Let's turn again to Colossians
chapter 2. I have a message this morning.
It's been my prayer this week that the Spirit will enable me
to preach it and get out of the way. He will enable me to preach
it in clarity and power. so that those who are here this
morning who do not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, because of his majesty, will
be compelled to run to him. And at the same time, I trust
and pray this message will, to those of you who believe, will
be a comfort and encouragement to your heart, give you such
assurance To know this, that you are complete in him. That's
the title of the message, complete in him. Now, Paul wrote this
letter to the church at Colossae while he was in prison at Rome.
At the same time, he wrote the previous two letters we looked
at to the Ephesians and to the Philippians. This church had
not been established by the apostle Paul's ministry. We read there
earlier in verse one of chapter two, he's writing to those who
had not seen his face in the flesh. They hadn't seen him and
he hadn't seen them. But Paul had heard of their faith
and their love. He had a visit from their pastor
and he'd heard about their faith in Christ, their love for Christ.
And Paul thanked God for them, just like he did the churches
that had been established under his ministry. And Paul did not
expect to be able to leave this prison. He expected to be martyred
and he didn't expect to be able to go to Colossae and to preach
to them as he had many of the other churches. But he had a
heart that went out to them, that loved them, that wanted
to give them a blessing. And the Apostle Paul, the great
preacher of the gospel, writes to tell them, if you could just
hear one message from me, this is the message that I want you
to hear. Christ is our He told him, I've heard how you believe
Christ. You've trusted him. You've looked
to him. Now you continue to believing on him. You continue to rely
upon him. Don't ever look anywhere other
than Christ. Christ is all you need because
Christ is all. That's the theme of this letter
to the Colossian church. Christ is all. He says that in
chapter three, verse 11, where there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, none of these differences matter. The only thing that matters
is this, Christ is all, in all. And that's the message of the
gospel. Christ is all. Christ is all of our salvation. Christ is all of our obedience.
Christ is all of our sacrifice for sin. Christ is all of our
righteousness and our sanctification. All of our faith is in Christ.
Christ is all in creation. He's all in providence of all
the events that ever happened in creation. And Christ will
be all throughout all of eternity. Christ is all of our doctrine.
He's all of our preaching. He's all of our worship. Christ
is all. I hope we get that. Christ is
all. Paul tells us, now you've heard this message, Christ is
all. In chapter 2, verse 8, he gives us a warning. He says,
you beware of preaching that is anything, that adds anything
to Christ. You beware of preaching that
is anything other than Christ is all. Verse 8, chapter 2. Beware, Paul says, lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.
Paul says you beware of these false prophets because what they're
trying to do is spoil you. They're trying to rob you. We
read about the kings of old who would go and they conquer a nation
or a city or something and they spoil the city, wouldn't they?
They take all the valuables of that city. They take it back
home with them so it would be theirs. It would add to their
richness and their greatness. That's what false prophets try
to do with the souls of men and women. They try to make spoil
of you. It's not that they care for your
soul. You're spoiled to them. You're gained to them. Something
that will enrich them or make them, you know, feel more important
or greater because they've got a bigger audience. All you are
is spoiled to them. They try to rob your heart from
Christ. Paul says through philosophy.
Philosophy, all that is, is the thoughts of men. I'm telling
you, the thoughts of men have no place in preaching the gospel.
None whatsoever, because the thoughts of men are always wrong. True preaching, the true preaching
of the gospel is Christ is all. And our thoughts don't enter
into it. We just preach the word of God
because Christ is all. Then Paul says these false prophets
try to steal your heart from Christ by using human logic.
Now you remember this. The word of God is never to be
interpreted by human logic and human reasoning. The Word of
God is spiritually discerned, spiritually understood. We interpret
Scripture not by human logic. Oh, that must mean this. No,
we interpret Scripture by other Scripture. We compare spiritual
things with spiritual things. Human logic never enters into
it. So we never say, well, you know,
I think God is this way, fill in the blank. You know, we say,
well, I think God is this way. He loves everybody. I think God
just wants to save everybody. I think God just, you know, he
just wants to give everybody a chance. No human logic is wrong. God is who he says he is in his
work. What does God say in his word?
God says he loves his son and he loves his people in his son.
God says He's got an elect people, and He loves them. God says He's
got an elect people. He chose unto salvation, and
He sent His Son to save those people, and only those people. And when Christ came, He saved
them. He accomplished the Father's
will. He didn't come to try to save people. He didn't come so
that He could make an offer of salvation. He came to save His
people, and He did. and not one of them will ever
be lost. That's the truth from God's Word.
And I tell you a real key way you can tell what's truth and
what is error. That truth from God's Word gives
Christ all the glory. Or it ought to be, because Christ
is all. Then these false prophets try to steal your heart away
from Christ through what Paul calls vain deceit. Now look that
word up, vain deceit. It means empty delusion. They're
just delusional. They try to deceive you with
empty lies. Lies like, oh yes, Christ saves,
but you've also got to tithe. You've also got to be moral.
You've also got to keep certain religious ceremonies and traditions.
Brethren, that's a lie that's empty of all truth and all life. Christ is all of our salvation.
Period. Because Christ is all. Then they
try to steal your heart away from Christ by preaching the
traditions of men that start away even in the day of our Lord.
This had been going on for many, many years. And our Lord told
those Pharisees, you're lying to these people. You're teaching
them the traditions of men, the commandments of men, things that
are not in God's word. That's what a tradition of men
is. It's a ceremony that men have come up with that is not
found in God's word. They say, oh, well, you know,
this is what the church has historically believed. So, you know, this
is our tradition. We want to preach it. I don't really care what
the church has historically believed. Show me that from the word of
God. That's what we believe. Now, I'll give you a few examples
of wicked traditions of men. Altar calls. That is a wicked,
vile tradition of men. It's not found in God's Word.
And I tell you why men do it. They try to get numbers for themselves.
That's all they're doing. And when they do it, they give
people a false hope. It's a wicked tradition of men.
You won't find that anywhere in God's world. God's preachers
preach Christ to you because Christ is all. And they leave
you alone with Christ because he's all. He's going to save
his people. Here's another tradition, mass.
where they do some mumbo jumbo over the bread and the wine and
supposedly that wafer is actually turned into the body of Christ.
And the wine is actually turned into the blood of Christ. And
the priest dips that wafer in that wine and he sticks his tongue
out and he puts it on it. And because that's actually the
body and the blood of Christ, they say eating that atones for
your sin. Now that's so wicked. That's
crucifying Christ all over again. I'll give you a homework assignment.
You go find out what scripture says about that. Crucifying Christ
all over again. There's no need to crucify Christ
all over. The Lord's table, which we, Lord
willing, will observe Wednesday night, is all a picture. It's a confession of our faith
that we're saved through the broken body and the shed blood
of Christ. There's no need for him to be
crucified all over again, because what does the word say? By one
offering. he hath perfected forever. There's
no need to crucify him. In infant baptism, it's a wicked
tradition of meeting. Baptism is believers baptism. Now there's no age requirement
for baptism. A child could be baptized, but
a baby can't. Because this is the requirement
for baptism. Do you believe? Do you believe? Well, you've at least got to
be able to understand what you hear before you can believe it.
A baby can, but an older person can. And when we believe, what
are we confessing? When we're baptized, we're not
baptized into the church or baptized into the body of Christ. Baptism
is simply a confession of faith, that God's given me faith. All
baptism says Christ is all. All of my hope of salvation is
in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And baptizing an infant
to put him into the church is just a tradition of men. Doesn't
do him any good. Then I give you one more. Religious
holidays. Christmas and Easter. Those are
just days. They're just days with no religious
significance whatsoever. And if you keep those days as
a religious day, you're no better than a Jew keeping the Sabbath.
thinking it makes them better, more righteous, because they
keep the Sabbath. Those days, Christmas and Easter, I love
them. I'm all for them. I'm all for Christmas. I'm all
for Easter. But I'll tell you what those
days are for. They're days to spend time with your family,
to exchange presents, to eat ham and hunt colored eggs in
the grass. That's what those days are for.
They're fun. Have at it. But salvation is not a day like
that. That's just a tradition some men have made up. That's
not found in God's Word. What does God's Word say? Salvation
is in Christ. Because Christ is all. Then Paul
says these men, these false prophets, try to steal your heart away
from Christ. I make spoil of it by mixing Christ with the
rudiments of the world. What are the rudiments of the
world? All it is is elements of this world. They try to steal
your heart away from Christ with mixing Christ with what you do
with things of this earth, elements of this earth. It could be being
baptized. You know, that baptismal oath,
that's the rudiments of the world. It's fiberglass and wood put
together. And we baptize somebody, we fill it up with water, which
is just a rudiment of the world, and we dunk them under the water,
bring them back up, signifying death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ, but that doesn't do anything for anybody. Those are
rudiments of the world. If you make baptism a condition
of salvation, you've mixed Christ with the rudiments of the world. Some people say you gotta join
the church. You gotta join the right church, a member of the
right church before you can be saved. You gotta live a moral
life. Brethren, that's mixing something with Christ, isn't
it? And what happens when you mix something with Christ? Suddenly
Christ is not all, is he? It's a mixture. Well, then it
has to be wrong, because what does God's word say? Christ is
all. All a sinner has to do to be
saved is believe. Just believe on the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It really is that simple. And you know why? Because Christ
is all. Everything we need And everything
that God requires us to be is in Christ. Look at verse nine.
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead father. Now that
verse is an amazing verse. All the fullness of God Almighty,
all the fullness of the eternal God dwells in the body of Jesus
of Nazareth. Scripture says the heavens can't
contain God. Yet the fullness of God is contained
in the human body of Jesus of Nazareth. The full nature of
God. Everything that God is. You know
where it's found? All in the body of the Lord Jesus. That means that Jesus is God. It means everything that God
is, Jesus of Nazareth is. Is God eternal? So is the Lord
Jesus. Yes, he was born, wasn't he?
A child was born, but the son wasn't born, was he? The son
was given because he's eternal. Is God omnipresent? Is God everywhere
at the same time? So is the Lord Jesus. Is God
all-knowing? Does he know everything? Of course
he does. Then so is the Lord Jesus because
he's God. Is God all-powerful? Is He the
Almighty? Of course He is. Then so is the
Lord Jesus. Is God holy? Absolutely God's
holy. That's His chief attribute. Then
so is the Lord Jesus. Is God gracious and merciful
and loving to sinners? Oh, yes He is. Then so is the
Lord Jesus because He is God. Now all those blessings that
God has for sinners. Does that interest you? Mercy,
grace, peace, eternal life. Does that interest you? You want
me to tell you where they're all found? They're all found
in Christ. Look up here at verse three.
In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. On June the 21st, 2006, John
Chapman made this statement that these blessings are not hidden
from us. They're hidden for us in the
Lord Jesus. You know why God hid everything
in Christ? All those blessings, you know why he put them all
in Christ? So they'd be so easy for sinners to find. They're
all in one place. They're all in one person. If
you're interested in those things, if you need those spiritual blessings,
they're all in one place. They're easy to find. Go to Christ
and you'll have them. Do you need God's grace for sinners?
It's in Christ. Do you need mercy? Do you need
forgiveness? They're all in Christ. Go to
Him. Do you need eternal life? They're in Christ. They're all in Him. Do you need
peace with God? Do you need wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification or redemption? Go to Christ. I'll tell you the
same thing Pharaoh told the people when they were starving and famine
was in the world They all came to Him needing bread. He said,
go to Joseph. Joseph's got it all. Sinner,
go to Christ. Christ has got it all. It's all
in Him. He doesn't stop there. You hang
on to your seat. Are you ready to hear an amazing
statement of God's grace that should make every unbeliever
run to Christ just as fast as you can? This statement should
thrill and comfort the heart of every believer. It's all in
Christ. You are complete in him. And you are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality and power. Now this word complete,
it means to cram full. It means to level. I remember
seeing my mom do this. She'd be baking or something.
She'd scoop out a big old thing of flour or sugar or something.
It'd all be heaped up over the cup, right? And then she'd take
a knife and she'd scrape it along the top of that cup. And it was
full. You couldn't add anything else
to it. It was full. It'd be leveled off. That's what
that word complete means. You're full so that you can hold
nothing else in Christ. And it also means to satisfy.
Now this same word complete is translated in other places in
the New Testament as full. The boat was full of fishes,
the net was full of fishes. Full so it can't hold anymore.
That's being complete in Christ. By nature, we're the opposite
of that, aren't we? By the nature, we're empty of
everything that God requires, aren't we? We're empty of holiness.
We're empty of righteousness. We're empty of any obedience.
We're empty of any love. But in Christ, we're full. In Christ, we're full of righteousness. Full and leveled off, so that
you can't hold anymore. Perfect. In Christ, we're full
of hope. Full of obedience. Full of love. You're full. Other places, this
word complete is translated perfect. By nature, we're imperfect, aren't
we? We're the opposite of perfect.
Matter of fact, by nature, we're ruined. Ruined in sin. But in Christ, we're perfect.
You are perfect in Him. Complete in Him. Now I want to
look at the words. It's a very simple outline. I
want to look at each of the words in these statements. You are
complete in Him. I want us to see each of these
words, what they mean, so that our hearts will be thrilled.
thrilled with Christ, and we'll run to him. First of all, you. You, who by nature are empty
of everything that God requires, are filled with everything that
God requires in Christ. And you know why you're full?
You who believe, you know why you are full of everything that
God requires. You know why? we looked at in
our lesson this morning, because Christ is in you. If it's all
in him, and he's in you, you've got it all. Chapter one, verse
27, this is what we looked at, to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. If Christ dwells in
you, you're full of everything that God requires, you. You who
were born dead in Adam are made completely alive in Christ. You who, by nature, are without
hope and without Christ in this world, have a good hope through
grace in our Lord Jesus Christ. You, you who believe, yet so
often you're troubled and bothered, your faith, it's so weak, it's
so frail, sometimes I don't even think I can see it. It's just,
oh, what's wrong with me? My faith is so weak and faltering. A stomachache can make the strength
of your faith go away. You are complete in Him. You're not complete because of
the strength of your faith. You're complete in Christ, the
object of your faith. Complete in Him. You who are in the middle of
the fiery furnace of trial, sickness, you whose hearts are sorrowing
and heartbroken, you who feel so alone, you, you who are facing
such uncertainty, you don't know where to go, which way to turn,
you don't know which way is up, you are complete. You don't know what's going on,
but He's in control of it. You're complete in Him. There's
no sorrow, there's no heartbreak, there's no loneliness, there's
no uncertainty in this. You are complete in Christ. You,
you who believe are complete in Christ. And you are complete
in Jesus. You who believe right now where
you sit are complete in Christ. Look at 1 John chapter three.
I don't mean someday. I don't mean that you've got
to struggle through this life and then you die and then you'll
be complete. No, you are complete in Him right
now. 1 John 3, verse 2. Beloved, now, right at this moment,
are we the sons of God? Well, I know this. It does not
yet appear what we shall be. You can't tell I've completed
him by looking at me in this flesh. It does not yet appear
what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Right now, you're completing
him. I'll tell you what that means. You'll never be more complete
than you are right now, even in heaven. You will not be more
complete than you are right now. I know you haven't experienced
it. I know that. Believe me, I live it every day. I know we have not experienced
being perfect, but our perfection is not in anything we do. It's
in Christ. You're perfect. You're complete
in him right now. In the word complete. You are
complete in Him. Now the word means perfect. It
means that it's so full you can't add anything to it. You who believe
are full of righteousness. You're made the righteousness
of God, where? In Him, in Christ. You are so
righteous, so full of righteousness, Eric, nothing can be added to
it. You're complete in Him. and you'll
never be more righteous than you are right now if you believe.
You're full of holiness. Nothing can be added to it. You'll
never be more holy than you are at this very moment if you believe
Christ. Right now, you who believe are full of spiritual life. We were born dead, but now you
have eternal life. You're not gonna have to wait
to get that life when you die. You've got it right now. You who believe are complete. Right now, you have everything
that God requires to stand before His throne and accept Him. Does
that give you boldness to call on Him in prayer? You have everything
you need. You're complete to stand before
Him in perfection. You already have. You're complete. You have everything that God
has to give to a sinner in Christ. You're complete. You've got everything
that has to do with life and Godliness because you're complete
in Him. Now you're complete. I hope I
made that point. You're complete. You can't get
any more complete than you are in Christ. You can't get any
more complete than finished. It is finished. People are complete. And I promise
you this, you definitely can't get more complete by trying to
add something to Christ. If you do that, you've ruined
it. If you try to add anything to a full cup, you've ruined
it, haven't you? If you try to add anything to
Christ, you'll ruin it so that it will not only be incomplete,
but it'll be empty. It won't be full, it'll be empty.
If you add your religious ceremony and your religious tradition
to Christ, you'll be ruined. You'll still be empty. Just as
empty as the day you were born in this world. If you try to
add your morality to Christ, you'll ruin it. You'll be empty
of all goodness. You cannot perfect by your words
what God's already perfected by grace in his Son. Did you
get that? You can't perfect by your words.
what God has already made perfect by grace in His Son. So the believer
doesn't want to add anything to Christ. Why would I want to
do that? If you're complete in Christ,
God's satisfied with you. God looks at you and says you're
complete. You completely have everything
that God requires. And if you're complete in Christ,
that satisfaction is a two-way street. you're complete in Christ,
you're satisfied with Christ too, so that you don't want to
add anything to the end. I am completely satisfied to
have Christ be all my salvation. I'm completely satisfied to have
Christ be all my righteousness. I'm completely satisfied to have
Christ be all of my sanctification. I'm completely satisfied to have
Christ be all my acceptance. completely satisfied. You are
complete. You are complete through union
with Christ. A sinner is in Christ when he's
born again. A sinner is in Christ through
faith in Christ. By believing that Christ is all
it takes to save me without anything added for me because Christ is
all. Our completeness in Christ is all in Christ and it doesn't
have anything to do with anything that we do. Can I show you that
from scripture? I can, look at Luke chapter nine. We are complete through union
with Christ who has completed everything necessary for his
people. Luke chapter nine, verse 28. And it came to pass, about an
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and
glistering. And behold, there talked with him two men, which
were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory and spake of his decease,
which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. That word accomplish
is the exact same word translated complete. in our text. Sinners
are complete because of what Christ accomplished for them
at Calvary as our substitute. God's elect are complete in Christ. We're complete through union
with Christ, who Paul says is the head of all principality
and power. Now you know this very well.
Believers are the body of Christ. He's the head, we're the body.
The believer, the church, is joined to Christ, just like my
body is joined to my head. Whatever is true of the head
is true of the whole body. Whatever the head is, the body
is. If the head is pure, the body
is pure. If the head is sick, the body is sick. The believer
is complete in Christ because he's the head. Our head has completed. He's accomplished all of our
salvation at Calvary Street. You see how it all depends upon
Christ. Our head, not on anything we
do. You are complete in Him. Now, that's good doctrine. That's good preaching. If I do
have to say so myself, I've preached this message to myself for the
past several days, I believe that's good preaching. That's
good doctrine. Now, in closing, I want to give
you something. Put this, as Cicero said, you
put it in your lunch bucket and you take it with you everywhere
you go. I assure you, this will encourage and strengthen your
heart. All right, I believe that. I see that from God's word. I
see that doctrine. I believe, I see a believer's
complete in Christ. That being true. How should I
go through the rest of my journey here below? How do I go through
my life? How is this going to affect my
life tomorrow morning at eight o'clock out there on the job
that I'm complete in Him? Let me give you two things. Number one, you'll have a happier
journey here below if you don't desire anything other than Christ. If you really believe Christ
is all, if you're complete in Him, You won't desire anything
other than Christ. Live your life here below, being
complete in Christ. Look at verse six of Colossians
chapter two. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Number one, how did
you receive Christ? Well, I received Christ as a
needy sinner. I received Christ as a sinner
who needed Christ to do everything for me, because I couldn't do
anything for myself. That's good, I'm glad. Now you
continue in that. You continue as a needy sinner
who can't do anything for yourself, who needs Christ to do everything
for you. You continue in that, being complete in that. Secondly,
how did you receive Christ? Well, I received Christ as a
sinner that needed the forgiveness of my sin. I was a great sinner.
I am a great sinner. I need forgiveness of my sin.
I received Christ as a sinner that needed mercy. So miserable.
I need mercy. I received Christ as a filthy
sinner that needed to be washed. That's good. I'm glad. Now you
continue. You continue as a sinner who
needs grace, as a sinner who needs mercy. You continue as
a sinner that needs daily cleansing from Christ. Continue in that.
Thirdly, how did you receive Christ? I received Christ as
a dead sinner who needed life. I was dead and now I'm alive. I needed Him to give me life.
I'm so glad. That's good. That's the way you
ought to receive Him. Now you continue in Him that way. You
continue through this life knowing this. All this, this is not life. You continue through this life
knowing Christ is your life. That's how you continue. Now,
seek to grow in grace by all means, seek to grow in grace,
but understand growing in grace means that you never grow beyond
right where you started. You still growing in grace is
simply growing in this knowing I need Christ. I seen I needed
him a whole lot more than I first believed. I still need him. When
you grow in grace, don't ever get so high that you think now
I'm able to add something to Christ. Nope, that's not growing
in grace. Grow in grace, repeating this
phrase. Just repeat this phrase to yourself
over and over and over again. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all.
Just repeat it over. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. If you've got Christ,
you've got enough because you're complete in you. Second, how
should I go through my daily life if I believe this, that
I am complete in Christ? Well, go through your life striving
to see yourself as God sees you. Believer, how does God see you?
God sees you as complete in Christ, doesn't He? then you strive to
see yourself the same way. Now I know when we look at ourselves,
all we see is sin and filth. And when you look at yourself,
if you see something other than sin and filth, you better take
another look. You're not seeing right if you see anything other
than sin and filth. But now you take comfort. That's
not how God sees his people. God sees his people in Christ. When God looks at his people,
All he sees is Christ. And he sees us hidden in Christ.
When God looks at his people, he doesn't see Christ and us. No. He just sees one person. He sees Christ. And he accepts
his son in all of his glorious holiness. And he accepts us in
Christ. I know all we see of ourselves
is sin. But God sees his people as holy,
blameless. That's the way Christ presents
his people to the Father, holy and blameless, without any sin,
because our sin's been put away under the blood of Christ. God
sees his people as complete in Christ, needing nothing. And
you strive to see yourself the exact same way. I got a scripture,
back it up, Romans chapter six. Erwain read this in a study Wednesday
night and I about came out of my seat. This says exactly what
I'm saying. You strive to see yourself as
complete in Christ. Romans 6 verse 6. Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that
Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath
no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Now,
likewise, in the exact same way, reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your moral body, that you should obey it and the lust thereof.
Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but you're under grace. See, you count yourself, just
like you count Christ, he died He's free from sin. That's all
the sin that was charged him. He's free from it. He died to
satisfy the law. He's free from it. Now you count
yourselves to be dead in the exact same way because you died
in him. You were raised to newness of
life in him. You count yourself, I know all
you see about yourself is sin, but you count yourself to be
dead to sin. You count yourself to be dead
to the controlling power of sin. You count yourself to be dead
to the damning power of sin. Sin can't damn you if Christ
died for you. He already died. Now that's the way you strive
to see yourself as complete in Christ. You can see that. That enables the believer to
walk without fear. Isn't it wonderful to walk without
fear? You don't have to fear the law. Christ put an end to
it. You have to fear death. Christ put an end to death. And
that enables, if you see yourself like God sees you, complete in
Christ, that'll enable you to walk, serving God out of love. Not out of fear, but out of love. You're complete in Him. As you look to Him. You're not
complete in your doctrine. You're not complete in your knowledge
of scriptural facts and figures and memorization. You're not
complete in your church membership. You're not complete in your good
deeds. You're complete in Him, in Christ. How I pray that God would cause
us to seek Him. He's all that matters, brethren.
Seek in, seek to win Christ and be found in Him because if you
seek Him, you'll be found. Our Father, how we thank you
for this precious portion of your word that we've just read.
Father, I pray you'd apply your word to the hearts of your people
for your glory that we'd see something of the matchless glory
of God our Savior. The empty, vile, ruined sinners
are complete in Him. Father, how we thank You. We
pray that You'd cause Your Word to bring glory to Your name and
to comfort and assure the hearts of Your people that we're complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without any works of our own,
it all in Him. Father, cause your gospel to
take root in our heart that we forget about all the deeds of
this flesh and just rest in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we
thank you for this food that we're about to eat. We thank
you for these two dear ladies who mean so much to us. We celebrate
their birthdays. We're so thankful for them. We
pray your richest blessing would continue to be upon them. We
thank you for them. Father, we ask you to forgive
us of our many sins. Forgive me at this very moment. We hear us and see us only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the confidence
to know we can come before you and be heard, knowing we're complete. It's in the precious matchless
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks and we ask these
blessings. All right, now our ladies have
prepared us some food. We're going to eat and have a
time of fellowship. And Andrea and Janet, you two
got to go through line first. I know you normally make sure
we've got, you know, everything, but this time you go through
line first and you eat. Sit down and eat and let us take
care of it for you.