Back in June, I had the privilege
of meeting with some friends over in Kansas City, Missouri.
Had a meeting, and Brother Steve Carpenter, Steve is a, he's a
brainy, brainy fellow. He's a linguist. He brought three
messages on the subject of eternity. And in the last message, he made
this statement. He said, I don't know what language
we will speak in eternity. But I'm certain that one word
from our language will be carried over into eternity. As we look
back over the ages of time and are allowed to see the wonders
of God's grace and providence. Wow! Wow, what God has done, what
God has done. Open your Bibles again if you
will to the book of Colossians. Our Lord Jesus said, blessed
are they that mourn. If you can, in your heart, verify
that statement, you're one of God's blessed ones. There are
few people in this world who know what it is to mourn their
sin, to mourn themselves, what they are, to mourn because they've
been made to look upon the Savior whom we have pierced. Those who
know nothing of such mourning know nothing of God's saving
grace. Our Savior said, blessed are
they that mourn. But there are some folks who
seem to think he said, blessed are they that mourn and mourn
and mourn and mourn and mourn. That's not what he said. He said,
blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. That mourning of which our Savior
speaks, Brother Bruce, is a mourning that leads to comfort, and a
comfort that leads to joy. When our Lord Jesus first said,
it's expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the
comforter will not come. Do you remember his next word?
Do you remember his next word? He said, but when he, the spirit
of truth, is come, he will convince the world, he will reprove the
world, he will convict God's elect scattered throughout the
world of sin. What? What's that got to do with comfort?
You can't know comfort until you know mourning. You can't
know healing until you know wounding. You can't know life until you
know death. He convinces his people of sin. And all who are convinced of
sin are convinced of righteousness. Convinced of our sin, convinced
of his righteousness, and being convinced of his righteousness.
Convinced that judgment is over. Oh, now. Mourning is over. Mourning is ended. By all means,
we ought to lament and mourn what we are. The evil, the unbelief,
the vileness we know that is in us is reason to mourn. But the knowledge of what we
are in ourselves should never eclipse the blessed revelation
of God's grace and God's salvation in Christ Jesus. Perfect in Christ. When I look in the mirror, I
have great reason to mourn. When I look to glory, I have
every reason to rejoice. You understand that? When I look
at dawn, I have every reason to weep, mourn, and lament. When I lift my heart to Christ,
believing Him, I have no reason, Terry, to ever
mourn again. No more reason for sorrow. No
more reason for lamentation. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Our great God, by the mighty
operations of His grace, by the saving revelation of his dear
son, turns fasting into feasting and mourning into praise, giving
joy and gladness and cheerful feast in our souls. If I've read
this book right, and I'm dead sure certain that I have, it
is the intent of God in everything revealed in Holy Scripture to
comfort his people to encourage us to believe him and to promote
in his people the blessed joy of faith. I have been now for
a little over a year preaching through the book of 1 John at
home. And John states repeatedly, he states repeatedly in that
short five chapters of 1 John, now this is the reason I'm writing
this to you. that you may know, that you believe
on the Son of God. I mean, he states that over and
over and over again. And you preachers have read the
commentaries. Every commentary I read on the book, every commentary I read on the
book, the sermon series I read that other men have preached
on the book, keeps fellows looking at themselves You come away and say, well,
I don't know whether I know anything or not. Maybe ought not to know. Maybe ought not to be sure. Maybe
ought to question this thing. But John wrote the book that
you may know that you have eternal life. This book was written for
you who believe that you may know that you're precious in
God's sight. that you may know that you're
honorable, he made you so, that you may know that you're loved
of God, that you may walk before God in the joy of confident,
fully assured faith in Christ Jesus. Several years ago, some fellas
up north got to listen to me on radio, and one of the young
fellas came down, visited with us several times, And he had
lunch with us. After lunch, we went outside.
I was sitting on the patio. I guess I was smoking my pipe
and we was chatting a little bit. He said, oh, he said, I forgot
the pastor's name just as well. I don't need to remember it.
He said, he's such a good pastor. He said, every time I go to church,
I feel so beat down. I said, do what? Here's the whole,
every Sunday I go to church, I feel so beat down. I said,
why do you keep going? I go get beat once. I might go
a second time, but I ain't gonna go a third time. You can count
on it. No, no, no, no. That's not the reason God brought
you here, for me to beat you down. Oh no, no. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. The scriptures speak plainly.
Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. You
know what I'm saying? Rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
I say rejoice, just in case you didn't get that. Rejoice. Rejoice
in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your
moderation, your ease, your unruffled, comfortable gentleness In the midst of everything, your
unruffled, comfortable gentleness be known to all men, the Lord's
at your elbow, the Lord's at hand. Rejoice because your names
are written in heaven. Rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Rejoice evermore. Let us be glad
and rejoice and give honor to God our Savior. That's the language
of this book. In fact, if we would walk worthy
of the Lord unto all pleasing, if we would honor God as his
children in this world, God the Holy Spirit tells us that we
must do so this way. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins. They shall be comforted when
we realize the glorious kingdom in which we live. and the great
King we serve. When we think about the privileges
of grace that are ours in Christ Jesus, and the boundless love
of God our Father to us, the free grace of our Lord Jesus
for us, and the work of God the Spirit, the comforter in us. Oh, what reason we have to rejoice
in the Lord always. I once read about a group of
monks, and you're probably aware of this, I know many of you are. Each order of monks in various
monasteries have certain disciplines by which they seek to make themselves
holy, by which they seek to draw near to God. Some of them can't
talk. They take a vow of silence. I've been a lot of places I'd
like to have been there, but they take a bow and shot and
they can't talk. They can't talk. Others will go to their closets,
to their little room they live in, and take a little feather
whip and beat themselves. So they flagellate themselves.
And they, beating their body, bring themselves into subjection
to God. Well, I read about a group who used to go to their little
cells and they'd pull up their robes and sit for hours and look at
their navels. I'm not lying, I'm telling you
the truth. They'd look at their navels and thought by looking
at their navels they'd get close to God. Most religious people
I know are just like them. They'd look in here. They'd look
in here for something to give them comfort. They'd look in
here. for something to draw them close
to God. They look in here for something
to inspire hope. Now let me tell you something.
Let me tell you something. You preachers, my dear friends,
if you look in here and find something to comfort you, you're
deluded. If you look in here and find
something to rejoice you, you've been deceived. If you look in
here and find something that makes you think you're really
now fit for God, you are totally deceived. This book doesn't teach
us to look in here. It teaches us to look outside
ourselves to somebody else in whom is perfection. Now, look outside me to Christ
Jesus, the Lord, and we have reason to rejoice. We're told
to look to Christ. The Donnie mentioned Brother
Scott Richardson several times in his preaching. We were preaching
once down at Crossville where Brother Donnie's a pastor. And
Scott preached on this subject, looking to Christ. This was his
outline. He said, salvation begins in
a look. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and beside me there's
none else. Look to the Lamb of God. Look and live. And the second
point was, salvation is continued, it's maintained in a look. We
persevere, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. And his third point was, salvation's concluded in a look.
we shall see his face. We shall look on him. And when
we see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is. And my purpose in bringing this message is to encourage
you who do not know our Savior to trust him. I want to allure you to Christ. I want to allure you to the Son
of God. And for you who are his, May
God the Holy Spirit inspire in our souls confident joy, thanksgiving
and praise and adoration to our God for all his marvelous grace
as we're reminded of the wonders of his grace for us in Christ
Jesus. Now I can think of no better
way to accomplish this end than to call your attention to five
Simple words found in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10 Colossians chapter 2 and verse
10 oh What indescribable blessedness
are contained in these five words? Ye are complete in him ye are complete in him. O Spirit of God, teach us a little
of what you've written here. If he will effectually inscribe
these words on your heart and mind, we will leave here rejoicing
in hope of the glory of God. Now there's no middle ground.
Either you are complete in Christ, lacking nothing, or you're all
together without hope before God. We either have everything
God requires and everything God gives. Let me say it another
way. We either have everything God
can require and everything God can give a sinner, or Bruce,
we have nothing before God. and no in-between grant. Ye are complete in Him. Oh, what a precious statement,
sweeter than honey to my soul. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, though you are continual emptiness in yourself, ye are
complete in Him. Weak, poor, helpless, unworthy,
though we are in ourselves. In Him, our Lord, our Redeemer,
our Savior, we are complete in the fullest, broadest, most varied
possible meaning of that word complete. When God pardons, there's
no probation period. There's no probation period.
Oh, God help you now to believe. Right where you are, God helped
you to believe. And if right now, God opens the
windows of heaven and drops his grace in your soul, and you find
yourself believing on Christ, go home rejoicing, declaring,
I am complete in Christ Jesus. Complete in him. What wonders of grace we have
before us here. The Spirit of God seems to have
but one object in view in giving us this sweet sentence of grace.
His purpose is to cause every believing soul to look to Christ
with confident joy of faith, seeing clearly that as all the
fullness of the Godhead is in Christ Jesus. So all the fullness
of Christ is in you. Look at the text. Chapter 2,
Colossians verse 9. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Brother Terry? All the fullness
of the triune God resides in the body of that man in glory.
That's what it's saying, isn't it? That's what it's saying.
Everything that God is. I said it infinitely more than
I can explain. But everything that the incomprehensible
God is, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, resides Perpetually in
the body of that man who died in our state at Calvary Rose
again and took his seat on the throne of glory and holds the
reins of the universe Making intercession for us by the will
of God in him dwelleth all That God is in a body now. What's the next line and you? Are complete in him the very
same word is used. And ye are fullness in him. In him dwells all the fullness
of God. And you in him possess everything. Now, I'm gonna do the best I
can to milk every word, ye. You who believe on the Son of
God, you who were dead, it trespasses at its end. You who in time past
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air. You who were by nature children
of wrath, even as others. You who once were without Christ,
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in this
world. You who labor and toil and vex
and perplex your hearts continually because of indwelling sin. You
who are groaning under a conscious sense of the body of sin and
death that's in you. You who are loved and chosen
of God. redeemed by the precious blood
of Christ, justified and sanctified by his grace, born of his spirit,
robed in his righteousness, clothed with the garments of salvation.
You are complete in him, you. Now look at the next word, are,
are. The scriptures plainly declare
that God's elect have been complete in Christ from eternity. I don't know why anybody has
difficulty with that. Don't know why anybody would
want to. We were accepted in the beloved before the world
was. Justified, sanctified, and glorified in Christ from eternity. All you have to do is read the
word of God. It says it just like that. Just
like that. We were saved from eternity in
Christ Jesus the Lord. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Now I'm gonna tell you a little
secret. Not many folks ever get hold of this. That which was
finished from the foundation of the world, nothing in time
can alter. It was done from eternity. And
it is a blessed thing to live in this sweet assurance. We shall
be complete in Christ, in heaven's everlasting glory and bliss. A text you just dealt with, Brother
Donnie. Paul says, I labor to present you perfect in Christ. When we see him, we shall be
like him. And unless I'm deceived and deceiving
you, there's nothing on this earth for which I long, like
I long for that, to be like him, to be like him. We shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. But our text here, this word
from God, the Holy Spirit, is not talking about what has been
from eternity. And it is not talking about what's
going to be tomorrow. This is talking about the present
blessedness of every sinner who believes, oh, the Son of God. He does not say, you shall someday,
when your faith is stronger, when your love is more mature,
when your works are better, when you see more clearly, you shall
be complete in Him. No. There are no conditions,
no qualifications for us to meet. He says, ye are, present tense,
complete in Him. Everything here is free grace.
Unconditional, unqualified grace. The Spirit of God is not exhorting
us to be complete. He's not telling us how to make
ourselves complete or what we must do to be complete. No, He
states a fact. He affirms a reality of divine
revelation. He announces a work that's finished
to which nothing can be added, from which nothing can be taken
away. Ye are complete in Him. Right now, at this present moment,
complete in Him. Don't imagine that there's something
lacking, some deficiency you must make up, something you must
complete. He's saying know this and rejoice
in this. You are full, complete, perfect
in Christ Jesus. Be one with him, in union with
him. His fullness, his completion,
and his perfection is your fullness, your completion, and your perfection. This is the glory of faith. Faith
looks to Christ alone, leaves all works behind. It finds all
perfection in Christ and works by love. but it does not work
to get perfection. It finds perfection in Christ
Jesus. So that the work of love that
follows is the fruit of the perfection that's possessed in Christ. Ye
are complete in him. And that which is the glory of
faith is the comfort and joy of faith. Oh, what joy, what
comfort. What joy, what comfort. is found
in looking to Christ for everything. In looking to Christ for everything.
Now, let's look at that word complete. This is one of those words, we
use it so commonly, we don't really pay much attention to
its meaning. You know how that works? You say something so often,
you just kind of say it without thinking about it. Well, this
word is bursting with meaning. As it's used here, it describes
something about God's children accomplished for us without our
aid or assistance. It's a completion in which we
are totally passive. Not about which we're passive,
oh no, no, no, no, no. Not about which we're passive,
but a completion in which we're totally passive. That means,
Bruce, that this completion, you don't do anything for it.
You don't do anything to get it. You don't do anything to
improve it. You don't do anything to possess
it. It's yours in Christ. Totally passive on your part. Oh, now our appreciation of it
and adoration and thanksgiving, that's another story. But this
completion is something God's work in the accomplishment of
it about which we're absolutely passive. What does it mean? What
does it mean? Turn back to John chapter 1. Let's see what it means. John
chapter 1. Let me show you a couple of scriptures. Verse 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, watch now, full. That's the word, brother darling,
the very same word. Complete of grace and truth. John bear witness of him and
cried saying, this is he of whom I speak. He that cometh after
me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his completion. That's the word. Of his fullness
have all we received and grace for grace. Look at first Corinthians
chapter 10. First Corinthians 10 verse 28.
I'll give you a minute to get there. If any man say unto you, this
is offered in sacrifice to idols, eat not of it. Eat it not for
his sake that showed it. And for conscience sake, now
watch this. For the earth is the Lord's and the completion
thereof, the fullness thereof. How much of the earth belongs
to God? How much of it is he talking about? The earth is the
Lord's and the whole thing is His. The whole thing. All the
completion of it. Everything you can see. Everything
you can't see. Everything in God's creation.
That belongs to God. The completion of it is His.
Now look at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2. I'm sorry, chapter
1, rather. Chapter 1, verse 22. And God has put all things under
his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is the completion of him that is the completion of all.
That's the word. The church, which is his body,
is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. What on earth does
that mean? Brother Terry prayed in his prayer
a little bit ago, when the last of God's elect is called, that's
the end. That's what he's talking about,
Brother Terry. Christ is a mediator. He's a substitute. He's a surety. He's the head of his body, the
church. And if that little fingernail is missing, he's not complete. If one member of the body is
missing, he'll never be complete. And that ain't never gonna happen.
Oh no, His church is the fullest, the completion of Him, who's
the completion of everything. His church is the completion
of Him, who's the completion of everything. Christ Jesus crucified,
our Redeemer, He is the completion of God's purpose, the completion
of God's prophecy. The completion of all things
is Jesus Christ our Redeemer. His accomplished redemption is
the reason the world was made. His accomplished redemption the
salvation of God's elect by Jesus Christ our crucified Redeemer
is the reason God made this world sustains this world and continues
this world until at last the last of God's elect is called
and we Are the completion of him who's the completion of everything? That's the word. That's the word
now Colossians 2 again first night For in him dwelleth all
the completion of the Godhead. Wow! In Him dwelleth all the
complete God bodily. That's the word. Obviously then,
when the Spirit of God says in verse 10, ye are complete in
Him, He first means for us to understand. that we are complete,
without limit, without condition, without qualification of any
kind. Whatever we are in Christ, we are complete. Whatever we
have in Christ, we have completely. In all matters regarding all
spiritual things, all our spiritual welfare, and all our soul salvation,
we are complete in Him. Complete, lacking no supplement
of any kind. Complete in Him. Now in Paul's
day, as in ours, there were some fellows who thought they were
brilliant. They called them Gnostics. They thought that faith in Christ
had to be supplemented. Such men then and now vainly
imagine that faith is learned, not bestowed. That it is a matter
of philosophical achievement, not a matter of divine revelation.
Now, they would not openly say that. Heretics seldom say what
they really mean. They seldom say what they really
mean. They would never say, I don't believe the new birth is necessary.
But their doctrine says it. They say faith is something you
acquire by learning, not something God bestows by revelation. And the book of God says exactly
the opposite. Faith is that which God bestows
by the revelation of Christ in you, and you learn of Him when
you believe on Him. By faith, We understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God. And some of you
have tried. You've tried. Brother Donnie
talked about turning the kids over, pouring it in if you could.
When I was a young fella, I used to argue with fellas. And I fussed
with Brother Ron Rumberg. Some of y'all know him. He bound
the Bible for me and put a nice leather binding on it, but still
a hardcover. Somebody asked me, why do you carry that hardcover
Bible? I said, because I beat the truth in you Armenians. But
it never worked. And I tried hard. I tried hard. And I would
argue. And my soul, it ain't hard to
argue against free will. It ain't hard to argue for free
grace. But I never convinced anybody. Did you? Up close to us, we've got this
creation science museum. I've never been there, but I
understand it's pretty good. Spent millions of dollars building
that thing. Millions of dollars. And churches take tours up there.
They send me a promotional every week. You want me to bring somebody
up there to convince folks of creation? Ain't going to happen.
Ain't going to happen. No. How does a man understand
that the worlds were framed by the word of God when you believe
God? and there's no spiritual learning
until there's the gift of faith in Christ. There's no spiritual
learning until God gives you faith in Christ. But these fellows,
they professing to teach salvation is of the Lord, in their doctrine
deny it altogether. Their cunning assertion is that
men learn the truth. These brilliant idiots actually
teach that faith in Christ is a complex mystery, something
that can only be attained by arriving at a superior level
of knowledge, knowledge of which they very humbly are proficient. Back years ago, I was preaching
with Brother Bob McNeil in Charleston, West Virginia, and a fellow preached
in front of me. I was just a pup. I was 22, 23
years old, maybe not that old. This fellow, I got up and preached
in front of him, and he said, now, to be a Calvinist, as if that meant
something, you got to have some gray matter. And you got to read this and
study that. And I couldn't let it go. I just couldn't let it
go. I said, to believe the grace
of God, you got to be a sinner who believes God. And that's
all. That's all. With their beguiling
words, men of wisdom, do everything possible to turn us away from
the simplicity that's in Christ Jesus. Now look at our text here
in Colossians 2. This is exactly the context in
which you find these words. Ye are complete in him. Colossians
2 verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Lord willing, I'm
gonna preach to you Sunday morning on godly living. And I'll give
you the essence of the sermon right now. As ye therefore have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How was it
you received Christ? I don't care whether you're six,
60, or 60. When first you received Christ,
how did you receive him? If you received him, I'll tell
you how you received him. Nothing in my hands I bring simply to
thy cross I cling, naked come to thee for dress, helpless look
to thee for grace, foul eye to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior,
else I die. How did you receive him? As a
guilty, helpless, empty-handed, naked, dirty, hell-bent, hell-deserving
sinner, trusting Christ alone. If you ever outgrow that, Todd,
you've outgrown the grace of God. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. You mean, Brother Don, we're
supposed to live all our lives looking to Christ for everything?
Well, I must have preached that pretty good. That's exactly what
I meant. Rooted and built up in him. and
established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware, beware, 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.
And we're talking about the tradition of men, he's talking about the
traditions that men add to God's law, to God's word, and we're
talking about the rudiments of the world, he's talking about
the law itself. the rudiments of the world, the
carnal ordinances of worship. He said, don't let men deceive
you with this stuff, read on. For in him, in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. Now this is worth remembering,
I suggest you write it down. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ without making the thing added, the object of faith. I don't care what you're talking
about your experience, your creed, your confession of faith, your
knowledge, your church, your baptism, nothing can be added
to faith in Christ that does not make the object of faith,
or does not make faith, that thing added, the object of faith.
And nothing can be added to the gospel of Christ without making
it another gospel. There's nothing new in theology
except that which is false. And those who seek to improve
the gospel of Christ only deface it. It's so perfect in itself
that any addition to it is the outgrowth of heresy. One of the
greatest evils of our day is the attempt of men to rationalize
God's revelation of himself in Holy Scripture. We know whom
we have believed and our hearts are filled with joy to know we
are complete in him. Blessedly, absolutely complete. Just as complete in him as all
the fullness, all the completion of the Godhead is in him. Just that complete. Oh, my soul,
believe this and rejoice. Behold yourself, child of God,
as God declares you to be, for that's how you really are. Behold yourself as God declares
you to be, That's how you really are. That's how you really are. That's so hard for us to grasp. How often have we said, now this
is the way God sees things. Let me let you in on something.
This is deep. This is deep. I promise you,
you won't get this in many theology books. However God sees things. That's how they really are. How does God see you, Bruce Crabtree?
In His Son. That's how you are. As His Son. That's how you are. One with
His Son. That's how you are. Perfect in
His Son. That's how you are. Without sin
in His Son. That's how you are. Righteous
in His Son. That's how you are. Justified
in his son. That's how you are. You're complete in him. Complete
in him. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. We are with all our depravity,
with all our feeble, forgetful, frail, fearful fickleness in
Christ and complete in him, complete
in him. Right now, don't be so intent
in thinking about your corruptions as to forget his immaculate purity,
which is yours. Child of God, don't be so mindful
of your poverty as to forget His infinite riches which are
yours. Don't be so absorbed in your
emptiness as to forget His fullness, the fullness He has made yours
by His grace. Don't be so mindful of your natural
imperfection as a fallen child of Adam that you fail to be mindful
of Christ's perfection, the perfection that's yours in him. Turn back
to Romans chapter six. Romans six. Verse six. Paul's talking about
baptism. And forget about those folks
talking about this being spirit baptism. There ain't but one
kind of baptism in the New Testament is water baptism. And he's talking
about believers who confess Christ and believers' baptism. And this
is what he says as a result of it, verse six. Knowing this,
according to our profession, 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. And now Paul's explaining to
us in verse 10 what he said in verse seven. For in that he,
Christ, died, he died unto sin once. But in that he, Christ,
liveth, he liveth unto God. He's dead, he's freed from sin. He died, he died to sin once,
he lives, he lives to God. Now watch verse 11. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. God reckons you dead to sin. God reckons you dead to sin if
you're in Christ. God says you're dead to sin.
That means sin can't touch you. That means sin can't rob you
of anything. That means sin can't marry you. You're dead to sin. You're dead
to sin. That means sin can't punish you. You're dead to sin.
That means anything resulting from sin can't punish you. You're
dead to sin. God said so. I died when Christ
died. God wore out the sword of his
justice on his son in my stead, and he wore it out on me in his
son. I died when he died. Reckon that God's reckoning is
right. Reckon that God reckons right.
God reckons I'm dead to sin, but alive to God. Don Fortner
reckoned like God reckons. Dead to sin, but alive to God. Complete in Christ Jesus. This
word complete means fully satisfied. Having Christ, we have all that
we could possibly need. Do we need righteousness? He
is made of God and to us righteousness. Do we need acceptance with God?
We are accepted in the beloved. Do we need justification? Christ
is made of God and to us justification. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption to sin Christ Jesus. Must we
be holy as God himself is holy? He said so. Be ye holy for I
am holy. He didn't say be as holy as you
can. He said be ye holy for I am holy. Without holiness no man
shall see the Lord. And Christ is that holiness.
Christ is that holiness. The word means sanctification. Saints. Saints. You wanna know what a saint looks
like? Have you ever seen a saint? Look up here. Look at that. Isn't that something? That's right. Saints. Saint Don and Saint Don. Saints. Well, how dare you say that?
Because God says that. That's what God says. Sanctified
in Christ. Not in the process of becoming
saints. Not in the process of being made saints. You are complete
in him. Sanctified by his grace. Holy
in Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Do we need forgiveness? It is
written, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared. Do you need a clear conscience? I spent my life tormented with
the terror and fear of God. Tormented. From my youth, I was
terrified of God. And it wasn't because I was raised
in a good, godly home. I was raised in a hell hole. The only time I remember the
Bible ever being read to me, Mother would get it out when
she thought I was mean as hell and read it to me about going to hell.
The only time I ever remember it being read. And I was terrified. I was terrified. I dreamed. I dreamed. Some of you know what
I'm talking about. I would have nightmares night after night
after night of falling into hell forever. Falling into hell. I'd
wake up terrified. Wake up terrified. Just horrible,
horrible dread of God until I was almost 17 years old. And God
sent a man to preach the gospel, and calls me to hear it. I had
done everything I knew to do to soothe my conscience, and
my conscience screamed, not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough,
not enough! And God calls me to see Christ
crucified. And where God said enough, my
conscience says enough. And let me tell you something.
Let me tell you something. I've never been afraid of God's sense. Never been terrified at the thought
of meeting God in judgment sense. No. You mean you're good enough
to meet God? Either I am or I'm not, one of
the two. Either I am or I'm not. Oh yes, in Christ I'm complete. I have every need supplied so
that looking on Christ Faith looks away to Him, and
God the Holy Spirit speaks, not guilty. No condemnation. That's enough. That's enough. Do we need that perfection that
God requires? Christ is our perfection. He
is our perfection. We are perfect in Christ Jesus. As he is, so are ye in this world. Brother Terry and I were talking,
we first met back in 1972 over here in Birmingham at a conference
Brother Farrell had back then. I was just a pup, he was almost
a pup. And you can remember when you used to write out the bulletins,
and I suspect Patsy would type them, and then you'd justify
them. You young folks know how we did that. My wife would type
out what I'd write, and then she would take a straight edge
and mark it down the side here, and she'd count the spaces on
every line. And then she'd space it out so
that this side came out equal to this side. It was called justifying
the right-hand margin. And then she'd run it off and
hope it didn't mess up and have to start all over again. These
days, with a computer, you push J, and there it is. There it
is. Justify the right-hand margin.
That means this margin over here is just exactly equal to this
one. Now listen to me. Here is God Almighty in all His
holiness, in all His perfection, in all His righteousness, in
all His goodness. Here is all of God's love, every
demand of divine justice. And we are in Christ Jesus. Justified. Justified. Complete in Christ. What an infinite,
boundless, storehouse of mercy is ours in Christ Jesus the Lord. Oh, my. This word complete means
satisfied. Satisfied. The triune God is satisfied with
Christ. Satisfied with his obedience.
Satisfied with the righteousness he brought in. Satisfied with
his surety ship. Satisfied with his sacrifice.
Satisfied with him. And I'm satisfied. Brother David
every now and then sings for us, all my life long I painted
for a draft from some cool spring. that would, I hoped, would quench
the burning of the thirst I felt within. Poor was I and sought
for riches, something that would satisfy, but the dust I gathered
round me only mocked my soul's sad cry. Well of water, ever
springing, bread of life, so rich and free, untold wealth
that never faileth. My Redeemer is to me. Hallelujah. I have found Him
whom my soul so long had craved. Jesus satisfies my longing. Through His blood I now am saved. Satisfied. To be complete is
to be filled. The word means fullness, filled. can fill the soul but Christ. Nothing can fill your soul but
Christ. Not wealth, not fame, not religion,
not goodness, not experiences, not the gratification of your
lust, only Christ. As the waters cover the sea,
the grace of God in Christ Jesus is the fullness that floods our
souls. So that where there was once
nothing but sorrow, now there's fullness of joy. Where once there
was terror, now there's peace. Where once there was emptiness,
Now there's fullness where once there was frustration, disappointment,
and pain. Now there are pleasures evermore. Look at the last two words, in
him, in him. Ye are complete in him. Everything God has for sinners
is in him. Everything God gives sinners
is in Him. And God gives Him to every sinner
who believes Him. Believe on the Son of God and
go home complete. Complete because of this blessed
union that is ours with Christ. one with Christ. Magic man. One with Christ. He speaks in
John 17 of Him and the Father being one and in the next breath
speaks of us being one in Him. One in Him. In Christ by God's
everlasting decree. In Christ by virtue of this everlasting
union in him, so that as long as Christ has had being as my
surety, I have had being in him, complete in him, one with him
in the sweet experience of grace, believing him, believing him. I bet this pretty blonde here
47, 48 years ago. No, 47 years ago. Get ahead of myself. 47 years ago. And I started courting
her. First time I saw her, I said,
as soon as I get my driver's license back, I'm going to ask
her out. I'd lost my license. June 29, 1967, we started dating.
And been dating ever since. And after about a year and a
half, I persuaded her to commit herself to me, and we were betrothed
in marriage. And I was married to her, and
she was married to me, but I was at school at Springfield, Missouri,
separated for nine long, torturous months. But I was married to
her, as really as I'm married to her right now. And she was
married to me, as really as she's married to me right now. And
then on June the 1st, 1969, Preacher said, you may kiss your
bride, and we took off. And I entered into the experience
of that which I had anticipated for two long years. And we were married. We were
married. And now for 44 years, we've been
living in the blessed joy of that union with one another. I was espoused to Christ and
he was married to me and I to him before the world began. And then he came and betrothed
me to him in loving kindness and in righteousness and in faithfulness. And he said, you're mine, not
yours. Live in union with him.