If interested in the podcast reviewing these notes click the above link, if not, please read on"
So, for each episode, we will finish with expositing the Word of God. When I preached, I used to use 30+ scriptures in a sermon and someone once asked me why I used so many. My answer was simple There are no words of mine that can break any yoke or change any lives. Only God's word can do that. I am just the guy connecting the dots. Besides exposition, there is also topical preaching and that has essentially taken over in churchianity today. The primary problem with this is that it allows pre-bias seep into the process and instead of seeking God for what He wants to say through His word, preachers leverage the bible to support the topic they have decided they want to preach about. So, instead of hearing what sayeth the Lord, we hear what sayeth Pastor Bob. The best way to preach then is to exposit. We will start with the Gospel of John and go chapter by chapter. So, this month we will cover chapter one, and next month it will be chapter two. This prevents me from deciding ahead of time what to speak about and hopefully, will allow God to speak.
So, when I read John Chapter One the first thing that stands out to me starts at the very first verse:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
So, what is God saying? His word, is not some abstract thing. In the beginning was the Word. Note the word, Word, is capitalized. That is because it is a person. The Word was God. Later in the chapter it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is obviously referring to when God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word. This is why it is so staggering to see people who say that they are Christian leaders be so careless with the Word. To be careless with the Word is to be careless with Christ Himself. To be deceptive regarding the word is to be deceptive about Christ. To lie about the Word is to lie about Jesus. This is an admonition to all believers and in this new world of social media, it is also lying to repost other people lying. Retweeting other people lying is lying yourself. It also does not matter if you think your lying is justified somehow. God never asks us to be deceptive. There is a fantastic set of verses in Job Chapter 13 that asks, will you lie on behalf of God? Do you think you can fool Him as you fool man? Does not His majesty terrify you? I know in this age of diabetic, feel-good false gospels, the church never hears about the majesty of God and certainly not about being terrified by it. We should never lose sight of the fact that His word is not something we should take so casually. The word is Jesus. Continuing on:
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
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