Will you please turn to the Gospel according to John? John Chapter 1.
John Chapter 1, the first four verses:
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 received being through Him, and without Him not one thing received being which has received being.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Verses 14 through 18:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have contemplated His glory, a glory as of an only begotten with a Father, full of grace and truth.
John bears witness of Him, and he has cried, saying, “This was He of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.”
For out of His fullness we all have received, and grace upon grace.
For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth subsist 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.
John Chapter 10, verse 10, the second part:
I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.
John Chapter 20, verses 30 and 31:
Many other signs therefore also Jesus did before His disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in His name.
May we look to the Lord in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast promised us, “If there are two or three gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.” We know in our spirit that Thou art here with us, and we do pray that we may not only sense it in our spirit, but that we may truly hear Thy voice through Thy Word.
That we may see Thee; that we may really know Who Thou art; and that we may enjoy Thee in fellowship. We commit this time into Thy hand and ask Thee to bless it. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We mentioned before that the first four books in the New Testament are historical books, because the four Gospels record the story of our Lord Jesus.
But we say that these four books, even though they are historical records, are more than history. They are actually revelation from above. God is seeking to reveal Christ to us through history.
If all we know about the Lord Jesus is just the historical events, we miss the real purpose of these books. In other words, through the knowledge of the history of our Lord Jesus, we are to receive a revelation—a revelation of Who the Lord Jesus really is.
It is not just a mental knowledge; it has to be a spiritual understanding. And if we do, through history, see Who the Lord Jesus really is, then we will be drawn into fellowship with Him.
And as we have mentioned many times, out of such fellowship there is bound to be transformation. That is, we shall be transformed from glory to glory according to His image.
So, as we approach these historical books in the New Testament, this is our desire and our prayer: that we may really see, deep in our spirit, Who Jesus really is.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we see Jesus as the King, and how different He is from the kings of this world. He is the King Whom we must follow and obey.
And in following Him and obeying Him, His kingly character will become ours, because we are not only purchased by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, but He has also made us kings and priests unto God.
Then, in the Gospel according to Mark, we see Jesus as the Servant of the Lord. He is calling us to be yoked together with Him, that we will learn of Him and that we may serve the purpose of God, as He served God’s purpose.
In the Gospel according to Luke, we see the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man. He is the beginning of a new mankind. And as we see Him as the Man—the Man after God’s own heart—then we will be drawn to Him, and His own character will begin to be incorporated within us.
So we truly become that new mankind of His.
Now this morning we would like to touch upon the Gospel according to John. John, of course, we know, is the last of the four Gospels. In this Gospel, John is presenting to us Jesus as God the Son.
This is very clear because, in John Chapter 20, as he is concluding his Gospel, he tells us himself that these things are being written, these signs are being recorded, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
And in believing Him, we shall receive life—eternal life—in His name.
Now, first of all, we would like to think about the term the Son of God. What is it? What does it mean by His being the Son of God?
We mentioned last time that He is also called the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, first, He is Man. He is a real Man, a perfect Man. And secondly, as the Son of Man, He is the beginning of a new mankind.
Now, what is meant by His being the Son of God?
The Son of God signifies that He is God. He is the image of the invisible God. No one has ever seen God, but the One Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Our Lord Jesus, being the Son of God, is the image of the invisible God. Image in Scripture always speaks of representation. Our Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, is the full representation of what God is.
And image also means manifestation. He is the full manifestation of what God is.
In Old Testament times, we find that God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But whatever God revealed of Himself through the prophets was in pieces and fragments. They were in parts, not in whole; they were in many ways, but not in totality.
But when God sent His Son into this world, and when God spoke in the Son, we find that God is fully revealed. God is fully manifested. The mystery of God has been fully unveiled, because our Lord Jesus is the mystery of God.
So, when we think of the Son of God, we think of Him as God Himself, as the full representation and full manifestation of God.
The Lord Jesus said, “If you see Me, you see My Father. If you hear Me, you hear My Father, because I and the Father are one.” And that is the meaning of being the Son of God.
Now, of course, there is a secondary meaning. It is just the same as His being the Son of Man. In other words, because He is the Son of God, He is the only begotten of God.
And the only begotten Son of God came into this world in order that He may bring many sons into glory. The only begotten Son of God is to be the Firstborn, that He may be the Firstborn among many brethren and may lead many sons into glory.
The Gospel according to John begins with, “In the beginning was the Word.” Now, we know the word word simply means speech, utterance, expression.
The Lord Jesus is the very speech of God. He is the very utterance of God. He is the very expression of God.
“In the beginning was the Word.” It tells of His eternal pre-existence. He is self-existent in eternity past.
“And the Word was with God.” It tells of His distinctive Person. He is a Person; there is a distinctiveness in His Person.
“And the Word was God.” It tells of the essential, eternal unity of the Godhead.
So, at the very outset, you find that our Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, is God’s expression. He is with God, and He is God Himself. All things were created by Him. There is nothing that was not created by Him. And in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
This Word of God became flesh. In other words, the Son incarnate. We find that the Word became flesh.
Now, in the Gospel of John, we are not told how He became flesh. But we know from the other Gospels that, through the power of the Holy Spirit upon the womb of the virgin Mary, Christ Jesus, the Holy One, was born.
But for Him Who is the fullness of God—do you remember, in Colossians, it is said that all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell in Him? Our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is the fullness of the Godhead.
Now, for the fullness of the Godhead to come upon this world, to take upon Himself the form of a man, even the likeness of sinful flesh, but without sin—how can it be done?
We are told in Philippians Chapter 2 that He, being equal with God, did not regard that equality as something to be grasped at. He emptied Himself.
In order for Him to become a Man, He had to empty Himself. The emptying was not to empty His deity—that is impossible. But the emptying was to empty all the glory, honor, position, majesty, and worship that are connected to deity.
He emptied everything to take upon Himself the form of a slave, even the likeness of a man. And being in the likeness of a man, He further humbled Himself, becoming obedient to God even unto death—yes, the death of the cross.
So we find that God the Son, one day two thousand years ago, became flesh and dwelt among men. The word dwelt in the original is tabernacled. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among men.
Now this, of course, brings us at once into the Old Testament. There you find God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. He brought them to Himself at Mount Sinai, and there God revealed His mind to them.
God said, “Make Me a tabernacle, that I may dwell among you.” So, brothers and sisters, let us remember that God’s thought is always to dwell among men. God loves to dwell with men.
But unfortunately, He had not been able to dwell with men because He is holy and men are sinful. So you find, in typology, only after He delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt did God begin to reveal His mind to them and say, “I want to dwell among you. Make Me a tabernacle.”
But in reality, you find that tabernacle is the Lord Jesus. The Word became flesh is the tabernacle. When the Word became flesh, He tabernacled among men. Now God is with men, and He is full of grace and truth.
We know that God is love. That is the very nature of God: God is love. In other words, God always loves, and His love does not depend on outward circumstances.
You know, when we love, our love is greatly influenced by what is around us. But God, being love, loves from Himself. It does not depend on environment; it does not depend on condition. It is the very nature of God. God is love. Even when He judges, He loves.
And when love is translated into human, practical expression, that is grace—grace, grace. So here you find the Word incarnate, full of grace, because the love of God is now converted into concrete grace: deeds, works of grace.
Our Lord Jesus is full of grace and full of truth. Now, we know that God is not only love; He is also light. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him.
When you translate light into human, practical manifestation, that is truth. And that is the reason why, when the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, He was full of grace and truth.
He is the very practical expression of what God really is. There you find the words of truth, and there you find in Him the works of grace.
It is very interesting when you read the Gospel according to John. John is written in such a way that you find he often begins with an incident—a work of grace—and then follows it with a teaching, the words of truth.
This is the way the Gospel of John is written. He is full of grace and truth.
Then the Bible says, “The law was given by Moses.” In other words, Moses was the agent through whom the law came to the children of Israel. But grace and truth subsist through Jesus Christ.
What does it mean that grace and truth subsist in Christ Jesus? It means that before the coming of Christ, there was no grace nor truth in the world. It is with His coming that grace and truth came upon this earth.
Why is it so? Because grace and truth are not just something coming out from God. Grace and truth are the very essence of God.
In other words, when Christ came into the world, grace came upon the earth and truth came upon the earth. And when we receive grace, when we receive truth, we are actually receiving Christ Himself. He is imparting Himself in the form of grace and in the form of truth.
You know, brothers and sisters, there is a great difference. Sometimes we may listen to a teaching, and perhaps we say it is true because it is correct, accurate, and right.
But if all that we have received is just correct teaching, and if Christ is not being received, brothers and sisters, you find this is not truth. This is just a teaching.
We cannot say it is truth, because when truth is really being received, what you have received is not just a teaching. What you have received is a living Person—it is Christ. He is the truth.
And the same thing is true with grace. We may witness a miracle; we may witness a wonderful work. But if all that we have seen is just a miracle, a wonderful work, and if Christ is not in it, then even if it is very wonderful, we cannot say this is grace.
Why? Because grace is the Lord Himself. He is Himself the grace that is given to us.
So, whatever He does or whatever He teaches, it is not just doing something wonderful or teaching something wonderful. Whatever He does and whatever He teaches, He is actually imparting Himself to us through His teaching and through His works.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we cannot just stop short at a teaching as such, or stop short at a work as such. We must see that all His teachings of truth and all His works of grace have no other purpose but that we may receive Him—that we may have Him as our grace and have Him as our truth.
You know, the Gospel according to John uses a very special word. Our Lord Jesus, when He was on earth, did many wonderful works, miracles, and wonders. But in the Gospel according to John, John does not use the word wonder or miracle. Instead, John always uses the word sign.
Now, what is a sign? A sign is a pointer, a guidepost. A sign points you to something. In other words, a sign is not the thing in itself; a sign points you to something beyond.
So all the miracles done in the Gospel according to John are called signs. Why? Because God does not want us to be occupied merely with these wonders, however wonderful they are—and they are wonderful.
But God wants us to see something beyond these wonders and miracles. Or, in other words, He wants us to see Someone.
And that is the reason why all these signs are being recorded. John said that there are many other signs that he did not record, but he considered that the signs he recorded were sufficient to prove the point that Jesus is the Son of God. And if you receive Him, you receive life.
Now, another thing: let us remember that in the Gospel according to John, the word life is very much emphasized.
The Lord Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” As a matter of fact, all His words of truth and all His works of grace, when you put them together, can be expressed in one word: life.
His words of truth are to give us life. His works of grace are to give us life. Life is what He came to give.
He is the Son of God, and being the Son of God, He has life in Himself. And He has the power to give His life to whoever believes in Him. So the word life is very much emphasized in the Gospel according to John.
And when you read these signs in the Gospel, you find that these signs are signs of life. Through these signs, the Lord is telling us what kind of life He gives to us.
We need to recognize the life that we have received from the Lord Jesus. What kind of life is this life? We may see it in all these signs.
Altogether, in the Gospel according to John, there are eight signs recorded. Number one: in John Chapter 2, you find the Lord turning the water into wine. It happened in Cana of Galilee, during a marriage feast.
It is very interesting that the first sign our Lord Jesus did was at a marriage. The Bible says that this was the first sign He did to manifest His glory.
Why should this first sign happen at a marriage? Because we know from the Word of God that in God’s thought there is a marriage.
All the marriages that you see upon this earth are but a type of that marriage between Christ and His church. You remember, Paul in Ephesians Chapter 5 teaches about the relationship between the husband and the wife, and all the time he says that the husband and the wife are just a type of Christ and the church.
“The mystery is great,” but he says, “I am speaking of Christ and the church.” Because, way back in eternity past, before God created anything, there was in God’s thought a marriage.
He said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” He had His only begotten Son, but He said, “It is not good for Him to be alone. I want to give Him a life companion.”
There will be a marriage, an eternal marriage, between Christ and His people, the church. That is in the very heart of God.
That is the reason why the first sign our Lord Jesus ever did upon earth happened at a marriage feast. It gives us the hint that this is what God is really after. This is what Christ came into the world for.
He turned the water into wine.
In the old days, when there was a marriage, there was usually feasting. It was not like modern times, when after marriage you may just have a little snack. In the old days, after each marriage there was usually a time of feasting.
According to the Jewish tradition at that time, they usually feasted for several days. I remember when my oldest brother was married, it was still in the old-fashioned way. All the relatives and friends came, and we feasted for three days.
Here you find this young couple getting married, with lots of guests, and probably lots of uninvited guests too. Perhaps this couple was rather popular, so there were more guests coming than expected. The feast continued day after day, and perhaps by the third day they had used up all the wine.
What a tragedy it would be! What shame it would bring upon the newly married couple. They were at the peak of happiness, and suddenly there was no wine. What a shame it would be!
But fortunately, Mary was there. Of course, she turned to the Lord Jesus, and there you find the Lord Jesus turned the water into wine.
Now, I am not going to explain this story, because that is not my purpose. But what I want to emphasize is this: What is water?
Water is flat, tasteless. And actually, the water which the Lord Jesus had the servants fill into the stone vessels was water for purification.
There were six stone vessels at the entrance, and this water was for purification. According to Jewish tradition, whenever guests came into the house, they needed to have their feet washed.
They wore sandals, not shoes, and the streets were not paved; they were dirt streets. So, when people came in, they needed to have their feet washed. Otherwise, they would not feel comfortable enjoying the feast.
Probably they also needed to wash their hands, because that was the Jewish tradition. They had to wash their hands and wash their feet. There were six stone vessels of water there—lots of water—but evidently there were lots of guests, so the water became less and less.
The Lord Jesus filled them with water. So water here, in a sense, represents our old life—the life that we received from our father Adamic life.
That life is flat; it is tasteless. And that life, the only good for it is to wash outwardly. In other words, all that we can do is to have an outward appearance of being clean.
Some people seem to be very moral. Some people seem to be very kind. Some people seem to be very generous. But, you know, this is just an external façade. So far as the heart is concerned, it is still as wicked as it ever was.
Our life can only do something externally, making it appear clean. But so far as our inward heart is concerned, the heart is wicked more than anything else, and do you know it deceives you yourself too.
Just water. And even that is not sufficient. It is getting lower and lower in those vessels. Our life is insufficient. Our life is nothing.
And there you find our Lord Jesus changed the water into wine. The very nature of wine and the very nature of water are very different. You cannot make water wine unless something new comes into it.
So actually, when the Lord Jesus turned the water into wine, He put something into the water. And you know what He put in? He put Himself. He put His own life into our life.
And in putting His life into us, we experience a transformation.
Wine is that which makes the heart glad. Wine is that which makes us forget our sorrows. And you find that there was such an abundance of wine in those six stone vessels that it could not only supply all the guests during the marriage feast, but there was much more left over for the young couple to enjoy.
In other words, it means inexhaustible. The life that our Lord Jesus has given to us is full of taste, full of joy, and it is inexhaustible. This is the life that the Lord Jesus has offered to those who believe in Him.
I would like to say a little bit about transformation. Transformation does not mean that your flesh is changed into spirit—not at all.
The Bible says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And it is eternally true.
That which is born of the flesh is always flesh. You can never change it. You can make it look better; you can wash it externally. But you can never change its very nature. Flesh is always flesh; it remains flesh.
And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Whatever comes from the Spirit of God is of God, and you cannot change it either.
So transformation does not mean that your flesh is now changed into spirit—not at all. Transformation simply means that the life of Christ comes into your life, and this new life displaces the old life in you.
From now on, it is His life that is being manifested in you. Now, that is transformation.
Or may I put it in another way? Our soul—that is, ourselves—remains as an organ. God created us as a living soul, so our soul remains the same.
But the problem is that, as a result of the fall of man, the life of the soul is ourselves. Self becomes the very life of our soul.
That is the reason why all our thoughts, emotions, intentions, decisions, and desires just express ourselves. They become selfish; the flesh becomes selfish.
Now, when transformation comes, you find that a new life comes into our soul. It displaces self. Christ now lives in my heart instead of self reigning in me.
And the result is that I begin to love as He loves. I begin to know the mind of God, and I begin to will the will of God. Now, that is transformation.
Suppose that I am crucified with Christ. No longer do I live; it is Christ Who lives in me. In other words, the “I” is still there. The “me” as a person is still there. You are all still there.
It does not mean that when transformation comes, you are no longer there. You are still there. But remember, even though you are there, it is not you; it is Christ Who lives in you. Now, that is the difference.
So Paul could say, “For me to live is Christ.” If you look at Paul, it is Paul; but what comes out of Paul is not Paul—it is Christ. Now, that is transformation.
Brothers and sisters, we have no confidence in our flesh, knowing that our flesh remains always the same. Even if you have believed the Lord for thirty years, your flesh is still the same flesh; it has not changed a bit.
But thank God, we know that He has given us a life. And if we allow that life to reign in our soul, we will find that we are being transformed from glory to glory according to His image.
Here the Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, gives us a new life—that is His own Self. And that life is joyful, satisfying, and inexhaustible. Thank God, we have this life.
Then you find the second sign that He performed in John Chapter 4. There you find that our Lord Jesus healed a nobleman’s son.
Here was a nobleman. This man must have been a Roman. He was of the royal circle; he must have had wealth, honor, position, and everything. But unfortunately, his son was sick and dying.
What is the use of position, wealth, honor, and all these things if your son, your only son, is dying? It makes all things vain.
This nobleman, fortunately, heard of the Lord Jesus. So he came from Capernaum to Cana to beg the Lord to come to his home and heal his son.
The Lord said, “You go back. Your son is healed.” By faith, believing in the Lord Jesus, he went home. On the way, he met his servants coming to tell him that his son was well.
He asked about the hour, and it was the very hour that the Lord Jesus told him, “Go home; your son is healed.” And he believed, and his whole household believed.
Now, that is the second sign our Lord Jesus performed. What is the meaning of this sign? I believe the meaning is that the Lord, as the Son of God, gives us His life, and that life gives meaning to us. That life gives strength to us.
That child had a high fever. The fever caused that child to lose his mind and lose his senses; everything was confused, and eventually he was ending in death.
Now, brothers and sisters, do you know that this is what our old life is? If you look at your old life, it is in fever. We are so hot; we do not know what we are doing. We are all confused.
We may do something crazy, and the result is death. We do not know the meaning and purpose of life. We do not know. We are grasping this and grasping that, but we are utterly ignorant.
But thank God, when the life of our Lord Jesus comes into us, He gives meaning to life. And as we sing, “Life is worth living because of Him.”
If it were not because of Him, life would not be worth living. That is true. But when His life comes into us, it gives a new meaning to our life. We know why we are here.
We are not here merely for ourselves, to enjoy ourselves or to enjoy the world. No, we are here to worship the Lord, to enjoy Him, and to let Him enjoy us. This is why we are here.
And He gives us new strength that we may go forward in our life’s journey. So, brothers and sisters, this is the new life that is given to us.
Then you find the third sign. The third sign is recorded in John Chapter 5. There you have a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years.
He was lying by the pool, hoping that when the angel came down and stirred the water, the first person to get in would be healed. But, being a paralytic man, he could not do it himself, and nobody would put him in quickly enough to make him the first one.
So he had been lying there for thirty-eight years, and there was absolutely no hope. He had given up hope altogether.
Then the Lord Jesus came and said, “Do you want to get well?” In other words, the Lord instilled a thought into his heart. Of course, he said, “I will.” And the Lord said, “Get up, take up your couch, and go home.” And he was healed.
The Lord Jesus then met him in the temple.
Now, brothers and sisters, what does this sign tell us of life? Here you find that the life we originally had is an infirm life. We cannot walk. We cannot walk the way of righteousness.
This man was sick because of his sin; it was a judgment. We know that judgment is already upon us. We are hopeless, and probably we have given up hope.
We may have tried before to be good, to commit ourselves, but perhaps we have given up hope now because we are simply hopeless.
But thank God, when Christ comes, He gives us hope. He gives us His own life. The result is that this man is not only delivered, but you find him worshiping in the temple.
In other words, there is rest. There is rest. And the Lord did it on the Sabbath, because the Lord Jesus is our Sabbath.
Dear brothers and sisters, the life that we receive from the Son of God is a Sabbath rest. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin, and we are now resting in Him. And because we rest in Him, we worship Him. That is the life He has given us.
Then the fourth sign is in John Chapter 6. There you find our Lord Jesus feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fishes.
Here you find the Lord Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life.” Brothers and sisters, He is not only life; He is also the bread of life.
In other words, not only does He give His life to us, but He continuously supplies Himself to us as bread.
How we need to believe in Him. How we need to trust in Him. How we need to take Him day after day, day after day, throughout our wilderness journey.
God rained manna upon the children of Israel throughout their wilderness journey. In a sense, we are in the wilderness today. The world is but a wilderness.
But how do we have strength to go through this world? By receiving from Him as the bread of life. Oh, how He gives Himself continuously.
He said, “As I live by My Father, ye shall live by Me.” Brothers and sisters, have we learned this secret? Are we still living by ourselves, trusting in our own strength? You will not make it.
Do we not know that we have to live by Him? Without Him, we can do nothing. Without Him, we cannot finish our course. We need His life, continuously supplying us as the bread from heaven.
Do we feed upon Him? You not only need to receive Him, but you need to feed upon Him.
With manna, you had to collect the manna every day before the sun became hot. When the sun was hot, the dew dried up and the manna disappeared.
So how we need daily to come to the Lord and receive Him as our daily bread—for our daily need, for our spiritual support and supply.
Brothers and sisters, He is our supply. He is the Supplier, and He is also the supply.
Then you find the fifth miracle, the sign that the Lord did, in John Chapter 9. There our Lord Jesus opened the eyes of the blind. That man was born blind.
The disciples began to try to figure out why this man was blind. Was it because of the sins of his parents, or was it because of his own sin? Now, how could he sin before he was born?
But, you know, when you are trying to theologize things, you can do anything. These disciples were natural theologians, and they theorized everything.
The Lord Jesus said, “Do not do all these things. It is for the glory of God.” You do not see the logic of it, do you? But there is a logic there.
Here you find the Lord Jesus opened the eyes of the one who was born blind, and He said, “I am the light of the world.”
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Brothers and sisters, we were blind—born blind. We have never seen.
Do not think that you have seen, and yet are blind. We have never seen the real thing. We have been deceived all our lives. We live in imagination and supposition.
But thank God, when His life comes into us, we begin to see. In His light, we see light. Oh, brothers and sisters, what a difference!
There you find His light is the light of life. When the light of life begins to shine upon our path, we know where we are going.
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin. That is where the life is.
Then the sixth sign is the raising of Lazarus in John Chapter 11. There you find that our Lord Jesus raised up the dead. Lazarus was dead.
The wonderful thing was that this family was loved by the Lord Jesus, and they loved the Lord. The two sisters sent word to the Lord Jesus because He was on the other side of Jordan.
Because of the opposition of the Jews, our Lord had retreated beyond the River Jordan, and He stayed there. So the two sisters sent messages to the Lord Jesus and said, “The one Whom You love is sick.”
They believed that was enough, that the Lord would rush over and put His hand upon Lazarus and heal him. But when the Lord heard this news, He stayed back.
He did not come until Lazarus was dead. Then the Lord Jesus said, “Let us go, that I may call him back from sleep.”
The disciples said, “Well, if Lazarus is really asleep, that is good.” And the Lord said, “No, he is dead.” But the Lord said He was going to raise him from the dead, so that they would see the glory of God.
When the Lord arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Martha said that decay had already begun. Thoroughly dead.
Why? Because the Lord Jesus wanted to manifest His glory as the Son of God. He is the resurrection and the life.
You do not know resurrection if there is no death. Otherwise, you call it resuscitation or something like that. But when there is real death, then there is real resurrection.
So here you find our Lord Jesus saying, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Let the old life die, because I am going to give you a life that has gone through death and comes out of death. Yes, resurrection.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it not true that often in our experience, when we are in trouble and have some problem, we cry, “Lord, hurry, hurry! Come over and help us. Do not let us die.”
Sometimes you find the Lord just stays back. You begin to wonder, you begin to blame Him, and you begin to murmur. You say, “Now the Lord does not love me anymore.”
No. He wants you to die, that He may let you experience resurrection. Oh, how often He allows us to go to the end, the very end, before He comes.
And thank God, when He comes, what glory it is! It is resurrection. In other words, it is He; it is not you. You cannot take any glory out of it. It is all His. He is the resurrection and the life.
The seventh sign is the greatest of all signs: the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Himself in John Chapter 20.
There you find the Lord Jesus went into the tomb, buried for three days. And on the third day, you find He was raised from the dead.
Never had there been any man who entered into death and was able to come out of it.
But here you find our Lord Jesus voluntarily, purposely, because He said, “No one can take My life away from Me. I lay down My life, and I can take it up.”
The reason why you find the Lord laid down His life was for our sake. He went into death. He robbed death of its power, and He came out victoriously.
Is this not a victory? What a victory—the greatest victory in the world!
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the life that He has given to us. It is not a defeated life. It is not a weak life. It is a strong, victorious life.
It is able to overcome even death itself. There is nothing that it cannot overcome. This is the life that He has given to us.
And then, finally, in John Chapter 21, the eighth sign takes place after the resurrection. You find the seven disciples went fishing, but they caught nothing that night.
In the morning, the Lord stood on the shore and said, “Children, do you have anything to eat? Did you catch anything?” Nothing.
Then they realized it was the Lord. There you find the Lord prepared breakfast for them. And as they were finishing breakfast, the Lord began to ask Peter, “Do you love Me?”
And the Lord said, “Feed My lambs,” and so forth. Now, what does it mean?
It means that the life our Lord Jesus has given to us is a life of love—it is a love life. And because there is love in that life, there is bound to be service.
You cannot just think of yourself. You have to see the lambs. You have to shepherd the sheep. You have to feed the sheep. These are the words, brothers and sisters.
The life that we receive from the Lord Jesus is a sacrificial life. It is a love life. It is a life of service.
You cannot just sit there and receive and receive and receive all the time. You have to give. You have to love. You have to serve.
You have to think of the little ones among God’s people. You have to help those who have grown up. You have to take care of those who are sick—spiritually sick.
Brothers and sisters, this is the kind of life that we have received.
So you find, in these eight signs, the Lord is telling us that He is the Son of God. If you believe in the Son of God, you receive life. You receive Him as your life.
And when He comes into you as your life, what will happen to you? You will have joy and satisfaction.
You will find meaning in life, and there is strength. You will find that you are being delivered, and you have rest.
You find that you have not only life, but life abundantly—being daily supplied. You find that there is a light within you, shining upon your way, so that you know where you are going and what you are doing.
And if you have done something wrong, the blood of the Lord Jesus will cleanse you when you realize it.
You will find that it is a life that can overcome death. We are surrounded with death, but there is a life that will overcome. The life of Christ is a victorious life. It is risen; it is in heaven, seated in the heavenlies.
And you find that life is a life of love and service. Brothers and sisters, this is the life that He has given to us.
So it is not a matter of just reading the Gospel of John as history. It is receiving Jesus as the Son of God.
If you really receive Him as the Son of God, you receive life. And this is the kind of life you have received.
No wonder the Apostle Paul said, “All the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in Him bodily, and ye are complete in Him.”
Everything is in Him, and He has given Himself to you. So you are complete in Him.
May the Lord be everything to us. We do not need to go anywhere else to glean, but let us glean in the field of our Boaz.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou dost reveal Thy Son to us, the Son of God.
And in believing Him, we receive life in His name. We do thank Thee for the life that we have received.
We do pray that Thou wilt open our eyes to see what a life it is, that we will refuse to live anymore by our own corrupted, selfish, self-life.
That we may be willing to let Thy life live and reign in us, that Thou mayest be glorified. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.