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Well, after one.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.
And the word was gone. The same was in the beginning withdrawn. 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 man, 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 light of 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 speak. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me.
And of his fullness have all we received.
And grace for grace for the law was given by Moses.
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. 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 confirmed, and denied not, but confessed I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then art thou, Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered no, Then said they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What saith thou thyself? He said. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Make straight the way of the Lord has said, the prophet is this, And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptize 1000 if thou be not thy Christ nor Elias? Neither that prophet John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, But there stands with one among you whom you know not here It is who coming after me is preferred before me.
Whose shoes like it I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethlehem, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me.
And I knew him not, but he that should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore I might come baptizing with water, And John Bear record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and abode upon him.
And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the saying said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God.
Again, the next day after John stood until his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he says.
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Behold the Lamb of God, and the two disciples heard him speak.
And they followed Jesus.
Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and sat under them. What's the key? They said unto him, a rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted Master, where dwellesto he set unto them, Come and see. They came, and saw where he go out and abode with him that day. For it was about the 10th hour, one of the two which heard John speak, and followed him.
Andrew Simon Peters Brother. He first finds his own brother, Simon.
And sat under him we have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and find us Philip, and set unto him. Follow me. Now Philip was a Bethsaida, the city of Andrew. And Peter. Philip finest Nathaniel, and set unto him.
We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there be any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip sat under him. Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and says of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathaniel set unto him, Whence nor style me. Jesus answered and said unto him, Before the Philip calls me. When I was under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathaniel answered, and says unto him, Rabbi.
Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, Believe the style, Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he says unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Here after you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God are ascending, and descending upon the Son of man.
In the first prayer in the prayer meeting this morning, we asked God to direct us to the person of Christ.
I don't think we can find a chapter in the Bible.
That more brings the person of Christ before us.
In more different ways than this one. As to the reading, I would say we ought to read the Bible more. You go back and.
Read what took place in Nehemiah 8 When the scribe stood up to read, it says all the people were very attentive to hear. Now that's what you and I have to do, and that's the way we learn by hearing.
The word of God, receiving it by faith just to point out a few of the.
Titles, names given to this blessed person. The first one is the word.
And.
Gone. And we're not going to get all of them, but.
In the 29th verse, he's the Lamb of God.
In the 34th verse, he's the son of God.
And coming on down.
He's the king of Israel.
The Son of God and the King of Israel, the 49th verse, and it ends up with the Son of Man.
Well, he's the Christ and he's Jesus of Nazareth. How wonderful just to see and learn of this person as he is revealed and as he reveals God. The first verse begins with.
The Infinity of his person.
The Eternal God is Thy refuge.
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From everlasting to everlasting as our gone.
And.
In the 57th of Isaiah we have the word eternity, the one that inhabits eternity. We get those expressions to bring before us as much as we can understand of God, He always wants.
Always is with Him and Jesus is God. There is no past, present and future.
It's a great comfort if we can try to understand that. Granted we can, but the book begins with the eternity or Infinity of his person. Now the chapter ends up with Christ, the center of everything in the coming day when God heads up everything in Christ.
And the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
But if we go on to the end of John's book, we will find the Infinity of his work. Let's turn to the last verse of John's gospel and notice our complete.
The first verse and the last verse, they might say, brings in everything.
As to God and his person, Infinity, Eternity.
And as to what he has done.
It says in that 25th verse John 21 and there are also many other things which Jesus did. I would just suggest stopping there and thinking about the chief thing that Jesus did as recorded in this gospel, as well as Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Well, that was.
Salvation, the work of the cross.
That is the greatest work that's ever been done or ever will be done, including the resurrection that we read about yesterday in the prayer meeting and.
Ephesians one. Well, there are many other things that he did. This is this seems to point to the one great thing he did as well as all he did in this gospel, the other things.
Which, if they should be written everyone. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written now. I believe that literally.
I have a book in my hand. You have one?
You take a lot of books to fill up this room. They take a mold to do the books to fill up Iowa. They take a multitude of books to fill up the world.
It still couldn't hold everything at this blessed one who is God has done just leave it there and bow and worship. So we come back then to where we began. And the way it states it is, is the best in the beginning was.
Now I think the beginning there for me and my thought is as far back as I can go, far back as you can go.
Well, already was.
The originator.
He is the originator of everything, but he was the word. Now he takes that title.
To present to us, I believe that he was going to reveal.
We used words, and they revealed thoughts traveled through words. God had come now in his thought to reveal himself. And the first thing he has to reveal is that he is eternal. The eternal God is thy reference. I tell you, if we can get ahold of that, it's basic. We're on solid ground. And who is it? The Word was made flesh. We get no the Word in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God.
Plural when you come to that, the word with God. But then it says the word was God, One God.
But God in the plural?
And so this is a beginning here which?
Goes back further than thought can go and tells us that that one was there, that God was going to reveal himself in the Word. And as we go through this book.
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Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the light, and then he says thy word is truth.
So the word and truth.
Are the way that God was going to tell us.
Something about himself, and it just fills the mind. If you think of the writer of this book, when he got the Revelation, I say the Book of Revelation. There he saw that one as the judge viewing what takes place in those seven candlesticks, and he fell at his feet as dead. But then?
He's lifted up and resurrection truth is brought out because he had gone into death. He had conquered death. And he says in Revelation 1 to John I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore.
Now, in order to die, he came down and became the Son of Man. That's the way the chapter ends up. Well, these are a few suggestions to introduce the wonderful depth of truth that we, all of us, ought to be founded upon. That Jesus is God. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. This was attacked more than 100 years ago and Satan is reviving it. We need to be founded.
Upon God, who? He is the Son of God, and I believe that all the manifestations of God are in the sun. So He was the Word, and He begins to reveal himself as we go on. We were singing about love. I'll mention two more things.
Here in this chapter we have light if God is going to reveal himself.
He first of all reveals himself as the ever existing one. Then light and light reveals and that reveals that God is love.
I think what you say is so important to grasp with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is gone from all eternity. In the beginning he was already there.
And he was there, beloved, as the Son, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the Godhead. And there was the Son eternally with God.
When he said, Let us make man in our own image, so we must conceive of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son, as he is presented in this chapter as an object for faith, the Son of God eternally from all ages past.
So another word, if it says in the beginning was the word, it means the word had no beginning. That's the simplicity of it.
And.
The Word we find in 14 became flesh and dwelt among us, but He was the Word before He became flesh. The teaching that attacked our Blessed Lord denied that He ever was the Word, and the teaching is that He became the Word, an Incarnation, and that He became the Son in Incarnation.
And that is a vicious attack on the person of the Lord Jesus and the eternal sonship.
And the translation that is so widely accepted in Christendom today attacks that very truth when it renders this day. I have become your father in Hebrews too. He ever was the Son.
And the Father sent the Son we have in first John four and God sent the Son. Both of these statements we have in first John chapter 4.
But how important it is then people who attack the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus do not deny that he is an eternal person, and mark this beloved. Those who talk of the Lord Jesus as an eternal person might not believe that he was the Son eternally, That is the vicious attack, and that there was not the relationship of Father and Son in the eternity past that it began with incarnation.
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But these are vicious attacks of the enemy. Young people might ask what is so important about?
This truth for which we contain and which the Scripture admonishes us to cling to, well, really?
We have to simply accept the truth of Scripture as to the person of the Lord Jesus, and this is to us to be dearer than life.
Because our salvation and everything depends on the truth concerning the person of Christ.
And he ever was the Word expressing what God is.
And by having him revealed to us in time, we have the full revelation of God, which was not revealed previously, but we have it today. But even in the Old Testament, in Proverbs the question is raised, Who is his son, if thou knowest it?
30th chapter So there is already an indication there. And in Isaiah we have that wonderful statement that a child is born, a son is given. How beautiful and precise the word of God is. He didn't become the Son when he came, he was given, but a child was born. There was a beginning in our blessed Lord as to his humanity.
But never as to him being the eternal Son of God.
On chapter 17.
Verse five, I believe would prove what you're saying. Brother wrinkles John 17, verse 5.
And now oh Father, glorified all me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
That is filled up very completely in first two. First might say that John.
To identify one of the primary teachings in his book is he reveals who Jesus wants.
Go back to.
Speak elementary way of the other three Gospels Matthew would.
We might put over $0.20 and over. Mark might put what did, and over Luke. We might put how he felt. Now these are only elementary things.
But they're they're simple to get a hold of it. Here it tells us who wants eternal Son of God? Is He left in these first bursts? Had it?
Confirmed in other scriptures.
And they all fit together now. It's amazing to me that.
This book dispenses with creation.
In one burst.
Creation is important, but Creator is more important. So the third verse tells us all things were made by him.
Now we received that.
We know more than the greatest scientists about how this world they spend millions and billions dollar in research trying to find the origin of the planet upon which they are.
We've got the poor child.
And we've got the origin of everything. This person 3 takes care of all creation and there is no other, it says. So all things were made by him and it that takes an 85. And without him was not anything made that was made.
The originator, the origin is God, he began. This universe, He said it into being.
And he had you in view when he did it. It brings before us the wonders of election. I'll say for the joy of thinking about it now, that election a family truth was.
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Described by Inca Indian years ago when they were having a meeting like this and.
He was asked to say, well, what is election, he said. Before God ever put one stone in place, he was thinking upon this poor old Indian. Now you and I were chosen in him before the foundation of the world. In him, in Christ, God heads up.
Everything in Christ, he's the one God exalts. He's the one that we are supposed to exalt.
And we ought to exalt that blessed one.
And I tell you, if you want to be humble, exalt Christ. You can't be proud in His presence when you think of who he is, who he was, who he ever shall be, so.
Creation is taken care of.
And then we'll mention what it says in Hebrews.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is.
That's where we start there and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
And through faith, we understand that the words were framed by the word of God. He's fake and it was done. The power of the voice of God has brought this universe into existence. But he had you in view. He had me in view, and his purposes for blessing to be around.
And like Christ in a coming day.
I was wondering if we could look at a person Jews. And the reason I say that is because a year ago after the conference, there was a lot of complaining about it being boring and about a lot of grumbling. And I thought how how as children of Israel went through the wilderness, they grumbled about the man and they grumbled about Moses and they grumbled about the elders. And sometimes our meeting meetings appear to be difficult for the young.
And all scripture is given by inspiration of God or profitable for doctrine. And often in our reading meetings take on the characteristic of a doctrinal meeting. And I really would. My heart goes out for the young. And those would feel, in a sense, this way. It's so important.
For us to last roles of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in our day and age. There are older Saints of God that have gone astray. On these questions, these questions have come up. God has brought this before it and I would like to think here's the reason why in June.
Chapter verse 3.
Should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered for the Saints.
And I really appeal to those young and those of us who are older, how important it is for this object that God would bring before us His Son and the physician that this Son has held through eternity the eternal Son of God. And we brought out in creation. If we would go to Colossians, we could see.
That all things were created by him. If we would go to Genesis One though, it's hidden, you could find it in the writings of Brother Darby and Kelly that in the beginning LLV created.
And that is God in the supreme sense, in the plural of Aloha.
And that is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
It couldn't be said, these darlings, the wrong way. If we have a person, the whole of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is and as he's revealed in the Word of God, I will quote an older brother that I never got to meet and I would have loved to. I know I will And eternity, He says take your thoughts from the word of God. Don't take your thoughts to the Word of God. When we take our thoughts to the Word of God, we want to prove our thinking, our intellectual intellect, our way, those things are wrong.
And so This is why it's very important that God has brought before us in these last days these truths that he wants to establish his hand, but he wants to establish us in a in a grasp of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is for us and as who He is. So I just appeal to all of us that though these meetings in this meeting might be appeared difficult, it's.
Have our eyes and our our our our clock focused.
On him, the Lord Jesus.
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Wherever we're going to be occupied and enraptured with the person that we're speaking about this morning. If forever, we're going to be occupied with them, brethren, if forever. We'll never get tired of being occupied with Him in His glory. Can we get tired now? And I search my heart if there's a tendency when deals with the person of Christ.
If I feel tiredness and I feel I'm bored, that there's something drastically wrong and I need to be awakened and my soul as to my relationship to this person, that we're speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ and we be stirred, brethren, we need to be in these last days, the Lord Jesus is presented to us in different aspects in the four Gospels. That's already been alluded to, Matthew.
As the.
Messiah and Mark as the Servant, and Luke as Son of Man, and now here in John's Gospel as Son of God. But how important to realize that although those three first synoptic gospels, perhaps we feel there's more of a touchstone to the reality down to earth basics of our lives.
Still, it's the same blessed person that we're dealing with that we're speaking about, that we're meditating on in this first chapter of John's Gospel.
And Matthew and Luke we have as genealogy. Given Mark doesn't give a genealogy because a servant doesn't generally have, It's not important that he have a genealogy. But in John's Gospel we get there and there's no genealogy either, because how can God have a genealogy if he is the ever existing one? If he is eternal, it's impossible that he should have and so.
John in those characteristically simple. Most of John's gospel is monosyllable words.
Extremely simple, so that we can grasp it, but so tremendously profound in the beginning was the Word. There he was from all eternity the Son of God, the eternal Son of God in the bosom of the Father.
His eternity in the first statement, the Word was with God, his distinctness as the sun in the deity and the Godhead. And the Word was God his deity, and I'd just like to say it often used to fuzzily. In verse two, it almost seems like it's a repetition of the second phrase of verse one. The same was in the beginning with God.
But I think this is a very important point that has been mentioned, that there is doctrine that denies the eternal sonship of Christ, that says he was Son in time. No, this is a reaffirmation of that second statement. When was he with God? After he came into this world? No, in the beginning he was with God.
Is the eternal Son of God.
Ever in that in the Father's bosom, from that past eternity, and those eternal councils. And I like to think of, rather than this word, the title that the Lord Jesus has here, the word of God. And as our brothers mentioned, that it is the means of communication, is we use words.
And in those eternal councils, before there was any world, before there was any universe whirling around in space, there was God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
One God, three distinct persons, But there was those eternal councils, and they involved you and me. You and me were included in those eternal councils. That's when the election took place before the foundation of the world. Then it was that the Lord Jesus and those eternal councils said.
Yeah. In the volume of the book, it is written of me, I come.
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To do thy will, O God, when those eternal counsels contemplated the fact that sin was going to come into the world, and that we were going to fall under the ruin of sin and and all the ruin that it brought in, there was the Lord Jesus and those eternal councils responding to the Father's desire to go. I come to do thy will, O God, it's beautiful to think of. He is the eternal.
Word of God, the eternal Son of God.
The stain here is also one of his title. The same was in the beginning with God.
Hebrews we read in chapter one, quoting from the 102nd Psalm. I think thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Further on in Hebrew says Jesus Christ the same He He doesn't change, he's always the same. So that in our chapter he says the only begotten Son which is in the Buffalo, in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
He was always the same. He was always the Son. Now he's declaring God in that 18th verse. No man has seen God at anytime is an absolute statement.
God revealed himself, but God has revealed himself. He now he's revealed in the sun. Go ahead. The same really indicates that the Word is a person. You know, the first verse shows us that the Word had no beginning.
And that the Word was with God and the Word was God, verse 2 indicates.
That this word is a person, and the Mr. Darby rendered this, rendered it so to help us. He was in the beginning with God that beautiful.
It's this wonderful person of whom we have been speaking the Son of God.
He was with God.
Bob was marking about one of syllables. We look at that fourth verse.
They're all Montecito.
In Matthew 15, there are three words that say, hear and understand. I say this book is not hard to understand if we hear it, if we hear what God says.
These are all single syllable words. In him was light and the light was the light of men.
Little words that a child can get ahold of is talking about this person that we're talking about. The depth of truth they can pay boggles the mind, but believe it.
He could create life, he could give life, but in him was life.
Hey there, Catherine, John, it says, As the Father has life in himself, so he hath given the Son to have life in himself, so that he quickeneth whom he will, the Son quickeneth whom He will. This not only sets the Lord Jesus Christ before us as God, who alone can give life, but it sets him before us as one on whom death has no claim.
In him was life. Death works in US. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death is passed unto all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5 and verse 12. But in him was life tells us that this blessed Son of God, who came from God and went to God, came as a holy man. Luke chapter one And verse 25 That holy thing the Angel said to Mary which shall be born of thee, shall be called sons of God.
So he came as Son into manhood, and was a holy man. And in him the principle of death had no claim. And so when he went into death, death could not hold his prey. And so he came forth, having received from God in those eternal councils the authority to lay down his life and die as a man. He came forth in life and resurrection as that blessed Son in resurrection. And so there He is. In him was life.
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And in him is God hood.
Greed and Scripture No man knoweth the Son but the Father.
These are things that we cannot reason about, but we can believe them. God has said it, and we believe them, but we won't grasp it by reasoning.
But Brother Ewell was bringing before us in John five that it was given to him to have life in himself. We must distinguish between that statement and the statement that we have here in verse five. In verse five we do not have that It was given to him that there was life in himself. As the eternal Son, He has life in himself. But.
In.
Five. He is the Son of Man, and that is given to him to have life in himself. There is a difference, and that's so important to see here in verse five in him was life and ever was in him. But in John 5 as a man, we see that the Father gave him to have life in himself, and he uses that to give life to you and to me.
I have heard that this fourth verse can be read this way. I believe it's true.
In him was light, and the light was the life of man. Now that's interchanging the words, and to me it conveys something, but I can't explain it.
Men can't explain light.
Nor can they create life. But here's the one who was life.
The life was the light of man. Here's the one who is light, and the light was the life of men.
And then the dark.
To think that the darkness could not comprehend this light.
This is the moral darkness of the Sinner.
And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
But thank God.
Let the one who worked in the first creation.
Worked in the second creation, and God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ there's new creation.
How wonderful to have that light shine in our hearts. God says I'm going to give this light to some of them. I'm one of them. You're one of them. You believed in him. You have light now. You are light in the Lord.
What a great work was creation. What a greater work was second creation to break that moral darkness and save our souls and give us eternal life. We have eternal life by faith in Christ Jesus. We're not going to get it. We have it. We're going to get a new body, but we have that life.
God could call the whole universe into being.
By speaking the word, the word of His power.
But when I came to save you and I.
That same one had to become a man.
Came upon himself, a nature capable of dying, and come down into this scene and die for you and for me.
Such was the work of redemption.
Because the light had to do with intelligence.
Light makes manifest. We know that.
The definition we have in Ephesians 5, that which for whatsoever does make manifest, is light. So light is what makes everything manifest.
And I love to meditate on the fact that the Lord Jesus as he walked through this world.
As that light manifested, it was light. We know that the word of God is light as well. But here it is not that so much. It is that light that is the light of men. So His very presence among men manifested their state immediately. Everything's dark in this room.
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I can hear a few noises, see anything. I don't know what is here in the room with me. I don't know if it's maybe some animal or people or who it is that's in this room with me. Somebody comes in, switches on the light immediately. Everything is manifest, I can tell.
There's some men, there's some women, there's some children. What kind of clothes they're wearing? Everything is manifest in the light. When you get into the presence of the Lord Jesus, everything is manifest.
And I love to think of a story I heard a number of years ago of a young person who came in to hear the gospel. And when he came into the room he said to a brother that was there a little ahead of him. I've got a lot of questions. And so the brother said, well, sit down and listen to the gospel 1St and afterwards we'll deal with your questions and when the meeting was over.
The brother went up to the young man. Now what were your questions, young man?
He said I saw the light. I really don't have any more questions now. That's what it is. The light is that which makes everything manifest. And dear brother and I really believes that off times and difficulties that arise amongst the Lord's people, it's because we're looking at each other more than we are looking at that light that is the light of men.
And that's why we don't see things clearly. We haven't got our eyes on him. He is the centerstone of it all. If you and I are having difficulty in our lives individually, or perhaps in a collective way as well, the Lord give us diligence to seek Him, to fix their eyes on Him, to see the light. And him was life and the light was the light of men.
When you're looking at the sun, no shadow can come in between brother. No shadow and we're looking at shadows and things that are darker. It's because we're looking some other direction. The Lord help us.
The light expresses the purity of God's nature. God is life.
And love expresses the activity of God's nature, beautiful, and it's necessary that we are brought into the light.
To be manifest in the life. But if God would be not more than life, it would destroy us.
But God is love to meet us in the condition that the light reveals at meeting us in that condition is God in his love, but of necessity, both of these characters of his being.
Have to be realized, and we have to come into that light, expose ourselves to that light, and open our hearts and conscience to the influence.
So that he and his love can meet us. We want to be manifest. We want to.
See things the way he sees it, but above all, we want to see what he has for us in our need.
Connection with that, I'd like to read a verse in Proverbs Bringing love before us.
What a tremendous thing it is. We'll get that in the third chapter of John. But we're talking about it now. We sang about it, and there's a blanket statement in the 10th chapter of Proverbs on the 12Th verse.
Now it has a very practical application.
But it seems too much when we read it, but it's not.
And it says here hatred stirreth up strength, but love covereth all sins.
James talks about love covering the multitude of sins, but this verse says.
All sins. How is that present turn to Zephaniah 3?
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When you have a prophecy there, have the Lord coming in to Zion.
And getting into his rest in the 17th verse.
317 of Zephaniah.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty now. This is the prophecy of Jesus coming into Zion.
He will save. He will rejoice over thee. With joy he gets Israel back. Now notice the next statement. He will rest in his love.
Evil joy over thee with singing in our chapter. Behold the Lamb of God.
Which taketh away the sin of the world.
It's the love of God that has found a way to put sin completely away in the end. Sin. Certainly our sins are gone. They're covered by the precious blood of Christ. So that first John 17 that we love so well.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
So that our sins are covered as to the guilt of them by the precious blood of Christ, but this one who is.
The Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Son of Man is going to take up judgment and put away sin in judgment as well, and remove all taint of sin from his creation. How does he do it? The love.
That's pictured when Jesus hung on the cross.
Delivered up his Spirit, he inclined his head upon his bosom. That's a picture of He will rest in his love. The love of God has found a way in the cross of Christ to cover all sin, even though it takes judgment, all judgments committed on the Son, because he is the Son of Man. But it's a blanket statement now. We should never stir up strife, should we?
That God had that had found that way before he ever created the world.
In First Peter two of First Peter one just a sentence from verse 18, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, verse 19, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as will lamb without blemish and without spot.
Who Burner Lee was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Christ chosen as the Lamb of God before this world was founded.
In connection with the condition of man described in verse 5, the light shines in darkness and the darkness.
Comprehended. If not, it's nice to link with that verse. Second Corinthians 4.
Because if that's our condition, naturally, how can we be saved? But there's a miracle taking place, and we have it in 2nd Corinthians 4, verse six. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
And that wonderful, beloved brethren.
That.
God has performed a miracle.
We were naturally incapable of receiving their life, but God has brought a miracle, just like in creation of Brother. Clem already alluded to the first creation and here we have it. That is the answer. It's all God's work and God's grace working in our hearts and consciences by His Spirit.
Don't you think that verse is true in both creations? Yeah, in that same chapter, Second Corinthians 4 in the fourth verse.
Is another verse that helps to understand that darkness that it speaks about. Verse five of our chapter says in whom the God of this world, a small G which is the is Satan, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.
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Who is the image of God should shine unto them.
That's why the light shined in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not, is because man was under the power of the enemy who had blinded his eyes, and the person who is blind can go out into the light of the sun, the blazing light of the sun. He doesn't see anything, and for us to do see, we find it's a tremendously difficult to understand.
How can't you see? But you got to realize that when a person says, I don't believe God, he's blinded by Satan. There's somebody here in this room that has made a decision not to believe God. I say you're blinded by Satan and we are here today to tell you to let that light penetrate the darkness in your heart. God is God. He cannot lie. He's worthy to believe.
And if you believe him.
The light will penetrate that darkness, but it's beautiful that but Heinz brought out in the sixth verse that the light shined into that darkness. Brethren, let's let the light shine through us. We are now the light of the world.
We cannot make it penetrate, but God can give the command if our light is shining. And at His command, the light will shine and penetrate darkened hearts. It's been impressive to me that so often infidels and atheists who have been converted. You hear of the story of their conversion. It wasn't through some spectacular sermon that they were converted.
It was through the simple testimony, maybe of some sister or a word of some child, that brought the light to the soul of that person. It's because God is the one who commands, and then the light penetrates the darkness of those parts.
We see that a little bit normally Bob in in verse six. It's almost a contrast here as it as it starts out there was a man.
Sent from God, His name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men might through him might believe. He was not that light. So it seems like a tremendous contrast, as we've been introduced to the infinite person of the Lord Jesus Christ that when he came into this world he did not introduce himself. He was a humble man. He he did not go about saying I am.
The word I am the life. I am the light. I am the son of God. But there was a man who came to introduce him and this man was John. He was just a man. And I believe that, you know, when when we we think about, we've been talking about what's going on in the world around us and the world is saying, well, the God of Christianity is the same of the as the God of the Eastern religions and so on.
We we have come through these verses that very, very definitely and distinctly introduce us to a God who is only the God of Christianity. And there are other people as we we're getting into the new age movement that say, well you can become God and and that's why it says that in verse eight he was not that light. So we get a very very distinct difference here between.
The Son of God, as we have been introduced to in verses one through 5. And then here was a man who was sent to introduce him. And John was just giving the introduction to the person, the glorious person that was coming after him. That's in a sense.
That's our job today too, isn't it? But John had a very distinct job of going about the world of his day and introducing the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We have, we we kind of have that same job, don't we? John takes the the place of being a voice. Now that's that's all we are, just a voice to talk about that.
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It's just to the terrible darkness in which man was morally and spiritually that God would have to send a witness to bear witness of the light. What would happen if I go outside this building and the sun shining and I'd walk down the street and say to everybody, can't you see the sun shining, the sun's shining And say, you crazy person, everybody can see the sun is shining but one, The blessed son of God, the true light, came into this world.
Man was so blinded they had no inkling. Everybody was asleep. The religious people were totally asleep. They had the scriptures in their hands. They knew where the Christ was to be born. They knew about the time. They had no idea that he was being born in Bethlehem.
And so God had to send a witness. This is the true light.
Hello dear brethren, This is the state that you and I are in by nature, apart from the grace of God enveloped in darkness.
That is accentuated by the comments of the Lord Jesus Christ in John three That which is born of the flesh is flesh.
And it's also pointed up in the first.
Corinthians where it says that the natural man receiveth not the things that God neither can he know them. It shows how completely alienated from God the light man became when he fell under Satan's authority in the fall.
For the ministry of John, and as a brother Dan indicated, the principle is really the same with us, is to bring souls into the presence of God.
Bring soul to face the Lord Jesus.
We cannot shed light upon them or manifest souls, but when souls come face to face with the Lord Jesus, they are manifested, they are revealed, and that is really our challenge. We have to bring that wonderful person before souls and trust that the Spirit of God will indeed.
Use the word so we are really our service.
Is really just to bring souls to the right person. That's what John did. He just pointed him out and not to attract them to ourselves. John said he must increase, I must decrease. His ministry was simply whether it refers to the people of Israel or to men in general, to point out that person and in that person's presence everything will be settled.
And we sing together.
Hymn #150.
The three verses, the 1St 3 verses of him, #150 first three stanzas and may we rise and sing this precious hymn. 150 just the first three stanzas.