Short Thoughts

“And of his fulness have all we received,
and grace for grace.”
~ John 1:16

Before us is a short verse that is long on precious truth. In the previous verse, The Baptist exalts Christ declaring, “For he was before me.” John was six months older than Jesus was by birth. However, John is exalting Christ’s deity and eternality by saying, “He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.”

He continues in the sixteenth verse by declaring Jesus to be the possessor of Divine fullness and the source of “grace and truth.” He points to the Lamb of God as the benevolent Savior conferring His grace unto “as many as received him.” Let us now consider this verse and rejoice in the grace of Christ.

Firstly, we behold the fullness of Christ. The fourteenth verse reveals that He is “full of grace and truth.” In the epistle to the Colossians we are told, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). We also read that “it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). These are truly “unsearchable riches.” In Him are all things that we could ever need or want. In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Nowhere could we go and find the treasure we have in our Savior. Paul consoled the Philippians saying, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Secondly, there is mention of the benefactors of the Divine fullness in Christ. “And of his fulness have all we received.” There is no doubt this refers to the saints, to “as many as received him,” and whose “life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Jesus delights to do the will of the Father and thereby confers grace upon all the chosen people of God. He reveals this part of His divine mission when praying to the Father in John chapter 17 verses 2 and 3.

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

This truth is a source of comfort and warms our hearts.

Thirdly, it is intimated what we have received. “Grace for grace.” Some of the old commentators saw it as grace on top of grace. We could see it as a wonderful wall of grace. Upon the foundation of truth is laid stone upon stone of grace. It is daubed with the mortar of mercy and love and is completely covered by the blood. We receive grace and “more grace.” We read of God’s mercies, “They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). Whatever our condition, God extends grace, new and sufficient. We fly to Him in prayer. We cast all of our care upon Him. We spread our petitions before His throne and find a “throne of grace.” Praise God! For out “of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

We also find here a progression or growth of “grace for grace.” We have received grace and exercised grace. We are not receivers only; we are to be givers as well. Jesus said, “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). In other words, we receive grace in order to practice grace. As we grow in grace, we become measured reservoirs of grace that should flow out to others. We do not find Christ in the Gospels doing works for self-aggrandizement or for His own personal benefit. In the wilderness, He would not go beyond God’s command nor use His creative power to relieve His hunger with stones turned to bread. Likewise, we do not receive of Christ to exalt ourselves or benefit ourselves. The words of Him who came to minister are, “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:44). If we are self-absorbed and self-important, the mind of Christ is not in us. We have received “grace for grace.”

I conclude that there is much here to comfort us and humble us as well. Later, John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). An increase of grace means a decrease of self. Oh for increasing Christians today–increasing in grace, increasing in love, increasing in service! Oh for decreasing Christians today–decreasing in self, decreasing in worldliness, decreasing in pride, decreasing in sin. I pray that Christ will dwell in us richly and that He alone will be magnified in our life.

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan,
and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain,
and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
~ Genesis 13:12

Lot is a peculiar figure in scripture. The Bible is full of godly men with wonderful testimonies of faith. These men are not perfect, but they attained to a high degree of grace and holiness. We think of men like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Samuel, Daniel, The Baptist, and Paul, to name only a few. Lot does not seem to fit in very well with these names. If it were not for God’s testimony that Lot was “just” and “righteous,” we could hardly believe he was even saved.

However, Lot fits in very well with the many of Christians today. Lots’ was not a victorious life. He did not die a triumphant death. I do not believe he had the rich abundant entrance into Heaven that Peter wrote about, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11).

What happened to Lot? Our text marks an epoch in the life of Lot. From this point there is nothing good reported about Lot, except that he was scarcely saved. In the time of our text, Lot made a choice. This choice set the tone for the rest of his and his family’s life. This choice contributed to such a lowly state of grace that God’s Word tells us that when God was about to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, “he lingered” (Genesis 19:16). Let us think upon the life and choice of Lot. Let us treat this account as a solemn warning and trustworthy guide for us to avoid this danger.

Lot made a choice about where he and his family were going to live. We all have to make this decision and sometimes we will have to choose our place of residence several different times. Lot had been with his righteous uncle prior to this, but both of them had accumulated a great estate so that it was not possible for them to abide together. Abraham gave Lot first choice of where he wanted to live and told him that he would go the other way. Lot must make a decision that will have long-term implications on his life and the life of his family.

We cannot be certain about how much that Lot considered the spiritual implications, but we see from the account that he certainly considered the physical and temporal implications. “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other” (Genesis 13:10-11). Lot recognized that the plain of Jordan was a place where he could thrive. His flocks and herds would flourish in such a fertile environment and, after all, this was his livelihood, this was how he provided for his family, so it was very important that he choose a profitable environment for his business.

Moreover, Lot “pitched his tent toward Sodom” despite the fact that “the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13). He probably thought he could live close enough to reap the benefits and yet avoid defiling contact with the people of cities.

I am amazed that many Christians follow Lot’s course repeatedly today. People choose where they are going to live based on the economy of the place, laws that they like or dislike, taxes, the government school systems in the area, business associations, sports programs for the youth, property values, land, and other such factors. They give little or no consideration about whether there is a sound church in the location. They are more concerned about the raise or promotion that they will receive. They give little consideration to the wickedness of the place. They will expose themselves, and their families to all manner of ungodliness, rub elbows with the wicked and separate themselves from righteous company, all in order to earn more money.

I am even more amazed at the rationalizations and justifications made. People say, “We don’t approve of the wickedness in our area. In fact, we are a witness and a testimony in this place. We have family devotions, we pray, and we listen to preaching tapes. We are just as good as anybody else.” Consider Lot and do not be deceived. Lot did not approve of the wickedness of Sodom. He “vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds” (2 Peter 2:8). The ungodly city had more effect on Lot than he ever had on them.

Our text tells us that he “pitched his tent toward Sodom” and the next time we find him, in the nineteenth chapter, he is dwelling in a house in the city. He was such a good witness and testimony that there was not found even one righteous person outside of his house. He had lost all good influence over his family and he was so weak spiritually that “he lingered” in the city, not able to let go, and had to be carried out by the angels.

Do not trade your birthright for a mess of worldly pottage. Do not let the physical things dictate the spiritual. Do not think that you can make a constant association with the wicked not be affected by them. Do not throw your wife and children into the company of the wicked. God says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Move to a place where there is a sound and godly church, even if you have to suffer and sacrifice. Be like Moses, “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Hebrews 11:25-26).

J. C. Ryle called Lot a beacon for Christians of all ages. Let us heed the lesson in Lot’s life. May we sacrifice the physical in order to serve God and avoid the danger of the attraction of the world.

This post must begin with a worldview-rocking truth statement. Preachers are in fact human. They may not seem to be, for various reasons, but they are. It may also be that some people do not think they want them to be human. In reality, it is best for you that they are human, but that is a different tangent to the scope of our theme.

I realize that humanity can be plead sometimes as an excuse or a contrivance to escape accountability. Neither of these should be the case for the human preacher. On the other hand though, his humanity should gain him some room, particularly in regard to gaffes, or mistakes.

Allow me first to clarify. By mistakes, I am not meaning going into doctrinal error, e.g. changing his mind about the deity of Christ, etc. I am also not referring to the preacher falling into some sin or immorality. No, I am only referring to honest, plain mistakes and particularly those made while preaching. Hence the term gaffe.

Pulpit gaffes are of a few different kinds. Here are a few descriptions.

• Tongue-Tied—sometimes the mouth moves faster than the brain and words get jumbled up or mispronounced
• Memory Lapse—sometimes the preacher forgets why he started telling a particular story or giving a certain illustration. Sometimes he gives a quote or paraphrases a verse and cannot remember who said it.
• Mistakes—sometimes giving the wrong book, chapter, or verse reference or mixing up the characters or facts in Bible stories. There may be times when the preacher is trying to add up or subtract potions of time while preaching and may get the wrong answer.

You should have an idea of the sort of thing we are talking about. And that leads to the obvious question, Why talk about it? This topic may seem hardly worthy of a blog post and especially since we are considering relatively minor goofs that everyone makes from time to time. Well, I have seen people react in harsh and strange ways toward a preacher over these trivial slip-ups. I have also seen some church members form an ad hoc quorum over such a gaffe and discuss it with one another until they were all worked up about it. Finally, one of them approached the preacher to ask about it and found out that is was simply a mistake.

So, the point of this post is to help us handle this issue when we are sitting in the pew and witness a pulpit gaffe first-hand. First, give the benefit of the doubt to the preacher and let it go. Again, I am not talking about him denying the Trinity or such, but he may give the wrong reference or say a phrase backward. He may mistakenly say Elijah was swallowed by a great fish. You probably knew what he meant or could find the reference yourself with a little work. Second, in case the first option fails, simply go to him and ask him about it. This will cut down on the possibility of starting gossip and you may also have a good chuckle with him. As a preacher, I would much rather someone come to me to ask than go to someone else and say, “Did you hear what he said?”