In regard to the phrase Lord Jesus Christ, if Jesus is His name and Christ is His appointment, then what does Lord mean? The word “Lord” actually comes from Yahweh in the Old Testament, which directly underlines His connection to His deity. In this lesson, Tony Evans will further discuss the significance of “Lord” and highlight the difference between simply believing and confessing His name.
dad i cannot believe where we’re
standing right now it’s not just in
israel but behind us is the sea of
galilee what it reminds me of is the
beauty and the grandeur of the fact that
the word became flesh when jesus invites
you on a journey you have no idea that
where he’s taking you to is something
that is beyond what you’re comprehending
at the time that you start out
he needed his friends often we discount
the strength of community in our journey
to jesus this is a church of the holy
sepulchre where we believe that
his greatest power was demonstrating the
power of sin and death i’ve never been
so excited to see nothing in all of my
life
i love it
that’s right the power of emptiness
right there
when the power of jesus helps you to
overcome what looks like is overcoming
you
last time we looked at the name christ
which is the anointed one
the one dubbed and designated by god to
fulfill the offices of prophet priest
and king for his people
today i want to look at the name
lord
when the fullest expression of jesus is
given
it is given in this phrase the lord
jesus christ
jesus is his human name christ is his
office lord is his title
we’re told that if you confess with your
mouth verse 9
the lord jesus
and believe in your heart
that god has raised him from the dead
you will be saved
now something about that ought to catch
your attention
and that is that that verse says that
there are two things you need to get
saved
it says you must confess with your mouth
and you must
believe in your heart
and when you do those two things you
will be saved
now what ought to capture your attention
about that
is that there is a dual requirement for
salvation
which goes against so many other
scriptures
that do not give you a dual requirement
of salvation
for god so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth in him
should not perish but have eternal life
believe on the lord jesus christ and you
shall be
saved
he that believeth
shall be converted
over and over again we’re only told
that to be saved you must place faith
alone
in christ alone
for the forgiveness of sins and the gift
of eternal life
but in this passage we’re told you’ve
got to do two things
you’ve got to not only believe but you
must also confess if you’re going to be
saved which is it
must i do one thing or is there a dual
requirement
the word saved has three tenses to it
there’s salvation in the past from the
penalty of sin
there is salvation in the future from
the very presence of sin
and then there is salvation in the
present from the power of sin
but the word saved is used of all three
so when you see the word saved you’ve
got to ask which tense is he referring
to
it is an understanding what saved he’s
referring to that will help you to make
sense of the verse
in fact he helps us a little bit in
verse 10
when he says in verse 10
that
with the heart a person believes
resulting in righteousness
so you’re made righteous simply by
the belief but he says you’re not saved
until you confess
so i would like to submit to you
that he is not talking here about going
to heaven
he’s talking about bringing heaven to
you
he’s not talking about salvation past
from the penalty of sin or salvation
future from the presence of sin
he’s talking about salvation present
from the power
of sin and its agents the world the
flesh and the devil and the
circumstances that are the result of all
three
he’s speaking present tense because he’s
speaking to believers
not non-believers
now
by way of introduction this becomes a
staggering concept
because he says to be saved in the
present
not talking about going to heaven but
having heaven come to
you to be saved in history
to be delivered in history
to find victory in history
to be an overcomer in history
demands more than your faith in christ
it demands your confession of jesus as
lord
so that brings up his name
lord
acts 2 36 says
that
peter is preaching his sermon and he
says
that god hath made jesus
christ and
lord
the word lord from the greek word kurios
is used in the septuagint the septuagint
is the greek translation of the old
testament as the word for yahweh and
yahweh is the old testament word for god
so when the word is attached to jesus
it is a reference to his deity
the fact that he is god
this got jesus in great trouble in
matthew 22
because in matthew 22 uh
he the pharisees are struggling with the
fact that they believed messiah was to
be a man but that was all they
understood so jesus comes to him and
says well if messiah is only a man then
why would david say his son was also his
lord
psalm 110 verse 1
why would david said that the son who
would come from him would also be the
master over him
it says they didn’t know how to answer
him
but that’s what got him killed in
matthew chapter 26
verses 40 41 to 43 and verses 63 to 65
it says this man makes himself to be the
son of god
crucifier
what crucified jesus was that his claim
to be lord yahweh of the old testament
so when the bible says that his name is
the lord jesus christ
it is bringing
his deity lord alongside of his humanity
jesus fulfilling the office of christ
so god lord
jesus man
christ office
anointed one prophet priest and king
he says
that jesus christ must be confessed as
lord
supreme ruler
sovereign
over and over again in scripture jesus
christ is proclaimed as lord of all
in ephesians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23
it says
everything is underneath christ
that he is lord
the bible declares over and over again
that all of life is to be defined
by jesus christ romans chapter 14 verses
8 and 9 whether we live we live unto the
lord when we die we die unto the lord
whether we live or die it’s always for
the lord
referring to jesus christ
so when you
say lord
you are saying
that he is
the son of god he is deity
and you are also recognizing
once you have accepted him as supreme
ruler
when thomas
doubting thomas in john 20 verse 28 fell
at his feet he says my lord my god
he recognized lord meant he was god
in human
flesh so when you have the name lord you
are giving recognition
of who he is
now you must believe him to be the lord
to be saved
but you must confess him
as the lord
for your salvation to work
there are many christians on their way
to heaven well if you’re christian
you’re on your way to heaven christians
who are on their way to heaven who have
to wait till they get there to see it
because while they have
trusted jesus christ
they have not confessed him
he says
that it is in the confession of jesus as
lord
that you are saved
you get righteousness by your faith in
christ verse 10 says but you only get
delivered by your confession of christ
what is missing today in the church
and among
christians
is to failure to recognize
and place themselves underneath
the lordship of jesus christ
to recognize his comprehensive supremacy
over all of life
there is no part of life that sits
outside of the lordship of jesus christ
colossians chapter 3 verse 17.
whether it’s in word or deed it must all
be done
to the lord
referring to jesus christ
and not only must you believe that
you must confess that
the word confess
is a word that means to
acknowledge something
it means to
let it be known
that you agree with this
to confess means to affirm something
he says if you want god
from heaven
to join you in history
there must not only be the belief in
jesus there must also be the confession
of jesus
in order to be
saved
on the cross
jesus paid for your sins
but with the resurrection
he provides for your life
that’s why romans 10 says we are saved
by his life
everybody believes in the
substitutionary death but not everybody
understands the substitutionary life
that he says now that we are saved in
romans 5 10 he says now that we are
saved and justified we can now be
delivered
in life
the privilege that only christians have
but you only get it when you know the
name lord
and when you
affirm it
publicly
you can get saved in the traditional use
of the word go to heaven
privately
in order for now your salvation to work
in history and not only guarantee your
eternity
there must be the confession and that
means
public agreement
to confess is to
advertise
your
association with
the lord
when you were baptized
as i hope all of us as believers have
been
that was supposed to be your
introduction
to your public proclamation
your baptism was supposed to inaugurate
you
that you are not a secret follower of
christ
but a public associate of christ
you are to declare
by by life and lips
the fact
that you are identified with
associated with
and under the rulership of the lord
jesus christ because as lord he’s over
all
it says in john chapter 12 that
the jewish leaders who believed in him
verse 42 and 43 it says they believed in
him but they would not confess him
openly
for fear of the jews
says they were saved they believed in
him
but they would not because they didn’t
know how other folk were going to react
and they were scared
about what would happen if they made it
known
that they belonged to christ and were
underneath the rulership of christ
the failure to confess
to publicly acknowledge
your association with
jesus christ
blocks you being delivered in history
let me put it another way
you can’t skip christ and get attention
from god
first john 5 23 says
if you deny the son you deny the father
the confession issue has to do with
public association public identification
and and
rulership
by jesus christ
see a lot of us as christians don’t want
jesus to overrule us
we don’t want him to be our commanding
officer our lord
we love the title
what we don’t like often
is the confession of it
that is the submitting to it the
recognizing
jesus said in luke chapter six uh he
says why do you call me lord lord and do
not what i say
you’re using the terms you’re saying
lord but when i tell you something
you’re telling me
what you think
how you feel
how you were raised what your mom and
daddy said what the media said what your
friends
said no the question is
am i your lord
am i your sovereign am i your ruler
confession means that if you are accused
of being a follower of christ there is
enough evidence to convict you
and you won’t be found innocent of all
charges
it means there is no question
when the service is over and you’re not
in the christian convenient place
where nobody’s disagreeing with you
where everybody is
is with you
that out there they know where you stand
we live in a day where there’s no shame
they want you to
accept that which is outside of what is
acceptable to a holy god jesus says in
matthew chapter 10
he says if you deny me before men i will
deny you before my father
and if you confess me before men i will
confess you before my father
he says your confession or denial will
affect what my daddy does or does not do
if you are ashamed of me out there
then i’m gonna be ashamed of you
i’m good enough to take you to heaven
but you want to keep quiet about me on
earth
i’m not talking about being bombastic
i’m not talking about you know you know
not working and and talking about jesus
when you’re supposed to be doing your
job at work what i’m talking about
is shying away from the identification
that’s what i’m talking about shying
away that i am what i am and i do what i
do because of my identification with
jesus christ which then qualifies me
watch this it qualifies me
to call on his name
you see that in the text he says in
romans chapter 10
whoever will call on the name
of the lord will be saved or delivered
will be saved or delivered
but he’s not talking about going to
heaven
that’s not the qualification for going
to heaven
he’s talking about being delivered in
history from the world the flesh the
devil and being able to over overcome
i love i love
revelation 12 11 revelations 12 11 says
and they overcame him by the word of
their testimony
they had they had to speak the word of
that they had to testify about their
association and identification
and those who call on the name of the
lord because they’ve confessed the name
of the lord will find deliverance in
history
you cannot be ashamed of him out there
but then call on him out there
to turn this around to overcome this in
your life to beat back the satanic
attack one of the reasons we have so
little deliverance is that we have so
little confession
that is public association with jesus
christ and submission to his authority
you must confess in order to be free to
call but he that calls on the name of
the lord because they have confessed the
name of the lord the promises he will
not be disappointed
he says god will break in so there is no
area of your life to which he cannot
speak into there’s no area of your life
your work your finances your
relationship your attitude there is no
area he can’t speak into and overrule
and until the lordship question is
settled
heaven will stay a long way away
and his divine presence
intervention transformation deliverance
healing that you could have and should
have will be denied you he will say no
because he doesn’t want to help you to
deny his son further
but he who calls on the name of the lord
let me let me just read this to you
colossians one you
you need to hear
it because here’s the problem
for a lot of christians jesus is
he’s uh what shall i say he’s
he’s prominent
but not yet preeminent
so let me read your chapter one just a
few verses of colossians
where paul writes these words about
jesus
he says
in verse 15 for he jesus is the image of
the invisible god
the firstborn of all creation
for by him all things were created both
in the heavens and on earth visible and
invisible whether thrones dominions
rulers and authorities all things have
been created through him
and for him let me say that again all
things have been created through him and
for him
he is before all things
and in him all things hold together
he is also the head of the body the
church
and he is the beginning the firstborn
from the dead so that he himself
will come to have
first place
in
everything
there is nothing that is to sit outside
of him
there is no subject matter
no education
no
accomplishment no business
that belongs in the hands of a christian
to which he is to be excluded
because when that business goes left
you’re going to call on him
when that relationship goes left you’re
going to call on him
when that health goes left you’re going
to call on him and he’s going to want to
know when you called on him did you
confess him cause everything is to be
attached to him
and when you come under the lordship of
jesus christ and i understand we do not
do it perfectly in our humanity but you
have got to accept to do it
progressively to grow in your knowledge
of the lordship of jesus christ and that
leads to the concluding verse in
philippians chapter 2 where he says in
verse 9 for this reason god hath highly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name
so that at the name of jesus every knee
will bow of those who are in heaven of
those who are on earth of those who are
underneath the earth and every tongue
will confess
that jesus is
lord
god just doesn’t want you to confess
jesus he just doesn’t want you to
confess jesus christ he wants you to
confess that jesus is lord
why to the glory of the father which
means god gets excited when he sees you
recognize the lordship of jesus christ
he gets discouraged when he sees us as
believers deny the lordship the
rulership and fail to confess the
ownership of jesus christ but when we do
that we begin to honor and glorify the
father which gives him our undivided
attention if you’re here today and god
has saved you
if you’ve been forgiven for all of your
sins and you have eternity waiting for
you
god has delivered you
from certain death
so it ought not be that hard it’s the
law of the kingdom
for you to bring your life your dreams
your hopes your desires your
relationships and lay them at the cross
and say i’m here to serve you and i’m
not going to apologize to my peeps i’m
not going to apologize to my homeboys
girls co-workers that i belong to you
cause they didn’t save my life they
didn’t deliver me they didn’t forgive me
they didn’t give me heaven you did that
and so you own me
that is the law
of our response
because his name is lord
[Music]
jesus is lord
as lord he’s
god
he’s deity
and he
demands our surrender
if you call him lord if you confess him
as lord you need to treat him like lord
all of god’s people
who named jesus christ as savior
should be following his sovereign rule
as lord
and giving all of your life
to his control all of life
must be surrendered to the lordship of
jesus christ in order to see god’s work
fulfilled
in
your life
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you