All right, let's go to John chapter
1, the book of the Gospel of John chapter 1. This is such an outstanding portion
of scripture and it is deep, it is rich, and yet it is simple. It's been blessed of the spirit
to the hearts of all multitudes down through the years. I notice in I've done some studying
for the message this evening that the old writers used to
refer to the Gospel of John as being the very holy of holies
of the New Testament. And one of the reasons is because
of chapter 17. It's the most unusual chapter. Maybe the most unusual chapter
in all of the scriptures. Because we are, well, privileged
to listen to the Lord Jesus speak to the Father. And He speaks
as our advocate. He speaks as our mediator. So the whole book is very rich. And we ask that God will bless
us as we work our way through it. As you know, the writer is
John. He's one of the sons of Thunder. James was his brother. They were
the sons of Zebedee. And I'm sure that you'll remember
that this man, John, he never referred to himself. by name,
but he referred to himself as that disciple whom Jesus loved. In fact, I think we could say
accurately John is the apostle of love. As you read both this book, and
then especially 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, And in the beginning
of the book of the revelation of the Lord Jesus, you see how
John mentions love lots of times. In fact, just in this book, just
in the gospel of John, the narrative of John, he uses the word love
about a hundred times. He is the apostle of love. Now
he loved the truth. He loved the gospel. He was unbending. And He was a Son of Thunder.
And He could be fiery. In fact, on one occasion, He
said to the Lord concerning some other preachers, He said, Lord,
do you want us to call down fire from heaven on them? He's the
Son of Thunder. He was courageous. He was brave. Nothing stood in His way. But
yet he was filled with love. He had love in his very soul
to the Lord. The Spirit of God had shed the
love of God abroad in his heart. He loved God. He loved the Lord
Jesus. He loved the Word of God. He
loved the Old Testament Scriptures, which is what he had to read
and to study. And he loved those to whom he
wrote. And those to whom he preached.
We know that later he preached in Ephesus. And undoubtedly preached
in a lot of different places. But that's where he pastored.
He was the apostle of love. He loved the gospel. He loved
the gospel of the Lord Jesus. He was bold in proclaiming it.
But you know, as I think about the way John sets forth this
book, by the inspiration of the Spirit, and you know I mean that
whenever I talk about the writings of John. You always know that
I understand and you understand every word that he wrote is the
word of God. It's given by the inspiration
of the Spirit of God. But as he wrote, He wrote from
a heart of love, but he never deviated from the truth. And
that's the way we've got to be. We must always set forth the
very truth of God's Word. We're not going to pare off the
sharp edges. We're not going to dull the sharp
edges of the sword. That's the very power of God
under salvation this gospel is. We don't compromise the gospel. We don't dull the edge. We preach
God as He is, and us as we are, and the Lord Jesus as the only
mediator between God and man. He's the man, Christ Jesus. We
don't deviate one iota from the truth, but as we preach the truth,
we do it in love. Because we love the Lord, we
love His Word, And we love those to whom we're speaking. That's
the kind of man John was. Now as we read, especially the
gospel narratives, we love to read and study Matthew, Mark,
and Luke. Those three gospel narratives
give us so much about our Lord's earthly story. They give us a
historical record of the life of Christ Jesus. Matthew and
Luke, they give us information about from the birth of our Lord
Jesus to his ascension. Mark begins with the baptism
of the Savior and then proceeds all the way to the ascension.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they tell us about his birth, What
little we know about his early life, we learn from Matthew and
Luke. From Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
we learn about his baptism. We learn about his temptation. We learn about his transfiguration,
upon the Mount of Transfiguration. We read about his extensive journeys
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We read of the agonies of the
Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We read of his
ascension into heaven itself in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But
it's interesting that John doesn't deal with any of those things.
All of those things I just mentioned, John doesn't write about any
of them. In fact, you might be interested
to know, and probably you know already, that in the book of
John you won't find any of the parables. No parables of the
Savior in the gospel of John. You see, John is not giving us
just a historical record. He is simply informing us that
God Almighty has entered into union with man. That's what John's
telling us. John's message is, Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ. He is the Son of God. John tells
us the mighty Creator has united Himself with flesh. And I think
two of the most powerful, and most delightful, and most glorious
verses read back to back are right here in John chapter 1,
and that's putting together verse 1 with verse 14. What glorious
verses to put together. Look at this. Look at verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, 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. And you read those two verses
together, and you got the theme of the book right there. This
Word of God, who is the ever-existent Word, that's the title of the
message, the ever-existent Word, this One who preceded creation,
this Eternal Word, was made flesh and dwelt among us. Who was Jesus
of Nazareth? He is the Eternal God. That's who He is, and that's
what John is telling us in this book. And the reason the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us was to save His people from
their sins. To save His people from death. To save His people from judgment. And I've already mentioned the
verse that we need to understand that is really sort of the key
that unlocks the door of the book of John. Go back over and
I'm going to read it again to you. John chapter 20 and verse
31. Right here is the key that unlocks
the door of the book. John chapter 20 verse 31. Memorize
it. Note it well. Now watch what
he says, but these are written. He's already said in that verse
30, he says, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these
are written, what we do have. These are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. that believing
ye might have life through His name. John writes to us to inform
us of the deity of Jesus of Nazareth, but it's also very, very abundantly
clear that he writes that we might believe, now watch this,
that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing
Him will have life in His name. So really, he's got a two-fold
purpose in writing this book. It's number one to tell us who
Jesus is. You've got to find out who Jesus
is. You've got preachers running
all around the world. Sunday night, I couldn't sleep.
And my dear wife made a mistake. Instead of giving me decaf coffee,
she gave me regular coffee, and I was wired. And so at midnight,
I'm trying to find something on television, the ball games
had all gone off, and I found a religious program, and I said,
well, maybe this will put me to sleep. It will bore me to
death. It will put me to sleep. Believe on Jesus. Believe on
Jesus. That's what they kept saying.
Believe on Jesus. Well, pray tell me who is Jesus. Until you identify who Jesus
is, how do you know you believe in the right one? I had somebody tell me not too
long ago, we were talking about Acts chapter 16 and verse 30
and 31, where the Philippian jailer brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And
this person that I was speaking with, he said, You see there,
all you got to do is believe on Jesus. And anybody throughout
the world who believes on Jesus is saved. I said, wait a minute.
It says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That identifies
him for who he is. He's the Lord of glory. He's
the sovereign. He's not a hell insurance policy. He's the Lord. He's the master. He's the sovereign. He's the
ruler. He's the king. He's the Lord
Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. He's the Savior. He didn't come to try to save.
He didn't come to put everybody in a savable position. He came
to save His people. His people given to Him in the
covenant of grace. He came to save His people from
their sins. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah. He is God.
He's the Anointed One. And this is what John tells us.
He says, I'm writing this book, led by the Spirit of God to write
it, in order to show you, number one, who Jesus is. He is the
Christ. He is the Son of the Living God. and all that that involves. And
in writing this, he says, number two, I write this, that you'll
believe him. That you'll believe him. Because
life's in His name. Salvation's in His name. Righteousness
is in His name. And we must believe Him as the
Spirit of God enables us, we must believe Him. You see, all
of the promises of God about salvation, forgiveness of sins,
and righteousness, and being accepted by the Father,
they're made to those who believe. They're made to those who believe. Which leads me to say this. I
think actually John is the most evangelistic of the apostles. He is the most evangelistic of
the apostles. I was looking today at this word
believe. And the various forms of belief,
believe, believing, believeth. This is what I found. Matthew mentions believing 10
times. Mark mentions believing 17 times. Luke mentions believing 11 times. But this man, John, he mentions
believing 100 times. He mentions believing 100 times. You see, the things that are
written in John's narrative, in the Gospel of John, they're
not written to satisfy our curiosity. They're not written to merely
inform us of certain truths. They're not written to give us
a historical account of the life of Jesus. They are written that
we might believe that He is the very Christ of God, that He is
the Messiah, that He is the God of glory, and we have this assurance,
all who believe Him as He's revealed in this book, they have life. And all who do not believe him,
they don't have life. And it's noteworthy in his first
epistle, John, the same man, is led of the Spirit to say this
in 1 John 5 verse 13, These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of
the Son of God. Make sure you understand what
I'm saying. There is no gospel promise of
everlasting life, or forgiveness of sins, or righteousness, or
salvation. There's no gospel promise of
those things made to anybody who doesn't believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. You cannot say these promises
of God are for you unless you believe Him as He's revealed
in the book of God. There is no gospel promise made
to anyone who doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Go
back to John chapter 3. Let me show you this. John chapter
3. John 3, 16. Here's the reason
for the gospel. The love of God. For God so loved
the world, the world of His elect. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him,
that means believe and keeps on believing. You see, faith
is not an isolated act. You used to hear people talk
about, well, I made my way down to the front, I made my decision,
I believed on Jesus, and now I get on with my life. Like,
that's all in the past. Faith is not in the past. Faith is right now. It's right
now. We're still coming to Christ.
We're still believing Christ. We're still adhering to Christ. We're still clinging to Christ.
We're still hugging up to the Savior. It's ongoing, isn't it? That's why Job says the righteous
shall hold on their way. Let's keep on holding on to Christ
Jesus. Those who believe on Him, those
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Look at verse 17. For God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. Oh, what a promise. He that believeth
on Him is not condemned. Do you believe on Him? And I
know people struggle with this matter of assurance. They say,
Preacher, I'm afraid I lack assurance. Having a lack of assurance is
sin. Because it's a failure to believe
the Word of God. Do you understand that? And a lot of people, they say
that, you know, it makes them seem more humble or something.
You know, I just don't have any assurance. Oh, preacher, my faith
is so weak and I'm such a sinful person. Well, you are a sinful
person. There's no question about that.
And your faith is weak. But is your faith in the right
object? If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, God Almighty says you are not going to be condemned.
That's what God says. You can take that, I started
to say you can take it to the bank, but you can take that all
the way to glory. You can take that all the way to the throne
of God. Because this is His Word. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. Well, why is that? Is our non-condemnation,
is that all tied in with our believing? The non-condemnation
was taken care of by the Lord Jesus at the cross. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
He was condemned, we won't ever be condemned. The Lord Jesus endured the wrath
of God. We'll never have to endure the
wrath of God. That is, those who believe. You see, all these great promises
of God, they're qualified, there's a qualification for it, those
who believe. And that's why it then says,
but he that believeth not is condemned already. Because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Belief. Look at John 5 and 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
he hath right now everlasting life. Do you believe God? Do
you believe God's Word? All that He has to say about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you've already got everlasting
life. You already got it. You'll never
come into condemnation, He says it again, but you're passed from
death unto life. In other words, your believing
is the evidence that you've passed from death unto life. It's not
the reason you've passed from death unto life. It's not the
reason. Your believing is not the reason
you pass from death unto life. The reason you pass from death
unto life is because you've been quickened by the Spirit of God
using the Word of the Gospel. The result of it is believing. Believing. All these promises of God of
life and safety They're made to those who believe Christ. And faith in the Son of God is
a lifelong persuasion. It's the evidence of the new
birth. And in this book, John just keeps on mentioning believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. So he writes then to show us
the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, and he writes so that we'll believe on him.
There is no believing, you see, apart from the word of God, apart
from the gospel of God's grace. Go back to chapter one. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was in the beginning. That is, when the beginning began,
the Word was there to begin it. And I think there are three things
here to set forth, or that set forth, the deity of our Lord
Jesus. And the first one is this, His
pre-existence. His pre-existence. In the beginning was the Word. When the beginning started, He
was already there. That shows He pre-existed, or
He existed before the beginning. Before time ever started, He
was there. That is the pre-existence of
the Word. Secondly, watch this, the next
phrase, and the word was with God. Here is his co-existence
with God. First of all, he has pre-existence. He preceded the beginning. When
the beginning began, he was already there. So he didn't begin at
the beginning. He was the beginner of the beginning. Right? And then secondly, we
see his coexistence with God. The Word was with God. We said
last week that means a couple of things. It means he was face-to-face
with God as an equal. Because he is equal. The Son
is equal with the Father. The Father is equal with the
Spirit. The Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. The Lord said to Moses, no man
can see My face and live. Do you know what the Son of God
said? Look at chapter 1 and verse 18 here of John. No man hath
seen God at any time. This is what John writes. The
only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him. He's told Him out. That's why
He's called the Word. He's the Word. The Word is a
vehicle of thought. So the Son of God is the eternal
Word who tells out God. He manifests God. He reveals
God to us. Because you see, the essence
of God is invisible and not to be seen with the eyes of man. But thankfully, the Son of God
has declared Him. He's face to face with the Father. And then secondly, we said this
last week, the Word was with God, that is, in union with God,
in agreement with God. In creation, in providence, and
in salvation, there's always been perfect agreement within
the Trinity. Never has there been any disunity
of the Trinity. There is one God, Father, Son,
and Spirit, and that which they agreed to do, they agreed to
do in unity. Their purpose is one. Their decrees
are united. There's never been a disagreement
within the Trinity. That which the Father determined
to do, the Son did as well, and the Spirit did also. And in salvation there's a blessed
unity. Those whom the Father chose unto
salvation, the Son of God redeemed, and the Spirit of God will quicken
by using the gospel word. And note this, that redemption
by the blood is no wider than the election of the Father. They're
all the same size. They all apply to the exact same
people. It's absolutely foolish. I read
a writer not too long ago and he talked about the Father's
electing grace, and then he talked about universal redemption, that
Jesus died for all men. No, redemption isn't any wider
than election. Whoever was elected, that's who
was redeemed. And whoever was elected and redeemed,
those are the ones who will be called. There's always a consistency
and a unity within the Trinity. He was with God. The Word was
with God. He's one with God, in agreement
with God the Father. Then watch this thirdly, the
Word was God. Here's the third thing, His self-existence
with God. We have His pre-existence. We
have His co-existence, and then we have His self-existence. Because
it says here, and the Word was God. He was God Himself. He wasn't
made to be God. He was made to be flesh. Right? He was made to be flesh. That's
verse 14. But He wasn't made to be God.
He's the self-existent God. He's always God. He's the eternal
God. He wasn't appointed to be God
as though that were an office. He is really and properly God
in the highest sense of the word. The names of God belong to Him. He's called Jehovah. God, our
God, God with us, the mighty God, God over all, blessed forever,
the great God, the living God. He's called all of those things.
The perfections of God belong to Him and all the fullness of
the Godhead dwells bodily in Him. He is therefore independent,
and eternal, and immutable, and omnipresent, and omniscient,
and omnipotent. All the works of creation were
done by Him. All of the work of redemption
was done by Him. All of the great work of providence. Every day, who's carrying out
all of the purposes of God? The Word is. The Word is. In the second verse, we have
a repetition. The same was in the beginning
with God. He was in the beginning with
God. Note he has a distinct personality. He was in the beginning with
God. In verse 3, we see evidence of
His Godhead, of His deity. He's the Creator. All things
were made by Him. That's a positive statement.
Here's a negative statement. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. All things came from Him. This
One who is the ever-existent Word. And if He made all things, that
means He preceded creation. It means He is the Creator Himself. He's not a created one. Notice
verse 4. In Him was life. Or literally,
in Him life existed. He didn't get life from somewhere
else. You see, you and me, we get life
from somewhere else. But he didn't get life from somewhere
else. In him was life. In him life existed. He is life. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I am the life, he says. He is
the origin of all life. All life exists in him originally
and essentially. No wonder John says in 1 John
chapter 1 verse 1, He's the Word of Life. In Him was life. All natural
life comes from Him. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul
said on Mars Hill? He said, In Him we live and move
and have our being. So all natural life comes from
Him. All spiritual life comes from
Him. Because the Son quickeneth whom
He will. He said to Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. When the voice of the Word sends
forth the Gospel to a heart of a spiritually dead sinner, the
dead hear the voice of the Son of God and live. Just as Lazarus
was spoken to by the voice of Him who is life. He said, Lazarus,
come forth. He called His own sheep by name. Somebody said, you've heard it
before, if He hadn't called Lazarus by name, everybody in the cemetery
would have come forth. Well, maybe so. But I know this,
He called His sheep by name. The Son quickeneth whom He will. It's the Son who gives us life. It's the Son who gives us faith.
The faith to believe Him. Listen to this verse in Romans
10, 17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. You say, well, that's the written
word. Well, that is the written word because He preceded that
by talking about those who preach the gospel. How shall they preach
except they be sent? But look at it another way. Who
is it that gives faith? Who is it that gives the hearing
ear? The Word of God. That is, the incarnate Word of
God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Hearing through the Word of God.
We hear this Word by means of Him who is the everlasting Word,
speaking to us in life-giving power, raising the dead. He enables
us to hear. He is the Word of God. The living
Word. The Word who gives us life. Life's in Him. Natural life,
spiritual life, eternal life. What is eternal life? Well, strictly
speaking, according to the Savior's words in John chapter 17, He
said, this is life eternal that they might know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So, here's what
eternal life is. It's to know God. To know God. He gives us eternal life. He
enables us to know God. He gives us everlasting life,
a life which will never end. He gives us resurrection life.
This body is going to die. He's going to give us resurrection
life. That's when mortals shall put on immortality, and corruption
shall put on incorruption. Who's going to do that? This
One who is life. So all life comes from Him. And
watch this, and the life was the light of men. He gives natural
understanding, and He has to give spiritual understanding.
The natural light of discernment and knowledge. He has to give
it. And he doesn't give it to all
men alike. That's why everybody has different
IQ. You got a different IQ than what I got. We all don't have
the same gifts. We don't have the same degree
of knowledge. We don't have the same ability
to remember the knowledge that comes our way. He gives us light, natural light,
as pleases Him. Well, you know yourself, several
of you are schoolteachers, or you were schoolteachers. You
know, there are students you talk to, some of them have an
aptitude for science, some for math, some for English, some
for a foreign language. You have different abilities.
God has given to us different degrees of light of natural understanding. And whatever knowledge you have,
whatever understanding you've got, know this, God gave it to
you. You wouldn't be able to know
anything were it not for the light that God put in you, the
natural light. But then spiritual light, spiritual
light, He has to give spiritual light. I mean, we're in darkness. We're in heathen darkness. We're
in spiritual darkness. Which is ignorance, error, and
sin. Who gives understanding? He does. The one who's the life. And then
he says this in verse 5. The light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. I'll give you this and I'll quit.
There are two ways to look at this. Here's the evidence of
man's depravity. That one who is the light, he
has entered into this old dark world. He has come into a darkened
world, but the darkness comprehended it not. Men did not perceive
who he was nor why he came. And men today, they still don't
perceive or understand who He is or why He came. They're very much in the dark.
The light shines in the dark. Men don't comprehend it. They
didn't understand Him to be the light. That's why we read in
John chapter 3 and verse 19, men loved darkness rather than
light. And he said himself, I am the
light of the world. The natural man is in the dark.
He doesn't appreciate the light. You see, no one appreciates the
light, but someone who sees the light. That's who appreciates
the light. And then let me give you this,
that word comprehended. is an old English word that really
would be better translated, overtake. The darkness overtook or it overtook
it not. The darkness, in other words,
won't overtake the light. I think that's really the true
meaning of the verse. The light shines in darkness
and the darkness will not overtake it. Rest assured, darkness will
not get the victory. It can't. Because darkness cannot
overtake Christ who is the light. You know what happens in regeneration?
Simply this. Light overtakes darkness. You know what happens in regeneration?
Light overtakes darkness. Well, who is the light? The Word
is. The ever-existent Word, He is
the light. And what happens? He shines in
our heart. And when the light shines in
the heart, guess what happens to darkness? It's gone. It's gone. And concerning the things of
God, you're not in the dark anymore, are you? You're not in the dark. Preacher, I understand the gospel.
I understand how God can be just and justify the ungodly. I understand
why Jesus Christ came and I rejoice in Him, whom to know is life
everlasting. Well, what has happened to me,
preacher? The light has shined and the
darkness has vanished. And all things are light to the
people of God because of Him who is the light. The light has
overcome the darkness. Darkness doesn't ever overcome
the light. And if you've been brought into
the light of the gospel, darkness will never overtake it. Don't
ever worry, well, will I keep this salvation? Darkness will
never overtake the light. That's an impossibility. Because
He who is the light is your light. your light, shining in your heart,
revealing the glory of God in His own precious face. Amen. Alright, let's sing a closing
song.