Receiving Christ as Lord John 5:41-47

Text:  “I am come in My Father’s Name, and ye receive Me not; If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”
John 5:43.

Good morning, Christian subject!  Having been granted faith to believe and receive Christ as your Saviour, it has been your privilege and mine to subject ourselves to Christ’s Lordship.  We are Spiritual subjects in the Kingdom of God; subject to the King of all kings, Christ Jesus.

Christ - to thee and to me - is both Saviour and Lord.  Hallelujah!  What a privilege to own Christ as our Lord and Saviour!  Glory to His altogether lovely Name!

“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and His Name one.”  (Zechariah 14:9)

“Ye call Me Master and Lord; and ye say well, for so I am.”           (John 13:13)

In this sad day of false showmanship and easy-believing within universal Christendom, we discover many who deeply desire to have Christ as their Saviour but will not receive Him as their Lord. 

These fools are enlightened enough to know they are lost without Christ Jesus, but not enough to acknowledge Christ’s Holiness and wrath against all sin.  They want to be Eternally saved, but only from the consequences of their vile sin; not from their sinfulness itself.  Thus, they desire Christ as Saviour, but refuse to receive Him as Lord.  How pathetic can one get?

Such professors want to be saved and given Eternal entrance to Heaven - but left free to live like Hell on earth.  They will not have the Christ to rule over them in this life, but want only to escape Hell’s torments in the Eternity to come. 

In refusing to receive Christ Jesus as their Lord - they automatically reject Him as their Eternal Saviour.  Christ must be both Saviour and Lord!  There can be only ONE Master over the will of fallen man.

“No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon (worldly riches, prestige, self-gain).”  (Matthew 6:24)

This latter part of Chapter 5 of John’s Gospel finds our Lord and Master, Christ Jesus, teaching us some vital truths.  Let us look more closely at some of them and gain Eternal knowledge to aid us in our walk with Him.

God’s Honour: (V.41) Mere created (or in our case born) creatures cannot give honour to the Almighty Creator Lord God.  We do not do God any favours by verbally honouring His Name.  God does not need our praises, prayers, or puny attempts to give Him ‘honour’.  The Lord God is all-sufficient!  The Lord God IS Honour incarnate!  Glory!  Glory!  Glory!

“I receive not honour from men.” (John 5:41) Hallelujah!  Holy! Holy!  Holy!

God’s Love: (V.42)  The Lord God KNOWS what is inside our heart of hearts.  He knows when the love of God is in us - because it is the Lord God Who puts that love within us in the first place!  The Lord God is Sovereign!

“We love Him, because He FIRST loved us.”  (1 John 4:19)

“IF ye love Me, keep My commandments.”  (John 14:15)

God’s Name:  (Vs. 43)  We serve the Lord God Jehovah; the great ‘I Am’ - and we who profess to be Christians must therefore go forth at all times in the Name of Christ Jesus. 

We go forth in no other mere mortal and thus fallible name.  If we do so, we will have no real Spiritual power or authority, and the work that we seek to do will eventually, and at all times, come to nought but shame and disgrace.  Beware of false ‘prophets’ and self-seeking individuals who seek to build a ‘ministry’ of merchandise-making in their own pathetic name.  Beware!

God’s Authority:  Anyone seeking to go forth in the full authority of the Living Lord God MUST go forth proclaiming His Spirit-inspired and infallible Word.  Sola Scriptura!  Scripture alone our authority to minister.

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully…Is not My Word like a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock (of unbelief) in pieces?”  (Jeremiah 23:28-29)

Thus we see that true Christian subjects seek God’s honour; God’s love; revere God’s Holy Name; and go forth in the authority of God’s great Word.  Amen.  May it be so with thee and with me, beloved in Christ Jesus.

Thought: If Christ is to be our Saviour - He must also be our Lord!

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