Welcome to the first service of Grace & Truth Bible Baptist Church. Some of you may be asking why this name. At first I thought of naming our church the Amazing Grace Bible Baptist Church which is an excellent name. Other names that I have considered were Blessed Hope, Calvary, Victory, Emmanuel, God with Us, Indescribable God, Behold Your God, Hope in God, which are all excellent names. But obviously I decided to pick the name "Grace & Truth Bible Baptist Church." So, why this name?

I chose this name because this name speaks of the glory of Christ.

14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

This name speaks of the glory of Christ. This name speaks of the grace and truth that is in Jesus Christ. And this name speaks of what I want to be as a Christian, I want to be full of grace and truth. This is what I am striving to be as a husband, as a father, as a church member. And now as a Pastor, by God's grace, I want to be a Pastor full of grace and truth.

Isn't that an excellent goal and desire? To strive to be like our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ - full of grace and truth. That is the reason behind the name "Grace & Truth Bible Baptist Church."

As a new church plant in this community I want us to be known as a congregation full of grace and truth. I want this local church to be known as full of grace and full of truth. Gracious and truthful. We exist to proclaim the truth that is in Jesus Christ. We exist to proclaim the gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I - The Glory of Christ

So much for the why the name Grace & Truth BBC, now I want to devote the rest of the time to talk about the glory of Christ.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. .... 17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

We beheld His glory

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

When our Lord came down to earth and was made flesh the disciples beheld the glory of God. They saw the glory of Christ.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th'incarnate Deity,

Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

His Deity was veiled (concealed, obscured) in flesh but even the flesh could not completely hide His glory.

I am not really sure how much the disciples knew and understood and believed about the Savior when He walked with them on earth. But this I know and I am convinced, that the more they spend time with our Savior and the more they become intimately know our Savior, the more they saw and realize His glory - that this Person that they are dealing with, is no ordinary person.

That is not true in our case as human beings. We discover weaknesses and faults of those people we are most familiar with and most intimate with, but it was not so with Christ; those most intimate with Him saw most of His glory.

The more we become familiar and intimate with Christ the more we see His beauty, majesty, splendor, excellencies and perfection.

The disciples saw it in His teachings and life

Mathew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

The disciples saw it in His works and miracles

Matthew 8:27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

The disciples saw it in His sufferings

Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

The disciples saw the glory of Christ in His suffering, in the way He treated His enemies particularly when He was being tried and when He was nailed to the cross.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13: I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled (insulted), reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

He reviled not. He threatened not. He opened not his mouth. But when He opened His mouth, He prayed for His enemies. He forgave His enemies.

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

All of these illustrate the perfections of Christ and manifest the glory that belongs only to the Son of God.

II - What did they see?

14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ....

John zoomed in on two aspects of Christ's glory, namely that He is full of grace and full of truth.

1. Full of grace

Our Saviour is gracious and merciful

He is kind, tender hearted, doing good to all, and seeking man's welfare by great sacrifices and love.

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

He went about everywhere doing acts of kindness, healing all that were oppressed by the devil.

Our Lord did not come to judge or condemn...

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

God could have sent His Son into the world to judge it, to punish it, to condemn it and it would have been just and right because the world deserved it.

Both Jews and Gentiles are guilty before Him

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

The Jews had abused its great and special privileges, and the Gentiles had not lived up to the light it possessed, and had become guilty and abominably wicked.

So God did not do what He might have justly done, He did not give what we deserved but instead He came to save, to be gracious.

16: And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Our Lord did not come to judge or condemn but rather He came to heal, to forgive, to rescue, to deliver, and to save. He came to bring us back to God. God's purpose was not vengeance, but salvation; not judgment, but mercy.

2. Full of truth

Others teach us truth, but Jesus, He is the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

He not only gave us truth. He not only bear witness of the truth. He is not just the type and shadow. He is the real substance. He is the truth.

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

He is faithful and true. His promises have been true, not one has failed. I have often doubted Him, for which I am not proud of, but He has never failed me. He has been faithful and true. His promises have been yea and amen.

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

In Him there is no lie, no deception, no darkness, no hypocrisy, no pretense, no falsehood.

3. The Balance of Grace and Truth in Jesus Christ!

There are people who are full of truth but no grace. And there people who are full of grace but no truth. There are people who are very loving and affectionate, but they have not been faithful and true. On the other hand, there are people who are very honest and truthful, but they have not been gentle and kind.

But not so with our Lord, for He is full of grace and full of truth both at the same time. Jesus is the most gracious person who ever walked on earth and yet He boldly spoke the truth.

These glorious virtues - grace and truth are both found together in Jesus Christ. That is the glory of the begotten Son. The glory of the Son of God is full of graciousness toward us sinners without compromising God's truth.

"When Christ died, God was true to Himself, because sin was punished. And when Christ died, God was gracious to us, because Christ bore the punishment not us."

Grace and truth are together in this passage. They need to be together. They have to be together because the only way that you can experience grace is by believing. Believing what? Truth! Grace and truth go together.

And so John says,

14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

"We have experienced the One who is glorious, the only begotten of the Father. We have experienced His glory through His grace and truth--manifest in His works and words and life."

II - Closing Thoughts

To those who have not seen the glory of the only begotten Son

I am praying that you will behold the glory of Jesus Christ today. I want you to see Jesus today in His glory, full of grace and truth.

Just being honest to yourself and your own experience you know that you have not seen the glory of Christ in the Gospel. But you want to know and experience grace and truth. Are you seeking for grace and truth? If so, then come to Christ. You will not be disappointed with Him, who is all in all.

Do you want to be saved from your sins? Do you want to know that in the Day of Judgment your sins are all blotted from your record? Do you want to spend eternity with God and Christ in Heaven?

Do not look to Moses. Do not look to the law or the Ten Commandments, hoping by keeping the Ten Commandments will save you. The Ten Commandments was not meant to save us. It was meant to point us to the Saviour. Look away from the law, look away from yourself, look away from fellow human beings. But look to Jesus Christ who is full of grace and truth.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Come to Jesus Christ who is full of grace and truth. Come to Him in repentance and faith. Come to Him confessing your sins. Come to Him relying only on His grace for your forgiveness and salvation. You may have been sinful and have been careless but Christ is just waiting for you to call upon Him. He is willing and able and ready to forgive you and give eternal life and live with Him in Heaven forever.

He will save you. He wants to save you. He wants to forgive you. He wants to give you eternal life and spend eternity with Him. Would you come to Him? Come as you are, come with all that you are, but come, come, come to Him who is all in all. Come to Jesus, who is full of grace and truth!

To those who have received grace for grace

Oh, how we need to practice grace and truth in our lives. Whether we are in Church or at home or at school or at work, we need grace and truth.

We need grace and truth in every relationship - Church family, husbands and wives, parents and children, siblings, businesses and jobs, daily dealing with fellow human beings.

Christians of all people should demonstrate grace and truth. Let us imitate our Lord.

The older I get, the more I am convinced what need in this day and age is for Christians to practice grace and truth.

My prayer is that when people talk about GTBBC they will think of the glory of Christ - full of grace and truth. When people talk about us - they will think of the glory of Christ full of grace and truth.

The reason for being is to reflect the glory of God, the glory of Christ in this sick and dying and hurting world.

For those looking for a local church

For those of you who are in this community and do not have a church, would you consider GTBBC? We do not promise bed of roses, or nirvana. But I can promise you, we will seek to honor Christ in this church by proclaiming His truth and His grace. Would you give me that privilege to lead you?

I want to lead with grace and truth. I am not perfect if you don't believe that, ask my mom, ask my wife, ask my children, ask my brothers and sister, they know that I am not, but would you give me that privilege to lead you to the cross of Jesus Christ. I want to lead us to be a congregation of faith that wherever we go through life we understand it is not about us, but it is all about Jesus Christ who is full of grace and full of truth. Amen!

Whatever your need is, please come! Come to Christ! He is waiting. He is ready, willing and able to meet your need!

Don't be afraid of the truth. Embrace the truth. The way to experience freedom is not to deny the truth, nor to ignore the truth but to embrace it.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth , and the truth shall make you free.

The way to no longer feel guilty is not to deny guilt, but to face it and ask God's forgiveness. Grace liberates us.