Turn with me, if you would, back
to Colossians 3. Colossians 3. Last week, as I was reading and
studying, I became very drawn to the book of Colossians. The
whole book. Many verses of scripture and
many statements that the apostle Paul made throughout the book,
they stood out to me. I was grabbed by many verses
that are throughout the book. All of them particularly spoke
of Christ. They all declared Christ. But when I got to this one verse
right here, I realized that's the culmination of it all. Of everything that is said and
could possibly be said. This is the only conclusion we
can come to. Look at the end of verse 11,
chapter three, verse 11. It says, Christ is all. Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. When a person comes to know the
truth. When God opens a sinner's eyes
to see the truth. The truth of God. Boy, what an
eye-opening thing that is. The truth of God. The truth of the Word. What an eye-opening thing that
is. When all of a sudden they see the truth of it, which is
a person. The truth of this Gospel message. People, we're coming to hear
the Gospel. We're going to sing about the
Gospel. The truth of the Gospel. What the Gospel really is. Not
just religion. I mean the truth of the gospel. The truth of salvation. So many people want to know the
answer to that. What's the truth of salvation? When the Holy Spirit
reveals the truth of these things to a sinner. This is what the
sinner sees. Christ is all. That's what the sinner says.
Christ is all in it. Christ is all in all. It's not Christ plus the Pope. It's not Christ plus Mary. It's not Christ plus me. We say it's not Christ plus the
Pope. Amen. Oh yeah, we know that.
It's not Christ plus Mary. Well, it's not Christ plus me. It's not Christ plus the elements
and the ordinances. It's not Christ plus the Lord's
table. And it's not Christ plus baptism. It's not Christ plus the evidences
that will be seen in a sinner. Let me repeat that one. It's not Christ plus the evidences
that will be seen in a sinner. No part of God's work and the
gospel of God's salvation, no part of it includes A cooperation
with Christ of any kind. No part. Not in any way. Not in any shape. Not in any
form. Christ is all. Christ is all. He is all of it. He is all of
it. I mean, we go through this word
and it says, boy, you better have an altar. Christ is our altar. You need to have a sacrifice.
Christ is our sacrifice. You better show these good deeds.
Doesn't the scripture exhort God's people will show these
good, well, Christ is my good deeds. He's my righteousness. He's my perfection before God.
I have those things in Him. Christ is all. He is all of it. He is in all of it. He's all
of it. He is all in all. Now I want us to peruse through
the book of Colossians, looking at these verses of scripture
that caught my attention. Because in seeing what these
verses have to say about the Lord Jesus Christ, we'll be able
to enter in to more of how Christ is all, truly all. As we look at this with the physical
eye, may God give us the eye of faith. The truth, only God
can grant that. May God grant us the eye of faith
to not only see this, but to believe it with the heart and
to bow to it. Let's begin by reading a few verses about the
Lord in chapter one. Turn with me over there to Colossians
1. Colossians 1, verse 16, it says,
For by Him, this is speaking of Christ, 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."
First, Christ is all in the sense that He created all. He created
all. He is the creator of all things. All things were created by Him
and for Him. He has the preeminence. That means He is before all things. He is above all things. He is the head of all things,
all things. Man has so wickedly and so sinfully
brought him down so low in man's eyes. Man has brought him down
so, so low. Man naturally sees Christ to
be the opposite of what he truly is. The way that man, the way
this flesh sees Christ, he's the opposite of that. Man thinks Christ is in need. That's what man thinks. He thinks he needs man's help.
He thinks he needs man's yard sales. Man thinks Christ is in need. Man thinks Christ is trying. That's what man thinks. He thinks
Christ is trying. That's what man thinks. That's
what men preach. Christ is trying. Stop messing it up. Man thinks
Christ is knocking. That's what man thinks. Knocking at the door. He said,
I am the door. Man thinks Christ is begging. Man thinks Christ is working. Boy, He really must be working
something good in Europe. Man thinks Christ is all these
things, and He's not. Christ is all. Christ is all. The Scripture
says He is in need of nothing. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. Everything's mine. All the gold is mine, all the
silver's mine, all the cows are mine, all the land is mine. He's in need of nothing. Beside him there is nothing. Isn't that what he said? Beside
me there's nothing. There's no God, there's no nothing.
Christ is all. He's all. Verse 19 right here
says, It pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness
dwell. All fullness of what? Chapter 2 verse 9 says, It's
all the fullness of the Godhead. Christ is all of it. He's all
of it. Do you want to see the Father? Philip did. He said, show us
the Father. Do you want to see the Father?
Look at Christ. Just look at Him. You've seen
me. You've seen the Father. Do you
want to see the Spirit? We talk about the Spirit, the
Holy Spirit. When the Spirit moves, you want
to see the Spirit? Look at Jesus Christ. It's the
Spirit of Christ. Christ is all, all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Above all, creator of all, sustainer
of all, judge of all. Judge of all. John 5.22 says,
all judgment has been committed to the Son. Romans 14.10 says,
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. On that day, on that great day,
all will know that Christ is all. On that day, every knee will
bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord, Lord of all. Lord of all. Mercy is having
that revealed to us now. Bowing now, confessing now, that's
mercy. Hold your place right here in
Colossians and turn back a few pages to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, this is speaking
of Christ, verse 21, it says, He is far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And
He hath put all things under His feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth all in all." So in all, Christ
is all. Creator of all, ruler of all,
judge of all, Christ is all. But here's the amazing gospel
for his people. All right, here's the amazing
gospel. Ephesians 2 verse 4 says, but God, it announces all of
this. And then it says, but God. We're here this morning to hear
about salvation. That's why we're here. We're
here to talk about and learn of. Salvation. Salvation from our sin against
this Christ who is all. This Christ. We're not just here
this morning to hear that all have sinned. Therefore all will
be judged by the judge of all. That's true. That's very true,
but that's not the good news of the gospel. The gospel declaration
is in the fact that God the Father chose a people to save. The gospel declaration is, but
God. That announcement goes out. The
truth goes out. The truth is proclaimed. And
then the gospel comes and says, but God. Of His own mind, of
His own desire, He chose a particular people to have mercy on. and to save them. And in order
to make that happen, in order to deliver those people, and
in order to redeem those people, and in order to reinstate those
people to what they lost, Christ gave all. Christ gave all. The Christ who
is all, if we could ever enter into his allness, I know that's
not a word, but if we could make it one and enter into his allness, what glory it would bring to
the truth that Christ gave all. He gave all. All. Talk about giving. He gave
all. Look back at Colossians 1 verse
12. It says, giving thanks unto the
Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life, 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. The Christ who is all gave all
that he might be all for all of his people. Is that too many
all's? The Christ who is all gave all
that he might be all for all of his people. That means though he was rich,
yet for your sakes, he became poor, poor. broken broke that you might be through his
poverty rich he gave all though he was lofty yet for the sake
of his people he made himself to be low when he reached down his hand
for us we sing that song I love that second line that says when
he reached way down Not just low, but real low, indescribably
low. Though He was everything, everything,
He was, He is everything, but for the sake of His people, He
made Himself to be of no reputation. He made Himself to be nothing. Though He was the spotless, holy
Lamb of God, Though he was the spotless, holy Lamb of God for
the sake of his people, he made himself to be sin. Sin. The Christ who is all gave all
for the sake of his people. What that means is his all became
their all. That's what it means. He gave it to them. He freely
gave it to them. They had nothing. But after He
did what He did for them, they had all. They have all in Him. In Him, God's people have all. In Him, God's people are all.
Because He's all. He's all. That's what the entire
book of Colossians is all about. If you want to know what Colossians,
the theme of Colossians, it's Christ our all. That's what it
is. Christ is everything for us.
That's what it is. There's a little chorus. It's
a little song that says, Jesus Christ is made to be all I need. All I need. Christ is all I need. All I need. Now, let's see that in a few
of these verses, all right? Chapter 1, verse 25 says, Whereof I am made a minister
according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you to fulfill the Word of God, even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His
saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is." Now pay
attention to this last part. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope. A lot of these phrases that caught
my attention were three word phrases. Christ is all. Christ
in you. What's your hope? Christ in me. That's the hope. Christ in you. Ask a believer, honestly, what
is your hope? What is your hope of glory? What
gives you rest and comfort and peace? What is your hope of glory? This is the only answer that
a true believer can give. It's that Christ has done a work
for me and in me. It's that He's put away what
I shouldn't be and made me to be what I should be. It's that Christ has done it
all. It's that Christ has rid me of the sin in me and filled
me with all the holiness and the purity and the righteousness
that God requires in His place. He's my hope. He's my only hope. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, those ear-pleasing lies that men stand up, those lies,
those fleshly lies talking about our abilities and our works before
God. I dare not trust a man telling
me how good I am and how much God is pleased with me for what
I'm doing for Him. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. But I wholly, that means completely,
totally lean on the Lord Jesus Christ's name. What's His name? God sent an angel to say, call
Him Savior. That's all I'm leaning on. He's
the Savior. The Savior of sinners. On Christ
the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. He's all my hope. All of it. Look at chapter 2, verse 3. It
says, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In whom are hid all these treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. He's our wisdom, He's our knowledge,
all of it. Verse four, in this I say, lest any man should beguile
you with enticing words, for though I be absent in the flesh,
yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order
and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. He's all our
faith. He is our faith. Our faith is
of Him. It's by Him, it's through Him,
it's to Him. It's the faith of Christ given
to us. He's the author and the finisher
of our faith. The God that begun a good work
in you, He'll perform it. He's the doer. He's our faith.
He's the object of our faith. Our faith doesn't look to our
faith. Our faith looks to Christ. We're not looking. So many people
look for their assurance and their comfort and their rest.
So many people look to their faith. They want to see faith
in themselves. But our assurance and our comfort
and our rest doesn't come from how much faith I see in myself.
It comes from everything we see in Christ. People look to their own faith
and they say, well, I got to get more faith. We've all said
that, haven't we? I gotta strengthen my faith.
I gotta make sure my faith stays strong. God's people are looking to Christ. The moment they totally slay
their own faith, that's strong faith. The moment they stop talking
about their faith, that's when their faith is the strongest.
I'm not even talking about that anymore. All I'm saying is Christ.
I need Christ. I need Christ to lay hold of
me. Our faith is in Him. He's our
hope. He's our faith. While we're passing
by, look at verse 10, chapter 2, verse 10. You are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. You're
complete in Him. He's all you need. The end of verse 17 says, chapter
2, verse 17, it says, the body is of Christ, His church, His
people. He is their source for all things. Everything they need. Verse 20,
wherefore if you be dead with Christ, dead with Christ, Christ is our
justice. The law demands justice for our
sin. That's the number one thing people
want to know when they start to see some of these things.
What about my sin? What about my sin? The law demands
the correct, just reaction for our action. That's what the law
demands. What was our action? Sin. What was the correct, just wages
of sin? Death. Where did we die? In Him. With Him. In His death on the cross, justice
was served to us. If you're dead with Christ, He's
your justice. That's what it means. Chapter
3, verse 1 says, If you then be risen with Christ. Risen with
Christ. If you're risen with Christ,
then He's your justification. Talk about God being just. and
justifying His people. Our Lord said, He that liveth
and believeth in Me shall never die. Why? Why, Lord? It's because the soul
has been justified to live. If He's risen with Me, He's justified
to life. In My justified resurrection,
the sin is paid and it's gone. And justification demands freedom. Justify. Look at chapter 3, verse
3. For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Hid with Christ. He's our safety. He's our absolute safety. David
said, in the time of trouble, He'll hide me. Hide me, O my
Savior. Hide till the storm of life has
passed. He's our safety in this life. And to take that one step further,
He's our life. Verse 4, chapter 3, verse 4 says,
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you
also appear with Him in glory. For God's people, Christ is not
just a big part of their life. He's not just the most important
thing in their life. He is their life. He is their
life. They live, they move, they breathe
only in Him. Chapter 3, verse 12 says, Put
on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,
forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have
a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. Christ forgave you. Sometimes that sinks in. Christ
forgave you. Yeah, but, but God, Christ forgave
you. Yes, but Christ forgave me. He
is our forgiveness. Christ forgave us in his own
blood. He's our forgiveness. The father only forgave us because
he didn't forgive Christ in our stead. That's the only reason.
He did not forsake us only because He pursued Christ in our stead. He is our forgiveness. Chapter
3 verse 24 says, Knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the
Lord Christ. Christ is our King. We bow to
Him. We serve Him. We follow, we honor,
we magnify, we laud, we praise his majesty alone. He's our hope. He's our faith. He's our source. He's our justice. He's our justification. He's our safety. He's our life. He's our forgiveness. He's our
King. And he's our message. He's the
good news of the gospel. Chapter four, verse three says,
with all praying also for us, that God would open unto us a
door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ, for which
I am also in bonds. Paul said, we preach Christ. We preach Christ. He said, I'm
determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why is that, Paul? Because He's
all. That's the reason. He is all. Christ is all and
in all. He's all and in all. Now, I'm
going to have this story in retirement. Not forever, but I put, I archived
it for a little while. I tell them, tell stories for
a while, and then I set them aside. But there are some here
who've never heard it from me. And this, I'm gonna tell it again,
I'll pull it out of archive, because this perfectly sums up
what Paul is saying. And this perfectly sums up what
our message is. This perfectly sums up the heart
of what we believe. And where we stand, when somebody
says, where do y'all stand down there at Kingsport Sovereign
Grace? It's right here. It's right here. Charles Spurgeon
is the one who told this story. And it's about a man named Happy
Jack. He called him the Huckster. He
said this Huckster Jack was a poor, wicked fellow. who had gone about
from village to village swearing, drinking, huckstering, and perhaps
pilfering. What he's saying is this man
was a sinner. Some thought him half-witted, but the story would
show his wind to be sound enough. He heard a poor woman sing somewhere,
I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my
all and in all." He remembered the words and what was better,
he felt their sense. And he kept on humming them to
himself till God's good spirit engraved them on his heart. So
he assayed to join himself unto the church But the brethren looked
suspiciously at him and inquired, What's your experience? He said
he had no experience, but this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. The good elders
very properly asked, Are you converted? Have you been born
again? And Jack replied, I do not know
much about these things, but I do know and am sure of I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all
and in all. They put him back for a while
to try if he would grow in his knowledge, but he never went
an inch beyond the first standard. He knew what he did know and
to that he held fast. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. Well, they must
take him into the church. They could not well refuse a
man with such a confession of faith. And when he was in the
church walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest
of them. at which they greatly marveled. And one said to him,
Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel doubts and fears?" Doubts,
he said? What do you mean? I never doubt
that I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, for I have daily proofs
of it. And why should I doubt that Jesus
Christ is my all and in all? for he says he is, and I must
believe him. Ah, well, said one, sometimes
I enjoy good frames and feelings and feel very happy, and then
I lose them and sink in spirit. Jack answered, I never get lower
than I am, for I'm down at the bottom, a poor sinner and nothing
at all. I cannot get lower than that,
can I? But I'm also at the top. For Jesus Christ is my all and
in all. I cannot get higher than that,
can I? They tried him many ways with their blessed experience,
of which you and I have got cartloads, perhaps wagonloads, but he could
not be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with
their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions,
but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the
truth and would not sell it, and so he stuck to. I am a poor
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in
all." That's it, isn't it? That's it. That's it. He is all
and He's in all. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.