I want you to open your Bibles
to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, verses 8 through 11. I'll read as my text. Colossians 3, verse 8 through 11. But now you also put off these
things, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth, and lie not one to another, seeing that you
put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new
man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Whether as neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all and in all. Now my message this morning will
be taken from these three words. Christ is all. Christ is all. It's a three word sermon. The
Apostle Peter said this to us. Be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is
in you. Well, I have an answer. I have
an answer in three words. Christ is all. And I'll add three words to that. Christ is all and in all. And I'll add seven words to that. Christ in you. That is the hope
of glory. And old Paul Harvey, I used to
listen to him on the radio a lot, and he would sign off with this,
the rest of the story. The rest of the story. Well,
Christ is all. Christ is in all. Christ is in
you. And then he said, I say, the
rest of the story is this, when Christ who is our life, shall
appear. Then shall you also appear with
Him in glory." Christ is all. Christ is all in all. And Christ
in you is the hope of glory. And when Christ shall appear,
you and I will appear with Him in glory. That's it. One of the
old time preachers I just spent a lot of time in my life studying
these old men because they had something to say. And one of
the old preachers preached a sermon on this subject, Christ is all. And this is his three word outline. He said, Christ is all in divine
knowledge because the scripture says the Son of God has come
and given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true, and we might know Him. This is a true God, and this
is His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the key to divine knowledge,
to know who He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is
now. The second point of this man's
message was this, Christ is all, not only the key to divine knowledge,
but he's the key to salvation, redemption itself. In Christ,
Paul said, we have redemption. In Christ we have redemption.
Through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of his grace. That's it. Christ is all in knowledge,
in salvation, and Christ is all in the key to righteousness. Where does a sinner receive righteousness? Well, Paul wrote it. But of him
are you in Christ. who of God is made unto you wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And old John
Newton, oh my, what a writer he was, not only in poems, but
in sermons. He said this, my friends, do
what you will do, and believe what you will believe. and profess
what you claim to profess, but you can forget eternal life. Just forget it and forget heaven's
glory until you have an understanding and a love for Christ is all. That's the truth. To some degree,
have an understanding that Jesus Christ is all and in all. Somebody wrote this song. I want
you to listen to this. I entered once a home of care. Old age and poverty were there. And yet, peace and joy were there. So I asked the lonely mother
whence her helpless widowhood's defense. And you know what she
said? Christ is a hope. Christ is a
hope. I stood beside a dying bed, where
lay a man with aching head, waiting for God to call. And I marked
his smile, it was sweet as May, and as his spirit passed away,
I heard him say, Christ is all. I saw the gospel preacher go
to foreign lands that he didn't know, but he heard the Savior's
call. Not home, nor family, he counted
dear. In want and trial, he knew no
fear. Why? He believed, Christ is all. I dreamed that time and years
had fled. The earth and sea gave up its
dead, and a fire destroyed this ball. But I saw the sage. and ransomed throng. And I heard
them all sing this song. You know what it was? Christ
is all. All in all. Yes, Jesus Christ
is all. That's my message. Christ is
all. And I usually give you three
or four parts, and here's my four parts. Now you listen to
this. Christ is all in God's eternal purpose and covenant. Christ is all in God's eternal
book, the Bible. Christ is all in the salvation
of sinners. And Christ is all in eternal
glory. Christ is all. Now let's take
the first one. Christ is all in God's eternal
purpose. Now listen to me. There was a time when heaven
and earth did not exist. That's right. And we know that
it was so. If Christ is all, where was He
then? Let's turn to John chapter 1.
Let's see. Let's see where Christ was when
heaven and earth did not exist. In John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning, that's what
we're talking about. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. That's Christ. He was with God. And the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. Alright? There was a time when
the earth did not exist. Where was Christ? With God. Alright,
here's the second thing. There was a time There was a
time when God made the earth. God said, let there be light.
Pastor preached on this recently. Let there be light. And Gabe
preached on it recently. Let there be light. And there
was light. There was a time when God made
this earth in its present form. And God made man. Well, if Christ
is all, where was he then when God made man? Read verse 3 and
forward. All things were made by Him,
the Word. And without Him wasn't anything
made that was made. And the light Wait a minute,
in him was life. He made man. In him was life,
and the life was the life of men. That's right. That's where
Christ was. He was with God when he made
all things. Thirdly, there was a time when
the man and woman sinned. The man and woman sinned against
God and fell into darkness and fell into death and ruin. If
Christ is all, where was He then? When Adam fell, where was He?
Turn to Genesis chapter 3. Let's see where Christ was. Genesis
chapter 3. I'll tell you where He was and
who He was. Listen to it. Genesis chapter
3, verse 15. Verse 13, And the Lord God said to the
woman, What's this you've done? The woman said, The serpent beguiled
me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the
serpent, Because you've done this thing, thou art cursed above
all cattle, above every beast of the field, upon the valley,
shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. And I will put, here's Christ,
I'll put enmity, between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Christ is the
woman's seed. Christ Jesus is the virgin's
son. And behold, she shall conceive,
and bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel. Call his name
what? Immanuel. Now then, it was a day. There was a day, fourthly, when
this world was buried in darkness, superstition, back in the days
of Israel's decline and fall, back in those days of superstition,
ceremonialism, ignorance, hypocrisy. Every man did that which was
right in his own eyes. It was a terrible, terrible day.
Where was Christ then? I'll tell you. When the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of the Son. That's what happened
2,000 years ago. Christ came to the earth, and
He lived in holiness. He knew no shame. He died on
the cross and took our blame. He arose in victory without one
sin. He now reigns in glory, the perfect
man. That's where he is now. Jesus
Christ is all and in all. He's all in God's eternal purpose
and God's creation. Now here's my second poem. And
Christ is all in God's eternal book. The Bible. The Bible is not history
as such. The Bible is His story. H-I-S-S-T-O-R-Y. It's all about Him. It's Him. Luke wrote, when Christ said to His disciples,
these are the words that I speak unto you, that all things must
be fulfilled. which were written in the law
of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Christ is all in this Bible. All. In the beginning, he's the
promise. In the middle, he's the prophet,
priest, and king. In the end, he's the person and
power of redemption. It was Christ to whom Abel looked
when he offered that sacrifice. It was Enoch who said, the Lord
cometh with 10,000 of his saints. Enoch looked to Christ. It was
Abraham who said to his son, when his son says, where's the
lamb? He said, the Lord will provide.
It was Christ that Jacob wrote about when he said, the scepter
shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh comes. It was a brazen
serpent to whom Israel looked, the rock which Moses smoked,
the prophet, priest, and king, the atonement, the Lamb of God.
It was Christ of whom David wrote when he said, the Lord's my shepherd,
I shall not want. What's the Bible to me? What's
the Bible to you? These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus Christ is the Christ. He is the
Son of God. And believing, you might have
life through His name. Christ is all in God's creation. Christ is all in God's Bible. And Christ is all in God's eternal
purpose. Now I want you to turn to Job
chapter 15. Job chapter 15. I want you to
listen to me very carefully now, as if you never heard this before,
but you have, but we're going to hear it again. Listen carefully. Job chapter 15, verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? He that is born of a woman that
he should be righteous? God puts no trust in his saints.
The heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable
and filthy is man who drinks iniquity like the water? My friends, here's a question
we need to answer. How can God be just and justify
us? How can God be just and justify
us? And there was a council in glory
a long time ago. A long time ago. And the holiness
of God spoke. And the holiness of God said,
with these scales of righteousness, I have weighed man and I've found
him wanting. I've found man lighter than vanity
itself. I find that man is not only destitute
of all that the law requires, but I find man directly in rebellion
and enmity against God. And I say, man cannot be justified. Man's got to die. Well, truth
speaks. That's holiness. Now, truth speaks.
And truth says, all men are liars. I've searched the minds and the
hearts of all men, all of Adam's son, and there's none that do
us good. No, not one. God will by no means
clear the guilty. To free a simple man without
justice being satisfied and holiness being honored, to free a man
without God being totally satisfied is to retreat and retract all
that God has ever said. Man's got to die. He can't be
justified. All right? Justice speaks. The justice of God sums up the
case against man. Hath not God said, the soul that
sinneth shall surely die? Hath not God said, I will by
no means clear the guilty? To free a sinful man without
holiness satisfied, truth without justice being satisfied, would
be dishonoring to God. Man cannot be saved. He's got
to die. But God is love. God is plenteous
in mercy. God delights to show mercy. Moses
said, Lord, show me your glory. Show me your greater glory. And
God said, I'll make my glory, my goodness pass before you.
And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will be merciful
to whom I shall be merciful. So the love of God speaks. Holiness, truth, justice is well
spoken. But O Lord, in Thy infinite wisdom
and power, is there not a way? Is there not a way to redeem
men? Lord, nothing is impossible with thee. Is there not a way
that truth and love can meet? Is there not a way that righteousness
and peace can kiss each other? Is there not a way? Is there
not a way that a ransom can be found? Can there be one who will
stand as a mediator between God and men, who can bear your wrath
and satisfy men? And everybody's silent. Holiness, truth, justice. And love speaks. Love and mercy
speaks. There is one, there is one who
can by nature have access to God, at the same time be one
with man. There is one, only one who has
sufficient power and holiness to take upon himself the nature
of men and yet live without sin. There is one and only one who
can put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and yet live, and
yet live to proclaim his wounds. By these stripes you are healed. There is only one. There's only
one who can please the Father, who can pay the debt of sinners,
who can be exalted to God's right hand, who can be an effectual
mediator for sinners and enable God to be just and the justifier
of those sinners. Who is it? Christ is all. There's your answer. There's
a reason. Christ is all and Christ is it
all. Christ Jesus is all in God's
eternal purpose. Christ is all in God's eternal
covenant. He's all in the death of His
Son. And He's all in eternal glory.
Turn with me in your Bible to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation
chapter 5. And you'll find that even there
Christ is all. Revelation chapter 5 verse 9. Verse 9, listen to this, And
they sung a new song, Revelation 5, 9, And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof,
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood
out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. And thou
hast made us unto God, kings and priests, and we shall reign
on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, the beasts and elders,
and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand and thousand
and thousand, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb, Christ
is all. that was slain to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory. Every creature
which was in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, under the sea,
all of them heard I say, blessing, honor, glory, power be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne until the Lamb forever and forever. I found another old song. Listen
to this. Christ is the path to those misled. Christ is the road for those
who nakedly. To those who are hungry, he's
the bread. To those who are in bondage,
he'll set them free. To the dead men, he's life. To the sick, he's help. To the
blind, he's sight. To the needy, he's wealth. To
those who are weak, how strong is he. All who come in faith,
he'll set them free. So, where you find the sinner
who has heard God call, they will all sing one common song. What is it? That's it. All right. God bless
you. Thank you.