Christ Is All

I tell you, Terry and Paul, this
fella's making $100,000 a year, don't think that good. That was exceptionally, exceptionally
good. I really enjoyed that so very,
very, very much. Alright, Paul read from Colossians,
don't turn there, turn rather to John chapter 11. But the last statement he read
in Colossians 3 verse 11, Jesus Christ is all and in all. Jesus Christ is all and in all. And that's my subject tonight.
I pray the Lord will give me some wisdom and some liberty
and all of us some understanding of just exactly what that means.
Jesus Christ is all and in all. Now in John 11, most of you are
familiar with this passage of scripture. This is the account
of the raising of Lazarus. There were two sisters and a
brother down in Bethany, in this little town. And they had a home
there, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And our Lord often was in that
home. Mary sat at his feet and heard
his word. Martha, you remember, cumbered
with much. You know the story. Well, they sent word to the master
that, uh, he whom thou lovest. They didn't say, he who loves
you. They said, he whom thou lovest
is sick. And you know, Christ tarried,
and Lazarus died, and he was in the grave some time, and finally
the Lord came to Bethany. And when Martha found out that
the Master had come, she went running out to meet him. And Martha made two or three statements.
You're familiar with these statements. First of all, she said to the
Lord, she said, now, if you had been here, He would not have
died. I know that. She knew that. That's what she believed. She
really believed if Christ had been there, that wouldn't have
taken place. And she believed that very strongly.
And she said, but I know even now something else I believe. I know even now that whatever
you ask the Father, he'll do. You could do something about
it even now. I believe that. And the Lord said, well, Martha
said, your brother will rise again. Oh, she said, I know,
I know. He'll rise again in the resurrection. I believe that. She believes
some things. I don't know whether here, here,
or where, but she believes some things. And then he made this
statement, and I read this one, I read this for years and years
and years before it really ever came through. Have you ever done
that read scripture and read scripture and read scripture
and then one day you finally saw what that was saying? Then
he said to her, John 11 verse 25, John 11, 25, Jesus said unto
her, Martha, I am the resurrection. My friends, the resurrection
is not even to be considered apart from Christ. He's the resurrection. I'm the resurrection. The disciples
didn't believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. They didn't
preach the doctrine of the resurrection. They walked with the risen Lord.
They preached the risen Lord. There's a whole lot of difference.
He said, I'm the resurrection. Watch it. And I am the life. You needn't even talk about life
if you don't know Christ. Christ is the life. I'm the way,
the truth, I'm the life. He doesn't only give life, he
is life. He is life. To have Christ is
to have life already. Listen to what he said next,
"...and he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live." Lazarus is asleep. He never did say Lazarus was
dead, till the disciples got so confused. He said, Lazarus
is asleep. And Peter said, one of them said,
let's go sleep with him. He's asleep. He's doing well.
You know, I have a hard time sleeping. Finally he said, well,
he's dead. In your language, he's dead.
In my language, he's asleep. Because he that believeth on
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He never dies.
That's right. Read the next verse. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Now, Martha, do you
believe this? This is a whole new experience. I know, Lord, if you'd have been
here, he wouldn't have died. I know, Lord, that even now you
can change the situation. I know that he arrives. Martha,
I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. He that believeth
on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth
and believeth on me will never die. Now, you believe this? You
see, this is clear, this is clear throughout the word of God. Don't
turn to these scriptures. Let me just read a few to you. I can turn more quickly, but
if you're taking notes, John chapter 3, verse 34. Listen, let me just read it to
you. This is what I'm saying. Christ is the life. Christ is the resurrection. Christ
is salvation. All things are in Christ. Apart
from Christ, we have nothing relating to God. Absolutely nothing. And we have these things through
him and in him because of him. and we have them when we have
him. Now listen to this, For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him. The Father loves the Son, and
hath given all things into his hands. John Flavor once said,
All spiritual blessings are in Christ, and those spiritual blessings
are ours by union with Christ. The spiritual blessings are in
him, and only yours when you're in the vine. If you're in the
vine, then you have the blessings. He that hath the Lord hath the
blessings. And those, that union with him is accomplished by faith. And that faith comes through
the Word of God, what we're doing tonight. Believe in him. He that
believeth. That's what the next verse says.
The Father hath given everything into his hands, and he that believeth
on him hath everlasting life." Believeth on Christ. All right,
listen to this. Well, you know this one, Romans
8, 32, you can quote it. God spared not his own son, but
delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him, in
him, through him, by him, give us all things? He that spares
not his own son, but delivers him up for us all, how shall
he not with him freely give us all, where are all things? The
Father hath given all things into his hand, and in him we
have all things." Listen to this one, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. This is, I brought a message
on this just recently. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
15. For he, verse 27, the Father hath put all things, all things
under his feet. But when he saith, all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is exempted, accepted,
which put all things under him. It's just one that's not under
the Son, that's the Father. That's how, that's how complete
all things are under Christ. Everything's in him, of him,
and under him, except the Father. That's what, isn't that what
I said? For he hath put all things under his feet, but when he saith
all things are put under him, it's manifest that he is accepted
that put all things there. And when all things shall be
subdued under him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all."
Now listen to this, in Ephesians 1, and you've read this many
times, but I'm going to read it again. Ephesians chapter 1,
verse 22 through 20, 22 and 23. Listen. Talked about exalting
him above all principalities and powers in every name that's
named. not only in this world, but in
that world which is to come. Now listen, "...and he hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all
things to the church, which is his body, who filleth the fulness
of him that filleth all in all." All things. There's nothing that's
not put under him except the Father. All the things All right,
listen to this, Colossians 2. This is the theme of the epistles. You know, the Old Testament says
someone's coming. The full gospel says he's come,
and the epistles tell you all about the one who has come, and
all the blessings and benefits and promises we have in him.
Now listen to Colossians 2. For in him, verse 9, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead body. I mean the fullness of
grace, the fullness of mercy, the fullness of righteousness,
the fullness of love, the fullness of power. It's all in Christ.
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you're
complete in Him. You're complete in Him. Absolutely
nothing needs to be added if you have Christ. Nothing. Anything that eclipses Christ
is not of God. Anything that's better than Christ
is not of God. I don't care who comes your way
and talks about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or the gifts
of the Spirit, or any kind of experience. Anything that's better
than when you met Christ, God's not in it, because everything's
in Christ. If I have Christ, I have everything.
I have everything as a babe, and then as a young man, and
then as an elder in Christ, but I have everything. That's why
you're complete in Christ. And if you're looking for anything
to add to Christ, you're looking for something that's not of God.
And in that scripture Paul read a moment ago, Christ is all in
all. Christ is all. Now, here are
five things I want you to consider, and we'll do a little running
through the scripture now. Here are five basic truths concerning
this, this this topic, Jesus Christ is all and in all. First
of all, Jesus Christ is all in the first creation. All. Now turn with me to Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter 8. I'm sure your pastor's read this
before. I'm sure you've read it before.
I'm sure he's read it here. But the Old Testament is a hymn
book. H-I-M. Hymn. It's all about hymns. Christ is the Old Testament.
Paul was reading a scripture to me a while ago, Acts 10, 43. To him, give all the prophets
witness. Moses wrote of me, he said. Abraham saw my day and
rejoiced. You don't know a thing about
the Old Testament until you see Christ on every page. That's
right, you're missing the Old Testament. Christ is our Passover. Christ is that rock. Christ is
that priest. Christ is the tabernacle. Christ
is the Passover lamb. Christ is the serpent lifted
up. Christ is all of that. And here
in Proverbs 8, listen, beginning with verse 24, when there were
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were spattered,
before the hills was I brought forth, while as yet he had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the when he established the
clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then was I by him, as one brought up with him, I was daily his
delight, rejoicing always before him." Who in the world could
that be? You know, Henry the Ethiopian eunuch said, of whom
does the prophet speak? Himself or some other man? I
know of whom he speaks. Only one, Christ Jesus. Glorify
me, he said, with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. That's Christ there. Yeah, he's before all things.
He made all things. John, John wrote in John 1 verse
1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and all things were made by him. Without him
was not anything made that was made. And the word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He
was before all things. He made all things. All things
were made by him, and do you know all things were made for
him? That's right, for him. Turn to Colossians. Let's read
that, Colossians chapter 1. Christ, I'm saying that Christ
is all in the first creation. all in the first creation. Listen
to verse 16, or verse 14. Let's go back to Colossians 1,
14. In whom we have redemption through his blood. That's Christ. Even the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of every
creature. For watch it, by him were all
things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and
invisible. things you see and things you
don't see, whether they be thrones or dominions, any dominion, any
power, any control, principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness,
spiritual wickedness, and I don't care what it is or who it is,
visible or invisible, all things were created by him and for him,
even the wicked for the day of evil. That's right. God ruleth over all. Not a hair
falls out of your head that's not under his control, not a
spare falls to the ground without my heavenly Father. Every day is altered by the Lord.
He declares the end from the beginning. There are no accidents
of God. And he's before all things, verse
17, and by him all things exist, consist. Everything is held in
check and order, perfect order. He's the head of the church,
head of the body, the church, which is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in, here's that word again, all things,
all things, He might have the promise. He's going to have it
too. If we can't learn that song here, we'll never sing it there,
because everybody there is going to, everybody in His temple is
going to glorify Him. That's what David said. He has
no rival, he has no competitor. He's jealous of his glory and
he'll not share it. And everybody who shares his
kingdom will exalt his name in preeminence. Preeminence. Not only that, but he has authority
over all things. He said, all authority is given
unto me in heaven and earth. That's what he told his disciples
before they went out to preach. He said, I have all power. All
authority in heaven and earth. There's not anything out there
with which you'll meet that I'm not in total control. All authority
is given to me in heaven and earth. Be encouraged, be strong,
be not afraid. They'll harass you and persecute
you and hate you, but everything's under my control. All authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach
the gospel. He prayed in John 17, he said, Father, thou hast
given me all authority over all flesh, that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. I'm looking for God's
sheep. Paul told you about the boys
in Finland. I was preaching down in Australia in September. Preached
to a building about this size. They rented a, they rented a
town hall next to the fire station. And they advertised it in the
paper. I've known this pastor a long
time, a brother, Tim Myers. He's a pharmacist. Has a drugstore
there in Tumult, and he's a pastor. Been there a long time, about
my age, maybe a little younger. But he invited me, as I was coming
through that area, just to stop one night and preach. Spend the
night with him and preach one night, and he advertised it ahead
of time. If people were to fill this auditorium, wouldn't there
be about that many people? I mean, just from everywhere.
And to hear the American, you know, and he bragged on me a
little. They came to hear me, some of his neighbors and friends
and everybody. After the service, that's when
that young man walked up to me and he said, what's a fella from
Kentucky doing in a little old town like this in Australia? He'd come from Finland. He was
an engineer. He didn't even live there. He
was just there on business, just like the eunuch, Parson Phillips,
ships and the knights, you know. But God controls the knight and
the ship. And I said, I came here to tell
you about Christ. He read about it in the paper.
He'd never been inside that building, didn't know the pastor, didn't
know a soul there. But he said, I'm just tired of religion and
all that owl dragging and that sort of stuff, and I thought
I'd come here to you pray. He said, by the way, what's this
predestination you're talking about? I never heard of that.
I said, God predestinated me to be here tonight and you to
be here tonight and us to talk about Christ. I sent him tapes
and all those things. I tell you, he has all authority.
And Paul and this fella and some more preachers and here and there
and yonder, they're going to cross the path of his sheep.
He has all authority. He's there. Turn to Hebrews 1. Let's read about the heir. In
Hebrews chapter 1, it says here, look at it just a moment, Hebrews
1 verse 3 and verse 2, God hath in these last days, Hebrews 1,
2, spoken to us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of. There
it is again, all things. by whom he made the worlds, who,
being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his
person, upholdeth," what? "...all things by the word of
his power, when he hath by himself purged our sin, sat down on the
right hand of God." Christ is all in the old creation. But,
you know, secondly, Christ is all in the new creation. What's
the new creation? Well, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. We are created in Christ, a new
creation. That's right. Do you know the
first thing in the old creation? What's the first thing in the
old creation? What did God do? Darkness was upon the face of
the deep spirit. God moved upon the waters and
God said, let there be light. The first thing God gave was
light. And I'll tell you this, the first thing in the new creation,
your heart's in darkness, my mind's in darkness, our ears
are in darkness, our eyes are in darkness, darkness is everywhere,
we don't know anything, we don't know anything about God, we can't
see anything, and God says, let there be light. And that light's
Christ. Now Christ is the light. I am
the light of the world, he said. John said, I'm not that light,
I'm sent to bear witness of that And that's the first thing in
this new creation, is Christ is the first thing. He is the
life. God said, let there be life.
Now let's turn to Ephesians 1, and let me show you about this
new creation. In Ephesians chapter 1, he's all. If any man be in
Christ, he's the new creature. We're his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. And Ephesians 1, I look at verse
3, just quickly, I'll move through. You've seen this a hundred times,
but have you, have you ever really seen it? Verse 3, all covenant mercies
are in Christ. Listen, blessed be the God and
Father, my Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings. Nothing left out now. In the
heavenly square, in Christ. All the spiritual blessings.
In Christ. All that justification, sanctification,
righteousness, redemption, forgiveness, mercy, love, acceptance, it's
all in Christ. You don't add anything to it
at all. That's why all, it's all in Christ. All right, what's
the next verse here now? And we're chosen in Christ, according
as he chose us in Christ. Christ be my first elect, God
said, and then he chose you in your head. But Christ is his
elect, you're chosen in him. before the foundation of the
world, that you should be holy, not because you were, but that
you should be. Not because you were without
blame, but that you should be without blame. And then we're
sons of God by Christ. Look at verse 5. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, that is, we're now sons of God
by Jesus Christ. I'm a son of God by Jesus Christ.
People aren't sons of God. Everybody says, God's the father
of all men. That's not so. That's not so. Not in the sense
he's the father of his children. Christ turned to the Pharisees
and said, you have your father the devil. They said, God's our
father. He said, if God were your father,
you'd love me. I'm the brother of those who
are the sons of God. So we're sons of God by Jesus
Christ. In verse 6, we're accepted in
Jesus Christ to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein
he made us accepted in the beloved. We have never done anything,
said anything, thought anything, given anything that God had have. But he accepts us and all we
are in Christ. We're accepted in the Beloved.
He didn't make us acceptable, he accepted us in the Beloved. We're accepted just like I am.
Just as I am, without one plea, but that his blood was shed for
me. Just as I am, waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot.
Just as I am, I'm accepted in the blood." If you have Christ, you have
God. If you have Christ, you have acceptance. You believe
on Christ, that's right. And verse 7 says, In whom, in
him, we have redemption. A ransom is found. through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace. My soul, don't look for it anywhere else. You're stupid
to do that, and I am too. There it is right there. It's
all in Christ. All spiritual blessings in Christ,
chosen in Christ, made a son in Christ, accepted in Christ,
redeemed in Christ, and have forgiveness in Christ. I'm not
going to look anywhere else. I'm not going to fool around
with anybody else looking anywhere else. I don't want to be contaminated. That's right, it's Christ. That's
all. He's all. Flavius said this,
he said he's all from the Father, he's all to the Father, and he's
all with the Father. He's all from the Father. He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He's all to the Father.
No man comes to the Father but by me. He's all with the Father. I set my King on the holy hill
of Zion. Kiss the Son." And be quick about
it. Kiss the Son. I'm going to hurry
and do that, too. I don't want him passing me by
to you. I'm not going to dilly-daddle about it. There ain't no use
There's no use dilly-daddling when God said, there it is, it's
in you. All right, thirdly, Christ is all in the gospel. What did
Paul say? We preach Christ and Him crucified. And I know there are a lot of
people who make some dangerous statements about this thing of
preaching Christ. Brother Jim Byrd, your pastor,
Paul, I, Tim, name these fellows who preach Christ. Todd, Wayne,
just keep naming them. Gary, just all of them. They
preach Christ. They say they preach Christ,
and then some fellow comes along and says, there's other things to
preach besides Christ. That's dangerous now. That's
dangerous. And I know they're trying to
be liberal or whatever, but it's dangerous, Paul. It's dangerous
to talk like that. When the Apostle Paul says, I'm
determined not to know anything among you, say Jesus Christ,
Him crucified. And if all things are in Christ, there's no use
in me preaching anything but Christ, because all things are
in Christ. That's right. He said, I'm a
debtor both to the Jews and the Greeks. So much is in me, I'm
determined to preach the gospel of Christ in Rome too, for I'm
not ashamed of the gospel. That's the power of God and His
salvation, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
in Christ. God forbid that I should, Lord,
save them the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I've been preaching
forty years now, the gospel of God's grace. I tell you, every
time I preach, I get something new, something fresh. fell out
down to Australia, he asked me, he said, you've been at that
church pastor 39 years? I said, yeah. He said, don't
you want to have something to say? I said, Mr. Christ is my theme,
and I've never exhausted that theme yet. And if God let me
pastor him 10,000 years, I don't believe I'd exhaust that theme. Unsearchable riches of Christ. Unspeakable glory of Christ. Then you talk about running out
something to say. Goodness alive. It's Christ that
we preach. It's Christ that sent me to preach.
It's Christ that gave me the gift to preach. And if you take
away Christ, I don't have nothing to preach. Are you in darkness? He's the
light. Are you a sinner? He's the friend of sinners. Are
you hungry? He's the bread. Are you thirsty? He's the water. Are you weary? He's our rest. Are you lonely? He's a friend that's sticking
closer than a brother. Are you in trial? He's our peace. Are you lost? He came to seek
and to save the lost. Are you poor? He's our riches.
Are you dying? He's our life. I'll tell you here's good news.
Do you get, any of you get Morris Montgomery's bulletins? There's
a lot, there's some bulletins that are put out that, Paul puts
out a good bulletin, Morris, Annie Blair. I get some of these
bulletins, I'll sit and read them, they're good. Morris had
an article recently, it was five or six things, if you saw it,
I'll bet Terry remembers it. He said, here's the good news.
There's a holy God I can't please. In the flesh no man can please
God, but Christ did. This is my Son in whom I'm well
pleased. There's a holy law I can't keep. To offend in one point is to
be guilty of all sin, but Christ did. He was born under the law,
made of a woman, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He said, I didn't come to destroy
it, I came to fulfill it. That's an announcement. What
man could make a statement like that but Christ? I came to fulfill
it. Everybody else backed away from
the mountain. He walked right up there. Oh, there's this sin
I can't get rid of. But he can. He put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. He purged our sins himself. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. There's a righteousness I can't
produce. Christ said I had to have it. Like you wrote in that
article just recently, if your righteousness doesn't exceed
the scribes and the Pharisees, you're lost. Well, I can't produce
it, but he did. By the disobedience of one, I
was made a sinner. By the obedience of one, I was
made what? righteous, just as righteous
as God himself. And some people may think that's
blasphemous, but it's not. It's just the Son believing his
Father. That's right. Oh, my. There's a judgment I can't endure. Don't bring me in judgment with
the heat. Well, how are you going to miss it? It says it's appointed
unto men who wants to die after that judgment. How are you going
to miss it? You want to know how I'm going
to miss it? There's no judgment to them who are in Christ Jesus.
That's the only way you're going to miss it. That's the only way
you're going to miss it, being Christ. Otherwise, you've got to stand
there. I don't want to stand there. If you choose to plead your membership,
your preaching, your gifts, your faithfulness, well, you'll just
have to meet God in judgment, and he'll try you and see if
you come up to the standard. You won't, but you'll have to
give it a shot. But I don't want any part of
that. Don't bring me into judgment with this. But Christ has already
gone into judgment, and there's no judgment, no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. That's right. He—verily I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed
from death unto life." It's over. I've been judged. And then there's
an eternal death that we can't escape, unless a ransom is found. That's right. But there's been
one. And there's no—there's no God's
not going to take a compromise. He's not going to bargain with
you on this thing. He has put all things in His
hands. If you want in on all things,
you're going to have to believe on Christ. That's it. Fourth thing. Christ is all in
the worship of God. I know I hear people say, well,
I don't believe in this Jesus business, but I worship God.
You can't. There's no way. He said, let
all the angels of God worship Him. Now, if all the angels are
worshiping Him, who are you with over here? Let all the angels
of God worship Him. Unto the Son, He saith, thy throne,
O God, is forever. And all the angels of God worship
Him. I'm going to be where they are. He's all in the worship of God.
God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above
every name, that it's the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow
in heaven, earth, and under the earth. Now, where is the worshipers
of God? At the feet of Christ. I mean
everybody in heaven, earth, and under the earth. Then who are
these people who are worshiping God who don't know the Son? There
is no such thing. They're pagan, heathen. They're
out of worshippers. They're worshipping a God they
do not know. Christ said to the woman at the
well, you worship what you don't even know. She said, I worship
God. Our fathers sit in this mountain.
He said, you and your father and neither one know what you're
worshipping. But God has given him a name.
And I'll tell you, baptism, it means nothing without Christ.
It's his death, burial, and resurrection. I don't understand why these
fellows that preach Christ, why they sprinkle, why they use water
in any shape, form, or fashion. He's the water. Baptism is Christ,
his death, burial, and resurrection. My death with him, my burial,
my resurrection to walk with him. Baptism is a foolish thing
to perform if Christ is not all. It's dumb. And then they have
the wafer and the wine, and they call sacraments or communion
or whatever they want to call it. It's the Lord's table. And
without the Lord, there ain't no table. He said, this is my
body broken for you. Take it. This is my bread shed for you.
And without Christ, the wine and the wafer is nothing. It's idolatry. It's foolishness. It's nothing but superstition.
Prayer. What's prayer without Christ?
He said, what you ask in money, the Father will give you. He
said, there's one Mediator between God and me, and that's the man
Christ Jesus, so you don't do business in prayer without Christ. And everything God gives you
through the Mediator is because of what he did, not what you
did. So you shut up the... There's
no such thing as prayer without Christ. One time the president
of the Southern Baptist Convention, what was his name? Smith, something
Smith. He got in trouble years ago about
saying God didn't hear a Jew when he prayed because he didn't
believe in Christ. He got in trouble. Can you imagine how
much trouble he got into? He's telling the truth. In fact,
he could have said, no, God doesn't hear a Baptist pray without Christ.
He might, if he'd have worded it that way, he'd have come out
smelling like a rose, you know. But no, God doesn't hear anybody
pray without Christ. There's one mediator, my soul. Here's the fifth thing, listen.
Christ is all. Christ is all in every grace. That's right. If you and I have any grace,
any grace at all, It's Christ. And I hear these preachers say,
well, preach practical godliness. Not without Christ, you don't.
Ain't no godliness without Christ. God's given him all things. There's nothing pertaining to
the Father, related to the Father, or of the Father, or to the Father,
apart from Christ. Let's talk about faith. Let's
preach on faith. Where are we going to start?
He's the author and finisher of our faith. That's what's left to consider
Christ Jesus. Our great high place is the author and finisher
of our faith, Alpha and Omega, and everything in between. Well,
let's talk about love. We love Him because He first
loved us. And this is my commandment, that you love one another as
I love you. How are you going to preach love
without Christ? He's the very criteria of love. He is love. Apart from him, there's no love.
You have to start and finish with Christ if you preach love.
What about hope? Let's preach on hope. Got a good
hope. Us primitive babies like to talk
about hope. Hope, hope, hope, hope. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. The preacher told me one time,
he said, if you assign me to write a thesis on hope, he said,
I'll just use six words, Christ in you, seven words, the hope
of glory. Hand it in, get an A. That's
all he said. All right, well, let's talk about
forgiveness. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, as God for Christ's sake forgave you. Well, let's
talk about giving. whole 8th and 9th chapters, 2nd
Corinthians talks about giving, but it's based in on one thing.
He gave himself. He who was rich for your sake
became poor, that you through his poverty might. Let's talk
about humility. I need to put you on humility. How about 56 sermons on humility? Humility and how I attained it. Anything I'm proud of is my humility.
Let's talk about humility, just one place to start. Let this
mind be in you, which was in Christ, who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took
upon himself the habit of a servant, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, as your example. If you can be
high and mighty after reading that, something's wrong. If you
can be arrogant and proud after seeing what he went through for
you, something's That's right. You can't make a Christian without
Christ. And when God makes him a Christian,
Christ in him will stick out. He sure will. Let's talk about
witnessing. He said, you're my witnesses.
Well, let's talk about the Holy Spirit. He said, he'll glorify
me. He'll take the things of mine and show them to you. You
can talk about the Holy Spirit, I talk about Christ, because
the Holy Spirit will, every time you, the Holy Spirit speaks,
He speaks of Christ. He'll not speak of Himself. Talk about perseverance. We preach
on perseverance. Keep people coming, giving, working,
laboring. Thank God. He that begun a good
work in you is going to finish it. And he is able to keep you
from falling, and he's the one who can. Well, let's consider service.
He sat down and washed his disciples' feet. He got up and said, Now
if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought to
wash one another's That's preaching the grace of
God, the graces of God. We preach them in Christ. God
is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. See what I'm
talking about? And that's the reason I never run out of something
to preach, and I preach Christ every Sunday and half of 39 years,
and every morning and every night. Preach Christ. And you never
run out of something to preach, because he filleth all and in
all. Here's my conclusion. All right,
if Christ is all and in all, and all things are in Christ
and I'm in Christ, and if Christ is all to me, listen to the fourth
conclusion. If Christ is all to me, then
the loss of anything or anyone in this world for his sake is
no loss at all. If he's all, if he's all and in all, then
the loss of anything or anyone is no loss at all. That's the
reason Paul said this, For whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, will I do count it but done, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. There's nothing, no relationship
or ownership or partnership or anything on this earth that's
going to continue except my relationship with Him. That's right, not even
husband and wife, not even mother and son. I beg your pardon, not
in glory. That relationship will not continue. We'll be one family. Christ said,
who's my mother, who's my father, who's my brother, who's my sister?
These that do the will of God. There's no relationship, partnership,
ownership, or anything like that that'll continue, only your relationship
with Him. So the loss of anything or anyone,
for his sake, is no loss at all. That's right. Secondly, if Christ
is all. If Christ is all, I can say with
Jacob, then I have all. I have everything. If I have
Christ, I have everything. I'll show you something interesting. Turn to Genesis 33. This will be interesting. I want
you to turn over there. And what I'm telling you is true.
I look these things up before I try to give them. You remember
when Esau met Jacob? Jacob met Esau, and Jacob thought
Esau was going to kill him, and Jacob tried to get Esau to take
a big present. You remember, he had all kinds
of things for him. In Genesis 33, now listen. Genesis 33, verse
9. You got it? Don't you? Don't
start until you have it. Genesis 33, 9. Esau said, I have
enough, my brother. I have enough." You look that
up in your Hebrew concordance, and the word is, I have plenty. Now, you look up the word enough,
as it's used right there, I have plenty. All right, read on. Keep that that thou hast to thyself."
Jacob said, No, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in
your sight, then receive my present at my hand. For therefore I have
seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou
wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing.
Take it that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously
with me, because I have enough." What is the word enough there?
I have everything. Esau said, I have plenty. Jacob
said, I have everything. I have Christ. Did Milton, when
he was here, tell you all about Fidel? Fidel, the head cowboy
at the ranch down in Chiapas. Did he tell you about Fidel?
Well, Fidel, Fidel's the head cowboy down there. D'Arcy and
I have been going down that ranch in Chiapas now for three or four
years. And we know him, and he comes to the circus. He's a rough
rough cowboy. He's head of all the fellas that
take care of the coffee beans and everything around there.
And he lives near the ranch in a little old hut there surrounded
by the grass fields. And you can see him right now
as he comes to the service. He has the hat in his hand. He
sits on the back row or stands in the doorway and listens to
us preach. And the Lord saved him recently. Milton baptized him. Milton known
him for years, years, but he came to the knowledge of Christ.
Now, you may find this hard to believe, but this happened. There's
some things happened down there that are very unusual, and they
do in a lot of countries. But Fidel told Milton, he said,
when you and Mahan were here, and Mahan was preaching, he said
he told a story, and he said the story was that a native asked
a missionary what salvation was. I told this story in a message.
It was translated. This man speaks Spanish, nothing
else. And I said to them, I said, well, it's like this. The missionary
said this. I told the story. I said, the
missionary told the native, he said, this is salvation. He made
a circle of leaves and twigs. You've heard this before, a whole
circle of leaves and twigs all around him. Then he found a worm
and put the worm right in the middle of that circle on the
ground and set it on fire all the way around, all the way around. And that worm started this way
and ran into the fire and backed off, started this way, backed
off, started this way and backed off. No way out. And I said,
that's us. Sinners surrounded by judgment,
condemnation, a curse, and the wrath of God. No way But I said,
then the missionary reached down and picked up the worm, and lifted
him out of danger, out of trouble, and put him over in the nice,
damp, wet soil, and the worm wiggled down into the soil. The
missionary saved him, because he would. And Fidel said, that
worm was me. And he said, Brother Milton,
months ago I had a dream Months ago, before y'all came down here
for that meeting over at the ranch, when God spoke to me,
I had a dream. And He said, in my dream, my
house was on fire. I mean, the grass around the
house was on fire. All around the field was on fire.
And my family and I had no way out. And God reached down and
lifted me out. So He said, when that preacher
told that story, it shocked me. He said, because I had dreamed
that months ago. And God spoke to my, isn't that
unusual? And so he, but he, this drunkenness
is a real problem down there. The owner of the ranch has an
Alcoholics Anonymous that meets there on the ranch every other
week. Fidel quit coming. He was always
one of the key members of AA, you know, he and Roberto both.
and all those fellows around there. But he quit coming and
Carmelita went to him and said, you're not coming to Alcoholics
Anonymous anymore now, but if you dare, you better come. He
said, I don't need it. She said, what do you mean you don't need
it? He said, I got Christ now. I don't need Alcoholics Anonymous. I have plenty. I have all things.
If I have Christ, I have all things. That's right. And then thirdly, if Christ is
all, Then the honors and the profits and the pleasures of
this world will just fade away. Paul said, I know how to abound
and I know how to be abased. He said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am to be content. That's hard. That's hard. And we don't ever learn it once
for all. found out and I got over in Australia.
I hadn't learned it near as well as I thought I did. That's a
long way from home. And it's a lot different, too.
And backbreaking and tiresome. Twenty-four sermons in twenty-four
days in eleven different churches, sixteen hundred and sixty miles
apart, traveling every day all day long. I wasn't too confused. But I'm learning. I'm learning. And I'll tell you one thing that
helps us a little bit. If we'll just realize, and your
pastor pointed this out to me the other night, we were talking
about children. He said Walter Kruger took five babies to Mexico
twenty some odd years ago, five little children, all under six
years of winter, six down, and raised them down there in heathenism,
paganism, dope smuggling. and everything else, and all
five of them came out loving the Lord Jesus Christ, and worshiping
God, loving the gospel, and walking with God. So God's able, isn't
He? If we'll just trust Him. We have
Christ, we have all... And this, I'll close, I'll quit.
If I have Christ... And then, of course, some of
us in here are getting a little older, and let's face it. Let's
face it now. The Master's going to come one
of these days and call for us. He is going to. Now write this
down. He's going to call for us. And he may call some of you
younger ones before he calls us. We just might be around a
long time, mightn't we, Bertie? Like old brother Harry and me,
ninety-five years old. That old preacher down in Florida
is ninety-two, preached with me in that Bible conference.
He's the one that said, I can see through my bifocals and my
hearing aids work just fine I can live with my dentures, but I
do miss my mind, you know. I tell you, when death comes,
when Christ calls, if Christ is all, then I can welcome that
gentleman, because he won't do anything but take me to the arms
of Christ. That's right. Even so, come Lord
Jesus. One of the hymn writers put it
this way, the moon and the stars shall lose their light. Someday
the sun is going to sink in endless night, and heaven and earth as
we know it shall pass away. The works of nature shall all
decay. But they to whom Christ is all
and in all, though lost and ruined by the fall, shall see the danger
overpass, stand the storm, rise at last. For what Christ said
will be fulfilled, and on that rock a believer builds. His blood shall stand, his truth
prevail, and not one word of promise fail." Now you can rest
in that case. You know, that's the only thing
this old sinful nature heart of ours, that He is the only
rest. There is no other rest. It's
just resting in Christ. He is our peace. And that will
rejoice your heart. All right. Thank you very much.

Christ Is All

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