That's my subject this morning.
Have you ever seen the glory of God in Jesus Christ, his son? Have you seen his glory? You remember when Philip went
down to Samaria, he preached Christ unto them and there was
great joy in that city. Why do you suppose that the constant
preaching of God's servants in the scriptures as in our day
is Jesus Christ and him crucified? Why do you suppose when the Apostle
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, I determined not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified? Without question, the reason
is just this. Christ crucified is the message
of Holy Scripture. And Christ crucified is the only
thing in this world that can give peace and rest to the souls
of men. You who yet believe not, who
are yet without life and faith in Christ. The reason, I suspect,
is just this. You vainly imagine that you must
find something in yourselves with which to come before God
and find acceptance with him. What a sad, foolish thing. Men presume they must find some
good thing in themselves before they can trust the Savior. You
seek rest where no rest can be found, in your good works, in
your feelings, in the performance of religious duties, in your
experiences, in your sense of remorse over sin, or even in
your faith. But you seek something good in
yourselves to give you rest, and thus you make for yourself
A refuge of lies that must be swept away before God Almighty
will grant you life and faith in his son. It must be swept
away. Else it will be swept away in
his wrath and fury in the day of judgment. You choose coverings
that are so narrow you can't wrap yourself in them. You stretch
yourself on a bed that's so short you can't stretch out on it and
find rest. There's no place of rest for
your soul except Jesus Christ and him crucified. There's nothing
in this world except the sight of the crucified Lamb of God
that will ever give you rest. If you would have rest, you must
get a sight of the glory of Christ. as the glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, may God give you
that today, and give me that today. As surely as He does,
we will leave this place resting in Him. Turn with me to John
chapter 1 and verse 14. John chapter 1. and verse 14. This is one of those texts that's
so deep, so full, so rich that I approach it with fear and trembling,
lest I misstate that which is here so simply stated. John 1 and verse 14. And 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. Now focus for a minute on that
word dwelt. John here compares Christ to
that which was the greatest glory of the Jewish church. In the
New King James translation, the passage reads like this. And
the word became flesh and did tabernacle among us. And we beheld
his glory, glory as of an only begotten of the father, full
of grace and truth. The word dwelt in our translation
comes from the Greek word, which commonly is translated tent or
tabernacle. When the son of God became flesh,
he tabernacled among us. Obviously, there is in John's
mind a clear reference to the tabernacle in the wilderness.
That was the great glory of that Old Testament church. The Lord
God Almighty tabernacled in the midst of her. God did not dwell. He did not tabernacle in the
tent of Moses. He did not dwell, he did not
tabernacle in the tents of the princes of Israel or of Judah,
but rather he dwelt, he tabernacled in the tabernacle in the wilderness.
There God's glory was set and there God's glory was revealed. The children of Israel had God
in their midst and that was their glory. That was the thing which
gave them joy. That was the delight of their
existence. That was the thing that set them
apart from all other people. The tabernacle, that tent, that
temporary structure, that thing that looked so despicable on
the outside was a place to which men went whenever they would
commune with God. It was the place where God came
in a manifest way whenever he would commune with man. And there
God and his chosen people met one another and met one another
in peace through the slaughter of innocent lambs and bullocks
year after year, day after day throughout their generations.
And the two were reconciled, God and his people. Now all of
that pointed to and was typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's
human body is called in the book of Hebrews chapter 8, the true
tabernacle. The true tabernacle which the
Lord pitched and not man. In his human body, God came and
tabernacled among us. In Christ, in the person of the
God-man, our mediator, God meets with man, and man meets with
God, and there's no other place where the two shall meet, neither
in mercy nor in judgment. The only way God deals with men
and the only way God will have men deal with him is through
the person and work of Jesus Christ, the sinner's substitute.
As the ancient Jews went to God's tent in the center of the camp
of Israel to worship. So we come to Jesus Christ, our
Lord, to worship the triune God. If the Jew had been made unclean. ceremonially unclean. You remember
there were numerous things given in the law that if the Jew touched,
if he came near, he was ceremonially unclean. There were certain things
that if men or women experienced, they were ceremonially unclean.
That didn't mean that they were morally or physically unclean,
but ceremonially unclean. And being ceremonially unclean,
they were ceremonially separated from God. And the reason for
that was to give us a picture. They would go in their ceremonial
uncleanness and bring a sacrifice to God at the tabernacle. And
the Lord God, by that sacrifice through the work of the priest,
would pronounce the unclean clean. And they would walk away cleansed
of their ceremonial uncleanness, pure and sanctified before God
in exactly the same way. We come to God Almighty in all
our uncleanness. Oh, God help you now. In your
uncleanness, in your uncleanness, don't ever attempt to clean yourself
up. You can't do it. In your uncleanness,
come now to God, coming to Christ, the true tabernacle, the true
sacrifice, the true high priest, And as surely as you come with
your uncleanness to him and washing this fountain open for sin and
for uncleanness, you will leave clean this day. Completely clean
with no spot in you because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanses us from all sin. The Jew who had been separated,
who ceremonially was cut off because of uncleanness, comes
to the tabernacle, comes to the sacrifice, and he is now reconciled
to God, restored to God, and restored to his people, and clean. And the sinner coming to Christ,
who has been all his life separated from God. Is that where you are? separated
from God. A wall between you and the Almighty
so that you cannot come to Him because you're unclean. Your
conscience won't allow it any more than God's law will allow
it. And you can't find rest for your souls. Come then to Christ
and be clean. Follow the prayer a little bit
further. The greatest glory of Israel was the tabernacle. And
the great glory of the tabernacle was that place called the most
holy place, the holy of holies, where the Lord God specifically
promised to meet with his people upon the mercy seat. In the Holy
of Holies behind the second veil stood the Ark of the Covenant
with its golden lid called the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat where
the high priest once a year would come in with the blood of the
Paschal Lamb and sprinkle the blood upon the Mercy Seat covering
the broken law and would thereby make atonement for himself and
for the people. On that Mercy Seat were the cherubs
of gold facing one another, facing downward toward the sacrifice,
toward the mercy seat, the blood atonement, and their wings would
touch one another. But as they faced down toward
that mercy seat, their wings touching one another, there was
the appearance of a bright light, a bright light inside the Holy
of Holies, a bright light which stood above the tabernacle as
a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar
of cloud that expanded over all the congregation of Israel to
protect them from the boiling sun of the desert. And that pillar
of cloud, that pillar of fire, that bright light from which
they came was called the Shekinah, the glory. Whenever you read
in the scriptures those words, the glory, There was the glory,
the glory that's speaking of the Shekinah. It's speaking of
the manifest presence of God with his people. That Shekinah
was glory because that was God's presence with them. Now glory in this, children of
Israel. Glory in this, you who are the
holy nation, the Israel of God. God dwells with us in the person
of his son. A light to guide us all our days,
a pillar of cloud over us to protect us in all our ways. Our
text declares that Christ, the incarnate Christ, is God's tabernacle. And John said, we beheld His
glory, the Shekinah, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father. Now, I'm not simply telling you
what Christ was, I'm declaring what He is. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is Himself God. He is Himself the tabernacle,
the true tabernacle. He is Himself the glory, the
Shekinah. the true tabernacle which the
Lord pitched, and not man. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." In this tabernacle, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we have and we behold the Shekinah, the glory of God. Now here is
the great surpassing excellence of Christ. This is what sets
him apart from the tabernacle, sets him apart from the light
over the mercy seat, sets him apart from the pillar of fire
and the pillar of cloud arising from that light. In Christ, the
true tabernacle, he is full of grace and truth. What a word. The Jewish tabernacle
was full of law. It was all law. Oh, it had foreshadowings
and pictures and types of grace. But even in those types, in those
typical sacrifices, those things that were repeated continually
year after year, there was nothing to remove guilt, nothing to remove
sin. As with all the law, those sacrifices
that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ, were but reminders
of man's guilt and reminders of man's sin. Every word written
in the law. People talk about the law giving
us direction in life. The law simply identifies sin. The law simply declares the necessity
of death. The law declares there's no hope. There's no hope. There's no hope
for anybody except in Him to whom the law points. The law
didn't have grace. It was all law. Matter of fact,
if you read the first few verses of Hebrews 10, that's exactly
what the scriptures declare. The blood of beast slain upon
those Jewish altars could never take away sin. They just simply
reminded the worshipers continually they've got to bring another
sacrifice because this sacrifice won't take away sin. They bring
a sacrifice. and were pronounced ceremonially
clean. They were pronounced ceremonially blessed. They were pronounced
ceremonially sanctified. But when they walked away from
the tent door, they knew it was just a ceremony. It was just
a ceremonial cleansing, a ceremonial purification, a ceremonial forgiveness. The true cleansing, the true
purification, the true sacrifice, the true sanctification is all
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Isaac Watts put it this way,
not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give
the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain. But Christ,
the heavenly lamb, takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of
nobler name and richer blood than they. Jesus Christ, oh,
come to him and find in him the sacrifice that will speak peace
to your heart and peace to your conscience and will truly take
away all your guilt and all your sin. The old tabernacle also
had a barrier, a wall, a thick veil. It's called that veil which
separated God from his people. And no man, except the high priest
himself, and he then only once a year, and he only with the
blood of the Passover lamb, doing it exactly as God required, only
once a year, the high priest could go behind that veil to
make atonement. But no mere man could. Because
that high priest represented Christ Jesus, our great high
priest, who by the sacrifice of himself, obtained eternal
redemption for us. But there stood that veil. As
long as the tabernacle stood, there stood that veil. When the
tabernacle was done away and they built the temple, there
stood that veil. The veil separating God and man. The veil separating man from
God. The veil beyond which no man
could reach. That veil represented the law
of God that we have broken. It speaks of all our transgressions
and all our sins. But our Lord Jesus Christ, the
true tabernacle, When he had finished the work of redemption,
he cried, it is finished. And when he did, the veil of
the temple split wide open from top to bottom, and God says,
come on in. Come on in! And now, through
the blood of Jesus Christ, sinners like you and I come with boldness
to the God of glory, with full assurance of faith. having our consciences sprinkled
and our bodies washed and made clean. So that now we are accepted. Why does He include our bodies
in that? Turn over to Hebrews chapter
10. Hold your hands here in John 1. I'm saying He is full of grace.
Full of grace. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness. Boldness. The word doesn't mean
what you, the idea you get from listening to these health, wealth,
prosperity preachers who get on television, radio, and command
God to do this, that, and other. It's not talking about arrogance.
It's not talking about presumption. It's not talking about just marching
boldly into God's throne and demanding what you will. No,
no, no, no. The word is freedom. Sinners have freedom, perfect
liberty to enter into the holiest hell by the blood of Jesus, by
a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a heart, with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience. I can come to God now with the blood of Christ applied
to my heart by God the Holy Spirit declaring I'm forgiven with no
guilt. And that's the only way you can
come to God. Oh, you can come to this thing
or that, this man or that, this religion or that with guilt and
soothe your conscience for a little while and you'll go home just
as guilty. But come to God by faith in Jesus
Christ with his blood and you come to God without guilt, without
guilt. having our bodies washed with
pure water. We just brought gifts. It's called filthy lucre. Good name for it, filthy lucre.
Filthy lucre. We bring our various services
to God. Here we sit in God's house worshiping
him this day in these bodies. How dare we? Because he who put
away our sins. so thoroughly put away our sins
that the whole of my being, the whole of my life, all the gifts
and sacrifices offered to God in this body are accepted of
God as accepted of God as the blood and righteousness of his
son washed with clean water. How I love those words full of
grace. It would have been marvelous
to read, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father with grace. But he doesn't say with grace.
He doesn't even say with much grace. He says full of grace. There's nothing in the leading
Lamb of God but grace. Nothing in Christ crucified but
grace. In Him all fullness dwells. The old tabernacle was full of
imagery, shadows and symbols and pictures and types. But Christ,
the true tabernacle, is full of grace and He is full of truth. He's not the substance, or He's
not the picture, He's not the substance, He's the picture.
He's the reality, not the shadow. This is our joy. Coming to Christ,
we come to the tabernacle of God. Not to the Shekinah that
represented God's glory, but to Christ who is God's glory.
And not to the representation of grace, but to Christ who is
grace. Not to the shadow of truth, But
to him who says, I am the truth, have you come to Christ? Have
you beheld his glory? Are you numbered among those
who can say with John, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Oh, God help you now to come
to him. And God give us grace to behold
his glory. Let me wrap this up by calling
your attention to five things back here in John 1 14. Number
one, John speaks to us here about
the incarnate word. The word was made flesh. I've talked about that a good
bit in recent weeks, but the word flesh here, I sat and looked
at that for a long, long time. It's the very same word that
is used in Romans 3, 20, where the apostle Paul, writing by
the Holy Spirit, says, no flesh shall be justified in his sight.
In Romans 8, verse 3, our Lord Jesus is said to have been made
in the likeness of sinful flesh. If you want to look at it later
in Genesis 6, you remember our Lord looked and saw that the
imaginations of man's heart were only evil and that continually.
And he said, all flesh was corrupt flesh. Essentially, the very
same Hebrew word as we have here in the Greek, flesh. By corrupt,
the word is weak. corruptible flesh. John could
not have used a stronger, more emphatic term to describe the
condensation, the humiliation. The lens of those words don't
quite get it, the degradation of the word. He being in the form of God,
and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation. He emptied himself. The Word
was made flesh. If John had simply said the Word
was made man, the meaning would not have been what it is here.
The Son of God was made What we are in our full nature, body and
soul, a man just like us, sin alone accepted. He who is God
became man and never ceased to be God. Augustine, back in the
fourth century, put it this way. The word was made flesh not by
changing what he was, but by taking what he was not and this
union this union of God the Word and man flesh this union of the
infinite, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-glorious God and corrupt
flesh weak flesh mortal flesh is an indissolvable, everlasting
union. He is still flesh, only no more
corruptible flesh, exalted, glorified flesh. And I have no idea what
the length and breadth and height of what I'm about to say is,
but I can't help linking those words with these words found
in Ephesians 5. The Word was made flesh, and
we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. So it was, so it is, and so it
shall forever be. Second, back here in John 1.14,
our text describes a favored people, and we beheld his glory. John's talking about a specific
people. Most folks never did. And most folks never do. Most
of the folks you and I know all the days of our lives can't see
him. But we see him. Who are these people of whom
John says, we beheld his glory? Without question, they are especially
chosen people. Sometimes people ridicule and
poke fun and say, well, you think you're among the elite elect. No, I don't think it, I know
it. Not elite by nature, no. But elite by grace. Chosen of
God and precious. We beheld His glory because as
He said, I know whom I have chosen. Because as He declares, He calls his own sheep by name. Those who behold his glory are
the sheep of Christ, whom he's named as his. He, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is that one whom we trust being born of God. And we were
born not of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. The we who beheld Christ's glory
are the chosen people of God. So it was then, so it is now,
so it will be tomorrow. Thank God for electing love. You see, it is those who behold
Christ's glory who believe on him. Listen to the scriptures. When Paul preached at Antioch,
I believe it was, the scripture says, and as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Do you find yourself believing
Him? Do you trust the Son of God? If so, it is because He
ordained you to eternal life. And we who are chosen of Him
and now behold His glory shall soon behold his glory perfectly
for he has said father I will that they also whom thou has
chosen they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am
that they may behold my glory those who behold Christ's glory
are a graciously chosen people and they're graciously called
people he calleth unto him whom he will. It is written, those he delivers from going
down to the pit, their life shall see the light.
Many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord. They shall
see the glory of the Lord. and the excellency of our God. Who are these who behold His
glory? Those who behold His glory are a people who are given special
Holy Spirit illumination. They're given illumination, revelation
of Christ in their hearts. They're given eyes with which
to behold His glory by the mighty working of His Spirit. If you
behold His glory, and I do, and others do not. And we are both
the same. We're both by nature blind. We're
both by nature incapable of beholding His glory. Yet if we now behold
His glory, it must be because of something God has done for
us and in us, and not because of something we do for God. For
God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, and has shined
in our hearts now to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed are your
eyes, for they see. Third, let me talk to you for a minute
about the thing revealed, His glory. we beheld his glory. John doesn't say we heard about
his glory or we read about his glory. He says we beheld his
glory. This is something more than a
physical, carnal sight of Christ. In this day of charismatic tomfoolery
and religious nonsense, people talk about having a physical
vision of Christ. I talk about Christ coming and
physically appearing before them. Well, that's nonsense. It doesn't
happen. A devil might, but not Christ. That doesn't happen.
Not to you, not to me, not to your grandma, not to my grandma.
That doesn't happen. Old Roberts, back years ago,
wanted everybody to send him a lot of money so he could build
this huge statue of the Lord Jesus, a huge idol. He said he
had a vision, said the Lord came and appeared to him, and he was
90 feet tall. That's too small. That's too
small. No, no, no. This is not a physical
sight. Multitudes saw him physically
while he walked on this earth and never saw him. Multitudes touched him physically
and never touched him. Multitudes came to him physically
and never came to him. He physically came to many and
did not come to them. This is not talking about a physical
thing, but a spiritual thing. It's not beholding him with the
eyes that are in your head, but with the eyes of your soul, the
eyes of faith, we beheld his glory. There are many today who
behold him with the carnal eye of carnal reason, who never behold
his glory because they don't know it. They don't behold Him
by faith. He's not been revealed in them
by the Spirit of God. When John says we beheld His
glory, this is what he's talking about. You remember over in 1
Peter, or 2 Peter rather, when Peter said, we have not followed
cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of His majesty. He's talking about the same thing,
Bob. Very same thing. He's talking about that glory
which he and Peter and James together beheld on the Mount
of Transfiguration. When suddenly Moses and Elijah
appeared on the Mount with him and the Lord Jesus became white
and glistering. What a word! He stood before
them in His glory the very glory that he now possesses as the
finished, as the mediator who has accomplished and finished
the work of redemption. You remember in Luke 9, the scripture
says Moses and Elijah spoke to him about the decease which he
should accomplish at Jerusalem. What a strange language. who ever heard tell of a man
accomplishing decease. But the word that is translated
decease, if you turn to the second book
of the Bible, the one we've been studying for the last good many
months, you'll find out what that word means, Exodus. Moses and Elijah, talked to him
on the Mount of Transfiguration about the exodus he would accomplish
at Jerusalem, about the exodus of himself and of his people
from under the curse of the law, which curse he bear as our substitute,
the exodus he would accomplish. And when Peter and James and
John saw him all white and glistering, they beheld that glory. that
he possesses now, having accomplished redemption. They beheld him as
that one who by his blood fulfilled all the law and the prophets,
who pleased the Father, who obtained eternal redemption, who earned
the right as a man to be Lord and Master as our Mediator. He
revealed the glory of God as a just God and a Savior by whose
mercy and by whose truth iniquity is purged and taken away. And he says now, as the just
God and the Savior, beside whom there is none else, look unto
me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I ask you again, have you seen his glory? He says, look unto me. I have not seen him, Pastor.
The Savior says, look unto me. And looking, you'll see. Looking, you'll see. He doesn't
say, work for me, but look to me. He doesn't say, figure me
out, but look to me. He doesn't say, come and serve
me. He says, look unto me. He doesn't say, feel after me.
He says, look unto me. He doesn't say, pray to me. He
says, look unto me. Look away to Christ. And looking
to Christ, trusting him, you will behold his glory. The glory
as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And as you continue, in the gaze
of faith. That one whom our hands have
handled, upon whom we have gazed, John said. As you continue in
the gaze of faith upon Christ, you continue to behold his glory. Turn to John chapter 11. The Lord Jesus is at the tomb
of Lazarus. Martha and Mary are a bit distraught. And the Lord makes a statement
to them, verse 40. Jesus said unto her, said I not unto thee that if
thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God? Martha, if you'd just believe
me, you'd see the glory of God in the painful events of providence
that brought us here. And you'd see the glory of God
in the death of your brother. And you'd see the glory of God
in the resurrection of your brother. If you would believe you'd see
the glory of God beaming forth in the face of Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, our Governor, our God, and our Savior. Now, here's
the blessed vision. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We beheld his glory, his wonderful
person, the God-man, our savior, his perfect righteousness, his
sin-atoning sacrifice, his sovereign dominion. We behold his glory
as our tender sympathizing high priest. We behold the glory of
his heavenly intercession and all the glory of his persevering
love with which he loves us. But I think perhaps John has
in his mind's eye More than anything else, the glory of his final
triumph and victory. He describes it in Revelation
19. After these things, I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power
unto the Lord our God. In verse 4, he says, the 4 and
20 elders and the 4 beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat
on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne
saying, praise God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him both
small and great. And I heard, as it were, a voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thundering saying, hallelujah, for the Lord
God omnipotent. reigneth. Oh boy said I know how this is
going to end up because I've read the last chapter of the
book. Christ will triumph in his glory over all things and
that triumph of Christ over all things is the everlasting salvation
of his people. And one more thing hinted at
but not stated in the text. And that's the reason why the
Lord God has graciously given us grace to behold his glory. It is that we might bear testimony
of his glory as eyewitnesses of his majesty. You remember
when Isaiah saw him in his glory? An angel came and took a live
coal from off the altar and touched his lips and said, your iniquity
is purged. And with the burning fire of
the altar still on his lips, the Lord God said, go tell the
people. Go proclaim the glory. Go tell sinners everywhere of
the glory. which is Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Amen.