Good morning. Good to be with
you again. I look forward to this time to
be able to be with you and brag on our Redeemer. He's
worthy of all praise. I need your prayers this morning.
The joints don't seem to want to work. And I find as I get
older, I hurt in places I did not know I had. So I need your
prayers this morning. If you have your Bible, turn
with me. I want to read in a couple of
places if I can. Ephesians chapter one. And I
want to begin reading at verse 17. First chapter of the Book of
Ephesians, verse 17. And then I want to read a verse
or two in Colossians chapter three. Need your prayers. The
Lord would help us. I can't do anything without the
Lord, and I wouldn't want to try. Ephesians 1, verse 17, the
Apostle Paul says this. that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling. and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us who believe according to the working of his
mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his
feet. and gave him to behead over all
things to the church. Now look at the last verse here,
which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now, if you'll turn a few pages
over to Colossians 3, verse 10. I want to read verse
10 and verse 11. And have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free. Now I want you to pay close
attention to the last clause of this verse. But Christ is
all and in all. The subject this morning is three
words. Christ is all. Now to some people, Jesus Christ
means absolutely nothing. Doesn't mean a thing to them.
They've heard his name, don't know anything about him. His
name means nothing to them. Now, to some, Jesus Christ's
name means very little. They recognize his name at Christmastime. They say, yeah, I know who that
is. They have no idea who he is. But he means very, very little
to them. To them, God, the Lord Jesus
Christ is a spare tire. You know, like that song, Jesus
Take the Wheel. It's all he means to them. He's
a spare tire. He's a backseat companion. And
they only think of him when they get in trouble. Then, to some
people, Jesus Christ means a great deal. They celebrate his birth. They celebrate his death. They celebrate his resurrection.
These are the religious people of this day. But he's not all in all to them. These are the people who have
accepted Jesus as their personal savior, according to the modern
gospel. These are the people who are
baptized. These are the people who attend church probably every
Sunday. These are the people who become
Romans Road soul winners. These are the people who ask
people to come forward and accept Jesus. They get them down on
the altar and they read them the Romans Road. You believe
this? Yes. You believe Jesus Christ
died? Yes. You believe he rose again? Yes. It says here, if you'll
call on the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. Now, you don't
think God had lied to you now, do you? Oh, no. No, he wouldn't
lie to me. Well, it says here, if you called
on the Lord, you'll be saved. Did you call on him? Well, no. Well, let me help you out. Let
me help you out. Just repeat this prayer after
me, and you'll be fit for heaven.
You don't have to worry about anything else. Long as you accept
this, you'll be fit for heaven. Sad, isn't it? Very sad. But to a few, and I mean very
few people, Jesus Christ is everything. He's our life. When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him
in glory. Paul said, in Him, in Christ,
we live and we move and we have our being. I couldn't draw my
next breath without the Lord Jesus Christ. What little knowledge
I've got, he gave it to me. I'm breathing his air, I'm eating
his food, I'm walking because he gives me the ability to walk. And I'm saved because he saved
me. He saved me. Christ is all. I just want to give you a few
points this morning concerning this subject. Jesus Christ is
all. First of all, Jesus Christ is
all in eternity. Before there was me, you, before
there was anything, before the world was ever created, John
1, 1 tells us this. In the beginning was the Word,
capital W-O-R-D. In the beginning was the Word,
Christ, And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. There was a time when nothing
existed but God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Now you say, preacher, explain
that. I wish I could. But I know it's so because this
book says so. In the beginning was the word. He's from everlasting to everlasting. He never has a birthday. It irks
me to the great when Christmas time comes around and they say,
today is Jesus's birthday. I want to go somewhere and scream.
He never has a birthday. He has no days of beginning. He has no days of ending. The writer of Hebrews said, Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am God. And beside me, there is none
other. John chapter 8, when the Pharisees
were accusing the Lord, trying to give him a hard time. They
hated him with every favor of their being. They said, we've
got Abraham to our father. We've never been in bondage to
anybody. Jesus said to them, Abraham saw
my day and was glad. And they said, huh, you're not
even 50 years old. And have you seen Abraham? Oh,
I love what he said. Before Abraham was, I am. And they took up stones to stone
him. He's the everlasting one. He's
all in eternity. What does it mean? to be all
in eternity? Well, I don't know but a few
things, but I do know this. I do know that in eternity, God
the Father decided and purposed to have
a people for himself. I heard one preacher say he wanted
a heavenly choir. Well, that's all right with me.
but he purposed to have a people. Paul said in Ephesians 1 in verse
4, according as he, who's he? According as he, God, hath chosen
us, where? In the Baptist church. according as he hath chosen us
in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Who did this? God did this. Now, a lot of people say, oh,
I believe in election. They think, well, Now, God looked
down through the telescope of time, and he saw that you would
believe the preaching of the gospel, and he said, yeah, I'll
choose him. That's not what election is.
No. Election's not based on foreseen
things. Election's not based on the fact
that God saw some goodness in you. He saw that, you know, you
were a meek and lowly person and you didn't get mad like other
people do. And you had a good disposition
and you had a good smile. And God said, I think you'll
be all right. No, I had nothing to do with
it. Had nothing to do with it. You know why God chose the people
for himself? He loved us. I can't fathom that. He loved me. He loved me. Me. No good, no count, wicked, rebellious,
blaspheming everything high and holy. But he loved me. He loved me. That, my friend, is sovereign, free grace. That's what it is. Jacob have I loved. Why did he
love Jacob? He was a crook. Wasn't due to trade horses with
Jacob. He was a supplanter, a deceiver. Crooked everybody he could. But
God said, I love you, Mark. And you know what? That makes
the difference right there. Well, what about Esau? Esau wasn't
a crook. Esau was a good feller. He was
a mighty hunter. He wasn't a bit like Jacob. God said, I hate him. You say,
Bridger, I don't believe that. Doesn't change one thing. God is sovereign. Christ is all in eternity. Chose a people for himself. Yes. He's not only all in eternity. But he's all in creation. He was all in creation. In the
beginning, God. Not in the beginning man, but
in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form
and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the water. And God said, boy, I tell
you what, when God speaks, you listen. And God said, let there
be light. And there was light. If you go
down to verse 26 in Genesis 1, you see something very striking. He said, let us make man. Us. Who's us? Tell you who us is. The triune
Godhead. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Ghost. Let us make man in our image
after our likeness. Christ is all. Where was the
Lord Jesus Christ when the present form of religion
back at that time when he came. Where was he then? I'm talking about Christ being
all. Where was he then? I'll tell you where he was. Paul
said in Galatians 4, for when the fullness of time was come,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that are under law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. What had been promised in the
fall came to pass on God's scheduled time. I don't know how to explain it,
and I don't know any preacher that does, but God actually became
man. the man, Christ Jesus. John 1, 14. Every time I read it, I just
have to shake my head and say, Lord, I wish you'd just let me
plumb the depths of this first. The word was made flesh and dwelled
among men. And John said, we beheld his
glory. Not everybody saw it, Mark. When
he came here, he didn't have a halo around his head where
you could say, hey, there's Jesus. It's that fellow with the halo. He looked like any other Jew
of his day. But he was God. He was God. God enough to heal the sick. God enough to raise the dead. God enough to set the captive
free. He unstopped deaf ears, opened
blinded eyes, and made lame people walk and dumb people talk. But he was man enough that he
hungered. He was man enough that he was
thirsty. He is man enough that he got
tired on the journey. He was man enough that he wept. He was man enough that his sweat
became as great drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He was man enough because he suffered. He was man enough because
he bled. And he was man enough because
he died. He was That's right. Jesus Christ is
God. First Timothy 3, 16. Great is
the mystery of godliness. And the first clause says this,
God was manifest in the flesh. End of story. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed all in the world and received up to glory. Christ is all. John chapter 10, talking about
his sheep, told the Pharisees, the reason why you don't believe
me is because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice,
and a stranger they will not follow. I give unto them eternal
life, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who is greater than
I, No man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. And
here's what he said that made the Pharisees madder than hornets. I and my father are one. Yes. Christ is all. He's all in all. Yes. He's all in regeneration. He's all. John chapter three, a man named Nicodemus, the ruler
of the Jews, educated. Educated in the law, educated
in tradition, educated in false religion. But he had sense
enough to know this, he said, we know that you're a teacher
come from God, because nobody can do what you're doing. except
God be with him. And the Lord wouldn't even address
the statement. He said, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What? How can these things be? How can I? How can I? Nicodemus said, well, I'm old.
Enter the second time into my mother's womb. Jesus said, that
which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
you must be born again. You say, preacher, what's regeneration? It's being made alive. Every
man's dead and trespasses in sins. He's spiritually blind,
he's spiritually deaf. Paul said, if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to them that are lost. Lest the light of the glorious,
I mean, they're captive by Satan, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, which is the image of God, should shine unto
them. The only way that a dead man
can do anything is he has to be alive. That's right. Dead man can't do nothing. You
hath he quickened, made alive. This is what regeneration is.
You hath he quickened who were dead. in trespasses and in sins. Where in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, the prince of the power
of the air, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. Christ is all in regeneration. The scripture tells us that Christ
Jesus the Lord is a life-giving spirit. He gives life. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. John 5, 26, marvel not. The dead shall hear his voice. The time is coming and now is
that the dead shall hear his voice. the spiritually dead,
and they that hear shall live. If the Holy Spirit don't quicken
you and make you alive, you'll go to hell just as sure as I'm
preaching to you. You can't make yourself alive. You're dead in trespasses and
sins. Nothing you can do. That's right. Christ is all in regeneration. Let me say this while it's passing
through my mind. I can remember vividly when I found out I was lost. Oh, I remember that vividly.
You say, preacher, why do you remember that? Because I was
dead in trespasses and in sins. And one day I heard his voice
through the preaching of the gospel. And I came face to face
with the fact that I was a sinner. the worst sinner that ever lived. I've heard people say, oh, I
know I'm lost preacher. Oh, you're lying to me, honey.
If you ever find out, it's one thing for me to tell you you're
lost. One thing for someone else to tell you you're lost. But
if God Almighty ever reveals to you that you're lost. I'm here to tell you, you'll
be seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. He's all in regeneration. He's all in salvation. God does it. Jonah said salvation's
of the Lord. Oh, I love to read about Jonah.
One of my favorite books in the Old Testament is to read about
Jonah. Now, here's old Jonah. Old Jonah's down in the depths
of this fish, down in the belly of this fish, seaweed all around
his head. Three days and three nights,
this man's in the belly of the fish. He couldn't get out. Jonah, won't
you do something for God? Jonah, get out of there, Jonah. Jonah, you got the power to get
out of there. Get out of there, Jonah. What
are you doing down there, Jonah? Can't you get out? Jonah says, I will pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. And when he said that, that fish
spit him out on a sandbar. Jonah knew salvation was of the
Lord. If you ever get saved, God will
have to do it. You can't save yourself. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin? Can the leopard change his spots?
No. He's all in regeneration. He's all in salvation. He's all
in justification. Christ is all. When he was here
on this earth, he walked perfectly. I mean perfectly. And he had a body like mine.
But he was holy, harmless, Separate from sinners. Peter said, in
him was no sin, neither was there any guile found in his mouth.
He never had an evil thought. He never spoke an evil word.
He never had an evil motive. According to God's law, he dotted
every I, crossed every T, and walked perfectly in this world. And you know, Since we've been
in Him before the foundation of the world, and we are, He's my righteousness. There's
only one kind of righteousness God will accept, and that's perfect
righteousness. Perfect. And you don't have it,
and I don't have it, unless God gives us, imputes to us, the
righteousness of Christ. That's the only righteousness
God is satisfied with. That and that alone. And because
of that, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3. Oh, my goodness. Christ is all. I stand before God this morning
justified. No sin. No sin. Can you imagine this? Can you
fathom this? I stand before God. No sin. No sin. Why? Because you're perfect. Oh, no. He is. He's perfect. And I'm in him. I'm in him. Justify. I have his righteousness. He's all in justification. He's
all in righteousness. He's all in sanctification. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1
and verse 30, but of him, that is of God, are you where? In Christ Jesus. That's what
makes the difference. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. The verse I quoted to you earlier,
he chose to send him before the foundation of the world. Why?
That we should be what? Holy. And without blame before
him. In love. I mean, it means to
be set apart. He's holy. And because I'm in
him, so am I. I can't get a hold of that. I can't grasp that. I just believe
it. Because in my body, in my flesh,
as the old country feller says, I ain't no count. I'm vile. I ain't no good. Paul said, when
I do good, evil's always present with me. how to perform that
which is good, I find out. Oh, there's a battle going on
in here. The spirit lusts against the
flesh and the flesh lusts against the spirit. You cannot do the
things that you would. And Paul, Knowing a battle was
going on he looked forward to the day when that battle was
going to be over and he said Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And he gave us the answer I thank
God through Jesus Christ my lord He's all We're kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation. I couldn't keep myself one second. If my going to glory was dependent
on me keeping myself, I'd be the first one that failed. I
can tell you that. I don't have the ability, I don't have the
power because I'm wretched. Oh, wretched man that I am. But
he's my righteousness. He's my high priest. I can come
boldly to the throne of grace. Say, oh, Father, I've sinned.
Have mercy on me. Forgive me, Lord, I've sinned. He's my great high priest. He
pleads my case to the Father. Father, I shed my blood for him. He has no sin, Father. My blood's
payment for that sin. He's mine. He's my advocate when
Satan accuses me and accuses us before God. He says, he did
wrong. He ought to go to hell. He broke
the law. Christ says, I fulfill the law. I fulfilled the law for him.
I walked holy for him. He's holy in my sight. You ain't got nothing on him,
devil. He's mine. I died for him. And I rose again
for him. And you got no claim on him.
The devil has no claim on me. The law has no claim on me. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe. I'm telling
you, Christ is all. He's everything. He's everything. Then, don't mean to be so long-winded. He's all in glorification. He's all. Turn to Romans 8. Would you please? Romans 8. Verse 28, good place to start.
Here's what it says. And we know that all things work
together. All things. That means good things and bad
things. Things that we enjoy and things
that hurt us, things that grieve us, all things work together
to good. To them that love God, to them
who are the called, According to what? His purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate, mark beforehand, to be conformed to the image
of his Son. Isn't that good? that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestinated,
them he also called. You remember when he called you? Them he called, he justified,
and whom he justified, he also glorified. Did you know that
God always speaks of things as if they are already done? He does. He speaks of things
as if they're already done. I heard a guy say one time, well,
that's in the eyes of God. Well, in the eyes of God, that's
the way it is. There's no other eyes. Of course,
in the eyes of God, it's done. And that's all that matters,
brethren. I mean, our eyes ain't no good. We can't hardly see
20 feet in front of us. But in His eyes, they're perfect
eyes. They're blessed eyes. Well, let
me say this. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us these things? Now I'm getting
to where I wanted to get here. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. He's all in all. He's everything. He's everything. One of these days, I'm gonna
get A body fashioned like unto his glorious body. Now stop and think about that
a minute. I'm gonna get a body like his. Perfect. Without sin. No accuser to accuse me anymore. I look forward to the day that
I will sin no more. A lot of people have their ideas
about heaven. They say, oh, I want to see mom
and dad. I want to see Jonah. I want to see Moses. Oh, I just
want to see the Lord. Everything else is secondary.
Because I know when I see him, I'll never sin again. Never sin again. Oh, that's hard
for me to imagine in this body. That's so hard for me to imagine
in this body that one day I'll never sin again. Again, oh, but
it's coming to pass. It's coming to pass. Behold,
what matter of love, John said, the Father hath bestowed upon
us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world
knoweth us not because it knew him not. For we know when he
shall appear, we shall be like him. As the old country preacher
says, I'll be plumb saved then. We shall see him as he is, and
every man that has this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure. Let me ask
you this. Is Christ your all? Is he all in all to you? Is he your everything? Is he? He better be. Christ is all.