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Greg Elmquist

Christ, The Living Word

John 1:1-5
Greg Elmquist March, 24 2024 Audio
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Christ, The Living Word

In Greg Elmquist's sermon titled "Christ, The Living Word," he addresses the theological significance of the person and work of Christ as the ultimate revelation of God. Elmquist emphasizes that Christ is the "Word" who existed from the beginning and played a central role in creation (John 1:1-5). He argues that humanity's spiritual death—resulting from Adam's fall—renders individuals incapable of comprehending spiritual truths without divine intervention (John 3:19-20). The preacher further highlights that true faith and understanding of Scripture come from being born again by the Spirit, which transforms the heart and inclines it towards Christ (Romans 3:9-12). This recognition of Christ as the living Word has profound implications for believers, affirming that salvation is entirely the work of God and necessitates a humbling acknowledgment of one's inability to contribute to their own righteousness.

Key Quotes

“If you are wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all.”

“Left to ourselves, no man seeketh after God.”

“Light has come into the world, but the world comprehended it not.”

“To know him is to believe his word.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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to pray together for Haley Hanson. I like to recognize our babies
the first time they're in church. And Olivia and Aaron gave birth to
a baby girl a few weeks ago, and today's their first time
here. So let's bow together and pray for Haley. Our merciful
Heavenly Father, we thank you For the miracle of life, we thank
you, Lord, that you create out of yourself that which we
are physically and also that which we are spiritually. And
Lord, we pray for Olivia and Aaron and ask, Lord, that you
give them grace to raise little Haley and the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. give them wisdom, and give them
love and grace. Lord, we pray for little Haley.
We ask, Lord, that you'd be pleased in the fullness of time, that
you would call her to thyself and reveal Christ in her. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Tom's gonna come lead us in the
hymn on the back of your bulletin. Let's stand together. A rock that stands forever is
Christ my righteousness. In him I stand unfeared. ? In everlasting bliss ? Christ
is my boast and glory ? All wrath for me is o'er ? The judgment
of the sinner ? He for me all it bore There is no condemnation. There is no hell for me. The torment and the fire my eyes
shall never see. For me there is no sentence. ? For me there is no wrath ?
For Christ my Lord who saved me ? Conquered the sting of death
No angel nor a devil, no danger, fear, nor fight. No foe, no tribulation, no throne,
nor power, nor might. No height, no depth, no creature
that has been or can be can pluck me from thy bosom, can sever
me from thee. My heart lights up with gladness. Grief cannot linger there. ? Her voice sings high in glory
? ? Bathed in the sunshine fair ? ? The fountain of my singing
? ? Is Jesus there above ? ? The sun that shines upon me ? ? Is
Jesus and his love ? Please be seated. I'd like to read from Colossians
chapter three this morning for our call to worship. Let's turn
to Colossians chapter three. Our eyes will never see the flame.
I like that song. Let's look in chapter three,
verse 14. And above all these things, put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace
of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called
in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by him. Our Father God, we come to you
and we ask these things, Lord, knowing that you are our God
and the one who stretched the heavens out by the word of your
power, Lord. And we ask these things because
we know it's easy for you, God. All things are easy for you.
And in the blood of your son and in that eternal covenant
you made, you've made our salvation certain and sure, Lord. Please
take away all distractions from our mind, God, and cause the
peace of God to rule in our hearts, Lord. Cause us to sing. with spiritual songs, Lord, with
grace in our hearts. We ask these things because we
know that you can and you are the only hope, Lord. Please establish
a gospel witness here in this church for many generations to
come, Lord. Give us grace today to see these
things one more time. Please forgive our sins, Lord,
and lead us in the way everlasting. Amen. Let's stand together once again,
we'll sing hymn number 326. 326 from the hardback temple.
? More about Jesus would I know
? More of his grace to others show ? More of his saving fullness
see ? More of his love who died for me ? More, more about Jesus
? More, more about Jesus ? More of his saving fullness see ?
More of his love who died for me ? More about Jesus let me
learn ? More of his holy will discern ? Spirit of God my teacher
be ? Showing the things of Christ to me ? More, more about Jesus
? More, more about Jesus ? More of his saving fullness see ?
More of his love who died for me more about jesus in his word
holding communion with my lord hearing his voice in every line
? Making each faithful saying mine ? More, more about Jesus
? More, more about Jesus ? More of his saving fullness see ?
More of his love who died for me ? More about Jesus on His
throne ? Riches and glory all His own ? More of His kingdom
sure increase ? More of His coming Prince of Peace ? More, more
about Jesus ? More, more about Jesus ? More of His saving fullness
see ? More of His love who died for me Please be seated. Let's open our Bibles to the
Gospel of John, the first chapter of John. I can remember years ago singing
that hymn, but without any real understanding
because, in fact, we were looking for something other than Christ.
looking something more than Christ. What a blessing it is to be able
to sing these hymns with some understanding. We're not looking
anywhere else. We just want to see more of Him.
There's more of Him. And I hope the Lord will be pleased
this morning to reveal to our hearts more of the Lord Jesus. Very familiar passage of scripture,
I quote often John chapter one, beginning of verse one. And in
the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the
word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. I want to begin this message
with that last verse. The darkness comprehended it
not. It doesn't mean that the darkness
didn't see the light. There's no amount of darkness
that can put light out. Light always scatters darkness.
This word comprehended is also used by the Apostle Paul in the
book of Philippians chapter three when he says, along with what
we just sang and what I just said, I've not yet apprehended
that which has apprehended me. The word is translated apprehended.
I'm not yet fully embraced and fully understood and fully loved
as I ought and believe as I ought that which has apprehended me.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling
in Christ Jesus. I just want to know more of Christ.
I want to see more of him. And so when the Lord tells us
here in John chapter 1 that the light, the Lord Jesus himself,
came into a dark world and the darkness comprehended it not,
there's no name in all the world that's more well known than the
name Jesus. And yet, he's not apprehended,
he's not understood, he's not drawn to. Rather, the light scatters
the darkness. It has been said, and rightly
so, if you are wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. The Lord's telling us in this
last verse what our nature is. The natural man cannot comprehend
the things of God and he will not apprehend the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because when Adam sinned,
we died. We didn't break a leg. We didn't
suffer a mortal wound. We died. Adam, as I mentioned
in the first hour, our seminal head, we were in Adam. And when Adam, when God said
to Adam, in the day in which you eat of the fruit of the knowledge
of good and evil, Adam wanted to have free will. That's what
that tree represents. He wanted to be able to choose
for himself and be like God. And the day in which you eat
of that tree, you shall surely die. Now being spiritually dead
means that we have no ability whatsoever to comprehend the
things of God or to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why the Lord said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, in all of your religious
activity, and all the things that you think you know, and
all the good things that you think you've done, except a man
be born again, he cannot perceive of the kingdom of God. He can't
see it, he can't understand it. The light will come into darkness,
the darkness will comprehend it not. The natural man will
not apprehend the things of God. He's dead. Now the glorious truth to this
union that we had with Adam is the same union that God's people
have with the Lord Jesus Christ. So that God placed a particular
people, an elect people, in his son. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ died on Calvary's cross, we were there. God's elect were
in Christ. They were in Christ on that cross. That's why Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. When
Christ died, I died. The life that he lived, I lived.
I was in him. Here's the hope of my salvation,
not having my own righteousness, which is by the law or by my
law keeping, but that righteousness, which is by the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, all the hope of my salvation. is
by virtue of my union with Christ. Now here's what men won't have.
Men won't have a salvation that strips them of all of their righteousness. They won't have a salvation that
gives to the Lord Jesus Christ all the glory. They'll be, why? Because spiritually they're dead. Spiritually they're doing exactly
what Satan tempted Eve with God knows in the day in which you
eat of this fruit, your eyes will be opened and you'll be
like God. And man ever since has been wanting to set himself
up on the throne of God. And left to himself, that's what
he'll do. That's what he'll do. And he'll
rob Christ of his glory and salvation. If you're wrong on the fall,
you're wrong on it all. We come into this world, not
with a glimmer of light, not with a free will and ability
to make a decision, not with some ability to produce something
that's righteous in the presence of God. We come into this world
spiritually dead in our father, Adam. And unless the Lord gives
us life, Light has come into the world, the Lord tells us
in John chapter three. But men loved darkness rather
than light. Let's look at that verse. Turn
over just a couple of pages to John chapter three, verse 19. And this is the condemnation. This is God's condemnation against
man. Light is come into the world
and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. They won't come to the light.
Why? For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be discovered, reproved, uncovered, exposed for what they
are. Men won't come to Christ because
it exposes, it reproves, it rebukes what they're hoping in for their
salvation, their righteousness for what it is, evil, evil in
the sight of God. This is what happened in the
fall. Look at the next verse, but he
that doeth truth I love the way the Holy Spirit inspired the
apostle to write those words. I love the way the Holy Spirit
inspired all of God's word. We're gonna be looking at that
in a moment, but doeth truth. What is it to do truth? It's
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Truth is a noun. True, if something, the word
true is an adjective. We use the word true to describe
something. This is true something. But truth,
that's a whole nother matter. That's a noun. That's a person,
place, or thing. And there's no denying the truth. And he that doeth the truth,
he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ cometh to the light
that his deeds may be made manifest or be made known that they are
wrought in God. So those who love the truth and
come to Christ confess that their deed of faith, coming to Christ,
was wrought by God. It was given to them by God.
They didn't just decide one day that they were gonna believe.
They didn't just come up with this idea that, well, I'll make
a decision. I'll accept Jesus. I'll do this
or I'll do that. And God will reward me for that.
No, if you've come to the light, your first confession is that
your coming was wrought by God. It was performed by God. It won't come. left ourselves. Spiritually dead, can't see,
can't hear, can't feel, can't believe. I read a story recently
about a preacher who was talking about the burden of sin on the
natural man. And a man came up to him, an
unbeliever came up to him after the service and said, you talked
about the burden of sin. He said, how much does that burden
weigh? Does it weigh 20 pounds? Does it weigh 50 pounds? Does
it weigh 100 pounds? What's it weigh? Because I don't
feel it. That's what he said. And the
preacher paused a moment and wisely responded by saying, if
you took a 400 pound weight and placed it on a corpse, would
that corpse feel that weight? And the man said, of course not,
he's dead. Well, that's why you don't feel the weight of your
sin. You're spiritually dead. The natural man cannot feel the
weight of his sin. He cannot see his natural state
for what it is. Light has come into the world
and the world comprehended it not. It would not apprehend Oh, how dependent we are on the
Lord to give us life. And how necessary it is to know
God. I've already quoted that verse
over in Philippians chapter 3 where Paul said, I've not yet apprehended that which has apprehended me.
But I press, that's my whole life's purpose is to know God. And here's what the Lord Jesus
said in John chapter 17, verse three. He said, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom thou has sent. Left to ourselves, we can't know
God. We are dependent upon him to birth us miraculously into
his kingdom. That's what the Lord said to
Nicodemus. Nicodemus, that which is of the flesh is flesh. The
flesh profiteth nothing. It's the spirit that giveth life. And the spirit's like the wind.
He listeth with us wherever he wills. Turn with me to Romans
chapter three. Romans chapter three. Now here's the truth. We won't be saved without being
lost. We won't be saved without being
lost. God's got to kill us to make us alive. Now they happen
in time simultaneously. If the Lord's killed you and
he's laid the burden of sin on you and he's and he's caused
you to see that that flesh nature is at enmity with God and cannot
do anything to save you, that's because light has come. That's
because light has come. But they must come together. You can't have one without the
other. Look at Romans chapter 3 at verse 9. What then? Now, the Lord has
just exposed the Gentiles for their wicked
lifestyle. And so now he's turning the attention
to the Jews and saying to the Jews who would never practice
some of the things that the Gentiles practiced, And saying to those
Jews, does that mean that we're better than they? Because we
don't do what they do? What then? Are we better than
they? No, in no wise. For we have before proved, both
Jew and Gentile, that they are all under sin. We're born sinners. We're born
spiritually dead. Light has come into the world,
world comprehended it not. As it is written, there is none
righteous. And in case you missed that,
no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that comprehendeth.
There is none that apprehendeth. There is none that will come
to Christ left to himself. There's none that seeketh after
God. The natural man won't seek God.
Now he'll seek the God of his imagination. He'll seek the idol
of his own creation, of his own darkened mind. He'll try to fashion
for himself a God that looks like himself. But the God who
is, the natural man will not pursue him. He will not seek
him, he has no love for him, he has no desire for him. I wrote an article some time
ago, do we have free will? And I responded to that question
with yes and no. Yes, we make choices every day. Our will chooses that which we
have the greatest inclination for, the greatest desire for.
Hundreds of times a day you make decisions and you make choices.
And you always choose that option which you have the greatest need
for or the greatest inclination toward or the greatest desire
for. You can't make a choice against your will. That's what
the will is. The will is your decision-making
property of yourself. You can't choose against your
will. And therein lies the problem.
The natural man won't come to Christ because he has no desire
for Christ. He can't choose something that
he doesn't want. And so the Lord has to give us
a new nature and he has to give us a new wanter. A new will,
a new desire, and that's what happens in the new birth. Left
to ourselves, no man seeketh after God, no man understandeth. Look at verse 12. They are all
gone out of the way. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
And in case you missed that, no, not one. Why callest thou me good? There's
none good but God. We're not capable of doing anything
that qualifies as good in the presence of holiness. Now we
might, I want to be characterized among men as a good person. I
don't want to be characterized as a bad person. I want to, you
know, I hope that, that, you know, that's, but before God? Before God, is there anything
we can produce that's good? Light has come into the world,
but the world comprehended it not. Why? Because there's none
that doeth good. Their throat, and here the Lord
is using our anatomy to show us what happens when we open
our mouths and look up into heaven. You open your mouth and look
up into heaven. Their throat is an open sepulcher. God looks
down your throat, into your heart, what's he see? Death. Death. Genesis chapter 6, when the Lord
describes man, he says that God looked down from heaven and he
saw that every imagination and thought of the heart was only
evil and not continually. That's what God sees. So light
has come into the world but the world comprehended it not. They didn't have a desire for
it. They didn't have a, they ran from it. The Pharisees, the self-righteous
hated Christ and they still do. Who are they that come to him?
The sinners, the publicans, the harlots. The ones who have no righteousness,
they flee to Christ. And as uncomfortable as the self-righteous
were in the presence of the Lord Jesus, the harlots and the publicans
and the sinners, they loved being in His presence. They were embraced
by Him. That first time they'd ever known
what love was. being in the presence of Christ.
Oh, how lovely he is. How merciful he is. How gracious
he is. How it is that he remembers that
we're made of dust. And he delights in showing mercy
towards sinners. Light is coming to the world.
The world comprehended it not. They can't comprehend it. Why? Because their throat is an open
sepulcher. Look at the next. And their tongue,
and by their, with their tongue, they have used deceit, the poison
of asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Here's what the Lord, here's
how the Lord is describing us by nature now. When you and I speak, Oftentimes, we have a hard time
expressing ourselves accurately. Have you not found that misunderstanding
is the number one cause of conflict with you and other men? Somebody said something, you
thought they meant one thing, they meant something else. How
oftentimes we speak that way. And every time we speak, we try
to present our words in such a way that's going to shed the
best light on us. Is that not true? We misrepresent things. We're
ambiguous. When we listen to someone speak,
we have to not just listen to their words, but we have to discern
their body language and their inflection. Why? We're trying
to confirm the validity of what they're saying. Why? Because
men by nature don't say what they mean and they don't mean
what they say and their words are not clear and they're often
deceitful and filled with selfish desires and motives. That's just
what we are. So we have to be, we have to
be suspicious and careful, don't we? When God speaks, it's never that
way. His Word cannot be more clear,
less ambiguous, more perfect. His Word is perfect. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is perfect. The words that I speak unto you
The Lord Jesus said in John chapter six, they are spirit and they
are life. The fact that they proceeded
out of his mouth meant that they were the words of God. Not to
be changed, not to be added to, not to be taken from. And we
never separate the spoken word or the written word from the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. who himself is the living word.
Turn back with me to our text in John chapter one. The person of God's word. Oh, what a difference. What a difference he is than
we are. He's altogether lovely. His words are spirit, his words
are life. The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
in the beginning was the word, the logos, out of the proceedings of the
heart, the mouth speaketh. And so we wanna get to know someone,
we have to listen to what they say. And so it is with the Lord
Jesus Christ. So it is with God. To know him
is to believe his word. Revelation chapter 19. The scripture describes the Lord
Jesus like this. He was clothed in a vesture,
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The Word of God. That's his name. And that's what John's telling
us here. The person of God's Word is none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. He is the living Word of God. Hebrews chapter one, verse one
says that in times past, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. Speaking of the Old Testament,
revelation that God made through the holy men of God that as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Word of God. hath in
these last days spoken unto us by his Son. This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the very living Word of God, is to be believed as the Word
of God. We've all had this experience.
You tell someone the truth about something and they look at you suspiciously
and then they conclude that you're not telling the truth. They're, in essence, calling
you a liar. Is there anything more offensive?
You know you've said the truth and you're not believed. Would there be anything more
offensive to a holy God who speaks nothing but the truth, the whole
truth, all the time, for a creature of His to say,
I don't believe you. I don't believe you. The Lord Jesus spoke of that
occasion when he said that man did not believe him. Listen to
John 8, 46. If I say the truth, why do you
not believe me? If I say the truth, why do you
not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's words. You, therefore, hear not God's
words because you're not of God. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
Faith just believes God. It believes on Christ. It's the
evidence of our salvation that we rest all the hope of our salvation
on the revelation that God has given us in his word about the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is God incarnate,
Emmanuel. God with us, the word that has
become flesh, and now dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace.
You see, here's the evidence of our salvation, brethren. The
world comprehended it not. The natural man will not apprehend
Christ. He will not come, he will not
believe. Light is coming to the world,
but men love darkness rather than light. They that come to
the light, they who love the light, they that flee to the
light, what do they confess? My works are wrought by God. The rest of that passage in Hebrews
chapter 1 says, whom he hath appointed to become
heir of all things and by whom also he made the worlds. And the Lord Jesus Christ being
the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. Here God has condescended from
the glories of heaven and he's coming to this dark world and
he's spoken and revealed his truth and his glory. And the natural man says, I don't
believe you. In the beginning. Now John is
obviously reflecting back on Genesis chapter one, verse one,
when he writes, when the Bible says, in the beginning, God, You know, if you really believe
those first four words of the Bible, you believe it all. This word beginning, we looked
at it a few Wednesday nights ago when we were looking at the
turning the water into wine where the Bible says that it's the
beginning of miracles. It's the word arch. The word
that we get from that word is architect. In order for there
to be a building, there must first be a design for that building,
and that design must be established by an architect. Now, architects
have the responsibility, number one, of designing a building
according to the building codes. And number two, everything else
that they do comes out of their own imagination, as long as it's
consistent with the codes that are required for that building. And here we have our architect. He's the architect of the building
and he designed it after the code of his law. There's nothing
about our salvation that's not consistent with the law of God. God's law had to be kept. God's
justice had to be satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ and the
architect of our salvation, as the architect, as the building,
as the designer, as the builder, as the building itself, the Lord
Jesus Christ built everything according to code and he built
it out of himself. Just as an architect would design
something out of their own imagination, our God created all that there
is out of himself. And now in our text, the Lord
is revealing himself to us as the word of God, the uncreated,
self-existent, infinite, Word of God in the beginning. In the
beginning was the Word before there was anything else. He's
not talking about Genesis 1.1. He's talking about eternity past. He's the architect. He's the
self-existent one. He's the uncreated one. Before heaven and earth existed,
before the angels were created, before the stars were cast into
the sky, it was nothing but God. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. What is the Lord saying to you
and me? Believe me. Believe me. Don't treat my words the way
you treat one another's words. Your throat may be an open sepulcher. Mine's not. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit in their life. You may present things to make
yourself look better than they are. I don't do that. You may
not be clear when you speak. It's not so with me. And John
is telling us, God is telling you and me, that the Lord Jesus
Christ is living word. And we just take him in his word. That's all faith is. Faith is
just believing God. All that is of God. He's sovereign. Reigns over the heavens and the
earth. He doth whatsoever he wills with
the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth and
no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He's
immutable. I am the Lord and I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. What else can we say? Nations
pride themselves in talking about their sovereignty. In the perfect
definition of that word, there's only one that's sovereign and
that's God. God reigns sovereign over the
nations of this world and the Bible tells us that they are
a drop in the bucket to him. They are a speck of dust on the
scale to him, the whole nation. The Lord Jesus in the beginning,
all things were made by him. He's the creator and sustainer
of all of life. He has the power. to create out
of himself. And God said, let there be light,
and there was light. And you go back to the first
chapters of Genesis, and on the second day, and God said, and
there was. And on the third day, and God
said, and there was. Who else has the power to create? Who else can take five loaves
and two small fishes. And that small fish means like
a little sardine. And feed 5,000 men, not counting
the women and children. Who can make something out of
nothing? Who has the power to create by his own word? God. And just as He created physical
things by the power of His Word, so He creates that which is spiritual
by the power of His Word. It's only when God says, passes
by us while we are in our blood and He says unto us, live. And we live. Just like that. Just like that. What power. Of his own will begat he us or
birthed us by his word. By his word. He just speaks. It's always our
hope. And we're always left dependent
upon him. Lord, if you leave me to myself,
I'll not seek after thee. I won't know thee. I'm dead by
nature and my trespasses and sins, Lord, I'm completely dependent
upon you to speak life to me. And if you don't take your word
and make it living and reveal Christ in me, I'll not know thee. The Lord was in a graveyard one
day. A man by the name of Lazarus had been dead four days and his
body was beginning to decay. And the Lord said, remove the
stone from the opening of his tomb. And his sisters objected
and said, Lord, he stinketh. Remove the stone. Lazarus, come
forth. and that dead body all of a sudden
had life, came out of that tomb, had the
Lord stood in that graveyard and said, come forth, every dead
body there would have come forth. He calls his sheep by name and
they hear his voice and they follow him and they believe that
he's the word of God. And they believe that their very
existence is because He created them physically and the only
hope of their spiritual existence will be that He creates them
spiritually. He must create in me. And He
must make His word irresistible. And He must make His word effectual. He must take away from me all
objections that I would otherwise have. If He leads me to myself,
I will say what your friends and family members say and what
I've heard people say over and over again. Well, yeah, I hear
what you're saying, that's true. And then what's the next word
out of their mouth? But, but, and they call into question the
very Word of God. In the beginning, as the architect
of our salvation, as the builder of our salvation, as the perfecter
of our salvation, was the Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning
with God. And all things were made by Him,
both physically and spiritually. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. Nothing will be made without
Him. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Oh,
the comfort of God's Word. When God gives faith to believe
His Word, the hope, the peace, the assurance, God has spoke
it. It must be. There's no changing
what God has said. There's no adding to it or taking
away from it. It's God's perfect word. And
we hang all the hopes of our salvation on his word. The Lord Jesus Christ, as a surety
of our salvation, performed for his people all that God required. I can't add to what he's done.
He left no part of it up to us. He is all and he's in all. In him was life and the life
was the light of men. Now in the natural world, you
have to have light in order to get life, don't you? Well, I
guess we could say in the natural world, the seed sprouts. underground where there's darkness
and then goes towards the light, doesn't it? The life, life came before light
and the life was the light of men. God gives life by His Word. He speaks truth to the heart. I mentioned the difference between
true and truth. You know, a lot of people can
know the doctrines that are true, but knowing the truth, that's
a noun. It's not an adjective. That's
a person. Knowing Christ. The light was the life of men. Cast all Thy care upon him, for
he careth for thee. Oh, is there anything more comforting
to the believer's heart than the promises of God, the precious
promises of God? All the promises of God being
made, as the scripture said, yea and amen, which means that
they are truth and they are sure in Christ. All the promises of
God are fulfilled. in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Light's coming to the world.
Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. They that cometh to the light,
they testify that their deeds were wrought in God. Lord, you
gave me life that I might have light. The light shined in the darkness.
Darkness comprehended it not. Darkness apprehended it not. Our heavenly father, we pray that you would make thy
word and the person of thy dear son irresistible and effectual. to our hearts by thy grace. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Number 36, let's stand together.
? Behold my soul the love of God
? Behold the grace most free ? Before all worlds his purpose
stood ? His part was fixed on me ? Elected by eternal love
The covenant firm and sure, The triune God agreed in love, Salvation
to secure. My soul was given to the Son
He promised to redeem By blood and righteousness His own He
would my soul reclaim In the due time Emmanuel came to live
and die for me. He lives today and bears my name. Christ is my surety. In love he sent his spirit to
me. ? Who gave me life and grace
? He drew me and I followed on ? My Savior to embrace ? Now
I rejoice in covenant love ? Amazing grace I sing ? I now am conquered
by His love ? My Savior is my King ?
Greg Elmquist
About Greg Elmquist
Greg Elmquist is the pastor of Grace Gospel Church in Orlando, Florida.
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