Jesus: King or Custodian?

Scripture Reading before lesson: Revelation 19:1-16

Song before lesson – “My God Most High”

Charles Stanley tells the story about one his seminary teachers who had a very had a practical way of illustrating the concept of God’s grace and forgiveness to his preaching students. He remembers that it was at the end of the semester, and he was about to take the final exam in one of his toughest classes. The professor distributed the exam with this caution: “Read the exam all the way through before beginning to answer the questions.” This caution was written on the exam as well. The students began to read the test, and the first question was difficult enough. Charles Stanley said it became clear as we read further that we did not study nearly enough for this exam. The further they read, the worse it got. This exam was going to be incredibly difficult to pass. You could begin to hear through the lecture hall audible groans and moans, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. On the bottom of the last page, however, was a note that read, “You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given, or you can sign your name at the bottom, turn it in and in so doing receive an “A” for this exam.” Wow? Stanley said, “I sat there stunned. Is he serious? Is it possible all we have to do is just sign it test and take an A?” Slowly, it dawned on many in the class what amazing act of mercy they were receiving, and one by one they signed their exam, turned it in and silently filed out of the room.

Others didn’t read the exam all the way through as instructed. They sat there and sweated it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page. Others read the first few pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally. One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he was going to earn his grade all the way. And he did. He made a C+, but he could have had an A.

A. This story illustrates many people’s reaction to God’s grace and forgiveness.

1. Some people look at God’s standard of moral and ethical perfection – so they wave the white flag of surrender. They tell themselves, “I can’t possibly match the standard of holiness in the Bible. Why even try? I give up!”

2. Others have difficulty with accepting God’s FREE grace, so they to earn His favor through their own meritorious efforts and good works. They think if they can just rack up enough points, God is obligated to save them.

3. But God’s forgiveness is graciously offered to ANYONE who will take Him at His Word. Without exception. The Good News of the gospel is that our heavenly Father is EAGER to extend His GIFT of grace and forgiveness to everyone who genuinely accepts the saving message of repentance and baptism.

B. As wonderful as God’s gift of forgiveness is... one of the great TRAVESTIES that humans can ever experience is not understanding God’s forgiveness.

1. Some people have a concept of God’s grace and forgiveness that is NOT revealed in Scriptures. When that happens is they tend to make forgiveness something it is not.

a. Some make forgiveness out to be something God frivolously gives to everyone, and it lessens the seriousness of sin and the awfulness of the cross where the price of our sins was paid in full.

b. Others make forgiveness to be something God gives reluctantly, because no matter how hard you try or how good you are, forgiveness will remain just beyond your reach.

2. In the coming weeks, I want to look at what the Bible says about the forgiveness God offers to every one of us, and to look into these Scriptures about UNLOCKING the Power of Forgiveness in our lives.

This morning, I want to first take a look at what forgiveness does not do.

I. Forgiveness Does Not Replace True Discipleship.

A. We must be careful to avoid thinking or operating along this line of reasoning...

1. “If God is so eager and willing to forgive my sin – ANY SIN – then why do I need to be concerned about my sin? Why struggle to overcome sin, or to be sure to avoid the very appearance of sin in my life?”

2. There is an expression that you hear often, but it doesn’t make it true. Have you ever heard anyone use this expression, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”? Let me tell the younger people in the audience. That’s not necessarily true. I consider myself to be loving father, but my girls will tell you life goes better for them when they seek to obey. They have far fewer troubles in life.

3. We must avoid that sort of mind set if we’re going to have the right kind of relationship with a forgiving Father. That thinking only serves to distort the love of God and the true meaning of His grace.

B. Think about how that attitude diminishes the role Jesus plays in our lives.

1. If I go through life and the real motivation behind the choices I make in life (whether I choose to do something or not) is because this is what I WANT or what I DON’T WANT, then it is my will being done and not the Lord’s will. I’m more interested in getting and doing what I want than becoming a serious disciple of Jesus Christ with a genuine concern about avoiding sin.

2. Then, any time my way of living violates a Christ-like or righteous life, I casually turn to Jesus and say, “Clean that up for me would you? Take care of that mess I have created.”

3. What then happens is Jesus – the One who has the armies of heaven behind Him... this One who has written on His robe and thigh, “The King of Kings!” – He abdicates His throne so He can come behind me with a mop and bucket of forgiveness.

4. Without a genuine concern for true discipleship and holiness and righteousness, then Jesus is not King of my life, but I have relegated Him to be Custodian of my life.

5. We can find this attitude in people in other places.

a. Theater – Have you seen on the screen that says, “Trash receptacles are placed at the exits for your convenience”? No they aren’t. If they were for YOUR convenience then they would be right by YOUR chair – So you leave empty coke cups, popcorn boxes, and candy wrappers on the floor when you leave because someone will come along between showings and clean the theater for you.

b. Office – Have you ever left a mess where you work and catch yourself thinking, “Oh, the cleaning company will get later tonight”?

c. Home – How many kids and husbands leaves dirty laundry around the house or dirty dishes in the sink because Mom always picks up or cleans up?

d. Church – Following our worship service this morning, this auditorium will be cluttered with song books strewn about, torn up paper, attendance cares, and candy wrappers in pew – because “We have a cleaning crew that will put all the books away and pick up all the trash.”

6. Folks, this is the Lord’s house, and we should treat it in such a way that brings honor and glory to Him.

7. More importantly, YOU are the Lord’s house and you should show the place Jesus occupies in our life. Paul wrote in 1 Cor 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Don’t take the concept of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love for us and distort them to live the way we want, and if there is a problem, then you just call on Jesus to clean up any sin messes we have made.

8. As incredible and wonderful as forgiveness is – Jesus is not to be seen as my custodian to clean up the messes I have made. He is to be King of my life. The sacrifice of Jesus will not be exploited by those who do take not take discipleship seriously.

II. Forgiveness Does Not Reduce Christ’s LORDSHIP.

A. If Jesus is not Lord OF ALL, He is not Lord AT All.

1. What does it mean for Jesus to be Lord? – It means I am seriously seeking to follow Him and do His will.

a. He is not following me around with a broom and a dustpan – He is leading me where He wishes.

b. I’m not looking to Him to just clean up my messes – I’m looking to Him as the model for how I ought to live my life.

c. I’m not seeking to find rationalization for my sin, but seeking to overcome my sin.

d. And when I sin, I confess my sin before Him and seek His mercy and I believe that He forgives.

2. I take seriously my commitment to serve Him, not to attempt to make Him serve me.

B. Am I saying that we must live PERFECT lives to be forgiven?

1. Obviously not. If we could live perfect lives, we wouldn’t need forgiveness. But if you willfully live and sin as you please and do not earnestly pursue righteousness, godliness, and holiness, then don’t expect God’s grace to be there when you need it.

2. Forgiveness hinges upon the LORDSHIP of Jesus in our lives!

3. Rom 6:1-4 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Those who have been baptized were buried with Christ through baptism into His death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may be raised to live a new kind of life.

4. Now verse 5: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

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6. True disciples of Christ seek to live in such a way that overcomes sin. We know that we will still sin, but we are no longer slaves to that sin. We find righteousness through Christ Jesus.

7. Verses 11-18 – “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. ¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

8. 1 Jn 1:7-2:1 – How do we hold on to that righteousness? – “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. ^2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that YOU WILL NOT SIN. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

9. Johns says Jesus will forgive everyone who is united with Him in baptism, and who is genuinely seeking to SIN NO MORE! We cannot assume a lifestyle... an attitude... a pretense that says that sin doesn’t matter because Jesus will clean up any messes we make. We must let Jesus be LORD!

III. Forgiveness Does Not Remove Personal Responsibility.

1. Someone might say, “Look, this is just the way I am, you’d better learn to like it.” What they mean is they are not about to change the way they are. “Don’t expect me to bring under control their temper... lusts... language... material desires” – or anything that’s not Christ-like. That’s just how I am.

2. Romans 6 talked about WALKING IN NEWNESS OF LIFE – Newness comes from changing for the better.

3. Forgiveness does not allow me to point my finger in another direction and blame others for the problems and consequences in my life.

4. This is one of our society’s problem today – Too many play the Blame Game. No one’s responsible for their misdeeds or crimes – It’s all what has been done to them. Somebody somewhere abused or neglected them or didn’t treat them fairly or looked at them wrong.

5. Of all people who need to take responsibility for the weakness present in their lives it should be Christians.

a. Be honest – Admit, acknowledge, pray about, and go to work making the appropriate changes to bring your life into conformity with the image of Jesus Christ.

b. Forgiveness demands we face and deal with our own weaknesses and seek to become the kind of person Jesus would have us to be.

Is Jesus the KING of your life? Or is He the CUSTODIAN?

You may be saying at this point, “Noel, it sounds like you are saying there are strings attached to forgiveness?” Folks, all through the New Testament the answer is an emphatic YES! There are strings attached to forgiveness.

1. Confess – You must acknowledge that you have sin in your life. God forgives only broken and contrite hearts.

2. Repent – Seek to turn away from sin and live according to God’s will.

3. Baptism – The cleansing blood of Jesus is found only in the waters of baptism.

But it doesn’t stop there...

4. Lordship – The Lordship of Jesus must be evident – Life focuses on holiness and righteousness and dying to sin that you might be more like Jesus.

Only you and God really know for sure what place Jesus has in your heart.

1. Do you have Jesus – with the Armies of heaven behind Him – coming along behind you carrying a broom and dustpan? Don’t deceive yourself thinking Jesus will forgive a life like that. You need to repent and make him Lord and King of your life this morning.

2. When Jesus is in front of you leading you and showing you the way of discipleship, then forgiveness is an incredible and wonderful blessing for you.

3. Let’s sing this morning, “MAJESTY! Worship His majesty. Unto Jesus be all glory, honor and praise!” As we stand and sing.

Invitation Song - “Majesty”

College Church of Christ

Searcy, AR

Noel Whitlock