The book of Colossians. I'm speaking tonight on the subject,
the preeminence of Christ. And I want to make some comments,
but first I want you to look at Colossians chapter 1, beginning with verse 16. Let's
just read the text, and then let me introduce the message
and what I've got in mind this evening. Colossians 1 verse 16, for by
him, we're speaking here of Christ, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he's the head of the body. He's the soul, the life, the
head of the body, the government, the church. He's the beginning
of the church. It began with him. He's the spring from which the
river flows, and He's the firstborn from the dead, the first to rise
by His own power, the first to rise to die no more, the first
to rise to enter into glory, that in everything, among all
things, He might have the preeminence. When I came back from St. Lucia,
there was a note on my desk at home. A man called me from Charleston,
West Virginia, a man who's been a friend of mine for many years,
Brother Keith Bailey, and asked me if I would come and preach
his father's funeral Saturday afternoon at one o'clock. His
father was a believer, eighty years of age, had been watching
our television program for several years. I'd never met the old
gentleman nor his wife, but she told me how much they loved me
and appreciated the gospel that I preached, and that he wanted
me to bring a message at his funeral. And I did. I went up there, and
there was a large crowd of people. evidently the family was well
known. The old gentleman, Joel Bailey,
was well known. And I thought as I sat there
beside Brother Tom Smith, pastor at Randolph Street, who assisted
in the funeral, and I looked over those people, and I thought to myself, how
many people here, how many people here actually realize what's
going on, what's happening, what this is all about. I looked into
their faces, and I know they're all religious. Everybody's religious. That island I just came from,
St. Lucia, they're all religious. St. Kitts, they're all religious.
They've got missionaries running out their ears. They've got churches
everywhere, just like here. Everybody's religious. religious
radio program on St. Kitts that blares out 24 hours
a day, 24 hours a day, all night and all day. Some preacher from
the States here, some gospel singer, some quartet, somebody
singing, preaching, all the time. The people are religious. They're
religious here. You can stop everybody on the
street out there, and they're all Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
Catholic, Anglican, something. like a family I was talking to
last night, someone standing on the brink of eternity, and
they're talking about, she's a Baptist, we're Methodists,
we've been trying to make Methodists out of her, and she's trying
to make a Baptist out of me. You just make them two-fold more
the child of hell than you are and when they started. And I looked out over that congregation,
and I thought, well, do these people know this man is dead? This man's dead! And it won't be long till they'll
be dead. There's going to be a line and a casket and some
preacher is going to be called and go through the motions, go
through the traditions. Organ's going to play a little
quiet music. Everybody's going to sit there and snub and cry
and all this sort of thing. They're all going to shake hands
with the family, you know, and I'm sorry. Go down the line,
you know, and then somebody's going to start singing a special.
preachers going to read, If our earthly house of this tabernacle
be dissolved, we have a building not made with hands eternal in
the heaven. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not walk. Amen. And then
we go out to the cemetery and all stand there, lower the body,
pour in the dirt, and he's in hell or heaven. And that's no
laughing matter. It's serious business. And I
thought, What am I going to say to these Most of them are not going to
hear me, but I've got to say something. So I talked to them about, when
is a man ready to die? I just got up and I said, when is a man ready to die? I
hear people all the time say, well, I'm not afraid to die,
I'm ready. You may be ready for the undertaker.
and ready to occupy your lot you've got bought out there,
but you might not be ready to die. You just might not be ready
to die, as ready as you think you are. Being religious ain't
ready. Having made a profession is not
being ready. Being a nice boy is not being
ready to die. Walking an aisle and being a
member of a Baptist church is not ready to die. Ready to die
is not in decisions, denominations, or deeds. That's not ready to
die. When is a man ready to die? I've
heard people say, well, don't worry about him, Preacher, he
was ready. He was ready all right. Like the Lord said, fat and lambs
for the slaughtered is what they were ready for. Ready. Well, I know a fellow
that was ready to die. in the Bible. That's what I told
him. I said, let's turn to the Bible and find out if God recorded
something in here. It'll help us to know when a
man's ready to die. Let's find out from God's Word
somebody that was ready. God said he was ready. Preacher
didn't say he was ready, and his wife didn't say he was ready,
and most of all, he didn't say he was ready. God said he was
ready. Have the Word right here, that
God in his Word wrote that this man was ready. That man, Simeon. And how was he ready? Now watch
this. The first thing, the reason I know he's ready to die, is
he met Christ. He met the Savior. The Lord God,
the Holy Spirit, brought him to the temple when Christ came
to the temple. You say, but Christ was only
an infant. I'll tell you, Abel met Christ in a sacrifice 4,000
years before he was born. He wasn't even an infant then. Abel saw him in a sacrifice.
That's right. Moses saw him in a Passover lamb. Moses wrote of him, of Christ.
He saw Christ. Abraham saw him on Mount Moriah. He said, The Lord will provide
himself a lamb. Christ said, He saw my day and
rejoiced. Glad to see you. Israel saw him, and the brazen
serpent lifted up. And I'm telling you this, this
man Simeon, by the Spirit of God, His path crossed the path of
the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Literally and actually crossed
his path. And I'll tell you, a man's not
ready to die until he meets Christ. And I'm not talking about seeing
a vision or having a dream or something of that. I'm talking
about meeting Christ. in the gospel, Christ as he's
revealed in the gospel, meeting a true presentation of Christ,
a true declaration of Christ. That's what I'm talking about.
And this generation is not meeting the true Christ. They're hearing
another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit. They're hearing
about a weakling. They're hearing about an infant.
They're hearing about a sweet little Jesus. Boy, they're not
hearing about him. who's described in the Word. But Simeon actually met Christ. He actually crossed his path,
the path of Christ. Now, what we do in the average
church, we decide whether we like a preacher, whether we like
the way they sing, whether we like the instruments, whether
we like the specials, whether we have some program for the
young people. or whether they've got a bowling
team, or whether they meet at the hours we think they ought
to meet, or whether they meet on Saturday or Sunday. We've
got all these preferences. What's your denominational preference? Well, my preference is Christ.
I've got to meet Him. It's not a day, or a denomination,
or a program, or the way people do things, or aren't they sweet
folks, you know, or the friendly church in the heart of town for
the hearts of town. I tell you, this is an abomination. we're going to have to cross
the path of the king. And Simeon did. And then secondly,
he took him up in his arms. He didn't take up the catechism
or take up the creed. He didn't take up the law or
take up the altar or take up the priest. He didn't embrace
these things. He embraced the person. He literally
and actually, by faith, reached out and took Christ to his bosom. He embraced him. It was an embrace
of need, it was an embrace of love, it was an embrace of faith,
it was an embrace of revelation. The Holy Spirit had revealed
to him who this is, and he laid hold, he personally, individually
laid hold upon Christ. He laid hold on Christ. And man's not ready to die till
he lays hold, not on the doctrine. I love the doctrine. I love the truth as it is in
Christ. I love the truth of God's greatness
and glory. You know that. I try to preach
it. I love the truth of the fall. I don't love the fall, I love
the truth. I love knowing what happens,
why we're like we are. I don't like to be in the dark.
I like to know why we're like we are. I like to know why my
new little nine-months-old granddaughter, you tell her to do something,
she shakes her head this way. She can't shake her head this
way. She tried. She can't do it. She only shakes
it this way. She's born shaking it that way.
And I know why. Her father shook his that way
when he was that age. I love the truth of God's election. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not
the least bit ashamed that God chose me. I didn't choose Him.
I love the truth of predestination. I'm not ashamed of that word.
It's a good old Bible word. I love particular redemption.
Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. If He paid
the debt, it's paid. If He put my sins away, they're
put away. He took my judgment like Tom
said in his prayer, and that white, hot sword of God's wrath
plunged into his heart. It never will plunge into mine,
I guarantee you. Love it. Invincible grace. But salvation is not to embrace
a doctrine. You can embrace the doctrine,
and this is a real danger of a man chewing on the dry bones
of doctrine and missing Christ. And I'll tell you, did you ever
see an old dog just lie over there, you know, in the clover,
and chew, chew, and chew, and not getting a thing. In fact,
it's a bone he chewed on last week. And he had it over there
in the same corner. He'd gone back over and chew
again. And he'll go back over and chew again, just sharpening
his teeth on that. That reminds me a lot of Calvinists.
They're just lying over there in the shade, and they've been
laying there so long that the grass is all dead under them.
and it is chewing on those old bones, just chewing on those
old bones, just chewing on those old bones. That's not salvation. Simeon embraced the living person,
that tender son of God, just held him in his arms and embraced
him. And then you know what he did? God told him that he wouldn't
die until he'd seen the Lord Christ. He told him that. seen
the Lord Christ. He lifted his eyes to heaven
and blessed God. He blessed God. He blessed God
for all of this. That's what a man realizes who
saved. He realizes who saved him. He
blessed God. He blessed God for prolonging
his life till he met Christ. He blessed God for the Holy Spirit
bringing him there to the temple. He blessed God for, in his good
providence and purpose, letting Christ come bringing Christ there
at that particular time. He blessed God for giving him
eyes to behold and a mind to understand who this person is. He just, he said, Bless God! Bless God. He didn't run, shake some Mary's
hand, tell her he's sure glad she brought the child Jesus there,
that he, lucky for him, he was there when he got there. Now
he blessed God. That's what Paul's saying in
Ephesians 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing, all of
us, in the heavenlies, according as he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. predestinated us unto the adoption
of children according to the good pleasure of His own will,
that we should be to the praise of His glory when He has made
us accepted in the Beloved. Bless God!" Bless God. A man's not ready to die so that
he can bless God for everything he's got. That's right. And then he lifted, this is what
I told him, I said, he lifted his eyes to heaven and he blessed
God. The talentions of the Lord, the gift of God's grace. And
then he said, Lord, Lord, King of Kings, Master, Lord, Sovereign
King of Heaven, now let me, let me die or depart. You know something? These matters of life and death
are not in your hands. I don't care what you say, they're
in God's hands. The Lord kills, and the Lord makes you live.
By the way, do you believe in healing? You believe in divine
healing? That's the only kind there is?
I believe God, by His divine power, gives life when that baby's
born, and He'll take life when that baby dies. If it's six hours
old, or six years old, or sixty years old, or a hundred years
old. Which of you, by taking thought, can add one hour to
your life? That's what they're telling me,
one cubit to your stature is one hour to your life. This thing
is determined by divine, the divine purpose of God. He said,
now you let me, you let me depart. let me depart in peace." Brethren, I want to die in peace,
peace with God, peace with God. He made his peace with God, then
there's no peace. Christ is our He made the peace
by the blood of his cross. I don't care if any man ever
says to you, I've made my peace with God, if you don't mind losing
a friend, you look at him and say, well, you're in real trouble.
I wouldn't stand in your shoes for all the money that J. Paul
Gettys got, because Christ is our peace, and he makes peace
through the blood of his cross. And therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. here's what he said. He said, Lord, now let me depart,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. I've seen your salvation. I've
seen Christ. I've been pastor of a church
thirty-some-odd years, thirty-six years, thirty-five years. I've preached, prepared messages,
studied the Bible, wrote commentaries, then on radio, television. But I have no, I have no corner
on God because of any of those things. My only hope of being accepted
by God is in Christ. It didn't matter whether I stood
in the pulpit or stood down somewhere in a plant working, we're saved
the same way, by the same grace, through the same person, and
have the same hope, and God loves us alike. And then it doesn't matter whether
you were saved when you were 20 or 40 or 70. Somebody here
65 years old has just laid hold on Christ. There's no time. What
time But the salvation is not in deeds
and doing. I wish that folks could get that
clear out of their head, but I know they never will. A man
will never get deeds and doing out of his head until he sees
the Lord's salvation, he sees Christ Jesus the Lord. And that's what Paul's writing
about here in Colossians. Look at this first chapter of
Colossians again. You see, this letter to the church
of Colossae was written about thirty years after Christ died
on the cross, and Paul wrote it while he was a prisoner in
Rome, about the same time he wrote Ephesians and Philippians.
And he never had preached to this church, and when he wrote
to them, when writing to them, he begins where everything begins.
He begins with the preeminence of Christ. This is where your
hope is, he tells them. This is it, in a person. Now
look at verse one. Let's look at this quickly. He
said, I'm Paul, and I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. That's what
I am, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I'm not an apostle of the church,
I'm not an apostle of my own making, I'm not an apostle of
an organization, I'm an apostle of Christ. Now look at verse
two. I'm writing to the saints and the faithful brethren in
Christ. Those are the people I'm writing
to, those people are in Christ. Not those who are in the church
or in a profession, but they're in Christ. Look at verse 3. We
give thanks to God, who's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, this man, he said, I'm determined to know nothing among
you save Christ. We preach Christ. Look at verse
4. Since we heard of your faith,
Paul had never seen them, he'd never preached to them. Their
pastor came up and told him about them. And he said, I've heard
about your faith in Christ. In Christ. Look at verse 13. He said, God hath delivered us
from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom. Whose kingdom is it? It's the
kingdom of his dear son. Look at verse 14. in whom this
dear son, this well-beloved son, this son of his love, in him
we have redemption through his blood. That's where redemption
is, through his blood and the forgiveness of sin. And he says
this person, this Jesus Christ himself, is the exact, the express
image, the very image, exact likeness and image of the invisible
God. No man has seen God at any time
save the Son, and He to whom the Son hath revealed Him. The
Son hath declared Him. He's the very expressed image
of the Father. Hold that right there and turn
to Hebrews chapter That's who they're talking about, that one
who's the... Look here, verse 3 of Hebrews
1, "...who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholdeth all things by the
word of his power." You know what the average religionist,
the idea he's got? He's got a vision, and this is
right now, he's got a vision of God. though I don't know how
you can get a vision of God, he's invisible, he's a spirit.
But they've got some kind of vision of God up there in heaven,
the Father. Very steady, permanent, eternal,
all-wise, almighty, O God. And then they picture Christ
coming down here, another person or being who comes down here
to this earth to pacify that God, to meet that God's requirements,
and then go back up there and sit down over there on that God's
right hand and talk to that God about some folks down there who
accept Him or believe on Him. But my friends, Christ is God. He's the invisible God in human
flesh. This is what the disciple said. He said, Lord, show us the Father.
You show us the Father. That means to God. We see you, we know you, we love
you, we believe you, but show us the Father. He said, I am
the Father. I am God. Now, I can't explain
the trinity, but I just know you can't separate the Father
and the Son and talk about two Gods. You just cannot. This is God within Christ reconciling
the world with Him. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. I am my Father one. The Son can do nothing of Himself
but what He seeeth the Father do. And I work independently
of the Father, so action, he's called in Isaiah 9, 6, the everlasting
Father. So that's what he's saying here.
He, verse 3 of Hebrews 1, "...who, being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person, and upholdeth all things
by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our
sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." I really can understand, to a
certain degree, the Jesus-only crowd. I can understand, to a
certain extent, why they head into that direction and that
theology. Because Jesus Christ is the full,
complete revelation of God. Jesus Christ himself is God. And I cannot comprehend, when
we get to heaven, we're not going to see three distinct persons,
we're going to see Christ. Christ will be exalted, magnified. Go back to our text now in Colossians
1, and that's too heavy for anybody, but just know this. I know when
I love Christ, I love God. When I believe Christ, I believe
God. When I worship Christ, I worship God, because they're one. Now,
look here at verse 16, For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible. Created by whom? By Christ. Whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers,
all things were created by him and for him. He is before all
things, and by him all things consist. And he said he's the
head He's the life, the soul of the body, which is the church,
and He's the beginning. It began with Him. It began with
Him in will, it began with Him in purpose, it began with Him
in accomplishment. And He's the firstborn from the
dead, the first to rise by His own power, the first to rise
and die no more. He's the pledge of our resurrection.
He said, I am the resurrection and the life. And what Paul is
saying through all of this first chapter is that in all things,
in your heart, in your faith, in your life, in your trust,
in your hope, in all things, in your worship, in all things,
he might have the preeminence. In all things, among all things,
he might have the preeminence. And I'll tell you this, when
a man is ready to die, when a man is ready to die, when a man is
ready to meet God, it's when he's already met God in Christ. And realizes in his heart and
soul who he is, what he did, why he did it, where he is, and
in that man's soul and heart, Christ has the preeminence. I'm asking two questions now
in closing. Number one is, what is this preeminence
that Christ has? What is this preeminence? This
preeminence. And it can't be any less than
preeminence. Anything less is unworthy of
him. Anything less. What is this preeminence? The
second question is this, why should he have it? Now think with me on those two
questions. What is this preeminence? And the Father is speaking here
that in all things he might have the preeminence, and he's including
us, the Church. You see, he says he's the head
of the Church, he's the beginning of the Church, he's the firstborn
from the dead. that in all things, in heaven and earth and everywhere,
he might have the preeminence." Now, what is this preeminence?
Briefly, number one, he has the preeminence in the Father's affections
and in our affections. He said, "...this is my beloved
Son." He said again, "...the Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into his hand." He said in Romans 8, "...nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ." Secondly,
he has the preeminence in power. Our Lord prayed, he said, All
authority is given unto me in heaven and earth. That's what
he told his disciples, all authority. Then he prayed in John 17, and
he said, Father, you've given me authority over all flesh. And in Hebrews 2.8, listen to
what the writer of Hebrews says about it. In Hebrews 2.8 it says,
Thou hast put all things in subjection unto his feet. All things. So he has the preeminence in
God's affection, the preeminence in power, he has the preeminence
in worship. He said in Hebrews 1.6, Let all
the angels of God worship thee. In Revelation 5.13 and 14, This is the song of the redeemed
in glory. Every creature in heaven, on
earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I say, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him
that sits on the throne under the Lamb forever and ever." You see the difference in this
and nominal religion and our denominational claims and all
of our our silly religious talk and jargon and clichés. He has preeminence in affection,
preeminence in power, preeminence in worship, and he has preeminence
in salvation. Peter said at Pentecost, God
hath made this same Jesus whom you crucified Lord and Christ. I want you to read this. Turn to Acts 4, 10 and 12. Listen
to this. Acts chapter 4. And let's read
verses 10 through 12, Acts chapter 4, verse 10. Be it known unto
you all, Acts 4, 10, and to all the people
of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does
this man stand here before you whole. Boy, that's a good testimony. You can take that yourself. This
man stands whole by him. Now what's the next line? This
is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, replaced
with something else or someone else, which has become the head
of the corner, and neither is there salvation in any other.
There's none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Whose name? The name of Christ. He has the preeminence in glory.
He said, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was. He has the preeminence in name.
God has given him a name which is above every name, that it's
the name of Jesus Christ. Every knee should bow in heaven,
earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that
he's Lord to the glory of God. That's when a man's ready to
die. He sees that in Christ we've got so many other activities
happening. If you'll do this and that and
the other, I guarantee you God will save you. God will save
you, my friend, when by his grace you're confronted with this person. And by faith you can lay hold
of and embrace this person. And you can lift your eyes to
God, realizing with the strongest conviction that it's by His grace
you've met this person. You can give Him all the glory,
and you can say before God and before the people, let me depart
in peace, in rest, in joy, in hope. I've seen, I've seen your
salvation. Now why should Christ have this
kind of preeminence, this kind of exaltation, this kind of... And you know something? God,
the Heavenly Father, is really going to put everything out of
business but Christ someday. There's not going to be, there's
not even going to be a memory of anything else except Christ.
Behold, I make all things new. We're not going to take our fame
from here to glory. Our fame there will be His. He's
going to show the riches of His grace. He's not going to show
the riches of our education and our accomplishments and our good
deeds on earth. Nobody's going to know about
them. That's right. You're not going to take anything
out of this existence to glory. except what God in his glory
and grace brought down to you in Christ. I'm telling you the
truth. That's the reason there's not
going to be any distinguishing marks up there as far as rewards
is concerned for believers, because Christ is our reward. I'm telling
you the truth. I'm telling you the truth. You're
not going to be Mr. Big in glory. He is Mr. Big. One hundred percent. He has all
preeminence. And we're going to enjoy it in
Him. Now, why should Christ have this preeminence? I'll give you
five quick reasons why He should have the preeminence. Why should he have this prayer?
Why should so much depend on him and look to him and rest
in him and hinge on him? Why? I'll tell you why. Because
it's the will of the Father. Look at our text in Colossians
1. That's the reason, Colossians
1. Now, what's it? Colossians 1, verse 19. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell. What's the reason Joseph is the
chief man in Egypt? Pharaoh said so. That's good enough, isn't it?
You come into Egypt and want to buy corn? Pharaoh said, go
to Joseph. Well, how did he get that? I
gave it to him. That's what Pharaoh said. Why
does Mordecai ride upon the horse led by Haman, Charlie? because
King Ares, whatever his name was, said so. Ahasuerus. That's why, that's exactly why.
The whole reason he said so. And you want to get in on this
glory and this joy, you're going to have to bow to Christ, because
the Father said so. And here's the second reason
why he has this privilege. Because he's the firstborn. He's
the firstborn. He's the only begotten Son of
God. He's the heir of all things.
He is the heir. That's the reason he's the firstborn.
That was a stated rule back then. The firstborn was the heir. That's
when, you know, when Joseph was an old man, blind. And when Jacob was an old man,
blind, and Joseph brought his two sons, brought his two sons. His father Jacob was sitting
there, blind and old and weary, and Joseph brought his two sons
for his father to bless. And he brought the oldest son
and put him over here on this side, on his left, and Jacob's
right. And he brought his youngest son
over here. That was the custom. You're supposed to lay that right
hand on the head of that oldest boy. That's it. They just don't
change it. The old man was sitting there,
and God revealed his way to him. Joseph brought his two sons up
and said, Now, Father, bless my son. The old man went like
this, laid his right hand on the head of that youngest boy,
and left him. And Joseph got ahold of his hands
and said, Don't do that, don't do that. His father said, I know
what I'm doing. He told Jacob how to taste that.
Jacob, have a love, and he saw how they ate it. I know what
I'm doing. But I'm telling you this. Turn
to Hebrews 1. The Lord Jesus Christ, it's all in Him, the cause of
Him. Now watch this. Hebrews 1, God, who at sundry
times in divers manners spake in times past of the fathers
of the prophets. spoken of by his Son, his unique
Son, his only begotten Son, his well-beloved Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things." There it is. God appointed it,
and he's the heir. Let me tell you, if you get any
inheritance, it'll be in him. Now, that's so. And I know this
is a popular thing. And we're all different religions,
and we're all different persuasions, we're all different faiths, but
we're all going to heaven, we're all just going to travel in different
roads. Well, it's just not so. And I'm not being radical or
fanatical or anything else, it's just, my friends, not so. God
has appointed him the heir, and we're joint heirs with God. I'll
give you the third reason why he has the preeminence. He has
the preeminence because it's the will of the Father, because
he's the firstborn, And thirdly, he bought it. He bought it and paid for it. He bought this world and he paid
the utmost value. Turn to Isaiah 53. Now listen
to this. He bought it. It's his because
he bought it. If there's a big plantation out
here outside the city limits, And there's a fellow living there,
and he puts a fence around it, and you go out and say, hey,
now wait a minute, what rights you got to put that fence there?
I bought this place, and it belongs to me. And if I want to put a
fence up, I'll put a fence up. If I want to plant a pecan tree,
I'll plant a pecan tree. It belongs to me. And that's
what our Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary. He bought this world.
He died that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. Now
that's giving him authority over all flesh that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou gavest him." Look at Isaiah 53,
verse 10, "...pleased the Lord to bruise him." he hath put him
to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his day, his seed, he shall prolong his days, the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, he shall see the
travail of his soul, and be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoiled with the strong." because he poured out his soul
unto death, because he was numbered with the transgressors, because
he bare the sin of many, and because he maketh intercession
for them. He bought it thirdly, fourthly.
Now listen to this carefully. Why does Jesus Christ have this
preemptive? The Father purposed it, decreed
The Lord Jesus is the firstborn, the heir. He has preeminence
because he bought it. He has the preeminence because
he's the only one, the only one in heaven, earth, or hell, the
only one creature that's ever lived. He's not a creature, he's
God, but he's the only one who ever lived who is able to govern
the affairs of the kingdom. kept not their first estate.
What would happen if God turned the eternal future over to them?
Adam is a man created in the image of God. Genius, wisdom,
and all that. He couldn't even control his
wife, let alone govern this universe. Here's Samson, the strongest
man who ever lived. All these folks today are so
proud of their strength and all that sort of thing, you know.
He couldn't even keep his hair. Couldn't turn the universe over
to him. Solid. He had more brains than anybody.
More brains than anybody. And yet played the fool. Huh? Peter the Apostle. Now, he's
an apostle. He's the one that spoke for the
whole group. But here a little maid challenged him and he couldn't
stand up to that. Who's going to run this out there?
Who's going to control when God makes a new heaven and a new
earth and a new universe and a new population, a new race,
a new kingdom, a new people, all things new, brand new, in
righteousness and holiness, who is able to govern? Only Christ. That's what I'm saying. I want
him there. He protects my inheritance. He's able to save to the uttermost.
He's able to keep what we've committed. He's able to present
us faultless. He's able to raise our bodies.
He's able. I don't want another Savior.
I don't want another way. He's able. Why? Does he have the preeminence?
He deserves it! He, Black, deserves it! He met the holy law of God in
the flesh. I'm talking about tempted, tested,
tried at all points as we are. I fail every day. You fail every
day. Doing the best we can. No, we're
not. But he did. And he went to the garden of
Gethsemane and began to pour out his blood, sweat great drops
of blood, and went to the cross, and there took all the devil
could give him, and took all that man could give him, and
took all that judgment could give him, and took all that heaven
poured out on him, and then took the desertion of the Father. He took all that for our salvation. I say he deserves it. It's going
to be easy for me to praise Jesus Christ. I saw one hanging on
a tree in agony and blood. One day he fixed his languid
eyes on me as near his cross I stood. My conscience felt and
owned my guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sin, his
blood had spilled. and helped to nail him there.
But a second look he gave, which said, I freely all forgive. My blood is for your ransom paid. I died that you might know. Oh, can it be? Can it be? Upon that tree the Savior died
for me. Well, my soul is thrilled and
my heart is filled. I think he died for me. That, my friend, is the way
to glory. That's when a man's ready to
die. And I wouldn't give you a nickel for anything else in
religion. I just wouldn't give you a nickel
for it. I just don't think most of them are saying anything,
preaching anything, believing anything, and trusting anything.
But I tell you this, and I encourage and Try to give a little confidence
and assurance to our folk here to whom God has made known and
revealed this gospel. Rest in Christ, you can never
fail, never perish. And I know all of us are going
to face a mighty dark valley some of these days soon. It's
going to be a wide river to cross and there's going to be some
There's some, there's some difficult times. But now you won't find
the strength in here. And I may come down to the hospital
or to the home or wherever you are to see you and stand there
and been friends for years. You won't find any strength in
me. I don't have any for myself. And when the doctor says he can't
make it, shakes his head and the children start coming in,
you see everybody standing around crying. And you realize, you're
leaving here now, this is it, a man born once and he dies once
and he meets God once. Now where are you going to rest
then? Where are you going to find your strength
and hope and rest and confidence? Are you going to try to remember
that day you ran down the aisle or that day you made a profession
or the Bible class when you studied some doctrine? Are you going
to let some nut come in there and try to talk you into a profession
then? It won't do. But I'll tell you, if you can
like Simeon, or I'm okay, because he's my Lord, I'm all right. I can lie here and rest. That's
all right, Lord. For me to live is Christ to die is gain. It's
all right. He's on this side or that side
because he's my hope here and there. That's it now. And I have
to sing, rāsa-tāra.