[0:00] I'd like us to turn again to the second portion of scripture that we've read, Gospel of John and chapter 1.
[0:30] We'll read it in verse 12. Verse 11, in fact.
[0:42] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[1:03] And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
[1:20] Especially words there in verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We were just reminded in that last prayer that we are in the Easter season.
[1:36] This is Holy Week. Tomorrow is what they call Monday, Thursday. The day after that, Good Friday. And the Lord's Day, Easter Sunday, the day of the resurrection.
[1:52] The passage I read there in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17. Paul is dealing with a very similar situation that we face today. In the atheistic world.
[2:05] People who worship all gods, even an unknown god. And Paul sets about in very clear terms to describe the god they worship as unknown.
[2:20] The one who created all things. He became the creator. The one who created all mankind. Of one blood. The one who set bounds to their habitations.
[2:33] The one who sent his son into this world to be the mediator. To be the sacrifice for sin. And the one who will one day judge the world.
[2:46] And so that is our message also. To the world in which we live. The people whom we have to communicate to. And the people whom we have to convince of the truth.
[2:59] As it is in Christ Jesus. Every year the world has come to celebrate certain Christian institutions.
[3:11] And there is the Christmas institution. And there is Pancake Tuesday. And there is Easter. And Whitsunday. And all these have significant elements to the way that we worship and practice our Christianity.
[3:33] And in a day when the Christian faith is denied almost every avenue of contact with the world. And of speaking about the Lord. And his uniqueness and his deity.
[3:46] And these Christian festivals give us ample opportunity to remind the world about the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:59] Who he is. Or what he has done. And what his relationship to us is. This chapter really speaks more about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[4:15] And the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ is described most unambiguously here in this chapter.
[4:36] Especially in the verse we have just read. And the word. And the word became flesh. He didn't just take humanity. He didn't just become something else than humanity.
[4:52] He became flesh. He became man. Now in the first verse of this particular chapter. We have the description of the Lord Jesus Christ as the word.
[5:05] And the person who John speaks of here is described in the first words of the gospel of John. The Lord Jesus Christ is described by what John is saying here in these words.
[5:19] In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. All things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made.
[5:32] Now these words are an echo of what Genesis chapter 1 says. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And so we have here this.
[5:46] The Godhead. Being operative. In the creation of the world. And here we have this. The particular emphasis. Placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
[5:58] That he is the creator of all things. And the judge. Of all men. Something we must always. Remind ourselves on.
[6:09] Is that the Lord Jesus Christ. Himself. Didn't begin to exist. When he was born into the manger. There. In Bethlehem.
[6:20] We told in the beginning. Was the word. What do we mean. In the beginning. In the beginning means. Before there was any creation. Before there was any universe.
[6:32] Before. Any creatures had any being. The Lord Jesus Christ. Had a pre-existence. In the beginning. God. God and three persons.
[6:44] Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three. Equal in power. And glory. And so the Lord Jesus Christ. Didn't even begin.
[6:55] To exist. When. The universes. Were being created. He was already. In existence. Sometimes. We don't realize.
[7:05] The uniqueness. And the majesty. And the glory. Of the one. In whose. Name. We meet. And whom. We worship.
[7:18] He is. The eternal word. And so there was. Never a time. That. Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Did not.
[7:29] Exist. And so his birth. Does not mark. The beginning. Of his existence. It's what. Somebody once said. He perforated. The scene.
[7:39] Of time. And entered into. The experience. Of man. And inhabited. This world. And inhabited. Our. Humanity.
[7:51] And then. John also says. As we read. All things. Were made. By him. And without him. Not anything.
[8:02] Was made. That was made. That echoes. What it says. As I said. In Genesis. Chapter one. It was God. Who created. The heavens. And the earth. It was God. Who made. All things.
[8:14] Out of nothing. In the space. Of six days. And all very good. It was. Said of the Lord. Jesus Christ. All things. Were made.
[8:24] Through him. And without him. Was not. Anything made. That. Was made. Now what that means. For us.
[8:35] In our own day. And generation. Is this creating. Of all things. And by. The word. Of Christ's power. Is that the Lord.
[8:46] Jesus Christ. Possesses. All power. All authority. Everything. Every being.
[8:57] Every demon. Even Satan. Himself. Is subject. To him. All things. Are under his feet. And all power.
[9:09] However. Evil. However. Malicious. Or malevolent. Is under. His. Authority. He is always.
[9:20] Always. Over them. And they are subservient. To him. You remember. A song. That was penned.
[9:30] Many years ago. He has. The whole world. In his hands. He's got. Each. One of us. In his hands. Our times. Our destinies.
[9:42] Our lives. And. The way that he orders them. Each and every breath. That you and I take.
[9:53] Here on this. In this world. Every. Every heartbeat. That beats in our bodies. Is all by his own. Express. Will. And purpose. Jesus. And then.
[10:05] Again. John says. In this first verse. The word. Christ. Is God. That's the very heart.
[10:17] Of our Christian faith. We worship. And Jesus Christ. As God. Now. There are many. Isms. In the world. In which we live. Isms. We can have.
[10:30] Isms. Like. Confucianism. Or. We can have. Seventh day. Adventism. Or we. We can have. Mohamedanism. Or Hinduism.
[10:42] Or Mormonism. Or. Any of these other isms. And even today. In the world. In which we. Live. There is also. A word for. Secular. Ism. They all have. Their own.
[10:52] Idols. And their own. Beliefs. And their own. Patterns of life. And they all follow. The teaching. Of men. Hindus. Of course. Have. 300 plus gods.
[11:03] And. They don't know. Which one to follow. Or they take one. Perhaps. For each day of the year. But all the other isms. All have. In their origin. One being. One person.
[11:16] Whom. And they. Obey. And whom. They follow. Well. We have. One being. Whom we obey. And we follow. And that being.
[11:27] We follow. Is God. The Lord. Jesus Christ. We are the only. Religion. In the world. Who some say. We have the audacity. To call.
[11:37] God. Well. That's what we are. We are Christians. We are Christians. Who worship Christ. We are Christians. Who own him. As God. The God. And creator.
[11:48] Of all things. The judge. Of all men. And so. This is the very heart.
[12:00] Of our Christian faith. Without it. There would be. No Christianity. Without it. There would be. No God.
[12:11] Made flesh. And there would be no. Reason. For our meeting here. This evening. To worship. And to adore. But.
[12:25] What are we saying. When we call. The Lord. Jesus Christ. God. Or as. Thomas. Once said. My Lord. And.
[12:36] My God. Well the. Writers. Of the Old Testament. In Greek. Made that. Very. Clear to us.
[12:46] I'm sure. Many of you. Have heard. Something called. The Septuagint. What that is. Is 70. Hebrew scholars. Going away.
[12:57] And taking. The Hebrew Bible. And translating. That Hebrew Bible. Into Greek. Which was. The lingua franca. The common language. Of the people. Around the New Testament.
[13:09] Age. And so. In translating. The. The Hebrew Bible. Into Greek. They translated. The word. Elohim. Or Jehovah. Into Lord.
[13:20] In the Old Testament. You get. Very often. See. The word. Lord. In capital letters. That's a. An abbreviation. Of the word. Jehovah. Or Yahweh. In the New Testament.
[13:31] We simply have Lord. What I'm trying to say. There. Is that. When Paul. As he wrote. Most. Of his letters. And even. The Apostles. See. When.
[13:41] When they translated. Lord. Lord. Or Jehovah. They simply said. Lord. And this is what we are saying. He is. The Lord. He is.
[13:52] The one. Who has a name. Above every name. Which at the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow. And every tongue should confess. As Paul says there. In Philippians.
[14:03] And so. We. We have this. Correlation. Between the terms. Of the old. And the New Testament. Jesus. Is Jehovah. And the fact.
[14:14] That. We have this. Connection. Between. The. Writers. Of the old. Testament. In Hebrew. The translators. Of the old. Testament. Into Greek. And our usage.
[14:25] Today. It all begins. To make sense. Jehovah. Is Jesus. Elohim. Is Jesus. The Lord. Jesus Christ.
[14:36] Is God. And that. Is. Our reason. For living. Our reason. For worship. Our reason. Even. For gathering. Here. Today.
[14:48] Now. We ascribe. To this Jesus. All power. And all authority. And again. The name. That is above. Every name. He is.
[15:01] The only. God. There is. And as such. He makes. All other gods. Impossible. He is. He is the only one. And so.
[15:14] Every tongue. Must. Confess him. Every knee. Must bow. Now. Whether it's done. During. This lifetime. Or the next.
[15:25] Is immaterial. Because. Every knee. Will bow. Every tongue. Will confess. That Jesus. Is God. To the glory. Of God.
[15:36] The father. Because. He is. Of the same. Substance. With the father. Full of grace. Full of truth.
[15:49] The theologians. Had a. A very good way. Of. Of. Explaining this. To us. And. All we are saying today. Is. Is we're looking at.
[15:59] Their writings. And their teachings. And leaning. On their understanding. See the. Christ.
[16:11] Is not. Different. From God. He. Is not. Even. Like God. But. As God is.
[16:23] So. He is. As. Jesus suffered. So. God. Suffered. As.
[16:35] Jesus. Built. His church. So. He built. God's church. And so. We have. Again. This. Equality. Between. Who Jesus is.
[16:46] And. And who God is. There is no other God. But. Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean. That Jesus Christ. Is the totality.
[16:56] Of the Godhead. God. Because. As we read here. In. The beginning. Of this chapter. There is God. With God. Also. In the New Testament.
[17:07] We. Wouldn't be able to say. That. God was forsaken. By God. So. We know. At least. There are two persons. Of the Godhead. Father and son. And we also know. That the spirit proceeds.
[17:19] From the father. And the son. And so. We have these. Three persons. Of the Godhead. All involved. In the salvation. Of mankind. All involved. In bringing us. To salvation.
[17:30] The father. Makes the great. In the economy. Of salvation. In the understanding. Of salvation. God. The father. Is the one. Who plans.
[17:40] The salvation. God. The son. Is the one. Who fulfills. That plan. And carries it out. For our benefit. And it's the holy spirit. Who indwells us. And enables us.
[17:51] To understand. And to walk. In the way. That Christ. Would have us walk. And so. We have. This. Saying. Or this belief.
[18:02] For us. That God is. Or Jesus Christ. Is the only God. There is. And as God. In the trinity. Of his being. Is so. Jesus Christ is.
[18:15] He is. The only. God. There is. Christ himself. Says. Of himself. I. And the father.
[18:26] One. And in so saying. He is claiming. To be God. In his own right. Now the scribes. And Pharisees. Knew exactly. What he was saying. They didn't crucify.
[18:37] And put him to death. For any other reason. Than for claiming. That he was God. At the time of. Their convicting him. Of blasphemy. Do you claim. To be the son of God.
[18:48] And. And. In the formula. That's used. In the scripture. That's what he's saying. Yes. I'm exactly. What you say I am. And they say. Well that's blasphemy. Let's crucify him. Instead of worshipping.
[19:00] And adoring. And bowing. They crucify him. But that doesn't make. What he says. Any less true. And so we have.
[19:12] The word. That is spoken there. In the beginning. Of that first verse. But we're also told. The word. Became. Flesh. He became.
[19:25] The incarnate. What he came. The living word. Not just. The spoken word. Of God. Not just. The logic. The logic. Of God.
[19:36] But also. The living word. He lived here. With us. In a human frame. A human body. The same.
[19:46] The same. As we are doing. Knowing all. The frailties. All the weaknesses. Knowing pain. Thirst. Fatigue. Being born. Of a woman. Being an infant.
[19:59] Being raised. By a mother. And. Being instructed. And schooled. By a. In the scriptures. Now again.
[20:11] The theologians. Tell us. That. When Christ. Became man. He didn't cease. To be. What he was. But he became. What he.
[20:22] Was not. What that means. Is that. In heaven. There is. The. The triune God. If we say. That one person.
[20:33] Of that trinity. Leaves. The throne. Of heaven. And comes. To God. And he ceases. To be. What he was. Then. The triuneness.
[20:45] Of the Godhead. Suddenly becomes. A biuneness. There's only two of them. And that's an impossibility. There's always. The triune God. But into the second.
[20:55] Person of the trinity. He takes. To himself. A true body. And a reasonable soul. And so. Becomes God. And man.
[21:06] In two distinct natures. And one. Person. Forever. And he continues. To be that. Throughout. The endless ages. Of glory.
[21:17] In. Even in his glorification. Even after. His resurrection. At ascension. He continues. To be. God and man. In two distinct natures. And one. Person.
[21:27] Forever. The one. Who sits. On the throne of judgment. In revelation. Is that same. God man. Sitting there. To judge. The quick and the dead. That he might receive.
[21:39] The deeds in the body. Whether they be good. Or evil. See Paul. Reminds us. That in taking to himself. A true body. And a reasonable soul.
[21:51] He took on him. Not. The nature. Of angels. But. The seed. Of Abraham. And so. In order.
[22:01] To be made. Like. Unto his brethren. That's you and I. He had to take on. The seed. Of Abraham. He had to be born. As a man.
[22:12] Into this world. Not only is he born. As a man. But he's born. As a man. In a low condition. He takes on him. The form of a servant. When the Lord.
[22:25] Came. To this earth. He didn't appear. As a vision. Or. Or again. As a theologians. Call a theophany. Theophany. Which is a vision. Which appears. For a short time.
[22:36] And then. Disappears. If you remember. The experience. Of Abraham. On the plains. Of Mamre. There. Three men. Were walking. Towards his tent. And there were.
[22:48] Three. People there. Who appeared. To him. One of them. Was the angel. Of the Lord.
[22:59] The Malachiawe. Who was the Lord. Jesus Christ himself. Now what the. Commentators. And some of the older. Theologians. Used to say.
[23:09] Was this. Was the Lord. Jesus Christ. Trying on his manhood. On many occasions. In the Old Testament. Where he appears. As a theophany. For a short time. And then. That body.
[23:19] Is no longer used. And passes away. But. When he came to this earth. It was not. As a theophany. It was a permanent. Condescension. Of the Lord.
[23:30] Jesus Christ. To take upon himself. The form of a servant. He became man. He became man. And was now.
[23:42] Exposed. To all. The emotions. All the affections. All the experiences. All the experiences. That we have. He experiences.
[23:53] As I said. Hunger. And pain. He experienced. Loneliness. He experienced. Shame. And flogging. And crucifixion. And death. And by becoming man.
[24:05] He also subjected himself. To the needs. Of. Human affections. Do you remember. Do you remember. How it says. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he chose. His. Disciples.
[24:16] He chose. Twelve. To be with him. Out of the many. Thousands. Who followed him. And came to him. See the miracles. And to be fed. By the miracles.
[24:27] That he did. Even the feeding. The five thousand. And the four thousand. He chose. Twelve. Out of those. Simply. To be with him. To be his friends. Not in the first instance.
[24:39] To set up. A college of men. Who would learn from him. And distribute the scriptures. He wanted. Or the teaching. He wanted. But simply. To be with him. It was a human need.
[24:50] That he had. And out of those twelve. He took. Three particularly. Peter. And James. And John. And out of those three.
[25:01] He chose one. And the beloved disciple. Of whom it said. At the. Lord's Supper. That. He lent. On the beloved disciples. Breast.
[25:14] And so. We have this. Need of. Companionship. Of affection. And even. In his.
[25:25] Temptation. In the garden. Of Gethsemane. He says. Come. Watch. And pray. With me. He wants them. Not to sleep.
[25:36] As they did do. But he wants them. To pray with him. To strengthen him. And. To be with him. In his time of need. And his time of. Of desperation. So we have this.
[25:46] Aspect of. This. Need. Of companionship. And affection. Towards himself. He also had affection. For others. He had affection. For the world.
[25:57] In which he lived. For those who were. Who were. Surrounded by sin. For those who. Who were. Ostracized. By. Because of.
[26:07] Their station. In society. Because of. The tax collectors. And. The harlots. And the prostitutes. And those who were. Outcasts from society. Those are the ones. He went to. Remember how the Lord.
[26:19] Or the. The scribes and Pharisees. Said. They said. One of the. The derogatory comments. They thought they were making. About him was. He eats. With. Publicans. And sinners.
[26:29] These are his friends. You don't see us. Doing that. But that's. What the Lord did. And that's the example. He wants us to remember. And to imitate.
[26:40] And to go out. And to be with those. Who are the outcasts. Those who are. The underprivileged. Those who are. The. The ones at the bottom. Of the pile. Of the world. In which we live.
[26:52] He also had a. A great love. For Jerusalem. Remember on his. His last journey. Into Jerusalem. During this. This holy week. He's riding.
[27:02] Into Jerusalem. On. A coat. The fall of an ass. And as he comes down. There's a place. In Jerusalem. Which is called. Dominus Flevit. Where it said. Jesus wept.
[27:13] That's a. A place. A speculation. But. He did actually. Weep. He comes into. Jerusalem. And. He sees it. Laid out before him. As you do.
[27:24] Coming down. The Mount of Olives. And he says. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. How often. Would I have gathered you. As a hen. Would gather a chickens. But you would not.
[27:34] You willed. Not. To be gathered by me. I came to my own. And my own. Received me not. And so. There are all.
[27:45] These aspects. Of. The humanity. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. His need. For others. His love. For others. Even his love. For.
[27:55] And Jerusalem. But. In becoming man. He demonstrated. His willingness. To do his father's will.
[28:08] And having become man. His life. Is now. Filled. With choices. And decisions. Just like. You and I. Have to make. Every day. Of the week.
[28:20] He chooses. After the temptation. In the wilderness. Not. To turn the stones. Into bread. He's desperately hungry. He's been in the wilderness.
[28:30] Forty days. And forty nights. Without food. And he's. He needs. Sustenance. And the devil. Comes to the temptation. You can do it. Why don't you do it? And he says.
[28:42] Man shall not live. By bread alone. And the devil. Takes him up. Into. The. Pinnacle of the temple. And says. Throw yourself. Down off here.
[28:52] The scriptures tell us. One of the psalms. Tell us. The angels. Will. Be given charge. Over you. And lift you up. In case you dash your feet. Against a stone. And the Lord says.
[29:04] You shall not tempt. The Lord your God. And all these. As well as. Rebuffs. Rebuttals. To Satan. Are also instructions.
[29:15] To us. As to where. Our lives. Should be focused. How we live our lives. And. Who we should depend upon. Not upon. Any of the courses.
[29:27] Of actions. Which make our life. Easier to live. But. How we should live. In accordance. With God's will. And through his power. And through his support.
[29:38] At the throne of grace. And so. All the decisions. That. The Lord had to make. Work. Whether it was. During his lifetime. Or even. At the time.
[29:49] Of the crucifixion. The choices. He had to make. Remember. What they said to him. Come down off the cross. Sure. Sure. The son of God. And we worship you. That he had the power. To do it.
[30:01] But he also knows. If he comes down. Salvation. For men and women. Is impossible. And so. Self-denying. Full of love. For you. And for me.
[30:11] He doesn't come down. The thought. Has been placed there. The ability. Is there. The opportunity. Is there. But he doesn't do it. Because he loves you.
[30:23] And he loves me. And he wanted. To fulfill the work. That his Godfather. Had given him to do. For the salvation. Of men. And women.
[30:35] And that's the last thing. I want to look at. Briefly here tonight. Is by becoming. Man. The Lord also. Limited himself. To the amount.
[30:47] Of knowledge. That was available. To him. In his divine nature. He's. Omniscient. He's. All powerful.
[30:58] He has. All knowledge. So he is. Omniscient. But as he becomes man. There are limitations. Placed. On him. And his understanding. Everything. That he came to know.
[31:09] In this world. Was either through the instruction. Of his mother. When he was taught. At her knee. Or by. The agency. Of the Holy Spirit.
[31:21] Or. By. The. Will of the father. Wanting to reveal things to him. But some things.
[31:33] He did not know. We have to say. First of all. He had. A perfect mind. That means. When he was told. Something. He never forgot. When.
[31:44] He was told. Something. He was. He was able to. To go beyond. What he was told. And. And to. Come to the right. Conclusion. At the higher level. Than. Than what he was told. So he had. A perfect mind.
[31:55] You see an example. Of that. When he was in. The temple. With the. With the lawyer. Sitting in the midst of them. As a 12 year old. And he's answering. And questioning them. And they're amazed. At his ability.
[32:07] So he's got a perfect mind. But it's not all knowing. You see that. Obviously. In the statement. When he says. When he's asked.
[32:17] When the end of the world will be. And he says to his disciples. That's not. In my power. That's not. In your power. That's only. In. The father's. Knowledge. And so.
[32:29] His intellect. His. Affections. His willingness. His submission. To all that.
[32:40] He was asked to do. As a savior. He does it. He does it. Out of love. He does it. Out of desire. That you and I. Will be with him.
[32:51] And he does it. In the prospect. That one day. He's going to present you. And be. Faultless. Before his own glory. With. Exceeding joy. And so.
[33:05] These. Are the. Effects. Of our Lord. Being. Made. Flesh. And the promise. Held out to us.
[33:16] Is that. The Lord Jesus Christ. Is the firstborn. Among. Many brethren. As. He is now. Being glorified.
[33:29] More and more. It's an amazing thing. To think. That the humanity. Of Christ. Is being glorified. Even as he is. In the father's presence. But as he is being.
[33:41] Glorified. More and more. So that is the prospect. For us. To leave. This world. At death. To enter. Into his presence. To be.
[33:53] In his glory. And to know. More and more. Of the glory. That he now knows. And to understand. More. Of the glory. That he now has. And so on.
[34:05] To grow. In the grace. And in the knowledge. And in the glory. Of our Lord. Jesus Christ. Christ. We don't know.
[34:15] What we shall be. John tells us. In his epistle. But we know. That when. He appears. We shall be like him. For we shall see him. As he is.
[34:27] The last thing. John says here is. We beheld. His glory. The glory. Of the only begotten. Of the father. Full of grace. And truth.
[34:37] What they saw there. On the Mount of Transfiguration. Was for a short time. The glory. That Jesus Christ. Really has. It's not just.
[34:49] For the disciples. It's also. For himself. On his way. To the cross. To remind him. As he. As he speaks. To Moses and Elijah.
[35:00] That. The terminus. Of his journey. Here on earth. Is fast approaching. But the glory. Of that ending. Is something. That he has. A foretaste of there. On the Mount of Transfiguration.
[35:12] And he is strengthened. By it. And so. It goes on. In the strength of that. To the end. Of his days. So that he can say. At the end. It is finished. And into your hands.
[35:24] I commit. My spirit. And may the Lord. Bless. These thoughts. To us. Let us. Unconclude our worship. Sing. Into God's praise.
[35:36] In Psalm 116. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 116. At verse. 395. I love the Lord.
[35:47] Because my voice. And prayers. He did hear. I while I live. Will call on him. Who bowed. To me. His ear. We'll sing down. To the end of the verse. Marked. Seven.
[35:58] That's. Five stanzas. To God's praise. I love the Lord.
[36:10] Because my voice. And prayer. To hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. I while I live.
[36:24] Hear. Hear. Hear. All. In the 귀여ookieches. To me is here.
[36:36] O death, the courts and sorrows dead About me compass round.
[36:49] The pains of hell to cold on me I grief and trouble found.
[37:06] Upon the name of God the Lord Then did I call and say Delivered of my soul O God, I do Thee humbly pray God merciful and righteous is Yea, gracious is the Lord God saves the meek I was brought low He did me help afford O thou my soul
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