I just too, I can't help but as we heavily consider what Paul is
dealing with right here, works and grace, works and grace, works
and grace. That's the issue of all the scripture.
You can't get away from it. That is the issue. Is it works
or is it grace? It's gonna be one or the other,
you can't mix the two. But as we're combing over this
with a fine tooth comb and asking critical questions and searching
for specific answers and getting to the heart of the truth of
the matter, I can't help but have this thought overwhelm my
mind. It's all about him. It's all about him. I want us
to really see if we can get a hold of this. See if this will sink
in. Don't listen to that sentence and say, yep, amen. That's right.
Amen, brother. Uh-huh. Really listen to this.
This thing is all about him. This is all about him. I pray that my father says he
remembers the time somebody made the statement, the gospel is
concerning Christ. And he said it was like a light
bulb went off. The gospel is concerning Christ. I hope that same light bulb goes
off in me. This is all about him. Everybody's trying to figure
out, how do I work into this? This is all about Him. This is all about Him. Y'all ready to go home? Amen, period. This is all about Him. Verse
10, we're gonna look at verse 10 for our text this morning.
It says, you know, Paul was given these exhortations and verse
10 says, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior in all things. He said that's the reason why.
It's all about him. If we want to get to the heart
of the matter, here's a light bulb moment, okay? I hope this
is a light bulb moment for somebody. If we want to get to the heart
of the matter, this book is all about Him. It's all about Him. This book is all about Jesus
Christ, God, our Savior. It's all about Him. When we read
the scripture and turn our thoughts and our minds and our hearts,
let me start that over, I really want us to get this. When we
read the scripture and turn our minds and our thoughts and our
hearts to man, it's nothing but confusion. When we read the scripture
and our minds and our thoughts and our hearts turn to man, it's
nothing but confusion. But when we read this scripture
and our thoughts and our hearts and our focus turns to Christ,
it's nothing but simplicity. It's nothing but clarity. As we just said in our Bible
study, there's only one true doctrine. There's only one true
doctrine, one true teaching from God's Word, and that's the teaching
of God our Savior in all things. If we want to get to the heart
of it, if we want to get to the root, if we want to get to the
issue, the answer, it's Christ. It's Christ. If we want to know
what God is talking about, what is God talking about? Why did
God write that? Here's the answer. Christ. What
is God talking about? Christ. Why did God write that? The glory of Jesus Christ. I
don't understand it. Yeah, may not, but you know what
the purpose and end result of it is. The glory of Jesus Christ. It's all about Christ. If we want to know what salvation
is, it's Christ. If we want to know what we're
supposed to be clinging to and adorning, it's Christ. It's not works. All day today is works and grace. Brother Eddie will text me first
thing every Sunday morning. I'm studying and I'll get a text. And this is what it says almost
every Sunday morning, what you got for me. And I told him today, I said,
all day long, it's works and grace all day long. I'll tell
him kind of what we're going to be looking at. He'll pick
out songs accordingly. The Bible study was on works and grace.
The issue here is works and grace. Tonight, if you come back, it's
going to be works and grace. I hope that is enticing. It's not works. It's not works. What are we supposed to be clinging
to? What are we supposed to be adorning and beautifying? It's
not our works. Aren't we supposed to adorn and
beautify our works? No, it's not our works. It's
not our doctrine. Aren't we clinging to our doctrine
as opposed to their doctrine? No. It's not anything but Christ. Christ is our works. Christ is
our doctrine. Christ is our all. He's our all. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
11. I can't help but laugh every
time I read this first verse because I enter into it so well.
Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed
bear with me. For I'm jealous over you with
godly jealousy that I have espoused you to one husband. For I have
espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. Verse three. But I fear. lest by any means as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety." How did the serpent beguile Eve
through his subtlety? How did he do it? Here's how
he did it. He turned her attention away
from Christ to something else for her standing before God and
her standing with God. He said, you lay a hold of this
right over here. That'll do it. You want to be
like God? You want to be conformed to the image of God? It's right
over there. You lay hold of it. That'll do
it right there. Verse 3, But I fear lest by any means as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, the simplicity,
that means the singularity, the single object, the single focus
of Christ. This book, this is the doctrine,
this is the teaching of God our Savior in all things. The answer to it all is Christ. The object of it all is Christ. The hope, the glory, the satisfaction,
the rest, the comfort, the life is Christ. Look with me at 1 John chapter
5. 1 John, just before Revelation,
1 John. Chapter 5. Verse 9 says, if we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. What that means is if you have
Christ, you have everything. You have peace with God. You
have satisfaction of justice. You have fulfillment of the law. You have a record of a perfect
righteousness. You have everything. To have
Christ is to have it all. He is it all. He did it all. Christ is all. Look with me at
Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1 verse 1, it says, God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness 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, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high. Jesus Christ, the one
who is the express image of God, the one who made everything,
controls everything, upholds everything, he by himself purged
our sins with his own blood, and then he sat down in the seat
of God's honor. That's what the right hand means.
It doesn't mean that Jesus Christ sat down next to God. It means he sat down on the throne
of God. sat down in the authority and honor of who he is, the almighty
God. Verse 8 right here, the father
said to the son, but unto the son he saith, thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. He is all. He has done all. He reigns over all. Everything
is about him. Everything's about him. Everything
is unto Him. There's too much to say about
Him to even talk about us. You know that? There is too much
to say about Him to ever leave the subject of Him to go to us. Turn with me over to Psalm 115
where our brother just read. Psalm 115, verse 1 says, Not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us. This thing is not unto us. We
need to forget about us. It's that's impossible for flesh
to do unless the Spirit of God does it. We're just so consumed
with us, we're so enamored with us. Man, we love us. We need to forget about us. We're
irrelevant. We are irrelevant in the scheme
of God's salvation. We are completely irrelevant. The song says, O soul, are you
wearied and troubled? No light in the darkness you
see? There's light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant
and free. Turn your eyes upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. look full into his wonderful
face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. They
just won't matter anymore. They'll be insignificant, irrelevant.
In the light of his glory and grace, this is all about him. Verse one says, not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. Our Lord told a bunch of religious
Pharisees one time, he said, go and learn what this means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. It's not what you are going to
do for me. It's what I'm going to do for
you. Go and learn what this means. It's not your works and your
goodness and your morality and your ordinances of the law. Is my good works and my morality
and my ordinance and my blood, it's my blood. Your self-righteousness is not
a help to you. He said, go and learn what this
means. I didn't come to call the righteous.
Your self-righteousness is not a help to you, it's a hurt to
you. I came to call sinners. I came
to save sinners. My mercy, my grace, my kindness,
my favor is to sinners in the flesh. It's to sinners in the
flesh. You say, well, isn't everybody
a sinner in the flesh? Not according to them. No. Not in their minds, not in their
hearts, no. He said, I came for those who
are made to realize how much they need my mercy, need my grace. Verse one says, not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. God's mercy and God's truth is
Christ. For Christ's sake, all the glory
goes to the Lord our God for his own sake. Verse two says,
wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. If men's hands are involved,
it's an idol. If the hands of men take part
in any way, shape, or form, it's an idol. It is, it's an idol. Verse 4, their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but
they smell not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not, neither speak they through their throat. What that means
is if they're going to do anything, you're going to have to do it
for them. That's what it means. They have no hands but your hands,
no ability but your ability. They're dead. They cannot do
unless it's done for them. They're dead. Verse 8, they that
make them are like unto them, dead. So is everyone that trusteth
in them, dead. Verse 9, O Israel, trust thou
in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their
shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
The Lord hath been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will
bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
You are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. This thing is all about him. I pray God will cause us to turn
to him. Turn to Christ, look to Christ. We're not blessed
because of our deeds, we're not blessed because of our decisions,
we're not blessed because of our flesh in any way, shape or
form. It's only because of him. Verse 16, the heaven, even the
heavens are the Lord's, but the earth has he given to the children
of men. That means the things of this
world are going to go down with the children of this world. There's
no salvation in any of it. Nothing in this world. Verse
17. The dead praise not the Lord. In anything that they do. They
may appear. They may be putting on a show
that what they're doing in the flesh is for the purpose of praising
the Lord, but it's not. Verse 17, neither any that go
down into silence. There's no true praise and glorifying
of our Lord until the deeds of this flesh are mortified, killed,
killed. The deeds of this flesh have
to be killed. You talking about the sinful
deeds? I'm talking about all the deeds. I'm talking about
the good deeds, the bad deeds, the all deeds. It has to be killed. They're all sinful deeds. Until man is put away, there's
no glory in the Lord, no true glory in the Lord. Verse 18,
we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Why? It's because verse one says
we've been caused to say not unto us, not unto us. We've been caused to realize
that when it comes to everything that needs to be done concerning
our salvation, and our redemption, and our holiness, and our righteousness,
it's not unto us. It's not unto us. I love that
story of John Jasper, this old preacher. John Jasper, somebody
asked him, if you die, when you die, If you find yourself standing
at the gates of heaven, and the question is asked to you, what
right do you have to enter in? What will you say? He said, this
is what I'll say. I'm not here on my right. I'm
here on the right of another. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Everything concerning me, you're
gonna have to talk to him about it. You have to deal with him
all because of him. We can't look to us for any of
it. We can only look to Christ by his mercy and his grace, by
his body and his blood. By his turning us and quickening
us and calling us and teaching us. We do look to Christ. Because of him, we only look
to Christ. The end of verse 18 says, praise
the Lord. Thank God for God our Savior. Thank God for the gospel. Thank
God for Jesus Christ, our all and in all. Now, I could just
stop because it's been 28 minutes, I think. I don't know, maybe
not, maybe 26. But I'm gonna close with the
Huckster anyway. It's been a long time since I've
read it to you. And here's the point, okay? Here's
the point we're trying to get to. Charles Spurgeon said, Charles
Spurgeon told this story. He said this Huckster Jack was
a poor, wicked fellow who had gone about from village to village
swearing drinking, huckstering, and perhaps pilfering, stealing. Some thought him half-witted,
but the story would show his win to be sound enough. He heard
a poor woman sing somewhere, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. He remembered
the words and what was better, he felt their sense. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my all and
in all. And he kept on humming them to
himself till God's good spirit engraved them on his heart. So
he assayed to join himself unto the church. But the brethren
looked suspiciously at him and inquired, what is your experience? He said he had no experience,
but this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ
is my all in all. The good elders very properly
asked, are you converted? Have you been born again? And Jack replied, I do not know
much about these things. But I do know and am sure of
I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my
all and in all. They put him back for a while
to try if he would grow in his knowledge. But he never went
an inch beyond the first standard. He knew what he did know, and
to that he held fast. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. Well, they must
take him into the church. They could not well refuse a
man with such a confession of faith. And when he was in the
church walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest
of them. at which they greatly marveled.
And one said to him, Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel
doubts and fears? Doubts, he said? What do you
mean? I never doubt that I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all, or I have daily proofs of it. And
why should I doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all? For
he says he is, and I must believe him. Ah well, said one, sometimes
I enjoy good frames and feelings and feel very happy, and then
I lose them and sink in spirit. Jack replied, I never get lower
than I am. For I'm down at the bottom. A
poor sinner and nothing at all. I cannot get lower than that,
can I? But I'm also at the top. For Jesus Christ is my all in
all. I cannot get higher than that,
can I? They tried him many ways with their blessed experience,
of which you and I have got cartloads, perhaps wagon loads. but he could
not be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with
their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions,
but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the
truth and would not sell it. And so he'd stuck to, I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in
all. May that be our message now till
eternity. May that be our hope now till
eternity. May God in his mercy and grace
cause us to never move one inch past that. What's there to go
on to? To whom shall we go? You have
life. You have the words of life. You
are life. Christ alone. Amen.