Good to be here today. Good to
see everyone. I'll tell you what, that wonderful
grace of Jesus, that almost had me shouting. Turn if you would to Colossians
chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. The name of the message is, Christ
is all. Colossians 3. And we'll read from verses 1 to 13. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify
therefore your members, which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, conspicuousness, and covetousness
which is idolatry. For which thing's sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience? In the which
ye also walked some time when ye lived in them, but now ye
also Put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have 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 he is neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, But Christ is all and in all. Put on, therefore, as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Our text is found
in verse 11, three words in verse 11, which says, Christ is all. Christ is all. And these three
words are the essence. They are the essence of Christianity. Because without Christ, we have
no hope. Without Christ, we have no salvation. Without Christ, we have no redemption. Without Christ, we have no justification. So, for the believer, Christ is all. He's everything. He's everything. This is why
it's vital to preach Christ. Because there's no hope There
is no salvation outside of Him. Now here are five points that
I'd like to bring out today in light of these three words. Christ is all. Christ is all. Here are the points. Number one, Christ is all in
the counsel of God concerning man. Christ is all in the councils
of God concerning man. Number two, Christ is all in
the inspired books which make up the Bible. Christ is all in
the inspired books which make up the Bible. Number three, Christ
is all in the religion of all true Christians. Christ is all
in the religion of all true Christians. And number four, Christ is all
in heaven. In heaven. Christ is all in heaven. And number five, Christ is all
in the visible church and in Christian ministry. He's all. It's not about the preacher.
It's about the one we preach. It's about Christ. I am one standing
before you who's been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
I could not save myself. I was born into this world hopeless
and helpless, dead in trespasses and sins, and my Redeemer has
regenerated me. I'm born again of the Holy Spirit
of God, purchased by the blood of Christ, and He is everything to me. So
I'm going to try to preach about the one who is everything and
why He is everything to us. Number one, Christ is all in
the counsels of God concerning men. Turn, if you would, to John
chapter 1, and put your finger in John 17. Christ is all in the counsels
of God, in the counsels of eternity concerning men. There was a time when the earth
had no being. Where was Christ then? Look at John 1. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There's Christ right there. The
Word. And then turn over to John 17.
Where was Christ before there ever was anything? Before there
was ever stars? Or before there was anything? Do you know that God was perfectly
content within the Trinity? Absolutely content? Didn't need to create us? Doesn't
add anything to Him? Look at John 17. Look at verse 5 and verse 24. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. Where was Christ before there
was ever a star? He was God, ruling and reigning
with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Look at verse
24. Father, I will that they also
whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may
behold My glory which Thou hast given Me. For Thou lovest Me
before the foundation of the world. There was a time when the earth
was created. Where was Christ then? Turn to
Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. This book begins with Christ
and ends with Christ. Look at this. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. God. God created the heaven and
the earth. Turn to Colossians 1.16. Who is Jesus Christ? God incarnate
in flesh. The God who spoke the universe
into existence. Colossians 1 verse 16, For by
Him were all things created, this being Christ, that are in
heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by Him and for Him. And then John 1 verse 3 says
this, All things were made by Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs
8. Proverbs 8, verses 27-30. We know that Christ is wisdom
in the Proverbs. Look at this. Proverbs 8, 27-30.
Speaking of Christ, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him as one bought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him. Where was Christ when sin entered
into this world? Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 3. Did it catch God by surprise
that Adam fell? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Look at Genesis
chapter 3. Verse 10, And he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked,
and I hid myself. Whose voice did he hear? Christ's. There was a time, and there's
a time coming when sin shall be cast from this earth, from
this world. Turn, if you would, to Romans
8. Where will Christ be then? Romans says this, chapter 8,
verse 22, For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now. In Acts says this, Whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets
since the world began. Christ is in heaven right now. Where will He be on that great
day? Sitting upon the throne in majesty
and power. which is what He's doing right
now. He's not waiting to come back and rule. He rules and reigns
right now. Matthew says this, Then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." See, if He's
coming in power, does that mean that He's up there wringing His
hands waiting for people to come to Him? My God has all power, all majesty, and He is not at our whim We
are at His. We are at His. So God has all
power. And there is coming a day when
every eye shall see Him. Every eye shall see Him. And
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Of things in heaven
and things in earth, Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father and he shall be upon his
throne. Oh What a day that will be When
our Lord Jesus Christ comes back in all power and majesty Christ is all in all the inspired
books which make up the Bible. This is a book about Christ. The Bible is a book about Christ.
It's about Him. It's a Him book. Now there's instruction in it
for us. There's doctrine in it for us. But this book is concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of this. It was Christ
who was crucified who was set forth in every Old Testament
book. Every Old Testament sacrifice,
all those sacrifices in the Old Testament, they pointed to one.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says they could never
take away sin, but they pointed to the one who can. They pointed
to Christ and Him alone. For Christ also has once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Who was it that Abel looked to when he offered a better sacrifice?
Who was it that he looked to? Christ. Christ. It was Christ of whom Enoch prophesied
in the days of abounding wickedness. And Enoch, also the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of His saints. It's Christ. Jude says, "...to execute judgment
upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against
Him." It was Christ of whom Abraham looked to when he dwelt in the
tents in the land of promise. Our Lord even said, In John 8,
verse 56, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And when he saw it, he was glad. It was Christ of whom Jacob spoke
to his sons as he lay dying. In Genesis 49, verse 10, when
he said, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
from between his feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the
gathering of the people be. It was Christ who was the subject
of all the ceremonial laws. They all pointed to Him. Christ is all in Scripture. The sacrifices, the altar, the
priesthood, they were all emblems of Christ in His work. Galatians says, "...were for
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." That
we might be justified by faith, by trusting and resting in Christ
and Him alone. By showing us our utter inability
to save ourselves. By showing us our desperate state
before a holy and righteous God. in our own self-righteousness. It was Christ to whom God directed
the attention of the Israelites by all the miracles of the wilderness. 1 Corinthians 10.4 says this,
And did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Remember when Moses lifted up
the serpent of the willows? That represented Christ. They
all pointed to Christ. It was Christ of whom the judges
were types. It was Christ of whom David was
a type. It was Christ of whom all the
prophets from Isaiah to Malachi spoke. 1 Peter says, "...searching what
or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow." Folks, I remember, believe in
this too. Folks say, well, the Old Testament's for the Jews
and the New Testament's for Christians. Come on. The Old Testament points
us and shows us types and shadows and wonderful, beautiful pictures
of Christ. In the New Testament, He's revealed.
He's manifested. That which was promised and prophesied
and shown in types and pictures is manifested in the flesh. This book is all about Christ.
Now it has history, it has poetry, but it's all about Christ. It's
all about Him. And the whole New Testament is
full of Christ. The Gospels are Christ living
among men. The epistles are Christ explained. and exalted in acts as Christ
proclaimed. So what is the Bible to you? Is it a book of good moral precepts? Or is it a book where Christ
is all? This is a book where you sometimes
read in tears falling from our face about the wonderful Savior
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is everything to me. There was a time when this book
was just paper and ink to me. I've told you all that before.
Before the Lord saved me, I read Scripture and it was just words. I didn't understand it. But after the Lord saved me, boy oh boy, the Holy Spirit living
in you, and He illuminates the Scriptures. It's a whole new
book. And it's wonderful. And it's
marvelous. Because as you read and study,
you may read a verse a hundred times, and all of a sudden, On
comes the light. And I ask you, beloved, what
happens when that, who's the one we look to when that happens?
It's usually all about Christ, isn't it? And we just marvel
even more in our wonderful Savior and who he is and what he's done
for his people. So for the believer, Christ is
all. He's all through the Scriptures. All through the Scriptures. And
the next point is this. Christ is all in the religion
of true Christians. How so? Well, Christ is all my
justification before God. Turn, if you would, to Romans
3, verse 26. I only have access to God through
faith in Christ. I only have access to God through
Christ and only in Him. And only because I believe, right?
And I face a gift. It's not something I could muster
up, not something I could work up on my own. It's a gift that
God gave me. Look at Romans 3.26, to declare,
I say at this time, His righteousness. You see, there's a lot of folks
in this world trying to establish their own righteousness. and
it will lead them straight to hell. It will lead them straight to
hell. The only way to heaven is to
be clothed in the righteousness of Christ, to be resting and
trusting in Christ and Him alone. God is perfect and holy and righteous,
and in order to stand in His presence, one must be clothed
in perfect righteousness. I mentioned to the Bible class
today, there's a thing called the act of obedience of Christ.
It's just a theological term for basically saying that when
Christ lived on this earth, He lived in my place. And that perfect,
that perfect righteousness, that perfect obedience to the law
is counted to me. That's what I believe. Because
my own righteousness is like filthy rags. It's not worth a hell beans.
It's not worth nothing. Oh, the righteousness, and think
of this, if you're a believer, that God doesn't see you in your
own righteousness anymore. He sees you clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. So, Christ is all our justification. The clergy say at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be just, he has to be a just
God, right? He's holy. And in order to be
in his presence, we must be made righteous, and the justifier,
this is Christ, he's a just God, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. So how shall a man come before
God? How shall a sinner... I was born
a sinner. Every one of us in this room,
I don't care what our age is, we're all born sinners. We're born sinners. We come into
this world dead in trespasses and sins. How can we stand before
a holy and a righteous God? Shall we come before Him with
what we've done by our own works? No. Scripture says not by works
of righteousness which we have done. Shall we come to Him on
the basis of our morality or our churchgoing? Or the fact
that we were baptized? Or maybe the fact that we're
a church member? No. No. Which of these will stand God's
searching inspection? None of them. None of them if
we come before God expecting him to accept us based upon our
works. And I mean any works. Any works. If one comes before
God expecting to be accepted before God based
upon a pinprick of your works, you'll be damned. So what is man to do? Oh, we must come through Christ.
We must come through Christ and His righteousness. It is the
only robe which can cover all our sins. And we are not... Think of this, too. I'm going
to say something. And I'm going to qualify what
I say. We're saved by works. It's just not ours. The believer is saved by what
Christ has done. By His work. By His act of obedience
before the law and justice of God while He lived upon this
earth. By His going to Calvary's cross
and dying as a sinner's substitute before the law and justice of
God. We must come through Christ.
He's the only door of heaven. It's His blood which can save
us from destruction. The blood, and think of this,
the blood of an absolutely innocent lamb. Christ knew no sin, had no sin. He's perfect, spotless, sinless. And just as, remember, when they
put the blood on the lentils, right? And the death angel passed. And the Lord said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. The believer in Christ is covered
in the blood. And when God sees the blood of
Christ, He passes over us. Mercy? Oh, what mercy, beloved. What mercy we receive. So Christ
is all. He's all to the believer. He's
all our sanctification. He's all our wisdom. He's all
our righteousness. He's all our redemption. Paul
sums it up with saying, Christ is all. He's everything. You take away Christ and I have
nothing. I don't have salvation. Nothing. Christ is all in heaven. Folks often talk foolishly, oh
when we get to heaven it'll be this big old party It'll be glorious. It will be.
But you know what the saints of God will be doing in heaven?
You know what Sister Marge is doing right now? She's glorifying the Savior. She's praising Brother Wayne. Praising the mighty Savior. Right. Glorify Him. And this is what
we're doing. And He is all, you know, He is
all in heaven. What is the whole aspect of heaven
centered around? The place, the worship, it's
all around Christ. All around Him. Turn, if you
would, to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. He is the object of our worship
here on earth, and beloved, He will be the object of our worship
in heaven. Look at verse 6, And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, Christ. And as it had been slain, heaven's
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into the earth. And look at verse 12. Or actually, let's back up to
verse 11. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and
the elders. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands. Now here it is, if we ever wonder
what our loved ones who went home to be with the Lord, our
dear brothers and sisters who went home to be with the Lord,
what are they doing? Saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength. in honor and glory and blessing,
in every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them." Well, there's nothing left, is there? "'Heard I saying,
Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne.'" There's where our God is. Now, there's uncertainty going
on in our nation, isn't there? But where's our God? He's sitting
upon the throne right now. Right now. Oh, Lord, give me
strength to rest and just trust in You. Sitting upon the throne and unto
the Lamb, what? Forever and ever. So, what will
God's saints be doing in glory? Worshiping the Lamb. Who is all
in glory? Christ. Christ. He's all. He's all. He's everything. To all the saints
in glory. His praise will be our eternal
song. Like the altar in Solomon's temple,
He'd walk into the Solomon's Temple and they said the altar
was so grand. Christ is the grand
object in heaven. His service will be our occupation
too. Revelation 7.15 says this, Are
they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in
His temple? And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. His presence will be our everlasting
enjoyment. Look at Revelation 22, verse
4. And they shall see His face,
and His name shall be in their foreheads. We'll be enjoying
the presence of the Lord. Here be the focus. Do you see why it's so vital for
us to preach Christ? Because he's the only way to
heaven. He's the only way to glory. I
don't care what folks tell you. If they've told you, well, you
know, it's this teacher and that. No, they're lying to you. There's only one way to heaven.
And that's in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.
There's no other way. And if people trust in another
way, they're going to perish in their sins and they're going
to spend eternity in hell. And I just thank God that He
saved me. I was on that road. I was one
who had no care for God. I was religious. Only cried out to God. You guys
know what I was talking about. I only cried out to God when
I was in trouble. Other than that, I didn't even think about
it. But man, now, he's everything. He's everything. Last point is
this. Christ is all in the visible
church, right here. He is everything. He is the subject
of the preaching of the gospel. He's the one we proclaim. Because
he is the only one who can save your soul. Only Him. Only Christ. We come here to
worship our King, to praise His mighty name, to give Him all
the glory. Now, we're sinners, aren't we?
We're sinners. Our minds wander sometimes here
and there and things like that. But, oh, we seek. Don't we? Don't you, believer? Don't you
seek? Don't you seek to give Him all the glory? I remember
Donnie and I talking one time and someone asked him. I've mentioned this many times.
I think it's worth repeating them. Someone said, if I believe how
you guys believe, we could go out and sin all I want to. And Donnie asked me, he goes,
do you sin more than you want to, Brother Wayne? And I said,
absolutely, I do. I do. Do you? It's awful, isn't
it? I'm horrible. I'm a saved sinner. And I praise God for that. But I hate sin more in me than
in anyone else. Is it so with you? My, oh Lord,
I come here and I get to preach and proclaim about the One who
saved my soul. who's done everything for me.
The one who did everything that I could not do for myself. Praying that God the Holy Spirit
will take it and make it effectual. And if you don't believe that
God would grant you faith, grant you repentance, to turn to Him,
to turn from your sin, to flee to Christ. But He must be the main theme. He must be the main theme from
this pulpit. You all know I'm not going to
get up and preach 15 ways to live a better Christian life,
because I don't believe in all that stuff. The Holy Spirit is
the one who convicts us. The Holy Spirit is the one who
shows us as we read Scripture and we study, and we know what
we should and shouldn't do. But don't we all struggle, don't
we? We battle constantly. But what's our constant hope?
If you're a believer, what's your constant hope? Christ. Christ is forgiven. And do we
come to Christ and confess our sins, even know that we're saved
now? Absolutely. We do, don't we? All the time. All the time. Turn, if you would. to Ephesians
chapter 3. And I'll read one verse from 1 Corinthians
and one verse from 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
23 says this, But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling
block and unto the Greeks foolishness. So from this pulpit, we preach
Christ crucified. We preach that Christ died upon
Calvary's cross to save his people from their sins. Exactly what
scripture says. And he did it. He's successful. He's in glory now. He did it. He purchased my soul
2,000 years ago. And then 2 Corinthians 4, 5 says,
for we preach not ourselves. Now there's a lot of preachers
out in the world who preach about themselves. Or they're a bunch
of cheerleaders telling you, come on, you've got to do this,
you've got to get it. And every week it's the same thing. You
go to church and you're like, okay, I'm going to do this, I'm
going to do this. And by Sunday night you're on your floor going,
oh my goodness. But not for the believer in Christ.
I just look to Him. I look to Him. I look to the
One. So we don't preach ourselves.
We preach Christ. Christ Jesus the Lord. The Lord,
too. We don't make Him Lord. He's
already Lord. The Lord. And ourselves, your servants
for Jesus' sake. And then Ephesians 3. If you're
there, look at this. 3, 7-11. Where have I? was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual
working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." What are the
unsearchable riches of Christ? Redemption through His blood.
the forgiveness of not just one of my sins, but all of them. Past, present, and future. And again, folks will say, well,
how can you say future? Because every single one of my
sins was future on Calvary's cross. And either Christ paid
for every single one of them, or He didn't pay for any of them.
And I know by faith, oh, my Master, my King, my Savior paid for every
single one of my sins. That doesn't give me a license
to go crazy, does it? Or you. Oh, what redemption? justification before God, sanctification,
unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hidden God, who created all things by Jesus Christ,
to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers and
heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom
of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Now think of this, Christ is
all. To the architect or to the artist,
he is the one altogether lovely. To the architect, he is the chief
cornerstone. To the baker, he is the living
bread. To the banker, he is the hidden treasure. To the biologist,
he is the life. To the builder, he is the sure
foundation. To the carpenter, he is the door. To the doctor, he is the great
physician. To the educator, he is the great
teacher. To the florist, he is the rose
of Sharon and the lily of the valley. To the geologist, he
is the rock of ages. To the horticulturist, he's the
true vine. To the judge, he is the righteous
judge, judge of all men. To the jeweler, he's the pearl
of great price. To the lawyer, he's the counselor,
the lawgiver, the advocate. To the newspaper, he is the good
tidings, a great joy. To the philanthropist, he is
the unspeakable gift. To the philosopher, he is the
wisdom of God. To the preacher, he is the word
of God. And to the sculptor, he is the
living stone. To the servant, he is the good
master. To the statesman, he is the desire of all nations.
To the student, he is the incarnate truth. To the theologian, he
is the author and finisher of our faith. To the toiler, He
is the giver of rest. To the sinner, He is the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And to the Christian,
He is the Son of the living God, the Savior and Redeemer and Lord. Christ is all. He's all. So in light of these five points,
may God be pleased to teach us the utter uselessness of a Christless
religion and the deadly folly of joining anything with Christ
in the matter of salvation. And as believers, let us rest
and repose in Christ our King. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy
1. And we'll close with these three verses. Verses 15-16. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Halibate for this cause. I obtained
mercy. Every believer has obtained mercy. That in me, first, Jesus Christ
might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on Him to everlasting life. Now unto the King, eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honor and glory
Forever and ever. Amen. Gracious Heavenly Father, Oh, may we who believe rejoice
that You have made Christ all to us. He's all in heaven, and He's all for the believer
here upon this earth. Pray that You'd give us the grace
and strength this week to face whatever comes. Oh, that
we might look to Thee, Lord. Oh, that we might look to Thee
and rejoice in You who are King, in You who reign and rule right
now. We give You all the glory and
honor and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.