The Story in Four Parts

Q: What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

The Bible affirms the deity of Christ in John 1:1, stating that the Word was God. The Gospel of John explicitly presents the deity of Christ, beginning with the declaration that 'in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). This establishes Christ not merely as a prophet or teacher but as the eternal, co-equal Son of God. His relationship to creation, as stated in verse 3, indicates that all things were made through Him, further affirming His divine nature and authority over all creation. Additionally, in John 17:5, Jesus Himself speaks of the glory He shared with the Father before the foundation of the world, reinforcing His pre-existence and divine identity.

Q: How do we know Christ is God?

We know Christ is God through His self-revelation in Scripture and His miraculous works. Christ's divinity is affirmed through various forms of revelation found in Scripture. Not only did He perform miracles that are characteristic of God, such as creation and granting life, but He also claimed unity with the Father, as seen in John 10:30 where He states, 'I and my Father are one.' This unity is indicative of His divine nature. Additionally, His role as the ultimate revelation of God, identified as the 'Word,' signifies that He is the fullest expression of God's character and will. Moreover, the witnesses to His life, including John the Baptist and the works He accomplished on Earth, serve as powerful testimony to His divine identity.

Q: Why is the concept of Christ as the Word important for Christians?

Christ as the Word is crucial as it reflects the full revelation of God's nature and character. The title 'Word' signifies that Christ is the ultimate means of God revealing Himself to humanity. As expressed in John 1:14, 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,' this emphasizes the incarnational nature of God's revelation. Christ is not only the conduit through which we understand divine truth but also embodies that truth Himself. The Word serves as the source of life and light for all mankind, as highlighted in John 1:4-5, underscoring the central role of Christ in both creation and redemption. For believers, recognizing Christ as the Word means understanding that in Him lies the authority and foundation of their faith.

Q: How does John 1 explain the relationship of Christ to creation?

John 1 explains that all things were made through Christ, affirming His role as Creator. In John 1:3, it is clearly stated that 'all things were made by Him,' asserting that nothing was created apart from Christ. This crucial verse elevates Christ's role to that of the divine Creator, aligning with the biblical teaching that God alone has the power to create. This understanding invites Christians to recognize that creation itself is a testament to the divine authority of Christ. Furthermore, Colossians 1:16-17 reinforces this idea, declaring that by Christ, all things were created and that He is before all things, emphasizing His preeminence in both creation and sustaining all things. This perspective strengthens the understanding of Christ’s divinity and sovereignty over the universe.

Q: Why is understanding that Christ is the source of life important for believers?

Understanding Christ as the source of life assures believers of their spiritual and natural existence in Him. Recognizing Christ as the source of life is foundational for believers as it connects them to the reality that all life, natural and spiritual, originates from Him. John 1:4 states, 'In Him was life,' emphasizing His role as the life-giver, which not only pertains to physical existence but also spiritual vitality. Believers find assurance that their new life in Christ, granted by the new birth, is rooted in His divine nature. This understanding highlights the importance of a relationship with Christ for spiritual nourishment and growth. Furthermore, through Christ, believers are called to reflect this life to the world, acting as vessels of His light and truth.

After you open your Bible to
the first chapter of John, I'll tell this story that I have for
tonight in four parts. Chapter 1. Each book of the Bible
seems to have a prominent and dominant theme. The theme of
John's gospel is what? the deity of Christ. That's the
theme of the gospel of John, the deity of Christ. And John
opens the first chapter by immediately presenting the Lord Jesus Christ,
not as the son of David, not as the king of the Jews, not
as the suffering Messiah, but John opens chapter of his epistle,
or his gospel, presenting the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal,
co-equal Son of God. Look at the first verse. In the
beginning, 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. Now here we see several things.
The first of which is this. The relation of Jesus Christ
to time. If you're taking notes, write
this down. Chapter 1. Under that, number 1, the relation
of Jesus Christ to time. It says, in the beginning was
the Word. In the beginning of creation.
In the beginning of time. Or as Moses wrote, in the beginning
God, or in beginning God. Jesus Christ is not in time. Time is in Christ. Jesus Christ
is not from the beginning. He is in the beginning. You see
that? In the beginning. In Hebrews
7, I won't ask you to turn there, but in Hebrews 7 verse 3, talking
about Melchizedek Melchizedek was a type of Christ. He's said
to be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And
it says about him, without beginning of days or end of days, Christ
is in beginning. And in John 17, he said, Father,
glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. And if you read Proverbs 8, Christ
there is wisdom. And he said, I was with him before
the foundations of the world, I was daily his delight. So the relation of Jesus Christ
with time is this, in beginning was the Word. In beginning was
the Word. Then under this first heading,
chapter 1, the relation of Jesus Christ to the Godhead Now, it
says here, in the beginning, or in beginning, was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Why is Jesus
Christ called the Word? Do you know why he's called the
Word? Well, a word, what is a word? Well, you're hearing words right
now. A word, or a series of words, is a revelation of a thought. A word is a vehicle that brings
to you the thought. It's an expression of a thought. And the word of God, Jesus Christ,
is deity expressing himself. That's why he's called the word.
God is expressing himself. That's why he's called the word.
You see, a word is an expression or a revelation of a thought.
And there's no way we can know anything that's in the mind or
purpose or will of God apart from what? His Word. And Christ
is the Word. Christ is God's final spokesman. He said, God who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake to our fathers by the prophets hath
in these last days spoken to us by his Son. And Jesus Christ is not only
God's final spokesman, but Jesus Christ is God's whole alphabet. What's the first letter in the
Greek alphabet? Alpha. What's the last one? Omega. What did he say he was? I'm Alpha
and Omega. I'm the whole alphabet. He's
the Word. And then, John, look over at verse 18. I'm not going
to have you leave this chapter. Look at verse 18. No man has
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in, never
left, the bosom of the Father. He hath what? He hath declared
Him. In beginning. He's not in time,
time is in Him. He's the eternal God, the eternal
Deity, and He is the Word He is the expression, the revelation,
the declaration of God, and he's the only source of any true redemptive
information about God Almighty. Well, why does it say he was
with God, preacher? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. Well, he is one of the Holy Trinity. Now, the Lord our God is one
God, and I cannot explain this, I just preach it because the
Word of God declares it. Yet God is three persons. He
is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord our God is one God,
and yet he's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Don't explain it,
believe it, receive it. God said, let us make man. He said in Isaiah 6, 8, Whom
shall I send? Who will go for us? And Matthew, our Lord said, go
into all the world and preach the gospel and baptize them in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And in 1
John 5, 7, the Word says there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. Father, Son,
Holy Spirit. When our Lord Jesus Christ came
to earth, he said, My Father sent me. And if I go away, I'll
do what? I'll send you the Holy Spirit. So he's with God. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word is with God, but now watch this,
the relation of Jesus Christ to the universe, it says, and
the Word was or is God. The Word is God, and God is the
Word. The name God is common to the
three persons in the Trinity. There's God the Father, there's
God the Son, and there's God the Holy Ghost. The name God
applies to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christ said this,
I and my Father are. He didn't say, I and the Father
is one. He said, I and the Father are
one. The son is not the father, and
the father is not the son, but they're one. In such a way that
Isaiah said, under us a child is born, under us a son is given,
and his name shall be Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, so that Christ said,
if you've seen me, my father and I are so much one that if
you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And 1 Timothy 3.16 says, Great
is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. And 2 Corinthians 5.19 says that
God was in Christ. And Matthew 1.23 says, Call his
name Immanuel, God with us. In beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God. And the word was God. Now watch
this, the relation of Jesus Christ to creation, the same was in
the beginning with God, verse 3, and all things, everything,
all things were made by him. Now, none can create but God. And yet here the whole creation
is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ. All things were made
by him. I will have you turn to Colossians
1, I believe we ought to go over there and read this. Colossians
chapter 1, speaking of Christ our Redeemer, and it says in
verse 14, Colossians 1, in whom, that is in Christ, we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. But by him,
by Christ, were all things created that are in heaven, that are
in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things
consist. All right, back to our text.
The relation of Jesus Christ to the universe, he is God. The
relation of Jesus Christ to creation, all things were made by Him.
Now watch this, verse 4. The relation of Jesus Christ
to all men, to all men, in Him was life. In Him was life. Now the word life here, I know
Jesus Christ is our spiritual life. He said, I'm the resurrection
and the life. Eternal life is in Christ. But
the word here, the word life here is used in the widest sense
of the word. You see, He is God. All things
were made by Him. By Him all things consist. And
in Him is life. In Him is life. He is the life
giver. He is the life sustainer. He
is the fountain of life. There's no life in this universe,
natural life, that's not from Christ. Did you know that? He
in him is life. That's what I'm saying. Let me
show you several scriptures. If you don't want to turn, I'll
just turn for you. Acts 17, verse 28. Now listen
to this. For in him we live. This is talking
about every human being. In him we live. and move and
have our being, as certain also of your own poets said, we are
his offspring. All life is from Christ. All life. I'm talking about the
life of vegetables, the life of trees, the life of plants,
the life of men, the life of animals, the life, all life is
from Christ. He made all things. In him is
life. Life. Listen to this in Job 12. Job 12, verse 10. Now listen
carefully, Job 12, verse 10, the scripture says here, Job
12, verse 10, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing
and the breath of all flesh of man, all mankind. In him is life. In him is life. Do you see that? Deuteronomy chapter 32, Deuteronomy
chapter 32, verse, Deuteronomy 32 verse 39
is the verse I want to read. Now see now that I am he, even
I am he, there's no God with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand. Doris and I were
watching a program on television the other night. It was one of
the most interesting programs I've ever seen. There was a girl
in a certain city who had died suddenly, automobile accident.
She had willed all of her organs to the hospital or whoever could
use them. In another city, a man was awaiting a heart transplant.
So on this program, they showed, they operated on that girl and
showed the whole thing. While she died, the heart had
stopped. They took that heart, they severed
all the different parts, they took it out and they packed it
in ice and they put it in a in just a regular container, like
you men, these cold boxes like you take fishing. And they said
they had four hours to get that heart from there to that patient
in the other city and put it in his chest. It'd still be good.
All right, the doctor, they got the heart out, put it there in
the cold chest. He grabbed it up and ran out, got in a cab,
went to the airport, and there was a helicopter waiting. He
flew over the city, got out, came out of the helicopter, rode
to the hospital. They had the man's chest open.
They had his heart was still beating. He was still alive,
you see. He was lying there waiting on the transplant. So they brought the heart in
and laid it down here, and then the doctor started cutting his
heart and lifted his heart out. And they took this heart from
this dead girl out of that ice pack and put it in his chest. We were watching on the program.
connected it, they started beating. And you know what television
announcers said? What makes it beat? What makes it beat? And nobody
could answer. There were no wires from outside,
there was no electricity, there was no gasoline like you put in your
automobile. They put this thing in this man's chest and connected
it to his heartbeat. And I wanted to answer, life,
life makes it beat. The man was still alive. And
that life made his heart beat. And where does the life come
from? God in him is life. In God is
life. You say, how can I know there's
a God? Life. You can't account for that heart
starting to beat. They could have put it in a carcass
over here and it wouldn't have beat. They could put it in a
refrigerator and it wouldn't beat. They could put it on the
stove and it wouldn't beat. They could put it anywhere. And
it will not beat, but put it in this man in whom there's still
life, and it beats. Because God. Oh, and a farmer. You see this every day in human
life. And a farmer takes a seed of
corn, and it's just shriveled up and wrinkled, and it's a year
old. It's from last year's crop, and he takes it out and digs
a hole, puts it in the ground, covers it over, waters it, Rain
comes down, sun shines, after a while, it lives. Who made it
live? Life. God. In Him is life. In Him is life. Are you with
me? In Him is life. All life. Natural
life. All life. Any life is of God. Without God, there's no life.
God is life. In Him is life. Alright, now
watch the next verse. verse 4, in him was life, and
the life was the light of men. Verse 4, John 1, and the life
was the light of men. In other words, this life is
the knowledge of men that they might know and acknowledge God.
The fact of life, the truth of life, the existence of life,
the mystery of life, the sovereignty of life. He said, I give it and
I take it. It's here and it's gone. Life is, is it not? Well, this life is the light
of God to all men, to tell us God is. You see what I'm saying? And it's in verse 9, look at
this. And this is the true light, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. This is the true knowledge that's
available to every man in the world, and not only available,
it's in him because he has life. When you were out there without
any knowledge, spiritual knowledge of Christ, you still had a knowledge
of Christ because you had his life. He gave you life. I don't care who the person is
in this world. He's got some knowledge of God because he's
got life. God gave him life. God is life. That's right, Ian. And this light
is the light that lighteth every man that cometh into this world. That's right. Go with me to Romans
1. Let me show you something here. Romans chapter 1. A young
man wrote me a letter just recently. I think I'll send him this tape.
I'll have Ronnie send it to him. You know, saying he had debated
time and time again whether there's a God There's one undeniable proof
of God, and that's life. Life. That's what he's saying
here. Life. In him is life. Romans 1, listen to this, verse
18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifested in them. God showed it to them. The invisible
things of him. What is one of the invisible
things? Life! You see what I'm saying, Mike? The fact of it,
the truth of it, the mystery of it, the sovereignty of it. You can't explain it? Life. The invisible things of God from
the creation of the world are clearly seen. The trees live.
The plants live. The animals live. And then they're
gone. Who gave it? Who takes it? Where
did it come from? Where does it go? It's life. Nobody can duplicate it. It's
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power.
And God said, so men are without excuse. How do I know God is? The chief reason, life. Life. Why do I believe in God? Life. I have no other way of accounting
for life. Even as those people stood around
the chest of that man, and they took that heart and sewed it
in there, and I watched it. When they connected it up, it
went, Life. Life. Look at verse 6, this verse 5,
and this light shines in our darkness. This light shines in
our dumbness and our darkness, and we don't see it. We don't
see it. Men do not comprehend it. It's
there and they don't comprehend it. Life is conceived in the
womb of you ladies. Nearly every one of you here
has experienced this. And you find out you've got a
baby, and that's why you hear a heartbeat, and it moves. Do
you believe God then? No. No, they don't believe God then.
And a doctor stands and takes a baby out of the womb, out of
that dark cavern, that cave, in there where there's no oxygen
to be seen or to be measured, and he comes out and cries. Does
he believe God? No. I don't know what he attributes
it to. Even animals are born on the
farm. Do farmers believe God? Farmers plant seed, and seed
comes up. Do they believe God? No. We turn
to evolution, or we turn to philosophy, or we turn to faith. We turn
to anything but the true source, God. In Him is life. And it's the light of me, and
it's the light It's like God's given all natural men, so they're
without excuse. It's in them. It's in them. It's the light that lighteth
every man that cometh into this world. And when they knew God
as God, they glorified him not as God, but they gave the glory
to somebody else. The light shines in our darkness,
and we comprehend it not. That's the end of chapter 1. All right, chapter 2, let's see
what's going to take place now. I want you to take verse 1, John
1.1 and John 1.14, those two verses, and I want us to put
them together. All right, it says in John 1.1,
in the beginning was the Word, verse 14, and the Word was made
flesh. In the beginning was God. Jesus
Christ is God, and Almighty God became flesh. He became a man. Or at the next line, and the
Word was with God. Or at the next line in verse
14, and he dwelt among us. As one in the blessed Trinity,
he was always with God, but he actually tabernacled among us
and walked this earth in our flesh. The Word was made flesh
and literally dwelt among us. Now watch the third state, and
the Word was God. And verse 14, and we actually
beheld his glory. Now my friends, two parts of
faith. The two vital, important parts
of faith. They've got to be there. And
I'll show them to you in Hebrews 11, verse 6. Two parts of faith. They've got to be there. The
first one is this. It says in Hebrews 11, verse
6. Now watch it. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. God is. And that's what the majority
of this world does not believe. God is. God is. And yet we've had the undeniable
proof and revelation given to us of life. Life. God Almighty has given every
man who walks this earth life. And he goes to his tomb denying
there's a God. But here's the second part of
faith. And he that cometh to God must believe, number one,
that he is, God is. God is who he says he is. God
is who he declares he is. God is not who we think he is.
God is. God. Eternal, immutable, infinite,
sovereign, almighty God. Secondly, and that he is. What? A rewarder. He is merciful. He is love. He is gracious. He will forgive sin. He will
save sinners. He will receive the guilty. He's
the rewarder of them that seek Him. Now, how do you show that
to us? The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word
was made flesh. No longer are we shut up only
to believe in God. He is by life, by creation, by
conscience, but He literally walked among us. He walked among
us. He came down here In the fulness
of time, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, just like we're
made of a woman, made under the law like we're under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. And he gave us undeniable
witnesses. Turn to John 5. Undeniable witnesses. In verse 32, he said, there's
another that bear witness of me. I know that the witness which
he witnesses of me is true. You sent unto John, he bear witness
of me. Hold that right there and turn
back to chapter 1. That's what he gets on in verse 6. There
was a man sent from God whose name was John. God sent him. And that same came for a witness
to bear witness of the light, of the life, that all men through
him might believe. John was not that light. He came
to bear witness of that light. Back to John 5, verse 36. I have greater witness than that
of John. The works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works I do bear witness of me.
Jesus Christ did what no man has ever done and what no man
can do, only God can do. Verse 37, the Father himself
which hath sent me, he hath borne witness of me. God spoke when
he was baptized and said, this is my son. Verse 39, you search the scriptures,
in them you think your life lies, there they which testify of me. And you will not come to me that
you might have lied. All right, that's the end of
chapter 2. Go back to our text in John 1. I'm not going to repeat the whole
thing, but this is the way the story goes. In beginning, the
word. And in Him was life. And that
light is revealed to every man. Shines in our darkness and we
say no. And besides that light and that life, God sent the eternal
life and light into this world. And He literally walked among
us. Walked among us. And that brings me to chapter
3. What will be the response of man to these divine revelations? It's like our Lord said to Nicodemus,
if you don't understand earthly things, how are you going to
understand heavenly things? What is man's response? What will
be man's response? I hear people say, well, is there
a God? Can we know God? They go around
debating, arguing, inquiring about God. Well, God gave us
undeniable evidence by life, and then the personal coming
of his Son who walked in our flesh, who talked in our language,
who worked only as God can work, and what was the result? Verse
10, John 1. And he was in the world. And the world was made by him,
and the world knew him not. It not only did not recognize
the plain evidence of life. You say, well, man, I see that
God is and that God is glorious and all these things. Why can't
my doctor see this? Why can't my brother see this?
Why can't my father see this? They don't see life, and they
didn't see when Christ walked this earth, the worlds made by
him, and the world didn't know him. They didn't know him. And it says in verse 11, he came
unto his own. He came to those looking for
the Messiah, looking for the consolation of Israel, looking
for the Redeemer. He said this, he said, I come
in my Father's name, and you receive Him not. Let another
come in his own name, and him you will receive. This is condemnation, light is
coming to the world, but men love darkness rather than light
because their deeds are evil. I tell you, one sentence tells
the whole story. There's no room for him in the
end. My Word, he said, has no place
in you. No place. No place. Think about this. In the beginning,
the Word was with God, was God. All things were made by him,
in him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the
light shines in our darkness, we don't see it. Then God sent
his Son down here in our flesh, he walked among us, taught us,
spoke to us, we didn't see that. But as our story ended, that's
three chapters, leaves us in a helpless, hopeless, darkened
condition. Is this the last chapter? Darkness,
defeat, death. No one will ever know God. No
one will ever believe God. No one will ever love God. No
one will ever enjoy God. Our eyes are blinded and our
ears are deaf and our hearts are hard and we have no understanding. Well, chapter 4. The darkness comprehending not
the light of life. The Son of God came into a world
that he made and the world did not know him. The Messiah came
to his own temple. Priesthood, sacrifice, people,
they did not receive him. Is the purpose of God then defeated? Will heaven not be populated?
Will there be no people like Christ? Will the bridegroom not
have a bride? Will the universe never echo
with his praises of the thousands and thousands and tens of thousands
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore? They don't
believe. Will there be no ransom throng
there, as Christ said, out of every tongue, kindred, tribe
and nation under heaven? Men do not recognize those things
that God sends their way. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. God says, listen, let me read
you three scriptures. In Proverbs 19, he says this,
there are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel
of the Lord shall stand. He says in Isaiah 14, the Lord
of hosts has sworn, surely, as I have thought, it shall come
to pass. As I have purposed, it shall
stand. He said in Isaiah 46, my counsel
shall stand, I will do all my pleasure, I purposed it, I'll
bring it to pass. In other words, the father is
going to have a people. The son is going to have a bride.
Heaven is going to resound with his praise and shouts of his
glory because the father gave the son of people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven. That's what Christ
said. He said, all that my Father giveth
me will come to me. I pray not for this world. I
pray for them which thou hast given me. He said, thou hast
given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given me. And these people shall hear
his voice, hear his gospel, believe and receive him. It says so here
in verse 12. Listen. But, oh I like that. I go back over this first chapter,
it says, in him was life. And that light is the light of
men and shines in our darkness, and we didn't comprehend it.
And Almighty God sent his Son into this world to his own, and
his own received him not, and to the world, and the world knew
him not. But, but, as many as received him, they're going to
receive him. They're going to receive him
as he is in his full character. They're not going to compromise
it. They're not going to whittle it down. They're going to receive
him as prophet, priest, and king. They're going to receive him
as the life and the way and the truth. They're going to receive
him as the surety. as their sanctification, as their
righteousness, as their wisdom, as their redemption. They're
going to receive him as their sin offering, as their high priest,
as their altar, and as their covering. And they're going to
receive him as their mediator and intercessor. They're going
to receive him as their Lord and Savior. And as many as received
him, to them gave he the right, the power, the privilege to become
sons of God. Sons of God. Sons of God. Even to them that believe on
His name. Now, well, who's going to believe?
Who's going to believe? Who's going to receive Him? Is
it left to chance? Is it left to the fickle, foolish
will of men? No, sir. Verse 13 tells us about
these people. Verse 13 says, "...which," you
see, Go back to verse 10, he was in
this world and the world doesn't know him. The world doesn't know
him now. He came to his own. The Jews, they didn't receive
him. But some did receive him. Some believed on him. Verse 13,
and they were born. They were born. They received
spiritual life. The hearing ear and the seeing
eyes of the Lord. And God gave them ears to hear
his voice. and eyes to see his glory, and
a heart to believe him. They were born, and they were
born not of heredity, not of blood, not because their parents
believed, and they were born not of the will of man, or the
will of the flesh, their own flesh, and they were not born
of the will of man, somebody else's flesh, but they were born
of God. Those are the people who believe. They believe by divine grace. They believe by divine mercy.
If you're here tonight, and you say, yes, I believe there's a
God, or I believe God is. I don't like that there is a
God. Strike that out. I do like to do it in quotes.
Strike that out. But we believe God is. God is. And we believe God is in Christ. And we believe God is in Christ
reconciling us to himself. And we believe these things.
And you know why we believe? And we have received him. We
have given up our dead works. We have repented of our dead
works. We have turned our backs on our catechisms and experiences
and feelings and professions and accomplishments and gifts
and all these things and turned to and looked to and believed
in and received Christ as our all in all. Why? We were born
of God, supernaturally, irresistibly, invincibly, according to his
blessed will. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. We heard the gospel, we heard
his voice, and we believed. Acts 16, 14. I want you to look
at this before I close. Acts 16, 14. Acts 16, 14. Paul
went down there. by the river where prayer was
wont to be made. And it says a certain woman named
Lydia, Acts 16, 14, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira,
which worshiped God traditionally, legalistically, and she heard
us preach the gospel. Whose heart the Lord opened.
And she attended to the things of Paul. She believed them. Why? God opened her heart. And when
God opens a man's heart, he'll receive Christ. When God opens
a man's ears, he'll hear this gospel. When God opens a man's
or a woman's eyes, they'll see Christ. They'll believe this
Word. That's right. I heard a story years ago about
a little girl born in some kind of birth accident or something
impaired her sight, her vision, and she couldn't see. And the years passed and finally
they got in touch with a man, a great surgeon, an eye surgeon,
and he examined the little girl and he said, I believe there's
some corrections that can be made and she can see. And so
they operated on her eyes, and they had them bandaged up. And
the day came when they were going to remove the bandages. Up until
this time, she lived in total darkness. And the physician came
into the room, and the mother and father were there, and the
nurse was there. So the doctor said, let's put
her over here by the window. They wanted a downstairs floor.
Out there outside the window of the hospital was the green
grass and the pretty flowers and the hedges and the blue sky
and the white clouds floating by. So they set the little girl
in front of the window and the doctor got back here and clipped
away the bandages and they fell away. And she blinked a few times
and then she opened her eyes and she looked around and didn't
say a word. And tears started coming down
her cheeks. And nobody said anything. Her
mother was upset. She thought, it's a failure. She can't see. But in a moment,
she looked up at her mother, tears coming down her cheeks.
She said, why didn't you tell me it was so beautiful? And her mother said, I tried
to, but you were blind. You have to see it for yourself.
And that's what I'm saying. If God ever opens your eyes and
your ears, in that right code, if he ever does, you'll be telling others how
beautiful it is. You'll quit arguing theology. You'll quit
arguing church discipline, church government. You'll quit fussing
over the millennium. You'll quit yow-yowing over tradition. You'll quit going back to your
experience. You'll quit talking about your feelings. You'll quit
holding grudges. You'll quit fussing and fighting.
You'll quit tithing. You'll quit playing games. And
you'll just look in His face and weep and thank God for revelation
of His grace. That's all there is to it. But Almighty God can hit a man
with a two-by-four, and it won't help him until he sees Christ. That's right. Isn't that right,
Gary? That's where it is, seeing Him. Seeing Him. Why didn't you tell me, Preacher,
it was so beautiful? I've been trying to for 38 years. I've been trying to. Everywhere
I go, I've been trying to tell folks how beautiful He is. But
see, sure, you just have to see Him, don't you? And when you
do, oh, what a joy, what a joy. But you can, I ain't arguing
business no more. People say, well, there's a God.
Forget it. If he's not convinced by the
breath that goes through his body, he's not going to be convinced
by your argument. There's a God. If he's not going
to be convinced when God's Son stands on this earth and does
the mighty works of God right in front of him, you're not going
to convince him. But when he's born of God, when
he's born from above, not of flesh, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God, man, he won't walk away, he'll
fly away. And his feet will never touch
the ground again, because he's seen the Lord.

The Story in Four Parts

What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

How do we know Christ is God?

Why is the concept of Christ as the Word important for Christians?

How does John 1 explain the relationship of Christ to creation?

Why is understanding that Christ is the source of life important for believers?

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The Story in Four Parts

What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

How do we know Christ is God?

Why is the concept of Christ as the Word important for Christians?

How does John 1 explain the relationship of Christ to creation?

Why is understanding that Christ is the source of life important for believers?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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