Let's turn with me again to Colossians
chapter 1 and verse 18. Colossians chapter 1 and verse
18. He is the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead,
here's my text, that in all things he, the Lord Jesus Christ, that
one in whom is all grace, from whom all grace comes, that in
all things he might have the preeminence. This is the first
of two messages on the subject Christ's preeminent. Be here
tonight and you'll get the second. That in all things he might have
the preeminent. The apostle Paul is telling us
here that it is the will, the pleasure, the determination,
and the delight of the father's heart that in all things his
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, hath preeminence. 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 the son. I don't think you got
that first time I said it. God has so highly exalted, honored,
and magnified his Son that the only way any preacher can exalt,
honor, and magnify the Triune God is if we exalt, honor, and
magnify the Son. God's given him preeminence.
So determined is the eternal triune God to make Christ preeminent
in all things, that God can only be known and revealed to men
by the knowledge and revelation of Christ his son. The only way
that God makes himself known is through the son, and the only
way that God deals with men is through the son. The father loveth
the son, John said. and hath given all things into
his hand." Now, listen to me carefully. We're Trinitarian. That is, we worship the one true
and living God in the trinity of his sacred person, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There are three distinct, individual,
separate persons within the Godhead. And yet, these three divine persons
are one God. The Father is the Father, the
Son is the Son, and the Spirit is the Spirit. They are three
distinct persons, and yet they are one God. Turn over to the
book of 1 John, 1 John chapter 5. Now, there is no way to explain
the doctrine of the Trinity There's not even any way to illustrate
the doctrine of the trinity in human terms. We recognize that
we're dealing with mysterious things. I don't question that.
I don't try to make them understand the human logic and human reason.
We simply believe in the triune Godhead because that is what
is revealed in Holy Scripture. First John chapter 5 and verse
7. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, You know from John
1 that that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost. Now, these are three separate,
individual, distinct persons. And yet, these three persons
are one eternal triune God. And these three are one. Now, scripture can't be any plainer
than that. You have this doctrine of the Trinity clearly set forth
a number of times throughout the scriptures. Turn to a couple
of them. Matthew chapter 3. In Matthew chapter 3, you'll
remember at the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, the things
that took place, and we have a clear, distinct revelation
of the three persons of the triune Godhead. Matthew 3 and verse
16. Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. Now there's Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, in the water. That's the sun. And lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God, there's
the Spirit, descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo,
a voice from heaven saying, there's the Father, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. When our Lord gave us the commission
to go and preach the gospel, teaching men all things that
he has commanded us, he told us to baptize believers in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. These three individual persons,
one God. Our Lord's instructions concerning
the coming of the Spirit over in John 17, or John 14 rather,
verse 15, look at this. John chapter 14, verse 15. Our
savior is telling us that it's necessary for him to go away,
that the spirit might come. And he says in verse 15, if you
love me, keep my commandments. And I, the son, will pray the
father and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with
you forever. Even the spirit of truth, you
see the three persons of the Godhead again. whom the world
cannot receive because it seeth him not. Neither knoweth him,
but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, and yet these three are one. Look in verse 18. Now
he's talking about the coming of the Spirit, isn't he? He's
talking about the descent of the Holy Spirit. He says in verse
18, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come unto you. I will
come. The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit are one eternal Godhead. Where the Father works, the Son
works, and the Spirit works. Where the Father is, the Son
is, and the Spirit is. Where the Son is, the Father
is, and the Spirit is. It always is that way. Always. Now, without question, the Word
of God clearly teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. God said there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. I have no questions
at all when I say that all true believers are Trinitarians, all
true believers. Those who deny the eternal Godhead
of the Lord Jesus Christ are not Christians, they're pagan
idolaters. Either Jesus Christ is God, or
this word's a phony, and he's a phony. And not to be deluded,
you're getting your sin. We recognize the doctrine of
the Holy Trinity. We recognize it simply as a matter
of faith. Tobias Christ made the statement.
The matter is not to be pried into by human will. For this,
of all the mysteries in Scripture, is the pure object of mere faith. That's a pretty good statement.
We believe it because it's written right here in the Word. That's
all. Because God says it. That's the reason we believe
it. You fellas don't run across Russellites, Jehovah's Witnesses,
and you'll run across others who try to argue with you, and
leaves and with you, and give very logical arguments as to
why you must not believe in the Trinity. After all, you don't
worship three gods, do you? But you can't have three unless
you recognize that they are all three individual gods, and that
would be, that would be polytheism, and we're not polytheists. When
you hear them, give them no regard. Send them out your door. Tell
them not to come back. You don't need them. You won't
have any regard for them. They don't know God. They just
don't know God. So, pastor, that's being hard.
Well, it might be, but it's being honest. Honest with your soul
and honest with the word of God and honest with God. We're Trinitarians. We worship the Father, our God,
the Spirit, our God, and the Son. The apostle Paul tells us then
that the Lord Jesus Christ is that one in whom the eternal
triune God has been pleased to place all the fullness of his
glory as God. Now, I want to throw you a curse.
We're Trinitarians. We know God, worship God, and
serve God. only as we know, worship, and
serve the Lord Jesus Christ. My friends, Christ is God, and
there is no other God in the world but the God that Christ
himself is. There is none other. There is
none other. Thomas said to Jesus Christ in the flesh, my Lord
and my God, and he was right in doing so. Paul says in him,
look at it over here in Colossians chapter two, Colossians two and
verse nine. The apostle Paul says in him,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the incarnate flesh God. in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead." Now notice Paul does not say, in him dwelleth
all the fullness of his Godhead, but rather he says, in Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now what can that mean? It means
this, the end of God's name, Jesus Christ, All that God is,
Father, Son, and Spirit, perpetually and eternally resides. Everything
is. In Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ,
the man, in his human flesh, in his human body, resides everything
that every man is seeing accepted. Do you see that? Everything.
Everything you are is in Christ. Everything. In that man, Christ
Jesus, there is the fullness of manhood. In that man, Jesus
Christ, resides everything that God is. Everything. Everything. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. To quote Tobias Crisp again,
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 he is in Christ. Not as if there
were another God besides what Christ is, for there is no such
thing. Jesus Christ is our God and Savior. Now, let me make myself perfectly
clear with four points in this message. The first thing I want
you to see is this. God Almighty, Father, Son, and
Spirit, only reveals himself in Christ, the incarnate Christ. It's the only way God reveals
himself. Turn over to John chapter one,
John the first chapter. The Apostle John is here giving
us a description of who Christ is. And listen to what he says
in verse 18. No man hath seen God at any time. Now wait a minute, preacher.
Didn't Moses see God? No. But who did he see when he saw
the glory of God? Jesus Christ. That's who he saw. But didn't Isaiah see God? No. Who did he see? He saw Jesus
Christ. That's who he saw. Our Lord said
so. He said, this is what Isaiah
said when he saw my glory and spoke of me. Our Lord says here
by the Apostle John, no man, no man, no man. But didn't Adam
see God? No, no. Who did he see? in the garden in the cool of
the day. He walked through, he saw the pre-incarnate God, Jesus
Christ our Lord. No man has seen God in his essential
glory. No man has seen God in his essential
person. God only reveals himself in Christ. It's always been that way, it
is that way, it always shall be that way. No man has seen
God at any time. the only begotten son which is
in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him." Now, the
word is a rather difficult word for the average person to really
grasp. What our apostle is showing us here is this. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God, The only one who knows God, the only one
who's seen God, he who is in God, for he is God, comes to
this earth in human flesh, and he has revealed God! It's the only way you'll ever
know it. It's the only way you'll ever know it. No man's ever seen
God. Not in his essential glory, but
we see God. Who is God? Do you see that?
He has made known to us who and what God is. The word actually
is the word that we get our word exegesis from. It's a skill we're
taught in seminary and in Bible college. Pastors are taught to
be men who give an exegesis of scripture. The word simply means
this. In this passage this morning
in Colossians 1 verse 18, I have endeavored to go into the verse
and find exactly what the verse contains. And now this morning
I'm going to expound the verse to you. That's what that means
when it says Jesus Christ has declared God. He goes into God's
being for he is God. And it comes down, it is what
God is. He says, look upon me and ye
see God. Let me show it to you in John
chapter 14. John chapter 14. Our Lord is speaking to his disciples
and he says to Thomas, I am the way, verse six, I am the way,
the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father
but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known my father also. And from henceforth, you know
him and have seen him. Now, you fellas know me, but
not one of you really knows my father. Some of you have even
seen my father, but you who've never seen my father, you don't
know my father. Because I am not one with my father. I'm different
from my father. All together different. In some
ways, I'm glad I'm different. In some ways, I wish I weren't
so different. We're different individuals,
different personalities, different tastes, different likes, different
dislikes. My father and I are different.
To know me is not to know my father. But, but, our Lord said,
if you know me, you know my father. That's what he said, isn't it?
Look here in verse 9, Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us
the father, and that will be sufficient. Jesus saith unto
him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. How sayest thou then, show us
the Father? What I'm saying is this. Jesus
Christ is the revelation of God. He is the Word of God. All that we know of God is Christ. He is the brightness of his father's
glory, the express image of his father's person. He is himself
God incarnate. All that God is, is in him. Jesus Christ is the revelation
of the Father and of the Spirit. We know the Father and we know
the Spirit only as they are revealed in the incarnate Son. Now, when
I say that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, be sure you understand
what I mean. This is the written Word. This
is the recorded, holy Word of God. We reverence it. We delight
in it. We endeavor to obey it. We worship
God as we are instructed through the Word to worship him. But
Jesus Christ is the Word. He's the Word. He's the Word. He's the Word. The Living Word. The Living Word. He is the first
Word of God. himself, the theologians call
him the proto-evangelist, that is, he's the first evangelist.
He said to Adam, he said, I'll send the seed, and he'll crush
the serpent's head. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
first word of God. He is the eternal word of God.
He is the last word of God. He came and gave us his instructions,
He revealed God in his person. He revealed the glory of God
in his death. And he gave us apostles, only
those twelve men, inspired of God to record for us the very
Word of God. They being moved by the Spirit
of God, put the things of Christ and wrote them down for us. That's
what the Ecclesiastes is all about. This book is the Word
of God. It's the final revelation of
God. It's the final revelation of
God. He's the only word of God. The only word. There is no revelation
of God but what is in Christ. Not only does God reveal himself
only in Christ, I want you to get this next thing. God works
only through Christ. Turn over to John chapter 1.
John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, side by side, face to face with God,
in every way equal with God, because the Word was God. The word himself is God. God was the word. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things, what does that include? Exactly what it says. All things
were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. The triune God never does anything
except through the mediation of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything God ever has done, is doing, or shall do, is by,
through, and for the Lord Jesus Christ. In everything, Christ
is the mediator. Now, it's vitally important that
we get over this. God does everything through a
mediator. Everything. God's never spoken
a word, done a deed, thought a thought, willed a will, but
through the mediator. Never. Everything is through
the mediator. In the covenant of grace, everything was done
through the mediator. Look in Psalm 89. Psalm 89. I want you to see this. Psalm
89. Now follow me in the scripture. I've got hold of something I'm
convinced is of vital importance to us. Psalm 89. Before the world
was made, God made a covenant of redemption. I'm not going
to try to explain what the covenant of redemption and grace is, call
it a solemn compact of mercy and grace, call it a sovereign
disposition of grace, whatever you want to call it, it doesn't
really matter. But before the world was, God arranged and decreed
the salvation of his elect. And he did so by the mediator,
Jesus Christ. Look in Psalm 89 and verse 3. I have made a covenant with my
children. I have sworn unto David my servant. Now if you'll read this psalm,
you'll see clearly that he's not talking about David physically. He's talking about David spiritually.
We'll get on down in the latter part of the psalm and you'll
see clearly he can't possibly be talking about David the physical
man. He's talking about David as he
typically represents Christ. So when you see David, write
down the word Christ, that's what it's talking about. That's
what it's talking about. I have made a covenant with my chosen.
I have sworn unto Christ my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever
and build thy throne to all generations. Now then, you see any throne
in Israel today? Is that fella, what's his name,
Perez, is he sitting on the throne, Betty? No, he was elected just
a couple years ago. Just like our president was elected.
There's not a throne in Israel. David's throne's been burned
a long time ago. But the true David is still on
his throne. He's still sitting on his throne
and it'll never be toppled. He said, thy seed will I establish
forever and build up thy throne to all generations. Now look
in verse 19. Then thou faithiest in adhesion
to the Holy One. And since I have laid help upon
one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people,
I have found Christ my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him, with whom my hand shall be established, and mine arm
also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon
him, nor the sun of wickedness afflict him, and I will beat
down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my
name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea, and his right hand in the rivers, and he shall cry unto
me, Thou art my father, my God, the rock of my salvation. Also,
I will make him my firstborn. We read that in Colossians 1,
didn't we? I'll make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the
earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant
shall stand fast with him. His seed, now he's talking to
you and me, His seed shall also, his seed also will I make to
endure forever, and the throne, his throne as the days of heaven.
If his children forsake my law, if they walk not in my statute,
if they break my judgments, if they break my statute, if they
keep not my commandment, then will I visit their transgression
with the rod, and their iniquity with the stripe, the loving father
of Jason's child. Nevertheless, Oh, I love this
nevertheless. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take 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 deed shall
endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. the moon
and as a faithful witness in heaven. Before the world was
made, I say, God made a covenant. A covenant in which he arranged,
decreed, and secured our everlasting salvation. It was a covenant
made for us. It was a covenant made for our
benefit. It was a covenant made for our
salvation. But it was a covenant made not
with us. Christ, the covenant of life,
all together with him. Therefore David could say, although
my house do not grow with God, yet the Lord hath made with me
an everlasting house, ordered in all things and sure, and this,
this covenant, is all my salvation and all my desire, though he
makes it not to grow. The apostle Paul says God hath
and call us within holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which were given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Were you there to get
it, Nancy? No. No. I wasn't there to get it. Bob wasn't there to get it. Paul
wasn't there to get it. How then did he give us grace
and salvation before the world was? In a covenant. In a covenant. in David, in Christ, that one
upon whom hell has been laid. He's the one who is the head
of the covenant and God does everything by him, everything. Not only is the covenant of grace
performed by God through Christ the Mediator, the creation of
the world is what God did through the Mediator. You read Genesis
1, 1 through 3, John 1, 1 through 3, Hebrews 1, 1 through 3. Paul
tells us in Hebrew, John tells us in the Gospel of John, and
God tells us in Genesis chapter 1 through Moses, that the world
was created by God. I know that contrary to the myth
of modern science, I wish we would learn. I wish we would
learn to have absolutely no regard for the opinions of men who regard
not God. I don't care how learned they
are. I don't care what their investigation proves or supposedly
proves. I don't care what their scientific
basis is. I don't care what their principle
is. Their principle is wrong. They know not God. And when God
says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, that's
what he means. That's what it is. The only man
who does not believe in creation is a foolish atheist at heart. An ignorant atheist. A willfully,
deliberately ignorant fool denies God's creation. Nobody else does.
Here I am. This body's not the best one
in the world, but it's pretty good. It's pretty good. I can
stick my finger in that water and feel cold. Find a man who
can make that. Huh? With these eyes, as bad
as they are, I can see the colors on your clothes. I can even focus
in on your faces. I can just zoom in on you. I
can see the whole congregation at one time. I can focus on that
little child. Find me a man who can make that. And yet people
stand around and they say, well, it all kind of, you know, I'm driving a Buick, white, blue
interior. Got electric seats, got tilt
steering wheel, got air conditioning. Thing gets about 22 miles to
the gallon, fly out on the road, 100 miles an hour if I want it
to. Got wheels on it, it rolls, leaves it, hits the speed, starts
up every time. Where'd that thing come from?
Oh, this kind of happens. I just looked out one day and
one day there was just a pile of metal out there and a bunch
of screws and bolts and nuts. Next day I looked out and things
started coming together. And one day I went out there
and it looked like a car. I got in the van. I said, man,
we've got six kids. They didn't run. And there she
took off. It was time to have some fun. They called the paddy wagon.
Somebody get this fella a straight jacket. He's almost six miles.
And yet folks tell us that God's wondrous creation just kind of
happened. You boys and girls, listen to
me. All of you, the youngest to the oldest. You're going to
school, you're hearing folks teach such foolishness. Now I
tell you, submit yourself to the authority that teaches, Jenny.
Submit to them. Obey them, honor them. But anybody
tells you that the world just happened, she's a fool. She's
a fool. Pay no attention to her. Pay
no attention to her. God created this world and he
did it by Christ. He did it by Christ. Paul says
he is the firstborn of every creature. What on earth does
that mean? I had a... I'll take you home
a witness so you'll know what I'm talking about. I had one
of those nuts come in my house one time. They don't come often.
Word gets you right in it. Came and sat down and said, Look,
Matt says he's the firstborn of every creature. That means
he must have begun sometime. Oh, does it, Matt? What Paul
is saying is this. Jesus Christ is the one from
whom and through whom all creation was born. That's what he's saying.
He's the beginning of the creation of God. He explains it himself
in Revelation 3.14. What he's saying is everything
that he is is springing from him. He's the original cause
of all things. God created the world by Christ,
and God rules the world in propaganda by Christ. He rules it by Christ. Turn over to Daniel chapter 7.
Daniel the 7th chapter. Oh, if we can see this. I mean
with our hearts. It kind of makes it easier. It makes us live in peace in
this world. Say, well, I know God's in charge. What God? I know God rules everything. What God? I know God's in control
of everything and all things work according to the purpose
of God. What God? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. The God who died on the cross.
The God who said, Father forgive them, they know not what they
do. The God who said, today you shall not be with me in paradise.
The God who said, let not your heart be troubled. The God who
said, behold my hands, my side, and my feet. That God rules the
world. He rules the world. Look here
in Daniel 7 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 natures, and all languages should serve
him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. Did you see what he said? All
people, all nations, all languages shall serve him. Serve him. That means go to the
job, serve him. That means Pastro serves him. That means Raven serves him.
That means you serve him. That means every dog on the earth,
every beast in the field, every man in the world, every demon
in hell, every angel in heaven serves him. Everything serves
him. He rules the world. He rules
the world. It is Christ mediatorial rule
over the world that preserves the world. Him who's going forth
has been from old of everlasting. This world, I realize, is now
under the rule and dominion of Christ as a man. But listen to this. Not only
did our Lord assume his throne as a man, after his obedience
to the father. But this world has always been
under the mediatorial rule of that man, Christ Jesus, always. Thank God, the God who rules
the world is the friend of sin. That's the reason he doesn't
destroy this world right now. God said to Adam in the garden, in
the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Theologians,
commentators, and preachers tried their best to get around that
verse of scripture for 6,000 years. Why didn't Adam die? Why didn't he die? He said, well,
he died for the creature. That's not what he said. He said, in the
day you eat, you're going to die. You're going to die. Why didn't Adam die? Why? I'll tell you why. Because the
mediator ruled the world. And there was already in heaven
a seed of whom the mediator had sworn, I will redeem them. And therefore he deserves to
live. Men today act so foolishly with their lives. I just don't
believe God will let things go on much longer. You don't know
God. He might let it go on a second.
He might let it go on another 20,000 years. I don't know. I
don't know. So God gets vexed with this generation.
God's been vexed with every generation. But he preserves the world. He
preserves the world. Because if he's got some sheep
in this world, he's determined to save. And he'll not destroy
this world until the last is brought in. That's what he says
in 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not flat concerning
his promises to us. What does some man count flatness?
These woeful sufferings to us were not willing that any of
us should perish, but that every last one of his elect should
come to repent us and the knowledge of the truth. And you'll see
this. Christ preserved the world since
the fall. He preserved the world now and
he rules the world for his elect. Thirdly, God deals with men only
in and through Let me give you some scripture references. We
don't take time to look them up. I hope you'll jot them down.
In John 10 verse 9, our Savior said, I am the door. Now, D.C. Llewellyn, that means
if you get in, you gotta go through that door. That's what it means.
I am the door. If there's only one door in this
building, let's suppose every other door is barred up, and
that's still the door. If you get into this room, girl,
you gotta come through that door. There's only one door to eternal
life and eternal glory. Christ is the door. There's only
one door of access to God the Father. Christ is the door. If
you get in, you're gonna have to go through that door. You're
gonna have to go through that door. Our Lord said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by Him. Ephesians 2, verse 18, the Apostle tells us that we
have access through Him. He is our peace by whom we have
access unto the Father. Hebrews 7.25 and 10.19 tells
us the same thing. We come to God by Christ, only
by Christ. God will not speak to nor will
he be spoken to by any man apart from Christ. Do not think. The whole of our salvation is
in Christ. The whole of it. God stays there
in Christ. Only one. Only one. Of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. Why? that according as it is
written, he that glorieth, let him glorieth the Lord. Now, my
friends, God will not receive any worship, prayer, sacrifice,
or service offered to him by any man but through the merits
and the mediation of God. He is our, he gave us a sweet
smelling sacrifice, and we offer up prayers acceptable unto God Everything done for God, everything
offered to God, must be done and offered in the name of Christ.
Now to do or offer something in the name of Christ, whether
it be prayer, worship, gift, devotion, whatever it is, is
to come to God with a conscious realization that we have no access
or merit before the eternal God but by the blood and righteousness
of his Son. All the blessings of grace and
glory are freely bestowed by God upon sinners for Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake. Do you know
why God forgives sinners? Do you know why he forgives sinners? Even as God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven you. God won't forgive sin of the
world. He won't do it. He just won't do it. He can't
do it. He can't. He's totally paralyzed. Dale takes Jimmy. He's been out
working all week. He comes home on Friday night,
and Donna says, uh, says, Dale, you gotta have a, you gotta do
something with Jimmy. He's done this, he's done that,
he's done those things. And Dale sits him down and he
talks to him. And he administers whatever punishment
is needed and required by the circumstance. And he forgives
him. He forgives him. He might even
forgive him without administering the punishment. And he can. He
can. Because Dale did like him. You
see that boy growing up, he does the same thing you do when he's
growing up. He acts the same way, maybe not quite as bad. He does the same thing, thinks
the same way, tries to hoodoo you just like you hoodoo your
dad. You see it in him. Yeah, you see it. You say, well,
don't I understand. Now, I'm telling you, this is
what's going to be the result of it. But I understand, and
I know you're sorry. I forgive you. I forget about
it. It's a lot of change. Because
he's not like you. He's holy. He's holy. The only way God will forgive
sin is for Christ's sake. Because of the blood and righteousness
of his blood. And God will, through Christ,
forgive every sinner who trespasses. He'll do it. All the comfort, instruction,
direction, guidance that God gives By the Holy Spirit comes
the center of the Lord Jesus Christ. What did our Lord say? John 16,
verse 10. He'll not speak of himself. When
he, the Spirit of truth, will come, he'll not speak of himself.
But whatsoever he shall hear of me, that will he see. He'll
take the things of mine and give them to you. The Holy Spirit,
according to the disposition of the covenant of grace, is
Christ's agent in this world. He does nothing of himself, he
speaks nothing of himself, and receives nothing for himself. It is the Spirit's delight to
do Christ's bidding in this world, even as it has been the Son's
delight to do the Father's bidding. Christ is the fountain of grace.
The Holy Spirit is the channel through which all the waters
of grace flow to us, not from the channel. I'll give you a
comparison. Over in 1 Corinthians 12, verse
11, Paul says the Spirit gives to every man severally as he
will. In Ephesians 4, verses 7-12, Paul tells us the gifts
of the Spirit are the gifts of Christ. They're the gifts of
Christ. The gifts of the Holy Spirit
are really the gifts of Christ bestowed upon the Church of God
for the glory of Christ, the furtherance of the gospel, and
the increase in spiritual welfare of Christ's body. I stress this. I've got to hurry, but I won't
concede it. Everywhere today, we hear men
saying this is the age of the Holy Spirit. They talk about the anointing
of the Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit. the gift of the
spirit, the filling of the spirit, the power of the spirit, the
presence of the spirit, the work of the spirit, and say very little
about the person and work of Christ. Very, very little. And when they do say something
about him, it's wrong. And they do. You listen to these fellas
on television, radios. When they do speak of Christ,
I'm guarantee you everything they say about him is wrong.
Everything they say. They don't know anything about his glory.
They talk about the spirit, the spirit, the spirit. I want to
tell you something. Men are always talking about
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. They do not
have the Holy Spirit. They don't have it. Mark Montgomery
and I were talking in my office earlier this week. When we were younger, growing
up, almost everybody talks about a coming one world church. A great ecumenical church where
there's no doctrinal distinction. No doctrinal format. No doctrinal truth proclaimed.
It doesn't matter what you believe. Everybody gets along well. And
back in the 40s, they thought that was ecumenical. They thought
that was the ecumenical gathering of the Church's physical. No
sir. No sir. I'm going to tell you
something. What was spoken of, what's spoken of in the Word,
I'm convinced, I'm blasphemous, is this modern, charismatic,
Whoopsie doo, no nothing to lose. You listen to me, listen carefully.
You go to most Baptist churches in this town or any other town,
and there might be a few folks in the church who might possibly
not be quite convinced that they ought to be speaking in tongues,
but they won't say a word about it, because most people in the
church are going around to these little prayer meetings with pious
family women who get together and have a women's aglow meeting.
Stay away from such junk. You ladies, if you want to get
together, get together and talk about your soul problems. Don't
stare at this picture. Let somebody else teach you this
picture. Somebody who knows something about it. They get around all
this, I absolutely do. They get to speaking in tongues
and want to call somebody's head to grow a little longer, or call
somebody's hair to quit falling out. They want to do something
to sound spiritual. And they're Catholics there,
and they're Baptists there, And there's Pentecostals there, and
there's Methodists there, and there's Campbellites there. It
doesn't matter what they do. It doesn't matter. I've seen
them interview them on television. It doesn't matter what they are.
Whether they're Buddhists, or whether they're Catholics, as
long as they've got the gift. They don't have anything. They
don't have anything. They flat don't have anything. My friends, the Holy Spirit speaks
not of himself, but of Christ. And those who have the Spirit
of Christ speak of Christ, Christ, Christ, nothing but Christ. Now
let me be understood. Let us reverence the Holy Spirit.
By all means, worship the Spirit. Honor the Spirit. He's God. He's
God. He's not a thing. He's God. But
the only way to reverence the Spirit is to reverence the Son. The only way to worship the Spirit
is to worship the Son. The only way to honor the Spirit
with all heart is to honor the Son. There's not any other way.
What is it to have the anointing of the Spirit? To have Christ. What is it to have the baptism
of the Spirit? To be baptized into Christ. What is it to have
the gifts of the Spirit? To have the covenant blessings
of God's grace in Christ. What is it to have the filling
of the Spirit? To have Christ in you, the hope of glory. What
is it to have the power of the Spirit? It is to have the power
of Christ. What is it to have the presence
of the Spirit? It's to have the presence of Christ. What is it
to have the work of the Spirit? It's to have Christ in you, formed
in you, walking in you. What is it to walk in the Spirit?
It's to walk in Christ, to walk with Christ, to walk for Christ,
and to walk towards Christ. That's what it is. That's what
it is. The Holy Spirit. shows men Christ and forms Christ
in them and causes them to worship Christ and follow him. They say this is the age of the
Spirit. Foolish. This is the age of the Son. This
is the age of the Son. It began in that gospel day morning
when the Son of Righteousness arose with healing wings and
it'll never end. It'll never end. it's going to
get more glorious than it never is. That sun shall never set. When the world has been folded
up like a vesture that's worn out and no longer useful, when
time is no more and the sun ceases to shine, when all men stand
before God at the bar of judgment, God will still be dealing with
men by the sun. The judge who will sit upon the
great white throne shall be himself the God's man, Jesus Christ our
Lord. The father judges no man. I don't
know why on earth people will just run, elbow around the scriptures
and try their best to avoid a text that says something. All the
time I was in school I never could buy it. Scorpio theology,
that's dispensational junk. Get everything divided up and
hacked up exactly like there's never going to be a judgment
here and there's going to be no believers. Oh no, that won't work. We will judge the cows. But Christ
is going to judge us here and then there's going to be another
judgment and God the Father is going to sit on the throne then.
Now how do you reckon the Spirit sits? Huh? What kind of throne
do you suppose He said so in John 5. There is a day of resurrection
coming. Everybody's going to stand before
God, and the God before whom you shall stand is Jesus Christ.
There is a day of reckoning. Everybody's going to face God
in judgment, and the God will There is a day of final retribution
when every man shall receive exactly his due. Exactly his
due. David Coleman, you're going to
get from God exactly what you deserve. Exactly. So am I. So will you. So pastor, I tremble
in my boots to say that. I would too if I didn't know
Christ. I would too if I didn't know Him. I'll stand before God
on that day. with no sin against my charge,
with a record of perfect righteousness, and perfect obedience, and perfect
lightness to God's holy law, and God will honor me." Say,
where on earth did you get that? In Christ. In Christ. And when
God calls me before himself, and the Son demands righteousness,
he'll send that hymn that is Him that is holy be holy still.
He'll say come holy ones, come righteous ones into my kingdom
prepared for you from the foundations of the world. I don't have that
kind of righteousness. You don't have that kind, you
ain't got any of it. I don't know whether I've been
able to satisfy God for all my sin or not. He hasn't satisfied
Him for all of it. He hasn't satisfied Him for any of it. Now you didn't
have it. You didn't have it. Everything's in the sun. Everything's
in the sun. Trust the sun. He'll make you
righteous. Trust the sun. He'll make you
free. Trust the sun. He'll bring you
eternally into glory on the merits of his righteousness and his
love. And throughout the endless ages
of eternity according to God's holy decree and wise design When the God-man has at last
fulfilled his last covenant engagement as the surety, what is he going
to do? the kingdom, the whole creation,
the whole God, for the glory of God. He's going to present
all the children wholly without blame, having subdued everything
under his feet, and with Christ, in the eternal endless reign
of his glory and righteousness, God shall be all in all, for
in everything he must have the truth. Oh, 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. You know what would happen if
you could reach up, put the sun out, take it out of the door,
the planet would crash together. Everything would be destroyed.
You know what would happen? If you could take Christ, the
son of righteousness, out of there, heaven itself would be
there. That's what happened. What the
sun is in its place, the son of is existence and be now and
forever in all things.