seeking for God's blessing and
his help this evening. We will turn once more together
to his word and again we'll turn back to the Gospel of John in
chapter 1 and verse 14, where we were this morning. So John
chapter 1 and verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. I want to remind ourselves
this morning we focus more particularly on the words full of grace. And we spent some time in the
chapter and unpicking the words of this verse. The Lord Jesus
is the word. the wonder of Him being made
flesh and dwelling amongst us, the wonder of His glory, and
we saw particularly that glory in this truth, that He is full
of grace. And this evening I want to turn
to this second one, that He is, and we see His glory, in that
He is full of truth. You remember we considered this
morning how this word full means that it is abundant, even to
overflowing. That is that his whole being,
his whole character is one of grace and his whole being is
one of truth. He is completely and utterly
truth. We value truth. We all value truth. If you go to court as a witness,
you will be asked to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth. The accuracy of your evidence
and then the final outcome of that court hearing will depend
on the fact that you tell the truth. And so you promise to
do so because as a society we value truth. We want to know
what really happened. And we don't like liars, do we? We're taught as children not
to lie. At school we're taught not to
lie. We don't like liars. We don't
like people that we can't rely on. people who will tell us something
that's wrong or a half-truth or will deceive us. We don't
like people like that. We want friends that are truthful
and dependable and reliable. And so we value truth. But we don't always like truth. The truth at times is difficult,
even inconvenient. The truth might not always fit
with what we wanted or with what we thought. And we're confronted
with truth. And it could be difficult to
listen to. But that doesn't stop it being
truth. We just don't like it. But there
is a prevailing idea today that there isn't such a thing as truth. The truth is subjective. Truth is what is right for you. And so it seems possible, although
it makes no sense, but it seems possible that you can have your
truth and I can have my truth. That you can believe what you
want and I can believe what I want and that is all equally valid
and right. The fact that the two truths,
so speaking, are diametrically opposite and contradict to each
other don't seem to come into the equation. You can believe
what you want, and I will believe what I want, but I can't possibly
criticize what you think because that is your truth. We also live in an age where
truth is obscured. where there is no end of falsehood,
of false information, which always looks true, which looks plausible,
and yet it's wrong. And so we're bombarded with different
ideas, we're bombarded with different images and videos and pictures
which portray to be truth, and it can be very difficult to unpick
what is true, and it can be very difficult to unpick what is right. And so today many people give
up with the idea of searching for truth. They conclude that
it is not possible to find something that is true, and some even conclude
that it isn't right to find something that's true, that in fact the
pursuit of truth is of itself discriminatory, because to hold
to truth is of itself to disclude someone else's idea. And so we
don't want truth, because it might be against someone else. And so we struggle with this
subject of truth. We want it. We seek it. We make people swear to tell
the truth. And yet we live in a time when truth seems very
elusive or even unattainable. But here God's word is something
that is solid and clear. is speaking of the word we know
from this morning that is the Lord Jesus Christ. God himself, he is full of truth. He is utterly true. There is no falsehood, there
is no deception, there is no error, there is no possibility
for there to be anything in him that is untrue because he is
full of truth. The truth, if you like, overflows
everything. Full of truth. You remember how the Lord Jesus
Christ so often prefixes his words, verily, verily, I say
unto you, or truly, truly, or assuredly, I say unto you, this
is absolute truth. We read together in John chapter
18 of different characters who were struggling with the subject
of truth, or were reacting in different
ways to truth. You have on one hand the chief
priests, the leaders, the high priest, Caiaphas and Annas, and
they've got Jesus in front of them here in the judgment hall,
and they are accusing him. And he says to them, I ever taught
you in the synagogues and in the temple whither the Jews resort,
in secret said I nothing. I preach the truth, he says.
you heard what I was preaching in the synagogues you knew the
people knew what I was preaching you know what I taught but that
truth was inconvenient the truth that Jesus was preaching was
not what they wanted to hear and they were ready to discard
that and to discard him and so we have a people who didn't want
to hear the truth We also have Simon Peter, who
is ashamed of the truth. He knows what is right, and he
knows who Jesus is, but in the face of some opposition and questioning,
three times he denies that he knows the truth. Three times he denies he knows
the Lord Jesus Christ or that he is a disciple. And so he knows
the truth, but he will not own it. He denies that truth. And then we have Pontius Pilate,
who at the end of our reading almost seems to throw up his
hands and say, well, what is truth? How could we know what
truth is? Because Jesus has said that everyone
that is of the truth heareth my voice. And so even in that
little account, we've got three responses to truth. We've got
people who hear it, but don't want it. We've got someone who
knows it, but is ashamed of it. And we've got someone who just
doesn't really want it, or someone who isn't wanting to find it.
But in it all, in the midst of this, is the truth. is the Lord
Jesus Christ who says, or as John says, who is full of truth. In the midst of it all is ultimate
truth. And so it's the same for us today,
isn't it? That here we have, in the word
of God, the truth, and yet what is our response to it? Do we respond like the chief
priests and we say, well, I don't want to hear that truth? That
doesn't fit with my thinking, that doesn't fit with my life,
that doesn't fit with my plans, and so I'm going to discard the
truth. Are we like Pilate who says,
well, I don't think there's such a thing as truth, I don't really
know what is right and what's wrong, and so I'm going to go
on what I want to do, I'm going to be moved just by my own feelings
and my own desires, I'm not going to bother with the pursuit of
truth. Is there anyone here who's like
Peter? who does know the truth and does know the Lord, but isn't
willing to acknowledge it. But in the midst of it all, here
is truth. The word has made flesh full
of grace and full of truth. Well, it's a wonderful thing
that in a world of confusion, we know we have the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
as we can see, is the truth, but we also know that the whole
of his word is truth. The whole of God's revealed scriptures
to us is the truth of God. And that truth endures. John wrote his gospel many years
ago about the coming of the Lord and the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But that truth is the same truth today. The word of
God is as relevant in the 21st century as it was when it was
first penned. It is still truth. And there's
a wonderful verse in Psalm 100 which just makes this point.
The Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. His
truth endureth. to all generations. The generations
come and go, and the generations move on. And we have a spread
of generations here this evening. And so for those who are in a
younger generation, this truth is as relevant to you as those
who are in the older generation. It endures. It is needful for
you as much as it is for anyone who is older because the truth
of God deals with the same fundamental problem that you have as anyone
else in the world. Whether you're 10 years old or
80 years old tonight, the word of God is applicable to you because
fundamentally you have the same need, the same need for truth. You have the same need for the
gospel. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in
praying to his father, acknowledged, he said, thy word is truth. And so we can see that the whole
of God's word before us is truth. Do we believe it? Do we hold
to what he has said? Well, this evening I want to
particularly think of the Lord Jesus Christ as the truth, as
it is in this verse, the word which was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He is full of truth. We're going to consider three
particular ways in which he is truth. Firstly, we see that he
is truth in that he is fulfilled truth. Secondly, he is revealed
truth. And thirdly, he is an enduring
truth. And so he is fulfilled truth,
full of truth. While God's Word, of course,
is full of prophecy. The earliest prophecy, the earliest
promise of the coming of the Savior is found in Genesis 3,
chapter 15. where God, speaking to the serpent,
said that the seed of the woman would come and would bruise the
head of the serpent. That there would be one who would
overcome, who would destroy the works of the devil. And the devil
had come into this world, this perfect world that God had made,
and had brought in that intrusion of sin, that which comes into
the world and has destroyed God's wonderful creation. has brought
in death, has brought in suffering, has brought in a fallen nature
and a rebellious heart. And if we read Genesis chapter
three, it appears at first reading, if we take that verse out of
it, that the devil has won. The world is fallen. Adam has
sinned. Adam is hiding from the presence
of the God that once he loved. And Adam is cursed, and the ground
is cursed. And the fulfillment is known,
that the soul that sins, it shall die. And Adam and Eve are taken
out of the garden that once they had enjoyed and tended, and where
they had walked with God, and they are cast out. And so you
read Genesis chapter three, and it feels like Satan has come
into the world, and Satan has triumphed. Except for that promise. seed
of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent there will
be a real man born of a woman born into this world and he will
overcome the serpent he will crush that's what it literally
means he will crush or destroy that head under his foot and
will undo all of the sorrow and sadness and death which has come
as a result of that sin and he will triumph over death. He will triumph over death himself
through his rightful resurrection and he will triumph over death
for his people who will live in him. And that promise was
held by Adam and Eve, and no doubt was held by the generations
that flowed from them, that one day the seed of the woman was
going to come. And it was reiterated in various
ways and forms that there would be one who would come, as it
was given to Abraham, to bless the nations. And so you can come
through the whole of the Old Testament and you can find these
prophecies of the coming of the saviour. But then we are given
more information as God's revealed word is opened up to us. And
so you come to like the book of Psalms and you open Psalm
22 and you start to read of a suffering saviour. Of someone who would
be forsaken of God. We even know that we read Psalm
22, and we read that there would be one who would be crucified,
whose hands and feet would be pierced, whose garments would
be cast, there'd be lots cast for his garments. And then we
come into Isaiah, in Isaiah 53, and we know why this suffering,
not just that there would be, but why. He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. or we like sheep have gone astray
we have turned everyone to our own way but the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. And so these prophecies are joined
together to show us that the seed of the woman will come the
seed of the woman will come and suffer and he will come and suffer
for his people to die in their place. And Israel Old Testament believers
were always looking forward to this. Looking forward to the
coming of the Messiah. Looking forward to a sin bearer
who would die for them. John himself, in our reading,
looked forward. Looked forward to him that was
coming. And when people came to John and they said, well,
are you the Christ? Are you the one that we should
look to? And he made it clear, I am not. He that cometh after
me is preferred before me, for he was before me. He says, the
same came for a witness, speaking of John, to bear witness of the
light that all men through him might believe. He was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. He pointed to
Christ. And so the Word of God is full
of prophecy, full of promises of the coming of Savior, until
we come to this verse, the Word was made flesh. He is full of
truth in the sense that prophecy is fulfilled in him. It was all
converging on him. And we have the privilege today
of knowing the fulfillment of that prophecy and looking back.
And seeing how all of these things fitted together so perfectly
to the coming of Jesus. His fulfilled truth. That in itself is an evidence
for the inspiration of scripture. That every single prophecy was
fulfilled in Jesus. and that all come and converge
in him. It shows to us that God's word, though written by different
human authors, ultimately has one author, one truth. But he is also the fulfillment
of the ceremonial law. The fulfillment of the ceremonial
law. Now ceremonial law, of course, it has many different elements
to it, but it all converges on the day of atonement. And we
read of that in Leviticus 16. Once a year, that one day, when
Israel gathered together on the day of atonement. There's so
much you can consider about the day of atonement, but let me
just highlight three things that we see in the day of atonement.
First of all, we see substitution. That is, we see one in the place
of another. On the Day of Atonement, the
high priest took a bullock for the sins of himself and his family.
And that bullock was offered on the altar, and the blood was
taken. And he went into the most holy place with the blood, an
offering for his own sin. The high priest then came out
of the most holy place, and they then offered the blood, they
offered the life, they took a goat for the sins of the people. and
then he enters into the most holy place again with the blood
of the goat to present that in the presence of God for the sins
of the people, both speaking of substitution. The people, the priest, deserve
to be on that altar. They deserve to die for their
sins. They deserve God's wrath throughout all eternity for that
sin. It shows that sin is not overlooked. It shows that sin
is dealt with and that God's wrath is holy and pure against
it. But it shows one in the sinner's
place. In these cases, of course, it's
an animal. Not a perfect sacrifice, it's
not a fulfillment, but it's a type, it's a picture, and they were
there as substitutes. It was their blood that was sprinkled
in their place for them. And so it shows substitution,
it also shows access. only once a year the high priest
enters into the most holy place and he enters through the veil
the veil which separates the veil which stops anyone else
from coming in and he just once a year enters through that veil
into the most holy place into the presence of God before the
Ark of the Covenant the mercy seat above the Ark where he sprinkles
the blood and he has access to God And the high priest is the representative
of the people. And so it is as if they have
access to God. They go in him. And so it teaches that God is
near at hand. God is with them in the midst
of the camp, and the people can come to him through the priest. And thirdly, it teaches the removal
of sin. because after the high priest
came out from the most holy place having offered the blood, he
then takes another goat, a live goat, the scapegoat. He confesses
the sins of the people upon the head of the goat, and then a
fit man, someone who was able to walk a long distance, takes
the live goat and walks it out of the camp and into the desert
and leaves it far off in the wilderness. Now the tent of the tabernacle
was in the middle of the camp and all the tribes camped around
outside the tabernacle tent. And so when the high priest took
the scapegoat and the fit man took the scapegoat, he had to
walk through the camp to get out into the wilderness. And
you can imagine the people standing there outside their tents watching
the goat being led out of the camp. And watching as it goes
into the wilderness and over the Judean hills because it's
gone. And then watching and they can't
see it any longer because it's gone. And it showed that their sin
had been removed. It was completely taken away. But, for the ancient Israelite,
at the Day of Atonement they knew that a year later they'd
do it all again. Because they knew that they still needed the
blood, and they still needed the scapegoat, and they still
needed access to the high priest, and so every year they'd do it
again, and again, and again, because the blood of bulls and
of goats cannot take away sin. And a scapegoat cannot bear sin
because they cannot be suitable substitutes. They cannot be an
offering in the place of sinners. And so we come to fulfilled truth. That was all true. The ceremonial
law was all true. It was all wonderful, but it
wasn't fulfillment. It was picture. And Christ comes into the world. The word is made flesh. And he
is the goat. He is the one who offers his
blood. And he is the priest who goes into the presence of God
to plead for his people and represent them. And he is the scapegoat
that takes the sins of his people upon himself and bears them all
away so they're not seen anymore. All of this wonderful type and
pictures is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is full. of truth, which is why for us
today, although the Old Testament is all type and picture, there
is great blessing in looking back at those things because
we can see that if he was the fullness, if he is full of truth,
then he completely fulfilled everything that was there in
the Old Testament. And so though in itself it is
only types and pictures, it teaches us more about him. And so he is revealed, sorry,
he is fulfilled truth. But secondly, he is also revealed
truth. He is revealed truth. Or in other words, he has made
truth known. He is full of truth. He has revealed to us, through
his word, who he is. We know it from here, the word
that has made flesh and dwelt amongst us. But he has told us
that he alone is the way to the father. It is only through him
that we can come to God. Well known words in John chapter
14 and verse six, Jesus said unto them, I am the way, and
the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me." This is who he is. We cannot come to God through
any other than Jesus Christ. This word is exclusive. This
word is discriminatory. He does not say that it is possible
to come to the Father in any other way. He doesn't leave any
possibility that there could be an alternative. He doesn't
say, I am the way unto the father, which might possibly imply that
there is another way alongside him. He, as it were, closes down
any argument. No man cometh unto the father.
That is the default position. No one can come to the father.
except by me. No other way. He is revealed to us that he
is the way to God. I am the way and the truth and
the life, just like Israel had no way into the most holy place. So we have no way unto God, but
through the high priest, Jesus Christ. We know that verse. You and I
could quote that verse. And therefore we are not in ignorance
about the way. We are not in ignorance about
who the Lord Jesus Christ is. We know that no man can come
unto the Father but by him. And so if this evening you believe
you're a believer, you're a Christian without Christ, then you have
not come unto the Father. If you believe that you have
found an alternative way to God, you haven't. If you believe that
you have got to God by what you have done, you haven't. Because Jesus has excluded every
other way. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And so he has revealed to us
this truth that he is absolutely vital. He is everything. And so we know that we cannot
come unto the Father, we cannot be saved without him, but he
has also showed us the way, what we are to do. He has revealed
this truth. He has told us that we are to
turn to him. He said, I am not come to call
the righteous, but sinners. to repentance. This is his revealed
truth. This is his way. The only way
is through this gift of repentance, of turning from ourselves and
turning to him. Here are sinners. These sinners
are far off from God. In fact, these sinners have their
back to God. Like Adam and Eve, they've been
cast out of the garden. They're far from him. They're
sinners. But he calls them to repentance.
Or simply put, he asks them to turn around. He calls them to
turn around. That they might turn from themselves
and turn to him. I've not come to call the righteous.
I've not come to call those who they think are good enough. I've
come to sinners. And I call them to repentance. is the way, the only way. Now, I know, of course, that
repentance is a gift of God. It's not something that we have
of our own ability, but we can understand what it means. We
can understand that if we have not turned from ourselves and
to the Lord Jesus Christ, then the conclusion is that we have
not come unto the Father. If we have not given up all hope
in ourselves and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have
not found the way to the Father. We have not found the way of
salvation. It is only through a forsaking of self and a trusting
in Jesus. I've called sinners to repentance. And so he has revealed who he
is. He's revealed to us the way of salvation. But you know, he's
also revealed to us the way to live. He is full of truth. And this is the way that his
people should live. Of course, you could think of
many commandments, many precepts and principles in his word that
we should follow. But simply he puts it like this.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me. That is how to live. That is hard and incredibly searching. Let him deny himself. Of course, the believer denies
themselves when they come to the Lord Jesus Christ because
they forsake themselves and they trust him. But this is a daily
experience of denial. This is a daily acknowledgement
of thy will, not mine be done. My desires must be put to one
side, my hopes, my dreams, my plans must be put to one side,
and I seek only His will. I seek only His way. And in denying
myself, I must take up a cross. And a cross is heavy. And a cross
is painful. And a cross is shameful. A cross-bearer is someone who
is going to die. Someone who is going to be crucified.
A cross-bearer is someone who is going to be jeered at. But
it's going to be someone who is, well, he will struggle in
his weakness under the cross. But Jesus says, deny yourself
and take up your cross. Now that doesn't mean that we
have to live a life of horror, a life of of suffering. It doesn't
mean that the only Christian life is where everything's difficult
and where we have to seek out paths of difficulty. It doesn't
mean that. But it means that we must have
the attitude of denial of self entirely and following Him. It's to have the grace to say,
Lord, I want this. Lord, I desire this. Lord, I
think this would be good and right. And Lord, my heart is
after it. But Lord, if it's not your will,
I will crucify that for you. I'll take up my cross and follow. And that is a daily experience
and daily prayer. He's revealed the way to live.
But can you see that the beauty of this way is that you follow
me? And if we're taking up a cross and following him, what do we
see? We see him who is also bearing a cross. We see him going before
in those streets of Jerusalem, carrying his cross to Calvary.
And his cross, I can tell you now, is much heavier than yours.
And his way is much harder than yours. And his suffering is far
more deep and intense than yours will ever be. follow him. Look where he has gone. He gave
himself utterly and completely in obedience to his father and
love to his people. May we have the grace to do just
a little of the same. And so he is revealed to us.
He is full of truth. He showed to us who he is and
the way of salvation and he's shown to us the way to live. But he is also, thirdly, enduring
truth. His truth endures. That is, it
is the same today as it was then. His word then is reliable today. This is a wonderful thing, of
course, isn't it? That when we read of the gospel, when we read
of the way of salvation, when we read of his grace, it's the
same today. It's the same truth that you
trust in that Christians throughout the generations have trusted
in. It's the same God. It's a wonderful thing. It's something to take seriously
as well. You know, the Lord teaches us
some very serious things. He tells the parable of 10 virgins. Five were wise and five were
foolish. And they all waited for the coming of the bridegroom.
And when he came, it was found evidence that five were ready
and five weren't. Five were prepared and five weren't.
Five went into the feast and were shut in. Five went off to
find what they could and were shut out. That great day did come, though
they waited for it perhaps for a long time. and that great division came
depending on whether they were ready. That truth is enduring. That truth is as applicable today
as it was when Jesus first uttered the parable of the 10 virgins.
And that truth is needful for us all today. And you see, Jesus
didn't tell these parables to frighten us. He didn't tell these
parables to scare us, and I don't say the parable today to frighten
you. That's not my intention. I don't want you just to go home
trembling. I don't want you to be frightened, just hoping that
he won't come, and just hoping he will linger a little bit longer.
That's not the point of the parable. The parable is there to tell
you the truth. It's to tell you that you might
be ready, that you might be like one of those wise virgins which
are prepared when the bridegroom comes. prepared by knowing Him
who is the truth, whose word is utterly and completely dependable,
whose promises will not fail, promises of judgment and promises
of grace, and the one who is still able to save. He is full
of truth. How can we apply this just briefly
this evening? Well, there's much that we could
think of when it comes to the truth of God. We can think about
the importance of believing his word, the importance of holding
to all that he has said, the importance of encouraging ourselves
in the fulfillment of what he has said and the reliability
of what he has said. We can think of the importance
of preaching the full gospel in making known the only way
of salvation for sinners. We can think of the response
of our hearts which should be worship and praise. It should
be seeing the fullness of Christ the fullness of his grace and
truth and we should be moved to worship. This evening I want
you to think just one point in particular. John the Baptist pointed his
disciples to Jesus. And he said behold the Lamb of
God. which taketh away the sin of the world. And as he pointed
to Jesus and spoke those words, what he was saying was, behold
the Lamb of God who is full of grace and truth. This same Jesus
who is full of grace and truth is also the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. And in fact, his grace and truth
will be seen most particularly in being the Lamb of God. I want you to hear John's words
this evening. Behold the Lamb of God. When he says behold,
he doesn't say take a quick look and then look away. He doesn't
say have a cursory glance on a Sunday evening and forget about
it tomorrow morning. He says look, dwell on what you
see. Behold him, consider him, look
at him, take it in. There he is, he says, and he
is the Lamb of God. Behold him now. How do you respond? Behold the
Lamb of God. And you may say this evening,
well, here is Jesus, as it were, walking by the River Jordan,
as John points him out. And you say, yes, there is Jesus,
but is he able to save me? Is he able to save you? Is he
able to forgive a sinner like you? Is he able to receive a
sinner like you? And it's as if John takes up
your question and he says, oh look, he's full of grace. He is overflowing with grace.
His grace is so abundant, it's so full, it is so free, that
even the very worst of sinners can be immersed in his grace.
And so the answer to your question, is he able to save me, is of
course he is able. Because even the very worst of
sinners, when they come repenting, confessing to Jesus Christ, are
welcome. as we read this morning about
Saul of Tarsus, who considered himself to be the chief of sinners,
but the grace of God was abundant towards him. So is he able to
save you? Yes, he is full of grace. Is he willing to receive you? Is he willing to receive a sinner
this evening? Would he be willing to hear your
prayer? And John says, yes, he is full of truth. And he has
said and he has promised that he that cometh unto me I will
in no wise cast out. Is it possible that Jesus didn't
mean that? No, that's not possible because he's full of truth. Is
it possible that Jesus has changed his mind No, because he is full
of truth, enduring truth. He that cometh unto me I will
in no wise cast out. He is full of truth. So you may say, well, he is able
to save the sinner, and he is willing to hear the prayer of
the sinner. But you may ask, well, What do
I do? What can I do? Am I able to do
what is necessary for him to hear me and to save me? And I
hope you've understood me this evening and this morning when
I've made clear that there is nothing you can do. That salvation
is utterly of God's work and completely of his grace. And
we addressed that point briefly in closing this morning about
what we can do. But just listen to what John
says. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. He does tell them one thing to do. Behold. Look. Consider. You can look, can't you? Anyone here, thankfully blessed
with natural eyesight, can look. It's not doing anything, is it?
It's not paying anything. It's not presenting anything.
It's looking. But it's looking to Him in His fullness. Behold the Lamb of God. Can you not look? Yes, you're
empty. Yes, you've got nothing to bring.
Yes, you've only got sin to present for Him, but it's just looking. And what you find in him is one
who is full of grace and full of truth. And so the believer,
the Christian, is brought to just simply look and see the
fullness of Christ. And that's their hope. That's
all their hope. And that is so profound, but
so remarkably simple. Look. And that's a lingering
look, and it's a look that endures and carries on because it is
a hope and a trust that is so necessary and so needful. Behold
the Lamb of God. And you may come with one other
objection. You may say, but you know, I
still feel to be a sinner. I'm not doing very well in holiness. I'm not doing very well in improving.
I'm not doing very well in following. I'm not doing very well at taking
up my cross. In fact, I feel like Peter so often in denying
my Lord in my life. I'm not doing very well as a
Christian. Why aren't I better? Why aren't I more holy? Why aren't
I more obedient? Why aren't I more as I ought
to be? Well, strive for holiness. I'm not against that, of course.
We should be walking close to the Lord and striving for holiness. But hear his word. Behold the
Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of
the world. He takes away our sin. Yes, he sanctifies us. Yes, we are to walk closer to
him in our lives and in the path of holiness. But who takes away
sin? Not you by getting better. Him
and him only. Behold the Lamb of God. So this evening, when we hear
his word, And if by his grace we are brought to behold him
as a condemned and a guilty sinner, as someone who has nothing to
hold and nothing to present, as someone who is truly sinful
flesh, fallen in Adam and deserving the wrath of God, what a wonder
it is to hear and by God's grace to see by faith the word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Would we see his highest glory? Here it shines in Jesus's face. And one day, in a glory that
you and I this evening cannot even comprehend, we will see
the brightest glory of heaven. as it shines from the throne
itself and in the midst of the throne is the lamb as it had
been slain. Jesus Christ the brightest of
glory. May God bless this truth through
us this evening. Amen.