1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,240 If I could choose one man who has 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,080 influenced me more than any other for Christ, 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,020 it would have to be Dr. Stephen F. 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:12,500 Alford. 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,440 He was my homiletical mentor, colleague, and friend. 6 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,140 He taught me how to have a daily 7 00:00:20,140 --> 00:00:21,340 devotional life. 8 00:00:21,460 --> 00:00:25,020 He taught me how to preach expository sermons. 9 00:00:25,260 --> 00:00:27,120 He taught me about revival. 10 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,580 But most importantly, friends, he taught me the 11 00:00:30,580 --> 00:00:34,220 value of the doctrine of the Lordship of 12 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:37,680 Christ, that to live a life of victory 13 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,440 in Christ, then Christ must rule and reign 14 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,300 upon the throne of the heart, where he 15 00:00:44,300 --> 00:00:48,240 is dominant there, that the old man may 16 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:49,180 be dormant. 17 00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:53,140 I believe a story about Stephen Alford best 18 00:00:53,140 --> 00:00:54,420 typifies him. 19 00:00:54,740 --> 00:00:57,860 It occurred while he was pastor of Calvary 20 00:00:57,860 --> 00:01:00,420 Baptist Church in New York City. 21 00:01:01,140 --> 00:01:02,660 He just got back in town. 22 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:06,120 He was in a taxi from the airport, 23 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,700 and the cab driver had a unique accent 24 00:01:09,700 --> 00:01:11,240 of being a Jamaican. 25 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,420 The cab driver asked him, Hey mon, what 26 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:16,900 kind of work are you in? 27 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,600 Stephen Alford replied that he was a minister 28 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:21,520 of the gospel. 29 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,240 The cabbie looked surprised and said, Oh mon, 30 00:01:26,620 --> 00:01:29,920 how can you, a man like that, live 31 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,520 in such a wicked place like New York 32 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:33,020 City? 33 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,600 Dr. Alford said, I see by your accent 34 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,360 that you are from Jamaica. 35 00:01:40,060 --> 00:01:43,860 Do you recall the beautiful lily that grows 36 00:01:43,860 --> 00:01:44,860 on that island? 37 00:01:45,420 --> 00:01:49,460 Oh, yes, mon, that white lily grows in 38 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:52,980 the strangest place, in a black bog. 39 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,940 Then Stephen Alford replied, My good man, that's 40 00:01:57,940 --> 00:02:02,100 my case, for I am a lily in 41 00:02:02,100 --> 00:02:02,780 a bog. 42 00:02:04,340 --> 00:02:07,780 One thing I learned from Stephen Alford, friends, 43 00:02:08,020 --> 00:02:10,920 was that if you're going to be a 44 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:13,620 lily in the bog, then you must live 45 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:16,920 a life of holiness unto God, and the 46 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:20,080 only way to do that is to be 47 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,420 surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in the 48 00:02:23,420 --> 00:02:24,500 daily life. 49 00:02:24,860 --> 00:02:28,400 I really believe, friends, that the primary reason 50 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:33,000 we have such lawlessness in our churches today 51 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,540 is that we have quit preaching the doctrine 52 00:02:36,540 --> 00:02:38,600 of the Lordship of Christ. 53 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,780 Can you remember, friend, when the last time 54 00:02:41,780 --> 00:02:45,140 was you heard a sermon on the Lordship 55 00:02:45,140 --> 00:02:45,880 of Christ? 56 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,320 Preachers in former days knew the importance of 57 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,040 this doctrine and the power of it. 58 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:57,260 Men like Mordecai Ham made the Lordship of 59 00:02:57,260 --> 00:03:01,360 Christ his main message, and he witnessed powerful 60 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,280 revivals in every city he visited. 61 00:03:04,820 --> 00:03:08,240 Listen to his own words from his biography. 62 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:14,140 I preached the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ. 63 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,220 I allowed for no compromise, but hammered this 64 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:22,540 one thought that Christ must have first place, 65 00:03:22,980 --> 00:03:25,320 first call, and first allegiance. 66 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,440 I made that the keynote of all my 67 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,080 meetings. 68 00:03:29,340 --> 00:03:33,160 My objective has always been to enter a 69 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,600 town and change the thinking of the residents 70 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,360 toward Christ to direct their lives to center 71 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:41,520 on Christ. 72 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:46,540 Well my message today, friends, is entitled, A 73 00:03:46,540 --> 00:03:49,200 Lily in the Bog, and it is my 74 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,880 prayer that you will consider it and that 75 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,140 the Spirit of God will make it a 76 00:03:55,140 --> 00:03:58,780 reality in your life so that when others 77 00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:01,740 look at you, they will see Jesus. 78 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,020 I'm going to share with you today, friends, 79 00:04:05,140 --> 00:04:07,380 what Stephen Oford taught me. 80 00:04:08,020 --> 00:04:11,600 Let's examine what the Lordship of Christ means 81 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,440 in the life of a believer. 82 00:04:14,220 --> 00:04:17,339 In all of Scripture, we see that Jesus 83 00:04:17,339 --> 00:04:18,180 is Lord. 84 00:04:18,459 --> 00:04:22,100 Right now, he sits at the right hand 85 00:04:22,100 --> 00:04:24,600 of the Father, and he earned that right 86 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,300 by way of a bloody cross. 87 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,060 He is a living Lord. 88 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,620 The Lordship of Christ boils down to the 89 00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:37,120 rightful place of the Holy Spirit in our 90 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:37,720 life. 91 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:41,740 We receive the Holy Spirit at the time 92 00:04:41,740 --> 00:04:44,960 of our conversion, but many of us do 93 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,380 not understand the meaning of the fullness of 94 00:04:49,380 --> 00:04:50,440 the Holy Spirit. 95 00:04:50,700 --> 00:04:54,620 We must realize it is possible for the 96 00:04:54,620 --> 00:04:58,220 Holy Spirit to be present without being president, 97 00:04:58,660 --> 00:05:02,760 to be dormant without being dominant, to be 98 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,900 resident without reigning. 99 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,860 Our Bible informs us that the Holy Spirit 100 00:05:08,860 --> 00:05:13,980 can be quenched and grieved in a believer's 101 00:05:13,980 --> 00:05:17,760 life through sin, but when sin is exposed 102 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,560 and self is executed, the Holy Spirit can 103 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:26,260 fill to overflowing and anoint with authority and 104 00:05:26,260 --> 00:05:26,940 power. 105 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,900 The Spirit-filled life is central to the 106 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:32,260 Lordship of Christ. 107 00:05:32,740 --> 00:05:37,120 Ephesians 5.18 commands us to be filled 108 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,620 with the Holy Spirit and be not drunk 109 00:05:40,620 --> 00:05:44,700 with wine wherein is excess, but be filled 110 00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:46,080 with the Spirit. 111 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:49,260 There is a cross reference to this in 112 00:05:49,260 --> 00:05:54,020 my Bible over in 2 Corinthians 3.17 113 00:05:54,020 --> 00:05:58,760 which states, Now the Lord is that Spirit, 114 00:05:59,420 --> 00:06:01,220 and where the Spirit of the Lord is, 115 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:02,580 there is liberty. 116 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,400 When I understood this principle, friends, it gave 117 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,600 me freedom in my life. 118 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:12,020 This can be understood where the Spirit is 119 00:06:12,020 --> 00:06:15,860 Lord, that is, where He is given His 120 00:06:15,860 --> 00:06:19,700 true deity and sovereignty, there is liberty. 121 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:23,900 I believe, friends, that if you can grasp 122 00:06:23,900 --> 00:06:27,180 this message today and allow the Holy Spirit 123 00:06:27,180 --> 00:06:30,740 to have His rightful place in your life, 124 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:34,480 then you will experience change in regard to 125 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,600 living victoriously for Christ. 126 00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:41,740 There is power and liberty in the doctrine 127 00:06:41,740 --> 00:06:44,920 of the fullness of the Holy Spirit in 128 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,500 the life of a believer who is willing 129 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:51,900 to bow daily and hourly to the sovereignty 130 00:06:51,900 --> 00:06:55,800 and Lordship of Christ and to the authority 131 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,260 of the Word. 132 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,320 I like what R. 133 00:06:59,400 --> 00:06:59,540 A. 134 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,860 Torrey used to tell his students at Moody 135 00:07:02,860 --> 00:07:05,040 Bible School in Chicago. 136 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:08,860 He said, If you want more of the 137 00:07:08,860 --> 00:07:12,480 Holy Spirit, then He must have more of 138 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:12,940 you. 139 00:07:13,540 --> 00:07:16,140 That's the key, friends, to a life of 140 00:07:16,140 --> 00:07:19,780 victory under the Lordship of Christ Jesus. 141 00:07:20,580 --> 00:07:23,900 Well, I hope this little message today, friends, 142 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:26,600 has been a help to you as you 143 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,100 seek to be a lily in the bog 144 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:30,760 in your own community.