Colossians 2 is where we'll be
today. In Sunday School we looked at
all spiritual blessings are in Christ. They're all in Him. And all that a sinner needs is
found in Christ. Everything. Let's read from verse
1 of chapter 2. For I would that ye know what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen My face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love." What
a wonderful statement. God's people's hearts are knit
together in love. Knit together in love. And unto
all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All. In this I say, lest any man should
beguile you with enticing words, should carry you away with enticing
words, take you away from Christ with enticing words, or take
your eyes off Christ with enticing words. For though I be absent
in the flesh yet, am I with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding
your order in the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." He
rejoiced in the saints at Koas. He's in prison. "...As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him."
Here's how we're to walk. Rooted and built up in Him, established
in the faith as ye have been taught, according therein with
thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men. So
philosophy and in vain deceit. Traditions. You've got to do
this and that and this. Because we've done it for years.
after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. That's
why we keep saying, look to Christ. Look to Christ. And then here
is our text in verses 9 and 10. For in Him, this is Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in
Him, which is the head of all principality and power. All that
a sinner needs is in Christ. We are complete in Christ. That's
the name of the message. Complete in Christ. Everything
necessary for salvation, everything necessary for our security is
found in Christ, in Him alone. Outside of Christ, we have no
eternal life, no security, no peace, no grace, no redemption,
no justification, no sanctification, dead in trespasses and sins.
But in Christ, we have everything. We have everything. Everything
that a believer needs. The believer is complete in Him. I found an old Webster dictionary
from 1913, actually, and it defines this, complete is this, having
all the parts or organs which belong to it in a typical form,
filled up with no element or part lacking. Nothing lacking. Now, in ourselves, in our natural
state, we're so lacking to be in the presence of God.
And then it says, finished, ended, concluded, completed. To bring
to a state where there is no deficiency, Wow, this is what
we are in Christ, we who believe. Lord, help my unbelief. Help
my unbelief. Entire, perfect, to bring to
a state in which there is no deficiency, to perfect, to consummate,
to accomplish, to fulfill, to finish. In Christ there is a
completion. a complete filling up in Him
so that the sinner who trusts in Christ lacks for absolutely
nothing. Everything we need to be in God's
presence we have in Christ. Everything we need for the redemption
of our souls, which we can never redeem ourselves, is in Christ. Everything. We need look nowhere
else. Don't look to your circumstances.
Don't look to your strength. Don't look to your intellect,
look to Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of God. Christ is perfect. And think
of this, the believer stands clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. Sinners, but clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. This is why 1 Corinthians, and
we've heard this often, but I'm going to read 1 Corinthians 1.30
and 31. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus.
Remember the completeness in Colossians. But of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom. You see
how much more that comes out now when we're complete, finished,
perfect in Christ? He's all wisdom. And righteousness. And sanctification. And redemption. That according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. That's why again
we say, glory in God and Him alone. Because He gets all the
praise. We are complete in Him. Not in
anything we do, but all in Christ. All in Christ. But of Him are
ye, Scripture declares. Colossians 1. Look at verses 1-23. 21-23 here. Here's our state before the Lord
saves us. And you, who were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind. That was where we were. by wicked
works, yet now hath He..." And notice again, we've been looking
at the little words in Ephesians about how these words tell us
the state of the believer. "...Yet now hath He reconciled..."
The believer has reconciled to God. He has peace with God. A
peace that he never had before. "...in the body of His flesh..."
It's all what Christ has done through death to present you.
Look at this. We're sinners, aren't we? To
the core. Sinners to the core. in thought, in deed, in everything
we do. There's nothing we do that doesn't
have sin permeating it. But look at this blessed Scripture.
"...and the body of His flesh through death to present you
holy." Holy! Oh, if we could just live in
the fact of what Scripture says. But we're sinners, aren't we?
Lord, help my unbelief. Help me, Lord. Look at what it
says. This is stating what the believer
has. And this is the believer in Christ
and no one else. to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight if you continue in the faith.
If someone makes a profession and leaves, they were never of
us. In fact, I'm not saying if they leave a church and go somewhere
else. I'm saying if they leave the
faith. And that's what the Scriptures talk about. If they leave the
faith, they were never of us. If ye continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister." Those who Christ preserves and keeps us looking
to Christ, we will be presented unblameable. We know what we
are. And unreprovable in His sight. When Adam fell, we all fell with
him, didn't we? Every single one of us. We're
lacking. But everything we're lacking
is found in Christ. Everything. We're weighed in
the balances. In our own nature, we're weighed in the balances
and found wanton, aren't we? Oh, but in Christ. In Christ,
we're unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. What a wonderful
Savior. We who are ruined by sin and
come into this world are dead and trespassed as a sin. He makes
us alive and unreprovable and blameless in His sight. And it's
all found, and it's all supplied in Christ, in Him alone. It's
nowhere else. Nowhere else. Look again at our
text. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. What a statement. What a statement. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Much more abound. Let's look
at verse 9. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him, which is
the head of all principality and power. In Christ dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He was God in the flesh. God in the flesh. In Christ there
was absolute perfection. No sin at all. Not a sin in thought,
word or deed. He is the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God. He is God in the flesh. Perfect. Nothing can be added to perfection.
Nothing. You see the error of folks' ways
when they try to add their works? You can't add anything to perfection.
It's perfect. No need to be added anything
to it. Nothing. We add nothing to Christ. He's
the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. So as I said, when man adds
works to Christ, to that which is perfect, it's not of Christ. It's of man. It's of man's doing. Because nothing can be added
to that which he has done. Nothing can be added to that
which Christ has done. He's perfect. And in Him, all
the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Calvin said this on the
fullness of the Godhead. Further, when he says that the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, he means simply that
God is wholly found in him. So that he who is not contented
with Christ alone desires something better and more excellent than
God. Man, they're in a world of trouble. The sum is this,
that God has manifested Himself to us fully and perfectly in
Christ. What a statement. Fully and perfectly
in Christ. We looked at verse 15 this week. Look at this. Who is the image
of the invisible God in chapter 1? The firstborn of every creature? And one commentator brought out
a wonderful illustration. He said if you look through a
crystal glass, You look through a crystal glass and we don't
see anything, but if you put polished metal on the back, you
see a reflection. The image, Christ is the image
of God. He's the image of God, the reflection
of God. He's God, God in the flesh. God is invisible, we can't see
Him. He's the image of God. God incarnate in the flesh. God
manifests in the flesh. God dwelling in all the fullness
of the Godhead, dwelling in Him bodily. He is the one object
of our faith. He is the one author of our faith.
He is the one sustainer of our faith. He is the one finisher
of our faith. And He is the one who in Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is the Lord
Jesus Christ and He is the sinner's only hope. There's hope nowhere
else but in Christ. Nowhere else. Those who hope
in themselves will perish. Perish. Those who hope in their
works will perish. Those who trust in the fact that
they're going to a certain church will perish if God does not come
to them and draw them lovingly and show them their desperate
need for Christ. He is the sustainer of us who
believe. Outside of Christ we have no
hope. None at all. Can you do anything in your own
strength to save yourself? I ask you, can you do anything
in yourself to save yourself? If you think you can, You're
lost and you desperately need Christ. Because we who believe
know that we cannot save ourselves. We have no strength to save ourselves.
We can't add anything to perfection. And Christ is absolutely perfect.
The perfect substitute, the perfect sacrifice. The perfect Lamb of
God. Of which all in the Old Testament
were but types and shadows. all pointing to Him. So we know
that in our own strength, we who believe can do nothing. But
in Christ, we're complete. Robert Hawker said this about
this Scripture, By the indwelling of the Godhead bodily in Christ
means a oneness and union of God and man in one person, so
that the human nature of Christ is filled with the divine nature,
and both are so inseparably united. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
Fully man, but yet fully God. The God-man. As to form but one,
the same person. And he says, oh, the glorious
truth. Oh, and this is our Savior. This
is the Redeemer of sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ. Jehovah
God. Three divine persons that make
up one holy, majestic God who we worship. And there's only
one God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the image of the invisible God. God incarnate in the flesh. Turn,
if you would, to Hebrews chapter 1. The fullness of God the Father
dwells in Jesus Christ the God-man. The fullness of the Holy Spirit
dwells in Christ the God-man. Jesus Christ the God-man is equal
with God, the Father, and God, the Holy Spirit, in essence,
in purpose, and in power. Hebrews 1 says this, starting
in verse 1-8. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in times passed 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." There's a statement
that He is the Creator of all. We know God is the Creator, right? Jesus Christ is the Creator.
He's King. who being the brightness of His
glory, and here we go, and the express image of His person.
My son Joshua, he's my son, and he has features of me and features
of his grandparents and all that, but he's not the express image
of me. Brother Matt, you're not the express image of your dad,
although you look like your dad, but you're not the express image
of him. Christ is the express image of God. He is God. He is
God in the flesh. The express image. of His person
and upholding, look at this, all things by the word of His
power. All things, the universe, everything,
all things held by the word of His power. And He condescends
and becomes a man. This is why we talk about the
great condescension of Christ and how He left the glories of
heaven and all power and majesty and became a man. He upholds
all things by the word of His power. This is the God of the
Bible. This is Christ Jesus our Lord.
When He hid by Himself, purged our sins. He purged the sins
of the elect. When He hid by Himself, no one
helped Him. He's perfect. Purged our sins. He sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty. It's finished. He's resting. He's reposing.
He's interceding for His people. What a mighty God. What a mighty
God. Being made so much better than
the angels, as He by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time,
Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. And again, I
will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son. And
again, when He bringeth up the first begotten of the world,
He saith, and let all the angels of God worship Him. And the angels,
He saith, who make His angels spirits and His ministers a flame
of fire. But unto the Son, He saith, Thy
throne, O God, to the Son. Thy throne, O God,
He's God, is forever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is a scepter of Thy kingdom. But look again
in verse 3. When He had by Himself, we are
complete in Christ. When He had by Himself, He did
it all. Every single thing needed for
a sinner, He did it all. when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is King. He does all things by the
Word of His power. And those who bow down to Jesus
Christ, bow down to the true and living God. Those who bow
down to Christ, bow down to the true and living God. He is the
true and living God, Jehovah, God in the flesh, Emmanuel. Those who refuse to bow down
to Christ have never bowed down to the God of the Scriptures.
They've never bowed down. And think on this and how serious
this situation was in Colossus and other letters in which Paul
is combining false works-based salvation. If we allow anyone
or anything to turn our eye of faith away from Christ, We're
turning away from the true and living God. He is the true and
living God. And only salvation is found in
Him. Nowhere else. He's perfect. He's perfect. This is why we preach Christ
and Him crucified. We don't preach ourselves. I
can't do anything. I can't save myself, let alone
anyone else. But I know of One. I know of
One who saved my soul. And He can save whomever He pleases.
And He does. He saves His people. He saves
His elect. We don't know who they are. We
have the Gospel go forth and He has it go forth with power. And it's all for His glory. And
it's all for His praise. Everything we need is found in
Christ and Him alone. Let's look at verse 10. And ye
are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality
and power. We could spend weeks here. And ye are complete in
Him. This verse before us, Paul, by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, tells us that we are
complete in Christ. Complete in Christ. The believer is the ye. The Colossian
believers are the ye. And as I said, a lot of things
could be straightened out if we only looked at who these letters
were written to. It's written to God's people.
It's written to those who will believe. God's sheep. Now the word complete in the
Greek is defined as this. To make full. To fill up. To the full. To fill to the full. To cause to abound. To furnish
or supply, we need all these blessings in Christ because we
can't furnish them ourselves, can we? Not at all. To render
full, to complete. To make complete in every particular,
to render perfect. My, oh my. Here's a quote by
Brother Henry Mahan. We are perfect in Him. Let's
let that sink in for a minute. We are perfect in Him. He is
perfect, and our being in Him makes us perfect. This is not
speaking of what we shall be, but of what we are right now
in Christ. Not in ourselves, but in Him. Now, we're still
sinners. I don't believe in sinless perfection.
And neither does Brother Henry. But when God looks upon His people,
He sees us in Christ. He is the head of all principality
and power, not only in the church, but angels, kings, rulers, religious
heads, etc. In Him there is no charge, obligation,
duty, or service that can be demanded of us for redemption."
I like that statement. In Christ, there is no charge,
obligation, duty, or service that can be demanded of us for
redemption, not by anyone. He's done it all. That's the
end quote. He's done it all. In Christ, by His one offering
for sin, our Lord Jesus Christ has perfected us. Now we're still
sinners. We're still sinners. And we struggle every day, don't
we? We struggle every minute. Every second. Let's be honest. We sin all the time. But the
Scripture declares that in Christ, we are complete in Him. We who
are weak in ourselves, and can do nothing, are complete in Christ. And think of this. If something's
complete, and something's completed, nothing can be added to it, can
it? When you said, I've completed
that, think of you in your own life. When you complete something,
and it's done, You don't add anything to it. We are complete
in Christ. Not complete in ourselves, say,
but we are complete in Christ. What wonderful news for those
of us who came out of the yoke of religious bondage. Remember
all the lists and all the things that we had to do? All our sins
are forgiven in Christ. Because we're in Christ, our
Heavenly Father sees no sin in us. Those who believe, And that's
the key right there, too. Those who believe. Those who
are trusting and resting in Christ. We are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And it's a complete salvation.
Or if we could just live in this, eh? It's a complete salvation,
though. It is. He's forgiven us of all
our trespasses and sins. And it's only found in Christ,
who is God in the flesh. All that a sinner needs is found
in Christ. The question is, are you a sinner?
Awful hard to find people who are sinners now. But if God shows
you you're a sinner, you're free of Christ. If He makes you willing,
you're free of Christ. And that's our hope. That God,
those of you who are here who do not know Christ, oh, that
God would reveal to you what you are. And we're not saying
that in a high on the horse kind of thing. We know what we are.
We're but sinners saved by the grace of God. And God, when I
see the blood, I'll pass over you. He's had mercy upon us.
And we say, flee to Christ. He's your only hope. Oh, that
God would make you willing. Here are some things that we
are complete in Christ. His perfect obedience is our
righteousness. Turn, if you would, to Romans
4. His perfect obedience is our righteousness. He was a substitute
through His whole life, and He was a substitute upon the cross.
And His perfect, remember, perfect, this is why we're complete in
Him, because it's perfect. It's perfect in Christ. Romans
4, starting in verse 6-8, even as David also described the blessedness
of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness, look at this,
without works. See, our sins are imputed to
Christ, right? And His righteousness is imputed to us. The blessedness. Now, if you're here and you're
saved, think of it. You're blessed. Beyond comprehension. If the
Lord has saved you. Blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputed righteousness without work. Sane. Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven. And whose sins are Covered, praise
God. Covered by the precious blood
of Christ. Covered by His sacrifice on Calvary's
cross and what He's done. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. What a Savior. What a Savior. And this can only be said of
those who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Those
who believe on Him. Philippians says this in chapter
2, verse 7 and 8, "...but made himself of no reputation and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of man. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
And he did it for his people. His perfect obedience is our
righteousness. What a mighty and gracious Savior
we have in Christ. His sacrifice for sin is our
atonement. His sacrifice for sin is our
atonement. See, outside of Christ we have
none of this. But in Christ, His sacrifice
for sin is our atonement. Hebrews 2.17 says this, Wherefore,
in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren,
that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
He was sinless. He's the perfect substitute.
To make reconciliation for the sins of the people. That's we
who believe. That's the elect of God. The
elect of God of all the ages too. all who live before us,
all who are here now, even the ones who Christ hasn't revealed
Himself to, and all the ones who will be saved. All the elect of all the ages
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. God became
a man like unto His brethren. And those who were given to Him,
He must redeem. And He did it. here in this love,
not that we love God, but that He loved us. We didn't love God,
did we? Those of us who are saved now,
there was a time when we were just talking about that, brethren. We didn't love God at all. We
may have heard of Him, and we cried out, and we used His name
as a byword. Oh, what mercy, though. What
mercy. here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. The propitiation. God sent His
Son to die for those who did not love Him. By nature, we come
into this world shaking our fist at God. Enemies in our mind. And He sent Christ to be a propitiation
for the sins of His people. Now, propitiation is a word that's
not used a lot today, but here again, it's defined in the Webster
Dictionary. 1913, it says this, the act of appeasing the wrath
and conciliation, the favor of an offended person, the act of
making propitious. So, who had we sinned against? Who do we sin against? God. And
His justice must be satisfied, right? And then it goes on with
the definition, that which propitiates atonement or atoning sacrifice,
and isn't this neat, in the Webster Dictionary from 1913 it says
this, specifically the influence or effects of the death of Christ.
You wouldn't see that in the modern dictionaries now, would
you? in appeasing the divine justice and conciliating the
divine favor. He's appeased the wrath of God
for His people. He's a propitiation for His people.
His sacrifice for sin is our atonement. What a wonderful God. Do you
see how we're complete in Him? His Word is our instruction.
The Word of God is our instruction. Psalm 119, 105 says, Thy Word
is a lamp unto my feet. a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path." Think of this, without the direction of God's
Word and the light of God's Word, our whole course of life and
the actions of our lives would be in darkness and full of peril.
But His Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Turn, if you would, to 2 Timothy 3.16. It instructs us. Oh, we look to God's Word for
guidance. Look at 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Now God's Word directs us and it corrects us too. And it's
profitable for, first, doctrine, which is discovering or confirming
all the teachings concerning God. That's what doctrine is. People don't care about doctrine
anymore, but it's important. It's important because doctrine
just speaks of God and what he's done. But folks are all into
emotion now and feelings and religions full of that. But God's
people yearn. We yearn for this. Think of the
great doctrines of the fall of man, but then redemption by the
blood of Christ. The great doctrines of eternal
life and justification and sanctification. These are marvelous, marvelous
doctrines. And they all point to Christ.
They all point to Him. Reproof, it says. Things which
creep in, such as errors and heresies and false teachings
concerning the Gospel. This book will straighten that
out. Correction. We need correction
sometimes. And the Scripture corrects our
attitude and our spirit and our practice in our lives. I can't
tell you how many times I've been listening to a sermon, and
I'll get it right between the eyes. And no one else knows.
If someone else is listening with me, they don't have a clue,
and I'll just be sitting there just really... You know, you're just
like, oh my gosh. But that's what happens. Sometimes. Sometimes the Scriptures comfort
us, too. And instruction in righteousness
in every branch of duty With respect to God or man, the Scriptures
are a perfect rule of faith and practice. We do what we do to
glorify God and not to be seen of man. The next point is, Christ's
wisdom is our direction. Ephesians 1.8 says this, Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. When
it is the Lord's time for his sheep to be saved, they shall
be saved. And he reveals himself to them. And we're taught of
God. We're taught all the mystery
of His Gospel and redemption. And think of this, the Gospel's
hidden to both the Jews and the Gentiles until God is pleased
to reveal it. Was it not so with us, we who
believe? Was there not a time when we
didn't even have a clue? And He revealed Himself. And
this is our hope for those of you who are here who do not know
Christ. Oh, Lord, that You would reveal
Yourself to Your sheep who don't know You yet. We do not need
to look anywhere but Christ, because in Him is everything
pertaining to God's wisdom, mercy, grace, and righteousness. Look
at verse 3 of the chapter that we're in, too, in Colossians
2. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They're
all in Christ. They're nowhere else. Folks seek
out their wisdom in all different places. It's only in Christ. It's only in Him. You can learn
a lot of stuff from the world and stuff, but this wisdom here
is only in Christ. The wisdom of salvation in Christ
alone. The wisdom of the things of God.
You can't learn it on your own. He must reveal it. And when He
does, it's absolutely marvelous. It's amazing. In whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Everything that's
necessary for the salvation of a sinner is in Christ. And as
I said, that's why we point you to Christ. The next point is
He has all power. He has all power in our salvation.
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it's the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. What a mighty God. Romans 1,
verse 16. What a mighty God. He has all
power. Christ has all power. All power. We saw that in Hebrews.
All power. And in Scripture it says that
we're kept by that power too. Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. 1 Peter 1, 5. We are kept by the power of God.
We're saved by the power of God, and we're kept by the power of
God. What's the conclusion to that? It's all by His power. It's all by His power. What a wonderful God. His blood
sacrifice is our justification. Romans 5, 9 says this. Much more
than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath. Remember the appeasement, the
propitiation? We shall be saved from wrath through Him. The wrath
of God has been appeased, has been appeased for the believer
in Christ. His grace is our salvation. Romans 3.24 says this, being
justified freely by His grace, freely, by God, whomever God
chooses, whomever He wills, freely by His free grace. We're saved
by the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ, plus nothing.
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, justified by
His grace, And then the next point is His eternal love is
our security. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah
31, verse 3. His eternal love is our security.
We are secure in Christ. Do you see as we're going through
this how we're complete in Christ? Those who believe are complete
in Christ. Everything that's lacking is found in Him. Found in Him. Look at this marvelous
verse in Jeremiah 31, verse 3. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Now that right there is enough
to make us just be in awe, right? Just be in awe. But look what
it continues to say. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. Loving kindness. Drawn with lovingkindness
from God from the power of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son.
Drawn with lovingkindness from being dead in trespasses and
sins to being made alive in Christ. Drawn with lovingkindness out
of the pit of sin, where there's no water, unto Christ, His person. Unto Christ, His blood. Unto
Christ, His righteousness. Unto Christ, His fullness. Everything
that a sinner needs is in Christ. and by faith to lay hold upon
them." We're given the faith to lay hold upon them. It's a
gift from God. And this verse also speaks of
man's inability to come. Man must be drawn with loving
kindness. He must be drawn. And God, with
loving kindness, draws His people to Him, to Christ. What a wonderful
God. We don't deserve it. As a matter
of fact, we're usually, when He's drawing us, we were running
the other way, and then He draws us, and like Brother John said,
we do that about face. Oh, then we run. We run to Christ. We run to Him. Only because He's
drawn us with loving kindness, and He's loved you with an everlasting
love. What a wonderful God. Oh, we're
completing Christ. Turn with me, if you would, to
Lamentations 3. And we'll just build on what
we looked at there in Jeremiah 31, which was His eternal love
is our security. His everlasting mercy is our
hope, beloved. Lamentations 3, it says this
in verse 22. Look at this. And think of this
in Christ. We are deserving of condemnation,
right? We're deserving of wrath. That's what we've earned as sinners.
But look at this beautiful verse in Lamentations 3. It is of the
Lord's, verse 22, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed because His compassions fail not. He's unchanging, beloved. They are new every morning. His
mercies to us are new every morning. I remember talking to a dear
sister in Montana. I was up there preaching one
time. And she said, do you know why His mercies are new every
morning? She said because the manna that fell yesterday wasn't
sufficient for today. And so each day, His mercies
are new every morning to us. Oh, it's wonderful. They're new
every morning. And look at this great is thy
faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness. The
Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in
Him." We hope in Christ. We don't hope anywhere else,
do we? The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the
soul that seeketh Him. Oh, seek Him. God would make
you willing to seek Him, to run to Him. We who believe know that
the soul that seeketh Him, we're saved, redeemed by His precious
blood. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. So
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope for our eternal souls. As I said, this body is going
to be put in a grave, but our soul lives forever. And He redeems. And He is the only hope for our
eternal souls. And one day we'll have a glorified
body too that don't have no sin at all. It'll be amazing. It'll
be incredible. His fullness is our completeness.
John 1, verse 16 says this, And of His fullness have all
we received in grace for grace. And the word fullness is another
term which brings out the absolute deity, glory, and sufficiency
of Christ. All the fullness of God's glory,
person, grace, mercy, peace, Life, joy, and purpose dwells
in Christ. It all dwells in Him. And all
that believers need for time and eternity is found in Christ. Is found in Christ. In Him alone. Nowhere else. Neither is there
salvation in any other. Nowhere else. And this is just
grace upon grace and favor upon favor. And those who believe
have received it in Jesus Christ our Lord. His immutability is
our strength. Now the God of the religionists
cannot keep someone saved unless they let Him. And they can be
saved and lost depending upon whatever they do, but that's
not the God of the Bible. Praise God, the God of the Bible
is unchanging. Now we change, don't we? God
is unchanging. Those He saves, He keeps saved. He doesn't change His mind and
say, well, you know what, no. No, you're not saved anymore.
No, not at all. The God of the Bible is unchanging. Unchanging. Remember, He's loved
His people with an everlasting love. With loving kindness He's
drawn us. He's unchanging. Therefore, it
says this in Malachi, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. The fact that God never changes
is a great joy and a blessing to God's people. God does not
change His mind ever, as we humans do often. We change our minds
all the time, but He doesn't change. What peace for the believer
in Christ. God is unchanging. Is Christ
unchanging? Well, Hebrews 13.8 says this,
because He's God in the flesh, Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He's unchanging. That means that
if He saved His people, they are saved. And it's not based
on anything we do, is it? Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
15. His resurrection is the guarantee of our glorious resurrection.
We will one day be with Christ. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20-23. His resurrection is the guarantee
of our resurrection. 15, verse 20-23, But now has Christ
risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that
slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own
order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's
at His coming." Oh, God is satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ,
and He's raised for the justification of His people. But see, we have
all this in Christ, right? All that we've looked at, we
have in Christ. It's nowhere else. Outside of Christ, none
of this. But the believer is complete
in Christ. I am He that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am
alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
hell and death." He's in heaven. And because He's there, the body
shall soon follow. Where the head is, the body will
soon follow. And the last point is this. His intercession is
the assurance of our deliverance from sin. Turn, if you would,
to Hebrews 7. Some will say, and I've mentioned
this before, Oh, you don't know how much I've sinned in my life.
Well, we're all sinners, aren't we? Every one of us. And we all know what the Lord
saved us from. And we know from Scripture that
the Lord saved one who was an adulterer, one who was a murderer,
one who was a persecutor of the brethren, one who was being crucified
alongside of Christ for his crimes that were his, who said, we're
here justly, but this man has done nothing. Look at Hebrews
7, verse 25. Wherefore He is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing
that He liveth to make intercession for them. Christ can save the
most vilest of sinners. And He does. And He does. What a wonderful God. He is able
to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. What
a statement. Really, there's nothing that
needs to be added to that, except He can save the vilest of sinners,
like I said. That come unto God by Him. You
see, there's the clause. That come unto God by Him. Folks
are trying to come unto God by all different things, except
Christ. But those who come unto God by
and through Christ and Him alone are saved. He's able. He's able to save them to the
uttermost. Now these are just a few things
that we've looked at that we have in Christ. There's so much
more. There's so much more. But I think that what we've looked
at today will cause us to rejoice, those of us who believe. Will
cause us to rejoice. That we are complete in Him.
Now, what more could we possibly want, beloved of God? What more
could we possibly want? The whole Godhead is engaged
to make the believer complete in Christ. Has not God supplied
all that we need in Christ? Philippians says this, but my
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. Everything that a sinner needs
is in Christ. Nowhere else. God has supplied
all our need in and through Him. Think of this, there's no fullness
in any man born in Adam, right? We're weighed in the balances
and found wanting. But there's in Christ, of fullness. There is no fullness in any church,
but there is a fullness in Christ. There is no fullness in any religious
ritual, ceremony, or ordinance, but in Christ there are all spiritual
blessings for the believer. All fullness dwells in Christ.
Therefore, let us exalt and praise and honor His mighty name. And
we'll be really quick to give Him all the glory, won't we?
All of it. All fullness of mercy. All fullness
of power. All fullness of redemption. All
fullness of righteousness. All fullness of love. All fullness
of grace are in Christ in Him alone. Nowhere else. He's infinite. Incomprehensible. Divine. And
the believer has this in Christ. What a mighty Savior.