Fullness — Ken Baird

The Fullness of Christ and Grace Upon Grace

Shall we turn our Bibles, please, to the 1st chapter of 1 John, or rather the Gospel according to John 1. John 1, verse 15, John Burr Whitton told him, "...and of his fulness have we all received, and grace upon grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.". God 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, and that is the fulness of our Lord Jesus Christ from which we may receive. And that fulness is just like the waves of the sea, grace upon grace.

One wave of the grace of God upon the other wave of the grace of God, and they never stop, even as the waves on the ocean never stop. I was impressed with this, I think I've 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 such 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.

The Lord Shares His Rest With His People

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 the Gospel 40 Old Testament, the pleadings of the king, that he, 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, we see the truth of it, nevertheless. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost, verse 7, wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, 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 work forty years.

Wherefore, I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do all deserve, in their heart they have not known my ways. For I swear to my wrath, they shall not enter into my wrath. They will not share my wrath.

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 to 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 in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest.

And as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my wrath, the force of it is they shall not enter into my wrath, although the works were finished, then the foundation is proved. 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 wrath, or more properly, they shall not enter into my wrath. They shall not enter into my wrath. Seeing, therefore, as it remaineth that some must enter in by inference, the day to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.

Again, he limited 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 works, 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.

Salvation Rest Through Christ's Finished Work

Now, I believe that this is a 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? That his mind is completely at rest, that it's been completely satisfied, and 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 not for you and then ours. 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 for 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.

Christ's Peace Versus the World's Giving

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. And 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 not 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 business back, and you will have paid for the sample.

Now, 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 he gives, but not the world.

The world is meagerly in its giving, and when it gives, make it your mind, to some get it back, to some 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 disturbed about what's going on in this world today? Is he disturbed 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 Coffin have left Guatemala.

They are now in Mexico. They deemed that it would be wise that they get out of Guatemala for the sake of Mexico. But, is God disturbed about this? Well, what about that work that's left down there, that they left?

Well, thank God they planted some seeds 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 the seeds have been planted. But the Lord is not disturbed when he says, I want you to have that same peace, and you and I can have it. He gives this 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 peace. 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.

Christ's Love and the Security of Believers

Continue ye in my love. Now, this is marvelous. The as's and the so's of scripture are wonderful. Sometime I think I'll, 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, and this is an incident, the Father loves Christ, and so Christ loves us.

Well, does it mean a matter of degree? I think it means a matter of degree. Remember, this is God that's speaking, and God is. So it says, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.

Now, this means, if you and I continue in his love, and 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 of heart.

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. But you know that money can not buy their love, and that money cannot repay 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 feel insecure, unless it is love.

And if that child is loved, you don't need to surround it with any luxury, 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 food have we all received, and graced upon 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.

The Fullness of Christ's Joy

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 whole. Now that's the thought we're trying to develop tonight, of his wholeness, have we all received, and graced upon 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 whole. 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 whole.

We can be filled with joy, though circumstances around us are quite to 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, think of that.

What is his joy? Does Christ know how to be joyful? Yes he does. 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.

Christ's Yoke and the Lightness of His Burden

And 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. 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 wholeness that we all receive in 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 of service upon him. 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 Father.

You know, it's wonderful to work for the right people. It's wonderful to serve the right Father. Christ says now, I have found great joy in serving my Father and taking his yoke upon me. Now I want you to know how sweet that can be this evening.

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 soul. 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 the 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 spared Laban seven years for Rachel. And it says there, I can't conceive of it to the present.

In fifteen but a few days. She must have been something. All I can say, she must have been something. So seven years passed in a few days. Why? He was attaining the desire of his heart. The burden was light.

Why? Because of love. His love for her. The burden was light. 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 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 pleasure in being a servant.

Bearing One Another's Burdens

You know, I'm struck by the fact that the Catholics use that letter by means of which they garnered so many millions of dollars, their voice found out there. Oh, it was beautifully done. It shows a boy with a little brother on his back, big with his head hanging 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 guilt and the burden of the Lord as it appears before you and I. Of his fullness as we all receive. Oh, I think, I think of the joy, the sense of accomplishment in his being lost because this principle is not being carried out.

Carried out. Now, for two other things that are good, the 11th, 12th chapter rather, 2nd Corinthians. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, verse 7 of the 12th chapter of 2nd Corinthians. Paul is speaking here about the glories, the revelations that were given to him.

Grace Sufficient in Weakness

And he says, unless I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to profit me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

This was a grief to Paul, his thorn 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 purpose. That God had given him a thorn in the flesh lest he be exalted above measure.

This verse gives me some concern, because I'm so healthy. I wonder, is it because of the lack of revelation? It does seem that God indeed exacts the punishment from those who would read certain. Now, Paul says, lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to profit 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 thorn in the flesh. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect and meek.

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 have we all received, 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. If conditions were better, I could do better for the Lord, I could serve him more. I could accomplish more if I just had the optimum conditions.

And that's a mistake to feel like. 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 have not what it takes to accomplish his purposes.

He'll work through 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 originated with Christ. Then he speaks in Revelation chapter 22 of my reward.

Christ's Reward and the Joy of Faithful Service

You might notice that. Verse 12 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 says, 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 to the faithful servants. Enter thou into this joy of thy Lord. Now, we're going to experience that joy this morning.

There's going to be a peculiar joy that Christ is going to have to be on the throne of this world where he should have been 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 of it. We're going to share it with him. He says this. Now, in the case of his reward, my reward is with me that 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 fullness have we all received and grace upon this. That rewarding day is coming. The judgment seat of Christ where every man shall receive a reward.

Every man will receive his commendation in some degree. Christ is going to find something about every child born that he can give. Something that they've done. Now, 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 absolutely and completely I think of what that man's reward was 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 should give to every man. So he shares it. Out of his butt of fullness, once again we all I speak with my glory John chapter 17 verse 24 the prayer of the Lord Jesus the only time in the scriptures that his will is pronounced and he says there in verse 24, Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory and incidentally as we will notice later which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundations of the world.

Sharing Christ's Glory as Heirs With Him

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 glory that which is unique to 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 now it will be our glory to see him glorified when we think of the soup that he cooked 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 it 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 likened we're going to be in his image so notice please here the reciprocal. We get the experience of 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 that we all receive and raise upon grace the supply is unlimited and it is of the charity and it is enough another verse would you please close.