Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We're located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m.
Nursery is provided for all services. For more information, visit our
website at toddroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. you The title for this morning's
message is, Christ Is All. That's a Scripture. Christ is all. In Colossians chapter 3, beginning
in verse 9, he says, Paul is speaking, and he says, Now, obviously, it's wrong to
lie. It's a sin. But what Paul is
basically referring to is trying to present some kind of phony
image, some kind of piousness or religiosity, because he's
talking about how we're all one in Christ Jesus. There's not
one up above another. Lie not one to another, seeing
you've put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the
new man. which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of Him that created Him, and here's what happens
in this new creation, and that's what the new birth is, that's
what this new man is, he's a creative act of God, where there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian,
bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all." Now, where this
knowledge is that Christ is all, all fleshly distinctions are
done away If you have fleshly distinctions, you don't really
believe Christ is all. But Paul says, there's neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian,
bond or free, but Christ is all in all. Now, there are no racial
distinctions, there are no social distinctions, there are no religious
distinctions, there are no intellectual distinctions, there are no cultural
distinctions. In Christ, there's not even a
gender distinction. In Christ, there's no male or
female. Paul said in Galatians, Christ
is all. Now, how is it that there are
no distinctions? Because Christ is all. Every believer is complete, perfect,
united in Him. There's not any kind of distinction
between believers. Christ is all. there's no clergy laity. Christ
is all. Now, I love thinking about Christ
being all. Jesus Christ is all. I hope that Doesn't become cliche
to us, but we might see the saving fullness of this glorious statement
that Christ is all. Now listen to this statement
very carefully. Everything that we hear must
pass through this gate, Christ is all. If it's in any way contrary
to that, it's wrong. Everything we believe must pass
through this gate. Christ is all. He's not very important. He's
all. He's not the central message
of the Scriptures. He's the only message of the
Scripture. Christ is all, and if anything
we believe is contrary to that, it's wrong. The answer to every
question must line up with, Christ is all. Not just important. Christ is all. And if the answer
to any question does not line up with that, it's the wrong
answer. Now, this is what all of God's
people are united in. Christ is all. This is what all
true preaching has to say. Christ is all. Now, we know Christ is all because
the Bible says He is. I just read the verse. Christ
is all. And if you're a believer, this
might be meaningless to you if you're an unbeliever, I understand
that, but if you're a believer, it's so important for Christ
to be all because if He's not all, That means some of the burden
of salvation is laying on you, and you must do something to
complete what He did, and that's a burden no believer wants to
bear. If Christ is all, that means
I'm complete in Him, and I don't need anything else. This is the
way I want it to be. I want it to be Christ being
all, and if He's not all, I won't be saved, nor will you, but thank
God He is all. Now listen to this real carefully. He's only all to you if you do
not have anything else. If you have something else, He's
not all to you. The only way He is all to you
is if you have nothing else. He is all you have. You don't look to some experience
before or after your conversion to give you assurance of salvation. The only assurance you have is
that He is all. Now the Old Testament gives us
a beautiful illustration of Christ being all in salvation, the only
reason God needs to do something for me or you is Christ. David,
in 2 Samuel 9, was the most powerful man in
the world at this time. The scripture says that the fear
of David fell on every nation. God had caused all of his enemies
to be defeated, and he's in a position of power at this time. And he
says in 2 Samuel 9, verse 1, is there any of the house of
Saul that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake." Now,
what that's a reference to is something that happened years
before when Jonathan and David were friends. Jonathan was the
son of Saul, and they, Jonathan and David were great friends,
very close to one another. They loved one another. And Jonathan
said to David, now I know that God is gonna destroy all your
enemies, and you're gonna be in a position of power because
of the Lord. Now when I'm dead, what I want
you to do is have mercy on my children. Don't put them to death,
have mercy on all my house, whatever's associated with me. And David
agreed to do it. Years later, Jonathan's been
dead a long time. All of David's enemies have been
defeated. And he, from this position of
power, says, is there any of the house of Jonathan? He remembered
that covenant he made with Jonathan. Is there any of the house of
Saul that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? And there
was a servant by the name of Ziba, and he said, yes, there
is one left of the house of Saul, but he's not worth much. He's
lame in both of his feet. He can't work for you. He can't
fight for you. All he can be is carried. That's it. Lame in both of his
feet. And it's interesting that he
was lame through a fall. His nurse dropped him. And what
that pictures is our fall in Adam that has rendered us dead
in sins. He can't do anything for you.
He's lame in both of his feet. And David said, go fetch him.
Somebody once called this fetching race. Go fetch him. And they
brought this lame man before David, and David looked at him,
and he said, Mephibosheth. That was his name, and his name
means shameful thing. He said, fear not. I will surely
show you the kindness of God for Jonathan's sake." You see,
there wasn't anything Mephibosheth could do for David. He was lame.
All he could be is carried, but David had him eat at the king's
table for Jonathan's sake, wholly for Jonathan's sake. And understand
this, everything concerning salvation is for Christ's sake. Christ
is all in salvation, and I hope we can come to an understanding
of that. All God has for the sinner is
in Christ. Christ is all. Christ Himself is the pledge
of salvation, He that spared not His own Son. but delivered
Him up for us all. How shall He not also with Him
freely give us all things?" Now, if you belong to Christ, if Christ
died for you, God's already given you everything. What's going
to prevent Him from giving you anything? Because of the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, He's all we have. He really
is. I don't believe God accepts me
because of anything I've done. Christ is all. He's all we need. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. He's all
we desire. Paul said, I want to win Christ
and be found in Him. That's all I want, is to be found
in the Lord Jesus Christ so that all God sees when He sees me
is His blessed Son, Jesus Christ, and I'm united to Him. He's all
for us. That's all that's needed is for
Him to be for you. He's all to us. And He's all
in us. If I have faith, it's Christ
in me. If I have repentance, it's Christ living in me, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Now let's consider what this
precious statement means, Christ is all. Now here's my first point,
and this is the way we have to begin. Christ is all in the Scriptures. John chapter 5, verse 39, you
search the Scriptures, and then you think you have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me. Every Scripture testifies
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not most of them, all of them. Christ is not the central theme
of Scripture. He's the singular theme of Scripture. He's not the most important message.
He's the only message. I don't even like to hear people
say, I want to hear Christ-centered preaching. I don't want to hear
Christ-centered preaching. I want to hear Christ preached.
He is the only message of Scripture. to him give all the prophets
witness. Now, there's a story told about
a young preacher who had just preached a message, and he felt
very good about it. He thought he brought a really
good message, and this was in England, and he asked an old
saint what he thought of the message. He was feeling pretty
proud about it, and the man said it was a very poor message, and
he was shocked. that the man would say that to him. And he
said, was my speech unclear? He said, no, it was very clear.
Was my exposition wrong? No, it's fine. Were my illustrations
bad? No, they were all good. Well,
what's wrong with my preaching then? Why do you say it was a
poor message? And the man said, you didn't preach Christ. And
the young preacher replied, well, Christ wasn't in the text. And he said, young man, there's
a saying that every road leads to London, every text leads to
Christ, and the job of the preacher is to lead us straight to Christ
through whatever text you're preaching on. One man said this. If I can't title every message
I preach, no matter what it is, Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
I need to get rid of the message. I say amen to that. Every message
is concerning Christ. The only message of Scripture
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, I hope we all come to learn
that. What I said is true. Jesus Christ
is all that God is. He's all in the scriptures, and
He's all that God is. He's not like God. He's not like
God at all. He is God. Colossians 2, 9 says,
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, a distinct person, and the Word was God. He is the image of the invisible
God. All we'll ever see of God is
Jesus Christ. He is the express image of His
person. He is the brightness of God's
glory. Philip said, Show us the Father
and it'll suffice us. He said, I've been so long time
with you, Philip, and yet has thou not known me? He that has
seen me has seen the Father. Isaiah 9, 6, unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given. You see, the son was never born.
The child was, but the son is the eternal son of God. And the
government shall be upon his shoulders, And His name should
be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ. Christ is all in
the Scriptures. He's all that God is. Jesus Christ
is all in the purpose of God. Now listen real carefully. God's
purpose in all things. is the honor, glory, and exaltation
of His Son. I love the way the parable in
Matthew 22 begins about the wedding garment, but it begins with this
verse, ?The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king that made
a marriage for his son.? Everything God does, He does for the glory
of His Son. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. Now, He is God's reason for all
things. The purpose of the creation of
the universe is the glory of Jesus Christ. God didn't create
the universe because He's lonely. He created time and space and
the universe for the glory of His Son. The reason the fall
took place-you know Adam fell, and our whole race fell in Him-the
reason the fall took place is for the glory of His Son. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and the World was created so
this fall could take place for the honor and glory of Jesus
Christ, what He would achieve in accomplishing salvation for
His people. Everything is for the glory of
Christ. That's God's purpose. It's called
in Ephesians 3.11, the eternal purpose. which He purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord, everything has this one purpose, the glory
of Jesus Christ. And if you love Him, you're glad
it's that way. You want it to be that way. You
want Him to have all the glory, because you see the glory and
the excellency of His person. Every believer delights in the
glory of Jesus Christ, and we're glad that God does all things
for the glory and honor of His Son. Now, Christ is all in all
of God's purpose, and Jesus Christ is all in all the counsels of
God toward men. Now, all that God has for the
sinner is in His Son. We read in Ephesians 1, 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly blesses in Christ.
Now, understand this, spiritual blessings are the only blessings
that will last. They're the only true blessings.
I mean, you may be rich under God's curse. You may be healthy
and under God's curse. You can't really tell God's favor
by material blessings or physical blessings. But, oh, spiritual
blessings, all the spiritual blessings of God, justification,
the forgiveness of sins, election, adoption, whatever it is, all
that God has for the sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now, understand, God will not
speak to nor be spoken to apart from His dear Son. And all that God has for the
sinner is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is all. And Jesus Christ is all in salvation. And what do I mean by that? Jesus
Christ is all in salvation. I think the best way that I can
describe that is by saying that salvation does not end in the
forgiveness of sins. If I believe, if I repent, if
I straighten up my life, if I start reading the Bible, I will have
the forgiveness of sins. It's the end of the equation.
If I do this, then I will have the forgiveness of sins. No,
sir, that's not true at all. If you're saved, salvation begins
with the full, free, complete forgiveness of sins. Before there
was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. And salvation was accomplished,
forgiveness was accomplished when Christ said, it is finished. You don't do something to be
forgiven, you find out you've been forgiven. Because Christ
is all in salvation. He's all in my election, I was
chosen in him. He's all my justification, I'm
justified by him. He's all in my redemption. It
was His blood that put away my sin. He's all in my regeneration.
I've been given life for His sake. He's all in me being preserved. He is all, all that God requires
of the sinner, He looks to Christ for. Why, He's even called the
author and the finisher of our faith. This is how far this goes,
Christ being all. I John 4, 17 says, for as He
is, So are we in this world. Now however He is, beautiful
to God, perfect before God, complete, righteous, holy, as He is, so
is every believer. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says He's
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
And He's all in our doctrine. There's no doctrine in the scripture
that is understood apart from Him, united to Him. you can't understand any doctrine
apart from Christ is all. Whatever we're talking about,
Christ is all. Christ is all in providence. What is providence? It's whatever
happens in time. Whatever happens in time, I don't
care what it is, was decreed by God in eternity, and whatever
happens in time is His will being done. He is before all things. Now, somebody may be thinking,
well, are you saying He's before all the bad things that happen?
I'm saying what the Scripture says. He is before all things. Now, He's good. Whatever happens,
He's good. Somebody says, well, how could
a good God let that happen? He's good, whatever happens,
He's good. We may not understand why He
does what He does, but we know He's good, and whatever He does
is right. He said, I form the light, I create darkness, I make
peace, I create evil, I, the Lord, do all these things. Shall there be evil in the city,
and hath not the Lord done it? He controls everything. in providence. There's nothing
outside of Him being the cause. And that's why we can rejoice
in that verse, and we know that all things work together for
good. to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. He created the universe and controls
everything that happens in time. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, He turneth
it whithersoever He will. And Christ is all in our experience
of the gospel. He is all in faith. He's the only object of faith. He's all in repentance. We repent
of anything that's contrary to Him being all in salvation. He's all in our assurance. What
gives me assurance? That Christ is all. I don't get
assurance from my works or my anything. I don't get assurance
from... I get assurance from this. Christ is all. You know
what gives me peace? Christ is all. Everything God
requires of me, He looks to His Son for. Christ is all. What
gives me joy? Christ is all. That makes me
so happy. Everything God requires of me,
He looks to His Son for. His life, Christ is all. His life is my life before God. Now, I'm not talking about like
somebody says, well, his life's his work, or his life's his,
or her life's her children. I'm saying that His life, Christ
who is our life, Colossians says in chapter 3, I'm saying that
his life, his 33 years upon the earth, is my life before God. That's the righteousness I'm
justified by. His life is my life. I mean,
even in my experience, I look to his faith. We're justified
by the faith of Christ. That's why I love the King James
Version. None of the other versions say it that way. They say we're
justified by faith in Christ. Well, that could be said, but
we're justified by the faith of Christ. Somebody had to believe
God perfectly. He did. He said, though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. I'm trusting His faith. My confession
of sin, it always comes up short. There's always something hollow
about it. It's not sincere enough. But in Psalm 38.10, He said, I will declare my iniquity."
You see, my sin really became His sin, and oh, He confessed
it before His Father like I have never confessed my sorrow for
sin. I may be sorry for a little while, but I'll even forget about
it. My sorrow's never enough. It's never sincere enough. It's
never strong enough. But he said, I'll be sorry for
my sin. You know, when someone apologizes
to you insincerely, it bothers you, doesn't it? You know it,
and you don't, if anything, it makes you mad. It doesn't do
anything for you. Well, he's the only one who could truly
say, I will be sorry for my sin. He is all in our motivation. I want to honor the Lord. I want
to follow Him, and I'm not doing it out of hope for reward. I'm
not doing it out of fear of punishment. I'm doing it because Christ is
all. He's all in my salvation. He
is all in our preaching. Paul said, I determine not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's nothing else worth preaching.
Every passage of scripture points to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And Paul said, I'm not worried,
I'm not interested in all the issues we bring up, all the political
issues. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen. My dear friend, you'll certainly
be all in judgment. He is the difference between
the saved and the lost, the only. Christ is all, and he'll be all
in heaven. David said, ask for me, I'll
behold thy face in righteousness. That's heaven. I'll be satisfied
when I awake in thy likeness. Jesus Christ is all. Now somebody says, if Christ
is all you have, is that enough? It is if He's all you have. If you have anything else, He's
not really all to you. May the Lord enable you and I
to glory in this. Christ is all in all. We have this message on CD. If you write to church, we'll
send you a copy of this. Todd and I are praying God will
reveal Himself to you. Amen. Saw us running out of there?