Open your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Ephesians, chapter one. The name of the message is in Christ. In Christ.

Turn, if you would, to the book of Ephesians, and we'll read verses one to two, where we see that Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, tells the saints at Ephesus, the people of God, the elect of God, called saints in verse one, that they are in Christ. In Christ.

There's only two types of people in this world. Those who are outside of Christ and those who are in Christ. Those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. And the only one who made us to differ one from another is God himself. The mercy of God. And all because it pleased him to do so. Isn't that amazing? He saved wretches like you and I. Sinners to the core. It's just amazing.

Look at this in Ephesians chapter 1. Now remember, Ephesus was a major seaport. There was 33,000 different deities being worshipped in Ephesus. Just a pagan idolatry, wickedness, just a wicked, wicked city. And God sends Paul in there because he's got some sheep in there. And this was the main hub for the worship of Diana, the false goddess. And so here comes Paul. He preached the gospel.

Now there's several churches established in the city of Ephesus. How do we know? Well, because Paul, when he gathered the elders together from Ephesus, there was plural, elders, not just one. So there was multiple churches in that city. It was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. It was huge. Paul goes in there. and proclaims the gospel all according to the will and purpose of God. And God saved the people, turned from idols, the people who should turn from idols to serve the living true God.

And he writes this to them. He said, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. And remember, we're only faithful because we're in Christ. Outside of ourselves, we're not faithful at all. Oh my.

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father. Notice that grace always precedes peace. If you don't have grace from God, you will never have peace with God. Oh my. Grace has been shown to us and we now have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the message of the Bible, The message of the Bible is Jesus Christ and him crucified. From beginning to end, beloved, from Genesis all the way to the end of Revelation, it's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul said to the Ephesians in the book of Acts, he said, I've declared unto you all the counsel of God. What he's saying there is I've preached Christ to you. I preach Christ, I preach all about him from the scriptures. And from the scriptures there is the Old Testament. They didn't have the New Testament. So he's preaching Christ from all the Old Testaments.

It always saddens me when people say, well, I don't read the Old Testament because that's for the Jews. No, it's not, it's for God's elect. It's for God's elect. Christ is all through the Old Testament. The Old Testament, the New Testament reveals what's in the Old Testament. It's Christ. The Old Testament says someone's coming, the Messiah is coming. The New Testament says the Messiah is here and he redeemed his people from all their sins with his precious, precious blood. Glory to his name.

Now the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 24, he expounded about himself. Two disciples were on the road to Ermaus. Luke 24 27 he says this in beginning that Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself that means he went from Genesis all the way to Malki and he expounded in all those books himself oh it's wonderful

Also further down in Luke 24 in verse 44, the Lord Jesus Christ proclaims this to his disciples. And he said unto them, these are the words which I have spoken to you while I was with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. They talked about a coming Messiah who would give his life for his people. He was praised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed. And God will look upon the Messiah and be satisfied with his sacrifice. Oh, it's wonderful.

Then in Luke chapter 24, verses 46 to 48, he proclaims this. The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed this to the two on the road to Ermaus. And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer. He must. And to raise from the dead the third day. He must. He must die in our room and place to save us from our sins. And he must be risen again from the grave for our justification. It's marvelous. He lived the perfect life. Right? He lived the perfect life, which is our righteousness now. His righteousness is given to us, beloved, by imputation. And our sins were imputed to Him. It's mind-boggling, but it's true. Oh, my. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in the name among all nations, beginning in that Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. Oh, my. So the gospel is gonna be preached in his name, right, among all nations. Christ will be proclaimed. Christ will be proclaimed, beginning at Jerusalem, and that's where it all started. Oh my.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 2, he sums it up with these words. And I, brethren, when I came to you, now this is amazing. Paul's a very educated man, very educated man. Listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians 2.1. And brethren, when I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

Now look at, there's so many people out there Teaching all these things. I heard something yesterday. I heard somebody say AI is the Antichrist. What? Antichrist is a spirit. It's against God. All false religions are Antichrist. When someone says that, it's so ridiculous. And they say, oh, it's in the Bible. No, it's not. Oh my.

Listen to what Paul was determined to talk about. See, people get off on all these tangents, beloved. Sensationalism. What did Paul do? I love this. This is what I'm--I try to set forth Christ all the time before everyone, before you all. Because it's the only--he's the only one I have to preach about. Listen to this. Paul, educated, he says, I didn't come with excellency of words. He could have used excellency of words, couldn't he? Oh, he's a very educated man. 1 Corinthians 2, 2, mark it down, underline it, beloved, in your Bible. This is wonderful. For I'm determined not to know anything among you, save Christ and him crucified. That was the whole thrust of Paul's message was Christ and him crucified. And he didn't waver from that. He didn't waver from that. He didn't get caught up in all these new crazes within Christianity. Oh my, there's something new pops up every week. If it's new, it isn't true. My. If you've not learned Christ and Him crucified as the foundation of your faith, He's the essence and the fullness of divine truth. If you've not yet discovered that the message of the Bible and the hope of the gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone, then you've read the word of God with no prophet to your soul. I'm telling you the truth. Your religion is a vain show. It's a sham. And you are without hope before God.

The message of the Bible is Christ and Him crucified. The knowledge you have of the sacred scriptures will only add to your condemnation in the day of judgment, because without Christ crucified, religion is as useless as a bucket without a bottom. Without the crucified substitute, there is no forgiveness of sin. You ever think of that? No forgiveness of sin without Christ and Him crucified. There's no comfort in trouble. There's no strength for trial. There's no atonement. If you don't have Christ and Him crucified, there's no atonement for our sins. There's no peace with God, is there? There's no reconciliation with God except through Christ. There's no mediator. There's no priest. There's no advocate in heaven if you don't have Christ. There's no hope in death without Christ, and no access to God, and no entrance into heaven without Christ and Him crucified.

My dear here, do you understand this? Christ is all! Without Him, we are nothing. And we have nothing to offer to God. And all we have is sin and death without Christ. All that God has for guilty sinners. All that he does for guilty sinners. All that he requires of guilty sinners. is all found in Christ Jesus, our incarnate, crucified, risen, exalted substitute.

John chapter 3, verses 35 and 36. Listen to these words carefully. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Oh, those are sobering words spoken by the master himself, God in the flesh. Beloved God and sinner friend, the only way a sinner can be saved from our sins is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We're sinners. The only way we can be saved is by the perfect obedience of Christ in his life as our substitute. And the only way we're justified by God is he must die and he must be raised from the dead, because he's raised for our justification.

And how did he redeem his people? The only way a sinner can be saved. What's the only way a sinner can be saved? By the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the love of God is in Christ. Scripture again, John 3.35, the Father loveth the Son. And he loves all who are in the Son. In Christ, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Remember at one time they were pagan idol worshippers. Now they're born again by the Holy Spirit of God giving faith to believe on Christ. Why? Because Christ died for them at Calvary's Cross. And that's true of every born-again blood-washed believer.

I like what Brother Henry Mahan used to say in preaching, we're on the trail of God's sheep. That's right. My, and the only way for a sinner to be saved is by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then that sinner who's saved by the precious blood of Christ is saved from all, A-L-L, all their sins. Isn't that wonderful? The darkest sin we have, if we trust Christ is forgiven. The smallest sin we think we committed, If we're in Christ, it's forgiven. And sin is sin to God, remember that. Man categorizes sin. But sin is sin to God. How much sin does it take for a man or a woman to go to hell? One. Because we can't pay for that, can we?

But the remarkable thing is, Christ loved sinners so much, chosen sinners, that he gave his life for them. He that believeth on the Son, he that believeth on Jesus Christ, the Lord, the God-man, hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not, the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Oh, my. The love of God is in Christ. And the most ridiculous thing this side of hell is for preachers to tell sinners that they are beneficiaries of God's love and mercy, and grace without Christ. That's the most ridiculous thing for someone to tell someone. To tell them that they're going to heaven and they don't have Christ. Oh, it's so sad. Because without Christ, there's no love, there's no mercy from God, there's no grace from God, but there's only wrath and judgment. Remember, Paul preached that to Felix.

And then you know what else there is without Christ? Condemnation. Condemnation. For the believer, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, my. Think of this, when the flood came, there was no mercy and deliverance anywhere but in the ark. And that ark, beloved, was a picture of Christ. My, oh, my. When the manslayer, when someone accidentally murdered someone in the Old Testament, and they fled to one of the cities of refuge, that manslayer found no safety. And remember, the avenger of death was on his heels. But that manslayer found no safety until he entered into the city of refuge, and that city typified Christ. And you know when they were set free? When the high priest died.

Oh, beloved, we're set free from all our sins in Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, God said to Israel, God says to his people, I will meet thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. Praise the name of Jesus. Oh, Christ is the mercy seed of God, and God meets with sinners nowhere else. Nowhere else. Outside of Christ, there's condemnation. In Christ, there's forgiveness, mercy, grace, love. Praise be to our great God and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen.