I told you several weeks ago
that Brother Mahan is planning to retire from pastoral work
the 1st of January. I asked you to pray for that
congregation as they seek a pastor and for him. And I've been thinking
a lot about his influence on my life. I met Henry When I was 19 years
old, that's 1969, he preached at the church in the town where
I was raised. I only got to hear him two nights
because I had to work the other nights and we had services at
our own church one of the nights. The first night I heard him preach,
he preached from the Book of Ruth and what a message he brought
on Hosea and Gomer. And the next night he preached
a message, the outline you've heard me preach here, on Christ
our kinsman redeemer. I said from the book of Ruth,
the second night from the book of Ruth on Christ our kinsman
redeemer. I could give you the outlines
almost verbally, profound passages like I'd never heard. And I didn't
see him again for A number of years. Our paths didn't cross. I started pastoring at Lookout.
And I kept hearing his name and hearing a lot of yit-yak folks
have whenever somebody's used of God. They like to talk and
slander and gossip. And I was young and full of vim,
vigor, and spit. So I was coming down here to
Lexington to a Bible conference in April 1976. decided I'd stop by and visit
this old man and see if I couldn't impart some knowledge to him.
He was 50 at the time, if I remember correctly. I was 26. Had the world on the tail on
a downhill pull. There wasn't anything I didn't
know, nothing. And I was ready to tell you.
And sat down at his office. He was very gracious. He was
preparing a message. It was on a Monday morning, preparing
to preach for television that night. And I asked him a lot
of questions. And he answered them far more
graciously than I probably would now, but certainly more graciously
than I would have then. And when he got done, or when
I got done with telling him all I didn't know, he said, Brother
Fortner, before you leave, let me show you something. And he
turned his Bible around, just like that, and said, I want you
to read this right here. And I started to read up top.
No, just these three words right here, right here. The text was
in Colossians chapter 3, verse 11. And the message was, Christ
is all. He said, now I believe, and this
congregation believes, all the things we've been talking about.
I believe and preach all these various doctrines you've been
talking about. But our message is right here. This is our doctrine. This is our message. This is
our hope. This is the message of Holy Scripture.
Christ is all. And I left, thought about it
a little bit, but not much. A month later, I was laying flat
on my back in the hospital in Charleston, West Virginia, and
the doctors expected me to die pretty quick. And for 21 days,
those three words just would not go away. Christ is all. I'd been pastoring. for a number of years, and I
preached all the right doctrine. Matter of fact, there wasn't
anything of any significance that I preached then I don't
preach to you now. Had all my ducks lined up in a row, and
I defended them well. And I realized I'd been spinning
my wheels in the sand, doing nothing for the souls of men
and nothing for the glory of God. I wasn't attempting to make a
bargain with God. I've got better sense than that.
But I did something. I did something laying in that
hospital room that I've never done before or since. I made
a vow. A vow I intend to keep. And that
was this. Lord God, if I should ever again
stand to speak in your name to men, eternity bound sinners. I will never preach anything
else except this message, Christ is all. That little brief meeting
taught me the most important thing I've ever learned. And
I've tried to preach to you from this text a number of times.
But I've had it on my mind now a good bit. And I've been working
on it the last couple of days. So we'll leave Hebrews alone,
at least for tonight. And I want you to look with me
at what the book teaches about these three simple one-syllable
words. Colossians chapter 3, verse 11. Christ is all. In what sense does the Holy Spirit
mean for us to understand that? How far are we to take those
words? How much should they be pressed? How are we to apply this to the
scriptures as a whole? Those are the questions I want
to answer in the safety And I want you to see that in all things
concerning our souls, in all things regarding eternity, in
all things in any way connected with the glory of God, Christ
is all. Learn that, and you have learned
the message of Holy Scripture. Learn this, and you have learned
how to interpret Scripture. Learn this, learn it in your
heart, and you have learned the way of life and salvation. Christ is all. Now let me see
if I can come at that three or four ways and send you home with
something good for your souls. Turn first to Proverbs chapter
8. I want you to see that Christ is all in all the counsels and
purposes of God Almighty from all eternity. There was a time
when this Earth had no being. There was a time when there was
no time, no world, no universe, no angels, no men, a time when
the triune God dwelt alone in the ineffable glory of his sacred
persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perfect, full, complete,
infinite, incomprehensible, self-sustained, self-existent, the eternal I
am. He needed nothing. He needed
nothing. God dwelt alone in his eternal
Godhead. Well, where was Christ then?
Look in Proverbs 8, verse 23. Even then, he was with the Father,
set up and accepted of the Father as our covenant surety, as our
sin-atoning sacrifice, in whom all the elect of God are accepted
into the love, blessed with all blessings of grace. He was set
up from everlasting as the surety. This is what he says. Proverbs
8, verse 23. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God. One with God. Face to face with God. Equal
with God. Inseparable from God. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. Look in Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Hold your hands
here in Proverbs 8. We'll be right back. Look in Romans 8.
The Apostle Paul is describing for
us the works of God's providence in verse 28. He tells us that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. And then he tells
us what God's purpose is. For whom He did foreknow, then
He also did predestinate. Now watch it. to be conformed
to the image of His Son. The Lord Jesus was set up from
everlasting in the covenant of grace that could not refer to
His deity. He could not be set up in His
deity. God is, always was, always is,
and always shall be. He was set up as our covenant
surety. And the Father looked on Him
and said, I'm going to have a race of men. I'm going to have a unique,
special people conformed to his image. This one who comes the
second Adam, the last Adam, this one in whose image Adam himself
was made, I'm going to have a race of men just exactly like this
man whom I shall send into the world in the fullness of time,
that he This God-man, this mediator, this surety might be the firstborn,
the chief, the preeminent, the top dog among many brethren. And he accepted us in him. He
said he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
God the Father has blessed us in him with all spiritual blessings
from old eternity and made us accepted in the beloved. And
then there came a time when God created all things. the sun,
the moon, the stars, the sea, the land, all their inhabitants,
every fish in the sea, and every star in the sky, every bird that
flies through the air, and every creeping thing that crawls upon
the earth, all were called into being and made out of chaos and
confusion. And a man was formed out of the
dust of the ground. And where was Christ then? What
does the book say? Back here in Proverbs chapter
8, verse 27. When he prepared the heavens,
I was there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds, what a word, the
clouds, he established the clouds. when he established the clouds
above, when he strengthened the foundations of the deep. What
words he uses for those things that we consider to be unstable,
fickle, floating on nothing, moved by the tide. He says he
established the clouds, and he says he has strengthened the
foundations of the deep when he gave to the sea his decree. What did he say? He said, water
flow right here, nowhere else. Gave to the sea his decree that
the water should not pass his commandment. When he appointed
the foundations of the earth, I don't have any idea what they
are. But I got news for you, nobody else does either. All
I know is this earth is sitting on foundations that will stand
no matter how much aerosol hairspray you use until God crumbles the
foundations. He set the foundations of the
earth. And the Lord Jesus says then, Then was I by him, as one
brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him." He said, I was sitting right there with
my father, as the covenant surety of my people, saying, bless God,
that's the way it ought to be. Not only that, He is the One
by whom all things were made. All things were made by Him,
John says, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
So when all things were created out of nothing, and when all
things were brought up out of the chaos recorded in Genesis
1-2, the Lord Jesus Christ is that One of whom it is said,
by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth. visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him.
And that's not all it says. It said, Bob Duff, they were
all, that includes you and me, were created for Him. Everything
created for Him. All the angels of heaven, all
the devils in hell, all men upon the earth, reprobate and elect
alike, all created for Him. Say, well, some men won't be
His. Some things won't be His. I beg to differ. They were created
for Him, and He's God Almighty. He's going to have that which
He made for Himself. Everything shall redound to His
praise and glory. There came a day when sin entered
into the world. Our father Adam, with his eyes
wide open, knowing what Eve had done, and knowing the curse that
would come, and knowing all that would come as a result of him
doing what he did, rather than be parted from the woman he loved,
took the fruit and plunged himself in all curse and condemnation
and all his race after him. The Lord Jesus, the second Adam,
in the fullness of time, came to do the same thing. Where was
Christ when Adam sinned? Where was Christ when sin entered
into the world? Where was Christ when the fall
came? Where was Christ when all His creation was marred by man's
corruption? Where was Christ when the light
of God and fellowship and sweet communion between God and man
was darkened? Where was He? right where he
was when he said, let there be light. And there was light. He
was sitting on his throne. Now, folks can argue and fuss
all they want to about the decree of God and purpose of God. But
I'm going to tell you something. Adam's fall didn't sneak up on
God's blind side and take him by surprise. This thing came
to pass exactly according to the decree and purpose of God.
so that he might show forth his glory in the redeeming of a people
out from under the curse of the law. And Christ Jesus was then
still the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There
came a day when the Lord God came to man after the fall and
spoke. And the first word of hope The
first word of grace, the first word of gospel came from God
himself to the ears of a fallen man when he said, I'm going to
take the seat of the woman and crush the serpent's head. And
from that day to this day, the only hope any sinner has ever
had of acceptance with God is in that one who came in the fullness
of time, the seed of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. All of God's saints, from Adam
down throughout the ages, who were accepted in Christ and accepted
in glory, were accepted because they looked to Him. When the
Lord Jesus finally came in Luke chapter 2, old Simeon, who was
that devout, just man who waited for the consolation of Israel,
when he saw that child, took him up in his arms, and he said,
Oh, Lord God, now let your servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation promised in all the book. He's that one that
Abel looked to when Abel offered his first sacrifice to God. That
one whereby the first sacrifice by which men came to worship
God, Abel was accepted not because he was somehow better than Cain
or because his altar was prettier than Cain's, but because Abel
believed him whom God promised to come, the mediator, the woman
seed who would crush the serpent's head. And there came a time when
it looked like the world was altogether engrossed in thick
darkness, imprisoned in the bondage of idolatry and superstition,
totally ignorant of God. 4,000 years of human history. 4,000 years of man's great brilliance. And all the Egyptians, the Assyrians,
the Persians, the Grecians, the Romans, in all their empires,
with all the wise philosophers and all the historians, proved
that the world by wisdom can never find out God. Never. The more brilliant, the more
educated, the wiser men became. The more idolatrous, the more
superstitious, the more confused they became with regard to all
things spiritual. And it is still true today. The world by wisdom knew not
God. Where was Christ then? In due
time. In the fullness of time. What? In exactly the right time, at
exactly the appointed time, Christ, the Son of God, was made of a
woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law. You mean, pastor, that all the
events of all the history up to the coming of Christ, was
ordered, predestined, arranged, governed, and brought to pass
according to the timetable of God's sovereign purpose until
at last Christ came, that one spoken of, that yonder Genesis.
That's it. You got it. Everything in the
history of man while man was running far from God and getting
more and more ignorant of God, was ruled by the hand of God
to bring to pass this time on which the history of the universe
hinged, when Christ would die for the ungodly. The Lord Jesus, though He was rich, rich with all the glory of his
eternal deity. Though he was rich with all the
praises of the heavenly angels, rich with all the happiness of
his perfection, yet for your sakes became poor. Poor. Dirt poor doesn't begin
to describe it. Hell poor, Lindsay. made to be sin, cursed of God,
abandoned of God, robbed of life, and laid down his life that we,
through his poverty, might be made rich. And there's a time
coming. Men can laugh and mock, and folks
write books that are confusing to people. And it's no wonder
if all you hear about time coming is what you hear from the religious
world of unregenerate lost people speculating about things they
know nothing about, I'd laugh and mock too. But I'm telling
you, Larry, there is a time coming when time shall come to its end. There is a time coming when God
shall say all things are done. There's a time coming when he
will make all things new. This creation that grows will
not always grow being burdened. The sin that is now so as much us that we can't even
grasp what sin is, will not always corrupt God's creation. The wickedness
that is prevalent everywhere, in every society, in every page
of history, in every moment of time, will not always be here. There is a day coming called
in Acts 3.21, the time of the restitution of all things, when
all things shall be made new. when Satan and death and hell
shall be cast into the lake of fire, when the beast and the
false prophet and Babylon shall be destroyed, when sin shall
be rid from God's earth, and the Lord God will make the earth
to be a place wherein dwelleth righteousness from sea to sea
and from shore to shore. And where will Christ be then?
He will stand on the ark of time and say, it is done. All things
are finished exactly as the Father trusted me to perform them. There
is a day coming when you and I will meet God in judgment. We must all stand before the
great white throne Bar of God Almighty. And give an account. And give an account of everything
done in this flesh. Everything. And Bobby Estes,
you and I are going to get exactly what the books of justice say
we must. We're going to be rewarded, every
one of us, exactly according to our deeds. That's what the
book says. Read Revelation chapter 20 for
yourself. Don't try to make the book of God say what it doesn't.
Well, the Lord's not going to judge us according to our deeds.
Oh, yes, He is. Oh, yes, He is. Exactly according
to our deeds. And if He finds written against
you or against me one blot, one debt, one sin, we shall be cast
forever into the lake of fire. But the names of His people are
not recorded in those books. John said, I saw another book
open. And in that book is the name written, Jesus Christ, the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And under His name
is recorded the name of every sinner who looks to Him for grace
and mercy. and recorded there from eternity. And the Lord God Almighty shall
look on David Burge and Don Fortner, and he's going to smile and say,
come on in. Come on in. Here's a kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world, and you're worthy
of it. may need to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in life." How can that be? How can
that be? Was it right for God to pour
out the hell of His wrath on His Son, buddy? Absolutely it
was. Because our sins were made to
be His. And when He was made to be sin,
justice demanded His punishment. And the Lord Jesus died the just
for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God justly. When God gets done, the whole
world is going to see. The whole world is going to see
that you and I, who are His, deserve His glory because the
righteousness of Christ has been made ours. And we stand before
Him righteous, holy, unblameable, and unapprovable. Alright? In the purpose, decrees of God
Almighty, in all things relating to His glory, from eternity to
eternity, Christ is all. Here's the second thing. Christ
is all in the book of God. State this as it needs to be
stated. Turn to Acts 10.43. Let's see. Acts 10.43. Peter is speaking and he says
in Acts 10.43, to him, to Christ, give all All, you spell that A-L-L, all
the prophets witnessed that through his name. Now wait a minute,
wait a minute. Did Peter say all the prophets? That's got to mean Moses and
Elijah and Elijah, Samuel, Nathan, All the prophets, all of them.
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zachariah, Malachi,
all of them. All those little books tucked
away back there you have a hard time finding, all of them. All
of them. In every word they wrote, in
every event they recorded, in every message they declared,
Every act performed by them recorded in the book to him and him alone
Give all the prophets witness and this is the witness that
through his name By his authority by his merit
by his worth through who and what he is Whosoever believeth
in him shall have remission of sin Oh, what a witness. You read it just a little bit
ago. We have the witness of God. What
did God say? What did God say? He that believeth
on the Son of God, if he's strong enough, If his
faith is good enough, if he understands enough, if he's educated enough,
if he's smart enough, if he's good enough, if he believes,
no. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. I believe on the Son of God. But I don't feel sorry enough
for my sin, no. But I'm so weak in my faith,
yes. But I can hardly imagine what
it is to believe truth. But I have so many doubts. Yeah. But I believe the Son of God. And God says, I have everlasting
life. Now, that's the witness of the
book. That's what it's all about, all the sacrifices. But they
say, this is how God gives life to sinners. He takes the innocent
and makes the innocent to bear the guilt of the guilty and slays
the one who is made guilty. And the guilty for whom the innocent
has died must go free. And that's what all the sacrifices
are about. That's what all the message of the book is about.
All the prophets. They all spoke of Christ. I love
the way J.C. Ryle described this. I was reading
it today, and I'm sure I read this years ago, but I hadn't
thought of it in a long time. He said the prophets sometimes
speak of Christ coming, His first advent and His second advent,
so that we can hardly distinguish the one from the other as we
read the Old Testament. It is like putting two candles,
one directly beside the other and trying to see which one comes
first. And you can't distinguish because they're so closely connected.
But the prophets constantly spoke of Him. They constantly spoke
of His glorious advent. They constantly spoke of the
accomplishment of redemption. They constantly spoke of the
time when righteousness shall fill God's universe, and the
knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, when Christ shall
reign supreme in the hearts of every living creature, praised
of Him forever because of what He's done. In the book of God,
Christ is all. Let's look at one more passage,
very familiar to you. Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter
24. Our Lord is on the road to Emmaus
with His disciples. They didn't know who He was. And they've been talking to Him. Like we do most of the time,
out of their ignorance. They've been talking about things
They didn't understand as though they did. And our Lord says in
verse 25, then He said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. All that the prophets have spoken.
All that they spoke. All of it. Ought not Christ who
has suffered, isn't this the way it was supposed to be? Isn't
this what God said was going to happen? Ought not the anointed,
the Messiah, the Christ who has suffered these things and thereby
to enter into his glory? But he read it back there in
the office, Psalm 2. Ask of me now, I'll give you
the heathen for your inheritance. Ought not the Christ to have
suffered the wrath of God in the room instead of his people,
and thereby accomplishing redemption as the Christ of God to enter
into his glory? Wasn't that what the prophet
said? Read on. And beginning at Moses, in the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth. That's where it started. And
all the prophets. Malachi said, the message of
the covenant shall come in Moses and all the prophets. He expounded
unto them. That is, he opened to them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Now, children
of God, don't treat the word of God with
such gross irreverence that you open a passage up and say, well,
I see Christ there. I see the Lord there. I see the
Lord. And make it say what it doesn't say. But as you open
the book of God, compare scripture with scripture, and ask God the
Holy Spirit to show you your Savior. That's what the book's
all about. It ain't about politics. It ain't
about morality. It ain't about prophecy. It ain't
about church dogma. It ain't about church discipline.
It ain't about anything else. It's all about him. It's all
about him. I forgot who it was. Somebody
said this is a him book, said the Old Testament, says somebody's
coming. The four Gospels say he's here. Acts and the epistles, they declare,
this is what he did. Revelation says he's coming again.
It's all about him. The key to understanding this
book is one word, Christ. These days you hear about secret
codes and hidden messages. Doesn't that strike you as just
tomfoolery? This is not the secret of God,
it's the revelation of God. This is not the hiding of God,
it's the unveiling of God. It is not the covering of truth,
it's the declaration of truth. And it's declared simply in a
person. And that person is Jesus Christ
the Lord. So when we stand to preach, if I stand here, and merely instruct you in doctrine, no matter how true the doctrine
is, Larry, I've mocked your soul. If I stand here and merely instruct
you in doing good, living right, no matter how good I am at persuading
you to quit acting bad and start acting good, I have blasphemed
God and mocked your soul." It's exactly right. It's exactly right. What's a preacher supposed to
do? Show sinners the Savior. Show sinners the Savior. Direct
sinners to Him who is life. Show sinners the way. Show sinners
the light. Show sinners the door. And bid
sinners come in by Christ the door. That's it. That's what
preaching is. It is upholding Christ crucified. Lindsey stands up here to teach.
Teaching from the Son of Solomon, Sunday morning. We're not here to instruct in
Bible facts. You can't instruct in the Bible
without instructing in Bible facts. You can't instruct in
the Bible without instructing in Bible doctrine. You can't
instruct in the Bible without pointing to men the way to live.
It's impossible. But what we do is show sinners
the Savior in the book. That's what preaching is. That's
what it is. And anything else. is a waste
of time at best, a mockery when it's worse, and utter blasphemy
in its end. It's exactly right. It's exactly
right. I hear messages. I've listened
to every sermon you fellows preach here, others preach here. I don't
get to listen to many when I'm away. Sometimes I get to listen
to someone preach. I always want to hear something.
And I'm always disappointed, frustrated, and a little angry
if I don't hear it. And that something makes us to
hear is how God saves sinners. How many times have you sat in
a service and heard somebody preach? And the message, orthodox,
doctrinally accurate, True to Scripture. But if you had walked
in not knowing God from a gourd,
you'd still walk out not knowing God from a gourd. I hear men
preach and I think they've taken away my Lord and I know not where
they've laid Him. God, help us, don't ever Let that be true with
regard to any aspect of our worship, preaching, and instruction. It
must not be. It must not. Christ deserves
better. The souls of men need more. The glory of God demands better. We preach Christ and then crucify.
Look at Luke 24 again, verse 44. He said unto them, these are
the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then he opened their understanding. Oh, my God, thank you for opening
my understanding that they might understand the scriptures. There ain't much I understand.
That just ain't much. But I'll tell you something.
I understand this book. I understand it. I understand
the whole book. I don't understand everything
in the book. I don't understand all the details, but I understand
this book. Here it is. Thus it is written. And thus it behooved Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. It was absolutely
necessary if he was going to give repentance and remission
of sins. It behooved Him to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in His name among all nations. Tell everybody, God now is just
to justify the ungodly, and He does it for every sinner who
looks to His Son. Everyone up. All right, here's
the third thing. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. and the salvation of our souls,
Christ is all. Look at verse 30. Now, understand
this. Understand it. God help you to
understand it. Everything needful, everything
necessary, everything required, everything essential to bringing
you or me and all God's elect from the dung heap of fallen
humanity to the crown of everlasting glory with Christ in heaven. Everything. Everything is God's
work in His Son. Everything. Oh, preachers, you
talk like man ain't got anything to do with it. Then you're listening
good. That's exactly right. Nothing.
But what he says, how does a sinner get in Christ? You want to know? Oh, get this book. Have you read
this booklet? Read this book. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus.
That's how you get into Christ. Of him are you in Christ Jesus.
If you're there, you know it. And he puts you there. And you
know it. Of him are you in Christ Jesus. Who of God? is made unto
us. Made unto us who are in Him.
Wisdom. We read of Him in Proverbs 8.
He is our wisdom who stood before God as our covenant surety. And
He gives us His wisdom by His grace causing us to understand,
to discern all things. And righteousness. Righteousness. Christ is made of God. Unto me righteousness. And this is what it means. If
you got any, Christ is it. And if you got that, that's all. Christ is made of God and to
us righteousness. He's given us a righteous record
in justification and He's given us a righteous nature in the
new birth. And just in case you want to wiggle out of this and
say, well, I know we're justified by grace, but the sanctification
is your work. And sanctification. Whatever
sanctification is, Christ is it. Whatever it is, God did it. However you did it, God made
it to yours. However it rewards, Christ is
it. Sanctification is Christ. And
redemption. That word, redemption. means
deliverance. Deliverance from the curse of
the law by his blood. Deliverance from the power and
dominion of sin which is death when he gives us life and regeneration. And deliverance at last into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God. that no flesh should glory in
His presence ever. Christ is all. Oh, may God make Him all to you.
Amen.