Not too awfully long ago, a friend that we had been praying about for quite some time was saved. He professed salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the course of later conversations, he spoke to me about what he should read in the Bible because he found the Bible to be a rather difficult book because he had never actually studied it in his youth. He didn't attend church and didn't know much about it. I had a few helpful suggestions, I hope. I told him, don't begin reading the Bible in the book of Genesis and the Old Testament and going through. But rather, make the Gospel of John your very first book that you'll read. And then take your time. Try to analyze and understand what you see there. And maybe read it two or three times before you actually embark on reading another book. And I said also that some of the other Gospels would be good to read after that, but also very important on the list, maybe even after the Gospel of John, would be the Epistle to the Romans. Because the Epistle to the Romans has so much truth in it, doctrinally, to set a man straight on his feet once he has received Christ. Then I gave him a couple of what I felt were helpful books just to guide him in studying the Word of God. Nothing really heavy, but just something to encourage him to study the Bible. A Bible handbook and what the Bible is all about by Henrietta C. Mears. We'd call it kind of a simple book, but it gives a survey of the Bible. It gives a person an opportunity to know how the Bible is laid out. I hope it's helped him. I haven't had a chance to talk to him totally about it. That's one thing I recommended, and then also I recommended and got him a copy of Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, which is cross-references all through the Bible, many more than you'll find in the standard Bible. And it would give you, and it worked really with any translation as well, give you opportunity to cross-reference scripture when you're studying it. Those kind of things are simple, but yet they're very elementary and needed when you first embark on the Christian life. Today I also want to talk about this a little. The simplicity of the Gospel of John is also profound, if that makes any sense. The Gospel of John tells us much about Jesus Christ. It tells us much about why he came into this world and it gives us a clear understanding in many places of how he saves a sinner. So I think it's a very good book to begin with. And for the next few messages, I would like to deal with some scriptures that have been very meaningful to me in my life. Ones that I've studied a number of times and preached on a number of times, maybe taught in Sunday school. Just somewhat simple messages, but nonetheless, messages that have a profundity to them as well. We're going to begin today with the Gospel according to John chapter 1. The Gospel of John chapter 1. I don't know how far we'll get but we'll begin there and just see where we get. I'd like to read the first 14 verses and probably won't be able to comment on all of them today but perhaps we'll take it up again after this time. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light. that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. which were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. 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." Our Father, we ask that you bless this study today. Help us that whoever hears this would have understanding and wisdom from the Word of God that it might be a help to each of us as we look at this together. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Strikingly, this chapter, first chapter of John, begins much the same way as the first chapter of the Bible. It begins like Genesis, where it says, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This English word, Word, capital W-O-R-D, what it means, what it is in the Greek, is the word Logos. That word, Logos, means not written word, but the incarnate word of God. It means Christ, who later tells us in verse 14, became flesh and dwelt among us. John Calvin translates this word, Logos, as speech. In the beginning was the speech and the speech was with God and the speech was God. What he's saying is that Christ is the very essence of God. He's the very speech of God. He is the communication of God to man. And so it says he was there in the beginning. How far back is that? I mean, you're going back a long way when you talk about the beginning. You're talking about endless eons of time as far as our human imagination is concerned. But it's only a split second as far as God's concerned. But it says the Word was there in the beginning with God and the Word was God. So, first of all, I'd like to say we see the Word in creation. We see the Word in creation. It says in verse 2, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. It's talking about Him, the Word of God. In other words, we're told in Genesis that God spoke and things came to be. God spoke the world into existence. He spoke through the agency of His speech, which is the Second Person of the Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Logos. In the beginning was the Word. He was there with God in the beginning and is God indeed. He is, as the creeds say, God of very God. He's God. He's not one of three gods. He's not one of many gods. He is God. And He was there in the beginning. And all things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything that was made. There are several places in the Bible where we're told about this. We're told that He is the expression of God to man. It says in Hebrews, it just begins somewhat like this. It begins that in sundry times, various ways, God spoke to us through the prophets. But in the last days, He spoke to us by His Son. He spoke to us in a language that was completely different from what He used with the prophets. He spoke to us in the language of Son. And when we see the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we see God for Jesus himself said that no man has seen God at any time but the only begotten of the Father has declared Him so our Lord Jesus Christ was declared the speech of God see the prophets spoke and they were holy men of old as Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21 and they spoke as the Holy Ghost moved upon them and gave the word of God But these prophets, dear friends, these prophets that spoke about the coming of the Lord and telling that one day the Messiah would be here on earth, the prophets that foretold this and told all the things that God wanted them to say, and He spoke to them through His Holy Spirit, and yet these men, these men that gave this word were sinful men. Oh, they were sinful men, alright. Every person that's ever been born into this world is born a sinner. Now these sinful men, of course, were men that had repented of their sins and turned to God, and they were trying to walk with God, and were walking with God in the Spirit. But yet, they were still sinful men. Every man from Adam's race is a sinner. The difference is that our Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world of a virgin. And He was born without sin. And He never sinned in His entire life. He's the only person you could ever say that about. And he was a special person in that he was the Messiah. It was foretold in Isaiah long ago, 700 or 800 years before our Lord was born. It says in Isaiah 7.14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Now the Hebrew word Immanuel, also transliterated into the Greek, over in the New Testament this word Immanuel means God with us because we're told over in Matthew where it's repeated where this very phrase is repeated that you'll bear a son he'll come into the world and you'll call his name Immanuel which means God with us Matthew chapter 1 verses 21 through 23 he's God and he came into the world He created the world, first of all, then He came into the world. See, the first thing, He's the Word in creation, but He's also the Word in condescension. He came into the world, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And He came into the world, He was despised and rejected of men. He was put on a cruel cross to die. Imagine, God's Son on the cross to die. He didn't die for anything. He did. He didn't commit any crime. He didn't commit any sin. He died on that cross as an innocent lamb. All the pictures of all the lambs and all the bulls and goats and everything slain back in the Old Testament had a picture, had a type to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a picture to show what God was going to do one day. His son died on the cross. And yes, I know, evil men put him to death. Evil man, evil man that were Jews. evil men that were Romans, evil men that were other Gentiles, we all, all the human race, was to blame for the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, it was part of God's divine purpose for Him to die. See, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. The curse of the law said that we were condemned Because, as I said, no man can live perfectly. No man can keep the law perfectly. So, therefore, we're all sinners. And we had to have a Savior to come and bear this load. We couldn't save ourselves. But our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross at Calvary, outside Jerusalem. Died, the sinless one, for sinners. He died and was buried and, according to the Scriptures, was raised from the dead. to live in newness of life, and therefore because of that, everybody that will trust in Him will have the same thing. Everybody that will trust in Him will have eternal life. Everybody that will believe on the Son will be redeemed, will be saved. It says even in our text, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but over in John chapter 1, Verse 12, it says, as many as received Him, to them gave He power or authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Now, in verse 4, it says, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The life that was in Him was the life of the Spirit of God. The life that was in him not only had human life, but he also had the spiritual life. Therefore, we can have spiritual life through him. The light was the light of man, it says. The light shined in darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. In other words, the darkness didn't regard the light. But there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. Now, he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. And it wasn't the John that wrote this epistle, I mean, this gospel, by the way. It was John the Baptist who came as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, telling everyone, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. In other words, the Messiah is coming and he was preparing his way ahead of time. This was the one that came to bear witness of the light. Jesus is the light of the world and darkness does not want to have anything to do with the light by nature. But he came into this world, he condescended, and he was despised and rejected and put on the cruel cross. See, God came down to man. Over in Psalm 8, we're told, what is man? that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man, that thou visitest him. God came to visit on the earth. He's done it more than once, but when he came as Christ, he came to visit for 33 and a half years and walked the earth. Showed man how God lives. Showed man how man should live if he was a perfect man in keeping the law, which no man can really do. But Christ did. Christ did it so that we might be saved. It had to be a perfect lamb that went to that cross to die. And he was the perfect lamb because, my friend, he kept God's law. He never broke it. Never. Anywhere. It even said one time, which of you convinces me of sin? In other words, which of you can convict me of a sin? Which one of you can say that I'm a sinner? Because he wasn't a sinner. He was God in the flesh. And what man couldn't do Jesus did. See, the darkness could overpower us, but the darkness could not overpower Him. It even tells us that if the princes of this world had known what was going to happen, they wouldn't have put Him on the cross. And they were talking about not only the earthly princes, but also the prince of the power of the air, Satan. That same Satan who had opposed him right after his baptism when he went for 40 days and 40 nights into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He was tested of the devil is the right word. And as he was tested of the devil, he passed the test. He didn't sin. He didn't yield to the temptations. He was tempted or tested in all points like we are and yet without sin. He came out without sin, so He'd be the perfect Lamb of God. Now He's the Word in creation, and He's the Word in condescension. He came down to live among us. The Word was made flesh, dwelt among us. We beheld His glory. That word glory is the Greek word doxa. We get our word doxology, which is praise from this word. doxology. It's a dignity that belongs to God. He has glory. He has majesty. He is absolutely the perfect sinless one and we should praise Him for who He is. Not only did He come in creation, not only did He come in condescension, but He came in conversion. See, men normally reject the Word of God. Look at verse 11. He was in the world. Verse 10 says, and the world was made by him, as I already said, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. This is talking, of course, of the Jew primarily. He came to his own people. He was born of a tribe of Judah on his mother's side, the son of God, but the son of man as well. He came unto them, and they received him not. But as many as received him, both Jew and Gentile, to them gave he that authority to become the children of God. Not just sons of God, because that's the masculine, but women also can be saved. And so it was the children of God, even to them that believe on his name, even to them that trust in him, even to them that rely on him. He's given them authority to be the children of God. He tells us himself when he was walking the earth in John 14, 6. He didn't say there were several ways to get to God. He didn't say that. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father except by me. That's the only way a person can go to heaven. He told Nicodemus in John chapter 3, a little later, if we try to study the whole book of John, we can look at this later, but he told Nicodemus, he said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. There's a lot of people today in religion. They have various kinds of things that they think will get them to God, whatever kind of God of their imagination that they've created or whatever kind of God they've been taught about, or even the true God. They can't get to that God. They can't get to God. They can't get to the true God unless they're born again. In other words, unless they're regenerated, unless they're made over. He said to Nicodemus, accept a man, be born again, born of God, born of the Spirit. He cannot even see the kingdom of God. Now you may see a lot of things in your life. I've seen a lot of cities in this world. I've been to Moscow. I've been to New York. I've been to Los Angeles. I've been to a lot of other places in this world. I've seen cities throughout the world. But to see the City of God, to see the Kingdom of God, you have to be born from above. You have to be born of the Spirit. You have to be changed from the inside by the grace of God. And only Christ can do that, my friend. He came unto His own. And His own received Him not, but to as many as received Him. to them gave me the power to become the sons of God. This receiving is even done by the will of God because it says in verse 13, they were born not of blood. In other words, you don't inherit salvation. Some people think you do. Some people think that somehow you're alright with God if your father was alright with God and his father before him and that you're saved by blood, but you're not. And you're not saved by the will of the flesh. In other words, man can't produce salvation through the flesh, through the natural birth. Man can't produce salvation. It can't be by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man. It's not by somebody just coming and making a mental decision. Did you hear that? Somebody can't come and just make a mental decision in their mind that they're going to follow Christ, that they're going to be saved, that they're going to heaven. There's a lot of trickery going on today, even in so-called evangelical churches, to get people to believe something that has not been put into their heart by the Spirit of God. To get them to believe mentally. to assent to some words and say, I believe that. And then coaxed into believing that they're saved. But it's not by the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. Man can't will to be saved in that sense. Now you're saying, oh, man doesn't have a will. God didn't say that. Man has a will. But the natural man's will is in bondage until God does something in him. That regeneration comes and then he sees himself as a lost sinner. He sees himself as one in need of the Savior. In other words, his eyes are open. The blind have their eyes open and they can see. They come to life and then they realize that they need this Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Savior, the way, the truth, and the life. Now, I want to go on a little bit more here. See, you don't join a church to be saved. it's good to join a church and get a good Bible preaching church. One that preaches the Word of God and preaches it in power. One that doesn't try to distort it, water it down, but preaches the Word of God. And anybody that came had to come not to a church, not to a doctrine, not to a plan, but to Christ, the Living Word. The same One that's the Creator. The same One that condescended. It's the One that converts. He came to declare the Father's will, that we should look to Him for salvation. Remember, God is light, and as light He exposes sin. God is a spirit, God convicts of sin. God is love, forgiving sin. And the only grounds for forgiveness, my friend, is the blood. It tells us even over in Hebrews that even in the Old Testament days, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. There is no forgiveness of sin. There had to be the bloodshed. And yet we're also told that the blood of those bulls and goats couldn't really take away sin, but only was a temporary covering. That the only way to really take the sin away was for the sinless Savior that was put on that middle cross to take that sin away. Not the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of the Lamb. That man that was on the cross next to Jesus, one of them on one side, there were two actually there, one on one side kept railing on him. Both had been to begin with. But toward the end, one of those men had a miraculous conversion. He looked over at Jesus and he told his comrade, he says, we're justly condemned. This man's done nothing amiss. He saw the sinlessness of Jesus. He saw who he was. And he looked at him and he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And the words that Jesus gave him back were these. Verily, verily, that is truly, truly, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. He didn't say next year. He didn't say after a while. But today. In other words, Christ was going to paradise and this repentant sinner there on the cross was going with him. So He's the only Savior. Not only is He the Word of God who came in creation, condescension, and conversion, but I want to tell you, He is the last Word from God that man is going to have. There is no other to come. John the Baptist, he even lost a little bit of his faith when he was in jail, fixing to be beheaded. He got a little discouraged. He sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus Are you the one that should come? Are you the Messiah, in other words? Or should we look for another? And Jesus told him, tell about the things you've seen. The blind see, the dead are raised, and there's so many other things that he did on this earth. John said you couldn't even tell all that he did. But over in Revelation, this same one, at the end of the Bible, the last book in the Bible, says he's clothed with a vesture, or garment, dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth out the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, on his clothing, and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the only Savior, the only Lord you need to look for, my friend, is Jesus Christ. Will you believe on Him today? Because Jesus Christ is your only hope of heaven. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the very Word of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Lord, may someone today that hears this message receive you. They don't have to get up and go to an altar. They don't have to. They can sit right in their seat. and ask you to save them if they're convicted of their sin or if they listen on the radio they can hear and believe on Jesus Christ because you said that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life I pray oh Lord speak to someone today that they may know our Lord Jesus Christ that they may become a child of God in Jesus name Amen