with this statement, blessed
are they that mourn. If you have been taught of God
to mourn what you are because you have seen Christ crucified
as your substitute, looking on Him whom you have pissed, our
Savior says you are blessed, happy, filled with joy, Sadly,
there are many who have been so poorly instructed, wrongfully
instructed, that when they read those words, blessed are they
that mourn, they are convinced that our Savior meant to say,
blessed are they that mourn, and mourn, and mourn, and mourn,
and mourn. Ever looking in themselves for
something which ought to cause them to rejoice, they continually
mourn. beat down by folks who would
have them to look within for comfort, for hope, for joy, for
peace. Our Lord Jesus never, never tells
us to look within for anything. Never. Salvation is looking outside
yourself. looking to Jesus Christ the Lord. That's how it begins, that's
how it continues, and that's how it shall end. That mourning
our Savior speaks of, when he says, blessed are they that mourn,
he also declares, for they shall be comforted. The mourning he's
talking about, the mourning that comes by the grace of God, that
mourning that comes as the result of faith in Jesus Christ our
Lord, is mourning that turns to joy, mourning that is full
of comfort. By all means, lament what you
are. By all means, lament the evil
that is in us. Never cease to do so. But the
knowledge of what we are in ourselves should never eclipse the blessed
revelation of God's grace concerning what we are in Jesus Christ the
Lord. God the Holy Spirit, if I understand
this book correctly, throughout everything written in the book
of Revelation. He intends for us to be a people
comforted by his word. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. His admonition to us throughout
the scripture is rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. Let your
moderation be known to all men. The Lord's at hand. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice because Christ is yours
and you're His. If that doesn't give you reason
to walk with joy, nothing on this earth can give you reason
to walk with joy. In fact, if we would walk worthy
of the Lord to all pleasing. I want to walk worthy of the
Lord. If we would walk worthy of the
Lord to all pleasing, we must do so giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life. To walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith we are called is to walk by continual faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord, believing Him, believing Him. Oh, I want so
much to inspire you who know my God to confidently trust Him,
to rejoice in Him in the teeth of everything you know about
yourself. And I want so much for God the
Holy Spirit to show you Christ in all the fullness of His grace
and glory who do not know Him, that you may be compelled, irresistibly
compelled by His grace to believe on the Son of God. Let's turn to Colossians chapter
2. You won't have any difficulty
following what I have to say tonight. I can think of no better
way to begin these meetings than by calling your attention to
five words of indescribable blessedness. My text will be the title of
my message, and the title of my message will be my outline,
so you won't have any trouble following. Colossians chapter
2, verse 10. Ye are complete in him. What a word. Ye are complete in him. There is no middle ground. Either
you are absolutely complete in him. or you're all together without
hope before God. Either totally complete or totally
empty. There's no middle ground. Our
Savior here speaks by His servant and says, ye are complete in
Him. Now let's look at these words
one at a time. Ye. You who believe on the Son
of God. If right now, if right now, for
the first time in your life, you look to the Son of God, trusting
Jesus Christ the Lord as your Savior, your Redeemer, your substitute,
your acceptance with God, your salvation, if right now you can
look to Him, you are complete in Him. Complete. This is a statement
of absolute fact. What wonders of grace the apostle
states before us here. Complete in the fullest, broadest,
most varied sense of that mighty word complete. Ye are complete
in him. The spirit of God seems to have
one object in this sentence. His purpose is to cause every
believing soul to look to Christ with the confident joy of faith,
with the confident realization that everything He needs, everything
God gives to men, everything God requires of men, everything
that is in Christ the mediator is yours in Him. Everything. You. who were sometime dead in
trespasses and in sins, walking after the course of this world,
after the spirit of disobedience, this prince of this world, the
prince of the power of the air, you, who by nature are children
of wrath, even as others, who were once without Christ, without
God, without hope, complete in Him. But pastor, I labor and
toil and vex and perplex my soul continually because of the indwelling
sin that's in me that I hate, you are complete in Him. But I'm so keenly aware of the
body of sin and death in which I live in this world as a fallen
son of Adam, you are complete in Him. You who are loved and
chosen of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, called by His
grace, sanctified, justified, washed, born of God, you, every
one of you, are complete in Him. Now look at the next word, are. Now there's no question. No question
whatsoever, the word of God clearly states that you who come to experience
this blessed thing called grace and salvation were complete in
Christ from everlasting. There's no question about that.
The book of God states it so plainly that you can't miss it
except by willful ignorance. Romans 8, Ephesians 1, this completion
is ours in Christ Jesus. Now this may be too deep for
some folks. It may just kind of float over
your head. If you can't get it, I'm sorry. However long you've
been in Him, that's how long you've been complete in Him. When were you found in Him? Before the world began. When were you accepted in Him?
From eternity. When were you blessed in Him?
Before God ever spoke the world into being. So without question,
without question, ever how long you've been in Him, that's how
long you've been complete in Him. And that which was done
and finished in eternity cannot be altered and changed in time.
And there's no question, this book clearly teaches us that
we shall be yet complete in Him. All the bliss of glory. Complete in Christ Jesus. When
we see it, Luce, we're going to be like Him. Complete in Him. Possessors of all that He possesses. And yet the Holy Spirit here
writes this in the present tense. He says you are complete in Him. You are complete in Him. Everything here is talking about
the present position and blessedness of every child of God living
in this world. He is telling us, not you shall
be complete someday when your faith is stronger and you have
greater knowledge and you're more mature in love and you walk
closer with God and your works become more pure and your love
is more sincere and you're more devoted, more dedicated. They're
not a word about condition or qualification. are supplement
of any kind. Do you see that? He didn't say
you can be complete in Him. He doesn't say now here's the
possibility, here's your potential. He says you who believe are right
now, right where you are, complete in Him. Complete. Oh, what a
word. That means this completion is
all together by free grace. There's no deficiency to be supplied
by you. Nothing lacking here that must
be made up by me. Faith leaves all works behind
and rejoices in Christ Jesus the Lord in whom we are complete. Now what does this word mean?
Let's look at it. Complete. Complete. The word is one of those words
that we use so commonly that we tend to overlook the significance
of it. You ever stop to look up a word
that you use every day and you think, I wonder what that really
means? And you look up and say, wow.
I'd have never thought about that. Well, this word complete,
we use it so commonly, we tend to just kind of glide over it,
fail to see what it means. But the word really is bursting
with meaning. It describes something about
the children of God that is altogether accomplished for us by free grace
alone. Something about which we are
totally passive in the accomplishment of it. Now, I didn't say we were
passive about it. Oh, no. You get hold of this,
I promise you, you won't be passive about it. It is something, however,
that in its accomplishment, we are altogether passive. We have
nothing to do with making ourselves complete before God. Well, what
does it mean? I think it's a fairly safe way
to look at things, rather than just trying to put a definition
on a word, though certainly the definition fits. Let's look at
how it's used in the scripture. However it is that God the Holy
Spirit has used this word in the book of inspiration, I would
say you're fairly safe to take it to mean that, all of that,
and nothing less than that. Turn to John chapter 1, let me
show you. John chapter one, complete, complete. Verse 14, the word was made flesh
and dropped among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the father, full. There's the word. It's
the same word, full, full of grace and truth. Well, I wonder
how full. I wonder if we can take that
too far. I wonder if we must have put some qualification on
that. Must we somehow limit that? Surely you don't mean to understand
that Jesus Christ is absolutely complete grace and truth. I think that's what it says.
I think that's pretty good. Verse 16. And of His fullness. There's the same word again.
Of His completeness. Completeness that can never be
diminished. Fullness that can never be lessened. Of His fullness
have all we receive grace right on top of grace. 1 Corinthians
chapter 10, verse 28. 1 Corinthians 10, 28. Here's this word again. Down to the very last sentence
of the verse. The earth is the Lord's and the, what does it
say? Fullness thereof. You mean, Brother
Don, everything belongs to Christ? Now surely you can't, you can't
mean that everything in the whole of creation is His. I think that's
what He intends for us to be. The completeness of the whole
creation is His. Look at Ephesians 1. Ephesians
1. Verse 23. God the Holy Spirit is talking
about God's elect. The church, which is His body.
The fullness. The completeness of Him that
completes everything. The fullness of Him that fills
everything, that filleth all in all. He's the head and His body. Every chosen center given to
Him before the world was. is the completeness of Him as
the God-man mediator. The fullness of Him. And He,
who is our mediator, is the fullness of everything. Let me show you
one more text where the same word is used. Colossians chapter
2 again. Verse 9. The very same word. In Him, dwelleth all, just in case you don't understand
the meaning of full, all the fullness, all the completeness
of the Godhead in His human body, bodily. And ye are complete in
Him. I believe, I believe we would
be safe to assume that the Spirit of God intends for us to understand
when He says you are complete in Him, He means complete without
limit, without qualification, without condition of any kind. All completeness is yours in
Him. Complete. Whatever we are in Christ, we
are completely. Whatever we have in Christ, we
have completely. In all matters regarding our
spiritual welfare, our soul's eternal good, our salvation,
we are complete in Christ without any supplement of any kind. Now,
there are a good many folks who would have you to look elsewhere
for fullness and completion, and they would tell you that
you just can't take this at face value, and you've got to look
here, and you've got to look there, and you've got to experience
this, you've got to learn that. That's exactly the context in
which Paul makes this statement. Look up to verse 6. Look up to verse 6. Anytime somebody
comes along and says, oh no, no, no, believing on Christ is
not enough. You've got to know, you've got to learn, you've got
to do, you've got to experience, you've got to feel. Read this
passage. This is what it's talking about.
As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, now how did you
receive Him? How did you receive Him? with nothing in my pocket, and
nothing in my hands, and nothing to offer him, and nothing to
give him, and nothing to promise him, and nothing that I could
bring to him as a poor, empty-handed, helpless, doomed, damned, worthless,
bankrupt, vile sinner. Now, don't ever grow one step
above that. If you do, you've outgrown grace. You've just outgrown grace. As
ye therefore, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him. How? Believing
in Him. And established in the faith.
How? Never turning from it. As ye have been taught Brother
Chris just read that passage in Hebrews 13. What a statement. Obey then that hath the rule
over you whose faith you follow. Somebody comes along and turns
you away from the gospel of God's grace. You've heard and worshipped
God and believed God and you're, oh, now, oh. Well, I never saw
that before. Pretend you still don't. I'm as serious as I can be. I'm
as serious as I can be. Plug your ears up to it. Oh,
but I want to be open-minded. Not me. Not me. Well, I want to consider everything.
Consider everything you want to on your road to hell. If you
want to walk in the path of faith, you consider one person. Jesus Christ the Lord. And nothing
else. Nothing else. Abounding therein
with thanksgiving. Now look at verse 8. Beware. Beware. It's a dangerous business. Beware. Lest any man spoil you
through philosophy. It's all vain deceit. After the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, the elements of the world, and not
after Christ. Now watch this, for this reason,
for in Him is everything. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. Now listen
carefully, God help you to hear me. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ that does not become the object of your faith. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ. That includes your feelings,
and your experiences, and your works, and your devotion, and
your spirituality, and your learning. Nothing can be added to faith
in Christ that does not become or rather really is not already
the object of your faith. Nothing. Oh my soul, believe
this and rejoice. Be ashamed, oh my heart, for
every reluctance to believe what God here declares in his word. Ye are complete in him. Complete. Don't. Don't be so intent upon
your corruptions as to forget His immaculate purity whose purity
is now yours. Don't be so mindful of your poverty
as to forget His infinite riches that are your riches conferred
upon you by His grace. Don't be so absorbed in your
emptiness that you forget His fullness, whose fullness is yours. Don't be so mindful of your natural
imperfections as a fallen son of Adam that you fail to ever
be mindful of the perfection, the absolute perfection that's
yours right now in Jesus Christ the Lord. Ye are complete in
him. That's how God sees you. Now, you read the theologians
and listen to preachers and they, oh, you can't say that. Don't
tell people that. You've got to qualify that. You're
not really complete. That's just how God sees you. However God sees you, that's
how you really are. That's how you really are. He
doesn't see things wrongly, does he? Well, this is how God considers
us. That's how He tells you to consider
yourself. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves. So what is this?
Reckon yourselves the way God reckons you, because God reckons
right. God reckons right. The Lord God Almighty sees us
in His Son. Always in His Son. Only in His
Son. Accepted in His Son. Made perfect
in His Son. By His own almighty grace. And
He would have every believing sinner to see himself exactly
as he really is in Jesus Christ the Lord. No denial of what I
am by nature. But what I am by nature is not
really me. Not really me. Read the seventh
chapter of Romans and learn. What I am by nature is not really
me. I think probably this is sort of what Paul had in mind
when he said, I am crucified with Christ. I died when Jesus
Christ died. I was crucified one time and
in him, back under Calvary. Nevertheless, I live. But I'm
not talking about Don Fortner now. Yet not I, but Christ lives
in me. And in that life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. This word complete means supplied,
fully supplied. Having Christ, we have all that
we can possibly need. You remember when Jacob went
to meet his brother Esau? And he was, he divided everything
up because Jacob was like us. He was so full of sin and flesh
and unbelief. He didn't halfway believe God.
But don't cuss Jacob too much, you don't either. He didn't halfway
believe God. He sent drones to pacify his
brother Esau. And Esau came to him and he said,
what are all these things? Jacob said, I just want to give
you some gifts. And Esau said, I have enough.
And what Esau said is, I have plenty. And Jacob said, I have enough. Now, Israel speak. That wasn't Jacob. That was Israel
talking. You know what the word means
when he says, I have enough? He said, I have everything. I am fully supplied, no lack. Listen to me. This man, in and by Jesus Christ
the Lord, possesses right now everything in full supply. He is made of God unto me, righteousness. What kind? Whatever kind there
is. How much? As much as there is. And sanctification? And redemption? Everything. Everything. Does God require
perfection? He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Does God demand that my sin be
totally put away? Absolutely eradicated? He sure does. He sure does. He
has by one sacrifice put away my sin. And I believe that. Clay, I believe that in spite
of everything I know in me every day. Not because of what I know
in me, in spite of everything I know in me. In spite of it. Does God require holiness? Holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord? Christ has given it. He's come and taken up residence
right here in this body. In this man. He lives in me. And he who lives in me, that
which is born of God, cannot sin. It's holy before Him. That means right now we are meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of saints in life. What more
are you going to have to get to get the glory? Tell me. What more are you going to have
to get? Well, I don't want to just barely get in, that'll be
good enough. What more are you going to have?
Oh, I must be more whole than I am now. Oh, you're not complete. Well, I must be more devoted
to Christ than I am now. You're not complete. Well, I
must be nearer to God than I am now. You're not complete? Is that what I hear you say?
You're not complete? They call you, you know what
you lack? For glory? Nothing. Nothing. You just got to lose
something. And that's what you are by nature.
And you're going to drop it in the grave soon. Complete in Him. Fully supplied
with everything. This word complete means satisfied. And I promise you, you will never
be satisfied in your soul until you find full satisfaction in
Jesus Christ the Lord. You may get a little temporary
reprieve from guilt, a little temporary reprieve from this
thing or that. You may convince yourself this
is enough, but you will never find satisfaction until you can
sing, hallelujah, I have found him. whom my soul so long had
craved. Jesus satisfies my longings. Through his blood, I now am saved." The richest man in the world
is the one who's satisfied. And if you ever get everything
you need, you'll be satisfied. Let me tell you something. You're
looking at a satisfied man. And I'm not taking my own word
for it, I'm taking God's word for it. He says, ye are satisfied
in him. Satisfied. The word means filled,
filled up. Completely filled, so completely
filled, Chris, that you can never have this fullness diminished
any more than the fullness of the Godhead can be diminished
in Jesus Christ. Now, complete in Him. When this little day that we
spend on this earth is over, And our Master perhaps ask us
in that day when we stand before Him as He did His disciples at
the end of His days, lacked ye anything with those disciples? Nothing, Lord. Nothing, Lord. You are complete. One more thing now. Don't miss
this. In Him. In Him. Everything's in Him. Maurice, you know why you're
complete? In Him. In Him. In Him. This is talking about the believers
Absolute, I can't say it strongly enough, absolute union and oneness
with Christ. Well, Brother Don, that's a mystery
too big for us. It sure is, but not for him. Not for him. He strives with
every language, word imaginable to tell us something about this
oneness. He's the head, we're the members.
He's the vine, we're the branches. He's the bridegroom, we're the
bride. He's the foundation, we're the
building. He says, this is his language,
we are members of his body. bone of his bone and flesh of
his flesh. Well, do you mean that we're
literally, physically the same body as Jesus Christ? What idiot would even imagine
such a thing? You talk about spiritual things, wondrous things. So really and truly, Are we one
with him? This is what he says. If you just give a glass of cold
water to one of my disciples, I'm the one drinking it. Is that what he said? He said, anybody
touches you, he stuck his finger in my eye. One with Jesus Christ. One with Him. One with Him from
eternity. One with Him when He came into
this world and said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. One
with Him when He fulfilled all righteousness and said, I finish
the work thou gavest me to do. One with Him when He had put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and said, It is finished. One with Him when He went into
the tomb. One with Him when He came out justified in the Spirit.
One with Him when He took His place at the Father's right hand.
And now, one with Him by the vital union of life given me
by Him who is life coming and taking up residence in me. Giving
me faith in Him. One with Him. Really and truly
one with Him. And soon, one with Him in all His glory. The glory, Father, that You gave
me before the world was as their mediator. Give me that glory
now, our Savior said. as He ascended back into heaven.
And the glory that You gave me as their mediator before the
world began, the glory that I possess on Your throne now in human flesh,
that glory have I given to them that they may be one Father. even as we are one. Complete in Him. Ye are complete in Him. Amen. I've asked Brother Mike
Barton to come sing a hymn for us. I haven't heard him in a
long time. Good to have you here, Mike. And then we'll have a congregational
hymn and we'll receive all.