It's good to see each one of you here this day. We're going to take some time now to spend in this book that is unique. It was given to us as a gift by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as they gave words to men to write. And I share with Brother Frank the love of the book of John. There's something about Brother Frank, he and I seem to share a lot of the same favorite passages. I enjoy when he's teaching because I had nailed down two different passages I wanted to speak on today. One was Joshua, I mean, yeah, Joshua chapter one, which he gave a great introduction to that passage on Wednesday evening. And then he has also expressed his love for John. And he's a wise man, he's picked some good books in the scriptures. And this book has meant much to me in my life. I had the privilege to preach through this book in West Virginia. They wondered if we would ever finish, and we did. And the Lord taught me much as he does every time I open the book. I hope you see that. This book never grows old, does it? It's always fresh. And for that, I'm so thankful. We've experienced some tumultuous times in our world in recent years, and even in our own country, as weather and other things have caused much issues with our lives, politicians and those types of things. But there's one thing that remains constant, and that's Jesus Christ. And without him, we would be nothing. It is because of who he is and what he's accomplished in his life that we can have life. And it would sadden my heart so that if there be someone here today that doesn't know him, we would enjoy sharing that good news with you and letting you know that it's possible for you to know him. For my Bible tells me, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. As a little boy, I, on Christmas, always asked for a dad for Christmas. My dad died when I was a toddler, and I never knew him. And so every Christmas, when folks would ask me, what would you like for Christmas? I said, I want a daddy. And I didn't have a daddy. And my mom remarried, and I had a stepdad, and he became my dad. But I learned through the years that, even though when I was little, I was never alone, because I always had the opportunity to be exposed to the scriptures. After my father passed away, our neighbor, Reba Sheffield, told my mom, who had to work much because she worked as a telephone operator many hours, plugging in those cords and things. It left me by myself. And so Mrs. Sheffield came over and told my mother she will take care of me for free if she can take me to church with her on Sundays. And so as a little toddler, I began going to church with Bieber, I called her Bieber, I couldn't say Reba. Bieber was always special to me. She gave me my first Bible and it was there as I began to read, it was one of the first books I learned to read was the Bible. And it was at that church where the Sheffields took me that I accepted Christ as a little boy. And never been alone since. And so this book has become extremely special to me. And I appreciate this first chapter, this prologue, this book that introduces this wonderful account of Jesus Christ. The one who said, and I remember this as a little boy being told, he will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter how tumultuous the times, no matter how lonely you may feel, no matter what disease you may be facing, Jesus will never leave you if you know him and he knows you. because he has made a wonderful promise. And so I was drawn to this passage as I prayed for what to do today and to present things about our Lord that makes it possible for us to have these worship services together. It is all because of him. And so you probably won't hear an awful lot of new things today, That's not my purpose. My purpose is to share once again with you the great love that we have in Christ and what he has provided for us. Just four points that we'll be talking about today. There's a little outline in the bulletin if you just want to keep up with where we're heading. The first point that I want to make today is the fact that Jesus Christ is eternal. Jesus Christ is eternal. We're gonna focus, beginning with verse 15, and we'll discuss through verse 18 this morning of this great chapter. In John chapter one, verse 15, the word says, John bore witness about him and cried out, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. John, first of all, this wonderful man that we read in this passage was a witness for Jesus Christ. He says he bore witness for him. And the way it's written in the text means he continually bore witness to him. Those who truly know Jesus and who have taken him into his heart, into your heart, will desire in your heart to be a witness for him and to let others know. And John set that example for us. In fact, John just didn't witness for him. It says he cried out. From his heart, a message about Jesus Christ. There was no shyness in his witness and his testimony. He spoke about the Lord loudly, clearly, and with great confidence. His testimony that he shared with others was all about Christ, all about Christ. John made it clear that Jesus, though physically born six months after him, existed before him in time. In fact, Jesus existed before John the Baptist was ever even conceived. John recognized Christ's rightful position. He said in his witness, in his testimony, he was before me. He ranks or exists ahead of me in priority. What was John saying? Jesus was before me. Jesus was eternal. John the Baptist is confirming what John the Apostle told us in John 1, chapter one, that Brother Bill read for us. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In the beginning, that phrase takes us back, way back to the very beginning of the Word of God, doesn't it? There was a phrase that began our Bible with what? In the beginning. In the beginning, when there was nothing, Jesus was. John 1-1 establishes Christ's presence at the beginning of time as we know time. Literally the phrase in the Hebrew does not have an article in front of beginning. It just says in the text, in the Hebrew, in beginning. In beginning. The absence of the definite article Excuse me, in John, there's no definite article in the Greek. It is just in beginning, Jesus was. The absence of that article is to take us back to the most remote point in time that we can conceive in our own minds. And we struggle with that concept that Jesus existed before the time. There is no tomorrow for Jesus. There is no yesterday for Jesus. Time is irrelevant to him. It's important that we note that John is not only talking about creation back in the beginning, he was without beginning. Jesus had no beginning. And he tells us so in this great book. In John chapter 17 and verse five, here's what he says. And now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. This friend that we have who will never depart from us is eternal. It says in the beginning was the word. Do you know, little words are important. Years ago we learned that in the impeachment of one of our presidents when he said it depends on what the word is is. He's right, we do need to understand what words mean. And in this passage of scripture, there's actually two words that are translated was. The one that is referring to that Jesus was means existed. Jesus existed, always existed. The way it is written, it talks about the eternality of Christ. There was never a time when Christ did not exist. The word was is here in the imperfect tense, meaning that the word was continually existing. So when Jesus was present at creation, he just didn't show up. He always was, always is, and always will be. He will never leave us. He will always be continuing. He was, is, and always will be. That's our friend. That's our friend. You know, we've had friends on Earth. Some of us have lifelong friends, and they've proven themselves to be faithful. But there's no faithful friend like Jesus. He is a friend like no other. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will never leave you alone. You are never alone. Jesus is eternal. Number two, Jesus is the fullness of God's nature. Look at the first part of verse 16, John chapter one. for from his fullness, for from his fullness. Jesus is the fullness. Jesus is the completeness. This word fullness is used by both John here and Paul to teach us that Jesus is fully God. He is fully deity. Paul writes in Colossians chapter two and verse nine, these words, for in him, speaking of Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Jesus is fully God. He is eternally God. He is the fullness of God's nature. Paul says so in Colossians chapter one in verse 19, for in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Now, there were some false teachers in Jesus's day. They were called the Gnostics. The Gnostics used a particular word when they presented their false doctrines, and they claimed that their doctrines were the sum total of all truth. Paul used that same word when he wrote, Jesus is the fullness of God. He used their own words against the false teacher saying, there's only one who is fully truth. And that is Jesus Christ, the fullness of God who dwells in him. Not just lives in Christ, but takes up permanent residence. This fullness was not something that was added to Christ. That's something that wasn't natural to him. It was that part of his essential being as a part of his very constitution, permanently so. Jesus Christ is the full nature of God. That's your friend, if you know him. He is eternal, he is deity, he is God. And it is his spirit that dwells within all who come to him by faith believing. Jesus is eternal. Jesus is the fullness of the nature of God. And number three, Jesus is the fullness of God's attributes. Attributes. Specifically mentioned in our passage, if you look down at the second part of verse 16, chapter one, we have all received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fullness of God's grace and truth. From or out of his fullness. That word from brings big blessings to those who know Christ. For from his divine fullness, believers have received grace upon grace, part of God himself through Christ. Out of his inexhaustible fullness, God has given his grace through Jesus Christ to believers who have received Jesus Christ. And this passage is, the verbs in this particular verse are in the passive voice, which means this is something I couldn't do for myself. It had to be given to me. And when I believed by faith, God gave this to me through Christ, his grace upon grace. New grace. to supply all grace, grace sufficient to meet every recurring need in a believer's life. One commentator I read said this about that. From the fullness of his grace, all who are in Christ have received one blessing after another and a never ending supply at that. One illustration I read about this was like waves of the sea, which strikes home to me because born in Florida, in the middle of Florida, we had the privilege to experience either beach we wanted to go to. We could either go to the Gulf of Mexico or we could go to the Atlantic Ocean in about the same amount of time, a little over an hour. We could be at either place. In fact, on one occasion, I got to watch the sun come up and go down in the same day. And we could just drive back and forth and do that. That was interesting. But I remember as a little boy, I understood the power of waves and the consistency of waves. I was at the beach with my mom, and I was sitting in a little wagon of some sort, letting the waves come in upon me, and they never stopped. And I didn't understand tides in those days. As the waves began to grow larger and harder, I just sat there. And before I knew it, I was being taken away by those waves. If it hadn't been for my mom grabbing my foot, I probably wouldn't be here today. Waves upon waves of water that never stopped. Powerful waves at times. And this is a perfect example of what the Bible is telling us about God's grace given to us by our friend Jesus Christ. Waves of grace to fight against. that one who would like to destroy us but can't because of the blessings that he has given to us through our friend Jesus Christ. His promise, God's promise of grace has been fulfilled in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Titus chapter two, verses 11 through 13, these words. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives at the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God, Jesus Christ. Grace brings deliverance for all who believe in him. And after that deliverance, it teaches us, that is grace teaches us how to live. And that grace of God enables us to live that life that has been given to us so freely. Jesus Christ demonstrated what grace is to us. in his life and ministry. 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9, Paul writes, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. Jesus Christ taught us about His grace in His atoning death on the cross, Ephesians 2, verses 4 and 5. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. Jesus Christ taught us about His grace through His grace that believers have received life. and peace and joy in God's word. Listen to what Jesus said about you. I give you, I give them eternal life and they will never perish. In John 14, 27, he says, peace I give you. In John chapter 15, 11, these things I've spoken to you that your joy may be full. In God's word, John chapter 17, can I go on and on? We can just go on and on. The blessings that Jesus Christ has given to us by grace. I was taken back to a common illustration, and you'll know who I'm talking about pretty quickly. It's about a man who lived back in the 17th century. As a young boy, he was actually born into a Christian home. But for the first six or seven years of his life, he had the gospel just drilled into him by his parents. But they died. And then this orphan boy went to live with some relatives. He was mistreated and abused. And consequently, he was ridiculed for his Christianity, or interest in Christ. He wasn't a Christian at the time. This little boy couldn't put up with that, and so when he got old enough, he joined the Royal Navy. And in that Navy, his life went downhill. He became a drunk. He became addicted to alcohol. He was a brawler, a fighter. He became a captain of a slave ship, buying and the selling of slaves. And there was a time in his life when it got so low, he actually broke into the ship's supply of liquor and got himself so drunk, he fell overboard. He had to be harpooned by one of his own men and dragged back into the boat. But finally, in the midst of a great storm off of Scotland, after all of those things, he heard the gospel message again, reminding him of his parents and what he had been taught as a little boy. And he received Jesus Christ as his savior. And his life was dramatically changed. And he understood what Jesus had given to him, the grace of God that had come to him through Jesus Christ, because only by God's grace could he have accepted what he accepted and became what he became. He became a pastor. In fact, he pastored a man who wrote hymns and suffered through depression, Mr. Cooper by name. His name is John Newton. And out of all of those things that he experienced in his life, he penned those words that all of you know. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. There is no person so far from God that the grace of God can't reach them. And John Newton stands as an illustration of that great grace. Jesus is the fullness of God's grace and truth. Truth and grace are brother and sister in this passage, and they represent the attributes of God. Remember, Jesus told us he was the truth in John chapter 14 and verse six. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the absolute way, the absolute truth. He is pure truth. There's no falseness in him whatsoever. There's a difference between telling someone about the truth and living the truth before them. And Jesus Christ lived that truth before you and me. We see it in the scriptures. He is a portrait of absolute truth. He told the world who he was and he lived it. No one but God himself could have lived like Jesus lived. Get the picture? As God, he can be trusted without reservation while on the way, on life's way. The fact that Jesus's truth will set the man who trusts him free from the way of the world. Jesus ushered in the new covenant. The law of the old covenant was replaced by grace and truth. And we read throughout the scriptures the law and the grace and the differences in the two. The law condemns, Romans chapter 7 and verse 9, I once was apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The law condemns, what does grace do? Grace sets the lost soul free. Grace sets everyone free who believes in Christ. No condemnation in those who trust him by faith. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8.1. The law says, don't do, do, don't do, do. What does grace say? It is done. I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do, Jesus said. Jesus did what the law proved man could not do. He left nothing undone. The law curses according to Galatians 3 in verse 10, but grace blesses. Galatians 3, 14, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. The law curses. Grace sets free. The law slays sinners. Grace makes sinners alive. Romans 8 2 for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ. The law condemns the best of men. Grace saves the worst of men. First Timothy 115, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. The law says the wages of sin is death. Grace says the gift of God is eternal life. The law reveals sin. Grace reconciles sin. The law demands obedience. Grace grants and gives power to obey. The law shuts every mouth before God. Grace opens the mouth to praise God. The law was written on stone. Grace is written on the tables of your heart. 2 Corinthians 3.3, and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. The law was holy and just, but it could save no one. The law was not an instrument of grace, it was God's tool to reveal man's need of God's grace. what God expected man to do, what God expected man to be. But man could not meet the demands of the law until the coming of grace and truth. Until Jesus came, no one understood the full meaning of grace and truth. He, Jesus Christ, is the fulfillment of all Old Testament expectations. So we see Jesus is eternal. Jesus is the fullness of God's nature. Jesus is the fullness of God's attributes. Number four, Jesus is the revealer of God. John 1, excuse me, John 1, 18. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He has made him known. No man has seen God at any time. But some of you may say, well, I thought Moses saw God. In Exodus chapter 33, in verse 11, we read, thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man would not depart from the tent. That verse says he spoke to God face to face. This is a Hebrew phrase in a way of saying that there was a personal communication that was taking place and we have proof in the scriptures that no one has ever seen the face of God because in Exodus the same chapter down in verses 20 through 23 we read, but he said, you cannot see my face. For man shall not see me in a live. And the Lord said, behold, there's a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. And while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. When we see Jesus, we see God. The revealing of God and his grace was reserved for him because he was special, the only begotten one. The revealer is proclaimed in the scriptures in verse 18 of chapter one. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. The only begotten, the unique and special. I read the King James there because I like that translation better. It refers to the only begotten son. Only begotten in the bosom of the father. Perhaps this is a repeat of John chapter one, verse one. When it says the word was with God. They were one in the same. And it is this one who was with him that reveals the Father to us. He declared him, according to verse 18, Jesus did. If you do a word study on that word declare, it means to lay out for all to see. Jesus's life, he spent laying out the Father's will. All who God is, he who hath seen me hath seen the Father, he said. He effectively and efficiently presented the truth of God's word. He fully and completely revealed God to humanity. Every breath Christ breathed on this earth, every deed Christ did on this earth, every lesson Christ taught on this earth was of the Father. His very life was a sermon about God the Father. This verse 18 ends the prologue or introduction of John's gospel. The very verse tells us that Jesus Christ revealed the essence of God because he was the essence of God. Everything, every believer, where he begins and where he ends is all about Jesus Christ. Everything that we have begins and ends in Jesus Christ as his children. I've tried to try to describe Jesus to people, I can't. I've read many accounts of those who have tried to explain Jesus to people, and I've read many that are pretty good, but I came across one, and maybe you've heard this before. I'm gonna share it with you this morning. It was delivered in 1976 by S.M. Lockridge, He was a well-known black pastor in California, pastor at a Baptist church in California. And in a sermon that he preached on a particular day in 1976 entitled, That's My King, I would challenge you to look him up and listen to him present this because I can do no justice to the way that man presented these words. But they touched my heart. He wrote these, he said these things. That's my king. My king was born king. The Bible says he's a seven way king. He's the king of kings. That's an ethnic king. He's the king of Israel. That's a national king. He's the king of righteousness. He's a king of the ages. He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory. He's the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords. Now that's my king. Well, I wonder if you know him. Do you know him? Don't try to mislead me. Do you know my king? David said the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. My king is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define his limitless love. No far-seeking telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of his supplies. No barriers can hinder him from pouring out his blessing. He is enduringly strong. He is entirely sincere. He is eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's empirically powerful. He's impartially merciful. That's my king. He's God's son. He's the sinner's savior. He's the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in himself. He's honest. He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He's supreme. He's preeminent. He's the grandest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He's the supreme problem in higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of historic theology. He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That's my king. He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you can choose to call him. He's the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and he saves. He's the almighty God who guides and keeps all his people. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent. And he beautifies the meek. That's my king. Do you know him? Well, my king is a king of knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory. He's the master of the mighty. He's the captain of the conquerors. He's the head of the heroes. He's the leader of the legislatures. He's the overseer of overcomers. He's the governor of governors. He's the prince of princes. He's the king of kings. And he's the lord of lords. That's my king. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. I wish I could describe him to you, but he's indescribable. That's my king. He's incomprehensible. He's invincible and he's irresistible. I'm coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can't contain him, let alone some man explain him. You can't get him out of your mind. You can't get him off your hands. You can't outlive him, and you can't live without him. The Pharisees couldn't stand him, but they found out they couldn't stop him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in him. The witnesses couldn't give their testimonies to agree with him. Herod couldn't kill him, death couldn't handle him, and the grave couldn't hold him. That's my king. He has always been, and he always will be. I'm talking about the fact that he had no predecessor, and he'll have no successor. There's nobody before him, and there's nobody after him. You can't impeach him, and he's not going to resign. That's my king. That's my king. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Well, all the power belongs to my king. We're around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but in the end, all that matters is God's power. Thine is the power and the glory. We try to get prestige and honor and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all his. Yes, thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? Forever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through all the evers, then amen. Could you top that? Every time I read this, I have to go look him up on YouTube and hear him give it from his heart. That's who Jesus is. That's our friend. No other friend like him is there. Do you know him? I joined with our dear brother. Do you know him? To get to know him is beyond belief. Once he lives in your heart, you'll understand that. And for those of you who are here, understand. I read a book several years ago. Don't get shocked, I do read on occasion. I read a book years ago. It was talking about, the title of the book was Respectable Sins. And the very first, I think it was the first chapter or so, the author began to explain something that touched my heart because I was guilty of these things. He said something that we believers often do, but we fail to recognize is this. We will go through our days at times for great lengths of time without ever even recognizing or thinking about God or Christ. We'll get up in the morning, maybe have our devotions, and we go off to work, and it's work from then on till we get home, not taking into account that Jesus is with you from the time you get up, the time you go to bed, time you get up, time you go to bed. He's always with us. How much time do we really spend thinking about the Lord and what we do, thinking about who he is and what he desires of us, the life that he desires for us to live, for others to see. It is our privilege to be part of his ministry, to share with those who don't know him, and to be strengthened to stand when we need to stand, and to make the right decisions when decisions need to be made. How much time do we spend outside of the little time we set aside perhaps throughout the day to really consider what we do, where we go, what we say, how we live, how we look, what we present as the image of Christ for people to see? When people look at us, do they think by the way we act, by the way we walk, do they see Christ in us? That's his desire. That's his desire. And I trust that you would understand that was my heart today was to remind us of who he is and what he deserves from us. You want to know God better? You really want to know God better? Study Jesus. You want to understand life better? And what's happening with you? Study Jesus. You want to help someone else who is struggling? You study Jesus and you tell them about Jesus. You want to have a fulfilling life? You get to know more about Jesus and pursue to be more like him. It's not a mistake that the book of John begins with the word logos, translated word. There's nothing like the word, the living word, Jesus, and the inspired word, God's word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the brief time we've had to spend together today. We thank you for providing this book. May we treasure it. May we spend time in it. May we memorize it. But more importantly, Lord, may we apply it. We understand it's not enough just to know what the Bible says. We need to apply what the Bible says and live it because of the love that has been given to us by Christ. May we love you back as you have loved us. May we give to you and not withhold anything That would prevent us from being what you desire for us to be. We pray you would bless this time we've had to spend together today and use your word to teach us and to grow us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.