Thank you, Mike. Let's go back
to that portion of scripture that Ron read to us earlier,
and that would be in the book of Colossians chapter 1. And before I get into the message,
let's bow our heads and ask for the blessings of God. Our Father, we're thankful for
your mercy that you have shown to so many of us, and especially
these that were baptized this morning. We're thankful that
the Spirit of God led them to publicly confess their faith
in the waters of baptism. acknowledging that their only
hope of salvation, their only dependence upon heaven
and acceptance with God is based upon the Lord Jesus Christ and
his merits and his faithfulness unto death. We're thankful that
he who laid down his life took it up again. and he ever lives
to make intercession for your people. Bless these three individuals,
even as you have already blessed them with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. We ask for them that you would
lead them in paths of righteousness, Lord, for your name's sake. and
for all the rest of us who are here, who join with them in confessing
that the Lord Jesus is our only Savior. He is our only hope of salvation. We fully depend upon Him by the
gift of faith that the Holy Spirit has gifted us with. Lord, we
acknowledge with thanksgiving your wonderful mercies to us. And as was just sung, the Lord
is so good to us. And we bless you and we honor
you this morning. We ask that as the word of God
goes forth, now that it will go forth in power, and that you
would make the word effectual, may it do its work, in the hearts
to whom you send it. Bless us all, Lord, for Jesus'
sake. Amen. As I think about this passage
of scripture that Ron read to you, and especially kind of right
there in the middle, I wonder how the apostle was affected
when the Spirit of God gave him these tremendous declarations
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read again, it's sort
of in the middle of the passage Ron read to us. Look at verse
13. Who hath delivered us, rescued us from the power of
darkness, and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. And remember, the spirit of God
is telling the apostle the things to write. And I just feel sure that when
these next words were given to him, his heart beat faster. And he was once again caught
up with the wonders and the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. As
the Spirit of God told him to write, and you can almost envision
Paul with his quill and his parchment and he's writing, and the Spirit
of God said, write this, in whom we have, we possess redemption
And then he said, through his blood. And when he said the word,
the Spirit of God said the word blood, and Paul wrote that, his
heart beat quicker. He was rejoicing in his own soul
in that redemption that is found in Christ Jesus through the bloody
sacrifice of Christ. And then he wrote these words,
even the forgiveness of sins, I'm sure the apostle must have
paused, probably tears filled his eyes
as he thought of his life of self-righteousness, his life
as a Pharisee, when he hated the Lord Jesus Christ. Why, it
was the goal of this man to stamp out the very identity of Jesus
of Nazareth. and He wanted to do away with
all those who believed in that name, all who rested in Christ
the Savior for salvation. He had before blasphemed the
name of the Son of God, and now He loves that sweet name. There
is no name on earth any sweeter to this man than the name of
Christ the Savior. And the Spirit of God said, keep
writing. And then he wrote of the wonders of the magnificence
of the Savior. Look at verse 15, who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. He says, for by him were all
things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by Him, this Redeemer who laid
down His life, gave His life a ransom for many, all things
were created by Him and they were created for Him. And He
is before all things. and by him all things consist. He says in verse 18, and he is
the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence,
for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And then the Spirit of God said,
write this, Paul, and having made peace, peace with God through
the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, and He
must have then thought to Himself, That's about me. I'm one of those who was alienated
from God. I'm one of those who was an enemy
in my mind toward Jesus of Nazareth. And yet, even when I was an enemy
of the Son of God, He loved me and He gave Himself for me. in the body of his own flesh
through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. What a magnificent portion of
scripture. Now we are Trinitarians. We believe
in the Trinity because that's what the Bible teaches. In 1
John chapter five, there are three that bear witness in heaven.
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. We believe in the Trinity. I
can't describe the Trinity for you. There's no illustration
that I can illustrate the Trinity to you. It's a matter of faith.
We just believe what the Word of God says. There are three,
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but there's just one
God. Say, Jim, I can't wrap my mind around that. Well, you join
me on that. There are a lot of things I can't
wrap my mind around, but I do believe that there is a unity
and a oneness within the Godhead. And in old eternity, the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit covenanted together for the salvation of
a multitude of sinners which no man can number. The Father
chose a people unto salvation, not without the approval of and
the agreement of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but more often
it is attributed to the Father. And then the Son of God, He agreed
to be the Redeemer. He agreed to be the Savior of
these that the Father chose, and the Holy Spirit would be
the one who would quicken through the Word of God. He would regenerate. He would cause them to be born
again, and they would be gifted with faith and repentance. But
within the Godhead, there was unity in this decision, if I
could use that word. that all of the fullness of the
Godhead would dwell bodily in that middle one, the Son of God. He would himself veil his deity
with our humanity. And in that body, he would live
and die for sinners. And so he was made of a woman,
the Bible says, made under the law of God, in order to redeem
sinners. You see, the reason that God
the Son had to be made man was because God can't suffer, God
can't bleed, God can't die. God is invisible. You will never
lay eyes on God the Father except as you see Him in God the Son.
And you will never be able to see God the Holy Spirit except
as you see Him in God the Son. All of the Godhead can only be
seen visibly as all men shall see someday in the Son of God. Therefore, he left heaven. He
took upon himself the form of a servant. Romans chapter 8 says
that he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. And in that body of flesh, he
condemned sin in the flesh in order to save us. You see,
you need to understand this. there is a preeminence in the
Lord Jesus Christ that exists according to the eternal decree
of God. And when our Lord Jesus was in
this world, when He walked on this earth, that's God walking on this earth. That's the God-man. You will remember in John chapter
14, I'm sure several of you remember this passage of scripture. Our
Lord was, he said to his disciples, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And Philip,
having heard those words, no man cometh to the Father, but
by me. Philip said, well, if you would
show us the Father, if you would manifest the Father to us, we
will be satisfied. And the Lord Jesus said, Philip,
have I been with you all this time? And you don't know, you
don't realize that he who has seen me has seen the Father. You see, as it says here in the
last few words of Colossians 1 in verse 18, In all things, he might have
the preeminence. The Lord Jesus Christ, according
to God's eternal purpose, has all the preeminence. God has
ordained it that way. So here's what that means. You
say, well, Jim, what does that mean to me? It means that you
can't come to God except through the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You say, well, what about people
who don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or they deny his
deity? They cannot come to God. You
say, that sounds pretty strict. It's very strict. It's a narrow
way. Anybody who denies the deity
or the humanity of the Son of God does not know God. You cannot know God except through
Christ Jesus. And further, God is not going
to speak to, and you're not going to speak to God except through
this One who has all preeminence. You say, Jim, I know a lot of
people who pray and I don't think they believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, it's not a prayer, it's just some religious words. It's not really prayer. You see, you cannot come into
the presence of God, a holy God. a God who's just, a God who's
righteous. You cannot come into his presence
except through a mediator, and Christ is that mediator. And
in order for us to draw near to God through our mediator,
the mediator had to suffer, bleed, and die because that's the penalty
for sin. You see, if you would know God,
say, I want to know God. Our Lord Jesus said in John chapter
17, this is eternal life that they might know thee, the only
true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. If you want to
know God, and I'm not into hand raising, but I'll tell you this,
I want to know God. But you cannot know God except
as you know God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's not gonna draw near
to you, and you can't draw near to God, except through this one,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll go a little further
and say this, God cannot be worshiped. This is Sunday, and most of the
church doors are open on Sunday. We go into a worship service.
But did you know you can't worship God except through Christ Jesus,
the Lord? Let me show you a passage of
scripture. It's in the Old Testament. Exodus, if you wouldn't mind
turning in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 29. What I'm talking about is Christ
is preeminent in all things. Exodus chapter 29. Let me read a few verses to you,
beginning at verse 38. Exodus chapter 29. This is when the Lord is giving
all the instructions about the tabernacle and the pieces of
furniture in the tabernacle in the wilderness. And the Lord
says this, okay, chapter 29 verse 38. Now this is that which thou shalt
offer upon the altar, that a big brazen altar. It's the biggest
piece of furniture at the tabernacle. It met you as soon as you stepped
inside the gates. So this is that which thou shalt
offer upon the altar, that is at sacrifices. He says, two lambs
of the first year, day by day, continually. And that means exactly
what you think it means. Every single day they had to
offer two lambs. Verse 39 gives you a little further
insight into this. The one lamb thou shalt offer
in the morning about 9 a.m. And the other lamb thou shalt
offer at even about 3 p.m. Every day, no exceptions. Verse 40. And with the one lamb
in the morning, a 10th deal of flour mingled with a fourth part
of an hen of beaten oil. This picture is Christ who is
our bread. Remember the Savior said in John
six, I'm the true bread that came down from heaven. That's
what this picture is. And a fourth part of an hen of
wine for a drink offering. What is a wine picture? Picture
is his blood. It pictures blood redemption.
When we take the Lord's supper, we bread and wine. And those
are the elements that we use in the Lord's supper, picturing
our Lord Jesus Christ. All right, verse 41. And the
other lamb, because it said two lambs, And the other lamb thou
shalt offer at evening, about three o'clock, and shalt do thereto
according to the meat offering, that is the bread offering of
the morning, and according to the drink offering, the wine,
for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. In other words, God will accept
that. It's a sweet savor. It smelled
good to him. And look at verse 42. This shall
be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. Watch this, where I will meet
you to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet with the
children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. and I will sanctify the tabernacle
of the congregation and the altar. I will sacrifice also both Aaron
and his sons to minister to me in the priest's office, and I
will dwell among the children of Israel and be their God."
Now, you say, well, okay, what's the point here, Jim? Both of
those lambs, the one offered in the morning and the one offered
in the evening, they picture our Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist identified and
said, he's the lamb of God. Behold the lamb of God. God sent
his son, the lamb of God. He's God's lamb. You see these
two lambs, two lambs were offered every single day, but they couldn't
put anybody's sin away. They only pictured one who would
come. It's like every offering on Jewish
altars were pointing to one who would come hundreds of years
in the future. But these lambs couldn't put
anybody's sins away, but they had to be offered because they
portrayed him who would come and only at the place of sacrifice. That's where God said, that's
where I'll meet you nowhere else. Would you like for God to meet
with you? That'd be amazing, wouldn't it? Be merciful. I'll tell you this. He's only going to meet with
you. He's only going to commune with
you. He's only gonna have fellowship
with you as you draw near to Him through the smitten, bruised,
crucified, buried, risen, exalted Lamb of God. That's the only
way you can draw near to Him, and He's not gonna draw near
to you apart from Christ. See, that's what this is teaching.
And over here in Colossians chapter one, where it says that He might
have the preeminence, He's got the preeminence over everything.
over everything. He's preeminent in creation.
It says here in the passage, you read it, all things were
made by Him. He's preeminent in what we call
providence. By Him, all things consist. He
sets everything in motion. He keeps everything in motion
to fulfill His will. He is preeminent in all things. in every situation. He's preeminent
in the revelation of the invisible God. So you'll never see, I've
already said this, but I want to emphasize again, you'll never
see the Father as the Father, and you'll never see the Spirit
as the Spirit. Now, whether you're a believer
or an unbeliever, when you leave this world, you're going to meet
God. And you know who you're going
to meet? you'll make Christ the Son. Because in Him the Father
dwells, in Him the Spirit dwells bodily. The fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Him. This one who's the creator of
all things, this one who is preeminent in providence, this one who reveals
the Father. I know we live in the day of
make your decision for Jesus. And you hear it on the television.
You make all the decisions you want to. You will not be any
better. You won't be any better toward
God. You won't be any closer toward God. You'll be just further
away. You see, we have lost, religion
today has almost totally lost, although there are a few places
and a few voices that preach the truth. They've lost this
idea of salvation by revelation. The Savior has to be revealed
to you. I'm not asking you to open up
your heart to Jesus. I'm asking the Son of God, the
Sovereign Savior, to open up your heart, like He did Lydia
in Acts chapter 16. He opened her heart and she gave
heed to the Word of God. This is what's necessary. Preachers
are saying, decide for Jesus, decide for Jesus. What will you
do with Jesus? A better question is this, what's
the Lord Jesus Christ going to do with you? Let's just be honest here. What's he going to do with you?
It's not about what you're going to do with him, because really
you can't do anything with him. He's on his holy throne. He's exalted. What are you going
to do with him? You can't do anything with him.
You can't let him do anything. He's got all power over all things. You're going to let God do something?
Where were you when the world was created? Well, I didn't exist
and I know you didn't. And He made everything just fine
without you. And He keeps everything going
just fine without you and me. Who renders help to Him? Who
assists Him in any way? The answer is nobody. It's not
about what you can do for Jesus. It's about what the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only Savior, must do and can do, if He will, for
you. Oh God, show us mercy. That's
what we pray, isn't it? He's preeminent in salvation. It says here in verse 14, in
whom we have redemption. We have redemption in somebody.
What does that mean? He paid our ransom. He paid a debt we could never
pay. And all for whom he paid the
debt by his bloody death, they have forgiveness of sins. You know what forgiveness of
sins is? He took them upon himself and
he bore them plum away. They're gone. I'm so thankful I don't have
to answer for the wrongs that I've done or said or thought. No, my Savior paid my debt. God
doesn't hold anything against His people. He's not mad at anybody
that He's beloved. He has love from the beginning,
from before the beginning of the world. Christ is preeminent. He's preeminent in redemption.
He paid the debt. He put our sins away. And I'll
tell you this, he's preeminent in the church of God. Says here,
he's the head of the body of the church. In the kingdom of God, Christ
is preeminent. He's the foundation of the church.
The whole of the church is built on Christ Jesus. Other foundation
can no man lay, which is laid, which is Christ Jesus the Lord.
He's the head of the church. He's the husband of the church.
He's the king of the church. He's the example of the church.
He's the bridegroom of the church. He's the builder of the church.
He's the strength of the church. He's the preserver of the church.
He's the keeper of the church. He's the peace and the point
of unity in the church. He's the message of the church.
He is our message. My message is not anti-abortion. My message is not this political,
going this political direction or that political direction.
That's not my message. My message is somebody. Do you
know somebody? An even better question is, does
he know you? Are you known of the Lord? He's
preeminent in the work of reconciliation. He's preeminent in all things. Oh, that He would shower us with
His grace and with His mercy. You see, as a result of His obedience
unto death, He ascended back to heaven. And the Father said,
sit here at my right hand. He's the exalted King. And He holds your destiny in
the palm of His hand. If He wills for you to live,
you'll live. If He wills for you to die, you'll
die. That's who He is. Say, I don't know anything about
that kind of Savior. You better pray that He introduces
Himself to you. He's the only one who can save
you. I proclaim to you magnificent Redeemer, all-powerful and all-glorious,
and we worship God through Him. Well, let's sing a closing hymn
this morning.