The Pre-eminence of Christ in The Trinity

Q: What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

The Bible states that in all things, Christ must have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18). Colossians 1:18 explicitly emphasizes that it is the will of the Father, and indeed of the entire Trinity, for Christ to have the preeminence in all things. This means that Christ holds the highest place in all creation, being the image of the invisible God, and through Him, all things were created and consist. His role is foundational not only in creation but also in redemption, as He is the central figure in God’s plan of salvation. Thus, any understanding or worship of God must go through the lens of Christ’s person and work.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is God?

Scripture presents Jesus as fully God and fully man, affirming His divinity (John 1:18, 1 Timothy 2:5). The clear teaching of Scripture affirms that Jesus Christ is indeed God. In John 1:18, we read that no one has seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him. This highlights not only Christ's divine nature but also His unique relationship with the Father. Moreover, in 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul states that there is one mediator between God and men: the man Christ Jesus. This man, clarified to be the God-man, bridges the gap between humanity and the divine, affirming His dual nature. His ability to mediate our relationship with God underscores His divinity and reflects His position in the Godhead.

Q: Why is the Trinity important for Christians?

The Trinity is essential for understanding God's nature, salvation, and our relationship with Him. Understanding the Trinity is vital for Christians because it reveals who God is in His essence and relationship. The doctrine teaches that there is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God and plays a unique role in the redemption story. For instance, God the Father sends the Son for our salvation, and through the Spirit, believers are empowered to live according to God’s will. This understanding shapes our relationship with God, showcasing a relational dynamic that invites believers into communion with Him. The denial of the Trinity leads to a distorted view of God, which can ultimately undermine the gospel itself.

Q: What does it mean that Christ is the mediator between God and man?

Christ mediates our relationship with God through His sacrifice and intercession (1 Timothy 2:5). Christ's role as the mediator between God and man is rooted in His dual nature as fully God and fully man. This unique position allows Him to understand our human condition while also possessing the divine authority to intercede on our behalf. In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul states, 'For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.' This underscores the essential truth that through Christ's atoning work on the cross, believers can approach God with confidence. His mediation ensures that we are received not for our own merits but for His righteousness and sacrifice, allowing us to enjoy a restored relationship with the Father.

Q: Why must we honor Christ as part of our worship?

Honoring Christ is the only way to honor God, as all worship is directed through Him (John 5:23). According to Scripture, honoring Christ is imperative for true worship. In John 5:23, we are told that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. This directive not only establishes Christ’s preeminence in the Godhead but also indicates that any worship offered to God must be through Christ. True acknowledgment of God’s nature, character, and works must occur in the context of recognizing and exalting Jesus Christ. This principle underscores that our relationship with God is mediated through the Son, making the act of honoring Christ central to all true Christian worship and engagement with the divine.

I want you to turn again this morning to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians the first chapter. We will begin our reading in verse 12 and you will find my text in the last sentence of verse 18.

Colossians chapter 1 verse 12. Give thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible the firstborn of every creature, for 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 for him, and he is before all things and by him all things consist. 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.

As you know, I've been preaching to you for the past several weeks on the subject of Christ's preeminence. Today I want to talk to you about the preeminence of Christ in the Trinity. The Apostle tells us in this text, Colossians 1.18, that it is the will, the pleasure, the determination, and the delight of the Father's heart, indeed of the triune God, that in all things He, the Lord Jesus Christ, might have the preeminence.

I want to show you from the scriptures that God has so highly exalted, honored, and magnified his son that the only way any creature can exalt, honor, and magnify the triune God is by exalting, honoring, and magnifying Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to get this. God helped me to get it. The only way any creature can exalt, honor, and magnify God Almighty is to exalt, honor, and magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.

I received a letter yesterday, or when I got home yesterday, excuse me, Friday. I'll get my days straight in a minute. When I got home Friday, it was a letter on my desk I'd received earlier in the week from a young man, apparently under the ministry of someone who has been concerned. that maybe he's hearing too much of the preaching of Christ and him crucified. And this fellow asked me some questions.

Don't you think that believers need to be admonished and encouraged to godliness and practical Christianity? And as I read the letter, Shelby said to me, don't people hear what you say? Don't people hear what you say? Don't people understand that it is Christ crucified? Christ in His redemptive glory. Christ as He set forth in the Scriptures that directs men in their lives. We do not direct men to do things from legal motives. We direct folks by the preaching of Christ crucified as to how they could behave in this world. And our object in this work as we preach the Gospel, as we teach the Word of God, is to show you who Christ is and direct your hearts to Him.

Now, as your heart's directed to Him, your life will be reproved. I can't think of anything on this earth, Bill Rawley, more reproving to your soul or mine, to you as a man, to me as a preacher, than the revelation and knowledge of Christ crucified. Oh, to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If that doesn't humble me, nothing will. If that doesn't motivate me, nothing will. If that doesn't guide me, nothing will. If that doesn't break my heart to repentance, nothing will. Christ is preeminent, and the word of God sets him forth in this preeminence. We cannot make too much of Christ. Satan has won the day. Now listen to me, my friends. Satan has won the day when he turns our hearts and our minds in any other direction. He's won the day. If Satan can persuade a preacher to go in any other direction, Satan has won the day. If he can persuade a congregation to go in any other direction, he's won the day. If he can persuade a denomination to go in any other direction, he has won the day. No matter how noble those other directions may appear, if we are turned away from the preaching of Christ crucified, we have missed the message of Scripture.

This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. So determined is the eternal triune God to make Christ preeminent in all things that God cannot be revealed or known by man except as he is revealed to and made known in Jesus Christ. Only as He is revealed to us and made known in us in Jesus Christ can we know the living God. The only way God makes Himself known is through His Son. And the only way God deals with men is through His Son. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. Do you understand that? The Father loves the Son and has put everything in the hands of His Son.

Now, we're Trinitarians by all means. 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 persons are one God. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet they're not three gods, but one God in three distinct persons. They say, well, Pastor, explain that. I can't. I can't even think about explaining it. I have read books that thick of the Trinity, and when I put them down, I come away saying he missed it. I have read volume after volume of theology explaining the doctrine of the Trinity, and when I finish reading them, I come away always saying, he missed it.

I'll give you the clearest declaration of the Trinity ever to be found in human language anywhere yet. It's 1 John 5, verse 7. In our scriptures we read, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. That's just, that's what the scripture says. The fact is the doctrine of the Trinity is something that cannot be explained in human terms. It cannot even be adequately illustrated in human terms. It is simply stated and revealed in the scriptures and is received as a matter of pure faith.

Now we have numerous illustrations of it. You'll remember when our Lord was baptized, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all set forth in a distinct manner. When our Lord sends us to baptize people as they believe the gospel, he tells us to baptize them not in the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but in the name singular of the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So that you have one God in three distinct persons, and yet these three are one.

Our Lord gives us this word of instruction by the Apostle Paul. Turn back to 2 Corinthians 13 for a moment. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14. Often I will close our evening services by reading to you or quoting this benediction of grace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute, grace comes from God, I know. Paul's not mistaken. Jesus Christ is God, else he could not write and say, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. And so the Apostle speaks here of all three persons in the Holy Trinity. He speaks of them as distinct persons, and yet he speaks of all the goodness, grace, and glory of God as being in all three. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the communion, the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

The fact is, all true believers are Trinitarians. There's no question about that. Those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity are not Christians, but deniers of Christianity. Now, forgive me if this seems too blunt, but the Mormons down the road are not Christians, they're pagans. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They deny that Jesus Christ is God. The Russellites, the Jehovah Witnesses, are not Christians, they're pagans. And they deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They deny that Jesus Christ is God. The Jews across the country are not Christians. They don't even pretend to be and we oughtn't to receive them as though somehow there's some common ground of acceptance with these and call this thing a Judeo-Christian ethic or a Judeo-Christian morality. There's no common ground between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism denies that Jesus is the Christ and denies that He's the Son of God. Christianity in its essence is a belief in and trust of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And yet, as Tobias Christ stated 300 years ago, this matter is not to be pried into by human wit, for this of all mysteries in Scripture is the pure object of mere faith. We believe God. We believe God. Now be sure you understand what I've said. We're Trinitarians, but God is spirit. Now you stop and think about that for a minute. God is spirit. Our text in the English translation says God is a spirit. And that's because there is no such thing as an indefinite article in the Greek language. And so frequently, whenever the translator would come to some name or somebody identification, if there was not a definite article, they would insert the indefinite article. And that's contrary to the context in which that's found. When our Lord says God is Spirit, He's telling us that God is the eternal, infinite, ineffably glorious, incomprehensible, omnipotent, holy Spirit. God's Spirit. You can't see a spirit. You can't hear a spirit. You can't talk to a spirit. Now I know sometimes fellas get to smoking stuff and taking dope and drinking and they think they do. And sometimes fellas get intoxicated with the wine of Babylon's fornication and think they see a spirit. Or think they talk to a spirit. But you can't do it. The spirit who is God can be known and be understood and be revealed only through a mediator who is both God and man. The only way you can. The only way you can possibly know God is through a mediator who is God and yet at the same time man.

Listen to the scriptures. No look at it. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5. That Mediator is Jesus Christ the Lord. There is one God, only one, and one Mediator between God and man. Now this is what Paul tells us. There is only one God in all the world. The God revealed in Scripture, in all the character in which He is revealed in Scripture. In all his glory, in all his sovereignty, in all his majesty, in all his dominion. And any concept of God that is less than what the scripture reveals God to be is the concept of a puny idol God. One who is no God at all. There is one God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And one mediator between God and men. The man. Now there's a definite article. The man. Here's the only real man that's ever existed since Adam. The man. The second man. The last man. Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ. This man who is manhood in perfection without sin. He's God Almighty. God assumed our nature. God came down into this world and took on Himself human flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. That's an incomprehensible mystery. And yet the fact is, we know God, worship God, and serve God only as we know, worship, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is himself God. And there is no other God in this world other than what Jesus Christ is. Thomas, after the resurrection, took his finger and put it in the hands of our Lord. Stuck it just like that. Just like that. And he took his hand and put it in the side of the risen Lord. You remember what he said? My Lord and my God. And he was touching a man. He was talking to a man. Just like you. Just like me. A man. And he was not wrong. He said, this man, he is God. The Apostle Paul says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And I've quoted that to you every time I've preached to you for the last month. And I've done so with deliberate purpose. Because I want you to understand that all that God is, Jesus Christ is. In this man who now sits upon the throne of glory, this man who died as our substitute, this man who is mediator between God and man, as all the fullness of humanity dwells in him, so all the fullness of deity dwells in him. All that God is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is.

So that Tobias Crisp was exactly right when he said this as well. 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, so look upon Him. Never 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 our Savior is God our Savior. We know no God but Him. We worship no God but Him. We serve no God but Him. We trust no God but Him. I want you to be sure you understand what I'm talking about. So let me make five statements, and I will make them as plainly and clearly as I possibly can and as briefly as I can. And I realize that what I'm saying today will be somewhat repetitious, but I'm not getting senile. I put it down on purpose because I want you to understand. exactly what these things are.

First, the triune God reveals himself only in Christ, that in all things he might have the preeminence. We have read the Bible without profit, without any spiritual benefit, without any spiritual good to our souls, if we have not read the Bible to understand that all that God has for sinners, and all that God does for sinners, all that God gives to sinners, and all that God receives of sinners, all that God requires from sinners, and all that God Almighty does for sinners is in Jesus Christ. You understand that? That's the whole message of this book.

So that God deals with men, reveals himself to, and is known by Jesus Christ alone. Look at John chapter 1 and verse 18. John chapter 1 and verse 18. Our Lord Jesus is called the Word of God. You see that in verse 1, in the beginning was the Word. The Word of God.

Now I have prepared a message for you this morning. And I have in my mind what I plan to say to you. And I don't care how well you know me, and I don't care what superstitious witchcraft you pretend to practice. There's no way you can know what's on my mind. No way for you to grasp what I intend to say. That lady sitting right there, well as she knows me, she doesn't know what I plan to say to you this morning. She can't possibly know it because I haven't told her. The only way you can know it is if I form a word and tell you what I've got on my mind.

And the only way you can possibly know God, the Eternal Spirit, is through His Word, Jesus Christ. That's the reason Christ is called the Word. He's the revelation of God.

Now look here in John 1.18. The Scripture says, No man hath seen God at any time. I recall my friend, Brother Charles Sawyer, He's out in Hampton, Virginia. I got a letter from him this past week, but I recall something he told me years ago when I was just a young man in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He brought someone he worked with to church services with him. And the church we attended, they had a picture of John the Baptist and some effeminate looking fellow, supposed to be Jesus, being baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. And this fellow brought a a foreigner with him, I forgot what nationality he was, that's unimportant, who worshipped other gods. And he sat down and he said to Charles, he said, is that your God? And Charles said, no, that's an idol. We oughtn't have that there. And Charles is exactly right. No man's ever seen God. No man's ever seen God. No man. This is what the book says, isn't it? No man has seen God.

Well, but what about Abraham? Didn't Abraham see God? Didn't Manoah and his wife see God? Didn't Adam and Eve see God? The text says no man has seen God. Well, what are all those Old Testament revelations where it says this man saw God, this man saw the Lord? That was a pre-incarnate revelation of Christ. The only way you can see God is in Christ. Do you see this? No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. Now listen to me. Listen. While the Lord Jesus was standing on the earth in a body just like this, John said no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is. Now listen. He's standing on earth. John says he's in the bosom of the Father. How can that be? Because he never ceased to be God. This man, he is at the same time a man and the omnipresent God. He's in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared Him.

Now that word declared is the word from which we get our word exegesis. That may be a word that is unfamiliar to most of you. Exegesis is to go into a text and search out the text with study, with grammar usage and understanding the languages and discover what the text means. And then with the exegesis, we expound to you the meaning of the text. That's what I'm sent to do as a preacher. I've taken Colossians 1 18 for my text. I have gone into the scriptures to find out what the text means, and now I am expounding it to you. That's exactly the word here. Jesus Christ, who dwells in the bosom of the Father, He takes the very essence of God, Jesus. He shows Him to you. He declares Him to you. We know the Father. The Spirit and the Son, only as we know the Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, by whom and in whom God speaks and makes himself known. Turn to Hebrews chapter one for a moment. Christ is the first word of God, the last word of God, the only word of God. He is the living word of whom the written word speaks. This book is all about him.

Hebrews 1 verse 1. God who at sundry times and in divers manners, that is, in different times and different ways, spoke in time passed unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, upholding all things with the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

I'll write second there. As God is revealed only in Christ, so too the only way God works in this world is through his Son. It's the only way. That in all things, he might have the preeminence.

We know, of course, that Christ is God's salvation. When the old man Simeon held that baby in his arms, he had been waiting for years for the consolation of Israel. And Mary and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus into the temple to be circumcised when he was eight days old. And Simeon picked up that child and said, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace. for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

I'll talk about that in a little bit. But right now I want you to see that the triune God never does anything except by Christ.

In our text this morning we read how that Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. There was a covenant made, we read it in Psalm 89, a covenant made before the world began In which our salvation was accomplished and secured by the decree and will of God. And that covenant was made with Jesus Christ as our surety. Now, we were the beneficiaries of it. We get all the blessings of it. But Christ made the covenant with the Father as our surety. And it was established by God's decree in Jesus Christ the Son. So that all the covenant of grace is Christ.

This is what God says in Isaiah 49. I will give thee for a covenant to the people. So that when God gives us his son, he gives us all the blessings of the covenant.

Look at this passage that's very familiar to you, I'm certain, in 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. This is the covenant of which David sang on his deathbed, saying the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant in all things ensure this is all my salvation and this is all my desire.

Here in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9, the apostle is defending himself and the doctrine of the gospel to Timothy. And he says, Timothy, this gospel for which I am imprisoned is the gospel of God who hath saved us and called us, not according to our works, But according to his own purpose and grace, which was promised to us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Does anybody have a Bible that reads like that? Any of you have a Bible that says promised? It's not what it says. But his purpose and grace were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. How can that be? Only as a surety of a covenant.

The Lord Jesus received as our representative all the blessings of grace as our surety, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The case that we were saved from eternity and when we experienced the grace of God, we just found out what God did from eternity. That's exactly what it says. That's exactly what it says. The experience of grace in no way affects the purpose of God. The purpose of God produces the experience of grace. So that we are saved right now in the experience of grace because we were saved from eternity in the purpose of grace. And when a man or woman comes to faith in Christ, they are brought to have the manifestation of God's purpose given to them in Christ from eternity.

God created the world and all things in it by Jesus Christ as well. When Paul says in our text in Colossians 1 that he's the firstborn of every creature, that simply means that all things sprang from him. He is the one from whom creation was born. He is the beginning of the creation of God.

Now turn to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel the seventh chapter. Let me spend a moment or two here. The covenant of grace was God's work of grace from eternity through Christ. The creation of the world and of all things in it is God's work of creation through Christ, the Word. All things were made by Him, that is, by Christ, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And God's sovereign, providential rule of the universe is executed by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.

Look in Daniel 7 and verse 13. Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13. I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people All nations, all languages should serve him.

Giving him a dominion that all people, all nations and all languages, that takes in you and me. Like it or not, you're the servant of God. Like it or not, you serve his purpose. Like it or not, you're under his rule, under the rule of Jesus Christ, our God.

should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Now listen carefully. In time, our Lord Jesus actually ascended up into heaven. He said, Father, give me the glory which I had with you before the world was looked upon as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, buried, risen again, and seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high, and all authority was given to His hand in eternity as our Mediator. So that Jesus Christ has ruled the world on our behalf as our Mediator from everlasting.

Let me ask you a question. Did God say to Adam, in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die? That's what it said in the world. In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Did you ever wonder why he didn't die? Ever wonder why he didn't die? He didn't die then. Well, he died spiritually, I know, but he's still walking around. He didn't die then. Why didn't God kill him? Why didn't God then and there destroy the race of Adam and wipe them off the earth? How come? Because of a covenant made with our Mediator before the world began. That one who would come the last Adam. Because you see in Adam's loins, Buddy Gardner was there. And Larry Criss was there. And God Almighty would not destroy the sinning race until he had saved his chosen race out of the sinning race. You understand that? So that our Lord Jesus Christ restrains the wrath and judgment of God from falling upon the pair in the garden because he has a people in Adam's loins whom he must save.

Our Lord continues to preserve the world from judgment today. Though many women everywhere live in rebellion against God. We look at our society around us. And forgive me, my brethren, if I insult you. I don't mean to insult you. But we're not half. We're not half the men that Lot was.

Mark, he vexed his righteous soul day by day as he witnessed things going on inside of him. There's not much vexation to us. There's not much vexation to our souls. Men in this day and age talk about Lot being some kind of a base man. You cast your judgment on yourself and me too. This generation would make Sodom and Gomorrah blush. And Lot vexed his righteous soul from day to day. And you wonder why? If God destroyed Sodom, doesn't God destroy this world? Ain't hard to find.

Because Jesus Christ is the mediator who rules this universe. And he rules this universe for the saving of his elect whom he has preserved in life under the day of his grace. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9 one more time. Our Lord preserves the world from judgment because those people whom he has chosen, those whom he has redeemed cannot be lost. They cannot perish in judgment. They cannot perish under the wrath of God. Maybe God has preserved this world from judgment just for you. Because today he has appointed a time of love for you.

But that's exactly the case. God Almighty preserved the world throughout the ages of wickedness because he was determined on a specific time to grant eternal life to Don Porter. And it's still true to this day. 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. Come on now, you fellows have been talking about the second coming of Christ for nearly 2,000 years. Lots of folks have predicted the Lord's coming at a certain time. And you fellas still talk about it's coming. Where's the promise of it's coming? Come on now. You don't really believe that boo-hoo, do you? You don't really swallow that, do you? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

And the Lord's not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness. Time is nothing to God. A day to Him is just a thousand years. A thousand years is one day. It's insignificant to Him. He dwells in the leisure of eternity, but is long-suffering. Now, underscore this word. To usward. Long-suffering to who? To usward. Not long-suffering to the world. Not long-suffering to the devil. Not long-suffering to the reprobate. Long-suffering to usward. Not willing that any should perish. Any who? Any of the usward to whom he's long-suffering. But that all, all who? All the usward to whom he's long-suffering should come to repentance.

How do you know that's the case? Look in verse 15. Peter here tells us, let us account that the longsuffering of our Lord is what? Salvage. In other words, if the Lord's longsuffering to Bob Ponce, he's longsuffering to save Bob Ponce. If he's long-suffering to Rex Bartley, he's long-suffering to save Rex Bartley. So that our Lord Jesus Christ rules this world and demonstrates the long-suffering of God, preserving the world because God determined to save His people who were themselves the sons and daughters of Adam, lost and ruined by the fall.

Thirdly, I want you to understand that God deals with men only in and through Jesus Christ, his dear son, that in all things, he might have the preeminence. Let me read several texts of scripture in your hearing. You can jot them down and look them up later. In John 10, 9, our Lord says, I am the door. I am the door. Now, if you're coming into this building and you say, how do I get to Grace Church? And how do I get to your office? I would not say come to Grace Church, come in the door. I wouldn't do that. Because you might come in the front door, the back door, basement door, side door. You might come in the basement doors in the front, basement doors in the back, side door to the right, side door to the left. I wouldn't do that. I'd say you drive around the parking lot and you'll see a porch out on the side of the building. Come up the steps and come in the door. I'll be sitting right there. There's just one door there. Just that one door.

And our Lord is declaring, I am the door. There's not another way. You've got to enter in by this door or you're going to perish under the wrath of God. Our Lord says in John 14 verse 6, I am the way. I'm the way. There's not another way. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Someone said Christ is the way. Without him, there's no going. Christ is the truth. Without Him, there's no knowing. Christ is the life. Without Him, there's no living.

Our Lord Jesus is that one through whom we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father. In Hebrews 7.25, He is able also to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. And then Paul tells us in Hebrews 10.19, Brethren, Let us, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, so that our Savior is himself our salvation.

The fact is, God does not speak to, nor will he be spoken to by men, except by Jesus Christ. I recall, some of you will as well, several years ago, it's been, oh, 16 years ago now, I went over to give a lecture in the religious, what are called comparative religion classes over in, at UK. Brother Todd Divert was in the class. The professor asked if I'd come over and give a lecture on Martin Luther. And so I went over and gave the lecture. And when it was done, there was some questions and answers. There were some Oriental fellows. I don't know whether they were from Korea, Japan, Taiwan. I don't know. They were just Oriental fellows.

And they, these two men sitting there said to me, What about those people who worship other gods and who don't know your Jesus? And I said, now, fellas, I don't know who you are, where you're from, but I want you to understand clearly what I'm saying. Unless a man or a woman knows, trusts, and worships Jesus Christ, the living God, no matter how sincere they are, No matter what God they worship or pretend to worship, they will be damned forever under the wrath of God. He's the way. He's the way.

Of course, the professor in the class was shocked. These two young men were abhorrent. But the fact is, that's the reason we send missionaries around the world. You can't be saved worshiping a totem pole God. You can't be saved worshipping a stump. You can't be saved worshipping your imagination of God. You can't be saved doing the best you can, walking around in the darkness of your polluted mind. The only way on this earth a man, a woman can be saved is to know God in Jesus Christ the Lord. That's the reason we preach the gospel.

The whole of salvation is in Christ. He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. God will not receive any worship, any prayer, any praise, any sacrifice or any service offered to him by men except through Jesus Christ, through his merits, through the mediation of his blood and his righteousness. Everything done for God and offered to God must be done and offered in the name of Christ. And all the blessings of grace and glory, all of it, are freely bestowed upon sinners for Christ's sake alone.

Lindsay read Ephesians 4.32 this morning. Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Lindsay Campbell, God Almighty won't forgive you for your sake. Did you hear me? God won't pardon your sin because you want to be forgiven. That doesn't change anything. God won't take you into heaven because you don't want to go to hell. That doesn't change anything. God won't receive you because you're scared of going to hell. That won't change anything. God won't accept you because you're sorry for your sins. That won't change anything.

Well, preacher, how on earth can I be saved? For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. God! For Christ's sake! will forgive the sins of every sinner who comes to him believing on his side. What do you mean for Christ's sake? For the sake of his righteousness and his blood by which justice has been satisfied and sin put away. Now God for Christ will forgive your sins.

All the comfort, instruction, and direction of God the Holy Spirit comes to sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want you to turn to John chapter 16 for a minute and let me spend a minute or two here and I'll wrap this up. Our Lord says in verse 13, when He the Spirit of truth has come, He the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. He won't guide you into error. He'll guide you into truth. You say, well, I just know he's saved. He's such a sincere man. No, no. He will guide you into all truth. He won't guide you into the error of free willism. He won't guide you into the error of legalism. He won't guide you into the error of works religion. He guides you into truth. And those who are guided somewhere else are guided by another spirit.

for he shall not speak of himself. The Holy Spirit shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you.

Now in accordance with the disposition of the covenant of grace, the Holy Spirit is Christ's agent in this world in exactly the same manner in which Jesus Christ was his father's agent while he was in the world. That is, the Holy Spirit has come to fulfill Christ's will in agreement with the stipulations of the covenant of grace. It is his delight to honor the Son, even as it was the Son's delight to honor the Father.

The gifts of the Spirit are actually the gifts of Christ bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit for the glory of Christ, for the furtherance of the gospel, and for the increase of his kingdom and the welfare of his people.

Now, the scriptures are plain as they can be. In 1 Corinthians 12, 11, we read, All these worketh that one in the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. But the same apostle writes in Ephesians 4 verse 7, unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And he's not contradicting himself. In one place he says this is the gift of the spirit, in the next place he says this is the gift of Christ.

The gift of the spirit is the gift of Christ. Do you understand that? so that those gifts bestowed upon men by the Holy Spirit are the ascension gifts of Christ received for men. Yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell among them. The Holy Spirit is not in competition with Christ. He has come to glorify Christ. I'm emphasizing this because I realize that sooner or later, if not already, you're going to be bombarded with the nonsense of this charismatic age. Everywhere today we hear men saying this is the age of the Holy Spirit. They talk about the anointing of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, being slain in the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, the presence of the Spirit, the works of the Spirit, and say precious, precious little about Jesus Christ our Lord.

You go home, turn on TV. Go home, turn it on. Find almost any religious nuts you want to on there. And listen to what they say. They'll talk about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and say virtually nothing about the Son of God. Virtually nothing.

I didn't see it myself. It was reported to me last week in Texas. One of the local preachers, these charismatic nuts got up. And folks were being slain in the spirit. You've seen them. These fools come up and touch them on the head. Folks just fall back and wiggle and scream and tell. This woman fell out in the floor on television. I'm not lying to you. Fell out in the floor on television and wet herself, just wet all over herself. And the preacher saw her back there, come and lay a coat over her and said, Oh, this is of the Lord. This is of the Lord. That's of the devil. It's of the devil.

Oh, preacher, you can't say that. I said it. I'll say it to his face. That's satanic. That's not God working. That's not God working. Oh, but they're such nice people. Nice folks go to hell. Same folks know God. There's a difference. Many women who know Jesus Christ worship Him, according to this book, not wiggling in a floor. Can you imagine such nonsense going on in the name of God?

The Holy Spirit, where He works, He speaks of Christ, not Himself. Those who preach the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Those who tell you to seek the Spirit, seek the gifts of the Spirit, focus your attention on the Spirit, try to speak in tongues. They don't have the Holy Spirit. That's not too hard, is it? They don't have the Holy Spirit.

Oh, no. Those who have the Holy Spirit, Rex, will tell you to look to Christ, seek Christ, worship Christ, follow Christ. They preach Christ. But no one misunderstand me. We reverence and worship and honor the Holy Spirit. He is God. But the only way to reverence, honor and worship God, the Holy Spirit, is to reverence, honor and worship Jesus Christ, the Lord.

To have the anointing of the Spirit is not to go down to the front of the church and pray through and have some preacher lay his hand on you. No. To have the anointing of the Spirit is to have Jesus Christ the Lord. To be baptized in the Spirit is to be baptized into Christ. To have the gifts of the Spirit are to have the covenant blessings of Jesus Christ and God's grace in Him. To have the filling of the Spirit is to have Christ in you. To have the power of the Spirit is to have the power of Christ. To have the presence of the Spirit is to have the presence of Christ. To have the work of the Spirit is to have Christ formed in you.

To walk in the Spirit. Listen to me now. To walk in the Spirit is not some kind of a ecstatic, tingling in your spine, makes you feel good all over. Not some kind of nonsense makes you want to wave a handkerchief and run it down church aisles. Not something that creates commotion and disturbance and a hoopla in the church. Oh, no, no, no, no. But what is it they feel with the Spirit? To walk in the Spirit. It's to walk in Christ. With Christ. and toward Christ and for Christ by faith in Christ. It's exactly what it is.

This is not the age of the Holy Spirit. This is the age of the Son, the age of Christ. This is the day of grace, the gospel day. It began on that day when Christ, the Son of Righteousness, arose with healing in His wings, with salvation for His people. And when this world is done, when God has folded up this universe like a worn-out vesture, when time shall be no more and all men shall stand before God at the bar of judgment, even then God will still deal with men only in Jesus Christ His Son. The judge who will sit upon the great white throne in that great day will be the God-man, our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.

You might say, well, preacher, I thought there was going to be a judgment before the tribulation period, another one after the tribulation period, and then we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But then after that, after some long thousand year reign out there somewhere, the Lord is going to come again in judgment, and then you're going to stand before God in the great white throne judgment. You might find that in somebody's notes of the Bible, but it's not in this book. It's not in it. You're going to meet God. face-to-face in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Now you can scoff at it, you can laugh at it, you can ridicule it, you can try to put it out of your mind if you want to, but I'm telling you, as it is appointed unto men once to die, so also it is appointed unto men to stand before God in judgment. God is appointed a day when you're leaving this world and you're leaving it be. Now be as healthy as you can and eat grass and leave off the sugar if you want to. Run a hundred miles a day if you want to. That's fine. That's just fine. But I'm going to tell you something. You're not going to prolong your life by one hair of a second. Not going to happen. Not going to happen. God's appointed a day when you're leaving this world. And after this, the judgment, you're going to meet God face to face. And you're not going to wonder who he is. See this face here? Just as you see this face, you'll see the face of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. In Jesus Christ the Lord.

And in that day, you and I will get exactly what justice demands we have. Be no grace then. Be no mercy then. You're going to get exactly what's coming to you. And so will I. So will I. The books are opened. And another book is opened. And God judges all men out of the things written in the books. Here are the ledger books of heaven. And God's going to judge you accordingly. and it's sins written against you. God will say to you, depart from me, you cursed. And you will perish in darkness, destruction. But there are some folks in all the ledger books of heaven against who? not seen is recorded. They're called holy and just and righteous. Their names are written in the other book, the book of life, the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. And God says, he that is holy, let it be holy still. He that is just, let it be just still. He that is righteous, let it be righteous still. And this man, who is God, will look Mark Henson square in the face and say, come, well done, thou good and faithful servant. So that's not Mark's righteousness. Oh, yes, it is. I beg your pardon. God says it is. Christ's righteousness imputed to you. is just as full of yours as your sin imputed to him was his. Just as full.

And when we enter into glory, when all things are done throughout the endless ages of eternity, Jesus Christ will yet be preeminent. When he has presented the universe to God the Father, and everything in time has been accomplished, And all creatures now have been reconciled to him in the saving of his people. God shall be all in all.

And the Lord Jesus Christ shall reign with his church, his ransomed people, his saved sheep by his side forever and forever in preeminent glory. When the God-man has fulfilled the last engagement of the covenant as our surety, He'll present everything to the Father, and He'll present us to the Father.

And in heaven's glory, everybody will say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Thou art worthy! All things were made by thee and for thee. Worthy is the Lamb, for thou hast redeemed us to our God out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue.

What the sun is to our solar system, Christ the Son of Righteousness is to heaven and eternity. He is the center of heaven, the light of heaven, the life of heaven, the strength of heaven, the joy of heaven. 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.

One last thing. I'm calling for you and me to honor God. And this is the only way you can. Will you listen to me now? There's only one way to honor. Only one way. Only one way sinners on this earth can honor God. Only one way. We honor God when we honor His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other way.

He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, our Savior says, and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life, because God has ordained that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. Even honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which is in him.

I honor Christ when I acknowledge my sin and my need of him as my Savior. As long as we keep saying we don't have any sin, as long as we keep saying we don't need Now preacher, you're talking to somebody else this morning. I'm all right with you. I don't need him. As long as we keep denying our sin, we make him a liar. And his word's not in us. But if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin.

I honor Christ when I trust him as my representative, surety and substitute. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

I honor Christ when I surrender to him as my rightful Lord, my sovereign master, devote myself to his rule. That's what faith is. Faith is throwing a white flag of surrender. to Christ the Lord. I'm joking. Most people think that faith is a little experience in which they say, well, I believe in Jesus, and now everything's all right. No. Faith is commitment of myself to Jesus Christ, my Savior, as my Lord. That's what faith is.

He that saveth his life shall lose it. He that loseth his life for my sake, the same shall find it. I honor Christ, and when I confess Him, confess Him before men in the waters of baptism, I take my place with Him. Kind of humiliating to get in that pool, big barrier, watery grave. rise up out of that grave, say to the world, I'm no longer a man, I'm dead.

The Pre-eminence of Christ in The Trinity

What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

How do we know that Jesus is God?

Why is the Trinity important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ is the mediator between God and man?

Why must we honor Christ as part of our worship?

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The Pre-eminence of Christ in The Trinity

What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

How do we know that Jesus is God?

Why is the Trinity important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ is the mediator between God and man?

Why must we honor Christ as part of our worship?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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