It's a very rare thing for me
to bring a two-part message, but the message that I began
last Sunday was just too much to try to get done in one message
and too important to leave it off. So I want today to pick
up right where I left off last Sunday morning, and our subject
will be Christ's preeminent in the Trinity. Our text we have
already read in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18. And he is the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Let me refresh your minds just
a bit. The Holy Spirit here declares
That it is the will, pleasure, determination, delight, and purpose
of the Father's heart, that in all things, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man, our mediator, might have the preeminence. It is the
will, the pleasure, the purpose, the desire, the delight of the
triune God, that the God-man have all preeminence in all things. that the God-man have all preeminence
in all things. I want to show you from the scriptures
that God has so highly exalted and honored and magnified his
son that the only way any creature can ever exalt, honor, and magnify
God is to exalt, honor, and magnify his son. So determined is the
triune God to make Christ preeminent in all things, that God cannot
be known by men, and cannot reveal himself to men, except in Jesus
Christ, the God-man mediator. The only way God makes himself
known to men is through his Son. And the only way God deals with
men is through his Son. This is what John the Baptist
said concerning him, The Father loveth the Son, and hath given
all things into his hands. Now last week I endeavored to
show you from the scriptures that the triune God has given
the Lord Jesus Christ preeminence in revelation and in operation. That is, that God reveals himself
to sinners only in Christ. And God works only through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Everything God does, he does
through Christ. Everything God says, he says
in Christ. The Father has given the Son
preeminence in revelation and in operation. Alright, now today
I want to show you two more things. May God the Holy Spirit be our
teacher. I want you to see that the Lord
Jesus Christ, our God-man mediator, is preeminent in the Holy Trinity
by showing you that our Lord God has given him preeminence
in restitution and in exaltation. And then I will try to make a
brief application of this to our own lives and our own hearts
presently. First, in restitution. Listen
carefully. God deals with men only in the
mediator. Whether he deals with you in
mercy or deals with you in judgment, he'll deal with you in his Son. God deals with men only through
the mediator, that in all things the Lord Jesus Christ might have
the preeminence. There is an hour coming, appointed
by the Father, when the Lord God is going to make a complete
restitution of all things. Complete restitution. You remember
in the Old Testament there was a law of restitution. Some folks try to bring us back
under the yoke of the law, and they tell believers, You've got
to make restitution. Now, do what you can, but the
law was not designed to impose things upon believers in this
gospel age. Now, I don't mean by that you
ought not to make restitution. If you've done someone wrong,
make restitution like the publican did. Make restitution because
that's just right. But that law of restitution,
pointed to a time when the Lord God Almighty whom we have endeavored
to rob of his glory, whom we have endeavored to rob of his
creation, whom we have endeavored to rob of his possession of all
things, God Almighty will make restitution of all things to
himself. everything including you and
me everything everything the Lord God is going to bring all
things to their appointed end he's going to put all things
under the feet of his son he's going to make all things show
forth his everlasting praise his everlasting honor and his
everlasting glory Everything that has been, everything that
is, everything that shall be, will one day be shown to honor
God Almighty forever. That's God's purpose, and He's
going to accomplish it. All things in heaven, earth,
and hell will praise Him, and everything in heaven, earth,
and hell will know that He is praised in all things. Now this
is what I'm saying. Turn to Isaiah 45. Let me show
you. Isaiah 45. Either in grace or in judgment,
everybody's going to bow to the feet of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Sooner or later, you're going
to bow down to him. It's not a matter of will you,
just a matter of when. It's not a matter of will you
pretty please accept Jesus, you're going to bow to him. It's not
a matter of pretty please, pretty please, let Jesus be your Lord.
He is your Lord and he's going to make you confess it. Oh, I
pray he'll break your heart now and make you bow to him in repentance.
Else he will make you bow to him in terror in the day of judgment. He's an everlasting grace. In the experience of everlasting
bliss, you will praise him for his grace. Or in everlasting
torment, you will be to the praise and honor of his justice and
power. This is what the book says. All
that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. Either bow,
Larry, ashamed now, or bow in confusion then. But all that
are incensed against him will say, oh my God, what folly to
be a rebel against him. And in the Lord shall all the
seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. One way or another,
you and I will honor God. Isaiah 45 verse 20. Assemble
yourselves and come. Draw near together you that are
escaped to the nation. They that have no knowledge,
or they have no knowledge, that set up the wood of their graven
image and pray unto a God that cannot save. Now that's a pretty good description
of this generation. That's a pretty good description
of everybody in your family, mine too. That's a pretty good
description of everybody in this town, and every other town in
this and every other nation in this world. What? They pray unto
a God that cannot save. Ask them, they'll tell you. God's
done all He could. God wants to save you. God's
trying to save you. Christ died to save you, but
He's not going to, He's not going to interfere with your will.
He can't save you without your help. They have no knowledge. Did you hear the word? They have
no spiritual knowledge. They yet walk in darkness. They
are yet pagan idolaters who pray to a God that cannot say no matter
what name they call him by. Look at this now. Tell me or
tell you and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from the ancient time? who have told it
from that time. Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me? I'm the only God there is." You
can forget about any other. A just God and a Savior. That's what Lindsay taught this
morning. A just God and a Savior. If God Almighty saves, He will
save on the grounds of strict justice, then salvation is altogether
His doing. He's not only the omnipotent
Savior, He is the just Savior, so that God Almighty saves sinners
on the grounds of justice satisfied by their substitute, Jesus Christ
the Lord. Verse 22. Now, look at this. Look unto me. Look unto me. Look unto me. Oh God give you
eyes to look, look unto me and be saved all the ends of the
earth for I am God and beside me there is none else. Verse
23 I have sworn by myself God says this is what I have sworn
now you can take my oath for what it's worth it ain't much
I try to make it such, but I don't have much power. I can't control
my circumstances. I can't control what's going
to happen. I promise you I'm going to do something and you
can bank on it. I will if I can, but I might
not be able. Might not be able has often happened. It has often happened. God Almighty
is never put in a strait. God Almighty has never willed
anything He didn't bring to pass. God Almighty cannot promise what
he does not perform. Now this is what he says, I have
sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness,
and shall not return. That is, I didn't speak for nothing.
That unto me every knee shall bow. Read Philippians chapter
2, that's talking about Christ the mediator. That's who's talking
here. Every tongue shall swear. Every knee shall bow to things
in heaven and to things in earth and to things under the earth.
And every mouth shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Verse 24. Surely shall one say,
Oh, I'd love to hear you say it now.
In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. That's just exactly how he brings
it to pass. He reveals himself to one, and another, and another,
and another, sometimes to 3,000 at one time, but still he reveals
himself to one fellow. And when he reveals himself to
James Jordan he says, In the Lord I have righteousness and
strength. I finally see it. He's the Lord
my righteousness. He's my all. He's my all. Alright,
read on. Even to him shall men come. No question about it. There are
some men who are going to come to him. They're going to come
to him. And all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. You're going to be ashamed of
your rebellion one of these days. You're going to be ashamed of
your rebellion, your hardness, your self-righteousness, your
self-will, your determination not to bow to Jesus Christ. You're going to be ashamed. Oh,
when God Almighty reveals His mercy and grace to a sinner in
Christ, He makes you ashamed, Lindsay, that you didn't trust
Him before. Ashamed that you didn't bow to Him before. Ashamed
of your rebellion. He said, well that never happened
to me. We'll see. We'll see. I'll meet you at the
judgment seat and we'll find out. We'll find out. It won't
change your heart. Oh no. It won't cause you to
repent. But when God Almighty makes you to see to your everlasting
damnation that Christ is Lord and you deserve to go to hell,
you'll be ashamed. You'll be ashamed. Verse 25,
in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel,
every last one of them. That's not talking about folks
who were born with Abraham's physical characteristics. That's
talking about God's true Israel, God's elect, the Israel of God.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. Stand righteous before God, because
of righteousness imputed to them. Righteous before God, because
Christ has washed their sins away. Righteous before God, because
God said, I will not impute their sins to them, I've imputed them
to my Son. And they'll glory forever. They'll
trust in Him, they'll boast in Him, and they will glory in Him.
Now then, in the light of this fact, I urge you, oh I plead
with you for Christ's sake, for your immortal soul's sake, be
reconciled to God in Christ. That's what conversion is. That's
what it is to be saved. What it is to believe on Christ. It's not to Say, I believe in
Jesus. That's not it. That's not it.
Any two-year-old child can be taught to say, I believe in Jesus,
and talked into it. That's not conversion. Conversion is not me persuading
you to walk down this aisle here and kneel here at some mourner's
bench or some altar as though we were patriots worshiping at
some pagan altar and persuade you to say, I believe in Jesus. That's easy. That's easy. As a matter of fact, you're a
fool if you say, I don't believe in Jesus. That's kind of like
saying I don't believe in Abraham Lincoln. That's not conversion. That's not conversion. Conversion
is the reconciliation of a sinner's heart to God Almighty as He's
revealed in Christ the Lord. So that you are reconciled to
Him, delighted for Him to be who He is. Delighted for him
to do what he does. Delighted for God to be God! Delighted for Christ to have
honor. Delighted to serve him. Be reconciled
to him. Look in Acts chapter 3. Acts
chapter 3. This is what Peter says as he
preaches this great sermon on the day of Pentecost, or shortly
after the day of Pentecost. He's declaring to us who Christ
is, this exalted, exalted Lord. And it says in verse 19, repent
therefore, since Christ has fulfilled the law, since Christ has satisfied
justice, since Christ has put away sin, since Christ is seated
on the throne of David, repent therefore and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out. When the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord, And he shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven
must receive, until the times of the restitution of all things,
which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began. No mortal shall endure the terrors
of that day. When heaven and earth before
God's throne in horror melt away, before the last trump sounds
and Christ in judgment comes, O hear the gospel's gracious
tones, and to the Savior come. O sinner, seek his face, whose
wrath you cannot bear. Bow now before the throne of
grace, and find salvation there. By faith behold the curse removed
by Jesus' blood, and you'll rejoice when Jesus comes to take you
home to God. But the only way you will ever
approach God and find acceptance with Him is by faith in Christ. No other way. Well, I'll come
to God this way. Every man seeks God his own way.
This day of modern thought, folks, like to sound smart and like
to sound lenient and forbearing and gracious and kind. You know,
we don't want to offend anybody. We're all seeking God our own
way. Fully on your way. You'll go
to hell seeking God your way. And you'll take your family to
hell with you. How dare you say that? Because this book says
so. Because this book says so. I am the door. That means there's
not another. I am the way. That means if you get in the
way, you're going to have to come this way. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Our Savior says, no man can come
to the Father but by me. The fact is, God will not speak
Nor will he be spoken to by any man apart from the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, God has fixed it so
that the whole of our salvation is in Christ. He has made of
God unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
And God will not receive, listen now, God will not receive any
worship Any work, any prayer, any praise, any sacrifice, any
service offered to him, God will not receive him if it's not brought
to him through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. Let's see if
that's so. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. I never hesitate to call on God's
people to give to the cause of Christ. I never hesitate to call
on myself to do so or to call on you to do so. I never hesitate
to call on God's people to give themselves to his service, to
devote themselves to his worship. I never hesitate to say to you,
you who believe God ought to and shall arrange your lives
around the worship and will and glory of God Almighty. Don't
hesitate to say that. Don't hesitate to say that. But
let me tell you something. God won't receive anything from you. Not even a prayer. Not even a
thought. Nothing. Much less something
you do or something you give without the mediation of his
son. What we do is obnoxious to God in itself. What we think
is abhorrent to God on its own feet. What we imagine to be great,
noble gifts and great, noble sacrifices and great, noble works,
in and of themselves, offered from the polluted fountain of
our hearts, are filthy rags before God Almighty, except as they're
washed in the blood of Christ and robed in his righteousness.
Again, 1 Peter 2.5. You also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. No other way. No other way. Not acceptable
to God because you're sincere. Not acceptable to God because
you've sacrificed so much. Not acceptable to God because
it costs you so much. Not acceptable to God because
folks look at it and applaud you for it. Acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ. Everything done for God, offered
to God, must be done and offered in the name of Christ. With the
conscious realization that we have access to God. Acceptance
with God only in Christ. We believe in his name. We come to God believing in his
name, believing in Christ. We worship in his name. We're two or three gathered together
in my name. We pray in his name. Now that doesn't mean, listen
to me now, that doesn't mean every time we come in the house
we say we're coming in Jesus' name. That doesn't mean every
time you say a prayer we say this in your name, or in thy
name, or in his name, or in the Lord's name. No, no, no, no.
It means, my heart, if we've come here to worship Him, we've
come here with a conscious awareness that our only acceptance before
God Almighty is the blood and righteousness and intercession
of Christ. Then maybe we might, sure enough, worship Him. It
means when we call on God in prayer, we call on God with the
conscious awareness that we are vile, Unworthy, hell-deserving
sinners, fit for nothing but hell itself. And our only way
to approach God Almighty, the only way we dare lift our hearts
toward the throne of God and seek his face, is through the
blood, righteousness, and intercession of his Son. Now, that's called
praying. That's called praying. We bow
before him in his name, seeking his will and his glory through
his merits. We serve in his name and every
blessing of grace, every blessing of grace. I hear fellows, you
know, it's amazing how easily customs and traditions with religion
are passed on. Do you ever notice how you hear
folks use terms and you just unconsciously pick them up? Remember
back years ago when Mondale was running for president They had
that little short stubby gal on Winn-Dixie, and she said where's
the beef? Where's the beef? Everybody said
where's the beef? Where's the beef? I mean where you go? Where's
the beef? Where's the beef? Every walk of life, where's the beef?
Where's the beef? Well, it's worse with religion These days
people like not just these days been that way for years for hundreds
of years folks talk about common grace There ain't nothing common
about God's grace. And the implication is that because
men live in the world, they share common grace. No such thing. They share common damnation.
Grace comes only in Christ. And everything God does for sinners,
he does for them in Christ. And every blessing he gives,
he gives in Christ. Find me any place in this book.
Find me any place in this book where the scriptures even indicate
that God blesses somebody outside Christ. Psalm 92 says what men
call blessings, that means David God's fattening them up like
calves to kill them. Read it. What men call blessings, that
means God has set the world in their hearts that they can't
seek Him. Set the world in their hearts. Oh, look what I've got.
so they can't seek him. The apostle admonishes us and
says, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, listen now, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. That's what you were teaching
this morning, Lindsay. cannot in his holy, just character
forgive you and me of sin, but for Christ's sake. Can't be done. All the comfort, instruction,
and direction given by God the Holy Spirit comes to sinners
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to John chapter 16. John
chapter 16. Now I want you to look at this. Our Lord is giving his last words
to his disciples. And in verse 13 he says, Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth. Now look at this. For he shall
not. Is that plain enough? When God the Holy Spirit speaks,
He shall not speak of himself, neither about himself, nor of
himself. But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come." If
you want to know what that's talking about, go to Revelation
chapter 1, and I will tell you. Or you can read the next verse.
He shall glorify me. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. You see, in accordance
with the disposition of the covenant of grace, the Holy Spirit is
Christ's agent in this world, just as he was the Father's agent
in this world. The Holy Spirit does nothing
of himself, speaks nothing of himself, and receives nothing
for himself. Rather, it is the Spirit's delight
to do Christ's bidding in the world, even as it has been the
Son's delight to do the Father's bidding in this world. Christ
is the fountain of grace. The Holy Spirit is the channel
through which the rich waters of grace and mercy flow to us. The gifts of the Spirit are actually
the gifts of Christ. Read the book, find out. He hath
received gifts for men, gave for the rebellious also, that
the Lord God might dwell among them. It's Psalm 68, quoted in
Ephesians chapter 4. Those gifts, men talk about gifts
of the Spirit, they're the ascension gifts of Christ bestowed on men
through his Spirit. You see that? He gives us gifts
by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not in competition
with Christ. He's come to glorify Christ.
Now I'm stressing this a bit because everywhere today we hear
men saying this is the age of the Holy Spirit. You drive down
the road, you didn't used to see them anywhere except on kind
of odd places. Have pictures, have crosses now
with a dove. That's because men mingle in
ignorance the work of Christ on the cross and the work of
God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit has nothing
to do with justification. God the Holy Spirit has nothing
to do with putting away sin. God the Holy Spirit has absolutely
nothing to do with making men righteous before God's law. That
was done at Calvary. God the Holy Spirit just comes
and speaks peace to your heart on the basis of what Christ has
done. And he does it because Christ did it. Because Christ
sent it. The Holy Spirit They tell us these days comes and
men get the anointing of the Spirit, and the baptism of the
Spirit, and they're slain in the Spirit, get the gifts of
the Spirit, and the filling of the Spirit, the presence of the
Spirit, the power of the Spirit. And virtually nobody says anything
about the work of Christ. If folks weren't just blind,
that seems strange. That seems strange. Those who
preach the Holy Spirit, those who tell you to seek the Spirit,
those who tell you to focus your attention on getting the Spirit,
have never come in contact with the Holy Spirit. A preacher, how can you say such
things as that? Read 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. But these people have, they have power. They speak in tongues, they heal
the sick, they get together on television,
lay hands on television, sit in the weather barometer and
pray and God turns the hurricane away from Virginia. How can you
say it's not God? Read 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. It's the delusion of Antichrist. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit
has come to testify of Christ. And wherever the Holy Spirit
speaks, he speaks of Christ and honors Christ. That man who preaches
the Spirit, that man rather who preaches
by the Spirit, is that one who preaches Christ and Christ alone. Now don't let anyone misunderstand
me. I know folks will hear This message you don't take and they'll
go out and say, oh, did you hear what that man said? Oh, oh. Reverence
God the Holy Spirit. Worship God the Holy Spirit.
Honor God the Holy Spirit. But the only way you and I can
know reverence and honor God the Holy Spirit is by reverencing
and honoring and trusting Jesus Christ whom the Spirit reveals.
It's on the way. To have the anointing of the
Spirit is to have Christ. To be baptized in the Spirit,
is to be baptized into Christ. To have the gifts of the Spirit,
is to have the covenant blessings of God's grace in Christ. To
have the filling of the Spirit, is to have Christ in you, the
hope of glory. To have the power of the Spirit,
is to have the power of Christ. To have the presence of the Spirit,
is to walk in Christ's presence. To have the work of the Spirit,
is to have Christ formed in you. To walk in the Spirit, walk in
the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. There's
therefore now no condemnation of them that are in Christ Jesus.
Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Oh! Learn
to walk in the Spirit. I have. I've been walking in
the Spirit since I was 17 years old. Incessantly. That's exactly right. What do
you mean? I've been walking with God, trusting
his son, since I was 17 years old. That's walking in the Spirit. Read Romans chapter 8. Read it
for yourself. We are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit. So what the book says. But preachers,
it looks to me like you're living in this body and flesh. Tell
me about it. I know. I know. But God has put
us into another realm of existence called the Spirit. And to walk in the Spirit is
to live by faith in Christ. It's to live by faith in Him. How did Enoch walk with God?
He didn't have any television set to throw away. He didn't
have any cigarettes to throw away, I don't reckon. He might
have had some better tobacco, but he didn't have any cigarettes
to throw away. He didn't have any booze to quit going to. And
I don't guess anybody wore shorts, so he didn't have that to fight
over. How on earth did he walk with God? He didn't have any
porno shops to close down? How did he walk with God? What on earth did he do? He believed
God. Is that so hard to give me a
hint? He believed God. Without faith,
it's impossible to please Him. That's that James Jordan. Sorry rascal. Who pleases God. just exactly
like Enoch pleased God. Do you understand that? He's
sitting right there, trying to worship God and understand his
word, pleases God just exactly like Enoch pleased God. He's trying to worship God, giving
what he gives, pleases God just like Enoch pleased God. He's
reading the word, praying, seeking God's face, pleases God! How? Through the merits of God's Son. We live in him. We live in him. He's our life. And when this
world is done, when it's been folded up like a vesture, when
time shall be no more, men shall stand before God at the bar of
judgment, and the God before whom they shall stand and be
judged is the God-man Jesus Christ the Lord. Even in judgment, God
will deal with men only in Christ. You turn to Acts 17. I'll read a couple of the passages.
Romans 14 talks about us standing before the judgment seat of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5 talks about us appearing before the judgment
seat of Christ. And if you have one of those Bibles that's got
poisonous notes in the bottom, it'll tell you now what there's
going to be. There's going to be a judgment for believers.
And then after the seventh, that's when everybody's supposed to
be kind of ruptured out of here and secret and taken away somewhere
to float around for seven years. And after that then, Christ is
going to come a third time. It's called the second coming,
but this time it's the third time. He's really coming this time.
And then there's going to be another judgment, great white
throne judgment. That's different. No, it ain't any different. No, it
ain't. Our Lord says the Father raises up the dead. and quickeneth
them. Even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will." Now listen, listen carefully. The Father judgeth
no man. What? But I always thought, I'm
trying to tell you something, hold your thoughts. The Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed A-L-L-O judgment to the Son. Now then, Acts 17 31. Because
he hath appointed a day in which he, God Almighty, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, will judge the world in righteousness, get it
now, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given
assurance to all men that he hath raised him from the dead.
You can mock if you want to, you can try to put it out of
your mind if you dare, but I'm here to tell you, you're going
to meet God in judgment. shortly. And the God you're going
to meet in judgment is the one you nailed to the tree. Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. There is a resurrection day coming.
There is a reckoning coming. There is a retribution day coming,
and in that day every man will receive exactly that which is
his due according to the record books of divine justice, and
he that is holy will be holy still, and he that is filthy
will be filthy still, and he that is righteous will be righteous
still, and he that is unholy will be unholy still. All right,
now briefly, God Almighty has given Christ preeminence in his
exaltation as well. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Throughout
the endless ages of eternity, according to the wise and holy
decree of the triune God, Jesus Christ will have preeminence
in all things. Oh, when God wraps this thing
up. When the God-man has at last fulfilled his last covenant engagement
as Asherite. He will present the entire universe
to the Father. And God will be all in all in
Christ the glorified mediator. 1 Corinthians 15 25 He must reign. He must reign. Till he has put
all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did
put all things under him. And when all things shall be
subdued to him." What a word. Everything is going to be subdued
to him. Everything. Everything. When all things shall
be subdued to him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
to him that put all things unto him." What on earth does that
mean? The Son will make his last, final
work of voluntary, willful subjugation as Jehovah's righteous servant. And he'll present his kingdom,
all things, before the Father. that God may be all in all, and
the enthroned Christ will reign forever and ever in the splendor
of righteousness and glory, with all his elect glorified with
him and in him as the reward of his labor. What the Son is
to our solar system, Christ the Son of righteousness is to heaven
and eternity. He's the center of heaven, the
light of heaven, the life of heaven, the strength of heaven,
the joy of heaven. Someone said withdraw the sun
from our solar system and everything would be darkness, destruction,
and death. And if you could withdraw Christ
from heaven, heaven itself would be hell, for it would be darkness,
destruction, and death forever without God. All right, let me
give you just a word or two of application. God make Christ preeminent in
our hearts. As it is the purpose, will, and
pleasure of the triune God that in all things the Lord Jesus
Christ might have the preeminence, so let it be our purpose, will,
and pleasure. Let us each one devote ourselves
to His preeminence, to His honor, His glory, His
praise, His exaltation. Fellas tell me all the time,
you know, you got to preach the law, don't preach the law, Can't
get folks to do, can't get folks to... If somehow under God, Buddy,
Dotty, Don, Fortin, Rex, Bartley, can be made by grace, constrained
as only grace can constrain us, to devote ourselves to the preeminence
of Christ, there'll be nothing lacking that we can take care
of. Let us as a congregation devote
ourselves to his preeminence. Oh, sons and daughters of God
Almighty, you my brothers and sisters in
Christ, I call for us to rally together as one man in Christ
to this one great cause. Honor him. honor him. May God bring you this day, who
are rebels against his throne, into harmony with himself. You see, the reason men are miserable,
the reason men live miserable lives, the reason you got a world
in chaos, I don't care how much law you pass, I don't care how
many rules and regulations you set up or how many you tear down.
The reason men live in turmoil is because they live like the
raging sea in rebellion to God Almighty. Whenever a man comes in harmony
with God, waters calm down. Strife ceases. May God bring you into harmony
with himself, giving you life and faith in Christ, which he
alone can give, and cause you to bow to him. God help us to lift up Christ,
that in all things he may have the preeminence.