The Perfect Prologue (John 1:1-18 Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org The Perfect Prologue

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See, on the hill of Calvary, my
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Savior bled for me, my Jesus set me free.
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Look at the wounds that give me life, grace flowing from His side, no greater sacrifice.
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What He's done, what He's done, all the glory and the honor to His Son.
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My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven,
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I praise God for what He's done.
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Sing for the freedom He has won, even death is dead and done,
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His life is overcome. Speak, say the name above all names, over every broken place,
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He is risen from the grave. What He's done, what
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He's done, all the glory and the honor to the
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Son. My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven,
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I praise God for what He's done.
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Now, on a throne of majesty, the
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Father's will complete, He reigns in victory.
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Sing, hallelujah to the King, He is worthy to receive, all the worship we can bring.
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What He's done, what He's done, all the glory and the honor to the
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Son. My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven,
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I praise God for what He's done.
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What He's done, what He's done, all the glory and the honor to the
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Son. My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven,
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I praise God for what He's done.
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I praise God for what He's done.
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Lord, we come before you this morning thankful that you died on a cross to save us from our sins.
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And it wasn't just the cross, Lord. We are grateful that on that third day you rose again.
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And it's because you live that we can face tomorrow, we can face all the fears of this life.
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Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
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Because He lives, all fear is gone.
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Because I know, He holds the future.
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And life is worth the living just because He lives.
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God sent His Son, they called
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Him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive.
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He lived and died to buy my pardon.
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An empty grave is there to prove my
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Savior lives. Because He lives,
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I can face the future.
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Because He lives, and life is worth the living just because He lives.
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His amazing grace. Our faith in Him and eternal life will be the amazing story that Pastor Jeff will unfold for us in the book of John.
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As we continue to sing, we're going to focus on His amazing grace.
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Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
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I once was lost, but now
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I'm found. Was blind, but now
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I see. T 'was grace that taught my heart to fear.
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And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear.
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The hour I first believed. My chains are gone,
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I've been set free. My God, my
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Savior, has ransomed me. And like a flood,
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His mercy rains. Unending love, amazing grace.
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The Lord has promised good to me.
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His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion.
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As long as life endures.
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My chains are gone, I've been set free.
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My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.
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And like a flood, His mercy rains.
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Unending love, amazing grace.
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The earth shall soon dissolve like snow.
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The sun for to shine. But God who called me here.
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Will there be for me.
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In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God.
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And the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made.
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Without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men.
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The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God.
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Whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify. Concerning the light.
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The true light that gives light to every man. Was coming into the world. He himself was not the light.
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He came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man.
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Was coming into the world. I already said that. He was in the world. And though the world was made through Him.
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He did not recognize Him. He came into His own. But His own did not receive Him. Yet to as many as received
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Him. To those who believed in His name. He gave the right to become children of God.
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Children born not of natural descent. Or human decision or a husband's will.
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But born of God. The Word became flesh.
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And dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory. Glory as of the only.
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The one and only. From the Father. Full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning Him.
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This is He of whom I said. He who comes after me has surpassed me. Because He was before me.
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From the fullness of His grace. We have all received grace. Upon grace.
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For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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No one has ever seen God. But God the one and only. Who is at the Father's side.
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Has made Him known. Let's pray. Oh God.
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Thank You so much for these words. These words are life to us. Revelation.
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Of the life which is in the Son. Jesus the Christ. The only name.
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By which we may be saved. Thank You for salvation. The forgiveness of sin.
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In the name of Jesus. We pray Lord as we begin to study the book of John. You would make our hearts burn.
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For You. Make our hearts on fire with passion.
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To tell the old old story. Lord forbid it that we would ever grow bored.
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In hearing it. Enliven our hearts. Give us passion and zeal.
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Lord we pray that Your word would just jump to us off the page. And would transform us from the inside out.
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Stir us up. To do the work of evangelism. And Lord our prayer is for any who hear this word preached today.
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Whether online or in this building right now. Any who have not yet come to believe.
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That Jesus is the Christ. The Son of God. That by hearing. They would believe and be saved.
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Let Your word go forth to the ends of the earth. To rescue and deliver sinners like us.
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Thank You for the indescribable gift. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. John was the last living apostle.
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By the time he wrote the book of John. The gospel of John. He was probably 80 to 90 years old.
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The other apostles had all died. Around the 70s or earlier. But John was still alive.
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In fact Jesus had told him. That if he were to remain until the second coming.
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What is that to Peter? And Peter was thinking. Well this means that John is going to live till the second coming.
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Of course. Jesus had said if that's my desire. What is that to you? But John did live much longer than the rest.
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John was the beloved disciple. He was the one of all of the apostles. That was closest to Jesus.
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You picture the 70. Who were sent out on a mission. There were 12 among them.
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Who were the apostles. The one that Jesus breathed upon. To receive the Holy Spirit.
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And that were entrusted to be the messengers. To be the witnesses. Of all that they saw.
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Especially the resurrection. But of the 12. There was an inner three. Peter, James and John.
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They were the ones that were allowed to go behind the closed door. To see the raising of the dead girl.
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They were the ones on the mountain. Peter, James and John. Who saw the transfiguration.
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Where Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. And the glory of God shone from him.
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And he was transfigured before their very eyes. And John was the one among the three.
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When Jesus was approaching his death. The night before he was betrayed.
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At the table. Jesus rested his head on John's shoulder. John was the beloved disciple.
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He was closest of all. When he first believed.
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He went out preaching. And we find him. Come 90 AD. 60 years later.
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Still with this evangelistic fire in his heart. He's not ready to die.
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He still wants to accomplish something for the king. And he can't shake this feeling.
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The stirring of the Holy Spirit. That these memories. Of what Jesus said. As they begin to flash in his brain.
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The spirit quickening him. As if Jesus had just spoken them yesterday.
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Even though it's been 60 years. He must take pen to paper. And begin to write.
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And John writes the Gospel of John. Because of this fire in his heart. The Holy Spirit carrying him along.
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And I tell you the words that we are given. In the Gospel of John. Are perfect.
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They are pure. They jump off the page. And they resonate. They have this beauty about them.
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They're logical. They're ordered. They bring life.
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They have what John Piper describes as a peculiar glory. When you read these words.
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You just know they didn't come from man. They came from heaven. So the first point as we go.
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Into the prologue. Today we're going to read this. The 18 verses that are the prologue.
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Of the Gospel of John. As we go in. I want you to see how bold.
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The claim is. First the claim. In the beginning.
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Was. The word. And the word was with God. And the word.
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Was. God. He was in the beginning. With God. All things were made through him.
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And without him. Was not anything made. That was made. In him was life. And that life was the light of men.
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The light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not. Overcome.
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That's a big claim. Couldn't be a bigger claim. Many people have come along.
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In the history of the world. And made big claims about themselves. For example.
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Even in the book of Acts. We have some big claims made. In the fourth chapter. There's one named
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Thutis. And he gathers some followers. Claiming to be somebody.
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The Bible tells us. 400 people follow him. But his movement comes to nothing.
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And he's shown to be nobody. After all. A few chapters later.
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In Acts chapter 8. There's one named Simon Magus. And he's claiming to be somebody.
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Great. In fact. They call him the great power. He makes these boastful claims.
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Of how wonderful he is. But when the gospel comes to him. On the lips of Philip.
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Hearing the name that is above every name. He himself repents of that nonsense.
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Although he'll struggle afterwards. And he's baptized. Submitting to the
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Lord Jesus Christ. There's another example of that boasting. In Acts chapter 12.
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Remember Herod the Tetrarch. When he was speaking. And the people said.
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This is the voice of a God. Not a man. And he accepted that praise.
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And gloried in it. And the Bible tells us right away. He dropped dead.
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And was eaten by worms. Such becomes of those who make a great boast.
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Of themselves. And yet here we have a claim.
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That's bigger than what Thutis said. Or Simon. Or David. Here we have a claim.
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That the word. Is God. He. Was with God.
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And he is God. We learn his name in verse 17. And that is. Jesus Christ.
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Couldn't make a bigger claim. And here we sit 2000 years later. A room full of people.
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Believing that this is true. Gamaliel's advice would tell us. The biggest claim ever made.
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Look how it begins. Brilliantly. In. The. Beginning.
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Now I say that's brilliant. Because what does that hearken back to? The book of Genesis.
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And all through the prologue. You see a parallel. With the first chapter of Genesis. John is not making a new claim.
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He is grounding his claim. In what's already been said. And established. The Bible begins.
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In the beginning God created. The heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void.
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And darkness covered it. And the spirit of God was hovering. Over the face of the deep. And God said.
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Let there be light. The brilliance of this gospel. Is that it begins right there.
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In the beginning. Now if we didn't have Genesis. We couldn't have a world.
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The world to exist. Must involve time. And space.
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And matter. And force and action. These are the materials. What science is able to investigate.
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But right there in the beginning. We learn that the source of everything. Is God. In the beginning was
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God. Without God. There would be no world. Nothing could be. He is the foundation point.
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Of all things. He is also the one that brings order. Out of chaos.
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If all there was. Was matter and energy in the world. It would devolve and be nothing.
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It would be chaotic and meaningless. But instead what we see is an ordered world.
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Because there is a God to bring order. Out of the chaos. And organize the universe.
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Think about this guys. If the atheist. The agnostic. Who doesn't believe in God.
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If they were right. This world would be meaningless. There would be no purpose.
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There would be no morality. There would be no right or wrong. We would just be space dust. Organized somehow.
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Into some lifeless machine. And there would be no point in life.
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Because. There's no ordering. There's nothing but dust. In fact life.
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Couldn't be. Unless there was a being that was life. To speak life into existence.
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And as a quick aside. When you read the book of Genesis. Chapter one. I want you to take it literally.
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That God created in six. Literal days. Theologically why would that matter?
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Well. Either God. Creates the world. And Adam.
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Rebellion to God. Produces death. Or. Like the evolutionary.
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Theist will contend. It was actually death. That produced Adam. According to the evolutionary model.
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There were all kinds of animals. In the world who were dying. Little Bambis.
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Running in the forest. And falling. To their death.
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Or being devoured by a lion. Horrifying thought. Imagine that this would be part of the
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Garden of Eden. Before the fall of man. Terrible thought. The idea that death then.
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And the eating of animals. And the passing of time. Would finally give rise.
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To Adam and Eve. That would be death producing Adam. But the biblical account.
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Theologically is very clear. That death came into the world. So there's no animal death.
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Prior to. The Garden of Eden. In the fall of man. Make sense? So that's why we're young earth creationists.
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And the world probably thinks we're crazy. To believe such a thing. But simply taking
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God. At his word. So let's look again then. In the beginning. Was the word.
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Now here comes the claim. Building on the foundation. Of Genesis chapter 1.
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The word was. Is in the imperfect tense.
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Speaking to a continuous action. Or really. To something that has always been.
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Kind of like the I am. Of John 8 58. Before Abraham was born. I am. The idea here.
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Is in uncreatedness. Was communicates. That there's no point in time.
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In which. The word began. He simply was. Next. The text says.
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The word. Why did John choose to use. Logos. The word here.
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To introduce the son. Well I think it's because. He has an evangelistic purpose.
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The reason for. The book of John. As it's given. Is that you might believe.
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And he's speaking to the Greek mind. And the Jewish mind. To introduce Jesus. He begins with this idea of the word.
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The Greek would understand. The logos. The word. As rationality. Logic.
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That logic and rationality. Were with God. From eternity. Past. And the
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Jewish mind. Would understand something a little different. Not just. Rationality or logic.
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As in a thought. But the word. Something that communicates.
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As soon as I open my mouth. And I begin to speak. There are ideas. That are communicated to you.
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It's revelation. Of the thought or mind. In this case of God. So in the beginning.
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Was the word. Is making a statement about. The concept. The. Rationality.
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The logic of God. Communicated to man. The idea of revelation. But look what
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John does with that thought. He begins there to introduce. People. To the idea of Jesus.
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But he goes on to say. And the word was. With God. He's side by side.
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With. The father. There's some distinction. Introduced here. With. God.
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And then the clincher. And the main idea of the sentence. And the word.
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Was. God. A claim to deity.
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And the next sentence says he. Was in the beginning with God. A personal pronoun he.
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Means we're not just talking about an idea. Or a concept communicated. We are talking about a person.
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He. And John as he unfolds the gospel. In verse 14 will say. That this he.
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Became. Flesh. He always was. At the right hand of the father.
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But in a point of time. Using the aorist tense here. Became. Indicates at a point in time.
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He took on flesh. And in verse 17. We learn his name.
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Grace and truth came. Through Jesus. Christ. John wants to introduce.
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Us. To the one he loves. And he does so. In this way.
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The word. With God. Who is God. In the beginning. Now. In case we've missed.
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How big the claim really is. Look how he clarifies. In verses three and four. All things were made through him.
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All things. And to eliminate. Any. Confusion. Unless.
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You know a Jehovah's Witness. Might knock on your door. And say. That Jesus is himself created. What does he go on to say?
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You can just keep reading. In verse three. And without him. Was not. Anything.
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Made. That was made. So this is in contrast. To verse one.
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Where Jesus. Is the I am. He was. Here in verse three.
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Nothing. Exists. Apart. From what comes through him. That's the contrast.
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In verse three. And then we hear. In verse four. In him. Was life.
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All things. Living. Inanimate. Whether tree. Or animate.
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Like a little hummingbird. Or a human. Made in the image of God. Life. And the life.
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Was the light of men. But here. The claim. Is more than physical. It's not just.
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That Jesus. Made. Living things. He's the source. The fountain. Of physical life.
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It's beginning here. To refer. To the point of the book. John. Will use this word.
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Life. 36 times. And I want you. To notice. The beautiful banners. That Michael produced.
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For us here. On the one side. That you. May believe.
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And on the other side. That you may have life. Eternal life. This is the thesis statement.
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Of the book of John. Comes from John. Chapter 20. Verse 31. These things are written. That you may believe.
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That Jesus. Is the Christ. The son of God. And believing. You may have life. In his name.
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This is what John. Is beginning to introduce. In verse 4. He is the source. Of spiritual life.
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And the life. Was the light of men. Light.
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Truth. Revelation. These things come. Through Jesus. No one can know.
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The father. But by this light. And later we'll learn. That Jesus himself. Is the light of the world.
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Verse 5. The light shines. In the darkness. And the darkness. Is not overcoming.
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This refers. To. The. Not. Not just the lack. Of understanding.
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The NIV. Translates it. The darkness. Has not understood it. But I think.
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The translation. Overcome. As the ESV would have. Some of you. Are. Are reading. I think that better captures.
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The concept here. The pulpit commentary. Puts it this way.
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The word translated. Apprehend. It's. Katalabe. This word.
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In verse 5. Overcome. Or understood. It has.
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In the New Testament. Greek. Undoubtedly. The sense of laying. Hold. With evil intent. Overtaking.
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Suppressing. Overcoming. And a fine. Sense. Would arise from this passage.
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If it means that. While. The light. Shown. Into the darkness. It did not scatter it.
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But on the other hand. Neither. Did the darkness. Suppress. Or absorb. And neutralize.
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The light. Certainly. The darkness. Darkness. Was disastrous. Tragic. Prolonged.
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But not. Triumphant. You see the idea there.
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Is this light comes into the world. But the world is resistant. And tries to snuff it out.
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And tries to extinguish it. But it can't. The darkness cannot overcome.
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The light. Of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So here's the big first idea.
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John bursts onto the scene. With the biggest claim. That anybody has ever made.
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In the history of the world. That this person. Who walked our streets.
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In Galilee. And walked on the sea. Of Galilee.
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That this one is God. This bold claim. That Jesus is
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God. The creator. That the world itself. Was made through him. And he himself is not created.
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A distinction between father and son. And later we'll learn. That he will also send the Holy Spirit. He is with the father.
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And yet. The same essence. The same being. As the father. He is rightly called
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God. This claim. Is laid out at the start. But the apostle.
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Does not stop. With the claim. And this is where I think. Many of us need to be sharpened.
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In our evangelism. Myself and all of us included. We all need to be continually growing here.
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Right away. The apostle John. Begins to lay down the evidence.
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For his claim. The ground to his argument. He doesn't just merely assert something.
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He bases that. In a grounding. Let's read it verses 6 to 8.
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This is why he then brings up. John the Baptist. There was a man.
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Sent from God. Whose name was John. He came as a witness.
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Mark that word witness. That's legal language. A witness.
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To bear witness. Or give testimony. About the light.
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That all might believe through him. He was not the light. But came to bear witness.
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About. The light. Notice here.
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That John gives. Reason to believe. There is a witness.
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And why is this witness. So strong. Well. John the
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Baptist was himself. Prophesied. Notice in the beginning.
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Grounds the argument. In the word of God. The Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible.
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In the beginning God. And from there we have Genesis 1. Running all the way to Malachi.
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Chapter 4. This revelation is given. In times past.
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But notice. How does the Old Testament end? After all has been said and done.
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And the prophets go silent. For 400 years. What is the last thing they said? Malachi foretold.
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The coming of Elijah. In the spirit of Elijah. One who would bring repentance.
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Bring revival in Israel. To turn the hearts of the children. Back to the fathers.
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And the fathers to the children. He had said. Malachi had said in chapter 3 verse 1.
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That this messenger would come. As a forerunner. To prepare the way for the Lord.
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There would be one who comes. A prophet. The last Old Testament prophet.
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When I was preaching in first service. I said. He came eating camels. And everybody paused.
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Like what? Oh wait a minute. Eating locusts and eating honey. And wearing camel skin.
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I misspoke there. The point is. He was dressed like Elijah.
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Wearing camel skin. He was eating the same diet. As Elijah ate.
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And supernaturally. All of Israel was coming out. To the wilderness. To be baptized by John.
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Now notice. John did no miracles. He was not a miracle worker. He was just preaching repentance.
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And by the power of God. All of Israel was coming out to him. Even the Pharisees came out.
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And he said. But who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Keep fruit in repentance. In keeping with repentance.
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So John the Baptist. Was a wild man. And the only explanation.
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For the power in his ministry. Is that God was at work. Jesus would ask the Pharisees. John's baptism.
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Was it from heaven? Or was it from men? And they were unable to answer.
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Because they did not believe. What John testified. That Jesus is the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world.
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How do we know that this claim is true? Because from Genesis 1 -1.
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All the way to Malachi 4. There were prophets sent. To foretell the details of Messiah.
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That we would recognize him when he came. His virgin birth.
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In Isaiah 7 -14. In the city of Bethlehem. Micah 5 -2.
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And when he would come as the prophet. As the priest. As the king. He would come riding on a donkey.
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Zechariah 9 -9. He would be the Lamb of God. Who lays down his life.
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Not for his own sin. But crush for our iniquities. Isaiah 53. And when all the prophecies had been spoken.
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We were left with one expectation. A final prophet will come. To prepare the way.
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So when John the Baptist shows up. He is that prophet. He is the
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Elijah. That was expected. And he testified. This Jesus.
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Is greater than I. Because he was before me. John will say. I'm not even worthy to stoop down.
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And tie his shoe. He is the eternal one.
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And he foretold his death. As the Lamb of God. Who would take away the sin of the world. You see.
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The gospel that we believe. Is grounded in scripture. From Genesis.
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To Malachi. And John comes to proclaim. The fulfillment of it all.
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This is why we believe. The grounding of the argument. Next. Verses 9 to 13.
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Notice that the claim. Grounded in scripture. Is to be offered to the world.
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But there will be divergent. Receptions of it. Some will believe.
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And others will reject. Says in verse 9. The true light. Which gives light to everyone.
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This is being sent out. To the ends of the earth. Was coming into the world.
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He was in the world. And the world was made through him. The creator of the world.
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Walking among them. But the world did not know him.
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He came to his own. And his own people. Did not receive him.
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Many in the world. Will hear the preaching of this story. That Jesus is the Christ. The son of God.
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That by this we mean. He is God in flesh. And they will turn their back.
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To that message. And walk away. His own people did. Most of the
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Jewish people. Who heard this preaching. Who heard John the Baptist. And saw his miracles.
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Most of them. Would turn and walk away. And still today.
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In the culture in which we live. Many people. Will hear the message.
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Of Jesus Christ. And will not. Receive him. Yet church look at the good news.
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Verse 12. But to all who did. Receive him. Who believed in his name.
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He gave the right. To become children. Of God. That's the offer.
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That's the offer. To you. Maybe you've been offered. Many things in this life.
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And sometimes people who offer things. Don't come through. With the thing that they promised.
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But I tell you this offer. Comes from God himself. And the promises if you believe in him.
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If you receive Jesus. You become. A child of God. A child of the living
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God. That means your sins are forgiven. You're adopted into his family. And you will spend eternity.
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With him. The author of life. Who made you. Is here today offering.
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To give you real. Eternal life. Maybe you came in here today. Not knowing what to expect.
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Not knowing. If God would speak to your heart. But hear these words. As many as believe in him.
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To those who receive him. He gives the right to be called. A child of God. There is a new birth.
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Offered. Who were born not of blood. Nor of the will of the flesh.
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Nor of the will of man. But of God. This is a work that only God can do.
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Doesn't depend on human willing. The will of man. The will of the flesh.
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It requires the birth. From above. Being born of God. We'll learn more about that in.
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Of course John chapter 3. Being born again. But here notice that the offer.
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Is extended. Do you realize. How urgent. This offer really is.
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People knew. How urgent it was. When they were aboard the Titanic. And all of a sudden.
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That ship struck an iceberg. All of a sudden. The luxurious living. The comfort.
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Of this life. Sunk underneath their feet. And they were left in the water.
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Some made it to. Their lifeboats. Like John Harper's daughter. The reverend
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John Harper. Got his daughter on one of the lifeboats. And then swam off.
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Looking to float upon debris. He himself. Was wearing a life vest.
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And he knew. His chances of survival were small. Because the nearest ship.
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Was far away. And these waters were very cold. Hypothermia would set in soon. And so the urgency.
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Of the gospel was heavy on his heart. He saw a young man. Floating on driftwood.
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And with all the strength he could muster. He swam for that boy. And when he got to him he said.
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Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you believed. In the son of God.
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To have your sins forgiven. And the young man said no. And he pled.
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Well do you want to know him. And he said no just go. And John Harper.
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Turned to swim away. And realized. This boy needs this life vest.
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More than I do. He took off his life vest. And he gave it to that young man.
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And swam on. To preach the gospel to someone else. And they saw him.
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Sinking. When he had no more strength. And was freezing. Still calling out the gospel.
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As he died. You know that young man. Shared his testimony. At a survivor meeting.
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That he was born again that day. The reverend
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John Harper. Knew the urgency of the call. He lived it. And he died.
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For Christ. Preaching the gospel. Brothers and sisters. Your next door neighbor.
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Is in just as much danger. As the boy on the driftwood. The people in our culture.
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Who have not heard. Some of them didn't have the privilege. That we had to be raised. Some of us in a
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Christian home. To whom much is given. Much is expected. I am so thankful for Walt Cleaver.
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And Jan Cleaver. Who taught me from infancy. To know and believe. The gospel of Jesus Christ.
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But not every young man and young woman. Has that. But you are sent to tell them.
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The offer. It's for all. The light goes into all the world. By your preaching.
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By your speaking. It is a revelation. It's a light. That's why
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Jesus is called the word. He's the revelation of the father. And then we take that message.
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To the world. Next. Notice that the offer we give. It's not just a concept.
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We're not just preaching another religious idea. Like Zoroastrianism. Or Buddhism.
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Confucianism. Or whatever ism the world comes up with. No. Our message is a person.
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In flesh and blood. John will start his letter.
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First John. By saying that which we have seen. And heard with our ears. And touched with our hands.
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This we proclaim to you concerning the word of life. It's not just an idea.
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It is the person. Look at verse 14. And the word became flesh.
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And dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. Glory as of the only son from the father.
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Full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him. And cried out.
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This was he of whom I said. He who comes after me. Ranks before me. Because he was before me.
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The one who ever existed. In eternity past. With the father and the spirit.
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This one has taken on flesh. He became flesh. Think of it. God. In flesh.
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We talk about this so much at Christmas. But we should remember it all year long. The incarnation.
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The word. Jesus. Became flesh. And dwelt among us.
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Lastly. Notice. That John concludes.
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His prologue. Not. With a courtroom.
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Witness. He's already called John the Baptist. To the stand.
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And all the prophets. As John is kind of the final of the prophets. He's given the evidence.
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He's made the claim. He's put flesh on the claim. The word became flesh. But he concludes the prologue.
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With. An awestruck. Personal testimony. Wake up. Personal testimony.
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Look what he says. For from his fullness. We have all received.
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Grace. Upon grace. Here's one.
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Who's standing under a fountain. Of grace. John is saying.
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We've received it. The grace of God. Has come and touched my life.
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John says. We've received it. And this life. That I'm telling you about.
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It is grace upon grace. It is to wake up. And know the maker.
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To look out at the landscape. To see the trees. And the birds. And to feel the breeze.
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And to know the God. Who made that. To daily. To feel him and know him.
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And more than that. To feel. The weight of your sin.
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Lifted off your shoulders. And to be free. To no longer be entangled. By sin.
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To be free. To know. That you are loved. And all day long.
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To think of him. And to pray to him. To never stop talking to him. To love him. To know the one true
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God. This life is grace. Upon grace. Upon grace. And then to approach death.
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As this old man. John is winding down his time on earth. To say. To live is
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Christ. To die is gain. To know that this grace.
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Will go past the grave. Where streets are made of gold. And every tear of suffering.
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From this life. Is wiped away. And all things become new. And every chain is broken.
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Every addiction is long gone. And to know. That for all eternity.
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You will behold him. You will see him face to face. The one you loved.
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And knew in part. As through a dark glass. Now you will see him. And this grace.
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Will wash over you for all eternity. And you'll never get bored. You'll never get tired.
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Because he's infinite. It's grace upon grace. Upon grace. This is life.
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This is what you were made for. And so many people live this empty life. Meaningless.
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It's like most of the world around you. If you notice. It's like they're living in a fog. Because they are.
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Darkness. Verse 5. But that darkness has not overcome this light. It's Christ.
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And John ends this way. He says. For the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth.
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Came through Jesus Christ. I'm a big fan of Dennis Prager.
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I love his moral ethics. As he teaches. And he's very helpful. In many things.
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But recently Dennis Prager was asked. To believe in Jesus. And he laughed a little bit.
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And he said. I get that every day. He said. I am probably the most prayed for man in America.
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It's probably true. But what Dennis Prager. Doesn't have.
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In the first five books. Of the Bible. Although it's there. In foreshadowing.
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He doesn't have. The life. That's here offered. He has a hammer.
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The hammer of the law. And he can smash apart the lies of the enemy. He can smash lies.
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But what he cannot do. Is give life. Jesus alone. Can give life.
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It's very sad to me. And many people. Are like him.
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Guys think about this for a minute. You could be Dennis Prager. You could be the most righteous man on earth.
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Comparing yourself. One to another. You could do great things.
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And as best you can. Live. For God. By your own estimation.
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And you. Will lose your soul. For all eternity. Unless you repent.
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And believe. In Jesus Christ. There is only one way.
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You see the law. Can only condemn. The law can only break us.
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As we run up against it. It cannot take us up. And heal us and give us life.
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That happens alone. Through Jesus Christ. Only the Lord Jesus.
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Can give life. The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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Do you know him? John Bunyan. Wonderful. Puritan.
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Preacher. Who was so evangelistic. He wouldn't stop preaching. They had to lock him up.
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In England. He wouldn't stop. They said you can go free.
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If you'll just promise to quit talking about Jesus. He had a blind daughter at home.
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And he chose to remain in prison. Rather than to stop talking about Jesus. Such a sacrifice for his
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Lord. This godly man summarized this verse. With this little poem.
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Couple of stanzas. To run and work. The law commands.
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But gives us neither feet nor hands. But better news the gospel brings.
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It bids us fly. And gives us wings. Let me repeat that.
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Because that is deep. And it's good. To run and work the law commands.
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But gives us neither feet nor hands. But better news the gospel brings.
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It bids us fly. And gives us wings. What the law cannot do through Moses.
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The Lord himself did. In Jesus Christ. He gives us life.
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He enlivens us. With the new birth. He takes away our sin.
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And he fills us with grace. No one has ever seen God. The only
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God. Who is at the Father's side. He has made him known. I think
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Pastor John promised that you'd want me to keep preaching if I went long. Is that true? Are you guys ready to be done?
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There's one more thing I wanted to share here. But I don't know if I have time. Thank you. That's what I was waiting for.
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When it says no one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side.
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He has made him known. That Greek word for the only God is monogonous.
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Only. One and only. Unique. In the King James Version, the translation of monogonous was only begotten.
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Only begotten. And many people have been confused by that language because the word beget in English indicates an origin.
01:07:08
A point in time. But listen. Monogonous in the Greek is not what many of the translators, first of all in the
01:07:15
Latin and then in the King James, assumed it was. It does not come from beget.
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Monogonous. It comes from genomai. Become. And the newer translations,
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ESV, NIV, they all say one and only. Because the idea here is not a begetting but rather that the word became flesh but the son has always been.
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That's the point of this passage. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was
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God. He always was God. He didn't become God. He is the eternal son.
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So when we say the son of God, we're not referring to his entry into the world.
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Did you guys know that? He didn't become the son when he took on flesh. He is the eternal son who became flesh.
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And the word monogonous actually refers to the unique one and only son.
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That's why the same word was used in the Hebrew translated in the Septuagint for Isaac in Genesis 22.
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He's not the monogonous in the sense of being the only begotten because there was
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Ishmael. And Keturah had a son. And Abraham even had a concubine according to Genesis 25 .6
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and more children by her. The idea of one and only unique son is communicated here.
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So we saw it in verse 14 where it says the one and only, that's monogonous. In verse 18 and then most famously
01:08:57
John 3 .16 and verse 18. The translation as we have it in the
01:09:04
ESV is correct. The idea is uniqueness. The one and only son.
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The unique one and there's none like him. Amen? So in closing, now we can do that.
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Now we can go to closing. I open this sermon by trying and stumbling by the way to quote the prologue.
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By the time we're done studying John, which should be about a year so you have plenty of time,
01:09:35
I would like you to memorize the prologue to John. 18 verses. Kind of seems hard but if you do it a little bit at a time, it's not that hard.
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And it's so valuable because it's perfect in and of itself. It has the claim and the grounding and the incarnation with flesh and the testimony of grace upon grace.
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It has everything you need to communicate the gospel. The point of studying through John is
01:10:04
John's purpose. That you would believe and have life and if that's the case, we need to take this gospel to the world.
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So if you'll learn it, you'll have something to share with your next door neighbor. You'll have it on the tip of your tongue.
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You'll be ready to evangelize. You guys think you can do that? I wasn't convinced but...
01:10:28
Some of you will. And if not, at least the first few verses as Pastor John mentioned. Memorize the first three.
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Go to somebody in your neighborhood and hand out a gospel of John. I think a couple of times we've ordered gospels of John here and given them to you to give out.
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You can go yourself to Living Waters and get a whole box of them. Or you can also get them from the
01:10:55
Pocket Testament League for about 30 cents a piece. Pocket Testament League.
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Have these on hand and give the gospel of John out. But invite somebody in your neighborhood, a friend or co -worker.
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Invite them to meet with you once a week to study through the gospel of John. Do it like it's urgent.
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Because it is. Let's close in prayer. Father, thank you for the prologue to John.
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Thank you for the life in Christ. Thank you for forgiving our sins.
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And Lord, even as I say that, I'm aware there's probably somebody here who has not yet received
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Jesus Christ. Not yet believed in his name. Certainly somebody listening online.
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So we pray, Lord, that you would reveal the son to them. Open their eyes that they may see.
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Open their heart like a flower as you did Lydia in Acts 16, 14.
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Open her heart to believe. I pray that those listening right now would believe that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was
01:12:12
God. That Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us.
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Lived a perfect life and died on the cross for the sins of all who would believe in him.
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That he rose from the dead. Pray that those listening would receive this good news.
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Grace upon grace. That they would repent of their sin. Turn away from sin and turn to the living
01:12:53
God. And Lord, we pray for us as a church that the study of the book of John would send us out preaching.
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That we would go forth as witnesses to testify that Jesus is the
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Christ, the son of the living God. In whose name we pray. Amen. By our side you will go before us.
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You will lead the way. We have found a refuge only you can save.
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With joy now our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress.
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Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our
01:14:13
God is for us. Even when
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I stumble. Even when I fall. Even when I turn back.
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Still your love is sure. You will not abandon. You will not forsake.
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You will cheer me on with never ending grace.
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Sing with joy now. Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress.
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Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our
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God... Neither height nor depth.
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Neither height nor depth could separate us.
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Hell and death will not defeat us. He who gave a son to free us.
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Hold me in His love. Neither height. Neither height nor death can separate us.
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Hell and death will not defeat us. He who gave a son to free us.
01:15:44
Hold me in His love. Sing with joy now.
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Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress.
01:15:58
Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Sing with joy now.
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Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress.
01:16:16
Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us?
01:16:22
Our God is for us. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the
01:16:42
Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.