Do you think that any of any of the blessings which have been named. Children of the Heavenly King, We are travelling home to God, Lord, obediently we go, The 1st Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, and at the 14th Verse you will find the following words: "AND THE WORD WAS MADE 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." My text is made up of two parts. First,-" And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." The latter part of the verse must go with the former, because of the parentheses. The Second part of the verse is this," And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." Now, these are the Two Divisions of my subject for this evening. And without any delay we shall proceed to consider the first. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." The first part of my subject divides itself thus-"The Word"- "Made flesh"-"Dwelt among ՊԱՏ "Full of grace and truth." Here you have four divisions of the first part of my subject. "The Word." Who is this? Let us just glance at a few of the preceding verses in order that we may understand Who it is that is spoken of in our text. The first verse of the chapter reads thus :-"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word, then, in my text, is God, the second person in the glorious Godhead. "The same was in the beginning with God." He Who is spoken of as the Word in my text is the Creator of all things. Hence you read in the 3rd verse, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.' Thus you see that "the Word" in my text existed before creation, seeing that all things were made by Him. Again, He is the fountain of life and of light. "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." All the life and all the light we have, be it natural or spiritual, "the Word" is the Creator and giver of it. Then we have the Baptist's testimony to the Word as the Light that should come into the world. "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light." The Word "the Light." Jesus is the true Light of Old Testament type and prophecy. He is the Light that was to come into the world, "that all men through Him might believe." John " was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of They that Light." Then,-" that was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." How many persons quote this passage with the idea of refuting certain views which we are supposed to hold as peculiar, but if you will look at it for a moment, you will see that it is true in the most comprehensive sense. The Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Creator and the Giver of all life and light, be it natural, or be it spiritual. Whatever others may say of us as to our peculiarities, we shall venture to say this for ourselves, that we believe and shall honour the Word in our text as very and eternal God. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him." And-“The world, or the people which were in the world, knew Him not. He came unto His own," the Jews," and His own received Him not." This is the way that He was treated by His own nation. And they were very knowing people, or at least, they thought themselves so. thought that they had the light. Indeed, they were the religious people of the day. They could not do with a greater light than themselves. Nevertheless, Jesus was a greater Light. "But as many as received Him,"---for there were a few that received Him then as there are now,— "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power,”—or the privilege,- "to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name." But the persons that do receive Him have a peculiarity about them. And this is that which distinguishes them from the rest of mankind. And what is this peculiarity that distinguishes them? Well, we are told in the next verse. Those that received Him " were born, not of blood,"-not of circumcision, nor of ancestry, these things could do nothing for them. Nor were they born of the will of the flesh, for the will of the flesh can do nothing for them. Nor were they born of the will of man, for the priesthood can do nothing for them—“ but they were born of God." Now, this is the peculiarity you see. This is the secret of the whole matter-being born of God, then they received the Lord Jesus Christ, and this, too, in His blessed fulness. And it is this Person Whom they acknowledge as the mighty God that is spoken of as "the Word," or the Second Person in the glorious Godhead. Creator of the ends of the earth, who is made flesh. This is in keeping with the language that we find in the Prophet Micah, the 5th chapter and the 2nd verse, "But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though, thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting"-or from the days of eternity, as in the margin. This is Jehovah Jesus "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." More on this point you may read in the 8th chapter of Proverbs, 22-31. This is "the Word" in our text "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting-from the days of eternity." He is described in the 19th chapter of the Revelation thus :As the One who is the "Faithful and True,"-riding upon a white horse,-riding forth to victory. "And His Name is called the Word of God." He who is "called Faithful and True" and "the Word of God" is said to be in that same chapter "King of kings, and Lord of lords." The |