Go with me, if you would, back
to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. The message
that I would like to bring to you tonight is the same message
I brought in Rocky Mount this morning. It just has a different
outline, different scripture references, and different words.
It's the only thing that's different about it. It's a different outline,
different scripture references, and different words. But the
theme is exactly the same. I started in this verse of scripture
this morning. This was the theme, this is the
theme, and by God's grace, this will forever be the theme of
our message. The end of verse 11 says, Christ is all and in all. That's just a blessing to the
heart, isn't it? That is a blessing to the heart. Christ is all and
in all. That's a standalone statement.
Christ is all and in all. Christ is everything. Christ is everything. And He
is the reason for everything. He is the accomplishment. He
is everything. He's the accomplishment of everything. And He's the reason for everything
concerning us. And that's what I want us to
enter into tonight. I want us to enter into His work
for us. and what he accomplished in it,
his work and what he accomplished in it. And everything that he
did, he did it all. And everything he did, the Lord
Jesus paid it all. He did it all. And I want us
to enter into what he accomplished in all that he did. He did it
all. and what He accomplished in all
that He did. His work and what He accomplished
in it. I'm titling this message, It's
All Because of Him. It's all because of Him. There
was a man who lived in the late 1800s, early 1900s named J Wilbur
Chapman. And I'm wondering if the J stands
for John, John Chapman, just a different John Chapman. But
he wrote a song that we sing in our hymn, no Lord willing,
we'll close the service with this song. And every time I think
about the words of this song, I think two things, these two
things enter my mind. Number one, I think, I believe
this man knew something of the truth of the gospel. I believe
this man knew something of who our Lord was and what he did
and what he accomplished in it. And the second thing I think
is, I don't believe, I honestly don't believe the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ could be more clearly and plainly described
than the way this man described it. In what he said, he just
so clearly, so plainly declared the work and the accomplishment
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The song is called One Day. And in the chorus, Mr. Chapman
wrote, living, he loved me. 33 and a half years. You know,
we're living a life on this earth. Well, so did he. What was he
doing? Why did he come? What was he
accomplishing? Well, here it is. Living, he
loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day, He's coming. Oh, glorious day. That was His
work. And that was his accomplishment
in his work. Even though he has not yet returned,
he's already accomplished it. He's already, it's all finished. But that was his work and his
accomplishment in it. Now in those lines, Mr. Chapman
told us Christ was all and in all. He did it all and Christ was
the reason for it all. From the Scriptures, let's see
that. Let's enter into all that Christ
was doing and accomplishing in His work for us. And I want to
use this outline that Mr. Chapman gave to us. It starts
right here. This is what our Lord was doing
in accomplishing the work His Father gave Him to do and sent
Him to do. Living, He was loving us. That's what He was doing. That's
what He accomplished the whole time He walked this earth. As He walked, He was earning
something. As he walked, he was earning
a perfection before God. He was earning a righteousness. He was earning a record of good
deeds to give to somebody. And he loved the ones he was
earning it for living. He loved his people. Turn with
me over to John 11. Now this is just, this is beautiful
to me. I wrote some scriptures down
here and I just think this is so beautiful. John 11 verse five, it says,
now Jesus loved Martha. and her sister, whose name was
Mary, and Lazarus. That verse deserves a Silah. Just think about the glory of
that. What blessed people, what a thing
to be said about a sinner. Those three people were sinners,
those were three sinners. And it says, now this man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, God come down. It says, now Jesus loved Martha. That's what was in his heart
for her and her sister and Lazarus. Look at verse 32. It says, 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." That means he troubled himself. And he said, where have you laid
him? They said unto him, Lord, come
and see. And every time I think about
verse 35, I think about, Our Lord Jesus Christ standing there
crying. Verse 36 says, then said the
Jews, behold how he loved him. Oh, behold how he loved him.
That's so amazing to me that God could love sinners like us. You know, there are people I
love in my heart. Something goes on inside here.
I have thoughts of them. feelings towards him and well,
they could all see it. They said, behold, how he loved
him. He loved him. He loved them. He loved all of his people. Look at John 13, verse one, John
chapter 13, verse one, it 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. Verse 23 right here says, Now there was leaning on Jesus's
bosom. One of his disciples whom Jesus
loved. John was talking about himself. The apostle John who wrote this,
he's talking about himself and we are always so amazed at John's
humility because he never says his own name. But I got to thinking
about the boldness. that that man said, I know he
loved me. I know he loved me. That's what
John said. He wouldn't say his own name, but he said, there
was leaning on Jesus, his bosom, one of his disciples whom he
loved. I know he loved me. He proved it to me. He told me,
he proved it to me. Verse 34, our Lord said, 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. Now don't turn to these, just
listen to a few of them, but this is Romans 8, verse 37. It 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.
His love was the accomplishment of it all. Galatians 2 verse
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." Ephesians
2 verse 4 says, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love
wherewith he loved us. Don't you love when somebody
who you love says to you, I love you too. Don't you love that? Oh, how we love Him. You know
why? He loves us. Ephesians 5.25 says, Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for it. Revelation 1 verse 5 says unto
him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He loved us living. He loved us. That's what he did. Not that we loved him, but that
he loved us. Greater love had no man. God
commended his love toward us. And it was all because of our
Lord Jesus Christ. All because of him. The father
choosing us was all because of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said
in Isaiah 42, I choose my son. He's my elect. I'm well pleased with him, I
choose him. And he said in Ephesians 1, I
have chosen you in him. That's the reason, only because
of him. He was the accomplisher of love
and he was the reason for that love. Living, he loved us. That's good news. That is good
news to my heart. Mr. Chapman in his song went
on to say, dying, he saved us. Living, he loved us. Dying, He
saved us. We opened our service with another
song that 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. He shall
save His people from their sins. How's He gonna do that? He is
going to suffer and die the judgment and the penalty that is owed
to His people. Everything that is owed to them
for all of their sins, He's gonna die in their place for the sake
of His people. Christ was all in our salvation. Christ is all in the Father's
love for us Christ is all in our salvation. Turn with me over
to 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 purged our sins, by himself, He satisfied
everything that the law had against us. Look with me at Hebrews 9, verse 11, Hebrews 9, verse 11. It says, but Christ being come
and high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not
of this building, and speaking of His own body. Verse 12, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. When He by Himself alone suffered
and bled and died, judgment was met, the law was
satisfied, and mercy was born when a ransom was found at that
moment. There's one reason only for our
forgiveness. One reason only for our redemption
with the Father, and that reason is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 4.32 says it's for
Christ's sake. That's the only reason it's for
Christ's sake. When it comes to the accomplishment
of our forgiveness and our redemption, Christ is all and in all of it. Living He loved us. Dying, He
saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far
away. There was an ordinance in the
Old Testament of a scapegoat. There was a ceremony that took
place. And symbolically, it was this scapegoat taking the sins
of the people far away. carrying them so far away they
would never return again, taking that goat to a place where he
could never come back from. And that's what Christ did for
his people. 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, He rid us from what was bringing us into judgment
in the first place. He cleansed us from it. Look
at Hebrews 10 verse 4. It says, It is not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. So verse
9 says, Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh
away the first that he may establish the second. By the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified." You know, We do not see holiness and purity
in our flesh. Thank God for faith in the Word
of Christ, because He said He washed us. He said by one sacrifice,
He has cleansed forever, sanctified forever His people. And we believe
it. Even though we don't see it,
and even though we're still living out sin, we believe it by God-given
faith. Verse 15 says, whereof the Holy
Ghost is a witness to us. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. That means
if they're gone, they're gone. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. What does he
mean exactly whenever he says we are washed, we are sanctified,
we are perfected, we are purified? Let me give you an illustration. You remember, I'm sure, about
10 years ago or more, I don't know how long it was, that huge
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Huge oil spill and it took a
huge cleanup effort. All that oil was sitting on top
of the water. And part of that cleanup effort
was cleaning up all the animals that had gotten in the oil. You
saw on the news video of birds and all that stuff just flopping
in that oil. They couldn't get out, they couldn't
fly away, they're covered in oil. Well, they would pull up
to these, they sent out a, you know, team of people and they'd
pull up to these birds and they'd pull them out of the ocean, pull
them out of the water. They would deliver them from
the death that was coming by reaching down. We sing, when
he reached way down from me, they breached down and they pull
them out, put them in their boat. and deliver them from destruction. That's what they did. But that's
not all that they did. They would then take them back
to their lab or workspace or whatever they had, and they cleaned
all that oil off of them. Every spot, every stain. They delivered them from the
destruction that was coming, and then they removed from them
everything that had brought them into that destruction in the
first place. They saved them, and they washed
them. And that's what Christ has done
for us. Delivered us, saved us, and washed us. Living, He loved
us. Dying, He saved us. Buried, He
carried our sins far away. Every spot, every stain, so far
away, they are gone, never to return again. Never again. I wanna show you one of my favorite
verses of scripture. Go to Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 20. I just adore this verse. Jeremiah 50, verse 20, it says,
in those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for. and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve."
They're gonna be sought for. They're gonna make sure. Truly
clean? Truly clean. They're not gonna
be found. They are gone in Christ. Because of Christ alone, our
sins are all taken away, never to be found again. Buried, He
carried our sins far away. That's what He did while He was
in that tomb for three days. Buried, He carried our sins far
away. And then three days later, rising,
He justified. freely forever." That's what
He did when He arose from the grave. That's what He did for
us. That's what He accomplished in rising from the grave. With the sin being gone, the
Father said, accepted. No sin. Accepted. Well done. Worthy is that Lamb. And every soul in the Lamb is
worthy with the Lamb. He is justified, and they are
all justified with Him. Justified in Him, 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, our acceptance back to God. Christ is all in it.
I'll be very quick. I'm almost done, but go with
me to Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 19, it says, �Now we know 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. 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, 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's
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 through faith in His blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed 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. Where is boasting then? It's excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. How are
we justified? We are justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Totally in Him. It is all because of Him. It's all because of Him. Living,
He loved us. Dying, He saved us. Buried, He
carried our sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever,
which is just glorious. It cost Him everything, cost
us nothing. How long will it last? Forever. That's how great that payment
was. That's how sufficient his sacrifice was. Forever. Now, one day, he's coming. He is coming back. One day soon,
he is coming back to gather all those that he was made to be
all for. All of His people, just as real
as it is that He loves us, saved us, that's a real thing. He really saved us. Cleansed
us, took all our sins far away. Justified us, just as real as
that is, He is coming back. One day He is coming and He's
coming back for all those who cry in absolute sincerity and
truth. Christ is my all. He's all. I don't have anything
to add to Him. Nothing. He is all of my comfort. Don't you get just a moment of
comfort whenever Christ is made to be your all for just a minute,
when you really see Him to be all. He's all my comfort. He's all my joy. Oh, there's
so much sorrow out here and so much disappointment out here.
And then you get a glimpse of everything that He's done for
us and accomplished for us. And it makes you happy for just
a minute. He's all our hope. Man, we have a sure hope. He's
all our salvation. We're not adding anything to
what he did. He finished the work. He's all
that we're waiting for. He's all we're waiting for. He's
all that we're looking for. He's all our desire. Christ is
all. Christ truly is all. One day
soon, He's coming back for all of His people. And it is going
to be the most glorious day. The most glorious day. 1 Thessalonians 4, don't turn
it. We were going to, but you know
it. He said, the Lord is gonna descend from heaven with a shout.
with the voice of the archangel, the trump of God. I can't wait
to hear the trump of God. Honestly, I mean, I can't wait
to see Him descend. He's bringing an innumerable
company of angels. He's bringing all the brethren
with Him. The dead in Christ are gonna
rise first. We're gonna be caught up into
the air to meet Him in the clouds. In the song that we're about
to sing, Mr. Chapman wrote, one day the trumpet
will sound for His coming. One day the skies with His glory
will shine. Wonderful day, my beloved ones,
bringing glorious Savior. This Lord Jesus is mine. That's
what we're going to cry for all eternity. 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. Christ is all. It's all by Him,
through Him, to Him. Christ is all. He's the accomplishment. He's
the reason for the accomplishment. It's all because of Him. I'll close with this, alright?
I don't know who wrote this, but I sure do say amen to it. There is a holy God that I cannot
please, but Christ did. There is a holy law that I cannot
keep, but Christ did. There is a perfect righteousness
that I cannot earn, But Christ did. There is a convicting record
of sin that I cannot erase, but Christ did. There is a great
judgment that I cannot endure, but Christ did. And there is
an eternal death that I cannot rise from, but Christ did. And if He is our all and in all,
He will raise us up with Him at the last day. Glorious, glorious
news. Christ is all and in all. All right, let's all stand together.