There is a wonderful sermon that was preached by Dr. S. M. Lockridge (March 7, 1913 – April 4, 2000) in Detroit, Michigan in 1976. An excerpt from this sermon has been widely circulated and is available online, at YouTube, etc., entitled “That’s My King!” The entire sermon is also available on YouTube. Someone posted it to Facebook recently, and brought it back to my attention. I’ve tried to research to what audience Pastor Lockridge was preaching, but haven’t been able to find that out. I believe it might have been some type of a Bible conference. The audience’s interaction with the Pastor’s very zealous and excited preaching is fun to hear. I wish I had been there to be part of this live. Pastor Lockridge seems like he is a kindred spirit to me. I love to hear the truths of Christ proclaimed in such a bold and excited way. He acknowledges that in the sermon he breaks the rules of proper speech patterns, etc. that he was taught at seminary, because of his excitement for Christ. I encourage you to give the sermon excerpt as well as the entire sermon a listen. Links are below. Here are some of my thoughts from my listen:
The context of the entire sermon is from The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:5-13. Pastor Lockridge focuses on the importance and meaning of the word “Amen” at the end. He said we should be bold to say Amen when appropriate to right truths of God. He also uses the elements of a letter as an example of what we should be including in our prayers, from Jesus’ model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. The Pastor includes a lot of really great humor throughout the sermon. His humility and realization of the privilege he has to be called to salvation and to be a pastor is evident throughout the message. When he gets to talking about the Name of Jesus at around 48 minutes into the message–Pastor Lockridge gets excited and the tension starts to build. He talks about how holy and sweet the Name of Jesus is. He later asks at 51:10 in the sermon, talking about the “complimentary close” of the letter/Lord’s Prayer being “Thine is the Kingdom…” — “Whoever heard of a Kingdom without a king? Everybody’s got a king. Who is your king?” The excitement builds and the well known “That’s My King” shouted out with joy part of the sermon is proclaimed. It literally gives me chills. This guy really gets it — how great Jesus is, was, and always will be — and he was not afraid to proclaim it boldly. He died in 2000, but Pastor Lockridge is still alive in Paradise with Jesus. I can’t wait to meet him in eternity.
I know many of my friends, both believers and unbelievers alike, think I am over zealous in my pointing to Christ. Many think that I spend too much time thinking about Jesus and my salvation. I have been falsely accused of never talking about anything else. (I only wish that were true… but trust me I often talk about trivial things, get sidetracked or discouraged, talk about sinful things, use unwholesome language that does not honor Christ, etc.) But yes, I am pretty bold in my witness and pointing to Christ. And I repent and press on when I fail. I’ve lost loved ones to death without properly sharing the good news while I had the chance. I’m 60. I’m suffering illnesses. I’m running out of time to share. So yes, I am motivated to point to the greatness and good news of Christ. He alone is my strength and hope. I don’t have the privilege of being a pastor/teacher/preacher. I am just a “little, ordinary person”, but I am still called to proclaim God’s excellencies as long as I have breath. (1 Peter 2:9-10.) And like Paul, woe is me if I do not share the good news of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16.) So I share this sermon for your consideration and encouragement. Some of my favorite quotes are:
“If the devil is here [speaking to the location of the gathering of his audience], you brought him. But God is already here.”
“The name of Jesus Christ is holy, excellent, and the only Name that can save us and that we can pray in.”
“When I think about Jesus, I can’t help but get excited and get loud.”
“Will you be there? [in God’s eternal Kingdom] Let the Lord have His way in your life now.”
Oh dear God, please bring salvation to as many as possible. Draw people to You by grace and help the blind, lost, unbelievers to see Your truth and have faith to believe and be ready for Your Kingdom. Please cause us believers to get excited and get loud about how great You really are dear Jesus, and help us walk more worthy of Your call. Oh great mysterious Holy Spirit, please come against all the false teaching and post-modern thinking that is blocking people from knowing You are real. Open eyes to see the Creator of the intricately designed nature around us. Thy Will be done Lord; Thy Kingdom come–on earth as it is in Heaven.
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