God's amazing grace sent down
from heaven Rescued me from death and from shame opened up my eyes
and brought salvation. Now I'm His, raise His holy name. Now I know that He is mine and
I'm His forever. He is leading me along life's
way. He'll be holding to my hand when
I cross death's river. He will take the sting of death
away. It is so sweet just to know I
have Jesus with me. me from sin and from strife. He delivered me from condemnation. Now I have eternal life. Now I know that He is mine and
I'm His forever. He is leading me along life's
way. He'll be holding to my hand when
I cross death's river. He will take the sting of death. Now I know that He is mine and
I'm His forever. He is leading me along life's
way. He'll be holding to my hand When
I cross this river He will take the sting of death away He will
take the sting of death all away It has honestly been our privilege
to be here. We love you all so much. And
thank the Lord for you. And I'm so thankful that the
Lord would allow us this time and let us see each other. I'm thankful for the meal yesterday. It was so wonderful. And thank
you for doing this. Putting on these things is not
easy. And we now know that. And it's just such a blessing
for us to be here. I have enjoyed every component
of this. The scripture reading just made
me wish I was preaching from Psalm 115. All you have to do
is say Psalm 115 and I say, Amen. Not unto us, unto Him. He's sitting
in the heavens doing whatever He wants to do. That's a blessing
to me and I'm just grateful. Turn with me, if you would, to
Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, every time
I read this line, I'm thankful to be preaching from this line.
If you look with me at the very last line of verse 11, Colossians
chapter 3, the very last line of verse 11 says, Christ is all and in all. If there was a final word to
end a meeting on, to end a life on and to go into glory with,
it would be Christ is all and in all. Christ is everything. When we say Christ is all, what
we're saying is Christ is everything. He's everything. And He's the
reason for everything. He is the accomplishment of everything
and he is the reason for everything concerning God's people. And that's what I want us to
enter into. That's really all I want us to enter into. That
Christ is everything. And he has accomplished everything. I want us to look at his work
and what he accomplished in it. In everything that He did, He
did it all. Christ is all and in all. I just want us to consider what
He accomplished and all that He accomplished in what He accomplished. What He did and what He accomplished
in what He did. His work. Don't you love just
thinking on his work? His work. His accomplishment. There was a man, I have mentioned
this quite a few times and I'll probably mention it quite a few
more times. I just love this. There was a man who lived in
the late 1800s, early 1900s, named John Wilbur Chapman. Actually, I'm assuming John. It's J period. J. Wilbur Chapman. I like to think
it's John because I love John Chapman. But he wrote a song and we sing
it in our hymnal. And every time I think about
the words of this song, I think two things. Number one, I think,
I believe this man knew the gospel. Some songs that we sing in our
hymnals, most of them have at least one line I would love to
change. But when I read and think about
the words of this song, I think, I believe that man knew the gospel.
I really do. And I also think that I don't
believe that the work of Christ could be more clearly explained
than the Lord allowed this man to explain it in the song. Just
so clearly set forth. The song is called, One Day. One Day. And in the chorus, Mr. Chapman
wrote, living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sin far
away. Rising, he justified. freely, forever, one day, He's
coming. Oh, glorious day. That was Christ's
work, and that's what He accomplished in His work. That was the work
given to Him, and that's what He accomplished in that work. Now, in those lines, Mr. Chapman told us, Christ was all. He was all. And Christ was in
all. He did it all. He was the reason
for it all. From the Scriptures, I want to
see that. And I want to enter into Christ's doing and His accomplishment
by using that song as our outline, okay? We're going to use the
lines of that song for the outline of our message here. It starts
with, this is what our Lord was doing. in accomplishing the work
that the Father gave to us. When the Father sent Him here,
the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus
Christ, came with the Lord Jesus Christ. And in what He was doing
and accomplishing as He walked this earth for us, you think
about the fact that the Lord walked this earth for 33 and
a half years. 33 and a half years. Isn't it amazing
to you that the only thing that is mentioned of him is his birth,
8 days old, some moments right
in the beginning, a moment when he was 12 years old, and then
it picks up with 30 years old. 30 years he walked this earth.
Nothing really is recorded of it. What was he doing? What was the purpose of that? His ministry, his revealing who
he was, that was for three and a half years. God, in His sovereign will, in
His sovereign purpose, in His perfect design, sent the Lord
Jesus Christ here to live. That's what He was doing. He
was living. for His people. We ruined it. The Apostle Paul said, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? We're walking dead men
and women, spiritually speaking. But He was living. And in Him
living, He loved us. Living he was loving his people
and I want us to see that from the scripture turn with me if
you would to John chapter 11 John chapter 11 Verse 5 says Now, Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. And I like to just, you know,
the word silah means just pause and think about that for a minute.
That deserves a pause. Just what blessed people. What
a thing to be said about a sinner. How amazing is it that that verse
is in the scripture? That's just Him, in Him, of His
own will. Jesus loved Martha and her sister
and Lazarus. Look with me if you would at
verse 32. John 11 verse 32. Then when Mary was come where
Jesus was and saw Him, She fell down at his feet, saying unto
him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping,
which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled,
and said, Where have you laid him? And they said unto him,
Lord, come and see. And the Lord Jesus Christ wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how
He loved him. Behold how He loved him. Can't
you envision them standing around watching Him? There He is standing
at this tomb. It doesn't say He cried, it says
He wept. To the point that everybody standing
there was watching this saying, Behold how He loved him. He loved Him. He loved them. He loves all of His people. Every
soul the Father gave to Him. He loves all of His people. Look
with me at John chapter 13. Verse 1 says, Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart
out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were
in the world. He loved them unto the end. That's what He did while He was
in the world. He loved His own to the end. Loved them to the end. Verse
23 right here says, Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one
of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Who was that? John. The one who penned this. We always
think of his humility. We say John was so humble he
wouldn't even say his own name. Writing about himself. The one
leaning on his bosom whom Jesus loved. We think about his humility
and he was. But think about the boldness
of that statement. That man was coming boldly. He
said, I know He loved me. The one was leaning on His bosom
whom Jesus loved. I know He loved me. He proved
it to me. And can't we say the same thing? John said, He told me He proved
it to me. He walks with me. He talks with
me. He tells me from His own word,
I'm His own. He has proved it to me. He said,
I know He loves me. Can't God's people say that?
In the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ? I know He loves
me. Verse 34. Right here in John
13 verse 34, A new commandment I give unto you, that you love
one another as I have loved you. That you also love one another
as I have loved you. He said. Now don't turn to these,
just listen. But Romans 8 verse 37 says, We
are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We've been made to be conquerors
all because He loved us. His love was the reason for it
all. Love was the accomplishment of it all. The reason and the
accomplishment. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified
with Christ Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." Loved me and proved it to me. Ephesians
2 verse 4 says, But God who is rich in mercy for his great love
wherewith he loved us. That was the reason for his mercy. Why did God have mercy on us?
He loved us. In Christ he loved us. Ephesians
5.25 says, Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved
the church and gave himself for it. Revelation 1.5 says, Unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He
loved us. He has told us and told us and
told us and told us. He loved us. Living, He loved
us. Not that we loved Him, but that
He loved us. Greater love had no man. No man. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All because of our Lord Jesus
Christ. All because of His love. The Father choosing us was all
because of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 42, the Father said,
Christ is my elect. We looked at that yesterday.
Christ is my elect. I choose Him. In Ephesians 1,
He said, I have chosen you in Him. All because of Him. He was the accomplisher of love. He was the reason for love. Living,
He loved us. That's a beautiful announcement,
isn't it? That's a beautiful message. Living,
He loved us. Alright, Mr. Chapman in his song
went on to say, Dying, He saved us. Now I'm so thankful that
my message is not Don't you want to be saved? Don't you think maybe you ought
to do something about it? Don't you think maybe it's time
that you... I'm so glad that's not my message.
This is the message. Dying, He saved us. Saved. Saved. God is going to cause all of
His people to believe that. They're just going to believe
it. He saved us. There's another
song I love so much. It says, Up Calvary's mountain,
one dreadful morn, walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn, facing
for sinners, death on the cross, that He might save them from
endless loss. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. How is He going to do that? He
is going to suffer, suffer, suffer like no man has ever suffered.
Marred more than any man. Enduring the absolute wrath and
judgment of God. Separation from the Father. Crying,
why have you forsaken me? It's because that's what I deserved. That's what had to come to me.
God had to forsake me and God did forsake me in Him. the horrible
death that he suffered. He suffered and he died under
the judgment and penalty of God for his people. The song I just
quoted goes on to say, Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree, wounded and bleeding for
sinners pleading who were blind and unheeding. But He was dying
for me. Christ was all in our salvation. Christ was all in the love of
God toward us. And Christ was all in our salvation
from our sins. Look with me if you would at
Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews 1 verse 1, it says, God
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past 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, who being the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high." He, by Himself, saved us. Purged our sins. By Himself, He satisfied everything. Everything. By His own blood. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Eternal. When He by Himself alone
suffered and bled and died on the cross of Calvary, when He
did that, there's a song that says, a ransom
was found. Yes, a ransom was found, a payment. Love paid the price on Calvary's
mount. Judgment was met, the law satisfied,
and mercy was born when a ransom was found. I love that last line,
it says, mercy was born right there. Where did mercy come from?
Right there on the cross of Calvary. When that payment was made and
the ransom was found, mercy was born. There's one reason only for our
forgiveness and our redemption with the Father, and that reason
is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. for Christ's sake. That's what Ephesians 4 tells
us. It's all for Christ's sake. As God for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you. When it comes to the accomplishment
of our forgiveness, our redemption, our salvation, Christ is all
and in all of it. He's all in it and He's in all
of it. Living He loved us. Dying He
saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far
away. I love the thought of this. You
know the story in the Old Testament of the scapegoat. That symbolically,
that was a picture symbolically of the sins of God's people being
taken away from them. Never to return again. All of us, you know, the Lord
has given us faith to believe His Word. In Christ we're saved,
we're purged, we're cleansed, we're washed. But then we look
at His flesh and we think, I still see sin. I still see sin. And I believe He's forgiven me
in the blood, but I still see sin. Well, the reason we still
see sin is because He took all of our sins from the cradle to
the grave, and we haven't made it to the grave yet. There's
sin we still have to carry out that He paid for. Many people
believe, well, when the Lord opens your eyes and saves you,
He paid from that point back, but now this is on you. Not so. He paid for all of it, even the
horrible sin that I will still commit against Him. But according
to the Word of the Lord, when He went into that tomb, when
He bowed His head and gave up the ghost, and they pulled Him
off of that cross, and they put Him into that tomb, and they
sealed the door, and He was in there for three days. This is
what He was doing in there. He was taking our sins away. He took our sins to the grave. Not only did He save us, He sanctified
us. Not only did He spare us, He
washed us. Not only did He deliver us from
judgment, but He rid us of what brought the judgment on us in
the first place. Ten, fifteen years ago, whenever
it was, you remember we had this huge oil spill in the Gulf. And on the news, it was showing
the cleanup efforts. They had this massive cleanup
effort to clean up all this oil that had spilled. And you probably
remember seeing these little birds covered in oil and they
stuck in it. They couldn't fly out of it.
They're just covered in oil, flapping and couldn't go anywhere.
So, you know, they had this rescue effort and they'd go around in
their boats and they'd scoop up these birds and pull them
out of that oil. But that's not all that they
did. After they delivered them from what was bringing death
to them, they took them back to their lab or whatever it was,
and they washed all that oil off of them. They delivered them from the
judgment they were in, and then they cleansed them from what
had them there in the first place. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for His people. Not only did He spare them, but
He has cleansed them. Every spot, every stain, white
as snow. As He is, so are we right now
in this world. When He was on the Mount of Transfiguration,
it says, He was so white, so bright and white, no fuller could
make anything that white. I assume a fuller is somebody
who makes things white. White, white as snow. He saved us from death and He
removed from us what was bringing us into death. Living, He loved us. Dying, He
saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far
away. Our Lord, the thought every time
Acts chapter 8 says, talks about Him being led as a sheep to the
slaughter. You know, Philip was preaching
to the Ethiopian eunuch and it says, in His humiliation. Aren't
you so humiliated for the things that you've done? He bore that
humiliation. When He bore that sin, He bore
the guilt of the sin. He bore the ownership of the
sin. He stood before God in absolute humiliation, bearing not only
my terrible sins, but the sins of all of His people. He took
all of that sin, and He said, I'm putting it away. I'm putting
it away. It's going to be gone. Buried He carried our sins so
far away they are gone never to return again. This right here,
I love this scripture. I love this so much. Turn with
me if you would to Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah 50 verse 20 says, In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. The
sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. For I will pardon
them whom I reserve." They are gone. They are gone. In Christ, because of Christ
alone, our sins are all taken away, away. Our sins are all
taken away, never to be found again. Buried He carried our
sins far away. That's what he was doing in that
time. That's what he was accomplishing. And then three days later, rising, he justified freely forever. Justified forever. But what if
I sin again? That's already been paid with
and put away. Justified forever. That's what he did. That's what
he accomplished. His work was to rise from the
grave. And what he accomplished in that
work is he justified his people freely forever. With the sin
being gone, the Father said, accepted. Well done. Not only to Christ, but to every
soul in Christ. Well done. And all of God's people
cry to Jesus Christ, well done, worthy is the Lamb. I just love
the thought of God the Father pouring His all on the Lord Jesus
Christ and His people pouring their all on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything from all sides crying, well done, worthy is the Lamb. Every soul in the Lamb is worthy
with Him. He is justified, and they are
justified in Him. And it's all to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. Christ is all in our justification
before God. All of it. Turn with me to Romans
3. Romans 3 verse 19 says, Now we
know that whatsoever, that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
That saying the law was given so all of us could know we've
broken the law. If they do not post a speed limit
sign, you'll have no idea whether you're breaking the speed limit
or not. There's a whole reason for posting the sign. Verse 20,
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. That's a person. God's righteousness is a person
who is manifested. Being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation That means a bloody victim, through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So where's boasting
then? It's excluded. By what law? Of works? No. By the law of faith. Just look into Christ. Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. What that means is Christ is
all. In all, Christ alone. What He
did alone. We're justified freely through
grace in Him. The grace and mercy that came
through His blood. All because of Him. Every bit
of Him. Living, He loved us. Dying, He saved us. Buried, He
carried our sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. Now one day, one day, He is coming. One day soon. Either He will
come in that day to gather all of us together, or He will come
individually, one by one. We just had a dear, dear precious
brother called home last Wednesday. And every time a brother or sister
is taken, you just have a moment where you're in awe thinking,
I wonder what they're experiencing right now. We think we know,
but eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither has entered
into the heart and imagination of a man what God has prepared
for them that love him. But one day he is coming. He
is coming. And he's going to gather all
those who He was made to be all for. All those who cry in sincere
truth, those who have been given faith to believe and to truly
cry, Christ is my all. Christ is our all. He's the only
thing we're holding to. Christ is all of our comfort.
He is all of our joy. He is all of our hope. He's all
of our salvation. He's all that we're looking to.
He's all that we're waiting for. What is heaven to God's people?
It's Christ. He's all our desire. He's all. One day soon He is
coming back for all of His people. All that He accomplished His
work for. And it's going to be a glorious
day. I know that you know these verses well, but turn with me
to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13, it
says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, and that's not just if we believe that He
died and that He rose again, but if we believe why He died
and what He accomplished in it. if we believe who it was who
died, and the fullness of what He has declared He accomplished
in His death and resurrection. Even so, them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with Him." I tell the people in Kingsport
a lot, but I used to worry that I would miss His return. I used
to worry that I wouldn't be one of the ones standing on the earth
when He comes back. But then I realized, None of
God's people are going to miss His return. He's bringing all
souls back with Him. If we go, we're going to come
back. Verse 14, If we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
All souls who have gone to be with Him and we buried them in
the ground, they're going to come back first. Then verse 17
says, We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
we ever be with the Lord." Isn't that amazing? Wherefore comfort
one another with these words. Mr. Chapman wrote in that song,
one day the trumpet will sound for his coming. One day the skies
with his glory will shine. Wonderful day, my beloved one's
bringing. Glorious Savior, this Lord Jesus
is mine. How amazing. How amazing. Living, He loved us. Dying, He
saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming. Oh, glorious
day. Oh, glorious day. Christ is all
and in all, and we're going to cry that for all eternity. Christ
is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. All of it was by Him, through
Him, to Him. Christ is all. Now, I want to
leave you with this. little poem that I read every
now and then. And this is so good. I don't know who wrote this,
but it's so good. There is a holy God that I cannot
please, but Christ did. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. There is a holy law that I cannot
keep, But Christ did. He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. There is a perfect righteousness that I cannot earn.
But Christ did. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
There is a convicting record of sin that I cannot erase. But
Christ did. He made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. There is a great judgment that I cannot endure,
but Christ did. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? And there is an eternal death
that I cannot rise from, but Christ did. And if He has been
made to be my all and in all, He'll raise me up with Him at
the last day. Amen. Thank you, Dad.