“Lord Jesus Christ”
Now a few thoughts as to the last name. We have in the following, conclusive evidence as to its significance:
“And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
If we call Him Lord, we must do what He says. That is, it’s a question of obedience. Authority is connected with Him as Lord.
Just to corroborate the thought before us, look at 1 Corinthians 4:4, 5.
“For I know nothing by myself: yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord.” Not ‘Jesus’; not ‘Christ’ here, but the Lord. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
It is a question of authority—a question of power—of His being the exalted one unto whom all judgment has been committed. Power and authority have to do with His Lordship.
Dear Christian friend, do you know anything about what it is to own Him as Lord. A great many own Him as Saviour. They speak of Him as Jesus, but they do not know much about what it is to own Him as Lord—to bow to His authority.
Let us look at a few practical applications of this term:
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” (Col. 3:17).
Then see how the Lordship of Christ comes in into the most intimate details of our life.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.”
“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”
“Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
Dear Christian friends, do you know anything of the Lordship of Christ? It is in Scripture. Does it have a place in your heart and ways? Again we read in this same chapter:
“Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”
That is, you serve the one who now has every right and authority over you—the exalted and blessed One.
The Lordship of Christ has to say to us in some other connection too: Suppose we turn to 1 Cor. 11:20:
“When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.”
Not the supper of Jesus—not Christ’s—but “the Lord’s;” the one whose authority is supreme.
“For I have received of the Lord.” The bestowing of the ordinance is connected with the name of authority and power—the one supreme now—the one who is made Lord and Christ—that one, “the same night in which He was betrayed took (bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take eat. This is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Who says this? The Lord—the Lord Jesus. Does that name have weight with you, dear Christian friend? Do you so remember Him? If you do not, you will have to give account to Him some day. This is authoritative; it is not to be disregarded, and ours should be the place of rendering glad obedience to the Lord. How blessed to know Him thus as the glorified Man in whom power and authority have been vested by God!
In the same chapter we read of the Lord’s death.
“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.”
This is a solemn line of things. It presses upon us the authority of this blessed one we profess to know and serve—the Lordship of Christ. We cannot leave that out.
Look at 1 Corinthians 12:3, and observe the negative side of things there,
“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
That is, no man can give to Him the place of Lordship except it be by the Holy Ghost. Only a Christian can do this, for only a Christian is indwelt by the Holy Ghost. It is well for us in this day, very much akin to the days of the Judges, when every man is disposed to do that which is right in his own eyes, to be reminded again of the Lordship of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ!
To sum up what we are considering, may I suggest the thought is this: The “Lord Jesus Christ” sets before us the one exalted now, to whom all power is committed, the one whose authority we own. It reminds us that He was once down here, the Man who trod earth’s pathway of shame and woe, even unto death—the death of the cross!—but who now, in glory, is the source of all blessing to us, and the one to whom we are united.
What a wide scope of things is brought thus before our hearts! The future is anticipated—redeemed creation will own His Lordship. The past is included. Our present blessings are brought before us, and our standing before God. These thoughts are connected with the name Lord Jesus Christ.
(Continued from Page 75).
To be continued.