Shall we turn our Bibles, please, to the
first chapter of 1 John, or rather, the
Gospel according to John, chapter 1.
John, chapter 1, verse 15, John Bear Witton
told him, 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 fulness have we all received,
and grace upon grace.
I think this is better rendered, and grace
upon grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Garvey has it, but grace and truth subsist
by Jesus Christ.
For a little this evening, I want to
speak of that fulness out of which we
have all received.
I revel in this language because we're living
in a day and age when the natural
resources of earth are running out.
There is the energy crunch, and there are
other resources of this earth that are running
out.
But, thank God, there is one source that
will never be exhausted.
That is the fulness of our Lord Jesus
Christ, from which we may receive.
And that fulness is just like waves of
the sea.
Grace upon grace.
And waves of the grace of God upon
the other waves of the grace of God
can be never stopped, even as the waves
on the ocean never stop.
I was impressed with this.
I think I mentioned this before.
The first time I saw the ocean, I
saw the waves coming in.
They never stop.
The waves are still feeding upon those beaches,
wave after wave.
And thus it is with the grace of
God.
The grace of God that supplies our needs.
And our Lord Jesus Christ will never run
dry.
He will never be exhausted.
We shall always have enough.
Now that is pure luxury.
It's not a very pleasant thought to think
that we're running out of oil.
That we're running out of gas.
That we're running out of these things.
It's not a pleasant thought at all.
And the population of the earth is getting
bigger.
Now we know that in God's own good
time, he's going to take care of that
problem.
Because the population of this earth is going
to be greatly decreased.
Now, I never fear that God, who has
provided for the human race, is going to
let us run out.
There's going to be one means or another
whereby we'll get what we need.
Now, during and after the millennial reign of
our Lord Jesus, there's going to be a
new heaven and a new earth.
And believe me, we won't need automobiles for
transportation.
But I want to talk about that fullness
tonight.
Out of which the Lord gives to you
and to me.
Now I want to talk about the Lord.
And these are quotes.
The Lord speaks of my rest.
He speaks of my peace, my love, my
joy, my yoke, my burden, my grace, my
strength, my reward, and my glory.
And he shares each of these with you
and me.
Now, we should never feel poor.
We should never feel like we've been forsaken.
Because God shares all, our Lord Jesus Christ
shares all of these things with us.
Now, we already noticed in the lesson this
morning, in Gospel 40 Old Testament, the pleadings
of the king.
That he and the individual says, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.
Now, it is not stated there where the
rest comes from.
But in Hebrews chapter 3 and Hebrews chapter
4, we see the source of that rest.
And perhaps we can turn our Bibles to
the 3rd and the 4th chapters of Hebrews.
In chapter 1, it's spoken of in a
negative way.
In chapter 3, well, almost the same way
in chapter 4.
But we see the truth of it, nevertheless.
Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost, verse 7, wherefore,
as the Holy Ghost says, Today, if ye
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation in the day of
temptation in the wilderness, when your father tempted
me, crude me, and saw my works forty
years.
Wherefore, I was grieved with that generation, and
said, they do all deserve.
In their hearts they have not known my
ways.
Where, in my rest, they shall not enter
into my rest.
They will not share my rest.
And he speaks of it as his rest.
First of all, before it's ours, it has
to be his.
Now, over in chapter 4, let us, therefore,
hear a promise being left us of entering
into his rest.
Any of you should see this in short.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as
well as unto them, that the word that
was preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith, and them that heard it.
For we which have believed do enter into
rest.
And as he said, as I have sworn
in my rest, if they shall enter into
my rest, the force of it is they
shall not enter into my rest, although the
works were finished, and the foundation grew, for
he has taken a certain place on the
seventh day on this life, and God did
rest the seventh day from all his works.
And in this place, again, if they shall
enter into my rest, or, more properly, they
shall not enter into my rest.
They shall not enter into my rest.
Seeing, therefore, it remaineth that some must enter
in, by inference, and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of
unbelief.
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying, David,
today, after so long a time, as it
is said, today if you will hear his
voice, harden not your heart.
For as Joshua, more properly translated, there's a
reason why the translators put Jesus in here,
because the Jehoshua of the Old Testament in
the Hebrew is the same as Jesus in
the Greek.
So, it's really Joshua.
The names are the same.
Joshua and Jesus are exactly the same name.
Only one is Hebrew and the other is
Greek.
For if Joshua had given them rest, then
would he not afterward have spoken of another
day.
There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people
of God.
For he that is entered into his rest,
he also hath peace from his own work,
as God did from his.
Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that
rest.
Now, this seems like a paradox.
This seems like a contradiction of terms.
I think it would be better translated, let
us thrive, therefore, to enter into that rest.
Let any man fall into the same example
of unbelief.
Now, I believe that this is the salvation
rest.
Now, it's God's rest, first of all, and
then he shares it with us.
Now, that's not stated in Matthew 11 and
28.
All the Lord says there, Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
But before a single soul could have rest
in the matter of salvation, God had to
have his rest.
And he found his perfect rest in the
work of Christ on the cross of Calvary.
God is satisfied with the work of Christ.
And God must be satisfied, first of all,
before there would be any blessing for you
and for me.
And the reason that you and I can
have rest is because God is at rest.
And where God is at rest, I can
rest.
Where God has been satisfied, I can be
satisfied, too.
So the rest that we have is, first
of all, God's rest.
Isn't that wonderful?
His mind is completely at rest.
It has been completely satisfied.
The claims of God against you and me
have been satisfied.
And God's hands were, as it were, untied
so that he can bless us.
But the important thing is, God's needs are
met first.
And then ours.
And we can rest because God is at
rest in the matter of our salvation.
That's wonderful.
If God is at rest, I'm not going
to raise any point about it.
Are you?
If God is satisfied with the work of
Christ, I'm satisfied.
My soul is at rest.
Why?
Because he is at rest.
And he shares that rest with us.
Now the Lord Jesus speaks of my peace.
John chapter 14.
John chapter 14, verse 27.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give unto you.
Not as the world giveth, give I unto
you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid.
Now, this is a wonderful verse.
This is closely allied, closely linked with the
thought of rest on the part of God.
My rest, he says.
It's important that God, his claims be satisfied
first of all before my need is met.
Now here is the matter that follows closely
after, and I think in a logical spiritual
sequence, peace.
And the Lord Jesus says peace I leave
with you.
My peace I give unto you.
Now isn't that wonderful?
Out of his fullness have we all received.
Will his supply run dry?
Never.
He says not as the world giveth, give
I unto you.
Let your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid.
When the world gives anything, be sure that
it expects to get more back than it
gives.
It will give you samples.
But before the matter is completed, they will
get this back, and you will have paid
for the sample.
When the world gives you something, you want
to be careful, because they do not give
out of the fullness of their heart.
God does.
The Lord Jesus Christ gives out of the
fullness of his heart.
He gives, and I mean gives, but not
the world.
The world is meagerly in its giving, and
when it gives, make up your mind, you'll
soon get it back, you'll soon get it
back.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give unto you.
Now this is the peace that characterizes this
world of God.
Is God discouraged about what's going on in
this world today?
Is he discouraged about the advance of communism
in San Salvador or any other place for
that matter?
Nicaragua?
Guatemala?
And incidentally, in case you do not know
it, the Dr. Jim and Carla Copping have
left Guatemala.
They are now in Mexico.
They deem that it would be wise that
they get out of Guatemala for their saving
efforts.
But, is God discouraged about this?
Well, what about that work that's left down
there, that they left?
Well, thank God they plan to succeed in
their ministry there for 17 or 18 years,
and I believe that God the Holy Spirit
can go on in an indigenous church in
Guatemala.
I believe their work has been done.
I believe that he has answered.
But the Lord is not discouraged.
Now he says, I want you to have
that same peace.
And you and I can have it.
He gives it to us.
A peace that we can have that is
not disturbed by circumstance.
Because God is the God of circumstance.
And so he says, peace, I leave with
you my peace.
I give unto you out of His fullness,
as with all His seeds.
You know peace is a wonderful thing.
To have your heart at peace is wonderful.
And the Lord Jesus can give that peace.
Because He can control the circumstances that control
the peace.
And so you and I have that privilege
of having peace in our souls.
Practical peace by reason of our commitment to
Him.
Then he speaks of my love, John chapter
15, right over across the city.
He says, let us see, verse 9.
As the Father hath loved me, so have
I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
Now this is marvelous.
The as's and the so's of scripture are
wonderful.
Sometime I think I'm going to try to
determine together on the as's and the so's
of scripture.
Well here's one.
As the Father hath loved me, so have
I loved you.
In the same degree that the Father hath
loved me, I have loved you.
That's my love.
Now this seems impossible.
How do you feel about that?
To be loved like that?
How do you feel?
Isn't it wonderful to be loved?
As the Father hath loved me, so have
I loved you.
Now you may say, well that is simply
a matter of incident.
The Father, this is an incident.
The Father loves Christ and so Christ loves
us.
Well does this mean a matter of degree?
I think it means a matter of degree.
Remember this is God that's speaking and God
is love.
So it says, as the Father hath loved
me, so have I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
Now this means, you and I continue in
his love.
He says, continue ye in my love.
If ye keep his commandments, ye shall abide
in my love.
Even as I have kept my Father's commandments
and abide in his love.
So you see that our Lord Jesus Christ
loves us and this gives us joy.
It's wonderful to be loved.
And I think that that is the answer
to security.
There is no security, absolutely no security apart
from love.
Many, many a child that is raised in
a millionaire's home, in a millionaire's home, many
children that are raised there, their parents are
so busy making that money, spending that money,
controlling that money, trying to keep that money,
that they do not express the love that
they can, or that they should have, to
their children.
Consequently they try to make up for it
by surrounding those children with every opportunity, every
luxury, everything that they can possibly lavish and
shower upon their children.
If you know that money can not buy
their love, and that money can not get
paid their love.
This statement is, I think, without contradiction.
There is no security apart from love.
You can surround any child with all the
best things in the world, and that child
will be in security.
Unless it is love.
And if that child is love, you don't
need to surround it with anything else.
It will be secure.
Now this is love.
The Lord says, my love.
As the Father hath loved me, so have
I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
Now the only way that we can continue
in his love is to just let him
lavish it upon us.
Of his fulness have we all received, and
graced, and formed grace.
Then he speaks of my joy in verse
11 of this same chapter.
These things have I spoken unto you, that
my joy might remain in you.
You see, this is a matter of sharing.
The joy is in Christ, first of all.
These things have I spoken unto you, that
my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.
Now that's the thought, that's the thought we're
trying to develop tonight, of his fullness.
Have we all received, and graced, and formed
grace.
You know, it's nice to use something that
will never be exhausted.
It's nice to have a source that will
never be exhausted, and to have that peace
of mind of knowing, I don't have to
use this sparingly, and neither do you have
to consider the love of God in a
sparing manner, as if his love is going
to run out, his peace is going to
run out, his joy is going to run
out.
It isn't.
It's his, first of all.
These things have I spoken unto you, that
my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.
Joy is a wonderful thing.
Joy is more than happiness.
Happiness depends upon happiness, but joy depends upon
thanks.
And our Lord Jesus Christ, his joy is
full.
We can be filled with joy, though circumstances
around us are quite the contrary.
Joy is something that is real, sustaining, and
upholding, supportive.
Joy is that.
And we can rejoice in the Lord.
We can share his joy.
What is his joy?
Does Christ know how to be joyful?
Yes, he does.
And he shares that joy with you and
me.
That our joy might be full.
He says, I want you to enjoy it.
I want you to enjoy it because I'm
enjoying it, and everything I have is yours.
Of his fullness, as we all receive.
Then he speaks in that verse that we
read this morning.
We might turn back to it.
Matthew chapter 11.
We certainly didn't exhaust that this morning, until
we read that.
He speaks of his yoke and of his
burden in verses 29 and 30.
He says, Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me.
For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest under your fold.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.
Now here is something that he wants to
share with us.
This is a matter of sharing of his
fullness, as we all receive.
And grace upon grace.
Now he speaks of my yoke.
Taking my yoke upon you, have the same
attitude toward God as I have in regard
to serving him.
Christ was under the yoke, a voluntary yoke.
He took the yoke to serve his fullness.
Now he says, I want you to share
that and find out how sweet it can
be.
Oh, how sweet the yoke that Christ had
in connection with serving his fullness.
You know, it's wonderful to work for the
right people.
It's wonderful to serve the right cause.
Christ says now, I have found great joy
in serving my fullness, in taking his yoke
upon me.
Now I want you to know how sweet
that can be.
That's what he means.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
me.
For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest under your fold.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.
Now I think that the reason that his
burden is light is because of the joy
of the Lord.
There is a scripture that says, the joy
of the Lord shall be your strength.
And he speaks about his burden, and that
burden that he bore because of love.
Love to his father, first of all, and
love to you and to me.
The burden of life.
You remember, I think there's that wonderful, wonderful
scripture back in Genesis.
You know, Jacob served Laban seven years for
Rachel.
And it says there, I can't conceive of
it, but it says it, in fifteen but
a few days.
She must have been hungry.
That's all I can say.
She must have been hungry.
So seven years passed, and he did it.
Why?
He was attaining the desire of his heart.
The burden was light.
Why?
Because of love.
His love toward her.
The burden was light.
And you and I can share his burden.
He says, my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.
And he wants, he's petitioning, he's pleading with
you and me to experience his joy, to
bear his burden.
In other words, to be a servant, even
if he wants.
And find out the joy.
You know, it's all right to be a
servant.
It's all right to be a servant if
you're serving the right person.
And the Lord found his strength in being
a servant.
You know, I'm struck by the fact that
the Catholics used that letter, by means of
which they garnered so many millions of dollars,
their boys found out there.
Oh, it was beautifully done.
It shows a boy with a little brother
on his back, big with his hand on
his shoulder.
And the boy says, he ain't heavy, father.
He's my brother.
He ain't heavy, father.
He's my brother.
Isn't that perfectly done?
You know, there's principle behind it.
There's a real principle behind it.
You and I can have the privilege of
sharing the yoke and the burden of the
Lord.
Oh, I think.
I think of the joy, the sense of
accomplishment in obeying the law.
Because this principle is not being cleared up.
Now, there are two other things that are
used.
The 11th, 12th chapter, rather, 2nd Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 12.
Verse 7 of the 12th chapter, 2nd Corinthians.
Paul is speaking here about the glories, the
revelations that were given to him.
And he says, This
was a grief to Paul, his corn in
the flesh.
Some have felt that it was blindness, and
I'm not too sure that it wasn't.
But Paul was very, very grieved that this
seemed to hinder his service.
That God had given him a corn in
the flesh, lest he be exalted above measure.
This verse gives me some concerns, because I'm
so healthy.
I wonder, is it because of the lack
of revelations?
It does seem that God indeed exacts the
promise from those who would read certainly.
Now, Paul says, Lest I should be exalted
above measure, to the abundance of the revelations
that was given to me as corn in
the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
And for this thing I did talk to
the Lord thrice, three times, that it might
depart from me.
Lord, I could just serve you so much
better if you take away this corn in
the flesh.
And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect
and meek unto thee.
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in
my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon thee.
Now, the grace is his, the strength is
his, he wants us to experience that grace,
and he wants us to experience that strength.
And he tells us very, very plainly that
God's strength is made perfect in weakness.
Now, you and I can furnish the weakness.
He furnishes the strength.
He accomplishes that which we cannot accomplish, but
he does it through us.
This is an outpouring of his grace.
This is grace upon grace of his fullness
that we all receive.
And he gives us that grace, that encouragement,
that reading, that guidance, to do his will
even though circumstances seemingly are against us.
Now, he doesn't.
Now, I know there is a sentence that
I take upon the part of us all
of us.
If conditions were better, I could do better
for the Lord.
I could serve him more.
I could accomplish more if I just have
the optimum conditions.
And that's a mistake to do that.
Go ahead and serve him under all of
his instances, counting on his grace, and counting
on his strength.
Because, he says, my strength is made perfect
in weakness, and I don't need to worry
if I haven't about what it takes to
accomplish his purposes.
He'll work for me, and I'll have the
satisfaction and the joy of contributing a little
to the grace and to the glory of
God.
So, he speaks of my grace and my
strength and his powers.
He lavishes it upon us, and Paul gets
the message, most gladly, therefore, but I rather
glory in my infirmities that the power of
Christ rests upon me.
He wants to be the recipient of that
power, of that grace, that he might accomplish
the purposes of God.
But the power and the grace have risen
in me, in the Christ.
Then he speaks in Revelation chapter 22 of
my reward.
You might notice that.
First, well, of the 22nd chapter of Revelation.
Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is
with me, is he going to keep it?
No.
My reward is with me to give every
man according as his work shall be.
Now, you remember what he said to the
faithful servants when the time comes reckoning when
they should bring their talents up.
And they bring their talents up, and one
talent is, well, five talents have gained five
talents, two talents have gained two talents.
Remember what the Lord said?
Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
That's what he said.
Well done, he said to the faithful servants.
Enter thou into this joy of thy Lord.
Now, we're going to experience that joy this
evening.
There's going to be a peculiar joy that
Christ is going to have to be on
the throne of this world ruling, or should
rule all the time.
But we're going to share this.
We're going to share the exhilaration.
We're going to be caught up in the
excitement, in the glory.
We're going to share it with him.
He says this.
Now, in the case of his reward, my
reward is with me.
Now, he's not going to keep it.
He's going to share it.
To give every man according as his work
shall be.
Of his own.
That we all receive and grace upon grace.
That rewarding day is coming.
The judgment seat of Christ where every man
shall receive a reward.
Every man will receive accommodation in some degree.
Christ is going to find something about every
child born that he can do.
Something that they've done.
Now, it's granted there are varying degrees perhaps
great differences between the reward that should be
given out I think of the Apostle Paul.
How he sold out to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Absolutely and completely I think of what that
man's reward is going to be.
I'm thinking.
That he's going to find out something that
he can reward every child he's lost in
that coming day.
My reward is with me to give to
every man.
So he shares it.
Now it is but abundance.
Once again we all receive.
Now I speak with my glory.
John chapter 17 verse
24 the prayer of the Lord Jesus the
only time in the scriptures that it will
is to come.
And he says there in verse 24 I
will that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am that
they may behold my glory and incidentally to
share it as we will notice later which
thou hast given me for thou lovest me
before the foundations of the world.
Now, let's be plain here some of the
glories of our Lord Jesus Christ are unique.
Those glories will be his and his alone.
But that's not with all his glories.
That which is uniquely Christ he will not
have to part with.
And there are glories that are his but
he wants us to see them and enjoy
them even so.
And I but there are other glories that
we're going to share.
But all of the glories we're going to
expose to and I love this.
Father, I will that they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I
am.
I want them with me.
Why?
That they may behold my glory.
That will be our glory to see him
glorified.
When we think of the soup that he
took for you and for me when you
think of the debt to which he thanked
for you and for me.
Our glory is to see him glorified.
And that will be our experience.
But there is a sense of sharing here
that we will note in Romans chapter 8.
The 8th chapter of Romans.
Verse 17 of the 8th chapter of Romans.
And if children then heirs, heirs of God,
and joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him
that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in
us.
Now whose glory is that going to be?
Christ is going to be displayed in us.
We're going to be like him.
We're going to be in his image.
So notice we hear the disciples.
We get the experience.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed in
us.
Not to us, but in us.
And that glory will be Christ.
And that probably is the climax to that
lovely verse in the first chapter of John.
Of his fullness have we all received and
raised upon grace.
His supply is unlimited.
And his of his charity is his delight.
Brother Bill, would you please close with a
little prayer?