Jesus is No Kill Joy

In Matthew's Gospel, we read the words of Christ Jesus when he says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. A yoke is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs. I don't know why in the Christian life we fear giving God control.

I guess it's human nature for us to want to be in charge of our life and call the shots and to be the ramrod of our daily existence. But the sayings of Jesus always go against the grain of life. He speaks of forsaking all to follow him.

He says to hate father and mother and children and even ourselves, and to give him first place in our life. He talks about taking up a cross and denying ourselves if we want to be one of his followers. But I believe the most difficult saying of Jesus for most folks is this verse here in Matthew about taking his yoke.

Because to do that means giving up our freedom. That means placing us in servitude to another. That means an utter surrender to Jesus as Lord.

And we back away from that. We shrink away from it. Or we don't mind taking Jesus as our Savior.

But something inside us fights against yielding to him as Lord. If we're honest with ourselves, deep down, we think Jesus is a killjoy. And if we yield all to him, then it's like joining the Marines where we must submit to authority and our life is no longer our own.

Someone else is telling us what to do, and we fight against that. But I submit to you, friends, that Jesus is no killjoy. And embracing all he is by giving him all you are is true Christianity.

Give me your undivided attention, friends, as I bring this message before you today on his Lordship. The word Lord in the Greek is the word kurios, and it's jam-packed with rich meaning. First, it speaks of Jesus as Lord in the sense of a possessor of property.

Jesus as Lord, as an owner. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that for you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. And Jesus as Lord, as an owner over every blood-bought believer is a fact of scripture that you were bought with a price, and the price was his blood.

The Lord Jesus has rights and claims on all followers of his. Your body is not your own. Your money is not your own.

Your time is not your own. He must be a complete master. As master of the harvest, the Lord is a sovereign, have an absolute authority over it.

And if God conquers your stubborn will and saves you, then the Lord Jesus will reign in your life with absolute authority. That word Lord means he is supreme Lord over all things. He is head over all things to the church.

He is a supreme Lord who has dominion. He is a living Lord who is a sovereign of absolute authority. And every follower of his must have an utter committal to Christ as Lord.

Every weapon of your rebellion, friend, must be laid down in a full surrender at his now pierced feet. All you are must be in subjection to all he is, and he is Lord. His saviorship is found in his Lordship.

You cannot divide Jesus in half and choose the one you want. He must be Lord, or he one day be your judge. Jesus is no killjoy, and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.

A self-ruled life is one lived on a religious road to hell. Salvation means the kingdom of self must come to an end as self is dethroned and another enthroned there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you.

Did I mention, friend, that a former once told me that the bigger oxen shoulders more of the load? The Christian life is a exciting adventure of being in a vital union with a living Lord. Jesus is no killjoy, but true joy may be found in a vital love relationship with him. Don't be taken in, friend, with the false gospel of our day that talks about accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and says nothing about surrendering to Christ's absolute authority in your everyday living.

Don't be deceived by a perverted gospel that preaches another Jesus other than the living Lord of the Bible. His saviorhood cannot be separated from his Lordship. The Christ of the Bible is Lord, and he must reign in human hearts.

But some of you think Jesus is a killjoy because if you surrender to him, you will have to part ways with your most beloved sin. Well, guess what, friends? That's what true repentance is. And some of you would rather just take Jesus as a savior from hell, but you sure shouldn't.

Don't want him to be a savior from sin, your love of sin, and you love your sin, and you love yourself more than you love Jesus. So the idea of his Lordship is offensive to you. But if you want him, friend, then you must throw down your shotgun of rebellion and submit to all he is.

He is Lord. He is a sovereign living Lord who sits on a throne at the right hand of the Father, and all authority has been given to him. And he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

I'd care enough about your soul, friend, to inform you that accepting the Christ to relieve you of your sense of guilt without experimentally knowing him as a living Lord is a deception of the modern gospel that will merely give you a false hope of heaven that is nothing more than a hole in the wall. Jesus is Lord. Is he your Lord? Let us pray.