I may need a ladder. I invite you this evening to
turn back with me to Ephesians chapter 4, that chapter that David just
read to us a few moments ago. And while you're doing that,
let me say that I'm thankful, first of all, to God for bringing
me here That's kind of a difficult lesson
to learn as a preacher because there's so much people and flesh
involved in these things that we overlook the fact that we're
not doing anything apart from God. And I'm here tonight and
you're here tonight because this is where God would have us. He's
brought us together. at this time, and all the rest
of it is just soup. It's just things that God used
to bring this to pass. And then I'm thankful for this
congregation for having me. I'm thankful to you for that.
I care for your pastor and his wife and for this congregation,
and I count it a great privilege to be here. Now, the title of
my message Tonight, and my text will be verses 23 and 24, is
the new man. We hear much talk about the new
man. Our Lord said you must be born
again. He tells us that. You're not
going to save yourself. Salvation is not by evolution. There has to be a new birth.
There has to be a new man. And everything from verses 23
and 24 after that are what I call wherefore verses. And they're
all based upon what he's already stated. He says that shortly
after his introduction into this chapter, he says wherefore, and
then he talks about the ascending Christ. He that descended first,
accomplished salvation, and then ascended far above all heavens,
Nothing higher than Christ. That's as high as you can go. And then he said, wherefore?
And then he starts talking about preachers and prophets and evangelists
and all these means. But everything that the believer
is and everything the believer does and everything the believer
says and everything the believer hopes for is based on this new
man. This new man. And I fear, listening
to people talk in our day, that they know nothing whatsoever
about the triune God and the salvation purposed by God the
Father, accomplished by God the Son, and applied to us by the
Holy Spirit of God. This is the work of God. The
triune God. So let's go back to the beginning
of chapter 4 and let's just kind of work our way back to our text. This is one of those texts that's
better understood after you understand what he's already said. Then
the text is kind of self-explanatory. Paul begins chapter 4 with a
declaration of what Luke calls these things which are most surely
believed among us. a declaration of the simplicity
or singleness of such things that all believers know and all
believers live by and which God has taught them through the preaching
of the gospel and that mighty power of His Holy Ghost. He makes these things so real
to us. He makes these things as though
they were an original thought almost. He tells us first in verse 1
that we're all called to this vocation. What in the world is
he talking about? We're called to be carpenters.
We're called to be electricians. What's he talking about, this
vocation? We're members of his body, the
church. That body has a purpose for being. That body that He's gathering
together and has been gathering together from the beginning of
time, gathering them together, the old ancient prophets and
even before them, those old men, Noah, Adam, all down through
time, Abraham, gathering them in, gathering them in. Because He's the steward. That's
what He does. He tells us in Ephesians 1. That's
His stewardship. God made Him the stewardship
of time, because during this era of time, God knows nothing
about time. God's eternal. He sees the end
from the beginning. He knows all things. There are
no surprises to God, but I'm a creature of time. And since
the beginning of time, the steward of time, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is gathering all things to Himself. He's taking care of those things
in heaven that need taking care of, and He's taking care of those
things on earth that needs to be done. He's the steward. He's
the steward. And this vocation, we're called
to be members of this. We're fellow laborers with God. If you're a member of the church,
you have a vocation. Whatever it is. You might be
a janitor. You might be a cook. You might be a pastor. Who knows
what you are? But God has distributed these
things as He sees fit. And we've learned these things
through the preaching of the gospel and that inward working
of the Holy Spirit of God. And He tells us that. We're called
as members of His body, the church, which is in this world the pillar
and ground of truth. There's no truth in this world
apart from His church. He's not revealed it to anybody.
I have not seen or heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things that God had prepared for them that love. Well, who
did he reveal it to? He revealed it to us, his church. And we're the pillar and ground
of truth. And in this world we have, I know that the church,
if you're talking about the churches of all, all men, all the chosen
of God, the elect of God from the beginning of time, I don't
know how to describe that except as the old writer said, the invisible
church, that's what they're talking about. I know God has an elect. I know he has a number. When
he reaches that number, it's over. It's over. He'll close
this thing down. He will have done what he purposed
to do. And if we're called to be members
of that, then that's our vocation. We don't have anything to live.
What are we living for in this world? What if you were to gain
the whole world? When he wipes time out, and calls men to judgment, if
you own the whole earth, what's that going to mean to you? Nothing. Nothing. We've got one vocation
in this life. Everything else is secondary
to that. And our vocation is members of
that church. In whatever capacity he's given
you to do, whatever talent he's given you to do, use that. Do
that. Support that. That's what we're
here for. That's why we've been given a
being. This is God's purpose, and it's a great privilege for
any individual to know God and to be a member of his church. His visible church is the only
source of saving truth to chosen sinners. They don't find it anywhere
else. And if you come to learn anything
about God, you'll learn it from those he gathers in these little
congregations that he calls churches. And everything else is darkness.
It's darkness. That's all it is. And anywhere where false religion
prevails, so do the gross sins of our society. Where religion
prevails and just It just overwhelms the society. You will find the
deepest, grossest sins there is. A believer's vocation is to do
whatever God in His providence has enabled him to do. And these
things will manifest themselves in time and by such talents and
gifts as God's pleased to give. And then secondly here, Paul
speaks of the attitude and conduct of those he calls. When God calls
a man, he experiences something. He experiences that call. God
makes him to feel that call. And people use all kinds of things
to describe it, but that's what it is. It is an experience of
grace. That's what it is. And there's an attitude, there's
a conduct formed because of that. And that's what he's describing
here. There to abide together with all lowliness. You see that
there? All lowliness. Not uppity-ness. Lowliness. And meekness. With long-suffering. Forbearing one another. What's
that mean? Putting up with. That's what
that means. You put up with. You put up with
me, I put up with you. Or bearing one another in love.
Believers are sinners being saved by grace. That's what we are. We're being saved. We're not
going to save yet. We're being saved. called out
of darkness into His marvelous light. And as such, they're striving. We're striving for something.
What are we striving for? Are we striving to build a big
church? Are we striving for a name? What
are we striving for? What's the church endeavoring
to do? What grips your heart? What is it that you long to do?
What is it that God puts in a saved man's heart? Well, here it is,
verse 3. Endeavoring, that's what he's
doing, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Believers all walk on common
ground. You can't tell it sometimes,
but we all walk on common ground. And that ground is revealed to
them, and they are enabled to receive it by the working of
the Holy Ghost. And His working with all is a
common work. It's the same work. If it's the
same spirit, it's the same revelation, isn't it? I know there's differences today.
I know that. I'm aware of that. Even in grace
churches, there's differences. But there don't have to be. There
don't have to be. Because this spirit teaches one
thing. All we need to do is humble ourselves,
have this attitude that he talks about up here, and listen. Listen. Quit talking and listen. And these things can be resolved. This is a common work. It's the
same work. It's an irresistible work. And
it's an effectual work. And there's a unity of the Spirit
in all God's churches. So what are some of these common
revelations that we have? What is this common ground that
we share? Verse 4, there's one body. Do you believe that? Do you believe there's a church? One church? One elect? One people? Sometimes he calls
them his sheep. Sometimes he calls them his bride. We won't talk about all these
churches, but he just has one body. And we're all just members
of that body. Here on this earth, he has churches,
assemblies. I suppose that would be of better
work. And these assemblies are scattered all over the world. But the body of Christ is his
elect, it's his sheep, it's his people, his bride, his body of
which he is the head. And every building with its religious
name on the sign is not his body, not his body, but he does have
a church. And it's manifested in these
little congregations that he calls in Revelation churches. And he makes known their election
by his gospel and by the effects of working of the Holy Ghost.
His body is that of all believers from Adam to the end of time,
and this body is manifest in this world by local assemblies
where and when he will. And among all these assemblies
in the world, there's one body, one people called of God, And
then he tells us in verse 4, and there's just one spirit,
the Holy Spirit, the promised comforter, the revealer of the
hidden mysteries of God. Not given to them to understand
out here, but it's given to you to understand mysteries. Mysteries
that the princes of this world didn't understand, this poor
preacher can understand. I'm amazed by that. Every day
I open this book and I read in it and it just breaks my heart.
I'm nobody. I'm a nothing. And yet it pleased
God to reveal things to me that even princes, even the wise men
have not known. And He reveals them unto me,
my soul. One body, one spirit. Even as
you're called, he says again in verse 4, even as you're called
in one hope of your calling. What is this one hope of our
calling? Well, Scripture said Christ in
you. That's the hope. That's the hope
of glory. Christ in you. Every one of us
share that, don't we? We share that. There's one hope
in our calling, and we all share it. We all have it in common.
It's Christ. No other way to the Father but
by Him. He's the way. He's the truth.
You want to know the truth? What is the truth? Christ is
the truth. You want to know the truth? Study Him. Put your books on the shelf.
You'd be amazed how much light this Bible shed on them commentaries.
Study Him. All truth is in Him. He's all
wisdom. He made unto us wisdom. And there's just one Lord. Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He's the mediatorial
King into whose hands He trusted all things. He's Lord of creation,
providence, and salvation. He's Lord of the dead and the
living. He's Lord of lords and king of kings. He's Lord over
the elements. What manner of man is this? Even
the winds and the waves obey Him. Huh? Lazarus, come out of there. He can't come out of there. He's
wrapped in grave clothes, head to toe. Even if they gave Him
life, He couldn't come out. He came out. Grave clothes and
all. And then he told him, loose him,
let him go. How'd he come out of there? By
the power of God. He does us the same way. He calls
us out with our grave clothes on. And then he sheds them. He covers us. And also true believers
know this. There's just one faith. There's false faith. But that's
not really faith, is it? They're just one faith. And that
faith is the gift of God. Scripture said, not of works,
lest any man should boast. It's not something you can work
up. It's not something you can set your jaw and determine to
do. It's the gift of God. And that faith is centered on
Christ. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. Faith fastens its eyes on Christ. It'll try to look aside, but
it keeps coming back to Christ. It'll start looking within, and
that's a black hole, so it goes back to Christ. It starts looking
at the world because that's appealing to the flesh, but it has to come
back to Christ because there's no life in the world. There's
no light in the world. That faith is centered on Christ.
He's the author and finisher of faith, and that faith is an
active faith. I'm so tired of hearing about
some... I got saved 25 years ago. What about today? You being saved today? Is your faith growing today?
Are you learning anything at all? It's an active faith. It's a growing faith. Growing
grace and knowledge of Christ. It's a life-changing faith. Does
your faith Change you? Is it something different about
you since God gave you faith? My soul, we're not the same.
We're not the same. It's a life-changing faith. And
it's a persevering faith. We're not of them who draw back
under perdition. We're of them who believe to
the saving of the soul. One faith and without faith,
if I don't have this one faith, the scripture said it is impossible
to please God. Are you thinking about that?
I don't care what you do. I don't care if you give your
body to be burned. It's impossible to please God
without faith. One faith and one baptism. Boy, some people like to argue
about that, don't they? One baptism. What is baptism? Baptism is a symbolic ordinance
whereby we confess our hope in Christ. That's what baptism is. As the Ark was symbolic of salvation, Christ being buried under the
wrath of God, but saved by His resurrection. Those old sinners
walked into that ark, didn't they? They willfully, with the
knowledge God gave them, walked into that ark. I know that you
all studied that ark, but that ark had a door that was first,
second, and third stories high. That's a big door, ain't it?
Not even elephants on board there could have shut that door. That
door was huge. One big gaping hole inside of
that ship. God shut them in. He shut them
in. He put them in Christ. And here's
what Peter said. He said, The like figure whereunto
baptism doth now save us, not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We confess our salvation
in Christ by a symbolic ordinance whereby our union with Christ
is shown in His death. We're buried with Him in baptism. Isn't that what it says in Romans
6? Buried with Him in baptism. You can't do that with a sprinkling
water. The only way you can be buried
is to be buried. Now I don't care what the word
typifies, I'm telling you that this baptism is symbolic of a
confession of our salvation in Christ and our union with Him. We're buried with Him, and then
we're raised with Him, and then we ascended with Him, and we're
seated with Him in glory. That's what it says in Ephesians
chapter 2. And that's what baptism shows. Now you tell me how you
can smear a little water on a baby's head or sprinkle some water on
somebody and symbolically show that. You can't do it. And that's
what this ordinance is. And they're just one baptism.
And that's baptism by immersion. And then in verse 6, he said,
they're just one God. One God. And Father of all, who
is above all, through all, and in you all. Now he can't be talking
about all men. He's not the father of all men.
He's the father of his elect. He's talking about all who believe,
all for whom Christ was appointed and all for whom he died and
now sits at the right hand of God making intercession. Because
your sons The Scripture said, God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Verse 7, But unto every one of
us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. Everything we know about Christ,
all of our gifts, all of our knowledge. It's all a gift of
God. Every bit of it. And He has a
purpose behind it. He has something that He's called
you to do. And then watch this, verse 8,
Wherefore He saved when He ascended up on high. He laid captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men. And he that ascended, what is
it? But he that also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth, he that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. And our ascended God and Savior,
verse 11, gave some apostles. What were they for? What did
he give apostles for? An apostle is the highest office
in the church. The highest office in the church.
He gave them to finish the canon of Scripture. He gave them to
establish churches in this world, small congregations all over
this world, and the way they're being established. He gave these
apostles to teach us something about This gospel age, the end
of time, the age in which we live, the gospel age. He gave
these apostles. And once they had accomplished
that, we don't have any more apostles. They completed the
canon of Scripture. We don't need apostles now. And he also gave prophets. What
do they do? These prophets, they wrote the
Scriptures and prophesied of the coming Redeemer. We wouldn't
know that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ apart from the prophets.
Prophets described Him to a T. Described how He would come,
when He would come. All of these things were described
in great detail. Do you remember what those Jews,
they got angry at Christ? Over there in John chapter 10,
they got angry at him. And they said, if thou be the
Christ, tell us plainly. You know what he said? I told
you, plainly. But you believe not, because
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. Who did they hear? They heard the prophets. They
heard the prophets. Simeon knew who he was, didn't
he? John the Baptist knew who he was when he was still in his
mother's womb. Somebody asked me one time, well, how does God
save babies? You said He saves babies. I didn't
really say that, but I meant that. How does He save babies? Well, the same way He saves you.
Oh, a baby can't understand anything? I said, listen to this. When
his mother heard that news about the coming Redeemer from Mary,
Her son leaped for joy in her womb. You reckon he knew who
Christ was? He wasn't even born yet. He heard. It's no harder for God to cause
a baby to hear than it is for you to hear. Huh? Prophets, apostles. And then
he says, and this is for our day, these offices still exist,
evangelists and pastor-teachers. That's not evangelists and pastors
and teachers. That's evangelists and pastor-teachers. Look it up. Give it some study.
The apostles and prophets ministered to us even in this day through
the Word of God. We still read these things. We
still look at these things. study these things. And then
the evangelists and pastor-teachers, they preach the gospel. They're
open to men the great revelation of the mysteries of God. And these means God has ordained
and He's not going to change. He's not going to vary in any
way. James tells us that in chapter 1. Every good gift, perfect gift,
coming down from the Father of lights with whom there's no variableness.
God's not going to change. He don't care what your situation
is. He ain't going to change. We didn't have no pastors. What's
that got to do with it? You reckon God's going to change
because of your circumstance? God's not going to change. He'll
just change your circumstance. That's all that'll be. God uses
these means, the preaching of the gospel of Christ for the
perfection of his saints. He said, well, I've never met
a perfect man. Well, there's two things that
he's talking about here. One, I think, is the completion of
the number of his saints. We're going to keep right on
preaching. He's going to keep right on preaching to men, choosing
preachers, enabling preachers to pray until that number's full. So that has something to do with
this perfection, but I believe mostly it has to do with this.
Christ is our perfection. Christ is our perfection. This
is the perfection of the saints. For the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. Now listen to this,
and I'll tell you why I said that. Verse 13, till we all come
in the unity of the faith, now listen, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man. I ain't talking about you. I'm talking about Christ and
your perfection in Him. Unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. Christ is the perfect man. He's
the perfect Savior. And He's the perfection of every
true believer. I have a perfect righteousness
and a perfect atonement in Christ. Is that right? That's the only
righteousness I know anything about. And people talk about
seeking the atonement and seeking righteousness and seeking all
these things. And I'm not going to split hairs with you, but
I'm going to tell you something. What the believer seeks is Christ.
If he finds Christ, he has that righteousness, he has that atonement,
he has that wisdom, he has everything God has for sinners is in His
Son. Why do you just preach Christ,
Christ, Christ all the time? Because there isn't anything
else. That's why. There's nothing else. He's all,
isn't He? Well, if He's all, what's left?
Nothing. He's all. And we preach these
things for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ until we all come in the unity of the faith. Wow, there's that word unity
again. Now listen, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man under the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ. Verse 14, that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in
wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up. He don't stop there. We may grow
up into Him. Wow. And then, of course, then we
have our lives, you know. We grow up in Him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly
joined together, compacted by that whichever joint supply,
according to the effects of working, In the measure of every part,
it maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in
love. There is no schism in the body of Christ. Every part that
God has chosen, every part that God has purposed to use, gifted
to use, enabled to use, every one of them, they all work together
according to His arrangement, according to His power, and according
to His Spirit in unity. That's what we're endeavoring
to do, isn't it? Function without any schism in the church, without
all the arguing and backbiting and all of these things. And
we all realize that we're saved by grace, we're sinners saved
by grace, called into this vocation, used in the church of God. And this is the church. It's reason for being here, it's
basis for being here, it's reason and motive of conduct and the
means whereby it's established and functions every day. And
then the apostle warns us of our prior life and ways. He said
it's our past ignorant and deceit that dictated our behavior and
ways. Don't go back to the way you
were. Don't go back and walk like those Gentiles. Don't you
remember? You walked in the vanity of your mind. You thinking this
and thinking that. Sure of this and sure of that.
And then one day He revealed Christ to you and you saw it
all. It's just vanity. Just vanity. Poor old Paul. I heard a guy talking the other
day saying like Paul took everything he didn't like and threw it on
the dung heap. Let me tell you something. Paul
went to that dung heap every day. Every day. His whole life. and threw something else away.
I don't really need that. I moved out of a fairly large
house up in Kentucky and I moved into a little 1,700 square foot
house down in Arkansas and I took all my stuff with me. And it
didn't fit. And I spent every day taking
something out to the driveway and putting a sign on it, free,
take me home. Until I got down to what was
supposed to be there, and that's what we do. We just keep going
out to the dung heap, throwing it away. That was a good idea
at the time, but now I see it's foolishness. I throw that away.
I don't need this. I don't need that. He warns us of our prior life,
and we're warned not to include any of these things in our walk
of faith. We once walked in the vanity of our minds, walked with
a darkened understanding, being alienated from the life of God.
Eternal life is to know God. But at that time, we didn't know
God. We was alienated from that life. And then listen to what he says
in verse 20. You have not so learned Christ. Now wait a minute. What did we learn? We learned
Christ. Why are these preachers and evangelists
talking about Christ? Christ. That's what believers
learn. Christ. We say, I learned that
first thing. You're still learning it. You're
still learning it. You've not so learned Christ.
That knowledge didn't come from the flesh or the world or false
religion. It came through the means God
ordained. Verse 21, if so be that you've
heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in him,
or Jesus, that you put off concerning your former behavior, now watch
this, the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts. Deceiving desires. Desires of
self-righteousness, self-conviction, self-saved, and self-taught. What is the old man? He's the original man. He's the
cursed man. He's the fallen man. He's the
depraved man, the natural man. The natural man receiving not
the things, that's the old man. He's the lost man. Suppose you knew somebody from
your childhood. Just think about this for a minute.
I'm trying to describe to you the old man. But you grew up
with him. I mean, you was five years old
together with him. You played in the yard. You played
with your toys. You swung on the swing. You got
a little older. You went swimming. Just like
that, boy. I mean, everything you did, you
did together. You went to school together.
You played ball together. Your whole life, you knew this
guy. You indulged him with secrets that you wouldn't let anybody
else know. You asked him for advice when you're in trouble.
You went to him for knowledge and understanding. This, I mean,
close, close friend. That's the old man. Then one
day you discovered that that old man was wicked. Your friend
you trusted in, he couldn't stand you. He was using you. And you're standing around the
corner and you're listening to him talk to somebody else and
you couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. He was
trying to sell you out. He was going to sell your soul.
You're sitting there listening to him. Now let me ask you something. Once you knew that, would you
still go back and ask him for information? Would you go back and ask him
what you ought to do, help you make up your mind what to do?
You wouldn't trust him at all. That's what happens when God
saves a sinner. He gets on God's side against himself. That's
what David said. He confessed what he was, and
he said, this is so you be clear. when you speak and justify it
when you judge. He took sides with God against
himself. That's what happens when God saves a sinner. He gets
on God's side on this thing. He sees what that old man is.
And now, Paul said, if you know what the old man is, that's how
you learn Christ. And now you know what that old
man is, why you want to go back and ask him for anything? Put
him off. Take him off. Throw him down.
He's no help to you. Well, it seems to me, that's
the old man, ain't it? Get rid of him. He's lying to
you and you know it. Put off the old man with his
deceitful lust. God saves a man, that man learns
what he is. And he takes side with God. What is it to put off the old
man? It's to lose all confidence in him. Huh? What you say about
the elect? They have no confidence in the
flesh. That's old man. They put him off. They know him
for what he is. But there's more. Verse 23, And
be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you might put on
the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
through holiness. So what is this new man? The new man is not some invisible
force trying to influence you to do better. Anybody tells you that, don't
know the new man. The new man is not that man,
the new reformed you. That's not the new man. The new man is not the voice
of conscience whispering what you ought to do and what you
ought not to do. That's not the new man. The new
man is Christ. Did you hear how he described
this new man? He was created in righteousness
and true holiness. Anybody in here think he's righteous
before God? Not apart from Christ, you're
not. He is. He is. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. We beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He's the only true righteous
man there is, and we have His righteousness. And true holiness,
that word holiness has something to do with the wholeness of God. That's God in all of His perfections,
in perfect harmony all the time. That's holiness. He's true holiness. Here's this man, the God-man,
and they watched him like a hawk. And he said, which of you convinces
me of sin? Well, those people knew how to
identify sin now. They couldn't find any fault
in him. Took him to Pilate, he couldn't find any fault in him.
He was a professional judge. Nobody could find any fault in
Him because there wasn't any fault in Him. He created Him
in true His righteousness and true holiness. This new man. To be born of God is to believe
on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now listen to this. It's what
it says over in John chapter 1. As many as received Him not
some invisible force, not something you can't identify, not something
you can't know. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on His name, which were born." What's that new birth about?
It's the birth of Christ in you. That's what it is. Well, how much does a man have
to know to be saved? Whatever it takes for that man
to believe on Him. I don't know. It took a lot more for me than
it did for you. I don't know how much you got.
But I do know you have to know Him as God has shed Him forth
in His Word. And whatever amount of that is
Jesus, that's what you've got to know. But I do know this,
salvation's in Him. Isn't it? People think there's a good you
and an evil you. There's just you. That's all
there is. And if God be pleased to, He'll
create in you a new man, which is Christ the Lord. Listen to
this. If any man be in Christ, he's what? He's a new creature.
That's the new man. Isn't it? Paul wept for the people of Galatia
because they were sold a bill of goods. They were buying into
it. And he wept and he said, O little
children, I travail in birth again. Till what? Till Christ
be formed in you. That's what it is to be born
of God. It's to have Christ as your hope. That's the only new
man I know anything about. You know something else, you
know something I don't know. I just know him. I just know him. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, Paul said, so walk ye in him. He preeminent in the
believer's walk, isn't he? He can't walk apart from Christ.
How are you going to walk? So walk in Him, rooted, built
up in Him, established in the faith. For in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily." What else do you need to be saved?
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. What else
do you need? Huh? You need another evidence? My soul, He's all! And listen to this, Romans 13
verse 14. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what he's talking
about over here in Ephesians, putting on the new man? Put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ, now listen, and make not provision for the flesh
to fulfill the lust thereof. What's all this stuff about invisible
forces and all this? What's all that about? The flesh. Isn't it? Making provision for
the flesh. That's all it is. Paul said,
don't do that. Put on Christ. He's all. You're complete in
him. And he's the head of all principality
and power. What else could you possibly
want? We put our trust and our confidence
in Christ. And then he goes on and he says
this, and I'll plug. He said, let no corrupt communication
come out of your mouth. He's talking about religious
lies. You get rid of that junk. You get rid of that old free
will, aisle walking, bench kneeling, all that junk. Get rid of it.
Get rid of it. Get rid of it. Christ is all.
And he said, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Our Lord loved
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Scripture tells us that. I don't
have to speculate, but he loved them. Loved them. And on purpose. He knew Lazarus was sick. He
could have went there. He could have healed Lazarus
from where he was. He didn't have to go over there. But he let Lazarus die. And he
had good reason. But when they saw him coming,
here's Mary. She loved him. She sat under
him. She listened to him. She sought the good thing. Mary
loved him. She said, if you'd been here,
my brother had not died. What's it say the Lord did? He
was troubled in his soul. Huh? He was troubled. Jesus wept. He saw these mourners,
and they were mourning because of Mary's weeping and Mary's
false charge. And he wept. Grieve not the Spirit
of God. Jesus Christ is all we know about
the Spirit of God. And I know that He can be grieved,
and I know the Holy Spirit can be grieved. And what grieves
him more than anything is when we seek something or preach something
other than Christ. And that's what he tells us.
Don't let anything else come out of your mouth. You just preach
Christ. You just preach Christ. He's all. After you stand it, you come
back tomorrow night and I'll give you another dose of the
same thing. Ford with it.