I don't think I said it well
ago. During my absence, David will be doing the teaching and
the preaching. Pray for him and give him a hearing
ear. I'm sure God will bless you together.
I want to talk about what I began talking about last Sunday. I
made this statement that I've made many times, the most important
thing As God looks and listens this morning, sees the thoughts
of your hearts, most important thing in all the world. It's
what we think of His Son, the thoughts that we have in our
minds and our hearts about His Son. That's everything. People
talk about decisions and going through rituals and ceremonies.
The most important thing in all the world is what we think about
God's Son, the Lord Jesus. He is As I read last week, he
is all and in all. He has preeminence over all things. He has preeminence. God has given
him the preeminence. He has a name that's above every
name that ever has been, is, or ever shall be. The name of
Jesus. And one day, they won't do it
today, one day every knee shall bow. And every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is L-O-R-D, big capital letters, to the glory
of God. They don't preach him that way.
Most Baptists that I know of, they would talk about, they would
stand up and fight for the doctrine of his deity. But that's as far
as it goes. It's just a doctrine. When you
talk about it being sovereign over them, and then they back
off. They won't have it. Not have
this man to rule over me, they say, but they will, and you will,
and I will. He's ruling, he's reigning, always
has, always will, until every enemy one way or the other, sooner
or later, is put under His feet. He'll put them there. He has
the power. He has the ability. Now, the
subject of my message again today is number two, Christ is all. Second, second part. Christ is all. I want to read
you some passages of Scripture that if modern preachers, believers,
professing Christians would read these scriptures and believe
them. That part of the controversy
would be over. That he is God. He's God. And that means everything. Look
at Isaiah just a moment. Isaiah. There's so many places
that we could read from. But Isaiah chapter nine, look
there just a moment. And verse 6, unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. That child born is the Son of
God given, delivered up. And the government, a list of
these words, And the government shall be upon his shoulder. He's
a ruler. And his name shall be called
Wonderful. To those who know him, he is
a wonder. He is a wonder. Counselor, the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the
increase of his government. There shall be no end until every
enemy is put under his feet. Words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look with me, if you will, to Philippians. Philippians. Because of who he was and what
he accomplished, what he suffered, what he did, God raised him up. Wherefore, in verse 9, God also
hath highly exalted him. How high? Well, how high is high,
infinitely high, above all things, all names. And given Him a name
which is above every name, that's pretty high, pretty high. What is His name? Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. That at the name of Jesus, one
of these days, Every knee should bow, things in heaven, things
in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is L-O-R-D to the glory of God. They're going to glorify God
by exalting His Son to where He's supposed to be. He's the
Lord. That man of Nazareth, who is he? He's the Lord God. He's
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Eternal God. I think about a song a lot of
times that this old man in England brought
before the church, he'd confess Christ and, well, you have to
talk to the deacons and the elders and all this to get into the
church. And every question they'd ask him, he said, I'm an old
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in
all. If we can say that from the heart
with some understanding, we've said it all. Because Jesus Christ
is everything and we're nothing. Look at Colossians just a moment.
Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18. He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist, have their cohesiveness. And
He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things. All things. He might have the
preeminence. Preeminence. A preeminent one
is one exalted above all others. And He has the preeminence in
all things. Whichever direction you want
to look, whatever doctrine you want to think about, the preeminence
is Christ. He is the preeminent one. Now
look at chapter 3, Colossians. Verse 11, those who have been
born again. Verse 11, they are neither Greek
nor Jew, neither circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian,
Scythian, bond of free. But Christ is all and in all. We are nothing, whether rich
or poor, black or white, bond of free, being born of God. To us, we are nothing. In our
own opinion, we are nothing. And Christ is everything. That's
just what it boils down to. I'm just an old sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. What do we think
about His Son? I think He's wonderful. His name
is wonderful. He's a wonder. I think He has
a name above every other name that ever has been or ever shall
be. I think He's Lord over all things. I think He has preeminence
over all things. I think He's all and in all.
He's all. If we have Him, we have all we
need for time and eternity. And all blessings come to us
in Him. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Him. If we have Christ, we have it
all. If we don't have Christ, we have nothing at all. So Christ
is all and in all. And so I thought about these
things. Last week, I showed that Christ is all in creation. Without
Him was not anything made that was made. He's our creator. He's
our creator. And then I showed that Christ
is all in providence. He's our ruler. I just read it
in these verses. The government is on His shoulder.
He's controlling, ruling, reigning over all things. All things in
heaven, all things in earth, all things under there. It's
Him the holy angels are singing praise to. Holy, holy, holy. In Isaiah chapter 6. They're
talking about Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ. He's all. And He's all in salvation. And
He's all. in the life of faith and obedience,
the children of God. The love of Christ constrains
us. If it doesn't, we're not serving
God aright. Some way or the other we're serving
ourselves. Christ is all. Now let me ask
you some questions. These people back in Israel,
they stood before that holy mountain. And they knew that they could
not stand before God and speak to God face to face. They said,
we need a mediator. Moses, you go up for us. You
go hear what God said. You come back and tell us. We
can't see God and live. And old Scott Richardson said
years ago, I remember these words, he said, God will not speak to
nor be spoken to by any sinner except through a mediator. God
won't speak to us except through Christ. We can't speak to God
except through Christ. God won't approach us except
in Christ. We cannot approach God except
in Christ. We need a Mediator. And Christ
is all. There is one Mediator. 1 Timothy
2.5. There is one Mediator between
God and man. The man Christ Jesus. There's
not two. There's not three. There's only
one. Christ is all. You want access to God? Christ
is all. You want to speak to God and
be heard? Christ is all. He's the only
mediator between God and man. He's Jacob's ladder. He's the
way to God. There's no other way. And I repeat,
God will not speak to any sinner except in Christ. Nor will he
be spoken to by any sinner except those trusting in Christ. Those
trusting in Christ. And if we have Christ, we are
accepted in the Beloved. If we have Christ, we are in
the family of God. We are the household of faith.
God's our friend. Do we need a mediator? Then you
have to talk to Christ. You have to look to Christ. There's
only one mediator. I know people talking about people
being saved who never heard of Christ and believing in this
thing and that thing. The only way anybody will ever
be saved, now listen to me, the only way anybody, any sinner
will ever be saved is by Him who is the Way and the Truth
and the Life. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He is the only
Mediator, He is the only Way to God. He said, I am the Way,
I am the Truth and the Life, no man come to the Father. But
by me, that ought to be clear. He's the only way to God. He's the only way to God, our
blessed mediator. Now, there's something else we
need if we're going to God and be accepted. We need a Passover
lamb, like Israel back in the wilderness. We need a Passover
lamb. We need an offering to offer
unto God by acceptance, We need blood to put on the post and
the lintel of the door. So He'll pass over us, pass us
by, not destroy us, not kill us. And we have a Passover Lamb. Christ is our Passover. Christ is our Passover. Find
that in 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 7. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. He's the real Lamb. The others
were types and shadows. Christ is the real Lamb of God. That's what John meant when he
said, Behold the Lamb of God. that taketh away the sin of the
world. All the other lambs down through
history, the thousands upon thousands of them, never put away one sin.
But this man, this man, by one offering, he offered himself,
by one offering, purged and put away our sin and
perfected us forever. This Passover land. Perfect. We are perfect in Him. Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. The Bible said He redeemed
us unto God by His own blood. Redeemed us to God by His own
blood. Our Passover, our sacrificial
land, offered Himself. He is essential. He is all and
in all. You need a sacrifice. All religions
claim to need a sacrifice. Even in the darkest corners of
this earth, they imagine a God and they offer sacrifices to
it. We need a sacrifice. God cannot clear the guilty.
We need a sacrifice. Something to satisfy God. And
Christ is the only satisfaction. I heard David read at this point
that God sent him to be a propitiation by sin. That means He satisfied
God for us. We've got a sacrifice. But Christ
is all and in all. There's no other. He's the Mediator. He's the Passover Lamb, the sacrifice
for sins that God accepted. The sacrifice that satisfied
the infinite justice of God. And God said that's enough. God said that's enough. He lay
in the grave three days, and God raised him up. Our sin was put on him, and it
was purged, and now it's gone. It's not on me. It's not on him.
It's G-O-N-E, gone, purged, put away. In this mysterious way,
God hath perfected us through His Son. You know what we need
above, I guess, no, not above everything, but we need, and
that's what, we're talking about salvation, that's what salvation
is. L-I-F-E. You need life. He only can give it. 1 John 5,
verse 21, As the Father raised up the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son gives life to whom He wills. The hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. He is the vine tree, and we are
the branches. All of our life comes from Him.
We have no life in ourselves. It comes from Him. He not only
is the living waters, He's the life-giving waters. Life. Colossians 1, 4, I believe it
is, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. He is our life. He's our mediator. He's our sacrifice,
Passover lamb. He's our life. He gives life.
He said, because I live, you live. We have life in Him. In our Lord Jesus Christ. By
one offering, He perfected us forever. We need life. It's in Him. He gives us life to whom He wills. He is essential. And He is all. The only way a sinner can ever
have life is to have Christ. The only way. You know something else we need
pretty bad? We don't have any of our own.
We need righteousness. Even the saints of God cry out
in the Old Testament in Isaiah. They say, all of our righteousnesses
Or just so many filthy rags in the eyes of God. We need righteousness. There's only one way you can
get it. One place you can get it. In the person of Christ. John chapter, I mean Romans chapter
10 and verse 4. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's the end of the law for righteousness. The law doesn't condemn us anymore.
We're righteous in Christ. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And in 1 Corinthians 1.30, Christ
of God is made unto His people, believing people, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. That according as it is written,
He that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. We need righteousness. You need Christ. Because He is
all. Our righteousness before God. And do we need rest? Traveling under the guilt of
sin. Weary and heavy laden. Do we
need rest? We need life. We need righteousness.
We need rest! Hebrews chapter 4. Colossians
chapter 2. Christ is our Sabbath. Christ is our rest. And He's the only rest. He's
the only one. He gives us rest. He is our rest. As Spurgeon said, He is our Savior. He is our salvation. Our rest
is in Him. Come unto me, says He. I'll give
you rest. All you that wear out a weary
and heavy land, come to me. Come on. I'll give you rest. You need rest. You've been laboring
under the burden and guilt of sin. Come to me, I'll give you
rest. And you can't get it anywhere
else. Christ is all. Only place you can get it. Do
we need peace? Ephesians 2.14. Christ is our peace. He not only made peace as the
Prince of Peace, He is our peace. He's my peace. He's my peace. As I stand before God in Christ,
He's my peace. And you can't find it any place
else. Christ is all. He's our peace. All of our peace. The Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. Peace in our
hearts. Peace in our conscience. And
that's so important. Because our conscience just condemns. Condemns and aggravates and causes
contrition. It's terrible to live with. Peace in our conscience. You
remember what Old Simeon said? God promised that he wouldn't
die until he'd seen the Lord's salvation. And one day that child
was brought to him, eight years old. He realized who he was by
the revelation of God. He picked him up in his arms.
What a glorious, glorious moment. Realizing who he had in his arms. He said, Lord, now I'm ready
to die in peace. I've seen your salvation. If
you've seen His salvation in Christ, you're ready to depart
in peace. And you can live with peace in
your heart. And you can live with peace in
your conscience. Look into Christ, who satisfied
God for you. Trusting in Him, leaning on Him,
loving Him, thanksgiving unto Him, We have peace. You know something else we need?
We need a shepherd. And he's the only one there is.
We need one to lead us and guide us and feed us and water us and
protect us. All these things. That's what
a shepherd does. A shepherd is one who's responsible
for the sheep. A shepherd is one who has undertaken
the sheep to care for them. Like little David way back a
long time ago when he was watching over his father's sheep, it was
his responsibility. The bear came and he stood up
against him, killed that rascal. The lion came and he stood up
against him, and he killed that rascal. We need one to stand up between
us and that roaring lion, Satan. We need one who is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, and yet one who has the power
to deliver us, the power to save us, the power in our darkest
times to cause us to lie down by the still waters. And we've
got such a shepherd. John chapter 10, Christ said,
I'm paraphrasing, he said, I know my sheep. I lay down my life
for my sheep. I speak to them by name and they
hear my voice. And another voice they won't
hear. They hear me and they follow me and I give them eternal life
and they shall never perish." A good shepherd. He said, I'll
raise them up at the last day. I'll be one foal and one shepherd.
And also in Psalm 23, do we have a shepherd? David said, the Lord,
the Lord. Realizing who the Lord was, realizing
what that meant, he said, the Lord is my shepherd. And the next response, the immediate
response is, I shall not want. If the Lord is my shepherd, The
whole universe is at His disposal to use to save us. There's no
shortage of supplies with God. He has all He needs to save us.
All He needs to protect us. All the wisdom, all the power.
And He'll do it. He's committed to saving His
people. And Christ is our prophet. and our priest, and our king. All that we have in Christ. You
need a prophet, it's Christ. He's the only one. You need a
priest, it's Christ. Whoever liveth to make an intercession
for us, He's the only one. You need a king to rule over
you, protect you, guard you, it's Christ. He's the only one.
He sits on the throne of David. Christ is all, everything, everything. He teaches us as our prophet.
He intercedes for us as our priest. And he reigns over us and governs
us as our blessed King, Christ. He is the bread of life. He is
the water of life. He is life. He is life. He is life. And Paul said, God
forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom this world is dead to me, dying to me, and
I'm dying to this world. This world is crucified to me,
and I'm crucified to this world. If you're crucified, it takes
you a while to die, but you're dying. This world died to me,
and I'm dying to this world. This world doesn't have much
for me, and they sure don't want me very bad. We're dying to each
other. Let me say just a few things
about Jesus Christ. First of all, He is all and in all to the Father. Read Proverbs 8. Back before
eternity, the Father rejoiced in the Son, and the Son in the
Father. Proverbs 8, I believe it is. And the Father sent Him into
the world, held His hand, so that in Isaiah 42, He would
not fail, nor be discouraged along the way. brought him victorious
through the cross and out of the grave. He delivered his son, his beloved
son, and he is all to the Father in all of these things I've mentioned
and more. My beloved son in whom I'm well
pleased. He's all to the Father in creation
and in providence and in our salvation. He is all. If you're not looking to the
Son, you're looking in the wrong place. If you're not looking
to the Son, you're not glorifying the Father. Because to the Father,
He's all. God made Him to be all. God gave
Him preeminence over all things. God delivered all things into
His hands. He's all. And in all. He's all to the Father. Secondly,
Christ is all. Christ is all to each, every,
and all true believers. If they're a true believer, you
ask them about their faith, it's Christ. Ask them who they trust,
it's Christ. Ask them about their hope, it's
Christ. Ask them about their righteousness, it's Christ. Mediator,
it's Christ. Christ is everything, all and
in all. He is the channel of all blessings
which were given us in Christ before God ever made this world.
Ephesians chapter one and verse three, blessed, blessed be the
God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That literally means let's speak
well of God. let's eulogize God because he
has blessed us, spoken well of us before he ever made this world
in Christ and blessed us with all spiritual blessing in Christ before he made the world. God spoke a good word about us That's something to think about.
Let it get a hold of you. Pray it will get a hold of you.
Before God ever made this world, ever put the stars in space, God spoke a good word about David
Edmondson. and blessed Him, chose Him, loved
Him, blessed Him in Christ with every blessing He would ever
receive. Back yonder. Christ is a channel
of all blessings, all spiritual blessings. If you have Christ,
you have it all. If you don't have Christ, you
don't have anything. Don't care how much religion, how many decisions
you've made, if you don't have Christ. He that hath the Son,
He's the one who has life. Because the Son is life. All of the promises of God are
yea and amen in Christ. He's all. He is all for us. He is all to us. He is all in us. Christ is all and in all. He is all for us, made to be seen that we might
be made righteousness of God in Him. Our representative, our substitute,
our surety, our all and in all. He is all to us, all I need and
all I want. all you need, and I hope all
you want, Christ. And He is all in us. He dwells
in our hearts for faith. The only good in us is Christ
in us. And the only hope of glory Colossians
127, Christ in you, the hope of glory. May God bless these
words to my heart and to yours. Christ is all. Okay, David.