Well, my honor to be here. My
honor to be here. I have a text, a pretext, before
my text. Find 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Verse 12, we beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord. And those who would labor among
you, who were over you in the Lord, talking about God's pastors,
ministers, they would admonish you, teach you, instruct you.
And then it says in verse 13, to esteem them. to esteem them
very highly in love for their work's sake. And, well, be at
peace. Be at peace among yourselves. Now, I want to say a word or
two about my pastor, my dear friend, Brother Henry T. I do highly esteem my brother,
and I do so in love, in love. Many good things I could say
about my dear brother, but I'm going to limit myself to a few. He is my brother in the Lord. born into the family of God,
by God the Holy Spirit. Brother Henry's been my mentor,
whom I do highly esteem. He's been my pastor for 34 years
and counting, and counting, my dear friend. Twelve years when
I was just a pup, 28, 29 years old, Didn't know anything or anybody.
Dumb. Dumb as a box of rocks. Dumb. And yet, God, in His good providence,
picked up this little boy all the way from the Rocky Mountains
of Idaho and Utah, and He brought me all the way to Ashland, Kentucky. What in the world is in Ashland,
Kentucky? God had a prophet there. And
this poor sinner needed to hear that prophet out there. There
he is, God's prophet. I'm so thankful the Lord brought
Pastor Mahan into my life. Twelve blessed years, I sat there
and soaked up the gospel. Just soaked it up. Loved what
I was hearing. Privileged to sit under this
ministry and to learn the gospel. the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
going to teach you. He's going to use a God-called,
God-sent man to do it. Brother Henry was that man for
me. In 1994, when the Lord opened
the door for me to pastor a church where I'm at now, Zebulun, Oftentimes,
when you go into a community, a pastor's church, and you're
out in the community, one of the things I always want to know
is, where'd you go seminary? Where'd you go to Bible school?
Well, you know what I started saying
after I got that question over and over and over again? Mayhem
Bible Institute. What? That's right. Where is that? Ashland, Kentucky. Well, who's the teacher there?
Pastor Henry Mahan. What a privilege. What a privilege
to sit under God's servant and hear the gospel. I tried as best
I could. Brother Henry saw things in me
I didn't see. I don't know why he ever asked
me to try to attempt to bring a gospel message, but he saw
something in me I didn't see. When I went to 13th Street, I
went there for one reason. I wanted to hear the gospel.
God's grace that glorifies God. I didn't have any idea at all
that I'd ever be called into the ministry, but that was God's
doing. He did that. He did that. And I watched and I listened
and I learned from His ministry. how to preach the gospel. Brother
Henry would often tell this story about preaching. And he would
say, if you're not communicating, you're not preaching. You're
not preaching. I remember one time, Doris may
remember this, she may not, but I'll tell this on her. But we
were headed... I remember when it was. I show
for you When they had the first meeting at Zebulon, I drove the
car, and Henry and Doris, and Doris was in the back, and Henry
and I up front, she was talking about preaching, or we were talking
about preaching, and she was listening, and she said something
I never forgot about preaching. She said, loud and long doesn't
mean liberty. Loud and long, I tried to listen. from her and from Brother Henry. Communicating. I remember Brother
Henry was out one time preaching and he came back and oftentimes
he would relate stories to us. And he said one time he was preaching
somewhere and the pastor had a little boy. And he told his
daddy later, he said, you know, he said, that Brother Mahan,
you know, I really like his preaching. His father said, well, how is
that? He said, well, you know, he'll
preach for a while, then he'll stop, and then he'll tell me
something. And that's good when a little fella can understand
and get a hold of something there. So I watched and I listened and
I learned from his ministry, tried to emulate it. I learned and watched how he
preached and I tried to preach as he did in a way that I thought
was honoring to the Lord. I watched how he pastored the
church there and I tried to learn from that. One thing I remember
that Brother Henry often would say to me and to others, he would
say, it would be difficult to pastor a Grace Church without
being a member of one. And I found that to be very true.
How many times that I look back in my ministry that I have now,
and look back on those experiences then, and how I learned from
his example. So he's my brother, my mentor,
my pastor, and he's my friend. He's my friend. Henry and Doris
have been a blessing to me for so many years. And he's been
a blessing to me and so many, but especially to pastors, young
pastors in other places, in other cities. They've been a blessing
to my family, my children. My children love Henry and Doris.
When Doris and when Henry, they would come and stay with us,
my boys, they just loved it. I mean, it wasn't, here comes
the preacher, you know, we better... Oh, they loved you when you came
to visit with them. And they heard what you said.
And I think that's telling of a man's ministry when the children
in his congregation love him. And Bridget and I, we do love
our dear friend, Henry Endoris. Well, it's a good thing he only
called me an hour before I was to come over here, because if
I would have had two weeks to write everything down, I'd still
be talking. But I've got a whole back page here. I was going to
talk, tell you. You know, I could stand up here,
and I know Brother Todd and Brother Joe and Paul. I know he's your
dad, but he's my dad, too. And oftentimes when I'd write
letters to him, I'd close the letter with, uh, your son in
the gospel. I thank the Lord for this modern
day John the Baptist, God's prophet, Henry Thomas Mayhem. For his
life, for his ministry, for his family, for his kindness, for
his many words of wisdom, You know, the scriptures teach honor
to whom honor is due. And I know he's an earthen vessel,
and I know he'd want me to hush and get on with my business.
And I'll try to do so. Okay. Well, that's my pretext
to the text. You know, it's delightful to
hear about someone you love. I want to tell you tonight about
someone you love. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. You're in love. You're in love
with Him. And you love to hear about those
to whom you love. Now, here's my text. Find Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Now, I'm not a schooled and learned
preacher. I've just got to give it to you
the way the Lord gives it to me. So, here goes. Look at verse, Ephesians 2, verse
19. Now therefore, now therefore,
you are no more, no longer strangers, no longer foreigners, but your
fellow citizens. fellow citizens with the saints,
and you're of the household of God. You've been made sons of
God. And you're built upon the foundation,
the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Now here's my title and here's
my subject. Jesus Christ himself. Three words. the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also build
it together for habitation of God. through
the Spirit. Now this evening, I want to tell
you about the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. To you who believe,
He's altogether lovely. To you who believe the Lord Jesus
Christ is just not something, He's everything. He's all and
in all. To you who believe, He is precious. And I know why you're here. I
know why you're here. You want to hear about Him. You
want to hear about this one. I'm reminded of the words of Cornelius. Remember when Peter
was sent down there? He said, we're all here to hear
the things commanded of God. Now, isn't that what you want
to hear? That's why you're here. God is my helper. I want to lift
up the Lord Jesus Christ in preaching Him as all of our salvation. We know that salvation is of
the Lord, and we know that salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm going to repeat this
probably 50 times. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
He is salvation. He that hath the Son, hath life. This is eternal life, that they
might know Thee the only true God, Jesus Christ, the one Son
of God. He's no unauthorized Savior. He's the authorized version. He's the one that's anointed.
He's the Christ. He's the one Son of God. Do you
remember the words of Simeon? Lord, now let us Thy servant
depart in peace according to Thy Word. And he's holding up
eight-day-old God incarnate in human flesh. And he said, Lord,
let me die, obscene, Salvation. The Savior. The Savior. My eyes have seen Thy salvation. Oh, for a sight to see Him. Peter's confession, neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. In Ephesians
2, the Apostle describes what we are by nature, dead in trespasses
and in sin, children of disobedience, children of wrath even as others.
And then he says at that time in verse 12, you are without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God.
And then the Apostle tells us what he's done for us. Look at
verse 4. We were dead in sin. Verse 4, it says, but God. Can
you ever get a hold of that? But God. But God. But God who was rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, had quickened us together with Christ, It's by
grace, by grace, by whose grace you're saved, raised us up together,
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 13. in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes
were far off or made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He is
our peace." He brought in peace. He reconciled us unto God. And through the Lord Jesus Christ,
verse 18, through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. Our Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, the life. No man come to the Father. but by and through
me. Now therefore, verse 19, Paul
described our present state and blessing that we enjoy in the
Lord Jesus Christ right now. Now therefore. Now therefore. We're no more. No more. strangers to His mercy. No more
strangers to His grace. No more strangers to His love. No more foreigners. We say it
up our way, furners. But no longer foreigners, but
rather we're fellow citizens. right
across the page over here in verse 6, chapter 3, Ephesians
3, verse 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs. We're
fellow citizens and fellow heirs, being made heirs of God and joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an inheritance that Peter
described as incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. The inheritance
that's reserved for you in heaven, who are kept by the power of
God. Fellow citizens, with the saints,
every believer is a saint in Christ, sanctified in Him, and
we are the household of God, the family of God. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called sons of God, sons of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ,
through His doing, His work. He adds here, and of the household
of God, and are built upon the, not a foundation, the foundation. The foundation, now he's not
saying the foundation of the apostles. He's not saying the
foundation of the prophets. The church is not built upon
the apostles and the prophets. But all the apostles and all
the prophets had one foundation, and that's Jesus Christ Himself.
Now, let's see if we can make good on that. Find Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28. What did Isaiah write
about? Verse 16, Isaiah, he talked about
the foundation, didn't he? Isaiah 28, 16, Therefore thus
saith the Lord, God, behold, I lay in Zion, This is God's
foundation. I lay in Zion for a foundation
of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.
He that believeth shall not make haste, shall never be forced
out. Paul in Romans said, never be
ashamed. Peter, when he quotes this verse,
says, "...shall never be confounded, resting on that foundation that
God has laid." Every believer rests upon this one foundation,
Jesus Christ Himself. Now let's find the apostles.
What did they say? Turn over here to 1 Peter 2.
1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 3, "...if so,
be ye tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as unto
a living stone." This foundation is alive. "...disallowed indeed
of man, but chosen of God and precious." The Lord Jesus Christ
in Isaiah 42 is called the elect, chosen of God and precious. You
also are the living stone to build up a spiritual house, a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also is contained
in the Scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation Behold,
I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believeth
on him shall not be confounded unto you, therefore which believe
he is precious." We read in 1 Corinthians, for other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Himself is the only
foundation that any sinner can rest upon. He's our refuge. He's our hiding place. Our Lord said, upon this rock
I'll build my church. Upon this foundation and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I want us to look in the Scripture
and see what it says about Jesus Christ Himself. Okay? Let's turn,
first of all, here's the first reference. I have five references.
Luke 24, Jesus Christ Himself is the message, subject, and
theme of all holy Scripture. Jesus Christ himself you remember
the story here the two men on the road to Emmaus and the risen
Lord is Joined to him Luke 24 verse 25 Then he said to them
Oh fool slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken
ought not Christ who have suffered these things and to enter into
his glory and the giving of Moses and all the prophets he expounded
unto them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the theme, subject matter
of all and message of all Scripture right across the page in Luke
24 verse 44. Then He said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled. which are written in the Law
of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me, Jesus Christ Himself. Thus it is written, thus it behoove
Christ to suffer, suffer for our sins according to Scripture,
to die for our sin according to Scripture, to rise from the
dead the third day, that repentant and remission of sin should be
preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
And you're a witness. of these things. Jesus Christ
Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the message of Scripture. Listen to this, Acts 10 verse
43, to Him give all the prophets witness. They all talk about
the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak about Christ, His
glorious person and His redeeming work. You remember in John chapter
5, He said to those Jews, you are they which search the Scripture,
then in them you think, you think you have eternal life, but they
are they which testify of Me. And you won't come to Me that
you might have life. Our Lord said again in that same
chapter, had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for
he wrote about me. And then our Lord said to them,
your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and
was glad. And they said, wait a minute, you're not but yet
fifty years old. And he said before Abraham was,
I am He is the eternal God. All Scripture is God-breathed,
right? All Scripture is given of God
by inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness that we might see
and learn and know by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit that salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter writes, "...for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." What does the Holy Spirit
write about and what does the Holy Spirit reveal from the Word
of God? Jesus Christ Himself. Brother
Joe referred to it a moment ago. Our Lord said, when He, the Holy
Spirit, has come, He'll take the things of mine and show them
and reveal them unto you. The Holy Spirit doesn't talk
about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit talks about Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the message and subject of
all Scripture, isn't it? That's what we preach. I mean,
we can go over here to Jeremiah I've been going through 1 and
2 Samuel, Joshua, anywhere you want to turn, the revelation,
the revelation of Jesus Christ, isn't it? This whole book is
about Him. It's all about Him. The second thing is this, because
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the message of all Scripture
and the subject of all Scripture, he therefore must be, must be
the subject of all gospel preaching, Jesus Christ Himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. Now, here's my text I want you
to consider and look at. 2 Corinthians 4, and we could
turn to many others, but we'll stick with this one. 2 Corinthians
4. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the subject of all Scripture,
therefore He must be our message. As Paul said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, For
we preach not ourselves, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ
the Lord, and ourselves your servant for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our heart to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God The glory of God
shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation
of God in the person of Christ. But we have this treasure in
the earthen vessel that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. We read a moment ago, if you'll
turn back over there to the Ephesians, Chapter 3, Paul said in verse
7 and 8, Ephesians 3, Wherefore, I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual
working of His power unto me, who am the last and the least
of all the saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles... What do we preach among the Jews?
What do we preach among the Gentiles? The unsearchable riches of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the unspeakable gift. The
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The charge, think about this,
in 2 Timothy 4, Paul's last chapter, his last word as he sits on death
row awaiting execution, and he writes back to the young preacher,
and I take this personally, I charge thee before God and the Lord
Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and the dead, preach
the word. Preach the Word. Be instant,
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering,
all long-suffering, and doctrine too. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Preach the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the sum, the substance,
and the subject matter of every gospel message. Christ in the
beginning, Christ in the middle, Christ all the way through. Brother
Henry would often say this, when you're done preaching the Lord
Jesus Christ as all and in all in salvation, you better had
be done with preaching. I mean just resign and quit.
Just get out of the ministry. If you're going to preach something
other than the Lord Jesus Christ, that's why the Apostle said,
I'm determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. The preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the means that God has ordained to call out His
sheep. It pleased God through the preaching of the Gospel to
call out His people. The preaching of the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ We read in Romans 1.16, it's the power
of God and the salvation. No wonder Paul said, for as much
as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you. For it is
the power, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it's the
power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it. The preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the children's bread. It's my nourishment. Give me
the Word. Preach Christ. One of the first meetings, when
I came to 13th Street, I sat down behind Carter and Joyce
Brown. They were my first friends. And
Carter turned around, stranger behind him, he said, what are
you doing here? I said, I came here to hear the gospel. He said, oh, you have to send
sheep food. Sheep food. I said, that's what I want. That's
what I want. Sheep food. Feed the sheep. The children of God desire the
sincere milk of the Word that we might grow thereby. No message
but Jesus Christ Himself as all and in all. It's no message,
no message but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that quickens
the dead sinner to life. You have He quickened who were
dead. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. God doesn't use lies to call
out His people. He uses the truth. No message
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, glorified, enthroned and seated
victoriously that quickens the dead sinner to life, that reveals
the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
comforts the sinner's heart. This is a faithful thing and
this is worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. Anybody fit that character here
tonight? I do. I'm a sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save me. No message but the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself that meets my every need. My God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory through the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you know what? I've never
heard A sheep of Christ, a believer, complained that we preach Christ
too often? Or that we preach Him too earnestly? Or that we exalt Him too highly?
Or give Him too much glory? I'd like to be guilty of that.
God forbid we should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said, I be lifted up I'll draw all unto Me." All
His sheep are drawn to Him through the preaching of the gospel.
May we never, never, ever, as my dear pastor would always say,
churches today have relegated preaching to the scrap heap.
Let us make this the center of our worship. Let's worship around
the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll draw His people. I must confess, I've never heard
a believer complain that we've said too much about the Lord
Jesus Christ. But I've heard some goats complain. As one man told me who sat under
my ministry for a number of years, and he got right up in my face,
nose and nose, and he said, I've got to have more. I said, more
than Christ? I said, go, get out of here,
you're looking for something else. All I have, the only message
I know, is the Lord Jesus Christ. If that's not enough, you hit
the road. And he did. And he left. But see, the sheep of Christ,
they will hear that message, and they're not driven away,
they're driven to Him. Oh, He said, My sheep, they hear
My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. They follow Me. Wherever you go, He's My shepherd.
I can't leave My shepherd. He's everything. Oh, they hear
His voice. Here's the third text. Find Ephesians
5. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all our salvation. That's right. He's all of it.
The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished all our salvation by Himself,
with Himself. Now, Ephesians 4, verse 32. Let's begin there. Be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ Himself
also loved us, and hath given He had given... He gave Himself
for us! An offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet-smelling aroma. He's satisfied. He shall see the travail of His
soul and shall be satisfied. If you ever read that Scripture
over there, I think it's Isaiah 64, 65, along in there somewhere,
where he talks about our righteousness as being his filthy rag, and
then he said it, and your supposed so-called self-righteousness
is not holier than thou, God said it's just smoke in my nose. But he smells of the sweet sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His blood, His redemption. And he says,
satisfied. Satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ
is all our salvation. Look again in chapter 5. Verse
25, Husband, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
church. Look this phrase up sometime in Scripture. He gave Himself
for it, His church, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself,
a glorious church, without having spots, wrinkle, any such thing,
but it should be holy, without blemish. He gave Himself for
us. He is all by redemption. He put
away sin by the sacrifice. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. You see, He's all of our redemption.
He accomplished redemption. He is the Redeemer who redeems.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin according to the riches of His grace. In Galatians 1 we
read, "...who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver
us according to the will of God, to whom be glory, Forever and
ever, the Lord Jesus Christ is all of our salvation. And included
in that, I'm including in that, He's our redemption. He is our
reconciliation. God was in Christ reconciling
us unto Himself, by Himself, with Himself. He's all our righteousness
before God. Now I'll have you turn to this
one, find Philippians 3. He's all our righteousness before
God. Jeremiah writes about the Lord
Jesus Christ and he calls Him the Lord Our Righteousness. And then later on in chapter
31 of Jeremiah, whereby she shall be called the Lord Our Righteousness. Paul here cites all of his religious
credentials and he says, But what things, verse 7, were gained
to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yea, doubtless, I count
all things, but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things. And do count them but dumb, that I may win Christ and
be found, here's where I want to be found, in Him." The Lord
used that very Scripture to teach me the gospel. To be found in
Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ. It's His obedience, His
faithfulness, His obedience unto death. But that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God. By faith. By faith. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself was all of our salvation, all of our
redemption, all of our reconciliation, and He is our resurrection. I
am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though
we are dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. He is my resurrection. You see, Christ is all and in
all. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and in Him we are complete. Complete in Him. You see, He's
everything. He's everything. He's the Alpha,
He's the Omega, He's the beginning, He's the end, He's all. Jesus
Christ Himself, number four. Jesus Christ Himself is the only
object of saving faith. Turn to Hebrews. Hebrews 12. Verse 2. Hebrews 12. 2. Looking. Looking. Looking. Not a look. We read a moment ago, to whom
coming. I remember that message you preached years ago, Brother
Henry, to whom coming, to whom coming. You see, we are believing,
we are coming, we are looking, looking, we are believing, we
are repenting. It's a continuous, ongoing work
within us, looking unto Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
He's the author, He's the finisher of our faith. For the joy that
was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising shame because
of the guilt of sin. I love this statement. It's written
so many times in the Word of God. He sat down on the right
hand of the throne of God. A place of power, love, and acceptance. And you know what it says over
in Ephesians 2? When He raised us up together,
He made us to sit together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus
Christ right now. That's where this sinner is.
In my head. What's through the head is through
the body. Where the head is, that's where the body is. In
Christ right now already seething. Wow, I could shout. Is that alright? Oh, I tell you, my friend, Jesus
Christ Himself is everything this sinner has. It's everything
I know. Someone said of my dear pastor
one time, talking about, he repeats himself a lot, but that's a good
thing, because we're so slow. We learn so slow. But someone
said of my dear pastor, well, you've heard Him one time, you've
heard Him. I wish you'd say that about me,
because my one message is Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. I started
out with Him, and by His grace, I'm going to continue preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. He's the only object of
saving faith. Saving faith God-given faith
always looks back to the giver. Saving faith doesn't look in
here. Faith, it says in Ephesians 2, that faith is a gift of God,
right? Faith that's God-given, it looks back to the one who
gave it. Christ Himself. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. The faith of God that looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ always, only. with faith, faith that's
God-given. Our Lord said, look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, there is none else. Oh, everyone that's thirsty,
our Lord said, come, come ye to the waters. He that hath no
money, come, yea, come, buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk
without money, without price. Man, I love those economics.
That's grace economics. That's what we call free. He justifies us freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
How shall He not with Him also freely, freely, freely give us
all things? Our Lord said, Matthew 11, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Come! Come to Christ. Don't move a
muscle. Look to Him. Love Him. Our Lord said, Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest for your soul. I took this from Brother Henry's
Bible commentary on Hebrews 12, 2. And he writes, Christ is the
author of our faith. It's not in us to believe. If
you look at Ephesians chapter 1, don't turn, let me just remind
you what it says, Ephesians 1.19, we believe according to the working
of His mighty power. And the next verse talks about
what kind of power it is. Resurrection power. What kind
of power did it take to raise the dead body of the Lord Jesus
Christ? It took the power of God. What
kind of power does it take to raise a dead sinner and quicken
him and make him alive and cry? The same power, the power of
God. Aren't you glad that He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercession for us? Christ is the author of our faith.
Don't quote my pastor. Secondly, he said Christ is the
object of faith. And he gave this reference where
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. What have we committed? Everything! Everything to Him. And Christ
is the finisher of our faith. Still quoting Brother Henry,
the one who brings it to maturity and gives us that which is the
goal of faith, eternal life and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Jesus Christ Himself. You got
it? He's all of our salvation. The
message of Scripture. He is the message of our preaching.
He is the object of faith. And I bet you wouldn't think
that I was going to say, lastly, Jesus Christ Himself I can make
good on this. Let me see. Let's see. 2 Thessalonians. That's where
we want to go. 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And
I've got it written down here. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all our comfort, hope, peace, and joy. Jesus Christ Himself. Himself. And look what it says
right here. We'll start at verse 16. 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 16. Are you with me? Now, Lord Jesus
Christ, well, look it here. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You see, you can't get away from
this. Everywhere you look in Scripture, you're going to run
into Him because it's all about Him. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself and God, even our Father, who had loved us, loved us with
an everlasting love, therefore with love and kindness, He said,
I've drawn you to Me. And He's given us an everlasting
consolation, that's comfort, and a good hope through grace. Now comfort your heart. Comfort
your heart. With what? Him. You see, salvation is in a person.
Not in a persuasion. Not in a position. It's not in
a pool. It's in a person. The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself is all our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is our hope. If you look just across the page,
it's 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 1. 1 Timothy 1, 1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, Lord Jesus
Christ, our hope. You see, He's our hope. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is our peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all of our comfort. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all of our joy. Philippians chapter 3, verse
3, Paul when he writes about the true Israel of God, which
worship, they worship God in the Spirit, they rejoice in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and they have What's that word? No confidence
in the flesh. You see, we don't rejoice in
ourselves. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself is my hope, my comfort, my peace, my salvation. Well, He's everything. He's all
in all. You see, The Lord Jesus Christ
Himself is all I have before God, and He's all I need. Is He enough? Is He enough? Brother Scott asked that question
one time years ago. I remember him asking, Is He
enough? You know how he answered it? If He's all you've got, you've
got enough. Christ is everything. Christ
is everything. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? Who of God is made unto us? But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? Who of God is made unto us? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption according as it is written, He that would glory,
let him glory only in the Lord. God forbid we should glory, save
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Gabe, I'm going to get to
your text. that you wanted me to talk about
for just a minute. In Isaiah 42, verse 4, one of
my favorite verses, and I brought that message down to Kingsport
a couple of weeks ago. The Lord Jesus Christ, where
God said, Behold My servant, My elect, and whom My soul delighteth.
And then it says in verse 4, He can't fail. He cannot fail
in any aspect of completing salvation for God's covenant people. He
said, all that the Father has given me, they'll come to me.
And those that come to me, I came down from heaven not to do my
own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And those that
come to me, He said, I will never cast them out. And He's going
to raise every one of them up. Those which you have given me,
I've lost none. You see, He can't fail. He cannot
fail. The salvation that we enjoy and
the Savior and Redeemer that we have is not a defeated, frustrated
Reformer. As Brother Henry said for many
years, He's a conquering, victorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords
and He's exalted. And you know what? We're exalted
in Him. Thanks be to God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's a victorious
One. You know that revelation? The
key verse, I think, in that revelation is Revelation 6, verse 2, where
it says, He went forth conquering and to conquer. He's victorious. He's my Lord. He's my righteousness. I cannot fail because He can
fail. He's given us to victory. Thanks
be to God who has given us to victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And we sing forever unto Him
that loved us, and washed us from our sin in His own blood,
and made us kings and priests unto our God and His Father,
to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. And then you know what it says?
Amen. Amen. Thank you for putting up
with me. I appreciate it.