John chapter one. The name of
the message is Christ's fullness. Christ's fullness. We'll be looking at a little
portion of scripture right before brother, where brother Tim read,
but I had him read that because John the Baptist has mentioned
where we're going to be reading. Let's read from verses 14 to
verse 18. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. Now we know from studying scripture
that the word is spoken of in verse one. In the beginning was
the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. So
the word spoken of here in verse 14 is the same one spoken of
in verse one. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. They saw him. We beheld
his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. John, now here's speaking
of John the Baptist, John bear witness of him and cried saying,
this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred
before me, and he was before me. And now here's John the Apostle. John the Apostle writing again,
and of his faithfulness have we all received and grace for
grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at
any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So today
we'll look at Christ's fullness. In this portion of scripture
before us, In John chapter 1, I hope will
leave us in awe of our wonderful, merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now we know that the, as I said,
the first verse of this book puts forth the Son of God called
the Word. And we know that the scripture
declares he was with God. with God in eternity, with the
Father, with the Holy Spirit in eternity. And he was God,
the three in one, the Trinity. And here in our text, in verse
14, we see that the very one called the Word became flesh, became flesh. and He dwelt among
us. Scripture declares, and the Word
was made flesh. That alone is incredible. The Son of God, who dwells in
eternity, was made flesh and dwelt among us. And Scripture
declares, and we beheld His glory He's sinless. The glory is of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Fill. Full. Now let us consider this. Let
us consider the wonder of this, beloved. The infinite becomes
finite. The invisible becomes visible. He's God. And the apostle John
proclaims in this verse that the world was made flesh and
dwelt among us. See, sometimes we read scripture
so much that it becomes familiar to us. But see the awe in this
verse. God himself, the unknown one,
became known, manifested himself in the flesh. He who was far
off became near to us. He who which was beyond the reach
of human mind, the human mind, becomes flesh. Look at John. Turn if you would
to 1 John. 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter
1. And we see that John proclaims
this in 1 John. Chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. Look at this. That which was
from the beginning, which we have heard. Now remember, from
the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard. They heard Him, beloved. Which
we have seen with our eyes. They saw Him. They beheld Him. which we have handled of the
Word of Life. John laid his head on the bosom
of Christ. And our hands have handled of
the Word of Life, for the Life was manifested. When was it manifested? When the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. Was manifested. unto us, that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." We declare
Christ. But the apostles declared to
us, he who they saw, he who they beheld. And we through the eye
of faith behold Christ too, don't we? Not in the same way they did,
but one day we will see him face to face. Our faith will become
sight. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us.
We who are believers have fellowship together in Christ. And our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Now let's go back to
our text in John 1.14. It says here, The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. Pink comments this about the
passage. The Word became flesh. He became what He was not previously. He did not cease to be God, but
He became man. Our divine Savior took upon Himself
human nature, beloved. He became a real man. yet absolutely sinless, spotless, the perfect man, the
God-man, mediator. And beloved, He was holy, and
He was harmless, and He was undefiled, and He was separate from sinners,
the exact opposite of us. And yet, He was fully God. he was fully man he was God manifested
in the flesh the word became flesh and dwelt among us my Savior
is God Almighty is he yours and let us look at At the next
verse, John, the forerunner of Christ, testifies who Christ
is. Again, sometimes we just read
over scripture, but there's so much in this little verse. John
bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I
spake, he that cometh after me is before me, for he was before
me. John the Baptist, the Lord's
forerunner here, bears witness to Christ's supreme excellency,
to his supremacy over all things. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me. He declares, which in the Greek
signifies Christ had his being before John. And we know from the first verse
that the Word who John is speaking of here, who was before him, is God the
Son, the Word manifested in the flesh. John the Baptist is here before
us in this little verse referring to the Lord's eternal existence,
beloved. He's testifying, bearing witness. See, in such a small, short verse,
He's bearing witness to the deity of Christ, who He is. He's God, Almighty, the King
of kings, and the Lord of lords, and He's became flesh. Wonder
of wonders, beloved. God himself has become a man, yet fully God. So here we have
set before us the supremacy of Christ, his supreme excellence. And let us take note that the
coming forth of the incarnate word among men was not in secrecy. It was not in secrecy and it
was not in silence. It was proclaimed by the prophets.
Christ himself said, the prophets, the law and the prophets, they
testify of me. And here we have John the Apostle
telling us that John the Baptist spoke of him. And we see John
the Baptist in verse 27, look at verse 27, heralding the one
whom he proclaims that he is not worthy to unloose his shoelatches. Why? Because the one he's heralding
is God. Think of this. God himself has
left heaven to redeem the souls of sinful men. God himself is manifested in
the flesh. And here John speaks, John the
Baptist speaks of the deity of Christ's eternal existence. And John, look at John verse,
John, turn if you would over to John chapter three, verse
30. Look what John, John declares his nothingness in comparison
to Christ. says this, John 3 30, he must
increase, speaking of Christ, but I must decrease. That's what
happens in every believer's life. He must increase and I must decrease. He puts us in the dust, doesn't
he? But how he does that is we see his supremacy, we see his
excellence, we see who he really is. As the Holy Spirit reveals
to us in Scripture who Christ is. And we fall, we fall to the
ground like Joshua did, like Moses did, like Isaiah did, like Mephibosheth did, and then
we hear, hear not. Oh, what words of comfort. Those who trust in Christ, we
declare our nothingness before God. Knowing that we are only accepted.
Knowing that we are only redeemed. Knowing that we are holy and
blameless in Christ and Him alone. Nowhere else. And we are only
saved and redeemed because of His redemptive work. Because
of what the Word did. The One who was with God. The
One who left Heaven. The One who was manifested in
the flesh. And He came to save His people
from their sins. And He did it, beloved. Praise
be to God. So with that in mind, Let us
look at how John bears witness. Look at John chapter one. He
bears witness to the fact that Christ is the sinless, spotless
lamb of God. He bears witness in the verse,
in verse 15, to the deity of Christ, but later in this chapter,
he bears witness to the fact that Christ is the sinless, spotless
lamb of God, the only one who can take away the sins of his
people. Look at John chapter one, verses 29 to 30, or 31. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold, look, behold, the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom
I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me,
for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come Baptizing
with water. So John declares that he is the
sinless, spotless one. And look at the little nugget
in John 1 31, that he should be made manifest to who? Israel. Who are God's people? The Israel of God. Take note of this too, verse
30 is the third time in this chapter that John has proclaimed
that Christ is the only one who was preferred before me. We see
this in verse 15, 27, and 30. Three times it's mentioned. Three
times he's affirming Christ's pre-existence in his eternality,
who he was. So John proclaims the doctrine
of redemption by the blood of the lamb in verse 29. when he
called the people to behold Christ, who is the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And the scripture is full of
this subject. Turn, if you would, to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus
chapter 12, the scripture is full, full of a lamb without
spot and without blemish. which pictures Christ, the sinless
one. Which pictures Christ, the sinless
one. Exodus 12, verses 5 to 7. Your lamb shall be without blemish,
spotless, perfect. A male of the first year, he
shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. So looking
at that and thinking of what John said, behold the Lamb of
God. He's testifying of his deity.
He's testifying of his sinlessness. He's testifying, John is testifying
who Christ is. Now that's being revealed to
him by the Holy Spirit of God. And ye shall keep it up from
the 14th day of the same month and the whole assembly of the
congregation Israel shall kill it in the evening and they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two posts and on the
upper door of the post of the house wherein they shall eat
it and we know that God when God sees the blood what your
Passover's in Leviticus 9 3 scripture declares
this in the children of Israel thou shall speak saying take
ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering in the calf and the
lamb both of the first year without blemish and a burnt offering
for a burnt offering. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
20. And I'll read Isaiah 53, 7. Our great substitute, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is spoken of in Isaiah is this. He was
oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. And then look
what Matthew writes in Matthew 20, 28. So thinking that those
lambs were bought as a ransom, as an offering. In Matthew 20,
28 says this, even the Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Behold the Lamb of God. Christ
is the only one who can take away sins. The only one. That's why we say, sinner friend,
flee to Christ. flee to Christ or you'll perish. Isaiah 40 says this, the voice
of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. So let us remember
that John was specifically and personally ordained for this
express purpose. He's the forerunner of Christ. He was protected by the prophets
Isaiah and Malachi to come as a voice in the wilderness to
prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah 40 verse 3, the voice
of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Malachi 3, 1, behold,
I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before
me. And the Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple. Even the messenger of the covenant,
that's Christ, whom you delight in behold he shall come sayeth
the Lord of hosts look at look at John chapter
1 verses 6 & 7 who is that forerunner who's that one spoken up to prepare
the way of the Lord look at look at John chapter 1 verses 6 &
7 there was a man sent from God whose name was John the same
came for a witness to bear witness of the light all men through
him might believe." So John the Baptist, who does John the Baptist
point his hearers to? Christ. Christ. He must increase, and I must
decrease. He doesn't point his hearers
to himself, he doesn't want to hear how supposedly people think
how great they think he is, he does not want to hear that. He
points them to the Savior. He points them to the Redeemer. He points them to God incarnate
in the flesh. And every grace preacher will
point you to Christ. Don't follow me, follow Christ.
He's the one you follow. I'm a follower of Christ just
like you are. I need to look to Christ every
day just like you do. I struggle just like all of you.
And I point you to the one, the only one who can take away your
sin, and that's Christ and him alone. So John's conduct in drawing
attention away from himself to Christ should really be imitated
by every believer in Christ, right? We shouldn't seek the
attention or we shouldn't seek to draw anything to ourselves.
We, no, look to Christ. I'm just a, I'm a bankrupt sinner. So with this in mind, let's look
and consider verse 16. Look at verse 16 of our text.
And of his fullness have we received and grace for grace. Now these
are the words of John the apostle continuing on his account of
the Lord Jesus Christ after he had inserted the testimony of
John the Baptist in connection with what he had said in John
1.14. So 14 and 16 are the words of
John the Apostle, and 15 was him testifying of John the Baptist. And who, of course, did John
the Baptist testify of? Christ and him alone. So note
the connection of this verse to verse 14, in which Christ
is said to be full of grace and truth. And let us remember this,
beloved, that all grace, all grace flows from Christ, right? Comes from the Father in and
through Christ to us. He's the conduit. He's the mediator
between God and man. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. Christ is the only one in whom
the grace of God comes to us. And note verse 16. Note verse
16. Does it say anywhere in there
by what, by a prayer that you pray? Or by something that you
do to gain that? Now God's people are made willing.
Sister, you pointed that out a couple weeks ago and I love
that. We're not fatalists. And we are not. We know that when God moves on
a heart, that person flees to Christ and they run. And we tell
sinners, flee to Christ, or else you're going to perish. And we
know that if they do, it's God working, but we still exhort
you to flee to Him. Because He's the only hope. We
don't have any other hope outside of Christ. And He's the only one who grace,
the grace of God comes to us. And verse 16 proclaims this.
We are recipients of the grace of God in Christ. And of His
fullness have we all received. You don't earn it, you receive
it. It's a gift of God. My, it's
wonderful. And it's in and through Christ
in him alone. And let us remember this, that
all men receive, all men receive life and breath, right? All men,
all men and all women receive life and breath from our God,
don't we? We have to admit that, every one of us. Every person
on this earth, saved and unsaved, they all receive life and breath,
but not all men receive grace. Grace is given to God to his
people in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. And we who are
recipients of grace, brother, we marvel. We marvel. Me? I'm a recipient of this wonderful,
merciful grace of God and Christ, and it ain't based upon anything
I've ever done. or anything in me, and if you're
a recipient of this grace, you're in the same boat as me. It's
all by the mercy of God. Calvin brings this forth. True
indeed, the fountain of life, righteousness, virtue, and wisdom
is with God, but to us it is a hidden, inaccessible fountain. But an abundance of those things
is exhibited to us in Christ, end quote. So in our natural
minds, It's a hidden and inaccessible fountain. But when God reveals
himself to us, it's all our fullness, beloved. He's everything to us. And here we have before us our
absolute need for Christ as he is all fullness. What are we? The opposite. We're empty. We're
bankrupt spiritually. But he has all spiritual blessings. all spiritual blessings. And
this scripture proclaims this before us, that we are the opposite
of what he is, destitute, bankrupt of all spiritual blessings. But
in Christ, in Christ alone, we find all spiritual blessings.
We have all fullness. He is the treasury. He is the
treasury, beloved, of the grace of God. He's the treasury. and all God's blessings flow
to his people in and through Christ in him alone. Christ is
the one who supplies us. He supplies us all our spiritual
needs. All of it. There's nothing lacking. He's perfect. He's perfect. Only Christ can satisfy our hunger
and our thirst for righteousness. Only Christ. Why? Because He
is our righteousness. Because He is our righteousness. He's also our wisdom. And He's
our sanctification. And He's our redemption. Now,
natural man will turn anywhere but to Christ. They will turn
anywhere but to Christ to try to relieve their spiritual poverty. They'll turn to their prayers.
or their turn to their works, or their turn to their certain
attending a certain church, or following certain teachings of
men, or their turn to their baptism and say, well, I'm baptized,
I'm saved. No, they're spiritually bankrupt and destitute. And they try to find favor with
God through their works. But we who believe, we know the
only reason we have favor with God in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ in Him alone. Nowhere else, nowhere else. We know that the false teachers
attack the fullness of Christ. Turn if you would to Colossians
chapter 1. We know that the false teachers attack the fullness
of Christ adding their works and their teaching in with the
works of Christ. Colossians And Paul proclaimed
the fullness of Christ to the Colossian believers. And he did
this to combat any kind of works-based error. Paul would just proclaim
the fullness of Christ. He's all you need. If you have Christ, beloved,
if you have Christ, if you're here and you're redeemed and
you're saved, you have everything. You have everything you need
for now, and you have everything you need for eternity. Because
it's only in Christ and him alone. Look at Colossians chapter 1
verse 19. It pleased the Father that in him should what? All
fullness dwell. All fullness. And then look at
Colossians chapter 2 verse 3. Colossians chapter 2 verse 3. in whom, being Christ, are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And then look at verse
9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And then look at verse 10. And
ye are complete in him. Complete in Christ, beloved,
which is the head of all principality and power. Paul also writes this
in Ephesians chapter 1, he writes this, which is the body, the
fullness of him that dwelleth all in all, speaking of Christ.
And in Ephesians 3.19, he writes this, and to know the love of
Christ, which path is knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God. And in Ephesians 4.13, Paul writes
this, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So in Christ there
is laid up a treasury, a treasury, a boundless supply of all that
a sinner can need, as I said, either in time or in eternity.
The Greek word for fullness is defined as this, that which has
been filled, a ship in inasmuch as it has
been filled or manned with sailors, rowers, and soldiers. In the
New Testament, the body of believers is that which is filled with
the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ. That which fills or which a thing
is filled. Of things which a ship is filled,
freight and merchandise, sailors, oarsmen, and soldiers, completeness
or fullness of time, fullness abundance. You see, the same
vein filled to the brim. So let us remember this, beloved,
that Christ is rich, full of mercy, grace, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, and it is of the fullness of Christ
that we have all our spiritual needs supplied. And not just us, now think of
this, not just we who are here, but all the elect of all the
ages. We all are filled through the one who is filled,
full of all blessings, which is Christ, right? He is the one
who fulfills all our spiritual needs, and not only ours. but of a number that no man can
number, Scripture says, all the elect of all the ages. So that
means the elect who follow after us, they will be full in Christ. Isn't it wonderful? It's wonderful. The Old Testament saints saw
Christ afar off, and they were saved by looking to Christ, just
as we are saved by looking to Christ. From Abel downwards,
all God's people have received all that they need from the Lord
Jesus Christ. They've received grace, mercy
from God in Christ alone. Every saint in glory, now think
of this, every saint in glory will acknowledge that they are
debtors to Christ alone. every saint in glory. There won't
be no boasting of what we've done. None at all. But we will give all the glory.
We are debtors to Christ here while we're on this earth. And
we're going to proclaim in glory that we're debtors to Christ
in glory too. Why? Because he's our all in
all. He's everything. What do they
sing in glory? Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power and glory. Power and glory and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Sister,
when you played that offertory song, I was thinking, one day,
we're going to pass over the Jordan. We're poor, wayfaring
strangers right now. Oh my, but one day, one day,
and then we're joining the throng. Worthy is the Lamb. Everybody
in heaven is debtors to Christ. Everyone. Christ is the one ever
full source of God's grace and mercy. Why do they sing this song of
praise? Because it was Christ, their
substitute, who was slain for them. And it is Christ, their
substitute, who has redeemed them, redeemed us to God. How? By his own precious blood. Is it any wonder the saints in
glory sing, worthy is the Lamb? The unlimited and absolute completeness
and abundance of divine powers and glories tabernacled in Christ. In Christ, the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and He is full of grace and truth. Full
of grace and truth. Note that we are receivers of
this fullness in our text. It says we've received this,
which means we cannot earn it. It's given to us by God in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the sole source of God's
mercy. He's the sole source of God's
grace. And his mercy and grace are shown
to us in and through Christ. Many are receivers. The elect
of God are as the sands of the sea, a number that no man can
number. But there's only one source, Christ in him alone. The blessings are many, and I'll
go over just a few here. The blessings are many that the
believer receives in Christ. God's elect receive in Christ
mercy we know, mercy overwhelming. But we are chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. What a great blessing that we
who would never choose God are chosen in Christ. We are predestined to be conformed
to the image of Christ. We are reconciled to God through
Christ. We who were far off are bought
nigh by the blood of Christ. We are redeemed, purchased, by
the precious blood of Christ. In Christ, we have no condemnation,
as our sins were all judged by God in Christ, who is our substitute. And we are fully, fully and freely
forgiven by God. Christ is the believer's
propitiation before God, as he satisfied God's holy law and
justice, and he, think of this, turned away the wrath of God
from us. How? By taking it all upon himself. Through the sacrifice of himself. Think of this, we who believe,
God's elect, God's children, We all, we have all our sins
forgiven in Christ. Paid, paid in full by the shedding
of Christ's precious blood. When he was delivered up for
my transgressions. Every believer says that. For
my transgressions. For our sins. And then he was
raised again for our justification. We only have that in Christ.
We are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter,
whom the Lord Jesus Christ promised to us. Christ has promised this to His
people, to never leave us nor forsake us. He will never lose
one of His sheep. He will never desert one of His
sheep. In Christ the believer is free
from the law. Why? Because Christ has fulfilled
the law in our place. Do you see the fullness of Christ? We are empty and destitute. We
can't do any of these things on our own. But what riches we
have in Christ. In Christ we are a new creature.
Born again, all things have become new. Regenerated by the Holy
Spirit of God. In Christ we are adopted, received. Received and accepted. Accepted in the Beloved. In Christ
we are made righteous. As Christ alone is all our righteousness. In Christ we are sanctified. Made fit for heaven. Qualified for heaven. The unholy
are made holy. Those who weren't justified at
our birth, right? We came into this world dead
in trespasses and sins, are justified before God through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as we saw in Colossians 2.10,
we are complete in Christ. That means there's nothing to
be added. Do you see the fallacy of works-based religion? Christ
did it all. We are receivers of this wondrous
grace and this wondrous mercy. And there are many, many more
blessings in Christ for the believer. But we see in all those points,
we looked at our desperate need for Christ and how we as mercy
beggars before God, and how in Christ we have all these things. And the believer says, praise
His mighty name, because I know I couldn't do it on my own. the Old Testament prophecies
are fulfilled in Christ all the law is fulfilled in him all the
Ceremonies find their fulfillment in him in every sacrifice pointed
to the one great sacrifice behold the Lamb of God Behold the Lamb
of God All the promises in Him are yea
and amen. Do you know that His name, turn
if you would to Matthew chapter 1 and put your finger in Revelation
22. Do you know, do you know that His name is first mentioned
in the New Testament and is the last mentioned in Revelation
22, 21? Look at this. And as I was looking
at this, I thought Alpha and Omega. Alpha and Omega. Look at this, Matthew 1, verse
1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham, Alpha. And then look at the last verse
in Revelation 22, 21. Look at this. He's the first one mentioned
and he's the last one mentioned. He's the Omega. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So the New Testament opens and
closes with Christ. And He is the one that every
believer has received of His abundance. All that we need. All that we need for time and
for eternity. Let's take a look at verse 16
again. At the end of the verse, we have this wonderful proclamation,
and grace for grace. and of His fullness have we all
received in grace for grace. God's favors in Christ are heaped
one upon another. Favor upon favor, beloved, gift
upon gift, no wonder Paul penned by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God, ye are complete in Him. A dear brother bought these verses
up about this phrase, grace for grace. Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received at the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Grace, heaped upon grace, beloved,
double for all her sins. What mercy we have received!
And may we who are redeemed marvel at the grace of God which has
been shown to us, and marvel that we have received Grace upon
grace from God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's look briefly
at the next two verses. John 1.17, For the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now here
before us is drawn a contrast between the law and grace. Right
before us here, the law was given to man through Moses, but it
was not his own, it was God's law. Moses received the law. Now the law is just and the law
is holy and the law is good. But the law demands obedience.
And the only alternative to the law is death. And we know we can't fulfill
the law of God, can we? Not even one. And we also know
this, that this law is unbending. It's unbending. It must be satisfied. And this law will never show
mercy. It will never show mercy. It must be upheld, and it invokes
terror in those who understand it. Exodus 20, 18 and 19. Listen
to this. And all the people saw the thunderings
and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpets in the mountains
smoking. And when the people saw it, they were moved and stood
afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak
thou with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us,
lest we die. So this law is unbending. This
law must be satisfied. And everyone in this world is
under this law. We come into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. But look at this. The law revealed
God's justice, but it did not reveal His mercy. The law testified
to His righteousness, to God's righteousness, but it did not
manifest God's grace. The law was God's truth, but not the full truth about
God Himself. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. We have never read, by the law is the knowledge of God.
No, by the law is the knowledge of sin. It reveals to men what
we are. And the verse continues. Look,
but the latter part of this verse brings such joy and hope to the
believer. For we as sinners, the scripture proclaims, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now grace and truth only
comes in and through Christ and Him alone. And note that they
are linked together as we cannot have grace without truth, can
we? And we cannot have truth without
grace. Those who reject grace, they reject truth. Those who reject grace, they
reject truth. Those who reject truth, reject
grace. And grace reigns through righteousness
unto an eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The grace of
God which saves the sinner is grace which is established on
the principles of an honored law. Turn if you would to Romans
chapter 3. The grace which saves a sinner
is grace which is established on the principles of an honored
law and on a satisfied justice. And we know that not one of us,
in our own flesh, can satisfy the law and justice of God. Not
even in one point. Not even in one point. Not in
ourselves. Look at Romans chapter 3, though.
Oh, look what Christ did for His people. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. That's all of humanity.
But God's people being justified freely by His grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation, He turns away the wrath of God from His
people through faith in His blood. These folks who say that they're
going to heaven without believing in Christ, they're liars. He
must rest and trust and have faith in Christ and Him alone.
And that's a gift from God, we know, but we must, through faith
in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say, at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So now let us remember
that grace does not ignore the law, or set His holy requirements
aside, no, Christ establishes the law, fulfills the law for
His people. He dies in the place of sinners. How does He establish the law?
Grace establishes the law because it has a substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who has perfectly, and I mean perfectly, Fulfilled
the law and endured the death penalty which which we as believers
deserved Christ dies in the place of his
people our sins are imputed to him and his perfect spotless
Perfect righteousness is imputed to us. Hallelujah says the believer
in Christ Praise God. I Don't deserve this mercy and
grace yet God's people received it God is both just and justifier,
beloved. One may ask, was there no grace
and truth before Christ came in the flesh? Of course there
was. As Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. From the foundation of the world.
Now let us note a few contrasts between law and grace. Law manifests
what is in men. Sin. Right? Grace manifests what is in God. Love. Mercy. Law demands righteousness from
God. Grace brings righteousness to
men. Law sentences men to death. Grace
brings dead men to life. Law speaks of what men must do. Do this and live. Grace tells
us what Christ has done. What Christ has done. Law gives
a knowledge of sin. And grace puts it away. Puts
it away. So let us close now with the
last verse, verse 18. And there's a whole sermon in
this verse alone, but I'll just touch on it. No man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Note how
this verse ties right into the last verse, as it is only by
Christ that we have the knowledge of who God is. He is the door
by whom we must enter into the Father's presence, in whom all
of God's blessings are stored. Grace, mercy, and truth are all
found in Christ and Him alone. And this ties in again with our
study in Colossians. As our text proclaims, no man
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. In Colossians
1, verse 15, the Scripture declares that Christ is the image of the
invisible God. God manifested in the flesh. This is our Savior. This is, if you're, if you're
one of his people, if you're a trust Christ, this is our Savior.
This is our Redeemer. John 14. Turn, if you would,
to John 14 verses 7 to 10. Our Savior in John 14, our master
speaks these wonderful words. These wonderful words. And then
I'll have you flip over the John chapter 10 to close. But look
at John 14. Verses 7 to 10. If ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye
know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it suffices us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. Remember, He's the image of the
invisible God. Colossians 1. And how sayest
thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words I speak unto
you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.
He doeth the works. And let's close with John chapter
10 with these wonderful words again from our Master, from our
Lord, from our Savior, and from our Redeemer, in whom all fullness
is found. My sheep, verse 27, John 10,
27. My sheep, hear my voice. He calls every one of them by
name. And I know them. He knows us intimately. And note it doesn't say, and
they shall follow me if they make a decision. No. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. How do they hear the shepherd's
voice? Through the preaching of the gospel. Through the reading
of his words. Hear the shepherd's voice. And
I give unto them. What does Christ give unto his
sheep? Eternal life. Eternal. Eternal life. He gives it to
his people. And they shall what? Never perish. Why? Because in Christ is all
fullness. In Christ is all redemption. He's a refuge. And they shall
never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, and not be taken away from him. My Father which
gave me them, and He gave to Christ these sheep in eternity,
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. and my Father are one. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Gracious Heavenly Father, we stand before Thee in awe in all that you've purposed and
planned in eternity to save a people, to redeem a people, to set apart a people based upon
absolutely nothing in us, but based upon your free and
sovereign mercy and grace, which has been bestowed upon us In
Christ Jesus our Lord, in Lord Jesus we marvel, we marvel that
you became a man. Fully God and fully man. And that you set your face like
a flint to Jerusalem. And that you came to redeem your
people from their sins. And that when you cried, it is
finished upon the cross. All that was needed for our salvation
is complete. And we know that scripture declares
that you were raised for our justification. You, the sinless,
spotless lamb of God. We pray that if it's your will,
that you would draw lost sinners to thee. And we pray that we might leave
this place rejoicing. and your wonderful mercy and
grace which we have received in and through thee. And we love
you because you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.