Colossians chapter 3. I want to bring a message to
you this evening from one line that really caught my attention. And I pray that that's what will
happen tonight. That it will really catch our
attention. And I want to encourage all of
us to ask the Lord to open up our attention. just in your heart
right now, just ask the Lord, would You speak to me and prepare
me for Your Word. At the end of verse 13, it says
in Colossians 4, Even as Christ forgave you, so
also do ye. The whole verse, verse 13, it
says, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if
any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye." Sometimes we read the Scripture and they just
pass right by us. Sometimes we read things and
we just keep on going. And we don't really enter into
what was just said to us. See if we can enter into this.
Just listen to these three words, okay? Christ forgave you. Just see if you can really enter
into those three words. Christ forgave you. That's our message. That's the
title of the message. That's the outline of the message.
Christ forgave you. Christ forgave you. Now, did
Christ forgive everybody? Well, it doesn't say Christ forgave
everybody, does it? It says Christ forgave you. Christ forgave you. I have a
wonderful message for you. I really do. I have a wonderful
message for you. Now, not everybody is a you. But if you are a you, then I
have a wonderful message for you. Right? And here it is. Christ forgave
you. Christ forgave you. Let's start
the message by finding out who the you's are. Turn with me if
you would to Ephesians 2. We quoted this last night. We'll
read it tonight. going to tell the Ephesians here
exactly who the Word of God is talking to when it says, you. This is so important to know.
He is telling us right here exactly who the Word of God is talking
to when it says, you. Ephesians 2 verse 1, it says, And you hath He quickened, who were dead
in trespasses and sins. You. Dead. Dead. That was you. And every time I say you, I'm
including me in the you. I want to be a you too. Oh, the spiritual deadness. Let's
talk about you for just a minute. Oh, the spiritual deadness. Oh,
the spiritual hardness. Oh, the spiritual coldness. Oh, the spiritual stench of death. Death. That was you. And that was me too. When this word says that I was
dead before God in my trespasses and sins, people have the hardest
time understanding that because men and women naturally deal
in a physical world. And they think because I'm physically
animated, I don't understand what you mean when you say I'm
dead. Spiritually dead before God. spiritually dead. When this Word says that I was
dead before God in my trespasses and sins, I believe this Word. I do. I have been caused by God's
grace, by His goodness, I have been made to believe His Word. Forced to believe His Word. All of God's you's will. All of His you's will. If you are one of God's you's,
then it will be evidenced by this. You will believe what God
says about you. If you're a you. And this is what He says about
you. In Ephesians 2 verse 1, He said, And you hath He quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Your life has been full
of nothing but trespasses and sins before God. That's so. That's just so. Your life has
been full of nothing but trespasses and sins before God. You. Me. Somebody will hear that, I guarantee
you. Somebody will hear that and will
say, that's not true. That's not true. That doesn't
describe me. Well, only God's you's will say, yeah,
you pegged me pretty good. When people say, no, no, no,
that's not me. We need to be careful. All of
God's you's will say, Amen. That's right. I believe. I believe what this Word is saying
about me. I agree with what this Word is saying about me. That
perfectly describes my life in my flesh before a holy God. Perfectly. Verse 1 right here
says, And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prints of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others." Let me ask you a question. Is that you? Is that you? Look at verse 11. Wherefore remember that you,
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ." Think about that. Go see if you
can find somebody out there without Christ. Everybody has Him in
their back pocket. They just pull Him out when they
need Him. See if you can go find somebody without Christ. Verse
12 says that at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. This
word says, in spite of what you believe about yourself, and again,
I'll repeat it. Everything I'm saying about you,
I'm saying about me. But in spite of what we believe about ourselves,
we have lived our life on this earth in our flesh without Christ. In our natural flesh, we are
strangers from the covenant of promise. And in our flesh, we
have no hope before God. No hope before God. No hope as
we stand before the judgment throne of God. No hope in the
person of our own selves. We are without God in the world
as we stand in our own flesh. And it says, if God left us there,
if God left you there, that's what you'd still be. That's where
you would still be. Honestly, do you see you in that? Turn with me to Romans 3. Romans chapter 3. This word says that you, as you
are right now in the world, right now in your flesh, it says you
are not righteous. Alright, Romans 3 verse 10. As
it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. This word says that you do not
understand God and you do not seek God. Verse 11. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. This Word says that you
have gone out of the way. Christ said, I am the way. And
this Word says that you have gone out of the way, you are
unprofitable, and you are not good. Verse 12, they are all
gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable,
There is none that doeth good, no not one. Now, is that you? That's me. That's me. If that's you, I have wonderful
news for you. And here it is. Christ forgave
you. Christ forgave you. For every soul on this earth
who fits the description of God's use, Christ forgave you. He forgave. You just think about
the word, forgave. He forgave you. What is forgiveness? What is
forgiveness? Listen to Webster's Dictionary. Okay, this is how the regular
old dictionary defines it. To forgive is to cease all feelings
of resentment against an offender. Let me say that again. It's so good. To forgive is to
cease all feelings of resentment against an offender. Does that
not bless your heart? That blesses my heart right now.
To forgive is to grant relief from all payment of debt. What a glorious announcement
from God Almighty. Christ forgave you. He forgave
you. In the death of His cross, by
the sacrifice of Himself, He forgave you. He completely forgave
you. Look at Hebrews 9 with me. 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,
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood
He entered in once into the holy place." You think about all those
priests who would bring in that blood and present that blood
and He came in one time bringing His own blood into that holy
place. Here's the blood. He entered in once into the holy
place. Look at the end of verse 12.
Having obtained eternal redemption for us. Eternal redemption. That means an eternal payment
for our debt. An eternal payment for our debt. Look at Hebrews 10 verse 11.
It says, and every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins." There was a message that I brought
quite a while back, but we were looking at all of the sacrifices
that those priests used to give and how many sacrifices were
given in Solomon's time. And you start reading how many
sheep and how many bullocks and how many... Hundreds of thousands
in the records. There are records, Jewish historical
records of priests having to wade through blood. There was
so much sacrifice and sacrifice. And they never put away one sin. Not one sin, just blood and rivers
of blood and buildings full of blood. And they never put away
one sin. Look at verse 12. But this man, After He had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, He 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, I used to have it in
my mind that this is how much we owed God and this is how much
Christ paid. You know, every dime down to
the penny. There it is. Paid in full. That's not what happened. This
is how much we owed God, and this is how much Christ paid.
And it just kept going and going. He paid infinitely more than
the debt was owed. If it was a hundred dollars,
He paid a hundred million, and that's too low. And His payment
was so full, so much, He sat down expecting His people to
be redeemed. Where our sin abounded, His grace
infinitely more abounded. Just grace on top of grace on
top of grace. He was made sin for us. That's how great the payment
was. That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Verse 15 says, Wherefore the Holy Ghost also 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." No more. My sin, oh the bliss of
this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole, was nailed to His cross, and I bear them no more. Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul.
Aren't you so glad that He has already paid for the sins we
haven't even committed yet? Don't you feel such guilt thinking,
why have I not learned by now? Why am I still doing this? He
paid for that too. Every single sin that was ever
committed is right now being committed and will ever be committed. Christ forgave you. Christ forgave
you. Christ relieved all the debt.
And this is the part that is just glorious to me. It's glorious
that He relieved all the debt. But what is so glorious is He
removed all the resentment. All the resentment is gone. By
the one sacrifice of Himself, He freely paid the debt for all
the trespasses of His people. And because of that, the Father
said, their sins and iniquities, I'll remember no more. Just remember
no more. They're forgiven. They are forgiven. Christ. Christ forgave you. It's Christ that died. Who is
He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. No one
can even condemn. No one can even accuse. Who could
even accuse? Yeah, well your sin is paid,
but we know you really did it. Who can even do that? Christ
is the one who did it. Christ forgave you. It wasn't
the priest. It wasn't your mom. Christ forgave
you. God Himself. In the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it. And He did it alone. Fully and completely. He paid
the debt. He gave it all. And in Him giving
it all, we received all. If you have Christ, you have
everything. I said that was going to be the theme. If you have
Christ, you have it all. Colossians 3 says, Christ is
all and in all. He is all and He is in all. He is the one that everything
hinges on. Everything hinges on Him. If
you have Christ, you have it all. You have everything. If you have forgiveness in Him,
you have everything in Him. Everything that comes from that
forgiveness. Everything. Without Him, there
is nothing. Men and women are trying as hard
as they can to gain this world, and scoop up this world, and
pile up this world, and build up this world, and it's about
to be nothing. All going away. Outside of Christ, there is nothing.
no forgiveness with God, there is nothing. But with Him, in
Him, because of Him, you have everything. All forgiveness,
all favor, that's such an amazing thought to me, the favor of God. All blessing, all acceptance,
every good and perfect gift, Every grace, every mercy, everything. All of it. All of it. All of
it is because of Christ. While He was hanging there on
the cross, He cried, Father, forgive them. Forgive them. Who was He talking about? Who
was He referring to when He said them? Who was He talking about?
He was talking about every one of His yous. That's who He was
talking about. Every one of His yous. Every
soul that the Father had given to Him and placed in His hand
for safekeeping. Every single one of them. Now,
did the Father hear the request of the Lord? Did the Father hear
the request of His Son? Did He deliver His people from
the resentment and the payment of sin and death and hell and
eternal damnation? We'd better believe it. Did He
do that? We'd better believe it. How do we know Christ obtained
that forgiveness for us? How do we know He did? Here's
the reason why. The Father raised Him from the
dead. All of that sin was laid on Him
and it had to be dealt with. And the fact that the Father
raised Him from the dead is proof it was dealt with. It was put
away. It is gone. It is gone forever. Everything that has been given
to us pertaining to our salvation, our eternal life with God, all
of it is because of Christ the glorious Son. All of it is because
of Him. It all hinged on Him. If we have forgiveness in Him,
we have everything else in Him. With that forgiveness comes everything
that forgiveness brings. Everything. Last night I quoted
Romans 8 on being joint heirs. We read some verses from Ephesians
1 on all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Tonight,
turn with me to 1 John 5. And while you're turning there,
I want to tell you a true story. This is a true story. I believe it happened in the
1950s. I'm not exactly sure of the date
of it, but I believe it was somewhere around the 1950s. There was a
man in England who over the course of his lifetime had accumulated
a vast art collection. paintings, pieces, art. He just
had this huge art collection. Some very valuable pieces, very
rare and valuable pieces. And he had quite a fortune. It
was a great fortune in artwork. And the man died. And his entire collection was
going to be auctioned off. So they announced the fact that
they were going to hold an auction. They advertised that they were
going to have an auction. And on the day of the auction,
people came from all over England and all over other countries
and places around there to attend this auction. It was just such
a rare opportunity to buy such valuable pieces. So a lot of
big collectors came and They started the auction with
a painting that the man had commissioned of his son who died in World
War II. After he died, the man commissioned
an artist to paint a portrait of his son. And the painting
was not really a very well done painting. And the artist was
not well known. He wasn't known at all. But it was his son, so they started
the auction with this painting and nobody bid on it. Wasn't much to look at. Didn't
have any value. None of the high rollers, none
of the wealthy men and women cared for it, so they didn't
bid on it. But there was a man there who came to the auction
not to buy anything. He had no intention of buying
anything. He didn't have any money, so to speak. But he came
because he used to work for this art collector. He was a servant
of this art collector and he just wanted to see what would
come of the estate. So he saw that nobody was bidding
on this painting and he thought, I'd love to have that painting.
I loved that boy. He was dear to me. He was kind
to me. It would be special to have that
hanging in my house. So he was a very, very low pitiful
bid, but he bid what he could and he bid on the painting. And
the auctioneer, after just a moment, realized This is the only bid
that's going to come in on the painting." So the auctioneer
cried, sold. And the man was thrilled. He
walked up there, got his painting, went back and sat down in his
chair and waited on the auction to continue. And as soon as the
man sat down in his chair, the auctioneer said, this auction
is over. according to the decree of the
owner." He said, whoever gets the painting of my son gets the
whole thing. Look at 1 John 5 verse 11. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life. and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Christ Jesus the Lord forgave
you and in Him made you accepted and made you to be a joint heir
of the Father with Him. He did all of that. He is the
reason for all of that. It was all because of Him. It was all because of Him. And
because it was Him It's done. Because it was Him, it's a done
deal. Whatever has been decreed in
Him is a done deal. It is accomplished. It is finished. It's complete. This thing is
over. According to the decree of the
Father, this thing is over. Whoever has my Son has it all. Let's give thanks to God for
the Son of our forgiveness. All right. Thank you, Brother
Rick.