In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having a Christ-centered theology and being firmly established in Christ. He encourages the congregation to focus on Jesus in every aspect of their lives, from their music choices to their fellowship and study of the Scriptures. The preacher also highlights the significance of the second coming of Jesus and urges the listeners to eagerly anticipate it. He then references passages from the books of Matthew and Colossians, emphasizing the role of the Holy Spirit in testifying about Jesus. Overall, the sermon emphasizes the need to continually seek and abide in Christ, with the promise that as believers do so, they will become more like Him.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Lord, you have heard our prayer. We have sung our heart to you this morning. Lord, we know, we have read in your word, we are changed into the image of the Son of God as we see him. We join in with the Grecians this morning, Lord, and come saying, We would see Jesus, Lord, in all of his beauty, his humanity, his deity, his exalted place. We would see Jesus this morning, Lord. Oh, Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us today, each one of us. Lord, it is Wednesday morning. We are getting a little tired, Father. Oh, quicken these mortal bodies by the Spirit of God that dwells within us, God. Give us your grace this morning, Lord. Give me your grace that I might preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. I'm trusting you, Lord. We love you. Thank you. We ask you all of this in Jesus Christ's holy name. Amen. You may be seated. Once again, thank you for that wholehearted singing. I was thinking about it this morning in prayer, earlier this morning. What an effect you all have on the preaching of the Word of God. I thought about several illustrations in the Old Testament where the Spirit of the Lord fell upon the prophet when the minstrels sang. And I do believe that those kind of things happen as we sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and worship the Lord. As we said yesterday, we are going to, again this morning, take up part two of the power of Christ-centered theology. We will finish on that subject today. Tomorrow I plan to preach on Christ, our example, and get very practical. This is not just some heavenly Christ, some theology that floats around in the sky, but it has very practical everyday outworkings in our lives. And we want to speak about that tomorrow. And on Friday, Lord willing, we want to speak on the person of Christ or the in-Him experience in the life of the believer. I'm not sure what the title will be yet, but that sounds like a pretty good one. The in-Him experience in the life of the believer. Yesterday we were bombarded with biblically-based, Christ-centered theology from every angle. I trust that you have been convinced. I gave you enough yesterday that I wouldn't need to say anything else today. You understand, don't you? Yet, but for the sake of the balance of Scripture, we will continue that barrage of bombardment again today. That God would so convince our hearts, so establish us in Christ, so establish our theology, that it be a simple, yet Christ-centered theology, that we will never be moved away from it ever again. That is the burden of my heart. Turning this morning to begin with in the book of Matthew, if you'll turn there, there's such a beautiful portion of Scripture in Matthew chapter 17. I beseech your prayers this morning. I'm tired. I didn't sleep well last night. My mind was on so many good things that I couldn't sleep. So I'm trusting that God will take care of this tired body this morning. In Matthew chapter 17, we want to read from verse 1 to 9. We have an interesting confirmation of this shift that Brother Moe spoke about yesterday. And I want us to notice it here in Matthew 17. We're looking at the transfiguration of Christ. It is also found in Mark and also in Luke. But I chose to read it here in Matthew. And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And Luke says, they went up into that high mountain to pray. And Luke says, And as He, Jesus, was praying, verse 2, He was transfigured before them, and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. Now just stop there for a moment. This is one beautiful revelation of the glorified Christ here. And that is exactly what it is. Peter confirms that in 2 Peter chapter 1. This is one beautiful revelation of the glorified, the exalted Christ. Imagine being Peter, James, and John. Now we're going to get tough on them in a minute, but let's not get too tough on them. You just put yourself in their shoes. They're up there on this mountain, and they're praying, and Jesus is praying, and as He begins to pray, His heart draws closer and closer and closer into the heart of His Father, and as He draws closer and closer into the heart of His Father, He is transfigured there, and He just turns on like a big light bulb. And His raiment shined like white wool, and His face shined like the sun. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, or Elijah, talking with Him. Then answered Peter, the impulsive one, then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. Now let's just stop there for a moment and get a little glimpse again into the theology of these men. Because you see, at this point, they're not totally grasping who this man, Jesus, really is. Even though Peter's just finished saying, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, still he looks at this whole scene, and he says, oh, this is beautiful. Moses is here, that takes care of the law. Elijah is here, that takes care of the prophets. Now Jesus is here, and we'll just put all three of them together and go on forward from here. But I hope that God can grab your attention this morning and help you to see what happens here. And while He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, and by the way, it says in Luke, this bright cloud overshadowed them, and I mean they, feared, and a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Not Moses. Not Elijah. Oh, amen, Moses! God bless you for all the things that you said. God bless you for the revelation of God's heart in the law. God bless you, Elijah, and all you prophets and the beautiful things that you saw as you looked ahead, as you gazed down through the telescope, that prophetic telescope, and saw little glimpses of Christ in His humanity and in His deity, in His suffering, in His exaltation. God bless all of you prophets for the things that you saw. But bless God, Jesus Christ is now here. And God the Father says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him, Peter. You don't need to build three tabernacles. You don't even need to build one. The Christ is here. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise. Be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw it was no man, save Jesus only. You know, in my Bible I have those two things circled. Hear ye Him and save Jesus only. Do we see the Christ-centered theology here, brethren? Do you see the declaration that the Father in Heaven just gave us? Yes, He gave it to Peter. Yes, He gave it to James and to John. But He is also giving it to us. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And when they opened up their eyes and they looked up, there was no man there save Jesus only. Don't miss the Christ-centered theology in this portion of Scripture. It's so beautifully there. Yes, there was a shift. Yes, Jesus raised the standard. But Jesus can raise the standard. He is God. And He has raised the standard. And the Father confirms that raising of the standard. This is my beloved Son. You hear what He has to say. Christ has been lifting up the bar. He has been preaching salvation. He has been revealing who He is. Hear ye Him. Consider this morning also that the truth is in Jesus. Turn with me to Ephesians 4. As we consider to gaze upon a Christ-centered theology, we find in the book of Ephesians a beautiful portion of Scripture about Christ and who He is. Ephesians 4 Verse 20-24 The truth is in Jesus. Verse 20 Paul, speaking to the church at Ephesus, says these words, Ye have not so learned Christ. And he's referencing back to the Gentiles and how they lived and how their hearts were darkened and how evil came in and clouded their conscience and their hearts became dark and they couldn't see anything. But then he turns right around to the Ephesians and says, But you have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, or the holiness of truth. The new man is created in righteousness and the holiness of truth. And Jesus is the truth. And the truth is in Jesus. I want us to notice here that to learn Christ and to learn the truth is the same thing. Christ and the truth are synonymous. Jesus said these very words, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. There He proclaims it. I am the truth. Jesus was the embodiment of truth. Now I know that we have touched on this already, but I'd like us to focus on it here today. He was the embodiment of truth. He was the Word made flesh. He was full of grace, and He was full of truth. He was truth walking around in an earthly body. That's who Jesus is. Truth walking around in an earthly body. You know, sometimes I think we get the idea, you know, that truth, okay, truth is something that is written down. Truth is something this verse in the Bible. Truth is this verse in the Bible. And yes, truth is this verse in the Bible. But truth is not only a verse in the Bible. Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He was truth walking around in an earthly body. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Lord, help us to understand what that means. Because great is the mystery of godliness, or the way that God makes man righteous. Great is that mystery. So we have truth walking around in an earthly body. And the Father said to Peter, James, and John, Hear ye Him. Hear ye Him. Let His life and His Word define who He is. This morning. Let His life and His Word define who He is. And I'm not talking about a dead letter apprehension of the truth, but I'm speaking of an enlivened revelation of the Word of God. That's what we're speaking about today. You cannot separate the two. You cannot separate the three. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. And the Word of God is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is the Word of God. And Jesus is the truth. You cannot separate those. And bless God, brethren, that's pretty comforting when you think about how much of this Word has been given to us, and it is at our disposal that we can gaze into the pages of this book and know that what we are reading is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it's a few words, whether it's a principle in the Word of God, or whether it's a beautiful example of something that Christ did while He was walking on this earth, it's all the same thing. It's truth, brethren. Beautiful, life-changing, freeing truth. Truth is in Jesus. Paul said it this way. He said, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. I like that. That's a beautiful challenge to every one of us. In other words, be rich with the Word of Christ, and let it dwell in you. And that word dwell there, brethren, that's not just talking about having a little idea up here in your mind, but it's rather more the concept of the Word of God has become very part of my whole heart and being. Like John said, I write unto you, little children or young men, because the Word of God abides in you. That's not a head knowledge about the Bible. That is a man who has come to these Scriptures, like we said yesterday, with an open face and read the Word of God, the truth of God, in the spirit in which it was given, and that man and that word becomes part and parcel of his very being. Jesus is the truth. Paul was concerned for the Corinthians that someone would come preaching another Jesus. Turn with me there and let's just look for a moment and see the concern upon his heart in 2 Corinthians 11. He's jealous. Remember, he's Paul the Apostle. He's the church planter. He goes from one city to the next. He preaches the gospel. People are born again. He becomes the father of a new church, and he wants to see this church get on its feet and go forward. He wants this church to become a beautiful expression of the life of Jesus Christ. That's his burden. And so he says these words, For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ. Beautiful words. But I fear, Paul says, Lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. And it's good for us to go back there and just glance at that, isn't it? How the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. Yea, hath God said, Oh, you can be wiser yet than this. I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preaches, I want you to notice this, another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if he receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, that ye might well bear with him. Look at those words. Look at that wording. Circle that. Another Jesus. Another spirit. Another gospel. Oh, brethren, look at the day and the age that we live in. Another Jesus. Another spirit. Another gospel. Paul was concerned. We live in those days. What do we do? How do we walk? Stay in the book, brethren. Stay in the book. The Christ of the Word and the Word of Christ. You stay right there, and you will not be swallowing another Jesus. You will not be receiving another spirit. You will not be opening your heart to another gospel. And I'm telling you, brethren, we live in a day when all three of those are running rampant everywhere. It's tragic! I mean, it's tragic here in the United States, but I'll tell you how it looks on the other side of the world, in the third world. For these guys to go over there into Africa, where everybody lives in abject poverty, and life is two dollars a day. That's what you get to work the whole day. Two dollars. And here comes this man from America in a big fancy suit that costs a thousand dollars, and he's got his diamond ring on his hand, and he's driving a Mercedes-Benz down through the capital city of one of these poor countries in Africa, and he stands up and gives them the prosperity gospel. What a grief! That's another gospel! That's heresy! That's not in the Bible! And talk to them about a Jesus which is not revealed in the Scriptures. Brethren, we live in a day when Jesus can do just about anything. I mean, Jesus can be a movie star. Jesus can be a wealthy, rich man living in a million dollar mansion, driving the most expensive car. Jesus can be that! Jesus can go to church on Sunday morning and sing in a nightclub on Saturday night. That's the Jesus of the day that we live in. But brethren, that's not the Jesus of the Bible. That is not the way Jesus was. That's not how He lived. And Paul was concerned about it. And if Paul was concerned about it, how much more should we be concerned about it? And again, please bear with me. But now we have the Internet. You know, we can just zoom on and we can just go wherever we want. We can find sermons here and one over here and listen to this one and that one. And I'm not totally against that, but brethren, keep your eyes open. There is another Jesus that is being preached and there is another Spirit besides the Holy Spirit of God and there is another Gospel that is being given everywhere. We must stay away from those things. Keep your eyes open, brethren. I'm not against getting a sermon on the Internet. Let us stay in the book. The Christ of the Word and the Word of Christ will clearly divide between the true and the false. Christ is our example. We will look at this in a whole sermon tomorrow, but Christ is our example. And I know we can sit here today and point out there and talk about Christ being their example. Brethren, He's our example, too. He's our example, too. And whether you want to hear it or not, we've got a lot of high bread in us, too. Amen? Christ is our example. Let's look at the doctrine of Christian liberty here. Turn to Galatians chapter 5, verse 1. The doctrine of Christian liberty. Liberty is the power, that is, the freedom to do what I ought. It is not the freedom to do what I want. It is the freedom to do what I ought. That is the doctrine of Christian liberty in the Bible. That's why we find Paul so jealous as he looks in on the Galatian church and those dear brothers and sisters there who were born again by the simple preaching of the crucified Christ. All of a sudden, here comes Judaism into the middle of the Galatian church. And all of a sudden, the people are looking in this direction and that direction. And, you know, they were so beautifully birthed by a revelation of the crucified Christ. And they believed and they were justified and their lives were changed, totally changed. They received the Spirit of God and they were born again. Just like two or three fellows were last night, praise God. And all of a sudden, here comes these Judaizers and they're coming in there and they're saying, Oh, it's Christ, yes, plus this. Whenever you get that plus on there, that's when you need to, wait a minute, wait a minute. Oh, yes, it's Christ, plus Moses. Moses, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And see, Paul saw that and he realized these people have lost their focus on the simplicity of a Christ-centered life. And they're over here looking at circumcision, thinking, Oh, I'll have more, I'll be better, I'll be this, I'll be that. If I get circumcised. Oh, Paul thought, Oh, no, that liberty, that power to do the will of God, to do what they ought to do, is going to be lost as they all of a sudden turn their attention away from the Christ, the Son of the living God, and back on circumcision. What a cheap second best. And Paul was vehement. I mean, he said strong words. Let him be accursed, he said. Let him be accursed. I'm sorry. I didn't even get to the Scripture, did I? All right. But let's read what he says. Stand fast, therefore, brethren, in the liberty wherewith Christ personally hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you. What's the next word? Nothing. That's not a little issue, is it? And Paul's not saying here, any of you here in this room today that are circumcised, Christ profits you nothing. No. He's saying if you turn your focus away from that ongoing justification by faith in what Jesus Christ did on that cross, and the blood that's on the mercy seat now, and turn it over here to circumcision and say, Oh, if I'm going to be justified and accepted in the sight of God, I need to be circumcised. You have lost everything. And Christ, the flow of Christ, and the life of Christ, and the holiness of Christ that is flowing into your life, and the liberty of Christ is gone. Now all you've got is circumcision. Do you see, brethren, how that Christ is right in the center of true biblical Christian liberty? And again, it makes me wonder where this mixed up heresy of liberty that has crept into the American church came from. Because it doesn't produce the life also of Jesus manifest in my mortal flesh. It doesn't produce that. Instead, it produces worldliness and carnality. It produces excuses to live a fleshly and a self-centered life. And in the midst of the whole thing, to go to church on Sunday and rejoice in Jesus and say, I'm going to heaven when I die. I don't think so. I don't think so. Paul was jealous over the simple gospel which was being changed by men. There's no freedom and there's no power in circumcision. Turn with me to John chapter 8. Again, we're looking at Christ is our liberty. In John chapter 8 and verse 31, we ought to read a couple more verses there. Verse 29, And he that sent me is with me, Jesus speaking of his Father. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. And as he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. That's Christian liberty, brethren. And ye shall know the truth. If you continue in my words, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth. Or the truth will be continually revealed to your heart. And the truth will bring liberty into your life. And they answered him, We the Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou ye shall be made free? We're already free, they said. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Whoa! That changed the whole scene. That took care of Abraham's seed real fast. Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. That still stands today, brethren. And the servant abideth not in the house forever. Doesn't matter if you're Abraham's seed or Menno's seed. Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever. But the Son abideth ever. Get in the Son! If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Or, ye shall be free without question. That's what indeed means. It's like it pushes the free up higher. Ye shall be free, but ye shall be free indeed. You shall be free without question. How? In the Son. In the Son. In the Son there is liberty. In the Son there is freedom. In the Son there is power to do the will of God. That's a glorious proclamation to the child of God. And if the Son makes you free, the Son also keeps you free. Amen? That's how it works. Let's move on and look a bit here this morning at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. There are two portions of Scripture that I would like for us to look at this morning. As we consider Christ-centered theology in light of the teachings on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. And these two portions of Scripture feed each other in a reciprocating way. Do you understand what reciprocating means? One feeds this way, and this turns around and feeds back, and it just keeps going back and forth. It's beautiful. Again, we are bombarded with Christ-centered reality here. John chapter 15 is where we want to read. Jesus, we're toward the end of His earthly ministry. It's soon time for Him to go to the cross. John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Christ is like bringing a whole lot of things into focus. He's doing some training. He's giving His disciples insight into things that He has never given them before because He realizes it's soon time that I'm going to be gone. And in the midst of that, He's speaking about the Holy Spirit. In chapter 15 and verse 26, He says these words, But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me. Look at that. The Holy Spirit is going to come. And guess what He's going to say? He is going to testify about Christ. That's what He's going to say. Turn over to John 16. Maybe it's the same page for you as it is for me in my Bible. John 16, verse 12 and following. Jesus says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself. He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. Now, here again, we're looking at Christ-centered theology. And even when we look at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, we realize that the Spirit of God was sent into the world for what? To glorify the Lord Jesus. That is why He is here. To glorify the Lord Jesus in your own personal life, and to glorify the Lord Jesus out of your mouth as you proclaim it to a world who does not know. That's the way it is. That's what the Spirit of God was given for. Sometimes we get the idea, you know, Oh, the Holy Spirit, yeah, the grace of God, it's for me, it's for me. Sorry, brother. That's pretty self-centered spirituality if you ask me. The Holy Spirit was not given to you so that you can sit here and enjoy life here while you're on the earth. Bless God, it's a joy to be filled with the Spirit of God, and I enjoy the Spirit of God, but that's not why the Spirit of God was given to me. He is given to glorify the Son, and to reveal the Son to us. And as we all come with an open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of God. You see that again, brothers? He shall glorify me. The Holy Spirit is sent in the world for what? To speak of Himself? No. To speak of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, there are many things about me that you need to know, but you can't understand them now. But the Holy Spirit will show them to you. And that still stands today, brethren. There are many things, as we look into the pages of this book, you know, you scratch your head many times and say, I don't know what that means, huh? He shall show them to you. He shall reveal Christ to you. And truly it was so in the book of Acts, was it not? They were filled with the Holy Ghost, and as soon as they were filled with the Holy Ghost, utterances began to flow out of them. And what do you think those utterances were? Hmm? Do you think that they were speaking about the godly home? How about finances? Please don't misunderstand me. I believe in the godly home. But we know what came out of those mouths of those 120. They were speaking forth the mighty works of God. They were preaching about Jesus in languages that they didn't even know. And all those other people heard in languages, their own languages, and they understood. And guess what they did? They believed on the Lord Jesus Christ that day. It's still that way today, brethren. The authorities accused them. You guys have filled Jerusalem with this doctrine of Christ. No, we didn't. The Holy Ghost did. Do you see the centrality of the doctrine of Christ here? Even in the Holy Spirit. Everything back to Christ. Christ this way. Christ that way. Christ exalted. Christ honored. In every way. Down through church history, it has always been this way. Whenever there is an outpouring of the Spirit of God, the people begin to preach about Jesus Christ. And they begin to see Him in ways they never did before. John chapter 7. Here's the other portion of Scripture now that I want you to see. And the reciprocating nature of these two principles. In John chapter 7. It's the last day, that great day of the feast. The feast of tabernacle. The feast of blessing. The feast where they pour out the water before the Lord in hopes of that day, that great day when the blessing of God will be poured out. And in the midst of that day, that great day, the last day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And here's what I'd like us to see here. Jesus said, He that believeth on Me, something is going to happen to he that believeth on Me. And that he that believeth, brethren, is a present continuous Word. It's not just, okay, back there 35 years ago I believed on Jesus. No, that is a present continuous Word. And it simply means this. He that believeth and believeth and believeth and believeth, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. As I understand that, to me that simply says, as I look at Jesus in my everyday life, and I continue to lean with my whole heart upon Him, the Spirit of God is put into my life. Now, stay with me. But as the Spirit of God is put into my life, the Spirit of God speaks about Jesus in my heart. And as the Spirit of God speaks about Jesus in my heart, I believe and I continue to believe and I continue to be inspired. And as I believe and continue to be inspired, the Spirit of God is poured out in my heart. And this thing just goes back and forth and back and forth. So beautiful! This word believe is an active continuous believing. And it means, let me just read it to you, I have it in my Bible. This word believe means to believe into me, losing your whole life in me continually. That's what believe means. It's not a mental assent to a doctrine. Please note this also. The whole New Testament was written by who? By the Holy Ghost. And what is the New Testament? It's Christ. Only Christ. Honored, loved and exalted. Five hundred times Christ. Eight hundred times Jesus. Who knows how many times Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God breathed out the New Testament, and guess what He talked about? Jesus. Precious Jesus. I want to challenge us to take the template of Christ and lay it over the whole entire Bible. You will begin to see the incomparable Christ emerging out of every chapter. Take the template of Christ and say, this book is about Christ. And read it that way. Especially in the New Testament. And you will see the incomparable Christ emerging out of all of its pages. I challenge you to read your Bible and search for the many facets of the glimmering Christ that you will find in there. I'll give you an assignment. I'll give you an assignment. I don't know how many of you will do it, but if you want a Bible school, you'll write this down and go home and do it. Take this series. Go home. Sit down and listen to it again. And then take your New Testament and get a little marker in your hand and go through the whole New Testament looking, searching for Christ. I guarantee you when you get done, you'll have a New Testament that is so marked up, it won't mean anything anymore. You'll find Him. You'll find Him everywhere. You'll find Him in almost every verse. You'll find Him in every chapter. The incomparable Christ has 100 plus names given to Him by who? By the Holy Ghost to describe His beautiful character. Amen? He's the bread. He's the door. He's the resurrection. He's the life. He's the light. And on and on and on I could go. 100 names that the Spirit of God breathed out to describe the beautiful character of Jesus Christ. Paul said this in Romans 16. He said that God establishes the unstable by the preaching of Jesus Christ. You look it up later. Romans 16. Romans 16, verse 25. That God establishes the unstable by the preaching of Jesus Christ. I don't understand all of that. I just believe it and I do it. And it's very interesting to me how many men have come up to me and said, oh, such a strength comes in my soul. And I think, well, yeah. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And the preaching of Christ establishes unstable souls. Romans 16, verse 25. Peter says in 2 Peter 1 that all things that we need for life and godliness flow to us, how? Through the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. You go there. You look it up. We're skipping down now. I can't just keep on going and going. But they're there. You go. You'll see it. All the things that pertain to life and godliness, they flow to us through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Consider this one with me. We are admonished continually in the New Testament to an active, alert, watching, waiting, loving, longing, expectant looking for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Is that not a Christ-centered admonition to every one of us? And you know, when you begin to look into the admonitions that are given to us in the New Testament about loving His appearing and serving Him and waiting for His coming and all of those things, it's very clear, you know, God is not saying sit down, fold your hands and wait for Jesus. But instead He says, I want you to keep your eye on the window just like you do when company's coming to your house. Sure you have a little thing to do here or there. Sure you've still got a little bit of meal to prepare. Maybe there's a dish or two that needs to be washed. Or you need to straighten up the house. But while you're straightening up the house and while you're washing the dish and while you're frying that hamburger, you keep your eye looking out the window to see if they're coming. That's what God wants us to do. That's how He wants us to relate to what? The second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There it is again! I mean, God just bombards us from every direction to try to help us to see it's Jesus, only Jesus. Oh brethren, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. The things of earth will grow strangely dim. Why? In the light of His glory and grace. You know, maybe we just need a good old dose of that. Amen. That the things of this earth would just pale, fall back by the wayside in the light of His glory and His grace. Turn to Colossians 3.1. Forgive me. We are admonished where the affections of our hearts should be. In Colossians 3.1, Paul says this, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on those things above, not on the things of this earth. You get the dividing line there? See Him. See Him there. Sitting there. Sitting on the throne. Watching over you. Interceding for you. See Him there in all of His beauty and all that we've learned about Him this week. Take your little truck and put it over there next to Him. That old rust bucket. And God says, Set your affection on things above, not the things of this earth. Why, Paul? For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. Set your affection on things above, brethren, not on that old rust bucket. Colossians 3.11 says, We are told, Christ is all. There are deep, far-reaching, eternal realities in that simple statement, brethren. Christ is all. And some day, we will all understand the depth of that statement. Colossians 3.17 tells us that we should do, I'll read it since I'm right here. Verse 17, And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Look at that. Every word and every deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. I mean, God wants us to be stuck. Amen? Everything you do in the name of the Lord Jesus. Oh, that's beautiful, isn't it? Christ said in Matthew chapter 28, All power has been given unto me. Let us keep Him the central focus. And lastly, and we could just go on and on today, but lastly, in Revelation, as the veil is pulled back and we get a glimpse into heaven in the book of Revelation, guess who we find there? There we see all of heaven caught up in the worship of the incomparable Christ. We should just read a little bit there. I think I have time. Caught up in the worship of the incomparable Christ. Chapter 5, verse 11, And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. Is that a hundred million angels? What's ten thousand times ten thousand? Who's a quick mathematician? It's a hundred million. I saw a hundred million angels! Ooh! I mean, I saw a million people once, but I've never seen a hundred million. A hundred million angels! Singing in beautiful harmony and unison. My! Singing with a loud voice. A loud voice. What does the sound of a hundred million loud voices sound like? Glory! Bless God, I want to be in that number. I want to be there. With a loud voice saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessings. And if that's not enough, every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, now that seems to me to be all the animals, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that. All of creation joins in! I wonder what that sounds like. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen! And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever. O beloved brethren, truly all theologies lead to Christ and flow out of Him. He is the hub in the middle of the wheel. We can easily affirm this statement now after all that we have looked at. Let us move toward a simple Christ-centered theology and stay there. And be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Colossians chapter 1 Let us make much of His birth, much of His life, much of His death, and His resurrection. Let us keep our focus on His ascension, His exaltation, His intercession, and His coming again. We will never go wrong. It will keep those focuses right. Let us sing about them. Let us talk about them. Let us choose our music in light of this glorious revelation of the centrality of Jesus Christ. Let's be done with all this fluff! And get back to that solid stuff like we sang this morning, brethren! I'm telling you, we don't see Christ, sir! We wouldn't choose that stuff! That's extra. Let us choose our music in light of Him. Let us read books about Him. Let us search the Scriptures that we may behold Him in the pages of the Book. Let us preach about Him. Let our fellowship be around Him. Let us abide in Him, brethren. And if we will, something beautiful and mysterious will begin to happen slowly but surely. We shall become like Him. That I promise you. We shall become like Him. Brother Jeff's family thrilled our hearts last evening by going down through the Bible exalting Christ. And I plan to read that here in this portion of the sermon. And though you've heard it already, it must fit in here so you'll hear it again. You'll hear it again. In Genesis, Jesus is the ram at Abraham's altar. In Exodus, He is the Passover lamb. In the Book of Leviticus, He is our High Priest. And in Numbers, He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. That's our Jesus. In Deuteronomy, He is our city of refuge. And in Joshua, I change this. He is our Canaan, our inheritance. In Judges, He is our judge. In Ruth, He is our kinsman, redeemer. Hallelujah. In 1 and 2 Samuel, He is our trusted prophet. And in Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning king. Brothers, in Ezra, He is our faithful scribe. And in Nehemiah, hallelujah, He is the rebuilder of everything that is broken, brother. He is the rebuilder of everything that is broken. In Nehemiah, in Esther, He is the Mordecai, sitting faithful at the gate. In Job, He is our redeemer that ever liveth. In the Psalms, He is my shepherd and I shall not want. Hallelujah. In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our wisdom. In the Song of Solomon, He is the beautiful, beloved bridegroom. In Isaiah, He is the suffering servant. In Jeremiah and Lamentations, He is the weeping prophet. In Ezekiel, He is the wonderful four-faced, man. And in Daniel, He is the fourth man in the midst of the fiery furnace and the stone that was hewn out of the mountain. Add that in there. By the way, you can get about five or six more out of every one of these books if you go searching. In Hosea, He is my love and that is a forever faithful love. In Joel, He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. In Amos, He is our burden bearer. In Obadiah, He is our Savior. And in Jonah, He is the great foreign missionary. In Micah, He is the messenger with beautiful feet. Hallelujah. And in Nahum, He is the avenger. In Habakkuk, He is the watchman that ever prayeth for revival to come again. In Zephaniah, He is the Lord mighty to save. In Haggai, He is the restorer of the lost heritage. Do it again, Lord. In Zechariah, He is our fountain. And in Malachi, He is the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings. In Matthew, He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Mark, He is the miracle worker. In Luke, He is the Son of Man. And in John, He is the door by which every one of us must enter in. In the book of Acts, He is the builder of the church. I've changed that one. And in Romans, He is our justifier. In 1 Corinthians, He is our resurrection. And in 2 Corinthians, He is our sin bearer. In Galatians, He redeems us from the law. And in Ephesians, He is our unsearchable riches. In Philippians, He supplies our every need. And in Colossians, He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily brethren. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He is our soon coming King. And in 1 and 2 Timothy, He is the mediator between God and man. In Titus, He is our blessed hope. And in Philemon, He is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. In James, He is the Lord that heals the sick. And in 1 and 2 Peter, He is the chief shepherd. 1, 2 and 3 John, He is Jesus who has the tenderness of love for His people. In Jude, He is the Lord coming with 10,000 of His saints. And in Revelation, lift up your eyes, church, for your redemption draweth nigh. He is our King of kings and our Lord of lords. His name is Jesus. Jesus Christ. Christ the incomparable One. That's who He is. In closing, I want to say these words. In the days of the early church, a controversy broke out about the humanity and deity of Christ. And I wish I could give you this man's name who said these words, but I can't. But I know that I read it. A controversy broke out about the humanity and the deity of Christ. And it was in its infant stages of conflict. Several bishops got together to settle the matter. There was a wise old bishop who was sitting there listening to the debates. And he opened up his mouth after listening to them speak for a while and go back and forth as he sat there and watched the people of God polarizing over these little things back and forth with each other. This side getting stronger. This side getting stronger. This one accusing this one. And this one turning around and accusing this one. And the old wise bishop stopped them and pled with them and said, Please, stop what you're doing. Get back to the simple focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ and lay this controversy aside. It will destroy you. They didn't listen to the wise old bishop. They thought they knew better. They thought they had a cause. They thought they had a reason for their controversy. They thought they had a reason for their debate. And please don't misunderstand me. There are times when we do need to debate and we need controversy. But oh, let us not lose our focus on the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus as we tear and rip and debate and all of those things. May God help us. Let us pray. Father, we thank You for the journey that You've taken us on these two days. We stand in awe. We stand in awe of the beauty of Your Son. Our hearts are thrilled. Our hearts have been strengthened. Yes, Lord, our hearts burn with fire within us as we talk with Him and walk with Him along the way. God, I pray, take these feeble words and somehow drive them deep within our hearts, God. Keep us safe, Lord, in the last days. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. God bless you.