Moderator's Address

By John Ivan Byler

Conservative Mennonite Conference is gathered today as a church under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our theme today is "GOD IS SOVEREIGN." The word "sovereign" contains the word "reign"--God is One who REIGNS as SOVEREIGN, not only over us, over our nation, over the whole world, and over the entire created universe. He is sovereign over all! It is truly a privilege to be part of a body that acknowledges the sovereignty of God, to be a part of a group of people who say, "JESUS IS LORD." That simple confession in three words is probably the earliest confession of faith.

When Jesus was here He was recognized as Lord by many people. At first the title may have been only one of human respect, but the disciples regularly used "Lord", never "Jesus," when addressing Him. They were recognizing Him not only as one worthy of respect, but as one who was equated with God. In the Septuagint, which they were using, and in the Greek New Testament the word "kurios" or "Lord" was used to identify JEHOVAH. The disciples soon came to recognize that Jesus Christ is JEHOVAH, the One who is over them as God. So this simple and compact statement expressed a central element in their faith and church: JESUS IS LORD.

Do you also recognize Jesus as Lord? I trust you do! And I trust that as we are together today and think about the sovereignty of God, our hearts will not only be lifted in wonder, exultation, and worship, but we will also be motivated in our lives to recognize Jesus as Lord, not merely when we are gathered in worship, but also when we are scattered in work.

Today I want to point us to several scriptures that identify the implications of the fact that Jesus is Lord.

The first one is the familiar one often used when leading a person to faith in Christ, Romans 10:9. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (that Jesus is Lord), and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The confession of Jesus as Lord is our salvation. Not the mere recitation or rote verbalization of those three words as if something magic is going to happen, but the confession of faith as in our hearts we recognize who He is and who we are under Him. In that the door is open for our salvation, a relationship with God that brings us life and wholeness in Him.

I think of this confession as that of a believing Christian who is bowed down in humility with face to the ground before an almighty sovereign God. Such a posture certainly puts one in a position of vulnerability, for in such a position of bowing down, one is not able to defend himself, but is at the mercy of the Great One before Whom he lies prostrate. However, the believer is willing to be vulnerable, because the Great One is also a Good One; we can trust Him! We are confident that this Good God will not kick or beat us in our lowly position, but will with His loving powerful hand lift us up to life and fullness of joy. Confessing Jesus as Lord is our salvation and we bow before Him with a trusting, believing heart.

The second scripture identifying Jesus as Lord is the beautiful passage in Philippians 2 which speaks of Christ and his humbling Himself to come to earth. Then it says that "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that JESUS IS LORD!" Can you say that with your mouth this morning? "JESUS IS LORD!"

Whether we confess it or not, He is Lord; God has exalted Him there and it is a fact! You already in this life acknowledge that fact and let your lives demonstrate it by your obedient response to Him. There are many in the world who are not acknowledging it, but someday they will; even though it will be too late for the salvation of their souls, they will acknowledge the fact that Jesus is Lord, Sovereign over the universe. Acclaiming Jesus as Lord is our Worship.

We rejoice and lift our hands in worship. We begin with the posture of bowing, but now rise and lift our hands in worship and adoration, acknowledging Jesus as Lord. The lifted hands are empty, symbolizing that everything we have is given to Him, and everything we need we receive from Him and we recognize Him as higher than us and us as lower than Him. In such a posture of recognizing Him we lift our hands rejoicing in the great, good, and faithful God whom we serve.

Isaiah was caught up in that kind of worship as he realized the greatness and saw a vision of the holiness of God. As the angels proclaimed "Holy, Holy, Holy," Isaiah was falling down, down, confessing his own sin and feeling very unworthy. But as his sin was cleansed, he stood and acknowledged God as his holy One, he stood and demonstrated our third posture. Stretching out the hand for active service, Isaiah replied, "Here am I, send me." Having bowed our hearts and hands before Him for salvation, having lifted them in adoration, we now make them available by stretching them out and saying, "Here I am! What shall I do?"

The third scripture I point to in this regard is Jesus' own words in John 13. After washing his disciples feet, He said, "You call me ‘Master' and ‘Lord' and you say well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you and example that you should do as I have done to you." You should DO as I have DONE. Jesus is expecting that in our acknowledging Him as Lord there will be some DOING, some putting into practice, some hands-on experiences that are a reflection of the fact that He is our Lord. Confession and Worship will lead naturally, automatically, and deliberately to an obedient life. The outstretched active hands are a recognition that OBEYING JESUS AS LORD IS OUR LIFE. I challenge us to live and to grow in this reality; not only recognizing Jesus as Lord with our lips and in our worship, but also with our hands and lives in practical obedience to Him.

Saul, in his conversion on the road to Damascus, was struck down by the Sovereign Lord and recognizing that he simply asked, "Lord, what wilt thou have me TO DO?" He knew that if God is truly his Lord it will make a difference in his life and he opened himself to God saying, "What shall I do? How shall I live? Where do you want me to go?" and in that submission Saul walked the rest of his life.

God does expect obedience and He looks for it and is happy to see it. He saw it in Abraham. When God took Abraham to look at the night sky and said, "Look, your descendants will be like the stars," Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. But God did not stop there as if satisfied with that inner faith. God went on to test Abraham to see if his faith would result in obedience. And it did! You know the story in Gen. 22. Abraham was directed by God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. In obedience he went, he bound his son and laid him on the altar, and he stretched out his hand with a knife. At that moment God stopped him and said, "Now I know that you fear the Lord." God was looking for obedience as the proof of the genuine faith that was in Abraham's life. God does that for us, too. Is He seeing what He is looking for?

Is God finding in your life the marks of obedience, where He has said it and you do it, even though as with Abraham it doesn't make sense? It might be humanly impossible or beyond comprehension. It might seem to contradict all rational sense. And yet because God said it you do it and God is pleased to say, "Now I know and have seen in your life the evidence of your faith!"

Obedience is so closely related to worship and confession that we almost do violence to them by trying to separate them and talk about them separately. A Christian may emphasize confession, saying the right words and having correct doctrine. Another may emphasize worship as if that is central in their lives. But if they neglect obedience they lack integrity! There is not the wholeness that is needed and desired by God in their lives as Christians.

Whether we are obeying Jesus because of what He has told us in our hearts by His Spirit in our Quiet Time, or are obeying Jesus Christ because of what He has given us in the written Word, He is looking for that obedience. Jesus Christ revealed in the New Testament is the clearest revelation of God to man of how He wants us to live here and now. Even though Jesus lived 2000 years ago, He is still the model, His words are still directive, and His commands are still imperative for the Church today.

I was challenged recently in my personal life with this matter of obedience. In my devotions I got out paper and pencil and began writing down some of the commands that are part of the Christian life, some that are common knowledge to me. Some pertained to my devotional life, such as praying, meditating on Scripture, and praising the Lord. Some pertained my way of relating to others: forgiveness, helping and serving others, encouraging others, etc. Then one by one I began checking to see if I have been DOING what I know He has commanded me to do. And I would challenge you, for I was challenged and embarrassed. Before God I was not able to give myself a high score of faithful obedience to some of the very obvious and general commands given for Christian. What kind of score would you get? In my challenging you to do this I invite you to let the Lord be your Lord and actually direct your mind as to which commands to jot down on your list. Let Him be the Lord! Selective obedience is no credit to any Christians, unless it is letting Him do the selecting!

Let me encourage you not to avoid some of the commands of Scripture simply because "I don't have a conviction for it." Conviction is not the basis for obedience. Abraham did not have a conviction for his obedience either, did he? His conviction did not determine which commands to obey. His conviction was "God is sovereign. He is my Lord, therefore I will obey Him."

I am bothered when I hear Christians write off or excuse themselves from obeying a Scripture by saying, "That's not the way I interpret it" as if that is what determines the truth of it. As if the interpreter is the one who is Lord and is deciding which and what and to what extent something is to be regarded. You and I did not write it, did we? He did not ask our impressions, opinions, or interpretations when He wrote it. He gives it to us and with confidence looks to us to say in faith, "Jesus is Lord. God is my Sovereign. I'll live by it!"

Sometimes I've heard the excuse, "It's only in Scripture one time. It is not so important." I acknowledge there are things in Scripture that are more important than other things. Jesus admitted that. In his reply to the Pharisees, He pointed out that they were focusing and majoring on some very minor things. They were giving a tithe of mint, cummin, and anise. Imagine counting out the tea leaves to be sure you give one tenth to the Lord. Or taking the tweezers and counting out these tiny seeds to give one out of ten to God. Can't you imagine all the tedious effort going into tithing. Jesus said, "You give a tithe of your mint and cummin and anise, but you have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and truth." There are weightier matters, overriding concerns! Jesus says, "These ought you to have done, and not to leave the others undone." He does not excuse us to neglect and omit the lesser commands, He simply says, "Don't make a big deal of them, just do them. Then get on with the major issues. I challenge us never to set aside part of God's word because in your mind it is relegated as minor and not so important. Go ahead and do it, don't make a big deal of it. Get on with the things that are a big deal, but don't neglect those things that in your mind and perhaps even in God's mind are not central to our salvation, but they are part of it because God has given them to us.

Some say, "Well, it wasn't in Christ's teachings; it's just in the epistles." Don't we know that Paul wrote, "If anyone is spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commands of the Lord."? Here we have our word again, JESUS IS LORD. Let us take His commands and the way He revealed in the New Testament for us to live, as priority in our life. He pointedly asked, "Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord' and do not do the things I say?" And even James in his practical book says, "Faith, if it doesn't have works to show, is a dead faith. It is not a saving faith and it is empty." Similarly, James warns us, "Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Where we neglect to obey what we know is in God's word for us to obey, we are entering into deception. Of course we cannot see it -- that is the nature of deception James warns us of. So I am calling us today, Let's get back to the Bible. It is God's inspired, relevant, inerrant Word and it is pertinent for our day, not just for the culture back there. It is relevant for all cultures for all times. It is our authority and our guide for faith and practice.

Our Sovereign will reward obedience. May the words of the Lord Jesus in Matt. 25 someday be ours to hear, "Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was sick and in prison and you came to me." You obeyed what I said to DO. You were active in living out your faith. You put it into practice in your everyday life. Yes, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

JESUS IS LORD. Not only do we want to confess Him. Not only do we worship Him. Doing only these two is like trying to stand on a two-legged stool. It needs that third leg to give it stability and to make it solid and real.

In conclusion I invite the worship team to lead us in a song, the first two verses of which are familiar. In this song the confession of Jesus as Lord and adoring Him in worship is part of our Christian experience. I've added a third verse to challenge us that in our adoring and worshipping, in our confession and believing, let us also go on to obeying. Let's stand to sing:

WE BOW DOWN
1.
You are Lord of Creation and Lord of my Life,
Lord of the land and the sea,
You were Lord of the Heavens before there was time,
And Lord of all Lords You will be.

We bow down and we worship You Lord, (3X)
Lord of all Lords You will be.

2.
You are King of Creation and King of my life,
King of the land and the sea,
You were King of the heavens before there was time,
And King of all kings You will be.

We bow down and we crown You the king, (3X)
King of all kings You will be.

3. (words by J.I.Byler)
You are Head of Your Body and Lord of the Church,
Lord of Us All You will be.
You declare in Your Word how Your Body shall live,
Our Lord and Our Sovereign You'll be.

We'll obey and well keep every word, (3X)
Truly our Lord You will be!

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