A Beloved’s Witness

If that’s the case, I’m going
to do it for the glory of God. So, if God’s people would take
their Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John. The first thing that I would
note about the Gospel of John is that it is absolutely invaluable
to the child of God. Philip Schaff, who was a theologian
and church historian, many of you are familiar with him, said
that the Gospel of John is the most important literary production
ever composed. I think many people would even
argue with that, but it is dynamic. It is complex. The Gospel of
John has been creatively but accurately likened to a pool
in which a child can wade, in which an elephant can also swim. One explained that dynamic when
he said that this gospel is for the various beginner in the faith
and for the mature Christian. We can all gain from it, we can
all glean from it. And as we begin to get into the
gospel of John, I’ve already shared with several that my one
prayer is that any unbeliever that comes in, in the next who
knows how long, When they sit under the preaching of the Gospel
of John, I pray that they would hear the Gospel. I pray that
they would not only hear the Gospel, but they would come to
know the Savior that is proclaimed here in this Gospel. Speaking
of that complexity to the Gospel of John, where a child can enjoy
it, but also the deepest theologian. One pastor said, the peculiar
character of this book has been set forth by the single adjective
sublime. For sublimity is said to result
from two factors, simplicity and profundity. The sea is sublime
because of its unbroken expanse and its measureless depths. And
so the cloudless sky is sublime because of its limitless vaults
of blue. such too as this little book.
Its stories are so simple that even a child will love them,
but its statements are so profound that no philosopher can fathom
them. It is not only invaluable, it
is dynamic. Third, I would say that this
gospel is beloved. One, said, the fourth gospel
is the most familiar and the best loved book in the Bible.
It is probably the most important document in all the literature
of the world. It has induced more persons to
follow Christ and has inspired more believers to loyal service
than any other book that could be named. I know I personally
came to faith through the gospel of John, It’s true the vast majority
of Christians, to the vast majority, the gospel of John is esteemed
most highly in all the biblical writings due simply to the fact
that it was by the reading of this very gospel that they were
drawn to faith in Christ. There’s no doubt that this gospel
serves not only the unbeliever to point him to faith, but also
to the believer to strengthen her walk with Christ. G. Campbell Morgan said so poignantly
about the gospel, he said, turning to the gospel according to John,
we find ourselves immediately compelled to worship. Same personality
as presented to us as that which we have grown familiar in the
earlier stories. He points to the other gospels. From the beginning, however,
we are conscious of a new assertion on the part of the writer, a
new quality about the person. As we proceed, we find that the
change is not that of difference, but of an unveiling and an explanation. The revelation of this gospel
is that of God manifest in flesh. And so, we would start with a
rather strange question. Since I’ve already introduced
the gospel of John, who wrote this gospel? Some would say that
that is an absolutely absurd question. That of course John
wrote the gospel, after all his name is on it. It’s a silly question,
the answering which shouldn’t even be considered. But we begin to balance that
out because some have urged that the authorship of the gospel
matters very little. After all, we as conservative
Christians would believe that ultimately the Holy Spirit is
the author and the human agent is unimportant. Others consider
the question of utmost importance. One faithful commentator said
this, the importance of ascertaining the authorship of the fourth
gospel can hardly be exaggerated. In no other gospel have we the
direct testimony of an eyewitness who enjoyed an intimacy with
our Lord allowed to no one besides. If this claim be true, then we
have not only the narrative of one who saw and was part of what
he records, but we have a picture of our Lord by one who knew him
better than anyone else did. It is imperative that we should
know whether we can trust its statements or not. And so the
question following up is doesn’t John claim to have written it?
No, not specifically. The fourth gospel never mentions
John’s name from beginning to the very end. That shouldn’t
disturb us too greatly. None of the four gospels really
have that feature. None of their authors reveal
their names in the text. All of them have those titles
that have been appended over the years. But it’s not like
Paul or James or Peter, where their name is woven into the
actual text of the scripture itself. As one said, the author
in this gospel doesn’t identify himself until he comes to the
very end of the book. Listen to John chapter 21. In
John chapter 21, Peter turning around saw the disciple whom
Jesus loved following them. The one who had leaned back on
his bosom at the supper said, Lord, who is the one who betrays
you? The one Jesus loved is really, that’s the most that you get
out of the author. John 21, 24, this is the disciple
who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we
know that his testimony is true. That’s about the closest you
come to anyone identifying themselves as the author. And yet, though the writer only
alludes to himself briefly, the church came to believe that it
was John the apostle who wrote this gospel, and they came to
believe this almost as soon as it was written. And that John
wrote this gospel, was accepted without dispute for hundreds
of years. One said it this way, tradition
answers unanimously that the author was John the Apostle.
But that’s tradition. John frequently will give, the
author rather, at least bear with me for a moment as we build
towards recognizing that it’s John, the writer of this gospel
will frequently give testimony, and it’s testimony that he calls
us to believe. Another said it this way, chronicling
the history when he said, from the beginning of the third century
to near the close of the seventeenth century, the fourth gospel was
by a common and substantially unanimous consent attributed
to the Apostle John. Did you hear that? From the earliest
days of the church, about A.D. 200 to about A.D. 1500, 1600, The gospel was always attributed
to John. Another said it this way, from
the latter part of the second century, if not earlier, the
authorship of this gospel has been assigned in the tradition
of the church to an eyewitness of the Lord’s ministry, one of
the original 12, the younger son of Zebedee, the beloved disciple
himself, who is believed to have lived a great age and to have
attained to a position of authority in the church of Ephesus. This
traditional ascription still receives support and has never
been shown to be impossible, but it’s still tradition. It’s
what the church has always believed. But not only has John consistently
been considered the author of this gospel, no other name in
the history of the church has even been proposed, suggested
as such. John, the apostle John, the son
of Zebedee, isn’t named as the author, but no other name in
the history of the church has even been suggested. No other
manuscript as one author said, has ever been found that attributes
John’s gospel to anyone other than him. So the belief that
John wrote this gospel goes back to the very earliest days of
the church. In fact, the very first person
that we have record who definitely ascribes this gospel to John
was Theophilus of Antioch, AD 180. Almost the end of the first
century of the church. Irenaeus, another early church
father, also says that it was written by John the Apostle,
and his source was Polycarp. Now let me do the math here for
you. John the Apostle knew Polycarp firsthand, and Polycarp knew
Irenaeus firsthand. He essentially taught him Sunday
school. Listen to this beautiful account. Irenaeus years later
would write to his friend Florinius and in it he mentions his dear
old Sunday school teacher Polycarp. I distinctly remember the incidents
of that time better than the events of recent occurrence.
For the lessons received in childhood, growing with the growth of the
soul, became identified with it, so that I can describe the
very place in which the blessed polycarp used to sit when he
discoursed, and his goings out, and his comings in, and his manner
of life, and his personal appearance, and the discourses which he held
before the people, and how he would describe his intercourse
with John, and with the rest who had seen the Lord, and how
he would relate their words, And what were the accounts he
had heard from them about the Lord, about his miracles, about
his teaching, how Polycarp, having received them from the eyewitnesses
of the life of the word, used to give an account harmonizing
on all points with the scriptures. In other words, He puts forward,
does Irenaeus, this saintly Sunday school teacher, Polycarp, and
he says, I used to sit at his feet while he would tell me in
glowing terms about John who spoke about the word. The gospel of John has borne
this title. the gospel according to John
since the earliest history of the church. It is as one said
almost without question. But it’s that almost that has
me addressing this this morning. The earliest versions contain
it. It is traditionally held throughout
the church. The earliest list of the scriptures
attributed to John the Muratorian Canon, Irenaeus, early church
father addressed it, Theophilus addressed it. In fact, Theophilus, a quote from
his words reads like this, hence the holy writings teach us in
all the spirit bearing men, one of whom John says, in the beginning
was the word and the word was God. He quotes the gospel of
John specifically attributed to John. So with all that tradition
and all that manuscript evidence and all that great confidence
flowing out from such, from where has this looming question about
the apostle or the authorship of the gospel come? It began
as just one of many fronts of an all-out liberal attack on
the integrity of the Word of God. One characterized it like this,
ancient tradition and the unbroken subsequent opinion have recognized
his authorship till the rise of modern criticism. In other
words, those who sat in judgment over the scriptures, those so-called
scholars that began to criticize and scrutinize every last detail
of spiritual things, miracles, the veracity, the believability
of scripture. He goes on to say, this same
class of critics are those who deny the virgin birth of Jesus,
Jesus’ deity, his bodily resurrection, have inferred that the author
was not John the Apostle. The theory is based on such flimsy
evidence, on such an obvious desire to discredit the book,
that it is not even titled to a serious consideration by Christian
believers. Now that said, we’re going to
understand the evidence. Why do they say this? MacArthur,
in his inimitable directness, puts it this way. Despite the
powerful external and internal evidence, many critics as always
desperately needing to assault the integrity of scripture to
discredit its truth and authority over their sinful lives. deny
that the apostle wrote the fourth gospel. The arguments they put
forth are reflective of unbelief. Now why the gospel of John? Why are they so venomous and
why are they so intentional about attacking the gospel of John?
What is at stake? Why would anyone seek to discredit
John as the true author of this gospel? Lyman Abbott, one of, I mean,
he is one of my new heroes of the faith. I can’t wait to meet
this brother in heaven. What a humble, godly, and careful
commentator. He said this, if this gospel
was written by the apostle John, We have the testimony of an undoubted
eyewitness. Not his conclusions, but his
account of the facts in respect to which he could not well be
deceived. It would establish beyond the
possibility of reasonable question, the truth of historic Christianity. Did you hear him? If John wrote
this book, this is truth. Because he was there. He was
there with Christ. He walked with Christ. And what
he says is absolutely true. So in desiring to conduct ourselves
with reasonable stewardship in so great an undertaking as to
delve headlong into a full and complete study of this marvelous
book, we ask, who wrote the gospel? And here are some clues as you
begin to draw a conclusion. Here are some clues that can
be gleaned, the facts that we can gather from the gospel itself.
And this, by the way, is considered what is known as the classic
defense of John’s authorship of the gospel. Number one, the
author of this gospel was almost certainly Jewish. He was Jewish. One characterizes it in that
he is perfectly at home in Jewish opinions, points of view, the
ideas respecting the Messiah current at the time, the hostility
between Jews and Samaritans, Jewish usages and observances,
the form of the gospel, the style of the narrative, all are essentially
Jewish. And so it has this Hebraic, Hebroistic
style. He has a knowledge of the Hebrew
scriptures, But he doesn’t use the Septuagint, and there is
a point to be made there in a moment. He uses primarily the Old Testament
translation, the Hebrew Old Testament. He’s very familiar with the manners
and customs of the times. His knowledge reflects not a
student of the books, and that also would become important in
a moment. He’s not a student of the books. He’s not merely
somebody who passed through or traveled through the area briefly,
but he’s one who is immersed and had imbibed the culture,
and he could speak to those things fluently. Secondly, not only
was the author almost certainly a Jew, the author of this gospel
is almost certainly a native of Palestine. His awareness,
his knowledge, his descriptions of the topography are just so
gripping. In mentioning, as one said, a
fresh place, he commonly throws in some fact regarding it, adding
clearness or interest to the narrative. Here’s what he does. Regardless of whether he’s talking
about a person or a place, he will inject this little comment
that is really meant for you and I, who wouldn’t understand
the first century times, the topography, the locality, or
the individuals. Listen to just a few, and there
are Dozens and dozens and dozens of these. In John 11, 18, it
just records, now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles
off. He does that for us. In John
1, 28, these things took place in Bethany, beyond the Jordan,
where John was baptizing. In John 1, 44, now Philip was
from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. John 4.47, when he
heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went
out to him and was imploring him to come down and heal his
son for he was at the point of death. Judea, Galilee, he went
out. This writer, as I said a moment
ago, uses the original Hebrew, not the Greek translation, not
the Septuagint. One described it, he said, a
Jew of the dispersion would probably betray himself not only by writing
a freer Greek style, but by showing a less intimate knowledge of
the localities of the Holy Land and by using the Septuagint and
not the original Hebrew. John, John is intimately acquainted
with the Hebrew Old Testament. And he, when he quotes, he quotes
that Almost exclusively. It goes without saying that the
author of this gospel is almost certainly lived at the time of
Jesus’ ministry. We can’t even begin to conceive
of a person who claims eyewitness status that should be believed
in any way, shape, or form that was not there during the time
of Christ. Number four, the author of this
gospel was almost certainly an apostle. Almost certainly. One faithful commentator said,
the fourth gospel tells us more of what passed in the apostolic
circle than we can gather from the whole of the other three
gospels. There is that intimacy of being
part of the inner circle, not only of the 12, but the inner
inner circle of the three. The minute knowledge of the incidents
and the relation between the apostles and the Lord would seem
to point exclusively to one of the 12 as the author. So now
we’ve narrowed it down. At least we’ve narrowed it down
to one of the 12. Another says that he knows the
thoughts of the disciples on certain occasions where no other
writer of fiction would have attributed to them. How do you
begin to talk about another apostle’s thoughts? Words that were spoken
in private to Christ or among themselves. And then last, almost
last, the author of this gospel was almost certainly an eyewitness.
John 1.14, listen to this. says that the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. Glory as of the only
begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Well, you
would say, you know, I remember this transfiguration account.
that there were actually three of the apostles there on the
mountain. Any one of them could have written and any one of them
could claim that. Do you know what? John doesn’t
even address the transfiguration and I don’t even believe that
he’s talking about the transfiguration in that sentence. He’s talking
about the fact that Christ came in all his glory and everywhere
he went we saw it. We beheld his glory. The author
was an eyewitness. author witnessed the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ having come to earth. And one said in
this regard that not only are individuals named and so described
that we seem to know them, but frequently there are added specifications
of time and place, which obviously are the involuntary source of
information which flows almost unconsciously from a full memory. In other words, John, as he begins
to speak, is painting this vivid picture for us. He speaks of himself as a witness
of the utmost credibility. Listen to John 19. In John 19,
it’s recorded, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear
and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen
has testified.” In other words, what John is saying there, I
saw it. I saw it with my own eyes. The
Savior was pierced through with a sword. How could you possibly
forget that? And if you saw it, you’d never
forget it. And how could you claim it if
you had not witnessed it? Not in these terms. He who has
seen it testified and his testimony is true and he knows that he
is telling the truth so that you also may believe. The author is of this gospel
shows an uncommon intensity. That’s something that points
directly to John as we’ll see in a moment or next week. One characterized it this way.
He said the author was by nature and temperament ardent, impulsive,
vehement. The intensity of his nature has
been tamed with age, experience, or grace, or the three combined,
but the indications of his native character crop out in occasional
utterances, and you see that in John. You see his character,
you see his nature, and that’s what the scriptures do. The Holy
Spirit inspired them absolutely, but they spoke through human
mouthpieces, and we get their personality, we do. And we get
it probably more vividly with John than almost any other writing. The author of this gospel also
identifies himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. I alluded to
that a moment ago. In the other three gospels, John
is frequently identified, spoken of by name. In this gospel, he
isn’t mentioned even once. And that’s noteworthy. Let me
take you to a couple of passages of scripture, John chapter 13. John chapter 13, and we’ll be
quick about this. John chapter 13, there was reclining
on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved, it doesn’t
name him, It just identifies this dear friend of Christ. So Simon Peter gestured to him
and said to him, tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. In John chapter 19, you have
the same thing. John chapter 19 in verse 25.
Therefore the soldiers did these things by standing by the cross
of Jesus where his mother and his mother’s sister Mary the
wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene when Jesus then saw his mother
and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby He said to his
mother woman behold your son Then he said to the disciple
behold your mother From that hour the disciple took her into
his own household. He doesn’t even name his name
there Likewise in John 22, the other
disciple whom Jesus loved. John 21 7, the disciple that
Jesus loved. John 21 20, the disciple whom
Jesus loved. Who is it? Well, it isn’t Peter. It can easily be differentiated
from Peter because in verse 20 it says, Peter turning around
saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. And unless he had a mirror standing
handy right there on the shore, it’s not Peter. James died way
too early to be writing this letter approximately AD 100. And so it’s never really been doubted. It’s never certainly been proven that this is anybody other than
John. You say, what are the implications of acknowledging the one referred
to frequently as the disciple whom Jesus loved is actually
the apostle John? It’s huge. Listen to how one
put it. Admitting that the writer was
the disciple whom Jesus loved, then we have the key to what
seems an impossible omission from the sons of Zebedee in this
gospel. You read it and you wonder, what
happened to John and James? This tells us the writer deliberately
omits from this all mention of his own family, but his writing
is the record of events in which he himself had taken part in.
In this lies its value. His own personality cannot be
suppressed. He is present in all that he
writes, and yet his presence is felt, not seen. A veil rests
over it, a name given to him, the disciple whom Jesus loved
and cherished by him as the most honored name that a man could
bear. But beneath the veil lies the person of John, the son of
Zebedee and Salome, the apostle of the Lord. And what conclusions
can be drawn from the consideration of all those clues, all of those
facts gleaned from the pages of the gospel? This is the Apostle John who
wrote this gospel. One said it this way, that John
is really the author of the gospel and that no other planned or
interpreted it than he who at all times is named as its author
cannot be doubted or denied. Every argument from every quarter
to which we can look, every trace, every record combined together
to render any serious doubt upon the question absolutely impossible. And in that sense, it’s silly.
Silly to even suggest that someone else could have written it. Only
John, said one, fits entirely with the details, but also having
outlived the rest of the apostles, he is the one person who could
have written a gospel considerably later in date than the other
three. And yet we come away and we wonder, so why would John
himself not name himself anywhere in this gospel? not even in times
where it would have been convenient to do so, instead of referring
to himself as the apostle whom Jesus loved. Why would he go out of his way
to maintain anonymity? I would suggest to you that it’s
humility. 50 years of walking with Christ,
not just knowing him on earth, but seeing his resurrection,
seeing his crucifixion, then his resurrection, and then walking
with him faithfully and serving him for 50 years. And when I
believe the Holy Spirit proposed the writing of this gospel, the
last thing that he wanted to do is put himself in front to
put himself out there as a spectacle. One Commentator said it this
way, it’s not easy to think of a reason why any early Christian
other than John himself should have completely omitted all mention
of such a prominent apostle. He refers to himself only as
the one whom Jesus loved. Because he stood, even after
all these years, astonished by that simple fact that Jesus loved
even him. How could he possibly take any
glory from him by naming himself in such a glorious testimony? Would you turn to the Gospel
of John? 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 came into being through
Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come
into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of
men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God,
whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify
about the light, so that all might believe through him. He
was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. There
was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens every
man. 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 those who were his own did not receive
him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right
to become children of God, even 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, and we saw his glory. Glory as of the only begotten
from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about
him and cried out saying, this is he of whom I said, he who
comes after me has a higher rank than I for he existed before
me. For of his fullness we have all
received in grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one
has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is
in the bosom of the father, he has explained him. This is the
testimony of John who, when the Jews sent to him priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? And he confessed
and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. They asked
him, what then, are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the
prophet? He answered, no. Then they said
to him, who are you? So that we may give an account
to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make
straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they who had been sent from
the Pharisees, they asked him and said to him, why then are
you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the
prophet? John answered them by saying,
I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you do not
know. It is he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal
I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany,
beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he
saw Jesus coming to him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. This is he on behalf of whom
I said, after me comes a man who has a higher rank than I,
for he existed before me. I did not recognize him, but
so that he might be manifest to Israel, I came baptizing in
water. John testified, saying, I have
seen the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and he
remained upon him, and I did not recognize him. But he who
sent me to baptize in water said to me, he upon whom you see the
spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who
baptizes in the spirit. I myself have seen and have testified
that this is the son of God. Again, the next day, John was
standing with two of his disciples and looked at Jesus as he walked
and said, behold, the lamb of God. The two disciples heard
him. speak and they followed Jesus.
And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, what
do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which
translated means teacher, where are you staying? He said to them,
come and you will see. So they came and saw where he
was staying and they stayed with him that day for it was about
the 10th hour. One of the two heard John speak
and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found
first his own brother Simon and said to him, we have found the
Messiah, which translated means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,
you are Simon, the son of John, you shall be called Cephas, which
is translated Peter. The next day he purposed to go
into Galilee and he found Philip and Jesus said to him, follow
me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said
to him, we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the
prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God. Pardon me, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, can anything
good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and
see, Jesus said saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him,
behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael
said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said to
him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree,
I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the son of
God. You are the king of Israel. Jesus
answered and said to him, because I said to you that I saw you
under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than
these. And he said to him, truly, truly,
I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels
of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. On the third
day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. And the mother of
Jesus was there, and both Jesus and his disciples were invited
to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother
of Jesus said to them, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her,
woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour is not yet
come. His mother said to the servants,
whatever he says to you, do it. Now there were six stone water
pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing
20 or 30 gallons each. Jesus said to them, fill the
water pots with water. So they filled them to the brim.
And he said to them, draw some out now and take it to the head
waiter. So they took it to him. When the head waiter tasted the
water which had become wine and did not know where it had come
from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the head
waiter called the bridegroom and said to him, every man serves
the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely,
then he serves the poorer wine. But you have kept the good wine
until now. This beginning of his signs Jesus
did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed
in him. After this he went down to Capernaum.
He and his mother and his brothers and his disciples and they stayed
there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was
near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem found in the temple those who
were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers
seated at their tables. And he made a scourge of cords
and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the
oxen. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned
their tables. And to those who were selling
the doves, he said, take these things away. Stop making my father’s
house a place of business. His disciples remembered that
it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. The Jews then said to him, what
sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things? Jesus
answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise
it up. The Jews then said, it took 46
years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three
days? but he was speaking of the temple
of his body. So when he was raised from the
dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. They believed
the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now, when he
was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed
in his name, observing his signs which he was doing, but Jesus
on his part was not entrusting himself to them. for he knew
all men, and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning
man, for he himself knew what was in man. Would you bow as
we begin to dedicate our study to the Lord. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves before you, and we thank you for your work of grace
in such humble servants, fishermen, those born into a common life
in a plain area, and yet used so incredibly by you. Father
God, I pray that you would bring each of us to humility. I pray
that you would bring each of us to a readiness to study this
simple but profound book I pray that you would stir every believer’s
heart to begin to read through this gospel over and over again. Not just certain passages or
key chapters, but to begin to course through in its totality,
this great gospel. Lord, we pray. We pray that as we read through
this, as we study through this gospel, as we preach these words,
first and foremost, that any who walk into our midst who do
not know Christ would come face to face with the Savior Himself. That they would come to know
that God has indeed provided a Savior. That Jesus Christ has
already paid for their sin on the cross. and all they have
to do is believe. Lord God, we pray that as well
for any who are in our midst who have already made professions
of faith that you would so stir our hearts that we would never
be the same. Having looked into and studied deeply this great
gospel. Father, we pray that this would
be the very means of not only strengthening the church that
is here, but also building upon it and making us to grow and
fill and utilize this place that you’ve given to us so generously. Lord God, we thank you and we
praise you and we dedicate our own personal studies to the Savior
who bought us with his blood. We pray all of these things In
Jesus name, Amen.