Turn to Colossians 1. Paul in verse 27 spoke of the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. It's a mystery
that we would never have known. unless God was pleased to make
it known. And what is this great mystery? It's the mystery of Christ in
you. The hope of glory. Now I don't know of anything
I can think of that's more incredible than that. Christ in you. the hope of glory. Now, what does Christ in you
mean? I can see Christ for me. I can
grasp that somehow. I can see Christ with me. I can
grasp that somehow. But Christ in me, Christ inside
of me, inside of me, I have bones and organ tissue and blood and
water and minerals. What is this of Christ being
in me? Christ dwelling in my heart. We sing that song, Christ liveth
in me. If I'm a believer, Christ has
a dwelling place within my heart. He lives in me. Now, this is a reality. Turn to John 17. The Lord says
in verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, speaking just of
the 12 disciples. Remember in verse nine, when
he said, I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them,
which you've given me for they are thine. He's praying for his
elect at this time. And he says, neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through
their word. that they all may be one as thou
father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in
us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me and the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them. Now you think of
the glory the father gave the son. He said I've given that
to them. that they may be one even as
we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one and the world may know that thou has sent me
and has loved them as thou has loved me. One with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, how is that? How is Christ
in me? Well, first of all, the Lord
Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. He's
a real man in a glorified body. I don't understand what a glorified
body is, but he's a real man with a glorified body, and he's
seated at the right hand of the Father, even right now, making
intercession for me, making intercession for all of his people, seated
there as the great high priest and representative of his people.
Now, how can he be in me because it says Christ in you, the hope
of glory. And this is a reality. We'll
turn with me to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight or six, but to be carnally minded,
That's just naturally minded. That's the way we are by nature.
If God doesn't do something for us and leaves us alone and just
leaves us to ourselves, here's where we'll be. Carnally minded.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded. is life and peace because the
carnal mind, that's what we all have by nature, is enmity against
God. For it's not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but
in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, the spirit of God is the spirit of Christ.
He is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Now here he tells us he's
in us by his spirit. God the Holy Spirit. It's the
Spirit of Christ. He dwells in my heart. Christ
dwells in my heart. The Spirit of Christ is the new
nature. It's the new birth. It's what loves God. It's what
believes the gospel. It's what sees sin. It's what
rejoices in Christ. Christ in you, the Spirit of
God in you, this new nature in you, the seed that cannot sin. God dwells in our hearts by faith. We read in 2 Corinthians 6.16
where God said, I will dwell in them and walk in them. Now, if you're a believer, you're
the habitation of God. You're the house God lives in.
You're the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what an awesome,
glorious thing to think about. God lives in me. Christ Jesus the Lord lives within
me. God the Holy Spirit lives within
me. The habitation of God. Zion is
called the habitation of God. Zion is the church. Now when
we're born of the Spirit of Christ, we become actual dwelling places
of God. Now this is a mystery, isn't
it? It's not something so much that can be explained or intellectually
grasped and comprehended, it's something to be believed and
experienced. That's all you can say about
it. I can't intellectually grasp how the God of glory can actually
dwell within my heart, how Christ is in me, how God the Holy Spirit
lives and takes residence within me. But I know this, if I believe
it's because of him in me. If I repent, it's because of
Him in me. I know that by experience. I
know that the only reason I love is because of Him in me. We were
listening to that hymn that you just sung. My Jesus, I love Thee. I know Thou art mine. For Thee
all the follies of sin I resign. I love Thee because Thou hast
first loved me. You know, His love never goes
unrequited. He never loves somebody and they
don't love Him in return. I love him because he first loved
me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree. I love him for
wearing the thorn on his brow. If ever I loved thee, my Jesus
is now. Now, I know that the only reason
I love him is because Christ liveth in me. That's the only
reason, and I know that, and I love that. Christ liveth in
me. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3.
We're going to look at several scriptures that deal with this
glorious subject. Ephesians chapter 3. Verse 16, that He would grant
you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith. Now if you have faith, now what
do I mean by faith or what does the Bible mean by faith? If you
have faith, that means you're actually trusting the sacrifice
of Christ as your only sin payment. That means you're trusting the
righteousness of Christ as your personal righteousness before
God. You're trusting the intercession
of Christ, the fact that he's at the right hand of the Father,
as the only reason you'll persevere. You're looking to Him to pray
for you and to keep you. And that's what it is to have faith
in Christ. That Christ may dwell in our
hearts by faith. Now, I'm looking to Christ right
now as everything in my salvation. While I'm talking to you right
now, I really believe He saved me. I really believe He's all
in salvation. I really believe His righteousness
is my righteousness before God. I really believe that His shed
blood washed away my sins, and I'm resting in Him. I'm not doing
anything. I'm resting in Him. That's what
faith is. Faith is opposed. It's not works.
It's believing Him. Now, if you do that, if you're
somebody who looks only to Christ, there's one reason why you look
only to Christ, because He Himself dwells in your heart. That's
what the scripture says, that Christ may dwell in your heart
by faith. He dwells in your heart, in the
inner man, by his spirit. Turn over to Galatians 1. Verse 15, but Paul says, when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. And that's so important. He didn't
say to reveal His Son to me. Now I need to have Christ revealed
to me, but that's not enough. And let me tell you why it's
not enough. Because the me in the to me is not enough to lay
hold on him and keep hold of him and contain him. I need something
more than that. I don't need simply Christ to
be revealed to me because I'll forget him. I'll lose it. I need
him to be revealed in me. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen Immediately,
I conferred not with flesh and blood. You see, it's only him
in me that enables me to do anything spiritual. Look in Galatians 2.20. Paul says in verse 20 of Galatians
chapter two, I'm crucified with Christ. Now, did he mean that
literally? Yes. Yes, I was in Him. This is talking about me in Christ.
Now, we're not talking about Christ and me. We're talking
about me in Christ. When He was crucified, I was crucified too.
I was crucified with Christ. That's what we confess in baptism.
We confess in baptism. When He lived, I lived. When
He died, I died. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. I was crucified with Christ.
I was in Him. You see, everybody He represented was crucified
right along with Him, and my sin was put away at that time.
Now, let's go and read it. I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless,
even though I died. When Christ died, I didn't do.
Nevertheless, don't you love that word in scriptures, nevertheless?
That's a good word. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his name's sake. I think a good definition of
grace is nevertheless. Nevertheless. Nevertheless, I
live. I was crucified with Christ.
I died with Christ, and now I live. I live before God. I myself love
God. I really do. I love the Lord
Jesus Christ. I delight in Him. I delight in
His way of salvation. I love God the way He is. I wouldn't
change Him if I could. I live before God. I personally have true faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm in a state of repentance.
I live. But look what he says next. Yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me. Same thing he said, Christ in
you, the hope of glory. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I live before God, yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. I believe. Now, like I said,
I can't explain this. I can just talk about it. I can
say what it says, and I believe it, experience it, rejoice in
it, understand it. I live, yet it's not me. It's Christ living in me. I believe
the gospel. I do. I believe the gospel. But
it ain't me. It's Christ living in me. Don't you believe? Yes, I do.
And I believe this. It's Christ living in me. I repent of my sin, whatever
that means. I'm in a continual state of repentance,
repentance before God, a change of mind. And I know it's the
new nature, it's God the Holy Spirit, it's Christ in me that
does that. It's Christ in me that sees the
sin in the first place. You know, I never even saw sin,
really, until God saved me. And when God saved me, then I
saw it. Christ liveth in me. The life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me. Don't you believe? Yeah, I do.
I believe it is. Look in verse 16 of the same
chapter. Here's what I believe. Knowing. That a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That's exactly what I believe.
I believe I'm justified by the faith of Christ. His faithfulness,
his obedience before God. That's what I believe. Christ living. in me. I know because of Christ living
in me that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing and it's only Christ
in me that recognizes that. You know somebody that doesn't
have a new nature they might hear a believer talk about his
sinfulness and so on and they think what's wrong with him?
What's wrong with him? I mean are they practicing all
kinds of secrets? Why do they talk about that?
Why do they think that way? If you had the Spirit of Christ
you'd know. You'd know exactly why a believer speaks that way.
It's the new nature that sees the old nature in the old man.
That's what made Paul cried out, oh wretched man that I am, talking
about his old man. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Now don't you know if you have
faith that it's his faith? Don't you know it's Christ living
in you? You know it didn't come from you. It didn't come because
you decided to believe. It didn't come as an act of your
free will where you let God do this or you let God do that.
You know that's foolishness. You know it's Christ living in
you. I don't have to convince any
believer of that. They know it's so. Look in John
chapter 15. Beginning in verse four. The Lord says, abide in me and
I in you. You abide in me and I abide,
I remain in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except
you abide in me. in me. I am the vine, you are
the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you
can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. Men gather them,
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will,
and it shall be done unto you." Now, the Lord, first of all,
he says, abide in me. What's that mean? What's that mean? To abide in Christ. I can tell
you exactly what it means. You listen real carefully. It's
a conscious desire to be found nowhere but in Him. A conscious
desire. I don't want God to see me preaching
this sermon. I don't want God to see me when
I'm praying or when I'm reading the Bible. I want God to see
me in Christ and that is the only way I want him to see me.
I don't want him to see anything but Jesus Christ the Lord. Like being in the house with
the blood over the door there was one place of safety in the
house with the blood over the door. I don't want to be anywhere
else and I'm very conscious of that fact. I really don't want
to stand before God in anything that has anything to do with
me, just want to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you
feel that way too? Every believer does. I want to
abide in Him. That's my dwelling place. That's
where I enjoy being. That's where I want to remain.
That's where I want to stay, simply in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He abides in me. And the reason I want to abide
in Him is because He abides in me. And it's Christ in me that
causes me to want to be in Him. That's why I feel the way I do. And the Lord said, without me,
you can do... He didn't say hardly anything.
He said, without me, you can do nothing. Nothing. You can't believe, you can't
repent, you can't love, you can't continue in the faith. Without
me, you can do nothing. But he that abides in me, and
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, the fruit of God
the Holy Spirit. That's Christ in you. And I love
what he said in verse seven. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you. Now if Christ is in your heart,
His words, the very words of the Lord Jesus, what he said
in his word, this whole book, his words, his doctrine, his
truth, it abides in you. And you find his words to be
words of spirit and words of life. And you live off his words. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done
unto you. Turn back to John chapter 6. This is very much saying the
same thing in a little bit different of a way. Beginning in verse
53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you. Except you eat the flesh of the
son of man and drink his blood. you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life and I'll raise him up at the last
day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I
in him. Now, when our Lord made that
statement, The Lord's table had not yet been instituted. And I know this is used to teach
the mass and transubstantiation, constubstantiation, that the
actual body of Christ, when you take the bread and the wine,
it turns into the actual body and blood of Christ, and you're
actually eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The Lord's
not teaching cannibalism, and that's the only word we use for
that. The Lord's not teaching anything like that. What is he
teaching when he says, except a man eat my flesh and drink
my blood? There's no life in him. When you eat something, you take
something that's totally external, something outside of you that's
not a part of you, and you take it in and receive it to yourself
and it becomes a part of you. it actually becomes a part of
you. Now when he's talking about his
flesh and his blood, he's referring to his broken body and his shed
blood. And eating his flesh and drinking
his blood which is faith in himself, it's looking to him, is just
as necessary to my soul as food and water is to my physical body. My physical body must have food
and water or I'll die. And my spiritual body must have
continually his flesh and his blood. and I drink His blood
and I eat His flesh and it's Christ in me. Looking to Christ,
looking to at all times. I never get away from this thing
of I need the Lord, I need Christ, I need Him crucified, I need
His shed blood, I need His broken body. All the time, all the time
I have to hear the gospel over and over and over again. I take
something from without me, it comes in and it becomes part
of me. I take it in, that's Christ in you. the hope of glory. And you know, eating and drinking
Christ by faith, our satisfaction doesn't come from yesterday's
meal, does it? Had a good meal yesterday, I
was satisfied by it, but I had to have another one today. I can't live off yesterday's
faith. I can't live off yesterday's experience. I can't live off
yesterday's anything. You know, I think of what the
Lord said to the church at Sardis. You've got a name that you live,
and you're dead. The church at Sardis was living
off the past. I don't want to do that. I have to have Christ
right now. I have to look to him now. I
need to rest in him now. Yesterday's experience, it's
over. It's gone. I don't know what it meant. But right now,
to whom coming? Not to whom you came. to whom
coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious, we're always coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. His flesh is meat and drink.
And I'll tell you this, if there's a meal you like, you want to
eat it again, don't you? You want to eat it over and over
and over. My favorite foods, you know,
I've got a lot of them, but the first thing I think about ever
since I was a little boy, I've loved peanut butter. I love peanut
butter. And there's two jars of peanut
butter in that cabinet. I go in there and get spoonfuls
of it every day. I eat peanut butter every day and not one
time have I ever got sick of it. I love peanut butter. Well, hearing the gospel, hearing
the truth, I love it. Hearing of my Redeemer, my Savior,
the salvation that's in Him, the complete salvation that's
in Him. Hearing that there's nothing for me to do because
He's done it all and I simply rest in Him. I love to hear that
over and over and over. You know, I can't hear enough
about justification. I can't hear enough about He
is my personal righteousness before God. You know, I've been
hearing that for years and years and years and it don't get old. It don't get old. It's a hearing
of the complete, the effectual atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I put away all my sin. He put it all away and I have
no sin. Tell it to me again. I want to hear that over and
over and over again. You know, we always want to eat,
don't we? I know some people forget to eat. It hadn't happened
to me once. Never has. I've always been curious about
these people. Said I was so busy I forgot about
eating. Not me. My stomach. I always want to
eat. And that's a beautiful illustration
of what faith in Christ is, eating his flesh and drinking his blood. You know, this is a beautiful
thought. If Christ is in you, well, you
know, what you are on the inside is what you really are. Isn't
that so? What you are on the inside is
what you really are. And if you're Christ's, Christ
is in you. He's who you are on the inside. And that's who you really are.
The new man in Christ Jesus. I turned to first John chapter
three, verse 24. 1 John chapter 3 verse 24, And
he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abided
in us by the spirit which he hath given us. Now what is this
thing about keeping his commandments? Now it's true. that if the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ has been imputed to me by God, I
have kept all of his commandments, every single one of them. I'd
be someone who's described as someone who's never sinned, who's
perfect in Christ Jesus. That's what justification is.
It means I've never sinned. I stand without guilt before
God. So in that sense, I've kept his commandments. But you know,
that's not what John's talking about here. While that's true, that's
not what John is talking about. Look up in verse 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him because we keep his commandments. Not just we memorize them, not
that we admire them, but we actually keep them and do those things
that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment.
Here's the commandment we keep, if we're believers, that we should
believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another
as he gave us commandments. Now here are two commandments
that we actually keep. The first one is if we believe
on the name of his son. really believe on the name of
His Son. You know what that means? It
means a whole lot of things. It means I believe His name is
gonna bring me into glory. It means I believe His name Jehovah
Tzadkinev, the Lord our righteousness, is my personal name before God. That's that new name He gives
every believer. Jehovah Tzadkinev, the Lord our
righteousness. I believe His name is the name
that's above every name, that His name, let's put it this way,
when my name is called, He will say for me, present and accounted
for. It's His name that will do that.
I'm not gonna speak for myself. I'm gonna wait for my Redeemer
to speak for me, and it's His name that makes me acceptable
before God. Oh, don't you love His name,
the Lord? He's the Lord. The Philippian
jailer said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? He said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I believe
he's the Lord. That means he's the one who's
in charge. That means he's in absolute control. Do you believe
that? Do you believe everybody's in his hands and whatever he
does is right? He does with anybody whatever
he's pleased to do. Actually, he's the Lord. He's Jesus. He's
the Savior. What a name! Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. What a precious name! I need
to be saved from my sins! Lord, save me from my sins! He's
the Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his offices. He's God's
prophet. He's the word of God. He's God's
priest. If he brings me into the presence of God, I must be
saved. He's God's king. I need him to
rule and reign in me and cause me to do his will and cause me
to persevere. Oh, I need all of his offices.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Do you
believe on his name? You can answer that right now. Do you
believe on his name? Do you believe? His name. You
believe if He remembers you, nothing else will need to be
said. Like that thief, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.
If He remembers me, nothing else will need to be said because
it's His name remembering me. Now this is commandment that
we should believe on His name and look what it says next, and
love one another as He gave us commandment. Now This is a real
love. Not just a love in word or tongue,
but a real love. Loving one another. Love is,
God is love. He that loveth is born of God,
knoweth God. For God is love. This is not talking about the
kind of love between a man and a woman or between a parent and
a child or anything like that. This is talking about a supernatural
love that every believer possesses. Now, there are Believers. I want to be honest about this.
There are other believers that you probably, there are believers
you enjoy being around and relish being around and there are believers
that perhaps you don't enjoy being around as much. But here's
the point. Even if you don't, you love them
for Christ's sake. You really do. Do you know anybody
that Christ loves? I love that person. I really
do. and anybody that loves Christ. If you love Christ, I'm an admirer
of you. I love you. And this is real.
And it's not just a love that's in word and in tongue, but in
deed and in truth. Every believer loves the brethren. Turn to 1 Peter 3. I love this. Finally, verse eight, first Peter
three, verse eight. Finally, this is what I'm, this
is why I've written everything I've written. It's coming down
to this. Finally, be all of one mind, having compassion, one
of another true sympathy, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous
or humble. is the actual word, low-minded,
not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, not paying
people back, or if somebody says something bad to you, you say
something bad in return, but contrary-wise, blessing. Isn't
that wonderful? That's so beautiful, the way
that the Lord has called upon us to think of one another. This
is a supernatural love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Now, we keep these commandments,
and here's why we keep them. He dwells in us. That's why we keep them. Now,
this believing on His name, and I do believe on His name, this
loving His people, and I do love His people. Lord knows that's
so. I know I do. And I know the only reason I
do it is because He dwells in me. Christ liveth in me. Look in 1 John 4, while you're
turning there, let me say this thing of keeping this commandment
of loving one another. When the Lord talked about Judgment
Day and he said, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You remember that,
Matthew 25, 32. What does he say? He says, for
I was hungry. And you gave me bread. I was
sick and in prison. You came and visited me. He said
all those things. And they said, when did we do this? He said,
inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, my brethren,
you did it to me. First John 4, 12. No man has seen God at any time
if we love one another God dwells in us and his love is perfected
in us. Look in verse 15 of 1 John chapter
4. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him. Now, if you confess
that Jesus is the son of God, God dwells in you and you in
God. Now, you know, that doesn't simply
mean making an audible confession. But if I confess this, that Jesus
is the son of God, I confess that he's equal with God. I confess
that He's the Creator, one with the Father. I confess He's holy. I confess He's sovereign. I confess
He's all-powerful. His will must be done. His will
can't be thwarted. I confess He's omniscient. He
knows all things. I confess he's omnipresent, he's
everywhere at once. I confess he's immutable. I confess
he's eternal. I confess he's gracious. I confess
he must be successful. Even the thief knew this when
he said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He knew
he was going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Now listen
to this scripture. It's from Matthew 27. Now when
the centurion and they that were with him, and I believe probably
that this Roman centurion, he's talking about thee, the only
one there, he was the one that gave the orders for the death
of Christ. He's the one who told the soldiers what to do. This
is the one we're talking about. Now, when the centurion, watching
Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done,
feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the Son of God. Was he saved? Of course he was. Of course he was. That man who
was presiding over the actual death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was giving the soldiers the orders to nail him to a cross,
God revealed himself to that man. And he feared greatly, saying
truly, this was the Son of God. You see, anything that we truly
experience. Why did that Roman centurion,
who up to that point, he was no believer. Christ came
into him and he was made to see who Jesus Christ was. Christ in you the hope of glory
and anything we truly experience is Christ in you. Do you believe
he's the son of God? You really believe that? I love
that passage of scripture in Acts chapter 8 where I quote
this all the time but it becomes more thrilling to me. The Roman
centurion said, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized?
I want enough. Maybe I should. Maybe I haven't
experienced enough. Maybe I don't know enough. Maybe
I don't love enough. Maybe something's wrong with
me, and I want to know if there is. Here's water. What hinders me from being
baptized? What a question. Philip said,
if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's the one qualification.
That's what somebody does when Christ lives in them. They believe
that He is the Son of God. Now, Christ in you, the sure
and certain hope of glory. I remember one time hearing Brother
Mahan preach on this passage of scripture, and it was in Danville,
and he closed with this. He said, a little boy asked his
father, how big was Christ? And he said, oh, I'm not sure.
I suppose he's probably about the same size as me, I would
think. Seems like he ought to stick
out of people. And well, he should. In those things of believing
on his name, it's something you can see. And loving his people. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in his name that
he might be in us.