Throughout history, men and women
who dare believe God have been looked upon as ignorant, foolish,
unlearned people. That's the way it is now. That's
the way it's always been. And that's all right. That's
all right. In the second century, one of
the brilliant Platonic philosophers read the opening words of John's
gospel, just the first sentence, verse one. And this is what he
said. This atheist was astounded what
John said. He said, this barbarian has comprised
more stupendous stuff in three lines than we have done in all
our voluminous discourses. It is my prayer that God the
Holy Spirit will teach us and write upon our hearts that which
this barbarian John records in this one sentence. In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. One of the old writers
suggested these words should be written upon tablets of gold
and hung in every church building in the world. I concur. I have just three things to show
you this morning. Number one, in the beginning
was the Word. Number two, and the Word was
with God. Number three, and the word was
God. In the beginning was the word. Other gospel writers begin with
Bethlehem. John begins with the bosom of
the father. Luke dates his narrative by Roman
emperors and Jewish high priest. John dates his in the beginning. With these words, he carries
us into the depths of eternity before creatures ever were made. Both the book of Genesis and
the gospel of John start this way in the beginning. Genesis
starts with the beginning and works its way downward, telling
us what followed the beginning. John starts with the beginning
and works his way backward, telling us what preceded the beginning. Before the beginning, Christ,
the Word, our God and Savior, already was. In the beginning
was the Word. Now look at that word, beginning.
In the beginning. What on earth is John referring
to? Certainly he's not referring to the beginning of eternity.
Such wording would be redundant and, of course, contradictory.
Eternity has neither beginning nor end. What then is he talking
about when he speaks of the beginning? Let's look at a few passages
of scripture and see if the scriptures won't verify for us what he's
talking about. In Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs
chapter 8. Turn and look at these with me. The beginning. Verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from
everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was. Now hold
your hand here in Proverbs and look at Isaiah, Isaiah 46. Verse
nine. The Lord God's describing himself
saying, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there
is none else. I am God and there's none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. The Lord God says, I am he who
declares the end from the beginning, just as I have through ancient
times declared those things not yet done, saying, my counsel
shall stand. Paul tells us known unto God
are all his works from the beginning. In Colossians 1.18, we read that
our Lord Jesus is the head of his body, the church, who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He who was in
the beginning is the beginning of all that follows him. In the
beginning. Turn back to Proverbs 8. Proverbs
8, look at this. John is talking about the beginning
of the manifestation of God. He's talking about the beginning
of the revelation of God. He's talking about the beginning
of the going forth of God for the salvation of His people.
And this becomes obvious when we look at this 8th chapter of
Proverbs. In the beginning was the Word. Now again I remind
you, whenever we talk about eternity, and the works of God in covenant
grace, the works of God in covenant mercy, the Lord God condescends
to speak to us in language related to us in time so that we can
get a handle on it. Much like He speaks of Himself,
He speaks of the ear of the Lord, and the hand of the Lord, and
the mind of the Lord. God is spirit. He doesn't have
a hand, He doesn't have ears, He doesn't have a mind. He is
Spirit, pure Spirit, but He speaks to us in accommodating terms
so we can get some understanding of His power, His care, His tenderness,
His wisdom, and so on. And when He speaks of that which
He has done for us in eternity, He speaks of it in language that
is orderly, in language that speaks of a covenant, in language
that speaks of an activity, and an activity that has a beginning.
And this is what he's talking about here. He's talking about
the beginning of the manifest purpose of the triune God, of
his great work of saving his elect for the glory of his name. He's talking about that which
Michael describes when he speaks of our Lord Jesus and says that
he is that one whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting. In other words, he's telling
us that there was a beginning with God before the beginning
of time and creation. Our Savior went forth from the
beginning as the Word. Look here in Proverbs chapter
8, verse 22. The Lord possessed me, our Savior speaks, in the
beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there
were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. So he's talking about the beginning before time
began. Verse 27, when he prepared the
heavens, I was there. Not when he created them, when
he prepared them. when he set a compass upon the face of the
depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth. All these things were done before
ever the earth was made. Then was I by him, as one brought
up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
before him. rejoicing in the habitable part
of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. In
the beginning was the word. Before ever the earth was made,
Jesus Christ stood forth as the word, the revelation, that one
in whom and by whom God makes himself known and makes himself
known by the salvation of chosen sinners for the glory of his
name. In the beginning, he stood forth as our covenant surety.
In the beginning, he was accepted as the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. In the beginning, we were chosen,
accepted, and blessed in him with all spiritual blessings.
Now look at the next line or the next word. In the beginning
was. I'll get to that in a minute.
In the beginning was the word. I'll get to the word was later
because quite literally it should come later in the beginning.
The word was John calls our Lord Jesus, the word, the word, and
that term is used almost exclusively by the apostle John in reference
to Christ. The word is used the same word,
translated word here. It's used in Hebrews chapter
four, verse 12, and it's used again in second Peter chapter
three, verse five, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those
are the only two places I can find in this book where the word
is used by anyone except John referring to our savior and Hebrews
four 12. The word of God is quick and
powerful. sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Brother Don, I thought that was talking about the Bible.
I don't think so, because the next line reads like this. Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but
all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom
we have to do the word. By the word of God, the heavens
were of old, Peter tells us. Everywhere else the word is used.
It's used only in John's writings. A word is an expression, a means
of communication, a means of manifestation, a means of revelation. Christ is called the Word because
Christ manifests the invisible God. He communicates the mercy,
love, and grace of God. He reveals the attributes and
perfections of God. The Word of God is deity expressing
itself. When Christ is called the Word,
it's referring to Him not just as God and certainly not just
as man, but it's referring to Him as the Son of God who is
our surety, who in the beginning stood forth as the Word, as deity
shining out, as deity expressing itself. And so he is called the
Word of God, that one by whom God speaks to man. God hath in
these last days, Paul tells us in Hebrews 1.1, spoken to us
by his Son. He spoke to us in different ways
and in different days by different prophets and visions and so on.
But in these last days, He's spoken to us by His Son. Christ is the Word by whom God
reveals Himself and speaks to men and only by whom God reveals
Himself and speaks to men. I watched the other night I leave
home, leave the office here late at night, usually I'm wired and
try to find something to relax. And I got interested in watching
a rather biased biography of Joseph Smith, the American prophet. It was on Brigham Young's channel,
but I watched the whole thing. And, uh, the whole of that heretical
set is built upon the notion that this man had an, a further
revelation from God. Much like the Pentecostals that
we see everywhere on television, we have a new revelation from
God. God has revealed something to me. If God is continuing to
give revelations to men, then this book is not the authority
by which God makes himself known. This book becomes secondary. That's the danger of all, or
one of the dangers, of all this nonsense of extra-biblical revelation. Well, God revealed this to me.
If God revealed something to you today, if God revealed it
to you, I promise you, anything in this book is irrelevant compared
to that. I promise you. And that's exactly the attitude
men had toward this book. No, the Lord Jesus came here
fulfilling all the prophets and by his apostles has now given
us the full, complete, entire revelation of God. God hath in
these last days one time in the person of his Son spoken to us
by his Son. In Revelation 1, our Lord Jesus
describes himself as God's alphabet. He says, I am Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. I am the alphabet by whom God
writes out himself to you. John 1 18, look down there. Much
like this. I would say much the same thing
here. No man has seen God at any time. No man. Now I don't
care what you smoke. You hadn't seen God. I don't
care what you've been drinking, you haven't seen God. I don't
care what dose of religion you got, you haven't seen God. God's
a spirit. God is spirit. And if you ever
see a spirit, I don't want to be around you. Because you popped
a cork, you've lost your mind. You don't see spirits. Any kind
of spirit. God's spirit. No man's seen God
at any time. Nobody. But what about Adam?
No. What about Manoah? No. What about
Moses? No. What about Isaiah? No. What about Gideon? No. No man
has seen God at any time. But the scripture says the Lord
appeared. Watch this now. The only begotten son, which
is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. The God
with whom Adam walked in the garden is the word. The God who
revealed himself to Manoah is the word. The Lord God who came
to Abraham is the word. The Lord God who came in all
those pre-incarnate manifestations of Christ coming to men in the
form of the angel of the Lord are in the form of a man. All
of them is God making himself known to me in the only way God
can or will make himself known to me. And that is in Christ,
the word. the God-man mediator. Christ
the Word is the one. He's one of the Holy Trinity. One of the three in one, of whom
John speaks in 1 John 5, 7, when he declares to us that there
are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. The Father bears record. The
word bears record and the Holy ghost bears record. And there
was, what do they bear record of? They bear record of the redemptive
purpose and the redemptive accomplishments of the triune God in Jesus Christ,
the Lord. They bear record from eternity
that it was done through Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. They bear record in heaven, even though Adam transgresses
and we transgress in him. Redemption's work is done. Nothing's
at risk. Nothing is hazarded. Nothing
is in danger. The work is done. They bear record
continually pointing to the finished work of Jesus Christ before ever
he came into this world. The work is done. And when he
comes and accomplishes the work, they bear record continually,
and they bear record in our hearts, giving testimony, sealing the
work to us by the Spirit of God through the gospel. And these
three are one. They agree in one, and they are
one. Look at this name again. This
title John gives to our Lord, the Word. In the beginning was
the Word. It's a statement so full of meaning
I have no delusions of understanding it, much less of expanding it.
Christ is called the word because Christ is the wisdom of God. He's called the Word because
he is the person spoken of in all the Word of God. He is the
person who's spoken of in all the prophets. He is the one of
whom all prophecies speak, and he is the sum of all the promises
given in the Old Testament. Our Redeemer is called the Word
because he's the speaker, the revealer, and the interpreter
of God. The speaker, the revealer, and
the interpreter of God. One of our politicians, they forgive me for betraying my thoughts
about him. A religious fellow, preacher. He got cornered. Do you believe
that Jesus is the only way anybody can get to God? His response? For me, he is. Isn't that sweet? That means he's nothing. That
means he's nothing. For either he is the way or there
is no way for you to approach God. He is the only way you can
know God. The only way you can hear from
God, the only way God will speak to you, the only way God will
bring you to himself. He said, I am the way, not a
way, the way. He is the word who is the revealer,
the interpreter, the speaker of God. And he's called the word
because he is the image of the invisible God. Now, in the beginning
was the word. That word was. In the beginning,
the word was. That is, it was already. Quite
literally, the word means, in the beginning, the word was existing. John is telling us whenever the
beginning was, the Word already was. He's declaring that He who
is God our Savior is the Eternal One. He's described like that
in Isaiah chapter 4. He is that One who was, or in
Revelation 4 rather, that One who was and is and is to come. He was, He is, He is to come. He is the Eternal I Am who revealed
Himself to Moses in the bush. In the beginning, the Word was,
and no created mind can plunge the depths of that vast ocean.
No words, however, could have been chosen by God, the Holy
Spirit, that more perfectly or emphatically declare that our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, is the absolute, eternal, uncreated
being. from whom all things come. Now
look at the next line. And the Word was with God. The Word was with God. One with
and co-eternal with God. John is declaring the eternal
existence of the Word with the Father. And he's declaring his
relation and nearness to the father, his equality with the
father. And at the same time, he points
out the distinction of persons between the word and the father,
between God, the father and God, the son, Jesus Christ. The word was always with the
father is with the father and shall forever be with the father
from eternity. There was an intimate. ineffable
union between the first and second persons of the Godhead, and that
which is said concerning the Father and the Son is certainly
true with regard to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. What, John, are you telling us? What does the Spirit of God intend
for us to grasp from this? He's telling us of an eternal
communion in the divine persons. This preposition with is a preposition
of direction. I recall when we were studying
Greek when I was 19 years old in Bible college, the way the
professor wrote it out, he wrote the word out and drew a circle
and he points it in various letters to show you which direction it's
going. It's a preposition of direction. It means toward. In the beginning, the word was
toward God. It means face to face with. In
the beginning, the word was toward, face to face with God. It also
has the idea of action. It implies motion. I'm again reminded of Micah's
words. He speaks of the word, our savior,
whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting in perfect
union, in perfect communion, in perfect agreement, the three
persons of the eternal Godhead in everlasting mercy, go forth
toward you and me in mercy, love, and grace. Try to get hold of
what I'm saying. Christ the word was with the
father in the covenant of grace. He was with the father in creation
of the universe. He's with the father in the providential
rule of the world. He was with him as the word and
the son of God in heaven while he was a man on this earth. And
he is with him now in heaven as our advocate on high. There
is now and always has been and always shall be a reciprocal
conscious communion and active going out of love, mercy and
grace from the triune God in perfect harmony with one another
for our soul salvation. I'm trying to tell you God in
all his being. God The triune Jehovah in all
His glorious being is set for the salvation of His people. Now what shall hinder Him? This
is what the Apostle Paul describes in the first chapter of Ephesians.
He tells us that God the Father is the source of all grace. He proposed the terms of the
covenant. He devised the scheme. He chose
whom he would save. He chose Christ as our Redeemer
and accepted us in our Redeemer. God the Son is the medium, the
mediator, or the channel of all grace. He is that one through
whom grace comes to sinners. And God the Holy Spirit is the
one who brings grace to us. He is that one who effectually
applies all the works of grace, administrating all aspects of
the covenant to chosen sinners. He conquers the stoutest hearts,
cleanses the foulest spiritual leper, opens the sin-blinded
eyes, and unstops the sin-closed ears. Oh, blessed, blessed God. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
How we adore God, our Savior. You say, but Brother Don, sometimes
we see the scriptures speak just of the Father, sometimes just
of the Son, sometimes just of the Spirit. Sometimes we do.
Sometimes we do. But every time you see the scriptures
speak of the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Spirit
alone, the consequence is judgment. Search the book. Every time you
see the scriptures speak of God, the Father, God, the Son, and
God, the Holy Spirit, working together involved in the same
thing. The result always is grace and
salvation. In Exodus 20, we see God, the
Father revealing his law to Moses and the result is judgment and
a curse. We read about God the Son sitting
on his throne and the result is judgment. We read about God
the Holy Spirit being blasphemed and the result is reprobate men
being set in judgment even while they live upon the earth. But
whenever the three persons are set together as they are here
in John 1, 1, the consequence is always salvation. Because the whole being of God
in all his attributes in all his glory, in the Trinity of
his persons, is set for our salvation. Turn to Romans chapter 8. In
Jeremiah 32, he comes to wrap up the covenant of grace and
he says, yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good and
I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart
and with my whole soul. God Almighty, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, the Word and God says with my whole heart and
my whole soul, I'm determined to save my people. Romans 8,
28. Now, see if you get some meaning
out of these words. And we know. Well, how can you be sure? Because
God's determined. Because God says my whole heart. And my whole soul is set for
this. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose, according to the purpose of his
whole heart and his whole soul. What is that? For whom he did
foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that his son might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. Whom he justified, them he also glorified. What
shall we then say to these things? Well, what else could you say
but this? If God be for us, let come what may. If God be for
us, let hell oppose. If God be for us, who cares what
man does or says? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, briefly look at the third
line. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. And just in case you missed what
he's saying, and the Word was God. It is absolutely impossible for
anyone to read those words with honesty and misunderstand them. John asserts that Jesus Christ,
the eternal word, was, is, and ever shall be in nature, essence,
and substance, very God of very God. As the father is God and
the spirit is God, so the son is God. The Word was God. He does not say the Word was
made God as He was made flesh. He does not say the Word was
constituted or appointed God. He does not say the Word was
by office called God. He does not say He was declared
to be God. He does not say that He represents
God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. Quite literally, God was the
Word. Jesus Christ, our Savior, the
Word is Jehovah. God with us, our God, the mighty
God. God over all, the great God,
the living God, the true God, and eternal life. That's how
it's described in this book. In the beginning was the Word. and the word was with God and
the word was God. With that one sentence, John does what the thousands
of theology books I've got sitting on my library shelves can't do. With that one sentence written
by the pen of inspiration, John sweeps into oblivion Every heresy
by which the church of God has been harassed throughout the
ages of time and by which he is still harassed. Every heresy. He says in the beginning was
the word and the word was with God and the word was God. You won't know some of these
names. Some of you will. Arianism. You know what Jehovah's Witnesses
are? They're Arians. They assert that Christ is a
being as God, that he is a God, but inferior to God. Arians have
been around for a long time. They pop up in different denominations
now and then. Sabellianism. That's the folks
who say that there's no Trinity. Jesus only Pentecostals. They
deny that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead. They
say that sometimes God manifests Himself as the Father, and sometimes
He manifests Himself as the Son, and sometimes He manifests Himself
as the Spirit. John wipes that away. I said
the Jehovah Witnesses are Aryan, so are Mormons. So Sinaitism,
those are the liberals from which Unitarians sprang. They declare
Christ is not God at all, just to make it clear. A good man,
but just a man. A great man, but just a man.
And Arminianism, free will religion, denies that God is God. For it denies that he is immutable. Arminianism declares God to be
subject to change. Arminianism declares that God
can never be said to be what He was and is and shall be. Because everything God wills
and does, His love and His grace, is controlled and manipulated
by the will of man. Not so, says John. In the beginning
was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. And God says, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Now I call on you to trust the
Word. I call on you to believe on the
Son of God. To cast your soul on Jesus Christ
the Lord. To look away to Him and Him alone
for all salvation. To look to Him for righteousness.
To look to His blood alone for pardon. To trust Him. To bring
you in good stead with God. I call on you to believe on the
Son of God. Not a man. Not a myth. Not an idea. Skip the God I trust is God. He's God. He's not out there
in competition with this idea and that idea about God. I'm
talking about Him who is God. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. Oh, may the Spirit of God write
him on the fleshly tables of your heart permanently. Amen.