Turn with me, if you would, back
to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Sometimes I come across things
in the Word, and sometimes things in the Word come across me. And
this came across me, I got a letter from somebody this week and they
mentioned this verse of scripture in their letter. And I went over
and read it and I thought, man, what a blessing. What a blessing. Now here in John 1, We quote
two particular verses of scripture all the time. You know them well. Verse 1 and verse 14. We quote verse 1 and then after
we finish quoting verse 1, we skip down to verse 14 and we
quote that verse. Look though at these two verses
together. phrase by phrase, okay? Rather
than one and then the other. Look at them with me together.
The first phrase in verse one says, in the beginning was the
word. And we know that that is the
Lord Jesus Christ, right? The Lord Jesus Christ was in
the beginning. He is eternal. He is eternal. Alright, now look
at the first phrase in verse 14. It says, And the Word was
made flesh. Jesus Christ, the Eternal One, became a man. He became a man. The One who
was from the beginning became a man and was made flesh. And He still is. He still is. After He arose, didn't He say,
touch my hands? A spirit is not flesh and bone,
flesh and bones as you see me have, He still is. The Eternal
One made Himself to be flesh and He still is. Alright, now
the second phrase in verse 1 says, and the Word was with God. He was always with God. He was made flesh, but he was
perfect. He was perfect. In order to be
with God, you have to be perfect. Isn't that right? Absolute perfection. He was made flesh, but he was
still an equal member of the blessed Trinity, the holy Trinity. The second phrase in verse 14
says, and He dwelt among us. He actually lived and dwelled
among men. He became one with us, bone of
our bone, flesh of our flesh. The third phrase in verse one
says, and the Word was God. The Word was God. In all that
He is, in every attribute that He possesses, He's God. He is God. The third phrase in
verse 14 says, and we beheld His glory. The man or the woman that has
seen Christ has seen God. Seen God. And 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. Verse 15 says, John bare witness of That was John's ministry. That's what John was called to
do. Bear witness of him, and he cried, saying, This was he
of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred before
me, for he was before me. Now look with me at Luke chapter
1. Back a few pages to Luke chapter 1. Here in Luke 1, this is John
the Baptist's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth. Luke 1 verse 24
says, and after those days, Zacharias' 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 men. She was barren. She couldn't
have any children. But the Lord finally gave her
a son. Verse 26, and in the sixth month, the sixth month of Elizabeth's
pregnancy, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from
God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 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 are highly favored, the Lord is with
thee, blessed art thou among women. 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. 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. So John the Baptist
was by earthly standards six months older than the Lord. Okay, six months older than the
Lord Jesus Christ. But God convinced John of something
and it's the same thing he convinces every single child of his, every
follower of his. Look with me at John chapter
8. John chapter 8 verse 58, Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham
was, I am. He just told them in verse 56,
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it
and was glad. We just had a brother read scripture
in the study, and he just read that. Abraham took his son Isaac
up on a mountain. God told him to go, right? Killed
that boy. Abraham believed God. Hebrews
11 says he believed God was able to raise him from the dead. The
promise was, not in Ishmael, not in your own doings, in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. I'm going to give them this inheritance.
A man named Joshua is going to lead your descendants into a
land called Canaan on the other side of Jordan. And it's going
to be the children of Isaac. And then God said, go kill Isaac. And Abraham believed God, took
him up there, put a knife in his hand, and God said, Abraham,
I have a substitute. His head is caught in thorns. And that's our Lord. And they
pulled him out for all to see with a crown of thorns. Abraham
saw my day. He heard my voice. I called to
him, Abraham, Abraham, he said, I'm here. And he was so glad. Oh, he was so glad to see the
lamb of God. And he said in verse 57, then said
the Jews unto him, thou art not yet 50 years old and you've seen
Abraham. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. And they all reached down to
pick up a rock to throw it at him. Before Abraham was, I am. Look with me at John 17. John
17 verse 5 says, And now, O Father, this is our
Lord speaking, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Glorify me with the same glory
I had before we created any of this. Before Abraham was, I am. Before this world was, I am. Now go with me back to John chapter
1. John 1 verse 15 says, John bare 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." This
is God. This is the eternal God. He acknowledged, He was born
after me. He was born after me. But the
one who entered this world as a man after me is I Am. He is I Am. Even though He entered
this world six months after me, 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 must have the preeminence. He must be first. Verse 16 says,
And of His Don't turn over there, but Numbers
18 talks about the fullness of the winepress. We know what that
winepress is, don't we? We know what that is. That is
the wrath of God Almighty that pressed the blood out of him. This scripture says he endured
the fullness of that winepress alone. of His fullness. Psalm 16 says, in His presence. One of these days we're all going
to be in His presence. And this is what it's going to
be like. Psalm 16 says, in His presence is fullness of joy. Have you ever been sad? Okay,
that's one end of the spectrum. Have you ever somebody say, hey,
how's your day going? It's fine. Somewhere in the middle. Have you ever experienced absolute
joy? I mean, today's the best day
I've ever had in my life. Oh, that does not come close
to describing what it will be like to stand in the presence
of Jesus Christ. In His presence is fullness,
however full joy can get. That's what it's going to be.
And we're always going to be in His presence of His fullness. Romans 15 says that this gospel
of Christ declares the fullness of the blessing. The fullness. Colossians says, it pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. You know what
hit me whenever I read that or quoted it this time? How many
times have I quoted that? In Him. It pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell. All the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. Where did God put us? In Him. God put us in the same
place. where it pleased him to put all
fullness of all things in him. Verse 15 says, John, bear witness
of him. That's what preaching is. You
know that? That's what preaching is. True
preaching is bearing witness of him, who he is, what he has
done, who he did it for. what he has to say to them. It
is glorious hearing God speak to his children. Verse 15, John bear witness of
him and cried saying, this was he of whom I speak. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me for he was before me. And
of his fullness have all we received. You know, God chose a people. God chose a people. People argue that, they hate
that, they don't like that, they don't want to hear that. But
God chose a people. We can't help that. I can't help it. I just can't. We can't change
that. All we can do is declare that. Isn't that right? God chose a
people. And God's merciful, loving, kind,
gracious election that He had on some undeserving, unloving,
undesirable sinners. Thank God it's on every page
of this book. every single page. He did not
say, and of His fullness have all received. He said, all we. Isn't that right? All we. Who are the we that He's talking
about? Verse 11, right here in John 1, it says, He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. None received Him. None would. Verse 12, though,
says he made some receive him. He gave them the power. If you
have a center margin in your Bible for power, he gave them
the right or the privilege to become the sons of God. How did
he do that? He gave them faith to believe
on his name. Verse 13 says, it was those which
were born not of blood, not through a family tree. Oh, may we beg God for the salvation
of our souls and the souls of our family tree. Let's not assume
on God. Let's have those children here.
Let's put them under the gospel. Because it's not a blood. nor of the will of the flesh. It doesn't matter if I want to
be saved or not. I've decided I want to be saved.
Who doesn't? Who doesn't? It's not of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. My mother, grandmother,
whoever, cannot pray me into heaven. It's of God. It's of God. Verse 14 says that
this elect are all those who have beheld His glory. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. We beheld His glory. Of His fullness
have all we received. Verse 16 goes on to say, and
grace for grace. That is the part that got me. I love that. One commentary writer
said the word for translates upon grace upon grace. Heaps of grace on top of grace. Just keep piling grace on top
of grace. Piles and piles of grace. Grace means God's favor. Favor on top of favor. 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. If we are under the law, then
we have no hope. We have no hope. With man, it
is impossible to keep God's law. It's impossible. God could never
be satisfied. You know, I can't satisfy myself. How do I think I'm going to satisfy
God? God could never be satisfied
with the efforts of these hands, the efforts of this mind, or
the efforts of this heart. He could never be satisfied with
me trying to obey His law. So if I'm under His law, He must
put me in hell. He must. If He doesn't, He is
not holy. If he doesn't, he is not holy.
If I break his law in one minor dot of the I or cross of the
T and he does not put me in hell, he is not holy. And his word is not the Holy
Bible because he won't back it up. And He's not just. And He's not
right. And if we can't believe His judgment,
why would we believe His promise? Why? The reason is because if that's
the case, He will not live up to His Word. But the fact of the matter is,
He does live up to His Word. He does. His Word is holy. He will back it up. He will. He is just and He is right. Therefore, if I'm under the law,
I have no hope. I have no hope. I'm under the
curse. I have broken it. Is that a shocker to anybody?
I have broken it. Therefore, the only place God
can put me and still be holy and just and right is in hell. All right, now let me declare to
you the fullness of the gospel. Here is the fullness of the gospel. Turn with me to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 4 says, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to every one that believeth. Are we under the law? We would have been had Christ
not come. We would be right now had Christ
not come, but Christ came. And He satisfied every single
demand in that law. He satisfied it so perfectly
and so fully, the law demands nothing else. Everything the
law could possibly demand has been satisfied. There's nothing
else to demand. Nothing else. Christ is the end
of the law. Turn with me to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 verse 11 says, But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
so evident. That's on every page. For the
just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. You see in verse 10, it says,
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that doesn't perform every single law written. You miss it in one dot of the
I? one cross of the tea, you've broken it and you're cursed.
And that was us. That was us. We were under the
law and 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. He didn't sneak us out. This was not a jailbreak. He
justly and rightly took us out from under the law and will 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. It's satisfied. Now turn with
me to Hebrews 10. I'll be quick. Hebrews 10. Verse 4 says, for it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. They kept sacrificing and they
kept sacrificing and they kept sacrificing and they kept sacrificing,
trying to put away their sins. And that's what men and women
are still doing to this day. They're trying to obey God's
law, make those sacrifices, and obey God's law, and obey God's
law, trying to put away their sin. And it's not possible. It's not possible. Verse 9 says,
Hebrews 10 verse 9 says, Then said He, Christ, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. He fulfilled the law's demands,
and he suffered the law's punishments, and now the law is satisfied.
It's satisfied. He took away the law. that he might establish grace. Grace upon grace. Piles and piles
of grace. That's what we have received.
The free gift of unmerited favor to his people. Listen to this
quote. I read this quote and I thought,
that's got to be one of the greatest things I've ever heard. The law
manifests What is in men? The law exposes what is in men.
Sin. Grace manifests what is in God. Love. 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. That's wonderful. That is wonderful. On our way back to the text,
all right, we're closing out. On the way back, stop at Romans
5. Come with me to Romans 5. Romans 5. Verse 19 says, For as by one
man's disobedience, Adam, as by one man's disobedience many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, our perfect
Lord Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound. All that sin might
be exposed for what it is. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That's piles and heaps. That
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That's good news. That is good
news. Now let's close by reading the
text again. Go with me back to John 1. John
1 verse 15, 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. And of his fullness have all
we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. I was gonna close with the song,
but I don't think we will. But the song, we closed with
it Sunday morning. And it just applies again. Free
from the law. Oh, happy condition. The Lord
Jesus bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law. It's all he
can do. It's all it can do. There's a
curse and men and women are running to it and clinging to it and
bringing it in. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fall, but grace hath redeemed us. That free gift once for all. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.