Well, we finished the book of
Mark last week, and ever since I've ever been preaching, I've
always wanted to be preaching out of a gospel. And I can't
remember any time when we weren't going through a gospel. And I
hope to continue that until I die, as the Lord enables. And we're
going to try to look at the gospel of John. Now John is unique. All the other Gospels are called
the Synoptic Gospels and that simply means they're a synopsis
of the life of the Lord. But John was written quite a
bit after these first three Gospels and there were certain errors
that had crept into the church and he addresses those in this
book before they crept in when the other Epistles were written
and these first 18 verses of John is the epilogue of this
book and I remember reading where one writer said the church is
forever indebted to John for the first 18 verses of the gospel
of John and I don't believe there's any more high and holy place
in the Word of God than these first 18 verses of John. And we're gonna look at the first
five tonight. Now let me say at the outset,
there's infinitely more in these words than our minds can comprehend. And I am certain that I will
fail in attempting to preach from this passage of scripture.
I'm certain of it. And you know, that doesn't bother
me. Because I know this is just beyond me, but they're all beyond
me. They're beyond you, all of the
word of God. It's exceeding broad, David said,
But particularly, this is beyond our intellect, it's beyond our
understanding, it's beyond our comprehension, but it's not beyond
us believing. By the grace of God, I want to
believe everything in this passage, in the whole word of God. Now he begins, In the beginning
was the Word. Now this is the name John penned
when he was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to give a name for
the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word. Now, you might find it interesting
to know that the word logic comes from this word, the logos, the
logos. I've entitled this message, The
Divine Reason, The Divine Logic, The Divine Reason, Jesus Christ,
is the mind of God. If you want to know what's in
God's mind, His Son, Jesus Christ, is in His mind. And when He speaks,
the word that comes out of His mouth is the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1.1 says, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past to our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days, and we're in the last
days, ever since the Lord went back to heaven, until he comes
again, that's been some 2,000 years, we've been living in the
last days. I like living in the last days, and I hope these are
the last of the last days. Wouldn't you be thankful if the
Lord came back tonight? I'd be so happy. I long to see
him. I long to be delivered from my
sin, see him face to face. But in these last days, he's
spoken to us by his son. He said from heaven, This is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. He is the word of God. It was the voice of God walking
in the cool of the evening after Adam fell that was Jesus Christ
himself. He is the voice of God walking
in the cool of the evening, going after Adam. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ came
after me. That's true of every believer.
He came after me. He is the mind of God. Now, I love making this statement. I made it several times over
the years. Jesus Christ is not like God.
He's not like God at all. He is God. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He is God, and He is God in the
fullest and most absolute sense of God. He is God. Very God of very God. Colossians 2.9 says, In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now think of that statement,
all the fullness of all that God is. dwells in the physical
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in John chapter 14, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Do you believe God's sovereign?
I'm sovereign. Do you believe God is omnipotent?
I'm omnipotent. Do you believe God is independent,
having no needs? I'm independent. Whatever you
believe with regard to God that he's made himself known in his
word, that's me. Now, without believing that Jesus
of Nazareth, the one born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem,
Listen to this scripture from Micah chapter five, verse two. But thou Bethlehem Ephetra, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall
come forth him unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose
goings forth had been from old, from everlasting. He is eternal
God. There's never been a time when
he was not. He always is eternal God. Now, without seeing him as, what
I love, David called him throughout the Psalms, oh most high. Without
seeing him as very God of very God, the creator, We can't see the step down he
took in his incarnation. If I don't see him in his height,
I have no understanding of the depth he went to in becoming
flesh. You know what the scripture says
with regard to him? In Philippians chapter two, who
being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery, He thought
it not a thing to be grasped for, to be equal with God. Now the only way you can be equal
with God is to be God. There is no other way. Who being
in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but he made himself of no reputation. And he took upon
him the form of a servant. and being made in the likeness
of men, being found in the fashion of a man, he humbled himself. How he humbled himself when he
became flesh, the infinite creator, became an infant in a mother's
womb. How he humbled himself as he
walked this earth and died. He became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross. And we can't see that step down
unless we see something of how high he is. Without some knowledge of who
he is, there will be no understanding of the glory of the cross. Let me repeat that. without some
understanding of Him being very God of very God, the creator,
the one who controls everything and everybody, the one who's
controlling what's going through your mind right now, that's who
He is. He's so sovereign, He's completely sovereign over the
free and uncoerced actions and thoughts of men. He's in absolute
control of everything and everybody. And if we don't have some idea
as to who He is, we will have no understanding of the glory
of the cross, It's who died. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. We can't, until we see who he
is, we can't see the evil of sin. Now listen to me. We cannot
see the evil of sin We're clueless about what sin really is until
we see who had to die to put it away. You and I don't have
any understanding of sin until we see who had to die to put
it away. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And doesn't that make salvation
by works utterly offensive? When you think of what he had
to do to put away sin, and then for some man to think that their
works have something to do with the putting away of sin, what
an insult to the divine glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's who he is that makes the
greatness of his salvation. You know, I think of that scripture
in Hebrews chapter two, verse three, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation. Who He is is the reason for everything. The reason for everything is
for the Word to come and die on the cross to tell us who God
is. THE ONLY WAY YOU AND I WILL KNOW
WHO GOD IS IS THROUGH WHAT CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS. LOOK
DOWN IN VERSE 18 OF JOHN CHAPTER 1, NO MAN HAS SEEN GOD AT ANY
TIME. THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON WHICH IS
IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER, HE HATH DECLARED HIM. HE HATH MADE
HIM KNOW. It's who He is, the Most High
God. It's who He is that makes anything
less than worship, complete trust, willingly denying yourself, taking
up your cross daily, and following Him. Anything less is irrational
and unreasonable. I beseech you by the mercies
of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's only reasonable, isn't it?
It is crazy to not follow Him fully because of who He is. Now, in our text, in the beginning,
Now that's the same beginning that's mentioned in Genesis chapter
one, verse one. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. The beginning is eternity. When
there was no time, there was no space, there was no matter,
creation had not yet been. In the beginning, Before any
created being existed, when there was no universe, when there were
no angels, when there was nothing but God, that's a glorious thing
to think about, isn't it? All there was, was God in the
Trinity of His sacred persons. In the beginning was the Word. That's Him in His isness in eternity. In the beginning was the Word. There was never a time when He
was not. He never began to be. This speaks
of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ. He's always been. He's eternal. And the Word was with God. This
is very important. The Word was with God as a distinct
person and the Word was God. God was the Word. You can read it that way just
as easily. The Word was with God and this
preposition means toward God. Inclined to God. Face to face with God. Perfect, continual communion
and fellowship with God eternally. Turn with me for a moment to
Proverbs chapter eight. This is the Lord Jesus speaking.
He's speaking in all this chapter. He is the wisdom of Proverbs,
but look at this in verse 22. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way, before His works of old, before the
works of creation. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever 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. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. 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,
then I was by him. as one brought up with him. And I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part
of his earth. And my delights, even then, my
delights were with the sons of men." You know, you saying God so loved
the world, he gave his only begotten son. He so loved men, even then. Now therefore hearken unto me,
O ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear
instruction and be wise, refuse it not. Blessed is the man that
heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts
of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth
life. and shall obtain favor of the
Lord, but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. All
they that hate me love death." Now, understand this. God didn't
create the world because he's lonely. Oh, the delight the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit had in one another for all eternity. Now, in the beginning was the
Word, This distinct person who was God speaks of the Trinity. One God in three persons. Do you know there's no human
illustration to that? God is other. One God. in three persons. And all we do if we try to illustrate
what that means is we debase it. This is to be believed. This is to be bowed to. This
is who He is. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. Not three gods. Not one God with
three names. One God in three distinct persons
called by John in 1 John 5, 7, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Let us make man in our own image. Who's the us? Father, son. and Holy Spirit when they were
building the Tower of Babel. Let us go down to confound their
languages. He said in Isaiah 6, whom shall
I send? Who shall go for us? The Trinity is on every page
of Scripture. It's who God is. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. Jesus of Nazareth, the one raised
in a carpenter shop, the one born in poverty in a cow stable,
is very God of very God. He says, I am Jehovah Nissi. I am the banner. I am Jehovah
Shalom. I am peace. The only way you'll
have peace is to be in me. I am Jehovah Jireh. I do the providing and I myself
am the provision. I am Jehovah Sidkenu. I am your righteousness. I am
Jehovah-Rapha. I am the one who heals you. By
his stripes, you are healed. I am Jehovah-Raha. I am the one David was talking
about when he said, the Lord's my shepherd, that's me. I am
Jehovah-Shamma. I'm the one who is always here,
always present. The writer to the Hebrews called
the Lord Jesus Christ the brightness of God's glory. The shining. And understand this, this is
no reflected shining. He himself is the brightness
of God's glory. The express image of His person. Paul called Him, in Colossians
1, the image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ. All you and I will ever see of
God is Jesus Christ. Didn't He say, He that hath seen
Me hath seen the Father? That's to be believed, not understood. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father." When the Lord told the demon-possessed man to go
home and tell the great things God had done for him, he went
home and told the great things Jesus had done. Thomas bowed before Him and said,
My Lord and my God. Here's what the Father said to
him, O God is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. In the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God and
the Word was God. The same was. The same eternally
was in His isness. The same was in the beginning
with God. The same was. I love that scripture,
Jesus Christ. What? The same. Yesterday, today,
and forever. The same was in the beginning
with God. Verse three, all things. And
remember, we can't really appreciate anything with regard to the gospel
unless we see Him in His highness like this. All things were made
by Him And without him, I love the way John makes sure we understand
what he's saying. Without him was not anything
made that was made. All things were made by him. Hebrews 1, 2 says, by whom he
also made the worlds. It was he who said, let there
be light. And there was light. All things
were made by him and for him. And he is before all things. Whatever it is, he's before it.
I don't care what you're talking about, whatever it is, he's before
it. And by him, all things consist. All things are held together. Now, John, the disciple, that
Jesus loved. I want to be that disciple, don't
you? The one who laid his head upon the breast of the Lord.
The one whom the Lord gave instructions regarding his earthly mother.
I want you to take care of her. He's the man that God used to
say all things were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. Paul said, for by him were all
things created that are in heaven and earth, whether they be visible
or invisible, whether they be thrones or principalities or
dominions or power, all things were created by him and for him. John said in Revelation chapter
four, for thy pleasure, they are and were. Now, this gives
us just a glimpse, just a glimpse of the highness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, look in verse four. In him was life. As the father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the son to
have life in himself. Now what happens if you and I
don't have things from without us to preserve us and keep us
alive? We'll die real quick, won't we? We need food. We need
water. We need shelter. We need so many
things. We need air. We need God to keep
us alive. And if we were left to ourselves,
we'd drop down dead right now. But he has no needs to keep him
alive. No needs outside of himself to
live. In him was life, the eternal
life, the divine life. In him was life. This speaks
of his independence and his self-existence. In him was life. Don't you love
the burning bush that tells us so clearly of His self-existence. That bush just kept burning.
It didn't need the wood. It didn't need the energy of
the wood for the flame to keep going. It just kept burning. That's Jesus Christ. He's the
one who spoke from the bush. He has no needs. In Him was life. He's the source
of life. He's the cause of life. He's
the origin of all life, plant life, human life, spiritual life.
This runs through John's gospel, life and death, light and darkness. In him was life. But here's what I believe this
means more than anything else. John chapter 14, verse 6. You're familiar
with this verse. The Lord said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the way of life. The only
people who have life are those who have my life as their life. I am the truth of life. Here's
the truth. My life is the only life that
God accepts. That's the truth. The only way
I can come into God's presence is if His life, His perfect obedience,
His law-keeping, Him loving God with all of His heart and all
of His soul and all of His strength and all of His mind, His Holiness
his perfect life this life. Here's the truth This life is
the only life God accepts and if I'm going to be accepted by
God on Judgment Day It's because he took my sins and put them
away and made them not to me and he gave his life to me as
my life before God so that when my name is called on Judgment
Day all there will be is his perfect life I am the way of
life. I am the truth of life. I am life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. And I love the way he says, the
life was the light of men. You see, the light of who God
is. The only way you're gonna know who God is is through the
light of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way you can know anything
about your own sinfulness is through the light of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's no such thing as somebody finding out
they're sinful and then they start searching God to try to
find. No, he reveals himself to you, then you see how sinful
you are. Then you see your need of him
by the revelation of himself. In him was life, the light was
the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness. And the darkness comprehended
it not. Now this light, the Lord Jesus
Christ, I am the light of the world. He is the light, how God
can look at me, just like he did that woman who was taken
in adultery in the very act, and say, where are your accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Neither
do I condemn thee and the reason he doesn't condemn is because
there's nothing to condemn me for. He is the light as to how
that could be the glorious truth that I can stand before God without
guilt just like that woman taken in adultery in the very act she
was guilty But yet the Lord says there's nothing there to condemn
you for. He is the light as to how that can be. And the light shined in the darkness. Now, what I'm saying, the natural
man will not receive unless he's born of God. The only way you'll
receive this is if you're born of God. To as many as received him, John
1, 12, to as many as received him, to them gave he the power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
You know what it means to receive Christ? It's to believe on his
name. WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE ON HIS NAME? IT'S TO BELIEVE WHO
HE IS. HIS NAME IS HIS ATTRIBUTES, HIS HOLINESS, HIS JUSTICE, HIS
LOVE, HIS MERCY, HIS GRACE, HIS IMMUTABILITY, HIS WISDOM, HIS
INDEPENDENCE, HIS POWER, HIS ETERNITY, HIS INFINITE BEING. THAT'S WHAT IT IS TO BELIEVE
ON HIS NAME. YOU BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAID HE IS. NOW, WHAT
ABOUT THESE PEOPLE THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME which were birthed, which were
fathered by God, which were birthed, not of blood. Listen, if you're
saved, it has no fleshly connection with anybody. Doesn't have anything
to do with your mom or dad, your husband or your wife, your brother
or sister, not of blood. You won't be saved because your
relatives are saved. It's not gonna happen. Not of
the will of the flesh. YOU DIDN'T DECIDE TO BECOME BORN
AGAIN ANY MORE THAN YOU DECIDED TO BECOME BORN ANY MORE THAN
YOU DECIDED TO BE BIRTHED YOU DIDN'T DECIDE THAT, IT HAPPENED
BECAUSE GOD DID IT YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT YOU
WERE NOT BORN BECAUSE OF AN ACT OF THE WILL OF YOUR FLESH And
you weren't born because a bunch of men got together and said,
we're gonna pray until God saves that man. We're just gonna pray
and we're gonna not let God have any peace. We're just gonna keep
praying until God says, okay, I'll do it and I'll save him.
No, you were born of God. That person who is born of God
is the one who receives God, is the one who believes on his
name. Now, look in John chapter three. Verse 19, and this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world and men loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. All the light
does is expose their deeds as evil, but everyone that doeth
evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth, you
know, that's what faith in Christ is, is doing the truth. That's
unusual language, but it's inspired by the Holy Spirit. He that doeth
truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest
that they are wrought in God. What's that mean? I'm not afraid
to bring my faith to the light because it's God's work. He did
it. And I'm not afraid to bring anything
to the light that he did. Now, anything that I do, I'm
staying in the darkness. I don't want to be exposed. But
anything that he did, oh, I want to bring it to the light that
my deeds might be manifest that God did them. Rot in God. Now, here's the last statement
I want to make about this. Been way over my head. Way over
your head, too. I believe everything I've said.
Do I understand any of it? No. No, but I believe it. I think for someone to say they
can understand any of this is proof positive they don't understand
any of it. But this one I've been speaking of is the one mediator
between God and men. Now, what's a mediator? He's
a go-between. He's someone who can touch me
and touch God and bring us together. Now, if my mediator was the highest
archangel, I'd be worried. It ain't gonna work. If my mediator was a mere man,
I'd not be worried, I'd be hopeless. There's no way I'll be saved,
but of my mediator is this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can
touch me and touch the Father and bring us together. What a
mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
glory of your Son, who is our Savior. How we thank you that He is the
Word. He is the Word that was with
you. He is the Word who is God. How we thank you for His eternity. How we thank you that He's the
man of thy right hand, thy fellow. How we thank you for his salvation. Lord, would you be pleased to
give us all, by your grace, a greater and more exalted view of thy
dear son? And Lord, deliver us. from looking anywhere but Him
as everything to you and everything to us. Bless this message for
His sake. In His name we pray. Amen.