Colossians chapter one. Colossians
chapter one. Delightful to be here. I don't
know the last time I've been here without being in a conference,
but I do remember this about it. I was preaching here and
it was a weeknight and Maurice Montgomery was here and he had
a heart attack that night. Yeah, brother Maurice had a heart
attack and he'd just had heart surgery and he's supposed to
have opened up all five of his arteries, but the surgeon only
done four of them, so the one he missed was the one that was
bad. And his heart surgeon is in jail
now for being a drug dealer. So, well, enough of that. An unusual message, I think,
to bring. It's about perfection. About
perfection. And we'll often say, and I'll
read here, let me start reading here in verse 25, Colossians
1, 25. Let me read before I say anything. Whereof I am made a minister
according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me
for you to fulfill the word of God or fully preach the word.
even the mystery which have been hid from ages and from generations. But now this mystery is made
manifest to his saints, because it's the saints that God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,
whom we preach, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every
man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus. For unto I also labor, striving
according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. You know, we, our standard of
perfection is very, very small. Somebody make us a good meal
and we'll say, boy, that was just perfect. Somebody do a job
for us and we say, boy, it couldn't have been any better than that.
And so our standard of perfection and God's standard of perfection
is two different things. You know, we may think well of
one another, commend one another, but it's how we stand before
God that counts. And we must be perfect. And here,
Paul said, I labor that I may present every man perfect. Where
at? in Christ. And it's a labor. You know, that's why Don preaches
here all the time. That's why I preach. That men
may find their perfection and rest in Christ alone. And see
that all perfection is in Him. And you know it's hard for us
to grasp perfection, no flaws, no faults. And beloved, when
we try to grasp or conceive of perfection, we're lost. Because
when we look at ourselves, Oh my! And all you got to do, no
matter what I think of myself, you ask my wife what about me,
and she'll let you know real, real quick that there's no perfection
in me. And I'll tell you, there ain't
none in her either. As pretty as she is and good a wife she's
been, there ain't none in her either. But I'll tell you where
perfection's found. Perfection's in God. He is perfect. Perfect in every way, in all
of His attributes. He's without blot. He's without
blemish. He's without flaw. He wants no
power. He lacks no majesty. He lacks
no glory. He lacks no will. He lacks nothing
that's necessary for him to be God. All that's essential to
his being. And there's the things that are
essential to our being. Life, breath, sight, sound, reason,
affections, emotions, understanding. Those are things that are essential
to our being. But God, all that's essential for Him being God,
as you read there in Deuteronomy 7, the Lord, He is God, the faithful
God, the only God, thy God. And there's nothing lacking in
Him. All power belongs unto Him. Davis said, I've heard once,
yea, twice, that all power belongeth unto thee. We heard that all
our lives, that all power belongs unto God. But when the Holy Ghost
told us, when the gospel came in power and told us, All power
belongeth unto thee. That's when we heard it. That's
when we heard it. And beloved, here's no, he lacks
no wisdom. He knows all things from the
minute to the most immense. Grasp, he comprehends all secrets
and there's no contingency plans with him. There's always a contingency
plan with us. We'll make a plan and if something
goes wrong in it, we got to Be prepared for something to go
bad. There's no contingency plans with God I mean he declared the
end from the beginning and all things that are not yet done
said all my counsels shall stand and I will do all my pleasure
and Beloved he comprehends all secrets. I Lay in bed last night
in the middle of the night woke up and I said and I prayed and
I said Lord You see me here laying in the dark and it's just like
daylight to you it just I'm just as open as like the Sun was a
It's a brilliant splendor. He sent me just there, just the
daylight. And that's comforting to me. That's encouraging to
me. He comprehends and grasps all knowledge, knows all secrets.
I'm grateful that nothing can be hid from him. Nothing can
be unknown to him. He knows the end from beginning
and he does all things without thinking, without effort. He
never had to stop and think, I need to do this, I need to
do it that way or some other way. That's why David or Paul
said, who hath been his counselor? And look over here in Ecclesiastes
with me just a moment. Ecclesiastes 3. Not only is God
perfect, but all His words are perfect. All His works are perfect. Every work He does is perfect. Look here in verse 14. Ecclesiastes
3. I know I know that whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nothing
taken from it, and God doeth it that men should fear before
Him. Oh my, whatever He does, it should
be forever. Can't put anything to it. His words are perfect. Everything
He does is perfect. And while we're here on this
earth, we're here on this earth, There's only one thing on this
earth that's perfect. Even after the fall. And after
the fall, after we lost perfection, after we fell into sin, and all
things are ruined by the fall, everything on this earth is ruined
by the fall. But there's one thing on earth that's perfect.
One thing that we possess on this earth that's perfect. And
that's contained in this blessed book, the Holy Scriptures. And
I tell you, this perfect will of God is contained in the Holy
Scriptures. Perfect in all of its parts.
And one thing I don't like, It's a fault of mine, I'm sure, because
there's men, you know, I'm the last one to learn anything, last
one to know anything, have very little education. But I don't
like folks to correct the scriptures. I don't like people to, and I
don't understand Greek and I don't understand Hebrews. God gave
me an English Bible so I could read in English and understand
in English. And so I say the scriptures are perfect in all
of its parts. It don't need us to correct it.
It don't need us to You know, it's perfect in all of its parts.
Whether you find it in Genesis, whether you find it in Revelations,
whether you find it in Hebrews, whether you find it in the Gospels.
Perfect in all of its parts. It's perfectly true and it's
free from error. There's no errors in this blessed
book. No errors in it. If I ever find an error in it,
I'll quit believing it. I believe in the scriptures so
strongly. And it being the Word of God.
Not words about God. Not words concerning God, but
the Word of God itself, God breathed, forever settled in heaven. I
believe that is so true that if it says that Jonah swallowed
the whale instead of the whale swallowing Jonah, that's what
I believe. That's how strongly I believe in the Word of God,
that it is God's Word. And beloved, it's perfect for
all that's necessary for me or you to know. It's necessary,
everything that you and I need to know about ourselves, about
God, about salvation, about sin, about relationship, about salvation,
about God, about Christ, about this world, about the future,
about the past, everything we need to know is in this blessed
book. Nothing else is necessary. And
it's perfect to guide us. You want some guidance in this
world? Where should I go? What should I do? How should
I act? How should I live in this world? We got the blessed book
to tell us. And to warn us, to keep us from going places, doing
things, acting ways we shouldn't act. The scriptures are there
to warn us. That's what Paul said, warning every man, teaching
every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect
in Christ. And then when we come to ourselves,
When we come to ourselves about this perfection, the Word of
God is perfect. But when we come to perfection,
look at ourselves, where is perfection? Where is it to be found? Look
up there in verse 21 of Colossians 1 with me. Here in Colossians,
back over in Colossians. Lord, where in the world are
we going to find perfection? In ourselves, look to ourselves. It says this, and you that were
sometime alien, aided and enemies, enemies. I know that everybody's
accepted Jesus. I know everybody's walked an
aisle. I know that everybody shook hands with the preacher,
been baptized in somebody's pool. But how many times have anybody
ever been an enemy of God? Anybody in here ever been an
enemy of God? You're never going to know Christ.
You're never going to rest in Christ, never going to find perfection
in Christ until you understand you're an enemy. And I tell you,
you can find everybody that's walked in the aisle didn't know.
Oh, they've raised their hand. They've accepted Jesus and let
Him in their heart. But until you become an enemy of God and
understand you're an enemy, you don't know nothing about perfection
in Christ yet. And look what it says. And you,
by wicked works, were out in your mind. Everybody says wicked
works are done with your hands. Wicked works are done with your
feet. Wicked works are done with your mouth. And of course, all
that's true. But by wicked works in your mind, And that's what
he said here, you know, by wicked works in your mind. What's this?
He, he reconciled. And oh, that's where we are.
I'll tell you, beloved, I, this, if anybody's going to ever know
God, they're going to find out first there's a rebel, there's
an enemy and they had wicked works in their mind. You don't
have to do something with your hand to find out you wish what
we are by nature. And do you feel that perfection
in you? Every day teaches us, every day
that goes over our head teaches us that there's no perfection
in us. Our consciences tells us that
we're imperfect. And the harder, the more we purpose
in our hearts and souls. to be like Christ and cry to
be like Christ, the more imperfection we see in ourselves. Well, like
Paul, he says, that that I wouldn't do, I do. And that that I would
do, I don't. And I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, in this rotten, miserable flesh, there dwells
nothing, nothing, nothing that's good about me. And oh, beloved,
and honestly, Not only before ourselves, before God. Before God, we have to confess
right now. Right now in our conduct. Right now in our conversation. No perfection in capital letters. No perfection. We may long for
it. We may moan for it. We may groan
for it. We may weep tears for it. But every tear says imperfection. Every sigh. And oh, how many
times do we sigh? You hear somebody sighing, you
know they're under a heavy load. When you hear people sigh, you
know that they've got a burden. You know that their heart's heavy,
something's going on. When you hear people sitting
beside you and they go... You know they got a burden. And
every tear says imperfection. Every sigh says imperfection. Every hard word says imperfection. Every duty neglected says imperfection. Every time we say I need to call
so and so and we don't do it, cries imperfection. So what do
we do? Lord, I'm imperfect. No help,
no hope for me before You. Perfection. according to the
Scriptures, according to this Word of God, is absolutely necessary,
absolutely necessary for all who hope to be saved and enter
into glory. Absolutely necessary. Because
we lost imperfection, because we lost it, because we can't
produce it, doesn't mean that God has changed His demand for
perfection, does it? You keep Colossians and look
with me over here in Leviticus. This is one of Scott Richardson's
favorite in Leviticus 22. This is one of Scott Richardson's
favorite verses. I've heard him quote this so
many times and preach from it so many times. Oh my, just because
we're in lost perfection, just because we can't produce perfection.
You know, God said, be ye holy as I am holy. And He ain't going
to settle for anything less than that. He said, as I'm holy, that's
what you got to be. And I mean, he's not going to
say, if you're going to converse with God, commune with God, and
fellowship with God, if I am, we've got to be just like He
is. We've got to be as holy as He is. We've got to be as good
as God is. We've got to be as righteous
as God is. And look here in Leviticus 22 and verse 21. Whosoever offers a sacrifice
of peace offerings unto the Lord, to accomplish his vow or a free
will offering in bees or sheep. Watch it now. It shall be perfect
to be accepted. No blemish. Got to be perfect
if it's going to be accepted. And so beloved, no imperfection.
And look over here in Galatians with me just a moment. I want
you to see this in Galatians. You know, if we if a man wants
to be saved, If a man wants to be saved by God's law, and this
is one of those, what do you call it, a paradox, an anomaly? Somebody told me something the
other day, too, about it. I forget what it was. Do you
know what's happened to you all since you've got a year or two
on you? You forget things real easy.
Hard for things to come to your mind. That's why, you know why
that is? Imperfection. But oh my, you
know this is amazing to me, how this somebody can claim to be
a Calvinist, believe the five points of Calvinism, believe
the salvations all together of grace, and at the same time bring
somebody back under the law. I don't understand that. But
there's lots and lots of people that do that. But here in Galatians,
if a man wants to be saved by keeping God's holy law, it must
be kept perpetually It must be kept perfectly from the day a
man's born to the day he enters glory. James says this, if you
offend in one point, you're guilty of it all. And the law comprehends
the intents, not just the act, but the reason you did what you
did. It's not just the act that a person commits, it's why you
commit that act. A man can commit murder in his
heart and in his mind and nobody know it but God. Somebody cuts
you off in traffic and you get mad, you get upset, and you say,
oh, you're right there and there, you broke God's law. I mean,
you're supposed to love your neighbors as yourself. But look
what it says, if a man wants, it's got to be kept perfect. No imperfection
can be allowed in his presence. Galatians 3 with me. Look here
with me just a moment. Galatians 3, 10. It says, for as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse. are under the curse
for it is written. Again, we go to the scriptures.
Cursing is everyone. Now watch this. That does his
best to keep God's law. That does his best to live according
to the 10 commandments. That does his best to love his
neighbors as himself, does his best to love his children, does
his best to be faithful to God. It does say that, it says, everyone
that continueth not in, how many of the things that's written
in the book of the Lord to do? All of them. But that, and this
is what I love, but that no man is justified by the law of the
sight of God, it's plain for any fool to see, for the just
shall live by what? Faith. not by law, not by works,
not by deeds, not by doing, not by sincerity. And the law has
nothing to do with faith. But the man that doeth them shall
live within them. And all beloved, but Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law. And all beloved, let's
go back over here again now. Unless you and I, unless we can
find perfection somewhere, While we live in this earth, we'll
never know what it is to fellowship with God and commune with God.
We must have perfection from ourselves or find it someplace
else, but we're going to have perfection. And I'll tell you
this much. I know this and you all know
it too. God would be unjust. God would be unjust if he did
not punish a man or reject a man who's not perfect. He'd be unjust. You know, Over in Job chapter
8, verse 9, it says this. You don't have to look there.
Or no, excuse me, Job 8.20, it says this. They told Job, says,
you know, Job, God will not cast away a perfect man. And he won't. God will not cast away a perfect
man. If you're perfect, come here.
Commune with me. Fellowship with me. Talk with
me. Sit with me. I'll enjoy your company. You
enjoy my company. We'll talk together. We'll enjoy
together. I'll be your friend. Oh, I'll
take you into my bosom. I'll take you into my presence.
I'll walk with you. I'll talk with you. I'll comfort
you. I'll be everything to you. Oh, if you're perfect. But Job
said, I know that's true. I know God would not cast away
a perfect man. But here's the question. How
can a man? How can a man? Be just, be perfect,
be without sin, be without guilt before God. You tell me that.
And oh, beloved, the judge of all the earth, he must do right.
And I know if God does not punish forever transgression, every
transgression, thought, intent, everything a man does from Adam's
sin from the day he's born until the day he enters glory. If God
does not punish forever transgression, he has to get off his throne.
He ceases to be God. He's unjust. We must have perfection
or be eternally lost and be rejected of God. And without it, without
perfection, we'd never be fit company for the saints already
in glory. We'd not be fit company for God.
You know, in Hebrews 10.23, it says there that we've come unto
Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, to the angels
and to the spirits of just men. What? They perfect. Oh, I want
to go, don't you, Larry? I want to be among that number.
When the saints go marching in, I will be in that number. And
all beloved, we must be made perfect. We can never enjoy heaven
without perfection. This is one of the things that's
just despicable that preachers do and people. They think that
death changes a man's nature. They think that death changes
a man's relationship with God. I've known men that's died drunk.
I've known men and women that's died in awful, gross, horrible
sin. And I don't care if they've been
a church member. However death catches you, that's
where you're going to be. But somehow and other people
seem to think that when a man dies he gets to be the best fellow
that ever was, he gets to be the most loving guy that ever
was, the most faithful fellow that ever was, the best husband
that ever was, the best daddy that ever was, and he might have
been the devil himself! But death does not change our
relationship with God. If you fall to the north, that's
the way you're going to lay. If you fall to the south, that's...
He that's unjust, let him be unjust still. He that's righteous,
let him be righteous still. And I tell you, if you leave
this world without perfection, you go into the presence of God,
you'll go without perfection. And all you'll hear is, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Depart from
me, you cursed into everlasting fire. But oh my, I've said enough
about that. Let's get on something else.
Well, where are we going to find this perfection? These guys that
like to wear robes and like to go through ceremonies and like
to carry sticks and like to carry light candles and then carry
something with smoke coming out of it. Throw water in people's
faces and all that kind of stuff. They said, I'll tell you, I can
give you some perfection. Bring your baby up here and let
me sprinkle it. Be all right. And the Baptist, they just as
bad, they'll say, bring your baby up here and let's dedicate
it. They don't sprinkle it, we just dedicate it. Oh my. I'll tell you what to do. You
take this wafer, let me take this wafer and drink this wine. Everything will be all right.
Sacraments they'll take. Sacraments are supposed to have
saving grace to go with them. And oh my. If I can never get
over a fella and pray over him and say, well, we got him through.
We got him through. We got him through. What does
it mean to get somebody through? They talk a language we don't
understand. We got him through. We prayed him through. We drug
him through. We got him by. I tell you what, you all come up
here and pray through on this old fashioned altar right here.
You make peace with God, get right with God, get on this old-fashioned
altar, you're fixed up for heaven then, oh my. Swing out over hell
on a rotten grapevine and spit tobacco juice in the devil's
face. That's what they'll tell you. And there's a time I spit it
there too, back when I choose, but I don't do that anymore.
I got sanctified. Worship and farewell at the ceremonialist
says and then others, others teach you perfections to be attained
by the flesh, by things we can do. Keeping so many duties, praying
so much, reading so much, witnessing so much, being faithful so much,
giving so much. Old John Wesley, and you can
look this up for yourself, I don't know how many of you know anything
about him, but you can look up for yourself. You can look him
on the internet, get one of his books, but he taught that He
taught that men had sinless perfection. You could attain sinless perfection
in this world. So evidently, since he believed
it, he taught it that evidently he was sinlessly perfect. And
Thomas Aquinas, he's the daddy of Catholicism as it's known
today. He is the first one to teach
that there's enough merit in saints. You could live holy enough
and good enough And be sanctified enough that you could have enough
holiness in yourself, enough merit in yourself that you could
give merit to somebody else. Woo, we'd be in trouble like
that. Oh, Larry, me and you, that'd be awful. And me having
merit enough to give you? My goodness, I may be able to
give you a dollar if you're in trouble, but, you know, to give
you merit, that'd be something else. But that's what he taught.
And that's what they say now. That's why they go and pray to
these saints. That's why they got saints on their dashboards.
That's why they got... You go to Mexico and those guys
on those trucks, they'll have every saint you can imagine on
the front of their trucks and on the dash of their trucks when
they go down around them. They got all the bases covered. Got
a saint for everything. But beloved, and they'll even
tell you this, Oh yeah, Christ's got to be first. You've got to
accept Christ. Christ's got to be first. They must believe,
they say. They say, you must believe. And
then if you'll lead a real, real devoted life, I mean be devoted,
be really devoted. You observe all the religious
duties the preacher tells you to do. Pay your tithes, be faithful,
knock on doors, do everything, and you'll climb, you'll start
climbing then. You start way down here and you'll
start climbing. Start at the first rung, after a while you
get up to the third rung, you'll start climbing. You'll get higher
and you'll get higher. And then eventually you'll be
devoted enough and sanctified enough. You'll get justified
when you get to a certain state. And then when you go a little
higher, a little more devoted, then you'll be sanctified. You'll
become holy. And then they'll say eventually
you'll reach the highest plane. You can't get any higher. You
can't get more justified than in Christ. You can't get more
sanctified than in Christ. Back in free will religion, and
right now, there's all kinds of people in free will Baptist
churches, and Camelite churches, and Pentecostal churches, and
everybody's sitting around looking at somebody and saying, boy,
I sure wished I could live as good as they did. I wished I
was as holy as they were. I wished I could rejoice in God
the way they do. And they never once consider
that it's all in Christ. They're looking at what somebody
else is doing. And I tell you, it don't take much to ruin people's
perfection like that. It don't take much at all. And I tell you, you know, John
said it this way. He says, if a man say he has no sin, he deceives
himself and the truth's not in him. And if he says he has not
sinned, and that means if he has not sinned in everything
he's done and understands that, he made God to be a liar. Now,
let's look back over to Colossians. Oh, I told you about perfection.
We've got it. We've got it. I'm going to tell
you where we get it. He says here in verse 28, Colossians
1, whom we preach, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching
every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus. All God's people are perfect
in Christ. It's Christ in you. It's Christ
in you. Not just Christ for you, it's
Christ in you. Christ is for us on the cross. Christ in us in this grace. And beloved, that's what we have. And look down here in Colossians
2.9. For in Him, in Him, I love that word, don't you?
In Him, in Christ, in Him dwelleth, dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead body. Listen now. And ye are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principalities and powers.
You know, God's people are in Christ and perfection's in Christ. I found perfection. Didn't find
it in me. I didn't find it in religion.
I ain't found it in the preacher, I ain't found it in the church,
but I found it in Christ. And I tell you what, do you know
where our perfection started at? Our perfection started in
Christ before the world ever began. That's what I like about
it. Way back yonder, according as
He had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
And God, look with me over here in 1st, 2nd Timothy. This is
the verse of scripture that God, 2nd Timothy 1.9. This is the
scripture that God used to begin to teach me the gospel. To reveal
the gospel to me, to reveal Christ to me. I remember very, very
well praying, walking around on the farm down there, way in
the fall of the year one time. Leaves were falling, beautiful
October day. And I was very troubled. I wanted
to know if salvation, I said, it's holiness. And I think, you
know, when I first went to Tennessee, I was a Pentecostal and they
called me a wholeness preacher. Cause I'm telling you what, boy,
if it wiggled, I shot at it. I mean, boy, you didn't wear
makeup. You didn't wear pants. You didn't have televisions.
You didn't wear earrings. Oh my goodness. And if you was,
if you didn't chew, smoke, Oh my, if you've done any of those
things, you was in trouble when I was preaching. But, oh my,
but I got so troubled about it. Because you know you're preaching
all this stuff and but nobody's doing it. Nobody's living it. People are walking aisles and
accepting the Lord and all that stuff, but then next thing you
know, they last two or three months and they're back out in
the world. They're lying and drinking and cussing and smoking
and leaving their husbands, leaving their wives. And I got to thinking,
my soul, what in the world's the matter with me that nobody's
doing what I'm telling them to do? And I got so burdened about
it. I'm telling you, it's like the
flesh coming off my bones. And I says, God, I've got to
know. Please let me know. I need to know. Teach me, take
me, and show me. Is salvation by our works or
by your grace? Is holiness something we do or
is it something you do? And I prayed that way for days
and weeks. And one day I was up in the woods
and I was sitting around and I was sitting on a stump. And
you're going to say, boy, he's had a vision now. But I didn't
have no vision to see no lights, no angels came. I never had to
come out with something. I sat in there and I had an old
hunting vest on and I carried a Bible with me everywhere. I
had an old paperback Bible. I pulled that Bible out and I
started reading. Started there in 2 Timothy and I got down to
verse 9. And boy, this is it. God answered them prayers. Lifted
a burden and opened a new world to me. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse
9. Talking about being in Christ.
who hath saved us, God, who hath saved us, and called us with
a holy call. God, that's holiness of God.
Not according to our works. I didn't have nothing to do with
it. Because this happened when? But it's only according to His
own purpose. He does things on purpose. Ain't no chances with
Him. Does we have to cooperate Him
when He gives us opportunity? No, but according to His own
purpose and grace. And listen, this just, that purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. My soul, boy, just took its flight. The darkness began to flow away.
And this Bible took on a whole new meaning. It took on a whole
new light, took on a whole new world. And beloved, that's what
I'm telling you. We were in Christ. Our perfection
was in Christ before the world ever began. He stood as the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And oh, beloved, He
came to redeem us. And I tell you, He redeemed us.
You know, I know Don believes this. He redeemed us because
He stood as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Our redemption was perfect. Our salvation was perfect. We
were perfect in Christ as far as God's will was concerned,
as God's purpose was concerned, as far as the election of grace
was concerned. And Christ came in, but He came
into the world to fulfill that purpose, to pay that debt. to become our surety and pay
the debt that a multitude that no man can number. He paid everything they owed,
huh? And I tell you what Christ did. I just thought of this. Just look over with me real quick
in Ephesians. I know I'm having you look to
a lot of things, but I think this will be a blessing to you. I
do this at home because you know it's easy for us preachers to
quote things, but if you look at them, You see what we're talking
about? What Christ did, we did. When
He died, we died with Him. When He suffered, we suffered
with Him. It says here in Ephesians 2, verse 5. Talk about God being rich in
mercy, great love. What's this? Even when we were
dead in sins, has, what's this word now? Hath quickened us,
what's that say? Together. Together with Christ. By grace are you saved. What's
this? And has raised us up together. Made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. Together. What Christ did, we
did. When He suffered, we suffered.
When He was buried, we were buried. When He rose again, we rose again.
When He ascended, we ascended. Because God views us in Christ. And oh, God's justice against
sin, when it fell on Christ, it fell against me. And this
gives me such great comfort, such grace assurance that I have
not got by with one sin that I've ever committed. I've been
punished for every single one of them. I've died for every
single one of them. I've suffered the wrath of God
and the justice of God for every single sin I've committed, past,
present, and future. Where at? In Christ. And you say, well, people say,
boy, when you say that, that means people go out here and
live like hell. An idiot would go out and live like hell. A
fool would go out and live like hell. But not somebody that knows
Christ will do that. No, no. Our sins were laid on
Christ. They were charged to Christ.
All the sins that I did, including Adam's sin, God took those sins. Sins of, oh my. I don't know
if y'all do this or not, but you're sitting in a service and
your mind will go to some of the God awfulest places. And
you just didn't miss, Oh God, how did that come into my brain? That sin's been atoned for. And
that's why you cry, Oh God, how'd that get there? You know why? Because the Holy
Ghost in you makes you understand that sin is just as much in your
mind as it is in And it's in your imagination as much as anything
you've ever done. And you understand that all those
sins got to be atoned for. All those sins have to be paid
for. And God took the iniquity of us all, wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. And if they weren't on Him, if
they weren't actually on Him, and He did not actually bear
my sin in His own body there on the tree, Then there's no
hope for me. Let me ask you this, did Christ
actually die? Why did he die? He had no sin of his own. He was sinless, he was holy,
he was harmless, undefiled, separate from sin. So if he actually died,
there could only be one reason he died. That's because God,
when he looked at him, he saw nothing but what we are. Sin. God made him to be sin. Whatever sin is, with all its
hideousness, with all its blackness, with all its horribleness, that's
what God made Christ to be. And boy, and as we were in Adam,
we are also in Christ. And let me tell you this, not
only are we in Christ and perfect in Christ and the covenant of
grace and the election of grace, But we are in Christ actually
and our perfection is in Christ actually to our knowledge and
our experience when we believe. I didn't know anything about
the election of grace until somebody told me. I didn't know anything
about Christ as Lamb slain until somebody told me. And beloved,
and then when I actually believed on Christ, bowed to Christ, submitted
to the Lord Jesus, bowed to my master, took his yoke upon me
and gladly bowed to him, believed him, embraced him. I was always
in Christ, but I didn't know it. But when he came in grace,
made himself known to me, I actually, actually was put in Christ. I mean, I was actually in Christ
by my own experience, by my own knowledge. You understand what
I'm saying? We was always in Christ, but
we didn't know it. We were securing him from the
foundation of the world, but we didn't know it. Ain't that
right? I didn't know it. I know it now. That's why Paul said, I labor
to present every man perfect in Christ. You know, it, I don't
have, I didn't turn this thing on. How long has Don preached? Don't you tell him I said that
and I'm gonna take his DVD with me when I leave But you know It says, you know
the child even though he's the Lord of everything. He's the
heir of everything as long as he's a child Somebody's got he
got to be under governor. Somebody's got instructive. Somebody's
got a governing. Somebody's got in teaching somebody's
got instructive But when he becomes of age, he's no longer under
governor's tutelage. He gets the whole inheritance.
And we had all these things. We were the children of God.
But we were under governors, under tutors, under the Scripture
until we come of age. And you know when we come of
age? When God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem us from under the law. And He sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,
and we're no longer servants, but sons, and now we're heirs. Ah, in Christ. That's what happens
when the Spirit comes into our hearts. And oh, beloved, faith
lays hold of the inheritance we have in Christ. By faith,
no more tutors, no more schoolmasters, no more governors. We've come
of age. And let me give you this in closing, perfect in Christ,
labor to present every man perfect in Christ. Every soul, I'm telling
you this, every soul that's in Christ right now, trust Christ,
whether he's a brand new believer, whether you've just believed
this morning, you're as perfect in Christ as you'll ever be.
I was preaching two Sundays ago at home. He preached out of John
3.14, as Moses lifted up the serpent. There's been a young
man, big old tall fella, young man been coming. He'd been raising
a Southern Baptist Church all his life. That's where his mother
and daddy go. He'd been coming and he's...
After the morning service, I didn't have a clue where I was going.
I was just standing back in the back and he'd come up to me and he...
Granted he'd got my hand, big tears in his eyes and he hugged
me. He says, he says, Pastor, I looked. I looked. I seen. And he says, whatever's
necessary, whatever I need to do, whatever you tell me I need
to do, I want to confess that I've seen him. A new believer. As perfect as he'll ever be.
Ain't that right? The moment you believe you're
as perfect as you'll ever be. And that believer who's fallen
into sin, I hope you haven't. But if you have, David, Oh, you
shouldn't have took Bathsheba. David, you shouldn't shield her
eye. But David is as perfect in Christ. His perfection wasn't
in himself. It was in the Lord. Peter, you
did not. You shouldn't have died 93 times. But Peter is as perfect
in Christ. Noah, you shouldn't have gotten
drunk and uncovered yourself there. Perfect in Christ. As old Scott Richardson says,
his son seen his nakedness, but God didn't see it. When God covers
you with the righteousness of Christ, he never sees no more
nakedness, he don't see no more sin. Huh? And oh, the old believer,
you take that old believer, them folks that's been on the way
for a long time, that old warrior, you take like Henry and Scott
and Don, these old warriors that's been in the battle for a long
time, got a lot of scars and fought the fight, fighting a
good fight of faith. They'll all stand and tell you,
no perfection in me! My perfection's in Christ. Oh,
that that I wouldn't do, that's exactly what I do. That that
I hate, I do. That that I love, I don't do.
I see a war, I see a war, I see a war. Oh, wretched man that
I am. He'll say that and turn around
at the same time and say, there's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Oh, that just blessed us. And
that believer, oh, we with all our infirmities, oh, such infirmities,
hasty temper, impatient, slips of the tongue, things come out
that shouldn't have come out, fall, argue, debate. Oh, but, oh, He presents us holy,
harmless, undefiled, sets us, makes us appear before Him without
spot and without blemish. And so, beloved, I'm telling
you. Let me show you one verse of
Scripture and I'm through. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14.
I'm through. Perfect in Christ. Justified
by works or justified by grace. There ain't but one place a man's
justified. One place a man's perfect. One
place a man's complete. And that's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That I may present every man perfect. Where at? In Christ. In Christ. Hebrews 10.14. For by one offering, what was that
one offering? The offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once and for all. For by one offering, He hath
perfected. How long? Forever. I just almost hollered for Bible
and offering. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified, holy. Holiness is a state of being. God cannot be more holy than
he is. And we can't be no more holy than we are. Can't be no
more perfect than we are in Christ. Bless his name. Thank you so
much for your good attention.