Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / John 1:1-5 (Part 1)
Transcript
- 0:00Well, good morning to you. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 1.
- 0:08Last week I introduced the Gospel according to John to you. I developed some of its themes with selected text.
- 0:14Today we're going to look at John chapter 1 verses 1 through 5.
- 0:20And I have a pretty good feeling this will be part 1 of 2 of our look at this text.
- 0:26These days are distracted days.
- 0:33According to a 2015 study released by none other than Microsoft, the average attention span of an American is 8.25 seconds.
- 0:44Less than that of a goldfish.
- 0:48I didn't take the time, really care too much, to understand their definition of attention span.
- 0:55I don't really know what they meant.
- 0:57But we are undoubtedly distracted people.
- 1:03The issue affects young and old alike.
- 1:09Older folks, which I'm starting to count myself one of, like to look at younger generations and point out all the problems with them.
- 1:17But it doesn't just lie with young folks.
- 1:20I was having blood work done a couple of weeks ago, as older people do.
- 1:27And as I waited there, there were 20-something, 60 to 70-somethings, and every single one of them, every single one of them, was staring and scrolling on a phone screen.
- 1:42It was shocking.
- 1:43It was shocking.
- 1:44So I decided that day to be a rebel young guy and sat there and did nothing.
- 1:50I just stared at the wall in rebellion against them.
- 1:55You need to think about how you can be less distracted.
- 2:01The church needs to think about how we can help.
- 2:06The church shouldn't attempt to coddle this problem, but should rather push back against it.
- 2:16The majority way, I believe, we can help one another is to gather earnestly to fix our attention heavenward.
- 2:26We also live in very self-centered days.
- 2:31New technology and all the marketing that comes to us through it places you at the very center of the universe.
- 2:42It seeks to cater to your every whim when you demand it.
- 2:50We don't watch TV on a schedule anymore, if you think about that.
- 2:54When I was a child, you saw the show or you didn't see the show.
- 2:57Maybe someday they would syndicate it and they'd come back around, but you had to schedule your life around their schedule.
- 3:05We don't do that any longer.
- 3:09I was listening to a podcast, and I'll add, at my convenience and on demand,
- 3:15and one of the guys speaking pointed out that even when we pull up maps these days,
- 3:20we don't look at a map and then locate ourselves on the map,
- 3:25but the map locates us at the center of it all the time.
- 3:29I never had considered that, right?
- 3:31My map puts me at the middle of everything.
- 3:37This is a problem.
- 3:39This is a problem.
- 3:41Everything at our fingertips on demand.
- 3:45The church should most certainly push back at this point also.
- 3:51You are not the center of the universe,
- 3:55and very little in reality revolves around you.
- 4:00We gather to worship the one who is, in fact, at the center of everything.
- 4:10Now, I didn't live in John's day.
- 4:12I'm only living in mine, and I can make commentary on our distractedness and our self-centeredness,
- 4:20but have no idea the general mentality of John's early readers.
- 4:25However, if I were to guess, I suggest to you that they also needed their attention fixed beyond themselves
- 4:32and the den of the world in which they lived.
- 4:35I would guess that John means to grab their attention and ours in the way that he opens his gospel account.
- 4:47It's rather striking the way he begins this account of Jesus' life.
- 4:53Let's push back this morning together against distraction and against self-centered tendencies
- 5:02in order to behold the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 1, verses 1 through 5.
- 5:12Before I read it, beloved, I want to remind you that this is God's word to us.
- 5:17John wrote it with an original audience in mind as he wrote it,
- 5:21But God worked in him supernaturally as a word to us, written for his glory and our good,
- 5:31that we might believe its promises, obey its commands, and have affection for its author.
- 5:39May we hear it and respond accordingly to it.
- 5:43I'll begin reading in verse 1.
- 5:45In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- 5:54He was in the beginning with God.
- 5:57All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
- 6:03In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
- 6:08The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- 6:13In the first five verses, John introduces to us Jesus without using his Hebrew name in the following five ways.
- 6:27We see Jesus as the Word.
- 6:29We see that Jesus is pre-existent.
- 6:32We see that Jesus is the Creator.
- 6:35We see Jesus is self-existent.
- 6:40And we see Jesus is the unquenchable light.
- 6:44And I believe that this is the point that I'll bring up.
- 6:47I'll save it until next Lord's Day as we consider the resurrection together.
- 6:54The Puritan John Owen wrote in his book entitled,
- 6:56The Glory of Christ, which I really commend to you.
- 6:59It's a difficult read, but it's a great read.
- 7:01The Glory of Christ, the following, and I quote,
- 7:05The revelation made of Christ in the blessed gospel is far more excellent, more glorious,
- 7:12more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness than the whole creation.
- 7:19And the just comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or afford.
- 7:24Without this knowledge, the mind of man, priding itself in other inventions and discoveries,
- 7:30is wrapped up in darkness and confusion.
- 7:34This, therefore, he's talking about Jesus Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- 7:38This, therefore, deserves the severest of our thoughts,
- 7:43the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them.
- 7:49For if our future blessedness shall consist in living where he is and beholding his glory,
- 7:55what better preparation can there be for it
- 7:58than a constant previous contemplation of that glory as revealed in the gospel,
- 8:06that by a view of it we may gradually be transformed into the same glory.
- 8:12The Christian eternity will be filled with the wonderment of Christ.
- 8:19So, Owen is arguing, we should seek to know him now,
- 8:25that he might be exalted in our minds and in our lives.
- 8:31Perhaps in some small measure, the Lord will use this time to bless us to that wonderful end.
- 8:38Let's look first that Jesus is introduced as the Word.
- 8:45John says in the beginning was the Word,
- 8:48and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- 8:53The Word, Word, was an interesting choice for John to make as an introductory title for Jesus.
- 9:01The Greek word logos was packed full of meaning for John's Gentile readers.
- 9:11Greek philosophers used this word to refer to the abstract principle of reason and order in the universe.
- 9:19With something out there kind of a furial, the logos,
- 9:23the source from which all of this comes is the way they used that word.
- 9:28It was an unknown source of creation and wisdom.
- 9:36So, John, in this opening verse, presents Jesus as the personification of creative power and reason.
- 9:44He's about to say, this logos that you use in your thinking can, in fact, be known.
- 9:52John's Jewish readers would have also understood this word to be packed full of meaning.
- 10:01They knew that God spoke the world into existence with mighty words.
- 10:06That He made covenants with His people with words,
- 10:09gave them wisdom through the written law,
- 10:11counseled prophets and kings,
- 10:13and revealed the Scripture, the Old Testament Scripture,
- 10:16through spoken words.
- 10:19So, to John's first century Jewish readers,
- 10:24John introduces Jesus as the incarnation of divine power and revelation.
- 10:32I would have loved to have sat with a Gentile believer who had just read this opening phrase,
- 10:39and a Jewish believer who had just read this opening phrase,
- 10:42and hear them talk about all that it meant to them
- 10:45as they think about Jesus as the word,
- 10:48the logos of God.
- 10:53John, in introducing Jesus as the word,
- 10:55draws straight lines to His divinity,
- 10:59but lest anyone might be confused,
- 11:01he tells us that He was with God in the beginning,
- 11:07and that He is God.
- 11:10I won't take the time this morning to plumb the depths of Trinitarian theology.
- 11:17John's going to give us plenty of chances for that in the coming months together.
- 11:23However, for now, I want you to see that Jesus,
- 11:26before time as we know it and understand it,
- 11:30dwelt as God in Trinitarian unity.
- 11:35The author of Hebrews says in chapter 1 and verse 3 of Hebrews,
- 11:41He is the radiance of the glory of God
- 11:44and the exact imprint of His nature.
- 11:49The exact imprint.
- 11:51He is God Himself.
- 11:55It is a great wonder that Jesus should humble Himself
- 11:59to take the form of a man in order to suffer His Father's wrath
- 12:03for our sin.
- 12:05We ought to think and think and think
- 12:09about the innate nature of Christ.
- 12:14Charles Wesley gives us some hint of this wonder in his song,
- 12:19And Can It Be That I Should Gain,
- 12:21that I'm about to read to you.
- 12:23It's verse 2, I believe.
- 12:25It's on the back of your bulletin
- 12:26with a rather unfortunate typo,
- 12:29but I'll read it without the typo.
- 12:31Charles Wesley wrote this,
- 12:35He left his Father's throne above,
- 12:38so free, so infinite, His grace,
- 12:42emptied himself of all but love,
- 12:45and bled for Adam's helpless race.
- 12:49Tis mercy all, immense and free,
- 12:52for, oh my God, it found out me.
- 12:56Amazing love, how can it be
- 12:59that thou, my God, should die for me?
- 13:04Jesus is the Word.
- 13:08The personification of creative power and reason.
- 13:13The incarnation of divine power and revelation.
- 13:18Jesus is God.
- 13:21Secondly, and it follows,
- 13:24that Jesus is preexistent.
- 13:28We see at the very beginning of verse 1,
- 13:31John tells us,
- 13:32As God, Jesus was in the beginning.
- 13:36And then he repeats it again in verse 2.
- 13:40Do not be confused.
- 13:41He was in the beginning,
- 13:43and He was in the beginning,
- 13:46is what John does.
- 13:47The Greek word for beginning means source or origin.
- 13:53It's meant to draw our minds back to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1.
- 13:58In the beginning God created,
- 14:02it's referring to the time before the universe began.
- 14:09The verb was in the imperfect tense
- 14:12describes continual action in the past.
- 14:16And so we could render,
- 14:19verse 2,
- 14:21He was always being in the beginning with God.
- 14:28These two verses in no way suggest
- 14:31that Jesus was created.
- 14:33And if anybody tells you otherwise,
- 14:35you should stop listening to the following things they say.
- 14:39Jesus was not created.
- 14:41He was.
- 14:42Jesus just is.
- 14:49Marcus Dodds,
- 14:50in the Expositors Bible Commentary,
- 14:52says this,
- 14:53quote,
- 14:54The word did not then begin to be,
- 14:58but at that point at which all else began to be,
- 15:01He already was.
- 15:03In the beginning,
- 15:04place it where you may,
- 15:06the word already existed.
- 15:08In other words,
- 15:10the logos,
- 15:11before time,
- 15:14eternal.
- 15:16Paul writes in the first part of Colossians chapter 1,
- 15:19verse 17,
- 15:21Jesus is before all things.
- 15:27He preexisted everything we know to be as God.
- 15:32The third thing that we see John introduce Jesus as
- 15:37is the Creator in verse 3.
- 15:41He says here,
- 15:42All things were made through Him,
- 15:45and without Him was not anything made that was made.
- 15:51And I love,
- 15:51there's a carefulness,
- 15:54there's an economy of words going on here,
- 15:56but he repeats things that seem to matter so very much.
- 16:01Right?
- 16:01He's not going to leave us unclear at this point.
- 16:03All things made through Him,
- 16:05and without Him,
- 16:06not anything made that was made.
- 16:08All of it,
- 16:09every bit of it,
- 16:10made by Jesus.
- 16:13Travel with me at this point over to Colossians chapter 1.
- 16:18I think you'll appreciate seeing a few things I'd like to mention here.
- 16:22I just read the beginning of verse 17.
- 16:25I think the text that those words are set in will serve us well at this point.
- 16:32A bit of an expansion on what John is communicating here.
- 16:37Colossians 1,
- 16:39verse 16 and 17.
- 16:41For by Him,
- 16:44Paul writes,
- 16:45Christ,
- 16:46for by Him all things were created,
- 16:48in heaven and on earth,
- 16:49visible and invisible,
- 16:51whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,
- 16:54all things were created through Him.
- 16:58So a bit of an expansion on the idea.
- 17:00Less economic in his use of words.
- 17:02All things created through Him,
- 17:04and then at the end of verse 16,
- 17:06and for Him.
- 17:08And He is before all things,
- 17:12and in Him all things hold together.
- 17:18Jesus Christ,
- 17:19Paul and John tell us,
- 17:21is the Creator and the Sustainer of all things.
- 17:27Everything that we can see,
- 17:29and everything that we cannot see,
- 17:31were created by Jesus and for Jesus.
- 17:36This is a magnificent thought.
- 17:41This is a thought,
- 17:42I think an undistracted person
- 17:45would spend a lot of time considering.
- 17:48It should absolutely capture our minds.
- 17:52Everything made by Him and for Him.
- 17:56The entire universe was created
- 17:59to what end?
- 18:01To what end?
- 18:03To the end of His praise.
- 18:06To the end of His praise.
- 18:08Maybe the reason that we are so tempted
- 18:10to worship paltry things
- 18:13is that we don't...
- 18:14Verse 1,
- 18:14The heavens declare the glory of God,
- 18:17and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
- 18:23Lift your eyes up from your screen.
- 18:27This is a novel idea.
- 18:27Go outside when it's dark.
- 18:29Pay attention to all that has been created
- 18:33and be in awe.
- 18:38This universe was made by Christ
- 18:40and it was made for Him.
- 18:44Paul goes on to tell us
- 18:45that He's the Sustainer of all things.
- 18:47He says at the end of verse 17,
- 18:49And in Him all things hold together.
- 18:53The author of Hebrews says in chapter 1, verse 3,
- 18:56He upholds the universe
- 18:58by the word of His power.
- 19:03And if sometime you want to
- 19:04muse entertainingly with me,
- 19:06ask me about Jonathan Edwards
- 19:07and his theory of continual creation.
- 19:10I'd love to talk with you about it.
- 19:12It's fascinating.
- 19:12Not only were all things created by Jesus Christ
- 19:17and set into motion by Him,
- 19:19but all things are also sustained by Him.
- 19:24Everything goes until He says,
- 19:27Stop.
- 19:28And everything stops until He says,
- 19:31Go.
- 19:31It's all happening by His command.
- 19:34Now, everything in the universe
- 19:37is made of atoms.
- 19:40Protons, electrons, neutrons.
- 19:43If you've not learned this yet, you will.
- 19:44If you've learned it,
- 19:45you've probably long forgotten it.
- 19:48It's incredible.
- 19:49Everything is made of atoms.
- 19:53Scientists have labored over the past century
- 19:56to explain away the existence of God.
- 19:59It sometimes seems like the whole point of science these days
- 20:01is to explain away God.
- 20:03But they have failed to explain
- 20:04how it is that the atom remains in its orbital state.
- 20:08How does an atom remain an atom?
- 20:13Carl K. Darula, physicist,
- 20:14is cited in a book entitled
- 20:16The Atom Speaks
- 20:18in reference to what scientists are calling
- 20:21the strong nuclear force.
- 20:25This is what they call that power
- 20:27that holds an atom together.
- 20:28The strong nuclear force.
- 20:31He says this, quote,
- 20:33Do you grasp what this implies?
- 20:36It implies that all the nuclei
- 20:38have no right to be alive at all.
- 20:42Indeed, they should never have been created.
- 20:44And if created,
- 20:45they should have blown up instantly.
- 20:48Yet, here they all are.
- 20:51Some inflexible inhibition
- 20:53is holding them relentlessly together.
- 20:56The nature of the inhibition
- 20:58is also a secret.
- 20:59One thus far reserved
- 21:02by nature herself.
- 21:05What he's saying is,
- 21:06we don't have any scientific reason
- 21:08to understand why it is
- 21:10that anything holds together.
- 21:12Why do I hold together?
- 21:14Why does anything you're viewing right now
- 21:15stay in the shape that it's in
- 21:18and not just burst into atoms
- 21:20flying everywhere?
- 21:23It's a secret, he says,
- 21:26one thus far reserved
- 21:28by nature herself.
- 21:32Science hasn't answered this question,
- 21:35but the Bible has.
- 21:37If you'll allow,
- 21:38the strong nuclear force
- 21:39is Jesus Christ
- 21:41and the word of his power.
- 21:44Jesus is the creator
- 21:47and he is the sustainer
- 21:50of all things.
- 21:53Back in John 1, verse 3,
- 21:55all things made through him
- 21:57and without him
- 21:58was not anything made
- 22:00that was made.
- 22:03Ah.
- 22:03We should stand in awe
- 22:05of this truth.
- 22:08Fourthly,
- 22:09Jesus is self-existent.
- 22:13self-existent.
- 22:16We see this in the first part
- 22:17of verse 4.
- 22:20In him was life.
- 22:24In him.
- 22:25He possessed life.
- 22:29Ontology is the study
- 22:31of the nature of being.
- 22:34The beginning of verse 4
- 22:35is a brilliant ontological statement.
- 22:40In him was life.
- 22:43The word translated life
- 22:44is used all throughout
- 22:46John's gospel
- 22:46and always refers
- 22:48to spiritual
- 22:49and eternal life.
- 22:53Jesus possesses
- 22:54within himself
- 22:56life.
- 22:59This is something
- 22:59often referred to
- 23:00as
- 23:01auseity.
- 23:02His auseity.
- 23:03Jesus is
- 23:04ause,
- 23:05which is from the Latin.
- 23:06It just means
- 23:06of
- 23:07self.
- 23:08And it's
- 23:09an incredibly
- 23:10important doctrine
- 23:11and a doctrine
- 23:11that is constantly
- 23:12under attack.
- 23:14You want to be discerning
- 23:16as you listen
- 23:16and read
- 23:17all of the wonderful
- 23:18resources that are out there.
- 23:20If people are attacking
- 23:21the auseity of God,
- 23:22his self-existence,
- 23:25you should be very cautious
- 23:26about what follows.
- 23:29Everything
- 23:29that has been created
- 23:31needs
- 23:32some
- 23:33power source
- 23:34to sustain it.
- 23:35the plant
- 23:37needs
- 23:37nutrients
- 23:38and water
- 23:39and sunlight.
- 23:42Our cars
- 23:42need
- 23:43fuel
- 23:44and tragically
- 23:45expensive
- 23:45maintenance.
- 23:46We need
- 23:47food
- 23:48and water
- 23:48and shelter
- 23:49and some of us
- 23:50need
- 23:51tragically expensive
- 23:52maintenance.
- 23:54I could go on
- 23:55and on
- 23:55and on,
- 23:56but I hope
- 23:56that you see
- 23:57the point.
- 23:58Everything
- 23:59created,
- 24:00all of it,
- 24:01cannot sustain
- 24:02itself.
- 24:03It tends
- 24:04toward
- 24:05entropy.
- 24:06It needs
- 24:06something to
- 24:07input into it
- 24:08for it to
- 24:09continue
- 24:09on.
- 24:11Not so
- 24:12with Jesus.
- 24:14He is
- 24:15self-existent.
- 24:17His divine
- 24:18nature needs
- 24:19no inputs
- 24:20to go on.
- 24:21No fuel,
- 24:23no energy
- 24:23input,
- 24:25always
- 24:26existing,
- 24:27never
- 24:28created.
- 24:29He
- 24:30just
- 24:31is.
- 24:32everything
- 24:35created
- 24:35is in
- 24:36some
- 24:36form
- 24:37of
- 24:37process.
- 24:39And
- 24:39very
- 24:40tragically,
- 24:41there are
- 24:42theologians
- 24:43today that
- 24:44have invented
- 24:44a thing
- 24:45called
- 24:45process
- 24:45theology
- 24:46that
- 24:46suggests
- 24:47that
- 24:47God
- 24:47is
- 24:48responding
- 24:49to us
- 24:49and that
- 24:49his
- 24:50very
- 24:50nature
- 24:51is at
- 24:52change.
- 24:53Does
- 24:53God
- 24:53respond
- 24:54to us?
- 24:54Of course
- 24:54he does.
- 24:55But is
- 24:55who he
- 24:56is
- 24:57responding
- 24:57to us?
- 24:58No,
- 24:59not
- 25:00ever.
- 25:01Once
- 25:02again,
- 25:02be very
- 25:02careful
- 25:03if anybody
- 25:03seems to
- 25:04be promoting
- 25:04process
- 25:06theology.
- 25:08John
- 25:08tells us
- 25:09in no
- 25:09uncertain
- 25:10terms,
- 25:11Jesus
- 25:11is.
- 25:12He
- 25:12exists.
- 25:13In
- 25:13him
- 25:14was
- 25:15life.
- 25:18Later
- 25:19in John,
- 25:19John records
- 25:20these
- 25:20astounding
- 25:21words.
- 25:22This is
- 25:22John 8
- 25:22and verse
- 25:2358.
- 25:25Jesus
- 25:25says this,
- 25:27Truly,
- 25:27truly,
- 25:28I say
- 25:28to you,
- 25:29before
- 25:30Abraham
- 25:30was,
- 25:32I
- 25:32am.
- 25:35This
- 25:35is a
- 25:36reference
- 25:36to
- 25:36Exodus
- 25:373.14
- 25:37where God
- 25:38responds to
- 25:39a fearful
- 25:39question that
- 25:40Moses asked
- 25:40him.
- 25:41He says,
- 25:41Who shall
- 25:42I say
- 25:42sent
- 25:42me?
- 25:44And God
- 25:44says to
- 25:45Moses,
- 25:46I am
- 25:47who
- 25:47I
- 25:48am.
- 25:50And he
- 25:50said,
- 25:51Say this
- 25:51to the
- 25:51people of
- 25:52Israel,
- 25:52I
- 25:52am
- 25:53has
- 25:54sent
- 25:54me
- 25:54to
- 25:55you.
- 25:56This
- 25:56is this
- 25:56idea
- 25:57of
- 25:57aseity.
- 25:59I
- 26:00need
- 26:00not
- 26:00appeal
- 26:00to
- 26:00some
- 26:01other
- 26:01authority.
- 26:01Tell
- 26:02them
- 26:02my
- 26:02name
- 26:02is
- 26:03I
- 26:03exist.
- 26:04I
- 26:05am.
- 26:06Nothing
- 26:06changes
- 26:07me.
- 26:08I
- 26:08am
- 26:08who
- 26:09I
- 26:09am.
- 26:12This
- 26:13is an
- 26:13astonishing
- 26:13thing for
- 26:14Jesus to
- 26:14say because
- 26:15he rightly
- 26:16was claiming
- 26:18to be
- 26:19God.
- 26:20Unchanging,
- 26:21immovable
- 26:22God.
- 26:24Everything
- 26:24in the
- 26:25universe
- 26:25is
- 26:26becoming
- 26:27moving from
- 26:28one state
- 26:29to another.
- 26:31If you
- 26:31can recognize
- 26:31this about
- 26:32yourself,
- 26:33you will be
- 26:33so glad
- 26:34to know
- 26:35that Jesus
- 26:35is.
- 26:39John
- 26:39goes on
- 26:39to say,
- 26:41Jesus
- 26:41possesses
- 26:42life and
- 26:42he says,
- 26:43the life
- 26:43was the
- 26:44light
- 26:45of men.
- 26:46And we'll
- 26:46pick up
- 26:47more of
- 26:47this,
- 26:47I think,
- 26:48next week.
- 26:49But the
- 26:49themes of
- 26:50life and
- 26:50light are
- 26:51prominent
- 26:51in John's
- 26:53gospel.
- 26:54Here we
- 26:54see the
- 26:55two
- 26:55clearly
- 26:56connected
- 26:57in a
- 26:57metaphor
- 26:57that speaks
- 26:59to the
- 26:59contrast
- 27:00of Jesus
- 27:00against
- 27:01all
- 27:01that is
- 27:02evil
- 27:03in the
- 27:03world.
- 27:05We,
- 27:05I think,
- 27:06take
- 27:07light for
- 27:08granted.
- 27:09We have
- 27:10light in
- 27:10abundance.
- 27:11It is
- 27:11everywhere.
- 27:13But if you
- 27:13lived in a
- 27:14time when
- 27:14the only
- 27:14source of
- 27:15light was
- 27:16from a
- 27:16flame,
- 27:17oil,
- 27:19wood,
- 27:20you had
- 27:21to produce,
- 27:22this
- 27:23metaphor would
- 27:23likely have
- 27:24had a
- 27:24more felt
- 27:25impact on
- 27:27you.
- 27:28Just a
- 27:29couple weeks
- 27:29ago, I
- 27:30took my
- 27:30middle son,
- 27:31Judah, on
- 27:32his ride
- 27:33of passage
- 27:34trip.
- 27:34He turned
- 27:3513 this
- 27:35year.
- 27:36And he
- 27:37wanted to
- 27:37go to the
- 27:37Okefenokee
- 27:38swamp and
- 27:39camp out
- 27:39in the
- 27:39swamp.
- 27:40And so
- 27:40the first
- 27:41night we
- 27:41paddled
- 27:41some 10
- 27:43miles to
- 27:43an island
- 27:44called
- 27:44Floyd's
- 27:45Island and
- 27:46had
- 27:47the
- 27:47noisiest
- 27:48night of
- 27:48camping I
- 27:49have ever
- 27:49experienced.
- 27:50There are
- 27:51a lot of
- 27:52critters in
- 27:53the woods,
- 27:53in the
- 27:54swamp.
- 27:55I am
- 27:55fairly
- 27:57confident that
- 27:58an orangutan
- 27:58lives out
- 27:59there somewhere.
- 28:00It was
- 28:01loud.
- 28:03And we
- 28:04were in a
- 28:04tent and we
- 28:05had the
- 28:05rain fly on
- 28:06and there
- 28:06were noises
- 28:06I just
- 28:07would have
- 28:07loved to
- 28:07have seen
- 28:08what in
- 28:08the world
- 28:09they were.
- 28:11And I
- 28:12wasn't terribly
- 28:12frightened,
- 28:13but I will
- 28:13admit there
- 28:15are some
- 28:15noises I
- 28:15would have
- 28:15really liked
- 28:16to know.
- 28:17what they
- 28:17were.
- 28:19But just
- 28:19before we
- 28:19went to
- 28:20bed,
- 28:20one of the
- 28:20things reported,
- 28:21as a caution
- 28:22to put your
- 28:23food up safely
- 28:24because bears
- 28:25do make it
- 28:25out onto
- 28:25this island.
- 28:26Somehow they
- 28:27travel through
- 28:27the swamp and
- 28:27they make it
- 28:28out onto
- 28:28this island.
- 28:29And so you
- 28:30want to be
- 28:30mindful of
- 28:30that kind
- 28:30of thing.
- 28:31And something
- 28:31large came
- 28:32through the
- 28:33woods.
- 28:34And I've
- 28:35done a lot
- 28:35of camping,
- 28:36I've done
- 28:36a lot of
- 28:37hunting,
- 28:38you know,
- 28:38there's the
- 28:39squirrel pouncing
- 28:40around,
- 28:40makes a lot
- 28:41of noise.
- 28:42This was not
- 28:43a squirrel.
- 28:43It was
- 28:44large.
- 28:45And Judah
- 28:46and I both
- 28:47were very glad
- 28:48for all the
- 28:48lights that we
- 28:49had on us.
- 28:50We were able
- 28:50to illuminate
- 28:52the woods
- 28:52which noise
- 28:53was coming
- 28:53from and
- 28:54never saw
- 28:54what was
- 28:55making the
- 28:55noise.
- 28:55But boy,
- 28:56were we glad
- 28:56that we
- 28:57weren't huddled
- 28:57around a
- 28:58campfire,
- 28:58wondering what
- 28:59was coming
- 29:00through the
- 29:01woods our
- 29:03way.
- 29:03I think we
- 29:04take light
- 29:05for granted.
- 29:07And this
- 29:07idea of
- 29:08the life
- 29:09that's in
- 29:10Jesus being
- 29:11the light
- 29:11of men
- 29:12may take
- 29:14a little
- 29:14more careful
- 29:15thoughtfulness
- 29:17on our
- 29:17part.
- 29:19Light
- 29:19scatters
- 29:21the unseen.
- 29:23Light
- 29:23brings
- 29:24security.
- 29:27The themes
- 29:27of life
- 29:28and light
- 29:29are seen
- 29:30connected
- 29:30elsewhere in
- 29:31the Bible.
- 29:32Psalm 36
- 29:33verse 9
- 29:34For with you
- 29:36is the fountain
- 29:36of life.
- 29:38In your
- 29:39light do we
- 29:40see light.
- 29:44In Corinthians
- 29:44chapter 4
- 29:45and verse 4
- 29:46there Paul
- 29:47talks about
- 29:47the light
- 29:48of the gospel
- 29:49of the glory
- 29:50of Christ
- 29:51who is
- 29:51the image
- 29:52of God.
- 29:55And then
- 29:55Jesus in
- 29:56John chapter 8
- 29:56verse 12
- 29:57says I am
- 29:58the light
- 29:59of the world.
- 30:01whoever
- 30:02follows me
- 30:02will not
- 30:03walk in
- 30:03darkness
- 30:04but will
- 30:04have
- 30:05the light
- 30:06of life.
- 30:09So
- 30:09Jesus
- 30:10is
- 30:11self
- 30:12existent
- 30:13and we're
- 30:14going to see
- 30:14next week
- 30:15that the
- 30:16light that he
- 30:17brings
- 30:17most certainly
- 30:18was not
- 30:19conquered
- 30:19by
- 30:19the darkness.
- 30:22Jesus
- 30:23is the
- 30:23word.
- 30:24Jesus
- 30:24is
- 30:24preexistent.
- 30:26Jesus
- 30:26is the
- 30:27creator
- 30:27and Jesus
- 30:28is
- 30:29self
- 30:30existent.
- 30:33So what?
- 30:35What do we
- 30:36do?
- 30:36Jesus
- 30:36is just
- 30:37being
- 30:37introduced
- 30:37to us.
- 30:38Let's
- 30:38move on.
- 30:39Let's
- 30:39get quickly
- 30:39to the
- 30:39application.
- 30:40There's
- 30:40so much
- 30:41to be
- 30:41considered
- 30:42here though.
- 30:43First,
- 30:43if you
- 30:44have not
- 30:44placed
- 30:45faith
- 30:45in
- 30:45Christ's
- 30:46person
- 30:46and
- 30:48work,
- 30:49if you
- 30:49dwell
- 30:50in
- 30:50darkness,
- 30:51if you
- 30:51understand
- 30:52the weight
- 30:52of your
- 30:52sin,
- 30:53your
- 30:53offense
- 30:54against
- 30:54the
- 30:54holy
- 30:54God,
- 30:55repent and
- 30:56believe.
- 30:56Turn
- 30:57by faith
- 30:58in
- 30:58Christ.
- 30:59The
- 30:59whole
- 30:59point
- 31:00of
- 31:00the
- 31:00book
- 31:00of
- 31:01John
- 31:01is
- 31:01that
- 31:01you
- 31:02might
- 31:02believe
- 31:02that
- 31:03Jesus
- 31:03is
- 31:03the
- 31:03Christ
- 31:04and
- 31:05have
- 31:05eternal
- 31:05life
- 31:06in
- 31:07him.
- 31:08If
- 31:09you
- 31:09have
- 31:09placed
- 31:09faith
- 31:10in
- 31:10Christ's
- 31:11person
- 31:11and
- 31:11his
- 31:12work,
- 31:14worship.
- 31:16Worship.
- 31:18Praise
- 31:18him.
- 31:20Beloved,
- 31:20what we
- 31:21think about
- 31:22the most
- 31:22and talk
- 31:23about the
- 31:23most
- 31:24and spend
- 31:24our money
- 31:25and our
- 31:25energy
- 31:26on,
- 31:26says a
- 31:27lot
- 31:27about what
- 31:29we
- 31:29worship.
- 31:30And we
- 31:30ought to
- 31:31take the
- 31:31time to
- 31:32think about
- 31:33our week.
- 31:33Just think
- 31:34about last
- 31:35week.
- 31:35Start at
- 31:36Monday and
- 31:37go through
- 31:38now and
- 31:40think about
- 31:40how you
- 31:41spent the
- 31:43things you
- 31:43have, the
- 31:43resources you
- 31:44have.
- 31:44What did
- 31:45you spend
- 31:46them on?
- 31:49It may
- 31:49communicate
- 31:50much to
- 31:50you that
- 31:52needs to
- 31:52be repented
- 31:53of.
- 31:54Our minds
- 31:55should be
- 31:56full of
- 31:57the glories
- 31:58of Christ.
- 32:00I think
- 32:00John intends
- 32:01to really
- 32:02capture us
- 32:03in these
- 32:04opening
- 32:04verses,
- 32:05to work
- 32:06to that
- 32:07very end
- 32:08before he
- 32:09gets biographical
- 32:10at all.
- 32:13Because of
- 32:13who Jesus
- 32:14is, we
- 32:15can cast
- 32:16all our
- 32:16anxieties,
- 32:17our fears,
- 32:17our doubts,
- 32:18our troubles,
- 32:19our depressions
- 32:20on him.
- 32:23There's no
- 32:23situation that
- 32:24escapes his
- 32:25attention or
- 32:26his power.
- 32:27There is no
- 32:27circumstance that
- 32:28surprises him or
- 32:29evades his
- 32:30providential
- 32:31control.
- 32:33He is our
- 32:34confidence in
- 32:36life and
- 32:38in death.
- 32:39The reality of
- 32:40who Jesus
- 32:41is makes
- 32:42sure all
- 32:44the promises
- 32:45of God to
- 32:47those of us
- 32:47who have
- 32:48believed in
- 32:48him.
- 32:50We should
- 32:50worship.
- 32:52And as part
- 32:52of that
- 32:52worship, we
- 32:53should share.
- 32:56He is
- 32:57the reason
- 32:58we boldly
- 32:59share the
- 33:00good news
- 33:00of his
- 33:01kingdom.
- 33:02If our
- 33:03affections are
- 33:03rightly turned
- 33:04toward him,
- 33:05we will want
- 33:06to talk
- 33:07about him.
- 33:09We will look
- 33:09for every
- 33:09opportunity we
- 33:10have to tell
- 33:11people about
- 33:12this Christ,
- 33:13this Lord
- 33:14and Savior
- 33:15of our
- 33:16souls.
- 33:17Maybe we
- 33:18be a
- 33:18people who
- 33:18are told
- 33:19to shut
- 33:19up.
- 33:20They don't
- 33:20want to hear
- 33:21this anymore.
- 33:21We should
- 33:21be talking
- 33:22that much
- 33:23about this
- 33:24person that
- 33:25we love
- 33:26so dearly.
- 33:28The reality
- 33:29of who Jesus
- 33:29is demands
- 33:31our affections
- 33:32and it
- 33:33demands our
- 33:35obedience.
- 33:36Let's pray
- 33:37together.