John 1:14

0:00 I greet you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. What a wonderful thing to be here at Third Avenue Baptist Church on this Lord's Day. And how thankful Mary and I are to be a part of this gospel congregation and to grow in grace alongside you and to be fed by such a faithful pulpit and such a faithful ministry, I want to take a moment of personal privilege and just say that this is a part of, it's a very clear sign of God's favor on this city.

0:44 When Mary and I came here in 1993, we had a very hard time finding a church of which we could be a member. And as a matter of fact, we had to drive more than 20 miles one way to get to a church which shared our convictions. And when we were going through a time of enormous trial, especially as an institution, a few were the churches that offered a great deal of support.

1:18 And a few were the churches that reflected the convictions that are so vibrant and alive here. And I want to thank God in our presence that this is not the only faithful Baptist church in this community. How great is it? How wonderful is it that God's favor is in giving us so many gospel churches. But Mary and I are particularly, amen. Thank you, John. And John knows exactly what I mean when I say these things. You understand why we are so happy to be a part of a gospel church in this place. And I know something about the history of this church because of ministry in another church nearby. And there was a time in which I think no one thought that there would be a church here, a vibrant gospel congregation in the year 2025 and perhaps even much earlier than that. So, it is to confound the wisdom of the world, as Luther would say, intentionally to vex

2:18 the devil and to the glory of God that we gather together on this Lord's Day. I just want to speak thankfully on behalf of this church. I also want to indicate I am cognizant of the fact that this is Mother's Day. It's a hard thing to miss in this society. And even though I'm not preaching on motherhood this morning nor from a text that relates directly to it, I do think it is important that we recognize that this is a vestige of common grace in our society. Our society is confused about so many things. At least it does understand it must value motherhood. But by the way, otherwise there would be no future. Because of all human relationships, the relationship between a mother and a child, and in particular a mother and an infant, is so basic that the child will not survive but for the mother's sacrificial love. And it is a sad thing that in our society there are many who do not understand that this is a part of God's gift. This is a part of the

3:21 goodness of creation. This is a sign of God's glory. But at least they do understand. They do understand that a mother's love means something. It means something beyond our ability to express. And of course it does, and it points to something even greater. It also points to the fact that we have to get this right. The categories are very important. And so it's very interesting to us that in ancient paganisms, one of the most primal forms of idolatry was to create fertility goddesses.

3:52 And so you had cosmic mothers. And so it is like in the case of so many idolatries and so much paganism, and it's taking a good thing and turning it into something else. And it can be closer to home than that. The cult of the Virgin Mary in Roman Catholicism is another way of getting one part of motherhood right and then getting the other part wrong. So, I am so thrilled to be with gospel people this morning And while the whole world is, or at least much of our world, is celebrating motherhood, we understand that there's something right and righteous in that.

4:40 We also understand that godly mothers would have us turn to Scripture and hear the Word of God, which is why we are here this morning. I want to invite you to turn with me to John chapter 1, often referred to as the prologue to the Gospel of John, the first verses here in the Gospel of John direct us into what will be the entire message of John's Gospel. Some of the most formative messages I have ever heard in my life have been sermons on one verse, maybe two, one short passage. All of this begins with the truth that every single word of the Scripture is the Word of God. We need every single word of Scripture. We live by every single word of Scripture. There are some words of Scripture in their summary form that take particular seizure of our heart, and for good reason.

5:42 We need summaries. We as human beings need summaries that we can grab a hold of. We need focal passages which clarify and summarize and even crystallize the Christian faith for us. Sometimes these are just a single verse or sometimes two verses together. Think of the summary of the law, Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

6:13 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Another summary of the law, Micah chapter 6, verse 8. He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly before your God? The covenant God made with Abraham comes down to one verse, Genesis chapter 12, verse 3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.

6:47 And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Another summary comes of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 6, verse 16. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. We have the summary promise of the Messiah in Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.

7:34 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom One, thou shalt not be destroyed. We need summaries of the gospel. That's one of the reasons why John 3.16 is so precious to us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We spend our lives learning more than that about the gospel, but there is no gospel less than that.

8:06 Another summary of the gospel in terms of how God's love manifest in Christ comes to us for our salvation, even our justification. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This morning I want to direct us to another summary verse. It's the summary of the life and ministry of Jesus, the promise of the gospel, and the meaning of the universe in the frame of cosmological history.

8:46 That's all. John 1, verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. That singular verse is our prime focus today. So, we understand that that verse is in a larger passage in the prologue to the Gospel of John. And that's where we're going to look at that context because every text requires attention to the context.

9:20 None of the verses I cited in terms of those one verse summaries, none of them stands alone from the entirety of Scripture. But we hang our thoughts, we hang our memory, we hang our understanding on certain focal passages. We look at John chapter 1. And the passage is thrilling. We begin with chapter 1, verse 1. 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 was not anything made that was made.

9:55 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

10:27 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And to the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Brothers and sisters, there's something in us that aches to know the beginning.

11:00 We want to know the beginning of the beginning. That's a natural desire on our part. It's a natural part even of a child growing up. Mary and I found this out when we were on a family vacation. And Christopher, our son, wanted to see where he was born. Okay, born in Atlanta, Georgia Baptist Medical Center. It's pretty easy. We were in downtown Atlanta. There it is. Not enough. Not enough.

11:33 We had to go to the Georgia Baptist Medical Center. We were in the parking lot. Not enough. When something was on his mind, it was on his mind. We went into the lobby of the medical center. Oof, not enough. He wanted to see where he was born. We got into the elevator, went up to the labor and delivery floor. We got up on the floor. Good, but not enough.

12:07 He wanted to know in what room he had been born. And at that point, thanks be to God, the medical authority said, enough. And we could have lunch. Okay, so I understand that. The father can't be that much unlike his son. I guess I'm not all that different. I know I was born in Lakeland, Florida.

12:41 I know to whom I was born. I know where I was born, but that's not enough. I know I have relatives and several generations in Florida. That's pretty unusual, but several generations back, and I can trace all of that. I grew up in a massive extended family, And I can kind of figure most of them out. But my mother was one of 63 first cousins. So eventually, I'll admit, I lost track.

13:14 When I was 16, my mother came over to me at a funeral, and there were many of them, and simply looked at me and said, you can't marry any girl from this county. Got it, got it. I understand it. I got it. We have officially lost track, okay? Yeah, got it. I wanted to track things further back. I want to know what was before. And so with help, a professor and professional genealogist helped me a great deal, who happens to have the same last name and had done all this work teaching at an Indiana University.

13:57 I was helped greatly and have all the documentation all the way back to immigration from the old world to the new. And ancestors and relatives like Ludwig Moeller, who came over 1736 on the good ship Thistle, Anabaptist, located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And so I can go now, I can go to Ephrata, Pennsylvania, there in Lancaster County. I can go to Moeller Church Road. I can find the house of Ludwig Moeller and Johann Moeller, 1736 and 1792.

14:32 They're there. And you know, that means a lot to me. I can go to the cemetery and see the graves. That means a lot to me. But I am my son's father. That's not enough. In just a few days, Mary and I will be in Switzerland. And I'm not there for this purpose. I'm there for some extended Reformation lectures in several countries. and ending in Berlin. But I am taking advantage of it. While we're there, I'm going to take a day and we're going to go to Basel, Switzerland, where my ancestor Jogi Muller was killed in the Peasants' Rebellion in the aftermath of the Reformation.

15:12 And there's a monument with his name on it. They're in the city square in Basel. I want to see it. I've seen a photograph. I want to see it. His house still stands in the 15th century in Dichen. Reference to my ancestor Rudy Moeller who moved there in 1461. You know, 1461 is a long way from the medical center in Atlanta. And it's going to have to be enough. I'm going to give it up there. Effectively, I'm going to see it, Lord willing, and then go to lunch.

15:45 There is a very deep sense in which we need to know the beginning. We've got to know where we came from. We need a story that's not only old. We need a story that's old enough to tell us the truth of the cosmos. And that's the amazing thing about John chapter 1. The in the beginning is the beginning, brothers and sisters. It begins in time. No, it really begins in eternity. It begins before there was time. When the Son is with the Father.

16:17 There never was a time when He was not with the Father. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. As I said in the opening comments, this points to the cosmological origins of all that is. Behind it all, it turns out, is Christ. This harkens back, of course, to Genesis 1.

16:48 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But now this tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And we are told that through Him all things were created. So, when you're thinking about your story, we're thinking about the story of salvation, we're thinking about the life and ministry of Jesus, we have to keep pressing back, pressing back. Through the prophets, yes, pressing back. Through the priesthood, yes, pressing back. Through the patriarchs, pressing back. It's not enough to get to the Garden of Eden.

17:22 We have to know what was before. And what was before is a who. The one true and living God. In the beginning was the Word, the Logos. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things, not some things, all things were made through him. And without him was not anything made that was made. It's hard to know exactly how to comprehend all of this, and it is bigger than any of us alone.

17:53 It is bigger than all of us together with all the saints. It is inexhaustible. It points to the preexistence of Christ, which is absolutely fundamental. The preexistence of Christ, the Logos, the Word, in the beginning. There never was a time when He was not. He is the only begotten of the Father. The Word was not only with God, the Word was God. From the beginning, this is what, 1,700 years ago this year, 17 centuries ago this year, the Christian church sought to answer some of these most fundamental questions faithfully in what became known as the Council of Nicaea and what we often recite here, confess here together as a church in the Nicene Creed.

18:41 We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God begotten from the Father before all ages God from God light from light true God from true God begotten not made of the same essence as the Father through him all things were made for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made human.

19:16 He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory and shall judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end. Brothers and sisters, that's true. And brothers and sisters, because that is true, we are saved. So, when we think about the gospel story, when we think about our own story as believers, we want to press back as far as we can possibly go, and by God's grace, we can press back all the way before creation in the sovereign plan and purpose of God.

20:02 But there's more to it than just origin. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. This imagery is found in the Old Testament, of course, and it also harkens back to Genesis 1 because one of the most definitive acts of creation is when the Father said, let there be light and there was light. Now remember, what we are told in John chapter 1 is that it is the Son, the Logos, who is the agent of creation. It is the Father who speaks. It is the Son who does. And so here we have the one who is light is the one who was the agent of creating light. And the imagery that ties together light and life is as fundamental as any imagery we can understand. The image of light in the scriptural context comes to mean at least two things. Number one, the contrast between light and darkness, which is the contrast between ignorance and knowledge. And the fact is that by divine revelation,

21:05 it is by the light of divine revelation alone that we know anything. But it is by light we are also given the gift of life because in the setting of Genesis and also as affirmed interestingly of course by the most modern understandings of science where there is no light there is no life. And so here we are told that in Him was life and the life was the light of men. So you understand the gift of this cosmology It's very, very helpful to us.

21:37 We have a place to begin in Genesis 1.1. That gives us what we crave, and that is an understanding of how anything came to be. We need to know not only our origin and the place and the date of our birth, we need to know the origin of the cosmos and the plan and purpose of God. We are given that in Scripture. We are given it definitively in Genesis chapter 1. We're given it Christologically in John chapter 1. Turns out there was much more to the story. And about the life, who is the light of men, there is this declarative promise, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

22:24 Brothers and sisters, when you don't know what to hold on to, when it appears you're not certain of anything, When everything around us is shaking, this we know, the light shines in the darkness. And it's not just that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome it. That is a precious promise. By the way, this frees us from some cosmological anxiety. You may be aware of the fact that around us are those who are afflicted with cosmological anxiety.

23:01 Back in the middle of the 20th century, a good number of cosmologists came to a conclusion that the world, the entire cosmos, might cease to exist. And they had various threats in terms of the existence of the cosmos that came to their mind. Some thought that the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, was simply going to come into effect in such a way that things would just wind down very fast. Other people thought, no, it's going to be in some kind of black hole. We're going to become a cosmological nothing as something is sucked into nothing and nothing wins over something.

23:34 And you'll also notice that one of the things about the black hole is that it's black and it's dark. And one of the distinctions of a black hole is that it sucks everything into it and that means also light. And so where there was something and light, there's now nothing and dark. Okay? But the Scripture says, not going to happen. Not going to happen. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Here in the prologue to John, in this chapter as prologue to the entire gospel, you can tell us something of the context into which it was given when the next passage is not about Jesus, but about John the Baptist.

24:17 There was a man sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. I think we can understand this and how thankful we should be for this. It is very, very important that we understand that in the first century, the Father had sent John the Baptist. And of course, it is Matthew and Luke to help us to understand this, that John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Christ. And John the Baptist had a public ministry there in the Judean wilderness.

24:51 And that public witness and ministry came down to the preaching of the Word and even to the baptism for repentance. And so there were people who were confused about the light. And John comes along definitively to say, no, God sent John. There was a man named John. And he was sent by the Father as the forerunner to the one. He was not the light. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light.

25:22 And then in the very next verse, we're taken to the true light again. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. All right, this is astounding, absolutely astounding. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, through him. Yet the world did not know him.

25:56 I think there are a couple of challenges for us with this passage. For one thing, the focal verse of our consideration, John 1, verse 14, is simply so often associated with the Christmas message. Speaking of the birth of Christ and the meaning of the incarnation. And that is profoundly not wrong. It's profoundly not wrong. But it's profoundly not the limitation of the Holy Spirit's purpose through John the Apostle in giving us this gospel.

26:32 Similarly, when we look earlier in this passage, we come to understand there's always the danger that familiarity with a passage will in essence domesticate it. We've heard this passage often enough. We can say it virtually by memory. We think we know it and we're comfortable with it, but we shouldn't be comfortable with it because this passage is unbelievably uncomfortable. It is discomforting in the extreme. We're told that he came unto his own and his own did not receive him. He was in the world that he had made and the world did not recognize him.

27:11 That's astounding. You're supposed to be stunned and surprised and shocked. Even horrified. How horrifying is it that the one through whom the worlds were made, the one who made this cosmos, the one who created this universe, the one who created with the agent of creation and in this planet, the agent of creation and making every one of us in the image of God. He comes into this world and the world didn't recognize Him? I mean, they're stupid and then they're stupid.

27:44 But this isn't just stupid, this is rebellion. This is not just ignorance, It's antipathy. And he came unto his own. He came unto his own people, and they didn't receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

28:21 The Word. Who is this Word who existed in eternity with the Father, through whom the Father created the world, the entire cosmos? Who is this Word who is both light and life? This Word who is the light that shines in the darkness, this Word become flesh, the mystery of the incarnation. He became like us, yet without sin, to save us again. Why? John will answer that two chapters later. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. He came for us and for our salvation. This is the central truth claim of Christianity. It's the central truth of the gospel. Then look at verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

29:24 Such a radical claim. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We need to slow down. Let's not let this passage be too familiar to us. Let's understand that it is a summary passage just in one verse of not only the gospel of Jesus Christ pointing to the saving ministry of Christ and to the saving person of Christ, pointing not only to Trinitarian history, pointing to the creation of the cosmos as the theater of God's glory.

29:59 But it was John Calvin who reminds us, the cosmos was created not only as the theater of God's glory, but as the theater of God's glory for the glory of redemption. That's the story. The Word became flesh. This is the mystery of the incarnation. He became like us to save us. This is the central truth claim of Christianity, the radical truth of the gospel. This is a part of what made the gospel of Jesus Christ so offensive to so many.

30:32 This is a part of what now makes the gospel of Christ so offensive to so many. How can the one true and living God assume human flesh? And of course, here is where in the mystery of the incarnation, It is the Father's plan from the beginning. And Christians have to be very careful in speaking about this because there are too many who would summarize the gospel by saying God's plan was that we live happily in the garden and then we rebelled. And so plan A was the garden. Plan B is what God has to do now since we messed things up.

31:04 And that is that He sends Jesus to die for our sins and to be raised from the dead for our salvation. So plan A failed, and thus we are in plan B. But plan B is glorious. That is not the God of the Scriptures. That is not the witness of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ in His incarnation and in His person and in His work is not God's plan B. This was the determinative plan and purpose of God before the cosmos ever existed.

31:39 His plan was that the one through whom the Son, His own Son, through whom the cosmos would be made is the one who would be made human flesh in the incarnation in His submission to the purpose of the Father, to assume human flesh. By the way, not just the appearance of human flesh. This is true incarnation. The Word became flesh. Not like flesh, not apparently. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

32:15 It's radical enough to say that the Word became flesh. But then we have those words, and dwelt among us. And I just want to repeat the fact that I think the warning to us is that this has not become too familiar to us because it does sound like a Christmas card. We need to rip it out of the Christmas card and hold it before ourselves and just stare at it for a moment and recognize what an astounding claim is made here that the Son of God, in obedience to the Father, assumed human flesh and dwelt among us.

33:00 The word here, in terms of his background, means he tabernacled among us. He pitched his tent among us. He lived among us as one of us. I think it's tempting for many Christians to fail to make the connections that are found in Scripture about this. The prophet Ezekiel in chapter 3, verse 27, promises, My dwelling place will be with them.

33:31 I will be their God, and they will be my people. His promise is not just that he will have a people, but that he will dwell with them. The Apostle Paul picks up that very verse from Ezekiel. And in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16, Paul declares this is the fulfillment of the Father's promise. I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

34:03 The prophet Zechariah in chapter 2 promises, Shout unto me glad, O daughter of Zion, for I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the Lord. Many nations will be joined with the Lord on that day and welcome my people. I will live among you, and you will know that I am the Lord Almighty. You will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you, looking to Christ, dwelling among us. This is even how Scripture ends.

34:35 Revelation chapter 21, verse 3. See, the tent of God is with humans, and he will encamp with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. This is not just a past, present, future reference. This is a past, present, future promise. Jesus came. He dwelt among us. And we will dwell with Him, and He will dwell with us forever in glory.

35:11 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and thus we're saved. Substitutionary atonement, that Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. He came into His own. We did not come to Him, He came to us. For we could not go to Him. He did come to us. We beheld his glory. Once again, I think Christmas cards and even Christmas suggestiveness can lead us astray here.

35:47 You know, ever since I was a little boy, I've heard Luke, the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 2. I've heard the nativity narrative from Matthew. The words are so familiar. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. And behold sounded to me like an exclamation point. You want to get somebody's attention? Pay attention to this. Behold. But that's not the function of the word that's translated here.

36:19 Behold, we beheld his glory. What is John saying? He says we saw it. To behold it is to see it. And as a matter of fact, in the scriptural context, to behold it is not just to see it, but to see it for what it is. There are some people who see the same thing and they don't behold anything. There are those who look at creation and they don't behold anything. They can be amazed at the wonder or the beauty of the refracted sun in the sunset. They're not seeing the glory of God. They're not seeing the heavens telling the glory of God. There's a difference between seeing and beholding.

36:52 And when you have the declaration, even the command as from the angels, behold, this doesn't mean just see. It means see. And here's the testimony of John the Apostle, and this is what comes down to us now. We beheld His glory. Glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This is the apostolic testimony, and this is what's so important for us to recognize because we're reading here from John's Gospel. We're reading here from the prologue to John's Gospel. John the Apostle John, by the Holy Spirit, is giving us this testimony, this gospel, this good news concerning Christ.

37:31 He begins before the creation of the cosmos when time was not and brings us down to salvation history and says, behold. But notice what's going on here. He says, behold, in such a way that we are to understand, we behold His glory. And that glory is distinctive. Glory is of the only begotten of the Father, the only Son. It's a very specific glory.

38:08 When the angel said, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be for all the people. When John says, we beheld his glory, what does John mean? Well, for one thing, it is clear in the Gospel of John that there were particular moments when the glory of the Son was particularly revealed. In the Gospel of John, this comes down sometimes to the signs, the miracles that Christ proclaimed.

38:40 When they happened, Jesus was basically saying, behold. and when they're communicated to us in the Gospels they basically are communicated to us in order that we would behold see in biblical theology one key moment in understanding this text comes with the transfiguration of Christ and there you had the disciples just a couple of them who were there and got to behold the transfigured Christ. They got to see the glory.

39:22 Now, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John's writing this gospel, and he knows what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. And all four of the gospel writers indicate in the literary context of the gospel, they know what they're doing. They are inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us, as Luke will say, to Theophilus, as Greg's currently preaching. And that is an orderly and accurate account of these things. They all in their own way say, behold. But here's the thing. We're not with Jesus.

40:01 We do not behold what they beheld as if we are standing where they stood, living as they lived, following Jesus day by day and step by step. So are we at a disadvantage? When we behold the glory of the incarnate Christ, are we now at a disadvantage over those who were there then? Well, there's a certain sense in which we understand the blessedness of those who got to see with their eyes and hear with their ears. To be in the presence of the incarnate Christ and to hear Him teach and to be His disciples.

40:43 But here again with the Reformers, we need to celebrate the fact that there's another way of looking at that, and that is the truth, that we are actually at an advantage over the disciples at the time. We have an advantage in that we have the Scriptures. And so we know more. That's an astounding thing, isn't it? We know more than the disciples did at the time of the events that are recorded. We're not disadvantaged.

41:15 We're actually advantaged by the gift of Scripture. It was Jesus himself who said the perfect will come. So we shouldn't envy the disciples or the apostles in this sense. Nor, by the way, should we feel ourselves disadvantaged. We are not disadvantaged. So when the command comes that we are to behold his glory. We are not at a disadvantage to those who saw Him in His earthly ministry, but we are looking forward to that day when we shall no longer see through a glass darkly, but we'll see Him face to face. But right now in this age, by the gift of the Scriptures and the testimony of the apostles, we are not disadvantaged, brothers and sisters.

41:54 We behold His glory. Glory is of the only begotten of the Father. Now here's a danger, here's a danger. And this is partly timing today, okay? This is partly timing. We're not to seek to see now a visible glory. To astound the world in a visible glory.

42:31 In Rome, all cameras are pointed at the declaration of a visible glory. Square, basilica, color, drama. This place is just downright boring. No one walks in this building and goes, wow. Our preachers show up in fairly nondescript dress.

43:04 There's just very little drama. No gold chains, no clanking things, no incense. You don't get to smell anything. If you do, it's a mistake. Sorry. So, it was Luther who said of the church building, it's a mouth house. It's a mouth house. What's it a building for? It's a building for opening the mouth. And what do we do? We open the mouth and sing praises to God. It's a mouth house. We open the mouth and we pray to God.

43:37 It's a mouth house. We have the preaching of the Word of God, which is a central act of Christian worship. And then we don't get to like blow horns and burn incense and swing stuff just to say how glorious it was to have been here. But brothers and sisters, if you think our worship is less glorious, you're missing it all. The glory is in Christ Jesus, the Lord.

44:12 The glory is in the worship of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The glory is in the reading of God's Word. The glory is in the singing of scriptural hymns. The glory is in the preaching of the Word of God. We behold His glory. Glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. All right. Full of grace and truth.

44:46 But that comes only after one key phrase, which is absolutely crucial. glory is of the only son from the father in just a few weeks in berlin i'm going to be preaching at the european congress on evangelism it's a it's a moving responsibility it was 60 years ago next year that billy graham called together christians from around the world to the world congress on evangelism held in berlin in 1966. And this is an effort in a very different age to meet in the same city and especially to concentrate on encouraging gospel churches in Europe in particular.

45:37 And so pastors are going to be, provision has been made to bring an incredible number of pastors to Berlin who have never been in an assembly like that before. And And I was asked to preach on Jesus Christ, God's unique Son. And the primary context there is over against theological confusion in a world of religious pluralism. The main context there is to make very clear that Jesus is God's unique Son.

46:15 And that is to say He is the way, the truth, and the life. And to make very clear, there's salvation in no other name. But the reality is that we declare two things at the same time. Yes, there is one and only one Son of God. There's one and only one incarnate Word. There is one and only one Son of the Father. There's only one Redeemer, only one Savior. That's true.

46:46 But we wouldn't have the gospel to say only one. We have the gospel to say there is one. This is the definiteness of the gospel. It is the objective reality that God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. That God saves sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ. That Jesus saves. So, yes, there is only one, and we're living in a time in which we have to make that very clear.

47:20 There is only one. There's only one gospel. There's only one Savior. But thanks be to God, there is a gospel, and there is a Savior. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. glory is of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth grace and truth are the last words here the grace of God of course affirms our salvation Jesus has come as our gracious redeemer God's grace is this that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us this is the unmerited favor of God it's God's graciousness in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

48:12 This is grace. This is grace, grace, grace upon grace, saving grace, grace alone. Now here's, just in conclusion, something we need to watch very carefully. That's the shocking word. That's the shocking word. We have grace and truth. Truth would not have surprised those who would have heard John's gospel for the first time. And we'll get to truth. But the word before truth is grace.

48:46 And this means that gospel has priority when we speak of Christ. He is preeminent in creation because he was the agent of creation. But the word became flesh and the word who dwelt among us, the word whose glory we behold, The only button of the Father is full of grace. If we're not shocked by that, we've heard it too many times. The Son took on human flesh for what?

49:20 He came into His own, and His own received Him not. So He came in judgment. Well, yes, as a matter of fact, He did. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. So he came in condemnation, and in a sense, he did. But that's not why he came. He came to save sinners. He came to accomplish redemption. He came as grace.

49:56 Grace and truth, and thus they are always together. George Beasley Murray, British biblical scholar, who was one of my professors when I was in seminary, he pointed out that here in the prologue to the Gospel of John, John ingeniously by the Holy Spirit, pulls together in the terminology here, the Old Testament understanding, the Hebrew understanding of truth as trustworthiness, and the Greek understanding of truth as that what is.

50:29 We would say objective truth. It's a sweet thing, full of grace and truth. And that truth is the objective truth that this is none other than the Word become flesh. But it's also truth as trustworthiness. The Father who had promised salvation is trustworthy to save. Look at verse 18.

51:02 no one has ever seen God, the only God, who's at the Father's side. He has made Him known. There's a beautiful contrast here in this passage between Moses and Christ. The law was given through Moses, grace, and truth come through Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, we are here because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We're here to behold His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

51:34 It is true, and this is to our humility, that he came into his own and his own received him not. But we are here because of the power of the gospel. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. We're here in Christian worship this day in this church to behold his glory. To declare the truth of the gospel. But brothers and sisters, this text also comes with an invitation which is hear the gospel and be saved.

52:16 This book, John's testimony, is called the gospel of John because it is the testimony of Christ and it is a gospel because it is good news because indeed God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him might not perish and have everlasting life. Brothers and sisters, the Apostle John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, presents this before us with the command to believe and be saved.

52:53 our commendation is believe and be saved in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's pray father we are so thankful for what you've given us in this text father thank you for summarizing your truth in so many cases in just one verse father may we live in light of this gospel for the rest of our lives to be prepared for eternity to reign with Christ Jesus our Lord in whose name we pray amen