WEBVTT 00:00:06.460 --> 00:00:22.000 In the Gospel of Matthew, last Sunday, we learned 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:33.560 that he is the sun come to rain. the gospel that 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:37.520 he is the Savior who's come to die. And today 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.679 as we go to the gospel of John, we see that he 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.439 is the word come to reveal. The first 18 verses 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.579 of this gospel form what is called the prologue 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:52.179 of the book. The prologue, though, is more than 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:55.159 a preface to what John wants to say. It's actually 00:00:55.159 --> 00:01:00.140 a thematic seedbed, and from it grow themes. 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:05.450 which mature throughout the book. Or to put it 00:01:05.450 --> 00:01:09.090 a different way, there are several themes that 00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:12.069 are tied together in these 18 verses that John 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:16.829 later unleads through the fabric of his writing. 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:20.090 You will see that if you know the Gospel of John 00:01:20.090 --> 00:01:22.750 at all as we look at these 18 verses this morning. 00:01:23.129 --> 00:01:26.010 The Gospel of John, as you may know, is a non 00:01:26.010 --> 00:01:30.469 -synoptic gospel. The term synoptic gospel... 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.780 is used of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The term 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:38.060 means that they see the life of Jesus basically 00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:43.000 the same way. John takes a different approach. 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:47.159 He sees the life of Jesus from a more theological 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:51.700 perspective. His reason for writing the book 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:55.719 is to present Jesus as the Son of God, and he 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.200 aims to make the reader a believer. in the Son 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.700 of God. John writes that himself in chapter 20, 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:09.219 verses 30 and 31. Since that is his aim, he is 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:11.759 very selective in the material that he chooses 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.840 to use. And, of course, he was led of the Spirit 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.360 of God in choosing this material. First of all, 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:20.439 notice that he does not include any parables 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:26.189 in the book at all. He asserts the deity of the 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:30.009 Lord Jesus Christ through a series of I Am statements, 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:35.810 seven of them. Correspondingly, he chooses seven 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:40.969 miracles to manifest the glory of the Son of 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:43.870 God. Five of those miracles are found recorded 00:02:43.870 --> 00:02:48.289 only in the Gospel of John. And John emphasizes 00:02:48.289 --> 00:02:52.039 the personal conversations that Jesus had. with 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.400 various individuals, including Nicodemus, the 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:00.020 woman at the well, etc. He begins his gospel 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:06.300 by applying a particular name to Jesus. It is 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:11.659 the name or title, Word, or Logos, as it is in 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:16.300 the Greek. What John is reminding us here is 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:21.819 that God has spoken through his Son. God exists 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:26.560 and he is not silent. Many of the early leaders 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:31.159 of our nation were deists. What they believed 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:33.539 was that God wound up his universe, which he 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:35.879 did create, they would say, but then he went 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:38.319 off and left it, no longer interested in it. 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:43.340 He's allowing it to run down on its own. That 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:46.520 simply isn't true. God is the creator, but he 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.340 is deeply involved in what's happening in the 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:51.949 world today. God is here. He is not silent. God 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:55.870 has spoken through his Son. In times past, it 00:03:55.870 --> 00:03:57.870 was in bits and pieces through the prophets. 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:03.430 But now he has fully expressed his mind through 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:09.569 his Son. That's what the writer of Hebrews says 00:04:09.569 --> 00:04:12.729 in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Essentially, that's 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:14.930 what John means when he uses this word, logos. 00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:22.120 The word itself means a message. A word, a thought, 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:25.800 and then the expression of that word, message, 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:29.720 or thought, the giving of it. There was a word, 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.779 logos, that was used among the Greek philosophers 00:04:32.779 --> 00:04:39.839 of John's day, especially the Stoics. They referred 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.860 to the logos as the central principle of all 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:46.560 things. Or another way, they would say it this 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.610 way. The logos is the reason which controls all 00:04:51.610 --> 00:04:54.709 things, capital R on reason. That was always 00:04:54.709 --> 00:04:58.069 rather ill -defined and difficult to put your 00:04:58.069 --> 00:05:00.610 finger on, but it was the reason that controls 00:05:00.610 --> 00:05:02.790 all things. That's the logos, according to the 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:06.610 Greeks. The Hebrews also used the word logos. 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:11.990 It was a more concrete term to them. They used 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:15.509 the term logos in relation to God in the Old 00:05:15.509 --> 00:05:19.629 Testament. Dr. Bruce says, especially God in 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:24.050 action, especially in creation, revelation, and 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:27.870 deliverance. So that's how the Hebrews used the 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:33.569 term logos. They referred to God in action. Now 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:36.470 John is led by the Holy Spirit to reach into 00:05:36.470 --> 00:05:39.629 the vocabulary of his day and to pull out a word 00:05:39.629 --> 00:05:46.680 and to basically redefine it. He defines the 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:54.680 Logos as Jesus Christ, the full revelation of 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:00.220 God. That's what he means by it. It is a title 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:04.180 for the Christ. The Logos is the fullness of 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:10.560 God's wisdom and power. And it's personal. It 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:14.870 is Jesus. Now John says by his introduction in 00:06:14.870 --> 00:06:16.810 these verses that to understand what he's about 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:19.230 to say in the rest of the book regarding Jesus, 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:22.490 we must first understand that he is the Logos 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:26.689 of God. If we miss that, we're going to miss 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:28.569 what he wants to present in the rest of the book. 00:06:29.769 --> 00:06:33.329 He says he is the Logos who has come to reveal 00:06:33.329 --> 00:06:39.209 God to mankind. So the Jesus of Christmas is 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:43.160 the word come to reveal. There are at least ten 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.540 wonderful truths about the Word recorded in our 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:48.459 text. That means we're going to have to really 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:50.899 move this morning because we want to talk about 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:53.319 all ten of them. But notice them with me as we 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:56.360 study beginning in verse 1. In this verse, there 00:06:56.360 --> 00:07:00.480 are three of these truths. In the beginning was 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.040 the Word. The first truth we see about the Logos, 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:10.000 the Word, is that He is preexistent. In the beginning. 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:12.660 Does that remind you of another phrase somewhere? 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:18.259 Sure, where is it? In the beginning, in the book 00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:21.339 of Genesis. Genesis 1 .1, in the beginning God 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:25.759 created. Here John says, in the beginning was 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:31.199 the Word. That phrase, in the beginning, does 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.139 not refer to a particular date. but rather it 00:07:35.139 --> 00:07:37.759 refers to that which constitutes the beginning 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.500 of time and space. In other words, the universe. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:46.000 It goes all the way back to timelessness, to 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.480 eternity. And John's point here is that when 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.240 the creation of the universe took place, what 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:59.379 happened in the beginning, the Word already was. 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:04.550 In other words, he was not a part. of the creation. 00:08:04.810 --> 00:08:08.870 He is not a created thing. He is pre -existent, 00:08:08.870 --> 00:08:12.629 is the way theologians put it. The Logos was 00:08:12.629 --> 00:08:18.089 already in existence when the creation took place. 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:22.250 It means that He is eternal. He has continuous, 00:08:22.310 --> 00:08:26.589 timeless existence. There are those today who 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:29.250 teach that He is the first of the created things, 00:08:29.350 --> 00:08:32.059 the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example. And the 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:34.080 verse they would use to try to support that is 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:38.039 Colossians 1 .15, where Jesus is called the firstborn 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.899 of all creation. As they see, he's the firstborn 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.860 of all creation. But what they fail to take note 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:49.980 of is the meaning of firstborn. The word firstborn, 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:53.440 prototikos, means he is the unique one above 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:57.659 all creation. He is the preeminent one of all 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:00.379 creation. Not that he's a part of the creation 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:05.120 itself. Because he existed before creation. He 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:08.879 was. He didn't have a beginning. He just was. 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.600 He just was. Boy, that's hard to grasp, isn't 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.279 it? That is hard to get a hold of in your mind. 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:20.039 But believe it, my friend. Before there ever 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:26.029 was a tick on God's clock, the word was. That's 00:09:26.029 --> 00:09:28.250 why in the Old Testament Messiah is called, among 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:32.710 other things, the Father of Eternity or the Eternal 00:09:32.710 --> 00:09:37.149 Father. Now in the second phrase in verse 1 we 00:09:37.149 --> 00:09:40.809 see another truth. The Word was with God. Or 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:46.669 we might put it this way. The Word coexists with 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:50.450 God. What is described in this phrase is the 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:53.950 eternal relationship or association between the 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:57.710 Word and God the Father. That is what is described 00:09:57.710 --> 00:10:00.850 here. And the preposition is most important. 00:10:01.009 --> 00:10:06.129 The word was with God. That preposition means 00:10:06.129 --> 00:10:12.929 face -to -face with, pros. It describes the closest 00:10:12.929 --> 00:10:18.789 possible union between two. The word was with 00:10:18.789 --> 00:10:22.309 God, and it implies two things. First of all, 00:10:22.309 --> 00:10:25.740 it implies equality. When this preposition is 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:28.139 used, you can put an equal between the two sides, 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:32.899 because he's really saying word equals God. So 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:35.559 equality is implied, but there's something more 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:42.019 implied. That is distinction. The word was with 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:47.200 God distinctly, as a distinct personality, different 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.409 from God. Parenthesis, the Father. The Word, 00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:58.570 Jesus Christ, coexists with God. That's the second 00:10:58.570 --> 00:11:03.509 truth. But then he goes on to say, and the Word 00:11:03.509 --> 00:11:09.889 was God. The lack of an article before the word 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:15.149 God is jumped upon by, let me say it again, the 00:11:15.149 --> 00:11:18.610 Jehovah's Witnesses, for they strongly deny the 00:11:18.610 --> 00:11:24.509 deity of Jesus Christ. They attack this verse 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:27.009 because this verse is one of the clearest statements 00:11:27.009 --> 00:11:31.730 of Christ's deity in all of the Bible. And so 00:11:31.730 --> 00:11:34.529 to try to undermine it or change it or get around 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:37.210 it, what they do in this last phrase is to put 00:11:37.210 --> 00:11:41.309 in the preposition, or rather the article A. 00:11:42.250 --> 00:11:45.789 They say since there is no definite article, 00:11:46.009 --> 00:11:49.929 the word was the God. It just says the word was 00:11:49.929 --> 00:11:53.179 God. Therefore, they, in their translation, the 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:55.600 New World Translation, or perversion of Scripture, 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:57.379 I like to call it. It's not a version, it's a 00:11:57.379 --> 00:12:00.720 perversion. It says, the Word was a God, small 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:06.820 g. The Word was a God. Now, in doing that, those 00:12:06.820 --> 00:12:11.259 who translated it had to know that they were 00:12:11.259 --> 00:12:14.200 perverting Greek grammar and syntax in doing 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:18.710 that. They had to know that. Because what John 00:12:18.710 --> 00:12:21.190 is really saying here is this, that the Word 00:12:21.190 --> 00:12:28.129 was God himself. The Word was the same essence 00:12:28.129 --> 00:12:32.970 as God, the same nature as God, identical with 00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:37.350 God. That is clearly what John, by the inspiration 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:40.830 of the Holy Spirit, penned in these words. In 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:43.690 fact, he even makes it more clear. The way that 00:12:43.690 --> 00:12:45.629 it really says it is in reverse to what our English 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:48.289 says. John says, in the beginning was the Word, 00:12:48.350 --> 00:12:51.610 and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. 00:12:53.629 --> 00:12:58.289 You see the point? He emphasizes. He could not 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:03.950 more clearly assert that God was the Word, the 00:13:03.950 --> 00:13:09.509 fullness of deity. And so the Word is God. That's 00:13:09.509 --> 00:13:12.330 the third truth. And verse 2 really summarizes 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:15.080 this and reemphasizes it. He was in the beginning 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:17.639 with God. In other words, the Logos did not at 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.340 some point begin a relationship with God. Both 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:26.259 God and the Logos have existed in distinct personhood 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:30.480 and yet of the same essence from all of eternity 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:34.799 past. In other words, this is the mystery of 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.399 the triunity of the Godhead. There is only one 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:42.080 God and yet he exists in three persons, God the 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.190 Father and God the Son. And that's what's emphasized 00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:47.909 here. And then, of course, God, the Holy Spirit. 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:51.889 The point is that the Word is God, nothing less. 00:13:53.029 --> 00:13:58.629 He is not divinity. He is not divine. He is deity 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:02.370 come in the flesh. He is not a wonderful teacher. 00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:06.389 He is not the perfect man only. He is deity come 00:14:06.389 --> 00:14:11.070 in the flesh. The Word is God. And then a fourth 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:14.379 truth is found in verse 3. That is, that he was 00:14:14.379 --> 00:14:18.940 active in creation. Now he talks here about creation 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:21.220 in general, all of the universe. He says all 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:25.240 things, whatever they be, all things, each individual 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:32.000 thing, came into being by him. And apart from 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.639 him, nothing came into being that has come into 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.919 being. We see here that the word was active in 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.580 creation. Notice the contrast between all things 00:14:42.580 --> 00:14:47.840 came into being and the word was. Was means that 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:52.080 it's eternal. The word is eternal. Always was. 00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:57.539 But the universe, all things came into being. 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:05.740 Matter is not eternal. One of the suppositions 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:08.769 of evolution has traditionally been... that all 00:15:08.769 --> 00:15:11.190 matter has always existed. It just changes forms. 00:15:12.529 --> 00:15:19.590 That is not true. Matter had a beginning. Time 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:23.470 and space and matter were begun by the creative 00:15:23.470 --> 00:15:27.350 act of God. And we see here that the Word was 00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:30.269 involved in that creation. And by the way, the 00:15:30.269 --> 00:15:35.710 Word here came into being does not mean that 00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:39.600 it came into being over a process. of time, or 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:43.559 through a process of events. But the word emphasizes 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:50.259 the fact that in one event, all things came into 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:53.820 being. The one event, of course, was the creative 00:15:53.820 --> 00:15:58.980 act of God. And it says, apart from him, nothing 00:15:58.980 --> 00:16:04.639 that is came into being. The universe was originated 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.820 by the wisdom and the power of God. We see back 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:10.029 in Genesis. Several times stated, in fact, with 00:16:10.029 --> 00:16:12.669 each of the six days of creation, and God said, 00:16:12.909 --> 00:16:17.789 and God said, and God said. Now, when someone 00:16:17.789 --> 00:16:20.370 says something, it involves a word, doesn't it? 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:23.549 You see how that ties together with the Logos, 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:27.029 Jesus Christ. He is the agent. He is the cause 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:32.370 of creation. Colossians 1, 16 and 17 emphasizes 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:35.730 this same truth in language just as clear as 00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:39.159 this. So does Hebrews 1, 2. Now why does John 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:42.620 mention this? It is because his subject is that 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:46.360 the Word came to reveal God. And the creation 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:51.139 began the revelation of God. And so he starts 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:55.340 at that point. But now having talked about creation 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:58.559 in general, he narrows it down in verses 4 and 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.279 5 to mankind. And the truth that we see here, 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:05.789 number 5, is that his life... The life of the 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:10.230 word is the light of men. In him was life, and 00:17:10.230 --> 00:17:12.430 the life was the light of men, and the light 00:17:12.430 --> 00:17:16.250 shines in the darkness. And the darkness did 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:21.430 not comprehend it. It says here that in the word, 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:23.930 in him, and notice that it's becoming personal 00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:29.750 now, in him was life. What is this life? The 00:17:29.750 --> 00:17:32.890 life that John has in mind is the self -existence. 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:38.279 that belongs to God alone as the creator, apart 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:43.920 from his creation. In him was life. Therefore, 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.000 all life in creation, whether you talk about 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.680 spiritual life or physical life, all life finds 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:55.160 its source in him, in the logos. In him was life. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.940 And that life came into the world, and it became 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:04.619 the light of men. The life was the light of men, 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:08.839 and the light shines in the darkness. The darkness 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:12.299 here refers to the ignorance of man regarding 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:17.119 God. It does refer to moral darkness and sin, 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:21.440 but the real emphasis in John seems to be the 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.619 lack of understanding, the lack of knowledge, 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.200 the ignorance in the natural man regarding the 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.019 true nature of God. Now it says the light shines 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:35.259 in the darkness. Jesus Christ came into the world 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:38.279 as the light. Later in John, he is recorded as 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:43.119 having said, I am the light of the world. The 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.619 light is the revelation that he gives, the knowledge 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:47.940 that he gives, the understanding that he gives. 00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:54.079 I think it can be applied to the natural reasoning 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.579 that man has and the light that he can gain that 00:18:56.579 --> 00:18:59.859 way. because there is a sense in which all truth 00:18:59.859 --> 00:19:03.380 is God's truth. And yet I believe he especially 00:19:03.380 --> 00:19:07.480 is referring to the spiritual revelation that 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.440 is in Jesus Christ. The knowledge that we find 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:16.000 in him of God. Darkness enshrouds mankind, but 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.799 that darkness is dispelled by the light that 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.380 has come into the world, the life of Jesus Christ. 00:19:26.399 --> 00:19:30.759 Light and darkness are opposites. And the study 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.359 of light and darkness, or the metaphorical use 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.579 of them, was common in that day. John writes 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:40.299 about it later on, so does Paul. Even secular 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:42.599 writers in philosophy in that day would talk 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:45.019 about light and darkness as being two opposites. 00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:49.099 While they are opposites, have you ever considered 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:51.940 the fact that light and darkness are not equals? 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:58.210 Opposites, but not equals. For a small candle 00:19:58.210 --> 00:20:02.849 can dispel a whole room full of darkness and 00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:06.869 yet not be dimmed itself by the darkness. Have 00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.329 you ever thought about that? Perhaps you were 00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:11.410 in a situation this last week where all the lights 00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:15.349 were turned off except Christmas candles. And 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:17.529 the candles lit up the room. Did you notice the 00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:21.269 candles were not dimmed by the darkness? And 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:24.369 yet the candles being lit dispel the darkness 00:20:24.369 --> 00:20:27.119 from the room. They're opposites, but they're 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:31.339 not equals. A little light can dispel a great 00:20:31.339 --> 00:20:34.799 deal of darkness. When I was a boy, I can remember 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:40.059 going to get the cows for milking and walking 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:42.660 after dark down to our timber area, which was 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:45.900 more than a quarter of a mile away. The only 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:48.039 light that I had was a light that was on our 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:50.720 barn, an electric light, a 100 -watt light bulb. 00:20:52.430 --> 00:20:54.690 Believe it or not, there in the dense jungle 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:58.470 where I was on that farm, with evil beasts lurking 00:20:58.470 --> 00:21:02.230 on every hand, there was light from that barn 00:21:02.230 --> 00:21:06.869 that made a shadow. It made a shadow in the timber, 00:21:06.990 --> 00:21:09.549 and I could see something of where I was going. 00:21:09.869 --> 00:21:13.309 I didn't stay anywhere very long as I walked 00:21:13.309 --> 00:21:16.650 through the darkness. You see, that little 100 00:21:16.650 --> 00:21:21.799 -watt light bulb made a difference. The light 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.759 of the world came in the person of Jesus Christ 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:27.940 and dispelled darkness. That's why Jesus says 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:30.119 of you and me, you are the light of the world. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.299 And you may feel that your candle is pretty small. 00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:36.319 There's not much wattage there. Listen, a little 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:42.099 light dispels a lot of darkness. His life is 00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:45.079 the light of men. Then we learn in verses 6 through 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.819 8 that his forerunner bore witness to him. historical 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:53.940 truth is now inserted into the theological. Now 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:55.960 John is going to be talked about a little bit 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.039 more later, in fact in this chapter as well as 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:02.660 in chapter 3, but the Apostle John here refers 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:06.099 briefly to John the Baptist, the forerunner of 00:22:06.099 --> 00:22:11.720 Jesus the Messiah. He came to awaken Israel to 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:16.000 the coming of the light. He came as a witness 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:19.940 to the light. He was not the light itself. He 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:24.059 was subordinate to the logos. In fact, that is 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:26.279 said again in verse 15, just to jump ahead of 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:30.880 ourselves. This was he, says John, of whom I 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.859 said, he who comes after me has a higher rank 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:37.619 than I, for he existed before me. Those are the 00:22:37.619 --> 00:22:41.440 words of John the Baptist. He recognizes his 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.700 role. and the superiority of the light, of the 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:48.980 Logos, who's come into the world. By the way, 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:50.779 it's interesting that he says what he does. He 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:54.680 existed before me. If you're a student of the 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:58.240 Gospel of Luke, you'll recall that the conception 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:02.440 of John was announced three months before the 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:07.500 conception of Jesus. That means that John was 00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:09.579 born about three months before Jesus, and yet 00:23:09.579 --> 00:23:13.000 John says here, he existed before me. Why does 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.019 he say that? Well, of course, it is another clear 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:20.319 statement to his preexistence. That even before 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.200 John was conceived in the womb of Elizabeth, 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:28.640 the logos, the light, was. He existed before 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:32.880 me. The emphasis here on John the Baptist is 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:38.019 on his function, his purpose as a witness to 00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:40.500 the light. rather than upon his character and 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:42.920 his origin, which is shrouded in some mystery 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.539 beyond his birth. That brings us to number seven, 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:51.220 where it says that the word, the logos, came 00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:55.599 into the world. Verses 9 through 13. Now there 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:57.559 is a sense, of course, in which he was always 00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:01.940 in the world as the transcendent creator. As 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:05.000 God, he is omnipresent, and yet in a very special, 00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:10.099 unique way, he came into the world. There are 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:14.099 three results of that. First, he gives illumination 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:18.039 to every man, verse 9. Now, there are some people 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:20.380 who believe this teaches universal salvation, 00:24:20.700 --> 00:24:23.599 that ultimately, that is, everyone is going to 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:30.079 be saved. That is simply not true. What John 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.220 is seemingly saying here is that Jesus Christ, 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.019 coming into the world, has given illumination 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:40.130 to every man. with regard either to salvation 00:24:40.130 --> 00:24:44.650 or to coming judgment, so that if a person fails 00:24:44.650 --> 00:24:47.269 to respond to the light that he has, whatever 00:24:47.269 --> 00:24:51.910 it is, it is because he prefers darkness rather 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:56.369 than light, John 3, 19. And it's because he is 00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:59.410 moving toward judgment and is already under the 00:24:59.410 --> 00:25:03.410 wrath of God. There is some sense in which coming 00:25:03.410 --> 00:25:05.670 into the world, the Logos gives illumination 00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:10.450 to every man. The second result of his coming 00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:14.309 is that he was not received. That's strange, 00:25:14.490 --> 00:25:18.789 isn't it? It says he was in the world. That is 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.289 the very world made by him. His environment, 00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:24.809 his universe. And the world was made through 00:25:24.809 --> 00:25:28.329 him and the world did not know him. He came to 00:25:28.329 --> 00:25:31.970 his own. The word there means his own things 00:25:31.970 --> 00:25:36.150 or to his own place. He came, but he was not 00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:41.000 received. He came to his own people, the verse 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.559 goes on to say, verse 11, and they did not receive 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:48.420 him. So while he came into the world bringing 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:51.619 illumination to every man, he came to his own 00:25:51.619 --> 00:25:55.519 and was not received. The very universe that 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:59.400 owed to him his existence did not recognize him. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.299 And even the nation of Israel to whom were given 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:06.220 special privileges and revelation did not receive 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:11.710 him. That brings us to verses 12 and 13 where 00:26:11.710 --> 00:26:14.029 we see the third result of the word coming into 00:26:14.029 --> 00:26:15.730 the world, and that is that he was received by 00:26:15.730 --> 00:26:20.849 some. By some. As always in the Old Testament, 00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:24.410 even now, there is a believing remnant who are 00:26:24.410 --> 00:26:28.130 the true people of God who become his own in 00:26:28.130 --> 00:26:30.789 a very special sense, as Jesus uses it in John 00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:34.289 13, 1, where it says he loved his own to the 00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:38.740 uttermost. These of his own... received him. 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:42.799 Notice that verse 12 says that to receive him 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:44.859 is to believe him, and to believe him is to receive 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:48.259 him. The two words are used synonymously. It 00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:52.880 means to commit oneself to him. How we try to 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:57.279 complicate faith is just amazing. We try to add 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:00.960 to it all kinds of ornaments to seemingly make 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:05.980 it more palatable or attractive to man. But faith 00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:09.640 is a very simple concept, really. It simply means 00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:13.759 to receive. Someone gave you a Christmas gift. 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:16.259 What did you do? You reached out and took it. 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:19.940 Jesus Christ comes into the world bringing light 00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:24.839 and life. We reach out and we receive him and 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.059 the gifts that he brings. That's all that it 00:27:27.059 --> 00:27:30.359 means. It's not simplistic, but it is simple. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:34.819 It is simple. And he says that those who do that 00:27:34.819 --> 00:27:38.079 receive the authority to become God's children. 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:43.359 Notice, become God's children. In other words, 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:47.500 they become something they were not before. Now 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:49.460 there are those within Christendom who try to 00:27:49.460 --> 00:27:53.160 tell us that all people are the children of God 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:58.779 and that God is the Father of all. Is that true? 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.019 Are all men and women of the world the children 00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:07.519 of God in some sense? No, it is not true. The 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.420 Bible does not teach that. We become the children 00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:14.180 of God, the Bible says. One of the questions 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:17.460 asked this morning in the interview on the radio 00:28:17.460 --> 00:28:22.299 program was, why is it that evangelical churches 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:26.039 are growing and mainline denominations, for the 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:28.700 most part, are declining? Have you ever heard 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:32.019 that question before? It's been posed many, many 00:28:32.019 --> 00:28:34.079 times, and I don't think there's a simple answer 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:39.059 to it. But a quick answer, and I think a correct 00:28:39.059 --> 00:28:41.819 answer, is that the mainline churches have left 00:28:41.819 --> 00:28:48.119 their theological roots for liberalism. The kind 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:50.240 of liberal gibberish that I just said to you, 00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:52.660 that all men are the children of God and God 00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:55.519 is the father of all. That goes right back to 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:59.420 the beginning of liberal theology. And having 00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:02.920 left the theology of the Bible, they no longer 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:08.440 have anything to offer to their people. The theology 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:11.099 they have adopted is death, and they are dying, 00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:15.240 and it is no strange thing at all. There was 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:18.660 an interesting letter last Sunday in the newspaper 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:23.380 from a pastor of a Baptist church on the west 00:29:23.380 --> 00:29:26.450 side of Minneapolis. He was reacting to... a 00:29:26.450 --> 00:29:29.630 column, I think it was a week before, in which 00:29:29.630 --> 00:29:33.250 a man was castigating and lacerating fundamentalists 00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:36.130 and evangelicals and warning everybody to watch 00:29:36.130 --> 00:29:40.230 out for them. This pastor wrote in defense of 00:29:40.230 --> 00:29:42.849 fundamentalists and evangelicals, of which he 00:29:42.849 --> 00:29:48.289 is one and which I am one. And in his letter, 00:29:48.349 --> 00:29:51.170 he quoted a liberal theologian who was at least 00:29:51.170 --> 00:29:58.740 honest. This man said, We look upon the evangelicals 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:01.180 and fundamentalists as something new. This is 00:30:01.180 --> 00:30:04.500 the liberal writing. But he says, they're not 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:08.119 the new ones. We're the new ones. Because what 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:10.619 they teach and preach is what historic Christianity 00:30:10.619 --> 00:30:15.380 has taught for hundreds of years. We are the 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:18.420 ones who have changed. So let's not call them 00:30:18.420 --> 00:30:22.500 new on the scene. I appreciated his honesty. 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:26.420 You say, how did I get... to there from where 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:32.779 our text. I'm not quite sure. Except to say this, 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:36.220 that it is wrong to say that everyone is a child 00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:39.420 of God. Those who are children of God become 00:30:39.420 --> 00:30:43.160 children of God. How? By birth. Verse 13, who 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:46.160 were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:48.619 or the will of man, but of God. Born of God. 00:30:50.299 --> 00:30:52.700 Regeneration. The new birth. Is John going to 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:56.650 talk about that some more, do you think? John 00:30:56.650 --> 00:30:59.049 chapter 3, of course, is a wonderful elaboration 00:30:59.049 --> 00:31:02.109 on this. He says here it has nothing to do with 00:31:02.109 --> 00:31:04.450 one's ancestry, one's physical relationship, 00:31:04.730 --> 00:31:08.250 or the willful efforts of a person. But he says 00:31:08.250 --> 00:31:10.970 becoming a child of God is being born of God. 00:31:11.029 --> 00:31:14.569 It's the supernatural, regenerative work of God 00:31:14.569 --> 00:31:18.089 the Holy Spirit, awakening one to faith and belief 00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:21.829 in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is those then who 00:31:21.829 --> 00:31:25.650 will receive and believe. Now we have to rush 00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:29.650 on to verses 14 through 16, which is John's Christmas 00:31:29.650 --> 00:31:31.730 story. If you want to find the shepherds and 00:31:31.730 --> 00:31:35.569 the manger and the angels and the wise men in 00:31:35.569 --> 00:31:38.130 the Gospel of John, you find it here in verse 00:31:38.130 --> 00:31:42.450 14. He takes away all the wrappings and gets 00:31:42.450 --> 00:31:45.670 right down to the gift. He says, and the word 00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:50.460 became flesh. The word that has always been, 00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:53.799 the word that has been with God, the word that 00:31:53.799 --> 00:31:59.619 is God, that word has become flesh. The miracle 00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:03.619 of the incarnation. Notice he says the word became 00:32:03.619 --> 00:32:06.319 here, before the word was. Now the word became, 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.079 something he was not before. He's had a change 00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:12.460 in his state. A new dimension of existence is 00:32:12.460 --> 00:32:15.940 his through birth. He enters the world as genuine 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:19.420 yet sinless man, eternal God united with sinless 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:23.140 man in one person. And he says that he came, 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:28.680 became flesh, and lived in a tent with us. That's 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.400 what the word means. He tabernacled amongst us. 00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:33.720 If you know the Old Testament, you recognize 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:37.079 that term. The tabernacle was the tent of the 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:40.640 meeting where God met with his people. It's where 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:45.420 his Shekinah glory dwelt. In the holy of holies. 00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:50.079 And you see that's exactly what John is saying 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:52.640 here about the word. He lived, he tabernacled 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:57.559 amongst us. And we beheld his glory. The Shekinah 00:32:57.559 --> 00:32:59.960 glory of God that was in the tabernacle of the 00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:02.319 Old Testament was in the body of Jesus Christ 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:06.279 because he is God. We beheld his glory. John 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:08.319 doesn't talk about the transfiguration either. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.400 But here he inset it. He says, we beheld his 00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:18.380 glory as the only begotten of the Father. Boy, 00:33:18.380 --> 00:33:22.099 that word begotten bothers some people. You say, 00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:24.720 well, you see, Jesus was begotten. He was born. 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:31.079 He had a beginning. This term, the only begotten, 00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:35.740 is a special term. It means the only one of its 00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:42.230 kind. He is the only begotten, the unrivaled, 00:33:42.230 --> 00:33:46.150 the unequaled from the Father. He alone is the 00:33:46.150 --> 00:33:48.750 point, can give the revelation of the Father. 00:33:48.829 --> 00:33:51.849 He's the only begotten, full of grace and truth. 00:33:54.150 --> 00:33:57.529 In verse 16 he says, of his fullness we have 00:33:57.529 --> 00:34:02.730 received. In other words, in Jesus Christ there 00:34:02.730 --> 00:34:04.990 is sufficient for all of our needs, folks, all 00:34:04.990 --> 00:34:09.639 of them. He says grace upon grace. A strange 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:12.659 way of putting it. Literally, John says grace 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:16.539 against grace. Grace against grace. And the idea 00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:21.480 seems to be that of a wave of the ocean. An ocean 00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:26.599 view is a beautiful thing. You see this vast 00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:31.079 body of water attacking the shore. One wave comes 00:34:31.079 --> 00:34:33.599 and it withdraws. Then another wave comes and 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:35.639 it withdraws. And it seems to have no effect. 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:40.179 But of course it does, and the shore can be eroded. 00:34:41.219 --> 00:34:43.980 One wave follows another, and yet the ocean is 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:46.440 always there, same level, it's never diminished. 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:49.519 You see, that's the point that John's making 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:53.519 about the grace that is in Jesus Christ. You 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:56.420 and I who know him have one wave lavished upon 00:34:56.420 --> 00:35:00.940 us after another. Grace upon grace comes into 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:03.579 our lives, and yet the great reservoir of his 00:35:03.579 --> 00:35:07.800 grace is never the least diminished. always there, 00:35:07.860 --> 00:35:11.460 always available. You say, you know, Dad, I'd 00:35:11.460 --> 00:35:13.380 love to believe that, but I need to get my life 00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:15.380 cleaned up so I can get God's grace. Listen, 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:20.019 you've got it wrong. What you need to do is believe 00:35:20.019 --> 00:35:24.239 and receive the Lord Jesus Christ so that he 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:26.400 can bring that grace into your life and clean 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:29.760 it up. If you wait to clean it up before you 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:31.519 come to receive his grace, you'll never come. 00:35:33.780 --> 00:35:37.570 Indeed, God wants us to come as we are. and receive 00:35:37.570 --> 00:35:42.130 of this grace that he lavishes upon us. In verse 00:35:42.130 --> 00:35:44.650 17, just quickly, we have a ninth truth, and 00:35:44.650 --> 00:35:46.369 that is that he has fulfilled the Old Testament 00:35:46.369 --> 00:35:49.530 law. Several contrasts here between the law and 00:35:49.530 --> 00:35:53.710 grace. Moses and Christ, the law was given. Grace 00:35:53.710 --> 00:35:56.730 and truth were realized. But the point that I 00:35:56.730 --> 00:35:59.190 want to draw from it is simply this, that Jesus 00:35:59.190 --> 00:36:01.750 Christ in coming has fulfilled the Old Testament 00:36:01.750 --> 00:36:07.000 law. That law which sets the standard. That law 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:10.139 which condemns those that cannot meet the standard, 00:36:10.340 --> 00:36:15.139 that law has been fulfilled. And now grace and 00:36:15.139 --> 00:36:19.239 truth are fully brought to us in the person of 00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:23.199 Jesus Christ. And finally, the tenth wonderful 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.599 truth that we see is that the word, the logos, 00:36:26.760 --> 00:36:31.780 has fully revealed God. Verse 18. God is spirit. 00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:36.699 No man has seen him at any time. What God is, 00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:39.360 is invisible to physical sight. Even Moses could 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:42.699 not look upon the glory of God. He saw only the 00:36:42.699 --> 00:36:47.460 afterglow. The essential nature of God, his inner 00:36:47.460 --> 00:36:51.199 essence, has never been seen by man. And yet 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:56.400 Jesus Christ has fully revealed that glory. The 00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:00.039 only begotten God, who's in the bosom of the 00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:14.340 Father, showing again the close... The relationship, 00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:18.179 the intimacy of the word, the logos and the Father. 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:23.239 He has explained him. The idea is that he has 00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:26.920 brought him out into view so that we can see 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:32.739 him. You've seen the automobiles, the latest 00:37:32.739 --> 00:37:36.400 models. And they rather tease us by putting a 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:39.760 blanket of some kind over this car. And they 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:41.739 say on such and such a day, you'll be able to 00:37:41.739 --> 00:37:44.869 see what this car is like. and on that day it's 00:37:44.869 --> 00:37:47.989 brought into view. You see, that's what the Son 00:37:47.989 --> 00:37:52.489 of God did in revealing the Father to us. God 00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:54.730 has not been seen at any time, but the Son of 00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:57.809 God in coming brought him out into view so that 00:37:57.809 --> 00:38:00.269 we may now look upon God. You wonder what God 00:38:00.269 --> 00:38:03.550 is like? Look at Jesus Christ, for he is the 00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:08.250 full expression of all that God is. Wonderful 00:38:08.250 --> 00:38:11.030 truths here regarding the Word who has come to 00:38:11.030 --> 00:38:16.019 reveal. We conclude by saying, so what? So all 00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:19.619 of this is true, so what? A couple of things. 00:38:19.719 --> 00:38:23.340 Number one, if what I've said is true this morning 00:38:23.340 --> 00:38:27.260 and Jesus Christ is the Logos of God, then he 00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:31.960 is worthy of your worship and mine. And he is 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:36.360 worthy of our total obedience. Whatever he says 00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:41.519 is the word of God. He speaks as the full expression 00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:45.980 of all that God wants to say as the logos. Therefore, 00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:48.800 whatever he says deserves my full attention. 00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:54.139 I dare not be complacent and casual about what 00:38:54.139 --> 00:38:57.500 Jesus Christ says to me in this book because 00:38:57.500 --> 00:38:59.880 this is the written word of God as he is the 00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:05.480 living word of God. He deserves my worship, my 00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:09.179 obedience. And then secondly, to turn from him 00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:14.219 is to reject what God is. It is to reject what 00:39:14.219 --> 00:39:19.360 God has to say, and it is to turn oneself to 00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:24.659 eternal damnation. You see, this is a crossroads. 00:39:27.260 --> 00:39:31.519 It may be a crossroads for you personally. For 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:34.139 you to come to church and to understand maybe 00:39:34.139 --> 00:39:37.059 for the first time who the Logos is and why he 00:39:37.059 --> 00:39:41.440 has come and to go away rejecting him is for 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:44.039 you to make a wrong turn, my friend, on the road 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:48.639 of life. It's for you to turn away from the only 00:39:48.639 --> 00:39:54.260 one who can save your soul. That's why we plead 00:39:54.260 --> 00:39:57.679 with you to receive him. That's why we plead 00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.320 to you to adore him and worship him with us. 00:40:00.940 --> 00:40:03.619 That's why we plead with you to believe on him 00:40:03.619 --> 00:40:08.940 so that you may become a child of God, be born 00:40:08.940 --> 00:40:13.500 of God. A young man by the name of Mike, the 00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:18.420 name, was a Jewish boy born into a Gentile neighborhood. 00:40:18.599 --> 00:40:22.059 That's kind of a rough combination. As he grew 00:40:22.059 --> 00:40:25.719 up, he was called a Christ killer. All the other 00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:28.880 names that unthinking, mean -minded people can 00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:33.860 use. against Jews. So he grew up to hate Christ 00:40:33.860 --> 00:40:36.360 and he grew up to hate Christians, not understanding 00:40:36.360 --> 00:40:40.059 really who Christ is. One day he met a librarian 00:40:40.059 --> 00:40:43.179 by the name of Shirley. Shirley was a genuine 00:40:43.179 --> 00:40:46.179 Christian. And she began to talk to him about 00:40:46.179 --> 00:40:49.460 his people and to tell Mike how much she loved 00:40:49.460 --> 00:40:51.780 the Jews because they were God's chosen people. 00:40:53.139 --> 00:40:55.199 And it was then for the first time that Mike 00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:57.659 realized that Jesus was a Jew. He had never known 00:40:57.659 --> 00:41:03.139 that before. And she began to tell him how Jesus 00:41:03.139 --> 00:41:06.860 fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. He was intrigued 00:41:06.860 --> 00:41:09.239 by it, and yet he refused to personally identify 00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:13.440 with Jesus because he wanted to be a Jew. But 00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:15.860 as the conversations continued between Shirley, 00:41:16.019 --> 00:41:20.099 the librarian, and Mike, her friend, he came 00:41:20.099 --> 00:41:24.579 to realize that for him to accept Jesus was but 00:41:24.579 --> 00:41:27.679 to complete his Jewishness. It was not for him 00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:30.079 to forsake the faith of his fathers. It was to 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:34.059 find its fulfillment in their Messiah. And there 00:41:34.059 --> 00:41:36.139 came a night when all by himself he got down 00:41:36.139 --> 00:41:38.340 on his knees and confessed his sins and received, 00:41:38.659 --> 00:41:42.900 believed Jesus Christ and became a child of God. 00:41:44.539 --> 00:41:46.400 What about you, my friend? Have you done that? 00:41:48.199 --> 00:41:50.420 Perhaps you're a few steps behind Mike. You're 00:41:50.420 --> 00:41:53.360 coming to realize all that that means. May I 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:55.559 urge you today to continue on in that direction. 00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:58.500 And if we can pray with you and help you, we're 00:41:58.500 --> 00:42:02.349 here to do that. Heavenly Father, I pray that 00:42:02.349 --> 00:42:04.750 having understood something more perhaps today 00:42:04.750 --> 00:42:10.690 of who the Jesus of Christmas is, that our hearts 00:42:10.690 --> 00:42:13.190 will be drawn to adore and worship him all the 00:42:13.190 --> 00:42:16.769 more. Thank you for revealing yourself fully 00:42:16.769 --> 00:42:22.230 to us through the Logos, the Word, in whom we 00:42:22.230 --> 00:42:24.989 have come to trust and through whom we have come 00:42:24.989 --> 00:42:27.630 to know you personally. Amen.