I requested Brother Jellett to
leave this door propped open here so that you could breathe.
And I made the promise, if anyone looks out the door while they're
moving, we'll gouge your eyes out. So you look at me. I'm pretty. Oh, look at me. All
right. Thank you so much for your hospitality
and your kindness. So very good to be with you these
brief few hours. I ask you to continue praying
for us, for our assembly in Danville, and for the labors and the open
doors God sets before us, and pray for one another. Don't despise
the day of small things. This is the day God made for
you and for me. It is the day the Lord has made
and he made this day for us and made us for this day. I am as
serious as I can possibly be when I tell you that I would
not trade places with any man in the world in history. I'm right where God wants me,
right where God has ordained that I be, right in the time
when God would have me to serve him, and the same is true of
you. Seize the opportunity God gives
you for the furtherance of the gospel where you are. All right. Turn with me, if you will, to
Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Our Lord
Jesus said, blessed are they that mourn. If in your heart
you can verify that statement, You're one of God's blessed ones.
Multitudes, multitudes know nothing of what it is to mourn before
God for their sin, to mourn before God for what they know themselves
to be, to mourn before God because you have looked upon him whom
you have pierced. Blessed are they that mourn. Our Savior said, blessed are
they that mourn. But sadly, a good many folks
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. Oh, what a difference. The mourning
our Savior speaks of is a mourning that leads to comfort, and comfort
leads to joy, the blessed joy of faith in Jesus Christ our
Lord. By all means, we ought to lament,
we ought to mourn continually what we are. The evil, the unbelief,
the vileness we know is in us is reason to mourn. But the knowledge
of what we are in ourselves should never eclipse the blessed revelation
of grace and salvation in Christ. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Our great God, by his almighty
operations of grace, by the saving revelation of his dear son, turns
fasting into feasting. He turns mourning into praise,
giving joy and gladness and cheerful feast in our souls. If I've read
this book aright, and in this regard I'm absolutely certain
that I have, It is the intent of God the Holy Spirit throughout
the scriptures. It is the intent of God the Holy
Spirit by everything written in this book revealed to us in
the person of our Savior to comfort his people, to encourage the
joy of faith in Christ Jesus. Our Lord commands, rejoice. Rejoice
in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Rejoice,
let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord's at hand. Rejoice, for your names are written
in heaven. Rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice and
be exceeding glad, he says. That's God's word to us. I take
it to mean that God intends for every sinner saved by His grace
to be filled with the joy of faith in Christ Jesus. rejoicing
in God's goodness, grace, and mercy, given freely to sinners
through Christ the Savior. Several years ago, a young man
was visiting me from up in New York, and of course, that's enough
to make a fellow a little bit bitter having to live that far
north, but he came down visiting us, and he was attending a church
that worked on looking within a lot, and he said, He said,
oh, when we attend services, I come home every Sunday morning,
every Sunday night, every time we meet together, just so beat
down, just so beat down, feel so bad. I said, why don't you
quit going? I wouldn't go somewhere where
I knew I was going to get beat on every time I went. The Scriptures
are not intended to beat you, but to comfort you in Christ
Jesus the Lord, if you're His, if you're His. Our Lord Jesus
teaches us then to rejoice in God our Savior. If we would walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, look at Colossians chapter 1.
If we're to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, if we
would honor our God as his children in the world, God the Holy Spirit
tells us, beginning at verse 10, that we must honor him, giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. who hath abolished,
I mean 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, even the forgiveness of sins.
When we realize the glorious kingdom in which we live, when
we have some understanding of the king we serve, of the privileges
of grace that are ours in Christ Jesus, of the boundless, indescribable,
infinite love of God for us, of God's free grace to us in
the Savior, of the work of God the Holy Spirit for us as our
comforter. What reasons we have to rejoice
in the Lord always. The Word of God does not teach
us to be naval watchers. You know, to look inside yourself
all the time, inspecting yourself, look, examine yourselves, examine
yourselves, examine yourself. Do you know that's not what the
scripture says? That is not what the scripture says. It says examine
yourselves whether you be in the faith. Determine this, are
you or are you not in the faith? Do you or do you not trust the
Son of God? If you're in Christ, you have
every reason to rejoice. Christ is yours and you're his. Salvation is altogether looking
out of yourself. It begins in a look, not to yourself,
but to Christ. He says, look unto me, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, beside me
there is none else. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. That's where salvation begins.
Oh, but we've got to run the race and fight the fight. Yes.
Run with patience the race that's set before you. How? looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Salvation is continual
looking to Christ, continually looking out of yourself, out
of your experience, out of your feelings, out of your works,
unto Christ Jesus the Lord. And salvation consummates in
a look. When we see Him, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Salvation is beholding
Christ the Redeemer. It's my purpose in preaching
this message to entice you, to allure you who do not know God,
my savior. You who are yet without faith
in Christ, you who live with your fist shoved in God's face
and will not bow to Christ, I want to allure you to the Savior's
arms. I want to entice you to come
to Christ. I want by the Spirit of God,
by the revelation of Christ in His Word to charm you into the
Savior's arms. And for you who are my brothers
and sisters in Christ, I want you to find for yourself continual
joy in Christ the Lord. I want you to behold Him and
to rejoice in Him. I want you to, this night, find
reason for thanksgiving continually before God, that we might together
lift our hearts with praise to God, leave this place with praise
to God, and live the days of our pilgrimage on this earth
in praise to God our Savior. Now I can think of no better
way to accomplish these desires than by reminding you of five
words Just five words you'll find them in Colossians 2 and
verse 10 these five words Ye are complete in him Ye are complete
in him ye are complete in him. If God the Holy Spirit will graciously
inscribe on your heart that which he has written in this portion
of scripture so that you have some understanding, some knowledge
of this blessed revelation of grace, ye are complete in him. Oh, what delight shall be yours
this hour. There's no middle ground. That's
the way it is about everything revealed in this book. You ever
notice that? No middle ground about anything.
Everything written here is written in plain, bold declarations. Ye are complete in him. Either you are complete in him
or you're all together without hope before God. We are either
made to have everything in God, our savior, everything that God
requires of us, everything Christ, the God-man mediator is and possesses,
or we have nothing and lack everything. Ye are complete in him. Sweeter than honey, those words
are to my soul. If you believe on the Lord Jesus,
if you believe on the Son of God. Do you believe the Son of
God? Do you trust the Savior? If right
now, if right now, God would open the windows of heaven and
drop the pail of His grace into your soul and give you faith
in Christ Jesus. If right now you believe on Him,
if you believe the Son of God, you are complete in Him. Nothing lacking. Nothing lacking. Complete in Him. Complete to
the fullest, broadest, most varied sense of that word, complete. When God pardons, there's no
probation period. When God pardons, there's no
probation period. Everything is yours if you're
in Christ Jesus. Everything. Complete in Him. Can you begin to grasp what I'm
saying? What wonders of grace we have before us. Oh may God
be our teacher and inscribe His word upon us. The Spirit of God
seems to have but one object in this revelation here and giving
us these five words in this simple sentence. His purpose is to cause
every believing soul to look to Christ with the confident
joy of faith. All of my life as a believer, I run across preachers, I did
as a young believer, and some of you have, who would do everything
possible to give you some reason not to walk before God with assurance. Isn't it amazing? Preachers want
you to Well, sort of got a little assurance, but can't really be
sure about this. That's presumption. But the scriptures
speak about coming boldly to the throne of grace. The scriptures
speak about coming to God with the full assurance of faith. Well, where do you get that?
Oh, now you've got to be a really good Christian to have full assurance.
When you think you are, look me up, will you? I've got news
for you, you're not a good one. You're not. None of you, including
the one talking to you. Oh, but we don't mean that we're
perfect or anything, but we have some evidences. If you find assurance
in your evidences, your evidences are false. That's exactly right. We look at other folks and see
their love for the brethren. And we talk about this, boy,
Alan, he loves God's people. That's a tremendous thing. But
you start talking about your love for God's people. No, just
exactly what do you call love? You know, but your love for the
Savior, that's just exactly what are you talking about? Oh no,
you look out of yourself to the Redeemer and a sinner trusting
the Savior has full assurance of faith in Christ Jesus the
Lord. The Spirit's intent is that we
should walk before God rejoicing in His grace, rejoicing in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Now let's look at these five
words. This will be my subject and this will be my outline.
I want to milk these five words for everything I can. The first
word is ye. Ye. You who believe on the Son
of God. All of you. The youngest to the oldest. The
strongest to the weakest. You are complete in him. You who were dead in trespasses
and in sins, you're complete in him. You who in time past
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, you are complete in him. You who were by nature children
of wrath, even as others. You who once were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants
of promise, you who once had no hope and were without God
in this world, you are complete in Him. You who labor and toil
in great heaviness, perplexed in heart, vexed in your souls
because of what you know you are, perplexed in greed because
of your sinful heart, your depraved nature, your corrupt lust, vexed
in greed because of your unbelief, vexed in greed because of your
lack of devotion and commitment to Christ, because of your horrid
attachment to and love of this world. who believe on the Son
of God. In the midst of all your frustrations,
vexations, failures, and sin, you who believe on the Son of
God are complete in Him. You who grow into the conscious
sense of this body of sin in which you live. You who are loved
of God, chosen of God, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,
called by God's Spirit, you are complete in Him. Now look at
the next word. Are. What a strange word. Are. Are? Now, It would be easier
to understand if the Scripture said, you shall be. But it says
you are. You who are in Christ are complete
in Him. Now we understand, this book
teaches, We have a completion in Christ from eternity. We were
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world. We were accepted in the beloved
before ever the world began. We were chosen and justified
and sanctified and glorified in Christ before the world began.
The book of God is plain in stating that. We understand that, but
this is talking about something presently. We rejoice in the
blessed hope of God's grace that soon we shall be complete in
Christ in the everlasting glory of heaven's eternal home. Oh,
what shall it be? What shall it be to dwell with
Christ in the perfection of His own being with no trace of sin
or unbelief or deceit or corruption in the sweet experience of resurrection
glory. What a blessed hope! What sweet
prospects! But here, the Holy Spirit tells
us by His servant Paul, that in this present situation, right
where we are, right now, We have a blessedness for all God's people,
for all who believe on the Son of God that declares ye are complete
in Him. No conditions, no qualifications,
no prerequisites. You are complete in Him. But pastor, there are so many
things required of us. God requires so much. Let me give you a lesson. I'll
give you one lesson tonight. Write it down, be sure you get
it. Whatever God requires, God gives. Whatever God requires, God gives. All the precepts of the law,
read in gospel light, are promises from God. God said, Be ye holy. And then he said, you shall be
holy. God said, be ye perfect and he said, you shall be perfect.
All that God requires, God performs and God gives so that everything
required of us, everything demanded of us, everything the law demands
of us, everything God in his holiness demands of us is ours
in Christ. Ye are complete in him. Everything here is grace. free, unconditional, unqualified
grace. The Spirit of God is not exhorting
us to be complete. He's not telling us how to be
complete or what we must do to make ourselves complete. No,
He states a fact. He affirms a reality, a reality
revealed throughout this book in the gospel of God's grace.
He announces a work that's altogether finished. A work to which nothing
can be added and nothing can be taken away. Ye are complete
in him. Don't imagine that there's something
lacking, some deficiency that you must make up, something you
must complete. No, he says, know this and rejoice. You're full. Complete perfect
in Christ being one with him in union with him you are full
complete perfect Now this is the delight and the glory of
faith It looks to Christ alone and gives glory to Christ alone
faith Faith Faith leaves all works behind. Faith leaves all
works behind and trust Him who is God our Savior. But Brother
Don, don't we have to do something? No. But does something depend
on us? No. That which is required of
us is given to us in Christ Jesus. And that which is the glory of
faith is the comfort and joy of our faith. Here it is, Christ
Jesus the Lord. Now look at this word, complete.
Complete. It's one of those words we use
so commonly that we tend to not really look at it. Complete your
work. Complete the exam. That completes
the project. We use the word all the time
and we don't pay much attention to it. But this word is literally
bursting with meaning. As it's used here and as it's
used in the scriptures, it speaks about the children of God and
declares to us that that which God has accomplished for us without
our aid, without our assistance. It's a completion in which we
are totally passive. I meant to say that. We're not
passive about it, we're passive in it. It's accomplished without
any contribution from us. What does the word mean? Ye are
complete in him. How far can we carry this? I'm always being warned, don't
carry that too far now, you get in trouble. I'll tell you what
you can do with this book. John Graham, as a preacher, and
you young men and women here who are listening, who believe
God, the youngest and the oldest, whatever God says in this word,
you just run as far with it as you can, and you will not outrun
it. Take it just as broad, just as
wide, just as full as you can possibly take it and you haven't
yet begun to understand it. Oh, but we got to have a balance.
You hear fellas talk about having a balanced ministry and a balanced
view of things. Isn't it strange how lopsided
it always is? It always winds up with big me
and little God. Lots of mine, little of His.
Lots of glory for men, no glory for God. Oh no. The scriptures
give us warrant to believe God absolutely. Absolutely. So that nothing is qualified.
What does this word complete mean? The scriptures use it in
a number of ways. Just listen. You don't have to
turn there. In the beginning was the Word. And then John tells
us the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth, complete with grace and truth. And of
His fullness, of His completeness have all we received grace for
grace. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. What's that mean? The whole shooting
batch is God's. The complete universe is His. Listen to this. The church is
the fullness of Him which filleth all in all. The church is the
completeness of Him who is the completeness of everything. We
are complete in Christ Jesus the Lord here in Colossians 2
look at verse 9 in him dwelleth all the fullness All the completeness
of the Godhead bodily, all that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
and all the glory of the triune Godhead is, resides in that man
who is God incarnate, our mediator. In Him is all of God. That's the word, complete. Complete. Obviously, when the Spirit of
God says you are complete in Him, The word complete means
complete without limit, complete without qualification, complete
without condition of any kind, complete. Look back up to verse
six. Let's see how it's used here
in the context. As you therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive Christ Jesus
the Lord? How did you receive Him? Well,
Brother Don, I didn't have anything. I came to Him naked and helpless
with nothing in my hands, looking to Christ for everything. Now,
how are we to live for God in this world? How are you to walk Now we've grown. I've got something
in my hands. I've got some words and some
experiences. Uh-oh. Oh no. Walk in Him just like you received
Him. An empty, broken, helpless, doomed,
damned sinner without God's grace, having nothing in your hands,
looking to Christ for everything. And when you grow above that,
You've outgrown grace. When you grow above that, you've
outgrown Christ, because you've outgrown your need of it. As you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in Him, watch this, rooted and built up in
Him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Do you mean that to be rooted
and built up in Christ, to be established in the faith, is
to simply look to Christ for everything? Do you remember this morning's lesson?
Whatever it appears to mean, you can bank on it, that's what
it means. To be rooted and built up in the faith, to be established
in the faith, to be grounded in the faith, is to look to Christ
for everything. Read on, read on. Beware, verse
8, 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. For in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And here's
the conclusion of the whole thing. Ye are complete in him. Nothing can be added to faith
without making that thing added, the object, to faith. Nothing
can be added to the gospel of Christ without making it another
gospel. There is nothing new in theology
except that which is false. The gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ cannot be improved upon, and those who would make it to
be other than the simple faith of the gospel pervert it altogether. One of the greatest evils of
our day. is the attempts of men to rationalize
God's revelation of himself in Holy Scripture. Obscuring the
simplicity that's in Christ Jesus. The attempts of men to set before
men things by which the very simplicity of Christ is removed. Set before men works and ordinances
and preparations and doings by which they attain comfort and
peace for their souls. Oh no! The simplicity of the
gospel is, look to Christ, trust Christ, believe on the Son of
God. We know whom we have believed. And our hearts are filled with
joy to hear God our Savior declare, ye are complete in Him. Blessedly complete in Him. Just as He is the fullness of
God. just as the fullness of the Godhead
resides in Him. So we are the fullness of Christ. And the fullness of Christ as
our mediator is our fullness. Oh, my soul, believe this and
rejoice. Behold yourself as God does. See yourself as God sees you
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, perfect in Him. I suppose most
of you are familiar with the story Spurgeon used to tell of
a man who was just a tinker and he was going about selling his
wares and he heard some women singing a little ditty. I am
a poor sinner and nothing at all but Jesus Christ is my all
in all. And after a while he started to whistle the tune and
then he started to sing the song and he just repeated over and
over again and soon The message of the song pierced his heart,
and God saved him by his grace. And this is back in the days.
Of course, some of them have started reviving it when you
had to go prove yourself worthy to be a member of the church.
You go and apply for church membership. That's another sermon. Had to
go apply for church membership and see if they would recognize
you as being a fit candidate for baptism. And so he went and
told the pastor he wanted to confess Christ in baptism. And
the pastor said, well, you'll have to come before the deacons
and elders so they can examine you. And he said, well, OK. And so they set a time. And he
came before the men, and they started to ask him questions.
He said, well, Jack, what is your testimony? He said, my testimony,
I am a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my
all in all. And this old fellow looked at him, he said, but don't
you ever have any doubts? Doubts? I cannot doubt that I
am a poor sinner and nothing at all, for I know I am. And
I cannot doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all, because God
says that he is. But Jack, don't you ever have
any ups or downs? Ups and downs? Well, I can't
get any lower than this. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all. And I sure can't get any higher than this, but Jesus
Christ is my all in all. And they just exasperated and
finally admitted him into the church because Jack could not
be driven from this one thing. I am a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Can you confess such? Brother Scott Richardson told
of an old lady He knew many years ago when someone was trying to
disturb her faith, the simplicity of her faith, and she kept talking
about Christ, and Christ finished work, and God's free grace in
Him, and finally the fellow looked at her and said, but is Christ
enough? And she responded, if He's all
you've got, He's enough. What do you have? What do you
have? A profession? An experience? Well, I remember when I went
to church and made my profession a faith. I wish you could forget
that. I really do. I wish you could forget it. If
you've got to look to yesterday to find assurance, you're in
trouble. If you've got to look to this morning's experience
to find assurance, you're in trouble. Our assurance is Christ,
and Christ alone. We are in Him, our representative
and substitute, and complete in Him. Don't be so intent upon
your own corruption as to forget His immaculate purity, which
is yours. Don't be so mindful of your poverty
that you forget his riches, which are yours. Don't be so absorbed
in your emptiness that you forget his fullness, which is yours. Don't be so mindful of your imperfection
as a fallen child of Adam. your fickleness, your sin, your
frailty, that you forget His stability and immutability as
God your Savior, which is yours. Turn to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. God sees us only in His Son. God sees us only in his son,
one with his son. Shelby called my attention to
something the other day when we were flying over here in Spurgeon's
Flowers from the Puritan's Garden. He made the observation, I think
he was taking it from whoever the fellow was, Brooks. No, it
wasn't Brooks, Matt. And Matt made the observation that once
the leather has been mixed with the dough, It's impossible ever
to see the two apart. It's impossible to separate the
leaven from the dough. So it is with our union with
Christ. We and Christ are one. He says as the father is one
with the son and the son is one with the father, we're one in
him. So the Father looks upon us, the triune God looks upon
God's elect, looks upon every believing sinner as he sees Christ,
so he sees us. And I'm gonna tell you something,
if you hear it, it may just shock you with delight. Folks say, well, that's the way
God sees things. The way God sees things, that's
how they really are. The way God sees things, that's
how they really are. That's how they really are. I'm
a bit prejudiced in my thinking. When I think of womanhood, I
see that lady right there. When I think wife, I see that
lady right there. When I think love and devotion,
that's what I see. That's the picture I have. When
God Almighty, if I can use such language of God, thinks Don Fortner,
all he sees is Christ his son. And he would have me to look
at things just that way. Let's see if that's so. Romans
6, verse 6. knowing this, 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. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Now
watch this. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Complete. Complete in him. What's that mean? In Christ I
am fully supplied with everything for time and eternity. All things
are yours for you are Christ and Christ is God's. Does God
require righteousness from me? He most certainly does. Christ
is made of God and to me wisdom and righteousness. He who was
made sin for me was made sin for me that I might be made the
righteousness of God in him. As he was rewarded for the sin
that was made his, so I am rewarded for the righteousness that is
mine, for my righteousness. Rewarded of God with everlasting
glory for perfect righteousness. But Brother Don, surely you don't
think you're perfectly righteous. No, I don't think it, I know
it. I know it. Christ is my righteousness and
that's perfect. He's my righteousness. While
he walked in obedience to God on this earth, I was in him.
Levi was in the Lord's of Abraham, wasn't he? I was in Christ, the
Lord, my Redeemer from all eternity. When he died, I died in him and
satisfied the justice of God. He's made of God unto me, wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification. Sanctification. Oh, now, poor
brother Don, he's not a theologian, you know, he's just a preacher,
and he confuses justification and sanctification. Well, bless
their hearts, I ain't the one confused. Christ is my sanctification,
too. What is that? It's holiness.
God says, follow peace with all men and holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord. That holiness without which no
man shall see the Lord is Christ the Redeemer. And in Him we are
sanctified, perfected forever by Him, by His sacrifice from
eternity and at Calvary. And when Christ comes in us by
His grace and regeneration, giving us a new nature, sanctified by
God Almighty. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Why do you put redemption last? Because redemption involves much
more than we tend to think. Redemption is the full deliverance
of our soul. from sin and all its consequences
by the blood of Christ and the power of God's omnipotent grace.
So redemption takes in the whole salvation of God, the whole gift
of God's grace. Christ Jesus is that one in whom
we are well supplied so that now we stand before God like
Jacob of old when he met Esau And we declare, I have enough. In Christ Jesus, looking on him,
believing him, we look to God and the sacrifice of Christ.
Our mediator, our advocate, our high priest, that one who's accepted
in heaven as our forerunner, screams with bold-faced capital
letters, no condemnation. Not guilty. Complete! Complete
in Him. And His grace, He says His grace
is sufficient. Whatever the hour, whatever the
need. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. And all that fullness is the
supply of His grace for us. So that in peace and in trouble,
in health and in sickness, in joy and in sorrow, in life and
in death to eternity. God's elect are well supplied. To be well supplied is to be
satisfied. Satisfied. The richest, happiest human being
in the world is the one who wants nothing. who wants to, who's satisfied,
satisfied. Would to God, I could honestly
say, there's nothing in this world that I want. But with regard to all things
spiritual, with regard to all things pertaining to life and
godliness, with regard to all things righteous and true and
just, with regard to all that God Almighty demands and requires. All that God has promised. Having Christ, I'm completely
satisfied. Completely satisfied. Ready and
anxious to meet my God. Completely satisfied. To be complete
is to lack nothing. The Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples
and Peter said, we followed thee, we sacrificed for you, what shall
we have? And the Lord said, lacked ye anything? Lacked ye
anything? And they answered, nothing, Lord.
And looking over all the scope of God's grace and God's mercy, I lack nothing. Nothing. Completely satisfied in my Redeemer. Satisfied with His righteousness,
His sin-atoning sacrifice, His purpose, His providence, His
revelation, His love, satisfied with Him. So that although the
fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall the fruit be in the vine.
The labor of the olive shall fall and the field shall yield
no meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will
rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds
feet. and he will make me to walk upon
the high places." To be complete is to be filled. Complete. Well supplied. Satisfied. Filled. Ye are complete, now
watch this, in Him. In Christ. Not in your church. not in your experiences, not
in your works, not in your creed, not in your knowledge, not in
something in you, complete in Him. Ye are complete in Him. How would you like to go home
tonight and lay your head on your bed and stretch out on that
bed and lay down on that pillow and think about meeting God right
now with no dread and no fear. With no reason for dread, no
reason for fear. How would you like to be able
to lay your head on your pillow tonight and close your eyes Think about judgment
with this. A blessed smile of joyful anticipation
in your soul. Oh, Brother Don, that's not possible.
No, it's not. Not to you. Not to you. Except
you believe on the Son of God. Believe Him and you will find
for your soul the voice of God speak in your soul by His Word. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. How can that be? Well, you're
complete in Him. Complete. Lacking nothing. Full. Well-supplied. Peace.