Good morning everyone from Hawaii to all points of our planet. It is amazing of our technology today, how we can reach people all over the planet with the love of God. It is just remarkable how we can get the Word out to all points of the globe with the love and faith of the gospel. I praise God for being able to follow the great commission “go ye in to all the world”. Well when I first came to Hawaii the plan was to build a church/mission and so many things happened in the process, my main concern was to help people face to face, giving out food and caring for the poor and the needy. I have much experience with the mission life, and I have cooked for quite a long time for the poor and homeless and I have that considerable compassion to help, and to make a smile on people’s faces when you fill up their bellies. The learning experience alone was an education, to meet that many different people with all their different stories, and there different lifestyles, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and denominations. I felt sorry for the parents that had to bring their whole families in, you could feel they were going through a hard time some were living in campsites, old buildings, or even living in their car or truck, those were the ones that needed the most help. There were many weary travelers, and the general local population that were down on their luck or just having a hard time so to speak. No one knows what it is like until you have been there, or have walked in their shoes, or walked a mile in their moccasins. There is a lot I could express about much of my life experiences and the continuous contact I had with the Lord, but I am here to preach Jesus Christ and the Love of God not talk about myself, a lot of the congregation is interested in my health and I used to give a medical summery but I stopped doing it , I felt it just wasn’t right it wasn’t really edifying, no one said anything I just felt I could just concentrate more on the bread of life, but sometimes I just flow with the Spirit and just let Him guide me. I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen so much go on for one year and how my whole body has changed, I lost 25 -30 pounds and I still have not been diagnosed yet, and I know I have a hernia from probably picking up a bag of groceries, and most likely Trigeminal Neuralgia, so I am facing two surgeries. I was very active and strong and I was one of those people who were into the complete health, I always was, I worked out for about 23 years almost everyday, I was not big muscle man, I was in shape and built something like Rocky, I had that definite mystique about me, I could fit in anywhere and be excepted, and I was defiantly strong so if I had to pull a child out of a crack house I could, that was my aim as a preacher, I was made for the streets, and I knew them well. That was the purpose of coming to this different land; I have lived almost everywhere else in this country, and I new the ropes and the differences between what were right and wrong. When you live it you tend to know it. Now it is a shame for what I am now, I am pretty broken up, and I am not the outgoing man that I used to be. I felt for a while that God wanted me to become less then I am, which might still be the meaning of our relationship so I would lean more upon Him, and become closer to Him in the process, I was always a man of humility before, and all my main concern was to help, heal, and love people. I love the Lord, for making me what I am. The joy I had giving out food for a church latter in life was still as rewarding as it was 25-30 years ago. I used to pickup food every week with my truck, loaded it up, return back to the church and stock everything away, then another truck would come and drop off the canned food and we would stock all that away. Ken who was about 85 was my best friend and fellow church worker, we both had incredible joy in doing what we were doing, we shared a lot for about 2 years, and to tell you the truth we were both struggling ourselves, and we both did it on a volunteer basis. The day we handed out the food was even better, I was always strong enough to carry many pounds of food out to people’s cars, bicycles or wheelchairs, this was also the time I could minister to them all, and if they needed a shoulder to cry on, I was there. As you would get to know everyone and help them, there was nothing but joy involved. That is what made the pick-up day so ideal you got to go to this large facility and pick up all the perishable foods and everyone knew us there at that food bank, and we always got the great options on all different foods, and with my knowledge of nutrition and how to survive on the streets and how to cook things over a fire or a stove we would know what to gather and to load and to hand out for different combinations of a complete meal that was nutritious and filling. Our church had one of the best boxes of food in the city. At times when I was just driving to pick up the food the Holy Spirit would come upon me, and the tears would come down my face and the warmth would come about, and the incredible joy would set in, just on our way to pick up the food. It was an experience and a blessing I will never forget. I received the same feeling many years ago when you would see a long line of hungry people and you know how much you cooked and everyday the last person would come up to the kitchen and we always had just enough and that was a true gift from the Lord, I knew He was watching and helping me with everything I did. If I needed to go to the farms in the area, and ask for the bruised, brown, or under or over ripe produce, I could always get enough for the day to make a complete a meal, plus the Lord always supplied me with something to work with. When you are feeding that many people you learn to improvise and create.
Some people give you a strange look at an internet church; they don’t think it is anything like having a building. The church is not a building, the church is a group of believers called out to worship and touch the living God, and learn His statues. The church is an organism not an organization. Our audience is the world, not just a group of people in one particular town or city. I thank God for the ability to reach the amount of people and the range of the area. We never do know how large our audience is from week to week, what we do know is all these sermons are spread all over the world on all different search engines, and they stay listed for anyone to read at anytime, praise the Lord! The point of the matter is if we can change the lives of just a few and plant the seed of Jesus Christ in their hearts, it is all worth it.
Dear Loving Father, who loves all of us the young the poor and the old and all who are in between. We thank you for all of your love and mercies which come to us day by day. Help us to perform your work with spiritual understanding, please help us to prepare and deliver this sermon we have to give with the thought of serving you and leading souls closer to their Savior. Please bring this congregation to the element of truth and in spirit.
Use us Father for the building of Your Kingdom on earth. May we all have every opportunity to worship You in joy, spirit, and truth within this church, please find us all eager to hear Your word and to give You praise, while we lift our hearts to You through prayer. We ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon this group, and give us the anointing we all need, to bring us to an enlightenment of truth and joy. Please cast away all of our sins in this past week, and make us whole. We need you Father, In Jesus Name, Amen
Before we go into the book of John the fourth Gospel, and turn to chapter 1 it will be necessary to consider John’s Gospel as a whole, with the attempt of discovering its scope, its central theme, and its relation to the other three Gospels. We shall not waste anyone’s time by entering into a conversation as to who wrote the book of John, as to where John was when he wrote it, nor as to the probable date when it was written. These may be points of interest, but they provide no food for the soul, nor do they give any help to an understanding of this section of the Bible, and these are the two major things we desire to accomplish. Our aim is to open up the Scriptures in such a way that the reader will be able to enter into the meaning of what God has recorded for our learning in this part of His Holy Word, and to edify those who are members of the Household of Faith.
The four Gospels deal with the earthly life of the Savior, but each one presents Him in an entirely different character. Matthew portrays the Lord Jesus as the Son of David, the Heir of Israel’s throne, the King of the Jews; and everything in his Gospel contributes to this central theme. In Mark, Christ is seen as the Servant of Jehovah, the perfect Workman of God; and everything in this second Gospel brings out the characteristics of His service and the manner in which He served. Luke cares for the humanity of the Savior, and presents Him as the perfect Man, contrasting Him from the sinful sons of men. The fourth Gospel views Him as the Heavenly One come down to earth, the eternal Son of the Father made flesh and dwelling among men, and from start to finish this is the one dominant truth which is steadily held in view.
The viewpoint of this fourth Gospel is more elevated than that of the others; its contents bring into view spiritual relationships rather than human ties; and, higher glories are revealed as touching the unequaled Person of the Savior. In each of the first three Gospels, Christ is viewed in human relationships, but not so in John. The purpose of this fourth Gospel is to show that the One who was born in a manger and afterward died on the Cross had higher glories than those of King, that He who humbled Himself to take the Servant place was, previously, "equal with God," that the One who became the Son of Man was none other than, and ever remains, the Only Begotten of the Father.
Each book of the Bible has a prominent and dominant theme which is peculiar to itself. Just as each member in the human body has its own particular function, so, every book in the Bible has its own special purpose and mission. The theme of John’s Gospel is the Deity of the Savior. Here, as nowhere else in Scripture so fully, the Godhood of Christ is presented to our view. That which is outstanding in this fourth Gospel is the Divine Sonship of the Lord Jesus. In this book we are shown that the One who was heralded by the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds, who walked this earth for thirty-three years, who was crucified at Calvary, who rose in triumph from the grave, and who forty days later departed from these scenes, was none other than the Lord of glory. The evidence for this is overwhelming, the proofs almost without number, and the effect of contemplating them must be to bow our hearts in worship before ‘the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13).
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:13 KJV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
How entirely different is this from the opening verses of the other Gospels! John opens by immediately presenting Christ not as the Son of David, nor as the Son of man, but as the Son of God. John takes us back to the beginning, and shows that the Lord Jesus had no beginning. John goes behind creation and shows that the Savior was Himself the Creator. Every clause in these verses calls for our most careful and prayerful attention.
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." Here we enter a realm which goes beyond the limited mind, and where theory is beyond logic. "In the beginning" is something we are unable to comprehend: it is one of those matchless sweeps of inspiration which rises above the level of human thought. "In the beginning was the word" and we are equally unable to grasp the final meaning of this. A "word" is an expression: by words we clear our speech. The Word of God, then, is Deity expressing itself in understandable terms. And yet, when we have said this, how much there is that we leave unsaid! "And the word was with God," and this intimates His separate personality, and shows His relation to the other Persons of the blessed Trinity. But how sadly out of action are we for meditating upon the relations which exist between the different Persons of the Godhead. "And God was the Word." Not only was Christ the Revealer of God, but He always was, and ever remains, none other than God Himself. Not only was our Savior the One through whom, and by whom, the Deity expressed itself in clear terms, but He was Himself co-equal with the Father and the Spirit.
The beginning mentioned in John 1:1 clearly anticipates all these beginnings. The beginning of John 1:1 precedes the making of the all things of John 1:3. It is the beginning of creation and the beginning of time. This earth of ours is old, how old we do not know, possibly millions of years. But "the word" was before all things. He was not only from the beginning, but He was in the beginning.
In beginning: the absence of the definite piece of writing is designed to carry us back to the most remote point that can be imagined. If then, He was before all creation, and He was, for all things were made by Him; if He was in the beginning, then He was Himself was without beginning, which is only the logical way of saying He was eternal. In perfect accord with this we find, that in His prayer recorded in John 17, He said, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." As, then, the Word was "in the beginning," and if in the beginning, eternal, and as none but God Himself is eternal, the absolute Deity of the Lord Jesus is finally established.
Was the Word, there are two separate words in the Greek which, in this passage, are both rendered "was": the one means to exist, the other to come into being. The latter word (egeneto) is used in John 1:3 which, literally rendered, reads, "all things through him came into being, and without him came into being not even one (thing) which has come into being" and again we have this word (egeneto) in John 1:6 where we read, "there was (became to be) a man sent from God, whose name was John;" and again in John 1:14, "And the word was made (became) flesh." But here in John 1:1 and John 1:2 it is "the word (ito) with God." As the Word, He did not come into being, or begin to be, but He was with God from all eternity. It is noteworthy that the Holy Spirit uses this word (ito), which signifies that the Son personally survived no less than four times in the first two verses of John 1. Unlike John the Baptist who became (egeneto) a man, the word was (ito) that is existed with God before time began.
“Was the Word,” the reference here is to the Second Person in the Holy Trinity, the Son of God. But why the Lord Jesus Christ is designated "the word?" What is the exact force and significance of this title? The first passage which occurs to our minds as throwing light on this question is the opening statement in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." Here we learn that Christ is the final spokesman of God. Closely connected with this is the Savior’s title found in Revelation 1:8—"I am Alpha and Omega," which intimates that He is God’s alphabet, the One who spells out Deity, the One who utters all God has to say. Even clearer, perhaps, is the testimony of John 1:18: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him.
The Deity of Jesus Christ
Christ, then, is the One who has made the beyond your understanding God understandable. The strength of this title of His is found in John 1:1 may be discovered by comparing it with that name which is given to the Holy Scriptures "the Word of God." What are the Scriptures? They are the Word of God. And what does that mean? That the Scriptures reveal God’s mind, express His will, make known His perfections, and uncover His heart. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done for the Father.
"And the word was WITH GOD." This preposition "with" seems to suggest two thoughts. First, the Word was in the presence of God. As we read, "Enoch walked with God," that is, he lived in fellowship with God. There is a beautiful verse in Proverbs 8 which throws its light on the meaning of "with" in John 1:1, and reveals the blessed relation which obtained from all eternity between the Word and God. The passage begins at Proverbs 8:22- 8:30 where "wisdom" is personified. It tells us of the happy fellowship which existed between the Word and God before ever the world was.
22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains aboundingwithwater.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust oftheworld.
27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of thedepth:
28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Proverbs 8:22-30 KJV
That it is here said the word was with God tells of His separate personality: He was not in God, but with God. Now, mark here the marvelous accuracy of Scripture. It is not said, the word was with the Father as we might have expected, but the word was with God. The name "God" is common to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, whereas the Father is the special title of the first Person only. Had it said the word was with the Father, the Holy Spirit had been excluded; but with God takes in the Word dwelling in eternal fellowship with both the Father and the Spirit. Observe, too, it does not say, And God was with God, for while there is plurality of Persons in the Godhead, there is but one God, therefore the minute accuracy of the WORD was with God.
The same was in the beginning with God. The same, that is, the Word; was, that is, managing to survive, not began to be; in the beginning, that is, before time began with God, that is, as a distinct Personality. That it is here repeated Christ was with God, seems to be intended as a denial of the early Gnostic heresy that Christ was only an idea or an ideal in the mind of God from eternity, duly made manifest in time a horrible heresy which is being reproduced in our own day. It is not said that the Word was in God, He was, eternally, with God.
"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). How this brings out, again, the absolute deity of Christ! Here creation is attributed to Him, and none but God can create. Man, with all his boasting, is unable to bring into existence a single blade of grass. Observe that the whole of creation is here accredited to the Word all things were made by him. This would not be true if He were Himself a creature, even though the first and the highest creature. But nothing is accepted all things were made by him. Just as He was before all things, and therefore, eternal; so was He the Originator of all things, and therefore, omnipotent.
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). This follows logically from what has been said in the previous verse. If Christ created all things He must be the Fountain of life. He is the Life-Giver. We understand "life" to be used here in its widest sense. Creature life is found in God, for in him we live and move and have our being; spiritual life or eternal life, and resurrection life, are also found in Him.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5 KJV
"And the life was the light of men." What are we to understand by this? Notice two things: this statement in verse 4 follows immediately after the declaration that all things were made by Christ, so that it is creatures, as such, which are here in view; second, it is men, as men, not only believers, which are here referred to. The life here is one of the Divine titles of the Lord Jesus, hence, it is equivalent to saying, God was the light of men. It speaks of the relation whom Christ sustains to men, all men He is their light. This is confirmed by what we read in verse 9, "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. In what sense, then, is Christ as the life the light of men? We answer, in that which renders men accountable creatures. Every rational man is morally enlightened. All rational men show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness (Rom. 2:15). It is this light, which lightens every man that cometh into the world that constitutes them responsible human beings.
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) Rom. 2:15 KJV
Let no one suppose from what has been said that we are among the number who believe the unscriptural theory that there is in every man a spark of Divine life, which needs only to be fanned, to become a flame. No, we expressly reject any such satanic lie. By nature, spiritually, he is dead in trespasses and sins. Yet, notwithstanding, the natural man is a responsible being before God, to Whom he shall give an account of himself; responsible, because the work of God’s law is written in his heart, his conscience also bearing witness, and this, we take it, is the light which is referred to in John 1:4, and the "lighteth" in John 1:9.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9 KJV
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:5). This gives us still another of the Divine titles of Christ. In verse 1 He is spoken of as the word, in verse 3, as the Maker of all things, in verse 4, as the life, now, in verse 5 as the light. With this should be compared (1 John 1:5) where we read "God is light." The conclusion, then, is irresistible, the proof complete and final, that the Lord Jesus is none other than God, the second Person in the Holy Trinity.
The Englishman’s Greek New Testament renders the last clause of John 1:5 as follows "and the light in the darkness appears, and the darkness it apprehended not." This tells us of the effects of the Fall. Every man that comes into this world is lightened by his Creator, but the natural man disregards this light, he repels it, and in consequence, is plunged into darkness. Instead of the natural man living up to the light he has (which none ever did) he "loves darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). The unregenerate man, then, is like one that is blind—he is in the dark. Proof of this appears in the fact that "the Light in the darkness appears, and the darkness apprehended it not." All other darkness yields to and fades away before light, but here "the darkness" is so impenetrable and hopeless, it neither apprehends nor comprehends. What a fearful and solemn outcome of fallen human nature! And how evident it is that nothing short of a miracle of saving grace can ever bring one out of darkness into God’s marvelous light.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19 KJV
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1John 1:5 KJV
Dear Heavenly Father, as we come to a close of another week. Please Lord guard our church against indifference and false teachings, and the fiery darts of the evil one. Please Father, formulate our teachings and Word useful for others this upcoming week. Please comfort the sorrowful, provide for the poor, and use us all this week for Your magnificence and Your children, and to continue to follow Your paths, Your desires, and Your work here on earth. Please continue to point us all in Your proper directions with sincerity to help and pray for others, and take us through the right passageways and down the narrow paths of light for Your Glory and the needs of others. In Jesus Name, Amen and Amen
The Church Ministries wishes to thank Providence Baptist Ministries (PBM) for the care, direction and permission and notes of A.W. Pink in conjunction with the public domain Christian Classics Ethereal Library. www.pbministries.org/PBMDTP/desktop_publishing_main.htm
