Let's turn again this morning
to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. And verse 18. And he is the head of the body,
the church. Jesus Christ is the only head
of his church. And a man or a church that has
some head other than Christ is not his church. Jesus Christ
is the head of the body. They're just one body of Christ
in the strict sense of the word. That's not this local congregation,
though we are a body of Christ as a local assembly, but rather
it is the body of Christ universally, all true believers of every age. his body, mystically his body,
joined together in him by his spirit. And this is the church,
not Grace Baptist Church of Danville, not the Baptist Church of the
Presbyterian Church, but his body is the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead. That is to say, he's
the beginning of everything. who is the first begotten from
the dead, one who is chief and preeminent as that resurrected
one who is himself God the Son, declared to be the Son of God
by his resurrection from the dead, that in all things he might
have the preeminence. How come? For it pleased the
Father. The words, the Father, you'll
notice are in italics. A better reading would be this,
for it pleased God, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
that in him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator, should
all fullness dwell. Verse 20, and having made peace,
Didn't say having made peace possible. Having made peace. When Jesus Christ died at Calvary,
he did something. He made peace between God and
man. Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him,
by Christ the mediator, it pleased God that by him, this one in
whom all fullness dwells, to reconcile all things to himself,
and he's going to do it. He's going to do it. When God gets done with this
thing we live in called the earth, when God gets done with this
space of our brief existence here called time, when God puts
the period to everything, now listen, everybody in heaven,
earth, and and every event that has ever transpired will be manifestly
to all rational creatures demonstrated to be for God's glory. He will reconcile everything
to himself. He don't. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. Now our text is in verse
18, the last line, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Roll that over in your heart. May God the Holy Spirit inscribe
those words on our hearts and upon our minds this hour, that
in all things He might have the preeminence. I've been preaching
to you for the past several weeks on the preeminence of Christ.
Today I want to show you the preeminence of Christ in the
Holy Trinity, in the Godhead. The title of the message is Christ's
Preeminent in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit here tells us
that it is the will, pleasure, purpose, and determination, yes,
the delight of the Father's heart, the delight of the triune God,
that in all things the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man, our mediator,
might have the preeminence. Now I want to show you from the
scriptures that God has so highly honored and exalted and magnified
his son as our mediator that the only way any creature can
exalt, honor, magnify, and worship the triune God is by exalting,
honoring, magnifying, and worshiping his son. Did you hear me? The
only way any creature can exalt Honor, magnify, and worship God
is to exalt, honor, magnify, and worship His Son, the God-man,
Jesus Christ our Lord. So determined is the eternal
God to make Christ preeminent in all things, that God cannot
be revealed and He cannot be known by men, except as He is
revealed and known in Christ. 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. John chapter 3 verse 35 reads
like this. The father loveth the son and
hath given all things into his hand. Now once more let me remind
you of the facts stated in the passage we read in our scripture
reading in 1 John 5, 7. We are Trinitarians. We worship
the one true and living God in the Trinity or Triunity of his
sacred persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There
are three distinct and separate persons within the Godhead, and
yet these three divine persons are one God. The Father is God,
the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Three distinct
persons, yet they are one God. He said, well, preacher, that's
That's not rational. I know that. That's not logical. I know that. That just doesn't
in any way find consistency with human reason and understanding
of things. I know. I know. The fact is there is
no way to explain the persons of the Divine Trinity and the
unity of those persons in the one Godhead. In fact, there is
no way to adequately illustrate the Trinity in human terms. It is purely a matter of divine
revelation. That's what the book says. There
are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word,
and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. That's what it
says. Not only is this doctrine plainly
stated in the word of God, it's demonstrated numerous times,
both in the Old Testament and in the New. God said, let us
go down. God said, let us make man. God speaks of himself in the
plurality of his persons, even from the beginning. Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one Lord, and yet He is a plural person. He is God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When our Lord Jesus Christ was
baptized in Jordan, we see the Son in the waters of Jordan,
and we see the Spirit descending upon Him, and we hear the Father
speak from heaven, this is my beloved Son. Our Lord commands
us to be baptized in his name, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In the matter of our Lord's instruction,
he says to his people, if you love me, Keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him, but you know Him, for He dwells in you. He says, I, the
Son, the mediator, the God-man, will pray to the Father, and
He will send you somebody else just like me, the Holy Spirit,
and He'll guide you into all truth. All true believers are
Trinitarians. Now I stress this. Because there
is a horrible, horrible compromise afoot among what's called evangelical
Christianity. A horrible move afoot among those
who are called conservative and fundamentalist in their doctrine.
to embrace as brethren Mormons and others who deny the doctrine
of the Trinity. Understand clearly, those who
deny the doctrine of the Trinity are not Christians, but deniers
of Christianity. Christianity in its essence is
the belief in the triune God. Yet as Tobias Crisp stated so
plainly 300 years ago, and I tried every way I could to put it in
a little bit more modern language, but he said it so good, listen,
this matter is not to be pried into by human wit. You start
prying into it and you'll pull your hair out. This matter is
not to be pried into by human wit. For this, of all the mysteries
in scripture, is the pure object of mere faith. How can you believe that? Because
the book says it. That's it. Because the book says
it. Now be sure you understand what I've said. We are Trinitarians. But God is spirit. And what our
Lord told us, marriage woman? God is spirit. God is spirit. And it's impossible for us to
know Communicate with or approach the infinite, eternal spirit
who is God. In fact, when the Apostle Paul
ascribes praise to Christ in 1 Timothy, he says, he's speaking
of Christ now, the omnipotent heir, whom no man has seen nor
can see, whom no man can approach unto. And he speaks of him in
that capacity not as the God-man mediator, but in his essential
character as God. No man can approach Him. No man
can see Him. No man can come to Him. No man
can hear Him. No man can speak to Him. God's
Spirit, we cannot know, see, hear, or approach God except
by a mediator. That mediator who is both God
and man, able to bring God and man together, lay hold of God
and man without compromising God, and bring man and God kneeling
together in one glorious person, even in himself. That mediator,
by whom and in whom we know God, is Jesus Christ our Lord, the
God-man. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. Jesus Christ, you see, is himself
the word, the revelation of God. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Not one
mediator between God and man. That would be inaccurate. That
would be a declaration that Jesus Christ is the mediator between
God and all mankind. He is not. Jesus Christ is the
one mediator between God and specific chosen men. He is that
mediator whom God has appointed to bring his chosen men unto
himself. We know God, worship God, and
serve God. Only as we know, worship, and
serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God, and there
is no other God in this world but what Jesus Christ is himself. Thomas called the Lord Jesus
a man. He looked at him, put his fingers
in his hands, and his hand in the hole in his side. And looking
at him, he said, My Lord and my God. And he was telling the
truth. That's who Christ is. The Apostle
Paul says he is God manifest in the flesh. We often use improper
terms and say God became a man. He did no such thing. Nor did
man become God. But when Jesus Christ came into
this world, God assumed into union with himself our nature. And God is and was manifest in
the flesh. But when Christ took on himself
human nature, he did not in any way cease to be God or even lay
aside his Godhead. He simply veiled his Godhead. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
manifest in the flesh, and under He sits on the throne of God
Almighty, a man in glory in human flesh who is God. God. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. I've tried my best to explain
what that means. I've tried to Preach on it, and
I haven't come close to even scratching the surface yet. But
it means at least this. In the God-man, Jesus Christ,
all that God is, in his infinite, incomprehensible, triune being,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the man, Jesus Christ, All
that God is resides in absolute fullness evermore, infinitely,
and eternally. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body just like this. In a body. In a body. God incarnate. God in human flesh. God one of
us. God with us. Again, let me refer
to Mr. Crisp. He said, you must know
that you are never to separate in your thoughts God from Christ. Always as you look upon Christ,
so look upon God. Or as you look upon God, look
upon him no otherwise than as he is in Christ. Not as if there
were another God besides what Christ is, for there is no such
thing. Jesus Christ is God our Savior. We know no God but Him. Worship
no God but Him. Serve no God but Him. Let me
show you from the Scriptures what I'm trying to tell you.
I want you to see five things concerning our Lord Jesus Christ
as being that one who is preeminent in the Trinity. If you're taking
notes, I'll give you just five short headings and I'll fill
in the blanks. First, with regard to revelation.
Secondly, with regard to operation. Thirdly, with regard to restitution. And fourthly, with regard to
exaltation. And then finally, in the matter
of application. Number one, with regard to revelation. The triune God reveals himself
to sinners only in Christ. On the way. On the way. He is
the light of the world which lights every man that comes into
the world. God makes himself known to sinners only in Christ. That in all things he might have
the preeminence. Now men talk about their quest
for God. Searching for God. I don't think
Sandy will mind me telling you Before God saved her, she's told
me several times she's searched everywhere, looked into everything,
looked into every kind of religion. Look, look, look, look, look.
Because man has a quest for God. He doesn't have a quest for God,
he has a quest for peace, and he can't find it. He looks for
God. Some folks look for God in rocks,
and some folks look for God in tombs. Some folks look for God
in the stars, and some folks look for God in the sea. But
God's not found anywhere except in Christ. You'll never meet
God. You'll never know God. You'll
never worship God. You'll never have any satisfaction
that you know God until you meet and worship and know God in Jesus
Christ, the God-man. Look in John chapter 1. Everything God says to, everything
God does for, everything God requires of, and everything God
gives to sinners is in Christ. John chapter 1. No man hath seen
God at any time. I told you God's a spirit. I
know folks sometimes talk about seeing God and seeing angels.
Seeing spirits? Well, they got something wrong
upstairs. You haven't seen God. You haven't
seen an angel. You haven't seen a spirit, unless
you've seen him in Christ. And the angel you see, that doesn't
happen these days, but when it happened, the angel by whom God
made himself known to men was always in the form of a man,
and that angel, the angel of the Lord, is Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ the Lord. The only
way God makes himself known to men is in Christ. No man has
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. That one who was down here on
the earth, that one who nursed at Mary's breast, that one who
walked beside the Sea of Galilee, that one who performed miracles,
that one who preached the Sermon on the Mount, that one who hung
on the cursed tree, is the same one who at that same time was
in the heavens with the Father. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. He showed us who God is. Our Lord said to Philip, I am
the way, I am the truth, I am the life. Someone years and years
ago said, when our Lord said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life, he said, I am the way, without me there's no going.
I am the truth, without me there's no knowing. And I am the life,
without me there's no living. This is my beloved son. Hear him. You ready? Christ is
the word, the revelation of God. He is the living word. We read
it in John chapter 1. He is the eternal word. He is
the everlasting word. He is the word of whom the written
word you hold in your hands speaks. He is the brightness of the Father's
glory, the express image of His person. Jesus Christ is God in
the flesh. We know the Father and the Spirit
only as we know the Incarnate Son. Christ is the word by whom
God makes himself known. Oh God now, shine in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of your son. That's the only way God makes
himself known. All right, here's the second term. Operation. As
God is revealed only in Christ, So, too, the only way God works,
the only way God does anything, be sure you heard it, the only
way God does anything is through his Son, that in all things he
might have the preeminence. We know, of course, that Christ
is God's salvation. God saves sinners in Christ,
by Christ, upon the merits of Christ, and for Christ's sake,
and that only. I have endeavored in everything
I have written and everything I have preached for the last
nearly 34 years, particularly in the messages I've preached
to you the last several weeks to show you this fact. I'll speak
about it a little more in a bit. But for now, I want you to see
this. God never does anything. God never has and never shall
do anything except through the mediation of Christ his son. In everything, Christ is the
mediator. Now when we say mediator, there
are lots of ways to define that, lots of ways to explain it, but
this is what it essentially means, Merle. He's the medium. He's
the medium. Do you see these pretentious
witches on television? And that's what they are. They
call themselves mediums. Mediums. You send me enough money
and I can be a medium between you and the spirit world. Send
me enough money and I can rub some cards or rub a handkerchief
or rub a ball and tell you what your dead mama is thinking right
now. That's the word medium. Old man in Rome speaks about
Mary as the mediatrix through whom we come to God. That's witchcraft too. It wears
the robe of Christianity just in name only. Christ is the medium. He's the medium. He's the only
means by whom God operates. He's the only medium through
whom God comes to man, works with man, or through whom man
comes to God and serves God. He is the means of the operations
of the triune God. Turn back to Psalm 89. Let me
show you this. David Burge read this, I believe
it was Tuesday night, wasn't it, David? Psalm 89. We often talk about the covenant
of grace. The covenant of grace by which our salvation was accomplished,
by which our salvation was secured from eternity, was made with
Christ's assurity as the mediator. Here in Psalm 89 verse 3. Now
I know in the psalm the term David is used, and the psalm
certainly has some reference to David but not much. It's talking
about Christ of whom David was just a type. And if you read
the psalm in its entirety as David did Tuesday evening, you'll
see there are things said concerning this man David that could never
apply to David personally in strict sense. God never made
all David's foes his footstool. God never made David to be higher
than the heavens. But Christ he did. Look here
in Psalm 89 then, and in verse 3, wherever you see the word
David, read Christ. I have made a covenant with my
chosen. I have sworn unto Christ my servant,
thy seed, I'm sorry I'm reading verse 3, now verse 4, thy seed
will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. That's not talking about David's
throne, oh no, that's talking about Christ's throne. David's
throne ended a long time ago. But that throne which was represented
in David's throne continues ever. Christ is seated on it right
now. Stop and think about that. Verse 19. Then thou spakest in
vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have laid help upon one who
is himself the omnipotent God. I have exalted one chosen from
among men. I have found Christ my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him. Verse 21. With whom my hand shall
be established, and my arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy
shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict
him. Not really. And I will beat down his foes
before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness
and my mercy will I establish with him, and in my name shall
his horn be exalted. Verse 25, I will set his hand
also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He'll stretch
out his hand and gather his people from the four corners of the
earth. Verse 26, he shall not cry unto me, thou art my father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him, look at
it now, my firstborn. My firstborn. That's not talking
about David, by the way, no one's talking about you, they're talking
about Christ. I'll make him my firstborn. What? Well, I'll make
him My firstborn higher than the kings of the earth, and my
mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand with
him. Now then, look at this. His seed. That's talking about Larry Christ
and Don Fortner. His seed. Also will I make to endure forever. And his throne as the days of
heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my statutes,
my judgments. If they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, I confess it. Even this day, preparing to preach
to you, trying to serve you, even now. Well I visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquity with the stripes. The father
chastened of every son whom he loveth. But I'll never turn from them.
And I'll never cast them off. And I'll never punish them. Look
at it. Nevertheless. Oh what a word. Man underscore that thing, highlight
it, put stars by it. Nevertheless! My loving kindness
will I not utterly take from them? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. From Him. And that's the reason
we still got it. He said, I'll never take it from
him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. What
have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie to Christ? His
seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before
me. It shall be established forever. as the moon and as the faithful
witness in heaven before the world ever began. God made this
covenant. A covenant of grace and redemption.
A solemn compact of mercy and grace in which he accomplished
by his own arrangement and decree and secured by his own sovereign
purpose the salvation of all his people. It was a covenant
made totally for us. He made it for you and me, Bob.
For us! But it wasn't made with us. It was made with the surrogate. And all the blessings of grace
were given us in Christ before the world were made. He blessed
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us, get it now, in Christ Jesus before the world began. And then it began. God said,
let there be life. And there was life. God created
the world and all things in it by Christ and for Christ. Isn't it amazing in this age
of human brilliance, intelligence, scientific research, investigation
and knowledge that men just assume? I mean, it had been promoted
by Walt Disney and the puppets and the muppets and the clowns
and the scientists and the educators and philosophers of the world
all of my life long. This stuff just kind of oozed
into me. It just sort of happened. Boy, that's brilliant, isn't
it? That's brilliant. evolved out of a primeval mass
of something. And here we are. Oh, no. God made it. The whole thing. The whole thing. I drive that Lincoln Continental
out there. And if I were to stand up here and you say, well, where'd
that car come from? I say, well, you know, I'm an old man now,
and when I was a little boy I saw a bunch of metal out there in
the yard, some nuts and bolts, little plastic and glass, just
piled up out there and scattered out here and there. And over
the years it sort of just started to move together. And one day I looked out there,
it was. He said, call the padded wagon fellas, he's lost it. Lock
him away. He's flicked his leg. Pop the
cork. And yet that's what men expect us to believe about God's
orderly, precisely governed creation. Where every snowflake was obviously
drawn by infinite design and ordered by divine decree. Where
even insects are taught by God's decree how to preserve and care
for themselves and provide food for us. Just evolved. I laugh at your
intelligence. I laugh at your brilliance. Oh
no. God created all things, but listen. He created all things by Christ
and for Christ. Everything that was made was
made by Him and for Him and without Him was not anything made that
was made. Back in Colossians chapter 1,
we read that By Him were all things created, in verse 16,
that are all in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by Him and for Him. And in the preceding
verse, we read that this man Christ, who is the image of the
invisible God, is the firstborn of every creature. You'll have
some Russellite come to your door, those are fellows who call
themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. You'll have some Mormon, one
of those fellows who follow that bigamist out in Utah, and they'll
say, now you see there, he's the firstborn of every creature.
That means there must have been a time when he wasn't here. Must have been a time when he
didn't exist. Must have been a time when he
got started. Well, God fixed it, so folks
were easily confused who refused to believe him. When it says
Christ is the firstborn of every creature, he is simply declaring
that Christ is the one from whom creation was born. All things
sprang from him. He's the original cause of everything. This is the way he put it himself
in Revelation 3.14. He says that he is the beginning
of the creation of God. He's the one buddy who did it.
He's the one where we all came from. And then God's sovereign
providential rule of the universe is executed by Christ the Lord,
our Savior and our Mediator. Turn to Daniel chapter 7. I'm
not going to come close to getting done and I'm not going to hurry.
I'll just pick up next week the Lord willing right here, but
you turn to Daniel chapter 7. Look at verse 13. I'm trying
to show you that everything God does, He does by Christ and for
Christ. Everything. In all His operations. In creation, providence, and
grace. God rules the world. Oh, my soul. What a soft pillow. upon which
to rest my aching head. What a firm foundation on which
to stand when everything around me is crumbling. What a blessed
consolation for my soul. God rules. And this makes it even better,
Rod. That God who rules is the man who is God, who died in my
stead at Calvary. This is what Daniel saw. Verse
13. I saw in the night visions. And you'll never see it so clearly
as when you see it in your night visions. When all is darkness about you.
And behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of
heaven. and came to the Ancient of Days,
came to the Eternal God. And they brought Him near before
Him. And there was given Him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, and all people, and nations, and
languages, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. And I'm telling you, they do.
All people, all nations, and all languages serve Him. There's
nothing that breathes or wiggles in this universe that doesn't
serve Him. Nobody in heaven, earth, or hell
is not under His dominion to serve Him. His dominion, His
dominion, how big is it? His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and it is a dominion which shall not pass away, and
his kingdom is that which shall not be destroyed. Thou hast given
him power over all flesh. God is my Lord. I shall not fear
what man shall do. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, good flesh and bad, man's flesh and the flesh of
beasts, believing flesh and unbelieving flesh, living flesh and dead
flesh, and flesh yet to come. Power over everything. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Now listen carefully. This dominion always belonged
to Christ as God. But our text in the passage we
just read speaks of a dominion given to him. It is a dominion
given to him because of his obedience as the God-man, our mediator.
And yet, in John 17, our Lord speaks of it as the glory which
he had with the Father before the world was. How can that be? Because from old eternity, The
Lord God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit looked upon Jesus
Christ as the God-Man Mediator, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and looked upon His work as done, and turned
over the rule of the universe to that man who is God our Mediator. That's the reason how come when
Adam sinned, God didn't kill him. God didn't kill him. Oh, but
Adam died. Yeah, but God didn't kill him. God didn't send him
to hell. God didn't destroy the world.
How come? Because in Adam's loins was an
innumerable multitude of men and women chosen of God from
the foundation of the world, whom he would scatter in the
four corners of the earth in his judgment and gather in his
mercy. And therefore God preserves the
world by the hands of that man who reigns in heaven. When God
said he would destroy the earth, He didn't. He destroyed most
of it. He about wiped them all out.
But there was one man, a fellow named Noah who found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. And in that man, God had a people
whom he would save, an innumerable multitude, whom he would scatter
through the earth. When Lot was in Sodom, God sent
his angels to destroy Sodom. They said to Lot, hurry up and
get out of here. Don't tarry. Don't look back.
If you got wife or sons or daughters in this place, get them out of
this place. And Lot lingered. And the angel said to Lot, get
out. Took him by the hand, brought
him out and lost it all. Let me stay here in this little
place right here. And the angel said, get over there. place and
I can't do it till you get out. I can't do it. You're talking
about Mr. Van Ippy's prediction this morning.
He's like other nuts. Think they got things wrapped
up. This is when the Lord's coming. I'll tell you exactly when he's
coming. Mark it down. You can mark it down. Don Fortner
goes on record today. This is when he's coming. When
the last one of God's elect has been given eternal life by Jesus
Christ, that in all things, He might have the preeminence. He's
going to come wrap this thing up. How do you know? Because
the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward. How come He puts
up with this mess? He ain't just putting up with
it. Where's He moving it? He's in control of it. This day,
did you hear what we read earlier? This day is the day the Lord
has made. Just as surely as He made the
first one. Let's rejoice and be glad in
it. What's He doing? He's saving His people. He's
saving His people. He's saving His people. He's
saving His people. That in all things, He might
have the preeminent Oh God, give it to him evermore. Amen.