Well, if you would, open your
Bibles again to the Scripture, Brother Eric Redforce, Colossians
chapter 3. Our pastor, Sunday, felt this
bronchial thing coming on and thought it might be at its worst
on Wednesday night. Bill Hoxton also, his condition
is getting worse, more serious, and he's requested our prayer.
Every time you think of it, you pray for him. Nancy and the children. It's a very, very difficult disease. He's got a wonderful attitude. But y'all pray for him. He needs
our prayers. I have a title tonight that will
be very easy for everyone to remember. Three words. Christ is all. Christ is all. everything from
Alpha to Omega and everything in between, Christ is all. How many points is that? I mean,
you could write notes for months on many different ways you could
see how Christ is all. And I can promise you, we will
not be able to reach the depth or span the breadth nor the length
of these three words, Christ is all. But maybe the Lord will
give us a blessing, just for a few minutes, to consider what
it means, what scripture says about Christ being all. And what
does that mean to you and me? What does it mean to us that
Christ is all? Now, Paul writes this letter
to the church at Colossae to warn them about the heresy of
mixing grace and works, the law and grace. And he writes this
letter to people he's never met. These people have never seen
his face. But the message is the same. It's the same to people
you've known and loved a long time and people that you've never
met. The message is the same because
there's just one message. There's just one gospel. And
that message is Christ, because Christ is all. Now, some people
love that. Some people love a preacher that
that's his sole message. Every time he stands up, he preaches
Christ, Christ alone. Some people love that. Some people
hate that. Some people find it boring and
monotonous. You're always preaching the same
thing. Some people hate that. Some people love it. And I can
tell you why some people love that and some people hate that.
Because here in our text, Paul tells us there is a new man and
there is an old man. And those two men are distinctly
different. They are polar opposites from
one another. The old man, all he is is flesh. All he is is
sin, and that's all he ever will be. He'll never change, he'll
never improve. If he changes at all, it'll just
be to digress, degress, go down, whatever the right word for that
is. He'll never change. All he is is flesh. He'll always
love the way of the flesh, he'll always love sin, and he'll always
hate the preaching of Christ alone. But the new man, totally
different. He loves Christ. He loves the
preaching of Christ alone because to that new man, Christ is all. See what Paul says here in verse
11. In Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all
and in all. From eternity to eternity and
all this space in between that we call time, Christ is all. In eternity past, Christ was
all. Look back in Proverbs chapter
8. For the world wherever created, in what we call eternity past,
Christ was all. In Proverbs 8 verse 22. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there was
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, When
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him. In eternity past,
before the world was ever created, before human time began, the
Lord Jesus Christ was the delight of his Father. Even then, the
Father delighted in His Son, because His Son, in eternity
past, stood as the surety for His people. He stood as the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, and His Father found
His delight in His Son. Christ is all in eternity past.
In creation, Christ is all. In John chapter 1, I'll just
read this to you. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. Christ is
all in creation. He created it all. Now look over
at Colossians chapter 1. In verse 16, for by him were all
things created. that are in heaven and that are
on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. They were created by him, but
they were also created for him, for his glory. That's why this
world was created. That's why God created man and
put him on this earth, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you and I were born, we were
created for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, either for
glory in justice or his glory in redeeming mercy, one or the
other. We are created by him and for
him, for his glory, because Christ is all in creation. Christ is all in providence.
When we say providence, what we mean is all the events of
human history. Everything that's happened in
human history has happened by the divine decree and for the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're still there in Colossians
1 look at verse 17. And he is before all things and
by him all things consist. In Hebrews 1 verse 3 we read
that Christ upholds all things by the word of his power. He
holds this world in space. There it is spinning around in
space and everything that happens on that rock has happened by
the divine decree and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's all in providence. And in
eternity future, Christ is all. Now, what's the believer's expectation
of glory? What is your hope of glory? What
is the thought of glory that thrills your soul? Well, hope
is not just to live forever, because everybody's going to
live forever. That's not somewhere. Everybody's going to live forever.
I hope that what thrills your soul about glory is not an eternal
vacation. Jan and I are planning a vacation
in June. It's January. I'm counting the
days to that vacation. But now that's not what thrills
our soul about glory. I hope it's not. John said in
1 John 3, This is the believer's hope. This is our hope of glory.
When He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Can you imagine? When He appears, we're going
to be like Him. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. I don't care where it is. To
be with Him and be like Him is what thrills the believer's soul. He's all in eternity future.
What's the song of the redeemed in glory? There in Revelation,
we get just a peek at what's going on there in glory. What's
the song of the redeemed in glory? Their song is Christ. Thou wast
slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. Sounds like they're
ascribing everything to Christ, doesn't it? You know why? Because
He's all. He's all in eternity future.
And wherever He is, that's glory. That is glory for the believer.
Look at Revelations 21. I love this portion of Scripture
where John describes the New Jerusalem as he sees it coming
down from heaven. And verse 22. Here's the city,
he said, and I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it. How important was the temple
to those Jews? It was the center of their whole
economy. It was the center of their whole life was that temple. John says in glory. We're not
going to need a temple. Christ is the temple of it. He's
all. Read on, verse 23. And the city,
he said, had no need of the sun. Neither hath the moon to shine
in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof." How important is the Son to this earth? You
can't live without it. That's Christ. You cannot have
life without Him. There's no need of the Son there.
Christ is the light thereof. Christ is all in eternity future. Christ is all in the purpose
of God. In election, Christ is all. Christ is God's first elect. In Isaiah 42, verse 1, the first
time the word elect is used in Scripture is used referring to
the Messiah. Behold mine elect, in whom my
soul delights. He's the first elect. Look over
at 1 Peter chapter 2. Christ is the first elect and
we're elect in Him. In 1 Peter 2, verse 6. Wherefore, also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
first elect, and we are chosen in Him, according as the Father
has chosen us in Him, in Christ before the foundation of the
world. God's choosing of people to salvation
is all in Christ. It's all in Christ. It's all
because of Christ. And our actions have absolutely
nothing to do with God's electing of people. God did not choose
a people because they were good, or they did just one thing to
please Him and make Him choose them. That's not why God chose
those people. God chose a people because they were sinners in
need of a Savior. and he chose them in Christ and
put them in Christ to redeem. Look at Romans chapter 9. Christ is all in election. Romans 9 verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, For the
children, being not yet born, see their actions have nothing
to do with this, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." Now why was Jacob chosen? Why
was Jacob loved? It wasn't because he was lovable,
was it? It wasn't because he was any good. We know Jacob was
a scoundrel. Why was he chosen? Why was he
loved? Because God put him in Christ.
Look here at verse 16. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
God's election, choosing of people, it's all in Christ because of
Christ. Christ is all in election. Christ
is all in predestination. I know people Hate that word,
predestination. But I'm telling you, there's
nothing I want more than God's predestination. Because when
God talks about predestination, you know what He's talking about?
Making a people just like His Son. It was all. Look back a
page of Romans 8, verse 29. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The father is so pleased with his son that he predestinated
many sons to be made just like Christ. And there's nothing I
want more than that, to be made just like Christ, because he's
all. Christ is all justification. And the word justification means
to be made without sin. Not be made just like you've
never sinned, but be made without sin. Now, how can that happen? How can a sinful man, a sinful
woman like me and you, how can we be made without sin? In Christ. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ is all in justification. Christ is all sanctification.
Sanctification means to be made holy or set apart for holy use
and Christ is all in sanctification. Christ does not make you holy
with this sacrifice and then just set you down and you have
to keep yourself holy by abstaining from evil. No. Christ makes his
people holy and he keeps them holy. Look at Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews 10 verse 9, Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once, just once,
and he sanctified his people forever. verse 14, for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Christ
is all in sanctification. Look over at John 16. Christ
is all in righteousness. In John 16, verse 8, And when he is come, He will
reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me. You see how each one
of these things relates purely to Christ. Of sin, because they
believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and He see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. We will never see true righteousness
until we see the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit reveals
Christ to the heart, then we see for the first time who true
righteousness really is. Righteousness is not a what.
Righteousness is a who. And when we see Christ, then
and only then will we see I have no righteousness at all. When
we see Christ, then we'll see the only hope I have of being
made righteous is in him. in Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord
our righteousness. The only hope I have of being
made righteous is being made righteous through the imputed
righteousness of Christ. The exact same way Abraham was
made righteous. Abraham believed God and it was
counted. It was reckoned. It was imputed
unto him for righteousness. Christ is all in righteousness. Christ is all in regeneration.
What did Paul tell those Galatian believers? I travail in birth
again until what? Christ be formed in you. Christ in you the hope of glory. That's the new birth. That's
when a new man is born is when Christ is formed in you. Christ is all in regeneration.
Look over to Acts chapter 4. Christ is all in salvation. In verse 12 of Acts chapter 4,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. We read earlier that Christ by
Himself purged our sins. Salvation is all in Him. Now
I'll read this to you in Colossians chapter 2, verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. You are
completely saved in him, because Christ is all in salvation. Now that's a comfort. That is
a comfort to a sinful man and woman. I don't have to contribute
anything. to my salvation. I don't have
to contribute anything to earn it, and I don't have to contribute
anything to keep it. And I'm telling you, that's good
news, because I can't do anything to earn my salvation. I can't
do anything to keep it, and you can't either. It's such a comfort
to hear Christ is all in salvation. Now, salvation. I want you to
get a hold of this. This is very important. Salvation
is not a thing that we're given. Salvation is not a point of doctrine
that we're taught and that we argue about. Salvation is a person. And I'll show you that in Isaiah
chapter 12. Turn over. I know we've turned to a lot
of scripture, but turn to this. Isaiah chapter 12. Salvation
is a person. Christ is so much all in salvation. that Christ is our salvation. In Isaiah chapter 12, verse 2.
Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also is become
my salvation. He is become my salvation. Salvation is a person. You see
that? It doesn't say he brings salvation.
No, he is my salvation. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Christ is all in salvation. Christ
is all in faith. It's not what I believe and what
I know that saves. I know whom I have believed. Therefore, I'm persuaded he's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. The sole object of our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
all in our faith. Christ is all in love. He's all
the love of the Father to his people, and he's all in our love
one to another. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us. sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Now, beloved, if God so loved
us, we ought also to love one another. He's all in the love
of the Father for His people, and He's all in our love one
for another. Christ is all in the life of
a believer. In Him, we live and move and
have our being. For me to live, Paul said, is
Christ. Because he's all in the life
of a believer. Now physical life is impossible
to define. You can tell if someone is alive
or not. I can look out here and tell
you're alive. I can tell that. And I've been
there on several occasions when someone died. In the moment they're
alive and it's gone. That physical life force, whatever
you call it, it's gone. You didn't see it go. You couldn't
capture it. You can't define it. You can't
put your finger on it. It's a mystery to us, isn't it?
But a person with spiritual life can precisely, exactly define
our spiritual life. I can define it exactly. The
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our life. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, we should be like Him. Our Lord
said in His great high priestly prayer, This is life eternal,
that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent. He is life. He is the believer's
life. Christ is all in our preaching.
Now there are many texts. I told John, kind of kept a message
outline, you know, kind of ready to go in the wintertime. He's
got this bronchial thing in case, you know, an emergency pops up. And I sat down on my study, Sunday,
and I kind of had this ready, but I started looking through.
You know how many pages are in this Bible? I mean, there are
thousands and thousands and thousands of texts here. Thousands of them. And every one of them is Christ. Dale, you said this Sunday, if
we read this scripture and we see something other than Christ,
you don't have the true meaning of that scripture, do you? Because
he's all in our preaching. The Lord may lay it upon a man's
heart to preach a message of comfort and encouragement to
God's people. He may lay a message on his heart
that will correct and instruct God's people. But all those things
can only be done by preaching Christ. That's the only way.
He's our only message. Look over at 1 Corinthians 1.
Christ is our only message. He's all in our preaching. In verse 22. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified.
Unto the Jews it is a stumbling block, unto the Greeks it is
foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." He says across
the page in verse 2 of chapter 2, I determine not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ being crucified, because Christ is
all in our preaching. When Saul of Tarsus, remember
the Lord unhorsed him there in the road to Damascus, and they
took him there to that house, and there he sat, he was blind.
And he received his sight, they gave him something to eat, and
Scripture says, what's the first thing he did? He went straight
away and preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son
of God. At the very beginning of Paul's
ministry, he preached Christ, that he is the Son of God. At
the end of his ministry, what did he have to say? Woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel, if I don't preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is all in our preaching. I
made this statement to our pastor some time ago. We're talking
about this matter, Christ being all. He's all the message. He's the only message we have.
I made this statement to him. I said, he's all we've got. And
John said, he's all we need. He's all we need. He's all. Christ is all in our preaching.
Christ is all in our doctrine. Our doctrine is called Calvinistic.
I think everybody here would say, yeah, I'm a Calvinist. And
that's true in a sense. But you know, you can be a Calvinist
and split hell wide open. Our doctrine is not the doctrine
of John Calvin. Our doctrine is Christ. You can
go to hell and be a Calvinist. You can't go to hell and know
Christ. That's an utter impossibility. But those five points of Calvinism,
we believe those things, don't we? T-U-L-I-P to them. We believe those things. But
each of those points of doctrine can only be understood and loved
by knowing Christ. And I'm going to show you that.
T, total depravity. You will never know you're totally
depraved until you see Christ. When you see Him, you'll say
with our brother Job, I heard of you with the hearing of the
ear. I grew up my whole life. I heard with the hearing of the
ear. But now am I not seeing thee? Wherefore, I abhor myself. Now I know I'm totally depraved
because I've seen Him. Total depravity. You. Unconditional
election. Now if God showed me I'm totally
depraved, I'm completely lost in sin, then I will know. My dead nature will never choose
Him. Can't be done. If I'm in Christ,
it must be because He chose me. That's the only way it can be.
Tis not that I did choose thee. For Lord, that could not be.
This heart would still refuse thee. Hast thou not chosen me?"
And anyone who has ever seen Christ as He is, as the sovereign
King of Kings, will know and believe unconditional election. I'm in His hands to do with as
He pleases, and whatever He does is right. Unconditional election. Scripture teaches us that Christ
died for specific people. Now, He didn't die for every
son of Adam to make salvation possible for as many people as
would decide to invite Him into their hearts. Christ died for
His elect. He died for those that the Father
gave Him. And if you ever see the Lord
Jesus Christ, I promise you, you'll believe in limited atonement. And I'll prove it to you by asking
this question. Who died on Calvary Street? Well, it wasn't a prophet. It
wasn't a reformer. It was the Son of God. Now, Roy,
I don't know a lot, but I know this. The Son of God is not a
failure. He accomplished what he set out
to do. He does as he pleases. It just is like fingernails on
a chalkboard for me to hear someone say God is trying to do something. No, He's not. He does as He pleases. And it pleased Him. Thank God
it pleased Him to die fulfilling the promise of His birth. He
shall save His people from their sins. If you see Christ, I promise
you, you'll believe in limited atonement. He saved His people.
Ah, irresistible call. Everyone for whom Christ died
will be called to repentance and faith in Christ. When Christ
calls His people, He gives them life. He gives them ears that
hear and they follow Him. And our Lord gave us a wonderful
illustration of this as He stood outside of Lazarus' tomb and
told them, roll away the door or the stone. They said, Lord,
you don't want to do that. He stinks. I mean, oh, he's rotten
and he's decaying and he's stinking. He's wrapped up with them grave
clothes. He stinks. And the Lord said, roll away
stone. Lazarus, come forth. Now, Lord, he's dead. He can't
hear. He can't move. With the command
came the power and he that was dead came forth. And the Lord
said, loose him and let him go. irresistible call of grace, and
every believer has experienced that call of grace from death
to life in Christ. And P, perseverance of the saints. Everyone for whom Christ died
will be preserved. They'll be kept from falling
away by the grace and power of God. Now, if you've seen Christ,
you will believe that He will keep you faithful to the end.
He is faithful that promised. And you will understand the absurdity
of arguing about the perseverance of the saints. What an absurd
thing to argue about. If Christ is the one keeping
you, you'll be kept. You'll believe that wholeheartedly
if you see him as he is. Christ is all in judgment. The Father judges no man but
hath committed all judgment to the Son." All judgment. And God
is appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained. Now, it's not just that Christ
will be the judge. He will. He'll be the judge,
but he will also be the standard by which we are judged. Christ
is all in judgment. And back in our text, Because Christ is all. National
distinctions don't matter. In Christ, there's neither Greek
nor Jew. Your nationality doesn't make
you more savable or less savable. We're all equally lost. We're
all equally in need of a Savior. Christ is all to every nationality. You know, the message that Walter
and Cody preached down there in Mexico is the exact same message
we preach here. You know why I know that so?
Because Christ is all. He's the only message. He's the
only Savior for every nationality. Every nationality needs the same
gospel and the same Savior because there's no national distinctions.
Because Christ is all, religious ceremony doesn't matter. In Christ,
there's either circumcision or uncircumcision. You know, really,
religious ceremony can be a hindrance to salvation. If you're circumcised
or you go through any religious ceremony in order to obtain righteousness,
Christ profits you nothing. It's not religious activity that
saves, it's Christ who saves. He is, we just saw that, He's
all in our salvation. Because Christ is all, educational
and cultural distinctions don't matter. They don't make you more
savable or less savable. In Christ, there's neither barbarian
nor Scythian. Christ is all. To the believer,
he is our wisdom and he is our culture. Because Christ is all,
social distinctions don't matter. There's neither bond nor free.
Who cares if you're as rich as Steve Jobs? I don't care how
much you accumulate, you cannot buy your salvation. We're not
redeemed with corruptible things, the silver and gold, but with
the precious blood of Christ. You see, all these distinctions
are fleshly distinctions, and all those distinctions are done
away with in Christ, because in Christ there is no flesh.
Spirit. All these distinctions are done
away. Now, what does this mean to us? Christ is all. What does that
mean to you? What think ye of Christ? Scripture says Christ is all.
What think ye of Christ? Christ is either all to you or
Christ is nothing to you. There's no in-between. And the
fact that Christ is all shows me a couple things. First, this. Since Christ is all, That shows
me the importance of knowing Christ. Do you know Christ? I heard Henry say this one time.
You know if you know Christ or not. You know if you're sitting
in darkness or you're sitting in light. Do you know him? If
not, beg him for mercy. Come to Christ and beg him for
mercy. There's nothing more important
than knowing him because he's all. Secondly, the fact that
Christ is all tells me of the importance of making sure I know
Him. Brethren, make your calling and
election sure. Make sure you're not one of these
religious impostors like that Amalekite we're reading about.
Don't do that. Make your calling and election
sure. Third, since Christ is all, that shows me the comfort
in knowing Christ. If I have Christ, I have everything
because He's all. Nothing is lacking. As insufficient
as I am, as incomplete as I am, as just plum dumb as I am, if
I'm in Christ, I'm complete. I have everything. There's comfort
in knowing that Christ is all because if I have Him, I don't
need anything else. The importance of Christ is all.
What is everything else? Honestly, now you think about
that. If Christ is all, what is everything else? What are
all these things that are so important to us that just make
us willing to fuss and fight and feud with even our brethren?
What are those things if Christ is all? They're nothing, aren't
they? If Christ is all, everything
else is nothing. How important are these things
if Christ is all? Knowing He's all will keep these
things in perspective. And knowing Christ is all will
direct our walk through this world. In verse 1, Paul says
in Colossians 3, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God. If Christ is all, Then seek Him
and don't get so entangled with the things of this world that
are perishing. In verse 2, set your affection
on things above, not on things of this earth. Set your affection
on winning Christ and being found in Him because I'm telling you,
nothing else matters. In verse 3, it says, for you're
dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who
is our life shall appear, Then shall he also appear with him
in glory. Christ is all. He is your life,
so don't hang on to these dead things. Let them go. Set your
affection on him. Hang on to him. And while you're
on this walk through this world, there's still this old man and
this new man. Do not make provisions for that old man. Don't give
aid and comfort to the enemy. See verse 5? Mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth. fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,
for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience, in which ye also walked some time when ye
lived in them. But now put off all these, put off anger, and
wrath, and malice, and blasphemy, and filthy communication out
of your mouth, and lie not one to another, seeing ye put off
the old man." with his deeds and you put on the new man. Now
look over in verse 12 here. You put off the old man and put
on the new. Constantly put off that old man. Put him down and put on the new.
That's what you'll do. Christ is all. Put on, therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on bowels of mercy
and kindness and humbleness of mind and meekness and longsuffering. Be forbearing with one another
and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things, put on charity, put on love, which is the bond
of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule
your hearts, to the which also you're called, in one body, and
be you thankful. Christ is our peace. He's made
peace for us with the blood of his cross. Be a peaceable person. Be peaceable. and go through
this life being thankful. Don't gripe and complain about
every little thing. Be thankful because Christ is
all. You see that? Knowing Christ
is all directs our walk through this world. In verse 16, let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. I'm
telling you, it is so important to read God's Word. Just read
His Word. But I'm telling you, you can't
understand a line of this book without Christ. Because He's
all in the Word. He is the Word. He's the incarnate
Word. He's the living Word. Don't just
read the Word to find out how to act. Don't just read the Word
to learn something about history. So popular in our day, don't
read the Bible to figure out prophecy when the end of the
world is going to come. If it's going to come in December
the 21st, 2012, or wherever the date is. I told you, don't do
any Christmas shopping next year until after the end. Isn't that
stupid? I mean, how stupid is that? Don't
read the Word to find out, read the Word to find Christ who is
all. If you find Him, you have life,
you have everything. And if we've left anything out,
Paul says, whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, who's all giving thanks to God and
the Father by him. Christ is all in everything we
do. And the rest of that chapter, Paul goes on and talks about
husbands and wives, children and parents, masters and servants.
If Christ is all to you, no matter who you are, He'll make you a
better one. He'll make you a better husband,
a better wife. He'll make you a better child and a better parent. He'll make you a better servant
and a better master. Christ is all. Now, H.P., that's
not just doctrine. That's our life, isn't it? He is our life. All right. Well, I hope that'll bless you.