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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/clark-logan/christ-first/
Now shall we turn to the Word of God, reading first from Romans chapter 16, the epistle to the Romans and the last chapter, which is chapter 16. Let's read first, verse, lovely verse, 23. Romans chapter 16 and verse 23, Paul writes, Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you.
Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, saluteth you, and Quartus, a brother. Let's just pause there for a moment. Paul ends his letter to the Romans with a wonderful chapter full of commendation of others.
Sometimes as a gospel pioneer, he was standing alone. That was not by choice, but by divine leading. For example, you may remember at the last, in 2 Timothy, in the last chapter four, his last writing to Timothy, he spoke of that second appeal, when all men forsook him, and he stood alone.
And then the word comes in and I underline it, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. So he was never really alone, but humanly speaking, from time to time, he had to go it alone. I think in the Galatian problem, when he withstood Peter, it was as if Paul was standing against the world.
Thank God he took the stand. Thank God he withstood Peter on that occasion, for what sort of gospel would we have today had he not taken the stand? He stood alone. But really, he preferred to work with others, and he loved working with others, and he commended others.
And this chapter, starting with a lovely lady called Phoebe, oh, she must have been a wonderful sister. What a letter of commendation was given to the Romans for Phoebe, beautiful. We haven't time to go into it, of course.
And then, of course, there was Priscilla and Aquila. And he has these personal notes, because his relationship with them was personal and intimate and affectionate. He knew them, one different from the other, and could commend them all.
He speaks of Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus. What a lovely couple they are, a married couple. What an example for us all who are married, who for my life laid down their necks, no, it's singular, neck, because Aquila and Priscilla were always together.
You'll always read of them together. They loved one another. They loved the Lord. They loved his word. They loved his work. They loved his people. They were prepared to lay down their neck. We can't go into all of those details.
But what I want you to notice in the verse that we read, there's a man called Quartus, and that's all we know of him. Quartus, a brother. Now, what does Quartus mean? Quartus means the fourth, whether he was the fourth son or the fourth child, we don't know.
But Quartus means fourth. Now, look, let's read verse 22. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Now, he wrote it physically. Tertius was Paul's secretary or scribe. The scholars would say amanuensis, who recorded, as Paul dictated this letter, he would have recorded it, what Paul said.
Paul dictated it. Tertius recorded it. Now, what does Tertius mean? The word's Latin, and it means third. So we have the fourth, and we have the third. Now, come back to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, and again, we see how Paul loved to work with others and travel with others and serve the Lord with others.
Verse four, and there accompanied him into Asia. Now, when you read of Asia in the New Testament, it's not India and Pakistan. It's the Roman province of Asia Minor, which today we call Turkey. I say that for the benefit of young believers.
When you read Asia in the New Testament, it's really what we would call Turkey today. Then it was a Roman province. So, let's read that verse. And there accompanied him into Asia, suppitor of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus, and of Asia, Tychicus, and Trophimus.
I want you to underline that name, Secundus. What does Secundus mean? It means second. So, we've got a Quartus, a fourth. We've got a Tertius, a third. We've got a Secundus, a second, and we're just wanting to look out for, is there a Primus?
Is there a first? Oh, yes, there's a first. There's a number one. Let's go to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one, and we'll just read verse 18. And he that is Christ is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence, that he might be number one.
It's a word you'll find only once in the New Testament, proteon, and it means first. There's only one first. That's our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. Had we read the earlier verses, we would learn that he is the first, the head of creation.
And here we're learning he's the head of the church. If you go back into the Old Testament, you get these lovely pictures. Remember now, when you read your Bible, wherever you read it, look for Christ.
And you remember that lovely maiden there in the Song of Solomon. She says, my beloved, he's chiefest among 10 ,000. Now, she haven't counted 10 ,000. That's not the point. It's a phrase meaning that he's number one.
She could have said he's the chiefest among a million. She could have said he's the chiefest among a billion. Thank God she saw him as the chiefest. She says, he's the chiefest, he's my number one among 10 ,000, head of the church, head of creation.
You read of him being head of the corner in relation to the church, of course, and what I'm going to suggest to you today, just now, he should be number one for every Christian, for every child of God.
He needs to be, he deserves to be your number one first. He needs to be first in everything, in your life. Not a Sunday-only Christ, not a just-go-to-meeting Christ, but a Monday morning Christ, a Monday evening Christ, and a Christ in all circumstances, at home, at college, at work, and any other circumstance.
I want to speak to you now of Christ first. It's lovely as you read through the New Testament. For example, think of his birth, just for a moment or two, before we think of our responsibilities, Christ first on our lives.
Just think for a moment of his birth. You remember in Matthew chapter 2, the wise men came and they entered the house, and this is what it says, they saw the young child and Mary's mother. There, at his birth, you can see he comes first.
Now, Mary must have been a wonderful young woman, a godly young woman, but it wasn't Mary they'd come to see. The young child and Mary, his mother, and what did they do? They fell down and they worshipped him.
That was at his birth. Think of his life in John chapter 12 and come to Philip and say, Sir, we would see Jesus. There were other fine men there and godly disciples, but these Greeks, who did they want to see?
Number one, Jesus. Think of the Mount of Transfiguration, well, there were other good men there, Moses and Elias, and what does the scripture say? They saw no man save Jesus only. The wise men saw him.
The Greeks wanted to see him. On the Mount of Transfiguration, no man. Moses was there, Elijah was there, but Jesus only. What about his birth? We've heard of that. His life, we've heard of that. On the Mount, we've heard of that.
What about his cross, his death? What did the centurion do? When the centurion saw, there were three crosses that day, there were three men there. When the centurion saw, he said truly, this man, this man, not those two, this man was the son of God.
That's a lovely study for you young Christians, the centurions of the New Testament. They all seem to be noble men, and God takes note of them. This centurion, three crosses that day, he was used to seeing three crosses, maybe more crosses, but he said truly, what he saw, he said this man was the son of God.
So we do have a primus. We do have a number one. We do have a first, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to suggest to you first of all that he should have the first place in our thoughts. When you woke this morning, what was your first thought?
Often we waken with unconscious thoughts of different kinds. But what was your first conscious thought? You see, our minds are very wayward, at least mine is. Can't speak for you all, but our minds are very wayward.
They go all over the place. No matter what people see in us, sometimes our minds are way far beyond, elsewhere, wandering around. But you can train your mind. You can train it. And it would be lovely if you trained your mind.
First thing in the day, I think of him. Why not? Why not? A line of a hymn, a wee verse here or there, a thought, think of him. First in your thoughts, last thing at night, give thanks, may your last thought be of him.
Ah, but what about when you're in the home, in a busy home in the morning with little children running around? Yes, you can think of him. He sees all you mothers are doing and your service for him. It's all for him, isn't it?
When you go to college, why are you going to college? Is it just for you? Get a good job, a good wage, all the things that come with that? No, you're there for him. But to think of him, how can you think of him?
Well, walk with him and talk with him right through the day. Get to know him. You don't leave him there in your study in the morning if you've read for 10 minutes and had a wee prayer and out you go and you forgot, oh, I hope you haven't forgotten him.
Think of him. Grasp this idea of Christ first in your thoughts. And Paul could say, for me to live, and he meant the whole of his life, is Christ. And when you walk with him and you talk with him and you learn what he wants to teach you and you learn what he loves and you learn what he hates, you spend time with him, you go through the day with him, you don't leave them there in the study.
He's with you, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He's always, as it were, at our elbow, the Lord is. Think of him. Don't leave him there. Let him come with you. Let him walk with you. Let him talk with you at work, college, wherever, at home.
Think of him. Think of him. Thoughts of him. The psalmist could say, my meditation of him will be sweet. He's so lovely. He's altogether lovely. She ran out of words in the Song of Solomon. I think she ran out of words.
She looked at him from top to toe. She ran out of words. She says, put it all together. He's altogether lovely. This is my beloved, my friend. I am his, he is mine. First in your thoughts. It puts everything else in perspective, you see, when Christ is first in our thinking.
When we're planning, when we're planning the day, when we're planning the week, when we're planning in the assembly, personal or corporate, when we're making plans, put him first in your thinking. Make sure he comes first.
He's primus. He is number one. Secondly, first in your thanksgiving. That's what we were trying to do this morning. To fulfill his command to remember me. Why did he ask us to remember him? Because we so quickly forget.
I was reading a psalm this morning, just in my regular reading. And it was a psalm that spoke of Israel and how quickly they forgot. They were hardly out of Egypt. And God had been good to them and they just forgot it.
How God was pained. That they should so quickly forget. We take things for granted. We quickly forget things. We're no different. But in our thanksgiving, at the table, as some might put it, although I won't go into that, but this is not the Lord's table.
You see that little table? 1 Corinthians 10 is a spiritual concept of feeding on Christ right through the week. That's what it means, the Lord's table there in 1 Corinthians 10. So that when you come to the Lord's supper, on the Lord's day, you have something to give to him because you've been feasting at the table throughout the week.
But first in our thoughts, now first in our thanksgiving. Who was here this morning? He was here. Don't forget that now. He is here. I don't forget that. Throughout the day, he will be here. He's here.
I know we can't see him. One day we're going to see him. But he's here. Doesn't that mean we would behave ourselves and be careful how we speak and be careful what we do and be careful how we do it? Because he is here.
We want to thank him. That's what the brethren were doing this morning with Jesus in the midst. And he is our focus as we remember him and as we worship him. If you're a young Christian, not yet an assembly fellowship, may I say that you should be.
That's where you grow. That's where God wants you to be. That's where you'll learn. That's where you'll learn to serve. That's where you'll learn to serve with others. But when we come to the Lord's Supper, it's not about us.
It's about him. That's the focus. This too, in remembrance of me. And I do believe this morning, in a measure at least, all of us were able to remember him and to give thanks for him. When we do that, we are sharing heaven's occupation.
We're linked with heaven, you see. What's happening in heaven this morning? They're praising the lamb. Praising him. Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him that sits upon the throne and unto the lamb.
We're in tune with heaven when we're singing those lovely hymns of praise. First in our Thanksgiving. I did say it, I think, yesterday because it needs to be said and repeated. We need to be a thankful people.
There's a lot of problems. All of us have problems and with difficulties and challenges, ups and downs of life. Let's go to heaven joyful, thankful, hopeful, faithful. Praise him. Thank him. Worship him.
Two men looked out of prison bars. One saw mud. The other saw stars. Let's keep looking up and giving thanks. Thanks for him. I'm thankful for his patience with me. I don't know about you, but I would have given up on me long ago.
I would have given up on me long ago. I would have said, that fellow Logan, he just doesn't seem to learn anything. He's making such poor progress. But I thank God for him. What a wonderful savior is Jesus, my Lord.
First in your thoughts. First in your Thanksgiving. First in your time. Your day isn't yours. It's his. The days we have, the weeks and months and years we have, are as it were a gift from him. This is the day that the Lord has made.
We're going to rejoice and be glad in it. We're going to live this day for him. And if he's first in our thoughts in the morning. The Roman soldier, he pledged his allegiance in what's called the sacramentum.
He pledged his allegiance to his sovereign, to the Caesar. And in the morning, I believe, that's the time to pledge your allegiance. To think of him first. To thank him first. And to say, Lord, this day lies ahead.
I don't know all that it will bring, but I know of certain responsibilities. Lord, I want to put you first in all my responsibilities. Guide me how I should use my time today. Because he's given you that day, that time to live for him.
And to exchange our wills with his in the morning. And to say, Lord, I don't have much. These are my hands, my feet, my lips. But to dedicate them, the sacramentum. To dedicate them to him. He will use you and bless you.
You'll find joy in it. When he's first in your time. As I said yesterday, we don't belong to ourselves, we belong to him. Because we have been bought with the price, the blood of Jesus, the precious blood.
You're here for him. When you get a little bit older, and life has been tough enough. You might feel like slackening off. Starting to cruise. I don't want to shock you, but you're to keep climbing. You're to keep climbing.
And to go higher and higher and higher until one day he takes you higher. And that's it. Our time is for him. First in our thoughts, first in our thanksgiving. First in our time, first in our talents, our gifts, our talents.
He has given us gifts to use for his glory and the blessing of others. It's not for our self-advancement, for our pride. It's for him. Some of you are bright. Some of you are good with your hands. And all these gifts, and some of you ladies have a special gift.
Of drawing aside to someone and helping them and encouraging them. And being kind to people. These talents that the Spirit of God has given to us. You're not talentless, you're not giftless before God, before the Lord.
And we're to use these gifts, these talents, for his glory. To dedicate and devote them to him. They don't have to be much. Too much. But what we give to God, what we give to the Lord, he will use. Our talents, our lives are to be lived for him.
The gifts he has given us are to be used for number one, prideless. Our blessed Lord, first in our talents. He should be first in our testimony. We should be learning to speak of him. Most of us, you know, have found anyway, most folk are, well, they're quite opinionated.
Certainly Ulster men are. Oh, we know everything. Well, we don't, but we pretend sometimes. We have very strong opinions about this and that, and we'll share them with you. But do we put him first when we speak and in our testimony?
Are we going to give you the lowdown on the economy and the politics and all the rest of it? First in our testimony. That we might show Christ. That the love of Christ has been poured into us to flow out of us.
We're not the Dead Sea. Where it comes in, the blessing comes in and stops there. We're to be a channel of blessing to others and to be prepared to speak of him. Now, let me say it again. I said it last night.
I'm going to say it again. Every one of you is a missionary. Wherever you are. Wherever you are. Some people say, I want to know the will of God for my life. What is he? Well, the will of God is very clear.
I don't see it as such a complicated problem. As some people seem to make it as if they need a vision. That this is the will of God. That implies that I'm not in the will of God. But now I want to know the will of God.
And I want it all planned out. That's not the will of God. The will of God is usually a stepwise, day by day, moment by moment, doing his will. Where I am now. Until he decides to take me somewhere else.
It could be around the corner. It could be to my neighbor. It could be to the woman in the shop. Or it could be across the seas. There's no real difference in that regard. To speak of him. First in our testimony.
First in our treasure. Your funds are not yours. Your finances are not yours. They have been given to you. By his goodness, by his grace. To use for him. He's number one. We are his servants. He's very generous to some of us.
And it puts us under a deep responsibility. It really does. It takes a steady hand to hold a full cup. But if he should fill your cup. It's his. Use your home, young believers who are recently married.
Use your home for him. Use whatever you have. You've got a car and people need a lift. Use your vehicle for him. It's not yours anyway. And as I said last night, you leave it all behind. So he's very gracious in giving us.
To give back to him. Oh that wee boy. Who came forward. Five loaves. Two wee fish. Now there were 5 ,000 men there at least. And then there were the others. And I'm sure others of them had food. At least some of them in that 5 ,000.
Would you not think so? Had at least snatched something before they went to follow the Lord. But the wee boy comes. Take it. Take it all. Lord, what are these among so many? How's that going to do any good?
All handed to him. They sat down in fifties. You know the story. I mean, there were 270 of us having lunch yesterday. Took a wee while, didn't it? We were in the queue there. We're not complaining. It was worth waiting for.
5 ,000 plus seated on the ground. It goes on. Five loaves and two small fishes. Given back to him. Lord, take it all. You know what it says? They were all filled. It wasn't just that they had a snack.
They were all filled and satisfied. And there was lots left over. That's how the Lord is, you know. The provision is always greater than the need. And that applies just as much to the salvation that he has bought.
Take that point. When Christ died, he died for all. Not that all will accept the gift of salvation, which is eternal life. But he made provision for all and more. First, in our treasures. Finally, first in our trials.
In our troubles. We can turn to him. Before we broadcast it to the whole area, to the world, now on social media. Pause. Take it to him. Your trials, day by day. Your troubles, day by day. Turn to him.
You see, he not only saved us. Thank God for that. But he is taking us home. He is providing everything for us on the journey home. He hasn't left us to wander up to heaven on our own. Because he provides everything for us.
When we stray, which we sometimes do. We need a shepherd. When we sin, which we can still do. We need an advocate. When we struggle, which we often do. We need a priest. When we sorrow, we need a friend.
He is all of these and more today for each of us. He is not just the shepherd. He is the good shepherd. He is not just the advocate. He is the righteous advocate. He is not just the priest. He is our great, the only great high priest.
He is not just a friend. He is a faithful friend who sticks closer. He is everything for you now. And in your struggles, thank God for our great high priest. We can turn to him. He is sympathetic. He understands the way we are traveling.
He is able to succor us. He is touched with the feeling. That is the whole thing, not the feelings. The feeling of our infirmities. He is there for us. Come woefully before the throne of grace. That you might obtain mercy and find grace to help in your time of need.
He is there for you. In all your trials and in all your troubles, you are never alone. Number one primus. He is not the prominent one. He is the preeminent one. There is only one number one. And that is our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
Far above all. Far above all. Jesus, my Savior, is far above all. Thrones and dominions around him shall fall. But Jesus, my Savior, is far above all. Let us give thanks for him. Even today. And make sure he has the first place in my life.