, who got that invitation that did not come. They're not here. I'm going to tell you, when I was your age, I would not have come.

But each one of you are here. And God bless each one of you for coming. You know, as I was looking over the crowd, I had to think, What a wide variety of backgrounds, culture, people that we have here in one place for this week.

What a collage we are. And I had to think, wouldn't it be interesting if we could just get a glimpse into each life that is here? Just a glimpse into your homes. How you relate to your authority or your parents.

Just a glimpse into your fellowship. And to see how you relate there, if you have a fellowship. Just a glimpse into your circle of friends. You know, the peer pressure that you have yielded your life to, to be influenced by them.

A Testimony of Wasted Years and the Flesh

For me, if you go back the road far enough, it's getting back there a ways now. But if you go back to when I was your age, there's a point there where you could have gone into the home where I lived with my parents.

Into the bedroom, along one wall were two long shelves. And those shelves were clear full of trophies, accomplishments, achievements, victories in competition, in sports, education and agriculture. And they were very beautiful.

I liked to look at them. It seemed like they glistened some. And I was very proud of them. I had them situated on the wall right across from my bed. So that when I laid down at night, I could see them.

And when I got up in the morning, that could very well be the first thing that I saw. And those things created a motivation in my life. They did. I figured up one time that I played basketball between 25 and 30 hours a week in season.

25 to 30 hours a week. And I was diligent. I knew what it was to play ball. Before a bleacher stomping crowd with the pep band playing Georgia Girl and the cheerleaders leading a cheer and the press was there.

But I want to tell you folks something today. Those trophies, I threw them all away one day. I threw them in the garbage where they belong. I call those years wasted years. I call them wasted years because they distracted me from the call of God that I know was upon my life.

I knew it was there. I felt it. I just didn't take it serious. Like Paul did. Years distracted me to serve my flesh and my ego instead of my God. Now, I just want to say today that there is a way that seemeth right to a man.

But the end thereof are the ways of death. That is part of my testimony of my own life. When my flesh stopped being fulfilled with those things. When the attention stopped coming in, my flesh got real ugly.

You add just a couple of years to those scenes of my life and I'm going to tell you where I was. And I have to say this with all humility and brokenness. Because you would have found me sitting in prison as a thief with my head between my hands and I was saying, Dale, how in this world did you ever get here?

When I was feeding my flesh in what seemed to be a reasonable and an honorable way, I had no idea how it was going to work itself out in years to come. And I want to tell you here today, if in some subtle way you are feeding the flesh, you are keeping that door open.

You are protecting that area of life. You have no idea how that thing is going to work itself out in your life in years to come. There is a way that seemed right to a man. Those years seemed right to me.

But the end thereof are the ways of death. And I want each of you to know today, no question, there is a calling of God upon each one of your life. A very special calling. And I encourage you to take it seriously.

Don't be distracted to serve the flesh. Don't mix that calling in with the American dream. Keep it pure. So we are here today. We are here this week to take our walk with God in a serious way in our youth.

Practical Outworkings of Faith

We have a subject before us that we would like to hold this week. For a title, we would like to have Practical Outworkings of Faith. Practical Outworkings of Faith. There is a key word in that title that will be a foundation for us upon which everything that we have to bring this week will come.

Do you know what it is? Is it practical? The everyday life part that shows who we really are? No, that's not it. That is part of the building, but that's not the foundation. Is it outworkings? The works that we do?

That is part of the building. But it's not part of the foundation. Is it of faith? Brothers and sisters, that is it. Right there is the foundation upon which everything that we have to bring this week must come.

Because whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And it's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because other foundation can no man lay than is already laid. Jesus Christ. And it's not a shallow faith in Him. It's not a light-hearted, flippant commitment before God that's here today and gone tomorrow.

That's not what it is. We're talking about a deep-rooted, life-changing, unshakable faith in God. And I would challenge you. Do you know what life-changing is? It's not just challenged. It's changed.

I mean, you're different now. You think different. You've been renewed by the Spirit of your mind. You make different choices. You don't like the same things that you used to like. You do things different now.

A life-changing faith in God. And when you have that, there are things that will work themselves out of that kind of faith, and they will end up right in your everyday life. And when they do, that is when Jesus Christ is Lord.

Oh, how He wants to be Lord of all, for each one that is here. There is something that I would like to say about that. It just seemed that God was laying this very heavy upon my heart as I prepared for this week.

And I want to say this to each one of us that is here. That until Jesus Christ is Lord, you are not going to let Him get practical with you. You're not going to let Him touch you in one area of your everyday life in a practical way until Jesus Christ is Lord.

Until your hands are off of the controls of your life, and you are out of the way, and He has liberty. And if you're not going to let Him touch your life in a practical way, I guarantee you today, you're sure not going to let me do it.

So, as I began to think about that and to meditate and to pray, Lord, what do I bring to this special assembly that you are going to bring together? It just seemed like God was pressing on my heart and saying, Dale, you better bring a whole message on that.

That Jesus Christ is Lord. You better lay a good, strong foundation on that one, or you are wasting your time to even think of trying to get practical with someone's life. It won't happen. And so I thought, okay Lord, whatever you say, we'll have one whole message on Jesus Christ is Lord, to lay a foundation for practical outworkings of faith.

And so I went to work and I was just thinking I have direction here, and I began to meditate and I began to think, and it just seemed like God was pressing on my heart. And He was just saying, Dale, you better have two foundational messages before you even try to get practical.

And I thought, okay Lord, whatever you say, it's what we'll do. I want Him to be Lord. We'll have two foundational messages before we get practical. So I got excited about that, and I went to work and I began to pray and to meditate on what God would have me to bring to this place, and it just seemed like the finger of God was tapping me on the shoulder.

And He was just saying, Dale, you better have three foundational messages before you even think of trying to get practical. Getting practical gets touchy real quick. And I knew it was true, but I was thinking, Lord, we're never going to get practical.

But I believe God was just trying to impress it upon me in a very clear, a very strong way that until Jesus Christ is Lord, you're not going to let Him touch your everyday life in a practical way. And I'll just tell you, when I realized God was trying to impress that upon my heart that clearly, then I got a burden that I want to impress it on your heart just that clearly.

So I have a title for the message today. I want the title to be that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I want you to know right up front, as we consider practical things, that I'm not even slightly interested in coming up with some rules and regulations to give you to guide you.

God forbid that I would do that when I believe the Scriptures teach against rules to regulate a godly life. But I would like to talk to you as a father. I'd like to talk to you as a friend and a brother.

I want that to be part of our relationship. But I also maybe want to talk to you a little bit as a fellow pilgrim. Only just as someone who's been down the road just a little farther. Who can call back as a father.

I want to talk to you that way. What does it mean that Jesus Christ is Lord? I want you to know that Jesus Christ is not Lord until He has liberty in every detail of what you do and who you are. You can't hold anything back from Him and say that He is Lord of all.

We've all heard the old saying that if He isn't Lord of all, He isn't Lord at all. And that's true. He must have liberty. I mean complete liberty without you throwing a fit. Life-changing liberty if He is Lord.

Holiness and the Lordship of Christ

And you know, I've just noticed this, but whenever things like details of everyday life, whenever people hear things like that, words start coming up in their mind like legalism and picky and religion.

And I want you to know something today. God is not legalistic. But He is a Father. God is not legalistic. He is not picky. But I want to tell you today one thing that I know that God is. And I want to lift it up today.

I know that God is holy.

God is very, very holy. And I want to tell you today that I have a lot of joy in my heart as a child of God. I believe I have a witness that the presence of God is here. I believe I have peace with God.

And I rejoice in that. And it causes my heart to rejoice in God my Savior. But there are times, mixed in with that joy, that I feel a burden. And it's a heavy burden. It's a painful burden. I think I would describe it somewhat as a longing.

A painful longing as a child of God. Do you know why? It's because sometimes I just get this sensing that we don't have any idea. Even as children of God, we don't have any idea how holy God is. I'm not sure that's registered and stuck with us yet.

I'm not sure that we've got a vision of the holiness of God. I mean, we know that, yes, He's our Savior. Yes, He died. And yes, He rose again. But I'm not sure we've got a vision of the holiness of God.

And oh, that youth would get a hold of that. You know, youth who are serious about their walk with God must get a hold of that. At least in a measure. But I see the people of God living their Christian life and going their own way and forgetting the Scripture that says for each one of us to be ye holy as I am holy.

God says, I mean, that's quite a commandment. And I want you to know today that that doesn't just automatically happen. There's always an option with a commandment. You can either obey it or you can disobey it and disregard it.

That's quite a commandment. Be ye holy as I am holy. And you'll never do that until you've got a vision, at least in a measure, of the holiness of God. And, brothers and sisters, our holiness is more than just our position of being in Christ.

It's more than just who we are in Him. It is that, and praise God, let's rejoice in that. But it's more than that. Or it wouldn't be a commandment. It's also power over temptation in our everyday life.

The holiness of God is also separation from this world big time. It's victory over covetousness. It's respect for your authority like Jesus had for His. If there was ever a youth who knew more than his parents, if there ever was a youth who was right every time when his parents were wrong, it was Jesus Christ.

And He went home and He was subject unto them. Holiness is focusing on Christ in everyday life. Like the song says, take time to be holy. Be calm in thy soul. Each thought and each motive beneath His control.

You know, that song is very, very scriptural. I mean, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. Each thought and each motive beneath His control. And by looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be.

That's as scriptural as you can get. But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. That's looking to Jesus. Are changed into the same image. Like Him thou shalt be. And we're changed from glory to glory.

Thy friends in thy conduct. That's everyday life, brothers and sisters. Thy friends in thy conduct. His likeness shall see. That's a pretty good definition of Jesus Christ is Lord right there. Each thought and each motive beneath His control.

When Jesus Christ is Lord, I want us to know that that is a holy thing. That is a very practical thing. And it's a totally complete thing because it gets right into the middle of everything that you do and everything that you are.

I hope I have liberty today to speak very plainly. I hope I have that liberty all week. And I know that there's danger in that because there's always people who will take part of what you say and they'll isolate it.

And then it's full of holes. I trust that that won't happen today, this week. But I'm fully aware of the potential there. My desire is that Jesus Christ would be Lord of each life that is here. And I'm going to say this carefully, but I'm going to say that I'm just not sure that He is.

The Born-Again Testimony and the Flesh

As I was praying, as I was meditating on this, it just seemed like God kept saying, I'm not. I'm not Lord of every life that's going to be there. The door into the hearts of some of these youth is not open as wide as they think it is.

You know, sometimes as Christians we build a little wall around us. We do. And we put that wall there to protect ourselves from each other. And sometimes we use this wall to protect ourselves against God.

Sometimes we use this wall so that we can fulfill some lust of the flesh and still look spiritual. Sometimes we use this wall so that we don't have to take a close look and examination at our heart. And this wall that we use, stay with me here, this wall is one of the most precious things that you will ever have.

It really is. It's one of the most precious treasures that you will ever have. And it can be used for altogether the wrong reason. You know what it is? I want to say this carefully, but I know that I've seen this happen.

That wall is your testimony of being born again. Your born again testimony. And without question, that is the most precious thing that you will ever have. Amen? I mean, and you need to protect it. You need to guard that thing.

But don't use it to protect the flesh. Now, how in the world would you ever use your born again testimony to protect the flesh? Well, I've seen people who were challenged in a specific area of their life that they did not want to be challenged in.

And do you know what they did? It was a touchy area. And so they rejected it. Because they've been born again. I have the Spirit of God now. I'm not drifting. I'm a child of God. And they rejected it because they didn't want to be challenged.

They just used that thing as a wall to protect themselves from close examination of their heart. But I want you folks to know that when you're born again, you don't just automatically dress modestly. Did you know that?

When you're born again, you're not automatically free from lust. No more temptations there. That's not the way it is. When you're born again, you don't automatically listen to the right music. You don't automatically choose the right friends.

You don't automatically have power over temptation. And you're just not drawn to this world anymore. I'd love to tell you it was that way. But that's not the way it is. But I want you to know today that you do have all of those things.

You do have freedom from lust. You do have power over sin. You do dress modest. You are not drawn to this world in any way. You do have all of those things. When Jesus Christ, when each thought and each motive is beneath His control, you have all of those things.

That's why we need to bring that wall down just a little bit today. Let's not get rid of it. Let's protect that thing. Let's guard it jealously. But let's bring it down just a little bit so God can shine His light into our heart and show us who we really are.

When you're born again, Jesus Christ is not automatically Lord of all. I want to say that carefully. I want you to hear my heart. But we need to let God show us what is in our heart. If we don't, we'll be in trouble down the road.

Spiritual Patterns and Responses to Correction

When I was your age, I know that I was just like you in many ways. I noticed things. I observed things. I saw decisions that other people were making. Some of my friends, I saw some changes that they were making in their spiritual life and in their walk with God.

I saw changes that they were making in their churches. And at that point, there was some question in my mind how all of that would turn out. I wasn't sure. I was young back then. I couldn't see down the road too far.

And I wasn't sure how it would turn out. There were some older people who were more than happy to tell me what would happen. But that is not always a young person's favorite horse to ride, is it? But I will tell you this.

When you get older, and you think about this, when you get older, you do get somewhat of a vantage point. That means you do get somewhat of a view. And you can see how some things turned out. That's something youth don't have unless you're willing to listen.

I can look back on some decisions that my friends made. I can look back on some of their choices. I can look back on some of the lifestyles that they chose. I can look back on some of the churches that they changed from and to.

And I can look at them today and I can see with my own two eyes exactly where they're at. That's part of the vantage point that I'm referring to. And I can see that some of those decisions that they made just opened the door for them to serve the flesh.

And I look back on it now and I can just say, some of those decisions looked so spiritual. They looked so scriptural when they made those decisions. But I can look back on them today and I can say, with deep conviction, those decisions weren't as spiritual as it looked like they were at the time.

That's a caution. When you get my age, I'm just going to say it this way, I not only saw that happen in some of my friends years ago, but I saw it happen again in these people over here. And then I saw it happen again in these people over here.

And as you get older, I'm just going to tell you, you begin to see patterns that repeat themselves. It did it here in my friends. Almost the exact same thing happened here. And the same thing happened again over here.

And you see patterns. And they just repeat themselves over and over again. And there's one thing that amazes me that is always the same in all patterns. Do you know what it is? It's the people who are repeating the pattern have no idea.

They don't have a clue how predictable the thing is that they're doing. That's amazing to me. They declare it's not so. I mean, what happened to others? That's not going to happen to them because they prayed about this thing.

And they feel led of God to do this. I've heard that thing repeated. And it's just a pattern. And I want to lay it before you as a caution. We just repeat history over and over again, declaring that we're not going to do it because we've heard from the Lord.

And I'm really not sure what to do with all of that. It's in my heart. I've observed it. It's very, very real to me. But I don't really want to turn young people off by talking about it. And so I was just praying about what to do with this.

And it just seemed like God was just saying, Share it as a seed planted. So I'm just going to plant a seed here. And if there's some fertile soil out there, by God's grace, it can take root and be a caution in your life.

And give direction in someone's heart. Here is one of them. When someone is challenged in a specific way, in a practical area of their everyday life that they don't want to be challenged in, and they go straight up.

I mean, they react big time. And maybe not on the outside. Maybe just on the inside. Maybe on the inside and the outside. But in one way or another, they reject it. And they just declare what you're saying is legalism.

You're putting emphasis on the outside instead of the inside. That's not right. What you're saying has nothing to do with salvation. I just want to tell you, when that is the response in your heart, Jesus Christ probably is not Lord of that life.

Someone else is on the throne. And He's being challenged. That's what's happening. And that thing has repeated itself over and over so many times that chances of it not being true are almost zero. You look at that person 20 years down the road, and there's the vantage point that someone older has.

You don't have that yet. But you just mark it down in your mind. You look at that person 20 years down the road, and you're going to see a person who has an independent spirit and loves to fulfill the flesh in one way or another.

Another thing that I've noticed is that when a person is challenged in a specific area of their everyday life in a practical way, that they don't want to be challenged in. But they receive it. They bring it before God.

They place that thing on the altar of God, and they leave it there. They don't take it off. They go pray. They seek God. They read the Word of God, and they dig some. They seek counsel from a godly authority.

And they're willing to change. Jesus Christ probably is Lord of that life. He is on the throne, and He has liberty. And there again, that thing has repeated itself over and over so many times that chances of it not being true are almost zero.

You look at that person in 20 years, and you are going to find an extremely faithful,.

Sanctified child of God,.

Who probably has very faithful children. That's just the way it is. And that's why it's so important today, brothers and sisters, to consider if Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, because it has everything to do with where you will be in Him down the road.

It has everything to do with what you will become in Christ. And so I ask you, which of those two categories are you in? I think that's a question that we need to answer this morning. And before we answer it, just in your own mind, I want to read you a proverb in chapter 15, verse 28.

This is a little nugget that I read the other day. It just says that the heart of the righteous studieth to answer. But the mouth of the wicked just poureth out evil things. And what I believe that verse is saying is that a foolish person is just going to be quick to answer.

Well, amen! Yes! Jesus Christ is Lord! Hallelujah! Amen! But the righteous is going to say, wait a minute. I'm going to pull this wall down just a little bit. I'm going to let the light of the Lord Jesus Christ shine in and show me what is in my heart.

And I'm going to go to the Scriptures. And I want to make sure that I have the right answer because I want my Lord to have His rightful place at the controls of my life. This is a foundational message for everything that we have to bring this week.

Crucifying the Flesh and Walking in the Spirit

And again, I'm just going to say, I want you to have the assurance that I'm not even slightly interested in coming up with some rules and regulations for you to live by or to guide you. My desire is that the flesh would be crucified.

That's God's desire. I believe that's the stirring that is in God's heart. I believe that's what He wants for each one of us is that the flesh should be crucified and then we are clear, we are free to walk in the Spirit.

Not drawn to the things of this earth. And you're not going to have Holy Ghost discernment and Spirit-filled perception until the flesh is dead. You just won't have it. And it's sad, but it's something that I've learned.

It's hard to say this, but that's just the way it is. That no matter how good we look here today, no matter how spiritual we may seem, there's probably loads of flesh in this congregation that have not been crucified.

It's being protected. But there are people here who are not born again. There are people here who are born again, but God does not have liberty. There are people here who are drawn to this world and they know that they are drawn to this world, but they are justifying it.

They're finding out a way why it's okay. Why it is acceptable with God. And it's the work of the flesh. And we need to crucify the flesh so that Jesus Christ, who is holy, who is completely separate from this world, can be on the throne of our life and be Lord of all.

I'm just going to tell you today that I didn't feel like God was leading me into the Scriptures to prove to you that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He wants to be Lord of your life. I felt like God was giving me a greater desire to go to the Scriptures and take a look at some hearts and show you how they responded when Jesus Christ is Lord and when Jesus Christ is not Lord.

Jeremiah 42–43: Hearing and Rejecting God's Word

I would like to turn to Jeremiah 42. Let's turn to Jeremiah 42. There are several chapters here that tell a very interesting story, and I'm not going to read all of them. I'm just going to lift out a few verses just enough to reveal some hearts here.

The setting here is that Judah had been carried away into Babylon. And there were just a few people left behind. Still a few in Jerusalem. And Jeremiah was one of them with this little remnant. And the people were scared.

There was just a few of them and they didn't know what was happening. And they wanted to know if they should stay there or if they should flee into Egypt. They wanted to know God's will so that they could hear from God.

And they came to Jeremiah and they asked him, and they said, Jeremiah, would you go to God and ask Him what we should do? And so let's begin reading here in chapter 42. That's the situation here. I'm going to read verse 1 -12.

Then all the captains of the forces and Johanan the son of Kereah and Jezaniah the son of Hosea, and all the people from the least, even unto the greatest, came near and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, let we beseech thee our supplication be accepted before thee and pray for us unto the Lord thy God even for all this remnant for we are left but a few, a few of many as thine eyes do behold us, that the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk and the thing that we may do.

Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you I will declare it unto you.

I will keep nothing back from you. Then said they to Jeremiah, the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us, whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.

That's quite a commitment, isn't it? And it came to pass after ten days that the Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah. Then came Johanan the son of Korah and all the captains of the forces which were with him and all the people from the least even to the greatest and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him, if ye will still abide in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down.