If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall
appear, then shall you also appear with Him. Mortify therefore your
members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinance,
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is our
idolatry. Alright, let's pray. Oh, blessed, blessed Father in
heaven, holy, holy, holy art thou. Glorious in your being. Mighty in your power. Sitting there in your glory.
Sitting there in your majesty. Sitting there in your authority. Sitting there with all power
in heaven and earth given to you. And Lord, we live on the
earth that belongs to you, just your footstool. And when we look
into the heavens, you're past the heavens. And so Lord, we
come to worship you, to adore you, magnify you, honor you. And Lord, we thank you for the
health, the strength, the ability you give us. We thank you for
what you've done here in this congregation of believers. Lord,
we thank you for every profession. We thank you for every saint
of God. We thank you for every miracle you've performed when
you save a sinner. What a miracle it is. Supernatural
act. Lord, we thank you for everyone.
Thank you especially for our own salvation. Thank you for
what you did for us in Christ before the world ever began.
And Lord, we thank you for those that are going to make a confession
this morning through their baptism. We pray your great and richest
blessings upon them. And Lord Jesus, we pray for those
who are frail in body or frail in spirit. Lord, weak and they're
maybe discouraged, maybe depressed. Lord, you know. And we pray for
them. Those that are sick, we ask for
your mercies and grace. God bless Joe and Bruce and uphold
them by your wonder, sovereign mercy. And Lord Jesus, continue
to bless Bill and Dorotha. And Lord, guide us by your hand.
Save people in this place. Have mercy upon our lost loved
ones. We ask these things in Christ's
blessed name. Amen. Amen. And I want to get my subject this morning from
verse 4. One thing I love about the King
James Bible, wherever they added words, they're always italicized. And the reason they're italicized
is to show that you know that they were added words. So when
you read this verse of scripture, when Christ, our life, you can
leave out the who is, it's been added. When Christ, our life, Now Christ is the believer's
life. He is our life. He's not the most important thing
in our lives. People say you need to make Jesus
the most important thing in your life. No. No, no, no. You need to make Him Lord. You're
already late. God made Him Lord before the
foundation of the world. He is He is the creator, sustainer
of this universe. And Christ, our life. That's
what I want to talk about. Christ, our life. Let me say
this. Life is relative. Life is relative. What do I mean by that? There
are some who have life, but they aren't living. You have people
this morning that are living on machines. They live by The
machine breathes for them. Machines keep them alive. And
they're just laying there. And if they take them off the
machines, they die. And sometimes there are people
who, through sickness, have no quality of life. They just go
down and down and down and have no quality of life. Like you
take people in nursing homes. They don't even know where they
are or who they are. There's no quality of life in
that. God help us if we don't end up that way, but we're very
well made. Some live a life of debauchery
and perversion. I don't want a life like that,
that's for sure. Some live a life in pride and
self-righteousness, trusting in themselves, thinking they're
better than others. Some live a life of party and
riotous living and call it really, really living. There used to
be one of Ethel's brothers, Fred was his name, Fred Lawson. He used to go out on Friday night
and he'd tell Herman and Ethel, he said, I just got to go out
and get drunk tonight. I just hate to do it, but somebody's
got to do it. He'd do that every Friday night.
Thought he was living. Thought he was having a big time.
Went out into eternity. That way. You call that living? Call that living. Some live a
life of hatred, meanness, and misery. They're miserable. They hate everybody. They hate
their life. They hate the people around them.
And they live in such misery, they're never satisfied with
anyone or anything. They're always upset with somebody
and think nobody likes them and nobody wants to do anything with
them. That's because they're so full of hatred and misery
and they don't have a life and I tell you what, nothing can
satisfy them under any circumstance. And that's a terrible way to
be. But there's people that way. They're dismissible and everything
you do is wrong. And they won't let you know that
everything they do is wrong. Everything you do is wrong. And
some live a life that's no different than an animal. They just eat. They just sleep. And they're
unconscious of any other life than this life they're living
right now. Just like an animal. And then last of all, some lead
a life of very religious life. Deceiving and being deceived.
Now do you understand what I mean how that life is relative? Huh? Life is relative. But let me
tell you this. But there is life. Life in capital letters. A life that's full. Full! You call it a full life. You
call it the life that's free. Free. free of this world and
the things that attach to the world, free from sin, free from
fear of being in the judgment of God, with a life that's full
of joy, a life that's full of peace, a life of the greatest
quality. It's called eternal life. And it's a life that's united
to Christ. And here we have what is defined
by God Himself what life is. What life is. Christ our life. Now that's life. Ain't that life? That's the quality of life. And
let me tell you a few things about Christ being our life.
First of all, He's the source of our life. Our Lord Jesus Christ
said, I come to give eternal life. I come to give it. The source of life is through
our Lord Jesus Christ. I give, I'm the good shepherd
that laid down his life for the sheep. He said, because I live,
you shall live also. So our source of life comes from
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that's got
life in himself. So if we have a life, it's got
to come from him. We don't have no life apart from
Christ. No spiritual life apart from
Him. Now our Lord Jesus Christ, He's the source of all life.
He's the creator of this world and all that's in it. He's before
all things and by Him all things consist. But I tell you, He's
the source of all life. You look up into the heavens,
Christ created them heavens. And you look at the stars, He's
the bright morning star. And the scripture said He's the
bright and He's the evening star. And not only that, beloved, but
all animal life. There's not an animal on this
planet that Christ didn't give life to and create. And then
you talk about vegetable life. All the life that we see, all
the trees, all the things that we eat and all that. He's the
creator of that, sustainer of that. If He doesn't bless it,
you're not going to have it. Ethel used to all, every time
she'd plant her garden, everything she'd plant, when she got done,
she'd say, now Lord, I've planted it, and I've put it in the ground,
but Lord, if you don't bless it, it ain't gonna do no good.
And she prayed that way every time she put something in the
ground. Lord, bless this seed. Bless this seed. Lord, bless
the seed of the word of God. Bless the gospel. Bless the gospel. And I'll tell you what, but he
is especially the source of spiritual life. You keep Colossians, look
over here in John 17. He's especially the source of
spiritual life. Look in John 17. You know, that's
why the Apostle Paul said, I live. I live. I'm living. Yet it's not I that live. But
who is it that lives? Christ lives in me. That's what he said. You know,
Christ in you is the hope and glory. But look what he said
here. I tell you what, he's the author of a source of especially
spiritual life. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven. and said, Father, the hour has
come, my time has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. Now listen to this, as thou hast
given him power, that word power means might and also authority
over all flesh. Now I know there's a lot of people
in here this morning And Christ has power over every single one
of us in this building this morning. Whether we're saved or whether
we're not. Whether He's given us grace or
whether He's not. He's the one that's got the power
and authority to do with us what He wills to do. Now ain't that
right? That He should give. Now you
notice that He should give. And if you have eternal life,
it's given to you. That he should give eternal life
unto as many as thou hast given him. And you know what? He defined
eternal life right here. He said, you want to know what
eternal life is? This is the definition of it. That they might
know thee, the only true God. God. One God. One Father. One Lord. Listen to this, and
not only know the true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast. Know God, know Christ. Know Christ,
you know God. So that's what he's talking about.
And I tell you, when our Lord Jesus Christ, when Lazarus got
sick, they said to him, said, Lord, he whom thou lovest is
sick. You know what he said? He's sick for the glory of God.
And see, we were dead in trespasses and sins. He's the one that quickened us.
And that's what he says, you know, and look what he says there
in verse three, we are dead, dead to sin, dead to the world. And look what he says now, and
your life is hid with Christ in God. You know, we live with
Him, we died with Him, we live with Him, we're joined to Him.
He's the vine and we're the branches. You separated from Christ and
you die. Let everybody else go where they want to. Christ is
our life. Christ is our life. Not only
is He the source of it, but listen to this. He's the security of
it. It's one thing to have life and
Him to give it to you. But how do you know it's going
to last? Folks make professions a lot
of folks walk hours a lot of folks except Jesus a lot of folks
There's been a lot of people here that's made Professions
and a lot of people that I've baptized and then they stay here
for a year or two and then they just do something else I don't
know what happens to But they're not here. And why isn't? But
I tell you what, there is a people, when Christ gives us our life,
and Christ is our life, He's the sheer purity of that life. He said in John 10, 28, I give
unto them eternal life, and you know what He said? They shall
never, never perish. Can't do it. Why? Because He
said you couldn't. Why can't you? Because He gave
it to you. And since He's the source of
it and got the power over it, why would He give you something
and then take it back? Huh? And oh, He's never lost
one for whom He died. All that the Father giveth Him
shall come to Him, and him that cometh to Him shall a no wise
cast out. I've done, I've sinned enough
this morning since I've been here. If Christ was going to
cast me out, He would have cast me out years ago. I've done sin
enough in this service today. You say, you ain't done nothing
but been hearing priests and saying that, but you don't know
me. You don't know what goes on in this mind. And oh, listen,
He's never lost one for whom He died. And He said, this is
the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which cometh to
Me, I should not lose nothing. But not only shall I not lose
them, but I'm going to raise them up again in the last day.
That's how long I'm going to keep them. That's how long they're
secure. I not only give them life, but when they die, I'm
going to raise them up again. I raised them from spiritual
death. Now I'm going to raise them to eternal life in glory.
Huh? Oh my! He said, Lord Jesus Christ
says this, He said, I pray for them, I don't pray for the world.
I pray that Lord that you don't take them out of the world, but
you keep them. And I kept through thy name that those that has
given me. Oh my! The Old Testament saints
were preserved by Him and forgiven and justified by Him and because
of Him. And that's why He says, you're
dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Do you know
the best place to hide from God is in God? And do you know where you hide in
God? In Christ! That's where God said, I'm going
to put you in Christ and I'm going to hide you. Right there.
Sin can't find you. Satan can't find you. Death can't
find you. Hell can't find you. Nothing
can find you. You know why? Because you're
in Christ. God put you there. That makes you happy all over,
don't it? He which hath begun, begun a good work in you. You
know what he's going to do? He's going to keep on keeping
it on, keeping it on until the day of Jesus Christ. Who shall separate us from the
love of God in Christ? How many times have you all been
in trouble? How many trials have you had? How many times have
you been taken right down into the darkness and the depths?
But it never separated you from Christ. Huh? No. Can't do it. How about the peril
or the sword? Or hunger or famine? He said, I'm persuaded. I am
absolutely convinced. that nothing, present, nothing
in the past, nothing in the future, not even an angel of God can
separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. Can't
do it. That gives me hope. That gives
me, oh what a blessed hope that is. He gives us life, then he
keeps that life existing. And then not only that, But He's
the sustenance of it. It's by Him that we live. You
know, we have to eat. We live naturally
by food. Drink, light, rest, health, all
those things. Well, He's the sustenance of
it. Keep Colossians and look with me over in John 6.30. John
6.30. You know, This Christ is our life and then
we live off of Christ. Look what it says here in verse
30. You'll see what I'm talking about. He's the sustenance of it. You
know when you lose your appetite, you get sick, you lose your appetite.
If you get a fever, get real sick or something, you know people
lose their appetite. And this is a way you can tell
whether you, you know, you can get spiritually sick. You can
have great spiritual health or spiritual, not have very good
spiritual health. And if you don't live on Christ,
and Christ's not your substance, you're going to get weak. You're
going to get frail. So you know one thing to ask
yourself, do I get tired of living off of Christ? Because our spiritual
health and our natural health comes from what we eat, what
we drink, how we rest, how we take care of ourselves. And I
tell you what, and that's the way spiritual health is. You've
got to live on the right things and the only thing to live off
of is Christ Himself. He's our food. He's our drink. He's our health. He's our light.
And look what it said here in verse 30, John 6. Then said they, they said therefore
unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe
thee? What work are you going to do? Our fathers did eat manna,
heavenly bread, in the desert, as it is written, and he gave
them bread from heaven to eat. And our Lord said to them, I'm
going to, verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto you, Moses
didn't give you that bread from heaven. Moses couldn't give you
anything. But my Father giveth you the
true bread from heaven. For the bread of God, listen
to this, for the bread of God is He. Not a thing, He. The bread of God is He. out from heaven and give us life
unto the world. Then they said, Lord, evermore
give us this bread. That's what I say, Lord, give
me that bread. Give me this bread. And Jesus
said, I am, listen to this now, I'm the bread of life. Bread of life. What he said is
that you eat me and life comes from me. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger. Have you ever hungered for salvation
again? Have you ever hungered for another hope? Have you ever
hungered for another sacrifice? Have you ever hungered for another
righteousness? Have you ever hungered for another
hope? No, you haven't. And I tell you what, He says
this, And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Have you
ever thirsted for another righteousness? Have you ever thirsted for another
hope? Have you ever thirsted for another salvation? No. You know why? Because Christ
is our life. You know, He's that true manna
that came down from heaven. We eat Him. He's our bread. And then He said He's the water
of life. When He told that woman at the
well, He said, If you knew who it was that was talking to you,
I'd give you water that would endure unto life. And she said,
Lord, are you greater than our father Jacob that drilled this
and made this well? And he said, listen. I give unto
you a water of life. I am the water of life. And I
give unto you a drink that you'll never have to come here and get
out of this water again. The drink that I give you and
the water that I give you will endure unto eternal life. And
then the scriptures tells us, our Lord said, I'm the light
of the world. Now I tell you what, we didn't give ourselves
spiritual life and we can't sustain our spiritual life. But everything
that we have spiritually comes from Christ. And I'm telling
you, I know this, that a person can get spiritually sick. They
really can. You separate yourself from the
gospel on a regular basis. You separate yourself from hearing
the Word of God on a regular basis. You separate yourself
from being fed by Christ, being watered by Christ, and Christ
giving you rest, and hearing all that you have in Christ.
In a little while, you start doing that, and the next thing
you know, you say, well, I'd like to go to church, but I just
don't know if I'll do that today. The next thing you know, you're
so weak. that you ain't got enough strength
to come. And I tell you what, and the next thing, listen, if
you're gonna stay spiritually healthy, you got, and that's,
I'm telling you the truth, you got to continually and consistently
hear the gospel, hear the word of God. And without it, oh, I wouldn't be, I've got to
have it. I mean, I've got to have it.
I've got to. I'm scared to death that if I
miss a service, I'll miss something. Somebody may say something that's
just exactly what I need to hear. You all that way? That's why
you know you're talking about kids when you was raising kids
and you couldn't get them to go to sleep or anything, you
know? And they said they're afraid they're going to miss something.
Go on to bed. Ain't nothing going to happen. They won't stay awake
because they're afraid they're going to miss something. Listen, that's
the way I am about worship. Afraid I'm going to miss something.
Oh, man, I don't want to miss a thing from Christ, do you?
No, no, no. Oh, everything that's necessary
to our spiritual life, Christ does that to us. And then let
me give you the fourth thing about Christ our life. He's the
object of our life. He's the object of it. Just go
back one chapter. Go back to your left. Philippians
chapter 1 verse 21. Look what it says here. He's the object of our life. Christ our life. He's the object
of it. Look what he says here now. For
me to live, listen to this, is Christ. For me to live is Christ. And
oh my, listen to this now. Oh, but I tell you what, to die,
right now to live is Christ. Then if you die in Christ and
live trusting Christ, what a gain, what a gain. So he's the object
of it for this life and especially for the life to come. And we've
seen our Lord Jesus Christ by faith. The Apostle says, you
know, we've seen many, many things, but we see Jesus who was made
a little Lord than the angels by the grace of God, tasted death,
for every man that he might bring many sons unto glory. Oh, listen. And we're seeing
him by faith. We saw him by faith and we see
him by faith now. Looking unto Jesus. Looking. Looking right now. Look unto
me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. Looking
unto Jesus. Why? Where else are we going
to look? Huh? You gonna look at yourself? Or anything in the flesh? Every
time I do that, I get in despair. Oh, I get in despair. I get so
discouraged if I look at myself and what I say and what I do
and the things that I... I get so discouraged. I get depressed
when I look at myself. And I begin to doubt how in the
world could I possibly be saved the way I am. Thank God for Bud. Bud, living
by Christ, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, there is Him believing
His joy and peace. In Him, when I look to Him, there's
joy. There's peace. There's assurance. A life that's got purpose to
it. I mean, we have a purpose for living. Our life has purpose. Before that, look at all the
people that's living and they have no purpose in nothing but
just to live, to eat, to drink, to make merry, make a lot of
money, be successful, drive big cars, be noticed. And then there's other people
that give a big quack about God, Christ, to anybody else. This
is a Facebook age. This is the age when your whole
life is put out there and that shows you that you ain't got
a life worth anything. If you had to live by Facebook
and what's going on on Facebook, you done missed it. Gotta have a life with a purpose.
God gave us a purpose. A purpose to live to the glory
of Christ. A purpose. The church. The Lord's
people. The gospel. The word. to enjoy
Christ and His blessings. He gave us a purpose. I have
a reason now. I got a purpose. Now listen,
we have a definite life. Definite is defined. And what
defines it? Christ defines our life. Right? You know, Oh, listen, our Lord Jesus was
preaching to them, in John 6, and a whole, I mean, thousands
walked away from Him. Not just four or five. Thousands
walked away from Him. And He turned around and looked
at that twelve, there's twelve of them back there. He looked
at them and said, I guess you all are going to leave too. And
you know what they said? Oh Lord, Lord, where in the world
could we possibly go? Where could we possibly go? Who
could we go to? Who could give us life? Who could
give us joy? That can give us peace. That
can give us this wonderful rest. This light, it just fills us
with such glory and such enjoyment. How, how, how could, oh Lord,
how could we go anywhere else? Oh, and I'll tell you, we're
living, looking at Him by faith right now, looking unto Him,
the author and finisher of our faith. And then, John said it
like this, Beloved, Now are we the sons of God. We right now
are. And when He shall appear, we
shall see Him as He is. And not only see Him as He is,
but you know what else it says? It says we should be just like
Him. What does it mean to be just
like Him? It means to have life with no
end and no sin and be enabled. We sung that song, Have Thine
Own Way. Then God will really have His own way with us. Huh? We'll be then what we would be
now if we could. Huh? Okay. Let me give you this. Look over
with me in 1 Peter chapter 2. 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse
21 and he's the example of our life he's the example of it look what
it said here verse 21 for even here unto where you
called God called us called us to what? because Christ also
suffered for us not only given on your behalf to believe on
Christ but also to suffer for him Christ also suffered for
us leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps
now here's something who did no sin Well, he put our sin away, so
we have not. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. That means there was no hypocrisy. There was no guile. There was no deceit. Nothing
but truth found in him. Now listen to this. When he was
reviled, he didn't revile again. When somebody said something
ugly to him, he didn't turn around and say something ugly to them.
When somebody called him a demon, called him a devil, called him
a Samaritan, Our Lord never reviled him again. When he suffered,
he didn't turn around and threaten somebody. Now you do that to
me again and I'm going to get even with you. He didn't do that. But what did he do? He committed
himself to Him that judges righteously. Now I'll tell you what we can
do. We can do that. We can suffer for Christ. and
take it and not let everybody know what we're going through. When we revile, somebody says
something mean to us, ugly to us, we don't have to respond
in kind. And we can commit ourselves unto
God who judges righteously. And that's what we do. But I'll
tell you something else about how Christ is our example. He's
our example of submission. Oh, to be able to entirely, completely
submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. To God. He's an example of our
obedience. Oh God, to obey His blessed word.
Of humility. Of humility. He's our example
of giving, of prayer, of love, all to love, and forgiveness. And oh, He was a servant, so
should not we be a servant? You see, it's His image we're
going to be conformed to. And that conformity starts right
here. Starts right here. I know I've told you this before,
but I heard this illustration years and years ago. when this
fella went into this old country store and had a potbelly stove
and some of them in the south still do and there's a place
up in Kentucky still kind of that way. Old men gather in there
and play cards and sit around and chew the fat and whatever
they do and spit and whittle and carry on, you know. But in
this old country store and there's dogs, wooden dogs, all over the
place up there. Different colors, you know. And
there was a fellow sitting there by the fire and he was whittling.
And he said, boy, these dogs, who made all them dogs? And the
guy whittled and said, I did. He said, how in the world do
you do that? He said, they look so good. He said, I whittle away
everything that don't look like a dog. And that's why God's doing that.
He's whittling away everything that doesn't conform to Christ.
And one of these days, that last whittle is going to be done.
We're gone. God's going to cut away everything
that don't look like Christ. And Lord, you can't cut fast
enough and you can't whittle fast enough. Oh, I want to be
conformed to His image. And one of these days, bless
His name, I will. I will. And all right, now let me show
you this. He's the crown of our life. He
is our life and He's the crown of it. Look with me in James
chapter 1. I don't want to take up too much
time, but James chapter 1. You know there's a lot of crowns
in the scripture. And I'm going to bring a message
out to California. Will we have any stars in our
crown? Will we have any stars in our
crown? Well, he's the crown of our life. He is our life and he's the crown
of it. Look what James said here. Blessed is the man, James 1.12,
blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried,
he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised
to them that love him. Now you notice here now that
this is the crown of life that you have right now. Right now. He didn't say you're going to
get it in the end. You got it right now. He's the crown of
life. That man that endures temptation.
Anybody here endure temptation? Christ is the crown of your life.
He's the crown of your life. And I tell you what, he's the
reward, he's our crown, and he's all the stars that go in it.
Let me show you another. Over here in 2 Timothy. Look
at this one. This is where Henry told them,
said, now I want you all, this is what I want you all to preach
my funeral from. He picked out this text that
he wanted them to preach. And this was the text that he
wanted them to preach from. Look what he says here. First
2nd Timothy 4.6. For I am now ready to be offered. I'm ready to become a sacrifice. I'm ready right now to give myself
away. Give myself to Christ even in
my body. And the time of my departure
is right now. It's right ahead. And I fought
a good fight. Oh my. Fought a good fight with
the gospel. Fought a good fight as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I finished my course. I had a
race to run. I had a course to do in this
life. And I've done it. I finished it. And Lord bless
the name of Christ. I kept the faith. What Christ
taught me, the gospel he taught me, and all of Christ's being
in my life, I've kept that. I've guarded that. I've kept
that. Now listen to this. His force there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness. Oh my. Which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me on that day. And not to me only, but
everyone that's looking also in love his appearing. Now there's
four crowns, I think, here in the scriptures. There's a crown
of life. Christ is our life. There's a
crown of glory. And there's a crown of righteousness.
And then there's an interruptible crown. And that's why the apostle
says to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord.
Now let me ask you, what about you? Can you say Christ is your
life? Can you say Christ is your life?
Can you say definitively right now, Christ is my life. I believe
what you said, preacher. I believe that you said Christ
is my life, our life. I believe He's my life. Can you
say that? For me to live is Christ? And all to go be with Him is
gain? And back over here in our text,
look at this. Look at this. I'm going to quit with this. Oh my. Christ our life. Christ our life. Look what it says now. When Christ
our life, now listen to this now. He's going to appear. He's going to appear. And then look what he says, then
she also appear with him. Where are you going to appear
with him at? When he's manifested in his glory,
we're going to be manifested with him. When he appears in
his glory, we're going to be right there with him. Oh my! When he appears, We're
going to appear with Him in all of His glory. Whenever our eyes
shall see Him, we're going to be looking at Him with Him. Oh,
Christ our life. Oh, my. Is He your life? If He's
your life, and you want to confess Him this morning with these other
two, you just come on and do it. You just come on and confess
your faith in Christ. Oh, confess your faith in Christ. Our Lord Jesus, oh our blessed
Master, thank you for your word, thank you for your gospel, thank
you for the truth as it is in Christ. God bless this word. Lord, bless it to hearts, minds,
and understanding. May it bring forth fruit to your
glory. May it bring honor to your holy
name. May sinners be saved by your amazing, amazing grace. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.