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Can we see number 76? Number 76 on to Canaans rest still winding in thy wants and woes shall bring suited grace from high descending thou shalt taste of mercy. Spring number 76 when raised that to him please.
Rise my soul, my God.
It's a stranger.
Is my brother.
Must be born.
No one.
And his great children.
Restraint.
Lord, I can see why He's loved the ground by glory.
00:05:30
Our meeting started out with the Lamb of God.
With those two hymns we sang, I was wondering if we could.
Read the 1St 29 verses of John chapter one where you have the Lord Jesus.
Introduced by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God, but there's a lot of other.
Titles related to him that I find very.
Enriching.
Would that be suitable?
I was actually thinking the same thing.
Thank you.
The Gospel of John, chapter one.
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. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light, that all men through Him might believe He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him. To them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And 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.
John bear witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me, and of His fulness have all we received in grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
No man has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed.
I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then art thou, Elias?
And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor liest neither that prophet?
John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom you know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethborough beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing the next day. John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Of titles of the Lord Jesus in this chapter I find that.
Very enriching. The first, of course, is the word.
And then you have further down the true light that came into the world.
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And then you have in verse.
18 or 14 and then again in verse 18, the only begotten son that is a tremendously beautiful.
Title to Lord Jesus has.
Doesn't indicate that he was begotten at a certain time, but it was a.
Place of special favor that he occupied in the bosom of the Father.
And then later on in the chapter, well we have, we got down to verse 29, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world later on in the chapter, verse 41.
The Christ.
Then a little bit further.
Christ is the same, of course. I think we realize as the Messiah.
But then.
He meets with Nathaniel.
Nathaniel confesses him. Thou art the Son of God. There's another title.
Thou art the king of Israel. Another title. And then there's one further title at the end of verse 51.
The Son of Man so these are all titles of the Lord Jesus to.
Help us to realize.
Is different glories.
What a tremendously glorious person that we have been brought.
To know in the Lord Jesus.
But starting in verse one.
The word.
What does that mean?
Before the Lord Jesus came, God was known.
Partially through creation, because the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.
But God was not fully known until the Lord Jesus came.
The Lord Jesus is the word of God.
And I've said sometimes if I'd stand up at the podium and just look at you and not say anything, you would say, what in the world does he have in mind?
But it's when I open my mouth and use words that you understand.
What I have in mind?
So the Lord Jesus is the full expression of all that God is.
And it's so thrilling to think about. We have the full revelation of all who of all that God is.
In the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So in this verse, it's speaking about him.
The Word isn't the Father. The Word isn't the Holy Spirit.
They're Co equal, coexistent, but the word is the sun.
Through him that there's been this revelation given of.
All that God is.
It's a wonderful thing to consider the source of God.
Where this expression of the manifestation of God comes from.
It comes from the bosom of God the Father, and the Son is the agent and He declares him makes him known to us. We we all look forward to future glory with the Lord in heaven. Well, knowing where He comes from helps know where we're going.
00:15:12
I think we also get in the word there the sense of perhaps this is already spent and I missed it, but the full expression of God's purposes, chapter 8.
Verse 25.
That stepping unto him from ourselves, and Jesus saith unto them even the same think the better translation reads all together.
That I said unto you from the beginning.
Also St. Hebrews chapter one and verse one that God through its 100 times and diverse manners, faith and time passing to the Father's mind, prophets, path, and these last days spoken unto us by Son.
When you have the point of heir of all things, by whom also he made the world's, so it tells us here in times past, he spake.
Through the prophets. But now we find that God Himself and the person of the Son, God the Son, is here on earth speaking with us.
And as we know, He spoke through the prophets. They were inspired of God to speak, and we hear the prophets, I take it in the Old Testament.
But now we have God speaking directly from Himself.
In the person of his son.
And how we ought to be listening.
To what is being said, God is speaking to us directly.
Through.
Sun.
There it says the express image of his person. So you want to know God?
Look at Jesus, you will see God.
In every way possible. It's so amazing to think there stood that man Christ Jesus.
Before the chief priests, and in their condemnation of them, of him, they went up and spit right in his face.
Now we're going to see what reaction is there on the part of God to that terrible insult.
He stands there in calmness, with his spittle running down his face.
That's our guy.
As we are reading the chapter, it struck me how many times it refers to not knowing, not knowing him or not, not, not this and not that and just just to notice them. Verse 5.
Darkness comprehended it not.
Verse 10 and the world knew him not.
Verse 13.
Nor the will of man.
Verse.
18 No man has seen God at any time.
Verse 26.
There standeth one among you whom ye know not. In verse 33 it says I knew him not John.
We sometimes reason and think that we God makes things know, and then we lay hold of it as if we can know God.
Everything in this chapter about man is contrary and resisting it.
God chooses to reveal his Son in a place where.
There's no there's nothing of man that helps this revelation be known.
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Not amazing that God reveals himself in that way.
The prophets never give you.
The mind of God for the moment.
There.
Verse one in the beginning was the word that says eternality.
Word was with God. That's his distinct personality in the Godhead.
The word was God. It says deity.
Important to be clear about those things. The enemy attacks those things. Another thing.
Verse 2 almost seems like a repetition, but it says the same was in the beginning with God.
There are those today who deny the eternal sonship of God.
In the beginning he was in that position with God.
He was already, He was the eternal Son in the bosom of the Father.
Always was, always was.
There are those that say that he.
Became the Son when he became Incarnate. That is heresy is wrong.
In nosotros, if we.
If we textualize this, what it says about the Lord Jesus as.
The word of God.
The word.
The word word in original.
Was something created?
That says in Psalm 33 Six.
Where they say La Quinta Inn close.
And be the fountain of the message of God.
By means of the prophets.
In Greek.
It can refer to the reason or the thoughts.
Of a person.
The philosophy of the Greeks.
Was the foundation the rational foundation?
That governed the universe.
In.
Difference, John.
Who knew those thoughts?
His description.
Refers to the Lord Jesus.
This reason the Jews.
That said that this man Jesus.
Was God.
It was a blasphemy for them.
For the Greeks.
That thought that the Word was made flesh.
Was inconceivable.
In difference for us and for John here.
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The word is the revelation.
Of the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You were saying?
Bob, that verse two seems a repetition.
Come to verse three, it seems the repetition is well, all things were made by him.
And.
Without him was not anything made that was made.
It seems like the second statement basically saying what the first statement says.
Perhaps it's for emphasis, but the fact is, how could the Lord Jesus Christ, how could the Son of God, be a created being, if all things were made by Him?
I mean to say that he made himself.
It's ridiculous.
And so if he made all things, that means.
He has to be before all things.
And if he didn't make himself?
Then you have to acknowledge that he's the eternal Son of God. You always existed.
But we can't wrap our finite minds around this truth, I don't think, and that's why it confounds the natural mind. And men wrestle with this and try to develop their own thoughts.
It's very sad to see how people rather than just accepting the word of God for what it says.
They have to subject it their own reasoning and thinking.
And it's fatal. It's fatalistic.
Our scientists are in a have a conundrum because once they discovered that time and space and everything had a beginning.
They used to be able to get away with saying the universe always existed. Something had to always exist.
They don't want to say it.
But the mind behind the universe as always existed, and it's the only thing that makes logical sense when you reason it out if you're a scientist. And some of them will actually say that.
Stephen Hawkings before he died.
Wrote a book. Very smart man, very intelligent man.
He said one of the dumbest things.
That a scientist could say, he said gravity explains the beginning of the universe.
He didn't think it through too well.
Because.
If you're saying that gravity existed before anything existed, you're saying all that's natural Before anything that's natural came into being, that something existed. You're talking about supernatural.
And it was pointed out to him that are you saying something existed that was beyond nature, that was above it supernatural? Well then that would be God.
Well, that's where the conclusions go to if you just use logic.
There has to be.
Einstein, one of the smartest men that we know in modern history.
Said very clearly that there is a mind behind the universe.
He couldn't deny it. Recent times. A man who passed away recently.
Who was one of the most famous atheists and most prolific writers?
Defending the position of atheism.
All the news conference and said I can no longer hold to my position as an atheist because science has shown that there's a mind.
Behind the universe, there's a design.
There's a mind, while this mind is the word of God.
This word speaks.
And things come into existence, the logos.
It says of the God we know.
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That he speaks of things that are not as though they were. How can he do that? Because he's God.
And when he speaks things that are not.
Come to pass as our brother was expressing in previous meetings.
Not one promise, not one thing that God has said.
Will not come to pass. If he said it's going to come to pass, it will come to pass because when he speaks, it's the final word.
Her brother dear was talking about how Hebrews begins. It's as though God says my son is the last word on the matter. The last and final word is him.
Is the word.
So we have some basic words in the next verses.
Verse four in him was life. What is life?
In him was light and then it says.
And the life was the light of men, and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
Light. What is light?
We have these lights in here, they're not making any noise, they don't say anything.
But because of the presence of light, you can see and account for everything.
And so in him was life, and the life was the light.
Of men tremendously basic matters it's just so amazing how.
Basic these things are and how important it is, especially for young people, but.
All of us to remember how these basic things.
What they mean and what they are. God is light, it says in first John One.
And so the Lord Jesus in that life, it was the light of men.
A crystal of corridor.
The darkness exists.
All right, he says. That was a It was a question. Does darkness exist?
Genesis chapter one.
And this is Capitol. Oh, no.
Verse 2.
The earth was without form and void and darkness.
Was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light.
And there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good God.
Divided the light from the darkness.
It's been said that.
Darkness itself is simply the lack of light that it does not exist.
Just like cold does not exist, it's the absence of heat.
As soon as the lights turned on, the darkness goes away.
Here we have the light shineth in darkness.
The darkness comprehended it, not Lord Jesus. There he was, walking amongst men in this world.
And those that were in spiritual darkness.
Had no clue who he was.
Incredible to think about the awful darkness that.
Humanity was in the Lord Jesus came into this world.
They had the Bible, They knew what it said. They didn't have a clue that the God of the universe had come into his creation.
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So then it starts in verse six to talk about.
John the Baptist.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came the same came for a witness to bear witness.
Of the light.
That all men through him might believe.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
Sometimes so sad and giving the gospel, I go downtown.
Then since walking down the street.
And everybody I meet on the street, the sun is shining, The sun is shining. You see you crazy guy.
Everybody knows the sun is shining, but when Jesus, the true light, came into this world.
People were so in darkness that God had to send a man before him saying this is it, this is the true light that is coming to the world. Isn't that incredible?
That witness of John we know was rejected.
So in verse nine we come back to speaking about the Lord Jesus. He what that was.
The true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world. The world was made by him.
The world knew him not.
Oh, what a story.
When the creator of the universe comes into this world.
They did not know him.
The fact that we come to know the Lord as the Lamb of God is all the work of God.
No, it's really wonderful.
If you have any doubts about your salvation.
What part did any of us have in the beginning?
Was thinking valid?
The Lord Jesus says in chapter 12 and verse.
44.
Jesus Christ and Sid.
Ye that believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. I am a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in darkness.
00:40:00
All can hear about spiritual.
Darkness and, you know, physical darkness, it's something that.
And seeks to overcome. I mean, take this room here.
We couldn't be gathering for a conference here if we didn't have.
Lights to illuminate this room we couldn't see.
What we're reading and man wants to read, he likes books.
He wants physical light and he tries to come up with.
Better lighting.
And the technology, I believe in the lighting industry, it's absolutely phenomenal, you know, with these LED lights and so on and so forth.
But what about spiritual light?
We're only going to get this.
Through faith in the Lord Jesus.
And he clearly tells us here.
Whosoever believeth on me should not.
Abide in darkness.
As a wonderful thing to have the assurance of our salvation and to be able to pick up this book.
And to have physical light, to be able to read the scripture, but to understand what is being told us in this book requires.
Spiritual light.
And understanding and this only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus.
He truly is the light.
And he can illuminate our pathway.
And He can bring joy, peace into our lives through His Word.
We have the written word in our hands.
Lord Jesus.
Son of God, it's a living word, but he's the light.
Make His word good for our souls.
But on the other hand, it tells us too that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.
That's the big problem. Man by nature and by practice is a Sinner, and he loves what he's doing. Although it doesn't satisfy, he wants to continue in that darkness.
But God's desire is to bring us out of darkness.
Into his marvelous light.
And thank God for each one here who has faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
And enjoys the light.
Verse 11 Says He came unto his own, that was his own Jewish people.
And his own received him. Not so in the book of John, in the Gospel of John.
Is rejected right from the beginning of the book.
Book of Matthew. He's not rejected until chapters 11:00 and 12:00.
But here he's rejected right from the first. But then we come to verse 12, which is so beautiful, but there's a change.
As many as received him then he gave our to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
It's wonderful.
We become sons of God.
When we believe on his name.
Remember a young man who came to the house in Bolivia when we were living there?
And.
Said.
The brethren tell me I have to repent. I don't know how to do it.
I want to accept the Lord, but how do I do it? I said you just read verse 12 was a law student at the university and as you should be able to tell me what does it say you have to do?
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To become one of those children of God, he looked at it and says.
Believe on his name.
It doesn't say anything. You have to get down and pray.
You can pray if you want, but what does it is?
You receive him. That's the touchstone. It's that person.
And then it goes on to explain in verse 13 which is important, which were born.
Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
None of us ever decided to be born the first time of our parents.
It was our parents decision.
And it's not.
Through our will that we are born again into God's family. It's God's will.
Through his word, he gives faith to believe.
And in that way, we are born again.
Not through our choice. Yes, we do make a choice. I don't say we don't, but it's not through our choice. It was God who desired to have children in his family. That's so wonderful that we are children of God born into the family of God.
And this relationship now that we can enjoy through receiving the Lord Jesus, which I do believe is synonymous with believing on Him, putting our trust in Him.
It doesn't come through a bloodline. It is not a blood just because.
My parents, grandparents, great grandparents were devout Christians.
That has nothing to do with whether or not I'm going to be part of God's family. It's an individual.
Faith that's required, and it tells us it's not.
Will of the Flesh.
We're going to set aside Christ.
And.
Seek, through our own effort to establish a relationship with God.
It's absolutely futile.
You know it's not by works.
It's by grace ye are saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
Tells us I believe the Lord says the flesh prophets.
And it also tells us here it's not of the will of man.
We find there are those that are exalted.
In the religious world and because of their particular lifestyle or what is considered to be.
A life of doing good.
They've become Saints, as though through.
Some special ordination the will of man one can become.
A child of God.
Or attain some kind of standing before God? No, that has nothing to do with our relationship with God as our Father. The coming part of his family is, as it tells us here, very simple.
Just through believing.
The name of his son.
It's very simple. So simple that many reject the truth that we're looking at here.
Too simple, I have to attribute something on my own.
There has to be some work involved, some merit of my own, but God sets us all aside.
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And as you point out, we have nothing to do with our physical birth. Nobody here.
Has anything to do with their physical birth, and so I do believe that's true in connection with.
Our spiritual birth.
Chronologically.
Which were you could almost insert which had already been born.
Number six.
You read for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness.
As it shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels.
The Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
Just before the meeting, rather leaving, he said goodbye and he said, I wanted to talk to you about a book I got from the Billy Graham organization that says how to be born again. I said I've read it, He said. It seems like kind of got it backwards. Well, it's an emphasis on man's side of it. Remember this, Nobody ever yet has been born again without believing.
God's work from God's side.
Jeremiah.
Chapter 29.
Verses 13 and 14.
This promise has been true before it was written.
And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord.
There are many people whose testimonies have been that something stirred them up.
And they may have cried out.
At some moment in their life and say God, if you're really there.
Show yourself to me. Reveal yourself. I want to know who you are.
That's a promise that if you really, sincerely seek him, you'll find him.
Now that's always doesn't discount anything that God is doing.
We know that if left to ourselves, without an extraordinary effort on the Spirit of God's part, no one would ever believe.
But these things are true and they are promising. You can say to somebody, look.
You're struggling. You have a spiritual search, you're on a journey. You're seeking well, here's a promise for you. You do that with all your heart. You'll find.
And there are people who read What's this business about being born again? I've been told that if I'm not born again, I can't go to heaven. Some people have started their journey hearing about that because they grew up in some main line denomination where they don't talk about things like that.
Well, it's a true fact. You can go to heaven unless you're born again. So they begin to search. What's that all about? What's that mean?
And of course God brings them along and shows them the truth of the gospel until they believe.
Verse fourteen of our chapter is the only verse in John's Gospel that relates to the Lord's birth.
The word was made, pleasure came flesh.
And dwelt among us.
Incredibly wonderful truth.
He didn't begin his existence at that time, but he became.
A man he was born of a virgin.
Into this world, and it's like somebody has said to be able to die, to be able to be the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb, necessarily he had to become a man. So there was a moment in time when he was born into this world. This is what is referred to here, the word.
00:55:07
Became flesh.
What a wonderful, wonderful truth, the incarnation of the Eternal God.
The person of the Lord Jesus and dwelt among us. Just think.
God Incarnate walked through this world. He was tired.
He was hungry, he was thirsty. He felt the betrayal of those who betrayed him.
Was a real man, but at the same time the eternal God.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And I just marvel at this next statement. Notice it's in parentheses. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth is the end is outside the parentheses.
But we beheld His glory.
O brethren.
What a privilege in our measure.
To behold his glory and His glories are many.
Are privileged to behold Him in His glory.
If this is isn't testimonial, that one OK El estubo congel Duke on LP's Agri, this is this is the testimony of John that knew the Lord Jesus and lived with him.
And we can say the same thing.
How would you define glory? I've heard it.
Defined as.
Displayed excellence.
Is that a good definition?
It's about the best I found.
There is His eternal glories, the glory he always had, and there are acquired glories He speaks of in John 17. The glory that thou hast given me, I have given them and say that's redemption, glory.
But it's an acquired glory.
Because he became a man and so there are particular glories that belong to him.
In his incarnation that he did not have before that beginning of chapter 17 of John's Gospel, he says, and now, Father, glorify thou me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was, which was that that's his eternal Godhead glory.
And it's the glory that he bailed.
You know, in this world.
There are glories, men have glories if you watch a superb athlete.
Do what they do at their best. You're just in awe. That's what you said, excellence on display. When you see that, you're in awe because you're seeing excellence on display. You're seeing something that is rare and anybody who is paying attention. We know that, that there were many, Most rejected the Lord Jesus, but there were some who received Him and those who had eyes to see and ears to hear. They saw that glory. You wonder how in the world could Judas be with Him all that time and not see it?
You did, but those who did were at all because they saw.
Excellence on display.
You see a beautiful horse that like Secretariat that's won the Triple Crown back when watched something like that run and you'd look at that in awe at God's creation at superb excellence. That's a glory. It's an earthly glory that any of those things about the Lord Jesus. You're looking at it from every angle and as our brother was saying, there were acquired glories that.
Came into being because of him becoming a man and then the work that he did on the cross and so forth.
01:00:01
But we don't see all the glories that we will see one day when we see him there in glory.
That.
Expression in the parentheses in verse 14.
The only begotten of the Father.
John Kaiser pointed out an expression in Psalm 22.
That seems to relate to that expression and I found it helpful.
20.
Two verse.
Wendy, I think it is.
Deliver my soul from the sword.
And my darling, if you notice in the margin it reads my.
Only one. I think that is the essence of the only begotten Son is the only one.
That's that's been a help to me to see that expression. It's not that he was begotten at a particular time, but he's the one that holds that place of uniqueness. No one else could ever feel that.
Abraham, God, Isaac and Isaac and God Jacob and then told that Jesus is the only Pitocin son of the father. And then we're told that he's not created, he's eternal and and if we can have more on that because I mean I.
It's it's always been a I think I've heard good answers, but I would like to repeat. So if we could have more on that, I think would be helpful, at least for me.
Well, certainly one of the things that he's called is the the first Begotten.
And in a family, the first begotten is the one, and you can replace that and use the word preeminent One. That's really the thought about it, is that he's the preeminent 1.
He has a relationship of that.
Being the one that has the preeminence.
That you have in.
Well, I'm thinking of the expression you have in Colossians, the first born.
He's called the first born. It's really the thought of preeminence, like you say.
First begotten in relation to all other things that exist.
He has the preeminence in connection with it, but only begotten His uniqueness. There is no one else that could occupy this place, only begotten Son.
That is in the bosom of the Father.
Notice in.
Verse 18 it's repeated.
No man has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son which.
Is doesn't say which was it is he was in this world, but he was in the bosom of the father. A certain sense. He never left the bosom of the father.
Notice later on in the chapter.
Verse 15 again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.
Your disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
And Jesus turned and.
Saw them following, and said unto them, What seek ye? He said unto him, Rabbi.
Which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou?
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He said unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he dwelt, where was his dwelling place.
Verse 18. The bosom of the Father.
That was his eternal abode.
Enjoyment of the divine affections from all eternity.
And I really believe, brethren, that's why when he came into this world, he didn't have.
A house.
He really wasn't interested in that.
But the boxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Why didn't he have a place? It's not that it was prohibited that he came from the father's house.
The bosom of the Father. The place of the enjoyment of the Father's affections.
There is nothing in this world that compared to that, so he wasn't really interested.
How wonderful, brethren.
But we sometimes sing.
And that hymn 127.
Dwells in his bosom, knoweth all that in that bosom lies.
And came to Earth make it known.
That we might share his joys.
Brother Kaiser.
I've thought about some.
Of this matter in this way before that even in a slave could become like someone's son.
Yeah, even somebody that was of not a natural birth could be rise up to a place, maybe an adopted child and be have a relationship with a father as a first begotten son, although he'd never been begotten. It's the idea of this preeminent place. And as Brother Bob was saying, in in the sense of the Lord Jesus that none other could ever hold.
We know in the days which those days of old in a family you could have.
20 kids and the only one that really mattered was that first born one. When it came to inheritance and everything else that was Everything was put into that first born child and that first born child was groomed to take over everything. Everybody else was way down the list.
There's that thought in there that this, this relationship, a sonship, is from all eternity we have in John 8.
Verse 58 before Abraham was I am, yet he is the son.
As a relationship, as a father and a son that goes off, it's from all eternity.
So that preeminent special relationship existed.
The very idea of what sonship is comes from God.
He invented it.
Distinguished from all the begats and begotten to the Old Testament. It's a word, and you know, not a Greek expert, but it sounds something like monogamous or monogamous, which means you could put it one-of-a-kind.
And when you use the term matchless to describe the Lord Jesus, it's got its foundation in that term, I believe.
The Lord Jesus.
How his residence?
Was in the bosom of the Father. That was his dwelling place.
And speaking third chapter.
Verse 13. No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven.
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Even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. So even as He was here on earth, I believe that His dwelling place was in the Father's bosom.
And I believe this effects that which he has to say to us, because over in chapter 12 The Lord Jesus said the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment.
What I should say?
And what I should speak?
So he acknowledges that what he's presenting is something the father has given him. Or how can he know what the father wants him to say or to speak? I suppose the saying the father gave him the subject to speak on, but then he gives him the exact words to say.
And I believe it speaks to my own soul that there was that communion.
With the father.
And this affected his ministry.
And I think about the disciples. It tells us that the Lord.
He ordained 12 That they might be with him and that he might send him or to preach. But in order to have something to preach, something to say that's worthwhile, the disciples, they need to spend time with the Lord, enjoy His companionship, his fellowship. But that was true of the Lord Jesus. He was in the bosom of the Father, enjoying that place of communion even as he was here on earth.
Reaching out.
Mankind.
In the next verse is the focus goes back to John.
Verse 19.
Jesus sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
And it's interesting they ask 3 questions.
First question is.
What he says in verse 20 it says and he confessed and denied not.
But confessed I am not the Christ, I've words.
And they said they asked him what then art thou, Elias?
And he said I am not 3 words.
Art thou that prophet? And he answered no one word. It's interesting how his answers just get shorter and shorter. He was not interested in talking about himself.
When they did say, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us, What says thou thyself? He said, I am the voice.
Of 1 grain in the wilderness.
Mr. Boyce, that's all.
Brethren, when we get a glimpse of the glory of this person we're talking about.
Who are we? Are we somebody important? How can we even think that way in comparison with the glory of this person? Just doesn't fit.
And then he continues to talk about.
The Lord Jesus.
And.
Verse 25 They ask him, Why baptizest thou if thou be not?
That Christ and realize either that prophet John answered him, saying, I baptize with water.
There standeth one among you whom ye know not. It is who coming after me is preferred before me, for whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose.
These things were done in Bethavera, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
And I'd like to get to this 29th verse that we were talking about.
Where we have the title the Lamb of God.
Next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
I like to put it together with.
In Genesis 22 That we often read.
On Lord's Day morning.
Words Abraham and Isaac are on their way to Mount Moriah.
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To make that sacrifice, that burnt offering.
And Isaac says.
Behold the fire and the wood.
Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
That's a question that resonates through all the Old Testament Where?
Is the Lamb for a burnt offering? Here is the answer. God the Baptist sees Jesus and says, behold.
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
You mentioned that, Doug, the other day about taking away the sin of the world. You go.
Eat what you said the other day.
It doesn't just refer to the work on the cross. That's certainly the first step of.
Sacrificing himself.
To please God in order that God would bless, but it carries on to the future day when.
The Lord will put into effect all the results of the work on the cross, and empower will take away all sin out of the world, and the new heavens and the new earth will be sinless.
So it's the basis of all blessing, isn't it? Yes.
Bob, I'd like to ask you a question. When that young man you told about came to you, if he had asked you, what does it mean to believe on his name? How would you have answered that?
I would say that it's not a mere belief of the head that it's talking about, it's the believing of the heart. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart.
That God has raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. So that's not answering the question.
I'm sorry, I don't understand your question.
Believe on his name. What does that mean? Confidence in him?
Or his name.
Doesn't his name mean something? Definitely means him.
Be it known unto you, be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
And by him all that relieve are justified from all things.
From which she could not be justified by the law of Moses.
And does that answer it? Well, kind of. But his name doesn't. It means savior.
Yeah.
Isn't that the beginning of it? That this is the savior, a blame on his name?
And the name is who he is. We know that the gospel message, but that that is an interesting way he puts to believe on his name.
Good. And people get hung up on those things.
Like even, you know, I struggled with what it means. I believe there's a God and there's people that do. What's the difference between that and believing in him and on him? While there is a difference, there's a difference between going to heaven and going to hell.
To point out it's so important is confidence in the Lord Jesus. I mean the what does it say about the demons?
They believe.
And tremble.
They believe. What does that mean? They have confidence.
In the Lord, I mean confidence is putting your trust.
It's like putting your full weight.
On somebody just, I really appreciate the illustration of sitting on these chairs. You know, we have our wheat on the chair. There was Don Payton. He was a missionary, New Hebrides. He couldn't find out a word or faith or believing.
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Until one day one of the natives came into his house and threw himself into a chair.
And he uttered a word which means to put your full weight on something. And John Payton said, that's my word because I believe salvation comes from resting totally on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing that he is, but also we can't separate his work from this person and.
Trusting him in his work, that's the word cross, frost, frost. And my struggles as a young person reading Ephesians to those who first trusted in Christ, that opened my eye. Help me understand trust. I don't know how many people over the years that I've witnessed to when you start talking about the word trust their ISIL.
It's different because we we need to understand.
That words get watered down in our culture, what it means to believe and so forth and faith and things like that, and how people throw around words and they lose a lot of their meeting. But trust, you start talking about trust. People get it? You trust somebody you know, you can say to somebody you know.
And I often use this, you know, the last election for president was between.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
And if you were to ask people on the street, do you believe there's such a person as Donald Trump or do you believe there's such a person as?
As Biden, they would look at you like, why, yes, of course, they're on TV, they're everywhere. I went to a rally. I even shook their hand once, asked them, who do you trust in? You get a different answer. And when you're sharing the gospel with somebody, I think it's really, really important to zero in on that idea of trusting in this person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you can sum it up by saying you're trusting in him and his finished work on the cross plus nothing. And that's as as summed up as you can get. Cry.
For sodium.
Let's read Ephesians 28.
Play 4K for gracias, soy salvos.
For Medio de la Fey.
For by grace, are you saved through faith?
This is not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Out of works.
Lest any man should boast.
Because we are his workmanship.
Created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
God has before ordained.
That we should walk in them.
Grace is unmerited.
Favor. I think that's a good two word definition on merited favor and truth. It's been defined in two words, God's viewpoint.
And we find that.
Tells us.
The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
What more can we ask for then grace and truth?
About We end this meeting singing the first stands of Amazing Grace.
Are we the sound?
That seemed dark.
Like me.
I.
Won't swim.
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Can I give that another one?
28 in the back.
Man to sing about, isn't he?