 Is my Lord and my God and we are studying the gospel of John now John chapter 1 Today we begin the process of introducing the the gospel of John to you and getting into chapter 1 verse 1 But my Lord and my God the gospel of John beginning in chapter 1 verses 1 through 5 Where the Bible says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God He was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made in Him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not Comprehend it what gives me great joy It's just a tremendous blessing to be able to study this gospel together and to be able to start today Our practice week by week is just to go verse by verse by verse through the scriptures to understand What the Bible says what God teaches us in his word again? You don't want to hear my opinions, right? You want to hear what the word of God has to say. I don't want to hear my opinions I want to know what the word of God has to say and it's just a great blessing that we get to invest time Beginning today walking verse by verse through the gospel of John. This is a tremendous honor And this is a tremendous book a tremendous gospel Andreas Kastenberger has said that John's gospel together with the book of Romans may well be considered the enduring Twin towers of New Testament theology Martin Luther he explained the same kind of sentiment when he said that we could lose all other books of the Bible and That Christianity could be saved with John's gospel and the letter to the Romans Many across the centuries have called the gospel of John the holy of holies in the New Testament And it is here in this gospel that the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is Fully and dramatically displayed unlike any other place in scripture And you've come in the gospel of John to the holy of holies to see the glory of Christ And if you're a Christian, that's what you want. Amen We want a vision of the glory of Christ and we need to live day by day by day From glory to glory from faith to faith with that vision of Christ by faith We need to see Christ in this gospel. I remember as a New Christian fresh out of the oven hadn't been saved very long and I just started reading scripture and I came to the gospel of John and Man it overwhelmed me To read it. It's the new believer all the stories all the accounts It's here to see Christ. You just get swept up with the narrative You know swept up with the accounts swept up with the the last three years of Christ's life that is portrayed here And I remember coming to chapter 2 And just being completely captivated by Jesus Christ taking a whip of cords into the temple and driving out those wicked money changers, right? And seeing his zeal for the house of God I remember coming to chapter 3 and seeing the account of Jesus talking about the new birth with Nicodemus and just being amazed by that I remember the Samaritan woman in chapter 4 and Thinking that in Christ talking to her she comes to the realization that the Messiah Is here and that she stands there talking to Christ the anointed one the Messiah just an awesome account I had the man born blind Raising Lazarus from the dead of the many in John chapter 6 that first took him that followed him no more They'd followed him and followed him and heard a hard saying and they all turned away from him And in chapter 6 he turns to the 12 and he says to the 12. Do you want to leave me also? Just that the tragedy of that The disappointment of that The seven miracles of Christ throughout the gospel of John the seven I am Statements so powerful claiming the deity of Christ They come to chapter 8 verse 58 and just gripped by the narrative when Christ says most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was I am The Pharisees took up stones to stone him His teaching on the vine and the branches and how believers are to abide in him in John chapter 15 The work of the Holy Spirit Convicting this the world of sin righteousness and judgment in chapter 16 the high priestly prayer in chapter 17 and knowing in Reading the account of a high priestly prayer that it was during that prayer that Christ also prayed for me Prayed for you if you're in Christ It's an awesome account His arrest his trial his crucifixion chapters 18 and 19 Coming to doubting Thomas in chapter 20 And doubting Thomas having placed his hand in his side and the nail scars in his hands Proclaiming exclaiming my Lord and my God and Thinking of myself in that reading it for the first time how many times I had to go back to Jesus Christ to be restored Doubting and then the last chapter of Peter restoring Peter having breakfast by the sea and after Peter had denied him And the Lord Jesus Christ very graciously very mercifully Restores Peter and I'm reminded how often I have to be restored how often we have to repent And I'm just amazed at the ending the ending where John says and there are also many other things that Jesus did Which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written It's an awesome account. It's an awesome book an awesome story And reading it again and again and again over the years and reading it again now as we prepare and studying for this gospel and going through This together Just as gripped just as odd it just as fired up reading it now as I was back then when I first read it This is a the Bible is an amazing book One of the reasons that the Bible is an amazing book and the gospel of John is such an amazing gospel such an amazing account It's because it's about an amazing person It directs us gloriously to Christ puts our eyes on Christ places our faith in Christ It is pointing to an amazing person first and foremost John is not simply writing a biography He's not simply writing a historical account here. John is writing a gospel and in writing a gospel It's written in such a way to Present Jesus Christ in such a glorious way that people believe on him and are saved John sets about to present facts, but these are not merely facts. These are facts of the faith These are facts of faith which are to be believed and that faith by the grace of God is that face with faith Which leads to life eternal life in him and life more abundantly as John says we wanted history Or if we wanted a biography we could go home and watch a documentary Now this is not a documentary. This is not a simple book of facts We're gathered here today because of the conviction that the gospel of John this book this Bible is more than that This is good news that can change your life that can change your eternal destiny And it is to be believed upon As a gospel John is not merely writing to introduce you to a concept He's not merely introducing you to an ideology or a system or a Philosophy or a belief or an idea or an isolated set of facts you in the gospel of John are being introduced to a person according to chapter 20 verse 31 John's purpose for writing is to prove that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing on him you may have life in his name AW pink said this he said in this book We are shown that the one who was heralded by the angels to the Bethlehem shepherds Who walked this earth for 33 years who was crucified at Calvary who rose and triumphed from the grave and who? 40 days later departed from these scenes was none other than the Lord of glory This Lord of glory who stepped out of heaven Took on the mud of humanity Traips through the filth of this world and as Paul said came into the world to save sinners However the gospel of John is not only written to unbelievers Believers to I have to go on believing in his name and believers It says have to endure to the end to be saved And so the Holy Spirit through the pen of John teaches us that we must abide in him John 15 6 says that if anyone does not abide in me He is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned Christians have to abide in Christ if you don't abide in the vine Then you're cast out as worthless to be burned in the fire You prove you were never of the vine to begin with doesn't mean that you lose your salvation The Christians have to abide in Christ the Holy Spirit then through John through this gospel doesn't only intend to evangelize unbelievers It intends to awaken faith in the unbeliever and sustain faith in the believer And one person said there may be no better book in the Bible than the gospel of John to help you keep on Trusting and treasuring Christ above all. This is a glorious gospel glorious book very helpful for Christians Martin Lloyd-Jones has said Many who are Christians fail to show forth the glory and wonder of it all And this is important not only for our own sakes, but still more because of the state and condition of the world that is round and about us Christians tend to be their own worst enemies when it comes to being a testimony for Christ We need a reminder of what it is to follow Christ We need the motivation of Christ himself to help us live the Christian life by faith and obey him and live for him such That we give a good testimony of the work of Christ in us to a lost world that needs a savior All Christians need to constantly focus faith on the work in person of the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves for their own good But also for a testimony to lost people For that reason The gospel of John the Bible can't be read simply with your head has to be read also with your heart This is the book that has to be read with a heart as well as we study together We need to exhort ourselves in this as we go through these verses together and spend a considerable amount of time Working through these verses. We must exhort ourselves to read to see the glory of Christ To see him week by week as the savior of sinners And not considering it robbery to be equal with God as the Bible says but making himself of no reputation Taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men We must exhort one another in the pages of this gospel to have fellowship with the Lord together There's fellowship with the Lord in this as we see his compassion We hear his prayer his beating heart for sinners his glorious claims as we witness his suffering And meditating on the truths of this gospel will compel the Christian to bow his heart in worship As Paul said great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh Justified in the spirit seen by angels preached among the Gentiles Believed on in the world and received up in glory And we're gonna see all of that in the gospel of John as we work through listen, you don't need Psychology to make you happy Right, you don't need worldly reasoning to guide yourself through the difficulties of this life You don't need your mama when you get discouraged or disappointed or downtrodden You don't need a psychiatrist when you lose your joy your strength or your hope You never find real security in a job You'll never find well-being in wealth You'll never find freedom from the guilt of your sin and trying to be a good person You'll never find peace in the passing pleasures of this life You'll never have a clear conscience in mere morality You'll never have Consistency in the Christian life in your own strength you need Christ and you need him high and lifted up And the gospel of John does just that you need Christ as it says in Ephesians 3 to dwell on your heart through faith That you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the Saints What is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ? Which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God? We need a vision of the risen Lord and we need to live for him You need to be persuaded afresh of who Christ is and what he has done the Christian needs that Daily and we find that in God's word and we find it here in the gospel of John That you may cry out with Thomas at the culmination of it all my Lord and my God That's the Jesus Christ that we worship. That's who we serve. That's who we live for in the gospel of John We're to look to Christ with Wonder with amazement and awe at who he is and what he's done as we read not just with our heads But with our hearts John Stott once said that many people are pygmy Christians Because they have a pygmy Christ Your little Christian because you have a little Christ You need a vision of God a vision of God in the flesh Christ Jesus our Lord and you need to follow him by faith You need a glorious vision of the Lord and there is no more glorious vision of the Lord in scripture than in the gospel of John The gospel of John Christ Towers as Almighty God in the flesh and we say with Thomas my Lord and my God Not the object of speculation But the object of our adoration not the object of a debate But the object of our devotion Not an object to be worked out But the object of our worship Bruce Milne says that if Christ shares the nature of God then we are called to worship him without cessation Obey him without hesitation Love him without reservation and serve him without interruption to him be the glory forever. Amen My Lord and my God Let me give you some background to this awesome book The gospel of John as we've said has been written to believers and unbelievers alike It's written to an a universal audience so to speak of this gospel number two would have been circulated in churches made up primarily of Dispursed Jews or diaspora Jews Jews in the dispersion. Why were they dispersed? Because of great persecution great persecution that had broken out and it would have been written to Gentiles So now let me ask you a question How would John have expected that this gospel being written partly to unbelievers? How would he have expected that this gospel would reach unbelievers if he was circulating it to churches? Evangelism thank you brother evangelism these churches evangelized they love the Lord They wanted to see lost people saved they wanted to see people come to faith in Christ And so they were fiercely fervently evangelistic And so this would have reached to even lost people outside of the church by the faithful evangelism of the church Number three is purpose for writing is to prove as he says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that believing You may have life in his name That you would be drawn his purposes to worship to exclaim by saving faith my Lord and my God The synoptic Gospels as they're called in the Bible or Matthew mark and Luke they're called Synoptic from a compound Greek word meaning viewed together They have much of the same material and so they're viewed together as an account of the history in life of Christ These Gospels have similar material the gospel of John not one of the synoptics, but the gospel of John 92% of what's written here is brand new material Material it's not contained anywhere else And so this is unlike what is found in the synoptics and unlike the synoptic Gospels which give a an earthly account of the history the life of Jesus John's gospel really is more of a heavenly account really is more of a a heavenly perspective It's if you will God's perspective on who Jesus Christ is And it focuses on the deity of Christ the second person of the trinity The second person of the godhead number four It's based on the weight of evidence that this gospel was written late Probably after the destruction of the temple in 80 70 in 87 the 80 70 the romans came through and destroyed Jerusalem and this was likely written after that most likely in the early 80s ad So still very close to the time of christ and it was likely written while john was in emphasis We just studied first timothy where we studied the church there in emphasis number five despite liberal arguments to the contrary the gospel of john was written by john The apostle john the disciple john the disciple of christ Yet an older brother named james and together john and james were the sons of zebedee And with their father zebedee they were fishermen Until they met the lord the lord saved them and they became fishers of men And they early in the scriptures called sons of thunder because they were very zealous for the lord There's an account in luke nine of jesus uh walking through a region of samaria The samaritans reject christ and so john and james the sons of zebedee the sons of thunder Ask christ you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume consume them like elisha And they wanted to call out fire out of heaven. They were sons of thunder Their mother was selome and selome was the one who came and asked jesus at one point if her sons james and john could sit on either side of christ his right hand and his left hand in the kingdom It's interesting here that john Never refers to himself by name in the gospel We see him most often by his Name appointed to himself as a disciple whom jesus loved I always thought when I when I first read through the gospel of john and I saw that name the disciple whom jesus loved I couldn't help but think a little bit that sounded prideful Sounded arrogant. I'm the disciple whom jesus loved as if he loved john at the exclusion of all others But it's interesting if you look at that statement the disciple whom jesus loved the name that john gave to himself in the gospel That the word there for loved he could have chosen several greek words But the greek word that he chose akapao says more about the one who is loving Than the one who is loved And so what appears on the surface to maybe be a statement of pride really is a statement of great Humility john walked around in amazement in awe that jesus christ could love him a center like that It's an unconditional love. It's a fervent love that jesus christ could love him It's actually a statement of great humility shows that john was just in amazement We need to have that same amazement That god in christ would love me Would love you wretched sinners turn with me to john chapter 17. Let's just get a glimpse of that john chapter 17 Of how god in christ loves us And this amazed john amazed john this was even possible Look beginning in verse 20 john chapter 17 verse 20 And here christ's high priestly prayer to god. Listen what he prays He says in verse 20 I do not pray for these alone But also for those who will believe in me through their word that they all may be one as you father are in me And i in you that they also may be one in us and that the world may believe that you sent me And the glory which you gave me i have given them that they may be one just as we are one I am them and you and me that they may be perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me And have loved them as you have loved me You want to know how jesus christ loves those who are in christ? He loves them like he loves the sun Isn't that an amazing thought You a wicked sinner an enemy of christ by your wicked works prior to being genuinely saved Now in christ and the lord looks at you as not guilty Looks at you in christ and loves you with the same love with which he loves the sun It's awesome where it goes on in verse 24 father I desire that they also whom you gave me May be with me where i am that they may behold my glory which you have given me For you loved me before the foundation of the world if you're in christ the bible says that god For loved you from before the foundation of the world right verse 25 it says oh righteous father The world has not known you but i have known you and these have known that you sent me And i have declared to them your name and will declare it That the love with which you loved me may be in them and i in them It's an awesome thought this is the way that god loves you in christ the way that christ loves you It's an awesome statement and it just amazed John it should amaze us that despite your sin That just based on the grace and mercy of god alone that god in christ would agapao you a redeemed sinner My lord and my god lastly Uh it bears repeating bears stating this book is inspired that it's infallible And in errant and it says this in the gospel of john itself jesus said in john 14 verse 26 The helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that i said to you In john chapter 16 verse 13 Jesus says when he the spirit of truth has come He will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority But whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come So in other words here jesus Called the disciples to himself He chose them. He saved them He taught them and then he gave them the holy spirit who wrote the inspired scriptures through them It wasn't the apostles who were inspired It's the bible the word of god that is inspired And this is god's revelation to us as such it is infallible. It is in errant without error It's inspired by god and that becomes more and more and more evident as we go through this gospel together So we study this this gospel together becomes more and more evident This is an inspired infallible in errant book that becomes more self-evident as you study the bible martin luther said I've never read a book written in simpler words than this one and yet the words are inexpressible These are simple words. They're simple phrases simple language But absolutely burst with importance with profound meaning One person described it as a pool the gospel of john is a pool in which children can play But it's also an ocean in which elephants can run This has great importance and great simplicity and it all begins with a prologue begins with a prologue in john chapter one And the prologue runs in john chapter one From verses one through 18 Verses one through 18 and the prologue here to the gospel of john Is the introductory material to the rest of the gospel The prologue if you will is the front porch on the house house, but it's more than that The prologue to the gospel of john is like a mansion at the front doorstep of an incredible mansion Uh, and we're gonna just take up our time studying all of that together It's a it's a feat that we're undertaking here This prologue includes all the framework For the gospel that comes after it such that as we go through the gospel We're just going to pack concrete in around that framework The prologue these first 18 verses are the skeleton And we're just going to put sinews and flesh on that skeleton as we go through the gospel together And this is Very important the purpose of the prologue section As is the purpose of the book is simply to explain who jesus christ is He starts right away in the prologue laying the foundation of who jesus is so that we can have Fixed in our minds from the beginning of this gospel the eternal glory And majesty and dominion and power and deity and reality of jesus christ So that we exclaim with thomas as we go through my lord and my god This is very important section There are many conceptions about who jesus is today and the gospel of john sets this clear in profound effect Profound statements here many would say that he's simply a prophet Jesus christ is nothing more than a prophet many would say that he's simply a great example of the moral life that we're to live Some would say that he's somehow divine. He's above normal men But still a created being he's just elevated above normal humanity Often people would say it's not so much about his person as it is about his ideas or about his teaching There's respect for jesus people give him lip service. There's regard for jesus Many would say that he's a great man. That's as far as they would go Deepak Chopra Sees jesus as a state of consciousness that we can aspire to whatever that means the Dalai Lama Says that jesus is either a fully enlightened human being or a very high spiritual realization Whatever that means Mahatma ghani listen to this He was certainly the highest example of one who wished to give everything asking nothing in return And not carrying what creed might happen to be professed by the recipient In other words, it doesn't matter if you're a christian or not If you just believe him if you just you know, he's giving you everything He goes on to say i'm sure that if he were living here and now among men He would bless the lives of many who perhaps have never even heard of his name If only their lives embodied the virtues of which he was a living example on earth Listen your life can never exemplify enough virtue to get you into heaven Your life can only possible in its greatest exertion Provide enough virtue to get you into hell And your good works are as filthy rags the bible says We see this same kind of thought process embodied in american culture in the likes of the or roosevelt or thomas jefferson thomas jefferson Denied the miracles of christ He denied anything supernatural in the bible He literally took his bible and he cut out pieces of his bible that he thought were irrational And then he pasted pieces into a book that he had published eventually Congress published the book and called it the life and morals of jesus And jesus was just a figure of an example of morality Later he had his own bible public. How would you like to do that publish your own bible? He had his own bible published called the jefferson bible with all that stuff cut out of it These uh conceptions of jesus are not biblical conceptions of jesus christ This is not the jesus christ of the bible You understand that we're talking about two different people If you're not worshiping this is why it's so important if you're not worshiping The jesus christ that is presented here in john's gospel. You are worshiping an idol You're worshiping a figment of your own imagination a jesus of your own making So what about all those who believe that they can continue in their sin? And that jesus will simply forgive them They're worshiping an idol Those that believe that they can live in their sin Continue in patterns of unrepentant sin Still continue to call jesus christ their savior and believe that they'll somehow make it into evan When john himself says little children do not be deceived He who says i know him does not keep his commandments john says as a liar What about those that believe that jesus makes no demands on their life to deny themselves to take up Their cross and to follow him. They're worshiping an idol too worshiping a savior of their own making Additional to this there are the cults Jova's witnesses believe that jesus is the archangel michael That he is a created being The mormons believe that jesus is satan's brother lucifer's brother In such blasphemy from the mormons listen to this the mormons say as man now is God once was You believe that as man let that sink in for a minute as man now is God once was as god now is man may be This is blasphemy One is pentacosalism one is pentacosalism teaches that jesus is just a manifestation of the father That god the father is jesus and god the father is the holy spirit. It's called modalism Needless to say they have no idea what to do with Jesus's baptism in the river jordan you've got jesus in the water The voice of god the father coming out of heaven and the spirit of god descending as a dove What do you do with that? We're not talking about the same christ Who christ is is a hill to die on Who christ is is critically important and extremely exclusive it has eternal ramifications Wasn't that long ago after a conversation with the billy gram had with mit romney That the billy gram organization pulled mormonism From their list of cults on their website And the justification that they gave for that was that they didn't want to get into theological issues As john mccarthur said they give honor to the false christ of mormonism While dishonoring the true christ of the bible One of the first attacks that had to be fought off in the early church was against a heresy by man named arias The heresy came to be known as arianism a lot of these heresies are named after the person who authored the heresy It was the council at nicaea in 325 ad that called this belief that christ was a created being heresy Christ isn't a created being from the beginning Satan has focused his attack on the identity of who christ is and that's with good reason These heresies that sought to challenge the identity of christ are a dime a dozen. There was dosetism modalism monarchy anism monophysitism Nestorianism Sassianism Sibelianism subordinationism Tritheism Ism ism ism ism all focused on attacking the identity of who christ is as clearly defined in the gospel of john And why is that so important? Jesus is not just a great example He's not merely someone to respect He's not just a good person or someone who blindly forgives with no repentance and sweeps sin under a rug turning a blind eye to sin He is not created He is not less than god Nor is he simply a manifestation of god. This is Enormously important. This is eternally important It's internally important that you believe that jesus christ is not simply an enlightened man Or that he is not god in the flesh john 824 says For if you do not believe that i am he jesus says you will die in your sins That's why it's important That's why you cannot be a christian and deny the deity of christ You cannot be a christian and deny the trinity You cannot be a christian And deny that christ is 100 man and 100 god We don't understand it, but we can't deny it. It's what the bible teaches And if you don't believe that he is Then you will die in your sins You cannot be a christian and deny the virgin birth that christ was raised from the dead These are essential christian doctrines hills to die on You've not properly understood the christ of the bible Until you or unless you have seen him With the eyes of faith the way that john the disciple describes him here And have been compelled to worship him falling on your face and crying out with thomas my lord and my god This is the christ of the bible John is going to begin this description of christ using a powerful but a very necessary method All right, he's going to begin by describing him. It's interesting that in the prologue John doesn't mention christ's name until verse 17 now put yourself in the shoes of a first century jew or Gentile Who is maybe reading this gospel for the first time you'd have been from verse one riveted who he's talking about Who is this person? Who's this word? Who is john describing? And it is powerful for john to describe him here rather than just mention his name and tell you out front who he is Unlike you and i when we begin to read john's opening words here We know exactly who he's talking about they wouldn't have and then here's how this works If somebody says to you, do you know mark brashere? and then they describe me as Some short skinny good-looking guy You know that we are talking about two different people right? Stop laughing I'm defined by my name In as much as my name Accurately reflects a set of attributes that clearly and accurately define me who I am In other words, this is why Islam and christianity are not worshiping the same god Islam can say he's god. We can say he's god. We're not worshiping the same god We're talking about two different gods because of who god is to islam and who god is to christians There's some famous hockey player named mark brashere. I'm not that guy even though he has the same name Right, so let's see. Let's see how this works. Let me see if you can tell who this is See if you can tell who this is. Are they hebrus? He says so am I Are they israelites? So am I Are they the seat of abraham? So am I are they ministers of christ? I speak as a fool. I'm more In labor is more abundant stripes above measure in prisons more frequently in deaths often From the jews five times. I received 40 stripes minus one three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked night and day I have been in the deep who are we speaking about Apostle Paul right and isn't that description so much more powerful so much more profound than his name alone It speaks volumes about paul doesn't it? That's what's meant here What if I describe this person to you the least of the sons of jesse? killed the philistine champion Anointed by same able to be a successor of saul as king over israel Got himself in a whole lot of trouble about a woman on a balcony Who am I speaking about? David right that's how this works that says so much more about david We understand so much more about david from his life from his description there John basically does the same thing here with jesus christ in the prologue We want to see john wants us to see that jesus is both lord and god and in doing this again He begins immediately to fulfill his purpose in writing. He wants to convince the true center Convince this true center of the true person of christ the second member of the godhead Proving that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing he might have life Eternal life in his name To have eternal life you must believe on the true christ of the bible And so john lays out a description of the true christ of the bible right here in the prologue not a Misrepresentation of christ not a philosophical conception of christ not a worldly understanding of christ But the christ of the bible and john means for us to read this gospel Worshipfully as we come to know him this way humbly submissively it's in awestruck amazement as we Follow his account That this is god in the flesh who was the man at the wedding Who was speaking with the woman at the well who was at the temple on the hillside in the boat This is the creator of the universe who became flesh and dwelt among us and gave His life laid down his life for sinners That's the jesus word to know in john 11 jesus said to martha I am the resurrection in the life He who believes in me though he may die he shall live And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die And then he asked martha the question martha Do you believe this? Do you believe it if you believe Believing saving faith you'll have life in his name She said to him verse 27. Yes lord. I believe that you are the christ the son of god who has come into the world The belief that jesus speaks of there is saving faith It involves a trusting in the lord alone To save you not in your works not any good that you can do trusting the lord alone to save you Your good works don't matter You've got to turn to christ in faith and be saved you can never be A good enough person You can never do enough good works to merit heaven only christ was good enough only christ was perfect Perfectly satisfying the just demands of a holy god So that you Repenting putting your faith in him might in him Flee the wrath of god Flee the justice of god and get mercy So that you can be in heaven with christ for all eternity It is only the risen lord god in the flesh that can compel this kind of devotion Charles westley writes of it in this hymn where charles westley says The lord i shall constantly proclaim Though earth and hell oppose Bold to confess thy glorious name before a world of foes His only righteousness i show His saving grace proclaim To his all my business here below to cry Behold the lamb Happy if with my latest breath i may but gasp his name Preach him to all and cry in death Behold behold the lamb This is the god of john god the son the second person of the trinity second person of the godhead Jesus christ my lord and my god amen Amen, let's pray take a few moments and pray the lord would apply these truths to our hearts And we would glorify him in this Father in heaven thank you for this time together And god, please i pray by your spirit that you would God Give us Clear portrait god open our eyes our hearts our ears to understand It's a clear portrait of who jesus christ is God, maybe we be caught up In the excellencies of christ of pearl of great price the treasure hidden in the field The lamb slain from before the foundation of the world Layed down his life for sinners like me like my brothers and sisters here God glorify yourself in our study of your word Glorify yourself in our view of christ as we walk through this gospel And god thank you for your great grace and mercy in the time that we can invest to do this You're so gracious lord to not leave us without a revelation of yourself but to To give us this portrait of christ in the gospel of john and i pray lord that we'd be faithful In looking to christ by faith if there's anyone here god that isn't saved i pray that you would break their heart over their Over their sin they would mourn their sin James says that they would lament and mourn and weep They would see christ as precious As a true treasure But to earn to him by faith and be saved And glorify yourself in our worship of you and thank you for this time. Thank you for this church Continue to bless us keep us preserve us Strengthen us in your word by your spirit for your glory and for your praise and everlasting worship We pray in christ's name our great god and savior. Amen