Hello and welcome to our program. Today we start a special new series on the book of John. Today we start a new series in the book of John. Here's a message. Make it your prayer. Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me. Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me. Place in my hands the wonderful key That shall unclasp and set me free. Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see. me, Spirit divine. so so Open my mouth and let me bear Gladly the warm truth everywhere Open my heart and let me prepare Love with thy children thus to share. Silently now I wait for Thee. Ready, my God, Thy will to see. Open my heart, illumine me. Spirit, It is interesting to note that the last word in the Old Testament is the word curse. It says in Malachi 4, 6, And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Well, the curse came, and for 400 years there's no word whatsoever from God. Oh, the nation of Israel is back after the Babylonian captivity, and they're going through the motions in the restored temple. A lot of formalism. Everything's going exactly as prophesied because the people of God refused to listen to the messengers that God had sent, warning them that if they didn't get their hearts right with God, that they would have this problem. Well, in the New Testament age, Rome is now the dominant power in the religious scene. There's two major groups in Israel. There's the Pharisees and there's the Sadducees. But regardless of their groups, for 400 years, There had been no word from God. Lamentation 2.9 says the law is no more. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord. And then, in Galatians 4.4 in the New Testament, we read when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Well, we come to verse number 6 in the book of John here, first chapter, there was a man sent from God, whose name was John." What an interesting introduction. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. And it says, concerning John, his message was 1 and 29, Behold the Lamb of God. Well, as John began to preach, the temples began to empty, and soon the temple was empty, and the synagogues were empty, and they sent their committee out to talk to John the Baptist, and in verse 19 said, Who do you think you are? And in verse 21, what are you up to here? And he said simply in verse 23, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. Well, as we go through the book of John, it starts out with a focus on the Word, and God gives us a focus on those witnesses that would witness to the Word, which of course is the Lord. There's John the Baptist in verse 19, and Andrew in verse 37. in verse 43, Nathanael in 47, and the Trinity in verse number 32. So we have the Word of God, that's Christ. We have the witnesses in verse number 3, it focuses on the works of Christ, and in verse 37, the words of Christ. As he goes through his ministry, at the beginning there's much consideration by the people in chapter 119 through chapter 454, but then There's a lot of controversy by the people, and that is caused by the leaders, who are jealous, of course, and they hated Christ. They ended up, these so-called spiritual leaders, they ended up crucifying Him. But they caused the people to be having a controversy, and you'll see that from chapter 5 on through chapter 6 in verse number 71. And then, there was a conflict from the people, chapter 7, verse 1 through chapter 11 in verse number 53. Now, as we begin this chapter, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Notice that there is a capital W on the word Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 14 says, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And so we know that that is the Lord. Verse 2, the same was in the beginning with God and all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. He made everything. The Bible says in verse 10, He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. Christ didn't just show up here in Bethlehem one day. The Bible says all things were made by Him And without him was not anything made that was made. John said in verse 4, he was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Well, verse 6 again, 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 be saved. All men through him might be saved. One has to wonder what part of all men is too difficult for those who promote the heresy of Calvinism to understand. It says that all men through him might believe. That's what it says, all men, not some men as they say in their heresy. That is an attack on the character of God, is an attack on the doctrine of God. The Bible says all men through him might believe, not some men. Well in verse 8 it says he was not that light, that is John was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And again you have the word light with a capital L, obviously referring to Jesus. The Bible says in verse 10 he was in the world And the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Well, you can understand that, but it says in verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. His own people said, no, we will not have this man reign over us. But in verse 12 we read, 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 are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This new birth, it's of God. It's not just turning over a new leaf. Well, again we read in verse number 14, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Now, in John 17 and 5, when Jesus was going back to heaven, He prayed to His Father, and 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. The glory I had with thee before the world was. As I said, He didn't just show up in Bethlehem. It is interesting that when you read through the Old Testament, When you see the word Lord God, and it is printed in our King James Bible with a capital L-O-R-D, all capital, and then the word God, that is referring to the activity of Christ in the Old Testament. Therefore, it was Christ that planted the Garden of Eden. It was him that placed Adam and Eve in the Garden. It was Christ that came to them in the cool of the evening and charged them with being disobedient. It was Christ that gave the promise of the seed of the virgin woman in Genesis chapter 3. It was Christ that drove them from the Garden. It was Christ that charged Cain with killing his brother Abel, and he also warned Noah of the flood and told him to build an ark. It was the Lord that called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, appeared with two angels at Abraham's tent door. It was Christ that told about the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was He with whom Jacob wrestled. It was Christ that appeared to Moses at the burning bush. He sent the plagues on Egypt. Christ commanded the slaying of the Passover lamb, and He opened the Red Sea. It was Him that fed Israel in the wilderness, and it was Christ that gave the Ten Commandments. He also opened the river Jordan when they went into the promised land and helped them seize Jericho. It was Christ that talked with Gideon and Samson and Samuel. It was Christ that chose Saul to be the first king, and He also chose David in His place. But then we read, He was made flesh and dwelt among us. Romans 8 and 3 says God sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. John 1 and 14, again, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 15 tells us, John bare witness of Him and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me. Notice these words, for He was before me. Now, Jesus was John the Baptist's cousin in the flesh, and actually, Jesus was younger, as far as being born in this world is concerned, than John was. But he reads, he says here, he was before me because he always was. He was God. And it says in verse 16, And of his fullness have we received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth cometh. by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared Him. And this is the record, verse 19, this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? He confessed and denied not, but he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith unto them, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. They said unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou thyself? Well, his first three answers were very negative. He said, I am not the Christ. I am not Elias. And he said, Art thou that prophet? He just said, No. Well, here's a positive answer for them. He said in verse 23, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. Well, down in verse 29, we read, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Now, he's not focusing on him here as the king, who had also come as king for Israel. They could have their kingdom, if they would accept him as their king, but this verse is focusing on him as the Savior of the world, not the King of Israel. The focus is on the Savior of the world, which most of the focus of the book of John is on Christ as a Savior, not as a King. And he says, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but, one, that he should be made manifest unto Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." Now this is a very important verse here. He said that he should be made manifest unto Israel, therefore am I baptizing with water. We need to understand that there was two messages all the way through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and even the early part of the book of Acts. One message had to do with Jesus being the Messiah, the King of Israel. The other one had to do with Him being the Savior of the entire world. Now, they said, why are you baptizing if you're not the Messiah? Because they understood that that's what would happen when the Messiah came. And he said, therefore am I baptizing with water that he, Christ, should be made manifest to Israel. Now he's focusing on that other message, the message of Christ coming as a king. It is very important to understand that John the Baptist's baptism had absolutely nothing in common with local church baptism, nothing whatsoever. What we read in verse 32 in John Bear Records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven, like a dove, and it abode upon him, and I knew him not, but he sent me to baptize with water. The same said unto me, upon whom thou see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son Now we get into the third day in verse number 35. It says in verse 35, again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples, so John's having a chat with two disciples, and he said to those two disciples in verse 36, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye? These are the first recorded words that Jesus said here in this book. What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? And he said unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. Well, verse 40 tells us that one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And what did he do first thing? He first binded his own brother and said unto him, we have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. That is always the first reaction of someone who is truly introduced to Jesus Christ. Well, our time is gone. Be sure and tune in again tomorrow. We'll take it up on the next verse here, where Jesus goes into Galilee. so