I invite you to turn back with
me now to the first chapter of John. The theme of the gospel of John
is to set forth the deity of Christ. The deity of Christ. In Luke's
gospel, which we're studying now, he's gonna set forth the
humanity of Christ. And yet, there's so much, well,
there's no parting of it. He is the God-man. Don used to
illustrate it by saying the God-man. I don't care. It's meshed together.
He's God and man in one person. One person. And he's as much
God as if he were not man, and he's as much man as if he were
not God. He's the God-man. But here in John, he's setting
forth the deity of Christ. Matthew says that he's the king. Matthew sets him forth as the
king of Israel, and Mark as Jehovah's servant, and Luke his humanity,
and John his deity. And as John was moved to pen
these words, the Holy Ghost calls him to write, now never forget,
But this book is inspired of God. It's God breathed. John didn't sit down and just
think of these things, although he did. But God moved him to
write these things. And as God moved his pen, he
wrote these words. In the beginning was the word. It didn't say in the beginning
was created the Word, but in the beginning was the Word. Even before the beginning. And he says the Word was with
God and the Word was God. Now this is here given as a name
of the Son of God. His name is the Word. the word. And because we have
no sense of eternity, John was moved to write the Holy Ghost
Stute to cause John to write this in the beginning. There
is no beginning with God. He has no beginning. He has no
beginning. But you can't understand that
and I can't either. So he says in the beginning.
We can understand that. A time when only the Godhead
existed, a time when there was No creation and no universe,
no time, no creatures, nothing visible to see, no revelation
whatsoever. I don't know if you knew it or
not, but creation is the revelation of God. Take God out of the equation,
there is no creation. Take God's purpose out of the
equation, there is no creation. Creation is of God. And as God
created, He's speaking, He's speaking, He's revealing. And
here is the beginning of revelation, God purposed to save a people
by the person and work of His Son. And He purposed to do this
for the glory of His name. In John's first general epistle,
1 John, in verse 1, He says 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. The word of life. Paul told Timothy
in 2 Timothy 1.9, God hath saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. This is all bottled up in the
word which was with God in the beginning and which was God,
all bottled up in him. Salvation was purposed in Christ
before the world began, before creation, before the appearance
of anything. back when nothing existed but
God. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. We're talking about the eternal
word of God. And Ephesians 111, having already
stated God's election of the saints and his predestination
of them, to the adoption of sons and the redemptive work of Christ
and our being accepted in Him, and now talking to us about the
willingness of God to make known these eternal things. Even Christ,
who is the steward of time itself, He's the steward of everything
that was from that moment forward. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
verse 12. Now watch this. That we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Who first trusted in Christ? Huh? Who was the first one to
ever trust in God? God was. God was. But when was that? That was in
the beginning. And you see where he's coming
from? In the beginning. But our text says more than this.
The Holy Ghost here calls him the Word. I'm reading to you,
I know we all got different dictionaries, but just bear with me. I'm reading to you right out
of my dictionary. It defines the word word as being a figure whose purpose
is to symbolize and communicate a meaning or a message to others. He is the word. God has set him
apart to communicate everything that he wills to communicate
to men. It's all tied up in him whose
name is the word, the word. It's also commonly used as news,
where for the gospel of Christ is called the good news. As word would have it, or as
word has it, that's how they pass on this information. It's
often that we use that word word in that respect. Jesus Christ
is the eternal word whose name tells us that he is appointed
of God as the communicator, the communicator. And there is no
understanding, no knowing, no communication of God to men except
by the person of Jesus Christ. He tells us that two or three
times. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You're not going to come to any
understanding of the Father. You're not going to come into
any of the benefits of the Father. You're not going to come to the
Father, period, but by Him. And this is why Paul said to
the Corinthians, I determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, if you're just attempting
to proselyte a group of disciples and make them all walk like you
do and talk like you do and dress like you do and wear your hair
like they do, if that's what you're trying to do, you might
need some further assistance. But if you're trying to preach
and teach the gospel to the grace of God, and declare the will
of God and bring people to know God. The only thing you need
is Jesus Christ and him crucified. You don't need anything else. Paul wrote to his kinsmen, the
Hebrews, and he said, God, who at various times and in different
manners spake in time past unto our fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us. The literal translation
here is in son. In sun. I'm talking to you this
morning in English. God talks to you in sun. That's
how he communicates. Who being the brightness of his
glory and express image of his person and upholding all things
by the word of his power, when he by himself purged our sins,
he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. In the beginning was the word. Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. All right, what's God's purpose
to say? His name is the Word. His very
name tells us He's willing to communicate. His purpose is to
communicate. He's going to communicate. He's
willing to communicate. His name is the Word. But what
is He's purpose to say? Well, the first thing he purposed
to say is what John said. He's God. He's God. Jesus Christ is not
poor little Jesus boy. He's not some defeated reformer. Jesus Christ is God. He's always
been God. He was God in the beginning.
That's what John tells us. This is the eternal God. Jesus Christ is God our Savior,
ain't that what it says? He's God, Isaiah 44, six, listen
to this. Thus saith the Lord, the King
of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first,
and I am the last, and beside me there is no other God. He's not just God, but he's God
alone. He's God. He's not a God. He's
the God. People tell me all the time about
their God, my God. That's what they call it, my
God. And this one will say his God. Or they'll talk about the
Catholic God, the Catholic God. Huh? There's just one God. Isn't
there? Just one God. And the revelation of this God
is Jesus Christ our Lord. And if your God is not the God
revealed in Christ, he's not a God at all, he's just a figment
of your imagination. Listen to this, this is also
out of Isaiah. They that make a graven image
are all of them vanity, vanity. And they're delectable things.
What is that? The little gardens they plant
outside the building, the little gardens. They've got a garden
and you kind of walk through that little maze. Maybe the candle
lid. They put candles everywhere,
light them all up. Or the incense. You walk in some
of these big churches and there's a smell, there's an incense in
that building. But you can go on and on. They're
delectable things. That could be your righteousness. They're delectable things. Shall not profit them. Not going
to profit you at all. And they are their own witnesses
that they see not, nor know. And he does this that they might
be ashamed. Look unto me, he said, and be
ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there
is none else. He's God. By one great sound of his voice,
all creation came into being. I believe that because God said
it. I just cannot even conceive. You know, we've got We call them
satellites, I guess, with telescopes on them, powerful telescopes.
And they send them out in space, and the farther they go, the
deeper space looks. It wasn't there in the beginning.
God spoke it into existence. I can't conceive of that, Brian.
He just commanded, and it was done. He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast.
There it is. Wasn't an Earth, now there's an Earth. Wasn't
Mars, now there's Mars, you know. Wasn't any stars, but now there's
stars. How'd they come to be? Scientists say this and that
and this and that and start talking about it all down through time
and time and time. There wasn't any time. Wasn't
anything. Just darkness. But he spoke. And it was done. It was done. And he commanded
and it stood fast. What's that got to do with that
telling you that he's God? He's God. John 1, 3, all things were made
by him and without him was not anything made that was made. Not only is he the creator of
all things, but he's the reason for them. He's the reason for
them. All things were created by him,
the scripture said, and for him. And he is before all things.
And by him all things have a continuance. Jesus Christ is God and he declares
it by the creation of all things. And he'll have all men to know
that he's God. He's God. He says of the eternal word that
in him was life. In him is life. No life out here,
no life in here. Life's in him. In him is life,
and this life is the light of men. The light here has to do with
knowledge. How do we even know there's such a thing as eternal
life? Maybe men dislike beasts, maybe they just live so long
and die. How do we know that there's such
a thing as eternal life? Well John said, we've seen with
our eyes, we've looked upon and our hands have handled of the
word of life. Life was manifested in a person. God manifested himself. An eternal life, he manifest
his glory in the person of his son. He appeared, that's what
John's telling us. This eternal God who created
all things, who manages all things, who preserves all things, who's
purposed all things, he's appeared in the person of a man. The word, that eternal word that
we've been talking about, Look on down, what is it, about verse
14 or something? 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. We beheld
God in the flesh. Mm. And John 17 three says, and this
is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom you sent. Now in first John five verse
19 he says we know that we are of God. And he gives you many
reasons through first John one all the way through chapter five
and then he works down here to verse 19 and he said we know
that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. How do you know that and everybody
else don't? Huh? Well, that's your opinion. That's
what they tell me all the time. That's your opinion. Watch this,
verse 20. We know that the Son of God hath
come and hath given to us an understanding that we may know
Him that's true, that we're in Him that is true. Even in his
son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. Thirdly, John says of the eternal
word, the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended
it not. John chapter one, verse nine. Shined in the darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. What's he talking about? Why does he use the word darkness
when describing this world and its inhabitants? In Ephesians 4.17, talking about
their former state, these Gentile idolaters, these heathens, he
talks about their walking in the vanity of their minds. Now
watch this. having the understanding darkened
and being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that's in them because of the blindness of their heart. Darkness. There's no other way
that you can explain a natural man's life. There's not a better
term than darkness. Darkness describes him to a T.
He's just feeling around in the darkness like a blind man. That's
why he keeps falling in the pits. Keeps falling in the hole. Keeps
falling in the ditch. He's walking in darkness. He's
walking in the vanity of his mind. He perceives something
and it thrills him and he thinks he knows it and he starts walking
by it and he lives his whole life by it. Darkness. Darkness. Walking in the vanity of your
mind. Mankind dwells in a state of
spiritual darkness. He knows nothing, he can see
nothing of the light of God. In 2 Corinthians 4.6, Paul uses
Genesis 1.3 to describe what must come to pass in men. He says in 2 Corinthians 4.6,
for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who
did that? I've already read it to you.
Christ did it, didn't he? Nothing made that he didn't make.
Made it up. Made for him. Everything took
place back there. God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness back then hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Oh, my soul. The eternal light of Christ shined
in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Romans 1
tells us that God has put his light into the consciences of
men, but not his redemptive light. Not his redemptive light. But
he put light, light concerning his character, the holiness of his character.
He's put it into the consciences of men, and that's why when they
do wrong, their conscience bothers them. And he's also put a light in
creation. That's a light of God's power.
That's a light of his rule. Creation, it bears witness of
God. You look at this creation, they
keep talking about evolution and talking about this and talking
about that. I want you to look out here at
the order in creation. That ain't natural. Is it? There's too much order. Everything
turns at a certain rate, everything revolves at a certain rate, everything,
there's too much order in it. God. And it bears witness of
it. And men deny it. They deny it. Here's the fourth thing. The means of light. John 1 verse
6. There was a man sent from God. whose name was John. Every saved
soul, every man who has seen the saving light of Christ, every
saved man and woman's profession of faith begins with this. There
was a man sent from God. I don't care who you wanna go
to. There was a man sent from God. The Holy Ghost asked this question.
How should you hear without a preacher? How's he gonna preach if God
don't send him? There was a man sent from God. The light has
always been there. The savior of sinners was there
before the first man was ever created. His light filled heaven before
there was an earth to shine in. That's what prompted Satan to
fall. That's what prompted Satan's rebellion was the light of Christ.
the revelation of christ he said oh no i'm the one not not that
not a man i'm the one i'm going to sit in the congregation i'm
going to be at the head i'm going to do this i'm going to do that
you're out of here you ain't gonna do anything and a bunch of them said well
we're with him well you're out of here too a third of the heavenly
host cast out Why? Because that light. That light. But why would the God of creation,
the eternal God who can do all things, manifest the light of
his Son through a man? Why would he do that? How does
John work into this thing? What's he got to do with anything?
We're talking about Him who is God. He was God in the beginning.
He never ceased to be God. What John got to do with anything? Well, it pleased God through
the foolishness of preaching to save them that please. He tells us here in these verses
that that man sent from God was not the light. Now watch this. But he sent to bear witness of
the light. That's his ministry. That's why God called him. That's
John's only reason for existence, to bear witness of that light. There was a man sent from God.
And then fifthly, watch this. Some received the light. Some heard and understood. Some
heard and their minds and hearts rejoiced. I think about old John. He's
the most unlikely of men to be a preacher. He was a recluse.
He lived in the wilderness. Everybody else over here eating
roast beef, whatever else they ate at the time. I don't know
what all their diets was. They eating lamb, whatever. Not John. He lived on wild locusts
and honey. That's what he ate. Everybody
else had on a, I suppose these Middle East robes that they wore. Always talking all the way through
scripture about these robes and cloaks and different things that
they had on, not John. John wore badger skins. He was
a recluse. He was a recluse, he looked like
a wild man. And what a controversialist he
was. Here comes the best known religious
men on earth. They're honored by, even their
captors are honored. And here they come down there,
no shining robes, no broad phylacteries, and they come prancing down there,
and John said, whoa, he said, you vipers, you bunch of rattlesnakes,
who invited you? Now you all go on back home,
and you find meat for repentance, and then you come back, and I'll
preach it to you. Boy, he'd be the last man on
earth I'd ever choose to be a preacher, wouldn't you? God said he was
the greatest man, preacher, greatest preacher ever of any man. Oh, this is the gospel, he said,
and this isn't. He showed both sides of the coin.
This is Christ and all these others are not Christ. You'll
go where God sends his preacher, you'll stay home and be damned.
One or the other. Here's what John said. He saw
this man, and he's coming down the path. He's just walking.
Probably had his disciples behind him, he's walking down the path.
John's over here preaching, and he looks over there and he stops.
And he said, behold the Lamb of God. Right there. Right there. And that's what I'm trying to
tell you this morning. Behold the Lamb, the Lamb of God. Take of the way the sin of the
world. Not the sins of the world, but the sin of the world. He takes away what you could
never take away. He takes away the power and control
of that nature. And He sets up His own rule in
your heart. He preached that Jesus of Nazareth
was very God of very God. And that He was the promised
Redeemer. And that the Word was made flesh. And here's what He
said about Him over in John 3. He said He tells what He knows.
What do you know about heaven? What do you know about God? What
do you know about the ways of God or the glory of God or the
character of God? Well, I think God, who cares
what you think? You don't know anything about
it. The only thing you know is what God says. What God says. But this man, listen to me, he
was there He was there. He tells, this
is John the Baptist saying this. He knows what he's talking about.
He was there. He's telling you what he's seen
and heard. He was there. He's God. Oh, he's very God, a very God.
And we saw his glory, the glories of the only begotten of the Father. All right, so how is it that
only a comparative few come to know him, come to bow to him,
trust in him, serve him? Why would anybody do that? He's
bound in sin, there's none that understand it, there's none that
seeketh after God. Well, how come some did? He's
in the world, the world didn't know him, he came to his own,
his own didn't know him. How come these people did that?
How come they knew him? Watch this, John 1, 12. As many as received Him, a person not a creed, a person
not a catechism, as many as received Him, to them
gave He power. That's how come they could do
it. He gave them power. Power to do what? To become the
sons of God. To become the elect of God. even to them that believe on
his name. This is not saying they believed
and then God gave them power. He's saying they believed because
God gave them power. How do I know that? I know that
by what he says next, which were born. They were born, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God. of God. John bore witness of him, saying,
This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. And then lastly, he said,
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. Time forbids me to speak of all
the providence of God that brought me to Christ. We could go on
for days. Event upon event, circumstance
upon circumstance, until in the end I'm in another state other
than the one I was raised in. I'm going to a different church
other than the one I was raised in, and I'm listening to a man
I'd never heard of before that day. How confusing it all was
at the time. How confusing. But oh, how clear
it is to me now. Clear as a bell. Clear as a bell.
I can see God's finger in the whole thing. Of His fullness have we all received,
and grace for grace. It was grace back then, the grace
of His providence changing this, halting that, stopping this,
starting that. The finger of God moving you.
And it's the finger of God that has brought you here today. To
do what? To hear. To hear what nobody
else in this world is hearing. Something precious. Something of God. To hear. Oh, treat it that way. Treat
it that way. Don't just say, well, I've done
my duty. I went to church. I'm going back
to my life. Don't you do it. You think on
what you're hearing here today. Like Joseph's brethren, they look back and they said, they thought about
selling him, put him in a pit. Took their brother out, threw
him in a pit. Sold him to somebody come by,
sold him into slavery. And then as a slave, they lied
on him. Now he's in prison. Don't seem
like things get any worse. But then God begins to move the
other way. And now he raises him up, and
he's second in command over all Egypt. And his brethren are starving
to death, and they come over there because they heard there's
corn in Egypt. When they realized that was Joseph,
they said, he'd be just if he killed us. He'd be just. You know what he told him? He
said, you meant all this for evil, but God meant it for good. Huh? I look back over that. There's
nothing out there, just evil, just One disgrace after the other
of God just turning this, turning that, and turning away. But God
made it for good. And all my turnings left me sitting
under His preacher. And that's how it works. That's
God's purpose. And I'll tell you why. Because
He gets all the glory. All the glory of His fullness. have always received. What will
we receive? Grace upon grace, upon grace. Thank you.