See from his head, his hand,
his feet, sorrow and love flowing low down. There were a presence far too
small That so greatly stunned the eye Christ is our all. We'll give
it our all. Colossians 3 now. The Lord is so pleased He could make this a little taste
of heaven this morning. Perhaps he already has for you.
I don't know. This is what heaven is all about.
This is what heaven is going to be like. A gathering, a congregation
of people, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, with our eyes
pointed in one direction, our mouths wide open. in awe, and
one who says there's going to be silence in heaven for the
space of thirty minutes, I think it's because we'll be so, just so in awe and wonder of
Christ, His glorious beauty. And then, we're going to fill
our hearts with gladness and fill our mouths with song, and
we're going to sing. The song says, Let those
refuse to sing who never knew our God. They won't be there. And those who do, they'll be
there and they'll be singing. Oh, they'll be singing from the
top of their lungs. Our text says in Colossians 3,
verse 11, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision. We hear people in here from all
walks. All walks of life come from different places. We're all one in Christ. We're
all one. Barbarian, Scythian, bond—all
three. But Christ is all and in all. Christ is all. What is life all
about to you? What's it all about? What's it
all about to you? What's all your joy? What do
you look forward to? What are you looking for? What's
your purpose? What's your goal? What's the
end of life? What will make you happy? What is it that really matters
to you? What is all that matters to you in this life? We ought
to ask ourselves that question. For some people it's home and
family and career and reputation. their own honor and glory, fame,
long life—some people pursue that, most people pursue that—health, fame going to last. That's all that matters to some.
That's all that really matters. But to the true believer, Christ
is all that matters. He's all and in all. It says
there in verse 4, He's stating facts there. He's
not saying that you need to do this, need to do that. No, it's
just a fact. If you then be risen with Christ,
then he says, then to set your heart, seek those things, set
your heart on things. You are dead. You are dead. It's
a fact. Your life is hid with Christ.
When Christ, our life, shall appear, then we shall appear
with him in glory. If Christ is not our life, we
will not appear with him in glory. But for those who Christ is their
life, they will appear with him in glory. For those who Christ
is all and in all, they will appear with him in glory. Now,
we're all men and women of like passions. We all have the same temptations. We all have the same flesh. That
which is flesh is flesh. The Lord knows our frame. He
remembers where it does. He was tempted in all points
like as we are. He's not untouched with the feeling
of our infirmities. He knows how weak we are. That's
the reason he's so merciful and kind. He knows we're flesh. He knows that. He knows how we
struggle with these things. We're all people who like passion,
find some enjoyment. There's nothing wrong with enjoying
these things and finding a certain amount of happiness in our family. What kind of a father would we
be if we didn't rejoice in our children, huh? What kind of a
Why would we be if we didn't rejoice in our husband? And so
on and so forth. We find some enjoyment and some
happiness in these things. That's the way the Lord intended
it. He giveth us all things richly to enjoy and find some happiness
there. But as far as one thing needful
now, I'm saying if you can do without everything and just have
one thing, what would it be? All that really
matters to you. All that really matters to you,
one thing that you must have, that you're all, you find truly,
you find all your love and joy, and it is all your pursuit and
your goal and your ambition in life, or is your life? Not dealing with ideologies here. We're dealing with just fact.
It's truth. Christ said this, Amen. Love,
soul, this and that and the other more than me. He can't be my
disciple. He can't serve God and mammon.
He can't have your all wrapped up in this and have your all
in Christ. He can't do it. And He knows
our frame for our own comfort. He knows our frame. He knows
that we love our family. We do. And when we lose them,
there's a big void there. There really is. But what is
your all? Or rather, who? Well, Christ
is all to the believer. He is. It's not he should be. He is. He is. When Christ, our life shall appear.
Like a sick man. A sick man. Incidentally, Brother
Bill Clark, we heard from him, and he went to the physician
recently, and they gave him great encouragement. Said that his
health was good now, and they feel like everything's in remission.
I meant to tell you that a moment ago. But to a really sick man,
what does he want more than anything? He wants health. He wants to
find a physician that can take care of him. Well, I know a great
physician. Anybody who's ever come to him,
he's healed them. Scripture says he healed all
that had need of healing. That's what it says, doesn't
it? He never was in the presence of a sick person. They weren't
healed. Never. A sick man wants a good physician,
a condemned man. A man on death row, what does
he need? He needs a good lawyer. What if he thought he could get
one that never lost a case? Never. That everyone that that
one had defended was guilty. Would that man want that lawyer?
Would he seek him? Would he call him up? He wouldn't
rest till he found him. Till the man took his case. He'd
never be satisfied till he had that lawyer pleading his case. A captive man. Someone who's
captive. They want all they want is freedom.
A hungry man. You ever been really hungry?
I mean really hungry. What was your all? What did all you think
about? food. Thirsty. You ever been really
thirsty? I mean really thirsty. What did you think about? Water. Oh, Christ is all this to the
believer and more. He's all this to the believer
and more. Sick, sin sick soul. Is that you? I'm sick with sin. My sins, my iniquity, I'm sick
with this loathsome disease. My loins, John, are filled with
this loathsome disease. What do I need more than anything?
A physician. Lord, great doctor Jesus, take
my case. Never one, not one person's ever
died under his care. Not one. He's healed them all
that had need of healing. I need it. A condemned man. I condemn. My conscience condemns
me. The law condemns me. The word of God condemns me.
Everything condemns me. My life condemns me. I need a
lawyer. I need an advocate. Little children,
if any man sin, we have an advocate. Jesus Christ the righteous. Like
I said, he never lost a case. Never lost a case. And every
one of them had been guilty. guilty as charged. And when they
leave, when the court is over, they're innocent of all wrongdoing. Condemned. Captive. I'm captive. I feel like captive. Well, he
leads captivity captive. He said, you're not under the
law anymore. You're under me. Follow me. I'll lead you. Hungry. Hungry. Thirsty. My old soul
gets so lean. It gets so skinny, and I need
food. Christ is all. He's all the bread
I need. A man doesn't live by bread alone,
but he sure lives on Christ the Word. Look at 1 Corinthians 1. Let's see what all Christ is
to the believer. 1 Corinthians 1. Do you know
where I'm headed? 1 Corinthians 1. all that Christ is to the believer.
There's some things we, there's no way, the time would not allow
us to look at all that He is to us, because I hadn't seen,
you hadn't heard. You hadn't heard the sermon,
nor ever will hear the sermon that tells all about Christ,
until we get there and hear Him who speaks from heaven, and we'll
say, no man speaks like that man, like this man. I never,
the half had never been told. I never heard a sermon like this.
We have an object lesson, too. We have an object lesson. He's
going to be preaching. He's going to be talking about his crucifixion. He's going to show us his scar. It's really going to mean something
to them. It did to the disciples. Remember
when he rose from the grave and he said, and he showed them his
hands and his feet? Then they worshiped. And we hear
about the crucifixion. We hear about crying one of these
days, Jesus Christ is going to say
it to you, buddy. Touch my hand. He raised me from Jesus Christ. Think about that. And He's going to preach to us
all that He's done and all that He has done. He's going to be
all to us then. All in all. Streets of gold. What streets?
What gates? I remember coming through them.
I didn't pay much attention to them. That pearl. Look at that pearl, would you?
Great pride. Christ is, verse 30, "...of Him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto you." All the wisdom that you need. All wisdom. What do you know?
What do you know? You've been around a little while,
Ellen. What do you know? Huh? Not much, really. Very little. Very little. What do we know?
What knowledge, what good has it done us, really? What good
has it done us? Huh? What knowledge we've accumulated.
What good has it done us? Except to know how to grow taters
or something. Oh, I tell you, we have come
a long way, haven't we, Henry? Huh? What have we accumulated? What knowledge? What is it done
for? And take the wisest man on the
planet, or the smartest man, not the wisest, but the smartest
man on the planet, science. Take some scientist. What does
he know? I tell you, if he doesn't know
Christ, who is the Creator, he doesn't know nothing. He doesn't
even know Excuse me, Manny. Manny corrected my vocabulary
the other day. I say that at times for emphasis.
He doesn't know nothing. That's fine. That's good. You
know what I'm saying. He doesn't know anything. If
he doesn't know Christ, that's all. In whom we live and move
and have our being? Biology. In Him we live and move
and He's the Creator. If you don't know the Creator,
Barbara, you don't know anything about creation. You can tell
us how many years it took for something to evolve. But if you
know the Creator, you know that He spoke. You know, you can go to such
far extremes and wild, ridiculous notions. Well, it'd take 148
billion zillion years. That's how long it would take
for this thing to evolve. And I still don't think it happened. If you know the Creator, you
see. You see science as it is. biology, as it is in him. You see that the heavens declaring
his glory, the firmament showing his handiwork. You see that we're
fearful and wonderfully made by one who's fearful and wonderful.
Made. It's God that has made us, not
we ourselves. We didn't just evolve. If we did, we hadn't come very
far. We've got a long way to go. Science. Jesus Christ is the The creator
what is it was a man know about history. And nobody's. In the microphone they won't
shut off. I have a brother who's a doctor in history. The PhD
in history. You know anything. You know his
story. His story. Time. You think clever people, they
can whistle real clever people on this planet, don't they? Time
is measured around Jesus Christ. B.C. I bet Carl Sagan hates that. He talks about so many years
B.C. I bet he hates that. He has to use it though, Sherry.
He has to. That's how time is measured.
Before who? Christ. The only thing that gives
me They have to say that. They have
to say that. Every tongue has to confess in
the year of our Lord. And the man doesn't know Him
around whom time is measured. What does he know about history?
I'll tell you what, he's going to repeat it. Language. Language. The Word was made flesh. God,
it's under time in diverse manners, spake in times past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spake." Language. The language of heaven. God himself
spake. Jesus Christ is the Word of God,
the revelation of God. People sit around and have these
seances, you know, around a Ouija board or something. What fools! Hasn't our God made foolish?
Utter foolishness. Evolution is foolishness. All
these ridiculous things that men do to try to enter into the
spirit world, just absolute foolishness. From the native in the jungle,
dancing around a pole, to the native in the high palace somewhere,
sitting around in circles, holding hands, trying to... Foolishness. Utter foolishness. Man is a fool. There is no wisdom. There is
no knowledge outside of Jesus Christ. If you know Him, you
know all you need to know. And that's the reason we meet
together, to grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
There's no other knowledge worth pursuing. There's nothing else
worth knowing. Him whom to know is to have life
and to know all there is to know about life. I'd be a better science
teacher than the average science teacher in our schools. I guarantee
you. And I ain't had advanced biology. I've had advanced Bible. history teacher, I could beat
them all. I could go back a lot further than they go. In the
beginning, God. Let's start there, okay? That's
where it started. That's where his story started.
That's what your story, that's where your story started. He's
the author and the finisher. He is story. How has our knowledge
helped us? You know, knowledge, someone
made this statement, you young people that were in Ms. Mahan's class, you heard this.
They say, knowledge is a horse, wisdom is the rider. Well, that's
a good illustration. Knowledge is the horse, wisdom
is the rider. Knowledge is what you know, wisdom
is what you do with it. Knowledge is what you know, wisdom
is what you do with it, how it's applied. Well, how has our knowledge
helped benefit us? Well, if any man goes through
this life and accumulates—it doesn't matter what kind of knowledge
he accumulates—and he doesn't consider his latter end, death,
and what's after it, he's the fool of fools. Like that, the Scripture says,
oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, and they
would consider their latter end. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. It's appointed unto man once
to die, and after that to judgment. Well, who's judge? God is judge.
Christ is judge. He says that His belt are the
keys of hell and death. Consider Him. Man's not wise
until he considers Him. He doesn't know anything until
he considers Him, until he knows Christ. Like that king who was dying
and had a court to jester. come up to him on his deathbed.
You know, they used to call the jesters fools. Comedians today. We glorify them,
don't we? We don't, but the world does.
We celebrate them, make celebrities out of these comedians. We used
to call them fools. Make me laugh, fool. Make a fool
out of yourself and make me laugh. This fool came in, this court
jester came into the king who was dying and the fool said,
oh great king, what's going on? He says, I don't know rightly,
I think I'm dying. The man said, well, the fool
said, well then what, where are you going? He said, the king
said, I don't know. The fool said, well, will you
be coming back? The king said, I don't think
so. The fool said, well, what preparations have you made for
this journey? Where are you going? The king
said, well, none. The fool took his little hat off and said,
here, you need to wear this. You're going to a place from
which you will not return, and you've made no preparation for
it? Now, fool. The fool has said,
no God. The fool has said, no death,
no judgment. The fool has said it. Are you
wise? Consider your latter end. Oh, then what? After that, the
judgment. Death. It's finality. Do you
know Christ, whom to know is to have eternal life and live
forever? Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, the life, the life. I'm the life. John said that,
didn't he? The life was manifested. We held
it. We saw it. Our eyes of seeing,
our hands of touch, and handled the life. The life. The life
was manifested. We held it. Life. He is life. You wouldn't be alive
right now if Jesus Christ wasn't saying, You live, live, live. He's the life. Do you know Him
who is life? I think some of you do. Well,
then you're a wise man. if you seek after Him. Wise men, they say, still seek
Him. The wise men came from afar to
seek the Lord. Where is He that is born King?
Wise men still seek Him. Wise women. Are you a wise woman,
Roberta? Are you seeking Him? Whom to
know is to have eternal life. I believe you are. Flesh and
blood didn't cause you to. Look at the next thing. Christ
is our wisdom. Christ is righteousness. And
how far can we go with that wisdom? Just keep going. Righteousness.
Christ is our righteousness. Romans 10 says He's the end of
the law for righteousness. I prepared this message for a
Sunday morning crowd. Perhaps some visitors would be
in here. Then when it snowed, I thought, well, these people
have heard this many times. I don't need to tell this. Oh,
yes, I do. Oh, yes, I do. Look over at Psalm
11. I need to hear it over and over
again. You know why? Because I am basically, by nature,
a self-righteous person. Paul said in Hebrews, he said,
labor to enter into that rest. Christ said, come unto me all
you that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. We labor to try to do this and
do that and try to be rid of guilt and sin and so
forth. It's a never-ending labor. And
our labors won't do us any good, anyway, before God. Psalm 11
says this in verse 4, The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's
throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids
try, the Lord trieth the righteous. The wicked in him that loveth
violence his soul hateth. Verse seven, the righteous Lord
loveth righteousness. Psalm 15, look over there. Verse
one, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh
truth in his heart. Look at Psalm 18, look over there.
Psalm 18, look at verse 20. Psalm 18 verse 20, the Lord rewarded
me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of
my hands hath he recompensed me. I have kept the ways of the
Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. All his judgments
were before me. I did not put away his statute.
I was upright before him. I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness. Now, you tell me who David's
talking about. It's got to be Christ. This is
Christ talking here. Who is my righteousness. The
Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. Well, what
is your righteousness? Christ. Surely shall one say
in the Lord have I righteousness. Right there a man said, Christ
is my righteousness. To this man will I look," the
Lord said, a righteous man. The Lord has rewarded me according
to my righteousness. The Christ is made unto us. He's made unto me my righteousness. He's my righteous representative.
He is my righteousness. You see? He is my righteousness. He is made unto me, or for me,
or did what he did for me, my righteousness." Vicki? He is all your righteousness.
Isaiah 64, 6 says that yours are what? Go ahead and say it. All your righteousness are what?
Come on. Filthy rags. Some of them. All of them. All of them. It's not good enough, God says.
It's not good enough. You've got some of you in it.
Right? Some of yourself. Some of your
vainglory, your own glory. Some of your own taking a little
credit. It's not good enough. It shall be perfect to be accepted.
It's got the righteous Lord loveth the righteous. Now, we just saw
John where he says he is highly astride. For soundness is I leave
the whole is as they try the sons of man. He looks on the heart. Is it
righteous? Who can make himself righteous?
David said there concerning Christ said, I have kept me from my
iniquity. Well, the proverb says who can
say that? That hive kept that, didn't it? Solomon later on said,
who can say that? Job said it a long time before
they said it. Who can bring a clean thing out
of unclean? How can he be cleaned as born
of a woman? How can a man not be a sinner as born of a sinful
mother and father? How? He's got to be born again. Born from above. Born of God. Born of the water. Born of the
Spirit. Born of the blood. Jesus Christ. That's how. Christ
is all our righteousness. And the text says he is all our
sanctification. Look over Hebrews 2 quickly. Hebrews 2. Look over there. Christ
is all a double L. Our sanctification. Not some
of it. Not a great deal of it. He's
all of it. Isn't he? all our sanctification. Sanctification means set apart,
basically. That's what it means. To be set
apart. Set apart. It also means to be
made holy. Those two basic definitions of
the word sanctification, they both apply. They both meet in
Christ. Set apart and made holy. Christ set himself apart. for our sake. He sanctified himself. Isn't that what John 17 said?
Lord, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified. I set apart myself. God exalted
him, a man chosen out from among the people. I set apart. He's
set above. Christ is set above all the rest.
The scripture says he's holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. A man who is not a sinner yet
was made in the likeness of sinful, but not a sinner. A holy man,
a sinless man, he was set apart as a substitute, sanctified himself
as a substitute. Hebrews 2, look at verse 9. We
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels. That is,
he had a fleshly body. Why? Why was he made? a body, hast thou prepared me?"
The scripture said. Why? For the suffering of death. God can't die. We must. The soul that sinned must surely
die. God became a man to die for us. Simple as that. He set
aside his complete and absolute spirit-hood or deity and made
flesh. Didn't say he set aside his deity
completely. No, not at all. The word was
God was man, and man was God there. God-man, the God-man. But he set aside his glory, his
essential glory, and became a man, a little lower than the angels
even, for the suffering of dead. Yet, but he's crowned with glory
and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste death
for every son. It became him. It's just like
him. It's becoming to him. just like
Him, for whom are all things, by whom are all things. He did
this to bring many sons unto glory. Couldn't get there by
the flesh, Joe. By doing it all for you, by picking
you up and putting you on his shoulder, so to speak. By whom
are all things in bringing many sons to glory, the capital of
their salvation. Verse 11, here it is. Both he
that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all one. He that does the setting apart
and they who are set apart are all one. They're in him who is
one, the one way, the one sanctification, the one. Read on down. It says,
verse 14, as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is,
the devil, to deliver them. He's a deliverer. who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Verily, he didn't take on the nature of angels, but he took
on the seed of Abraham, and in all things it behooved him to
be made like unto his brethren, a merciful and faithful high
priest to make reconciliation for the sins." So he separated—look
at Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. He sanctified himself,
set himself apart. set himself apart from the Father,
set himself apart from us, wholly separate, undefiled, set apart,
sanctified up. Look at Hebrews 10, look at verse
10. By the which will, that is God's
will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ, plus your works. Oh, it doesn't say that. We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ,
who wants for all. He's all our sanctification.
It's not a cooperative effort. We don't help him out. There's
no progressive work on our part. It's a finished work on his part.
A complete. Something progressive, that means
it's incomplete, doesn't it? That's poor use of terms. You
can call growing grace. It's fine. Progressive sanctification. I'm complete in Christ. I'm sanctified,
once, by the body of Jesus Christ, right? Set apart, made holy. Made holy. Look, read on down.
It says in verse 14, by one offering, he hath perfection forever, them
that are sanctified. I like that. Sinless perfection? Yes, I have it. I believe. Go out and tell everybody we
believe in sinless perfection. but not the kind that they believe
in. Not that it's something that we do. We believe that He did
it, and therefore we are sinless and perfect. Antinomian, antinomian. No, just in Christ, that's all.
Just in Christ. He has made unto me sanctification. Well, a man can argue that all
he wants to, can't he? But he can't argue with Scripture.
He's sanctified. I am sanctified. Jesus Christ
is all our sanctification. He doesn't begin the work anyway.
He doesn't begin the work and say, well, now you carry it on,
do the best you can. I've given you an example to
follow, now follow it. Carry on, come on, come on. Do
the best you can. Oh, no. He that hath begun a
good work in you, he'll finish it and perform it. I'm confident
of that. First, because he's never begun
anything, he didn't finish. The next thing in our text says
that Christ is all our redemption. He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Christ is all our redemption.
Have you ever heard the statement—are you with me? This is the last
service. When we get out of here in a moment, we can go play in
the snow, or whatever you intend to do. Just a few more minutes,
okay? I ought to cheer your heart,
rejoice your heart. Have you heard the statement,
Well, he has some redeeming qualities. You ever heard that statement?
Well, he's not a very good fellow, but he has some redeeming qualities. So that means some worth, some
value, something about him. You heard that name said? What redeeming qualities do we
have now, really? All right, here's God. Here's God. And here we are. Worms. What can we add to God? Can you imagine God saying that
about us? Well, He has some redeeming qualities. The angels say, even
the angels say, what? What qualities? These worms,
these filthy maggots, look at them wallowing in sin. Do you
do that? Go into the garbage can and pick
it up and look at those maggots and say, well, they've got some
redeeming qualities. There's a promoter running around
saying, save them, honey, save them. There's something good
about them, I'm sure. Huh? What can we add to God? Huh? What? Anything. Nothing. What can we give to God? We'll
give you all the Jesus. What all you got to give? Give Him your heart. What's he
want with that? I need him to give me a new one. What's he want with that? Well,
they say, you know, we can offer, we can do this for God, do something
for Jesus. What can we do for Him, huh? In Job, I'll turn and read these
real fast for you so you won't have to look them up. Over in
Job 35, listen to this, listen to this. Elihu was saying this, wasn't
one of these other tellers. Elihu, a young man who was filled
full of wisdom. And he said, look at the heavens.
Look in the heavens and see, he said, and behold the clouds
which are higher than you. Just look at the heavens, that's
right above you. Now, if you sin, if you sin, what are you
doing against God? What are you doing against God?
Who's higher than the heavens? What are you doing against God?
He said, if your transgressions be multiplied, if you're the
greatest sinner in the world, have you done anything to Him?
He said, if you be righteous, what have you given Him? What
have you done for God? The most righteous man? Now,
your wickedness, He says, may hurt a man, but you can't hurt
God. Look at this. Listen to this.
He said over in Psalm 50, Psalm 50, he said this. He said, I won't take any bullock
out of your house or he goats out of your foal. Every beast
of the forest is mine. Well, let's give to Jesus. Let's
give Jesus. Give him your tithes and your
offering. He says that the silver and the
gold and the mines are mine. I'm going to go, I think I'll
give Who's some rich fellow? He and the Hunt brothers still
live in there. Donald Trump. Oh, he's about to go broke. Who's
somebody? Ross Perot. I'm going to contribute
five dollars to his cause. Five dollars? You reckon he'd appreciate it?
Would he think, oh, thank you so much. I needed that. Who are we going to give to God?
Huh? He said, if I'm hungry, I'd not
tell you. The world is mine, the fullness
thereof. You're mine. All you have, I
gave to you. Who are you going to give to
me? You might return unto me what's already mine, but you
don't give me nothing. Right? Nothing. Listen to this,
over in Isaiah 40, he says this. Listen to this real fast. Isaiah
40 says, the nations are like a drop in the bucket. Nations. The nations. America the great. That's America they got, a drop
in the bucket. They count it as a small dust
of the balance. Dickie's clean too well, I won't
be able to find any. Dust. Dust. Put some dust on
the bow and see if it moves. Dust doesn't even weigh anything.
It's lighter than nothing. That's what it said. Lighter
than nothing. It says, it is he that sits on the circle of
the earth, the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers. Grasshoppers. What good are grasshoppers? Has there ever been any use? Has anybody found any real good
use for grasshoppers? Some people cover them in chocolate
and try to eat them. That's man. That's how smart man is, you
know. But really, we try to eradicate them. If they eat up our garden,
grasshoppers. That's what he says about the
inhabitants of the earth. That's what God says about mighty man.
That's what he's worth. Redeeming qualities. Redeeming
qualities. My, my. And you know, not only
do we not have any redeeming qualities, any value or any worth
about it, but the Scripture says we're altogether unlovely. Altogether become not just valueless,
but go down into the negative. Something in the way. None that doeth good, none righteous,
no, not one, nothing. Jesus Christ is all our redemption. In that sense, he says, Lo, I
come, in the volume of the book that is written of me, a body
hast thou prepared me. thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, a body, a man came in a body, a righteous man, a man
God accepted, a man approved of God, for thirty-three years
God beheld him and said, Now there's a man that's worth something."
That's what God said about Christ. You ever thought about redemption
in those terms? There's a man that's worth something. He's
worth saving. He's living a life worth living.
He's worthy of my honor and my glory. And God couldn't even
contain himself. I'm well pleased with this man.
This is the way I created man to be. This is, that's my boy. My son. Hear him? You better
hear him. He's got something you need.
Righteousness. Redemption. He'll make you worth
something. You remember, they said about
David, the people that David was going to go out to battle,
they said, oh don't you go, you're worth 10,000 of us. You remember
that? They told David, don't, don't,
don't go, stay home. If you die, you're worth 10,000
of us. Well, Jesus Christ is worth 10,000
Davids, isn't he? The fairest among 10,000. That
we don't even No worth at all, compared to Him. You remember
the Bales analogy? The illustration says, we're
all a bunch of zeros. He said, you can put together
billions upon billions of zeros, and what's their value? Nothing,
still zero. What gives them value? Put a
wand in front of them. Christ said, I'm the wand. He's
the wand! The wand of any value, of all
value, and He gives us value. He despaired not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. Now you're worth something to
God, Henry. Why? It cost his precious son's blood. You must be worth something to
God now. In and of yourself, buddy, you're a big zero, right?
Now I'm talking to all of us, you know. But in Christ, when
Christ is before you, he makes you of value. That makes the
soul of infinite value. It's an infinite soul. Took an
infinite price, didn't it? Took the infinite one. The one. What's his value? Put all the
zeros there ever was behind him. That tells you how much he's
worth. Even that one. Innumerable. Innumerable. Eternal value. Redeeming. He said, I bought you with a
price. What a price. I can't preach.
I've never heard a man preach on what great price that was.
The blood is precious blood. I've heard
that preached on many times. You're redeemed, not with corruptible
things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
from the Father, but with precious blood. Precious blood. I can't illustrate that. I've
never heard it. Except this way the only way
I know how how much is her. And she's not. God's son came down here. Flesh
and blood. His throat was cut. Blood. Precious blood. Oh, precious
blood, isn't it? Because of whose it was. But
it's precious in the sense that there's nothing else it can say.
It has to flow. It has to flow. Oh, Lord, I hate
to see him die, but I'm sure glad he did. And does that make
sense? I hate, such a one doesn't deserve
to die. Thank God he did. Huh? Oh my. Precious blood, redeeming,
it's redeeming blood. We see our sins, as that blood
is flowing, we see our sins going, washing away. Huh? What if that
big record, that big book with all your sins in it, was thrown
in the river? You watched it go. Go on, sins,
go on. Precious river. Precious river. Fountain that flows. There go
my sins down that river. That blood of Christ. Oh, my. What determines the value of
a thing is the price a wise man is willing to pay. That's the only thing that determines
the value of a thing is the price a wise man is willing to pay.
You take an old piece of whatever, some old piece of furniture or
something that's worthless to most people. Well, if a wise
man comes along and pays a large sum for it, it must be worth
something. And a man is of no value until
Christ pays that great price for it. Right? And He's of no
value until He makes Him something, until He makes Himself some value.
And the only reason we're of any value now is because Christ—God
sees us in Christ. Right? That's the only reason. Christ is all. Christ is all. By Him all things created, for
Him all things, for His glory, by Him all things consist, in
Him all fullness dwells. In Him all treasures of wisdom
are all. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead. He's the head of all principality
and power. Christ is all and in all. He's
all. Do you have that little bookmark
I made for you some time back? To the artist, Jesus Christ is
the one altogether lovely. Can I say this word? I saw a picture on TV the other
day of some religious program where they flashed up in front
of the screen as they were fading out some picture of Wild Bill
Hickok. I guess that's who it was. They
said it was Jesus, but that doesn't fit his description. It doesn't fit his description
in Revelation 1. You know, I could look on that picture with these
fleshly eyes. I could look right on it. And
you know nothing, I looked right in those eyes to that picture
and it didn't do a thing for me. I wanted to spit on it. Jesus. He's inimitable. You can't, you can't, that's
the reason God said don't make any likeness of anything in heaven.
You can't, you won't ever do it justice. Don't paint any picture
of my son. Our pain is walking. Isn't that
right? Don't you lay your brush to the
canvas. You just behold the picture I
painted. Every brush stroke. Every word. Glory beyond glory. He's altogether,
to the artist, the one who really knows him, he wouldn't dare.
A real believer in the artist wouldn't dare. Sherry, you wouldn't
dare do that, wouldn't paint a picture. Crying, no, can't
do it. To the architect, He's the chief
cornerstone. He's unmovable. To the baker,
He's the living bread. You ought to think about that,
men, every time you put a loaf in the oven. Christ is the bread.
Christ is to the banker, He's the hidden treasure. He's the
pearl of great price. To the biologist, He's life.
He's life. To the builder, He's that sure
foundation. Boy, that means something to
me right now. That's all that's standing over
there. It's the foundation. And I go over there all the time.
Is it still there? Yes, it's still there. Well, I can build
on that. It hasn't fallen yet? No, it
hasn't fallen yet. I can build on it. Christ is
the foundation. You can build on him. To the
doctor, he's the great physician. There aren't many that feel like
of him that way. To the educator, the teacher,
he's the master. He's the master. To the farmer,
he's the lord of the harvest. He's the sower. To the florist,
he's the lily of the valley. You'll never look at that lily
without thinking of him. I don't think you do. To the
geologist, he's a rock of ages. To the horticulturist, he's the
true vine. To the judge, he's the judge
of all mankind. To the jeweler, he's a faithful
and true witness. To the jeweler, Where you at,
Nancy? Where'd you go? There you are. He's the pearl of great pride.
To the lawyer, he's the counselor, the lawgiver. To the newspaper
reporter, glad we don't have any of those in here. To the newspaper reporter, he's
good news. To the philanthropist, no, I
do, you know, newspaper reporters want to come in, so be it. To
the philanthropist, He's an unspeakable gift. To the philosopher, he's
the wisdom of God. To the preacher, he's the Word
of God. To the sculptor, he's the living
stone. To the servant, he's the good
master. To the statesman, he's the Lord
of all nations. To the student, he's the truth. The living truth. To the theologian,
he's the author and finisher of our faith. To the sinner, oh my, he's the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. To the Christian, to the believer,
he's the Son of the living God, the Savior, the Redeemer, the
Lord. He's all and in all. Christ is
all. That's all I got to say. Stand
with me. Our Lord, we are grateful that
you have at least given us a glimpse of your glory and your oneness
and your being who you are. We sure don't see you as we all—as
we will. So thank God we do see something
of your glory. You've hidden us in the cleft
of the rock, and we see a little bit of your back parts. We're
down here on planet Earth. We see a little bit of the hind
parts of the glory of God. Someday we'll see Him face to
face in all His glory. We long for that day. We'll behold
His face in righteousness. We'll be satisfied when we awake
in His perfect likeness. The fairest of ten thousand,
the bright and morning star, the lily of the valley, Jesus
Christ is all. In His name we met together and
pray these things and worship. Amen. You're dismissed. No service
tonight.