Seeking again the Lord's gracious
help to grant me the words to speak to you this afternoon.
I'd like you to turn in the chapter that we read together, the Gospel
according to John, and chapter one, and the text you'll find
in verse 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 begins his gospel with a
statement very similar to that of the beginning of the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter 1 we are told
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and
the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters and God said, let there be light. and
there was light and God saw the light that it was good and God
divided the light from the darkness and John begins his gospel as
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 darkness and the darkness comprehended
it not. And we know that the word that
he is speaking about is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the the word,
the only word, the only Christ. And the Greek word that is translated
here as word is a word called logos. which comes from something
meaning like divine reason or the mind of God. Remember that
Jesus says what comes out of the mouth is what goes on within
the heart. and as God himself speaks his
word that comes forth to us is what is his very heart which
he has revealed to us and so what comes out of our mouths
is what takes place within our minds and in our very core and
what comes out of God what God has revealed to us in his word
is his very heart and mind and Christ himself is the very Word
of God, the revealed Word of God, God manifest in the flesh
and so as the creation was made by God's Word. God spoke and
it was done. God spoke and the light was divided
from the darkness. God spoke and he created the
heavens and the earth. He spoke and he made all things
through his voice. So Christ is the Word of God. God's word as we saw this morning
is that word which is written down written down in the scriptures
and we saw how people rejected that word and that word was hidden
away and that when it was uncovered it brought about a change because
God's word is like a fire God's word is like a hammer. God's word is like a sword. God's word is like a light that
shines into the darkness. And so God's word then is written
down for us to read and see. And we have the mind, the divine
will of our holy God revealed to us in his scripture. We saw this morning that God's
word then is rejected. Although he is the creator and
he has revealed his will to his creation, yet his word is so
often rejected by humans or human nature, despises the word. and people would rather pursue
after that false gold, that false pleasures rather than the pure
undefiled word of God which is of more value than pure gold. And we see a similarity then
don't we to the word of God as revealed in the scriptures to
the Word of God as manifested in the flesh in Christ Jesus.
As the Word of God came, as the Word of God came down to this
earth, we read that he was rejected. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. He came to his
own and his own received him not. The world was made, as we
saw, through the Lord Jesus Christ. All things were made by him,
the creator of all things. The creator of all things, the
word of God, came down and manifested himself to his creation and his
creation rejected him. God walked upon this earth and
those who he made cried out crucify him, crucify him, crucify him. The most kind, patient, loving,
compassionate man that ever walked upon the face of the earth was
so hated by those who he created they wanted rid of him. The creator came to his own. Came to the Jews, yes, but also
he came to his own creation. Jew and Gentile cried out, away
with him, away with him. The word was made flesh. In Hebrews. It tells us there that he was
made flesh for a specific reason. Hebrews chapter two. Verse seven, it says, Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels. Thou crowneth him with glory
and honour and did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou
hast put all things under all things in subjection under his
feet for in that he put all in subjection under him he left
nothing that is not put under him but now we see not yet all
things put under him but we see Jesus who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and
honour, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, to bring many sons to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering.' But we see Jesus made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death. That was the very reason that
he put on flesh, that he made himself of no reputation, made
himself a little lower than the angels for the purposes of death. And we looked at him over the
Easter period where we focus upon the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ and him being crucified upon the cross. we mentioned
that that is to be continually in the mind of the believers
that Christ came into this world to die, that is what he desires
that we remember through the Lord's Supper and through baptism,
those ongoing testimonies of his death that Christ came into
this world put on flesh so that he might be able to die. The
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In John chapter 6 Jesus
tells us verse 40 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me have everlasting life. I am that bread
of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead. This is that manna which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. And so Jesus, the word of God
made flesh is also the bread. And as he points the Jews back
to the manna in the wilderness that came down from heaven, he
says, well, I am the true manna. He says your fathers ate of that
other manna and they are now dead. But if any man eats of
this manna or this bread they will have eternal life. If anyone
lays hold of me and believes in me and is satisfied by me
they will have eternal life because he is the word of God that was
given to the world He is the word that was made flesh. He is made a little lower than
the angels for the purposes of death that he might be enabled
to taste death for every man. That is every man, woman, boy
and girl that would ever believe and trust in him. He is the living
bread which came down from heaven. If you remember those Jews as they came out of
Egypt, as they walked through the wilderness, they had to go
out and they had to search for this manna. Christ the Word. Although he dwelt among the apostles,
although he dwelt amongst the Jews of that time, they beheld
him yet he still had to be sought. If you were to have continued
reading there were those apostles who he called out while they
were at work on the seashore he called them out and he called
them to follow him. There are others who heard about
the Lord Jesus Christ And they heard of the word of God. They
heard that the word was manifest in the flesh and they sought
him out. They came to find him. You and I daily go and we search
for our physical bread. As we said this morning that
we go out and we spend our strength searching for food and money
to provide for our families. And daily we seek, it's an effort,
we go and we labour or whatever way, or we have laboured if we're
old, and to provide for our families. Christ he says that he is the
spiritual bread that came down from heaven and as we read through
the New Testament there are those who sought after him, those who
had a need that wanted to be satisfied by him, that saw him
who he was, God manifest in the flesh, the Word of God, the Word
who was with God and was God. verse 13. Those who seek him, they don't
seek him because of a natural tendency or desire to seek him,
they seek him because something spiritual has taken place within
their hearts. Naturally If we have seen the
world, they don't like him. He came to his own and they reject
him. Verse 12 it says, But as many
as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. As many as receive
him, as the word of God that came down from heaven, which
were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God. And we know that those who seek
after God and receive Christ, they have been born again of
the Spirit of God. John 3, it tells us there. In verse 5, Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
or where it wants, And now here is the sound thereof, but you
cannot tell whether it cometh or whether it goeth. So with
everyone that is born of the Spirit. And so John says they
were not born of blood. That means that they have not
inherited or received Christ because of anything to do with
family. Blood. We do not inherit salvation through
the faith of our mother and our father or our grandmother or
our grandad or our uncle or our auntie. Salvation is not by blood. But then it says, nor by the
will of the flesh. It is not our will to save ourselves
because by our nature, our sinful nature, we reject the Lord Jesus
Christ. Just like the people of the Old
Testament, they hid the word of God, they didn't want anything
to do with it and they would rather serve idols and enjoy
themselves with the things of this world. Not until someone
like Josiah comes along and exposes the word of God, preaches the
word of God, that people are transformed by the spirit of
God. It is not in our nature to seek
after Christ. We are happy by our nature in
this world. It has everything we could possibly
desire to satisfy ourselves for the moment of time someone begins
to seek after God, when someone begins to seek after Christ,
that is because something has happened in their heart that
the Spirit has touched them and has began to rejuvenate them,
to revive them, that they may seek after the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's not of blood, Our spiritual
inheritance is not through a family line although God in his sovereign
mercy does choose through evidence to bless Christian families. But you cannot rely on that. It's not in your own will to
seek after God, the will of man, but of God. But as many as receive
him, to them he gave power to become the sons
of God. Jeremiah tells us, Jeremiah 29 verse 12 and 13 it
says, then shall you call upon me and you shall go and pray
unto me and I will hearken unto you and you shall seek me and
find me when you search for me with all of your heart. You see
if it's not of the blood, if it's not of the will of the flesh
if you have been given a new desire to seek after God, it
is because God has given you that desire. No person truly
seeks after God, he seeks after them and he seeks after them
and puts a desire within their hearts that they may seek after
him. He transforms the heart to give
a desire to seek after God. In Proverbs, It tells us there,
for whoso findeth me findeth life and shall obtain favour
with the Lord. It's to seek after. Have you
and I got that desire to seek? Are we resting in the calmness of salvation by family? Are you resting in the fact that
your mum and dad are saved? Are you at peace with that, that
they know God but you don't know God? The scripture says you are to
seek, you are to find and you will find. You are to find Christ and to find
eternal life and to obtain favour from God. And the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And they beheld his glory but
they still had to seek him. They still had to lay hold of
him. In Matthew 7 There's the lady
with the, or Mark, sorry, Mark five. The lady which had the issue
of blood. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory. Christ dwelt among them. But she still had to seek him. She heard about him. She understood
that she had a need and that her need could be met in Christ
and so she sought after him. A certain woman which had an
issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many
physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing
bettered, but rather grew worse. And when she had heard of Jesus,
she came in the press behind him and touched his garment.
And so she heard of Jesus, although he dwelt among them, that was
not enough of itself. He couldn't have just been walking
around There must have been that interaction with her and him. She heard of him. She sought
him out. She knew that her need could
be satisfied in Christ, that he could deal with her present
condition. And so she seeks for him, unbeknown
to her that it was him drawing her to himself. But she had that
desire to seek after Christ. She heard of him and she pressed
behind him and touched his garment for she said, if I may touch
but his clothes I shall be made whole and straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she
was healed. Jesus says who touched my clothes?
Who touched me? And she confesses that it was
her. he says to her daughter, thy faith has made thee whole,
go in peace and behold of thy plague. Now this lady, if we
were to have asked her the questions beforehand, do you have any faith?
She would have said no. How are you going to get to the
Lord Jesus? She said, I've heard of him, I know where he is and
I'm going to seek him, I'm going to pursue him and I'm going to
get as close as possible to him and I'm going to touch the hem
of his garment. That's all she knew. But that
is faith. She understood who Christ was
and hearing of who Christ was, she acted upon who he was, upon
his very character and sought him out for deliverance. That is faith. I wonder if you
have that faith. You know who Christ is. You know
that you have a need of him. He is the one that is able to
get rid of your sin. He is the one that is able to
cleanse you from your sin and you have sought him out. You
say you haven't got any faith. That's what you say. The very
fact is that you are seeking Christ, which shows that you
do have faith. And the scripture says, if you
have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you have the ability to
say to this mountain, get up and move over there. And so seeking God is an act
of faith. Nobody seeks God unless God seeks
them also. It is God who transforms the
heart. It is God who opens the eyes
and opens the ears and softens the heart to enable someone to
leave this pleasurable world and to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. It doesn't happen by nature. It is not natural for
somebody to leave this world and to follow Christ. Those people
who do follow Christ And it is not the work of God. We'll fall
by the wayside. They cannot continue on the narrow
pathway that leads to life because their heart has truly not been
changed and they will be drawn aside by the things of this world
and they will be lost. The word is not enough for them.
They want the world and the word. You cannot have both. It is the
word or the world and you must pursue after Christ. Seek him out for forgiveness
of sin. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory. The apostle John. was amongst the disciples in
Matthew 17, who witnessed the transfiguration
of the Lord Jesus Christ. After six days, Matthew 17, verse
one. And after six days, Jesus taketh
Peter James and John his brother, and bringeth them up to a high
mountain apart. And he was transfigured before
them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was
as the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with them. Then answered Peter,
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one
for Moses, and one for Elias. And while he yet spake, behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the
cloud, which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well
pleased. Hear ye him. And so John and
Peter and James beheld the literal glory of Christ. John the Baptist
tells us here that as he baptised the Lord Jesus Christ he would
witness the Spirit of God descending upon Christ and the heavens declared,
the voice from heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased. And so they saw the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ and they witnessed the miracles that he
did. The raising of the dead, the
calming of the sea, the feeding of the 5,000 and the other miracles
that he did. And those are the glory of Christ,
the things that are manifested, that can be seen and they cannot
be attributed to any other person. We beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father. The scripture tells us,
doesn't it, John 3, 16, that God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten, his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And these apostles were those
witnesses of those things that Christ did. They saw that glory,
The apostle tells us later in Corinthians, I think, that there
are different glories for different things. The sun has its own glory. The flowers have their own glory. The stars and the moon have their
own glory. What we see and what we deem
as beautiful and amazing, what shines forth It is glorious, but it is distinct. And what shines forth of Christ
is glorious, is the word of God, God manifest in the flesh. And the apostles saw that glory. They were witnesses of that glory,
the only begotten of the Father. full of grace and truth. In Christ there was that fullness,
completeness of grace. If you have a bottle of something,
a drink, and we say that that drink it is orange juice, the
bottle is full, it is complete. And so Christ is saying here
he is full of grace, loving sinful people, putting
on flesh so that they may have eternal life, so that their sins
might be forgiven. And he is full of truth. He tells
us that he is the truth, that he is the way, that he is the
life. But he is also the word of God. In John 17 it tells us
there that thy word is truth. That God's revealed word is truth. God himself cannot lie and that
Christ is the truth and he is the true word of God and he was
made flesh and he dwelt among us. He dwelt amongst his creation
and his creation did not receive him but those who do receive
him those he gives power to become the sons of God, those that believe
on his name and they don't believe on his name because of any ability
of themselves but he himself gives them a desire to seek after
him. Do you have that desire this
afternoon? And if you have that desire,
then it is God that has given you that desire. You are made
different from the people around about you. They reject the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you have been given a desire
to seek after him, that is because he is drawing you to himself. if you are having that desire
to leave the things of this world and not to be satisfied by them
but only to find satisfaction in Christ that is not a natural
thing to experience it is a supernatural work of God himself that is to
be born of the spirit that is to be born again. And those who
are born again have a desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ
on the narrow way that leads to life. Christ dwelt amongst
the apostles and they sought him out and they followed him. Remember the apostles of John?
They said to Jesus, where dwellest thou? Where do you stay? We want to be with you. We want
to sit under your ministry. We want to go where you go. We
want to follow you. Is that your desire this evening
or this afternoon? To be where Christ is. be where
Christ's people are, to sit around Christ's table, to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ, to forsake the things of this world and
to pursue after godliness and Christlikeness. In Him is eternal life 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 full of truth. May the Lord add His blessing.
Amen. Our final hymn is from Hymns
for Worship, number 170. 1-7-0. Soldiers of Christ, arise
and put your armour on, strong in the strength which God supplies
through his eternal Son. Hymns for Worship, number 170
to the tune 58. Soldiers of Christ arise and
put your armor on. Strong in the strength which
God supplies through his eternal Son. ? From in the Lord of hosts ? ?
And in his mighty power ? ? Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
? ? Is more than conqueror ? ? Stumbling in his great might ? ? With all
his strength endued ? ? And came to love you for the first time
? ? In the glory of God ? ? To keep your honor bright ? ? That
end with constant care ? ? Still serving in your captive sight
? ? And watching unto prayer ? ? From strength to strength
alone ? ? Wrestle and fight and pray ? ? Shed all the rags of
darkness down ? ? And win the well-fought day ? ? That happy,
moving star ? ? The Lord of this house ? ? Here may all come to
Christ alone ? ? And shall compete at Christ's hand ? Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we pray
that we may behold His glory. We thank Thee for the memory
that He has left behind the ordinance of his supper and the ordinance
of baptism that we may forever remember the death of thy son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that he is not
in the grave. We thank thee that he rose again
on that third day and ever lives to intercede for his people. And we pray that that help us
to continue to remember him. We pray thou bless us now as
we take of thy supper do draw near to us and open up our eyes
of faith and bless us we pray and with the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ the love of God the Father the fellowship and
the communion of the Holy Spirit to be with us now and forevermore
amen