Christ the All in All
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We cannot call Ephesians the Epistle of Paul. It was written by the Holy Ghost through Paul. The Holy Ghost came to take the things of Christ, and to show them unto us. In this Epistle there is nothing but Christ from start to finish. In the first chapter it is, "In Christ," "In Christ," "In Christ." Seven times it is "In Christ." In the second chapter of the Epistle, it is "With Christ," "With Christ," "With Christ." In the third chapter, it is "Of Christ," "Of Christ." The keynote of this Epistle seems to be the third verse of the first chapter: "God * * hath blessed us * *, in Christ." There is another key-verse, the twenty-second verse of the first chapter, He "gave Him to be the Head over all things." That is a marvelous thing, isn't it, that Jesus Christ is the Head, the Climax, the All and in all? He is everything, all things, to His Church.
The Book of Colossians says, "The new man," where Christ "is All, and in all." He is the Beginning and the Ending, and He is everything that comes in between; He is the Alpha and the Omega, and He is all the rest of the alphabet. Aren't you glad that we have a Saviour who is like that?
I. CHRIST THE MESSAGE OF PULPIT AND PEW (Acts 5:42)
"They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." They ceased not to preach Him; wherever they went, they preached Him. The council had told Peter and the others, saying, Ye shall not preach any more in this Name; if you want to preach something else, all right, but you must not preach any more in this Name. They departed from the council, "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name," and immediately, they entered into the synagogue and preached Christ, they ceased not to preach Christ, They never preached anything but Christ. They were so filled with Christ, so much in love with Him, He had done so much for them and He meant so much to them, that they preached Him wherever they went.
In the ninth chapter of Acts, it tells you how Paul commenced his ministry, "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues." That is the way he began to preach and that is the way he continued to preach. In the Word of God, it is always Christ that is preached.
1. Christ was preached to the Jews. Take that marvelous passage in Acts 17:1-34, where it says that Paul went into the synagogue of the Jews, and contended three Sabbaths, opening and alleging that Jesus was the Christ, and that He must needs have been crucified and have risen from the dead, and that Jesus was coming again, that is what he preached to the Jews.
2. Christ was preached to the Gentiles. If you go to the Book of Galatians, you will read these words: "When it pleased God, * *, that I might preach Him among the heathen (Gentiles, A. S. V.), immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." What did Paul do? He preached Christ, to the Gentiles.
3. What was preached to the Samaritans? It says that Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and "preached Christ unto them." What did he preach to the Ethiopian, a man of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians? The Ethiopian had been in Jerusalem to worship, and, as he was returning, the Spirit told Philip to go and join the chariot; and he entered into the chariot and these words are written: "And began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."
There is but one Name to preach. There is none other Name given under Heaven whereby we must be saved; therefore, if we are going to preach, let us preach the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the central thought in Bible preaching. Preaching Christ is the only kind of preaching that is really worth the while. All other preaching is wasted breath, it is not preaching at all.
Oh, tell me the story that never grows old,
The story of One whom the Prophets foretold;
The Horn of salvation, the Scepter, the Star,
The Light in the darkness they saw from afar.
It never grows old, it never grows old;
The story of Jesus will never grow old.
II. CHRIST, AN EVER-PRESENT REALITY IN CHRISTIANITY (Matthew 28:18-19)
"Lo, I am with you alway," was the parting promise of our Lord. He is the Christ from whom you can never get away. He is the supreme Christ; He is the ever-present Christ. You cannot separate Him from the faith that is given unto us. Let me give you the distinction between religion, as we know it under the name of Christianity; and religion as some people know it under the name of Confucianism, or Buddhism, or any other ism.
All other religions, excepting Christianity, are summed up in a creed. Christianity is summed up in Christ. Other cults build around doctrines, they build around ethics. Confucius came and he had his students sitting around him. Evidently they admired him, loved him, followed him; they almost adored him; but, when Confucius was dead, Confucianism could live right on. Why? Because Confucianism was built on the ethics of Confucius and not on Confucius. That was true of Mohammedanism; it has been true of every human religion. The men or the women who began religions died, and they left their doctrines, their creeds, their tenets.
Not so with Christianity. If Jesus Christ had died and had never been raised again, Christianity could not have survived a year; it would have been an impossibility. Christianity centers in a Living Person, with whom you walk, with whom you talk, with whom you have fellowship. The Lord Jesus Christ is inseparable from Christianity. You cannot live apart from Him, you cannot walk apart from Him. Do not Christians believe in a creed? Oh, yes, they subscribe to a creed. They are perfectly willing to tell the world what they believe about Jesus Christ. We are not ashamed of our faith, we will contend for the faith. However, it is not our creed we preach, it is the Christ around which our creed is builded, who is our all in all Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Jesus Christ, the Virgin-Born; Jesus Christ, the Perfect God-Man; Jesus Christ, the Sufferer of Calvary; Jesus Christ, Buried; Jesus Christ, Risen; Jesus Christ, Coming; Jesus Christ, Reigning. He is an ever-present reality.
There is not a single concept in the creed that we hold that is not indissolubly linked to the life and Person of Jesus Christ. You cannot take your creed, and separate it from Christ. You can take the creed of any other religion and separate it from the man who founded the religion. You cannot do that with the religion of Jesus Christ. It is all summed up in Him. We preach Christ, He is our ever-present Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
"Oh, serve the Lord with gladness,"
And come before His throne.
He is the great Creator,
And He is God alone;
The heavens declare His glory,
The earth His power displays;
While millions without number
To Him glad anthems raise,
"Oh, serve the Lord with gladness,"
And come before His throne;
He is our great Redeemer,
And He is God alone.
III. CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS TO THE CHRISTIAN (Psalms 19:1-4)
Wherever he goes, everything, to the Christian, suggests Christ. On every page of the Bible he sees Christ. Some one says, "Do you see Christ in the creation?" Oh, yes, I do see Him there, for "all things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." Everything in the creation is in Christ, and Christ is seen in it.
No matter where you open your Bible, you will find Christ there. Anywhere, everywhere, from Genesis through Revelation, the whole story centers in Jesus Christ. If we take Jesus Christ out, we have taken out the very heart, the very blood, the very life from the Bible.
There is no great doctrine in the Word of God, apart from Jesus Christ. If we open the Book of Genesis, and read where it says, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. * * and the evening and the morning were the second day"; how quickly we are reminded that Christ is the inevitable One in that verse; for He said: "I am the Light of the world": and, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." You cannot have light, without you have Christ.
If we walk into the Garden of Eden and find that Adam is put to sleep, and his side is opened, we cannot but see Christ; for He too was put to sleep by the Father on the Cross, and His side was opened. Thus you may run on down through the Bible, page after page, and you will discover that it tells the message of Jesus Christ.
It must have been a wonderful scene when the Lord walked with the two disciples to Emmaus, that little village outside of Jerusalem. As He walked He opened up the Scriptures. Would you not like to have been there? Would you not like to have heard Him as He began with the Books of Moses, through the Prophets, and the Psalms, and on into the Minor Prophets, and opened up, in the Word of God, the thing's concerning Himself?
When you come into the Gospels, it is a Word concerning Christ, and Christ is the Word. Luke says of Acts: "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." Thus, no matter where the Disciples are going or preaching, and no matter what they are doing in the Book of Acts, it is always the message of Jesus Christ.
Christ is the heart of Romans, He is the very core of Corinthians, He is the All in all in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Thessalonians. Jesus Christ is the center wherever you go in this wonderful Word of God.
He is the center of all, however, not alone of the Bible. Wherever you walk, Christ is there. If you go through a door, He says, "I am the Door." If you look up at the sun, He says, "The Lord is a Sun and Shield." If you look at the sheepcote, He says, "I am the Door of the sheep." If you sit down to a meal, and say, "Won't you pass the bread, please?" He says, "I am the Bread of Life." If you say, "Will you please give me a drink of water?" He says "I am the Living Water."
There is a message everywhere concerning Christ, but only he who sees, takes off his shoes.
IV. CHRIST IS SUPREME ABOVE ALL OTHER MEN (Matthew 12:41-42)
Christ is supreme above every other man who has ever been born. There is no other person like unto Christ; none other can with Him compare.
A little legend describes the Romans as sending to Paul and saying: "We would like to have you put in the Parthenon some of the relics of your religion; something that will commemorate Christ to the world. Other religions and gods have their riches in the Parthenon and we would like to give you a niche." Paul is said to have replied: "My Christ will have all the Parthenon, or He will have none. He will not share honors with other gods; He will not be crowned along with the crowns of others." Why? Simply this: Christ is the Supreme Christ. He stands over and above all. "Behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Solomon stands before you as the wisest of men, but Christ gave him his wisdom.
Jesus Christ said of John the Baptist, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John." But what did John say of Christ: "The latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." Jesus Christ is above all men. We mean that there are none who can be compared to Jesus Christ. He is, more than any man; more than all. He is above prophets, above priests, above kings. He is King of kings, He is Lord of lords.
You remember when Moses and Elias, the chief among Law-givers and among Prophets, met with Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, that Peter said, "Let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." Then, right out of Heaven came the voice of the Father, saying: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him." God seemed to be saying, "Do not put Christ on a par with Moses; do not put Him on a par with Elias, hear Him, He is the Supreme One." Ah, beloved, I fall upon my face, I bow, I bend the knee, I cry out.
"Let angels prostrate fall,
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all."
Let men and women, let those on earth and those in Heaven, and let those under the earth, let all things bend the knee and fall down before Him, He is the supreme Christ, greater than all men combined; for, there is a sense in which in Him we all live, and move, and have our being.
Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious
See the "Man of sorrows" now
From the fight return victorious:
Every knee to Him shall bow!
Crown Him! crown Him! angels, crown Him!
Crown the Saviour "King of kings!"
Crown the Saviour! angels, crown Him!
Rich the trophies Jesus brings:
In the seat of power enthrone Him,
eter's in that it gives a warning to those who hold the faith lest they fall away from it and become apostate. Here is a tremendous message.
The Lord spoke in the parable of the Sower, of the seed which was choked out by thorns, and also the seed which grew for a while but soon faded away under the hot sun.
How many there are today who hear and know the doctrine of the Coming of the Lord, It is a sweet morsel unto them, but just as soon as persecution arises, they fall away.
2. There is an admonition to remember all the words spoken by Jesus (Acts 20:35). So many believers fall by the way and lose their crowns, and their place in the Kingdom, because they fail to remember the words which Christ, the Prophets, and the Apostles have spoken.
If we only walked in the Spirit, we would remember Christ's words, inasmuch as it is written: "[He will] bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
No seaman, or captain, guiding his boat through treacherous seas dares to neglect his charts, and his compass. No Christian dares forget the words of his Lord.
We have abundant revelations from God as to the march of current events. Alas, however, so few are giving any attention to prophecy.
Why should we fail to remember? Why should we cast away our confidence in the Blessed Hope, which has great recompense of reward?
||| He quickly drew his sword, and made as though he would strike her. She did not even duck. He said, "Why didn't you run, why didn't you duck?" She said, "I knew who held the sword. You would not strike me, you are my husband, you are my lover; my whole life is in your heart. I am not afraid of a sword, when you hold it." Well, my friends, He is the Master of the elements. He holdeth the stormy winds in His hands. What a majestic picture you have in the Book of Revelation! Christ is seen riding on the clouds. "Oh, my Lord, my God, the clouds are Thy chariots." When He comes again, He will come like the lightning, flashing from one end of the Heaven even unto the other. I tell you, our Christ is the Christ of power, over the elements.
AN ILLUSTRATION
The other day as I was returning from Central America, I arrived in Washington about 9:30 p. m. I walked through the great waiting room, through the outside doors, facing the shrine of all America. All was dark outside; only one thing was clearly visible. All about the Capitol building batteries of searchlights have been hidden among the trees and on the roofs of the buildings; all hidden, all focused on one object not the Hall of Representatives or the Senate building, not even upon the Hall of Justice. But far above, each contributing light shone upon the dome of the Capitol, that in all of America, in the nighttime, one thing might stand out, the dome of the Capitol. So the Holy Spirit focuses all His glory light on one Being. From Christ Life.