In Galatians chapter 3, that
we read from a few moments ago, we'll take our text. You may
have guessed it already. From verse 11, those three words,
three one-syllable words, all but half full of grace and truth.
Christ is all. Christ is all. Paul wrote this epistle because
some were teaching that Christ wasn't all. They were troubling
the believers of the church at Galasi and telling them they
needed something else in addition to Christ, Lloyd. Needed more. And Paul wrote this epistle and
told them, reminded them, who Christ was in chapter 1. and
what Christ has done. And in view of that, he says,
you're complete. You're complete. These folks
that are telling you you need something else to be complete,
to be accepted before God, like legal works, Paul deals with
that issue in the epistle. Some were even teaching the worship
of angels on an equal footing with Christ. Some taught man's
religious tradition. Some were teaching the importance
of philosophy, what man thinks, how he views things, instead
of what God Almighty says. So that's why Paul wrote this
epistle, to remind them Christ doesn't have a rival, does he? Christ doesn't have a rival.
And he doesn't need help. He doesn't need assistance from
anybody. He stands alone. He stands alone. To all the teaching that said
otherwise, Paul had one answer, just one answer. And he told
that answer. In these words, sums it all up,
Christ is all. Look what he says in verse 6
of chapter 2. Verse 6 of chapter 2. As ye have
therefore received Christ, Jesus the Lord, how did you receive
him? By grace alone, through faith
alone, in Christ alone. How did you first begin this
walk? God called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. It's
all a matter of mercy. Mercy there was great, and grace
was free. As ye therefore have received
Christ the Lord, so walk ye in him. You're not saved by grace
and then kept by legal works. You're not justified by grace
and then sanctified by your own endeavors. Paul says, you receive
Christ by grace, you walk the same way, you serve Him the same
way, you honor God the same way, by looking to His Son, believing
on Him. And Paul says, Christ is all. Is. Present tense. That's always true. He doesn't
say Christ was all. That's what these false teachers
were saying. That Christ used to be all, but Christ is all,
brothers and sisters, whether I feel it at the moment or not.
I can't trust my feelings. Luther said, feelings come and
feelings go. Feelings are deceiving, aren't
they? up one moment and down the next. Oh, but my hope is in the Word
of God. None else is worth believing. And Paul doesn't say that Christ
used to be all, but that He is. He doesn't say that Christ will
be all. We hear a lot about that in our
day, don't we? One day, in some thousand-year
rule, Christ will be Lord then. No. He's Lord right now. Lord
over all and blessed forever. Christ is the same. Whatever
he was yesterday, he is today. He's God. Immutable. And whatever he is today, he'll
be tomorrow. Forever. Christ will always be All that he is. All that I embrace
him as being. All of my salvation. That's what
David said, didn't he? On his dying bed, remember? David looked back over his checkered
life. Ups and downs. Hot and cold. A man after my own heart. And
that man, after God's own heart cried out, Lord, purge me from
my sin. This was after God put him on
the throne. After God took the least of Jesse's
sons and made him the king over Israel, he sinned terribly. Had a man murdered so he could
take his wife. And Nathan come in and said,
David, you're the man. And David wrote that psalm, oh
God purge me, my sins ever before me. And afterwards he wrote,
blessed. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. David lays upon his deathbed
thinking back, oh and what rebellion in his own family, his own son
chased him from the throne temporarily. Incest, David, if you're depending
on anything other than Christ, you don't have a hope. But that's
not what David looked to, did he? He said, even though my house
be not so with God, not as I wish it to be, not as I want it to
be, not as I pray that it should be, He said, yet, yet, it doesn't
change this. It doesn't change this. God had
made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things insure. This is all my salvation and
all my desire, all my hope. And that's what Paul tells us
here. Christ is all to God. He's all to God. Consider that
first, and then consider how He's all to us. Christ alone
is the only mediator, not angels, the only mediator between God
and man. It's not a Baptist preacher,
not even if he's a five-pointer. He's not a mediator. Joe, God
taught you it wasn't that priest, was it? that you were raised
to believe could absolve you of your sins. Thank God He taught
you different. The only mediator between God
and man is that one. Only one, Todd. Oh, how I should
love that one! How I should adore that one! How thankful I should be to that
one, Lord! that brought me to God, the only
mediator between God and man, the only one that could reconcile
this filthy sinner to that holy God, was one, the God-man. Because He's the only one that
was made sin for me, because He's the only one that knew no
sin. He was the only sacrifice that
God Almighty would accept. He's the only one, because of
His glorious person, His purity could purge my sins. And by doing so, bless His name,
by doing so, I declare it is hard for me every time I consider
that wonderful truth just not to pitch tent right there. He
didn't attempt to do it. Does that comfort you? Is that
any comfort to you? To hear that he tried to do something? That's the very reverse of comfort. That would add to my misery.
Oh, but to hear that my glorious Redeemer, my substitute, was
really made sin with this certain and sure result that I might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Wrapped up. Just wrapped up in that perfect
robe of His righteousness. I am the way, the way. There's not another. There's
not a Baptist way and other ways. No, Christ said, I'm the way.
No man, no man cometh to the Father but by me. Noah didn't. Moses didn't. Abraham didn't. They all came the exact same
way that Peter came. And John came and Paul came. They came by Jesus Christ. He's all to God, is he not? That
day, when he came to be baptized at the River Jordan, where John
was baptizing, and John said, I didn't know him. I knew him
not. Now, their mothers, Elizabeth
and Mary, were cousins. So John must have certainly have
known of Jesus, but he didn't know that he was the Messiah.
He says that in John's Gospel. I knew him not, but he that sent
me to baptize told me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending
and lighting on, that's him. That's him. And John said, that's
the reason I came baptizing, to identify him. And Jesus comes
to the banks of the river Jordan that day, and he goes down into
the water, and John immerses him. That's what the word baptized
means, immersed, covered up. And he comes up out of the water,
and at that moment, the clouds departed, and a dove descended. And as it was doing so, and lighting
on Him, God Almighty spoke from heaven, and this is what He said,
11 words, and they're recorded almost identically by Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, and they were these, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. That's important. That's very
important. As old Scott Richardson often
said, before God does anything for a sinner, He must do something
for Himself. Do you understand that? God must
be justified in justifying a sinner. There can be no infringements
of His holy law. People think salvation by grace
means that the law was set aside. No! It was fulfilled by our substitute. Now, God, God, in absolute justice,
as well as mercy, forgives all those that come unto Him by Jesus
Christ. God pointed and said, listen,
listen, this is final. This is final. This is not up
for a vote. I'm not asking man's permission. This is what I'm saying. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You notice how
it's written? Not with whom I'm well pleased.
That's certainly true. But he said, in whom I'm well
pleased. In whom? In whom? How often do we find those two
blessed words throughout the epistles, especially Ephesians
and here in Galatians? In whom? In whom are all his
people accepted? This is my beloved son in whom
I am, God says. always, from eternity past to
eternity to come. Christ Himself said, I do always
those things that please the Father. And remember, He was
a substitute in His life as well as His death. He was acting as
the substitute for His people in all those things. From the
cradle to the grave in honoring God's holy law, that too He did
as my substitute. In whom I am well pleased. How pleased is God with His Son? How do you express it? Completely. Eternally. For all those that
are in His Son, they are just as completely, just as eternally,
just as thoroughly pleasing to God Almighty. That's what the
Scriptures teach. Accepted in the Beloved. One time, one day after healing
folks that were diseased, after preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom,
at the close of the day, the people that hurt him, the people
that were healed, said he had done all things well. And that's
what God the Father says too. He had done all things well. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son. To do what? To redeem them
that were under the law. And he did it well. He lived
a life of obedience to God's law, and he did it well. He went
to Calvary, where God made him sin, not pretend that he was
sin. The scripture says he was made
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And again, God said, well done. Well done, my righteous servant. I'm well pleased. How do I know
that? How do I know that God Almighty
accepted the sacrifice of His Son? How do I know that? Because the evidence of His eternal
satisfaction was in this. He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand and said, sit right here, Son,
in the place of preeminence, in the place of acceptance, in
the place of sovereign rule and majesty. And I promise you, my
Son, I'm going to make everybody bow before you and confess to
my glory that you're the Son of God. To the glory of God the
Father. Everybody's going to bow to you.
Even those. Before I cast them into hell.
Even every one of those who refuse to bow on earth. They're going
to bow before you, my son. That's my promise to you. For
your obedience. And they're going to confess.
that you're the son of God, to the glory of God the Father. On Mount Carmel, when Elijah
squared off against those 400 false prophets of Baal, you're
familiar with that. And those false prophets built
their altar, offered their sacrifices, because here was the challenge. Elijah said, you cry to your
God, and I will mine. And which one answers by fire,
he's God. He's the true God. And they started
those false prophets early in the morning. They shouted. And
Elijah said, maybe your God's asleep. Maybe he can't hear you. Maybe
he's taking a vacation. These guys worked themselves
up into a frenzy. They must have been Pentecostals
and begin to cut themselves and do flip-flops. Nothing. Nothing. And then Elijah prayed. He said, God, my God, show this
day who you are. Show these people that you're
the true God. And the fire fell from heaven.
It not only consumed the sacrifice, it consumed all the water that
had been drenched over the sacrifice. everything. And the people cried,
the Lord, He is God. If you would stand that day outside
of the most holy place, on the other side of the curtain that
separated the holy from the most holy, on that one day a year
when the high priest was permitted to go in to the most holy place
with the blood of the sacrifice, And as you stood on the other
side listening, perhaps you would hear Him as He went through what
was necessary to offer that sacrifice. But you would never hear this.
You never heard this. It is finished. But when the Son of God offered
Himself without spot to God, He consumed all God's wrath. The fire of heaven fell, and
instead of consuming the sacrifice, the sacrifice consumed it. He took all the wrath of God
due to me, and He bore it all. He drank damnation dry. Glory to His name. And that's
what we're celebrating today, isn't it, Lord? We're not going
to remember an attempt He made. When we eat the bread and drink
the wine, we're going to celebrate. We're not going to mourn. We're
going to celebrate that He accomplished eternal redemption for us. Just as He did that night when
He instituted it. He said, take this cup to the
disciples. Drink ye all from it. Pass it
among yourselves. Because this is by blood of the
New Testament that's shed for you. And it's not shed in vain. It'll
accomplish just exactly what it's intended to accomplish. And God proved, I asked, How
do I know God accepted it? He proved his complete eternal
satisfaction with his son's sacrifice of himself because he raised
him from the dead. Look what Paul says in verse
14 of Galatians 1. In whom we have not hope to have,
but in whom, in whom, not in what, but in whom we have redemption,
how? Through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Even the forgiveness of sins. All my sins. Every one of my
sins. What about those you'll commit
today, Larry? Those too. And tomorrow? Those
too. Oh my soul, in wonder of you,
for all my future sins, there's pardon too. People hear that
and say, oh my, my, my, my, my. You just can't tell folks that.
Because they'll go out and just live like hell if you tell folks
that. God's people want a Pharisee will. A deceived person that's
only trotted up an aisle and made some kind of silly decision
that didn't amount to a hill of beans will. But God's people
won't. You know what they'll do? They'll
bow down before Him and they'll cry from a heart of gratitude
of Him and through Him and back to Him are all things to whom
be glory forever and ever. in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. In Him, we were in His
heart, brothers and sisters. Well, there's never been a time
that we weren't. And in His hand. And God is well
pleased with us because He is well pleased with Him. Look again
in chapter 1, what Paul says at verse 28, whom we preach, whom we preach. That's why you
that believe came here this morning. Not to hear what? Not to hear
like these legalists were troubling the believers here at Galassi
with touch, not taste, not handle, not go, not. No, you didn't come
to hear rules and regulations. You came to hear about whom?
You came to hear about Jesus Christ. You can't hear too much
of Him, can you? You've came here with a heavy
heart. But hear again of that One. That One who loves you,
has always loved you. You're in His heart. You're inscribed
there in marks of indelible grace and everlasting love. And you're
in His hand. You couldn't be a more caring,
loving, secure hands than His. whom we preach, warning every
man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present
every man perfect. How can that be? In Christ Jesus. Look at verse 9 of chapter 2. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And you are complete in Him. which is the head of all principality
and power. Complete acceptance in the Beloved. Complete forgiveness in the same
place in the Beloved. Mr. Newton wrote these words.
He said, I think those are the sweetest moments in this life,
when we have the clearest sense of our sins, provided the sense
of our acceptance in the beloved is equally clear. And we feel
the consolations of his love, notwithstanding our transgressions. Oh, the sooner we learn that
Christ is all, and the more and fuller revelation we have of
Christ being all, the sooner we'll enjoy the sweet rest and
peace promised to all those that trust in Him. I don't have any
claim on God's mercy. I'm a sinner. An old anonymous
poem that Brother Henry sent me was in my mailbox when I got
home last night. One verse of it says, I have
no claim to mercy and grace. I'm just a sinner, my brother.
So if God hears my plea in his face, I do see it will be through
the work of another. God had made Him to be sin for
us. God had made Him our righteousness
and wisdom and sanctification and redemption. And secondly,
Christ is all to us. All my hope before a holy God. God, make me to feel this more
and more. Make me aware of this more and
more. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all And Jesus Christ is my all in all. I trust nothing,
Carlos. I'd better not. Trust nothing
I've ever done. You mean before you were saved?
No, I mean afterwards. I mean afterwards. I mean at
this very moment. My hope, my hope is built on
nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Is that your
hope? What's your hope? Soon, soon,
this vapor we call life's going to be over and we're all going
to stand before God. What's your hope? What are you
thinking of right now when I ask you that question? What are you
thinking of? What's your answer? What's your
hope when you stand before God? What's the basis, the grounds
of your acceptance? What are you trusting? And if
your answer is, I, something I did, it's the wrong answer. No, my hope's built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. It's not what I did, brother
Lloyd, it's what He did. Jesus paid it all, and all to
Him I owe. Do we not? Grace is unmerited. It's free, without cost by me,
and without a cause in me. That's grace, isn't it? Nothing
else but pure grace. Look what Paul says. Look, turn,
if you will, to 2 Thessalonians for a moment. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Familiar passage. But Paul says
this, in writing to the church there, verse 16, verse 15, 2
Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 15. Therefore brethren, stand
fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and even our Father which have loved us and have given us everlasting
consolation and good hope. A good hope. How? Through grace. And only that
can do this, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good
word and work. A good hope through grace. And Paul wrote to this church
and said, stay right there. Don't you move, don't you allow
anybody to move you one inch, one hair's breadth from Christ. Stay put. Christ is all the fullness
he wrote, full of grace and truth. Listen, believer. All that you
need today, tomorrow, and forever, He has. He sets up on a throne
of grace, and He giveth. You've experienced it, haven't
you? You've experienced it. He giveth and He giveth, and
He giveth more grace. And He never has less of it.
Those who tell you that you need more of Christ, I've had folks
tell me that. And I say, you've never seen
Him. You've never seen him. You wouldn't make such a foolish
statement. There's not another like him. In verse 27 of chapter
1, Paul says he's the riches of God's glory. Chapter 2, verse
3, he says he's all the treasure. Verse 9 of chapter 2, all fullness. Verse 10, all completeness for
all time, last of all. Christ is all the glory. of Emmanuel's
land. Father, he prayed in the garden
that night, I will also that all those whom you have given
me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory. In Revelation chapter 4, when
John's caught up to heaven, the first thing he sees is Christ
on his throne. He's all the glory. In chapter
22, we're told, they shall see his face. They that he's loved
with an everlasting love. They for whom he came and lived
and died. They to whom he said, drink ye
from it. This is my blood which is shed
for you. They that he'll bring before his father and the father
will say, perfect. present us without fault before
the throne of God. I repeat, Christ is all, Christ
paid it all, and all to him I owe. Listen to the verses of this
hymn by that title. Bobby, if you don't have this,
I'm going to make a copy for you and hope you can learn to
sing. Christ is all. I entered once
a home of care, for age and poverty were there, yet peace and joy
withal. I asked the lonely mother whence
her helpless widow would defense, and she told me, Christ is all. I stood beside a dying bed. there
laid a saint with aching head, waiting for Jesus' call. I marked his smile was sweet
as May. And as his spirit passed away,
he whispered, Christ is all. I saw a martyr at the stake. The flames could not his courage
shake, nor death be so appalled. I asked him whence his strength
was given. He looked triumphantly to heaven
and answered, Christ is all. Christ is all. He's all in all. Yes, Jesus Christ is all. God bless you.