that which ye have heard from
the beginning shall remain in you, ye shall also continue in
the Son and in the Father. So God's people will keep believing. They'll keep trusting on Christ.
They'll keep trusting Him again and again and again, no matter
what we go through in life, no matter what comes. Let that therefore
abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning, and if that
which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you,
ye shall also continue in the Son and in the Father. And this
is the promise that he had promised us, even eternal life. And we
know where eternal life is, it's only in Christ. It's nowhere
else. These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which
you have received, you're born again in the Holy Spirit of God,
of him that abideth in you. And you need not that any man
teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and
is truth. and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. So the believer is taught
by the Holy Spirit of God. Now I get up and preach and proclaim
the gospel, but I'm proclaiming what I've been taught in my study,
and I'm proclaiming it to you and to whoever will listen. That's
the truth. Now the Holy Spirit is the one
who teaches us. He's the one who guides us, what? Into all
truth. Whose truth? The Lord Jesus Christ and salvation
in him and in him alone, and in him alone. So we know again
that any false teaching is antichrist. Pink believes that due to the
fact that John is emphasizing the deity of Christ back in verse one of this book, due
to the fact that he's doing that, he's bringing out the deity of
Christ, and we see that he brings out the deity and the humanity
of Christ, that those spoken of here in John 2.19 may have
been those who professed Christ, but proved again they were not
of him. They were now Gnostics, who, as Pink said, taught that
Christ's body was but a phantasm, a mere temporary appearance for
the benefit of the world. And we'll look at that later
on. There was two sets of Gnostics that were attacking the people
that John was writing to, the believers that John was writing
to. And we'll look at that later on. Now, we'll be moving slowly
through this book. There's so much here before us.
In the first chapter alone, And now we know also that the author
of this epistle was John, the son of Zebedee, the one who survived
all the other apostles. And again, this book was written
to Christian believers. It's written to Christians, those
who are trusting and resting in Christ alone. It's written
to encourage us. It's written to encourage us
in our assurance of salvation in Christ and Him alone. It sets
forth the gospel of God's grace in Christ alone. And we will
see that as we go through this book. It sets that forth continuously. It's written again to encourage
fellowship one with another. The scripture proclaims, how
can two walk together except they be agreed? You can't walk
with someone if you don't agree with them, right? And so this
is This is also written to encourage fellowship one with another.
We must guard the fellowship that we have here, beloved. We
must guard it because the enemy of our souls will seek to destroy
our fellowship. They'll seek to destroy the unity
that we have here. And we need to be on guard, beloved. We need to treasure the fellowship
that we have one with another because we know that our fellowship
is in Christ and Christ alone. Look at what's proclaimed in
this first chapter. Look at verse 3 of 1 John 1. Look at verse 3. That which we
have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have
fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Also look at verses
6 and 7. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, what? We
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanses us from all sin. So let us remember again. Who is writing this epistle?
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 13. Let us remember again who's
writing this epistle. It's the Apostle John, the one
who's spoken of in the Gospel of John as lying on the breast
of Christ. And the Lord is talking about
the fact that one of his disciples should betray him. Look in John
chapter 13, verse 24 and 25. Simon Peter therefore beckoned
to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then, lying on Jesus' breast,
saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Now, I want to bring forth
what Brother Henry Mahan says on this verse. I thought it was
very instructional about John lying on the bosom of Christ.
He said, to understand this leaning on Jesus' bosom, one must understand
the posture the Jews used at meals. John was not sitting in
a in a chair leaning over on Christ, which would have been
too intimate and very uncomfortable. The Jews reclined at meals. They
reclined at meals. And John was nearest to Christ,
reclining on his side next to the Savior. John, and he leaned
on the Lord and asked him, Lord, who is it? Who is it? Now, John
never refers to himself by name in his books that he writes.
And let's turn to John 19, we're gonna look at that. We'll look
at John 19, 20, and 21. Little portions here where we
see that John does not refer to himself by name, but uses
the statement as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Whenever you
read that in the book of John, that's John, that's John who
wrote the book, but he never brings attention to himself.
He simply says, he simply says, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Look at John 19 verse 26. When
Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by
whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman behold thy
son. So that's speaking again of John the apostle. Now look
over in chapter 20 in verse 2. Then she runneth and cometh to
Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. Again,
that's John. And saith unto them, they have
taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where
they have laid him. Now turn to chapter 21. In verses 7 or verse 7 and in verse
20. Verse 7, therefore that disciple
whom Jesus loved, saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now when
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fish's
coat unto him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the
sea. Again, you see, therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved. Again, it's John. Then look at
verse 20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned
up on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that
betrayeth thee? So let us always remember that
Christ, the Son of God, in surety of his people, loves all of his
elect alike. Let us never forget that. He
doesn't love one more than another. But we see here brought forth
that as a man, he had a particular affection for John, several commentators
brought that out, and admitted him near his person and more
in his confidence. David is said to be a man after
God's own heart in this very same manner. in the very same
manner as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Peter beckoned to John,
we saw that in the text, Peter beckoned to John, who was so
close to Christ in fellowship and position that he should ask
the Lord of whom he spake. And John accordingly said, Lord,
who is it? Lord, who is it? And notice he
called him Lord in that text too. He called him Lord. And John asked, Lord, who is
it? Knowing that it is within every believer to be the one
who betrays the Lord, even within himself. He knows that. He knows that. We're all sinners,
beloved. And we're all capable of all
manner of sin, even after we're saved. But oh, how wonderful
is the grace of God in Christ to show sinners what we are.
and to lead us to Christ, to regenerate us, born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. And then we trust in Christ.
We're still sinners, aren't we? But we're safe sinners. We're
safe sinners. And we know we have found full
forgiveness in and through Christ alone, and the shedding of his
blood for the remission of his sins. I remember one preacher,
I heard one preacher, and I had never heard this in religion,
and I heard one preacher say, One grace preacher said this
one time, he said, the only difference between me and people in prison
is the grace of God. My, what a statement, eh? When
we know who we are, we can make that statement, can't we? Oh
my, just the grace of God, just the grace of God. So with that
in our minds, let's go back to our text in 1 John, and let us
consider this first wonderful verse in this epistle. This is
an absolute wonderful verse. And remember, John's writing
to Christians in general. And what does Paul do in 1 Corinthians
1? I've said it many times. He just
takes and points them to Christ. That's all he does, right off
the bat. Just get their minds focused on Christ. With that
in mind, let's look at this verse. Look at this. 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." Notice that. 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 remember who's writing this.
It's John the Apostle. It's John the Apostle. He's gonna
bring forth here in a masterful way, of course, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God, just who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
In this first verse alone, we see the eternality of Christ,
who he is in eternity. We see the incarnation of the
word, and we see the deity of Christ brought forth, all in
this one verse, all in this one verse. The Lord Jesus Christ
is brought before us, beloved, in a most glorious way. A most
glorious way. Right away, John brings before
us the glories of our Lord. Right away, no hesitation. Right away brings before us the
glories of the Lord. We see this in this first verse,
that the word of God who was in eternity became flesh. And he was heard and he was seen,
beloved, by the apostles. The very one they have looked
upon. The very one whom Christ laid
his head upon. He who is called the Word of
Life. The Word of Life. Why is he called
that? Because all life comes from him.
All life comes from him. Be it visible or invisible, all
things were made by him and for him, and beloved by him, all
things consist. He, we will see, is also life
for his people, because we have eternal life only through Christ. Nowhere else, nowhere else is
eternal life found. So let's break down this verse
and pray that the Holy Spirit of God will illuminate it for
us and that we might learn about our blessed Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. It starts, that which was from
the beginning. John the Apostle, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God, brings forth, beloved, the glories of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The glories of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We know that he's called the Holy One in Scripture. the
Holy One, and that we also know that He is the sum and the substance
of this whole book. Christ, it's all about Him. I like when people say it's a
hymn book, H-I-M, it's a hymn book. It's all about Christ from
beginning to end. So He's the sum and the substance
of all revelation. And He is God incarnate in the
flesh. That which was from the beginning
refers to the deity and eternality of Christ. He existed from the
beginning. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
one. Again, we'll look at the gospel,
or be referring to that, the gospel that this apostle wrote. And we look at that in verses
one and two, we see this proclaimed by John, the same thing proclaimed
by John in the gospel of John. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There's no
wiggle room there. The Jehovah Witnesses, a false
teacher, say they put a, ah, God. No, the scriptures declare
he's the locus, he's God, he's God. 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. So the apostle John is writing
of he who has been from the beginning, from eternity, the word equal
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who appeared in human
nature for the salvation of sinners. He being the perfect, spotless
Lamb of God, It was he who was a great subject of which the
apostle wrote to his brethren. Look in John chapter 10. Beloved
Jesus Christ is God and the scriptures declare him to be God. They declare
him to be God. He declared himself to be God.
Look at this in John chapter 10, verses 30 to 33. I and my Father are one. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He's declaring
what John wrote. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. Jesus answered, many good works
have I showed you from my Father. For which of these works do you
stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For good work we stone
thee, not but for blasphemy, because thou, being a man, maketh
thyself God. Little did they know he was God
incarnate in the flesh. Now turn, if you would, to Acts
chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. We'll look at
verse 28. Verse 28. Scriptures declare
that Christ is God. Look at this. Take heed therefore,
verse 28, unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. To what? To feed the church of
God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. The scriptures
right there declare that God himself has purchased the church. And God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is God incarnate in the flesh. Now turn, if you would, to 2
Corinthians chapter 5, verse 19. And then we'll go to Hebrews
chapter one. Hebrews chapter one. Look at this. To wit that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation." How is a man reconciled with God? Only through
Christ, the God-man. It says right there, it says
right there, to wit, that God was in Christ. He's God incarnate
in the flesh, beloved. And this is what the scriptures
declare. Reconcile in the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation. Now turn to Hebrews chapter one.
Hebrews chapter one, look at verse eight. Look at this. Now
this is so clear here. Not that the other verses were
so clear too, but look at this. Look at this in Hebrews chapter
one, verse eight. But unto the Son, he saith, thy throne, O
God, is forever. There it is. He's God, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
incarnated in the flesh. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Our Lord rules in righteousness.
He's the righteous one. He's the righteous one, beloved.
And this is the one whom John is writing to the brethren about.
Now let's go back to our text and we'll look at the next part
of the verse. It says, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and
our hands have handled. 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 John in this Same verse is
going to bring forth the incarnation right here of the Word of God,
of the Word of God. God himself in the fullness of
a time appeared in human flesh. That's what John's bringing forth
here, beloved. That's what he's bringing forth. Now remember
who's writing this. Remember who's writing this.
This is the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is the disciple whom
Jesus loved. This is the apostle John who
walked with Christ, who talked with Christ, who laid his head upon him. Beloved,
John had an eyewitness report. An eyewitness report. When you
read a book or an article by someone, I often like to read
books on World War II and history books. And when you read an article
by someone who's given you an eyewitness account, it always
comes across in a different way. So if you're reading a book written
by someone who was actually there, oh, it comes across in a whole
different manner than whether it's just a historian writing
about it. I've often found that when I'm talking to veterans
and talking to different people who actually have experienced
things. And when you talk to them who have experienced these
things, It is so much different than sometimes what's been written.
Because a history won't just give you facts. But the people
who were there are eyewitnesses. Are eyewitnesses. So here, the
Apostle John has given us an eyewitness account of who Christ
is. Remember the Gospel of John? It's written by the same Apostle
that the Word of God became flesh. The first chapter of John, the
scriptures declare this, and the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. They saw it. Now remember when
John writes, and we beheld his glory, he was one of the three
on the Mount of Transfiguration too. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. So when John's writing
this, you're not just getting some historic accounts. When
he says, which we have heard, he heard him. Which we have seen with our eyes,
he looked upon him, beloved. Which we have looked upon and
our hands have handled, he laid his head upon his breast. We're getting an eyewitness account.
John is writing about the most glorious one, the Word of God. The one who was God before the
world was. And the one who always is and
always has been God. The fact that he became incarnate
in the fullness of time, that he became a man. And John lived
in the days of Christ's incarnation. And he had the honor and the
privilege to see Christ. to see the Messiah with his eyes. Now we look by faith, don't we?
But he saw him. Now he looks by faith too, he
did. He did while he was on earth, but he actually saw him. He saw
him like we see one another. That's who's writing this. That's
who's writing this book. He was favored to have communion
with him, beloved. He was favored to see him and
to hear him and to lay his head upon him. And this was grace and glory
inexpressible. Look at how our verse continues,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled. Again, John
brings forth these various terms of hearing, seeing, looking,
handling. They're designed to express the
reality, beloved, of the Lord's incarnation. They're used to
to express the reality of the Lord's incarnation, the fact
that He had a real body, that He was a man. We know He's the
God-man, but that He was a man, fully God and yet fully human. And these are the terms that
He's using. We heard Him, we saw Him, we looked upon Him,
we handled Him. Again, they're designed to express the reality
of the Lord's incarnation. Fully God and yet fully man.
So John brings forth the deity of Christ at the beginning of
this verse, and now he's bringing forth the humanity of Christ.
All in the same verse, beloved. It's magnificent. It's absolutely
magnificent. He was made in all things like
unto his brethren, yet without sin. He is bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh, and he obeyed the law of God as a man, As the God-man, he obeyed the
law of God perfectly. For us. For us. He did that for us, which we
could never do. Which we could never do. Now think of the relation of
Christ to time. In the beginning, He's the Eternal
One. He's the Word of God. Think of his relation to the
Godhead. He was the one who was with God and the one who was
God. The second person of the Trinity. Think of the relation
of Christ to the universe. All things were made by him. He's God. He's the creator. And
think of the relation of Christ to men. He's the life, he's the
giver of life to all men. He gives us breath to breathe,
doesn't he? And he supplies us with things. But then think of
his relation to his blood-bought people, to the people that he
purchased on Calvary's cross. He became a man and bled and
died for them on Calvary's cross. He suffered for them. All the
punishment that was due them, all the punishment that was supposed
to be poured out upon us, was poured out upon him. The sinless
sacrifice, dying for sinners, the Lamb of God, the just one
dying for the unjust. And again, let us always remember
that reconciliation, fellowship with God for the believer only
comes through Christ and Christ alone. The only way we are reconciled
to God is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why
we always say, you take Christ away from us, we have nothing.
Absolutely nothing. And salvation must be in Him
and Him alone. He's God. Only God could redeem my soul.
And God becomes a man and purchases my eternal soul on Calvary's
cross with his precious blood. And every believer says, this
is magnificent. This is wondrous that God would
do that for me. Did he do that for me? Oh my.
So again, John writes of him. He saw him and heard him and
looked upon him and touched him. Now think of this, too. Now this
is where we're going to get into what he's combating also right
away. Right away. He's combating an error in the
church at this time. There were Gnostics who had risen
up. Weiss brings forth that there
were two groups during this time, and Pink thinks that those are
the ones that we read of in 1 John 2. Pink thinks that those are
the ones who were of them and then who left because they were
never really of the believers. They were never born again. But
there was two groups during this time, I found out. Both groups
had their own private opinions regarding the person of the Lord.
The Docetric Gnostics, they denied his actual humanity. They argued
that our Lord had only a seeming body, not a real physical body.
These are the ones Pink mentioned in the quote earlier, like a
phantom. People actually believed that. My. the deception that happens. And then the Corinthian Gnostics
distinguish themselves between the man and the Aeon of Christ
that came on him at his baptism. They say it came upon him at
his baptism and left on the cross. And the one who started this
error supposed that Jesus had not been begotten by a virgin,
but that he had been born of Joseph and Mary. So they denied
the virgin birth of Christ. And that as a son in all like
manner to all the rest of men, he became more righteous and
prudent and wise. That's what this guy believes. And then he believed that after
the baptism that Christ descended into him. So he believes he was
just a normal man and that Christ actually came down and ascended
into him. This is what people believed back then. And that
he descended and then he ascended before Christ died on Calvary's
cross. It is just utter foolishness. So do you see what John's combating? He's combating that error right
away. And he's saying Christ is God. He was God in eternity. He's God when he's here on this
earth. And he speaks of the incarnation
again, the humanity to battle those Gnostic errors. And he's
God right now as the mediator of his people. So he's directly
combating error, just like Paul does. If you read Paul's epistles
with the idea that Paul is constantly battling works-based salvation,
you'll see it all through there. They exalt Christ. They exalt
the work of Christ in Christ alone. And that's what every
gospel preacher is to do. We are to proclaim that salvation
is of the Lord, period. Nothing now. Nothing we do. We're
simply receivers of this mercy and grace, beloved. Receivers
of this. So both those views of Gnosticism
were a direct attack upon the deity and humanity of Christ. They were a direct attack upon
the sinlessness of Christ. So John is here bringing forth
the truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And remember again,
he's giving us an eyewitness account, beloved. An eyewitness
account. He's bringing here before us
the fact, first of all He's done the fact of Christ is God in
eternity. Now He's brought forth the fact
of the humanity of Christ, that He's God incarnate in the flesh. And remember that John speaks
with confidence and delight. of Christ's gracious familiarity
with His people, and having allowed them to hear and to see Him,
and to look upon Him, and that their hands have handled this
Word of Life." What a privilege it was for Him. What a privilege. Now let's consider what we see
at the latter part of this verse. And we'll read verses 1 and 2
together. The fact that He is the Word
of Life. The Word of Life. 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. Look at verse two, for the life
was manifested. Manifested. And again, and we
have seen it. John saw him. The word was manifested. The word of life was manifested. Who's the Word of Life? Christ.
Christ. He's the Word of God. The Word
of Life was manifested, it says here, for the life was manifested.
And we have seen it and bear witness. They bear witness to
Him. Just like every believer bears
witness to Christ. Oh, He's my Savior. He's my Lord. Look at this, "...and show unto
you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifest
unto us." Eternal life only comes Christ. Nowhere else. It only comes through Christ.
The word of life was manifested, beloved. He's called that because
he has life in himself. He's the author of all life,
beloved. Physical and spiritual. He's
the author of all life. All life. He's the one who came
to restore spiritual life to his people. Why? Because we fell
in Adam. We're physically alive in our
natural state, but we're spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. And he restores. He restores
those who are born dead in trespasses and sins, those who have no hope.
They're regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, beloved. Regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God. restores spiritual life to his
people. Note in the latter part of verse
one, Christ is identified as the word of life. Then John brings forth the fact
in verse two that this life was manifested. And how does he know
about that? Because he's seen it. and he
heard him and he looked upon him. Again, we're getting an
eyewitness account, beloved, an eyewitness account. And John
adds that the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
to us. These words here are so full
of the purpose of God. Think of this, the purpose of
God, which is in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. God purposed
to save his people. And He purposed to save those
people in eternity. So these words are so full of
the purpose of God in Christ. And to show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. God's people have revealed by
the Holy Spirit who Christ is. We have revealed to ourselves
who we are and who He is, don't we? And we have manifested to
us that eternal life is only in Christ. The forgiveness of
all our sins is only in Christ and Christ alone. We have that
manifested to us because we don't know in our natural state. We
don't know that. There's none that seek it after
God. There's none that understand it. No one knows unless God reveals
it. And when God reveals it, oh my,
then we can't be quiet about it, can we? We can't be quiet
about it. Oh my, oh my. So eternal life, which was with
the Father, was manifested to His people. Who but the Eternal
God can give eternal life? You ever thought of that? Who
but the Eternal God could give eternal life? No one else can
give eternal life, can they? But the Eternal God can. The
Eternal God can. And who can that life come through? To the people of God, but through
the Word of God. So it can only come to us through
God. It can only come to us from God,
and it can only come to us through God. There's no other way. And then
God must do a work in us. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Just to sum it up, salvations of the Lord from
beginning to end, and the planning and purpose of it all, and the
execution of it all. Oh, it's all God. It's all Him. And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. The Word of God. And John says,
I saw Him. And I heard Him. And I looked
upon Him. My. He brings forth a similar statement
about the Son of God becoming incarnate. And the apostles who
were eyewitnesses to it, turn if you would to John chapter
1 verse 14. John chapter 1 verse 14, John
brings forth that the word of God, the son of God became incarnate. And the apostle who was an eyewitness
to this fact in having heard Christ and seen Christ now bears
witness of him. having been taught of God who
Christ is. Look at this, for the word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. The word was made flesh. This
speaks of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
remember at the beginning of this chapter, it says in the
beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word
was God. Now he's saying in the word became
flesh. Remember John said, I seen him,
I heard him, I looked upon him. So what John's writing, again,
he's combating that Gnostic error, right? Both those Gnostic errors
we looked at. He's combating both those errors
at once and saying Christ was a real man. He was a real man. He was God incarnate in the flesh.
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory,
they saw him. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Our Lord, beloved,
is full of grace and full of truth. He is the way, the truth,
and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father
but by me, he said, only through Christ and Christ alone. Now take note what the Apostle
John has done here. He has introduced to the church
the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just set Him
right before us, beloved, in this verse. Isn't He? He's just
magnifying who Christ is. The glorious person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The God-man mediator. And I would
say He's done this in the most excellent way, hasn't He? It's
magnificent. It's magnificent. He talks about
His eternality. He speaks of His incarnation.
And then He speaks of who He is, the Word of Life. And that
eternal life is only in and through Christ and Christ alone. And
he says, I saw him. I heard him. I looked upon him
and I handled him. He laid his head upon him. Oh, my. Oh, my. Next week, we
will we will see John proceed to state the motives for which
he writes to the Lord's people. May God be glorified through
the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Heavenly Father,
again, we thank thee for allowing us to gather together We thank
thee for this wonderful epistle which we've looked at tonight. Oh Lord, how it magnifies you,
how the Holy Spirit had drawn right by inspiration and just
uplift you in a most excellent way, a most glorious way, oh
Lord. We pray that we would leave here this week, that we would
think upon these wonderful truths that we've looked at tonight,
and that they would bless the souls of your people, oh Lord.
We love you and praise you because you first loved us. In Jesus'
name. Amen.