Today I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Ephesians, the epistle written
to the Ephesians, chapter 2. And I would encourage every one
of you to get your Bible this morning, and let's read these
verses together. Ephesians, chapter 2, beginning
with verse 18. For through Him, that is through
Christ, we both have access, both Jew and Gentile, we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, you
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the buildings fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are
built together for habitation of God through the Spirit. Now here's my subject today,
and here's what I want to preach about this morning. There's a
phrase, three words found in verse 20, Jesus Christ Himself. You see these three words? Jesus
Christ Himself. Now let's see if we can look
at the Word of God and see what we can find out about Jesus Christ
Himself. There are many warnings in the
Scriptures against taking under ourselves any glory due to Christ
alone. That's why David, the psalmist,
the king of Israel, said, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto Thy name do we give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy
truth's sake. The apostle Paul put it this
way, God forbid I should glory save in the cross the substitutionary
death and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most deadly
Now listen to me carefully. The most deadly and soul-damning
teaching in religion today is that which exalts man, his will,
his work, and his righteousness, and does not give all the glory
to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for His saving grace. My friends,
salvation is of the Lord, and salvation is all of Jesus Christ. Salvation is of Him. and salvation
is in Him. He saves us by His will. It's not my will, but it's the
sovereign will of God that any man is saved. Listen to this
scripture, Romans 9, verses 15 and 16. For He said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now clearly, And obviously, salvation
is by God's will. The second thing we know is this.
He saves us by His will. Secondly, He saves us by His
work. It's the work the Lord Jesus Christ did while He was
here that secured the salvation of God's people. John 17 verse
4 says, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I finished the
work that Thou gavest Me. to do. So we know it's not by
our works, but according to His work that He saved us, His will. And thirdly, salvation. God saves
us all by His will, His work, and by the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He worked out for His people
perfect righteousness. Galatians 2.21 declares, I do
not frustrate the grace of God, for it is righteousness. And
He means by that salvation. If salvation or righteousness
comes by the law, comes by the deeds, by your work, by your
efforts, then Christ is dead in vain. Now, without question,
the Scriptures point to Christ alone as the author, finisher,
sustainer of our salvation. You listen to this Scripture,
1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, But of Him are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Everything that a guilty sinner
needs to stand before a holy God is fully and freely provided
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory and the beauty and
the power of the Gospel is Jesus Christ Himself. Now, you take
Christ out of the Gospel and you have no salvation. That's
why Paul said in Romans 1.16, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth. Bring six things to you this
morning about Jesus Christ Himself. Here's the first one. Jesus Christ
Himself is the only foundation whereby sinners can find refuge. Jesus Christ is the only foundation. In Ephesians 2.20 again we read,
We're built upon the household of God and the church of God
is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ that is called the household of God
is built upon the everlasting foundation of Jesus Christ himself. Our Lord said in Matthew 16,
13, upon this rock, upon this foundation, I'll build my church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. All the prophets
of the past and all the apostles of the early church agree that
there is only one foundation, one refuge, whereby sinners can
hide, and that is Christ Himself. The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah
28, verse 16, God says through His prophet, Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth on him shall
not make haste." You see, to Him give all the prophets witness.
All the prophets of the past all say there's one foundation,
Christ Himself. And all the apostles of the early
church agree that there is one foundation, Jesus Christ. Peter said in Acts 4, neither
is there salvation in any other. There's no other name under heaven.
given among men, whereby we must be saved. There is no other foundation,
my friend, but Jesus Christ Himself. In Psalm 62, verse 6, listen
to this scripture. He only is my rock. He only is
my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust
in Him at all times. You see, my friend, Jesus Christ
Himself is the only foundation whereby sinners can find refuge. Now, secondly, Jesus Christ Himself
is all our redemption. Now, here's the Scripture. Hebrews
chapter 1, verse 3. Turn over there and read that.
Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. And here we see who the Lord
Jesus Christ is and what He did. Listen to what it says. who being
the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,
upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by
Himself," there it is, by Himself, "...purged our sins, He sat down
at the right hand of God." Jesus Christ Himself purchased all
our redemption. How was sin put away? Good question,
isn't it? Do you know the answer? How is
sin put away? Well, certainly not and obviously
not by anything we do. Religious activity will never
atone for sin. It's impossible. The blood of
bulls and goats could not take away sin. Your repentance will
never atone and take away sin. For we read in the Scripture,
we're not redeemed by corruptible things. Our self-righteousness
will not atone for sin. All our righteousness, God says,
are filthy rags. Well, what does the Scripture
say about how sin is put away? Simply put, Jesus Christ Himself
put away our sin. In Hebrews 9, 26, it says, Once
in the end of the age, in the end of the world, hath He appeared,
hath Christ appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. Jesus Christ Himself made effectual,
sufficient, satisfying sacrifice unto God on behalf of His chosen
elect people, and thereby putting away their sin by His precious
blood." God purchased the church with His own blood. In Hebrews
9-12 we read about the great high priest, Christ our priest,
the priest of God's people, the mediator, the substitute, and
it says that He entered in once into the holy place, not with
the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood, He obtained
eternal redemption for His people. That's how sin is put away. You
see, Jesus Christ Himself is all our foundation and He's all
our redemption. Now thirdly, Jesus Christ Himself
is the believer's righteousness. He's all our righteousness. Now here's the Scripture. Turn
over with me. The Philippians chapter 3, verse 7-9. Philippians 3, 7-9. And we read, "...I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Jesus
Christ Himself is all the sinner's righteousness. How good must
one be to stand before God? I'll tell you how good he has
to be. He has to be as perfect as God Himself. And my friend,
in myself, that is absolutely impossible. I'm a sinner. I'm
a sinful man born of a sinful woman. The Scripture declares
that there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They're all together gone out of the way. The blessings
and the peace and glory of the gospel is that Jesus Christ worked
out a perfect righteousness for His elect, for His people. And He imputes that righteousness,
that is, He imparts and imputes and gives that righteousness
to them, His chosen, by His grace. That's why David said, Blessed
is the man to whom God would impute righteousness without
works, without works of any kind. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
in Scripture, the Lord our righteousness. He's all our foundation, my friend,
Jesus Christ Himself. He's all our redemption, and
He's all the believer's righteousness. Now, the fourth thing is this.
Jesus Christ Himself is the only message of gospel preaching. In 2 Corinthians, now here's
the Scripture. Turn over there if you'd like
to and read it with me. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. Paul
said, For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and
ourselves your servant for Christ's sake. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Himself is the only
message of preaching. A famous preacher that lived
back in the 1800s named Charles Haddon Spurgeon made this profound
statement. He said, when we are done preaching
Christ, we better had be done with preaching. Now listen to
me. A sermon without Jesus Christ
Himself is a mistake in its conception and a crime in its execution.
It's worthless and lifeless to the children of God. May we all
have this determination, as Paul said, We're determined to know
nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I challenge
other preachers who are listening to me this morning, I challenge
you to preach Christ in all of His glorious atonement and all
His glorious work. Center your message around Christ
and Him alone. And if you don't, I suggest that
you quit preaching or change your message. I have never heard
a believer complain that a sermon was too full of Christ. or that
Christ is preached too often, too earnestly, too joyfully,
or that the preacher bragged on Christ too much. There is
no message but Jesus Christ Himself that quickens the dead sinner's
heart. You hath He quickened who were dead. With what? With
the Word of Truth, the Word of Life. There is no message but
Jesus Christ Himself that reveals the glory of God. There is no
message but Jesus Christ Himself that comforts the sinner's heart
and meets my every need. Now, I challenge you who preach,
if you don't preach Jesus Christ Himself, stop preaching. Now, here's the fifth thing.
Jesus Christ Himself is the only object of faith. Now, Isaiah,
here's the Scripture, Isaiah 45, 21 and 22. There is no God
else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside
me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."
Jesus Christ Himself is the only object of faith. This is the
command of Scripture. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't look to yourself for assurance, you'll never find any. Or don't
look to an isolated experience of the past to get salvation. Salvation is not in an experience.
Salvation is in Christ. Salvation is in a person. Look
to Jesus Christ Himself now in your heart. Don't look to the
cross. Don't look to doctrines. Don't look to your faith. Look
to Him. Salvation is in a person. Look always to Him. Hebrews 12,
verse 3 says, looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher
of our faith. Jesus Christ Himself, my friend,
is the only object of saving faith. Now lastly, Jesus Christ
Himself is all the believers' comfort, joy, and hope. Now, here's the Scripture, Hebrews
2, verse 17. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation, atonement for the sins of the people, His
people. For in that He Himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor." And that word simply
means to help and to comfort, to aid and to assist them that
are tempted. Jesus Christ Himself is the believer's
only hope, joy, and comfort. He has given us peace through
the blood of His cross. He has assured us of His constant
presence. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. He has promised us His everlasting
protection. He said, My sheep hear My voice,
I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Jesus Christ Himself. If you
would like a copy of today's message, you write to me and
I'll send it to you free of charge. My address is Zebulon Baptist
Church, 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky, 41501.