Turn your Bibles, please, to
John chapter 1, the Gospel according to John chapter 1. I pray that God will not pass
us by this morning or leave us to ourselves, our own thoughts
and ways, that he would visit us, teach us, and lead us. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by the Word,
by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life. And the life
was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness were unable to perceive it, comprehended
it not. But there was a man sent from
God whose name was John. The same came for a witness.
to bear witness of the light that all men, through him, might
believe. John was not that light, but
was sent to bear witness of that light. That Christ, the Word,
was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. He was in the world. The world
was made by and the world knew him not. He came to his own,
the Jewish nation, and his own received him not. But as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,
which were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but they were born of God. And the Word, from verse 1, was
made flesh. The Creator of all things was
made flesh. The Creator of this world and
the life and light of all men who come into the world was made
flesh and came down here and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. That's
my subject this morning. We beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bear witness
of him. and cried, saying, This was he
of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, he was before me, and of his fullness of all we
received, and grace for grace. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Not shadows, not types, but grace
and truth. Not images, but truth and reality
came by the Lord Jesus Christ. Job said one time, he said, I've
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. And in thy light, I for myself,
I repent in dustcloth and anxious." There's not very much of the
mystery left in religion in our day. Said to say, I don't know
who would say, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
but now I see. Now I see. I was once blind,
but now I see. I was almost dead. I passed from
death unto life. What great mysteries. Nowadays
we have, in many circles, three easy steps to eternal life. Do
you believe the Word of God? Yeah, everybody believes the
Bible. Well, the Bible says you're a sinner. You believe that? Sure,
I believe that. Well, the Bible says, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved from their
sins. You believe that? Yeah. Well, call on the name
of the Lord, and give him something to say, and he repeats it, and
he pats him on the head, a soul winner. Now, don't ever doubt. Run on your way. You're saved. That's not the way it works.
You run along now, don't ever doubt. We live in a day when,
like the Jews, they accomplished land and sea to make one proselyte,
and when he's made, He's twofold more a child of hell than the
preacher who made him, who proselyted him. We just want to get some
kind of commitment, get him into religion, baptize him, some kind
of profession of faith, any way to get him in. Get him in. Get
him in. Get him in the church. Justification
is through faith. I understand that, but faith
in the truth, faith in Christ, the true Christ, the Christ of
the Scriptures, Christ known and Christ revealed. I remember
reading many years ago a book entitled Knowing Christ. That had an impact on me, my
life, my ministry, knowing Christ. Salvation is knowing Christ. Knowing Christ. If you know Him,
you'll believe on Him, you'll trust Him, you'll come to Him,
you'll love Him, you'll serve Him. If you know Him. If He's
been revealed to you. Been made known to you. By the
Spirit of Truth. God the Holy Spirit. As the serpent
was lifted up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. Whosoever believeth in Him, Him, should have eternal life. Should not perish, but have eternal
life. Believe in Him. Those people looked at that serpent
and saw what it was. And in the obedience of faith,
they looked at that serpent and they never died. The same way
with the Lord Jesus. If we ever see Him exalted, lifted
up, who He is, where He is, in the obedience of faith, we live
and not die. The dying man looked and lived. Spurgeon said, there's life in
a look. He said that so many times. There's
life in a look. Dead man can't work, but he can
look. He can look. Look unto me and
be ye saved. All ye ends of the earth, I am
God. There's none else. Look to me. Be ye saved. In our text, you'll note that
only those who beheld His glory, those are the ones who were born
again. Those who are the ones who were born from above, born
of God, beheld His glory. Do we see the glory of God in
the face of the lowly Nazarene, the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul said
God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. He also commanded
the light to shine in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God. in the face of Jesus Christ.
They looked at that lowly Nazarene. He looked like other men. He
dressed like other men. He talked like other men. But
they looked at him and they just saw the glory of God in the face
of that man. They bowed to him. They worshipped
him. They served him. The glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. I heard a preacher one time talking
about You have these vacation schools where the kids in the
summer all go to a camp someplace and they talk to them and supposedly
teach them and proselyte them and ask them if they're saved
and do you want to be saved. All these psychological pressure. And this little girl, she was
a grown woman at that time, a missionary's daughter, the preacher. Had them
all come and it came her turn. She came up and the preacher
said, young lady, are you saved? And she said, yes. He said, how
do you know? She said, the missionary told
me. The missionary told me. He looked at her and said, honey,
God has to tell you you're saved. Man can't tell you that. And
she dropped her face in her hands and wept and wept and said, I
do. That cursed preacher talked me
into it. She never said that part. I hated
that. That's what happened. A soul winner trying to do God's
work. He couldn't leave it as it was
at Pentecost. Couldn't leave it as it was through
the acts of the apostles. He had to help God out. And when
he started helping God out, he lost Him. He lost God. He was left on his own. Yeah,
she buried her face in her hands and said, I knew it, I knew it,
I knew it. We beheld His glory. What does
that mean? What was the glory in Israel? The tabernacle, later the temple,
where God dwelt with them, the Shekinah glory. We beheld it
in the Son of God. This man, this lowly Nazarene,
saw the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. God,
in the Old Testament, tabernacled in their midst. It was a tabernacle
which they rejoiced in. It was a tabernacle where they
went to offer sacrifices and be blessed of God. It was a tabernacle
where the glory dwelt. where the glory dwelt. God dwelt
in the midst of them at the tabernacle. They met with God. Our tabernacle
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, the Son of
God, made in the likeness of human flesh. Glory! The glory of the tabernacle was
the shekinah, called the shekinah glory. That's in the holy place,
the most holy place. The shekinah glory, cloud, cloud,
representing the glory, the presence and the glory of God. Only one
man could go in there and only once a year, the great high priest. the high priest. He went in there
once a year, and not without blood. And he offered it upon
the mercy seat. And God met with him there and
blessed him. And he went out and blessed the
people. And so it is with our Lord Jesus Christ in reality. He is Christ and all the fullness
of God dwelt in him. He said, you've seen me, you've
seen God. I am God. God manifest in the
flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. God manifest in the flesh. And
that's the end of the temple. That's the end of the images
and shadows and sacrifices of the Old Testament. That's all
done and passed because the real thing has come, the real person.
We also see in this text, I think we see Christ surpassing excellence. The law came to Moses, but both
grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, He
is grace. And He is truth. Not images,
not shadows of good things to come, but He's the end of those
shadows. He's the end of the Old Testament
offerings and sacrifices and priesthood and all that stuff.
He's the end of it, the sum and substance of it, the reality
of it. And it's all past and done and fades away, gone. The Lord Jesus Christ is here.
True, there was grace in those ceremonies. But there was repeated
sacrifices, the remembrance of sin, the ceremony for access,
all of these things over and over and over. Once a year and
all year long. But Christ is full of grace.
Full of grace. And then the tabernacle was full
of truth. It was not full of truth, rather,
but Image and type and shadows and pictures. And Christ is a
substance. He's not a picture. He's the end of those pictures. He's the reality. Come to dwell
among us. He is grace and truth. He's the way, the truth, the
life. He is salvation itself, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who beheld Him, I give
you this much about them. If you have beheld the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, I can say these things about
you. Those who beheld Him were favored people. Christ looked
at His apostles one day and said, blessed are your eyes because
you see. God has given you eyes to see. If you've beheld Him, it's because
you're born of God. God's given you eyes to see.
If you've seen His glory. You don't see a pygmy, you don't
see a hepless beggar savior like the world is talking about. You
see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. These people
were a favored people. They were born of God, a miracle
of grace. They were born not of blood,
nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. We hear talked
about in our day, they're born of God. And listen to me. They had no more to do with their
new birth than they had to do with their first birth. They
were totally passive, born of God, something God did for them,
God did in them, made them new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it's a great mystery. Christ told Nicodemus, he said,
the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound of it, but
you can't tell where it's coming, where it came from, where it's
going. So as everyone is born to the
Spirit of God, the wind sweeps across his soul through the preaching
of the Word, the hearing of the Word, and a new life appears. He's created anew. He's born
of God, a new nature, a new being, a new something inside. Created
in righteousness and true holiness. Great mystery. But we ought to
be so thankful if God had left these people alone, these apostles,
they'd have still been fishing. If God left us alone, we'd still
believe the lie someplace. Because this is an absolute truth. Christ said Himself. You believe
the Bible? You believe what Christ said?
If Christ told you, would you believe it? Christ said concerning
every one of us by nature, this is condemnation. Light! Christ, truth, light has come
into the world. And men love darkness rather
than light. We'd rather hear a lie about
who we are and how we can save ourselves than hear the truth
about what we are and how desperately we need God. Light. Light. Truth. They were a call people. Favorite
people, a call people. 1 Corinthians 1, I won't turn
there, but it's those are the gospels preached to the Jew and
to the Greek. But it never saved either one
unless they were called. 1 Corinthians 1, 24, call of
God. Call of God. And then it goes
on down a couple more verses and says, you see, you're calling,
brethren, not many. Not many wise, noble, mighty
after the flesh did God ever call. Left them. Left them. But the key to that is those
whom He called, they're saved. The Gospel becomes the power
of God and the wisdom of God for those who are the call of
God. These people are also an illuminated
people. They're enlightened people. God
turned on the light, shined into their hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He came into this world, He who
made it, They turned thumbs down on him.
They received him not. He came to his own, the Jewish
people, the Jewish nation, of whom he was prophesied and predicted
to come. All the promises were unto the
Jewish fathers through them, and they received him not. But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born. Not of blood. That's the key. They're born of God. Those who
receive Him are only those who are born of God. God's given
them a new nature. God turned on the light. They
have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to perceive. And they beheld and do behold
His glory. His own received Him not. Although
they saw Him in the flesh, they beheld not His glory. They beheld
His miracles and heard His preaching. They saw the wonders which He
did. They didn't see His glory. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
they crucified Him because they did not see His glory. He was
the Lord of glory. The Lord of glory. And they crucified
Him not knowing it. They hated Him without a cause. Spurgeon once said one time,
he said, and to this day, brethren, it is the same. None believe
in Christ but those who are His sheep. No man cometh unto him
except the Father draw him. None ever perceive him but those
whose eyes are opened by his own healing fingers. God has
to give us eyes to see his Son. Let the question be passed round
among us, Spurgeon said. Do I perceive his glory? Have
I seen something of the splendor of God in the humble man of Nazareth? Have I learned to magnify him
in my soul? Have I desired to glorify him
in my life as my God, my life, my love, my all in all? Have I seen it? Are these things
true of me? Though once despised and rejected
of men, Well, if so, beloved, we can say this from our heart.
We are favored indeed. If you've seen him in those ways,
you're favored indeed. The world didn't see him. His
people didn't see him. They rejected him. They crucified
him. They hated him. favored indeed, and especially
favored if we remember how many there are who have never, never
obtained this grace. Not many great men after the
flesh are called of God. Not many great men after the
flesh are born of God, and therefore they don't behold His glory. The key word here is Beheld,
we beheld His glory. That's a good word. It doesn't mean a quick glance.
It means you gaze upon Him. You're attracted to Him. You've
seen something in Him that got your attention. We beheld His
glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. This is not merely
seeing Him in the flesh. Most of those who saw Him in
the flesh died in their sins. Most of those
who saw His miracles and His wonders and heard His preaching
died in their sins. But you must see Him. And only
God can give eyes to see. You can't save yourself, but you
can look. Look. Look at Him in the Scriptures. We speak many times wistfully. One old preacher said, wishing
that we could have walked with him in the flesh during his earthly
ministry, what a glory it would have been. But Paul says, I knew
him after the flesh, but no more. What I acknowledge I have of
his spiritual knowledge, spiritual knowledge. I've seen Him, I've
seen His glory. God turned on the light, I've
seen Him as He is. One old preacher said, Spurgeon
said, thank me not, enthusiastic or fanatical, when I say that
the children of God today have as near access to Christ in the
Spirit as ever John had in the flesh. We can see Him as clearly
as ever John could see Him or Peter or James. We see Him with
the eye of faith. We see Him by the Spirit and
grace of God. And it seems like being there
in the flesh was a distraction rather than an attraction. This fellow, he wrote this play,
Passion of Christ. I wrote an article in response
to that. And the passion. All they could
possibly see and paint and talk about was the physical, physical
sufferings. But if that's all a man ever
sees, he'd never seen anything. Those standing around him, they
saw the physical sufferings. They gazed upon a man who'd been
beaten so much, so bad that he hardly looked like a man anymore.
Covered with blood and stripes from beatings, We ought to be moved by those
things. I'll tell you what we've got to see. We've got to see
Him bearing our sins, deserted by the Father, hanging in a land
of darkness for three hours, crying, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Until you see something and understand
something of that, you've never seen the cross. Never seen the
heart of the cross, the heart of His suffering. These eyes have never seen the
Savior, but this heart has through faith in the Word. I've received
it into my heart by the grace of God. I've seen His glory with
the eye of faith. I see a man who lived and died
for sinners for his people. Lived and died for sinners. Why
was he living on this earth? For sinners. Why did he come
down here? For sinners. Why did he suffer
the contradiction of sinners against himself all the days
of his life? For sinners. Because he was going
to save some sinners. He lived for them and he died
for them. I see glory in his shame. I see honor in his disgrace. I see riches in his poverty.
I see great power in his weakness. I see triumph in his conflict. And I see life rising out of
his death. The glory of God in this man. I've seen the glory of his complex
person. This is wonder. The gloriously
unique God-man. God-man. I've seen the glory
of His complex person. He is the Word become flesh. He is the eternal Son of God
become the Son of Mary. God in all that's God-like. He never ceases to be God. Man
in all that's man-like, yet without sin. We don't doubt His humanity,
this God-man, because we saw Him die. We don't doubt His deity,
because we saw Him stand up and lay aside of His great clothes
and walk out of the tomb. God had the power to lay it down. He said, I have the power to
take it up again. The God-man, gloriously unique God-man. Mr. Spurgeon once again said,
we have seen the luster of a beauty which far outshines all that
earth can ever give us, or all that heaven can offer us in Him. Whom have we on earth but Jesus? Who is there in heaven that we
can compare to Him? None. We've looked upon him giving
up everything for us, giving up everything for us, renouncing
his crown and his scepter, laying aside his royal robe and majesty
and splendor, leaving his father's house and palaces and honor,
becoming a man. No, more than that, a poor man,
a despised and afflicted man, an obedient man unto death, even
the death of the cross. And He did it on purpose, and
He did it willingly, and He did it from His heart, daddy, for
us. Did it from His heart. Did it
on purpose. Did it with understanding what
lay ahead. Spurgeon said once again, in
him, selfishness never lived. He was a selfless person. His first breath, his conception,
his first breath, his birth, every step of his life was for
somebody else, not for himself, for the glory of God. Selfishness never lived in him
and therefore never needed to be kept in check. He was the
selfless son of God, son of man, God-man. A body hast thou prepared me
for the suffering of death. He was not his own. His whole history could be written
in these words. He saved others, Himself He cannot
save. He had to give Himself, all of
Himself, entirely to save us. He gave Himself for others. Glorious
Christ. mysterious, amazing Christ, that
while He was rejected of men, we beheld His glory. We beheld His glory. I ask you
this, boy, have you seen the glory, the exaltation? Glory is that
wherein you're exalted above all others. Have you seen Him as the all-glorious
Creator? The all-glorious Ruler of this
world? Sustainer of this world? And
the all-glorious and only Savior? Gave Himself, did it all Himself. What do we have to do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He did all the work. God sent
Him, made Him to be a propitiation of our sins. Satisfaction of
our sins. By one offering, listen to this,
I wish this could sink in there, by one offering, He hath perfected,
perfected forever those for whom He died. Made them perfect. made them
accepted of God, reconciled them to God by that one offering. What can we add to that? You
try to add anything to it and you lost it. You lost it. There's no more offering for
sin. You know, He has finished the task of redemption. He has ascended back to the Father,
and we rejoice in that. He sits upon the throne of all
glory and all power and all grace. He has universal dominion over
all things. He has on His belt the keys of
hell and death. He is there ever ready to show
mercy. John saw a vision of him, symbolic,
symbolism, in the Revelation. He said when he heard that voice
and turned and saw, he felt at his feet as one day at the glory
of the Nazarene. But he reached down and touched
him on the shoulder. He said, John, it's me. I'm he that was alive and was
dead, and now I'm alive forevermore. Have mercy. Have mercy on him. You know, you can get religion,
but it won't change you internally to get religion. But when you see the Lord, it'll
change you. It'll change you. It'll change
you. We continue to try to learn of
Christ. Pray that we may learn and pray
that we may learn of Him and see His glory. Preach Him and
hear of Him. We want to see Him. We want to
go from glory to glory by the Spirit and grace of God. We want
to see Him as He is. We see them in this book, by
faith, when God makes it real to our hearts. And so the song
that Kevin sung, This Won't Pass Me Not, that's my song always.
That's always my song. I can't help myself. But I can
look into the Word. I can sit before the Word and
say, Lord, while you're speaking to others, speak my name. Call on me. Don't pass me by. Don't leave me to myself. May
God help us as a church here and individuals. May He not leave
us to ourselves. Because there is a way that seemeth
right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Whichever
way man chooses is a way to death. We need God's way. We need Christ,
who is the way, the truth, and the life. We beheld his glory. May God bless each of us with
an increased vision of the glory of the Savior. OK, kid.