O God, O God, says under the
shadow of Thy throne, still may we dwell secure. Sufficient is
Thine arm alone, and our defense is sure. A great
hymn. Brother John was comforted by
God's Word. He's laughing. The world couldn't
understand that, could they? Go to Psalm 30 with me. He quickly
came up and read to me a couple of verses from Psalm 30. This
morning when I was talking to him, he said he'd been reading
Psalm 30 and 31. I almost preached from this,
John. I came real close to preaching from Chapter 31. But John came
up and quoted Psalm 30, verse 11 and 12, Thou hast turned for
me my mourning into dancing. Thou hast put off my sackcloth
and girded me with gladness, to the end that my glory may
sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will
give thanks unto Thee forever, for whatever, for it is the Lord,
and the Lord is good. Now you can go with me to John
1. Our sister Nancy was feeling
poorly, faint or something. I appreciate you ladies tending
to her. Made me think of something that
happened. Well, just the other day that happened to my mother.
I was standing there with my mother in her kitchen and I looked
over and she was about to fall on the floor. I literally picked
her up, carried her in, laid her on the couch. I thought,
this is it. 97, soon to be 98. Well, she arrived. And it happened
to me two weeks ago. Happened to me. I mean, they
had to take me to the emergency room. So of course, we've been talking
about him. But Spurgeon one time was preaching. And it was a dear
lady that had been there for years. And Spurgeon was preaching,
and he stopped and said, maybe like Earlene, her head was slumped
down like that. He said, brethren, that lady
just went to be with the Lord. She died right there sitting
in the pew. Well, wouldn't you like to die like that? Really. He said, our dear sister's
just gone to be with the Lord. It was a man, Robin Locke or
Neal? It was Robin Locke wasn't it?
Robin. Neal's the one still living on
earth. Robin Locke, a member of the
Fairmont Church in West Virginia. When the church at Pikeville
flooded the first time, all of us, a bunch of us went down there
to clean it up. Robin Locke went there. He was
about 70 years old at the time. helping clean up that church
building. And he started feeling bad and he said, I got to lay
down. He laid down on the church pew. The Lord took him to glory. Literally. Lying on the pew. Sitting in the pew. Lying on
the pew. Took him out of that mess, up to glory. All my days, Joseph, I wait till
my chance. I can't wait, as we would say. This morning, we're going to
begin studying through the Gospel of John. I feel led to do so. It's been six years, and if I
was on a desert island and had one book of the Bible, I think
it'd be the Gospel of John. I really do. It's just so full. It's just so full. And John was
on a desert island with him. He wrote the Revelation. It's
so full of glory. There are four Gospels. Over
in Revelation 4, Verses 6 and 7, it talks about John saw a
vision of four beasts. He said the first beast had the
head of a lion, the second beast had the head of a calf, the third
beast had the head of a man, the fourth beast had the head
of an eagle. What's that? Those are the four Gospels. The
lion being the king. The whole Gospel of Matthew is
about Christ the King. It starts out with him being
the son of David, the king. Mark is a calf, a service. Calf, calves, cows serve man. Well, Mark, the Gospel of Mark
speaks of the Lord the servant of man. The third was the head
of a man, Luke, the head of a man. And all through Luke he calls
himself the son of man, the manhood of Jesus Christ. What a blessing
that God became a man. There's more comfort and glory
for God and comfort for us in that thought and anything else
that God became a man. He touched with the feeling of
our prayer. And He became a man for men and women. What a blessing. Luke, we went through that. It
took us about two years. It seemed like two days. And
then the last is John and it's the head of an eagle soaring
above it all. equal, seeing all, equal, free,
above it all, above the earth, soaring above. John the Baptist said, He that
cometh from above is above it all. And this whole book, this
whole book sister, is about the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, God became a man. This is about the one who is
God. Oh, man. The first words that
He gives us in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was
with God and the Word was God. The Word was God. This Word begins by telling us
who Jesus Christ is. He's God. He's God. Manifest in the flesh. Oh, great
is the mystery, but it's true. God became a man. Let the potsherds
of the earth strive. Let the Mormons and the Jehovah
Witnesses and let all these free-wheelers, all these talking, let them strive
together and try to disprove it. The fact remains, God walked
this earth. Jesus Christ. And all through,
you know, listen, listen to this. Sixty-four times, more than any
book in all the Bible, he says, I am. Sixty-four times, I am. What's that? That's who God is. When Moses said, Who shall I
say has sent me? God said. I am. Tell them I am. That's it. I am that I am. What? Christ all through this
book says I am the bread. I am the door. I am the water. I am the good shepherd. I am
the way. I am the truth. I am the life. You see why we're going to look
through this book again? This will be the third or fourth
time. See, salvation is to know the
living and true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, who is God.
He is God. No one knows God No one is saved
who doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is God. I don't mean just
the Son of God. I mean God. Equal with the Father. He thought
it not robbery to be equal to the Father. But he made himself
a little lower than the angels. Why? For the suffering of death.
God can't die. Well, God became a man. He took
a body. A body has to prepare me. For what? Death. This is salvation. No one knows
God. I don't care what they think
they know. If they don't believe that Jesus Christ is very God
of very God. There's another thing. All through
the Gospel of John, he says, barely, barely. And the other Gospels, barely.
John, twice, every time. That means truly, truly. Verse 1, in the beginning. Now,
stop. What is the first verse in the
Bible? In the beginning, what? Say it. God. In the beginning, God. The Word. That's Jesus Christ. Was with God. The Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. Verse 3. All things
were made by Him. Who? God. You say, right. God. No. He said, let us make man in our
own image. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. These three are one. Distinct
persons, yet one. You say, I don't understand.
I don't either. No one does. No one can. No preacher
can describe, explain that. It's true, and we believe it.
One in essence. One in power. One in glory. One in purpose. Father, Son,
Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is as much God as
God the Father. Holy Spirit is as much God as
God the Son. These three are one. And we believe
that. But the only God we will ever
see The only God we will ever really know, that is, in the
sense of being with Him. I'm speaking things too wonderful
for me, things I don't understand. But I love Him. The only one
we'll see is Jesus Christ. That's what Job said. This is
what people get confused. Brother Scott. Oh, I love that
dear man. Somebody one time said to him,
you're confusing us. He said, no, you were born confused.
That's what Daniel said. The confusion of faces belongs
to us, the righteousness of the Lord. We were born confused. We can't understand God. Can
a man by searching find out God? No. He can't do it. It's so far
above us. It's the heavens and the earth. The only God we will ever see
is Jesus Christ. And the scripture says, no man
has seen nor can see. But Job said, I'm going to see
God. Didn't he? Christ had Job right, Job 19. I'm going to see God with my
eyes. I'm going to see God. But Job, nobody ever had. I'm
going to. Who's he going to see? Jesus
Christ. You'll see a lamb as it had been slain. But He's a man, how can He be
a lamb? He is. I can't wait to see Him. In the
beginning was the Word. Why does He use the term Word? Why is He called the Word? Turn
with me to Matthew 11, real quickly, and then Revelation. Matthew
11. I should have just quoted it to you. But anyway, our Lord
said this. You know, I'd like for you to
turn and look at these so you'll remember where they are. You
know, a word is an expression of a person. You don't know anything
about that person unless they speak to you, do you? Otherwise,
you're just imagining something. All right? 1 Corinthians 2 said,
What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the
man revealeth. In other words, you don't know
what I'm thinking. You don't know my personality.
You don't know whether I love you or hate you. You don't know,
you know, if I tell you what I'm going to do. You don't know
what I'm going to do unless I tell you. Well, nobody knows God unless
God speaks to us. And God spoke. God, it's a hundred
times in diverse manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophet,
Hebrews 1, hath in these last days spoken unto us by a son,
by his son. And in John's gospel is where
John said, what a book, what a book. John the Baptist said,
this man has the words of God. What he speaks is the Word of
God. It's God's Word. Matthew 11, verse 27, Our Lord
said, All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no
man knoweth the Son, but neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. See, He's the Word. The Word
made flesh. The mind, the will, the person,
the personality, the purpose of God became flesh and dwelt
among us and told us, told us who God is. What God? He said,
I have come to reveal the Father. Well, you know, a man being confused,
one time Phillip said, well, show us the Father. He said,
in this book, You're looking at it. I don't understand. I don't either. But it's wonderful isn't it?
In the Revelation, I'll turn and quote this to you. In the
Revelation it talks about him, chapter 3, having a name which
no man knoweth save he who receives it. In another verse it says he's
magnified his word above all his name. And then in Revelation
19, it says he has on his, he had a name written, no man knew,
but he himself. And the next verse says, what's
his name? His name is the Word of God. He said, he said, no
man knows God apart from the Word. No man knows God apart
from the Word being preached. Preach. That's what the Lord
said. The foolish is a preacher, right?
That's what the Word says. What's the Word say? You know. Who God is from the Word. Who God is from Christ the Word.
And John, here's, listen to this. John said this. The same John
that wrote the Gospel said, that which was from the beginning,
which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've
looked upon, our hands have handled, the Word of Life. And he went on to say, and we
know that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true, and we're in Him that is
true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
he said, this is the true God and eternal life. What is, John? Jesus Christ. How do you know? The Word. The Word. Can't be known otherwise. In the beginning was the Word,
verse 1, and the Word was with God. Well, you see there, He
was with God. He wasn't God. Oh no, it says the Word was God.
Same was in the beginning with God. Don't you love Proverbs
8? Don't you love it? It's all about wisdom. It's all
about Christ, isn't it? You know it is. You know how
blessed we are. We see Christ. We see His face
everywhere in this beautiful tapestry, glory to glory, from
faith to faith. In Proverbs 8, it says, The Lord
possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works
of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, where ever earth was, no depths, no mountains,
Before the mountains, before the hills, I was brought forth. He prepared the heavens, I was
there. He said I was with Him, I was
by Him, I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.
That's where Christ was, with the Father, in the beginning.
And then it says he rejoiced in the habitable parts of the
earth. He said, my delights were with the sons of men. God the
Father, God the Son, the Spirit sent the Son. He always sends
the Son to earth whenever it's something to do with man, the
Son of man. The Son, the Word came and spoke
with. We know and we glory in that
Jesus Christ came at these times when Noah Who's going to tell
Noah how to build that ship? Jesus Christ did. I like to think
that he might have been working on it with him. You reckon? You
reckon? Except the Lord build a house,
it'd be a labor in vain. We know who shut the door on
Noah, don't we? We know who pitched the outside
of it. What about Abraham? The Lord came to him. Stopped
his hand up on Mount Moriah. Who was it? The Lord Jesus Christ.
Abraham, Abraham. Jacob. Who was that wrestling
with old Jacob? It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man wrestled with Jacob. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that, don't you? I do, too. Got a smile when I
think about that. That's the Lord, you see. Every
bodily manifestation of God was Jesus Christ. Everyone. In the beginning. Go on with
me. He says in verse 3, All things were made by Him, and without
Him was not anything made that was made. That means Jesus Christ
is the Creator, doesn't it? Doesn't it? Well, He has no hands but your
hands. Then you don't know God, do you?
Well, he's standing outside your door. Hold on, hold on. He said,
I am the door. You don't know Christ. You've
got a pigment of your imagination. You've got some weak Jesus. That's
another Jesus. The Jesus Christ of Scripture
made this planet. And He had His way with everything
in it when He came here. They all did His bidding. A dove
flew down on His shoulder. A fish jumped in His net. The
wind stopped blowing when he said so. The waves hushed like
a dog. Can't do anything unless you...
You can't do anything unless He lets you. Colossians 1 says, He's the image
of the invisible God. He says, By Him were all things
created that are in heaven and earth, visible, invisible. That
means He made the devil. Oh, that's black... Angels just didn't appear. God
made them. Who did? Jesus Christ made them. Why? He made Him according to His
purpose. He faced Him. He defeated Him. Things in heaven,
things on earth, invisible, visible, thrones, dominions, principalities,
powers, all things created by Him and for Him. He's the Creator. You create something, you own
it. To this end Christ both lived
and died and rose again that He might be Lord of the dead
and the living. He said all souls are mine. Who? Jesus Christ. To do with
as He pleases. According to His plan. Right.
Now here's the amazing thing. He pleased the Lord to make you
His people. You. Who, me? Yes, you. God. That's what Isaiah 43 says. Don't you love Isaiah 43? If
I had another book, it'd be Isaiah on that desert island. Isaiah
and the old John in the New. It says he's before all things,
by him all things consist, and he's the head. He's the head
of it all. of the body, and we're his church.
You can't separate the head from the body if you die. The body
can't do anything without the head, right? The body does everything
according to what the head dictates, right? Isn't that comfort? You're
a member of his body. All right, back to our text.
And I thought I was going to get through verse 14. I thought,
no way. I wasn't going to deal with the
Word, the life, the light, and the glory in one message. I can't wait for our Lord to
preach this, to preach all of this, because a half hadn't been
told. It says in verse 4, in him was
life. Man says things like this, ignorant
man. Foolish men. God's a big part
of my life. In Him we live and move and have
our being. In Him was life. Nothing lives
apart from Him. Part of our life? No, we're a
part of His. You see, anybody... I'm not... People are just ignorant. They're
blind. They're dead. They need to be given eternal
life. When God gives you life, He shows you He's not part of
your life. He is your life. Christ is our
life. God is our life. He gave us life,
He sustains our life, and He takes our life. He giveth us
eternal life. But, it says, in Him was life. Life. Life. He, listen to this. We'll turn there. 1 John. 1 John. Turn there. I want you to read
it with me. We've got a few more minutes,
okay? Life. Life. What is it to have life? 1 John 1. Life. Man is so ignorant about life.
He says of somebody that has a lot of stuff, oh, he's living
a good life. Don't have a clue. Our Lord talked
about true life, life more abundant. Verse 1, that which was from
the beginning, which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes,
which we've looked upon, our hands have handled the Word of
life. The life was manifested. We've seen it, bear witness,
showing you that eternal life that was with the Father was
manifested. Life, real life. Life, more abundant. Look at chapter 5. Chapter 5,
verse 11. And all I can do is declare these
things, that those who have life know what I'm speaking of. It
says in verse 11, John 5, verse 11, 1 John 5, 11, this is the
record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life
is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. I don't care what they have,
it's not life. Is it? In him was life, real life. Life that never ends, eternal
life. And the quality of it, spiritual life, that man doesn't
have until God gives it. And that life God gives, he never
takes it away. This life ends. So you see how foolish it is
to invest everything in this life? This life. He that hath the Son
hath life. He that knows the Son. And back
in our text, it says, In Him was life, and the life was the
light of men. The life was the light of men.
The light shineth in darkness. The darkness comprehended none.
The light of men. Verse 9, it says, He lights every
man that comes into the world. There's a big ball of Whatever
man says it's in it, he doesn't know. Anyway, burning in the
sky. It's always there. It never changes.
It never changes. And everything lives and moves
and has its meaning because of that light. Right? Nothing would live without that
light. The sun. Well, that's speaking of more
than the S-U-N. It's speaking of S-O-N, the Son. That's what Psalm 14 says. Psalm 19 says the heavens were
a place that He might inhabit and show forth His glory, the
Son of Righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came down on
His servant and veiled His deity in flesh. And one time, Peeled
it back and they saw lights. They saw God who dwelleth in
light. And he said, the life is the light of men. Listen,
listen, stay with me. All human beings walk and live
in the light that God made, the sunlight. Okay? If there's no
light, no life. Okay? No sun, no light. And if
there's any light, and often light is talked about as knowledge,
as understanding. He's given us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God. Any understanding, any knowledge,
anything that any human being has, Jesus Christ gave it to
them. You understand me? The light of all men. Whatever
knowledge anybody has, whatever understanding of any subject,
of anything, Jesus Christ gave it to them. Whatever wisdom,
whatever prudence, whatever ability, Jesus Christ gave it to him.
The light of all men. You understand? All right? God
did that. He gave knowledge and these things
for man to live, to do, and do these things. Why? Number one,
for his glory. Number two, for his gospel, for
his kingdom, for his people, everything, everything man does,
everything man knows is for the sake of God's glory and God's
kingdom, to bring in his people. Why did he create electricity?
Do we need electricity? Why did he create gasoline? Why
did he have man create gasoline? So we can get in cars and go
faster. Do we need to go faster? because of short work with the
Lord make on the earth. He's got people to save. You've
got to get there fast. You're going to have a missionary
go up into the mountains of Mexico in a vehicle with gasoline in
it. Somebody created gasoline. Why? So Walter Gruber would get
in a truck and go to preach to that one person to save him and
bring him into the kingdom. That's the whole purpose of gasoline.
Electricity. Just name it, whatever it is
that man does. Jesus Christ gave it to him for
his glory and for his kingdom. It all works together for the
furtherance of the gospel, for the bringing of every single
sheep. And as I said, you know, there's
been more progress, if you want to call it that, transportation
and technology and communication and all that in the last 50 years
than the previous 5,000. Why? Because the time is short. Do you understand what I'm saying?
The time is short. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. When the gospel is preached to
every creature, then it's coming. Oh, we've got to get there fast.
We've got to get this message out. So God had man create these
things. Whatever light anybody has about
anything, It's not for their glory. It's for God's glory. It's not for their use only. It's for the furtherance of His
gospel. All right, now the light, I want
to talk about it. And I need another eye. Don't
worry. The light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Spiritual light. Verse 5 says, The light shineth
in darkness. The darkness comprehended it
not. Now here's what I want you to glory in. Here's what I want
you to be comforted by. I want you to be amazed by. That
some people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. It's not that we see the light,
it's the light that saw us and shone on us. See, you don't just
wake up and see the light. It's always there. He awakens
you. The clouds don't hide the sun.
The sun's there. He sends a cloud to hide it.
Our Lord, He's always been there. He's always been our Savior. He's always been our Lord. He's
always been over us, providing for us in everything. Man's in
darkness, but we're not in darkness, even as others. Isaiah 8, I was
going to turn there, it says, Man turns to the earth and looks
for some light, looks for some understanding. Don't look down
for understanding. Don't look to one another. In
Exodus it says, right before the Lord took His people out
of Egypt, He said there was darkness over all the land such that it
could be felt. Isaiah 8, dimness and anguish
and darkness, trouble. And they looked to one another
and it says they can't find any light. Don't look to man. Don't look down. David said, I will lift up my
eyes to the hills. From whence cometh my help. Don't look down, it's dark. Don't
look in, it's dark. Look up. He's the light. Light. It's the first thing God created.
Genesis 1. The first thing. Let there be
darkness over the face of the waters. And God said, let there
be light, a great light to rule over this
dark place. And Isaiah and I say, some people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Kelly, it
says, upon them hath the light shined. One day, you and I, no
less than Saul of Tarsus, were on our road on our journey of
destruction, weren't we? One day, and God said, God said
to the Holy Spirit, send the gospel of that boy. And it says,
suddenly a light shone round about him, apprehended him, put
him down, blinded him that he might see. Do you understand? Do you? Do
you understand what I'm talking about? That you only see if you're
blind. If you're not blind, you still
have sin. Do you understand? That's in this book. John! Let's preach for about ten years
on the first five verses. It can be. It can be done. Light. The darkness comprehended it
not. And he went on in this same book
to say, here is condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. But everyone that doeth evil
hates the light. Doesn't come to the light. Their
deeds will be reproved. But he that doeth truth, he that
loveth truth, he that loveth the Son, cometh to the light. Like a moth to a flame. Why would a moth fly into the
flame, fly into their death? I know. I'm going to fly to my Lord who
is a consuming fire. I'm going to run to Him who smites
us to not be smitten. I'm going to hide myself in Him
who you cannot hide anywhere. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I'm going to go to the light that I may see the deeds that
are manifest that are wrought in God, that I belong to Him. Darkness comprehended it not.
So, the Word was made flesh, life was manifest, light And
I close with this verse. Brother John, I love this verse. God, who caused the light to
shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay, John, you come.