Turn with me, if you would, to
Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Last Sunday morning, we looked
at verse nine, which says, for in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Today, we're going to look at
verse 10, which says, and you are complete in him. which is the head of all principality
and power." That's a wonderful verse. That is a wonderful verse. You are complete in Him. Which is the head of all principality
and power. The head of all principality
and power. Who is the head of all principality
and power? The end of verse eight says Christ
is Christ is the head of all principality
and power. What does that mean? That means
he's God, the God of it. He's the God of
all principality and power. Look back at chapter one, Colossians
one verse 12 says. giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, that means sufficient, to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. and He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist, 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." That means
God has made Christ to be all. Verse 19 says, "...it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." He's the
head. Christ is the head of all things.
Now let's look this morning at what it means to say in chapter
2, verse 10, you are complete in Him. You are complete in Him. To get right to the point, this
is talking about the salvation of God's people. When salvation becomes an issue
to a person, there's a point in life when it's not. And when salvation becomes an
issue to a person, when that moment comes where a person goes
from not caring either way to caring very much. whether or not his or her soul
is saved. When that moment comes where
a man or a woman needs answers on this issue of eternal life. Every time. Every time this is the question
a man or a woman wants the answer to. Every time. What must I do? Every time. What do I have to do? When that moment comes where
a person gets a good look at things and sees clearly by what
I see right here, what I see in my flesh, there's a problem. Clearly, this right here is not
good enough based on what I'm reading about that place and
what I'm seeing right here. Clearly, this is not good enough. How do I fix this? How do I make right all of this
wrong? How do I change what I see here? How do I grow more into the image
of Christ? This talks about being in the
image of Christ. How do I do that? What do I need to do to progress
into what I need to be? According to the Word of God,
here's the answer. In Christ, that work is already
done. I put a lot of thought into this.
I could draw it out and we could build up to this, but I'm not
doing it. We're gonna literally just spill the beans. In Christ, the problem is remedied. In Christ, you are fixed. In Christ, you have been made
right. In Christ, you are changed. In Christ, you have reached full
spiritual maturity. In Christ, In His blood, the
moment a sinner hears about the blood of Jesus Christ, you know
what that sinner wants? Cover me in it. Cover me in it. Like Peter said to the Lord,
I don't want you washing my feet. He said, if I don't wash your
feet, you have no part with me. He said, wash me head to toe. In His blood, in His righteousness,
The moment a sinner learns about the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
he wants to be covered in it. In his mercy, in his grace, in
his will, in his work, in his life, in his death, in everything
that he is, in Christ, You are everything that you need to be
to stand before the Almighty God. You are complete in Him. Just relax. You know, the moment
that this question comes, it makes a person uptight. It makes
a person worried. Just relax. Just rest. Believe it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. You, Let's just think about this.
You. Somebody will hear that and say,
do you really mean me? And the reason I say that is
because that's what I used to think. Honestly. When I would
see the word you, I would wonder, do you really mean me? Honestly. He said you. If anybody wants
to know, do you really mean me? Let's find out. Let's find out. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 1.
This will answer it right here. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. This is
a faithful saying. and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief." Somebody says, is this word really talking to me? When it says you, does it really
mean me? Well, are you a sinner? What kind of sinner are you talking
about? When you ask me if I'm a sinner, what do you mean? What
kind of sinner are you talking about? Verse 9 right here says
he's talking about, if you read down into it a little bit, he's
talking about lawless, disobedient, ungodly. You know, we look good
on the outside, but if your inside was shown outside, if your mind
and heart was shown, Do we realize how much ungodliness we cover
up? Do we realize? He goes on to
say unholy, profane, murderers, manslayers. Verse 10 says he's
talking about whoremongers. Them that defile themselves with
mankind, men stealers, liars, perjured persons. That means
somebody who goes back on their word and won't keep their promise.
Verse 13 says, he's talking about blasphemers, persecutors, injurious. That's one who desires to injure
others. Are you that kind of sinner? If someone says, no, I've met
people like that before, but no, I'm not that kind of sinner.
Well, then no, this word is not talking to you. This faithful
saying from God is to sinners. This faithful saying is to sinners. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous. I came to call sinners. He said,
I didn't come for those who see themselves as being well before
God. I came for those who are sick
in God's eyes and in their own too. I came for the lost. I came for the ruined. Is that
you? If a man or woman sincerely says
in the heart, that's me. You're describing me. Well, then
be of good cheer. You are complete in Him. You are. You are. Not will be. Not almost are. I'll tell you one
we can relate to. All right, we can relate to this.
Not are, are not. Are, are not. Are, not, are. Well, I just, I feel saved. I
don't feel saved. I am saved. I'm not saved. I'm doing good. I'm doing bad. I'm still doing
bad. You are. You are. If you are a sinner, in need
of Christ the Savior, you are. I'm telling you, if you are a
sinner in need of Christ the Savior, you are. I wonder if
I'm saved. If you are a sinner in need of
Christ the Savior, you are. Turn with me to John, 1 John
rather, 1 John 4. 1 John chapter 4. We quoted this a moment ago in
the Bible study, verse 19 is where he said, we love him because
he first loved us. Now the verse I want us to read
is verse 17. It says herein is our love made
perfect. That we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. Think about that statement. People
talk about the day of judgment, the day of judgment, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment. God's people are
going to have not arrogance, not pride, not self, anything
confidence. a loving, believing confidence
that they can walk right up to the throne of God Almighty on
the day of judgment. Why? It goes on to say, because
as He is, so are we in this world. That does not say As Christ is,
one day real soon, so will we be in glory with Him. It doesn't say that. That says,
as He is, so are we in this world. Now, I want to clarify this. David said in Psalm 17, I will
be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. That means I'll
be satisfied when my flesh looks like your flesh. I'm looking
so forward to that. Paul told the Corinthians, we're
going to put off mortality and we're gonna put on immortality.
Paul told the Philippians, our vile bodies are going to be changed
into the image of His glorious body. John said in 1 John 3,
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But on the day that
He appears, and we see Him as He is, then we'll know. Take comfort in this, all right?
It's not that we're not gonna be changed. I wanna be changed.
I do, I don't wanna be this. It's not that we're not gonna
be changed from what we see in our sinful, wicked flesh. Our
flesh is going away, thank God. Our sin that has already been
dealt with and put away is going to go away. The sins that I have
not yet committed, Christ has already dealt with them. And
one day soon, they're going away from me. This worldly image of
us is going away. And when that happens, all that
will be left is the glorious image of Christ that has already
come to us, and already been created in us. A new creation
has been created in God's people, and it is a complete creation. Now, last Friday morning, our
sister Rachel delivered a baby. Hannah showed me a picture of
that baby. It amazed me. I have seen brand
new babies before. But Friday morning, I was really
struck by this. It just sincerely amazed me that
I saw a just-delivered, full-featured, complete human being. That's a good-looking baby. He
looks like a little man. I saw his chin, his mouth, his
nose, his eyes, his ears, and I thought, that's a complete
baby. That baby was complete in her. Is that not amazing? That's what the baby was in her. It's not that, you know, the
baby, the whole form changed in that moment. That is what
that baby was. In her. That baby was complete. Until that moment came Friday
morning, it did not yet appear what the baby was going to look
like. We saw through a glass darkly. We all did. We all knew there
was a baby in there. There was no doubt in our minds.
I've learned the hard way, don't ever ask a woman, when are you
due? Don't do that. But you would have been pretty
safe with Rachel. We all knew there's a baby in there. We saw
through a glass darkly. But when the fullness of the
time came, as travail upon a woman with child, It was revealed. What was already complete in
her was revealed. On Friday, that baby had 10 fingers
and 10 toes. I'm pretty sure. I haven't counted
them or been told otherwise. But if that baby has 10 fingers
and 10 toes, On Thursday, that baby had ten
fingers and ten toes. We saw Rachel here Wednesday
night. That baby had ten fingers and
ten toes. It just wasn't revealed yet.
Baby already had that, but it just wasn't revealed yet. If
the Lord is willing, that baby will grow and mature and That
baby is not going to gain one more internal organ of life than
it already has and had in her. All of the necessary components
of life, they're already there and they were already there.
Not one internal bone is going to be added to his body. They will mature But every bone
that he has and will ever have, he had in her. That child was complete in Rachel. And we are complete in Christ. We are complete in Him. Had it
not been for Rachel, that child could have never been made complete. I'm telling us the truth. Outside
of Rachel, that child could have never been made complete. And outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ, none of God's people could have ever been made complete.
But in Christ. Oh, keep me there. Until that
day comes, until it's time to be revealed. Keep me right there. Because in the fullness of being
in Christ, because he is complete, we are complete in him. We are not complete in ourselves.
We do not look to ourselves to see our completeness. We look
to Christ to see that. He's our completeness. We are
only complete in Him. Now, how do we get in Him? How does a soul of life get in
Him? If our completeness is dependent
on being in Him, how does a sinner get in Him? Turn with me, if
you would, to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 30 says, But of him, of God, of the Father,
of the Father. How does a soul of life get in? Of the Father. Are you in Christ Jesus? who
of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord." Being in Christ is God's work. That's not our work. That is
God's work. He is the one who places his
people in Christ. And in Christ, their wisdom is
complete. I hope this will bring rest to
us. And the thought goes through
my mind as I say that, what all did that baby have to do while
for nine months while it was in Rachel. What work had to be
done? What responsibilities? Rest. Just relax. Just stay right there. Just hope
in her and trust in her that she will eat and nourish you. In the Lord Jesus Christ, our
wisdom is complete. Everything we need to know We
know. If we know in Him, where's salvation? In Him. Where's redemption? In
Him. Where's forgiveness? In Him.
Where's life? In Him. What is glory? In Him. I mean, we could just keep going.
If we know in Him, we know everything we need to know. In Christ, our wisdom is complete.
In Christ, our righteousness is complete. People think, I've
done so much wrong, I've got to go do more good than I did
wrong so that the scale will weigh in my favor. In Christ,
our good deeds, that's what righteousness is. Our good deeds are complete. I love the scripture that says,
He went about doing good. Why? For me. For you. All of our goodness. I'm just
not a good person. He is. and He's my goodness before
God. I'm not my goodness before God.
All of our righteousness, all of our record of doing good is
complete. In Christ, our sanctification,
that is inner holiness, inner purity. If you could see on the
inside of me, we would all be pretty confirmed. There's not
holiness and purity in the flesh of this man, but in Him. sanctification, holiness, purity
is complete. And thank God in Christ, our
redemption, this great fall that we endured, fall into sin and
our purchase back and our being brought back to God and redeemed,
reinstated. It's fully complete. That payment
of blood paid the price in full. It's complete. I've told you
many times, some in here haven't heard it so I'll tell it again,
but I had the privilege of talking to some brethren who had just
come out of a very hard bondage, doctrine, false religion that
just really had the thumb on people to progress in sanctification
and you better see more holiness in yourself. And these brethren
had come to realize that Christ is all of these things for us.
And I was talking with him about sanctification and all that.
And if you want to see my sanctification, look to Christ. How perfect am
I before God? Well, just look to Christ. He
is my, He, just look at Him. I rest on Him. It's not me, it's
Him. And this dear brother, he was
just pondering all that. And as he thought for a minute,
he said, Isn't that so relaxing? Sure is. It sure is. Now let me close this message
by giving the definition of the word complete to you. I love
this. The word complete means, when
you look it up in the concordance, it means accomplished to the
fullest degree. You are accomplished in Christ
to the fullest degree. In Christ, everything that needed
to be accomplished concerning you was. In Christ, our judgment has already
been accomplished. This is why we will have boldness
in the day of judgment. Ours has already been accomplished.
We've already been through it. We went through it in Him on
the cross of Calvary. It was accomplished in Him. When
He was judged on that cross, we were judged on that cross
in Him. In Christ, our death has already been accomplished.
If we're in Him, don't fear death. We do, but we shouldn't. He said, whoever
lives and believes in me shall never die. There's no death.
We've already died. It's already accomplished. You've
already died. There's only life in him. Thank God we're going to put
off this body of sin, but there's only life in him. Our burial
has already been accomplished. Our resurrection has already
been accomplished. Our ascension has already been
accomplished. Our acceptance has already been
accomplished. Will God have me? Will He let
me enter in? He already has. We already are
in Him. We are complete. Finished. Done. in Him. I'm telling you, if God ever
gives one of His own faith to believe, he or she will believe
that right there. They will believe that right
there. We are complete in Him. We can rest, we can relax, we
can believe, we can enjoy the truth of that right there. It does not yet appear But it's
so. We are complete, finished, done,
accomplished in our Lord Jesus Christ. That is such good news
to me. That's good news. All right,
Brother Eddie, you come.