Full of Grace and Truth
Key Passage: John 1:1, 14, 17
Date: June 7, 2024
John chapter number one, if you would, please. John chapter number one, we do have hot chocolate afterwards also. And on your way out, the lobby gets you some hot chocolate. And it’s going to be cold tonight. You need some of that there, you know. John chapter number one in God’s Word.
John one, we are going to start at verse number one tonight. If you are there, would you say amen? Good deal. We had our Star of David’s together for a minute there, and it moved up. Would you please stand as we read God’s Word together? If you would, please show us some respect. John one and verse number one of God’s Word. The Bible there says, “In the beginning…"
…was the Word. By the way, that’s capital W. And the Word, capital W, was with God. And the Word, capital W, was God. By the way, just to show you how important every word, every letter of the Bible is, the Jehovah’s Witnesses that don’t believe Jesus is God—they added just one letter. And in their quote unquote Bible, it will say, “And the Word was a God.” Just one letter changes everything. That’s why it’s so important we just stick to what God’s given us. It’s worked right for over 400 years, and it worked right today. I’m talking about the King James Bible, just the importance of it.
But the Word, that’s talking about Jesus, was God. And then look down in verse number 14, if you would please. Verse number 14: “And the Word,” there is again, capital W, “was made flesh and dwelt among us.” I was talking about the incarnation, Christmas, Jesus coming, made flesh, was born, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. By the way, the wording of that is very important. It’s often changed. Sometimes we will say the only Son. Well, if that’s true, then none of us are saved. The wording of the Bible is so crucial: “the only begotten of the Father.” Here’s what I’m going to believe the Lord to have us focus on tonight: just these last couple of words, “full of grace and truth.” Would you say those words with me out loud? Here we go: full of grace and truth. Jesus.
Look down in verse number 17, if we would, very quickly here. Verse number 17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” For just a moment tonight, grace and truth—He was full of grace and truth. And would you pray that the Lord make that real to you and I tonight? Would you pray with me that God make that real to us?
Father Lord, we do come. Lord, we sure need Your leadership, Your glorious light, Father, to make this thing real. Lord, about Jesus, we like to see Him better, full of grace and truth, but then how do we put that in our lives? So, make both of those real to us, would You please, Father, tonight? And thank You, Lord, for already, just the laughter and the merry hearts, Your goodness to us. It’s awesome to be able to do that in Your house. Thank You for it. Well, Lord, tonight, as we come to Your Word, would You grow us from it and make us more like You from it? And we’ll thank You and praise and brag on You for what You do. And Father, we ask for these things in the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. Would you please be seated? Thank you for standing.
Jesus was full—not 50%, not 75%, not 80%, not 90%—He was full of grace, full of grace. How do you illustrate that? I think it was several different things, many things; we won’t get them all, but I think of this woman that was taken in adultery. And sometimes we’ve heard it so much it kind of just—well, we take that light. But just think about that. She was caught in the act of adultery.
At least one, maybe both, were married. Now, think about that: the man that she was with, he was married to another lady. Maybe they had kids. You understand how that wrecks a family and leaves scars for years. But she was caught in adultery. Maybe she was married also. Maybe she had a husband, and maybe she was breaking her husband’s heart and kids and others. Just sin hurts so many. And she was caught in the very act. I want to kind of see Caleb, but she was caught in the act of adultery.
And they bring this woman to Jesus. Now, by the Old Testament, they had the right, if you will, to stone her, to stone her. Now, just to zero in a little bit. And they brought her to Jesus. And they could say—and the Pharisees, of course, they wanted to stone her. By the way, they were all about being equal and just and all that, if you helped. Where in the world was the guy? He was just as guilty as she was. It wasn’t a matter of that. They were just so self-righteous. And Jesus, what do you say about this woman that was caught in the very act of adultery? It’s amazing as you watch Him, see Him there. They’ve somewhat handed the baton to Him. They’ve somewhat said, “All right, what do You say we should do?”
And Jesus says, “He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” And He begins to write on the ground. We don’t know what. Some say that He was writing the sins of the crowd that was gathered there, but they walk away, from the oldest to the youngest, and Jesus is left there with this lady that was caught in the very act of adultery. I mean, some would not even want to be associated. Someone wouldn’t want to be around her. This is Jesus, God in flesh, the One that knew no sin. And watch as Jesus, God in flesh, tells this woman—Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.” Wow. You call that full of grace? Jesus, He was full of grace. I just try to grasp that a little bit. I have a hard time with it, for sure.
I see Jesus, look at Him, one of the last things before He leaves this world. He always was, always will be, but before He leaves this world, He’s on the cross. And Matthew, I believe it is, Mark calls these two men beside Him thieves. They have been stealing what was other people’s. They were taking what was rightfully other people’s. I don’t know what all they stole. Maybe multiple things. The Bible calls them thieves. The book of Luke calls them malefactors. That word has to do with someone just—just a messed-up life. I think a little bit, the best definition I can think of is just in everyday terms: You ever know someone they’ve been in and out of jail all their lives? And you’re like, “How’s so-and-so in you?” Well, I don’t know if they’re out or in right now. It’s that type of a person. These are the people. And they’re on the cross. They didn’t have time to redo their life and make everything right and change them and turn over a new leaf. They were dying, friend. They’re taking their last breaths. In Jesus, the righteous One, God in flesh, but never has—never has—did one thing wrong. He was just perfect in every way, God in flesh. Yet one of those thieves, he said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”
Jesus, knowing everything about this guy—he is a thief, taking other people’s belongings. He was a thief, and he was a malefactor, probably been in and out of jail and troubled all his life, just one of these messed-up people. And yet Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Wow. You call that full? You don’t call that 90%. You call that full grace. How do you describe that?
I see another scene. I see Jesus. He’s coming over on a boat to this area. And as soon as He gets on the shore there, there’s a maniac—I’m talking about a crazy man, a maniac. He was demon-possessed with many thousands of demons. And he’s living in the graveyard. Can you imagine? Some of these older cemeteries are in the woods somewhere. It’s on a mountainside. I take it this graveyard somewhere kind of in the woods a little bit and this mountainside. I don’t know that. And this man lives—I mean, he lives in the graveyard. And you’ll find him out there. I just visualize him as a stinky, dirty, vile man, his hair is just all matted up and long. And this crazy man, he sleeps out there. And at nighttime, you can hear him—the Bible says he cries. You can just hear him screaming in the middle of the night. You wouldn’t want to live close to there. You hear this man on the other side, just screaming, you know.
They tried to lock him up. They had put chains on him. My mind goes to how in the world they’d hold him down—won’t have to put chains on him. I don’t know if he left them or what, but they had put chains. They would bind him up with chains, somewhat like handcuffs underneath. This crazy man, and he was so demon-empowered, he would break the chains. I mean, you’re talking about a man who had probably done so many—in our day and time—drugs and everything else, just so perverted, probably just—you imagine it all. You’d hear him in the middle of the night, ah, just screaming, and he breaks chains. And then the Bible says he’d be cutting himself. Yeah, that in our day and time, a lot of young people are very sad to see. He’s out there just cutting himself. You’re talking about messed up as they come—this crazy man.
And he comes running to Jesus. What would Jesus, the righteous One, do? What would God in flesh do? He created that man. I mean, he’s messed up. He’s so perverted and far from what God intended him to be. He’s so messed up. And what’s Jesus going to do? Well, you’re the one that got yourself in that predicament. No, Jesus didn’t say that. Jesus begins to work on casting the demons out. They don’t want to leave. Jesus asks their name. He often did that. And the demons said, “We are Legion, for we are many.” Jesus cast the demons out. This man was so messed up. He didn’t have clothes on. Later on, he was clothed and in his right mind. So, at the beginning, he didn’t have clothes. He wasn’t dressed right. And Jesus doesn’t shun him; He doesn’t preach at him and yell and screaming. He just—He cast the demons out.
And here’s the amazing thing to me: when it’s all said and done, this man, he’s cast the demons out, he’s in his clothing, in his right mind. And Jesus, He did a wonderful work in that man’s life. And Jesus is about to get back in the boat and leave. And that man, that maniac—I believe he was born again a Christian now that the demons were cast out—he said, “Jesus, I want to stay with You. Can I get in the boat and go with You?” I mean, You’re the One, You saw past my messed-up life. You saw past my just shambles of a life and my maniac and my demons and these demons that had possessed me. You’ve seen past it, and You saw me, and You loved me, and You—and You’ve cast them out, You’ve healed me, You’ve saved me.” And he said, “I want to be with You.” Jesus didn’t let him. He said, “I want you to go home and be a testimony for Me there.” But what do you call someone that’s just a mess, just a totally messed-up vile man like that? He doesn’t shun him; He helps him. What do you call that? Full—full of grace. Jesus was full. I’m not talking about a little bit. I’m not talking about 80%. He was full of grace.
I’m amazed at the stand before Jesus. One point, the little children were coming to Jesus, and the apostles said, “Hey, He doesn’t have time. Keep the kids away from Him.” And Jesus said, “No, no, no, no. Suffer the little children to come unto Me,” He said, “for of such is the kingdom of God.” Keep in heaven one place. What do you call that? Full of grace. Full of grace. If you know the Lord very much, you know, you know how gracious He’s been to you. Oh, so gracious. So thankful for that.
Well, my Peter—I mean, Jesus had made him an apostle. When it lists the apostles, He listed him first almost always. He’s the leader of the apostles, part of the inner three. And yet, when it came down to the clutch of the moment, the last seconds of the game—I mean, just in the clutch—Peter, he denied Him. He denied Him. And then he even starts cussing: “Blankety, blank, blank, blank, I never knew that man!” I mean, the one or one of the three, the inner three that maybe he could lean on, but no, he didn’t. Peter fell flat on his face, and he cursed. He didn’t even want to be associated with Jesus. I mean, he turned on Jesus in the heat of the battle. Jesus, of course, He goes to the cross. He lays down His life. And then He begins to show Himself to many people before Pentecost—was 40 days—and He made special appearances to Peter. He reaches out to Peter in a unique way. I mean, He really goes after Peter, after Peter, after Peter, after Peter. He turned His back on Jesus right at the heat of the battle, just when it all counted, and he began to curse. Yet Jesus reaches out to him.
Then after Jesus had reached out specifically to Peter—Corinthians tells us, I mean, different occasions, but one time specifically to Peter—after all that, and Peter, the leader of the apostles, he’s to the point he’s leaving the ministry, if you will, and he says, “I’m going fishing.” That was his old occupation. And he’s out there fishing, and he’s got six other of the apostles—that’s over half, counting Peter, seven of them. Judas is gone anyway. I mean, and Peter is not just backslidden himself, but he’s leading others to backslide. And that can really bother. I know it can bother me when someone’s backsliding. I don’t like it, but if they’re leading other people away, man, that bothers me. And that’s what Peter’s doing. I mean, he’s leading. They’re out there fishing, and Peter’s not dressed right out there. And Jesus goes out to where they’re at. He says, “Hey, you caught anything?” “No.” He says, “Let your net down on the other side, right side over there.” And boy, they had so many fish—153. I mean, their net—He said, “Let down your nets.” They let down a net; their net couldn’t handle it, so many. And then Jesus says, “Come on in, fellas.” And then Peter figures out it’s Jesus, and so on. They come in. And this is amazing thing: three words that Jesus says to me is amazing about this thing. After Peter did such a rotten deal, they finally make it to shore, and Jesus has cooked a meal for them. It’s amazing Jesus has cooked for them. He says three words—John 21—He says, “Come and dine.” He cooked for and He’s feeding the guy that turned on Him and denied Him and cursed Him. How do you explain that besides full of grace? And just full of grace.
Hey, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Father, full of God. It’s amazing. But then He says, “full of grace”—and what’s the next word? And help me out—which one’s first? Yeah. Verse number 17: “For the law was given by Moses, but what is it?” Grace and what? Which one’s first? Yeah. Often, often the Bible uses these two terms, mercy and truth. About 19 verses, they’re mentioned. The vast majority about the Lord. Of the 19 verses where mercy and truth is just—and some it’s mentioned together in a verse, but it’s not really—it’s not really talking about the Lord of different things. You’re kind of just separate in the verse. But of the 19 times of mercy and truth, many of those talking about the Lord—18 of those times, mercy is first, and then truth is next. There’s only one other time truth is mentioned first, and I don’t even know that it’s in connection with each other, but I want to be honest and fair with what the Bible says. Grace is mentioned first, mercy is mentioned first. By the way, that’s why on our gospel tracks, we want to try to put the mercy out there first, the grace out there first. And her sign, “You’re not going to hell.” Well, that’s true. They’re lost. Grace and truth. Jesus didn’t say, “God condemns you no more.” He didn’t say that. He said, “Neither do I condemn you.” Then He said, “Go and sin no more.” That’s the grace. That’s the truth. You’ve heard it said, you’ve heard it said, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” What does this world need? They need a whole lot of grace and mercy. Now, some are on the line; they need the truth if their lives are going to get straightened up and they’re going to have godly homes and joy of God and the peace of God and the blessing of God—they’ve got to get some truth in there. But the honest truth is, when it’s listed in the Bible, grace is first: full of grace and truth. Think about that. Think about it. This woman caught in adultery—I wonder how many lives she is just wrecking. What did Jesus do? He showed her grace and truth. “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” You see Jesus, that Babe in a manger, and as you see Him there, think about Him. He’s full of grace and truth.
Just as full as He was, completely full of grace, He was also completely full of truth. Not 50, not 70, not 80, not 90, but 100% full of truth. In fact, He was the truth. John 14:6, you know it: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He embodied truth. He was living, walking truth. He’s full of truth. He never went—not one, not one least little bit—did He ever lower truth. He lived in a sin-cursed world. He grew up in Nazareth, probably a lot of sinful things. One of the men, one of the apostles, said, “Can any good thing come out of that Nazareth there?” In that neighborhood, He never ever, one time, lowered truth, not even in the slightest. It’s full of truth. He never allowed someone to cause Him to compromise just a little bit. And Jesus had said—He said in Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I’m not come to destroy, but I’m come to fulfill.” How do you describe Jesus being full of truth?
I think about the end of His life here on earth and the crucifixion. And they had already tortured Him, you know that. And they had put the crown on there and the cat o’ nine tails. And they had beaten Him during the nighttime, the buffeting and the spitting on Him and plucking His beard out and all that—He was just a bloody pulp. And He was there. And they take Him up outside the city over there to Golgotha, the place of the skull there. And it seems right at the beginning of the crucifixion—I think, I wouldn’t argue about it, but I think before they actually nailed Him to the cross—but at the very beginning, they offered Him. Now, later on, at the very end, when He said, “I thirst,” they offered Him some vinegar, and He received it, the Bible says. In the book of John talks about that. But Mark, at the beginning, they offered Him—let me read how Mark describes it at the beginning of the crucifixion. Mark 15:23: “And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not.” That’s very typical. In that day and time, before they were to go to such a torture, they would offer them alcohol. Sometimes wine is just the blood of the grape, unfermented; sometimes many times the Bible is fermented. And they would offer that to the victims to kind of deaden the pain. A drunk person doesn’t feel the pain. Jesus has already been through so much, and He’s about to go to the cross. And so they offer Him this alcoholic mixture to kind of deaden the pain. And they offer it to Him. Now, wait a second. He’s already been through so much. He knows they’re about to drive those nails in His hands and His feet. He’s about to go suffer and hang on that cross for hours and going to slide up and down that cross. He knows the pain He’s about to go through. And yet, right in the midst of it all, He would not receive the alcoholic drink. You say, “No, the truth is—the truth is the Bible says even if I give my brother to drink, there’s a curse on that in the book of Habakkuk.” No, no, no. And the Bible says, “Look, it’s foolishness and it’s mockery, and whosoever looks upon it is not wise.” And the Bible says, “Look, when it’s red and moveth itself right, don’t even look at it.” And Jesus, in the heat of the battle, when just maybe a little relief was there, He said, “No, I will not lower My standard, not one little bitty bit. I won’t take a drop of that alcohol.” What do you call that? Full of truth. It’s full of it. Full of truth.
Watch Jesus as He’s on the Sermon on the Mount. He’s full of truth, and watch as He crosses different issues and He talks about them, and every single time He fulfills it fully. Well, you’ve heard—you’ve heard that you’re not to look on a—excuse me—you’re not supposed to commit adultery and so on. And Jesus said, “How I’ll raise that?” He said, “Look, if you look at a woman to lust, you’ve committed adultery already within your heart.” He said, “You’ve heard that; you know it carried a mile.” He said, “No, no, I want you to go twain. I want you to carry it two miles.” He said, “Look, you’ve heard—you’ve heard that you love your neighbor, but you can hate your enemies.” He said, “No, no, I’m telling you, you love your enemies. I want you to bless those that curse you.” What is said about it? He ends that chapter there, Matthew 5: “Be therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” What do you call that? When He raises the bar so high and He lives up to it, what do you call that? You call that full of truth. He never let anybody around Him lower the standard. He didn’t lower it for anybody. He stood on the truth and never lowered it one little bitty bit. He was full of truth.
Can I just say this? Jesus wasn’t a long-haired hippie that so many people portray—a mass. We get that from some 15th-century or 16th-century artists. Hey friend, the Bible, He is a living Word; this is a written Word. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter number 11 that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. And Jesus never one time lowered that standard. He wasn’t a long-haired hippie. He’s not going to go against His very own Word, friend. You say, “Did He get into this world’s quote unquote Christian music?” No. He is the One; He is a living Word, and the Word says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” Jesus wouldn’t participate in that. He knew it was a world system that would put Him on the cross one day. It’s full of truth. Never lowered the truth one single time. It was full of truth. Never said a cuss word. He never slipped. He was a carpenter for 18 years, and I don’t know if you ever missed the nail or not. He was perfect, but He was flesh. The Bible says He never sinned, but maybe I don’t know if He did or not, but maybe if He hit His finger—He was tempted at all points as we are—but maybe He slipped and hit His finger one time with that hammer. Friend, He never one time said anything at all, not to say He never said, “Well, I can’t help it.” He never did that. Never cursed one time. He never gossiped. He never talked about anybody one time. I’m sure many, many a time people came along and tried to talk about other people to Him and try to get Him to participate in being critical and judgmental of people, but not one time did Jesus fall for that. Full of truth. Never lowered the truth one time. He never lost it with anyone. Never did. He never complained. He never worried. He was full of truth. He never missed an opportunity to witness to someone. I’m talking about He was perfect. He never, ever—not one time—did He lower the truth in any aspect. It’s full of truth, completely 100% forward.
He went in the temple twice: at the beginning of His ministry and later on in His ministry. He went in the temple twice when they were in there with the money changers and selling and buying and a den of thieves He calls it one time, and then money changers, and He talked to make not My house a house of merchandise, but a house of prayer. And Jesus went in there twice. Everybody, even the apostles, were like, “Whoa, look at Jesus.” At the beginning, He had made a scourge. He didn’t lose it. He didn’t lose His temper. He knew what He was doing, but He had righteous indignation. But He went in the temple, and He went against all of them, and He said, “Hey, this is My Father’s place right here.” And He flipped the money changers’ tables over, and He said, “Get out of here! This place ought to be a house of prayer, and you made it into a den of thieves!” And never one time—never one time—lowered the standard. He was full—100% full of truth. It was amazing to me, but after all they did to Him—lied about Him, spit on Him, slapped Him, plucked His beard, you know all that—that is on the cross. Seven utterances. The first one: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was the One where mercy and truth, grace and truth, had kissed each other. They met in Jesus. He was full of grace, yet He was full of truth. Wow. Wow.
Can I say this? That’s our goal. We’re called to be His ambassadors. We’re called—this is a Bible term—we’re called Christians, that first called Christians in Antioch. And that word means “little Christ.” He’s the light of the world. He said, “Well, I’m about to leave; you’re the light of the world now.” He’s to shine through you. And as we walk and talk and go to the workplace and family and everywhere we go, we’re to resemble this thing the best we can: full of grace and truth. What a mixture!
Brother Howes, my pastor for years at First Baptist Hammond for years—Brother Howes, Sunday morning somebody came, and he was preaching one of those compassionate and merciful and loving messages. And, you know, he had honey dripping out of the side of his mouth. He was just preaching that so loving and kind. And a lady visitor, first time she came, she said, “Wow, this is a loving, kind church and pastor.” And she’s just amazing. She came back Sunday night. Sunday night, he was preaching on the righteousness of God and godly living and wrong kind of music and wrong kind of smoking and drinking and cussing and all the rest of the rest of it. He’d get on all of it. She’s like, “Whoa, this is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!” So she went to his office. She said, “Sir, can I ask you? Sunday morning, you’re just so kind and loving and merciful and gracious and compassionate. And Sunday night, it’s like, man, you clouded up in rain. You’re mad at the world. You preach on everything. I mean, you know, you can’t do anything wrong.” And she said, “Which one are you? Which one are you?” And he wisely said, “Trying to be both. Trying to be both.” Jesus was full of grace and truth.
Now, can I say this? We’re usually weak in one of the two. We’re all wired a little differently. We’re all gifted spirits a little differently. And typically, typically we’re strong in one of those two right there. Can I just challenge you tonight? Are you to be full of grace and truth?
Can I say this? I think in America—and I’m going to be honest with you here for just a little bit—in America and our whole society, we’re so lacking in our day and time of the truth. We have such a weak, watered-down, all-feeling, feeling, feeling in America. It’s all about what you feel. That truth is really—we’re so far from being full of truth. I mean, we’re having an epidemic of no truth, and we’re lacking so much. I mean, even in our courts, even in our media. The guy’s defending himself, and he has to shoot someone to defend himself, and it’s all about the person that got shot. Well, what about the truth that they were trying to kill or shoot this guy? I’m just saying that’s where we’re at. Truth is cast out into the street, and Jesus was full of grace and truth.
And the churches in our day and time are just grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. I’m all for grace, but, friend, “the truth shall make you free.” Yes, sir. If I never get the truth in there, there is a problem, friend. Amen.
I remember knocking on a man’s door over here on Rocky Road four years ago, old Nashville High, when he came out, and he said, well, I don’t think I can talk like him, but he was very effeminate. And he said, “Well, would me and my boyfriend be welcome at that church?” I said, “Sir, we would welcome you in the door. We’d be glad to have you any time. But if you come to our church, we’re going to love you, but every once in a while, we’re going to preach on Sodomy. And you want to hear the truth of it: it’s an abomination in the sight of God, and God calls it vile in Romans chapter number one. We’re going to give them grace, but we’re also going to give the truth out.” We’re lacking in that. Such a weak, watered Christianity that we’re promoting—all grace. And I’m full of that, and we’ll talk about that movement. But He was full of grace and truth.
Oh, for instance, sad thing, sad thing. Can I tell you—and you’ll know—it’s happened so much across America: “Well, let’s pull the pulpit off the side over here, and we don’t want that the true thing to be the center of attention. Let’s put us off over here, and let’s get a band out there, and let’s make it sound good to the world. And we’ll have a little bit of band music and all that for 45 minutes, and then we’ll have a little sermonette for 15 minutes.” No, no. Hey, listen, the Bible calls the church the pillar and ground of truth. Even the world—we’re supposed to hold it so high. Even the world knows what truth is.
Alexander de Tocqueville, he came to America. He’s the one that said, “I looked for the genius across America.” He said, “I couldn’t find it.” You’ve heard this statement: “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceased to be good, it seems to be great.” Democracy in America—he wrote the book. He came over from France and finally, what’s making America so great years and years ago? And often we don’t hear that finished. He said, “I went and sought for it in the fertile fields, the very fertile fields and soil, and I sought for it in the court system and the majestic Constitution.” And he says, looking for it everywhere. He said, “It wasn’t—it wasn’t until I went to the church of God, God’s church, and I heard the preachers flame of righteousness.” That’s when I figured out America is great because America is good, and if it ever ceased to be good, it’ll cease to be great. It wasn’t until he went to the churches and he heard the preachers preaching truth.
I’m not against every preacher on the radio. Some of them are good, but I’ll be honest with you, you have to look pretty hard and far to find some preacher preaching against sin on the radio. There’s some good teaching on there, and a lot of grace on there, and God’s for that grace. But, friend, someone along the line, somebody needs to say, “Thus saith the Lord!” and you get your life straightened up. Full of truth. Full of truth. For in America, it’s just hurting. By the way, I was just over there in John 4: “True worshippers of God, God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Got to be there.
Truth. Now let’s go to the other side. I don’t think it’s as much as it used to be. I don’t find it a whole lot, and I’m not the perfect judge that it is. I’m called just take care of our front porch, if you will, as a pastor of the church, but it doesn’t seem a whole lot, but I’ve seen some. But you go to some churches, it’s all just mean, mean, mean, mean, rude and crude and loud and all the rest, and true, true, true, true, and no grace. Judgmental, critical. You go in there, you don’t have your tie just right, you know, and you don’t have everything just looking perfect, and they’re looking down their nose at you. And two men will be over there arguing about the little toe of the beast in the book of Daniel while a lost sinner walks by them and never heard about the love of Jesus and salvation, and they won’t lift a finger to go out and reach that man whose life’s messed up. It’s all truth, truth, truth, and no grace. Shame on them. They’re so stuck in their little museum. Let’s try to act like we’re all that and try to press each other that a wall is dangling going to hell, and they don’t have the grace to reach out and love on them. Shame on them. Full of grace and truth. There’s no way we can be there apart from the Holy Spirit of God, Him filling us in abundance. What a sad thing. What a hurting person goes to church, and it’s all truth and all truth and all—and I’m for that—but no grace. And friend, the hurting world will run from that as fast as they can.
Now, just a couple things, we’re going to be done. Let me ask you this first: Where are you at? Typically, we’re either weak on the grace or weak on the truth. What area do you need to work at? Jesus, He wasn’t weak in either area. I am. Jesus, He was full of grace. What area are you? Are you all about grace? You never get to the nitty-gritty. Friend, there’s just—however you want to say it—there’s a lot of “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” in the Word of God. Is that not the truth? Are you weak in truth? Are you weak in grace? You’re just all about truth, truth, truth, and you never showing the grace of God. Oh, my goodness, when I see it full of grace and truth, I think, man, I need the Spirit of God. Apart from that, there’s no way I’ll ever get there. Just a couple of holes. We’ve got to hurry; we’ve got to be done. It’s because we’ve got hot chocolate waiting for us. Amen.
I want you to just see it. We’ve covered this before, but look in verse number 14, and you’ll already get it. Verse number 14, the last part of that verse. Look at it real quickly there—that last part. Would you get that last part? Full of what’s in it? Full of what? And help me out, which one’s first? Yeah. Verse number 17: “For the law was given by Moses, but what is it?” Grace and what? Which one’s first? Yeah. Often, often the Bible uses these two terms, mercy and truth. About 19 verses, they’re mentioned. The vast majority about the Lord. Of the 19 verses where mercy and truth is just—and some it’s mentioned together in a verse, but it’s not really—it’s not really talking about the Lord of different things. You’re kind of just separate in the verse. But of the 19 times of mercy and truth, many of those talking about the Lord—18 of those times, mercy is first, and then truth is next. There’s only one other time truth is mentioned first, and I don’t even know that it’s in connection with each other, but I want to be honest and fair with what the Bible says. Grace is mentioned first, mercy is mentioned first. By the way, that’s why on our gospel tracks, we want to try to put the mercy out there first, the grace out there first. And her sign, “You’re not going to hell.” Well, that’s true. They’re lost. Grace and truth. Jesus didn’t say, “God condemns you no more.” He didn’t say that. He said, “Neither do I condemn you.” Then He said, “Go and sin no more.” That’s the grace. That’s the truth. You’ve heard it said, you’ve heard it said, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” What does this world need? They need a whole lot of grace and mercy. Now, some are on the line; they need the truth if their lives are going to get straightened up and they’re going to have godly homes and joy of God and the peace of God and the blessing of God—they’ve got to get some truth in there. But the honest truth is, when it’s listed in the Bible, grace is first: full of grace and truth. Think about that. Think about it. This woman caught in adultery—I wonder how many lives she is just wrecking. What did Jesus do? He showed her grace and truth. “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” You see Jesus, that Babe in a manger, and as you see Him there, think about Him. He’s full of grace and truth.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads about your eyes are closed. You say, “I know I’m weak. I know myself. I know the area I’m weak in. And Lord, I’m asking You by Your grace, would You help me to be full of grace and truth?” God spoke to my heart. I want to grow. I want to be more like Jesus. I’d like to be full of grace and truth. God spoke to my heart about that right there. That’s you now. I want to be full. I want to be full. I want to be full of grace and truth.” That’s you, lift your hand. Many hands. Me too. Me too. Me too. Oh, such a fine, detailed—full of grace and truth.
Would you please stand tonight, would you please? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Let’s come. The only way, the only way to be full of grace and truth is by the Spirit of God. Let’s come and ask tonight to have it to be full of You and have it to be full of grace and truth. Would you let Him know that? Would you do that tonight? Would you come and seek for that by the Holy Spirit’s power? Would you do that? Let’s pray and you come.
Thank You, Jesus. You’re the express image of the Father. You showed us what we’re to be like. Lord, it’s beyond us. I preach it. Give us a vision of it. The Holy Spirit, I preach it, guide and empower us into that. Bless our people tonight. Help us to see You as You are. Help us to be more like You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Would you come as we sing? Would you come? Lord, have it to be full of grace and truth. I need Your fullness. I need Your Spirit, full of grace and truth. No other way to be like that besides the Holy Spirit filling you and guiding you and empowering you.
Can I say a word? Maybe you’re low—maybe you’re low. We’re all often—you’re low in truth. Can I encourage you? Get in the Word. Get in the Word. Let the Word be your guide. “Open my eyes that I might behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Would you let Him know that? I need to grow in truth. Maybe you need to grow in grace. Would you think and dwell on how much grace He has given you? Day in, day out, time and again, He gives me so much. Would you think and dwell on that? Have it to be more like You, full, full of grace and truth. Would you seek that tonight? Would you seek that?
I think about that song, I believe it is, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus of Nazareth.” And wonder how He can love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. But He’s amazing—full, full of grace and truth. The only way we can get close to that is by being led by the Spirit of God. And He’s there. He wants to guide you, and He wants to fill you. What an amazing—just Jesus, full of grace and truth. And that’s our goal right there. I’m so glad you’re in church on Sunday, and I’m honored to have every person here. Thrilled to have you, and we praise the Lord for you. And, oh, did somebody want to come forward tonight and join or not? Brother, you want to put it off you? I’m not trying to push you, but sometimes it’s not clear. Did you want to? You sure? I don’t know. I’m not trying to push it, but he had mentioned it to me, and I thought, well, I didn’t make it clear. And some churches are different about all that. And so I—we put—how about let’s put it off to Wednesday night or whenever you want to, brother? I just—I don’t want to push you.
Brother Phillips, he had mentioned it to me, and he had told me this morning. He said, “Sometimes Brother Philip is from Canada, French-speaking Canada. And so it’s bad enough he’s coming down trying to understand our English, but he’s got to try to understand, you know, my Southern.” And I didn’t make it clear. So I didn’t want to push him, but I thought, well, I think he had said that he wants to, you know. So I’m sorry if I’m not trying to push him, but Philip—but praise the Lord, I’m also very thankful just to God to have been saved, been baptized, and wanting to get involved in church and be used by God, you know, in the church. And he’s—he’s taking his stand for the Lord over the years. And I, of course, will not tell his—and I don’t know all of it—but I know some of it. And I know he stood for the Lord in the heat of the battle, and it’s costing. But he still stood. And we’re not imperfect out of it, but standing for truth and grace is a tough thing to do. And he stood. And I appreciate that about him. I really do. He stood for the Lord when it cost a lot. And I appreciate that about it. And praise Him for Brother Philip. And he’s like I said, been saved, been baptized. I want to join tonight. If you’re excited about Brother Philip coming and joining tonight, would you say amen? And praise the Lord for that.
He told me this morning, he said, “Man, I’m working on this speaking in English and, you know, all those things.” And I appreciate it by him. His English is probably better than mine. Mine’s Southern, you know. So praise the Lord, Brother Philip. This has got a heart for the Lord and wants to get in here and serve God. And I’m super thankful for that. And come by—would you come by and shake his hand? Welcome to the church. Praise the Lord for the people that God’s bringing to our church. What a—what a blessing. What a blessing it is, and we’re so thankful for. Praise the Lord, Brother Philip. We love you. Glad you’re coming to join tonight. What a dear brother in Christ, and uh such—such a blessing for sure. Brother Patrick, we—and by the way, praise the Lord, Friday night, some of our folks—some of our Christmas caroling to some of our older folks—that’s a blessing. Saturday, teen activity. Brother Patrick and Ms. Marlene, I’ve heard that both went just super well. And praise the Lord for that. What a blessing that is. Just everybody kind of doing their thing. That’s such a blessing. Pray you, Lord, for it. Brother Patrick, would you dismiss us in order of prayer? And then we’ll come by—oh, this side, this side first. We’ll come this way, all right? There you go. There you go. And some of them are in on all this room. I’m not always full of truth like I should be. We’re trying to figure it out. We’ll come this way. Amen. Amen. Would you dismiss this and come by? Welcome, Brother Philip, to the church. Would you please do so?
Original File: Full of Grace and Truth - Sunday Evening - Pastor Paul Chisgar 121921