 Anyway, today we're in John's gospel. Originally I was going to take larger chunks and I just can't, you know, I just am not built that way. And so we're going to be looking at the first nine verses in our introduction tonight in John's gospel. So allow me to read to you in verses one through five. I'll lay a foundation for you. And then we'll move into our study John chapter one, beginning at verse one, reading to verse five. John writes 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. As we begin, there's an interesting story found in John's gospel in chapter nine. In that chapter, Jesus performed a healing on a man who had been born blind. We'll see it when we get there. It's in chapter nine, so it'll be about three years from now. But we will see it when we get there. And so Jesus had performed a healing on a man who had been born blind and the healing as we'll see causes great controversy. And it results in this man who has been healed to be banned from the synagogue. He had been cast out. So after being cast out, the scripture points out that Jesus went looking for him until he had found him. And according to John nine, 35 and 36, when Jesus, when he had found him, he said to him, do you believe in the Son of God? And he answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? So the question, who is he that I may believe in him? Well, we're embarking on a series through John seeking to find out who he is. And so as we do so, let me give you some basics and some introductory comments and all. The author of this particular gospel is the apostle John. We see in scripture that John was an apostle of Jesus along with his brother James. He was a fisherman in partnership with his father, a man by the name of Zebedee, his brother James Peter and Peter's brother Andrew. We know in scripture that his mother's name was Salome. She was a disciple, but she was also Jesus's mother, Mary's sister. You see that in John 19, 25 through 27, as well as Matthew 27, 56. Now John is remembered as a loving man. As a matter of fact, we'll see this as we go through John. He actually speaks of himself in that way. He speaks of himself as the one whom Jesus loved. And so we'll see that because he is a man who is known for a man of great love. When you look in his writings in 1 John, he points it out, he who loves not knows not God, for God is love. How can you say you love God and hate your brother? Why can you say you love God whom you cannot see and yet you hate your brother whom you do see? He was known as one who wrote a lot about love, a man who spoke of himself as being loved in all. He's a loving man in all. He's remembered as a loving man, but he had a nickname that was given to him by Jesus. In Mark 3.17, it says, James, the son of Zebedee and John, the brother of James to whom he gave the name Boanergis. They were called the sons of thunder. And so he may have been a loving man, but he had to be brought to the place of learning what love actually is, a son of thunder. Now some say that that is really just a way of saying that he was one who spoke in the name of the Lord, and very often the prophets would thunder. But it could also speak of his and his brother's disposition. It's possible that he and his brother had a bit of a hot temper. It's possible because Luke indicates that they had a bit of a temperamental side to them. When you look in Luke in chapter 9 verses 49 and 50, John said, Master, speaking to Jesus, we saw someone casting out demons in your name. We forbade him because he doesn't follow with us, but Jesus said to him, do not forbid him for he who is not against us is on our side. He was one of these men who was very particular about Jesus and those who spoke in his name. He shows a little of his temperament. But Luke goes on in verse 51 of the same chapter there and writes, it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up, that he, speaking of Jesus, steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. But they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just like Elijah did? Would you like us to make them crispy critters, if you will? But he turned, Jesus turned and rebuked them and said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of, for the Son of man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. They went to another village. It's interesting because they pointed to Scripture. Do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them just as Elijah did? He was speaking of, they were speaking of 2 Kings chapter 1. And that records an incident from the ministry of Elijah. Elijah had told the king of Samaria that he was going to die and it upset the king. So he sent soldiers to take Elijah, but twice Elijah called down fire from heaven on them. There was a third soldier who came and he pleaded for his life and he was spared. So in the past, God had dealt with Samaritans through fire. And James and John, knowing Scripture and knowing what God has done, said, do you want us to call down fire? So that might be repeated. You see, they had a passionate and a zealous feeling for the Lord, but something happened in the life of John that transformed him completely. He came to know who the Son of God was and he wanted others to know him also. The time of the writing of the Gospel of John is between the years 60 and 90 AD. Creative scholars state that since his three epistles and the book of Revelation were written after the Gospel, its probable range was anywhere from 60 to 90. Now why did he write this? You've heard me say before that every book in the Bible has a purpose. Why was this particular book written? Well, we find out when we go through it in John chapter 20, because in verses 30 and 31, he tells you the reason he wrote this book. He said, truly Jesus did many other signs of the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. You see, when somebody comes to faith in Christ, when someone comes to a relationship with Jesus, one of the first things we will do, one of the first things I have done when I've had a personal kind of conversation, someone's come to Christ, is I'll tell them you need to read the Bible, and they'll say, well, it's a big book. And I'll say, read the Gospel of John. Why? Because it's a Gospel that gives clarity to us concerning who Jesus is, and by reading and believing you have life. And so that's what we're going to do now. We're going to go through the Gospel of John, and we'll begin today by looking at the first few verses of chapter 1. So we begin with verse 1. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. So John begins by introducing to us Jesus Christ. Notice how he's introduced. He's introduced as the Word who is with God, and is God. Now he says, in the beginning, immediately we call to mind another place where the phrase, in the beginning, is written. That's in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Genesis account introduces the story of creation, the original creation. But John intends to communicate to us the new creation. The new creation that we have in Christ Jesus. Remember 2 Corinthians 5.17, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. So John intends to communicate to us that we can be new in Jesus Christ. And as he's speaking in this way, he says in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now what does John mean for us to understand when he speaks of Jesus being the Word? In the beginning was the Word. Well to a Jew, the Word of God denoted God in action. So when he says the Word, a Jew immediately would think of a God in action. You see that in Genesis chapter 1 verse 3 where it begins by saying, God said, let there be light and there was light. So God in action is seen in creation. To a Greek word or logos can also refer to a word in action. So this concept would serve as a bridge for John to communicate to Jew and Gentile alike. You see, unlike Jews, Gentiles had no idea what God was actually like. The Jews had miracles that they had in their history. They had prophets and promises. They had the law of covenants. They had God's Word. And all of that was an incredible advantage to the Jew. But the Gentile had none of these blessings. So they're spoken of in Scripture as those who do not know God. It's interesting to note when you read your Bible, especially in the New Testament, the Jews are not spoken of as a people who don't know God. But the Gentiles are spoken of in that way, that they do not know God. You see it in 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4 verse 5 when it speaks of the Gentiles. And Paul says it this way, who do not know God. You see, instead of worshiping God, they had given themselves over to idolatry. They don't know God, so they worship idols, things made with their own hand or their own imagination. It was true then, it's true today. When you don't know God because you've been created to worship something, you will create something to worship. That's the heart of idolatry. So John is saying that God has revealed himself through action. He's saying God isn't distant, but God has acted in order to be with man. So what is God like? Well, he's a God who desires fellowship with us. A God who has done something to establish the way that we could have fellowship with him. In Acts chapter 17 verses 22 and 23, Luke writes how Paul stood in the midst of the Eropagus and he said, men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God, therefore the one whom you worship without knowing him, I proclaim to you. And so that's what happened. See, we're blind spiritually, we don't know God. So God has to reveal himself to us. We can't search him and find him because he's beyond finding out. If I could understand him with my finite mind, I'd have to be equal to him. But he's so far beyond me that he has to seek me out. And even when I've thought that I'm pursuing him, in reality I've been moving in the opposite direction. So what God chooses to do, and John is pointing this out, God in action is God has taken upon himself human flesh and dwelt amongst us. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. Next time we're together we'll look at verse 14 where it says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. So the Word that is spoken of in verse 1 became flesh and sought us out. God revealed himself through inaction, it's called the incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt or tabernacled amongst us. You see when he says the Word in verse 14 became flesh and dwelt, that word dwelt or tabernacle is an important idea or an important thought. Because John intends us to associate the tabernacle of the Old Testament with Jesus. The tabernacle in the Old Testament is a place of worship, it's where God's presence would dwell. The Word alludes to what is called the Shekinah, and the Shekinah glory of God foreshadowed the incarnation. God had said in Exodus 25.8, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. But God himself dwelt amongst us when he took upon himself human flesh. And so he dwelt with us. Notice again in verse 1, the Word was with God, the Word was God. Now what's so important about Jesus and makes him different from all others? While he's saying before there was a universe, the Word that brought it into existence was already there. Micah in chapter 5 verse 2, the prophet in the Old Testament says, but you betle him ifrata, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. So Jesus makes the difference in every way. Jesus created all things. You see, the Word of God is distinguished from God himself, yet this Word shares the nature of God. He was noticed, he was with God and he was God. He shared the nature and being of God. We'll see this in John 8.58, where Jesus there says, before Abraham was, I am. And when he said before Abraham was, I am, he was speaking of Exodus 3.14, because God said to Moses, I am who I am, and thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am as sent me to you. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and it's being pointed out from the very beginning in the introduction here. The New Testament makes it very clear to us that Jesus is God. He's not a God. He's not a creation of God. He is God in human flesh. All of us have had conversations with those who believe Jesus to be a good man, a teacher, a prophet. I have spoken on several occasions, as perhaps many of you in this room have. I have spoken to Jehovah's Witnesses who will say things like, well, Jesus is a God. There are many gods and Jesus is a God. Well, the bottom line is he's not a creation of God. Jehovah's Witnesses will teach you if they had the opportunity. They would say to you that Jesus is the first creation of God. That's what they say. And again, some of you have had that conversation. I've had it on many occasions. They will say, well, yeah, he's the first creation. They actually resurrected an ancient heresy that was disputed and defeated in church councils centuries ago. But they resurrected that particular heresy. But the scripture teaches in many places, Jesus Christ is God. In the beginning was a word. The word was with God. The word was God. In Matthew 1.23, behold, the virgin shall be with child, bear a son. They shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. In Hebrews 1.7 and 8 of the angels, he says, who makes his angel spirits in his ministers a flame of fire. But to the son, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. In Colossians 2.9, Paul said in him, speaking of Jesus, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And in John 8.24, Jesus said, if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And that's how this epistle begins. In the beginning, our gospel begins. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. In verse 2, he was in the beginning with God. There has not been a time, he's saying, when he was not with God. From the beginning at all time, he has been with God. In verse 3, all things were made through him. Without him nothing was made that was made. In Colossians 1.15-17, for those who take notes, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist. Psalm 33.6, by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made. In him, verse 4, was life. And the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness. The darkness did not comprehend it. In him was life. Now this isn't intended to be understood as natural life. This is an allusion to the fact that in him is eternal life, is spiritual life. He's saying that Jesus is the source of eternal life. It says in him was life. The word life is used 36 times. He says Jesus embodies spiritual life. He repeatedly declares that spiritual life comes through Jesus Christ and no other way. In John 10, verse 10, Jesus said the thief doesn't come except to steal and to kill, to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. In John 14.6, I am the way, the truth and the what and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Many times the word life is used in the Gospel of John to remind us that life comes through Jesus Christ. Our God is the God of life and it's through Jesus Christ that we receive life. And he says in verse 4 that the life was the light of men. Jesus is the one who gives us spiritual illumination, the light of men, spiritual illumination. When I was a young man, I became aware of Hinduism that was beginning to infiltrate. It had already entered into the United States in the early 1900s. It's obviously a very ancient belief system in all. It had become popular in England. It was basically transported into the United States in the turn of the century, the 20th century. Actually, yeah, in the early 1900s. And there were people who were coming bringing Hinduism and part of the way that they were bringing it to Americans is they were speaking of it in terms of a spiritual and a mystical sense. And so I was aware of that. There were different places that those who believed in Hinduism and all that they would gather together. But it wasn't really well known by a lot of Americans. It was something that was somewhat of a fad and then there were some who had kind of embraced it a bit but not that much until the Beatles. And when the Beatles started hanging around with the guru in India and began to write songs in relation to spirituality, especially when George Harrison fully committed himself to Hinduism, that's when it became more popularized among the youth, the youth that I, my generation and many of people in my generation started embracing Hinduism. And that's when they started getting involved in yoga and various other things like that and they began to pursue this way of life and all. And in part of the initiation, there were those gurus who would touch you in the forehead and when they would touch you in the forehead to initiate you, you would have a flash of some experience very often and they would say that you become enlightened or were in the process of enlightenment because you'd have some kind of mystical experience when in fact they were pressing a particular nerve in front of your forehead that creates an electrical kind of response that gives a sense of lightened. So you're being enlightened and I hope I'm not saying too much that doesn't make sense. I'll reserve some of that for later. But we wanted to be enlightened and there are still many people to this day who want to be enlightened. But the Bible says Jesus is the true light who lightens every man. That true light comes from Christ. It comes when the darkness is overwhelmed by the light of Christ. Jesus is the one who gives us enlightenment. Before you're enlightened you're actually in spiritual darkness and Psalm 82 verse 5 it says they don't know nor do they understand why they walk about in darkness. When Paul was writing concerning Gentiles Ephesians 4, 17 and 18 reveals that Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind having their understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. So the Gentiles walk in spiritual darkness. Jesus came to give us light and only Jesus causes the darkened mind to see that there is no other who can. You never are going to be enlightened by Buddha. You're not going to be enlightened by Krishna. It's not going to happen that way. The psalmist said it in Psalm 1828 when he said you will light my lamp. The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. And so because we are spiritually lost we are depraved, we are sinners by nature we walk in darkness. But Jesus Christ came the Bible teaches and that's what John is teaching us that he might enlighten us so that the darkness will be overcome by the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who brings light. In verse 5 the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. You see in the first creation darkness existed until God called light into being. And even so Jesus brings light to the world. In 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4 Paul said it like this even if our gospel is veiled it's veiled to those who are perishing whose minds the God of this age is blinded who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ whose the image of God should shine on them. Light has come into the world and the world's darkness is swept away in Jesus Christ. It's like if you walk into a darkened room you know and you stumble over what you can't see once you turn that light on all the darkness is gone. It disappears. When you enter into a relationship with Christ that spiritual darkness disappears. In Psalm 369 it says with you is a fountain of life in your light we see light. And so there's a basic introduction just for Jesus Christ as a word who has taken upon himself human flesh and came to bring spiritual light. Well as you have Jesus verse 6 you're introduced to someone else. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. So we're introduced to somebody else first Jesus and now John. It might seem odd that John would introduce his readers to John the Baptist but it makes sense because John is the last Old Testament prophet. It's interesting and it makes sense when you realize that his name means grace, the grace of Jehovah. And that's the perfect name for the forerunner of the God of all grace. Now when you look at him and you pick up references to him in other Gospels Jesus said that there had been none who had risen who were greater than John the Baptist. He said that in Matthew 11 verse 11 he was the one who was called sent by God to call people to prepare the way for the Lord. He was Jesus' cousin. He was born to Mary's cousin Elizabeth. And John when he's speaking of him says, notice verse 6 that he was a man sent from God. When it says this man is a man sent from God that's another way of saying he was a prophet. He wasn't self-appointed. He was chosen by and sent by God himself. And John was a man on a mission. He came to bear witness of the light. And as a prophet he spoke forth the mind of God and when you look in the life in ministry of John he had a message called repentance. It says in verse 23 of chapter 1 he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord. So he was one who came as a forerunner of Jesus Christ and he had the message prepare the way of the Lord and make his path straight. Open your heart up to Christ. Open your heart up to God. What he did is he actually came clearing the debris. It's a picture of him clearing debris from the road. And the call is move the debris in order that God can enter straight into your life. And the way that happens guys is through repentance. I was sharing yesterday in our staff devotions and I was saying in the things that I read recently and have been reading now for some time one of the words that you find sometimes not mentioned in church and it's interesting to me to note this but it's true. And all I do is I request you to pay attention to this and see if this is true because it is. But if you listen to things on television watch some of the more popular and I don't encourage you to do that but if you were to watch some of the more popular speakers and ask yourself do they ever use the word repent? And the bottom line is they don't. The more popular speakers that I've heard those that are well known and if I use their name you'd recognize them more than likely don't ever call the people to repentance. They're usually telling you how to have your best day today. They're usually telling you how to become richer how you can become more healthy. They tell you how you can become more popular. They tell you how to live with joy and hope and happiness but they don't tell you that the reason you're not living with joy and health and happiness and a variety of other things is because you're not right with God in many ways. And so they don't use the word repent. And that word repent was the center of the ministry of John the Baptist. Sometimes people say how come the Lord doesn't seem to be answering my prayers and maybe part of the reason is at least not immediately is because he's doing work on me in my heart. Maybe the things I'm asking for aren't the things he wants me to have and maybe my attitude to have those things isn't proper with him. It's not aligned with his will for me. Maybe there's something in my life that I'm doing he's not pleased with and maybe I'm reaping the repercussions of those things in my own life. I'm sowing to the flesh and from the flesh I'm reaping corruption and I think that God isn't blessing me because he's supposed to bless me when in fact I'm not taking the whole counsel of God into consideration and there are areas of my life that have to be dealt with. And so I discovered a long time ago that before I go and make my request known unto God I need to make sure my heart is right with them. And when John came John's message was a simple one. He said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The word repent means change your mind. It's a Greek word metanoia and it simply means to change your mind. And when the word repent is used it's a word that's not even necessarily associated with emotion. It's a word that's associated with decision. I make a decision to change my mind. So it's not just weeping and crying and feeling bad because all of us have gotten busted doing something and we weep and we cry and we feel bad but we don't change because we didn't repent. And so what he calls us to do is to repent. And so first you have the word who has made flesh Jesus Christ but you have a forerunner preparing the way for this word by the name of John. And the life is actually has a forerunner by the name of grace because his name John means a grace of God. And so God has a man named John who represents the grace of God to call people to repent so God could pour his grace into our lives so that we could have life in Jesus because in him is life. And so as you look at John that's what you're seeing. God declared that he would send a prophet who was going to go before Messiah in the Old Testament book of Malachi in chapter 3 verse 1 it reads, In Malachi 4 5 and 6 it says I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and strike the earth with the curse. And so in light of this that Elijah is to come Jesus made a strong statement John in Matthew 11 verse 10 it says John is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. John was this one who was sent by God. His name was John and he was there to prepare away verse 7 says it this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. John was sent to give testimony concerning Jesus. He was sent to call people to repent he came it says to bear witness of the light he came to prepare people to receive the true light his mission was to draw people to believe in Jesus the Messiah. Now notice how it says in verse 8 he was not that light but was sent to bear witness of the light. He had a divine commission to bear witness of the light he was a true witness of Christ and he never took from Jesus what belonged only to him. Turn for a moment to chapter 3 I want to show you something John chapter 3 verse 27 through 30 in John chapter 3 27 through 30 John said a man can receive nothing to him from heaven you yourselves bear me witness that I said I'm not the Christ but I've been sent before him he who has the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled and this is a very powerful statement he must increase decrease you want to be used by the Lord if you want to be used by the Lord then memorize what he just said in verse 30 he must increase but I must decrease one of the things that I see and I'll say this briefly but one of the things that I fear today in Christianity is because there's such a lack of heroes in the society that we live in there are some who are being placed as a hero and that very often is the pastor of the church and the more we elevate man into a position that only Christ himself should occupy the more we're going to see failures in ministry because men when men are being treated as if they don't sin or they're perfect they have a tendency of allowing that to go to their head and pride will cause them to fall the key to a ministry that is used by God is to understand as John was speaking here he must increase but I must decrease you see John's disciples and we'll see this when we arrive at this chapter John's disciples were jealous of Jesus because they even approached him and said the one whom you baptized is now baptized in and many people are following him they actually became jealous on account of John because they thought that Jesus was usurping John's ministry John says now wait a minute you heard me say to you a man can have nothing he can't receive anything unless it's given to him from heaven I haven't come as a messiah I told you I'm the one who bears witness of that one and that's the whole point of it I didn't come to be followed I came to release those who were listening to my message to follow the one who actually sets them free I'm not that light I'm here to present that light to you and that's ministry when you understand that you're not the person they're supposed to follow Jesus is and when you're able to point them to the one that never fails because if you look at somebody's life long enough no matter how good they are we all have feet of clay we all fail there's not a single one of us who doesn't make a mistake and doesn't do something wrong that's human nature I'm just saying it's true but there is one who never fails and that's Jesus Christ and that's why we point people to him and that's why John said that he must increase amen he must increase and I must decrease you see his desire was to make sure that Jesus is a center it's like what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 5 he said we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your bond servants for Jesus' sake you see the purpose of the witness is that all through him might believe in Jesus and he says in verse 9 that was the true light which gives light to every man coming in to the world so John makes it clear that the Baptist is not the light but that Jesus is John came to be a witness of the light but he wasn't the light itself this was that true light which gives light he says to every man who comes in to the world now what does he mean when he says Jesus is that true light which gives light to every man John is saying that Jesus is the incarnation of all truth by saying Jesus is the true light he's contrasting him with what would be called false light that would speak of the Holy Spirit's illumination that drives away sin and unbelief Satan deceives through presenting false hope and that false hope is preached by false teachers in 2 Corinthians 11 13 through 15 Paul said such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ and no wonder Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it's no great thing if his ministers also transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works I've shared with you before that Satan has a tendency of transforming himself if we saw him for the evil being that he truly is who would listen to him there's something that has been called the beautiful side of evil and the enemy will use things against us to undermine us and undermine the work of Christ but the way he'll do it is he'll preach a message or give a promise that seems to be true, seems to be real in something that we desire and he'll have his own false ministers who will preach a false message that will give you an idea that you can have hope and life if you just pursue what he is presenting but Satan himself is wearing a mask masquerades as an angel of light he presents himself as somebody or something that can give to you the answer that can give to you a hope that can give to you a promise of life and blessing and I'm telling you in these last days there are so many who are preaching false messages it's what Jesus said Jesus when Matthew 24 when Jesus was asked concerning the signs of his coming and what should we be looking for as I've taught you before Matthew 24 he says take heed that you're not deceived the number one thing that is going to be the mark of the last days is going to be deception and there's a lot of deception today there are a lot of people who are saying well it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe you can be a Muslim if you'd like you can be a Buddhist if you'd like you can be a Hindu if you'd like you can be a Christian if you'd like you can be a Jew if you'd like I mean some of you have seen we've all seen those bumper stickers that say coexist on it and they have all the religious symbols there as if all of those religions will leave the same thing and are worshiping the same God listen this is so simple I'll just say it like this there are two religions there's gods and there's Satan's it's that easy God's is through Jesus Christ everything that denies Christ is not of God and it's the antichrist who takes you away from the truth that's why this gospel was written because during the day of the early church there were many already rising up giving false messages there were already false prophets speaking in the name of Christ and John was dealing with Gnostic philosophers who were attempting to infiltrate the Christian faith by adding to it mysticism and so he's actually writing an apologetic so people know that this is the true God Jesus Christ that God did take upon himself human flesh he did dwell amongst men we did have a chance to behold his glory the glory of the only begotten Son of God we had that experience we walked with him we heard him speak we ate meals next to him we saw him go to a cross he died we saw him buried and he was resurrected so that you may believe because there were false teachers going out at that time undermining the gospel of Jesus Christ and that's why he begins by telling us Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and he had a forerunner a man by the name of John who was prophesied through the book of Malachi and other places in Scripture whom Jesus said was a great man that he was a great prophet he was the last Old Testament prophet he was the one who pointed the way I am the one who presents the light to you and through believing in Christ you can have life eternal but the enemy is there to deceive that Jesus is the true light that illuminates our sin dark in mind and soul spiritual illumination or enlightenment comes through Jesus Christ it doesn't come any other way it doesn't come through meditation it doesn't come through spiritual initiation it doesn't come through human effort in 2 Samuel 22 29 it says you are my lamp oh Lord the Lord shall enlighten my darkness in 2 Corinthians 4 6 it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and that's what he's saying in verse 9 this is that true light which gives light to every man who comes into the world how does he do that how does he give light to every man to every Jew to every Gentile he does it by his spirit he does it by his word by his spirit he exposes and convicts of sin through preaching it's the Holy Spirit who does that I remember a lady who approached me after a Sunday morning I'll never forget it was it was an interesting conversation she walked up to me after service and she was speaking to me and she said you know what she goes I brought my son to church today and everything you were saying at a certain point everything you were saying was exactly what he's doing so I need to ask you don't do that again because he's going to think that I told you don't do that again well when I don't know I didn't know what you were talking about okay and then two that's the work of the Holy Spirit you guys know this don't you I know this through experience too have you ever been in a bible study not necessarily here but someplace where the minister is teaching something and it feels like your male has been read have you ever had that I have he's talking about me who told him have you ever been I have that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit that's how God works and people get upset sometimes they get angry how could you say I had a guy I gave an invitation and he was big he was a big guy he used to cut down trees for a living and he looked like a lumberjack he dressed like a lumberjack and I gave an invitation and I'll never forget because he came walking forward he was standing here but in another place and I was standing on a platform and he was almost as tall as me and I was on a platform and he was standing there the only person who responded to the invitation and I prayed with him and he gave his heart to Christ and later on I got to know him and he told me something like this he said you know when you were preaching you started talking about my music then you started talking about my friends you started talking about me and I wanted to get up there and I wanted to hit you and I'm thinking oh thank you Jesus that he did not he says but then you started talking about the grace of God and how God forgives a sinner and I realized you were talking to me but I wasn't I was given a Bible study I didn't know him I didn't know what music he liked but God did and it's Jesus Christ through the conviction of the Holy Spirit by the reading of the Word that causes us to see ourselves for who we are and not only does he show me my sickness but he also shows me the remedy he shows me that I'm a dying man but he offers me life through forgiveness and grace and that's what God does through Jesus and that's why the gospel is so important it's a Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment it's a Holy Spirit who speaks to our heart I've said this before if I can talk somebody into the kingdom of God somebody else can talk them out of God's kingdom but when the Holy Spirit convicts you no man can talk you out of the hand of God it's the conviction of the Holy Spirit so without the influence of the Holy Spirit no man becomes wise into salvation being in spiritual darkness we need God's light we need God's help and that comes through the gospel that's accompanied by the conviction of the Spirit and again in verse 9 notice he says which gives light to every man who comes into the world salvation requires the work of the Spirit God's Word to produce conviction God will save any and all who come to him through Jesus Christ without distinction the Jew and the Gentile it requires agreeing with him it requires me repenting to my sin it requires me turning to him in faith and believing in trusting him and as that happens I'm born again in John 637 Jesus said it like this he said all that the Father gives me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out think about that for a minute when you come to Jesus as a beggar with your hat in your hand saying God be merciful to me as sinner he doesn't look at you and say get out of here I don't like your color I don't like your attitude I don't like your looks he didn't say that when you come to him and you say God be merciful to me as sinner he comes to you and he brings you and he embraces you and he takes you and to be his own isn't that a wonderful savior truly is when God forgave us of our sin and that comes through the power of the Holy Spirit it comes through conviction it comes through Jesus being that true light it comes through the message of repentance it comes for us as we as we open our hearts and say God be merciful to me I'm a sinner I need your help he says I will make you a new creation it doesn't matter if you're Jew it doesn't matter if you're Gentile all who come to me in faith I will never cast out and so my name is written in the Lamb's book of life not because I engraved it but because he did and he put my name in that book and I belong to him forever forever and that is our introduction to the gospel of John