Christ Is All

I'm reading a verse of scripture
from the book of Colossians, chapter 3, verse 11. If you would
like to follow in your Bibles, I invite you to open them there
to the book of Colossians, chapter 3, verse 11. My subject today
is Christ is all. Christ is all. In Colossians
3, verse 11, the scripture says, Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, Circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, born nor
free, but Christ is all and in all." Now, that's the text. Christ
is all and in all, and that's the topic. Christ is all. Now, I realize that there are
many people listening to me who do not understand what we mean
when we say that Christ is all. I was watching a documentary
on Protestantism, religion, a few days ago, and the man who was
interviewing the different preachers asked one of them, what is salvation? What does it mean to be saved?
And interestingly enough, that preacher could not really define
salvation. He talked about heaven, he talked
about hell, he talked about gaining one and escaping the other, but
he failed miserably. to tell that man what it is to
be saved. And I thought while I listened
to that and watched that program, I wonder how clear we do make
our messages. Do people understand what we're
saying? Do they really understand, well, if not in their hearts,
at least in their heads, what we're saying? What do we mean?
Christ is all and in all. It's not enough just to say that
and go on by it and leave people in the dark. I realize many do
not really know what we mean by that, Christ is all. And I
realize many do not know what Paul meant. They do not understand
what he meant when he said, I am determined to know nothing among
you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Or what he meant when
he said, we preach Christ and him crucified. Well, let me try
today. to tell you what we mean when
we say Christ is all, and what I mean when I say Christ is all. Let's begin this way. I realize
that there are a lot of people in this world to whom Jesus Christ
is nothing, absolutely nothing. He rarely enters into their thoughts
and his name is rarely expressed on their lips except perhaps
to swear by or to curse by. But they never think about Jesus
Christ. He's nothing to them at all. Jesus Christ is nothing,
absolutely nothing to them. He's a root out of dry ground. He has no form, no comeliness. There's no beauty about him that
we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. That's all true.
He's really nothing. They never think about him, they
never talk about him, except perhaps to use his name as a
swear word or a curse word. Jesus Christ to most people is
nothing, absolutely nothing. Now, secondly, to some people
Jesus Christ is something. He's something, but he's not
much. That's why he's something to
them. He's a great prophet. He's a great teacher. He's a
great preacher. He's a great healer. Even those
who lived in his day, who hated him, who despised him, who finally
nailed him to a cross, even they said, He was a prophet. Even
many of them called him master. Some of them called him rabbi. But to them he was something.
Great philosopher, great reformer, great teacher, great healer.
But really not much. Something but not much. The founder,
somebody says, of a great religion called Christianity. Just like
Buddha founded Buddhism, and Mohammed founded Mohammedism,
and Jesus Christ founded Christianity. So he's something. He's something. but not much. Thirdly, there
are many people to whom Jesus Christ is much. Yes, sir, he's
much, very much, very important, but not all. What the Bible says
is, Christ is all. It doesn't say Christ is something,
but not much. It doesn't say Christ is much,
but not all. It says he's all, and in all. But to them, he's But he's not
all. Here's what they mean by that.
They are anxious to get to heaven. They are anxious to gain heaven,
they are anxious to miss hell, but they must admit that they
have some shortcomings. So they use the merits of Jesus
Christ to make up these shortcomings. Their road is almost long enough,
not quite. So they add Christ to their works,
they add Christ to their faith. They add Christ to their creed,
they add Christ to their duties, they add Christ to their ceremonies,
they add Christ to their rituals. Oh, he's much, but not all. He's much, but he's not all.
Their world is almost long enough, but not quite long enough, and
Jesus Christ takes up what they lack. He died on the cross, they
say, to make it possible for them to get to heaven by their
faith or by their works or by their efforts. Just like those
people in Matthew 7 we talked about last week. He was much
to them. They said, well, we preached
in your name. We cast out devils in your name. It was in your
name we did these things. It was in your name that we did
these many wonderful works. But he said, I never knew you,
you workers of iniquity. You see, to them Christ was much,
because they preached in his name, built churches in his name,
cast out devils in his name, but he never knew them. They
were cast out of his presence, though to him he was much, but
not all. Now, watch this. To many people,
Christ is all in some things. He is all in some things, but
not all in all things. Not all in all. Christ is all
and in all. But to them he is all in some
things. He is all in justification. It is by his blood that we are
cleansed, they say. It's by his blood that we are
forgiven. It's by his blood that we are pardoned. It's by his
blood that we are made sons of God. So justification is by Christ. All of it is by Christ. We are
saved by his blood totally. But our sanctification, that's
up to us. That depends on our efforts.
That depends on our sanctification. That depends on our righteousness.
That depends upon our holiness. We go to Calvary for forgiveness.
We go to Sinai for sanctification. Christ is all in justification,
but sanctification depends upon me. Christ is all in redemption.
We are saved by the blood. God says, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. But when it comes to perseverance,
I've got to hold out by my own efforts. I've got to meet the
law, I've got to keep the law, I've got to hold out by my loyalty,
by my faithfulness, by my perseverance. It depends on me to work out
my own salvation. That's told in my head. Christ
is all in justification, they say, but he's not all in sanctification. That's the law. That's my work.
He's all in redemption, but he's not all in perseverance. That
depends upon me and my loyalty to God's commandments. Fifthly,
but there are some people, thank God, and this to me is the way
the Bible presents salvation. There are some people to whom
Jesus Christ is all and in all. Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians
1.30, of God, Jesus Christ is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. It's all in Christ. wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. In Colossians 2, 9 and 10, he
wrote, "...in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily, and ye are complete in him." Not plus work, not plus
faith, not plus perseverance, not plus righteousness, you are
complete in Christ. That's what Paul said. And then
in John 15, verse 5, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "...I am the
vine, and ye are the branches." Without me, you can do nothing. You can do nothing. Without me,
you can do nothing. I'm your life. Christ, who is
our life, shall appear. Then shall you appear with him
in glory. He's everything. He's Alpha and Omega. He's the
beginning and the end. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. He is all of my wisdom. He is all of my righteousness. He is all of my sanctification.
He is all of my redemption. Without him, I can do nothing.
I have nothing, I know nothing, I never shall be anything. Because
in the flesh, Paul said, dwelleth no good thing. In the flesh,
Paul said, no man can please God. It doesn't matter whether
it's an apostle, or whether it's an evangelist, or whether it's
a pastor, or a deacon, or faithful, loyal Sunday school teacher.
In the flesh, no man can please God. Christ is all. That's what
I mean by Christ is all. To some, he's nothing. To some,
he's something, but not much. To some, he's much, but not all.
To some, he's all in some things. But to the believer, he's everything. You go back to the covenant mercies,
back before the foundation of this world, and the scripture
says we were chosen in Christ. Go all the way back, real time
back to the time when the morning stars sang together and the sons
of God shouted for joy, and even before then, in the council halls
of eternity, God Almighty determined to save a people. And right then,
he gave them to Christ. And Christ was the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. Christ is the surety of
the everlasting covenant. Christ is the blood of the everlasting
covenant. In covenant mercies, Christ is
all, in justification. Peter said, you are not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Redemption is the unaided
work of the Son of God. He loved me and he gave himself
for me. I made no contribution to my
justification in any shape, form or fashion. There is nothing
of the creature that has entered in to the redemptive work on
Calvary's cross. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. Dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. In justification, Christ is all. The scripture says, "...he was
made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made perfected
the righteousness of God in him. By one offering he hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified." Yes, sir, in sanctification,
God doesn't say, my holiness, I have none. He says, Christ's
holiness. By Adam's disobedience, the many
were made sinners. By Christ's obedience, the many
were made righteous. God Almighty doesn't look at
me and weigh my good deeds against my bad deeds and see how I come
out. He looks to Christ, and Christ
is my righteousness. You know, even the Apostle Paul,
who wrote 13 of the books of the New Testament, 13 out of
27, who founded many churches, who was the first missionary,
who was an apostle, who was taken to the third heaven, you know
what he said? That I may win Christ and be found in him. not
having my own righteousness, but the righteousness of God
which is in Jesus Christ my Lord." Brother, if you want to stand
on your sanctification or your good deeds, robed in your holiness,
before the searchlight of a holy law of a holy God, you go right
ahead. But I want to be robed in Christ's
righteousness. That's the wedding garland. He's
all. Then in perseverance, Christ
is all. He keeps me from falling. Now
in the hymn that is able to keep you from falling, I don't keep
myself, the Church doesn't keep me, he keeps me. Yes, sir, he
keeps us by his power, by his glory. By his power through faith
we are kept. And then in communion, what about
communion with God? John talked about our fellowship
is with the Father and with the Son. Brethren, let me tell you
something. We are accepted in the Beloved.
That's right. God does not accept us on the
basis of our goodness. We have none. He accepts us in
the Beloved. It's because of Christ that God
can love you. It's because of Christ that God
can accept you. It's because of Christ that God
can call you a son. It's because of Christ that Almighty
God can look with favor upon you. If it weren't for Christ,
he would have to turn his back on you like he did his son on
Calvary's cross when his son was bearing your sins. Our fellowship
is with the Father, but it's through the Son. Scripture says in Romans 8, 38
and 39, nothing is able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's where God's love is, it's
in Christ. Outside of Christ, our God is a consuming fire. That's right. Severed from the
vine, your withered branches fit for the burning. What about
glory? We are seated with him. That's
right, we're seated in heaven. Of course we are in Christ. What
about heaven? We'll reign with Christ and we'll
be joint heirs with Christ. That's what I mean when I say
Christ is all. From the eternal covenant of
mercies in the beginning until the very last day of eternity,
which shall never dawn, Christ is all. This is what we mean. Christ is all. Christ is all
in my justification and my sanctification. He is the author and finisher
of our faith. He is the first step of faith,
and he is the last step. There is not one point," now,
you listen to this, there is not one point between the gate
of hell and the gate of heaven in which the creature can say,
this depends on me. Not one point. At one point,
between the gate of hell and the gate of heaven, where the
creature can say, I must rely on my own efforts, God has left
me on my own, we are always viewed in Christ, we are always accepted
in the Beloved, we are always washed in the blood, we are always
represented by the Mediator who intercedes for us. From the downhill
of our corruption to the perfection of God's glory, it's all Christ.
It's not my faithfulness, it's his. It's not my grace, it's
his. It's not my righteousness, it's
his. It's not my blood, it's his. It's not my love, it's his. Our salvation begins with Christ,
continues with Christ, and it shall be complete when we are
conformed to his image. Brother, in that day we are going
to sing, unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin in
his own blood, to him be the glory both now and forever. You're not going to praise a
church. You're not going to praise a preacher, you're not going
to praise Mama and Daddy, you're not going to praise a soul winner,
you're going to praise the Lord, because salvation is of the Lord. Christ is all of your salvation. This is a distinction that marks
a true believer. A religionist is known by his
doctrine. You can spot a religionist. A
religionist is known by his doctrine or perhaps by his denomination.
He's a devout religionist. And then a moralist can be spotted
by his standard. He has a particular standard.
It depends a whole lot on what part of the world he lives in.
It depends a whole lot on what type of personality he has. It
depends a whole lot on what type of people he runs around with.
But a moralist can be identified by his laws and standards. And then a ceremonialist can
be distinguished by his rituals. by keeping certain holy days.
He may keep Saturday, he may keep Sunday, he may worship on
Easter or Christmas or Lent or Thanksgiving Day or Halloween
or All Saints Day. He'll have his days, though,
and he'll have his rituals and he'll have his dress and he'll
have his signs to make and all these things. You can tell a
ceremonialist all these things are predominant, distinctive.
And then a revivalist, you can tell a revivalist by his experiences.
by his decisions, by his feelings, by his emotions, by his excitement.
How do you tell a believer? How do you distinguish a Christian?
A Christian is distinguished by the union, the relationship
which he has with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's one with Christ. That's right. That's how you
tell a believer. You don't tell him by his dress.
He dresses like everybody else. You don't tell him by his laws
and standards, although he walks by the law of God. You do not
tell him by his ritualism or ceremonialism or by his denomination. You tell him by this. You identify
him by this. This is what makes him different.
This is what's distinctive about him. He has a living union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is his Lord. That's right. He was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. If we are molded
into the knowledge of him who created us after the image of
Christ, and in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, there
is neither ceremony, circumcision or uncircumcision, there is neither
riches or poverty, neither slavery or freedom, neither barbarian,
Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is everything. In closing this
message, let me give you a definition of Christ is all
in this way, a three-fold application of this truth. Now, watch this,
first of all. He says Christ is all and in
all. He's everything. Alpha and Omega,
author and finisher of our faith. Now, he says in Christ there's
neither Greek nor Jew. In other words, there's no national
distinction in Christ. No national distinction. Now,
down here on this earth, in the flesh, we may be black or white. We may be yellow. We may be red.
We may be Italian. We may be Jew. We may be American. We may be African. But in Christ,
there's no national distinction. We're all brothers. That's right. Neither Greek nor Jew. In Christ
is all. Nationalities don't count. Nationalities
aren't important. Color and races are nothing.
Christ is the king. Christ has the preeminent. Christ
is the important one. You see, in Christ there's neither
Greek nor Jew. The Greeks didn't have much for
the Jews, and the Jews didn't have much for the Greeks, so
they were converted. And then when they were saved, when they
came to knowledge of Christ, when they were made one with
the Savior, those national distinctions just faded away. Just faded away. They didn't exist anymore. You
don't measure a man by his color, his race, or his nationality
when you come to know Christ. You're brothers. You're one in
Christ. And he's everything. You're nothing. You're nothing.
He's everything. And then in Christ, there's no
ceremonial distinction. Oh, I know back in the Old Testament,
the Jew circumcised his son when he was eight days old. That made
him a Jew. The chosen people, the chosen race. the people of
the tabernacle, the people of the prophets, but in Christ there's
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. There's no denominationalism.
There's no division in Christ. There's no, you have this right
and I have the other right, you have this form and I have the
other form, so we don't have anything to do with one another.
Oh, no. Oh, no. We're one in Christ. He's all. When Christ is the Redeemer,
he's everything. And these ceremonies cease to
exist, they just fade away into nothingness. We don't put any
emphasis on them anymore in these things that distinguish us. God
has broken down that middle wall of partition between Jew and
Gentile, and it doesn't exist anymore. And the harlot's son
in Christ is just as blessed and just as important as the
preacher's son in Christ. There are no ceremonial differences.
In Christ there are no social differences. In Christ there
is neither Greek nor Jew. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision,
there is neither barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. In other words,
there is neither cultured nor uncultured in Christ. There is
neither rich nor poor. There is neither educated nor
uneducated. When Christ becomes everything
to you, when he becomes all, you don't measure a man by his
education. Oh, I know it's terrible in this day. We've got a class
system in England and America and everywhere else. This is
the upper rung of the social ladder, and so-and-so's on the
bottom rung, and I'm cultured, and he's uncultured, and I'm
coot, and he's uncoot, and I'm tactful, and he's untactful,
and I can't have anything to do with him, and I don't want
to be seen talking to him, and he can't, he can't help me any,
and he can't add to my prestige, and he has no influence. Furry
on that. In Christ, there's neither bond
nor free, there's neither slave nor master. In Christ, they're
brethren. If you don't know anything about
this, you've missed Christ. And I'll tell you quite frankly
and plainly, as I know how to talk, in Christ national distinctions
don't exist. You can't hate any race. You
can't have bigotry and prejudice against any human being if you're
in Christ. There are no ceremonial differences.
There are no social differences in Christ. James says, if a man
comes in your church in ragged clothes, you sit him on the front
row. The man comes in in rich apparel. Don't you make over
him. You make over that poor man.
That rich fella doesn't need you to make over him. He's got
enough friends. This man needs you. That's right. Quit showing
partiality. You won't show partiality when
your eyes are on Christ. Men are nothing, no matter how
they're dressed. Men are nothing, no matter how
they talk. Men are nothing, no matter what they have. They won't
have anything when they leave here. They're going to leave
it all right back here for God to burn up. And naked I came
into this world and naked I'm going out of this world and naked
all men are alike. And that's what he's saying here.
Christ is all. I'll tell you something else. Christ is all
my past, present and future. From the day before I was born,
Christ was all. That's right. He said, Paul said
this, he said, God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son in me. He said
to Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and said,
Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before
you came out of your mother's womb, I sanctified you and ordained
you a prophet. That's a fur piece back, isn't
it? But that's what God says. Christ was all then, and he's
all now. Christ is all in my presence.
He's my high priest that right now intercedes for me at the
right hand of God. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again, who is also
seated at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for me.
I'm nothing. Christ is all. I exist by his
grace. I live by his grace. God hears
me by his grace. Christ intercedes. And in the
future, who do you think is going to raise me from the grave? When
this body dies and they put it in a coffin and put it in a vault
and put dirt on top of it, who's going to bring this decayed,
rotten, filthy flesh out of the tomb in the newness of his resurrection,
huh? In the glory of his resurrection?
Christ is going to have to do it. And he's all in the resurrection. He said, because I live, ye shall
live. He's all in eternity past. He's
all of my present, and he's all I've got in the future. The disciple
says, Lord, he said, will you go away? And they said, to whom?
I don't have a place to go. Do you? I can't go to the church. It can't help me. I can't turn
to the law. All the law can do is condemn me. I can't turn to
the flesh. I'll turn to Christ, because
he's all I need. He's all I need. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. He forgiveth
all thine iniquities. He healeth all thy diseases.
He redeemeth our life from destruction. He crowneth thee with love and
kindness. He satisfies thy mouth with good things." Yes, sir,
Jesus Christ is all and in all, and that's what I mean.

Christ Is All

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