In this sermon, the speaker shares his experience of preaching the word of God to a group of young people who were part of a gospel beat group. Despite initial resistance from the elders and trustees of the church, the decision was left to the new minister, who decided to listen to the group play. The speaker admits that he didn't personally like the music, but recognized the opportunity to reach these young people with the gospel. He emphasizes the importance of sharing the message of Christ with those who may seem far from God, and highlights the need for Christians to boldly proclaim the truth in today's society.

Will you turn with me while I read just one or two verses in the 14th chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 14 verses 7 through 9. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. Our subject for these morning sessions, forgive the repetition, but I mention it merely for the sake of those who have joined us just today. Our subject for the morning sessions has been the challenge to every Christian to communicate Christ in the context of the 1960s and 70s. On Monday morning we began by considering the means of communication, our only hope for great revival in the moving and the incoming tide of the Spirit of God in each one of our lives. And then yesterday we thought about the method of communication, how this is going to be achieved by each one of us personally. And today I want to speak to you about the message we must communicate. And in a word, that message is the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Acclaimed in heaven, acknowledged in hell, rejected by the world, and alas, disputed in the church. God hasn't any problem with the devil. He thrashed him at Calvary, gave him the beating of his life. Defeated him entirely, stripped from himself principalities and powers and made his show of them openly. Satan is a defeated foe, but he won't lie down. God hasn't any problem with the devil. He hasn't any problem with the world. Be of good cheer, said Jesus to a little handful of his own. I have overcome the world. He has no problem with the world. But God has one tremendous problem. It's not with his enemies, but with his friends. It's to get those of us who know him and love him living happily and gladly and all together in accordance with his plan for each of our lives. Totally submitted to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. When that happens in a Christian life, the Holy Spirit goes into business. And that's desperately what we need to recover in this day, urgently. One of the remarkable things, if you think about it, of this century in which we live is that the form of government which we now know as democracy, government by the people, of the people, for the people, that principle of government which 60 years ago was hailed as the kind of thing that would bring in utopia, has it back to the wall. It's very interesting that one of the founders of the communist regime, Lenin, as part of his thesis on communism, said that it would be absurd folly to believe that the transition from capitalism to socialism can ever take place without dictatorship. And he was right. And today, as new countries emerge in Africa and in many different parts of the world, the order of the day is dictatorship. Which the communist regime is pleased to call a limited sovereignty. And that's the horror through which Czechoslovakia is going right now. And that interests me very much because the whole principle of Christian living is not democracy but dictatorship. Over and over again, Satan uses instruments and tools and steals from the Christian church the strategy of God. To accomplish his end. He knows perfectly well, for instance, that the worthwhileness of every movement depends upon its ability to mobilize its entire membership to propagate what it believes. That's why the church of the Latter Day Saints are having a millennium. That's why Islam is on the upsurge. That's why Jehovah's Witnesses are moving fast. We went to Edinburgh from Chicago about six years ago. Within six months of our being there, we were visited twice by Mormons, twice by Jehovah's Witnesses, once by moral rearmament but never by anybody from a recognized Protestant church. And time and time again, Satan produces his counterfeit. And Satan knows that the answer to this world is dictatorship. And the gospel is declaring that as the answer. The strategy of redemption for each one of us is the acknowledgement of dictatorship. Not the ugly thing that we have come to understand by that word. Not the Belsen of Hitler. Not the concentration camps. But the wonderful freedom of slavery to Jesus Christ. And so I want to talk to you this morning, the Lord helping me, about what place he has in your life. Some years ago, many years ago actually, I had a small car which I bought. It was the kind of car I don't get into, I put it on. I spent about fifty dollars for it. It had eight horsepower, but four of the horses had died long before I got it. It was quite a remarkable car. I came to good terms with it, except in cold weather. However, the procedure of starting that vehicle was quite fantastic. It had of course the self-starter, but which wouldn't work on a cold morning. And therefore, as a substitute, it had on the dashboard a handle labeled choke. And in order to start the car, it was essential that you pull out that handle and hold it out, because it wouldn't start automatically. Now when the self-starter wouldn't work, there was provided for you under the driver's seat, a long starting handle, about this long. And the technique was that you had to go round to the front of the car and push this handle right into the motor until it connected with the crankshaft, and then begin to turn the engine. Never to this day have I understood how the designers of that vehicle thought that anybody on earth could with one hand... You know how quick you are. I was just thinking it out. Could with one hand hold out this choke, and with the other hand get round to the front and begin cranking. It was a sheer impossibility. So the only thing I could do on a cold morning was to get my wife out from the washing and say to her, would you mind coming and sitting here in this car a minute and holding this handle while I went round to the front and crank it. And as I did that, as we did that together, eventually four of the horses began to stagger to life, and with a tremendous noise it began. And then having got it started, I got into the driver's seat and said to my good wife, now thank you very much, that's all, you can go returning to the washing. It would have been absolutely futile and disastrous if I had suggested to her that she kept one hand on the choke, and if she liked to she could have another hand on the steering wheel, and she could put her foot on the clutch, while I had a hand on the wheel and a foot on the brake and another on the accelerator. Within a few seconds we would have met with disaster. There was only one secret of that car successfully going along the road. It was if one person was in control. Now there's only one secret of the Christian life, and that is where there's one person in control. And what I'm wanting to, I'm praying that as I speak to you today, I may just get right through into your heart, and ask you, as the Holy Spirit may ask you, listen, when the chips are down, I mean when after a Sunday you've, forgive me, but you've sort of turned off the spiritual tap, and when the Monday comes you turn on the secular tap, who is in control? Really, when it comes to it, is Jesus Christ Lord or isn't he? Now nobody is going to hand over his life to the sovereignty of another, unless he's satisfied that the one who, to whom he's to hand it over, has adequate claim, which substantiates the fact that he is able for any situation. May I therefore, just for a moment, speak to you concerning the claims of Jesus Christ, the Lordship. Whatever you or I may say about it, God has put Jesus on the throne. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make all thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110. The writer to the Hebrews, begins his letter, by saying that God hath spoken to us in these last days in his Son, who being the outshining of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. So Jesus is on the throne, far above all, the head of all principality and power. I just pause a minute, because I marvel at this, you know. It never worries me unduly, it concerns me, but it doesn't worry me, what may happen in Peking, or Hanoi, or Washington, or Moscow, or London, or Paris. Not one of them can lift a little finger without permission of Jesus, who's on the throne. And that brings a tremendous sense of comfort to my heart this morning. Yes, God has put him on the throne. He's back where he belongs. But if I was to ask you, what are his claims to sovereignty, I'd have to go much further than that. I'd have to go for the supreme claim of sovereignty to the cross. He's on the throne, because he bled on a cross. Do you remember this passage of scripture, which I have before me here, Philippians chapter 2? I think this is the most wonderful description of a ladder down which he came, and a ladder up which he climbed, as he came down from the throne and went back to it. May I just read and comment very briefly, because here, above everywhere in the Bible, are stated the claims of Jesus Christ, which make our dispute, and our argument, and our contesting his right to reign and rule in our lives, so utterly fantastic, that this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, that doesn't mean just being like God, like you may say your child is the image of his father, not that. Being in the form of God, the very nature of God. Oh yes, he was there from all eternity, as we heard. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's Jesus. None of us would ever imagine that he just began to live at Bethlehem. Before the world was, he was God on the throne. Being in the form of God. He counted it not a thing to be grasped after, to be equal with God. But, he made himself of no reputation. The literal translation is, he emptied himself. He emptied himself of his majesty, of his glory. He forsook all his rights. His right to the worship of heaven. His right to the throne of God. His right, why, to the highest place, that heaven abhors. Which was his by sovereign right. He forsook it. He counted it not a thing to be grasped after, to be equal with God. And he emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant. A servant, may I ask, to whom? Well, he was the servant of Jehovah. I delight to do thy will, O God. He was the one who'd come to fulfill the will of God in his life. He was a servant of Jehovah. But he wasn't only a servant of Jehovah, he was a servant of man. Even the son of man is come, not to be ministered unto, but to minister. And to give his life a ransom for many. And do you remember that amazing occasion in the life of our Lord Jesus? I marvel at it. When one day the disciples had come into a home, and as the custom was, for a slave to be prepared. When they came from the dusty road, to be prepared with a basin of water, to wipe their feet. No slave being available. And the disciples not having learned humility, Jesus did it for them. He took a towel, he laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and washed their feet. He laid aside his gums, he laid aside his lorries, and took a towel, the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Just as he had been in the likeness of God, he was now in the likeness of men. He wasn't praying at being a man, he was a man. He wasn't praying at being a servant, he wasn't a servant. He was like God, he became like man. Made in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He chose a poor home. He only had a borrowed tomb. He owned no property, nothing. He humbled himself. And it always seems to be in a principle, that that's the kind of person, that Jesus uses, and takes. He doesn't put up with it, he chooses it. Not many wise, not many mighty, but he chooses to humble. And he humbled himself. And he became obedient, obedient, unto death. Even the death, of the cross. And now he's got to the bottom of the ladder. See, he was in the form of God at the top. And step by step down he came. Made himself, of no reputation. The form of a servant, the likeness of men. Humbled himself, and became obedient, unto death. Even the death of the cross. He says of himself, in that wonderful messianic psalm, I became a worm, and no man. A worm. God, man, worm. That's Jesus. That's my savior. My wonderful Lord. He humbled himself. He came, down that ladder, to the very bottom. And, put obedience back, where it belongs. Even though it meant, the death, of the cross. Now watch the steps he took up. Three mighty leaps, and he's back, where he was. Wherefore, God hath highly exalted him. Notice, he humbled himself, he didn't exalt himself. He could have done. But God exalted him. Oh, he could have done it, at any moment. In the garden, where his sweat, was it were, great drops of blood, falling to the ground, as he fought, tooth and nail, with the devil, to do the will of God. He could have called, upon a legion of angels, that had been there, and he could have exalted himself. But just stop, for a minute, and let this sink, into your heart. He wasn't interested, in getting back to heaven, without you, and without me. Satan's strategy, from the beginning of history, until the moment, Jesus cried, it is finished. Satan's strategy was, keep him from the cross. And, if you read the Old Testament, with that in mind, what a thrilling book it is. How nearly, the devil succeeded. You read the book of Esther again, where the name of God, is never mentioned, but where he, nearly succeeded, in keeping Jesus, from the cross, and wiping out, the whole Jewish race. Satan's strategy, was to keep Jesus, from the cross. He was wanting, all the time, that heaven, let me say this carefully, that heaven, should be, an empty warehouse, in which, God would walk, up and down, for all eternity, and weep, and acknowledge, he was beaten, because he hadn't found, anybody to do his will. He hadn't placed, obedience back, where it was, and God was beaten. And Satan, fought tooth and nail, to keep Jesus, from Calvary. Obedience, unto death. Say, since the Calvary road, he took, what do you think, Satan's trying to do now? Stop everybody, from hearing. That's his motto now, and how well, he's succeeding. Just keep people, from hearing, the truth, the glory, of redemption. Not only, in heathen lands, where the name, is never heard, but in university campuses, and colleges, and all over the country, in a secularized, civilization of today, how few, have really heard. No, Jesus wouldn't, exalt himself, but I tell you, that God's, answer to Calvary, was to get hold, of his son, and raise him from a tomb, from the grave, to a mighty resurrection, from the grave, to the sky, in a mighty ascension, to the grave, from the grave, to the throne, in heaven, in a mighty session, where he sits, at God's right hand. God, has, highly, exalted him. What a leap, he took. Oh, my friend, I get excited. You know, that always amuses me, what a fuss they're making, about getting to the moon. Must be, spending billions of dollars, or so they are, but, mind you, it's very clever. Very, very clever, brilliant. Oh, but my, what a lot of money it's taking, what an effort, what a fun little machine, going, going to one day, land on the moon, so to say. My, I tell you, there's coming a day, when you and I, will bypass the moon. We'll bypass the lot, stars, sun, everything, and we'll land right up, in glory, with our wonderful Lord. And that day, is coming very soon. For God, has exalted him, and having done that, he's given him a name. A name, which is above every name. And, as a drunken, thought of a sailor, once wrote, when he became, a minister, of the Church of England, how sweet the name, of Jesus sounds. In a believer's ears, it soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fears. He gave him a name. And it wasn't as if, there's any magic in the name, because there isn't. But God was making it known, with an unmistakable act, of resurrection, of Jesus, from the dead, to the throne, that this, is the kind of life, the character, that God exalts. And only that kind of life. The one that's been obedient, unto death. My beloved son, in whom, I am well pleased. And God, gave him a name, which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Hitler's knee, Stalin's knee, every knee, every knee in all the world, in all time, should bow. And acknowledge him, as Lord. For the glory of God, the Father. Well, my dear friend, very inadequately, that's the claim, that Jesus has to Lordship. That's the kind of life, that God has taken up, from the grave, and put upon the highest throne, and all the universe. And what do you think, he's done it for? I'll tell you why. He's done it, in order, that a 20th century society, which has committed itself, to lawlessness, where all authority, at every level, is rejected. Where everything's right. Where we have, situational ethics, where any kind of, sexual intercourse, outside the marriage tie, is not only legitimate, but encouraged. Where, if you don't do that, you're called a square, and not with it, in a society like that. God has put Jesus, on the throne, in order, that through a new humanity, of which he is head, that is through you, and me. He may demonstrate, to this society, that you can't find happiness, that way. That you can't find release, that way. That you can't find peace, that way. That you can only find peace, through the sovereignty of Christ, expressed, through your life. God has put Jesus, on the throne, and put obedience back, where it ought to be. And obedience has been fulfilled, by Jesus, not for his own pleasure, not for his own goodness, but in order that he may, have a channel, have a life, have hands and feet, and brains, and heart, and body, who will express, that obedience, today. And declare, to men and women, fellows and girls, that the only way of, victory, and happiness, and peace, is in the sovereignty of Christ. The tragedy, of our salvation. I, some years ago, in Edinburgh, had a very exciting time, actually. When I arrived, I found the church, in a bit of a ferment, because, the young people, had started, a gospel beat group. Do you know what that is? A beat group, that plays, gospel tunes, gospel songs, music, words, to beat music. And the young people, thought they were wonderful. The elders and trustees, however, every hair stood on end, and were horrified. And, they banned it. And the young people, wouldn't have it banned. And so, they mutually decided, that they would leave the decision, to the new minister, when he arrived. So, I arrived, on the volcano. And, they said, it's up to you, to make the decision. I got this beat group together, eight fellows and a girl, and I listened to them play. I confess to you, that I didn't like their music. But I said to myself, I don't believe this has any, saving power, but I think it's got a lot of, drawing power. So I said to the church, we're going to give these, fellows and girls, an opportunity of a lifetime. And we're going to take, the largest restaurant, in Edinburgh, with a ballroom. That isn't a place where babies cry, but a place where people, normally dance. And in that ballroom, we're going to put about, forty or fifty tables, of twelve, holding twelve each. And, every Saturday night, for as long as we can get this place, we're going to pack it, with young people. Hippies, university students, college graduates, all sorts. And I said to them, now before you think, this is absolutely, of the devil, you older folk, I've heard you sing, every Sunday, at Charlotte Chapel, and almost lift the roof. I've heard you sing, would you be free, from your burden of sin, there's power in the blood, power in the blood. What's that? Victorian dancehall music. That's all. Beat, of the nineteenth century. Beat of the twentieth century, may be further off being, but it's the same principle. You know, we went into that restaurant, and from the first night, we had to stop people coming in. Packed, the most extraordinary looking youngsters, in all my life. I'd never seen any crowd like them, I didn't know, whether they were fellows or girls. And for one hour, we ate in, we, I was going to say, endured, beat music. And they sang, and played, and spoke, and gave their testimony. And we had a good, Scottish high tea, if you don't know what that is, ask the principal, he'll tell you. Good Scottish high tea. And then, we showed a film, Moody's Signs film. And after that, which lasted about an hour, Dust and Destiny, and films like that, I stood up, and gave about ten minutes, straight from the shoulder, and from the heart, gospel. Without using the language of Canaan, but telling them what basic Christianity was all about. I tell you, I'd have given all my life, to have in my church on Sundays, an audience like that. They listened with their eyes, and mouths, and ears wide open. They'd never heard it before. They didn't know about Jesus. I went up to twelve of them, and sat alongside them. And, I said to one of them, I didn't know whether he was a fellow or a girl, but he turned out to be a fellow, by his voice. I said, I said, tell me, this was about the fifth week we'd done this, I said, why do you folk come in here every night? And he said, well, I don't know. He said, that's a funny thing, we're just asking ourselves that. And he said, we've all decided, it's because you bother about us. I said, bother about you? Don't your mum and dad bother about you? Oh, he said, no, they go to bingo every night. Bingo parties, dancing, shows, and they say to us, go and whip it up. Last Wednesday night, he said, I came home, with my young brother. We'd been out till three o'clock in the morning, we'd come back with a lot of loot, shoplifting. A policeman came up in a car, and he said, where are you going? He said, we're just going home. He said, come on, hop in, I'll give you a lift. So we got in. He didn't ask us what we'd got in our pocket. He took us home. He knocked on the door. And my mother came to the door, and she was absolutely mad. Hopping mad. Not with us, but with him. The policeman. For waking her up. And she said to him, whose kids are these anyway? Yours or mine? The policeman said, well, he said, they're not mine, they must be yours. She said, alright. Listen, if they want to live like the devil, you let them. And banged the door into the policeman's face. And then this fellow said to me, why do you bother about us? What an in for the gospel. These people, who we think are a way out on left beams, right away, they don't know a thing about Christ. And we have to come crashing, crashing through society today, unashamed, with the tremendous truth that it's in submission to the authority and the lordship and the sovereignty of Jesus that you can find fulfillment. And before I'd left Charlotte Chapel, I'd married three of those couples who'd got themselves cleaned up and straightened out. I tell you today, people are not so far away from him as we think. But they wait. They wait for somebody to care. And they wait for people in whose lives there is no question regarding the sovereignty of Jesus. Now I've stated his claims to sovereignty. I want to ask you, pressing the matter a bit closer, what are the implications of that sovereignty in my heart? My will is not my own until I make it thine. It cannot reach the monarch's throne until itself resides. I think in life's alarm when by myself I stand. Imprison me within thine arms and strong shall be my hand. Therefore, the sovereignty of Christ means for you exactly what it meant for him. For him to be Lord now, how different he is because he's a man on the throne in heaven. Flesh and blood with the marks of nails on the cross upon him. And for him to be Lord it meant entire submission. And for you and me it means exactly the same. It means what it meant to him that from the moment I become a Christian I forsake all my rights except my one right, my one demand that I will never let go and that is to do the will of God. And I'm telling you that Satan will fight you as he fought Jesus tooth and nail on that one issue. Don't you tell me that you can have Christ as your saviour and then when it's convenient you can make him Lord. That's not in my Bible. Have you ever been able to answer this question satisfactorily to yourself? I haven't. Jesus asked it. Why do you call me Lord and don't do what I tell you? I've no answer to that. That silences me. Have you any answer? I tell you if you were saved at the moment of your conversion Jesus was Lord. Can you recall when you were converted? Forty years ago. You know friend I sometimes ask myself I find myself asking it more frequently indeed today. Have I ever had such a spiritual moment as I had right then? Oh my when he came I knew my need I knew my heart I just was at the end of my rope. I knew I needed him desperately for forgiveness and cleansing and for creating in me a clean heart and for saving me. Oh God there was no other alternative and I just came to him as I was. I had nothing single reserve or qualification it wasn't just a snap decision coming down a line and signing a card it was in a pub in the northern England. That's where I met Jesus. But I tell you there were no reservations whether on yours when you were saved. The day you came to Christ tell me you didn't say well now I'll just try it out. You came because you knew you were a sinner and you needed cleansing and he came and he was Lord at that moment. But I trembled as I think of the many times since then when I have resisted his sovereignty. Oh yes. Of his kingdom there shall be no end said the angel as she announced to Mary the coming birth of Jesus and what is true prophetically is true experimentally. Of his sovereignty there's no limit and right to the day when I get through the pearly gates by the grace of God right to the day the devil will fight me and thrash me and defeat me or try to on that one issue for he knows perfectly well that the moment I refuse the will of God on anything the Holy Spirit goes out of business. Satan's enemy is the spirit of God not you not me but the spirit of God that lives in us. That's why you and I are the battlefield and Satan attacks on that one thing all the time and if I say no on any issue and friend I'm telling you forty years after my conversion I could end my life absolutely useless and bankrupt and helpless and lose everything except my soul because I said no to Jesus some temptation which I thought I have overcome thirty years ago can even today launch an overwhelming counter attack and if I don't submit to his power it will go down creatures in hell don't you tell me any of you there's any quick shortcut recipe for holiness you know I believe in a second blessing yes I do because I believe in a third and I believe in a fourth and a fifth and a million blessings but I tell you holiness is a battle or a victory but it's a battle all the time on a different area you first I I wouldn't be surprised if we were prepared to be honest if there are people here would tell me that even today even today before this hour Satan was at you attacking you in regard to your relationship to Christ and Satan is always challenging us on this one thing it means submission that means I've given up all my rights would you just take a minute with me quickly look how the apostle Paul faced this in his own life 1 Corinthians chapter 9 this church I don't want to launch into another sermon but I just want to say this to you this church which was so boastful about it's gifts even speaking in tongues that was the most carnal church of the whole New Testament was disputing the authority of Paul to preach to them 1 Corinthians chapter 9 chapter 9 verse 3 says my answer to those who examine me in other words my my qualification for apostleship is this haven't I got power to eat and drink in other words haven't I got the right to normal ration verse 5 haven't I got power to lead about a sister a wife haven't I got a right to normal romance verse 6 I only and Barnabas haven't I got power to forbear working haven't I got power haven't I got a right to normal recreation verse 11 if you've sown unto you spiritual things it is a great thing we shall eat carnal things haven't I got a right to normal remuneration I've got a right to a lot of them but verse 15 I have used none of these things none of them for Jesus sake though I preach the gospel I've nothing to glory of necessity is laid upon me woe is me if I preach not the gospel listen you've got a perfect right to normal ration normal food have you ever forsaken a meal for Christ really have you really just given up one meal so that you may really seek the face seek the face of God in prayer and hold on till God meets you have you really ever in your life had a day of fasting no you've a perfect right to normal ration you've a right to normal romance emphasis on normal two years ago a girl came up to me after a morning service street girl held out her left hand didn't say anything to me but on it I looked at once was a diamond I knew her and she was a fine Christian girl I knew I knew the fellow she was going to marry as a matter of fact I watched it develop preachers see it more from a pulpit than most people imagine and I saw and that day didn't surprise me and I said well praise the Lord I'm so thankful we talked about her wedding four months later she came back again and held out her hand this time there was no diamond I said what happened oh she said nothing I said nothing that must be the understatement of the century and then she broke down her heart had been broken you know what she said to me I've become increasingly conscious that God wants me on the mission field and God has made it perfectly clear to my fiancé that he wants him at home therefore does it right to normal romance and by the way fifteen months ago I saw her on the mission field and she said to me I'd rather be unmarried in the will of God and happy than married out of the will of God and miserable I should add to be fair this postcript I mean I for these things I somehow felt that there's a possibility of that situation ending fairly soon as a matter of fact subsequently I understand it has ended but that girl was tested to the limit a right to normal romance you have a right to normal romance you have a right to marry a fellow who's a Christian you have a right to marry a girl who's a Christian normal romance you have no right to marry a fellow or a girl who isn't but you have a right to normal romance but that won't be long my friend in the Christian life before God begins to put you to the test and say who do you love most oh yes you have a right to normal recreation sure 15 months ago a bit more I flew into the Central Africa Republic I went to a little place called Bambuti I don't suppose you ever heard of it way beneath the Sudan border 3 miles 35,000 Sudanese refugees just chucked out by NASA because they weren't Muslim never seen such squalor, misery that any people could live in hopeless the Africa inland mission had sent into that town are you listening? two girls I said quietly they hadn't any men two girls and my wife and I went there and saw it all say do you like a day off a week? so do I do you like nice shops? so do I like nice clothes? so do I perfect right to that they hadn't a shop they didn't care about clothes they didn't care about anything but pocket money the one thing they were concerned about was being among 35,000 people and they had one desire with no rival and that is to win them for Christ came out of that absolutely humiliated as we thought of their concentration and compared it with ours and we'd never seen two people so happy in the will of God perfect right to normal recreation we flew in from Nairobi with Gordon Marshall senior pilot of MAF Missionary Aviation Territory tremendous organization 700 mile flight 8,000 feet bumped about like a cork in a one-engine Cessna plane two stops questioned over radio what right has he to fly over Brazzaville territory constantly in communication with people who wanted to know what title he had to fly when he landed first thing he did get out his New Testament spoke to people who met us in the national town took orders for missionary shopping at the end of the day after a weary day checking his engine filling it up with gas he came to bed I shared the room in which he slept at a place called Oboe at 11 o'clock at night that man was on his knees with his open Bible for an hour at 5 o'clock the next morning he was up dressed, shaved on his knees again for an hour and off for the next leg of the flight a missionary aviation fellowship pilot is a navigator pilot, missionary shopper radio officer engineer, everything but above all a missionary that man listen is a South African could be flying a Boeing jet for South African Airways and earning $35,000 a year instead of which he's getting pocket money from MAF why? because Jesus is sovereign because people are lost and because he cares because he has no rights except to do the will of God I say that sovereignty of Christ demands that they never get you to Central Africa never take you overseas but in your life right now right now my friend when you listen to me may the Holy Spirit thrust it into your heart in the right your home your heart right now is Jesus on the throne seven days a week or is he crucified afresh you can choose your own master I have no right to press a choice upon you and I'm not going to except the right to choose you can turn the whole thing aside but listen to me if I never said anything to a congregation I would wish I would wish this could be my last word to you what you have no right to do is to wear the uniform of one master and do the bidding of another the New Testament makes no provision for that know ye enough that to whom ye give yourselves servants to obey his servants you are whom you obey well are you Christ or the devil God or your own submission now my time is gone but I want just to say that this submission will lead to a lifetime of obedience obedience it meant submission for Christ it means submission for you it meant obedience unto the cross to him it means obedience for you unquestioned obedience not everyone that saith to me Lord shall enter into the kingdom but he that doeth the will of my Father see a new humanity of men and women redeemed by God indwelled by the Spirit controlled by the Spirit through whose lives the obedience of Jesus is being revealed and who are rejoicing in the thrill of liberty in submission to Christ a lifetime of obedience after a Sunday sermon once oh how it shook me a businessman came up to me very wealthy man just by his dress well said to me this I listened to you this morning first time I've been in church for ten years everything you said to me today was real in my life twenty years ago it lived to me then but he said I have a big business I have three hundred men under me I get to work everyday at six I'm never home till ten my kids have grown up without ever knowing the Father my wife has had to handle it all and he said it's been a colossal success I'm a millionaire many times over now but I shall never forget the break in his voice when he said to me and you'll excuse me quoting exactly but oh my God what a price I've paid obedience once living once rejoicing in Christ once now out of touch saved oh but useless impotent powerless carnal my friend this question is not settled at a conference it's settled in your life moment by moment as you obey him and my final word from which I will continue this evening God willing and God helping me is just this the claims to the Lordship of Christ the implication of the Lordship of Christ oh much more had I time the application of the Lordship of Christ in my life listen perhaps you failed to understand or perhaps you didn't know that the crowning of Christ as undisputed sovereign opens your heart to the fullness of the power of the Spirit of God in your life in order that he may come within you and as he is on the throne he administers the kingdom of God in you you can't keep it up but he can keep you up and if Jesus Christ is Lord then the Holy Spirit is in business in business in order that he may make the Lordship of Christ a reality every day of your life and what a wonderful wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart I close with an illustration which I heard from my good friend John Pritchard there's a book written called Churchill's War Memoirs and in it there's one volume Britain's Finest Hour tells a story these are maybe not complete facts but basic facts of how in the Battle of Britain when we were all on our own there was a little air force base in a town in south east England and if you'd gone into that air force base that night you'd have seen six pilots and six gunners of a fighter plane sitting smoking and sipping coffee they hadn't had their clothes off for about a couple of weeks they were dirty bleary eyes exhausted all that were left of a whole squadron the rest had been shot down six planes six gunners six pilots suddenly there came across the intercom a message from air force headquarters enemy approaching over the channel estimated strength five hundred immediately coffee down cigarettes up dash to the plane one man stops just in time to send a message back message received and understood and six planes were in the air we deal with five hundred obedience it was taken for granted wasn't in question it was total war my friend my dear dear friend listen wake up we are in total war we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritualities and powers and heavenly places it's total war and the only thing you can't fight you can't win a war if you fight with a limited objective called Vietnam chaos I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong I'm only saying you can't win a war like that if you only want to sort of keep people quiet while the enemy wants to push you into the sea the answer is defeat disaster you can only fight a spiritual war if you have an unlimited objective all the will of God nothing less nothing else nothing more in my life message received and understood let us pray