Introduction to John Part 1

0:44I want to take your mind back with me to the year 1776, July 4th. The Continental Congress adopted what we all know as the Declaration of Independence that declared the independence of the United States from the crown of Great Britain. It was a bold move, right? And it would take another five years of bloody conflict before the final victory at Yorktown would be fought in 1781, and still a couple more years after that until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 before the world would formally recognize the United States as an independent nation.

1:31And henceforth, from that point on, the United States would have to go forward on its own. The days of the American Revolution were incredible days. The days that followed were not easy. Having won their independence, the nation now had to go it alone. Our nation took its first steps in its pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. But as our nation took those first steps, our forefathers were there to guide this nation. But as time went on, one by one, the founding fathers died.

2:17And fewer and fewer eyewitnesses remained that could tell this story, could tell the events, or recall with eyewitness authority the events of the American Revolution, until finally only two were left: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. And ironically, exactly 50 years later, on July 4th, 1826, as the country was celebrating its independence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson lay on their deathbeds. And as John Adams was Was dying, he uttered these last words. Thomas Jefferson still survives, as if he was saying, There is still one eyewitness on planet Earth that can speak to the incredible events of the American Revolution.

3:19There's only one left, but Thomas Jefferson survives. However, John Adams was mistaken because Thomas Jefferson had died five hours earlier in his home in Monticello. And with that, the era of the American Revolutionists was over, and the United States would have to go on without those who led them through those monumental events of the American Revolution. You see, the personal link to the past was done. And since then, our connection was not through eyewitness leadership individuals, but through the words or the testaments of others.

4:09But such is the way of our world, right? One generation will give way to the next, and the next generation will have to go on without the previous. And we see this pattern of life all around us. We see this in our nation. And we certainly see that on a very local level within the Within this church. In the 65 plus years of this church's existence, Clyde Wilton has been around for 50 of those. 40 years as the pastor, 10 years as an elder. Now, as you know, he is in a nursing home this morning. But Clyde's days are diminishing, right? And soon, and I hope not too soon, but he will leave Emmanuel and Emmanuel will have to go on without him. Such is the way of life. We see this pattern not only on a national level or even on our own church level, but we also see this on a very personal level. Just yesterday, I was with my parents celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and what a shindig it was. What a party. In fact, my dad was quoted as saying, This was the very best day of my life. All 33 of us were there, and we were celebrating. And as we reminisced and had the slideshows of our family's history, or at least going back, my kids were instantly catapulted back to the 1950s, Baylor campus, a whole different era. 1950s, the dress, the clothes, the cars.

6:00Very different. We had a great celebration, but in the midst of our celebration, I couldn't help but thinking about the reality that very soon our family is going to have to go on without them. Such is the way of life. We see that one generation shall give way to the next, and the following generation will have to go on without the previous. A wise person recognizes this pattern. A wise person recognizes this. And a wise person invests themselves in the future generation.

6:45After Attorney Gibbs spoke last week, and we were processing the messages that we heard, my wife commented to me. She said, You know what? My focus has changed. I am no longer primarily concerned with how we will be able to raise our kids, but how my kids are going to be able to raise their kids. My focus, in other words, what my wife was saying is, I'm no longer focused on how we're going to be able to pass on a godly heritage, but I'm far more concerned now about how my kids are going to be able to pass on a godly heritage to their kids. Her focus has shifted to the next generation.

7:26I think we all can identify with that. And as we see the changes that are coming up on our nation and upon our land, up in our families and our church, we can look at the future and we have really two basic options. Two basic options. Number one, we could disengage. We can disengage and say, you know what, I'm going to fight the fight in my day and then I'm going to take, I'm going to move on. I'm going to focus on what I have to do, not really engage in the future generation, but do my job and live out my golden years, take my ease somewhere, and just disengage and go off and live under a tree somewhere or something and retire, live my golden age. By the way, the golden age isn't in this lifetime. Our golden age is sometime else.

8:28So we can disengage. We can say, we've done our part. Now I hope they do theirs. Or our second option is to engage, to engage in the next generation, to invest ourselves in the next generation, and to attach ourselves to the next generation. And I'm really glad that the Apostle Paul didn't, I mean, Apostle John didn't disengage, but he invested himself. He invested himself in the next generation and in the generations to come. I mean, he lived through some monumental events.

9:11He ran a very good race, and no one would have faulted him for easing up at the end. But that was not John. He was engaged in the next generation. He had witnessed a lot, and he knew that the subsequent generation needed to know what he knew. And so he invested himself and attached himself to subsequent generation. In fact, John's greatest contribution to subsequent generations came near the end of his life. His writing ministry has awakened and strengthened countless saints throughout the ages.

9:58You know, the Bible could not be complete without the Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3rd John, and Revelation. Could you imagine a Bible without that? And yet, this was God's man to complete the book of Revelation. Not just the Revelation at the end, but the canon of Scripture. This was God's man. He wrote the last five books of the Bible, and they came at the end as the capstone to all that God had said. The disciple whom Jesus loved was the one that God selected to complete the Bible.

10:39And what a blessed book it is. You know, in all my years of pastoring, I've never been bedside when a person is dying or approaching death and hear them say, Oh, Pastor, please, please read for me some of those words from Plato's Republic one more time. Oh, please, please pick up Immanuel Kant's book and give me one more time a critique on pure religion, please, or pure reason, whatever it was. Or give me some thoughts on Aristotle's Nicomanchean ethics, please, one more time. Never.

11:23But it's the Gospel of John so often that people draw comfort and strength from. And when life is near its end and when people really want true comfort, they turn to John. John had seen it all. And there's a reason why he writes in such a comforting way. He had seen so many, so much. And this morning, in order to introduce you to the Gospels, I want to talk about those monumental events that John witnessed. And I hope. That this will give you an appreciation for the importance of his gospel and motivate you to study more in depth John's writings and also to join us, to join us, to look forward with anticipation as we spend the next couple of years sitting at the feet of this incredible apostle, the apostle that Jesus loved, the apostle that Jesus said, Here, take care of my mother.

12:30So, God raised up John for this special purpose: for giving the church and the Jewish nation a final gospel record. Because John's perspective on the events was truly valuable and extremely important, because no one witnessed the monumental events of that first century like John. And he serves as our link to those events. John's gospel is a link to those events so that we can be linked to those things that took place, just like my kids could see this image of my mom and dad dressed in 50s garbs and all of a sudden be catapulted back to the 1950s.

13:25So, John gives us these words so that we could be catapulted back. To the first century. I want to talk about three categories of events that John witnessed. Three categories of events that John witnessed so that you can appreciate his gospel, believe his message, and invest yourself in the next generation. Three categories of events that John uniquely witnessed. First, John uniquely witnessed the events of Jesus' life. In John's day, the Son of God had become the Son of man. The unique one of God, the special one of God, had become the unique one, the special one of man. That point of union between God and man.

14:14He tabernacled or templed among us in flesh. John knew him, he saw him close up. He was there when he was baptized. John witnessed his temptations, big and small, throughout his life. John saw Jesus tempted like no other person's been tempted, yet he saw his sinlessness. John saw the expressions, he saw him close up. He never saw a hint of sin in his life. And he was captivated by the Son of God, now the Son of Man.

14:58John witnessed the authority of. Jesus. He saw him heal the sick. He saw Jesus touch the leper. He saw him cleanse the leper. He saw his authority over the elements. He saw his authority over the demonic realm. And even how he overpowered a legion of demons. John saw this. John saw him raise the dead. John saw him create matter out of nothing. John witnessed all of this. He had witnessed Jesus' authority over every realm of human existence.

15:40And John also witnessed the rejection of Jesus. He saw this great one, this sinless one, this authoritative one, utterly rejected and despised by his own generation. He saw his, he knew personally the disciple who betrayed him. He saw Jesus falsely accused, mistreated, brutalized, publicly humiliated. He saw him crucified. He saw him buried. He saw where they laid him. John witnessed all this. Personally, he saw this. He's like, this is no unusual individual. I mean, this is a special person.

16:21And John witnessed, of course, the triumph of Jesus. John witnessed Christ's glorious triumph over the grave. He saw Jesus Christ. His triumph over the penalty of sin. This one has come. And he has power. He has triumphed over the penalty of sin, that age-old penalty of death. Over and over. He said, I've seen the one who triumphed over death. Not only that, John heard with his own ears the powerful teaching of Christ. He heard the words of truth, the words of grace, and the words of love, and the words of warning. He had heard it all. He says, you need to know about these words. He saw the spirits of men and women come to life as they heard the word of God. He saw them awakened. He was there.

17:20And John heard with his own ears the sure promise that Jesus, this one, is coming back. And he says, you need to know about this. You need to know about this. And so he sits down to write. He heard the words of the angel in Acts 1.11, Men of Galilee, this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. John saw all this.

17:54Now, what's he going to do with this? He knows the truth. He knows these events. He uniquely witnessed these things. And he says, You guys here need to know about those too. And so he invested himself in the next generation. And he did so by writing so that every subsequent generation could be linked to these events in Christ's life. Well, there are three categories of events that John uniquely witnessed. The first category was that John uniquely witnessed the events of Jesus' life. Second category, John uniquely witnessed the events of the early church.

18:41You see, not only had John witnessed the epic events of Jesus' life, he also had witnessed the epic events of the early church, like no one else. He witnessed Pentecost. He was there. He was there at Pentecost the day the church was born. He heard the rushing wind. He saw the tongues of fire. And he felt the inner power of the Spirit of God motivating him to speak the words of truth to the generation that murdered Christ. And he boldly took his position and he proclaimed the truth and he called them to repentance.

19:22And he told them about the guilt of their sin and the penalty of. Their sin, and he told them about the love and grace and forgiveness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he saw the church go from 120 to over 3,000 in a single day, and he, no doubt, had part in baptizing many of them. He was there. He saw the church germinate, he saw it take root, and he saw it spread like no other apostle or any individual witnessed.

20:00John witnessed the first, second, and part of the third generation of church leaders. He outlived them all. This is what gives him such a unique perspective on the early church. He outlived the first, outlived much of the second, and into the third generation. His brother James was dead. Think about it. He was killed by Herod Agrippa. His close friend Peter was dead. Paul was dead. Thomas, Matthew, Philip, and all the other apostles were dead. And he was one. You wonder why John could write in such a way that would comfort so many people? Because he saw the heartache. He felt the pain of the early church.

20:55He knew what it was like. He understood the pain of persecution. He saw the loss, and yet he writes as one who was comforted. And he was comforted by the words that he shares, by his knowledge of the eternal God and his relationship. So he writes as one who could comfort. By the 80s, by the time John wrote his gospel, only John was left that could recall the eyewitness or call the events and eyewitness detail and eyewitness authority.

21:36John lived through those first generations of the church leadership. He was intimately aware of the unique issues and threats the church was facing. He was there as a leader, as a shepherd. And he knew what the church needed to know. He knew what was in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He knew what had been recorded. That had been recorded for some time. It's as though John knew he was going to live a long life because he doesn't even pick up his pen until he's an old man, way up in his 80s.

22:18And he knew what the church needed to know. We needed a sage perspective on the early church. You know, there's a challenge with the third generation. In any organization. You see, the third generation is that one that comes after the founding fathers, and after those who knew the founding fathers, then comes the third generation. It's a problem with any organization. The founding visionaries are gone, and those who knew the founding visionaries are gone. And so the third generation is always one of those troubled ones where an organization will dart off down a different direction. You remember in the book of Joshua, we read these words in Joshua 24 and verse 31. Israel served the Lord all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel. The implication is they didn't afterwards. If you read the subsequent history of the judges, as the conquering generation of Israel that knew Joshua passed off the scene, then the nation of Israel slipped into the dark and apostate ages of the judges that followed. Read Judges. That's what it's about.

23:46And the early church, as John was sitting down to write his gospel, was in danger of doing the very same thing. They were into the third generation. And in Acts 29, 29, Paul called the elders of the Ephesian church, probably the place where John wrote the gospel. John was very familiar with this church. And Paul called the elders together and he said, This, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own number, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Paul saying, they're coming, and they're going to come from your own number. And exactly, this is what was taking place in the early church: the rise of all these apostasies that the apostles spoke about. And by the time John wrote his gospel, the seeds of many of the early church apostasies had already been sown, and some of them were flourishing in places. For instance, there was the heresy of Gnosticism, or that would later be known as Gnosticism, which purported that all matter is evil, and therefore the Lord only assumed the appearance of a human body, because he wouldn't have taken on flesh, because that was evil. And then there was the budding heresy of Doceticism, which taught that Christ's humanity as well as the crucifixion and resurrection were only illusionary. It only looked like he went to the cross. It only looked like he was resurrected. And on. There were so many isms going on in the early church. And John knew about him. And they all tend to center around one issue: the person of Christ. Who is he? And over and over, these heresies that sprung up were reducing the godness of Christ. They were focused on reducing or explaining away the deity of Christ. And so, John, as the age of the apostles was coming to a close, speaks directly to the issue. And look at John 1:1. John sets the record straight in no uncertain terms. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

26:17Simple statement. Verse 14, drop down. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Flip over to 1 John 1. I read to you what he says in the first couple of verses there. John says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. We've seen this, we've heard this, what we've touched with our hands, we proclaim to you.

27:02See, there's a simplicity in John's gospel. It's so simple that, and his expressions are so clear that it causes a lot of angst among people because he's so clear. His vocabulary was very small. He only used about 600 words, which, if we put that into a modern equivalent, that would be about the vocabulary of a third grader. John's gospel is very simple. He is very simple, a man of few words. But though his words are few, they are deeply profound. And that is why I think it is said about John's gospel that it's small enough, it's simple enough for a child to wade in, but deep enough for an elephant to swim. In other words, it is simple, simply written, yet it is deeply profound with the eternal truths that it is committed, that he teaches. So, not only is there a simplicity about John's gospel, but there is a uniqueness about John's Gospel. 90%, get this, 90% of John's material is not in Matthew, it's not in Mark or Luke. 90% is not there.

28:28There is no genealogy. There is no birth, no childhood, no baptism of Christ, no temptation of Christ. There's not even the transfiguration of Christ. There is no Gethsemane, and there is no ascension. See, John is not focused about the earthly life of Jesus as much as he is on the heavenly character, heavenly person of Jesus. He is caught up in the God nature of Jesus. The famous I am statements, the I ams that Jesus says, are only found in John. It's almost as if John purposely had Matthew, Mark, and Luke in his hand, and he writes to connect us to other events. He uses the space he has on the paper to connect us to other events and other realities concerning the person of Christ.

29:24So, what is the message of John's gospel? Well, it's very simple. Very simple. The eternal God has become human. The eternal God has become human. Our Creator has become one of us so that we can become like him. That's his message. You see, the church needed John's message as it was being launched, as that apostolic age was coming to a close and the church was being launched to sail the unknown. Millennia that lay ahead. Because the church's task was to continue that apostolic testimony to every generation.

30:11Just as John provided a link from his time to the subsequent generation, every generation henceforth from that point on would pass on, be responsible for passing on the apostolic testimony, and so thereby providing a link to the events of Christ. Even as I stand here today and proclaim to you the truths that are in John's gospel, I am testifying to the testimony of John that takes us back and links us to the individual, the person, the God Jesus Christ. And that is his plan through the ages.

30:51And we will do so until our Lord returns. And so, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John linked the church forever to the person and sacred events of Jesus' life that would keep her safe through the turbulent waters of the church age. And it keeps us anchored. It keeps us on track. So three categories of events that John uniquely witnessed. First, John uniquely witnessed the events of Jesus' life. Second, John uniquely witnessed the events of the Jesus Christ The events of the early church. And third, John uniquely witnessed the events of the Jewish nation.

31:38Not only did John have a unique perspective on the early church changes, he had a unique perspective on the monumental changes that occurred in Israel. You see, the horrific Jewish war brought about the devastation of the center of Jewish life. Jerusalem was destroyed, the center of the Jewish political life. The temple was destroyed, which was the center of the Jewish religious life. And John understood why. He heard the words of the crowd in Matthew 27, 25, His blood shall be upon us and upon our children. He had heard the words in Luke 13: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brood under her wing, and you would not have it. Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He also heard, John heard the horrifying words that Jesus spoke to the Jewish nation.

32:59He said, For in the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw upon you a barricade and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. Israel didn't recognize that their Lord had come and was calling them to himself. And because they didn't recognize the day of their visitation, they would experience his judgment. Brothers and sisters, the same is true today. Through the proclamation of his word, God draws near to his people. And today may very well be the day of visitation for you that you would respond and recognize that God is drawn near in the person and in the proclamation of the person and the glory of Jesus Christ, your God, your Creator, and your Redeemer and Healer. So respond to him. But John had a unique perspective. He knew why Jerusalem was destroyed. He understood it. He got it.

34:14And he watched the Jewish nation dispersed from Jerusalem in what would be their longest exile in their history. And he understood why. And so he writes. He writes to the Jewish nation that they may understand why. I think I've shared this story with you. But one of my earliest memories of going to a birthday party was up in northern New Mexico in a canyon called Bandalier. It's this place where there was Indian ruins and there was a creek that flowed down into the Rio Grande. And then we had this great birthday party, and I was down there with another one of my friends, and they decided to have this big scavenger hunt. And so the group went out in search of this treasure. And after a little while, we were watching the group, and my friend and I said, You know what? I think it's down by the waterfalls. They're all going this way, but we think it's way down there by the waterfalls. I don't know what prompted us to think that, but we took off, separated from the group. None of the parents saw us, and we just disappeared, going the complete opposite direction, and went for, I don't know, for a long, long time until dark was, it was getting dark. Meanwhile, the other group had found the treasure, they had had the cake, they got in the van, and they were heading home. And then all of a sudden, where are those kids? So this big search party went out, and there we are, wandering down out. In this desert wilderness of the Rio Grande, looking for treasure. Didn't find it. We made it back. Everything ended okay, but that's a picture. And John understood it. The Jews are heading off. If only they had known what would truly bring them peace. They are going to wander around in this large, lengthy, barren exile. And yet John knew why. And he knew what would bring it to an end. And so he writes.

36:35He knew all this. And so there are three major obstacles of the Jews. And John's heart went out to this Jewish countrymen. First, the Jews would need to understand why Jesus was to be preferred above every other candidate. Second, they would have to understand why the Messiah would have to be crucified. A crucified Messiah was like a contradiction of terms in their mind. And third, they would have to acknowledge and come to grips with the guilt of crucifying him. Three obstacles in the Jewish mind. And John addresses them all. First of all, he demonstrates that Jesus could do things that only God could do. This is why you should prefer him.

37:20Second, the crucifixion was no accident, but was the purpose of his ministry. The king of Israel was also the The Lamb of Israel, the Passover Lamb of Israel, and he spells that out. He did not, he was crucified for their benefit. And third, John makes it very clear that Jesus was extremely gracious, extremely forgiving. And this would help his people come to grips with the guilt of their sin and go to Jesus. And this is what you need to know about Jesus. It doesn't matter who you are, he did things that only God can do. His death was no accident, but it was on purpose, that he would cover the sins of the world. And he is extremely gracious and extremely forgiving, and he invites you to come to him today.

38:16So, what is the purpose of John's gospel? Turn to John chapter 20 and verse 31. John chapter 20 and verse 31. I want you to see this, circle it, highlight it. The main message is: yes, Jesus is God. But what is his purpose for telling us this? He tells us in his very simple, straightforward language, these signs have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Jesus is God, and that by believing, In him, you may have life in his name. So, John's gospel is all about how to be saved. It's evangelistic, and it's directed at the Jew. And I believe that John's gospel is going to be that, it is going to be a key instrument that God is going to use to open the eyes of the Jewish nation in the future. If you know a Jewish friend, If you have a Jewish friend and you want to give them a portion of scripture to give them to read, give them John. John was written with a Jewish person in mind. Though it is written to the Jew, it is not limited to the Jew. John's purpose is to convince the sinner of the true person of Christ.

39:49And he lays out the true Christ for us. And in order for you to have eternal life, you must believe in the true Christ. Not the Christ of your own imagination, not the politically correct Christ that so many try to make him out to be today, but the true Christ, only in the true Christ, the Christ that John knew, the Christ that John saw and heard. Only this Christ is their eternal life. And this is exactly why John invested himself in the next generation. This is why he linked us. To the true Christ, so that we might have life in his name. Well, John is a link to the eternal God. He had witnessed the most monumental events in human history. He witnessed the events of Jesus' life, he witnessed the events of the early church. He witnessed the horrible devastation of the Jewish capital and exile from the land. So much had happened. He witnessed so much. And so, around the year 85, with all these thoughts swirling in his mind, he sits down and he writes.

41:10He writes. But his gospel is not just merely a bunch of facts and figures about Christ, but it's a powerful exhortation to believe in the Christ. I'm telling you about Christ so that you can believe in him. You know, if you ever get the chance to go to Monticello, that's Thomas Jefferson's home, I encourage you to do so. It's in Virginia. He is one of our country's most prominent founding fathers. He was a statesman, public servant on steroids. I mean, he was second vice president, third president, and he had a host of other accomplishments that he could add to his name. But if If you go to his grave site today, you can read these words etched on his tombstone. Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of the American Independence of the statute, author of the Statute of the Virginia for Religious Freedom and father of the University of Virginia. When he puts on his tombstone, he puts his three accomplishments that he wanted to be most remembered by. But he put at the very top the one that he thought was the most important, and that was the Declaration of Independence. That's what our historical guide says. He valued his accomplishment as being the author of the Declaration of Independence as his greatest accomplishment.

42:54I'm going to read to you a portion. We know this very well. We've heard this. Let me read to you a portion of the Declaration of Independence. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth that separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Well, as you know, defending this took the nation into a bloody revolution through which the United States emerged victorious, so that the USA took its separate and equal station among the nations of the world.

44:09And only history will tell, and it's still being written, friends, where our pursuits of liberty and happiness will take us. Fast forward to today, and I can say upon the authority of John's gospel that America is not on a path that leads to happiness, liberty, or life. And yet, John, John's words to us today are just as relevant as they were when he first wrote them. He understands the path to true life, to eternal life. He understands the path to true liberty and the path to true happiness. And it's in a person, that union point, that son of God. God, Son of Man, there where we meet God. That is the way. That is the door.

45:07And anyone who comes to him will not be denied. That is what will truly bring true life, true happiness, and true liberty. This was John's message to the early church. This was his message to the Jewish nation, and his message to all and subsequent generations who would believe. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just come before you, asking ourselves, Father, are we on the right path? Do we know you? Do we know your Son, Jesus Christ? Father, help us to believe the message concerning the true Christ. Father, help us as we venture into this gospel of John. Help us to believe. Help us to believe what John has written, Father, and so experience life.

46:15Father, we just commit our lives to you, and we thank you for John's example of investing in the next generation. Father, help us to be like John in that regard. You've entrusted to us the Eternal words of truth. Father, help us. Help us to steward them and pass them on and invest in the next generation these words of sacred truth. Father, for they need to know. And we thank you in Jesus' name.