Would you turn to 1 Timothy chapter
6? Paul says in verse 13 of 1 Timothy
chapter 6, I give thee charge in the sight of God. who quickeneth
all things. That word quickens means gives
life to all things. I've entitled this message, the
God who quickens, who gives life to all things. All life in the
universe comes from God. Are there other forms of life
in other galaxies light years away? Well, I doubt it. I doubt
it. But if there are, their life
comes from God. There's only one God and all
life comes from Him. The living God who quickens,
who gives life to all things. There's plant life, there's animal
life, there's angelic life, there's human life, and there's spiritual
life. And all these come from Him who
quickens all things. The fact that you're breathing
right now, is because God's willing it. The fact that you're alive
right now is because the living God is causing you to be alive. He quickens all things. It was said of Abraham that he
believed God who quickened, gave life to the dead and called those
things which be not as though they were. Now, everybody is
born with an innate intuitive knowledge that there is a God
and that we are dependent upon him and responsible to him and
we don't need proof for that. Everybody's born with that knowledge. When we hear it, we know intuitively
that it's true. When we hear that a part is not
as great as the whole, When we hear that the shortest distance
between two points is a straight line, we don't need proof of
that, do we? We just know it so. We know it intuitively. Every effect must have a cause.
I think of that scripture in Romans 1.20, the invisible things
of him, talking about God, the invisible things of him, ever,
remember ever, cause. has to have a cause. Every effect
has to have a cause. And that's taught so clearly
in Romans 1, 20, where it says, the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen. Being understood
by the things that are made, we understand that somebody caused
this. You can't look at creation and not know that God didn't
cause it. We know that intuitively, that
every effect must have a cause. Take motion. If something is
moving, something got it moving. And the scripture says, in him,
we live and move and have our being. Right now, you and I have
our being in him. Living things move, even if it's
just growth and in him. We live and move and have our
being. We are totally dependent. I love
this statement. We're totally dependent on an
absolutely independent God. Isn't that so? We're totally
dependent upon an independent God. Now, while all men know
innately and intuitively that there is a God, it's only by
revelation that we can know him. Now we can look at creation and
say somebody created this. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the earth showeth forth his handiwork. Anyone can
look at creation and everyone does look at creation and deep
down they know this didn't all just pop up somehow. Someone
created this. While we can know that there
is a God, you can only know him if he's pleased to make himself
known. And the only way you can know me, you can know I exist.
You can look at me and you can say, yeah, he exists. But the
only way you can know me is if I make myself known to you. That's the only way that you
can know what's going on in here. Now, God is a spirit. God is spirit. It's hard to get
hold of that, isn't it? God is spirit. He's not a material
object. He is infinite. He never had
a beginning. He's eternal. He's unchangeable
in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness,
and truth. And the only way we know that regarding the character
of God, I've just talked about his character, is because he's
made it known in his word, the Holy Bible. And we can't have
a relationship with him unless he quickens us. unless he gives
us spiritual life. And you hath he quickened who
were dead. That means no life in trespasses
and sins. If God hadn't given you spiritual
life, you are dead in trespasses and sins. Listen to these scriptures.
As the father raises the dead and quickens them, even so the
son quickens whom he will. It's the spirit that quickeneth,
that gives life. God, the Holy Spirit. You can't
give yourself life. Only God, the Holy Spirit can
give life to you. It's the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profits
nothing. The Lord said, the words that
I speak unto you, they're spirit and they are life. The hour is
coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God, and they that hear shall live. Now, if you've noticed,
quickening is attributed to all three persons of the Godhead
in those scriptures I just gave, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Now, I love the way the Bible
calls God the living God. who quickens all things, the
living God. Now, why does the scripture use
words like that? The only true and living God,
or it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. What is meant by the living God? The God of the Bible is the living
God, as opposed to the many false gods made by men. Christ, the
son of the living God, and I love thinking about this, he can only
be a son if he has a father. And God the father can only be
a father if he has a son. Christ, the son of the living
God, God the father, they're the only living God, as opposed
to all the false gods made by man's religion. Now, any concept
of God, that is not according to the scriptures is a false
God, a dead God, a God that cannot save. For instance, the God of
free will, the God of free will, the people who believe in free
will, their God is a false God. It's a non-existent God that
cannot save. It's the product of man's depraved
imagination. Any concept of God that doesn't
recognize him, as all-powerful, absolutely sovereign, in control
of everything, utterly independent, with no needs, omniscient, all-knowing,
omnipresent, eternal, and immutable, is no God at all, a God that
deserves nothing but scorn. Turn with me to 1 Kings chapter
18 for a moment. Now, look at the way Elijah speaks
to those who worshipped Baal. Verse 26, And they took the bullock
which was given them, and then they dressed it and called on
the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear
us. But there was no voice nor any
that answered. And they leaped upon the altar
which was made, and it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked
them. He mocked them and said, cry aloud for he's
a God. Either he's talking or he is pursuing or he's in a journey
or peradventure. He sleepeth and must be awaked.
You see the way he mocked and gave scorn to the false God. Now, any God that's not the God
of the Bible is a God worthy of nothing but scorn. And if
my God is not the God of the Bible, I am practicing idolatry. That's all. And men don't like
to be told that their God is nothing more than an idol and
you won't see that unless the living God quickens you and gives
you life. And don't you know that you can't
even hear the gospel except as he gives you life and hearing
ears and a heart to receive and he gives the preacher word from
him. We're totally dependent upon him. Now, the living God
The God who quickens all things is the self-existent God. He said, as the father hath life
in himself, he has no needs. He's utterly independent. So
if he's given this to the son to have life in himself, no needs. I love to think of the Lord like
this. You know, he, he doesn't need me. He doesn't need you. He said, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. cattle on a thousand hills are
mine. He's not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. And as the living God, he's the
eternal, immutable, unchanging God. He never began. He'll never
end. He was, is, and will be the same. He didn't dwell in time. That's
the living God who gives life, who quickens all things. And
this living God is the ever-acting God, the first cause behind all
things, the one in whom we live and move and have our being. Whatever's going on with you
right now, whatever's going on with me right now, and there's
a lot, no doubt, God is behind all of it, controlling it, the
first cause of all things. And the living God is the source
of life, the giver of life, and the sustainer of life. David said, my soul thirsts for
God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before my God? He also said, thy servant slew
the bear and the lion, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall
be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the
living God. Now it's the living God, the
one I'm talking about, the one the Bible reveals, who quickens
all things. He gives plants life. You know, the plants they're
growing right now, they're growing simply because of his will. The
insect that creeps along the forest floor has its life from
God. The elephant in Africa or India,
the mighty elephant walking along has its life from God. The whale
in the sea, the blue whale that's 120 feet long, the shark, the
little minnows, the shrimp, they all have their life from God. Angelic life. The scripture says
they're greater in power and might. They have their life from
God. Some of them are called elect
angels, the unfallen angels and the demons. Satan himself has
his life from God. Every man, woman, boy, and girl
in this planet is alive for this single reason. He gave them life. And if you have your spiritual
life, if you have spiritual life, you have it from God. And you
know that. Now, what is this thing of spiritual
life? The God who quickens all things. Now, the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Now, whatever this life is, I
want it, don't you? I want to have this eternal life,
the gift of God's grace. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. And there are several scriptures
that I wanted to look at with regard to this thing of having
life, and the first one is in John 14, chapter 6, where the
Lord said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ
is my life. I'm not just talking about living
for Him. I hope by the grace of God I am living for Him. I
hope He is the Lord of my life. He's my husband. He's my Lord.
He's my King. But when I'm talking about Him
being my life, I'm not talking about me living for Him. I'm
talking about His life is my life before God. so that when
I stand before God in judgment and my life is judged, there'll
be no fault in it because the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
is my life before God. Now, his life wouldn't mean anything
if it wasn't for his death. Oh, he died. He shed his precious
blood to put away my sin. My sin became his sin and his
life becomes my life so that my life before God is the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I'll be justified. I have the life of Christ. That's
my very life before God. He said, I am the life. Don't you love having Him as
your life? I have such confidence. I have such joy in that. I have
such peace. He is my life. When God sees Todd Nybert, He
sees the life. Todd Nybert, Jesus Christ. His
life is my life. Fine linen, she shall be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white. This is the righteousness of
the saints. And the righteousness of Christ is the righteousness
of the saints. His perfect life. God who quickens all things. If you have spiritual life, it's
because He gave it to you. Now this thing of spiritual life, A dead man, his senses don't
work. He can't see, he can't smell, he can't hear, he can't
feel, he can't taste. He's dead. But if he's alive,
he can see, he can hear, he can smell, he can taste, he can feel.
Now a believer has been given spiritual life and our spiritual
senses work. I see the beauty of Jesus Christ. I see the beauty of being saved
by Him. Do you? Do you see the beauty
of being saved by the righteousness of somebody else? Do you see
the beauty of the power of His blood, how this glorifies God?
I see the beauty of being saved by Christ. And I see the ugliness
of salvation by works. I see the difference. It's ugly. It's not something you want to
behold. I can taste that the Lord is gracious. And I can also
taste the bitterness of bondage. I can smell the sweet smell of
His savor and His gospel. And I can also smell the stench
of sin. You can't do that unless you
have life. I can hear the gospel as gospel. It's good news to
me. I can hear the gospel as gospel. And I hear it and rejoice
in it. And I can hear that which is
not the gospel too. I can discern the difference.
I can hear that which is salvation by works. I don't want anything
to do with that. I can feel His presence. And I can also feel the absence
of His presence that is so grievous. You see, you have life. You,
you, you, spiritual life. He birthed us. He gave us life. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Now this scripture answers three very important questions.
Verse 22. For as an Adam, all died. Everybody Adam represented. You
know what they did? They died. When he died, they died. And
the reason I'm born into this world dead in sin is because
I was an Adam. For as an Adam, all died. Now what that tells
me is what really happened in the garden. When Adam died, all died. But this also tells us what happened
on the cross. For in Christ shall all be made
alive. Everybody in Christ is made alive. That's what he accomplished by
his death on Calvary's tree. Life. And this is what happens
in a sinner's heart when God saves him. There is life. In Christ shall all be made alive. Made by God. Made to be alive. Spiritual life. Galatians chapter
2. God who quickens all things.
I love this passage of scripture. Galatians chapter 2. Verse 19, for I through the law
am dead to the law that I might live unto God. Now dead to the
law. When a man is put to death, What
more can the law say to him? Nothing. Can't ask for any more. I'm dead to the law. When Christ
died, I died. I'm dead to the law. The law
has nothing to say to me. Is a believer under the law?
No, no. I'm dead to the law. That I might
live unto God. If you're under law, you're under
death. That's what, that's the long and short of it. That I
might live under God. I'm crucified with Christ, Paul
said. I love thinking about that. When
the Lord was crucified, I was too. When he died, I did too. When he paid for sin, I did too.
I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Me, 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 love that. I live. But it's
not me. It's Christ in me. You know,
I know this. I'm the one that does the believing.
No one can believe for me. I'm the one that does the believing.
I personally believe the gospel. It's me, not somebody else. But
it's Christ in me. I know that. I repent. I'm the one that Holy Spirit
doesn't repent. He doesn't have anything to repent of. I repent,
but it's Christ in me that causes me to do it. I live yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. Don't you know that if you have
spiritual life, it's all because of Christ living in you. It's
him. Philippians 1. Verse 21, for to me, to live is Christ. What all can you say about that
statement? It's so comprehensive, there's
not much you can comment on other than just read it. For me to
live. It almost doesn't even make grammatical sense, but it
makes spiritual sense. For me to live is Christ. It's to be found in Him. It's
to know Him. It's to follow Him. It's to see
Him. It's to see His beauty. It's
to see His glory. It's to see His favor toward
me. For me to live is Christ! And I like the way he says it,
for me to live is, he doesn't say for me to live is to know
Christ. He doesn't even talk about his knowledge of Christ.
For me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. The best day of my life. And
I'm thankful for my life. I'm thankful for the blessings
of life and I want to live and all that kind of stuff. I'm not
saying, but the best day of my life is gonna be the day of my
death. And I'll open up my eyes and I'll be in the very presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll see his glory, whom
my eyes shall see and not somebody else's. And that's the best day
of my life. For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. Oh, thank God for he who quickens
all things. Now go back to that passage we
looked at earlier, Colossians 3, that I read at the beginning
of this service. Colossians chapter 3. If you then be risen with Christ,
and you can actually say since you've been risen with Christ,
because when Christ was raised from the dead, I was too. But
God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together
with Christ. That means when Christ was quickened
and when God raised Him from the dead and brought Him up,
everybody that was in Him was raised at that time. If you then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection. Notice it doesn't say affections,
but your affection. Set your mind, set your affection
on things above and not on things on the earth. Now there's a lot
of things going on right now. Not a lot of things in the earth.
I mean, politically, socially, Economically, there's all kinds
of stuff going on. I mean, there's strife in families,
there's strife in homes, there's strife between people. There's
just all kinds of stuff, stuff in this world. I mean, this world,
it's a veil of tears. It really is. It's a vapor that
appears for a little while and passes away. But it's real life.
But he says, don't set your affection on things on the earth, for you
are dead. I love to think about this. Now,
I was crucified with Christ. Now, how much concern does a
dead man have about what's going on here in this earth? He has
no concern. None. Tell him the economy's
tanking. Do you think he cares? No. Tell him everything's great,
that the economy's really going well now. Does he care? Utterly? He's dead. He doesn't
care. Insult him! Is he gonna get upset? No. He's dead. He preys upon
him, flattering. Tell him how wonderful he is.
How's it affecting him? Not at all. He's dead. You are
dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. when Christ our life shall appear. Verse four. Christ, our life. He said, I am the life. He is
my life before God. When Christ, our life, shall
appear. And let me, I've already said this once, let me say it
again. His life would be meaningless to us if he didn't die. But because
he died and put away his sins, now his life is my life before
God. When Christ, our life, shall
appear. You know, one of these days,
he's gonna appear and I'm gonna see my life. You know, His second
coming, when He shall come with trumpet sound, and when He appears
with the clouds, you know what I'm gonna see? Yes, I'm gonna
see Him, but I'm gonna see my life. You know, the scripture
actually says, when He shall appear, we'll be like Him, because
we'll see Him as He is. Won't that be a good, Christ
our life. He's the source of life. He's
the sustenance of life. His life is our personal life.
Turn with me to John 11 now. A couple more scriptures. John
11. Now Lazarus has died. He's a
dead man. Verse 23, Jesus saith unto her, thy brother, shall
rise again." John 11, 23. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
I understand that on the last day, the dead will be raised
up. I understand the doctrine of
the resurrection. I've been instructed in that. I already know that.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. Understand this, the resurrection
is not so much an event, it's a person. I am the resurrection. When I'm raised, that's when
you're raised. I am the resurrection and I am
the life. Here we go again. His life is
my life before God. I love that. His life is my life
before God. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Notice the order you live and
you believe. Now, chronologically, life and
faith come at the same time. There's not a time when you live
and then after that you believe. Chronologically, they come at
the same time. I don't understand that, but it's so. It's not like
you live and then there's some kind of time that passes, maybe
only a half a millisecond or a year or whatever, and then
all of a sudden you believe. No, chronologically, life and faith come at the exact
same time, but logically, Life comes before faith. And that's
what the Lord says here. Whoso liveth and believeth in
me. When God quickens you, when God
gives you life, you believe. Whoso liveth and believeth in
me shall never die. Believest thou this? Do you believe
this? Do you believe that I am the
resurrection? Last scripture I'd like to look
at is found in Romans chapter six. God who quickens all things,
God who gives life. Verse six, Roman six, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. That old
man I'm carrying around right now is crucified with him, that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. And that word freed, if you look
at your marginal reading, he that is dead is justified from
sin. Sin has nothing left to say.
If you died, you're dead. Law can't do it. You can't be
killed again. It's over. You're free from sin.
That doesn't mean you're free from the commission of sin. If
that's what it means, then you're in trouble. But that's not what
it means. He that is dead is justified
from sin. When Christ died, God's law was
answered. Verse eight. Now, if we be dead
with Christ, We believe that we shall also live with him,
knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over
him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Now, listen real carefully to
what Paul says in verse 11. Likewise, just as Christ, is
dead to sin and lives unto God, likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin. Now if God tells me to reckon
myself to be dead indeed to sin, sin has no dominion over me,
it has nothing to say to me. You know why? It's because I
am dead to sin. Because Christ died and I'm dead
to sin, it has nothing to say. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body. your dying body, that you should
obey it and the lust thereof, neither yield or present your
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield or present
yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God, and
here's why, sin shall not have dominion over you. I love that
scripture. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, and here's how it comes. You're not under law, but you're
under grace. That's the only reason. Isn't
that a wonderful reason? So reckon ye yourselves to be
dead indeed to sin. Because you are. And alive unto
God. Hear this promise. Sin's not
going to have dominion over you. It doesn't say don't allow sin
to have dominion over you. It says sin shall not have dominion
over you. Because you're not under law.
Now, if you're under law, it has complete dominion of you.
It has complete control over you. But you're not under law. You're under grace. Isn't grace
a great place to be under? I wouldn't want to be anywhere
else. Thank God for the grace of God. Aren't you thankful for the God
who gives life, who quickens, who gives life to all things.
And I sure am thankful for the life he's given me and you in
his son. Let's pray together.