Go with me, if you would, back
to Colossians 1. Colossians 1. As our brother was bringing that
Bible study to us, entering into just how serious
this is. This is so serious. Not everyone
that says to me, Lord, Lord, is going to be able to enter
into the Kingdom of Heaven. That's serious, isn't it? This
is a big deal. This is life and death. If we were at a doctor's office
right now and he said, now this is life and death, we'd be taking
this so seriously. Every word. May the Lord help us. May He
truly help us. The title of this message comes
directly from the text. Three words right out of the
text. As soon as we read it, I believe you're going to see
how powerful this line is. This is a very eye-opening statement. This is a very eye-opening statement. And here's my prayer. Lord, open
my eyes today that I might see as I preach this. Lord, open
my eyes to it. This very clearly distinguishes. This clarifies the difference. The difference in what a true
believer is holding to. We all have something we're holding
to. And this clarifies the difference. in what a true believer is holding
to as opposed to every other message that false religion has
to offer. There are all these things out
there being offered for men and women to hold to, to go meet
God with. And this very clearly distinguishes
this difference to what God's people hold to, as opposed to what false religion
is telling men and women to hold to. Not only is this statement distinguishing
and clarifying, but it's heartwarming. This is so heartwarming. When
a child of God reads this and enters into this, when God really
does open our eyes and open our hearts To these three words,
this brings a child of God back to the heart of the matter. Alright,
we get our minds going, we hear these things. And our minds start to go and
start to think, this is serious. But when we read this, it brings
us back to the heart of the matter. This is the difference in the
head of the matter. and the heart of the matter.
Brother Henry Mahan used to say, salvation is roughly 18 inches. That's the distance that it takes
to go from the head to the heart. The head to the heart. The first
three words of verse 28 say, Whom we preach. whom we preach. Our message is a person. Our message is a person. We're
here to talk about a person. Our salvation is a person. Our life, our hope, our love,
our all is a person. It's a person. As opposed to all of the what's
that are out there. You know, this place is asking,
what is it? What is it? What is it? What
is it? I'm trying to find the answer.
What is it? Is it this? Is it this? Is it
this? What is it? Well, it's not a what. It's a
who. whom we preach. We preach a person. Who is this person? Who do we
preach? The end of verse 27 says, Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. The absolute eternal hope of
glory is not a system. It is not a plan. It's a person. I hear people all the time, and
you've heard people mention the plan of salvation. Do you have
a moment so I can lay out the plan of salvation to you? They
want to witness this system that they've been given to save men
and women's souls. Salvation is not a system. It's
not a plan. It's a person. It's a person. Until God reveals that to a sinner,
that is the last thing that a sinner will look to. A person is the
last thing a sinner will look to. Until God reveals that, a
person is the last thing a sinner will look to. A sinner will look
to the law. Well, let's see here. It says,
do this and stop doing that. The law is so good. The law is so good. It is so
good, but the law can't save. The law is so good. Do you know
what we're going to do in heaven? The law. This is what we will
be in absolute perfection. As He is, pure heart, pure mind,
pure soul, the law to a sinner in the flesh
cannot save. The law has never saved one sinner
from his sins. The do's and the don'ts that
are recorded in the Word of God, the commandments of the law,
Those commandments are so good, they're so right, so perfect. But because we sinners are so
evil in the flesh, we're just so evil in the flesh. Do you hate what you see in yourself? Or are you just completely in
love with what you see in your own flesh? I'm just so happy
with me and proud of me. God's people hate. They're just so ready to be done
with themselves. Lord, please, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I'm just so tired of what I do
in this body, in this flesh. We're so ruined. That's what
I think of myself. Flat ruined. Outside of Christ,
I'm just ruined. Wrong. You can't fix ruined. If it's ruined, it's ruined.
You've got to start brand new. We cannot keep the law. And if
the law is not kept, the only thing it can do is condemn. If
the law is not kept, the only thing that the law can do is
condemn. The problem is not with the law,
the problem is with us. It's completely with us. Look
with me at Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3 verse 11, "...but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God it is evident. For the just shall
live by faith." Now why is no man justified by obeying the
law? Why is that? It's because verse
10 says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse. Every soul who wants to go meet
God pleading the works of the law is a cursed soul. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. No man is justified by the law
because if you're going to keep one, you have to keep them all.
Rich young ruler came to the Lord and said, good master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he told him, you've
got to do this, this, this, this, this, and this, and this. Had
he done them, he could have inherited eternal life. Not just in the
flesh though, in the mind, in the heart, in every molecule
of his being. Had he done it, he could have
walked straight through the gates of glory. But no man has ever
done it. No woman has ever done it. And
if you break one law, and if you commit one sin, the scripture
says you've broken the whole thing. To break one is to break
the whole thing. Look with me at Romans 3. Verse 20 says, verse 19 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. Who is included in all the world?
All the world. Verse 20 says, 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. That's what
the law does for us, it exposes our sin. Verse 23 says, For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Verse 28 says,
Therefore we conclude That a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. What does that mean? A man is
justified by faith. The answer to that can be summed
up in one word. Whom. whom we preach. Faith, God-given
faith. Faith is not of men and women. It's of God. And it has to be
given. And God-given faith believes
everything that the Scripture has to say about whom. Whether it understands or not.
God-given faith believes everything that the Scripture says about
whom. We believe and we preach. We cling to everything that the
scripture has to say about Christ. Everything it says about Him.
And when we preach Christ, when we truly preach Christ, the Apostle
Paul said back in our text, three things take place. Go with me
back over there to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians 1 verse 28 it says, Whom we preach, warning every
man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. When Christ is preached A warning
goes out to every man. If Christ is truly going to be
preached, a warning is going to go out to every man and woman. Teaching is given to every man
and woman. And a presentation is made to
and for every man and woman that is in Jesus Christ. That's the stipulation. in Christ
Jesus. Verse 29 says, Whereunto I also
labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in
me mightily. Paul said, I labor to preach
Christ. He said, I labor. If any man
desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. If he
desires to do it, he's going to go to work. Paul said, I labor
to preach Christ, but my striving is according to His working. He is the one performing His
mighty work in me. In other words, what he's saying
is the glory goes to Him. He said, I'm preaching Christ,
but the glory goes to Him. The glory always goes to Him.
He is the one warning. He is the one teaching and He
is the one presenting. Alright, now let's preach Christ
in the way that the Scripture commands us to. Here's the warning. Go with me to John chapter 3. John 3, verse 36. It says, He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
Verse 18 says, He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but
he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 1 John 5
simplified that warning by saying, He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. It all
hinges on Him. Whether we eternally live or
eternally die, that is in His hands. It all hinges on Him. All of it. Look at John 5 verse
22. John 5 verse 22 says, For the
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son. We are going to stand before
the Judge of the earth. who is seated on the throne,
Jesus Christ. He's the judge. Verse 22, The
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the
Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verse 26, it says,
For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to
the Son to have life in Himself, and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man." What does
that mean? He is the Son of Man. That means He's the One who came
to this earth to be gracious to whom He would be gracious. He does whatever He is pleased
to do. Our Lord does whatever He is pleased to do. And He said,
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and whom I will, I'll harden." That's
what he said. Everything is in the hand of
His sovereign control and mighty power. All life, all breath,
all things, it's all His. It's all His to do with it whatever
He wants to do with it. So what's the warning then? Kiss
the Son lest He be angry. And you perish from the way when
His wrath is kindled but a little. Kiss the Son. Bow down to the
Son. Hebrews 10 says, It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Who is the
living God? Jesus Christ, the one that all
judgment has been committed to. It's a fearful thing. So that's
the warning. This is a holy God we're dealing
with. He must punish sin, and sin is all that we are. He's
a consuming fire. He will consume all sinners in
the day of judgment. And that's all that we are. Sin
is all that we are. And it's what we're going to
stand in before Him. That's the warning in the flesh,
okay? Here's the teaching. There is a remedy for our sin. There's a remedy for our sin.
Psalm 25 verse 8 says, Good and upright is the Lord, therefore
will He teach sinners in the way. There is a way. We said just a moment ago, this
is so serious. This is so serious. I want to
tell everybody I can tell. I want to get the message out
to everybody who has ears to hear. He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. There is one way to be saved. There is one remedy
for sin. There is one truth and there
is one life. There is only one way of escape. And this is the beauty and the
glory of the Gospel. This is the absolute beauty and
glory of the Gospel. Go with me to John 6. It says in John 6 verse 45, It
is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. They're all going to be taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father is going to come to Me. They're all going to be taught
the glory and the beauty of the Gospel. They're all going to
be taught the one glorious thing that saved their soul. What is
the one glorious thing that saves the soul of a sinner? It's not
a what. It's a who. It's a who. Look at Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53
verse 10 says, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. This person, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. Why would it please the Lord
to bruise him? Why would it please the Lord
to bruise Him? The end of verse 6 says, it's
because the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. All who
have been given that faith, as verse 1 says, to believe the
report. All of His people. God the Father
took our sin. You know that salvation doesn't
involve us. You know it doesn't involve us?
Men are standing up saying now, you know, God voted for you and
the devil voted against you and the choice is yours, which way
are you going to choose? Or won't you allow him to save
you? Or all those kinds of things.
Did you know salvation does not involve us in any way, shape,
or form? The Lord God of heaven purposed
before the foundation of the world to send His Son to a cross
2,000 years ago. And in the garden before that
cross, the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. If He chose
us to be laid on Him. All of His people. All of their
sins. All of our acts of rebellion
against Him. He gathered up all of our iniquity
and He laid it on Him. His own Son. His own Son. And then, He bruised Him. He put Him to grief and He made
His soul an offering for sin. Here is the glorious teaching
of the Gospel. In Christ, it's not due It's
done. That's where we differ. What
makes this little assembly different? Are we different from other messages?
Yes, we are. What's the difference? Done. Done. That's the difference.
In Christ, there's nothing left to do. There's nothing left to
do. In Christ, in the blood that
He shed, to pay the debt of all of our unrighteousness against
Him. In Him and in His blood, we are as righteous as He is. Right now. Right now. In Him and in His
blood. The scripture says Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. In Him there is no righteousness
left to earn. It's earned. It's earned. The Scripture says this is what
you have to do if you want to go to glory. And He did it. It's earned. When God the Father
looks at us in Christ, this is what He says. Well done. Well done. In the cleansing of
His Spirit. Oh, we beg the Lord for His Spirit,
don't we? I pray the Lord might send His
Spirit right now. Right now. We beg the Lord for His Spirit.
In the washing of His regeneration. In the cleansing that His Spirit
brings. We are as holy as He is. We are as spotless and as pure
as He is. In Him, there is no progression
in sanctification. Men get a hold of some doctrines,
some true doctrines, and they say, okay, now these only apply
to you if you get better and better and better. Alright, now
this is what it says. The scripture says, as he is,
so are we. How is he? Perfect. He's perfect. In him we are complete. This is the teaching that comes
to sinners when Christ is preached, whom we preach. I told you before,
I've told I've told this a few times. A few years ago, I was
talking with some dear brethren that had just come out of the
bondage of false religion. They were under much, much bondage. They came out of a place where
a few truths were being preached. There are some places that are
just totally contrary to the Scripture. Nothing is in agreement
with the Word of God. They were in a place where a
few truths were being preached, but that lie was added to God's
grace. That lie of works. That lie of,
alright, now you better go to work. You better straighten up. It
was being added to God's grace, God's free grace. When you do that, you ruin the
whole thing. You ruin the whole thing. Added lies makes the whole thing
a lie. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. Nothing can be salvaged from it. Well, they got some
good things in there and we'll get a hold of those and try to
dismiss them. No, you ruin the whole thing. And it can be very confusing
to people, and here's the reason why. They hear things like man's
sin. Well, he's preaching man's sin.
A man can stand up for an hour and preach on man's sin and never
preach the gospel, even though it's true. Men and women are
sinners. And they hear things about God's
sovereignty and election, choosing whom He will to save, and Christ's
particular redemption, redeeming the ones the Father chose, not
just kind of making His blood and offer to everybody, whoever
wants to take it. And they see that all of that
is in agreement with the Scripture, but then that lie of bondage
comes. The only way this can apply to
you is if you start to see this perfectness
in your flesh. You've got to become holier and
holier. And that's just a lie. It's just
a lie. Christ kept the commandments
in the flesh. And they are effectually applied
to us by faith in Him. Believing He accomplished it
all. That's what God's people believe. He accomplished it all. It's finished. It's finished.
That's what a believer believes. It's finished. Alright? But these
brethren, they'd just come out of that bondage, and the Lord
was teaching them that their sanctification, their purity, Their holiness
had nothing to do with them at all, and everything to do with
Christ. Everything to do with Christ.
He is our sanctification. He is our holiness. As holy as He is, that's how
holy we are in Him. One of the brethren, after hearing
that, we were talking about that, because he'd been told, you have to see this in yourself. He'd been told all this. And
after hearing, Christ is our sanctification. He is what we're
going to stand before God in. He's the perfection. He's the
holiness. He looked at me and he said,
Isn't that so relaxing? And I said, yes it is. That is so relaxing. You know
what the gospel is? Relaxing. The gospel says take a load off.
Christ bore it. Oh, it's so relaxing. in the message of Christ whom
we preach. That glorious relaxation is what
is presented to every sinner that the Father calls to Himself.
Every one of them is presented with this glorious relaxation. This glorious rest. That's what is told to every
one of them. Rest. Rest. Just, you know, the Lord,
He was praying, oh, interceding to His Father in the Garden of
Gethsemane on behalf of His people. And He came back and the apostles
kept going to sleep and kept going to sleep and kept going.
Finally, He said, rest on. It's okay. It's alright. Just go to sleep. Just rest. You have been presented to God
in Christ. You're not going to be presented
in yourself. You have been presented in Him. Rest. That's the presentation that
is given to God's people. This presentation is not an offer. It's a notification. It is a
declaration and it's a command. Rest. He said, this is what our
Lord said, come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest." This is what it is to come to Christ.
It's to say, I can't come unless you draw me. That's what it is
to come to Christ. To say, okay, I'm going to go
to Christ. That's not coming to Christ.
That's coming to yourself. Self, go to Christ. No man will
be accepted in that way, is to cry, I cannot come unless you
draw me. I cannot believe unless you give
me faith. If you don't start the work,
perform the work, and finish the work, the work will not be
done. I believe, help my unbelief. That's what it is to come to
Christ. He said, you come to me for all of it, and I'll give
you rest. Rest in Christ. That's the glorious news of the
gospel. Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every
man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in
Christ. Every man perfect. And I was
going to go to more scriptures, but let's just end right there.
Just rest. All right. Let's all stand together.