Sometimes we aren’t aware that we cheat ourselves out of much needed good guidance because we’re enamored with “echoes of our own voice” or other voices instead of the One voice that can help us most.

(1 Corinthians 8:4-6 NIV)  So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. {5} For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), {6} yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

A man was out on a practice golf course one day when the club pro brought another man out for a golf lesson. The pro watched the man swing several times and then started making suggestions for improvement. Each time the pro spoke, however, the student interrupted with his own version of what was wrong and how to correct it. After a few minutes of these repeated objections, the pro began to respond to the student by merely nodding his head in agreement. At the end of the lesson, the student paid the pro, congratulated him on his expertise as a teacher, and then left in an obviously pleased frame of mind.

The man who was watching all this was so astonished by it that he asked the pro why he went along with him. The pro responded, “I learned a long time ago that it’s a waste of time to try to sell answers to a man who wants to buy “echoes” of his own voice.”

Honestly, all of us need someone to guide us in our attempts to live well, but sometimes we aren’t aware that we cheat ourselves out of much needed good guidance because we’re enamored with “echoes of our own voice” or other lesser known voices instead of the one voice that can help us most.

I think we need direction in this life. We need a map. We need a compass! The primary person we turn to in our life is Jesus Christ!

The one Lord is Jesus Christ. “He is Lord of all.”

 (Acts 2:38 NIV)  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

(Acts 10:36 NIV)  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

(Romans 10:12 NIV)  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,

I think all of us here today believe these verses. I think we understand what they are teaching and are even willing to talk to others about them.

But do we really believe them?

No pope, prophet, teacher, editor, elder, preacher, reformer, president, or any other man has authority to act as Lord of the church.

• Jesus wants to be that voice.
• He offers to lead us, and most of us probably think he’s qualified to lead us, but still sometimes we don’t let him lead.
• Maybe we don’t believe it deeply enough or maybe we’re not be thoughtful enough about our lives to realize how often we listen to our own advice or others who say things we want to hear, instead of listening to him.
• Somehow we need to more consciously recognize that he’s qualified to do so.

The way Jesus seeks to convince us of his worthiness to lead us, is not by frightening us or by listing logical reasons why, but by demonstrating his authority.

Turn to Mark 1 and let’s notice a theme emphasized in Mark 1-5:

Authority to forgive sins.  He can look at you and me and say “you are OK” and we really are!

Through these real-life encounters, Jesus is showing us that he is worthy to be the leader of our lives, to be our lord.

The end of the story of Jesus the fact that He ultimately was raised from the dead, which is God’s sign of validation to the ministry and life of Jesus.

At the end of his life, another event even more powerfully demonstrated his worthiness to lead us: According to God’s plan he was executed but then God raised him from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not only extraordinarily remarkable, it is significant: it tells us who he is.

(Romans 1:4 NIV)  and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Romans 14:9 NIV)  For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

As His subjects, believers are unequivocally instructed…

 (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. {19} Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(John 20:28 NIV)  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

(Acts 2:22-36 NIV)  “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. {23} This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. {24} But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

{32} God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. {33} Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. {34} For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand {35} until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”‘ {36} “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

What we need to recognize in our hearts is Jesus is Lord.

• to live as He said: holy and righteous and pure, bearing the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21).
• to carry out His orders as one body (Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Cor. 12:5; Phil. 2:9-11).

The word “lord” sometimes means “sir,” but frequently is much stronger and more significant (Master of slaves, the Emperor of the Roman Empire, Nero (Acts 25:26), w/ religious connotations).

It indicates tremendous authority and we rightly call Jesus ‘Lord.”

But we also need to notice that, even though he is Lord of all, he didn’t conduct himself as an authoritarian. He told people the truth and called people to follow and obey, but he wasn’t harsh and demanding. He had credibility with people because of the quality & character of his own life, because the wisdom and truthfulness of his words, and because of his love for people.

This is a belief that matters. Eph. 4:5 lists “One Lord” as one of the truths that holds us together as God’s people. If we want to be a part of his church, we need to believe …

So the question is: Do you believe it? Do you believe Jesus is Lord.

Not just understand it or agree w/ it but believe it. Understanding of Jesus as One Lord could be measured by taking a doctrinal test but believing Jesus is the One Lord is measured by whether we let him lead our lives.

(Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. {22} Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ {23} Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

(Luke 6:46-49 NIV)  “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? {47} I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. {48} He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. {49} But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

(2 Timothy 2:19 NIV)  Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Probably the biggest challenge for us lies in the word “One.”  One Lord.

God’s people have always been susceptible to syncretism, mixing religions. We don’t reject Jesus and Christianity, we just water it down by adding elements of other religions. Essentially, we practice polytheism because, regardless of our doctrinal statements, we listen to and are guided by multiple lords.

Some of the key “other god,” rivals to Jesus as the One Lord, though they may not seem religious, are our feelings, our desires, our friends, our society.

We need to identify things like this that influence us and make sure we don’t allow them to be our leader (2 Cor. 8:4-6).  Are you ready for a test? It is going to be tough, I assure you.

1. Is Jesus lord of our attitude? Me & joy & praise. Setting ourselves up as the standard and arbiter for most everything. I don’t like this or that, we shouldn’t do this or that. So embedded in society that it’s difficult to see. Did we learn to take on this role from Jesus or from a rival lord? Doesn’t matter if it’s color and cheetos or soft drinks. We often made these evaluations after our morning worship: “I didn’t like that or I liked that” etc.” Where did  we get that? Did it come from Jesus?
2. Is Jesus lord of our relationships? Or are feelings allowed to reign. Bless those who persecute us, forgive those who do us wrong, work out matters between the 2 of us, not grumble against each other, have equal concern for all the parts of the body, confess our faults, work out your problems; serve one another in love.
3. Is Jesus lord of our sexuality? Or are the norms in our society, which conveniently fit our desires? According to the word of God, sexual relations are a gift from God, a wedding present, if you will, and are to be enjoyed exclusively with a person of the opposite gender that we are married to, our husband or our wife. Now that I’ve mentioned this, do you want to look around for a version of Christianity that doesn’t comment on our sexuality? Society wants to tell us how we should act in this matter…..in that case Jesus wouldn’t be lord. Essentially we can even find a religious group that agrees w/ my desires.
4. Does our diet of guidance and input indicate Jesus is lord? Who or what do we listen to and read most? Who/what guidance do we put most stock in? Oprah? She speaks according to New Age thinking!

Many advise us to listen to our hearts. Romans 1 says “our hearts are darkened1 (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV)  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Sometimes we are subtly led astray by making Christian books our main source instead of the Bible. Some have even made  the step away from the Bible and read a Reader’s Digest version!

Can you hear Jesus for yourself or do you require a guru? (there is room for teachers, but we can discern as well).

(1 John 2:20 NIV)  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

These are examples of the way we measure whether we genuinely believe Jesus is Lord.

A couple more things: the point here isn’t quite that Jesus is in charge so we gotta do what he says to do and not do what he says not to do. True, but a better way to grasp what is really going on is that he knows what he’s talking about—this is what’s best for us. Our leader knows better what we need than we do.

And 2^nd, if this kind of examination suggests we aren’t treating him as the One Lord, we can be forgiven. We really can, and we’d love to tell you more about that. At the same time, if we’re not treating him as our Lord, we do need to change, and that’s why I am calling our attention to it.

Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who got lost in an African jungle. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but bush and a few clearings. He finally managed to find a native hut and the man who lived it said he could get him out.

“All right,” said the missionary. “Show me the way.” The native said, “Walk.” So they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour. The missionary finally got worried. “Are you sure this is the way? Where is the path?” His native guide answered, “Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path.”

In the midst of the conflicting desires of our hearts, the confusing advice of our age, and the sometimes overwhelming perplexity about the direction of our lives, one credible voice still quietly pleads, “follow me.” If we believe Jesus is the One Lord, we will do so.