Transformative Joy: Embracing the Fullness of Christ

A Christian is a man who was received of the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ that is the astounding thing not only do we believe we have received of his fullness and Grace upon Grace and we've been trying through the months to uh examine something of the content of that tremendous statement. [00:02:00]

Our first business is to start with ourselves and with the church of course we must go on evangelizing the church must always be Evangelistic but of this we can be quite sure that the greatest Evangelistic agency in the world is living Christians for as Christians we live in the world we mix with people. [00:03:38]

If we have received of that fullness it's bound to show itself and it does show itself it was because it inevitably shows itself that the early Christians were able to turn the world upside down that's the simple story isn't it there was just a handful of people very Ordinary People ignorant unlettered people. [00:04:34]

The Apostle Paul here in this epistle to the Philippians he gives us a number of glimpses into his own life and state and condition and experience and he's always careful to say that he is what he is by the grace of God he is like this because he has received of this fullness and Grace upon Grace. [00:05:48]

The Christian is not merely a happy man he's a man who happy in the Lord why well because it is of the Lord's fullness that he has received and here of course is the great differentiating Mark of the Christian the thing that puts him at once into a category entirely distinct from all the Cults. [00:15:22]

The Christian rejoices in him being because of what he is and who he is these things seem to be quite Elementary and yet I wonder when we look at them how we emerge from the test how often do you rejoice my friend in the facts that in the fact that the Son of God is indeed the Son of God. [00:18:25]

The moment Isaiah a man realizes this and receives it truly he cannot but Rejoice that the very Son of God the word should have become made flesh and have endured all this and died entered into the grave and risen and descended all this in order that you and I might be delivered and might become Christian. [00:22:17]

The Christian is a man who's been cut off from Adam separated from Adam circumcised if you like from Adam and from the body of sin and death then he goes on and you see he's drawing the contrast the whole time he I used to burst to that old circumcision but this is the circumcision circumcision in the spirit. [00:36:30]

The Christian worships God by the spirit you don't have to have a temple or a cathedral you don't need a priesthood you can be alone on top of a mountain you can be alone in a lonely room on your own you can be anywhere but you worship God by the spirit it means that you know that he's there. [00:39:50]

The Apostle is rejoicing that he's no longer there and anybody who's ever had that kind of religion and who then comes to the true Christian faith will never cease to rejoice in the fact that he or she has been delivered from all that that outward external mechanical religion that depends upon forms and ceremonies. [00:34:08]

He came to see that he wasn't once the spirit flashed upon him it revealed to him the most important thing in the law the thing he'd never seen at all namely Thou shalt not cover it he tells us all about that in Romans 7 as you remember he'd never realized that the law said Thou shalt not cover it. [00:41:36]

He came to realize that in receiving of the fullness of Christ you receive his perfect righteousness that him put it perfectly the the him of all count Zin andol Jesus thy blood and righteousness my beauty is my glorious dress midst flaming worlds in this arade with joy shall I lift up my head. [00:43:18]