Alright, I want you to open your
Bibles this morning, first of all, to Colossians. Colossians
in the second chapter. My message this morning I've
called, Why Believe? on Jesus Christ. I want you to look at a couple
of verses here found in Colossians 2 beginning in verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy or vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. and ye are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power." Now, I've come this morning, as I always do, to call upon every one of you to trust your soul, the salvation of your soul from
all your sins to Jesus Christ. I have come to call upon you
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I say to you again, one more
time, to look to Him alone and cast
off all other hope in yourself or in anybody else. And yet I know that it rises
in our minds questions like, in the light of what all people
are saying, in the light of everything that is taught in religion by
men, all the various things, why should I do so? Is it really safe for you and
I to do so? Could there ever come a time
when we might regret having done so? Well, the first thing that I
would say is that God commands us to do so, and that is warrant
enough. We are to do whatever God commands. But He does not tell us this. He does not command us to believe
on Christ without giving us sound reasons for doing so. He tells us the truth about Jesus
Christ. He tells us exactly who He is, because who He is determines
what He has done and what He can do. You see, Jesus Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth, The Lord Jesus Christ, as He is called, is, as an old
preacher once said, a unique person. He is one of a kind, and there
is no other in heaven or earth or hell that is like Him. And while the Scriptures teach
that all His people, as we have just read, are complete in Him,
and they are viewed by God as He is, it tells us, and one day
will be like Him, none are or ever will be exactly like him. He is truly that unique person. If you look back in Colossians
1 and verse 18, he tells us this, and he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell." And then if you look again in
chapter two of Colossians, it says in that third verse of Jesus
Christ, it says, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. And of all that could be said
about Jesus Christ, And of all that should be said about him,
there are about three or four things that I want to restate
to every one of you who hears what I say this day concerning
the person, the work of Jesus Christ. And He is all of these
things right now, and He was all these things as He carried
out this work as the Savior of His people. And so I call upon
each and every one of you this day You can be, and I desire
to be myself, just like an old man said years ago, Lord, if
I've never believed on you before, give me grace and help me this
day, this hour, to believe on you right now. And so I come to you this day
and I call upon each and every one of you to believe on Jesus
Christ first of all because He is Himself God. He is nothing less than the absolutely
holy, glorious, one God of heaven. Did you see what we read there
in verse 9 of chapter 2? It says, for in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead. You say, I cannot in any way
begin to comprehend all the fullness of the Godhead. And neither can
I. But it declares to us that in
this man Jesus Christ dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. In other words, He is divinity. He is the deity, He is God Himself,
and this was the prophecy of all the prophets. Listen to what
Isaiah said in chapter 7. He said, therefore the Lord Himself
shall give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and
there a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." In other words,
this is the prophecy of God. It is concerning a coming one
who will have no earthly father, but shall be born of this virgin,
and this is the name he will be called by." And then when
we come to Matthew's Gospel, we read this in that first chapter. He says, "...by the Spirit of
God, behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. And he spoke those words concerning
that child that was born, that one Jesus of Nazareth, who is
nothing and no one less than God with us. In other words,
he is not simply, as some allowed, a messenger of God. He is not just the favor of God. He's not even just the blessings
of God. He is God Himself. I have a kind of a rule of thumb
when these people come to your door. They come two by two, oftentimes,
to your door, to knock on your door, and they want to talk to
you about the Bible. They want to talk to you about
God. And I have one rule of thumb. I have one question that I ask
them, and it is this, do you believe that Jesus Christ is
God? And they'll start to hum haul,
and sigh and try to get around that issue and say, well, we
believe he was a son of God or we believe he's this or that
or the other. I said, that is not my question. And I have no time to speak to
anybody who cannot give a true and biblical answer to that question. Jesus Christ is God Himself. Isaiah again says this, for unto
us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God. He is the everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Counselor, the Wonderful
One. But He is, in all things, the
Mighty God. Well, somebody says, but what
about when He said that the Father was greater than He? In John
14. He says, you have heard now,
I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you. If you loved
me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father,
for my Father is greater than I. But he is speaking there. not
only as God, but he's speaking there as Jehovah's servant, as
the prophet said he would be. And he said in another place
in John 10, that which clarifies that so clearly, he said, I and
my Father are one. There's no way that you can be
one with God the Father except that you be God Himself. And there are in this book so
many clear declarations, so many sound biblical reasons, so many
clear statements from God that make us believe that He is no
less than God, and maybe the greatest of them all is found
in John's Gospel and the first chapter. Look at what he says
here in John chapter 1. He says in the very first verse
of that gospel account, he says, In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now, that word, Word, there,
or Logos, as it is, it's in capital letters for a reason. It distinguishes
a person. And it says that the Word that
was in the beginning, the Word that was with God, is the same
Word that was God. And then look down in verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He's
the Word. He's the one who demonstrated
on many occasions all the divine attributes of God. He is the
Omniscient One. He needed not that any should
tell Him, because He knew what was in the heart of God. He is
the Immutable God, being the same yesterday and today and
forever. He is the Absolute Sovereign
God, who has absolute power, all power given unto Him in heaven
and earth, and every attribute of God. without exception, is
in the New Testament attributed at one place or another, in one
time or another, to Jesus Christ Himself. Not just that He did
the miracles of God. How can this man, they say, do
the miracles He does unless He be from God? He does them not
because He simply is from God, but because He is God. Paul writes to Timothy. He made
every effort to make sure that this man Timothy, this younger
preacher Timothy, was sounded and rooted in the clear gospel
of Jesus Christ. And he says, and without controversy,
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. Who is that God? Who is that
walking? They're on the shores of Galilee. Who's that there sitting at the
table with the Pharisee? Who's that walking around doing
good in every place? It is none other than God the
Son. It says in 1 John 5, For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. He goes on and says this, And
we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. And all believers All who truly
believe, Paul says to Titus, are looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ. Now, it always amazes me that
people try to use this argument. They say, well, he never said
he was God. But I'll tell you this, those
who lived in his days, and especially the Pharisees and such, they
knew exactly what his claim was, and they said to him, when he
said, for which of these good works do you stone me? They say,
we don't stone you because you do any of these good works. We
like good works. We like miracles. We like healings. We like when you do the bread
thing. We like all these things. We're not stoning you for doing
something like that. For a good work we stone thee
not, but for blasphemy, because that thou being a man,
makest thyself God." You see, if he was not God, then
he could not satisfy God on our behalf, nor could he ever give
God anything that he would accept. But it is the fact that He is
God Himself that makes His sacrifice avail for many. And I call upon you to believe
on Him, because He is none other than God the Son, the eternal
God, Jesus Christ. And then secondly, I call upon
each and everyone who hears me to believe on Him because He
is also perfect man. Now, why is it important
that we believe on Him as a man? Well, this word in our text in
verse 9 says, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Now, I don't know about you,
but when you stop and think about it, you can really understand
that none of the so-called pictures or statues Anything like that
of Jesus Christ could ever, ever actually been pictured for representations
of Him. Why? Number one, because God
said, you'll not make unto Me any graven image. But also because
they always seem to do something to make this man stand out. Maybe a little halo around his
head. Maybe a nice picturesque face. Something like that. But I dare
say, that the natural eye, I think it was proved again and again
in Scripture, that the natural eye could not distinguish Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, from any other man that lived in His
day. They looked at Him. They examined
Him. They spoke to one another about
Him. And they never did, as Isaiah
recorded, they never saw in him any form or comeliness that they
should desire. But he's a man. You see, the word bodily here
is found nowhere else in the New Testament. And it means having
a body instead of just existing or appearing in a spiritual form. He had a body. He is described as bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh to all of his people. Hold your
place here and look over in I John and the first chapter. 1 John chapter 1, and look in verse
1 of chapter 1, when John begins stating this very thing, he says,
that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the Word of Life. We shook His hand. We embraced Him. We saw Him eat. We saw Him drink. We saw Him
weep. We saw Him weary. We saw Him
drink water. We saw Him need to sit down and
rest. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also
may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. You know, our problem is, in
our flesh, we cry out for that which we can see and touch and
embrace. But when God came into this world,
the Scripture says that He Himself said, a body thou hast prepared
for me. Why? He said, because sacrifices
and offerings of bulls and goats and lambs and such as that, he
said, you would not. In other words, those sacrifices
could never, would never be accepted by God. Since man has to be redeemed,
a man has to accomplish that redemption. Eternal life is in a man. John said, we saw Him. That eternal life that was with
the Father. That eternal life that God gives
as a gift to His people. That eternal life that is in
His Son. We saw Him. We heard Him. We touched Him. because the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. This great mystery of all the
ages that the prophets wrote about, that the prophets were
inspired of the Spirit to declare that thing that was not yet to
that point revealed is none other than God manifest in the flesh. And he is the man. You see, the one that Isaiah
called the mighty God, the Son that was given, he also says
is the child that was born. You say, well, preacher, to think
about the Almighty God. the Creator of heaven and earth,
the one the Scriptures say that the heavens, that all the temples
of men cannot hold, that He actually lay there in Mary's arms as an
infant babe. He's God. Absolutely. He is God. And He is God manifest in the
flesh and must needs be so to save us. I don't know how many times I
must have told you that God, absolutely considered as God,
He cannot die. So in order to accomplish the
salvation of man, He must become a man. And He could do, as God,
everything almost imaginable in order to help us or bless
us in one way or another just from heaven by speaking it. But He couldn't redeem us like
that. He couldn't save us from our
sins like that. because he could not die. The wages of sin is death. In order for men to be saved,
a man must come and die in their place as their substitute, as
their surety, and do that work, die that death that they could
not die, and yet do so as God manifests in the flesh in order
to satisfy God. You say, well, there's never
a man ever of himself satisfied God. There was one man who did. For there is one God, Paul says,
and one Mediator between God and men. There are not many men. One mediator between God and
men, not God and man, the generic term that speaks as a whole,
but God and these men that He saves. The man, Christ Jesus. There's a hundred billion oceans
of glory in that. The man, Christ Jesus. Jesus is said to be the Son of
God and the Son of Man. The child in Mary's womb was
described as that holy thing. He is not only called David's
Lord, but David's Son. Do you know what? The first way
that Jesus Christ is proclaimed as the Savior of His people who
will save them from their sins was proclaimed by God the Father
Himself. And He did so in the garden.
when he told the serpent, and Adam and Eve, and also that the
seed of woman would crush the serpent's head. The seed of woman? Well, to start with, woman doesn't
even have a seed. But there was one woman that
was used of God to bear the Son of God when He came into this
world in human flesh as a man. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law. subject to
the death that the law required for sinners, to redeem them that
were under the law. Turn over to Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. This is,
to me, one of the most marvelous passages of Scripture. Philippians
2. And look up in verse 5. When Paul, in the midst of his
instructions to these believers at Philippi, he says, let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Now, he's going
to command them to be in a way that they should be, but he always
uses Christ and Him crucified as the example. who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. I don't believe that if Jesus
Christ as He was when He lived here on this earth, if He walked
through that door this morning, would strike you as being any
different than any other Jew that ever lived in this world. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him as a man, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus You notice he doesn't
even say Jesus Christ there. He says it in the name of Jesus.
That's his name of humanity. Every knee should bow of things
in heaven, in earth, under the earth, and that every name should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. I'll read you this in Hebrews,
the second chapter. Hebrews chapter two, listen to
what he says. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same. Now why did he do that? that
through death he came into this world and became
a man to die. He walked, he lived, he did all
the Father's will, but he said oftentimes that his hour had
not yet come. What hour was that? the hour
he hanged on that cross and died, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage, For barely he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Like I said, he ate, he slept,
he tired, but most of all he died the death of the cross and
bore the sins of his own people in his own body on the tree. He says in Hebrews 10, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Then I call upon you to believe
on Jesus Christ this morning because He is the sinless man. He had to be God. He had to be
man. But He had to be sinless man. Peter said that it was as the
just one that he suffered for the just. And to be the Lamb
of God, to be the one sacrifice for sins forever, He had to be
without blemish and without spot. As a matter of fact, in the Scriptures,
every sacrifice that God ordained and accepted as a picture and
type of Christ had to have one specific characteristic. It had to be perfect. It had to be absolutely perfect,
as far back as the book of Leviticus. He says, And whosoever offereth
a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his
vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be
perfect to be accepted. That's why it's so foolish for
you and I to think or to be told that if we do our best or if we will give this to God
or that to God, you see, if for no other reason the fact that
we touch something or something is associated with us It's nothing
but sand. We pollute it. One day this week I had that
misfortune that comes from time to time of having to change that
toner cartridge in the coffee machine. If you could get gas that would
give you mileage the way that toner powder does. You can touch
one finger to it. It can get one speck on you and
everything you touch for the next hour will be just smeared
with it. That's the way it is with what
we do. Man at his best state is altogether vanity. All the inhabitants of the earth
are weighed in the balance of their life less than a particle
of dust. There's none that doeth good.
There's none that seeketh after God. There's none righteous of
themselves. No, not one. All we like sheep
have gone astray. But no man could convince him
of sin. Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. The devils had to cry out in
whoever they were and call him the Holy One of God. Isaiah said
he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death
because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. God says, we have not a high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Why will God accept His sacrifice? Because it's perfect. For such a high priest became
us, or suited us, our needs, who is holy. harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Perfect. He says by the Apostle
Peter, he says, you know, and I'll tell
you this, we don't really know anything until God teaches us
this. He says, for you know, for as
much as you know, that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things, such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers. Even those things that were under
that Old Testament economy, they never did actually redeem a soul. Though they pictured the Redeemer,
they didn't ever actually redeem. He said, and those things are
just the remembrance of sins, the remembrance of the only way
and the only one that can put away sin. But with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."
This was always God's perfect Lamb. And when John the Baptist
first saw the man Christ Jesus, the first declaration of who
he was is, Behold, the Lamb of God. The spotless, perfect, holy,
glorious Lamb of God. And you know that He was manifested
to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. There was no sin in Him when
He walked on this earth. And when sin was laid on him,
he died that death and put away sin, and he rose from the grave
so it can be said, in him right now is no sin. And if you're
in him, no sin. No sin before God. You see, he
had to be sinless for God to impute the sins of his people
to him. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians
in chapter 5 of that second letter, he said, For he that is God,
have made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. He knew no sin, but he was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And then I call upon you to believe
on Jesus Christ today, because He successfully finished the
entire work of salvation. And God accepted it, and God
declared it, and God announces in the gospel that good news. He saved some people. He saved a multitude of people. Who did He save? Some sinners. Those who are ungodly. He saved all His people from
their sins. He brought in that everlasting
righteousness. And He is made by God unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. His sacrifice
has put away the sins of all His elect. His sacrifice has
put away all the sins of His people, of the children of God,
of the church, His sin, His sacrifice, put away
all the sins of all who truly believe on Him. That's why I call upon you. I sat there this morning and
I read the little devotion in Mr. Spurgeon's checkbook of faith. One of the things that he said
was, he reminded me of that verse in the Psalm, where the Christ
is told by the Father, Thy people shall be willing in the day of
Thy power. And I thought, Lord, I'm going
one more time. And I'm going to stand and I'm
going to open Your book. And I'm so tired and so weak
and so stressed about a zillion things
it seems like in this particular providential time in my life.
And I'm going to call on people one more time to believe on your
side. They won't by nature. As a matter of fact, to call
upon men to believe on Jesus Christ naturally just raises
the bristles of their rebellious nature. But he said, Thy people, they'll
be willing. I'm not trying to get any unwilling
person to do anything. But if He comes to you today
and it's the day of His power, you'll be so willing to bow and
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to receive Him in the portals
and doors of your heart as the King of glory, and to rest all hope To look
to Him for all righteousness. To cast off and repent of every
old hope and desperate thing. And just believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That He is who God has said that
He is. And He has done what God has
said that He has done. They came to Jesus. They didn't
know who He was. They said, well, He's a pretty
good fellow, evidently, and He's got the respect of the people,
and He does some pretty amazing miracles, and He's probably sent
like some of the prophets from God. So they came to Him, and
they said, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. You see, this work is actually
a ceasing from our works. And in order for us to do so,
in order for us to believe on Christ, It requires the work of God.
But here it is, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. You believe on Jesus Christ.
You may never believe on Him. You may hear and hear and hear
and never believe on Him. But that won't change who He
is. And that won't render what he did unsuccessful. He said it's finished. And as
God the Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us through the gospel, if we ever believe on Him, if
we ever see Him for who He is, we'll say like that old queen
that came to Solomon. The half. The half of this man. Who he is and what he's done,
the half's not been told. Because the fullness, the perfections,
the glory, most especially to us, the grace of God is in the
face of the man, Jesus Christ, this unique person. There's every reason why we should believe on Jesus
Christ. And yet none can apart from the
grace and mercy of God by the work of His Spirit. Father, this day I pray for my
own self. for my children, for my family, for all that are here in this
place, for all who assemble in this place, for all my friends
around, for all your people wherever they are, that you might grant
us grace faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be able to say, as those
disciples, those few disciples did after the great multitude
have left, that we believe that you are the Christ, the Son of
God. And we're sure that you're Him. The one that is set forth in
this book. We pray and ask all things in
Him. Amen. Amen.