We turn to that portion that
we read in the first epistle general of John. And I want to
take for a text tonight the words that we find here at the beginning
of the chapter in verses 1 and 2 and the first part of verse
3. The first epistle general of
John, verses 1, 2 and the first part of verse 3. I read the portion again, that
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the word of life. for the life was manifested
and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you The subject that I want to address,
with the Lord's help, is that of the mystery and the manifestation
of Christ. The mystery of Christ is clearly
set before us here, but also, particularly in that second verse,
which is a sort of parenthesis, as you will observe from the
punctuation markings, In that second verse, John speaks so
clearly of the life that was manifested, that which was with
the Father, he said, and was manifested unto us. So, considering then this two-fold
theme, first of all, I want us to consider what we might term
the mystery of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the
first mystery that is revealed to us in Holy Scripture, the
greatest of all mysteries, is that of the doctrine of God and
the doctrine of the Trinity. We have that emphasis in the
Old Testament on the unity of the Godhead The words that we
find in Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4, Hear O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord. There are intimations there in
the Old Testament concerning the truth that though God is
one, he subsists in three distinct persons. There are indications
given concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, but it's when
we come to the New Testament and the fullness of the revelation
of God that we have in the person of his only begotten son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's here in the New Testament
that we see the great doctrine, the great mystery of the Trinity. And we have that verse, that
much disputed verse, in the final chapter of this first general
epistle. where John speaks of the three
that bear records in heaven, the Father, the words, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Oh, there is the great mystery
then, that God is one and God is three. But then there is another
mystery. And it is that that we have to
consider when we come to look at the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul says without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. There we have it. We have God
in human form. It is a mystery, the two natures. Here is a person, and that person is divine, and
yet that person is human. Oh, what a mystery. William Hendrickson
says this is that mystery revealed. It's a secret revealed. It's
God revealing himself. The Lord Jesus, that one who
is the image of the invisible God. How it is a mystery, and
there are mysteries, when we think of the ministry of the
Lord Jesus. And often He would teach by way
of parables, and there is a mystery in the parabolic teaching, Matthew
13, is a chapter that is full of parables, many parables that
the Lord Jesus spoke there. And we're told at verse 10, And
the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them
in parables? He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Oh, it has to
be given, given by God to know the mysteries of His Kingdom.
God has to give that knowledge of Himself. God has to give that
knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus. And as Christ says
in His high priestly prayer, it is life eternal to know Thee,
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Oh, we have
to seek that God Himself would grant to us this knowledge. all
these secrets that the Lord is pleased to reveal to those who
are the election of grace. Well, let us consider something
of this mystery of Christ's person. The two natures, two distinct
and separate natures, no mixing or intermingling of the natures.
They are quite separate. He is divine, He is human and
yet, though two natures, just one person. And in everything
he does, we have to recognize that he doesn't do certain things
as a man, and certain things as God. In all that he does during
his life here upon the earth, and even now, as he is ascended
to heaven, in all that he does, he is God and man. for those
two natures in the one person. The language of the great atonation,
Cree, which says, although he be God and man, yet he is not
two, but one Christ. Now what do we see then? The
divine nature. And see how John opens this epistle,
he says, that which was from the beginning. that which was
from the beginning that is the beginning in an absolute term
in an absolute sense as we have it there in the opening words
of Genesis in the beginning God or this one whom John is speaking
of is the sign that Moses speaks of there at the beginning of
Holy Scripture The beginning, I say, in that absolute sense,
before ever time was created. How does the Lord Jesus speak?
There in the opening chapter of the book of the Revelation,
where John sees the glorified Christ. What is the language
of the Lord when he speaks to John, I am Alpha and O Omega? the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty. Oh, He is that One who is ever
at the beginning. He is ever the same, Jesus Christ.
The same yesterday, and today, and forever. He was, He is, He
ever shall be. He is the Eternal Son of the
Eternal Father. He is that One who is the Great
I Am. Remember a guy now, God reveals
Himself to Moses. We are familiar with that third
chapter in the book of Exodus. And now the Lord God comes and
declares himself to Moses as he calls and commissions him
to be the deliverer of the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, out of the bondage that they were having to endure there.
And God says, I am that I am. And it is the Lord Jesus who
then, as John shows us in his gospel, reveals to us the truth
concerning the great I am. Or we have those several I am
passages. And I think particularly of the
language that we find in John chapter 8. And there at verse
24 he says, if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall perish
in your sins. You turn to that verse John 8
24 and you'll observe how the pronoun he in our authorized
version is in italics it's one of those words introduced literally
the original says if you believe not that I am ye shall perish
in your sin And so at the end of that great 8th chapter, the
Lord says, before Abraham was, I am. That which was from the
beginning. John so clearly and so plainly
declares the eternal deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And John
remembering his in his writings, in his gospel, for example, how
he expounds these things. We have that record in the 5th
chapter, where he performs a notable miracle. He heals the lying man
on the Sabbath day, and what do the Jews do? They want to
destroy him, they seek to kill him. Or they sought the more
to kill him, it says, because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said that God was his father. making himself equal with God. All the Jews understood it. When
he said that God was his father, they recognized that that meant
equality with God. And so they accused him of blasphemy. They would have killed him on
a number of occasions. They could never lift a finger
against him, of course. until his time was come, and
even then, how does he die? He dies by a voluntary sacrifice. No man takes his life from him.
He is the one who has power, he has authority to lay it down,
he has authority to take it again. But how they would have destroyed
him? There in John 10.33 The Jews answer him saying, for
a good work we stand in art but for blasphemy and because of
thou being a man make us thyself God. That was the charge. When
he said that God was his father, they understood that meant equality
with God. That meant that he was saying
he is God. And this is the charge that they
bring against him before Pontius Pilate. in chapter 19 of the
Gospel, verse 7, the Jews answered Pilate, we have a law and by
our law you are to die because he made himself the Son of God. Blasphemous! Blasphemous! How the Lord so clearly, so plainly
in the course of His ministry is revealing who He is revealing
something of His divine nature. Why here, in the second verse
again, look at what John says, that eternal life which was with
the Father. That eternal life. He is the
eternal Son of the eternal Father, eternally begotten of the Father. And John John speaks of these
things we go over to chapter 2 and in verse 22 he says, Who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He
is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeeth
the Son hath the Father also. Oh, if there is no eternal Son,
there can be no eternal Father. Again, in that second epistle, look at what John has to say
there at verse 9, "...whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." All we must have the Father and
the Son. As I said, no eternal Father
except there be an eternal Son. And this is what He is. All this
is what He is. His eternal Sonship. Go back
to the book of Psalms, that language that we find in the 2nd Psalm.
He says, I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me, Thou
art my son. This day have I begotten thee. This day, not yesterday, nor
tomorrow, but at present time, today, says Luther. This is the eternal sonship.
He is that one eternally begotten of the Father, whose goings forth
have been from of old. Or how he speaks there in that
eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs. We've referred to it
so many times, the wisdom of God. When there were no depths,
He says, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, was I brought forth. Eternally brought forth. Eternally
begotten of the Father. Why? He is One who is equal to
the Father. See how John describes Him. He speaks of Him as the Life.
Here in verse 2, the life was manifested and we have seen it
and bear witness unto you and show unto you rather that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us. He is the life. In other words,
He is the source of all life. We read it. There in that opening
chapter of the Gospel, according to the same Apostle John, all
things were made by him, without him was not anything made that
was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. He is there, you see, the creator
of life, by the word of the Lord. were the heavens made and all
the host of them by the breath of his mouth says David in Psalm
33. Who is that one who is the words?
Why it's the same person that John speaks of there in those
words at the beginning of his gospel. In the beginning was
the words and the word was with God and the word was God and
all things were made by him. and without him was not anything
made that was made. There's no disputing the fact that here
John, as so often throughout his writings, be it in the gospel,
or be it in these epistles, or be it in the book of the Revelation,
John is that one who is truly the great champion with regards
to the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ in his person. He speaks
plainly of the truth of his divine nature. But also, also we see
here the truth of the human nature, because that's life. that divine
life was something manifested something to be seen here upon
the earth and it was something so tangible he says the life
was manifested and we have seen it that eternal life which was
with the father and was manifested unto us and how does John speak
of it? there in the first verse he says that which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the
word of life. Now he speaks of the truth, you
see, of that real human nature. This was no phantom spirit. Oh,
there were those even in John's day who denied the reality of
the human nature of the Lord Jesus. And John answers them
and he identifies them. And he tells us quite plainly
that they are very Antichrist. Look at chapter 4 and verse 3,
every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh, He's not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist.
those who deny that Christ is come as a man. This is that spirit
of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come and
even know already is it at work in the world. And then again,
in the second epistle, and this time at verse 7 he says, Many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Oh, the Lord Jesus is that One
who has come as a man and in His coming we have the fullness
of the revelation of God to men. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is
in the bosom of the Father he hath declared Him. Or did we not read those blessed
words at the end of that reading that we took from the opening
chapter of John's Gospel? The Lord Jesus Christ, the image,
says Paul, the image of the invisible God, the brightness of His glory,
and the expressed image of His person. Our God, when the fullness
of the time was come, sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law. Oh, there is the revelation.
We sometimes sing the words of Charles Wesley in the hymn, Veiled
in Flesh. the Godhead see, hail the incarnate
deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Yes, He is divine. There is a
divine nature there. But there is also a human nature. And in that human nature, how
He experiences all the frailties of our sinless humanity. Oh,
he knew nothing of sin. He knew nothing of sin. He was
conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin. He was
preserved from every taint of original sin. We know there was
no sin in him. But his human nature is so real.
He comes through Samaria. He's wearied. He's wearied. He needs to rest. And so he sits
by the well. And yet, that one who is wearied
is the same God who is all-powerful. Oh, the mystery you see. There
is the God-man experiencing something of a sinless humanity. He has those two natures and
yet there is that simplicity. Paul speaks of the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus. And what is the simplicity In
a sense it is. He is one. He is one person. He's one person. One Lord Jesus
Christ. And yet in that person, those
two distinct natures, the God-man. Oh, that's the mystery that John
is speaking of. But I said, I also wanted to address myself to the
matter of the manifestation of Christ. And we have it in particular
here in this second verse, his parenthesis. The life, says John,
the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested unto us. And then he goes on, that which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you. He wants to speak
of those things that he witnessed he was one of those chosen apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ how these men were to be witnesses
all they were to be witnesses to the truth of his life the
truth of his death, the truth of his resurrection from the
dead they were witnesses Again, we're reminded of the
truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is the source
and the author and the giver of spiritual life. I said that he is that one who
is the source of all created life, all natural life, but in
particular, were to think of that spiritual life. And how
is that spiritual life that is in him communicated to sinners? It is by means of him becoming
a man. This is how he saves his people.
There is a union, you see. A union between the Lord Jesus
Christ and all those that he saves. There's an eternal union.
when the Father makes choice of His people, He chooses them
in the Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal covenant. Isn't that
what we're told in the opening chapter of Ephesians? There in Ephesians chapter 1,
the whole election of grace is chosen in Christ. He is the first
of God's elect. But that eternal union must become a reality. These
sinners must come to experience that eternal union. They must be brought to partake of that
life that is in the Lord Jesus, and how is He communicated? He
comes by means of His incarnation. He is that One who is spoken
of here as the Word of Life. John uses that expression at
the end of the first verse. He speaks of the things that
He has heard and seen and handled of the Word of Life. in the beginning, remember, was
the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. But what? Why? John goes on to
say, 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. Oh, He is that incarnate Word
of God and in the Bible we have the inscripturated Word of God because we are told all scripture
is given by inspiration of God all scripture is the breathings
of God and there is a connection between
the two I do like that hymn of Heart, 878, The Scriptures and
the Lord. Bear one tremendous name, the
written and incarnate Word, in all things are the same. And
now John here speaks of the Word, and he speaks of the hearing
of the Word, that which was from the beginning, he says, which
we have heard. And then again in verse 3, that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. John heard. What did John hear? He heard
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He heard the voice of that man.
He heard the preaching of the Lord. He was there sitting at
the feet of the Lord Jesus. He heard his teachings. And what does Paul say? How shall
they believe in Him, of whom they have not heard? How shall
they hear without a preacher? Oh, there is something to be
heard. There is something to be heard.
And this is what John is saying here. He heard, and what does
John do? He doesn't only hear, he is proclaiming. He is speaking of those things
that he himself has heard. Look at the language that we
have here in the second verse. He speaks of bearing witness. He speaks of showing. The life was manifested and we
have seen it and bear witness, he says, and show unto you that
eternal life. Again, in verse 3, He says, that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. He has heard
it, yes, and now what will He do? He will declare it. He will
proclaim it. There is to be this proclamation
of the Word. Why? It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now, that's the language
of the Apostle Paul writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. It says there how God was pleased
by the foolishness of preaching. And really the emphasis is not
so much upon the act. There might be some reference
to the act of preaching, but really the main emphasis there
is upon the subject matter. that is being spoken of in the
preaching. He pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. The message that is being proclaimed. Look at how the Apostle continues
in that chapter. He says, verse 23, we preach
Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
There's the foolishness of preaching. To preach, and I say it deliberately,
to preach a crucified God. We preach Christ crucified, unto
the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are caught, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. All we please is God,
you see, by the foolishness of the proclamation of this message
concerning Jesus Christ. Not just His incarnation, not
just His coming into the world. What a mystery there. Oh, but
the great mystery of His dying. How can it be? He is never anything
less than true Almighty God. We sought to emphasize that.
We can't say, well, he dies as a man. He dies as God-man. And as God-man, he cries in all
the agonies of his soul, and he says to his father, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? How could he be forsaken
of God? We've also sought to emphasize
the truth that in that first and greatest of mysteries, God
himself is why. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit
and there is no division, there is no dividing of the Godhead. And yet, and yet, the mystery
of the death of the Lord Jesus, when he feels himself so forsaken
of God. Why? He made his soul an offering
for sin. He who knew no sin, Paul says,
made sin for us. and how he feels it, the agony
of being that great sacrifice for the sins of his people. This is the message that John is proclaiming. It concerns the
Lord Jesus Christ and all the mystery all the mystery of His
incarnation, the mystery of His person, the God-man, the mystery
of His death, there upon the cross. But now John also emphasizes
this, that it's not enough just to hear the preaching. It's not
enough just to hear the preaching. We must also hear the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. That's what John says. That which
was from the beginning which we have heard of the Word of Life. What does the Lord Jesus himself
say? My sheep hear my voice. Oh friends, are we those tonight
who have heard that voice? my sheep, here is the mark of
the sheep of the Lord Jesus, my sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life. Oh, what a blessed truth it was
when Paul goes and preaches that gospel there at Ephesus. The
Lord Jesus himself had never been in Ephesus. The Lord's ministry
was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His ministry
is confined to the land of Palestine. He doesn't go into Asia Minor.
And yet, remember when Paul writes to those Ephesians, what he tells
them in chapter 4, verses 20 and 21, he says, But ye have
not so learned Christ, if so be ye have heard him and been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. We must have that real
experience of Christ, that real experimental knowledge of the
Lord Jesus and what does it entail? We have to hear His voice, but
not only that, look at all that John says here, which we have
heard, he says, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked upon. Again in verse 2, the life was
manifested, he says, and we have seen it. Verse 3, that which
we have seen. All it is that sight of faith, is
it not? To see Him. To see Him. Not with the natural eye. Lord Paul again when he writes
to the Galatians says to them before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth crucified before you to have
that experience the Lord Jesus Christ set before us we see Him
or do we see Him with the eye of faith that salvation
looking onto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. And how the language that is
used in scripture is so significant. This word that we have, we have
a repetition, as it were, in that opening verse, he says,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon. And
it's not tautology, it's not just repeating words for emphasis. know this word that he uses to
look upon it as the force of gazing. There's a certain intensity
here. Or is this how we come to the
Word of God? We search it, we dig into it,
we read it, we want to find the Lord Jesus Christ. Or we come
to the inscripturated Word with this great desire in our heart
that we might see Him who is the Word incarnate. we don't just want to hear his
voice we want to behold him we want that sight of faith that
looking onto Jesus but then John speaks of something even more
than that he speaks of handling which we have which our hands
have handled he says of the word of life now of course this is
the beloved disciple John and how favoured John was why he
was there when the Lord instituted his Holy Supper he was there
at the supper leaning on Christ's bosom all the intimacy of it
he knew that was real flesh and blood he touched the Lord Jesus
with his very hands Oh, we cannot do that. We cannot do that. It ought to be those who know
what it is to have that hand of faith and to lay hold of the
Lord Jesus. That was Paul's desire. He had
been apprehended. The Lord Jesus had laid hold
of him as he tells those Philippians and he wanted to lay hold of
the Lord Jesus. He wanted to apprehend Christ.
Who are we, those friends who want to lay hold of Him? To be those who are coming out
of the wilderness, leaning upon our Beloved, casting all our
cares upon Him, knowing that He careth for us. God says true religions more
than notions, something must be known and found. Or what do we know of that feeling
religion? to feel such a real need of Christ
that He might be a blessed reality in our soul's experience. Now, in order for us to know
anything of these things, to hear Christ, to see Christ, to
handle Christ, Christ must come and Christ must reveal Himself
to us. That was the experience of the
Saints of God in Scripture. What does the Lord Jesus say
to Simon Peter there at Caesarea Philippi when Peter makes that
great confession, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
God, blessed art thou, says Christ. Blessed art thou Simon by Jonah,
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. It's a revelation. and what Peter
knew, what Peter experienced, I would say all, all the Lord's
disciples must experience. Paul, Paul tells us in Galatians
chapter 1, when he pleased God, who separated from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. It was a revelation. Real religion
is always that it is a revelation. And the Lord promises that He
will make that revelation. Look at the language that Christ
speaks at the end of His life, those discourses, those hereditary
discourses that we find in the Gospel according to this Apostle
John. You know those chapters 14, 15
and 16, he speaks so much of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
As the Spirit comes and he comes as the Spirit of Christ, he comes
to reveal the things of Christ. And what does the Lord say there
in John 14, 21? I will love him and will manifest
myself to him. Oh, to know that love of Christ!
shed abroad in our hearts the Lord coming and manifesting Himself
to us. The hymn writer says, this is
my incessant cry, Jesus, reveal Thyself to me. Is that what we
ask the Lord to do when we come to His Word, when we read His
Word, when we come under the ministry of the Word? We want
that the Lord would come and that He would grant to us that
gracious revelation, not only a revealing to us, a revealing
in us, that Kingdom of God which is within you, that comes into
the soul of the sinner, or that which was from the beginning,
says John, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the
Word of Life, for the life was manifested and we have seen it
and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was
with the Father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you and then this that ye also oh
it's all in order that ye also may have fellowship with us and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.