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you welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of our god on this lord's day for our call to worship you can turn to the book of job job chapter 26 as our call to worship this morning i'll begin reading in verse 1. but job answered and said how have you helped him who is without power how have you saved the arm that has no strength how have you counseled one who has no wisdom and how have you declared sound advice to many to whom have you uttered words and whose spirit came from you the dead tremble those under the waters and those inhabiting them sheol is naked before him and destruction has no covering he stretches out the north over empty space he hangs the earth on nothing he binds up the water in his thick clouds yet the clouds are not broken under it he covers the face of his throne and spreads his cloud over it he drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke he stirs up the sea with his power and by his understanding he breaks up the storm by his spirit he adorned the heavens his hand pierced the fleeing serpent indeed these are the mere edges of his ways and how small a whisper we hear of him but the thunder of his power who can understand amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to psalm 148. psalm 148 be as in bravo we'll stand as we sing together [Music] is stars [Music] foreign is yes oh foreign [Music] is [Music] my foreign [Music] well let us pray our great god and blessed father we gather together on this beautiful day to sing the praises of our god we confess that you are from everlasting to everlasting we confess that you are most high even father son and holy spirit one glorious god with three persons living in blessed harmony and working together for the good of the people on this earth we confess your majesty we confess your excellence and your power and we rest in your sovereignty as we were reminded in the last hour the very knowledge of god over all things not just the big things in our lives but each and every detail gives us great encouragement and great comfort and as we gather here today may you loosen our tongues and may you open our hearts and may we respond to the true and living god with worship and praise and adoration that we would not only confess you but we would delight in you as we are reminded from scripture that of you and through you and to you are all things to whom be glory forever we bless you for the works of creation and providence we thank you that the wisdom and the power and the goodness of god are so clearly displayed in those works and as well in redemption we see those same perfections and we see that grace and that mercy that you have exhibited to us in and through the gospel of our lord jesus christ we give praise to you father that in the fullness of the time you sent forth your son born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law we give praise to you for his life of obedience to that law we give praise to you for his sacrificial suffering his death on our behalf and for his resurrection the third day and god we delight in the reality that he now sits enthroned at your right hand and that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead as we ponder who you are may it frame our hearts are right with reference to fear and reverence and and joy and thanksgiving that which is unspeakable as we consider the great mercy of god directed to us in the salvation of our souls we ask now that you would forgive us for our sin for our remaining corruption we know that you call us to live in a manner that is consistent with the gospel of our of our salvation and yet god we confess with the hymn writer that we are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love so we confess that transgression against your holy law that lack of conformity unto it trusting only in the blood of the lord jesus christ to cleanse us from all sin god the prophet zechariah said in those days there will be a fountain open for sin and uncleanness and we rejoice that we live in light of that reality and god we are desirous that others who are still in their sins those who are dead in their trespasses and sins would understand by your grace the glory of jesus christ and the ability of jesus christ to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto you through him god be merciful in the preaching of the gospel today here and elsewhere may your spirit attend and may you bring that conviction for sin and set forth christ as prophet priest and king and that one in whom there is salvation we pray father for your blessing upon those in our midst that have not made this good confession we pray for your blessing upon our children and our young people we know there are so many temptations and such wickedness that surrounds us in this present evil age and father we pray that they would by grace remember their creator and their youth that they would look upon the lord jesus christ and faith that they would know the joy of being found in him not having their own righteousness which is from the law that that which is given freely by you received through faith in jesus christ our lord and do this for your glory and for your exaltation we pray father for your blessing upon this local church in terms of the temporal needs we know that there are many among us that have physical affliction and trial and god we commit each one to you into the word of your grace we pray for all of us as we are in this world as we have the the various things that affect us in this world we have the devil roaming about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour we pray that you would fit us and equip us and strengthen us with that whole armor of god so that we may stand in the evil day as well our father we pray that you would bless other churches we thank you for those in our community that we formed alliance with over this past while we ask for your rich blessing upon them and other churches as well in our local city we pray for the saints in surrey we thank you for pastor kirkpatrick and pray that you would just bless him and encourage his heart and continue to strengthen him and bless our brother ryan as he preaches there today and use him for your glory in the declaration of the truth of the gospel of jesus christ our lord look with favor upon the church plant in vernon and god in a particular way we pray for the people of vernon now with these fires raging we just pray that you would watch over the saints we pray that you would watch over your image bearers in that place and god we long to see the establishment of a faithful biblical church in that part of the world that would preach the whole council of god almighty we pray for the missionary enterprise and we are encouraged in the last hour to hear of the work of christ throughout the earth and we pray that the word of god would go forth conquering and to conquer and that you would be pleased to save men and women and boys and girls from every tribe and tongue and people and nation we pray for the persecuted church and the great suffering that we see on behalf of the people of god in these lands lord it is a rebuke on the one hand because we see their faithfulness we see their endurance and their perseverance we see the church for instance in china that underground church that with the oppressiveness of that communistic regime nevertheless maintains fidelity to the lord jesus christ bless them and prosper them and cause them to know the nearness of god as their good as well our father we pray for your blessing upon this nation in terms of the civil government we know this is no easy task to be sure but we know it's a more difficult thing when they stand in opposition against god most high and against his christ certainly it does seem to be a psalm 2 situation that we are witnessing in our own generation and god we pray that you would put the fear of god in the hearts of our of our prime minister and of these several premiers in the various provinces we know that these men these women call good evil and evil good on the one hand wanting to mitigate a virus and on the other hand promoting abortion and euthanasia god this grieves us and we're not holy and when we consider that the blood of righteous abel cried out to you we can only imagine the blood guiltiness of this land crying out to a just and holy god so we pray that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would turn these persons from their reckless lawlessness to cause them to do what is right in terms of civil polity and grant us help in the midst of this to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and god give us the boldness and the courage that is necessary to hold forth the word of truth we know that this is not easy we know that it takes grace from on i we know it takes the presence and the power of the holy spirit and yet we know god most high that you are sovereign that you are in the heavens and you do whatever you please and as job says this was just a mere sketch of the outward dealings of who god is what can we do when we are confronted with the full glory and the majesty and the excellence of our great god help us to be humble help us to be lowly help us to be christ-like in this generation but nevertheless god help us to be faithful in terms of seeking to promote his cause and his glory and his will in this land even as he taught us to pray he taught us first to consider the name of god being hallowed and then the kingdom of god coming and we see that distinction in scripture that kingdom of grace even now father bless the preaching of the word and may we see that and experience it but we know there is a kingdom of glory on the horizon and we say with john the apostle even so come lord jesus but as well jesus taught us to pray that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven and as our brother reminded us in the last hour heaven isn't about murder it isn't about lawlessness it isn't about rebellion so we cry to you most high god that you would be merciful in this age sending forth your truth and may it be the case that many would come to know jesus christ as lord and savior and that there would be a faithful testimony a faithful witness in this land and we ask in the name of and for the glory of our lord and savior jesus christ amen you can turn with me again in your hymn books to psalm 103 d psalm 103 d as in delta we'll use a familiar tune and you can stand with me foreign oh uh is is so well you can turn with me in your bibles to galatians chapter 3 for our scripture reading this morning galatians chapter 3. i'll begin reading in verse 1. o foolish galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes jesus christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified this only i want to learn from you did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith are you so foolish having begun in the spirit are you now being made perfect by the flesh have you suffered so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain therefore he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith just as abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of abraham and the scripture for saying that god would justify the gentiles by faith preach the gospel to abraham beforehand saying in you all the nations shall be blessed so then those who are of faith are blessed with believing abraham for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of god is evident for the josh shall live by faith yet the law is not of faith but the man who does them shall live by them christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing of abraham might come upon the gentiles in christ jesus that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith brethren i speak in the manner of men though it is only a man's covenant yet if it is confirmed no one annulles or adds to it now to abraham and his seed were the promises made he does not say and to seeds as many but as of one and to your seed who is christ and this i say that the law which was 430 years later cannot know the covenant that was confirmed before by god in christ that it should make the promise of no effect for if the inheritance is of the law it is no longer a promise but god gave it to abraham by promise what purpose then does the law serve it was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator now a mediator does not mediate for one only but god is one is the law then against the promises of god certainly not for if there had been a law given which could have given life truly righteousness would have been by the law but the scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe but before faith came we were kept under guard by the law kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to christ that we might be justified by faith but after faith has come we are no longer under a tutor for you're all sons of god through faith in christ jesus for as many of you as were baptized into christ have put on christ there is neither jew nor greek there is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in christ jesus and if you are christ's then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise amen well one of the emphasis in this great epistle by paul to the churches of galatia is to disabuse them from the notion that salvation is by faith plus works in other words the judaizers had come to these several churches in the southern galatia region and said it was good to believe on jesus as messiah but you must also do the commands of moses in order to be saved paul emphasizes justification by faith alone he does that in chapter 2 at verse 16 and he reinforces that here in chapter 3. notice as well he says that it didn't arise in the new covenant everyone that has ever entered into heaven anyone that ever will enter into heaven does so based on the finished work of our lord jesus christ notice what he says concerning abraham verse 6 just as abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness it's not because he was a great guy though he was a great guy it wasn't his great guy ness which brought him into heaven it was the blood atonement by our lord jesus christ it was the imputation of christ's righteousness to him and then dropping down the apostle indicates that this again was not new if you look specifically at verse 10 he says as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them many of us some of us believe that the old covenant in particular was a covenant of works and that it was preparatory in the sense of telling the people of israel their great need for the savior how do we know our sin and misery because god's law tells us so so one of the functions of the mosaic covenant was to set before the nation their need for messiah and the demand of the law was simple notice what paul says in quoting here from the book of deuteronomy curse it is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do that now very simply that means if this morning you're not a christian and you still want to enter into heaven you might have this idea that i'll just try really hard i'll do the very best that i can and when i stand before god because it's me he'll go ahead and accept me because of my effort and energy know the demand of the law if you want to access the holiness of god or rather the presence of god which is utterly holy the way of access is through perfect obedience to the law and notice that the old testament itself was conscious of this reality notice how he goes on he quotes from the prophet habakkuk verse 11 but that no one is justified by the law and the sight of god is evident for the just shall live by faith so the bottom line is even in the old testament through the promises through the types through the shadows christ was present christ was preached christ was to be believed on for salvation by grace through faith in him and then the final observation is what he says concerning the solidarity that we have in our savior notice at the end of the chapter in verses 26 to 29 for you are all sons of god through faith in christ jesus for as many of you as were baptized into christ have put on christ there's neither jew nor greek there's neither slave nor free there's neither male nor female for you're all one in christ jesus he's speaking of redemptive benefit he's not speaking of gender obliteration he's not suggesting that in the gospel now there's no such thing as a man there's no such thing as a woman that's not it at all redemptively we have unity whether we're a jew whether a gentile whether we're slave or whether we're free whether we're man or whether we're woman if we believe the gospel by god's grace of our lord jesus christ we're both forgiven and given a righteousness that avails with god and then he brings this to the head when he says verse 29 and if you are christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise we're not abraham's seed because we're jews we're abraham's seed because we believe in the seed of abraham which is jesus christ our lord so in christ there is justification in christ there is blessing in christ there is salvation so if you are not in christ today then listen believe on him and you shall be saved well let us pray our father we thank you for the lord jesus we thank you that when god made promise to abraham and his seed it was realized and fulfilled in the lord jesus christ we thank you that those blessed promises concerning the the multitude of descendants that would come from abraham are realized through the savior and god in heaven we pray that as this gospel goes forth today many more people would believe on him and would would know joy unspeakable and full of glory that they would see him as altogether lovely they would see him as chief among ten thousand and god if there's any here now that think that they're going to get to heaven based on their good works may you convict them and may you show them that there is none righteous no not one there is none who seeks after you there is no fear of god before the eyes of carnal men and it's only and alone through jesus christ that there is salvation so god bless sinners we pray open their hearts and bring them out of darkness into marvelous light so that they may in turn proclaim your praises and we ask in jesus name amen well you can turn with me again in your hymn books to number 212 hymn number 212 will stand together oh [Music] my see foreign foreign well please turn with me in your bibles to john chapter 1. we've been looking at the prologue of john's gospel verses 1 to 18. we come to the final message on that this morning verse 18 specifically basically what john does is set forth the glory of god most high in himself before he deals with god most high with reference to the creature before he declares or before he highlights john the baptist declaration of verse 29 behold the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world he goes as it were behind the scenes to tell us more about this lamb of god so he's not only teaching us concerning the economy of salvation but he's teaching us concerning the doctrine of god he's teaching theology proper and when he does that he highlights the divinity of the word in verses one to five the mission of the word in verses 6 to 13 and then the incarnation of the word in verses 14 to 18. so i'll just begin reading in 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 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 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 he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of god and 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 john bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom i said for he come he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace for the law was given through moses but grace and truth came through jesus christ no one has seen god at any time the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father he has declared him well let us pray father we thank you for your written word we thank you for this prologue to john's gospel setting forth the glory of christ showing us who he is relative to the father prior to his coming down for us men and for our salvation god cause us to reflect upon such things and may it cause us to worship and to praise and to glorify and to adore you the reality that the second person of the trinity became flesh that he dwelt among us that we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth what an amazing reality that the god of heaven and earth has undertaken on behalf of such sinners and such rebels to save us to free us from uh damnation to free us from the devil to free us from the effects of sin and god we pray now for forgiveness that you would cleanse us from anything that would darken our understanding and that you would fill us with your spirit and illumine our minds and hearts and again shine the light upon your dear and your blessed son and we ask in jesus holy name amen well as i said you have the divinity of the word in verses one to five and then the mission what christ came to do in verses 6 to 13. it is there obvious in verse 11. notice he came to his own and his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of god that's the primary emphasis in the coming of the son of man yes he teaches wonderfully yes he's a good example but the primary purpose was as the surety of a better covenant to save us from our sins and so what john does in verses 14 to 18 is he bridges the gap how does the one described in verses 1 to 5 come to do what he does in verses 6 to 13 well that's the incarnation the word became flesh and he dwelt among us and then john highlights as he discusses or sets forth that incarnation not only the fact of it in 14a but the glory of it in 14b he then indicates the preeminence of the word in verse 15 and then revelation that has come to man by virtue of the word notice in verse 17 the law was given through moses but grace and truth came through jesus christ that doesn't mean there wasn't grace and truth in the old covenant that doesn't mean there isn't law in the new covenant but the law was given through the media or the agency rather of moses but grace and truth came to us in the person and in the work of the incarnate word and then in verse 18 he kind of comes back to where he began to highlight the emphasis or give us the emphasis that what we have in christ is the fullest expression of who god is not that the former ways of god revealing himself were bad but as the writer in the book of hebrews says in these last days he has spoken to us in his son and the son functions according to verse 18 as an exegete i'm sure you've heard that word exegesis or one who practices exegesis is an exegete well that's where this word comes from the one who is in the bosom of the father he has exegeted him so the idea being that before john gets to the nuts and bolts of how he saves us from our sins he wants us to understand something of who god is in other words the gospel isn't only a revelation of what god does in terms of saving guilty vile and helpless sinners but it's a revelation of who god is in his mercy and in his kindness and in his goodness and in his grace and we ought not to just want to survey the gift but we want to ponder the giver as well and john undertakes in that direction so i want to look at two things this morning in verse 18. first the first part of the verse we'll look at the invisibility of god no pun intended and then secondly we'll look at the revelation of the invisible god in verse 18 be but when we look at the first half of the verse notice no one has seen god at any time that is obviously a reference to the invisibility of god but i'm also going to argue that it tells us something about what we call the incomprehensibility of god more on that in just a moment but in terms of the invisibility of god notice the declaration no one has seen god at any time in the old testament you have this given to us in deuteronomy 4. the lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire you heard the sound of the words but saw no form you only heard a voice one of the reasons the people of god are forbidden from making idols is because god is spirit and does not have a body like man there's nothing finite that can reveal to us the infinite and so no one has seen god at any time psalm 97 and verse 2 tells us clouds and darkness surround him righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne but this isn't unique simply to the old testament in the new testament later in john 6 46 jesus will say not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from god he has seen the father so again that sort of universal declaration not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from god he has seen the father and then in two doxologies of the apostle paul in first timothy he underscores this doctrine of the invisibility of god first timothy 1 17 now to the king eternal immortal invisible to god who alone is wise be honor and glory for ever and ever amen again he indicates or underscores or tells us that god is invisible and then in first timothy 6 16 he says who alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see to whom be honor and everlasting power amen so when we look at this statement it is universal it is a declaration concerning who god is and what john tells us in verse 18 a is that no one has seen god at any time now certainly you've read the old testament and certainly you've come to genesis 18 and certainly you've seen that there yahweh appeared to abraham as you move on in the book of genesis you'll see that god appeared to isaac god appeared to jacob in fact jacob calls the place where he was penuel because there he had seen god face to face as we move through scripture we see as well that the prophets or rather moses saw god exodus chapter 33 moses asks show me your glory and god gives him that exhortation that no one can see him in his glory he cannot look upon his face but rather i will hide you in the cleft of the rock and i will cause my glory to pass by and you will see basically as it were the back part of me you have prophets that saw god michael the prophet according to first kings chapter 22 and verse 19. and probably the most familiar to us is isaiah the prophet when he's rehearsing his call to the prophetic ministry in the year that king uzziah died i saw the lord high and exalted i saw the train of his robe fill the temple i saw the angels crying out to him holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is filled with his glory so on the one hand we have all these statements concerning those who have seen god and then we get to john 1 18 and john under the inspiration of the spirit tells us unequivocally that no man has seen god so which is it did abraham did isaac did jacob did moses did michael did isaiah did ezekiel did they see god or did they not well with reference to who god is we don't see his nature we don't see his essence we don't see his essential glory and that is what christ comes to make known to us with reference to this reality god is spirit and there is a children's catechism the original shorter catechism was to be for children but because we're in a perpetual state of adolescence in our generation they had to make a children's catechism of that children's catechism and so the question is does god have a body no god does not have a body like men he is spirit and as a result of that the physical the the the optical does not gaze upon the glory of god almighty the fact that god tells moses that no one can see him and live remember moses asks that and i i've argued that that exodus 33 and 34 are behind john 1 17 and 1 18. so moses asked to see the glory of god and god said you cannot see my face for no man shall see me and live the reality is is that the essential glory of god because he is god is invisible to us because we're not god as we look back in the prologue notice in verse 3 all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made john underscores there the creator creature distinction god is in a separate category it's not the case that you move from the lowest animal the lowest life form on earth and then you move up to man and then you move up to angel and then you move up to god as if god is just somehow a better version of man that's not what the scripture teaches god is in a different chain of being god is creator we are creature and as a result of that no man has seen god van maastrick says that such passages the ones wherein persons saw god or god appeared to them such passages must be understand understood to concern either a symbolic vision which perceives not his essence but his operation under certain signs so when the lord appeared to abraham when he appeared to isaac when he appeared to jacob it wasn't the essential glory of god but rather it was some sort of manifestation that was calculated to be received by the creature gill makes the same observation he says the nature of god is indeed incomprehensible by us somewhat of it may be apprehended but it cannot be fully comprehended that brings me to consider this doctrine of incomprehensibility a doctrine that i would suggest is misunderstood the doctrine of incomprehensibility as we apply it with reference to the true and living god doesn't mean we can't know anything about him gill makes that clear certain things concerning god can be apprehended but we cannot fully comprehend just who god is as reformed baptists in this local church we confess that along with the 17th century divines and along with the church in or better days all throughout the ages and what we confess is that god's essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself and then later in chapter two at paragraph one it says he's incomprehensible again does not mean we can't know anything about him but it does mean we will never fully understand him we will never fully understand the essence of who god is as when one definition is given considering uh uh uh with reference to incomprehensibility it says god is always infinitely greater than the revelation of himself he is knowable but only as a revealed mystery the more we know god the more we understand that his essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself now you might think what does this have to do with me you're a believer in jesus christ god most high has saved you he's given you a great gift and now he wants you to consider the nature of the giver himself and it is scriptural revelation john brings to a crescendo this blessed reiteration of verse 1 concerning the word and the function of the word in exegeting god to us it is something that the people of god should understand and how do i make that link between incomprehensibility and invisibility the text does it no one has seen god at any time invisibility but the text ends with a declaration of who god is via the mediation of the word the lord jesus christ so the declaration has to do with the knowledge of god our understanding of god our reception of who god is in terms of his being and in terms of his works with reference to the good the benefit of his creatures herman bovink a dutch reformed theologian stated stated something very perceptive uh perceptive he said the distance between god and us is the gulf between the infinite and the finite between eternity and time between being and becoming between the all and the nothing again if you've not ever thought through these things if you've never pondered who god is as scripture sets him forth then i want to encourage you and invite you to do so the idea that we have been begraced by god that we have been blessed by god that we have been forgiven of our sins that we have received a righteousness that avails with god but we can't be bothered with understanding who this god is i'm convinced with francis territon he made the observation he said thus he who does not acknowledge and believe the trinity has not the true god but has erected for himself an idol in the place of god brethren if that is true and i believe that it is we've got big problems on earth today among the professing people of god we don't think about the trinity we don't think about the glory of jesus we don't consider not only his divinity but his true humanity we again we're like the child who receives the gift and only focuses upon the gift the gift should lead us to a consideration of the giver himself so we can stand amazed at his beneficence to us at his graciousness to us at his mercy toward us and this idea of incomprehensibility is certainly biblical job 11 can you search out the deep things of god can you find out the limits of the almighty and then as i read at the outset of worship in job 26 job is rehearsing theology proper job is pointing to what god has done job is seeing or observing the created order and it leads him back to consider the creator himself notice in job 26 at verse 7 he stretches out the north over empty space he hangs the earth on nothing he binds up the water in his thick clouds yet the clouds are not broken under it he covers the face of his throne and spreads his cloud over it just think about that for a moment in in verse eight he binds up the water in his thick clouds yet the clouds are not broken under it it's a great observation isn't it i've sometimes had that same thought how could be oh how could there be all that water in those clouds and it doesn't fall on us i mean job is musing on the created order but it leads them back to ponder the glory of the creator incidentally paul does this in romans chapter one the invisible attributes of god are clearly seen through what through the created order when we survey the beauty of the day it ought to lead us back to the creator of the day that is essentially what job is doing verse 10 he drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters and the boundary of light and darkness the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke he stirs up the sea with his power and by his understanding he breaks up the storm by his spirit he adorned the heavens his hand pierced the fleeing serpent don't anyone ever tell you that don't ever let anybody tell you that the trinity is simply a new testament concept now the trinity is in genesis chapter one in the beginning was god and god made the world by his word we see that the word is identified in john 1 as the lord jesus christ we see the spirit brooding over creation in genesis chapter 1 2. the psalmist in psalm 33 6 understood the trinitarian nature of the created order he understood the true and the living god but back to job he says by his spirit he adorned the heavens his hand pierced the fleeing serpent genesis 3 15 god's enemy his chief enemy is the devil and god always wins with reference to the devil and then verse 14 indeed these are the mere edges of his ways and how small a whisper we hear of him but the thunder of his power who can understand the i the answer is none of us none of us if we in our pondering of creation are brought to right thoughts of god informed by scripture that still does not mean we have fully exhausted god it does not mean we're able to comprehend the essential glory of god most high job acknowledges that the psalmist acknowledges that as well psalm 145 for verse 3. great is yahweh and greatly to be praised and his greatness is what it's unsearchable and then isaiah 40 verse 18 to whom will you liken god or what likeness will you compare to him so going back to john's prologue john 1 18 a no one has seen god at any time now christ the word the one described in verses one to five the one who is incarnate for us men and for our salvation he has declared him he has revealed him he has demonstrated him to us the reference to seeing god in the first part and the declaration of god at the end of the verse indicates it's not just invisibility but it's incomprehensibility and we're going to get more knowledge of who god is via our understanding of the word john calvin notes this he says when he says that no man hath seen god we must not understand him to refer to the outward perception of the bodily eye for he means generally that as god dwells in inaccessible light first timothy 6 16 he cannot be known but in christ who is his lively image in other words to get at the essential glory of god whom or of which god says no man can see me and live in order to get close to it or perceive it to some degree to have some comprehension of it we need the mediation of the word of god who comes down for us men and for our salvation now notice in 118 a b we have the revelation of the invisible god the revelation of the invisible god and john does three things here first he gives us the identity of the revealer secondly he underscores the nature of the revealer and then third thirdly the content of the revelation so let's look at this notice in the first place the identity of the revealer no one has seen god at any time the only begotten son same reference that we had in verse 14. the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth now there's a textual variant here if you have the niv or you have the esv or you have the nasb your text most likely reads i say most likely i know that it does it doesn't read only begotten son only begotten son and then the other reference is only begotten god some actually translate it that way the esv is uniquely problematic here when it says of jesus the only god and then draws a distinction between the only god and the father of whom he's in the bosom of it's a bit of a problem in terms of a good solid theology proper but i think in terms of the textual variant it's not so important to our understanding right now the history of that it's certainly outside of my competency in terms of of this particular message but i'm going to go with what we have here in the king james tradition the only begotten son there's very good literature written to defend this particular reading it's been very common this idea of only begotten ness rather it has been very common in the last several years to define it as the unique one or as the one and only it certainly bears that meaning in some passages but like everything in exegesis context must dictate and one man has done a very good study in terms of the actual etymology of the word years this only begotten ness and he's actually come to agree that the early greek speaking greek fathers may possibly have known greek a little bit better than modern americans so we ought to ought to see the the importance of this idea of only begotten we considered it in verse 14. and the reason that only begotten son is absolutely crucial when we're engaged in discussions concerning the trinity is that we need to maintain not only the oneness of god deuteronomy 6 first corinthians 8 but the threeness of god one in one sense essence or substance and three in another sense subsistence or person the thing that distinguishes the persons is the reality that god is unbegotten the reality that the son is begotten by the father and that the spirit is spirated the spirit proceeds from the father and the son when man is called these eternal relations of origin again the work that only begotten son is to do or only begotten is to do with reference to the son is to distinguish him from the father because just as bad as denying the oneness of god is so it is bad to deny the threeness to deny the distinct persons to deny the father the son and the holy spirit again one substance or essence and then three subsistences or persons they each have the whole divine essence they're not inferior one to another but john wants to indicate to us that the identity of the revealer is the one he's already unfolded in verse 18 the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth now this isn't unique simply to the prologue you see this reference to what we call eternal generation in psalm 2 verse 7 proverbs 8 22 to 26 and then in john's gospel at 114 118 316 318 you see it in acts 13 33 hebrews 1 5 first john 4 9. and in the language of our confession we have this one essence one substance and then it speaks concerning the three persons all infinite without beginning therefore but one god who is not to be divided in nature and being but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations again the father is the father of the son the son is the son of the father the spirit proceeds from the father and the son you have unbegotten begotten and spiration so the identity of the revealer of god is that only begotten now notice secondly the nature of the revealer verse 18 no one has seen god at any time the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father he has declared him now if you're thinking with me you're thinking about the fact that i alluded to john 4 24. god is spirit he doesn't have a body like men and yet here we find that the father has a bosom bosom kids is this area it's the chest chest area that's the bosom well if god is a spirit how does he have a chest well the bible at times accommodating itself to us uses human sort of stuff in their speaking about god we call this technically improper predication we call it less technically speaking in the manner of men we call it and other times anthropomorphism when the bible says that god is going to show his mighty right arm he's a spirit he doesn't have a right arm he's a spirit he doesn't have a bosom he is a spirit and therefore what john is doing is he's speaking in the manner of men he's making an improper predication but i assert that what john is doing in verse 18 is essentially what he does in verse one notice what he says in verse one in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god the bosom of the father is eternal so if the word is in the bosom of the father the word is eternal the son is in the bosom of the father so he is distinct from the father and the son is in the bosom of the father so he is of the same substance with the father so in the beginning was the word he's co-eternal with the father the word was with god he's distinct from the father and he was god that means he is consubstantial or one substance with the father in the language of the nicene creed got from god light from light true god from true god begotten not made of one being with the father so in a metaphorical way in an anthropomorphical way in a manner of man sort of way john in verse 18 is simply highlighting what he already did in verse 1. the word is co-eternal the word is distinct from the father the word is consubstantial with the father he uses this language again for our appropriation this language of the son being in the bosom of the father when you look at that language in the scripture you'll see it used with reference to marriage deuteronomy 13 6 if the wife of your bosom seduces you to engage in apostasy or idolatry i'll let you read the rest later and then you have mother and child in first kings 3 20 and you have god's care for israel in numbers 11 2. the apostle john later in john's gospel will lay his head in the bosom of jesus again the metaphor is clear it is underscoring for us intimacy it is underscoring that the word is with god in such a way that whatever he says about god is true it's valid it's accurate the law was given through moses but grace and truth came through our lord jesus christ john gill says the phrase which is in the bosom of the father denotes unity of nature and essence in the father and son their distinct personality strong love and affection between them and as all human analogies it will break down if you try to press it too hard but the idea in verse 18 is simple what john has said concerning the son in verse one he reiterates in verse 18. and i think the point practically is this when you move from john 1 19 and you start to see jesus move about the sons of men when you hear jesus teaching the religious leaders of his day when you see jesus doing glorious and wondrous things in terms of signs and wonders and miracles when you hear his declarations concerning his father and the reality that the father sent him you learn truth concerning god again not that the truth in the old testament was somehow deficient or it was somehow wrong or it was somehow bad or misguided no god's spirit led moses god's spirit directed the prophets god's spirit directed the psalmist that whatever they wrote concerning god whatever they preached concerning god was true it was accurate it was glorious but john's spotlight is upon not just the revelation here but on the revealer and i think practically brethren when we get to the various passages that has to do with or have to do with our salvation consider the fact that the god of heaven and earth came into this world this world now it's beautiful to behold it's glorious to be sure god made it by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good but we know the creation account we know they didn't stay in that pristine glory we know that god made man upright but they sought out many devices and as a result this world is a mess jesus came into this world that was a mess in the prologue it says he came to his own and his own did not receive him the very nation of israel that had the promises of god that had the oracles of god that had the prophecy concerning this one he comes to them and they don't receive him and then you move through john's gospel and you see this growing antithesis against him you see this enmity you see this rage you see this absolute positive opposition to him and it reaches its crescendo in jerusalem when they say away with him away with him crucify him brethren that is the second person of the trinity that is our blessed god who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation if that doesn't cause our hearts to leap then i would suggest we need to repent if the gift and pondering of it doesn't lead us to a consideration of the giver and great celebration in his presence then we haven't properly understood the gift we certainly haven't understood the giver this god is great this god is glorious this god is wonderful he could have left us to ourselves he could have left us in our sin he could have said to each and every one of us do what i command you in my law not some of it but all things and if you don't pony up you're going to be cast off into hell forever and ever world without end amen but that's what he does he gives that law to israel but he also gives a sacrificial system not that that system actually atoned for sin but it was efficacious in the reality that it pointed them to the atonement for sin and they understood god's grace god's mercy god's kindness and they understood the way of approach was not through the law but ultimately through the messiah that one who was promised to bring salvation to his people god in other words brethren has stooped down to do what is absolutely positively amazing that he'd say if one of us is incredible that he'd save a great multitude of us that no man can number this happens in discussions concerning election people hear that doctrine or they hear predestination they say well that's not fair fair you want fair you've sinned against the majesty of god most high fair demands punishment in hell right now westminster's shorter catechism asks the question what does every sin deserve every sin deserves god's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come no you don't want fair you want grace election and predestination show us god's grace and if there were only one predestined if there were only one elected then god should be praised for all eternity for that grace and mercy see we're so wretched and we're so polluted and we're so bad we actually think that we're the arbitrators of what god does and doesn't do and we think it's fair and not fair god through the prophet ezekiel says to the nation you say or your sons say the way of yahweh is not fair you know what god says to that it's their way that's not fair they're the rebels they're the ones who've rejected the overtures of god's mercy they're the ones raising their fists at god they're the ones going into their neighbors they're the ones worshiping at idle idol altars they're the ones that have departed from the true and living god so practically brethren because i know at times when we only hear theology we wonder well what practical use does this have for me behold your god behold the one who was in the beginning the one who was with god the one who was god in the language of verse 18 no one has seen god at any time the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father notice the content of the revelation he has declared him again the gospel isn't simply about the salvation that we have but it's about the savior himself we need to get that sort of approach to our bibles it's not just the economy of salvation that we should be familiar with that we should be interested in but it's with the savior it's what the lord god most high it's with father son and holy spirit it's with the unbegotten begotten inspirated what it's with that god who has revealed himself in the created order in the providential order and as well in the redemptive order we see god through comprehending what god has done yes in creation yes in providence but as john is going to uh describe in redemption it's in the redeeming of god's people through his son that we see a revelation of who he is so it's not only what god does he sends his son to live to die and to be raised again but it is who god is the gospel is a revelation of who god is he has exegeted him listen to john gill he has clearly and fully declared his nature perfections purposes promises counsels covenant word and works his thoughts and schemes of grace his love and favor to the sons of men his mind and will concerning the salvation of his people he has made and delivered a fuller revelation of these things than ever was yet and to which no other revelation in the present state of things will be added again he's doing what paul does in hebrews chapter one he spoke to us in a whole host of ways he spoke to us through the prophets he spoke to us in the old testament but in these last days he has spoken to us in his son another man says his teaching surpasses all other teachings in dignity authority and usefulness because it was handed on immediately by the only begotten son who is the first wisdom so that's john's point he is saying before he begins to deal with your salvation before he gets to the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world john 1 18 is directing us to behold our god in other words brethren it's not just your happiness that matters it's not just your salvation from hell it's god's glory it's god's majesty it's god's excellence it's god's power it's god's wisdom it's god's goodness it's god's grace it's god's blessedness we're supposed to learn of god as god's people this is the emphasis later in john 17 3 in the high priestly prayer of our blessed savior he says and this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent see jesus says that the essence of eternal life is the knowledge of god what will we do when we get to heaven i remember working at northrop grumman many many years ago and it was when the promise keepers i think the promised peacekeepers are cops promise keepers were filling stadiums with raw raw manhood for jesus and doing their thing and this one christian brother of mine he came and he said you know i i went to this promise keepers thing and it was really good to hear all these guys singing and praising god he says you know before i used to think heaven would be kind of boring i didn't really understand what you know how what would be fun about heaven i don't know if he used the word fun but he said i i used to kind of be a little bit concerned that that heaven would be boring so basically what he was saying is that all of this singing really encourages his heart that heaven isn't going to be boring heaven boring the presence of the creature with the creator the bright eyes not her garment but her dear bridegroom's face i will not gaze at glory but on my king of grace not at the crown that he gifteth but on his pierced hand the lamb is all the glory of emmanuel's land i much prefer the way rick anderson describes salvation many of you perhaps have taken your kids to disneyland or something equivalent to that not sure that you'll ever get to anymore too bad for you but you've taken them somewhere and every time you turn a corner the child's breath is taken away there's some new feature some new ride some new attraction and you just you lose your breath because it's so spectacular rick anderson said that's the way heaven is going to be not only is it not going to be boring but it's going to be breathtaking how does the bride describe the bridegroom in the song she calls him all together lovely and chief among ten thousand brethren if that god created this world that god is amazing if that god sustains this world when men try desperately to ruin it and bring it to utter destruction and cessation that god is amazing and if that god saved the likes of you and i he provided his son his only begotten son the son who was in the bosom of the father he provided him for us that he would live for us that he would die for us that he would be raised again for us john is telling us that god is amazing so before we get to the economy of our redemption the in-workings of our salvation the life the ministry the death and resurrection of our lord jesus john says i want you to look behind the scenes first i want you to behold your god i want you to see father son and spirit i want you to ponder what is the best subject ever who god is listen to the prophet he says let not the wise man glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me that i am the lord exercising loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these i delight says the lord praise god he has saved us he has cleansed us he has given us a righteousness by which we'll enter into his presence but surrounding that is the knowledge of him surrounding that is communion with him see why the psalmist in psalm 73 says but as for me the nearness of god is my good brethren let that encourage your heart and let it draw from your heart worship and praise and adoration to this one true and living god who exists eternally as father son and holy spirit and in the agency of the mediator of the new covenant the lord jesus christ the word who was with god the word who was god who has come down from heaven who has exegeted him has declared him has revealed him to us so if he's come not only to save us but to also reveal to us the god of heaven and earth then it is our blessed privilege our blessed privilege i'm not going to say duty i'm not going to say our responsibility it is our privilege to get to know god to understand more of god to know the persons of the triune god and to worship that god to praise that god and to glorify that god westminster shorter catechism starts there what is the chief end of man man's chief end is to glorify god and to enjoy him forever christian do you see your chief end that way do you see your chief end in the glorification of god and in the enjoyment of god because if you do you're going to want to read you're going to want to pray you're going to want church you're going to be upset when the government tries to tell you you can't come to public worship you can't come to where the glorified christ dwells in the midst of his people know when you know this god when you love this god when you glorify this god you enjoy this god and you want more of him john starts with theology before he gets in to economy that should instruct the children of god that not only do we understand the nuts and bolts of our redemption but we need to understand our redeemer and if you're not a believer here understand this john writes his gospel for this purpose he spends all this time in verses 1 to 18. you might say well he doesn't spend all that time you spend a lot more time on it than he did well seeking to sort of uncover and open it up a bit more but look at the point in john 1 20 30 and 31 and truly jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written so the signs and wonders and the things that jesus did but as well the prologue who jesus is 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 so in other words god didn't do all this so you could continue in your sin god didn't do all this so you continue to rebel so you could continue to reject god sent his son to save a great multitude that no man can number trust me you're a sinner that stands in need of salvation he's a savior that comes to the aid of the needy he is full of grace and truth he bestows that grace and truth upon needy sinners so don't tarry don't wait don't try to argue yourself out of it with some hyper calvinism but rather by the grace of god look unto the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved let us pray our father we thank you for your word we thank you for this prologue in john's gospel concerning the lord jesus christ god help us to stand amazed and to marvel at what has been done for us but not only that by whom it's been done help us god as we consider not only creation and providence but redemption help us to consider the god who made and the god who governs and the god who redeems and help us to praise and to worship and to glorify and to love and honor you and father please look with mercy upon those dead in their trespasses and sins open their eyes to the reality of their sin open their eyes to the reality of everlasting hell and open their eyes to the blessed reality that christ jesus came into this world sinners to save and we ask this in his most blessed name amen well we'll stand and sing in praise to god 564. hymn number 564 we can stand as we sing together god [Music] oh [Music] oh the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all amen god we thank you and we praise you that you've not only made us but you have redeemed us by your grace and for your glory help us to live in light of these truths and help us to rejoice help us to say with the psalmist but as for me the nearness of god is my good and may we gaze upon the son of god and may we too call him chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely go with us now help us to sanctify and to enjoy the day and to bring glory and honor unto you and we ask through jesus christ our lord amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation you