JOHN BARE WITNESS
Friday – September 28, 2018, Tishrei 19, 5779
Greetings and welcome back to my Bible Study from the wonderful Bible Book of John. God is so good to us! The featured picture is of the North Manchester Maine Meeting House. We have just finished speaking about Jesus who was “full of grace and truth” and so are we to be full of grace and truth brother and sister. So today we will forge forward in our study but first let’s review our primary text reading it aloud.
John 1:14-16 (KJV)
14 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.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
As we focus on verse fifteen we find that John the Baptist was the one to announce the arrival of the Messiah. John the Baptist is a type of Elijah and this is mentioned in Scripture. Elijah (The Lord is God) came before Elisha preparing the way of Elisha (God is salvation). The one who brought salvation, the Messiah, was announced, introduced by John the Baptist. John clearly declares that Jesus outranks him by far and that Jesus existed long before he (John the Baptist) came into the earth. There really is no scale to accurately describe by how much Jesus outranked John the Baptist but I will suffice to say, the distance between a buck private and a five-star General don’t really describe it. John the Baptist is about six months older than Jesus and Jesus entered ministry at age thirty. John the Baptist did not exist at all thirty-one years ago whereas the person of Jesus has existed for all of eternity past. As we move forward let’s review verse sixteen (sixteen is the Bible number of love).
John 1:16 (KJV)
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
John 1:16 (AMP)
16 For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.
John the author of this Bible Book of John is not John the Baptist and he is looking back on the events of John the Baptist and the coming of the Messiah. He then in effect exclaims that we have received of His fullness and grace upon grace. This fulness and grace I believe the author is speaking of is the product of Jesus’ coming, sacrifice, victory in Hell, resurrection, and His full restoration to the Throne of God in Heaven as fully God and fully man. How does one describe the fulness of salvation, the difference between having and not having salvation particularly His salvation? We did not get a limited salvation we got the same salvation as Jesus. This is what Blood Covenant does between parties. If the Father was giving Jesus one aspect of the Blood Covenant the equivalent was available to anyone in that Covenant, like you and me, in Christ Jesus. Look at this wonderful passage from the ninety-first Psalm.
Psalm 91:14-16 (KJV)
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
Psalm 91:14-16 (PassionNTPsa)
14 For here is what the Lord has spoken to me:
“Because you have delighted in me as my great lover,
I will greatly protect you.
I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face.
15 I will answer your cry for help every time you pray,
and you will find and feel my presence
even in your time of pressure and trouble.
I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast.
16 You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you.
For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”
(Bold added by Dr. Wood)
Over twenty-one years ago on the 31st of January 1997 I hung between Heaven and earth in the midst of a heart attack. When I awakened this is what the Lord spoke to me and He has performed it to this day. Next, we see in our text that grace and more grace has been poured out upon us. Grace is another name, function, or facet of Holy Spirit. Jesus came so that Holy Spirit could be poured back out into the earth. Oh, what a Savior, what a Father. Let’s look at the definition of grace from The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament, cháris (grace) means to rejoice. Grace is that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance, for a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude. Grace is a favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. Cháris stands in direct antithesis to works, the two being mutually exclusive. God’s grace affects man’s sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy and thankfulness to him. It changes the individual to a new creature without destroying his individuality. OH, WHAT A GOD WE SERVE!!
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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