All right, let's open our Bibles
back to Colossians chapter 3. Surely every verse deserves a
message. But this one is certainly a crown jewel of these verses. Let's read verses 10 and 11. Colossians 3, verses 10 and 11,
speaking to believers who have put on the new man, which is
renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,
wherein, in him, in Christ, in God, there is neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision. No distinction, in other words.
No preference, no respect for a person. Barbarian, recipient. They're the worst of barbarians.
Bonds nor free. But Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. Now,
once again, I quote Job. I feel as Job did. at the end of hearing God speak
when he said, I have spoken things I didn't understand. He said, I have uttered things that
are too wonderful for me. And this is too wonderful for
any man, this text, this subject, Christ is all. We have forty-five
minutes. to tell you how the Christ is
all. The eternity will be spent considering
how Christ is all. We have forty minutes to do it
in, not forty-three now. Christ is all and then all. So
let me say this, let me preface everything by saying this, and
see if you can understand what this means. Some will. Christ is all only
to those to whom he is all. I'm a babbler now. I can't even
explain that. Christ is only all. to those
to whom he is all. In other words, Christ is all
to us, or he's nothing at all. He must be all, or he's nothing
at all. Now, turn with me to Matthew
10. This message, we will search
several scriptures. As you know, this is not normally
my way of doing things. Take one passage and go verse
by verse, but you see, this this verse, this statement, this line,
these three letters, these three words, Christ is all this is
this is the core of the truth. This is the sum and substance
of the gospel. Christ is all this is everything
this is the conclusion of I started to say the matter of salvation,
this is a conclusion of any matter. This is the conclusion of it
all. In three words, Christ is all. So we're going to deal with this,
just this statement, Christ is all. In Matthew chapter 10, our
Lord himself said this about himself more clearly than I can
in 45 minutes. He said here in Matthew chapter
10, and I think I've deterred myself. Matthew chapter 10, speaking
to his disciples now, in verses 34 through 36, Matthew 10, the
Lord says this, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. That's so contrary to what the
average preacher is saying, isn't it? It's just absolutely the
opposite. Think not that I have come to
send peace on earth, he said. No. Read on. I am not to send
peace. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his
father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. A man's foe shall be. That might be, it shall be, they
of his own household. He that, our Lord is just stating
a fact here, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his
cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that
findeth his life shall lose it. And he that looseth his life
for my sake shall find it." That's plain language, isn't
it? Very plain. Couldn't be clearer. What is
our Lord talking about here that is the offense? What is it that
brings the division? What is it that makes a mother
and father Or I mean, a mother and her daughter, enemies, what
is it that sets them at variance? What is it that causes the problem? Him. Him, he said. Me. You love me, he said. You, you follow me, not them. You forsake them for me. So he's talking to those who Christ
is all, and he said he is. See what I was trying to say,
Brother Dan? He said, I'm all or nothing at all. It doesn't
matter who it is or what it is. Your family, your life. I'm all
or nothing at all. Christ is all. Our Lord turned
to Ephesians 5. As I said, we'll be turning to
several scriptures. Let's be like the noble Bereans,
all right? Let's search the scriptures, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. Ephesians 5. Now, this relationship
between Christ and his people is best likened to marriage. Perhaps the best illustration
of the relationship of Christ and his people. is marriage. Our Lord himself uses this illustration. And again, there are some in
here who should be vitally interested in marriage. I know two couples,
at least, and their parents. This relationship of Christ and
the believer is likened to marriage, and I didn't lose sight of the
fact that the first place our Lord performed a miracle is significant. He was at a marriage, and he
uses marriage quite often to illustrate his relationship with
his people. Ephesians 5, Paul says it, verses
30 and 31. Now, we are members of his body.
We are members of the body of Christ, of his flesh and his
bones. For this cause, Shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh?" One, yes, two shall be one. This
is a great mystery. But, now, he said, I'm talking,
I'm not talking about marriage. He said, I speak concerning Christ
and the Church. For this cause, a man did leave
his father. and came to find his bride. Christ,
he's the bridegroom, and he left the father and came and made
himself one with his people. And for this cause, the bride,
she leaves father and mother and leaves to him, and they become
one. And that which God hath joined
together, no man will put asunder. No man joined And no man can
part them. All right, so this is an illustration
of two persons. This is not religious rhetoric
here. I'm not giving a dissertation on it. This is real. This is a real person. This is
a real person. Christ is a real person. In whom
we live and move and have our being. Who takes real persons
like us. Real people. and unites with
them. This is a vital union. This is
an actual, vital union. They are united and someday reunited
in glory at a marriage supper of the Lamb, never to be parted
again. He came to his own. Well, Christ
is real, salvation is real, and this is all about this relationship
with him. I turn now to Proverbs 8. I told
you I was going to allude to Proverbs 8. Proverbs 8. Now listen to this. My other text could be 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, verses 30 and 31. Listen as I quote this. 1 Corinthians
1, 30. Of God are you in Christ. Of God are you in Christ. Talking to believers. It's of
God. Salvation is of the Lord. That
you're in Christ. That you were put in him by God's
purpose and according to God's love and according to God's covenant.
Before the world began, God had chosen us in Christ, put us in
Christ. Of God are you in Christ, who
of God, God sent his Son to this world, who of God was made unto
us. He's made unto us. These are
the things that Christ did for us, that Christ became for us,
that Christ is for us. These are the things which Christ
is all for us, all our salvation. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. All. He's all. This is all in
salvation, all these things. And life. Wisdom. That according
as it is written, and the reason this is the way it is, the reason
he did this, the reason salvation is of the Lord, the reason salvation
is Christ's word, it's not ours, is according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The bride is going
to joy and rejoice in the groom. In Proverbs 8, I just told you,
he's made unto us wisdom. Christ is all the believer's
wisdom. Christ is all. He's all our wisdom. Jesus Christ is all our wisdom. Look at Proverbs 8. He says in
verse 1, Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her
voice? Yes. Yes. God, with sundered
tongues and diverse manners, spake unto the fathers by the
prophets. God spoke once, yes, through
the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by sun. God speaks in sun language, not
sign language, sun language. This is called the word. The
word was made flesh. God has spoken unto us by his
sun, that God has spoken once, yea, twice. The Son of God walked on this
planet and he spoke. Yes, he cried. He stood in that
latter day at the feast and cried, Oh, if any man thirst, let him
come unto me. All you that labor and heavy
laden, come unto me and I'll give you rest. That's not wisdom
personified. Cry. Yes, he did. He sure did. But who's going to hear him?
His sheep. Every one of them. And he becomes
their wisdom. The foolish won't stand. The
simple, they won't. But his people will. Look at
verse 5 through 11. Let's just read these verses.
Oh, you simple. Understand wisdom. You fools. Be of an understanding heart.
Here, I will speak of excellent things. Oh, the unsearchable.
The excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Opening of my lips
shall be right things. Whatever Christ says is right.
It's right because he said it. My mouth, verse 7, shall speak
truth because he's the true God. And
wickedness is an abomination to my lips. There's no sin in
him. Look at these next two verses.
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing
forward or perverse in them. They are all plain men that understand,
and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction. Not silver. Don't go after silver. Knowledge
rather than choice. Wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired
are not to be compared. with Christ. Christ is all our wisdom, all
our wisdom, wisdom. Now what, turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I hope you're turning, otherwise
you're, you're already lost. I'm just certain this is, it
all is tied vitally together. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Let
me ask you about the wisdom of this world. What do you think
about the wisdom of this world? Let me tell you what God's Word
says about it. In Romans 1, verse 22, it says,
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. I thought to myself, After all of these years, man
has supposed to have evolved after, they say, millions of
years. That just adds to their condemnation,
doesn't it? If we've been evolving millions
of years, and yet we still act like monkeys. No, but really,
I have to ask myself this. After all these years of accumulating
knowledge, man has, all of these years, accumulated knowledge,
has it made man wise? Has it made man a better and
more noble creature? To the contrary. You read Romans
1, which I just quoted a verse from. God says because they worshiped
the creature more than the Creator, God gave them over. Well, they
started acting like animals. Supposed to be a noble creature,
but because he doesn't have wisdom from above, he's a beast. Worse than a beast. The ox knows
his owner. 1 Corinthians 1, Paul spends a
great deal of time with this wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1, verses
19 and following. Read with me. It is written,
God wrote, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the wise? You have to laugh at modern man's
purported wisdom, don't you? Do you know what the leading,
what profession leads all others in suicide? Psychiatrist. I rest my case. Psychiatry. I would venture to
say most marriage counselors have been married four or five
times. Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Where
is the wise? Bring some wise fellow up. Let's hear what he
has to say. Check his background first. Where
is the wise man? Read on. Where is the disputer
of this world, the man who disputes against the word of God? Hath
not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? He catches them
in their own devices. He makes them not make fools
of themselves, but reveal it. Read on. After in the wisdom
of God, verse 21, after that in the wisdom of God, God in
his wisdom, the world by wisdom knew not God. I love this part. In the wisdom of God, in his
glorious wisdom, and it is marvelous how that God purposed to had these things from the wise
and the prudent, that by wisdom they're not going to find out
God. Read on. It pleased God by something that
the world calls utter foolishness. Something which the world said,
I'm beneath that. I'll not sit under that. Then
you'll not be saved. Then you'll not know God. Then
you'll be an utter fool preaching. I'm not going to sit and listen
to some man preach to me." Well then, you'll remain a fool. It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Jews, he uses these examples. Jews, the religious,
they want a sign. Greeks seek after wisdom. We want intellectual talks and
papers and so forth. But we preach Christ crucified.
We preach a bloody Sacrifice. What men now... Why is there no blood in religion
now? Very little in it. Why is there... Well, you know, that's archaic. That's kind of pagan. That's
kind of barbaric, you know. All the time talking about...
We've had people tell us that, haven't we? Honestly, I've heard
comments by the world that it's an awful, bloody religion. If you would have observed Aaron when that sacrifice was being
made, the only place where God was present, he took blood and
sprinkled, the Hebrew says, the book, the altars, the people. Threw it all over the people.
It was a bloody, gory mess. Ah, we're above that. We've got
dignified service now. Foolishness. Preaching the cross. The cross. But, verse 24, unto
them which are called, called to the sacrifice, Jews and Greeks,
yes, he saves both. Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God. You see your
calling, brethren, don't you? Huh? Not many wise men after
the flag. Not many mighty, not many noble. Christ is the power of God. In
verse 30, that's what I quoted. He's made unto us wisdom. Wisdom. Wisdom. Listen to me. A man, a woman,
a young person is only wise when they see Jesus Christ as the only wisdom there is.
Let me repeat that. A person is only wise no matter
who they are if they only see Christ as the only wisdom that there
is. No matter how much accumulated
knowledge you have, I have, no matter how many degrees, no matter
how much intellect, no matter what, no matter how many attainments,
unless we know Christ and worship Him and see Him as all and ourselves
as nothing at all, then you have no wisdom. This
wisdom is from above. Christ is the center of the universe.
Everything revolves around Christ. That's what Paul said in Colossians.
We've been looking at it, didn't he? He said, by him, through
him, to him, before him, all things. By him, all things can
sit. He has all preeminence. In him are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. He must have all the preeminence.
All things in him. If this book says one thing,
it says this, that Christ is all. You may be wise about some
things, but unless you're wise concerning who Christ is, you're
a fool. And that's just so. That's what
God's Word said. That's what His Word said. Christ
is all our wisdom, and I'm not going any further than that,
except to say with Solomon, seek wisdom. Seek Christ. Turn to Matthew 22. I told you
that Christ used the illustration of marriage. Matthew 22 is where
this is, and we looked at this not long ago. Christ is all our
wisdom. All I can say is the believer
is like Paul, he's determined not to know anything except Christ
and crucify. But that's wisdom, that's wisdom,
because everything else is going to just fail. The knowledge,
the beauty of man, the works of man, everything will fail.
The words of man, the so-called wisdom of man will be brought
to nothing in a short time. Those things purported to be
wise and The game to men, in a few years they will be scoffed
at, as old-fashioned barbaric things. Yes, even medicine. They used to bleed with leeches,
you know. Today's medicine will, someday in the future, perhaps,
if the Lord does not return, will be scoffed at. Oh, they
didn't know much then. Everything is ignorant. If you don't know Christ, that
man who operates on the body, if he doesn't understand Christ
who made him, he's a fool. You understand? Christ is all. In him we live and move and have
our being. As all the universe revolves
around the S-U-N, so does life. Everything gets its life from
the S-U-N, and so does we get our life from the S-O-N. He sustains it, he provides it,
he upholds it, all things by the word of his power. And you're
only wise, truly wise, if you know him and bow to him and worship
him and seek to know him above rubies. A man or woman is only
wise when they seek to obtain Christ, to win the unsearchable
riches of Christ, not a rock, a stone, a ring, but a pearl of great price. Do you understand? Alright, the next thing, Matthew
22, Christ is all our righteousness. He's made unto us wisdom. And again, I failed miserably
at trying to say how that Christ is wisdom. It's too wonderful
for me. It's too wonderful for me. I failed miserably. But if He
is your wisdom, you know what I'm talking about. He's made
unto us wisdom. I really don't have to tell you.
He's made unto you wisdom. You have wisdom. In Matthew 22,
he's made unto us righteousness, marriage. And this is the story
of a marriage, and there's one who was at this marriage without
a dress on, without the proper dress. And we looked at verses,
the first four or five verses, but look
at verse one and two. Jesus answered and spake unto
them again by parables and said, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son. He said,
this is what eternal life is like. This is what it's all about.
This is what spiritual life is. This is what heaven is all about. It's like a marriage. That a
certain man, a one who made a marriage for his son, a king. who made a marriage for his son.
And I remind you that back then, the father betrothed his son's
bride to him. And so did God. God then chose
a people in Christ, gave them to Christ to be married to him.
Salvation is you being chosen or elected by God and given to
Christ to marry, to fall in love with, and for him to do everything
for you. as your head, as your salvation. But in verse 11, look at it,
and he told this story, and verse 11, the king came to see the
guests. Now this is in the end. Here's
the wedding that's taking place. And the king came to see his
guests. And it says in verse 11, he saw there a man which
had not on a wedding garment. He didn't have on a wedding garment.
Now, most weddings, this is just the way it is, the principal
parties, the attendants, those who are a part of that ceremony,
certainly the bride and the groom, and the best man or men, and
the bride's maids, they're all dressed a certain way. Right,
Sherry? Oh, does Sherry say? That's right.
She, one time, had to make all of the dresses for the bridesmaids
at her wedding. Don't even think
about it. The point is, someone makes,
everyone in attendance has a prescribed dress off, which is made by someone. They don't make it themselves.
The father doesn't say, well, y'all make something up, and
we hope it looks good. Oh, you bridesmaids, go home
and make something. Well, I've never sewed in my
life. That's all right. I like it. Oh, no. Uh-uh. They all look the same,
too, don't they? But they all had this dress on,
you see. To be a part of the ceremony,
to be a part of this party, you must wear a wedding garment.
You see what he's saying? A wedding garment. Now, perhaps
this fellow, there was a man who came to the wedding and didn't
have a wedding garment on, and perhaps he did make his own garment. And if he did, I'm sure he liked
it. I'm sure he thought this looks
better than theirs. I like this. I don't like that. That's old-fashioned. I want
to be an individual. I want to express my individuality.
Express your rebellions, what you're doing. Well, isn't that
a little plug for school uniforms? All right, anyway, this man came
in and he had something on that he liked. Maybe it was casual. Now, here's a little plug. Worship is never casual, Sunday or Wednesday. Weddings
are never. That's a little plug. a little
dig, a deep dig. You don't approach a Christ holy
God casually. Worship is never casual. It's always in order and respectful
and reverential and according to the one you're worshiping. Take that and wear it. All right, well, this man came
thinking that he looked all right and he would be admitted. Surely,
surely I'll be admitted. I did my best to make this garment.
Well, look at verse 12 and 13. He said unto him, For him, how
came a stallion hither not having a wedding garment? And the man
was speechless. He had on a garment. But the
king said, That's not a wedding garment. And the king said to his servants,
verse 13, bind him hand and foot, tie ropes around his wrists and
his feet and take him away and cast him into a pit for not having on a wedding garment. Little strict, isn't it? And
a little severe, isn't it? He made one the best he could.
What's wrong with the one he designed then? That's a little strict, wouldn't
you say? A little severe. This king is really unfair, isn't
it? Isn't that unfair? No. No, it's not. Look at verse 14. Many are called. Everyone heard. But you have
to have on a wedding garment. Everyone heard the pronouncement.
If you live under the king's dominion, if you live under the
king's dominion, there's signs posted everywhere. There's a
wedding going on. You better have on the prescribed garment.
Come. Come freely. And the garment
is free for all who want it. You must have it. And the garment, anybody who
will wear it, whosoever will, there's the garment. Put on and
you can come freely. But you better have on the garment. So you have all heard, many have
called, they all know, they all see, they have a book. Haven't
they done all heard? Paul said, Yea, barely, the sound
has gone throughout the world. Romans 10.4, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. Jehovah Sidkenu is his very name, the Lord our righteousness. Isaiah
45, the last verse, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness. You better say it. Every knee
shall bow, every tongue must confess Jehovah. Sid Kenneth,
you must have this garment on. That's not asking too much. No,
not asking. It's not commanding too much,
is it? Many are called, but few are
chosen. You see, the ones in this wedding,
they wouldn't have it on either unless the Lord put it on. You know what? You remember the story of the
prodigal son? My favorite story. Right man it is. The prodigal
son who came home in rags. What did the father say? What
did the first thing the father say? Bring the best robe. Put it on him, he said. Put it
on him. Don't ask him if he wants it.
Put it on him. Impute it to him. Do you know
what this wedding garment is, people? Turn to Isaiah 64. Isaiah chapter
64. Very quickly. Isaiah 64. And we quote this all the time. Isaiah 64. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the believer's wedding garment. his righteousness. He is made
unto us. Our God is he made unto you,
your wedding garment. You see, the father prescribed
the dress. He put it on his people. Many
are called, but few are chosen to receive this garment. He puts
it on them. He puts it on. He clothes them.
We're clothed with his righteousness. Verse 6, go about establishing
their own, but what is it? Verse 6, we are all as unclean
things. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. That means all our religion.
That means everything we do to make ourselves acceptable to
God. Anything. It doesn't matter what
it is, folks. It doesn't matter what it is. good deeds, our prayers are. It doesn't matter. Righteousness,
all you see, all our righteousness, brother John, all our righteous,
a filthy rag. And Christ is all right. You see, you see how that either
he's all or he's nothing at all. And you don't take a new garment
and put a little patch on it. Do you remember that illustration
our Lord used? He said you don't take New wine
put it in old bottles. You don't take a new cloth and
sew it on an old garment. You have to have a completely
new garment without seam, without spot, without blemish, without
seam that no man can tear. This righteousness of Christ,
you see, He's made unto us perfect righteousness without seam, without
spot. Only he is able to present us
faultless before the presence of God's glory with this garment
on. We've got the right garment on
by just asking for it. All our righteousness, though,
it doesn't matter what it is, no matter how that which is highly
esteemed among men, it's abomination to God if you add to it. This
is what this is like. Psalm 45 talks about the king
and his brides and his daughters. The king's daughters are glorious
in their apparel. Psalm 45. And it said they're
made glorious. It would be like Sherry made
those garments for all those bridesmaids. And here comes one
of those ladies in, and she made them all. They were beautiful,
spent a lot of time on them. Worked with her own hands. And one of them coming up, and
she has a big, whatever it is, a badge or a merit badge, whatever,
you know, a lapel pin. Just name something. I like a
little lace right here. You know, I like my hemline a
little higher. Does it share you like this?
I worked hard on that. It took me weeks. And you add
to it. You haven't added to it, you've
detracted from it. That doesn't please me. It makes
me angry. Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
why did he come to this earth? He came to this earth to live
a life, a perfect life as a man. And it took him thirty-three
and a third years to do it, to fulfill every jot and tittle
of God's law perfectly, not only in action, but in thought, in heart, in mind, perfectly
before God. A perfect righteousness which
He worked out with His own hands, with His own feet, with His mouth,
with His deeds for His people. A perfect, pristine holiness. And He took it off. Oh, it's
a beautiful robe. It's Joseph's coat of many colors.
glorious that he himself, this life that took God 33 years to
do, took it off and wraps it around his people. And those
that are naked, those that are poor, they love it. Oh, I don't deserve
to wear that. You're just the one who does
deserve it. and wraps them in it. What if
some proud, arrogant worm says, oh, but let me put my little
pin right here, my attendance, Sunday school attendance. Surely
God's pleased with that. Or, you know, let me put a little
phylactery. Let me make broad my phylacteries,
my bumper stickers. Let me show everyone, God's pleased
with my zeal. You're going about to establish
your own righteousness, and God's not pleased. Does that make sense? Now, look at the next line of
Isaiah 64.6. Look at it. We all do fade as
a leaf. Our righteousness is a filthy
rag. We fade as a leaf. Isn't that significant? What
is the first thing that man, when he finally realized he was
naked, when man sinned, the man and the woman, what was the first
thing they tried to do? They tried to cover themselves
up before God. What did they use? Leaves. Well, that'll cover. That'll make me look good. Who
in here wears pig leaves? Do you go out in pig leaves,
Roberto? You're not going with Henry if you do it. Right, Henry? He won't cover it. What a fool,
isn't it? She'd be a fool. See, I make fun of religion. It needs to be shown the foolishness
that it is. God doesn't look on that. God's
not looking at on the fact that worms are wearing
this and that and not doing this. He's not looking at that. He
looks on the heart. But much further than that, he
looks on the blood. He looks on the robe, the righteousness
of Christ. We all fade like a leaf. And
Brother David Bledger brought this to my attention years ago.
There's only one thing that Jesus Christ cursed on this earth when
he walked this planet. When God walked this planet,
God created all things. He created all things. He said
it's good. There's only one physical thing, material thing, that Christ
cursed. It's a fig tree. So you catch the significance.
Don't try to cover yourself. William Hodges likes my illustration
of the hospital. Have you ever been in a hospital?
They give you a robe, don't they? Have you been in a hospital? What's your name? Does the robe, is it a nice robe?
Well, it looks pretty good up front. If you face everyone, you wear
this robe, you look pretty good. Don't turn around. You'll reveal
yourself. You'll reveal what you really
are. That's man's righteousness. Oh, I look good. Look what I've
done. It won't cover. The bed's too short. The cover's
too short. It won't cover. Only he's made
unto us righteousness. Oh, Paul, this is why Paul said,
Oh, that I might win Christ and be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that righteousness
which is by faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we
just sang that hymn, Dressed in his righteousness alone, spotless
to stand before his throne. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly, completely lean on Jehovah Satan's name."
You see that? He's all your righteousness,
or he's not your righteousness at all. And I have to quit. Christ is all our sanctification.
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is all
our sanctification. What is it that sets me apart
from others? What is it that sets the believer
apart from others? Years ago, our Lord ordained
circumcision as a mark in the flesh to distinguish a Jew from
a Gentile. But even that was hidden, right? Even that was hidden. And Paul
talks about circumcision, though, in Romans, and he says, now we
are circumcised. This was a mark, a distinguishing
mark, between God's people and those who weren't. What is it?
Is it outward? Is it the flesh? Is it the way
we look, the way we dress? Is that it which sanctifies us
or sets us apart? In Colossians 3, it says that
he, someday, you're dead and you're hid, your life is hid
with Christ and God. And when he shall appear, then
shall you appear. And here's your sanctification.
Here's what sets you apart. Two words. With him. You're with
him. You're with him. Remember the
illustration? I meant to bring two pens. Two black pens, just alike. Just
pretend. Two black pens, just alike. Are
they any different? Just black. What about us sinners? One better than another? All
sin, for short. It's just a pen. It's still a
pen. What's the difference? What's the difference? That one's
hidden. That one's in me. I'm going to
use that one. Disguard that one. Decided not
to use that one. This is the one I chose. I'm
going to set this apart for my use. I'm going to, for the gospel's
sake, I write the gospel down with it. That's a pretty good
illustration. What sanctifies one human being
from another if you're in Christ? And don't let anybody tell you
differently, because of God are you in Christ, who of God is
made unto us, sanctification. Christ said in that prayer to
the Father, for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might
be sanctified. The Father sanctified them through
thy truth. Thy word is true. He is the truth. He is the word. You see that? and it's not progressive. It's
perfect in him. You're complete in him. He's
made unto us redemption. Everywhere you go now has a cost,
doesn't it? And the costs are skyrocketing.
Wherever you want to go, whatever you buy, wherever you want to
go, whatever you buy has a cost, has a price. Our redemption has
a price. Our redemption has a price. The soul. The soul. God says, all souls are mine.
And if a soul, a human being, is going to be with God and live
with God, it's going to cost somebody something. And the price is too steep for
us. We don't have it. We don't have it. But he says, come, without money,
without price. But Christ had the price, didn't
He, John? He said, I've found the ransom. I've got the price. He's the pearl of great pride.
He's the pearl of great pride. His blood is the cost of our
redemption. His life is our righteousness. Do you see? Christ is all, all,
or He's nothing at all. He's all. And in all His people,
in all His Word, Let's sing a song in closing for the count. Eyes to zone. What number do you think? Number two. 127. Okay, 127. 127, that's a good chart. one point one point one three
and five. Man of sorrows, what a race,
for the Son of God who came, through and through to be thanked. Alleluia! What a Savior! Give me body, health, and peace. Bless this land of God's mercy. Full of confidence in me. Hallelujah! What a Savior! When he comes, our glorious King,
All his grandsons all to bring, Then a new great song we'll sing,
Alleluia! What a day!