[0:00] Plus before we turn to God's Word I might just be permitted to say that I'm very happy to be with you this afternoon. This morning really.
[0:15] It's only natural that I suppose when I come to Aberdeen I feel pretty well as if I was coming back home. And even if the building is not the same one I still remember with great affection my days in Aberdeen and the people and I'm glad to see a lot of people that I regard as my friends here this morning.
[0:43] And it's a great joy to see people who have had a part of my prayers and a part of my life in the service of the Lord Jesus to see you all looking so well and still in God's mercy seeking his blessing and coming to worship.
[1:03] It's only natural also that I should see this morning not just the faces of those of you that I knew and loved over the years I spent in Aberdeen but I see very vividly true faces that are no longer with us.
[1:21] And they too have a warm place in my heart. The years pass and bring changes for us all but this morning we should be very thankful and full of praise to God that there is one our God Redeemer who changes not and who is the same from everlasting to everlasting.
[1:44] So I'm glad to be with you and I would thank your session for his welcome to me. Now let us turn to God's word and this morning I want to come with you to a word that will be very familiar.
[1:58] The opening words of John's gospel. John chapter 1 and verse 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
[2:25] In that verse there are only seventeen words in our English translation. And yet there is a sense in which not no seventeen words have ever been strung together in such a way as to convey such momentous truth.
[2:54] They are very simple words. They are nearly all words of just one syllable. And words that any child could understand if we used them to it.
[3:10] And yet taken together it bringeth a message that while understandable carries in it implications that really boggle the human mind.
[3:24] I don't think they can ever be exhaustively or even thoroughly understood.
[3:35] And yet the message that they bringeth so powerfully and so simply.
[3:47] The message they bringeth so great and so powerful. That message is at the very foundation and at the very center of all that we hold dear as Christian believers.
[4:10] They are all to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first eighteen verses of this gospel.
[4:24] John the beloved disciple. Is talking of the Jesus. That had captured his life. And won his heart.
[4:34] And brought him into a following that made Jesus himself call him the beloved disciple. Right through these eighteen verses.
[4:47] For the most part. Apart from a reference to John the Baptist. Everything that John says. Is said about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's quite clear to us.
[4:58] Because in verse seventeen. He says the law was given by Moses. But grace and truth. These two lovely things.
[5:10] Grace and truth. Not the one without the other. But both together. Grace and truth. Came by. Jesus Christ.
[5:22] And just as the whole eighteen verses. Talk in essence about Jesus. So does this first verse. These eighteen verses.
[5:33] Are the Torah. Are the tapest. To the whole gospel of John. And they all. Make up a message. Of great power.
[5:45] And great strength. John. Has an amazing story to tell. Let's put it a little differently.
[5:58] John has an unbelievable story to tell. He has to talk about an unbelievable man. Saying unbelievable things.
[6:12] And accomplishing unbelievable works. And in order to lay a foundation. That will adequately. Account.
[6:25] For the story that he wants men to hear. And to believe. John begins. In a way that sets.
[6:40] The one of whom he is going to talk. Sets them apart. Finally. He is one with them in many ways. Sets them apart. From all men. Everywhere.
[6:51] For all time. And these first words. Do set Jesus apart. God. And they make him. Absolutely unique.
[7:04] Not only in the world of time. But. In the world of eternity as well. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God.
[7:17] And the word. Was God. See very crisp. Short. Phrases. About.
[7:29] The Jesus. Of whom he is going to talk. All through his gospel. Now there are words that are very familiar to us. I would expect.
[7:41] That every one of us. Knows them. We can repeat them. Without having to look at our bibles. And because we are familiar with them.
[7:53] And because they are in essence. Very simple words. They carry a danger with them. The danger is that we. We think.
[8:05] We know what they mean. When their very essence. And the most powerful thrust they carry. Perhaps still he skips us.
[8:18] And that is why. As we come to them this morning. And. Anyone must come to these words. With a great sense of. Of humility. And a sense of awe. And I certainly do this morning.
[8:30] As we come to them. I want us. To make our approach gradual. And I want you to try. And put them into. The setting. And. And. And. And.
[8:41] So let's. Take it easily. I want to be able to. To preach easily. And. In a relaxed way. This morning. I want you to. To hear easily. I want you to understand.
[8:52] With the help of God. Easily. I want you also to listen. In a relaxed. Kind of way. This is a wonderful message. But. Let's take our approach to it. Very gently.
[9:03] And first of all. Let's make a very obvious remark. The words. Belong to the gospel of John.
[9:15] And they belong uniquely to the gospel of John. Therefore. We cannot separate them. From the whole thrust. And intention.
[9:26] Of this gospel. I think a great deal of damage is done to scripture. By taking words. Almost at random sometimes. From any particular book.
[9:39] And looking only at their message. The message of every text in the Bible. Is set in a wider setting. This one is.
[9:52] Now the gospel of John. We don't have to know very much about the gospel. Or about. About. About. The. The. The. The discipline.
[10:03] Of. Of. New Testament study. All we have to do is to read. Read us about. Bible. And we know. That the gospel of John. Is very different. In many ways.
[10:14] From the other three gospels. Of. Now. Let us. To pause. You are going to have to be patient with me. But I am being patient with you. Let us pause.
[10:25] And just note. Some of the things that makes. John's gospel. Very different. From the other three gospels. Of. Matthew. Mark. And Luke. For one thing.
[10:38] The gospel of John. Brings us many things. About the life. And ministry of Jesus. That the other gospels. Do not.
[10:50] And. On the other hand. The gospel of John. Leaves out. It omits. Many things. That we are very familiar with. From Matthew.
[11:00] Mark. And Luke. Now. That is not surprising. That John should omit things. And that he should bring in. New material. Because John. Wrote much later.
[11:14] Than the other three writers. Of the gospels did. He wrote. Many scholars believe today. He wrote. Almost at the end.
[11:25] Of the century. Whose beginning. We. Traced back to the death. Of the Lord Jesus. So he is writing.
[11:37] At least thirty. Perhaps forty years. After the other gospels. Had been written. And circulated. And become known. In the churches.
[11:49] And John. One of John's purposes. In writing this gospel. Under God. Is to fill out. The picture. That the church. Had been given. To sharpen up.
[12:01] Some of the. The lines. Of the portrait. Of the saviour. She loved. And served. And John.
[12:12] Wrote in order. That the faith. Of men. Should be confirmed. And. That it should be grounded.
[12:23] Very securely. In the glory. Of the work. That. This man. Jesus. Had accomplished. When John.
[12:35] Writes. About Jesus. We feel. All. Through his writing. That he is writing. About one. That he loves. With all. The passion. Of his own.
[12:46] Heart. And soul. John. Is not. Teaching a gospel. That is. In his mind. Only. He is not. Talking about. A saviour.
[12:57] That he commends. To others. And yet. Does not serve himself. His love. Shines through. And his love. For us. His love.
[13:08] For others. Shines through also. And his gospel. Was to have. An evangelistic. Test course. And it was to do. What. All. Good evangelism.
[13:19] Evangelism. Must do. It was to present. The claims. The broad. Sweeping. Majestic.
[13:30] Claims. Of Jesus. His claims. Upon the minds. And the hearts. And the devotions. And the lives. Of men.
[13:41] And women. Like you. And like me. These things. Are written. John says. Before he closes. His gospel. These things. Are written.
[13:51] In order. That ye may. Believe. And believe. What. In order. That ye may. Believe. That Jesus. Is the Christ.
[14:03] And that one. One saying. Gathers up. The whole. Of prophetic scripture. Old testament. Knowledge. In order. That ye may. Believe. That Jesus. Of Nazareth.
[14:14] Is the promised. Messiah. The anointed. Of God. And it. Doesn't stop there. These things. Are written. That ye might. Believe. That Jesus. Is the Christ.
[14:24] The son. Of God. In order. That ye might. Believe. That Jesus. The Messiah. Stands.
[14:36] In a unique. And special. Relationship. These are the things. We are to believe. In order. To be saved. For John. Does on. To say. That ye might.
[14:47] Believe. That Jesus. Is the Christ. The son. Of God. And that believing. Ye might. Have life. In his name. For John. Knows. That there is life.
[14:58] In no other name. When he begins. To tell his story.
[15:09] In order. To. To strengthen. And bring. To this. Faith. And trust. And commitment. To Jesus. Jesus. John. John. John.
[15:22] Brings in things. That none of the others. Have mentioned at all. And of course. John. Is aware of that. And he leaves out. Other things.
[15:34] For example. John. Doesn't say anything. About the birth. Or the infancy. Of Jesus. Jesus. He doesn't. Give us. Even a glimmer.
[15:46] Of the temptation. Of Jesus. He doesn't. Touch on the sermon. On the mount. He doesn't. Speak about. The transfiguration.
[15:58] He doesn't. Speak of. Many. Of the miracles. Or of the parables. That we're familiar with. From the other. Three gospels. Then when he.
[16:10] When he gives us. Things that the others. Have not given us. The very precious. Things. J.C. Ryle says. They're amongst. The most. Precious. Treasure. That God.
[16:21] Has given the church. And asked. For a faith. For example. It is. Jesus. Who gives us. The story. Of the woman. Of Samaria. What precious.
[16:35] Lessons. We learn. In that story. That there is. No passion. So vile. Or so far off. But that.
[16:45] Jesus. Can reach them. And bring them near. It's John. Only. Who tells us.
[16:56] That Jesus. When he preached. Emphasized. The necessity. Of a revolutionary. Change. In the very. Center. Of man's life. John.
[17:07] Who tells us. That Jesus said. He must. Be born again. And one could go on. There is the raising.
[17:17] Of Lazarus. There is the. I am saying. That make Jesus. Exclusive. In many ways. There is the great.
[17:31] High. Priestly prayer. And if you were to pause. If we were to take time. This morning. We are not going to do it. If we were going to take time. To look at the things. That John. Brings in. Which the others. Have not mentioned.
[17:41] From the life. And history. Of Jesus. We would find. That they are all. Directed. Toward. One purpose. They are all. Directed.
[17:51] Toward. The purpose. Of establishing. The uniqueness. And the glory. And the divine. Power. Of Jesus. Of Nazareth.
[18:01] Jesus. You cannot. Read and believe. The things. That John. Says. And go on. Believing. That Jesus. Is merely. Mine.
[18:13] Now in saying that. What am I saying. I am just saying this. That in the gospel. Of John. We have one of the. The great. Christological. Documents.
[18:23] Of the new. Testament. Scriptures. In the. Gospel of John. We have. Strong. Doctrinal. Historical. Teaching. That.
[18:34] That. Emphasizes. The glory. And the dignity. And the majesty. And the deity. Of the one. With whom. We are dealing. When we are dealing.
[18:46] With Jesus. And the. Prologue. Of this gospel. Is. Is one of the. The great. Perhaps.
[18:58] The greatest. Of all. The Christological. Passages. In the new. Testament. It is a. Wonderful. And sublime. Statement. About the.
[19:08] The. Passion. Of our Lord. Jesus Christ. And right through that. Prologue. Through the first. Eighteen. Verses. The statements.
[19:19] The statements. That John. Makes. They are all about Jesus. And they are all couched. In very simple words. Familiar terms.
[19:31] Life. Light. Truth. Grace. And yet. When we pause. And look at these words. And the way.
[19:42] John has used them. To describe this person. They expand. In their meaning. And they take on.
[19:53] A width of horizon. Proportions. And they go there. Beyond the bounds. Almost. Of theological thought.
[20:07] And they are not really capable. Of final. Ultimate exposition. We can feel. Something in them.
[20:17] That we can never put into. Tangible. Feeling. Or words. And yet. They are wonderful. And they are given to us.
[20:28] Under God. For our instruction. About Jesus. Just look at this opening verse. For our opening.
[20:41] We used to be told. In the college. By the man who. Who had the. The daunting task. Of trying to teach us. How to preach the gospel. We used to be told by him.
[20:52] That one of the most important things. About preparing a sermon. Was. Was its opening. He used to say to us. Gentlemen. He was very polite.
[21:02] He called us gentlemen. Gentlemen. If you can't get a hold. Of the congregation. Of tension. At the outset. You will not get it. Any way through the sermon. And that is true.
[21:13] The opening words. Of anything. That we want to say. A speech. Or especially a sermon. They are very important. Amen. Amen. Amen. And the opening words of John.
[21:24] Come. They come thrusting out at us. And they lay hold of our minds. And. I think there's. First of all. There's a sort of poetry about them.
[21:35] And it doesn't matter. What. Language they're translated into. They lay hold. Of what a beautiful balance. And harmony is in them. And the words are so simple.
[21:46] In the beginning. In the beginning. Was the word. And. And they're dealing with. In the beginning. In the beginning. In the beginning. Was the word.
[21:56] And the word was with God. And the word was God. And yet.
[22:10] The more. We say them to ourselves. And the more. We ponder. On these. Very simple. Arresting words. The more.
[22:21] We find. That they expand. As we think. Now let's come a little bit. Closer to them.
[22:34] And let's notice. They not only belong. To the gospel of John. But they belong to the. Belong to the beginning. Of the gospel. That's just what I've been. Saying this moment. Now the other gospels.
[22:44] How do the other gospels. Begin. The story. Of Jesus. Well. They all begin the story. With the man Jesus. Of Nazareth. And.
[22:55] They progressively. Go on. To set. Out. Jesus of Nazareth. As the Messiah. Of God. They tell us. Before they finish.
[23:06] Matthew. Mark and Luke. That in Jesus of Nazareth. God. Was visiting his people. Doing amazing things. And in these gospels.
[23:18] You see. The movement. The whole movement. Is one from. From below. Upward. If I can put it like that. He begins with. They begin with. A child.
[23:30] Born in strange. Unusual circumstances. And they finish up. With one. Whose. Whose. Whose. Whose. Whose teaching. Has laid hold. Of the minds.
[23:41] And hearts. Of men. And they close. With one. Who's ascending. To the father. In heaven. And all. Power. In heaven. And in earth.
[23:51] Has been. Yielded. Into his hands. That's the movement. Of the other gospel. From the man. The child. Of God's anointing. To the king.
[24:02] On the throne. That's the way. The other three gospels. Move. John doesn't do that. John takes his starting point.
[24:14] Not in the birth. Of a child. But in the birth of creation. He begins.
[24:26] To talk about Jesus. Not. As for example. In the way Luke does. With his existence. In the womb of a virgin.
[24:36] But John brings us. To the womb of eternity. And the movements. Of our creating God.
[24:49] He begins with. The word. The divine word. He begins with God.
[25:01] And he comes down. And the movement. Instead of from being below. Upward. Is from above. Downward. Or let's put it like this.
[25:15] The other three. Matthew. Mark. And Luke. The whole thrust. And movement of the gospel. Say this to us. They say. This Jesus.
[25:26] Is God. John begins. And he says. This God. Became Jesus. It's amazing.
[25:38] It's startling. It's startling. This God. Who was. Before the beginning. Began. Became the one. Who walked.
[25:51] The dusty roads. Of God. And he touched men. With leprosy. In their bodies. And leprosy. In their souls. And transformed them.
[26:02] And he could do all this. Because. He was God. Do you see. That's where John begins. In the beginning.
[26:14] And the fundamental purpose. Of John. In starting his gospel. This way. Is very simple. He's laying. A foundation. That will account. For what.
[26:24] Of the outset. Outset. I said. Is an unbelievable. Person. Doing. Unbelievable.
[26:35] Things. Then God. You see. God. Has done. God. Always. Will do.
[26:47] Unbelievable. Things. For. With God. All. Things. Are possible. Even. Incarnation. And.
[26:59] That possible. Because. Of his. Grace. And. His. Love. And. His. Pospels. To reach. Down. And. Touch. Lives. Like yours. And mine. Now.
[27:12] I want. To take. Time. Still. To look. At. One. Factor. In their. Text. That if. We do. Not. Understand. We will. Never.
[27:23] Get. It's. Message. That is. The. Type. A. That. John. Uses. The. Logos. When it. Comes. To this. You're. All.
[27:33] Greek. Scholars. I'm. Sure. You know. That. The. Word. That. The. The. The. The. Word. That. John. Uses. Here. Is. The. Word. Logos. And.
[27:44] It's. Been. Translated. In. Different. Ways. Talvin. Talvin. Talvin. Talvin. For example. Did not. Translate. The. The. The. The. Greek. Word. As. Word. He. Translated. It.
[27:54] As. Speech. Because. It. Carries. The. Connotation. Of. A. Living. Continuous. Movement. In. It. And. When. Talvin. Came. To. Translate. This.
[28:04] Verse. From. This. Greek. Testament. In. order. To. Do. That. I. Have. To. Use. Words. Now. If. I. Were. To. Stand. In. The. Pulpit. This. Morning. And.
[28:15] Put. My. Hand. Over. My. Mouth. I. Would. No. Longer. Be. Able. To. Preach. Or. To. Communicate. My. Thought. And.
[28:26] Bring. It. Out. And. Make. It. Intelligible. To. You. In. Order. To. Do. That. I. Need. A. Vehicle. And. The. Vehicle. That. I. Use. Is.
[28:36] The. Word. I. Speak. That. You. Understand. And. The. More. Apt.
[28:50] And. The. More. Accurate. The. Word. That. I. Use. To. Convey. My. Thought. Then. The. More. Accurately.
[29:01] My. God. Will. Become. Your. Thought. You. Will. Understand. Word.
[29:12] Is. A. Medium. Of. Manifestation. I. Could. Stand. Here. And. Say. Nothing. And. You. Might. Be. A. A. To. Say. Well. The. Minister. Is. Thinking. Somebody.
[29:23] Might. Say. He. Is. Not. Thinking. But. You. Would. Have. No. Idea. What. I. Was. Thinking. About. The. Only. Way. You. Can. Have. Any. Conception. Of. My. Thought.
[29:36] Is. By. What. I. Say. Now. That's. What. One. Asset. Of. What. A. Word. Is. It. Is. A. Medium.
[29:46] Of. Manifestation. Of. Bringing. Thought. But. Then. You. See. When. You. Bring. Out. Human. Thought. What. Are. You. Doing. You. Are. You. Are. Being. Faced. With. The. Variations.
[29:58] Of. Human. Personality. Is. Not. Only. Communication. And. Manifestation. There. Revelation.
[30:10] It's. A. Terrible. Thing. In. A. Sense. To. Be. A. Teacher. Of. The. Gospel. Because. I. Believe. If. You. Preach. The. Gospel. Then. You. Are. Exposing. Your. Own. Heart.
[30:20] And. Your. Own. Life. You. Can't. Listen. To. A. Man. Preaching. From. Your. Pulpit. For. Weeks. Or. Months. Or. Years. Without. Becoming.
[30:31] Very. Sharply. And. Keenly. Aware. Of. What. Kind. Of. Passion. That. Is. There. A. Next. An. Exposure. An.
[30:42] Exposure. Of. Personality. Now. I'm not saying that. In order. To make you think of the terrible life of poor preacher must have.
[30:55] I'm saying that in order to drive home to you. Why John uses this title. Why God has given him this title for Jesus.
[31:09] John calls Christ the word because he is the manifestor. The communicator. The revealer of God. Go to verse 18.
[31:20] The last verse in the trollon. And we've got. We've got. We've got the mystery. And the mysticism that surrounds. The.
[31:30] The. The divine being. No man has seen God. At any time. Ah.
[31:40] But we've got. God. That it's not left there. No man has seen God. At any time. But the only begotten son. Which is in the bosom. Not which was in the bosom.
[31:51] But which is in the bosom. In the place of the father's love. In the embrace of the father.
[32:01] No man has seen God. God at any time. The only begotten son. He doesn't say in the bosom of God. He says in the bosom of the father. The only begotten son. Which is in the bosom of the father.
[32:13] He has declared God. And the word behind our English word. Declared there. Is very interesting. In the college.
[32:25] We were told. That when we came to preach. One of the first things. We would have to do. In preparing our sermon. Was. To do our exegesis. Our exegesis.
[32:35] Is just to draw out of. To determine. What exactly. Any text is saying. What is contained in it. And a good picture.
[32:49] Or a good expositor. Of scripture. Is a good exegete. Because he draws out. From it. What isn't. And that's the word. That underlies.
[33:00] Our English word. Declared. The only begotten son. Which is in the bosom. Of the father. He has exegeted God. He has brought out. Into clarity.
[33:11] And manifestation. Into visibility. What is in God. That's within a little different. The only begotten son.
[33:24] Which is in the bosom. Of the father. Has shown the world. What God is like. My friend. If you ask yourself. What is he like. The eternal one.
[33:34] Who has always been there. The one whose movements. Has cast up. This strange universe. In which we find ourselves. The one who holds.
[33:45] Our own strange life. In being. What's he like. Who has ever been. And ever shall be. And if we look at the life of Jesus.
[33:57] Of Nazareth. We see. What God is like. That's why John calls him the word. That's why the holy spirit calls him the word.
[34:10] He's the revealer. The manifester. Of God. Now we're going to. To. Look very briefly. At in fact.
[34:22] What he says. About. This word. He first of all. Gives us. The eternity.
[34:34] Of the word. Then. He gives us. Expressly. The personality. The deity. Of the word. And then he gives us.
[34:46] The deity. Of the word. This one of whom he's speaking. He says. In the beginning. Was the word.
[34:58] Was. And if we took the emphasis. Which lies. In the Greek text. We will translate it like this. In the beginning. The word. Was. That's where the emphasis is.
[35:12] And notice. He doesn't say. From the beginning. From the beginning. We put. If we have a. If we think in our minds. Of a pencil.
[35:23] And a bit of paper. From. And we draw a line. We put. A point of the pencil. Onto a blank paper. And we draw the line. And we get. We get.
[35:33] A sequence. Or we get. Something put into motion. Which we. Represent. By the line. And we say. The line begins.
[35:45] From. The beginning. That's not what John is saying. He's saying. This one of whom he's speaking. Is. In the beginning.
[35:56] When. When the point of creation began. When the line. Point of the pencil. Goes on to the paper. He's there already. Oh.
[36:06] He says. It's. This is the one. Who is. Putting the pencil. On the paper. And drawing the line. That strange.
[36:16] Enigmatic. Complicated line. John. That has carried along. In one part of it. Your life and mine. In the beginning.
[36:30] Before the beginning began. He was there. He's not part of the beginning. He's behind it. And the beginning is a process.
[36:41] Which traces back to him. Because John doesn't want us to be in any doubt. The same was. In the beginning. With God. When the.
[36:52] When the. When the point of the pencil. In order of the paper. This one. Was with God. And just in case. We shouldn't make any mistake. He says something else. He says. All things were made by him.
[37:05] The line was drawn. And he is the artist. And who can give an exposition of him.
[37:18] My friend. Jesus. Who's held out to us as a savior. Jesus is behind.
[37:31] All the mystery of life. And he is behind. All that's behind the mystery. He lives before all things.
[37:45] Said the mighty apostle Paul. And all things consist. Because of him. And they hold together in him.
[37:58] He is an eternal testimony. He is not to be right. In the things which stream down.
[38:10] And flow on. From the point. Of beginning. And John is quite deliberately. Taking us. To the opening of scripture. Remember it. In the beginning. That's how God's revelation of himself starts off.
[38:25] In the beginning. God. Creating. Heaven and earth. And that's where John would have us. When he wants to begin talking.
[38:38] Of who Jesus is. Then he goes on to. To. Personality. Now this may not be. So obvious. For us at first. Let's take time.
[38:49] Just to explain it. In the beginning was the word. And the word was. With God. So the word. Was co-existent.
[39:02] With God. With God. Is very interesting. It's not the usual word. That would be used. In the New Testament.
[39:14] For with. The word. To. The word. That is most frequently. Translated. In the New Testament. Of.
[39:24] Unto. Or. Into. And it carries in it. The idea. Of movement. And movement. Towards. And when you apply it to passions, it brings out the idea of a relationship.
[39:44] And even deeper than that, it brings out the idea of fellowship. And Hendrickson, one of the, well he just died last year, one of the great present day of commentators on scripture. Hendrickson has given us a lovely translation of it.
[40:07] He's given us this, he says, that in the beginning was the word, and the word was face to face with God. Confrontation, but the confrontation of love and fellowship.
[40:28] Now before you can have face to face encounters, before you can have face to face dwelling, there has to be two, at least. That's what John is saying. This is the mystery of the Zion being of God. Or at least the duality of God. I wouldn't want to that. Because I think there's, there's, there's, there's certainly a hidden, a shade of the, he doesn't say in the beginning was the word, the word, and the word was with the Father. We would tend to think that that's the word John would use, because he's very fond of picking up this title that Jesus used of God, the Father. But he doesn't use it here. Why?
[41:15] Because it would not express the truth. He was not only face to face with the Father. He was not only in fellowship with the Father. He was in fellowship also with the blessed Spirit. And we have to say that at least, John writing under God has safeguarded the doctrine of Trinity. If he hasn't indeed explicitly made us think about it.
[41:52] In the beginning was the word. In the beginning the word was. And in this chapter there are two Greek words used for was.
[42:07] And one of them has the idea, carries always with it the idea of something that came into being. When he talks of John the Baptist, he uses this word in the letter.
[42:21] There was a man sent from God whose name was John. But it's a different word he uses when he speaks of the word being with God. That is a word which speaks not of emerging into being, but of something that has always been there.
[42:44] In the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, the word was. And he tells us how it was. It was face to face with God. And then, just in case we should make any mistake, John takes us a step further into the mystery of godliness.
[43:04] In the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, and the word was. He says you must stop short in your thinking, in your appreciation, in your believing. We are not talking about someone who is other than God. We are talking about someone who was with God. Yes!
[43:33] But it is a wickedness which identifies in unity.
[43:44] The Word was God. How could the Word be with God and yet be God?
[43:58] And there is only one possible explanation. And that is unity of being and diversity of personality.
[44:11] Now, I had to sketch in just a word or two why we believe that John is talking about personality. He is with God in fellowship, face to face.
[44:25] That duality, diversity, a withness. You don't usually talk of being with yourself unless you are from the Highlands of Scotland.
[44:39] I was all alone with myself. That is all right in Gaelic but not in English. He wasn't all alone with himself.
[44:53] He was with the Father. And yet he was so with the Father and with the Spirit that the three make up one God.
[45:07] Not two Gods. He is God. My friend, Jesus is so much God that there is no other God but Jesus.
[45:22] No other God but Jesus. That's the same. Well, he might be a processor but his theology is terrible. Surely that's not true. That Jesus is so truly God that there is no other God but Jesus.
[45:41] My friend, it is so true. Let me ask you a question. How many Gods do you believe in? Three? Three? Oh no, you say.
[45:53] One. There is one only the living and through God. You've earned this short of cut, Christian. Yes, I agree. There is one only the living and through God. And he is manifest.
[46:04] And made explicit. And touchable. And understandable. And believable. In Jesus of Nazareth.
[46:15] In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. And what is all this matters to you and me today?
[46:26] I want to go on. Just in closing. I'll take some other statements that John makes. About this one.
[46:37] For example, take the statement in verse 14. It's amazing. I can remember trying to preach on it. I think one Sabbath after I came back to D.C.
[46:49] After I had gone to Glasgow. Trying to preach on John 1.14. I remember still going back to Glasgow very unhappily. Saying, what a mess.
[47:00] Why on earth did you take that text? I'll be saying the same tomorrow about today, I'm sure. Well, let's take verse 14.
[47:11] Let's link it on to verse 1. Listen now. It's all about the word. In the beginning the word was. And the word was face to face with God.
[47:24] And God was the word. And the word was made flesh. And tabernacled amongst us.
[47:36] And we beheld his glory. Glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. What an amazing thing.
[47:48] And he said, I am the good shepherd.
[48:01] The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. No man takes it from him. He lays it down. What a strange message the word brought.
[48:14] Let's make it start that message. Let's link key text together. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God.
[48:25] And the word was God. And the word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us. And you beheld his glory. And they took him to a place called Calvary.
[48:37] And there they crucified him. And it's a blasphemy, isn't it? Yes, it's a blasphemy.
[48:50] And it's a glory. And they'll sing about it all through eternity. Whether you're there to join in this song or not. And to him who loved us.
[49:01] And washed us from our sins in his own precious blood. And there they had under him be glory and dominion and power forever and ever.
[49:17] They took him to a place called Calvary. That's what sin does. Sin aims at the destruction of God. But when sin tries to destroy the word.
[49:31] The word. And the expression is not mine. It's scriptures. The word. Made an end. Of sin.
[49:42] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. And given him the name. That is above every name. That is above every name.
[49:53] That is the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow. And every tongue confess him. To the glory of God. Let me ask him as well.
[50:05] Has the knee bowed. In your life. Has the tongue confessed. Because God has done that.
[50:17] God says this. He is able. To save unto the uttermost. All that come unto God.
[50:29] By him. Let us pray. God. O gracious God. We bow before the mystery. And the majesty. And the wonder. And the tenderness.
[50:40] Of what thou hast done for us in Christ. We pray thee that thou hast bring it home to us this morning. With freshness and power. That we may lay hold. Of thee in Christ. And that we may know that thou in Christ. Hast laid hold of us. And that we may know that thou in Christ.
[50:51] Hast laid hold of us. Bless thy word to us. And make the Lord Jesus. Very precious. To every one of us. Dismiss us with thy blessing. And keep us in thy love. To his. To his. Glory and all good. Amen.
[51:02] Amen. And that we may know that thou in Christ hast laid hold of us. Bless thy word to us. And make the Lord Jesus very precious to every one of us.
[51:19] Dismiss us with thy blessing and keep us in thy love. To his glory and all good. Amen. Our closing prayer is in Psalm 68.
[51:43] Psalm 68. Verse 18. The tune is Sheffield number 150. Psalm 68 verse 18.
[51:56] And thou hast, O Lord, most glorious, ascendled up on high and in triumph victorious led. Captive captivity. For now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all and with all Christ's people everywhere.
[52:23] Today and forevermore. Amen.