He's singing. Turn with me, please. Let's go
back to Colossians. I want to take up where we left off Sunday.
This message is titled, In Christ Jesus, Part 2. As I said Sunday,
these words, in Christ and in Christ Jesus, are found so many
times in the New Testament letters that I've had to divide this
into three different messages. So, let's start in Colossians,
where we started Sunday. And read Colossians 1, starting
in verse 15, speaking of Christ, 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, 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. And He is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell."
Then chapter 2, For I would that ye knew what great conflict I
have for you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as
have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might
be comforted, being knit together in love, unto all riches of the
full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Now, in the first
part of this message, we saw that all things are indeed in
Christ Jesus, that the Father saw fit that in Him, as we just
read, in Christ should all fullness dwell. We looked at how our redemption,
our freedom from condemnation, our hope, the love of God, our
sanctification, our life, our triumph, our liberty, and God
Himself are all found in Christ Jesus. And as I mentioned in
the first part of this message, the writings of the New Testament
authors tell us that it pleased the Father to make Jesus Christ
the storehouse in which all the blessings of God are kept, ready
to be dispersed at His time to His chosen people. So let's begin
in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 21. Now He which establisheth us
with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. Now this
word established is the same as our word established, meaning
it is secure and unconditionally settled. Something successful
over a long period of time. And there is nothing or no one
more established or more successful than the triune God whom we worship.
His purposes never fail. And you can't be any more successful
than that for innumerable ages of eternity He is willed and
it has always come to pass. We know this, that all that our
God purposes, He purposes in Christ. Turn over to Isaiah 42. We'll read the first seven verses.
Isaiah 42 just gives us a clear picture of what the purpose of God is, which
is the saving of His chosen people. Isaiah 42, the first seven verses. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he
not quench. he shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth and the isle shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. I,
the Lord, have called thee in righteousness. I will hold thine
hand, and will keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and men that
sit in darkness out of the prison house." Now this is a clear declaration
of all that Christ has done and shall do for His elect. He brings us out of the prison
house of darkness and bondage in which we were born, in which
we dwelt our entire lives until Christ came and called us out
of that darkness into His marvelous light as described in 1 Peter.
Now, 2 Corinthians. Turn back there with me. We'll
look at chapter 3, verse 14. Chapter 3, verse 14. This is
speaking of the nation of Israel after they came out of Egypt.
And it says, "...but their minds were blinded. For until this
day remaineth the same veil, untaken away in the reading of
the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ." Now
one of the meanings of veil is a concealing curtain. Something
that hides or obscures. Now, we know that in the tabernacle
and later in the temple, there was a place called the Holy of
Holies, also referred to in Hebrews as the holiest of all. And it
was hidden behind a huge curtain of veil. And only the high priest
was allowed to go into that Holy of Holies. And he was only allowed
in once a year. And he was only allowed in with
blood, which he offered for himself in the errors of the people,
it tells us in Hebrews 9.7. Now, the sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ was typified by all those sacrifices. But these
were only a shadow of the good things to come. But when our
Savior died on that Roman tree, the way to God was open to all
for whom the Savior died. In verse 12 of Hebrews 9, it
tells us that Christ, by His death, entered in once into the
holy place, that holy of holies, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Now, this is described in Matthew
27.50. It gives an account of our Lord's death, and it says
this, Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Now, because of
the sacrifice of the Savior for His people, we now have unlimited
access to all the blessings that God has to offer. Those blessings
which are found only in Christ. Ephesians 2, Mark just read it. Starting in verse 13, it says,
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes afar off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition,
between us, speaking of that veil. For through Him, we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father. We can now come boldly
to the throne of grace as a young child would come to his dad in
time of need. And we are right now seated with
Christ in glory. You cannot have more access than
that. There's no more veil to obscure
our God. He's given us His Word, and He's
given us His Spirit to know His will. Two verses tell us this
much. In Ephesians 1.9 it says, having
made known to us the mystery of His will according to the
good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself. That mystery which
Colossians 1.26 tells us has been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to His saints. Through this Word that
you hold in your hand, we now have the full revelation of God.
Nothing hidden. Nothing behind a veil of mystery,
but fully revealed to His saints by His Spirit in Christ Jesus. While you're in 2 Corinthians,
turn over to chapter 11. We'll look at the next thing
in Christ. Chapter 11, verse 3. But I fear, lest by any means,
as a serpent beguile thee through his subtlety, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Now, the
way to salvation is not complicated, even though sometimes men try
to make it such. They have hoops that you have
to jump through, things that you have to do. But when the
keeper of that prison in Philippi Ask the question to Paul and
Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? There was no long, complicated
answer. Only 11 words. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Paul did not even mention the
requirement to be baptized as the church of God likes to proclaim.
Although the jailer and his family all believed and were later baptized,
Paul did not include that in his answer when the man asked,
what must I do to be saved? Now, men like to debate and argue
over what they call the fine points, the deep points of the
Gospel. They like to split hairs over
theology and doctrine to show you how smart they are. And in
doing so, many times they miss Christ entirely. Dora Greenwell,
who wrote that hymn, My Savior, that we sing often, she put it
in the simplest terms possible. I am not skilled to understand
what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know at
His right hand is one who is my Savior. I take Him at His
word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read, For in my heart I find a need of Him to be my Savior. Yea, living, dying, let me bring
my strength, my solace from this spring, that He who lives to
be my King once died to be my Savior." Nothing complicated
about that. You see yourself as a great sinner,
and you see Christ as a great Savior. that He is indeed that
all-sufficient One. The One who is more than trustworthy
to cast the care of your soul upon. That is what Paul was talking
about when he wrote of the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. Now
turn with me over to Galatians. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3.17. And this I say, Galatians 3.17,
that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise of none effect. This covenant that was confirmed
in Christ is spoken of extensively by the writer of Hebrews. Now
when something is confirmed, it is firmly settled. It means
that it is marked by a long continuance. And this covenant was indeed
marked by a long continuance. It began in eternity past. And
it's settled as settled as the very throne of God Himself. It
doesn't get any longer of a continuance than that. Hebrews describes
this covenant confirmed in Christ as a better covenant, which was
established on better promises. And what are those promises?
Hebrews 8, 11 tells us, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. Pause for a minute and think
about that. For I will be merciful not to their good works, but
to their unrighteousness. And better than that, in their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more." But it was not so under the old
covenant. There was no mercy. Only strict justice and judgment
and retribution for any infraction of the law. Not so under this
new covenant brought in by Christ. It's no wonder that it's called
a better covenant. It doesn't get any better than
that. All of our sins and all of our
iniquities forgiven and forgotten forever. Which is a result of
what Christ did for us when by His own blood, He entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. Next, we find that our faith, that faith which is a gift of
God to chosen sinners, has its object in only one thing, one
person. And this is spoken of in numerous
places in the New Testament, but I want to read just three
verses. You don't necessarily need to turn there. Colossians
1, verses 2-4 says, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae. Grace
be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. We give thanks to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ and of
the love which you have to all saints. 2 Timothy 3.15, Paul
wrote to Timothy, that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith,
which is in Christ Jesus. And Galatians 3.26, For ye are
all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Now that verse
I just read, again, is another verse that dead religion tries
to use to convince lost men and women that God loves everybody
and that we're all children of God. And like many other errors,
this one results from the misunderstanding of whom these letters were written
to and whom these letters were written for. Now, throughout
the letters of the New Testament, most of the opening salutations
make it clear to whom these letters were written. People like to
read the Bible as if God wrote it to every human being and it
was addressed to every lost man and woman as well as the saints.
That is not the case. Paul opened the letter of the
Romans by addressing the beloved of God called to be saints. 1 Corinthians opens with the
church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus called to be saints. And this calling is just part
of the process that God does for His chosen elect people.
What does Romans 8.28-30 tell us? Verses we're extremely familiar
with And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are thee called according to His
purpose. 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. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called
Then He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. Every single step of this process
clearly is a work of a sovereign God. He foreknew us. He predestinated
us. He called us. He justified us. And He glorified us. All of which
was done not only before we were born, but before this world was
ever spoken into being. That is why all these things
are listed in the past tense. This calling of God is the greatest
blessing that any human being can ever receive. Paul in his
writing to the Philippians said this, I press toward the mark
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There is no higher
calling than this, to be made a child of the living God. But there is no calling of this
God outside of the person of His Son. When writing to the
Ephesians, Paul addresses the saints that are at Ephesus, and
to the faithful, here's his wording again, in Christ Jesus. Philippians salutes all the saints
in Christ Jesus. Colossians opens with almost
the same words. And both the letters to the Thessalonians
are written unto the church there. 1 Peter is written to the elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. 2 Peter opens
with a salutation to them which have obtained like precious faith
with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Not through good works. Not through
better choices than your neighbor made. but through the righteousness
of God and our Savior. There is never, ever any indication
in any of these letters of the New Testament that any of them
were written or addressed to anyone except the saints of God,
those who had already been given faith in Christ. Galatians 3.28 There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female.
For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Now the church of God
is called the body of Christ. And with the human body, which
has many members, so also does the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians
12 describes this well. It says,
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members
of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we are bound or free, and have been made, all made to drink
into one Spirit. For the body is not one member,
But many. Paul then goes on to make the
analogy between the human body and the body of Christ, the church,
how that in order to have a complete human body, you have to have
many members which serve different purposes. So it is with the church. Similarly, he wrote to the Romans
in chapter 12, verse 5, so we being many are one body in Christ
and everyone members one of another. Turn to Ephesians 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and the
faithful. That's not where it ends, is
it? To the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now, if we are faithful,
we are made so by the grace of God. that grace which is given
us in Christ Jesus. If we were to rely on ourselves,
our faithfulness would last about two milliseconds. And our faithfulness,
as our faith, is a gift of God. We are kept faithful by the power
of God which is in us. Peter confirmed this when he
wrote about our incorruptible inheritance that fadeth not away,
which is reserved in heaven for us, who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. And that verse in Jude 24, now
unto Him that is able to keep you from falling. He that is
able to keep you faithful. Being in Christ, and this is
hard to imagine, but being in Christ, God the Father looks
on us as faithful as Christ Himself, never failing to please our God.
He always looks upon us with favor because we are seen as
holy and as righteous as Christ Himself. Because He is faithful,
we, being in Him, are made faithful. In the same way that Christ was
made sin for us, so we are now made the righteousness of God
in Him righteous, and therefore faithful. The faithfulness of
our God and Savior is spoken of in numerous places in Scripture,
but let me read just one. Deuteronomy 7, 9 says this, Know
therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God,
which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep
His commandments to a thousand generations. We do love Him,
though our love is pathetic compared to His. But our God keeps us, preserves us. This is what we
refer to as the perseverance of the saints in the five points
of Calvinism. But notice that this says, to
those that keep His commandments, Now, that would certainly exclude
every one of us, would it not? But being among those who are
in Christ Jesus, we are seen as keeping all of His commandments
perfectly every second of every day. If that is not something
to rejoice in, I don't know what is. Drop down two verses in Ephesians
1-3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ." In Ephesians 2, 6,
"...and has raised us up together and made us set together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus." Every single spiritual blessing that
exists, all of which are found in Christ Jesus, are ours to
enjoy forever because of the merits and the finished work
of Christ. Those blessings that are too numerous to list, and
those are only the ones that we know about, are all ours to
enjoy for eternity. But more incredible than that,
this verse 6 of Ephesians tells us that if we are in Christ,
that we are seated right now with Him in heavenly places. As He sits in sovereign ease,
ruling all things according to His predestined will. Now lastly,
in verse 18 of chapter 1, Ephesians 1.18, The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what is the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, that power which
He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places." Now, there's
much to be said in the Scriptures about the power of God. This
word, power, is found 260 times in the King James Version. And
many of those times is speaking of the power of God. Power over
life and death. Power over sin and Satan. Power
to bring a dead sinner from darkness to light. Power to deliver us
from condemnation to justification. Our Lord spoke of this power,
our Lord Jesus, in John 9 in His discourse on the Good Shepherd. In verse 17, He said this, Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but
I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of My Father." Now, this is the same power that it takes to raise
a dead sinner. And that power is found in and
comes through the person of Christ Jesus. He gives us the power,
the ability, if you will. He makes us fit to become children
of God. John 1.12 says so. But to as
many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name. This power that
is found in the preaching of the gospel of Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 1.18 For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto
us which are saved, it is the power of God." Paul wrote much
the same thing to the Romans in chapter 1. For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. This gospel that we preach is
despised by both the religious world and base unbelievers. Because
if you preach that all power is in Christ, and the sinner
has none to redeem himself, lost religious men will not have it. And if you tell lost men and
women that their very breath is in the hand of the God that
rules this universe, they will not only mock you, but they will
curse the God whom you proclaim. They will tell you, I've heard
this crap all my life. It hasn't happened yet, and it's
not going to. They despise the very fact that
there is a God, much less one who is sovereign. And it's no wonder to me that
they have that kind of reaction because of the sissified little
Jesus, the pathetic little Jesus that has been preached in this
country and around the world over the last century or more.
Now, the book of Romans opens with the first few verses speaking
of how a true gospel preacher who preaches the Lord Jesus Christ.
It says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated under the Gospel of God, which he hath promised to
for by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection, from the
dead. When Christ is preached by a
true gospel minister, He is declared with power, not with weakness. He is lifted up as the only sovereign
potentate in which all power in this universe is found. Power
over all things and power over all men. This is what the writer
of Hebrews spoke of in chapter 1, verse 3, when he wrote this,
speaking of Christ. who being the brightness of His
glory, and the expressed image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high." This is the power that God the Father wrought in Christ
that we just read of in Ephesians chapter 1. So by way of review,
we find that we are established in Christ Jesus. That the veil
that was in place in the Old Testament is done away in Christ. That the simplicity of the gospel
is found in Christ. The new covenant, our faith,
the unity of the members of God's true church, the faithfulness
of the saints, all spiritual blessings, and the power of God
are all found in this man. Christ Jesus. We are as secure
if we are in Him as if we are already standing before that
throne. And I would say to anyone listening
to this message that does not know the Lord and saving faith,
that you will one day be judged by this God. This God who holds
all power. And you will either be judged
in Christ Oh, you will be judged on your own merits and you will
surely be found wanting. So I would encourage you to seek
the Lord. In whom all power and all the
blessings of God are found.