THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
*Jesus Christ is our life and light
*v5 – darkness cannot hinder, stop, extinguish or overcome light. So do not become dark conscious.
*Be light conscious – darkness only wins when believers remove or hide their light
Matthew 5:14-16…..
v6 – The Light shines through people. An example is John the Baptist…
JOHN WAS A MESSENGER
1. He was a man sent by God
-his name means the Lord is gracious
-a normal man who was available
2. He was a Nazarite
3 Characteristics of a Nazarite
1. They could not touch a dead body – represents living a life of purity
2. They could not drink alcohol – represents not giving in to the ways of the world
3. They could not cut their hair – this represents not having any reputation
v7 – MISSION
-John was a witness – a witness tells everything you know…
-tell everything you know about Jesus
v8 – MOTIVE
-John’s motive was to point people to Jesus Christ
-point to the right Jesus – false Christs in matthew 24:5,11,23-25
v9 – Jesus is the only true light
-every other light is false
gives light to every man – every person receives a chance to be saved
-through creation we can be saved – Romans 1:16-20; 2:1
vs10-11 – THE LIGHT IS RESISTED
-humanity has a free will and can resist the light
v10 – the kosmos or world is
***the creation of God
***the system ruled by the devil
v11 – to His own – the Jewish people
-the majority of people rejected Jesus and this happens today – Matthew 7:13-14
v12 – Jesus was received by some people
-at salvation we become children of God
-unbelievers are never children of God, but related to God only through creation
v13 – you must be born again to be saved
a. being born again has nothing to do with your parents – “NOT OF BLOOD”
b. being born again has nothing to do with the plan or design of humanity – this refers to works – “NOT OF THE WILL OF MAN”
c. being born again has nothing to do with human desire “NOT THE WILL OF THE FLESH”
—we had no desire to be saved. The Lord pursued us and saved us…….
v14 – The Incarnation
dwelt among us – means to pitch a tent
beheld – means to stare at for a long period of time
Beheld His glory
***the manifest presence upon Jesus
***the inner glory of His character
Full of grace and truth
full truth will destroy someone
full grace will hurt someone
v15
John bore witness – means to be verbal
John testified about Jesus when he shouted
cried out – means to shriek and shout like a lion
preferred – means to rank higher than me or anyone
-Jesus Christ is higher than anything or anyone at all
v16 –
His fullness – this is the sum total of all of His attributes and power
-we have all of Jesus
-Colossians 2:9-10 – complete in Him…filled full of Him
grace upon grace – it speaks of one grace on top of another grace…grace leading to more grace
-this grace is for every situation
v17 – the law was given to Moses from God for Israel – it cannot save us and just points out our sin
grace and truth came through Jesus by which we can be saved
v18 – no one has ever seen the Lord in the fullness of His glory
-only begotten Son – unique and one of a kind
in the bosom of the Father – has always been and existed & has been declared
v19 – a delegation – a religious group – approaches John to resist him
RESISTANCE
—a force that hates the thought of believers doing something great to change the world
—the ability to prevent something from having an effect
—opposition
—a force attempting to slow down or stop progress
RESISTANCE STATEMENTS
(1.) RESISTANCE AUTOMATICALLY IS A SIGN THAT YOU HAVE DRAWN THE ATTENTION OF THE ENEMY
-go after the Lord and the enemy will go after you – but we win every time…
-resist him back – James 4:7
(2.) RESISTANCE IS A SIGN YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK
-rejoice when you are resisted
-make sure the resistance is from the enemy
(3.) RESISTANCE CAN NEVER BE ALLOWED TO DISTRACT YOU
-spiritual resistance will always be present – keep going
-an example is Nehemaih – take up a shovel and a sword