We're turning in our Bibles for
the message to Colossians chapter 3, verse 4. What think ye of Christ? Jesus Christ, who was born of
the Virgin Mary, who lived upon this earth for over thirty-three
years, who was despised and rejected who was a man of sorrows acquainted
with grief, who was crucified outside the walls of the city
of Jerusalem, who was buried and whose disciples said he rose
again, who ascended to the right hand of God where he reigneth
as the great high priest and mediator from whence the word
declares that he will come again. What think ye of Christ? That
was a question that our Lord asked the religionist of his
day, the people who gathered for worship on the Sabbath day,
those who were entrusted with the reading of the scriptures
and the teachings of the doctrines and the keeping of the ceremonies
and rituals. He asked them, what think ye
of Christ? Now by examining my answer to
this question, What think ye of Christ? I can determine the
soundness of my profession. I can determine the security
of my soul. I can determine my eternal destiny
by examining my answer to this very simple question. What think
ye of Christ? Well, the answer that I have
prepared to give this morning is contained in my text, Colossians
chapter 3, verse 4. Christ is our life. That's the answer. Christ is
our life, and I believe anything in our conduct, anything in our
character, or anything in our creed which we really believe,
not which we profess now, but the creed which we believe in
our hearts. Anything in our conduct, our
character, our creed that contradicts this great principle is eternally
dangerous. What think ye of Christ? Christ
is our life. Christ is what? He's our life. Our life. L-I-F-E. It's not merely said here that
we live because of Him. We do. It does not say here that
we live through him, we do. It does not say here that we
live by him, though we do. But it says here, emphatically,
he is our life. He is our life. As the branch
finds its life in the vine, and apart from the vine it has no
life, even so apart from Christ. We're dead, spiritually dead,
dead in trespasses and sin, dead to God, without any life, without
God, without hope, without help, without life. As the body and
the head, when the head is severed from the body, there's no life. Most other limbs you can sever,
and life can be retained, but not the head. Christ is our head. We are the body of Christ. James
says, as the body without the soul is dead, so we without Christ
have no life. He is our life. What think ye of Christ? Well,
he was a great teacher. That's not enough. Well, he was
a great preacher and healer. He has all power in heaven and
earth. That's not enough. Well, he was crucified on a cross.
The devil believes that and trembles. Well, he rose again. That's not
enough. Christ is not our creed, he's
our life. Christ is not only our hope,
he's our life. Christ is not only our Savior,
he's our life. Christ is our life. That's what
it says, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. Now let me point out several
things from this text. First of all, Jesus Christ is
the life the very life of our spiritual existence. Now, we
exist physically. We have flesh and bones and blood
and breath. But all men have that. All men
have that. But Christ is the very life of
our spiritual existence as a result of Adam's transgression. This
is what the Bible teaches. As a result of Adam's transgression,
all men are dead in sin. God said to Adam, when you eat
the forbidden fruit, you shall die. Adam died. Scripture says,
death passed upon all men. In Adam, all died. You hath be
quickened who were what? dead in trespasses and sin. Men, as a result of Adam's fall,
are wholly void of the life of God. We have physical life. There's
mineral life in the plants. There's animal life in the dogs
and the cats and the cows and the horses. There's physical
life in all of Adam's sons. But there is a life that is higher
and above physical life and mental life, as human life is above
animal life, or above plant life, and that's spiritual life. That's
what Adam lost in the garden. Adam lost spiritual life. He
went on living physically. He lived seven or eight hundred
years after he sinned. He went on living physically,
but he died spiritually. And we are born dead in trespasses
and sin, as the body without the soul is dead physically,
so the sinner without Christ is dead spiritually. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
It is when we were in this state that Christ came and gave us
this life. It is when we were in this state
of deadness Spiritual deadness. Separation from God. No communion
with God. No knowledge of God. No desire
after God. Living physically, but dead spiritually. Totally dead. That Christ came
and brought spiritual life. Ephesians 2, verse 1. And you
have to eat quickened, or the word quickened is made alive.
We're familiar with people who say the quick and the dead. That
means that on a battlefield, after a great battle, there's
those who are living and those who are dead, the quick and the
dead. You had the quick and who were dead in trespasses and sin. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the pious air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation.
In times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened or made us alive together with
Christ. By grace, you see. And He hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly
places in Christ. Christ is our spiritual life. Now the scripture is very emphatic
on this point. It says in John 1 verse 12, as
many as received him, to them gave he the power, the right,
to be called the sons of God, which were born not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but born
of God. Christ is the very essence of
spiritual life. Without Christ, we're dead. When
we're made alive, it's because Christ comes in. He that hath
the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life. Sometimes this blessing is called
a release from the curse of the law, but that's in Christ. Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Sometimes this blessing
is called the remission or forgiveness of sin, but Christ said, this
is my blood which is shed for the remission of sin. It is called
sometimes acceptance with God, but Paul said in Ephesians, we're
accepted in Christ, in the Beloved. It is called sometimes a state
of security or no condemnation, but the Scripture says there's
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. No matter how you
view the blessings of salvation, no matter how you view the blessings
of eternal life, no matter how you view the blessings of God's
redemption, they're always Christ. He's the source of them, He's
the author of them, He's the strength of them. He's the life
of them. Christ is our very spiritual
existence. He's the life of our spiritual
existence. If a man does not have Christ,
he's dead. Void of spiritual life, empty
of God, no union with God, no knowledge of God, no desire after
God, without God. If a man has Christ, he has God. He has life. He lives spiritually. Christ is our life. Then secondly,
now this is very important, Christ is the very life of our sanctification,
or our holiness. Now our death in sin is not only
a legal separation from God, and some people get no further
than that right there. They don't get beyond that. Our
death in sin is a legal separation from God. We broke the law legally,
we're separated from God. Legally, we are in prison. Legally,
we're awaiting death, because judgment has already been passed.
We transgressed the law, therefore there's a legal separation from
God. But our death in sin is more than a legal separation
from God. Because of our sin, we are truly
and experimentally alienated from God. We love darkness experimentally,
and we hate light experimentally. Legally, we are in darkness because
of our transgression. Legally, we're in prison. But
experimentally, we hate light and we hate truth. Experimentally,
we hate holiness. That's right. All men by nature
hate holiness. They love sin. The natural mind
is enmity against God. It hates God. The natural mind
is motivated by principles foreign to God. We delight not in God's
presence. We delight in the presence of evil. We find
our greatest joy not in holiness and in purity. By nature we find
our greatest joy in rebellion, in the satisfaction of our flesh,
in the satisfaction of our desires, in the satisfaction of our covetousness,
in the satisfaction of our own selfish pursuits. That's where
we find pleasure. That's the truth. Now this must be rectified. There must be a restoration to
purity. There must be a restoration to
affections of holiness. There must be a restoration of
the desire for God. There must be a restoration to
purity of purpose. And for this, we're indebted
to Christ alone. Christ is not only the very life
of our spiritual existence, but let's face it. Let's be honest. Let's confess to the truth. If
there's any holiness in us, it's Christ in us. If there's any
painting after God, it is Christ in us. He is the life of our
sanctification. His death is the cause of our
sanctification. By his death he paid the price
that ransomed us, not from Satan, but from the law. His death was
the price that was paid that ransomed us, not from the forces
of hell, but from the justice of God which held us incaptive.
The Scripture says, you're not your own, you're bought with
a price. The price that was paid was the
blood of the Son of God. His death ransomed us. It's the
cause of our sanctification. The only reason that I'm in the
narrow way is because Christ paid my debt. The only reason
that I'm walking with God is because Christ paid my debt.
The only reason that the Holy Spirit dwells within me is because
Christ paid my debt. The only reason that I can be
called a son of God is because Christ paid my debt. His debt
is the very cause of my sanctification. And then His Spirit is the agent
in my sanctification or my holiness. The Spirit of God is called the
Spirit of Holiness. He comes in to dwell. His Word
is the instrument of my holiness or my sanctification. The scripture
says, "...of his own will beget he us through the word of truth.
I am clean, David said, by thy word, and his life is the pattern
of my sanctification. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. Forgive one another as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." We are sanctified in proportion
as we possess and believe in and are motivated by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not by poring over our corruptions,
not by reminding ourselves of our evil, not by contemplating
our weaknesses and our inability, not by our deciding that we're
going to do this or do that, but by our contemplating Christ,
and by our looking to Christ, and by our pulling over the strength
and ability of Christ, and by our depending upon Christ to
restore in us His divine image. Paul said, the love of Christ
constraineth me. That's my motivating principle.
the love of Christ. He is the very life of our sanctification. Apart from Him, we are unholy,
no matter how moral we are. Apart from Christ, we are unholy,
no matter how charitable we are. Apart from Christ, we are unholy,
no matter how strict we are. Apart from Christ, we are unholy,
no matter how so-called honest we may try to be. Apart from
Christ, viewed by the holy eye of God, we are unholy. But as
God observes us in Christ, and as Christ is the motivating principles
of our lives, and as Christ Jesus is the indwelling Spirit in our
hearts, in Christ we're holy. Thirdly, Jesus Christ is our
life. He's the cause of my life. He's the very life of my spiritual
existence in the eyes or presence of the Father. I don't live apart
from Christ. I'm dead. Christ is my sanctification.
I can take no glory, no praise for anything that I am or do
or can do or ever shall be. It's Christ. And then thirdly,
Jesus Christ is the very life of our Christian graces. Faith,
hope, and love. These all proceed from Christ. These all have value only as
they're connected with Christ, and only as they bring us at
every turn into contact with Christ. Faith. I hear people
talk about faith. A whole lot said about faith.
Keep the faith. Have faith and you'll have peace.
Have faith and you'll have joy. Have faith and you'll have comfort.
Have faith and you'll have assurance. Have faith and you'll have good
works. All of these are the fruits of
faith. Christ is the life of faith.
Joy, comfort, peace, rest, assurance, these are all the fruits of faith. These grow out of faith. These
are produced by faith. But Christ is the life of faith. Christ is the object of faith.
Faith is a reception of a gift, and that gift is Christ. And
where Christ lives, faith lives. And where Christ does not live,
it's not real faith. Christ is the life of faith.
Hope. If we have hope, it's because
we have Christ. One of the old writers said,
our anchor is within the veil, only because Christ is within
the veil. If Jesus Christ had not gone
within the veil, any attempt to cast my anchor there would
have been in vain. Hope? I have hope, but I have
hope because I have Christ. I have hope that when I die the
angels will bear me to the presence of God because Christ died for
my sins. I have hope that when all men
are gathered before God at the judgment that I shall be with
those on the right hand who hear the blessed Savior say, Enter
into the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of
the world. I have hope because Christ entered there as my mediator. I have hope that throughout the
countless ages of eternity that I shall live in the presence
of God Almighty and enjoy Him forever and be conformed to His
image. Why do I have that hope? Because
I've gone to church since I was a little boy? Because I've faithfully
paid my tithes? Because I've tried to be honest
in my dealings with others? Because I've tried to keep my
life pure and clean? No. I have that hope because
Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and was buried and
rose again for my justification and is at God's right hand as
my mediator. That's why I have that hope.
Christ is the life of hope. And outside of Christ, there's
no hope. Christ is the life of love. Why do people not love
one another? They don't have Christ. If a
man has Christ, he loves, because Christ is love. Without Christ,
there is no love. There can't be. Christ is love. God is love, the scripture says. And where God is not, love is
not. Only selfishness and greed. He brings love when he comes
because he is love. He's the life of every Christian
grace. The more Christ, the more faith.
The more Christ, the more hope. The more Christ, the more love.
An absence of Christ. Why do I have faith, preacher?
You don't have Christ. If you have Christ, you have
faith. Because Christ is bigger than anything you encounter.
Christ is bigger than anybody you can encounter. David said, the Lord is with
me who can be against me. The Lord is my refuge and my
strength. Of whom shall I be afraid? If
you have Christ, he's all that matters, and everything else
is insignificant. I lose my possessions, I still
have Christ, he's my greatest possession. I lose my friends,
I still have Christ, he is a friend that's taken closer than a brother.
I lose my family, I have Christ, who is my family? I lose my life,
my physical life? I have Christ who is my life.
He that believeth on me shall never die. Where is your faith? It's not
there because you don't have Christ. If you have Christ, you
have faith. Christ is the life of faith. You can't have faith
without Christ. It's an impossibility. You can't
have hope without Christ. Why do people fear? Because they
have no hope. Why do they have no hope? They
have no Christ. They have no Redeemer. They have
no King. A little boy walking down the
street with his father, he doesn't fear. His father will take care
of any problem he has, any problem he encounters. He doesn't—your
children don't worry about lunch today. They've got somebody who
does the worrying for them. They don't worry about who's
going to pay the electric bill, and the gas bill, and the water
bill, and the phone bill, and the rent, and the insurance,
and the car payment. They don't worry about those
things. They never enter their mind. They have you. They have you,
you see. They don't worry. And people
who have Christ, all their spiritual needs are met by Him, and in
Him, and through Him. They don't worry. Hope is Christ. He's the life of hope. He's the
life of love. When Christ is there, love is
there. He's the motivating principle of love. He's the cause of love. If Christ is there, you can't
help but love. Love and forgiveness is as easy
as a desire for food. It's a part of your makeup. It's a part of your spiritual
makeup. If Christ is there, If a man has life, if he has physical
life, he's going to desire food. He's going to desire clothing. If a man has spiritual life,
he's going to pant after and desire those things that have
reference to spiritual life. And their fellowship with God,
fellowship with his people, revelation of his word, communion with him
in prayer. If you don't have those things,
it's because you don't have Christ. Because when he comes in, he
brings all of those attributes with him. I have a body that
has to be fed. If I'm saved, I've got a spirit
that has to have these things that refer to spiritual life.
I have to have friendship. I have to have fellowship. I
have to have communion. I have to have worship. I have
to go to the house of God. Just as much as I have to go
to the table. Christ is the life force of our Christian duties. Now watch this. The Bible says,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. If he's in Christ,
he's a new creature. It doesn't say if he's in Christ,
he ought to be a new creature. It says he is. It doesn't say
if he's in Christ, he will be a new creature. It says he is
a new creature. If any man be in Christ, it does
not say that the preacher, if he preaches to him and uses the
right psychology and goes about getting him to sign pledges and
puts enough pressure on him, he can make a new creature out
of him. If he's in Christ, he is a new creature. He is made
a new creature by the indwelling Christ, not by the creed or the
preacher or the church or the law, but by the very presence
of his Lord. And he walks in newness of life.
And this new life is manifested in his attitude and in his action. This is because Christ is in
him. If he's in the church, if he's in the home, if he's in
his office, if he's on the street, he's a new creature because Christ
is in him. Forgiveness. The Scripture says,
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as Christ
God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. Christ is the life of forgiveness,
giving. When we give, we're more blessed
to give than to receive. Why? Here's the motivating principle.
Christ, who was rich, became poor for your sake. Thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift. God is a giving God, and
those who have God in their hearts are giving people. Humility. Let this mind be in you which
was in Christ, who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Missions. As my Father sent me,
even so send I you. Acts 1.8 says, you shall be my
witnesses. Not you ought to be, you should
be, you could be, it says you shall be. Worship, where two
or three are met together in my name, Christ said. Prayer,
whatsoever you ask in my name, it shall be done. There's no
Christian work, there's no Christian duty that does not result or
grow out of our union with Christ. He's the life of these things. And as these things will exist
where he is, There's no way to produce him where he's not. That's
true. Forgiveness, generosity, humility,
compassion, witnessing a burden for the lost, true worship, intercessory
prayer, as these things must exist where Christ is, So these
things cannot be produced where Christ is not. And if there's
an absence of these things, it's because there's an absence of
Christ. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. He is a
new creature. Then in the fifth place, Christ
is the very life of all Christian ordinances. What are Christian
ordinances? Baptism. The Lord's Supper, prayer,
the offering of praise and thanksgiving, preaching, these are Christian
ordinances. And these ordinances would be wells without water,
without Christ. If Christ is not there, these
ordinances will be as dead and as lifeless as the old Jewish
sacrifices, without Christ. Wells without water, baptism.
That's the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. You take
a man into the baptismal pool, and if he is not sincerely and
earnestly showing forth the death, burial, and resurrection of his
Lord, what is baptism? It's nothing. Without Christ,
it has no meaning. What is the Lord's Children may
as well break up crackers and get some grape juice and sit
out in the backyard and play church. If Christ is not in these
ordinances, if Christ is not the very meaning of them and
the life of them, they're dead. When we take the bread, he said,
this is my body. This is symbolic of the broken
body. This wine is my blood shed for
you. What are prayers without Christ?
Nothing but the superstitious mumbling of a heathen to his
idol. Jesus Christ is the great high priest having the golden
censer in which there is much incense to offer before the throne. And our prayers are through him. What is our praise without Christ?
Rejected. What are offerings of thanksgiving
without Christ? Rejected, just like Cain's offering
was rejected. The blood is not there, the life
is not there. What is preaching without Christ?
It's not good news. If the person and work of Christ
is not the theme, turn to 2 Corinthians 4, just a moment. 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. What is preaching without Christ?
It's nothing. that their heart of the message
is Christ, the essence of the gospel is Christ, the object
of the preacher is to bring men to Christ. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 5,
Paul said, We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. Brethren, if we preach the law,
it's to show you your need of Christ. It's to show you how
that Christ fulfilled it in your stand. If we preach the justice
and holiness of God, it is to show you your need of Christ,
who is our holiness, who met God's justice and satisfied it.
If we preach the joys of heaven, it's to encourage you to receive
Christ, that you might live with him eternally. If we preach the
terrors of hell, it is to warn you to flee to Christ. If we
preach faith, Christ is the object of faith. Our preaching is Christ. The life of our preaching is
Christ. I hear preachers preach in different
times on the radio and television, and they preach prophecy, and
they preach the strange and perplexing questions, and they preach Old
Testament history, and they preach events that took place in the
past, and they preach their denominations and ordinances, and they preach
morality and the law, but they don't preach Christ. They don't
preach Christ. Without Christ, preaching is
nothing more than a political talk. Without Christ, preaching
is no more than a moral essay. Without Christ, preaching has
no life. He is the life of preaching.
And then last of all, Christ is the very life of glory. We believe that we should be
raised from the grave. Do you believe that? I believe
that, but my friends, who is going to raise us from the grave?
It says in Philippians 3, verse 20, Our conversation is in heaven,
from which we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body. He is going to do it. And then
his appearance, turn to 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16. His appearance shall be the signal
for our resurrection. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16,
for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and then
the dead in Christ shall rise. When he comes, he's the life
of the resurrection. And then he is the Lord of heaven,
and he shall be the object of worship and praise, and he shall
be our glory in heaven. To the thief on the cross he
said, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. To the disciples he said, I go
to prepare a place for you that where I am, there ye may be. The apostle Paul said, I have
a desire to depart and be with Christ. For me to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. What think ye of Christ? Stephen, when he was stoned and
his spirit was leaving his body, he cried his last words were,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. It was not, O ye hosts of glory,
I am coming to join you. It's not, Mother and Father,
I'll meet you over there. It's not, O Church of the Living
God, O triumphant believers. It is not, O Crusaders for Christ. It is, Lord Jesus, coming to
you. You see what I'm saying? Christ
is our life. Jesus Christ is the life of our
spiritual existence. I don't even exist apart from
him. Apart from Christ, I'm dead on the dunghill of human depravity. I'm made alive by Christ. I'm
quickened with Christ. I'm seated on the right hand
of God with Christ. Christ is the life of my sanctification. If I love anybody, it's because
Christ is in me. If I have any charity, if I have
any righteousness, if I have any holiness, if I have any Christian
grace, if I have any motivating principle apart from my own selfish
desires, it's Christ and not me. It's the life of God in my
soul that's put there by the new birth. Christ is the very
life of every Christian duty. And Christ is the life of every
Christian ordinance, and Christ is the life of glory. Listen
to this. Too much to Christ I cannot give. Too much I cannot get from
thee. Let all thy love, O Lord, and
all thy grace, and all thy presence, graven
on my heart forever be. What think ye of Christ? Well, Preacher Christ is my life. He's my life. Everything else is insignificant. Everything else is just something
added. Everything else is just a duty
to be performed. Everything else is marking time
and treading water, because everything else shall pass away. You can't
name me one thing today, not one thing, that shall not pass
away, that you possess, that you have, and that you are. Name
something, everything, except one thing, and that's Christ. Our Father in Heaven, where Christ lives, may he live
more triumphantly. Where Christ reigns, may he reign
more powerfully. Where Christ sits, may he sit
more victoriously. And where Christ does not live,
We pray, O God, that it may please Thee by the power of Thy Holy
Spirit to bring in the life of Christ. Grant, O Lord, that none
in this congregation may go a day's journey as Joseph and Mary and
then discover that Christ is not there, that they have assumed
that He's there, but He's not there. Grant, O Lord, that we
should examine ourselves whether we be in Christ Know ye not your
own selves, how that Christ be in you, except you be reprobates? We want Christ to live within.
We want all the attributes of our Lord to be manifested within
us. We want to depend upon Him, and trust in Him, and look to
Him, and live by His grace and His love. For His glory we pray. Amen.