all fullness in Christ. Now in our Sunday School lesson,
we're studying the life of Joseph, and in the lesson this morning,
we looked at how Joseph is a picture of our heavenly Joseph, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it is He who is our heavenly
Joseph. We saw that there were seven years of plenty followed
by seven years of famine. And Joseph had been appointed
by Pharaoh to be Prime Minister after Joseph had interpreted
his dreams. Again, all by the power and wisdom
of God. Joseph could not have done it
unless God gave him the interpretation. And He gave him the interpretation
that the plenty years and the famine years would come to pass.
All by God's sovereign decree. And I had Brother Tim read that
portion for the very reason what things that he bought out, which
were wonderful because it ties right in with the message. Joseph
had built storehouses all over the land of Egypt during the
years of plenty. And he purchased the grain at
a very reasonable price, very cheap price. And he stored it
up for the years of famine. And all the nations around Egypt
were experiencing this famine. But there was corn in Egypt.
There was corn in Egypt. And in order to get that corn,
you had to go through Joseph. The only way you could get that
corn was through Joseph. And Joseph alone. And it was
all at the command of the king, Pharaoh. All at his command. And then, as I brought out in
Genesis chapter 41, verse 55, the scripture declares, and when
all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to the Pharaoh
for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph,
what he sayeth to you, do. Do. We know that God is only
pleased in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As he cried, there
was a voice from heaven that said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. Only in him. And we live. We live in a time of spiritual
famine. We do as Brother Tim, but we live in a time of spiritual
famine. There's a famine in the land.
And the famine is of the word of God. Of the word of God. But where do we come? We come
to the storehouses, don't we? We come to the storehouses where
the gospel is being preached. where it's being proclaimed.
And we receive our spiritual food from our heavenly Joseph
through the preaching of the word, through the preaching of
the gospel. God's people are nourished, aren't
we? Oh, we're fed and we feast, but oh, the cost. No, no cost to us, but oh, the
cost. Our heavenly Joseph paid for
us. All the cost he paid for us. For the salvation of his
people. And just as the Egyptians and
all the nations around Egypt had to go to Joseph to get food,
there's only one true bread of life. And that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. In him alone. He is the bread
of heaven. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. The only way to the Father. And all that a sinner
needs All that a sinner needs is found
in Christ. Sinner need look nowhere else
but to Christ. And by God-given faith, by the
regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God, God's people look
to Christ, don't we? We look to him. We look to him. There was once a time when, in
Genesis, when we looked at Genesis 41, 55, those people had a need. They came to Pharaoh because
they had exhausted all their own food supplies. They had a
desperate need, beloved. Food. Bread. And they could only get that
from Joseph. Because Pharaoh had said, whatever Joseph says,
you do. What a picture. God our Father
has put all power in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Him we see all fullness dwells. All fullness. It's in Him. It's in Christ and Christ alone.
Nowhere else. Again, all that a sinner needs
is found in Christ. Now man tries to fulfill their
needs by, spiritual needs by their doings. Lots of people in this world
are doing that. Following false idols. Vicki and I were driving
by a place this week and she says, look at that stone idol
out in front of someone's house. It can't do nothing. And I said,
amen. Worthless piece of stone. And people put these things in
their yards. They put them in their houses, some people even
pray to them. It's a piece of rock. It's a
dumb idol. It's useless. There's no life. But we serve the one true God,
beloved. We serve the one true God. Let's read Colossians chapter
one, verses 12 to 22. Look at this, Colossians chapter
1, verses 12 to 22. Giving thanks unto the Father,
and God's people give thanks unto the Father, don't we? Which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Now the word meet there in the Greek is qualified. He's
qualified us for heaven. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the only way we can get the glory. The only way
we can stand in the presence of the Father is in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And His righteousness is what
we're clothed in. Look at this, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life who have delivered us from the power of
darkness, that's what we were in, beloved, in our natural state,
and have translated us by His almighty power into the kingdom
of His dear Son. Now we're sons of God. Glory
to His name. What a miracle. What a miracle. In whom? Being Christ. We have
redemption. How? Through His blood. He gave
His life. Even the forgiveness of sins.
How many sins? Every single one of them. Past, present and future. Oh my, what a forgiveness. Who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth. He's the creator. Visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him, for His glory. And He is before all things,
everything. And by him all things consist. The very breath we breathe is
a gift from our great God. And he is the head of the church,
the body. He's the head and we're the body.
The church who is the beginning, the firstborn from all the dead,
that in all things he might have preeminence. For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fullness dwell. There's our text
right there. And having made peace, how? Through the blood
of his cross. And that peace is for us. He's
the sinless, spotless one. We have peace with God through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh my, and heaven made peace,
it's done through the blood of his cross, it's an accomplished
work. By him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I
say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And
you, this was our state, oh I remember this, that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
Oh, we preach and proclaim the ministry of reconciliation, that
the sinner is reconciled to God in and through Christ and Christ
alone. What a blessing. And in the body of his flesh
through death to present you. Look at this. Holy. Our dear
sister saying it is holy and unblameable. Look at that. Unblameable. Without charge. Holy, sinners
made holy and unblameable when all we do is sin. Look at this,
marvelous, unblameable. And unapprovable in his sight.
And then he says, if you continue in the faith, ground and settle
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. And who's the hope of the gospel?
Christ, Christ. which he hath heard, and which
was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof
I am Paul, and made a minister." Now Paul in this book, and in
these very verses that we read, all through this book he's exalting
the supremacy and the preeminence of Christ. The whole book is
written about that topic, the preeminence of Christ. And all
through the book, Christ is exalted. as the preeminent one and of course this was in contrast
to the Gnostic teachings which had crept into the church which
had crept into the church in the early churches where they
claim that Christ was was merely one mediator of many mediators
to God they had an angelic range and
they said well he's just one of many mediators That's not
what the scripture says, is it? No. So Paul is combating this error
which has crept into the church. And note the verbiage in verses
16-18 and how it gives Christ all the supremacy, beloved. It
gives Him all the preeminence. Look at verses 16-18. For by
Him, Christ, where 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 and for Him, and He is before
all things. And by Him all things consist.
You see the preeminence? He gets all the preeminence.
And He is the head. He even is to have preeminence
in the church. He used to have preeminence in
the church, right? Because he's the head of the
body, the church. And who's the church? The people.
The ecclesia, the called out assembly. This is a wonderful
building we have to meet in, but the church is the people,
beloved. It's God's called out people. God's called out people. And he's the head. And we're
the body. Who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
And there's the word preeminence. So Paul brings forth the supremacy
and the preeminence of Christ, again in opposition to the Gnostic
teachings which have been going on. And notice we have the pre-incarnate
word. Christ and his work. And then
we have set before us the incarnate word. in his work, the reconciling
power of his cross. So verse 16, we have set forth
before us the pre-incarnate word and all the work that he's done. Excuse me. And then now we're
seeing we have set forth before us the incarnate word. In his
work, the reconciling power of the cross. Look how in verses
19 to 22, Paul again brings forth the preeminence and the supremacy
of Christ. For it pleased the Father that
in him, that's Christ, should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him, so here is the incarnate word,
By Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him I say whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you, remember
this letter is written to God's born-again, blood-washed saints.
And you, you, a believer can look at that and
say, me. And you, that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. We didn't love God. Yet now hath he what? What a
word. Reconciled. Reconciled. Peace with God. In the body of
his flesh, again, speaking of the incarnation of the word of
God, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And Paul continues to stress
the preeminence of Christ in all things. Look at verse 19. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. It pleased the Father. It pleased
Jehovah. That in Christ, the incarnate
Word of God, should all fullness dwell. All the fullness of the
Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ. Turn, if you would, over one
chapter. One chapter and look at verse nine. I'm sorry, I got a tickle in
my throat. Verse nine. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Look at that. In Christ. Paul also pens similar words
over in the book of Ephesians when he says, and hath put all
things under his feet. Our great God is in full control,
absolutely sovereign. There's nothing that's not under
his feet, nothing that's outside of his control. And put all things
under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church. He's the head or the bottom. which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. And note here in
verse 19, again, how Paul brings forth the preeminence of Christ,
the supremacy of Christ, and note the singularity of it. Note
the singularity of it, too. And remember, he's attacking
the false teachings of the Gnostics, which says that there's multiple
mediators, and Christ is merely one of them. multiple mediators
between God and man. And note the precision of the
attack that Paul makes on Gnosticism. The singularity of it in him. In Christ. Only in Christ. Only in Christ all fullness dwells. Now the Gnostic teachers For
them, fullness was an important term in the Gnostic circles. They believed that they had a
superior knowledge, which only they could impart, a secret knowledge. And they believed in, again,
various spirits between God and man, and that a holy God would
not have any direct dealings with the material world. And these teachings had crept
into the church, beloved. They crept into the church. And
so Paul is writing this letter again, remember, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God. Always remember that when we
read the scriptures, it's by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. And he's writing to God's born-again,
blood-washed people to combat the errors, that even Christians were being
led astray by. This tells us we have to be careful,
beloved. We have to be careful. And this letter brings a sharp
contrast between the supremacy and preeminence of Christ and
the Gnostic teaching of multiple mediators. A sharp contrast. And Paul deals with it head-on,
just like he does... I love the writings of Paul because
he is, again, constantly battling works-based religion. And he
hits it head-on with Christ. Head-on. So what does this show us? Well,
it shows us that in No age are Christians not uncontaminated
by pagan thought. Therefore, we must be ever diligent
to hold fast to what the scriptures declare. We are to be Bereans.
We are to search the scriptures to see if it's so, what a man's
telling us. In the Gnostic teaching brought
forth with it pagan thoughts about, again, additional meditatorial
powers and assisting the work of bringing the fullness of God
to sinful man. And it taught that you could
only be taught these things by the Gnostic teachers. They were
the keepers of the secret knowledge. Anytime a man says they have
secret knowledge, we run away. Because the scriptures have no
private interpretation. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy,
chapter 2. God has made it clear in the
scriptures that there is only one mediator between God and
man. Now, multiple religions of this
world, one rather large one in this world, says you have to
go to a priest because he's the mediator. It's such a lie, beloved,
such a lie. There's only one mediator, only
one between the Father and us. There's only one. Look at this, 1 Timothy 2, verse
five. For there is one God, only one. All the other gods are false
gods. All of them. There's only one
God, Jehovah. Only one. And we marvel that
Jehovah's revealed himself to us, don't we? We marvel. And look at this, though. And
one mediator. Only one. Only one. No priest. It's not a priest,
is it? No? I used to believe that. But by
God's grace, he took me out of that. Look what it says, though. There's one God and one mediator
between God and man. So there's only one. There's
not multiples. You see, even Paul and Timothy
is combating the Gnostic error there, too, as well. There's
only one God and one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. There's only
one. And see, that grates against
the pride of man, beloved. at greats against man's power
over people saying, well, I know what you... The way the Catholic Church has
manipulated the masses over the years is atrocious. Is absolutely atrocious. There's
only one meter between God and man. It's not no priest. It's not me. It's not any of
you. It's the man, Christ Jesus. We say glory to His name, don't
we? We thank Him that He's revealed Himself to us. We give Him all
the glory. He took us out of the darkness.
And think of the darkness that we were in in religion. Think
of the darkness we were in just in our sin. And He's translated
us from that darkness to light. All by His almighty power. And
all by His grace bestowed upon us. We know that there's only one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And it's
the Holy Spirit who teaches us who that one mediator is. Turn,
if you would, to John chapter 16. It's the Holy Spirit who
teaches us who that one mediator is. We're not taught of man that
there's one mediator. No, we're taught of God that
there's one mediator. And remember, God's people, as we've been looking
at in our study in 1 John, God's people believe the record that
God has given us. And that record is the scriptures,
beloved. And by God-given faith, we believe that. We believe the
record that God's given of His Son, don't we? He's the only
mediator. He's the only hope. Again, beloved
of God, take away Christ and what do we have? We have nothing.
Do we? We have no hope without Christ.
We have no salvation without Christ. We have no peace with
God without Christ. We have no hope. But praise God, we have
hope, don't we? And it's Christ Jesus, our Lord.
It's Christ Jesus, our Lord. Look at this in John chapter
16, verses 13 and 14. How bait when he the spirit of
truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. All truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. I love verse 14. He shall glorify
me. He glorifies Christ. He don't
speak of himself. He glorifies Christ. For he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. He's the revealer. Left in our darkness, we're groping
around in the dark. And then we're born again by
the almighty power of the Holy Spirit of God and he reveals
the things of Christ to us. And oh, we love our Savior. We look at the wondrous cross
and we're in awe that our Savior died for my sins. It leaves us in utter awe that
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God would do that for me. Again, Paul's writing to Colossian
believers and he's bringing forth before them that in Christ, in
Christ alone, all fullness dwells. And the Godhead is full of power.
Nothing's too hard for the Lord, is it? Nothing's too hard for
him to do. If he wills it. If he wills it. I remember in religion, Oh, talk
about being a Pharisee. But I remember, you know, you'd
be witnessing something and think, oh, Lord will never save that
person. Oh, gosh. That's the height of
arrogance. God will save whomever he pleases.
And he's taken the vilest sinners. He's taken me, he's taken you.
He's taken the vilest sinners and made us trophies of his grace,
beloved. Isn't that amazing? John Newton
once said that when somebody came in with news of a no one
drunkard in town who the Lord saved, and he says, I'm not surprised. Because the young man said, can
you believe it? The Lord saved him. He says, I'm not surprised.
God saved me. He can save anybody. Anybody
he pleases. Anybody he pleases. Nothing's
too hard for the Lord, beloved. If he wills it, nothing's too
hard for him. Nothing too hard for Him, period.
All the fullness is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's able to
keep all things together. And He's able to save to the
uttermost, isn't He? Those He saves, He keeps. He keeps us. Praise be to God. And the Godhead
is full of righteousness, and God is no darkness at all. He's
holy. He's holy. He's righteous. And our Lord
Jesus Christ, He's the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. No one
can convict Him of sin. He's perfect. He's sinless. In
His life and in His death, He's perfect. He's perfect. He's holy and righteous, pure
and spotless. The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God that God Himself
has provided. Just as Abraham said, God shall
provide himself a land. And he did. He did at Calvary's
Cross, didn't he? Sent by the Father. Born to die. Born to die. To reconcile his
people to God. What a Savior. What a Savior. And note the word fullness in
Colossians 1.19. For it pleased the Father that
in Him, in Christ, should all fullness dwell. Note the word
fullness there. It's that which is filled. And the fullness there denotes
the sum total of divine powers, beloved. All fullness dwells
in Christ. All fullness dwells in Him. All the fullness of the Godhead
is deity bodily. We saw that over in chapter 2,
verse 9. Look at that again. For in Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All of it. Again, this word fullness,
when we take into account that Paul's writing against the false
Gnostic teachers in the Colossian church, again, it's a direct
attack. against the false teaching of
multiple mediators. So Paul continues to bring forth
the supremacy and the preeminence of Christ in contrast to the
false mediatorial beings which the Gnostics set up between God
and man. And this is why Paul is stressing
that all fullness is in Christ. All fullness is in Christ. He's
the one true mediator between God and man. The one true mediator. Now in this very short statement
here, the Apostle Paul breaks a very comprehensive declaration
of the Gospel. In the Scripture we have a description
of what, where, why and when of the Gospel of God's grace
and glory shines in the face of Jesus Christ, Paul writes
this in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, he says, for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Let's read verse 19 again and
consider four things about the fullness of Christ. It says,
for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. It pleased the Father, it pleased
Jehovah, All fullness, notice that. Not
some. Not a portion. All. All fullness. All the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in him. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead Father. This is no mere man. This is God himself incarnate
in the flesh. Brother Norman and I were talking
this week, and you know what the Lord came to? A graveyard. A whole bunch of dead people. And he's the light, he's the
living one. My, a whole bunch of people physically
walking around, but dead in trespasses and sins. And he comes to save his people
from their sins. Just like he cried, Lazarus come
forth, he does that for every believer, doesn't he? Oh my. He's the giver of life. The dispenser of life. So all
fullness dwells in him. All the attributes and characteristics
of God dwell in him. He's God manifest in the flesh.
And you know, he never stopped being God while he was here on
this earth. No, the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. We beheld
as we saw Him. They saw Him as we see each other.
They spoke to Him like we speak to each other. John's writing
this. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth, fullness, full of grace and truth. Not just a little
grace and truth, full of grace and truth. Again, this speaks
to the fullness of Christ. The fullness of Christ. And Paul
writes over in the book of Ephesians again, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. All spiritual blessings
in Christ. And the one who has all fullness.
And the one who has all fullness. Therefore, the believer stands
complete and accepted in Christ. This is wonderful news for sinners,
isn't it? To the praise of the glory of
his grace, whereon he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Turn to chapter two again. Look
at this. We read verse nine, let's read
verse nine again, too. In Him, being Christ, dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. Look at verse 10. In ye, the
saints that Paul's writing to, in ye, are complete. Complete, it says. The word is
complete. In who? Well, You're complete in Him,
in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power.
Complete in Him who has all fullness. Complete in Him. Complete means
complete, doesn't it? In the Greek there, it means
complete. There's nothing to be added. Nothing. That's good news for
sinners. The believer's salvation is complete
in Christ. He's a complete savior. He's
a complete redeemer. Because he's God incarnate in
the flesh. And we are not asked to contribute
anything to our salvation because there's nothing we can contribute.
Nothing. Nothing we can pay for our salvation. It's free. Because why is there
nothing that we can contribute and nothing we can pay because
we are bankrupt sinners? That's what we are. Bankrupt
sinners. And we are told in the scriptures
to rest in Him who has provided and performed all things for
us. We are to rest in Him, in Christ, in whom is all fullness. All that a sinner needs is in Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. Religion tells
you do, do, do, do, do, do, do. We serve the Lord because we
love Him, don't we? But we know that none of our
works gain us merit and favor with God. None of them. The only
merit and favor the believer has with God is in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord, and the believer is complete in Him. Complete in Him. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. Psalm 57.2, I'll
read that again. I will cry unto God, and that's
who we cry unto, right? Most high, he's ruler over all
things, visible and invisible. Unto God that performeth all
things for me. Hallelujah. He does it all. Salvation is of the Lord. Isn't it wonderful? It's absolutely
wonderful. Let's read our text again. For
it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.
Our next question, which the text answers, is where does this
fullness dwell? Well, the scripture declares
in him, in Christ. All this fullness. Where else
could this fullness be placed? Where else could it be placed?
Jesus Christ is the one suitable to contain all fullness, because
He alone is the storehouse of all spiritual blessings for us, for His people. And He alone,
the scripture declares, is our wisdom, our righteousness, our
sanctification, and our redemption. Why? That we might glory in Him
alone. We don't only glory in the Lord, we glory in the things
that He's done for us. And Christ has all authority
and all power to wisely and sovereignly distribute the blessings that
are in Him to His chosen people. And again, remember, Pharaoh
told the Egyptians, you go to Joseph and whatever he says,
do. Well, we look to Christ for all
the necessities of our spiritual life, don't we? All of them. All of them. Because we know
without Him we can do nothing. He alone is the way, the truth
and life. Went to a wedding last night and there was a massive
oak tree. Huge. One of the biggest oak
trees I've ever seen. He said it was over 200 years
old. Huge. Oh, it was incredible. Huge trunk
and these big branches just, oh, it was, it was, take your
breath away looking at that. And all I could remember as I
looked at that, I am the vine and you are the
branches. Without me you can do nothing.
You break one of them big old branches off that trunk and all
them leaves are going to wither and die. All the nutrients, everything
comes up through that big old trunk. And its foundation is
buried deep into the ground. What a sure foundation we have,
beloved. We're just branches. You guys saw that tree. It was
incredible. Just absolutely incredible. Huge. I am the vine. You are
the branches. Without me, you can do nothing.
All fullness is in Christ, in Him. Our text continues. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Here's our
third point in question. Why does this fullness dwell
in Him? Well, because it pleased the
Father. That's the answer. Because it pleased the Father. Scriptures give us the answer,
don't they? And for God's people who have
been given faith to believe from our great God, this answer's
enough. Yeah, God said it, I'm gonna
rest in that. And it's true not because I believe
it, it's true because God said it. We've all seen that bumper
sticker. God said it, I believe it, it's
true. No, it's true because God said it. And God's given us the
grace to believe it. We glorify his name. We glorify
his name, don't we? And this is the one answer that
may apply to a thousand questions, a thousand seemingly unanswerable
questions, because it pleased the Father to do so. People ask
us all kinds of questions as believers. Here's a good answer.
It pleased God to do that. Really. It pleased Him for it
to be so. It pleased God to send Christ,
to send Him the Word of God. To send our surety and our high
priest for His people, to save His people from their sins. It
pleased God. It pleased God to bruise Him at Calvary Scrolls,
which we sang of. It pleased God to do that. To
bruise Him in the believer's room and place at Calvary. And
it pleased God to put all the fullness of salvation in Christ.
It pleased God to do that. And whatever God's pleased to
do, He does. And who are we to say, why'd
you do that, God? Who are we to say that? Little
pieces of animated dust. That's why we rejoice in the
fact that God's had mercy on us as people, don't we? We just
marvel. We just marvel. All the fullness
of salvation is in Christ. Again, God does what he pleases.
And believers are filled with delight. Turn, if you would,
to Psalm 85. Believers are filled with delight that our salvation
honors God, and it's all by God's mercy and by God's grace. And it honors God because it's
He who has accomplished this salvation. Psalm 85 verses 9 to 11. Surely His salvation
is nigh them that fear Him. Verse 9. That glory may dwell
in our land. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven. When did
mercy and truth meet together? When did righteousness and peace
kiss each other? At the cross of Calvary when
our great Savior died on the cross. Mercy and truth met together. Righteousness and peace kissed
each other. And truth, what? Sprang out of
the earth. Oh my. Let's go back to our text in
Colossians chapter one. When does this fullness dwell
in Christ? Let's look at our scripture again.
For please the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. When does this fullness dwell
in him? Always. Always. He was the word and glory. He's
the word incarnate while he's on this earth. and he's the glorified
God-man right now in glory. Over in chapter two, we saw that
all fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ and were completed
in him. And what wonderful words that
is for the believer. See the word dwell there? Why is the Greek scholar brings forth
this? That it means to be at home permanently. We wouldn't,
we wouldn't, we wouldn't, Draw that from the word dwell, would
we? But in the Greek it means to dwell or to be at home permanently. Permanently. In a certain place. Thayer, another
Greek scholar, defines it this way. To dwell, settle, metaphorically
divine powers, influences are said to dwell in his soul, to
pervade, prompt, and govern it. To dwell in habit. So it's been
so since the beginning. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God incarnate. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, beloved. In eternity past, and in the
present, in an eternity future, this fullness will always abide
in Christ, in Christ alone. What does the scripture declare?
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed, Malachi 3, 6. The Lord does not change. He's
the same yesterday, today, and forever, beloved. Though multitude of sinners have
been redeemed by the blood and righteousness of Christ, his
fullness of mercy and grace to needy sinners has never been
diminished and has never been exhausted. Think of that. never diminished and never exhausted. He's full. Of grace and truth. And there is a permanent fullness
in him. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah,
chapter 55. There is a permanent fullness in Christ. And how this
ought to encourage The believer. How this ought to encourage every
sinner to look to Him. A permanent fullness in Christ.
Again, all that a sinner needs is found in Him. Nowhere else.
Nowhere else. Isaiah says this. Isaiah 55, verses 1-5. Oh, everyone
that thirsts this. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Are you tired of toiling in religion? Are you tired of toiling in life? Are you thirsty? Has God made
you thirsty? I hope he does. I pray he does. Because God makes
his people thirst after righteousness, and he is the Lord our righteousness. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, don't
come. No money. We've got no money
to give to the Lord. We've got nothing to give the
Lord for our salvation, do we? Come ye, buy and eat. Buy and
eat without money. Come ye, buy and eat. Come buy
wine and milk without money and without price. Look at that.
Freely given to you. By God's grace. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread? Why do you try to work your way
and gain merit and favor with God by your works? This bread's free. Now, it was bought and paid for
by Christ, but it's free. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? I was talking to a fellow this
week, and he was telling me about somebody said, well, you gotta
do all these works. And I said, well, number one,
when and how many works do they have to do? And number two, who's
the one who says it's enough works? One sinner talking to
another sinner. Oh, my. We only have hope in Christ,
in Christ alone. There's no works we can do to
satisfy God's law and justice. This is our sister saying, Christ
satisfied the law and justice of God in our place. Look at this. Hearken diligently
unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight
itself in fatness. Delight yourself in the Lord,
beloved. Feast upon Him. He's the bread of heaven for
His people. He's the heavenly manna. Incline your ear and come unto
Me. Hear and your soul shall live.
Oh may God give you ears to hear and eyes to see Christ. And I
will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people,
a leader and a commander to the people. Behold, thou shall call
a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew thee not
shall run unto thee. Oh, we're of that number. We who
are his people shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy
God and for the Holy One. of Israel, for he hath glorified
thee. All the fullness dwells in Christ.
He gets all the glory, honor, and praise. Now think of this
too, it says in our text, for it pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell. Think of this, the opposite of
full is empty. The opposite of full is empty. Beloved God and sinner friend,
we are by nature bankrupt sinners. Bankrupt sinners. We have nothing
that we can offer to God in ourselves. Nothing. Nothing that we can
offer God to merit salvation or earn salvation before him.
Nothing. That article by Horatio Bonar in the Bolton makes that
so clear. So clear. By nature, we're emptiness, beloved.
or emptiness, vanity. But best be God, he hath provided
all fullness for his people in Christ. In Christ. I know that in me that is in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Is it so with you? Is it so with you? But looking at
these verses today in light of the fact that we are bankrupt
sinners before God. And looking at this verse, let's
read the verse again from 19 to 23. Looking at these verses
here before us in scripture is a wonderful word of comfort to
cheer poor bankrupt sinners who have fled to Christ. What wonderful
words these are for God's people. And what wonderful words as we
are going to remember by taking the Lord's Supper, the great
sacrifice of our Lord for us. for in Him, Christ, for please
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having
made peace through the blood of His cross." That's what we're
going to remember. We're going to remember the sacrifice
that Christ has done for us. By Him to reconcile all things
unto Himself, by Him I say whether they be things on earth or things
in heaven, and you, me, that were sometimes alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. Look where the Lord took us from.
Look at the pit that we were in and that we couldn't escape
out of. And he took us right out of that,
beloved. Took a worm, meg it off the dunghill. Sister Bonnie brought that up
one time, Brother Henry said that, wonderful. Reached down
and took a maggot off the dunghill. Saved us by his grace. My, what
a Savior, what a Redeemer is Jesus Christ our Lord. Having
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself by Him, I say, whether they be things
on earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated
into enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present
you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in this life. What
wonderful words for bankrupt sinners. Oh, what wonderful words. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and we know He keeps us, doesn't He?
He keeps us, beloved. Grounded and settled, and be
not moved away from the hope of the gospel, the hope we have
in Christ, which ye have heard, which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. Oh, my. These are marvelous,
wondrous words, aren't they? And consider these truths as
we take communion today. Consider these truths and remember,
again, the sacrifice of our great Savior, dying in our place and
purchasing our pardon. In Christ there is all fullness,
and we're close with this. Are you dead? Christ is life.
Are you a sinner? Christ died for sinners. Are
you naked before God? Christ is the believer's righteousness.
Oh, are you hungry? Christ is the bread of life.
Are you thirsty? Christ is the water of life.
Are you guilty before God? Christ is our pardon, is our
pardon. Are you blind? We can't see anything. Christ is the light, beloved.
He is the lights. Are you a prisoner? We are chained
up by our sins and our natural state. Christ is the great liberator,
beloved. He freed us from the prison house
of sin. Are you a debtor? Oh, we're all
in debt, aren't we, to the law and justice of God. Oh, Christ
is our ransom, beloved. He's our ransom. Are you helpless? Christ is our strength. Are you
condemned? Christ is our deliverance, beloved. Are you emptiness? Christ is
our fullness. To God be the glory. Great things
He hath done, beloved. And this is good news for sinners
who have been shown their bankrupt state. Oh, this is wonderful.
For it pleased the Father that in Him, in Christ, should all
fullness dwell. All that a sinner needs, all
that a sinner needs is found in Christ Jesus our Lord. May
God give you grace to flee to the Savior if you do not know
Him. Oh my. May God give us grace as believers
to keep looking to He who is all for us.