The Lord Our God is One Lord
By Dan L. Cox
Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, 0 Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27) “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isaiah 44:8) “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:22) “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,” (Isaiah 46:9) “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (l Corinthians 8:6) “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saint : 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentile : which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning e ery man, and teaching every man in all wisdom’ that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” (Colossians 1 :26-28)
I would like for you to consider the greatest sermon ever preached, The Sermon on the Mount:
* Jesus began by sharing eight secrets of genuine happiness; Then he talked about living an exemplary lifestyle, controlling anger, restoring relationships, and the issues of adultery and divorce.
* Next he spoke of keeping promises and returning good for evil.
* Then Jesus moved on to other practical life issues like how to give with the right attitude, how to pray, how to store up treasure in heaven, and how to overcome.
* He wraps up his message by telling us to not judge other, encouraging, persistence when asking God to meet our need and warning us about false teacher.
* Finally. he conclude with a simple story that emphasizes the importance of acting on what he’s taught: Put into practice what you’ve just learned!
Preaching Jesus Christ will changes lives! Its not enough to simply proclaim, Christ is the Answer. We must show the unchurched and the churched how Christ is the Answer. Sermons that exhort people to change without sharing the practical steps of how to change only produce more guilt and frustration.
Preaching and sharing Jesus is more than just complaining about our society and make judgments about people in general. If we are not careful we become long on diagnosis and short on remedy.
Preaching Jesus is not about us feeling superior to the sinner out there, but changing lives through Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 28: 19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” Of course we need to teach people that the name of the Father. Son and the Holy Ghost is JESUS! When I go to a doctor. I don’t want to just hear what’s wrong with me. I want him to give me some specific step to getting better.”
What people need today is less ought-to sermon and more how-to sermon. Exhortation without explanation leads to frustration.
Indiana Apostolic Trumpet / May 2009
Pastor Cox has been in the ministry for over forty years. He attended Graduate School at Concordia College & University. He has served on the foreign field in Europe and has pastored for more than Thirty-Eight years. He also served on the Indiana District Board of the UPCI for 10 years. He also served as Editor of the Indiana Apostolic Trumpet of the Indiana District UPCI. He resides in Warsaw, IN with his wife of over Fifty-Three years, Brenda. They have two sons, Doug and Craig, along with their families, including five grandchildren.
