So, we're going to look at this
phrase more specifically in Genesis 45 and verse 28. Joseph is a type of Christ we've
been looking at for a number of months now. But this story,
as the word is in context in this chapter of Joseph and his
brethren and his father Jacob, Joseph's brethren, after he had
made himself known to them, he tells them to go back and get
their dad, get his father, Jacob, Israel, and bring them back to
Egypt so they don't die because of the famine. And so they tell
Jacob, they tell their daddy that Joseph is yet alive, Verse 26,
he said, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the
land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. And they told him all the words
of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when Jacob saw
the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, The spirit of Jacob,
their father, revived. And this is the verse that I
want to look at in a particular phrase. And Israel said, Jacob
said, it is enough. It is enough. Joseph, my son,
is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. And that's what I've entitled
this. The message is, it is enough. It is enough. It is enough. Christ is yet alive. That's the believer's thought
throughout this sojourn, these difficult times of trial, when
we can be quieted by the grace of God with this phrase, thought,
just like our old brother. The statement here is made by
our old brother Jacob. And to me, when I read this,
you can almost sense the peace and contentment that pours forth
from his lips and his heart. He's about ready to die. He's
seen a lot of things, a lot of hard times, a lot of good times,
a lot of difficult times. But His Spirit is revived, He
understands and believes those things which are spoken of. And
He just makes this statement, it's enough. It is enough. Come
what may, come what will, it doesn't matter. It's enough.
Christ is alive. And the believer, that's what
I want to look at tonight, is I think that when we as The sheep
of His fold, the children under the grace and good hand of our
God, when we are made to see and experience, it is enough, Christ. When we
are made to see and experience that, Such are the seasons we
experience a full joy, peace, and contentment in our Savior. Come what may, we can say, as
the songwriter did, it is well with my soul. You can't budge
us. We can't be upset. We can't be
made to worry. We can't be made to fret. We're
not going to worry about the things of this world because
it's enough. Christ. Perhaps In our life and in our
times yet to come, there are trials without and troubles within,
hardships looming just ahead. We don't know, but when God gives
peace, as Job said, none can make trouble. When He gives trouble,
none can make peace. But when He gives peace, when
He gives us that clear sight of Christ in Him crucified, that
clear look, that say in our heart, it is enough, Christ. It is enough because we realize
He is enough. We don't need all sorts of fanfare.
We don't need all sorts of bells and whistles. We don't need... You know what I'm saying? We
just... Again, look at the historical context of the chapter and the
verse. Israel said, it is enough. Jacob,
my son, is yet alive. I'm going to go and see him before
I die. whether I die the next day or the day after I see Him,
or years, whatever the Lord has, our days are numbered. The hairs
of our head are numbered and our days are numbered. It's enough. It's enough because
He is enough. And what I'm trying to say, let
me read this, this bulletin that I got from Joe, Joe Terrell's
bulletin. I think this is really well said.
I think this is what I'm trying to say here. He says, from time
to time we hear of the five solas of the Reformation. These are
five doctrines stated in Latin. Translated into modern English,
they are the Scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ
alone, for the glory of God alone. You know, Solus Scriptura. And
I've heard these things before, but they're the five Solus of
the Reformation. We hardly agree with these five
points. However, as I pondered these points, it occurred to
me that all of them could be distilled into one. solo Christo,
Christ alone. This is not to say that there
is nothing other than Christ in the Gospel. Rather, it is
to say that nothing in the Gospel has any meaning or power apart
from Christ. Do we believe that the Scriptures
are the only authority in the Church? We do, but only because
they are the Scriptures that testify of Christ. Yet you will
not come to me that you might have life, he says in John 5.
The only right use of Scripture is to direct men to Christ. We
submit only to the Scriptures because they alone direct the
soul to the Lord Jesus. Do we believe that salvation
is by grace alone? Most certainly we do. Yet what
is the fountain of that grace? It is Christ. and of His Christ's fullness
have we all received, and grace upon grace." John chapter 1.
Christ is full of God's grace. Grace means favor. The Lord Jesus
earned the favor of God by His perfect obedience. This favor,
or grace, is given to us. Some have translated this scripture.
From the fullness of His grace, we have received grace upon grace.
This scripture presents Christ as an overflowing artesian well
of the favor of God, and we, wretched sinners, are bathed
in an ever-flowing shower of grace upon grace coming from
Christ. The grace or favor we receive
is the grace the Father has toward His Son, the Lord Jesus. Salvation
is indeed all of grace because it is all of Christ. Do we believe
that salvation is obtained through faith alone? Yes, we do. As it
is written, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him
for righteousness. Yet how is it we believe in God? Through Him, Christ, you believe
in God who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him And so
your faith and hope are in God. So faith alone is absorbed into
Christ alone. Do we believe that we should
do all things for the glory of God? Most certainly we do. But
where is the glory of God revealed? The scripture says, For God who
said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians. The glory of God
is known only in the face of Christ, and we glorify God only
as we look to Him in Christ and make known to the world the glory
of God in Christ. So, all of the five solaces are
absorbed into one. Solo Christo, Christ alone. He who sees Christ sees everything
he needs to see and sees all things as he needs to see them. To our text, it is enough, Christ. Now, in the light of our conversation
last night, Too much preaching and not enough
song? The songs are only honoring Christ
as they glorify Christ. When I hear of things like that,
that we don't sing enough and too much preaching, or this or
that or whatever, it all the more makes me just say, It's
enough. Christ. And if Christ is not
enough, then no matter what we do, or how we change our worship
services, or who we try to accommodate, it isn't ever going to be enough.
If somebody else would come in and say, well, I think we need
to do something else, and then also have song, and then also
have... No, but see, today's preaching
and today's meeting, the assemblies, it's just inundated with songs. God doesn't use songs. He uses
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now, the songs that we sing,
they should honor and promote worship. I've got no problems
with that. But He uses the preaching of His Word, the out-speaking
of His Word. So if, you know, we could spend,
we'd just chase our tails trying to do more of this or do more
of that. But the believer, the experience
of those who understand the gospel, not just talk about, talk about
doctrine and talk about all these things. And again, you all know
me well enough to know that doctrine is supremely important. We don't
know who we're going to believe unless we speak about Him, and
we speak about Him through the teaching of the Scriptures, doctrine.
I've got no issue with that. But I also have a major issue
with people who all they want to talk about is doctrine, Calvinism,
this, that, and they bypass Christ's import. through doctrine. It is enough. Christ is yet alive. Well, let me give you some other
examples and texts of these similar type of statements of faith.
Jacob, named Israel here, again, old, ready to die, but he says
it's enough. It's enough. Statement of solid
Immovable faith and there are times that I believe God gives
this to his people while we sojourn here I know a lot of times we're
busy fretting and worrying but there's times and he gives us
Single-mindedness single-hearted just looking to him and it doesn't
make a difference Come what may it doesn't matter. Well, we won't
I have a bunch of scriptures written down here But I'll read
them give you the import of what they say in the Genesis chapter
22 is Abraham is taking up his son Isaac to sacrifice him Isaac
says, you know, we got the wood and we've got the night, we got
all these things, but where's the offering? And Abraham says,
in Genesis 22, he says, the Lord will provide himself a sacrifice. Now, Abraham knows he's going
to slay, he's going to have to kill his son, but he is in the
New Testament, we see that Abraham knew that God was, he knew that
God could raise him from the dead. So Abraham knew exactly
what they were going to do, and that his son was the sacrifice.
As he's walking up there, instead of worrying about killing his
son, his boy, and all the things that we as fathers might say
he was going through, whatever, the Scriptures is real clear,
as he says, and it was a trial, no question about it, it was
a trial, but he didn't falter. He raised that knife up, and
the angel of the Lord says, don't do it. Why? Because it is enough. The Lord will provide. In Exodus 14, Moses is leading
the children of Israel out. Behind them is the Egyptian The
Egyptian army, the Egyptians coming on horseback. They're
coming after him. In front of them is the Red Sea. They've
got nowhere to go. They're upset. They're panicking. And Moses, full of faith, says,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Which his salvation
is enough in Christ. Stand still. It will be well
with us. Not a single drop of Hebrew blood
is going to be shed in this desert. He's going to provide a way. Young David comes out to help
with his brothers, and they're at war with the Philistines,
and there's this one giant called Goliath. And nobody wants to stand in
front of this giant. They're scared to death. But David, knowing that his God
is enough, that his Redeemer is enough, makes this statement.
I've got to read this because this is just... When I was going
through this, I was thoroughly enjoying looking at these statements.
David puts on his armor. And it doesn't fit. He says,
take it all off. David, you're getting ready to
go into war. You're getting ready to go against this warrior of
great stature. This is a warrior, a hardened
warrior. He understands battle. You're
just a kid. He doesn't have any armor on.
David said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the
paw of the lion And out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver
me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with thee. And as he nears that Goliath,
that giant, that Goliath, that Goliath is cussing him and says,
I'm going to take, I'm going to wipe you out, I'm going to
kill you and disembowel you. He's mocking David. And in David,
another statement in the same chapter, he says, Then David
said to the Philistine, after all of his ranting and raving
and intimidations. And you know, when you get a
one-on-one situation like that, it can be very intimidating. And David said to the Philistine,
You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield,
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God
of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. And then he
just took it to them. Took it to them. Well, there's
this one woman, this young believer, this lovely believer, her name
is Ruth, and as she speaks to Naomi, her mother-in-law, she
says, I'm not going to leave you. Naomi says, go back. Go back to your people. And she
says, I'm not going to go back to my people. I'm going to live
with you. I'm going to breathe with you. I'm going to die with
you. Your God is going to be my God. I will not forsake you. No matter what happens, your
God is my God. Nothing's going to change my
mind. Nothing's going to move me. Then there's in Daniel chapter
3, there's these three in the fiery furnace, and they played
the flute, and the kingdom played the flute, and every time that
flute was played, everybody was supposed to bow down and worship.
But these three Hebrews, these Adrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
they didn't do it. They got told on. They took them in front of
the king, and they said, we're going to play, and you're going
to bow down. Be it known unto you, O King, we're not going to bow down,
because our God is able to deliver us." So they bound him up, threw
him into fire, they threw three in, and they saw four. The form of the fourth was as
the Son of God. It is enough, Christ. He didn't care about life. Death, martyrdom, disease, money. It is enough. Christ. Joshua tells us in the book of
Joshua, chapter 24, as everybody was kind of halting between opinions,
Joshua says, as for me and my house, we're going to serve the
Lord. You got to do what you want to do. As for me and my
house, we're going to serve the Lord. Oh, don't you know how
often Bruce and I have tremendously struggled with, do we keep this
thing going or not? Are we wasting our time? What
are we doing? I told Melinda the other day,
I struggled like crazy. Oh, we got all this stuff going
on. This is about what it was last Wednesday. I thought, you
know what? Forget it. It's not worth it. It is enough. Christ. Where there's no vision, the
people perish. This is God's vision for this
area, as far as we know. Face it. David's last words in
2 Samuel, he's about ready to die, and he says, my house is
in soul with God, and there's a lot of things. All these different
things were troubling him, but he makes a statement of peace,
and faith, and confidence, and just like Jacob of old, of contentment. He says, "...though my house
be not sold, yet God hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
and that covenant is ratified, sealed, and set through our Mediator Christ."
So what he was saying is, it is enough. Unfinished business? Yeah. You know, I'm looking around
the house and I'm thinking, you know, I wonder if I'll get that
done before I die. You know, it's kind of funny,
but it isn't because I'm over the other weekend, this weekend
I'm over helping my aunt, and as I was doing stuff, you go
around people's house, you can see things that probably hadn't
been done and needed to have been done for 20 years. It could
be the same thing with us. There's a lot of loose ends. But it's okay, because Christ
is enough. Those things, they'll be left
for somebody else. Or the house will be tore down.
Or they'll bulldoze Greenbrier and it'll be a recreation park. But we work
so hard, it doesn't matter. It's enough. Christ is alive. He died, yea rather He's risen.
Our early New Testament brethren, we've seen this in our study
through Acts, time and time again they were told to shut up and
don't say anything, and they were beat, and they were threatened,
and they were going to be excommunicated, and all these different things.
And as soon as that happened, they just said, they just went
right out. They said, you know, whatever
you think, you tell us what we should do. Obey you or obey God. Because the believer knows, no
matter what comes, no matter what trial, no matter what difficulty,
faith says, it's enough, Christ. So, they can be bold and say,
beat us, but we're going to go start preaching. Don't preach
in that name. Okay, what was that name? Jesus Christ. Okay,
see you later. They let him out and they just go right to the,
they go to the next, they just go right and start preaching
again. And Paul's famous statement in 2 Corinthians, He had an infirmity and he asked
the Lord three times to take it away from him, and the Lord
said, My grace is sufficient. And you don't ever hear of it
anymore. So I've got to live with this physical ailment the
rest of my life. I've got to live with this burden
the rest of my life. I have to live with this uncomfortable
pain. I have to live with this financial
burden. All these different things. God
says to us, in Christ, His grace is sufficient. It is enough. Christ is yet alive. And He's
seated on the right hand of the Father, making intercession for
us right now. So it's enough, and it's okay. His grace is sufficient. That was my first point, with
other examples and texts of this same faith, But then, my last
point is, Christ then surely is enough. Christ Jesus surely
is enough. That one, that blessed man of
Galilee, born in relative obscurity, born to a poor family, endured
unbelief of his own family members, they didn't understand him, his
own brothers, They didn't understand what he
was about. He suffered at the hands of men
and even sometimes at the hands of his friends. The world was
made by him, yet it did not know him. He never sinned or spake
out of character. All authority was given to him,
and yet he still would voluntarily submit to the awful
death of the Roman cross. He showed forth what true love
and grace is even to those selected recipients who did not know by
nature what love and grace was. He redeemed those who were against
Him and opposed Him and His Father from birth, nature, and by practice.
And what I mean by we opposed Him by practice is that we wanted
to. We did not want to serve Him.
We didn't want to hear of this way. We did not want to hear
that Christ was enough. We wanted Christ and in our own
things, Christ and what mom taught us, dad taught us, whatever it
might be, if we wanted to hear about religion at all. We were
sinners by birth, nature, and practice. We did what we wanted
to do against Him. Yet, this one that blessed one
of Galilee promised to those who believe that he would never
ever leave us or forsake us. He is to those who believe a
friend, nay a brother that to us sticks closer than our own
kindred. He's promised to cause us to
continue on in the faith until we reach the desired port. He plainly instructs us from
his unerring word and says to us, without him we can do nothing. He stood with us and for us when
all things were against us. Surely it must be said by you
and I that it is enough. Christ. He single-handedly honored
a broken law, satisfied a flawless justice, absorbed a fiery wrath,
imputed a pure righteousness, imparted a lovely nature. He
fell asleep, then rose again in three days, and is at this
present time interceding for redeemed sinners like you and
I. What more could any sinner want
or need than it is enough? Christ. That's what inflames
me about religion today. It's everything but Christ. The situation with the music. We have more. That's fine. I've
got no problem with a few more here or there or whatever. But, the preaching of the Gospel,
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified, the solace, Christ
alone, those who find that boring, those who find that uninteresting,
those who find that not enough, have never tasted that He's gracious
and don't have a clue as to who He is. I don't care how they
dot their I's or cross their T's. And we have to continually be
reminded, Lynn and I were talking about this as well, we need to
continually, there is so many things, so many things in this
scripture where Christ is there, I just haven't found Him yet.
And I'm not saying that you can't exhort out of the Scriptures
and you can't encourage out of the Scriptures, but eyes will
not be moved from the fact that when you see Christ and realize
that He is enough, that that will motivate you to do for Him
and honor Him and glorify Him. I was thinking about this message
for a long time and I was thinking about I was thinking about Karen,
I was thinking about Matt, and Debbie, and I thought to myself,
this is how stupid this is, to think that we need more than
Christ, and we need to be, you know, people need to be browbeated,
and need to be harassed, and called, and where you at, and
how come you're not here, and all these different things. And
again, I don't have the balance on this, I don't have a full
understanding on this, but I kept thinking, okay, It would be like me asking
Bruce and Jackie, it would be like me asking you guys, what
did you do to make your kids love you? Nothing. They loved you because
they were your children. Now, you encouraged that love
by interaction and doing different things, but as far as, well,
how did you get Matt to love you? I mean, when you look at
it that way, do you follow what I'm saying? It's stupid. It's
ignorant. Well, how do you get those people
to keep coming to hear the Gospel? Well, let's entertain them. Let's
play more music. Let's get a band in here. I got
asked that the other day. I said, yeah, I've got drums. Oh, do you guys have a band?
No, we don't. We don't have a choir. Well,
what do you do? What do you give them to do? Christ is enough. When I would come home, and I
was thinking this the other day, when I'd come home from work,
and Carol was real small, and her little head would be over
that two-pane door, and she'd see me, and Melinda said she
would ask, you know, she was too small, she didn't know how
to tell time, so when's Daddy coming home? And Melinda, you
know, she would be in the kitchen, she's like, it's pretty soon.
She said she'd go over to the door, and she's just sitting
there. And then when I'd pull in, I'd always look and she'd
start banging on that screen. What did Melinda do to encourage
that? Nothing. I'm her father. She loves me. Now again, you nurture that and
you encourage that. Why do these people who've been
adopted and all these other things, why do they go to such great
pains to try to find their natural? Why? Because it's in there. It's in the heart. That's why I look at it. And
if Christ is enough, I don't have to stand on my head, I don't
have to swallow goldfish, We need to tune that piano, but
we don't have to have a huge orchestra. We saw some vacation
Bible schools getting ready to start up, or they're advertising.
And I can't remember what, oh, there's one, it's in Cape. It's
just obnoxious. They're trying to incorporate
the animal planet in Bible class to get people excited to come.
I'll tell you what, I'm going to close. I could go on for a
while. I'm going to close and turn to Colossians chapter 3. And I've got a quote written
down here by our precious pastor and brother, Scott Richardson.
Let me read the Scripture, and I've got a quote here written
down in my Bible, what he said about this. Colossians 3 verse
11, Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free. Here's what I've got underlined.
But Christ is all and in all. Paul says to the Colossians,
Christ is all and in all. And Scott Richardson made this
simple comment. He who knows this, knows what
cheers and satisfies. Because it's enough. Because
he is enough. I saw a commercial. Latter-day Saints and Mormons
are putting out these commercials. They're talking to people on
the street. They don't know what their purpose is or what they're supposed to
do. They feel this and that. He who knows this, Christ is enough. Christ is all and in all. For
our substitute, for our holiness, our righteousness, our life,
our peace, our contentment, Because He's all grace, He's all mercy,
He's satisfied all things against us. He who knows this knows what
cheers and satisfies. Find that pearl a great price.
And you have enough. You have enough. Bruce, would
you close us? It's a good message to hear.
In fact, in words, you are enough. You are everything. We do love
you.