Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I want to look at two verses
of Scripture together, phrase by phrase, in John chapter 1. The verses are verse 1 and verse
14. And I want to compare them. I want to go back and forth and
see phrase by phrase what is written here. The first phrase
in John 1 verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word. And that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was in the beginning. He is
eternal. He is absolutely eternal from
the beginning. Now look at the first line in
verse 14. It says, and the word was made
flesh. Jesus Christ, the eternal one. The one from the beginning, the
one who has no beginning. He became a man. He was made
flesh. He became a man. Now the second
phrase in verse one says, and the word was with God. He was always with God. What that means is he was perfect
in order to be with God and stand in the presence of God. You have
to be perfect. You have to be as good as God.
What does it take to stand in his presence? You have to be
as good as he is. He was made flesh, but He was still perfect,
still sinless, an equal member of the blessed and holy Trinity. The second phrase of verse 14
says, and He dwelt among us. He actually lived and dwelled
with men. That's amazing. The eternal God. He actually lived and dwelled
among men. He became one with us. Made Himself to be one with us. Bone of our bone. Flesh of our
flesh. And the third phrase in verse
1 says, And the Word was God. He was God. God in all that He
is. Every attribute that He possesses,
He is God. He is God. People know Jesus
Christ came to this earth, but what they don't know is He is
God. They think He came from God.
They believe He points men to God. What they don't realize
is He is God. He is God. The third phrase in
verse 14 says, and we beheld His glory. We beheld His glory. The man or the woman that has
seen Christ with the eyes of faith, the man or woman who has
truly seen Christ has seen God. Verse 14 goes on to say, The
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. That's who John bore witness
of. John was sent to bear witness
of Him. If you look at John 1 verse 15,
it says, John bear witness of Him and cried saying, This was
he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred before
me for he was before me." John said, he that cometh after me
is preferred before me for he was before me. He was. Now look with me if you would
at Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. Go back just
a few pages if you're turning. This is John the Baptist's parents,
Zacharias and Elizabeth. Luke 1 verse 24, it says, And
after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five
months. John the Baptist was conceived
and Elizabeth hid herself five months. saying verse 25, Thus
hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on
me to take away my reproach among women. And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named
Nazareth. In the sixth month Gabriel was
sent in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Verse 27 says, To
a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came
in unto her, and said, Hail thou that art highly favoured, the
Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. Blessed art
thou. Verse 35, And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God, the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth,
She hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her who was called barren." The sixth month. So John the Baptist was by earthly
days six months older than the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born
six months before our Lord Jesus Christ. But God Almighty convinced
John of something. And God Almighty convinces every
child of His, every believer of this same thing. John declared
it as he prepared the way. He was absolutely convinced of
it. Look with me, if you would, at
John 8, verse 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. before Abraham was, I am." Verse
56, he said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he
saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast
at him." They hated him saying that. They hated him declaring
before Abraham was, I am. over in John 17, just a few more
pages over. Verse 5, our Lord said, And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. Would you glorify
me with that same glory that I had with you before the world
was, before the foundations of this world were ever created?
In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word
was God. Now go back to John chapter one,
verse 15 says, John, bear witness of him and cried saying, this
was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me for he was before me. John was convinced of that. He
was before me. This is God. That's what he's
saying. This is God, the eternal God. He acknowledged He was born after
me. John acknowledged that. This
Lord and Savior was born into this world six months after me,
but the one who entered this world as a man after me He is
I AM. He is I AM. And even though He
entered this world six months after me, He is preferred. He is preferred by His Father. He is preferred by Heaven. He is preferred by all creation
before me. For He was before me. He's preferred
and He deserves it. He's owed it. He was before me. Verse 16 says, And of His fullness. Of His fullness. You know, the
word fullness, the fullness of our Lord is brought up many times.
Numbers 18 talks about the fullness of the wine press. The fullness
of the winepress. We know what that winepress is,
don't we? The wrath of God that pressed the blood out of him.
Those great drops of blood that washed the sin of his people
away. The winepress of God's wrath. The scripture says he
endured the fullness of that winepress alone. Alone. Of his fullness. Psalm 16 says,
in His presence is fullness of joy. In His presence, I can't
imagine what it's going to be like to physically stand in His
presence. Can you? I can tell you this,
in His presence is fullness of joy. Joy gets no fuller than
when we're standing in His presence. Romans 15 says, The Gospel of
Christ declares the fullness of the blessing. All of God's
blessing, the fullness of that blessing is declared in Christ.
Colossians says it pleased the Father that in Him should all
fullness dwell. All the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. all the fullness of God Almighty
is found in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15 says, John, bear witness
of Him. That's what preaching is. That's
all that preaching is. True preaching, I mean true preaching,
is bearing witness of Him. We preach Him, who He is, We
preach what He has done. We preach who He did it for. We preach what He has to say
to them. of his fullness have all we receive. You know, God chose a people. He chose a particular people
to save. Now, some people don't like that.
Some people don't like hearing that, but we can't help that,
can we? We cannot help it. We cannot
change that, can we? All we can do is declare it.
That's all we can do. God has plainly written it in
his word. All we can do is declare that.
His mercy, his loving kindness, his generous election. That's what it is. His generous
election of some undeserving, unloving, undesirable sinners. That's on every page of his book.
Every page of his word he did not say right here and of his
fullness have all received. He didn't say that, did he? He
said all we. All we know who are the we he's
talking about. Verse 11 right here in John chapter
one says he came unto his own and his own received him, not
none received him. None, nobody, not even his own. None would receive him. Verse
12 says he made some receive him. That's grace and mercy and
kindness, isn't it? He made some people receive him. He gave them power. That means
the right, the privilege to become the sons of God. How did he do
that? He gave them faith to believe
on His name. That's how He did it. Verse 13
says, It was those which were born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. They
weren't born into it. People aren't saved because their
parents are saved. People are not saved because
they decide to be saved. People are not saved because
somebody else prays them into being saved. We're saved of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Verse
14 says it's those who have beheld his glory. His glory, it says,
and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we. We beheld
his glory. Of his fullness have all we received
and verse 16 says grace for grace. Grace for grace. One commentary
writer said the word for translates upon. Upon grace, upon grace. Heaps of grace on top of grace,
piles and piles of grace. That sounds wonderful, doesn't
it? Mountains of grace. Grace means God's favor. God's
favor. Favor on top of favor. Grace
means gift. Gift on top of gift. Verse 17
says, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ. If we are under the law, if we
must obey the law to satisfy God, if we are under the law,
then we are all damned men and women. And that's the truth. If we are under the law, then
we have no hope, none whatsoever. With man, it is impossible to
keep God's law. He has plainly written what He
demands. We see it, don't we? It is impossible
for a fleshly man or woman to keep it. impossible. God could
never be satisfied with the efforts of my hands, the efforts of my
mind, the efforts of my heart in trying to obey his law. Never. So if I'm under his law, then
he must put me in hell. If he says this is what I demand,
and if you don't do it, then it's hell and death for you.
If I'm under that law, he must put me in hell. He must. If I break His law in one minor
dot of the eye, one minor cross of the T and He does not put
me in hell, then He is not holy. If He does not put me in hell,
He is not holy. And His Word is not the Holy
Bible. That's what it says on the cover
of the book. Holy Bible. It's not the Holy Bible. Not
if He does not punish me for my sin, because He will not back
it up. That's why it's not holy. He's
not just. He's not right. That's what holy
means. He's not a just God. Not if He will not back up His
promise of punishment. And if we cannot believe His
judgment, then why would we believe His promise? If we can't believe
His judgment, Why would we believe His promise? Because He doesn't
live up to His Word, right? But the truth of the matter is
He does live up to His Word. Every word of it, every dot of
the I, every cross of the T, His Word is holy. It is. And He will back it up. Because He's just and He's right. Therefore, if I'm under His law,
I have no hope. If I'm under His law, I have
no hope. I'm under the curse. I'm under the curse and the reason
is because I've broken it. I've broken the law. Therefore,
the only place God can put me and still be holy and still be
just and still be right is in hell. That's the only place. Now, let me declare to you the
fullness of the gospel. What I just told you right there
is called the truth. I just told you the truth by
God's grace, by His Word, by His Spirit. I've just declared
the truth. Now let me tell you the gospel.
Let me declare the gospel to you. Go with me over to Romans
chapter 10. Please have your Bible out. I
want you to see this with me. Let's go to Romans 10 and look
with me at verse 4. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Are we under the law? Well, we
were born under it by nature and we would still be under it
had Christ not come. But Christ came. That's the glory
of the gospel. Christ came and He satisfied
every demand in that law. God said, this is what I demand.
Christ came and He perfectly, perfectly satisfied and fulfilled
every demand in the law. And the law demands nothing more.
The demands were given. Christ fulfilled them, and the
law demands nothing more. Look with me at Galatians 3. Galatians 3, verse 11 says, But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And
the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them, You want to make that bed? You're going to have
to sleep in it. That's what He's saying. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He redeemed us, being made a
curse for us. What that means is God had to
punish me and God did punish me in the person of His Son.
God took out His fury on me in the person of His Son. Verse
10 says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Keeping most of the law
won't cut it. That's not good enough. You miss
it in one point, you've missed the whole thing. And that's us. That is us. We were under the
law and we were cursed by it. But Christ made Himself to be
cursed in our place. And when He did that, He redeemed
us from the curse of the law. He took us justly and rightly
out from under it. Legally out from under it. And we'll never be under its
demands ever again. Never again. In Christ, in our
union with Him, we have satisfied the law. When He satisfied it,
we satisfied it. We satisfied it in Him. Now turn
with me, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10
verse 4 says, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins. It is not possible. They kept
sacrificing and sacrificing and sacrificing trying to put away
their sins all through the Old Testament. All of those priests
and all of those animals daily they kept sacrificing and they
kept doing it because the sin wasn't put away. New sins kept
coming to their conscience and their conscience kept telling
them, I need another sacrifice. And they kept doing and doing
and doing. And that's what people are doing
today. That's what people are doing
right now. They're trying to obey God's law. In order to put
away sin, and they're trying to obey God's law and obey God's
law and obey God's law to put away sin. And their conscience
won't let them stop. Their conscience says you have
to keep going, there's no sin here. Look at verse 9 here in
Hebrews chapter 10. It says, Then said he, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. Now that's the gospel. That's
the gospel. He fulfilled the law's demands. And he suffered the law's punishment
and now the law is satisfied. He said, Lo, I come to do thy
will. God said, Here's my will. He
gave his law and Christ said, I'm going to come and do it.
I'm going to do thy will. He took away the first. He took away the law. He fulfilled
the law that he might establish the second grace. grace upon
grace, piles and heaps of grace, the free gift of unmerited favor
to His people." Now listen to this quote. I read this somewhere
and this is wonderful. This is so wonderful. Please
listen intently to this. What this man had to say is so
true and it's such a blessing. It's such a blessing. Now, this
is what he said, manifests what is in men, sin. That's what the law manifests. He said grace manifests what
is in God, love. He said the law demands righteousness
from men. Grace brings righteousness to
men. The law sentences men to death. Grace brings dead men to life. The law speaks of what men must
do. Grace tells what Christ has done. The law gives a knowledge of
sin. And grace puts that sin away. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
wonderful? Romans five, one more portion
of scripture here. Romans five says Romans five, verse 19, as by
one man's disobedience, many were made centers. So by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the
law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Isn't that wonderful? Grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ, free from the law, O happy condition.
The Lord Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. Cursed by
the law, bruised by the fall, but grace hath redeemed us once
for all. That's good news. Till next week,
may the Lord bless His word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, you can write to our physical mailing address at 905
Yadkin Street, Kingsport, Tennessee 37660 or if you would like to
come and worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning
Bible study at 10 o'clock a.m. worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m. Wednesday
evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.