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Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the wonderful opportunity again to gather in this place. Lord, to gather in the name that is above every name, the name of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We're thankful and we bless the name of the Lord this morning for your great kindness to us, for your continued mercies. Lord, you brought us through this past week and though the rivers would try to go over us and the fire and the flood come upon us, Lord, you are with us always, even as your word says, to the end of the age.
You'll never leave us nor forsake us. You'll never orphan us and we are your people forever and we're grateful. And all of that is attributed to your grace, your mercy, your love for us. That love that the Apostle John, as he wrote, said is, he said, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God, the children of God.
And we thank you for that and we thank you that all that we have has been given to us in Christ because of him and his finished work. And we're grateful that we can be called the people of God and that we know that you think upon us and that you care for us.
And you care for us in such a way that you've given us your word. We pray that as we open it, as we look at it this morning, that we might be greatly encouraged, that we might be taught, that we might be prepared and equipped for the days ahead.
More than anything, that Jesus Christ may be praised in our lives, in our homes, in this church, in all that we do and say and think. Lord, may he be praised. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. We're continuing on in the study of the New Testament through the Bible in a year or two. You see, some of you haven't been back for a while. The title there has changed, but we'll make it. Eventually, it is no sense rushing through this great book and particularly in the New Testament that the Lord has given to us.
We come to this, the fourth gospel. You'll remember in the gospel of Matthew that his theme was that Jesus is the promised Messiah king. In the book of Mark, we see that Mark had presented Christ as the suffering servant, the one who came to ransom his people.
And then in Luke, Jesus is the son of man who could not only identify with the plight of men but do something about it. In our sinful, lost, horrible condition, Jesus comes and he rescues us and he redeems us.
And here in the book of John, we will find this morning that John's theme is that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And it is without question, it is very clear that as you read this book and as you go from chapter to chapter, you will see that this is what the Holy Spirit led John the apostle to write about, this theme that Jesus Christ, without question, is the son of God.
God was his father and that he came to minister among us, but when he came, he came as fully God and as fully man. And we see that right from the beginning of the book, which we will get to, but let me give you a little bit of a background.
Here we see that the apostle John wrote this book approximately 80 or 90 A .D., which was after the three other gospels were written in time frame. This probably, I am not pulling a pastor mic here, because every time he preaches, you know, this is my favorite text, right?
He preaches that, he says that, of course, any preacher, anybody who gets up to teach or preach the word of God, God has so dealt with them during their week that that really truly has become the focus of their week and that has become their favorite text of the week.
But this I can say, that this is my favorite of the gospels. And the reason is, to me, when I was first saved, I remember reading this over and over again, and I was admonished to read this book first in the New Testament because it laid out this fact that Christ was God.
And I remember, I put a note here on my margin that I cut my spiritual teeth on John's record of Christ in this gospel. John wrote in a clear and in a simple style, and yet there is great depth. It is very profound as you read this book.
Though he is the author of this book, his name is not directly mentioned in the book at all. Instead, the author refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. And we see that in the second paragraph under author and date.
You see the verses there if you want to look them up. But you remember in John 13, 23, that John was at the Last Supper and he laid his head on the bosom of Christ. And he is referred to there as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
And what a remarkable way to describe yourself. I think it's a deliberate avoidance of John, of his personal name. Not only does this reflect his humility, but it also shows the relationship that he had with Christ.
And he celebrated that. He wasn't tooting his horn. He's not one that did that. And some people might have a problem with, is John the author of this book or not? But his name is so prevalent in all of the other gospels.
It's kind of like somebody wrote, it's kind of like when you go on a vacation and you're taking photographs. The one who's taking the photograph is not in the picture, right? I mean, you're just not there.
And because John's absence, the absence of John's name in this gospel really shouts his presence. It's very clear that he doesn't mean, when he says that, that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He wasn't saying that he was the only disciple that Jesus loved.
He was just saying that he was one who was loved of the Lord. And he celebrated this great relationship that he had with the Lord, and he could pin it that way. And he was allowed to pin it that way. And I just wonder, for a moment, if we could just think now, think of this man, John.
He is one who is saved, just like we're saved. One who was in the same plight that we are, needing a Savior. He believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ to the salvation of his soul. Has a relationship with Christ, walks with Christ, hears Christ, sees him teaching, sees him in the miracles, sees him display his glory, and yet he was a man just like we are.
Lived a life just like we have, the different responsibilities and things that we have to deal with, and yet he was one who had a close relationship with Christ, so close that he penned in this book that he was a disciple that was loved by Jesus.
Can you say that? Can you and I say that? Well, if we have been saved by the grace of God, the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts, and God has put his love upon us, and we are loved of God also.
I just want to encourage you this morning. Sometimes we read, as I said, we read scripture, and it's like another time, and it's another person, but it's particularly meant for us to glean from, and for us to be encouraged by, and for us to have our hearts stirred by the word of God, not only be fed, but day to day, and week to week, and month to month, and year to year, until the day that we die, we can claim like with John that we are a people whom God demonstrated his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We are a people who are loved of God, and when I read that, particularly that phrase this week, it just really struck me that we are a people who can say the same thing, that we are those disciples, followers of Christ, who are loved by the Lord, just a great unique way that John put it.
Well, this book has in it from the very beginning, if you look in John 1 with me, you will see throughout every chapter in this book, and I did this in my study, and I don't know how far we'll get, but throughout every chapter in this book, there is some reference to Jesus Christ being the Son of God, and I'm going to try to go through these.
We'll do maybe a short overview on some of the chapters, but the other ones maybe we'll dig in a little deeper, and right from the beginning, we are going to see that John puts less of an emphasis on the miracles, and he puts his emphasis on the miracle maker.
He puts less emphasis on the signs and on the wonders, and John's focus is for a person to come to know and to believe upon Christ. You'll see that at the very top, the key verse that I put there. This is the only gospel that explicitly has a stated theme in it.
In John 20, maybe we should go there first just so that you can hold your place in chapter 1, but turn with me to John 20 and the very end of that chapter. We see that John pens these words in verse 30, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.
Now, as I said just a little while ago, this is the only gospel of the four that contains a precise statement regarding John's purpose for writing the book, and it's laid out right here in that he says that the motivating purpose in this book is really twofold.
It's evangelistic, and it's apologetic. It's evangelistic in this is that John's focus is and his emphasis is on the word believe. It's on the word believe, which means to rely upon and to completely trust in Christ, and he uses that almost 100 times in this book, twice as often as the other three gospels using this word believe, and he takes, in all of his writing, he provides a reason to believe or a reason for saving faith, a reason, and the result of that also is not only in that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but that if you believe, something takes place.
If you believe, you can have life through his name, and that's threaded throughout the book. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, John 647, truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you, Jesus is saying, he that believes on me has everlasting life.
For God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It's over and over and over again through this book. That's one of the first purposes, evangelistic, so that people will believe.
Somebody said that this gospel is the gospel of belief or the gospel of faith, and one time I remember early on when I was first saved, I was in a church that wasn't Calvinistic in its doctrine, and one of the ways that they taught that repentance was not necessary.
It was just basically belief because they had a lordship issue in the church too, but what they said was, go to the gospel of John, and you will not find the word repentance there in all of that book.
Well, that's a pretty faulty way to approach it because what about all the other books in the scripture that have Jesus coming right out of the gate at the beginning of his ministry and saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
It's there. You have to look at it, and the gospels are not in combatant with each other, but they are complementary, and we see the whole picture as we look at all of the gospels. John's focus, in particular, is on belief, believing upon Christ, and it's looking at, coming to, believing upon him for the salvation of your soul.
It's the gospel of belief, but secondly, what John says in this theme here, he says not only to believe upon Christ, the son of God, but not only just to believe on Christ to have everlasting life, but he says that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.
It's apologetic. Apologetic doesn't mean we're apologizing for scripture. It's a word that just has to mean with good, strong, systematic, argumentative discourse or a defense of the scripture, the defense of doctrine, and that's what John is doing here.
As he's writing this book, his defense, his theme that he's pushing forth through it all is Jesus Christ was sent by the Father, and he is the son of God, and in being the son of God, with all the prerogatives of God, the same in essence and in person, he can be believed upon.
He can be trusted. It is God who has come in the flesh, God incarnate. So John's, in the purposes, the two purposes there, the evangelistic purpose sometimes and the apologetic purpose, as we even see in this theme as it's expressed, kind of overlapped, overlap each other as you go through the book, but he wants to convince his readers that Jesus's true identity is that he is fully God and fully man, the God-man whose divine and human natures are so perfectly united in one person who is the prophesied Christ, the Messiah of the Old Testament.
That's his purpose, and that's what he keeps driving home as he goes through this book. Now, we'll go back to John 1, as I said, and you'll notice that right from the beginning, the Apostle John does not have an account of the birth.
He doesn't have an account of the angels coming to tell Mary what is going to take place, but he begins the book right out of the gate. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
And he's saying here that this word, this logos, this is Jesus Christ. Of course, we're going to see this as we go down through this chapter, but he's saying right from the beginning here, I mean, if you want to say this is a divine genealogy because it goes all the way back to the beginning, it all the way goes back to the eternal God, and he's saying what John is saying here is that Jesus Christ is God.
Now, you'll have other cults that will take this, particularly the Jehovah Witnesses, and they will say in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a God. They change the wording here, and I'm not going to go into technical aspects of the Greek there, but that is incorrect.
That is, of course, a lie, and what I like to do with the Jehovah Witnesses is I always like to talk to them, and I like to say, do you know that when your following first began that the Watchtower first printed the King James Bible?
And then I will take that and say if it was good then, it's got to be good today, and I'll use it, and I'll start using it with them, and I'll say, well, you know, you can see that because prophecies in your church by your church leaders saying that Christ was going to come in 1914 did not take place.
Your whole authority that you're resting your religion upon or your beliefs upon is very faulty because it doesn't have the sure foundation of the word of God. Let's go to the word of God and see what it says and then continue to go on with the word, but you will have to be very careful.
If you have proof texts that you want to use to go to for that religion or any others, you have to be careful that the Bible that they've used, the New World Translation in that case, they've changed it, so you've got to try to find the ones maybe that they haven't changed, and you can use those verses in particular for the word of God to be powerful, not for our opinion or argument to be powerful.
It is God's word. It is the gospel that is going to save. And the gospel that comes to us and the great truth that comes to us in this book here, as we see John declaring in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God.
So we can find out what this word is. If we can find out who this word is, it'll be very clear to us that whoever this word is, this word is God. And if we go down to verse 14, we see because of the shortness of the class, we're not going to be able to go all through everything.
But if you look at 14, it says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. And who was made flesh?
Who was it that was from the father? John is going to lay this out in all of this book, that it is Jesus Christ, because if you go down as he goes through here, he begins, he says in verse 17, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
He's speaking of Christ. The word is Christ. God manifests in the flesh, the incarnation of the son of God, and that word is linked back up to the beginning, and we see that Jesus Christ is the word. Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning, and he is the eternal God.
That's what John is saying right from the very beginning. And he asserts that the Logos was associated with the idea of beginnings, and in the Godhead, the son functions as the revelation of God and is God in reality.
That's what John is bringing about here. Now, let's go look at some of the other places in the chapters of this book. I'm going to try to go maybe one chapter at a time and see how far we get. You can take the notes that I have on the sheet.
There's a lot of information here concerning the different doctrine that's in this book. The key words is a great study. As you go through that, maybe I'll touch on one of them, but there's just some good things for you to look at as far as to go back to and study on your own so that you can also be blessed by this book.
I don't think there's any other gospel when it comes, as I said before, that is not only I cut my spiritual teeth on, but I refer back to more than the gospel of John. It is just so clear. It is so profound.
It is so wonderful that God's truth comes to us in this way. And it's something as you use this book and you're dealing with folks who are lost and your desire is for them to be saved, then why not use, as it were, a book that is particularly written so that people will understand who Jesus is and be able to believe upon him and by believing upon him have life through his name, have eternal life.
You'll see in John 1, in verse 34, here's John the Baptist's statement. He says,. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. Of course, at the baptism, the father had declared and openly expressed that this is my son in whom I am well pleased.
And John witnessed that and he saw that. And I just wanted to look at that verse because not only does John the Baptist do this, but John the apostle does this. They've seen these things. They're eyewitnesses.
They've heard these things. They're earwitnesses, if there is such a word. I think I just might have made that up. I don't know. Earwitnesses and eyewitnesses and life witnesses of what Jesus did, what he said, who he said he was, how he dealt with other people, what he said he had been sent for.
And you'll see that thread all the way through this book that he says, I did not come to do mine own will, but I was sent of the father to do his will. Everything that he declares for me I will do and I will say.
It's not even as coming as being fully God. He's submitting himself as the son of God to his father to do the father's will, expressed clearly throughout all of this book. Chapter two, let's go take a look there.
The beginning of his ministry after they're turning the water to wine, something that only the son of God could do. But that's another side note. In verse 16, Jesus is speaking to those around. He goes into the temple and he's going to cleanse the temple.
Notice what he says. And he says unto them that sold the doves, take these things. Hence, make not my father's house and house of merchandise or a place of business. And from the very beginning, he let people know and he used this phraseology.
And it doesn't really come out as much here, but you'll see in another place that we're going to look at for Jesus Christ to make this claim that he was about doing his father's business or in this case here, don't make my father's house.
Well, whose house was it? Whose temple was it? It was the temple where they went to to worship God. And, of course, the Jews would say that they would worship God, their father. Abraham was one who said of him that he was a friend of God, but that God was his father.
And they knew that the temple was God's temple and a place of worship. And Jesus was going there and he's saying, you're making my father's or you're making God, who I am saying is my father, his his house, a place of merchandise, a place of business and an ought not to be so.
You'll remember at the beginning when when Jesus was 12 years old and and his mother and father had left the city. And Jesus was not in the caravan. And they went back to look for him. And they they were kind of chiding him, saying, you know, where were you?
What happened? And do you remember what Jesus said? He said, how come you don't basically how come you don't understand that I must be about my father's business? And from the from the very beginning of his ministry, it is quite clear that Jesus is making it known and he is stating it openly.
And you're going to see the reaction of the people when he says and makes this claim that God is his father. And it's very important for us. And we'll see that as we move on. John, Chapter three is a portion of the scripture here that is probably the most known among believers and probably the most preached portion of scripture being John 316.
But it's very interesting to note what the scripture says about Jesus. Verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so, must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life and John 316 for God.
So love the world. And this is Jesus speaking that he gave his only begotten son. And it was very clear when Jesus was speaking these words, the people knew that he was speaking about himself at times because of the reaction.
And we're going to see that as we go on. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There it is that Jesus is the son of God.
That's the one theme that John wants to get across. But not only that, that he's the son of God. But if you believe upon him, you will have everlasting life. And Jesus says this about himself, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believes, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Very clear. God sent his son.
And of course, he's speaking of himself. You believe upon him, you will not perish, but you'll have everlasting life. Those who have not believed are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the son of God.
Very clear. What I like is when you're witnessing to other people, you can actually take verses like this and say, would you mind reading this? And you'll have people who will say, well, you know, so many different people wrote the scriptures, and it's really hard to wonder what is the true message that gets passed down.
There's all kinds of interpretations. And most of the people that say that, they haven't read the scriptures themselves. So take the Bible and turn it around and hand it to them and have them just read a verse like that and say, what does that mean?
What is Jesus saying there? And even in there, and I'm not saying that by doing that method or anything like that, that that is a sure way that someone is going to be saved. But but it is so clear that the Holy Spirit can take the word of God as it sits on its own and people reading it and they can get an understanding of what it is that God's saying.
And it's it's not a hidden thing, especially in this book, where John's writing style is just so very clear. Look at the last verse of this chapter. John writing and says, he that believes on the sun again has everlasting life.
And he that believeth not the sun shall not see life. But the wrath of God abides or rests upon that person. Again, this reference of the son of God and believing upon him being John's theme. Chapter four, very interesting portion of scripture where Jesus is is dealing with the woman at the well.
I believe that in in John's gospel, you only have the references of Nicodemus, the woman at the well and the IAMs of Christ, which lend themselves so greatly to to bring across this argument or this truth that that John is trying to write of of who Jesus is.
But this account here is the only one in the gospels of this woman at the well. And Jesus is dealing with her and she goes off on a tangent and she's talking about worshiping God in the in the mountains over here and there, whatever.
And Jesus says, you don't you don't know what you worship. You really don't have a clue. The hour comes. Verse twenty three. And now is when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth.
For the father seek as such to worship him. God is a spirit. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman says to him, I know that Messiah comes or the Messiah is coming.
Who is called the Christ? When he has come, he will tell us all things. So, Jesus, if he is a religious leader only, if he's a if he's a learned man of Scripture, if he is not God, if he is not the Messiah, if he is not the Christ, he would say to her, you're right.
And we're looking for him. And and that has been the longing of the nation. And she says, when the Messiah comes, who is called the Christ, he will tell us all things. In verse twenty six, Jesus says unto her, I who speak unto you and he I am the Messiah.
This is probably one of the very few verses in Scriptures where Jesus comes right out. You know, people say, well, Jesus never really claims who he who he is. He does here. He makes it very clear that he is saying that he is God's Christ or the anointed one.
Or the Messiah. And of course, she goes wild and she goes back to tell all the people that this this man, Christ is the Messiah. He told me all things and he and he knows me inside and out. He knows what I need and come.
And they came eventually later on. And many of them believed not just because of what she had said or her testimony, although she was instrumental in bringing them, but because of what he said. And they believed upon his his truth and what he was laying out before them.
OK. Chapter five. Here's one of my favorite portions of Scripture, which again brings out this idea when Jesus claimed to that that God was his father. It wasn't just like we would say that today. When he was saying it, he was saying it in such a way that that it was coming across very clear to them that it was absolute blasphemy to the people, for the people that the Jews at that time, because of the religion that they believe in, that God was there was only one God and we were to worship him.
And here we have this Jesus of Nazareth, whose mother is Mary and father is Joseph. He is the one who is saying that God is his father. And what does that mean to them? Let's see what it says here. This is after the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda.
Jesus says to him, rise, take up your bed and walk. And he does. And then when the Jews find, you know, hear about this, of course, what do they do? They complain that Jesus did this on the Sabbath, as they usually did.
And notice what it says in verse 16. And therefore, did the Jews persecute Jesus and they sought to kill him? Now, why would they want to kill him for healing somebody? Because he had done this thing on the Sabbath.
Well, that was one reason they wanted. They want to do it for that reason. But that's not the only reason. Notice in verse 17. But Jesus answered them. My father works hitherto and I work. Therefore, the Jews in verse 18 sought the more to kill him because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father.
And what did this mean to them? Making himself equal with God. There it is. That's why they were just so adamant. That's why they were burning with this hatred for them, because for him, because Jesus was coming out and in saying that God was his father, he was saying that he was God, that he was equal with God.
And they understood it very clearly. And so they want to kill him. And we're going to see this a little bit later on. Let's go to chapter six in this chapter. You'll remember that Jesus makes his statement in verse thirty three when he's dealing with those with the religious leaders and their great pride that they have to hang on to, you know, Moses being their father and the connection that they had because, you know, God gave them manna from heaven and and Jesus begins to speak about this.
And he says, yes, God gave them bread from heaven to eat. Verse 32, Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
And he's speaking of himself, of course, because he goes on to say, for the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world. And Jesus is saying in verse thirty five under them, I am the bread of life.
He that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believes on me shall never thirst. But I say unto you, verse thirty six, that you have also seen me and believe not all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven on ten occasions in this chapter. Jesus either says he came down from heaven or he was sent by the father. You go study him and you'll see them in there. But ten times he says that I came down from heaven or the father sent me.
And in the father sent me to be the bread, not only that, I mean, they ate the bread in the wilderness and they died. It sustained them for only a short period of time. But I'm the bread of God, the bread of life that comes down from God.
And if you partake of this bread, you will have everlasting life. That's what he says. Notice in verse in verse thirty nine. He said, this is the father's will, which has sent me that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day.
He says those that the father gives me, they will be resurrected in verse 40. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone that sees the sun. There it is, the reference to the son of God, Jesus, and believes on him may have everlasting life.
And I will raise him up at the last day. One of the other things that John does in this book is not only to say that, believe upon Christ for the saving of your soul, but to assure people that those that keep on believing, those that keep on trusting, those that keep resting in Christ will one day be raised up, one day have not only eternal life, but they will have they will be resurrected and Christ will lose none of them.
Now, if you remember, this is the chapter or one place where the Roman Catholic Church comes and they go to the teachings of Jesus in verse fifty three, where he says, truly, truly, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats his flesh, verse fifty four, and drinks his blood. Notice whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood. What's the result? What are the two results there in verse fifty four? Somebody tell me the first one has what?
Everlasting life. What's the second one? Raising from the dead. What is Jesus saying? Is he saying literally eat my flesh, literally drink my blood? Of course not. He's using such a language that if you partake of him, if you if you eat of him spiritually by faith, because earlier he taught in the chapter that we read in verse forty, he says, he that believes on me.
Notice. Look back in verse forty. Now tie fifty four and forty and fifty four. You have eternal life and you'll be raised up the last day. If you eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood in verse forty at the end of the verse, you can have everlasting life.
There's the first result. And the second one, you'll be raised up in the last day. But what does he say a person must do in that verse to receive those belief synonymous belief, eating Christ's flesh and blood?
It's just partaking of him, believing upon him, receiving him. That's what that's what is being taught here. Christ is not teaching. And if he was teaching it, I was thinking of this as I was studying this out.
There's a whole a whole nother study. But what about all the other places where Jesus used this type of language? I'm curious why in the Roman Catholic Church or any other church that teaches like this.
Why don't they have up in the front maybe take like a door and a door frame and just stick the door over here up front? Because Jesus said, I am the door, right? By me, if any man enter in, he'll go in and out and be saved.
Why don't they just put a door there? And when you after you take the Eucharist, as they call it, you know, this is Christ, the body of Christ. And Jesus is the door. Well, Jesus is the door. Why don't they all walk through the door?
You see the fallacy of the teaching. Why don't they take a spotlight and put it up here? Because Jesus said he's the light and shine the light down. And after you take the Eucharist and go through the door, you can go through the light and you can see how how you can build.
You build false teaching when you twist the scripture. Jesus is not saying that to literally do these things. The whole of the emphasis of this book is, is that Jesus Christ is a wonderful savior. Jesus Christ is God who came in the flesh.
Jesus Christ is one who can be believed upon because God the Father sent him. He sent him so that we could ever have everlasting life through his name and that we could believe upon him to the saving of our souls.
Thomas, in this chapter, you remember, he wasn't at church one day and Jesus Christ came. And now I'll do that one later. How about how about at the end of this chapter? Notice this in verse. This is the this is the hard saying of Christ.
This chapter, when he's after he said this, many of the disciples wanted to leave him. And Jesus asked the question, will you go away? And Simon Peter says in verse 68, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
In verse 69, and we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the son of the living God, they declared it. And we see throughout the whole book in the notes, you'll see all of the different people that declared that Jesus is the son of God.
OK, I'm going to probably have to skip a couple of these. If you go with me to chapter eight and John chapter eight. Again, we see Jesus saying in verse twenty three to these lost leaders, he says, you are from beneath.
I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I said, therefore, unto you that you will die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am, you will die in your sins. Now, if you just for notes for later, you can look under the the key words in John on the second page.
And you will see that one of the things that Jesus used throughout this book in John Penn is Jesus used the Iams throughout the book. Go with me in the in the Greek and what and what, of course, he is saying here is that literally means the self identity and self sufficiency.
What what he is saying is, is he's referring back to Genesis chapter three in verse 14 when Moses said, he you know, if I'm going to go talk to the people, who am I going to say has sent me? And God speaks to Moses and says, you tell them that I am who I am has sent you or I am that I am has sent you.
That is the name for who? For God. And Jesus comes on the scene. And he says not only here in John, chapter eight, verse 24, but look at the end of John, chapter eight, when they start speaking about Abraham and Jesus and Jesus says unto them, verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.
Jesus is declaring here and proclaiming his eternal preexistence. He's eternally preexistent and he's the absolute. He is God who has come in. This is the name for God. And like any other, like anybody else, he's so different in that.
Unlike any human, he has never had a beginning. He always was and he always will be. He is the eternal God. And study those. I think I've listed them actually twice on the second page. All of the I am's of Christ.
I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the true vine. I'm the resurrection of the life. I am the good shepherd. And in John, chapter 14, verse six, another familiar verse, I am the way, the truth and the life.
No man comes unto the father but by me. John, chapter 10. Look with me there, please. As I said, I mean, it's just throughout this whole book. But here is one of the statements that is very, very clear again.
Will you remember the text where Jesus says about my sheep, hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 28, I give to them eternal life. Jesus saying this, I give my sheep eternal life. Verse 28, they will never perish.
No one's able to pluck them out of my hand. No one's able to pluck them out of my father's hand in verse 29. And then he makes a statement in verse 30. I and my father are one. Now, I've heard this verse explained away this way.
Jesus and God, Jesus, Jesus, the son and God, the father are in sync. They're on the same page. They're the same in spirit. They have basically we would use the term today. They have the same agenda. But that's not what Jesus was saying.
And we know it's not what Jesus was saying here because of the reaction of those who were there present and knew what he said. Notice what happens if Jesus was saying that God, the father and I are on the same page.
And I'm trying to do what God would have me to do. And I'm in sync with God. Why then, in verse 31, would the Jews take up stones to stone him? Why would they do that? Why would they want to kill him?
Well, Jesus asked them, why are you doing this? In verse 32, many good works have I showed you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me? Verse 33, the Jews answered him, saying, for a good work.
We don't we're not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy. And because that thou being a man, make us thyself God. Clear, isn't it? It is very clear that Jesus is making known that he is the very son of God.
God is his father. And by saying that I am the father of one, what he is claiming are the very prerogatives of God. That's what he's saying. And it's it's just amazing. I can't I'm looking at the clock and I see that it's ticking down.
If you remember in John, chapter 11, Jesus says, I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believes on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
And what he's saying there is, is that resurrection, the everlasting life. It comes through him and it comes through him alone. He is the one who dispenses and gives those great gifts. OK, let me see if I can find a couple of the last ones that we can look at.
John, chapter 14, I quoted the verse six already. Jesus said, you know, they wanted to know, you know, Jesus said he was going away. And how can we know the way? And is that the question is asked by Thomas.
And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes under the father, but by me. Verse seven, if you had known me, you should have known my father also. And from henceforth, you know him and have seen him.
And then Philip says this in verse eight, Lord, show us the father and it will suffice us. And also Jesus says. Jesus says unto him, I have I been so long time with you, and yet you have not known me, Philip.
He that hath seen me has seen the father. And how sayest thou then, show us the father? Is that clear or not? It's so clear that when you look upon Christ. You are that you are looking upon God. You are looking upon God who is incarnate in the flesh.
God who can be trusted, casting our souls upon him for our salvation. And he and he wonderfully does that. All right. I got to conclude. Let me find one last one. I know there's one more that I wanted to get to that would be helpful for us.
John chapter 17. We're probably not going to go there. But that is the Lord's true prayer. And if you look in there, you will see him address God, the father or holy father or righteous father. And he at the end of that chapter, that's a wonderful study.
Wonderful place to go in your devotional time is to read through that. And you will see that Jesus not only is praying for the disciples then at that time, but he prays for us also. And I've kind of put a note near the end on second page of the notes that I handed out.
But he says at the end of this book, the end of this chapter, father in verse 24, I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
And you see that he talks about this relationship that he had with the father from everlasting. You'll see that the glory that that he is to have, he wants those of us to be able to behold that and to be in union with him and be one with him forever.
And he prays for this. And of course, it's going to be accomplished because what Jesus, the son prays for, it will come to pass. OK, got to end the book. I'm just going to end it by by looking in John chapter 19.
If you remember just before as you're turning the John chapter 19, you remember when Thomas had not made it and when the Lord had appeared after he had resurrected. And Jesus said, reach your hand and your fingers into the into the wounds.
You remember Thomas's declaration of my Lord and my God. Just another place speaking to Jesus and speaking of him, my Lord and my God. But in John chapter 19, every time I read this chapter, this verse comes out to me and it doesn't.
It's not it's not one that I'm using as far as to build the argument concerning Jesus being the son of God. But it's one that blesses me because it just shows me the veracity or the truth of Scripture, how it can be believed and we can trust it when the soldier goes up to Jesus in verse 34 and pierces his side.
And out of the side comes blood and water, which means Jesus is unquestionably dead. What is John Penn in verse 35? He says, and he, this is John, that saw it bear record and his record is true. And he knoweth that he says truth that you might believe.
God, isn't it kind of it's just kind of unique to me. It's just kind of amazing to me the way that God wrote, had the scripture written that he took humans and he allowed them to pen under the moving of the Holy Spirit, the inspiration of the spirit of God, the word of God is written.
But they were still individuals, still people like you and me. And John sat down with his pen or whatever it was, his quill or whatever it was that he wrote. And God is having him write these things. But he is reflecting upon.
He didn't write his as soon early after the death of Christ that the others his was much later. But he went back to remember these things and the Holy Spirit, of course, assisting him. These things that he had heard, these things that he had seen, these things that he had witnessed.
And he wrote it so that we what might what the purpose of it, that we might believe and that believing upon Christ, we might have everlasting life and believing upon Christ and having everlasting life.
We would also be raised up at the last day. What a mercy of God to give us that, to allow us to have this truth and particularly this truth in this gospel concerning Jesus Christ being the son of God.
Question? Any question? Charlie? OK. Charlie said in his home group at his study on Friday nights. Is it first and third Friday of the month starting the book of John? So you can avail yourself to that to that study.
Great. Any anything else? Any comment or questions? Let's pray. Father, how wonderful it is again to consider the way that you've given us your word. It is it is amazing. It is a special gift from you that we have the truth from God so that we can read it.
So the Holy Spirit can teach it to us so that it can help us mold us and shape us. And here in this case, not only does it present Christ being the son of God so that we can believe upon him and we can see all that there is about his ministry and all that he did in his death, in his burial and his resurrection to take away our sins and that we can trust him.
But we can continue to trust him. We can continue to believe and we can continue to be assured and have confidence that these things were written so that we could look to Christ and completely continue on trusting him for the end of our lives, all through our lives and throughout eternity, look to him and praise him and glorify his wonderful name.
We praise you and we bless you. Please be with us as we continue this morning and help us to, as your word says, to worship in spirit and in truth for the glory of Christ. We ask it in his name. Amen.