Shall we turn in our Bibles this morning to the Gospel of John chapter sixteen? Reading, if I may, in chapter sixteen of this Gospel, the words of the Lord Jesus in verse twenty-eight. These words were spoken by the Lord Jesus just before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane and ultimately to the Cross. when he was alone with his disciples on their last occasion before his death. Verse twenty-eight, chapter sixteen of the Gospel of John. The Lord Jesus saying, I came forth from the Father and am coming to the world. Again I leave the world and go to the Father. May I read the words again and emphasize particularly that there are four distinct, comprehensive truths regarding the Lord Jesus, which he speaks himself and tells what can be termed as being the complete history of Christ. Tis not very often you may find in twenty-two words the history of any given person. But here is the Lord Jesus telling in twenty-two words his complete history. And I do trust that you get your mind and I will get mine, not only upon his incarnation, his birth at Bethlehem. but upon the four truths that he reveals in this one verse concerning himself. I read the words again, pointing out, you have four distinct statements. Number one, when the Lord Jesus says, I came forth from the Father, or I came out of the Father. The first comprehensive fact. Second, as you read on, the second, you can find it as he goes on to say, and then come into the world. The second comprehensive fact, I am come into the world. Third, and again I lead the world. The third comprehensive fact, I leave the world, and the fourth, and last, I go unto the Father. May I repeat then, forgive me if it's necessary, I don't believe though it is, for the repetition of the four comprehensive facts. Many times we may read the word and that verse particularly quickly, glibly, without realizing the comprehensive truth that may be within the words. The first great fact, the Lord Jesus states, I came out of the Father. The second great fact, I am come into the world. The third great fact, and again I leave the world. And the fourth and ultimate one, I go unto the Father. These are four distinct facts that tell to you and to me the complete, listen carefully, the complete history of Christ. May I emphasize the length of that history you'll never be able to measure. You may be able to measure your history. And that wouldn't be very long, would it? In contrast to the history of the Lord Jesus. Let me re-emphasize, he did not begin his history at Bethlehem. But in the first comprehensive fact that we have read, He states, I came from, and literally in the Greek text, out of the Father. Those words indicate to us that he had no beginning. He was co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father in a past eternity. May I say again, I think it would be necessary. I wish there were more people to hear it who may need it, I'm sure. The history of Christ did not begin at Bethlehem. He had an eternal past. We may well remember the words that John at the very beginning of this Gospel writes. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John referring to the beginning in that one verse refers to the eternal past. May I say in contrast that you may get the illustration properly in your mind, you and I had a beginning, but it wasn't back in eternity. It was in time. But the Lord Jesus had no beginning. He was the eternal, uncreated, unoriginal, unique Son of God. Now would you please note the expression he states, Where he came from? He doesn't even say heaven. I came from the Father. You can never disassociate and separate the Son from the Father. Not even in eternity past. You may well remember his words. They're worth remembering in John ten, verse thirty. When even upon the earth he made the statement and declaration which brought horror to his hearers who were the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the scribes of that day. when he said, I and my Father are one. Making himself co-equal with the Father. My beloved, may I say, when you stop to think of it, truly he came from the Father. Have you never also read, as you have it in the Gospel of John? The Father and thanks me. Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son the propitiation for our sin. May I impress upon you, I'm doing it repeatedly, for divine truth is never taken in too quickly, but often very slowly. to dwell within the heart and dwell within the mind of the hearer. The Lord Jesus had no beginning, and his beginning was not upon the earth, but he came to the earth from the Father. May I quote the words of John chapter one, verse fourteen, in corroboration of that fact. When John writes the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, then we beheld his glory, the glorious of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Reemphasizing again, he came to reveal the Father. Let me quote John one, verse eighteen. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is, and may I point out carefully, not who was, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath made him known or declared him. May I emphasize from that one verse Where we came from? The bosom of the Father. That little verb, in, is an eternal one in its meaning. He always was in the bosom of the Father, even when he was upon the earth. Look with me in John chapter three, please. Let me prove that to you. John chapter three, please. Let me point out to you the mysterious fact that's so precious as he speaks to Nicodemus. Reading in verse thirteen of chapter three of the Gospel according to John, and you'll get the emphasis again of that little verb is, No man hath ascended up to heaven, But he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, now note, which is in heaven. Emphasize the word is. He was on the earth talking to Nicodemus face to face, acknowledging and stating from whence he came, but also declaring, I'm still there. And without doubt, without any question of doubt, he meant I'm still in the bosom of the Father. The Son was always in the Father's heart. Let me give you an illustration from history. In one of the years past in English history, when King Charles I was being sought by men that wanted to slay him. They demanded of his wife, where is he? Where have you hid him? And she answered, I've hid him where you cannot find him. Where is that they demanded? I've hid him in my heart. You know what she meant. He was the constant object of his affection, her affection in my heart. Look, the blessed Lord Jesus in his three eternal days dwelt in the bosom of the Father and came from there. And what joy it is to realize, let me ask you this question. Did any missionary make such a journey from such a place so far away as that? Can I pause for a moment and meditate quickly? Remember from whence he came, not merely and only from heaven, but from the heart of his Father. from the heart of his Father. Read the chapter seventeen that follows out sixteen. When you hear him, pray to the Father. And there to the Father, he says, I finished the work, Father, I finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And again and again he emphasizes, I came from the Father. I came from the Father. his blessed pre-existence. Now may I just raise this question. How many people today who may be remembering, and even to some degree celebrating, the birth of the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, know that that day born in Bethlehem came from the Father, is only begotten, unique, unoriginated, eternal Son. And here the Lord Jesus takes that fact. That was where I came from. Out of the Father. Now let's go to the next fact. I am come from the Father and then come where? Into the world. The first tells of his pre-existence. The next fact states his incarnation and then come into the world, revealing unto us, it came into this world and took upon him the form of our humanity. Beloved, do you remember who it was who came? Do you remember that that babe in Bethlehem's manger was God's eternal son? who came into the world. Paul writing in First Timothy chapter one and verse fifteen, we may well know that wonderful verse when Paul declared his testimony, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, he added. But he came. He made a journey. And it was God the Son. who made that journey to be born in Bethlehem manger and cradled in that manger of the stable there. He came into the world. Who was it who came? God. Let me quote it. First Timothy chapter three in verse sixteen. Great is the mystery of godliness or piety. This mystery, God was manifested in the flesh. Don't you ever dare to look upon a human being and call them God. There's only one person you can look upon as such. It's Christ. God manifests, made known, revealed in humanity. There was a mystery about that babe in Bethlehem. The biggest mystery was where he came from. Though born of a woman, a virgin. Look at me in Luke's Gospel, if you please. Let me emphasize in chapter one, regarding that precious truth of his incarnation, where in Luke's Gospel chapter one, the angel Gabriel came to Mary. Let me read as you go down for brevity's sake. Please let me read in verse thirty-five and let me read through verse thirty-five to recognize with you how he was born. The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Please let me say again, I must, if I'm going to be true to the Word of God and to the truth about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. than in the form of humanity which he took. He was not born of human seed. But as you got it here, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. John chapter one, or Matthew chapter one rather, you will find it to Joseph, the husband of Mary, before they were married. When he found that she was with child, the angel of the Lord told him, She is with child of the Holy Ghost. Now please let me repeat. I hope you know who the Holy Spirit is. Another person in the great Godhead. We believe there are three persons in the Godhead according to the Bible. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And this person of the garden, just as co-equal and co-eternal with the others, it was through his power that the seed was planted in the womb of the Virgin Mary to form the body of Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem, the man of Galilee, and the Christ of Calvary, to give him that body. a miracle and yet according to the word of God prophesied back in Isaiah seven as well as chapter nine but in chapter seven a virgin shall be with child and fulfilled as Joseph was told even in chapter one of Matthew and he was incarnate in the flesh fall. Oh, my beloved, please, never look at that babe in the cradle, in the manger of Bethlehem, without realizing this was God. Come, made flesh. And note, if I may, in John chapter, in that chapter of Luke again, before I close that thirty-fifth verse, the angels gave him his title. And that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. That holy thing. Let me ask a question. Did you ever see any other baby born that you could say that it was that holy thing? I remember on one occasion that one young Christian couple, when they had their first baby, they told some other Christian that they knew, well, we've got a Christian child. He looked at them, he said, you find out that's not so. You're not born Christians by nature. We're born sinners. Not so for Lord Jesus. And let me please emphasize. When he was born, though he took upon him the form of humanity, he didn't take upon him the sinfulness, the sin character of humanity. Will you please remember that? He never took upon him our sin nature. And the angel called him that holy thing. the Son of God. And that's what the Lord meant. I'm coming to the world, the very Son of God. And in that blessed body, let me point out very carefully, for all the years that he lived, approximately thirty or more, he never sinned. Peter writes, he did no sin. Paul writes, he knew no sin. John the Apostle writes, there is epistle, in him was no sin. Sinless, holy, harmless, sinless and pure, separate from all others. when he was born and when he lived. What joy to realize, not only who it was that came into the world, but what he was when he was in the world. Don't you wish you had a sinless husband or a sinless wife or a sinless mother, a sinless father, a sinless son, a sinless daughter? No, you won't get one down here. He said, look, please look, this person was sinless. The devil did his utmost to make him sin, couldn't though. Kind of a little difficult to make God sin, don't you think? Very difficult, it's impossible. He knew no sin. In him was no nature that could respond to sin. He was that holy thing. Holy in his thoughts. Holy in his words. Holy in his deeds. Pure. And he had to be. Or he could never have been the sacrifice for sinners. to satisfy the holiness of God on your behalf and mine. For instance, you remember back in the Old Testament, even in those offerings of the Old Testament when animal sacrifices were made, God demanded when you bring me a sacrifice, whether a bullet, whether a lamb or a goat, whatever it may be, it has to be pure without blamish. Nothing wrong with it. And here's the Lord Jesus saying, I am coming to the world. And you can read of his life from the manger to the cross. And he was obedient to God, as Paul writes to the Philippians, even unto death, never sinned. Oh, beloved, What a tremendous fact that is. But now note the third fact. And again I leave the world. What? Again I leave the world. Some of the last words he ever spoke to his disciples of Eve. He was about to leave them. He's been in it. Manifesting and showing who he was and what he was. That's the holy potless son of God. And he knew he was about to leave. Now let me ask you the question. How did he leave the world? Let me ask you another question. Have you ever thought how you might leave it? How I might leave it someday? Either in the hospital or in the home or somehow. James still down the street. Who knows? You never can tell how you and I are going to leave the world. But I'll tell you one thing, I'm sure you're going to leave it. I hope you're ready. How did he leave the world? How did he leave the world? Beloved, look, he left the world by the way of his death, burial, and resurrection. He left the world different than any other person. First of all, his death was different. His death was different. May I give you this thought? Go with me in John ten for just a moment, as I emphasized it. I want you to hear his words. John chapter ten and verse eighteen. I want you to know something. Nobody could take his life from him. In verse eighteen, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down myself. Now may I emphasize, I'm sure you would know it, you and I deserve to die. In fact, part of the wages for our sin, physical death. Tell you very frankly, if sin had never come into the world, death would never have come. The wages of sin is death, both physically, spiritually and eternally, for that matter, but not for the Lord Jesus. Was there any claim of death upon him because of sin? Look in verse seven just before the verse before this. Notice what he says in that preceding verse, the sixteenth verse of chapter ten, in verse seventeen rather. Therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. Beloved Lord, he died voluntarily. Have you not read you have any loose gospel or the account of his crucifixion? When he died, he dismissed his spirit. You can't do that. You can't say to your soul and I can't say to mine or to my spirit and to your spirit. Go into eternity. Die. But he did. I laid it down. He said, I dismissed my spirit. When he finished the work upon Calvary, now why did he die upon Calvary? My beloved look, he knew there was only one way to get back to his father to finish what his father had sent him to do. And that was to die for your sins and for mine. No person ever came into the world to die... For sinners but the Lord Jesus. He alone. Part of his history. I'm coming to the world. And again I leave the world. But when he left the world, let me point out to you something precious. As you have him in Hebrews chapter ten. He made a work of eternal redemption for us. When he left the world by the way of Calvary, he left for the world the way of salvation for every man, for every woman, for every boy and for every girl. I believe he must have done a lot more for the world than anyone else in all history. I know he did. Look, that means you. That means me. As he left the world by the way of the cross of Calvary, crucified, though they nailed him, though they pierced him, they couldn't take his life. He said, I lay it down. And he gave up the ghost. He dismissed the spirit. You may remember that the centurions? when they wanted to take them from down from the cross they were amazed to find he was already dead and may I say this please the Lord Jesus Christ did not die from the wounds they put upon him from the piercing of those nails from the piercing of the sword in the side he was already dead when the soldier pierced his side He laid down his life. As in John ten he declared, I laid down my life. And may I lovingly and earnestly say, he laid down his life for more people than any other person could. For the whole world, for you, for me. That's how he left it. And he was buried. But he rose again the third day. and ascended back to heaven. No one ever left the world like that, like he did. Again, I leave the world. Let me ask in passing, when the moment comes for you and for me, which naturally it may, to leave the world, how are you going to leave it? How will I leave it? There's only one way I want to leave. Thank God I will. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. And the joy of knowing. And let me quote what the Apostle Paul wrote regarding him. In chapter fifteen of First Corinthians he declares the gospel. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scripture. This is by which you were saved, writes the Apostles of the Corinthians. I declare unto you the good news. How did Christ die for our sins according to the Scriptures? That he was buried, that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures? That's how he left the world. And when he left, your salvation was paid for. Have you received it? Have you taken it? Whosoever believe upon him should not perish but have everlasting life. He left the world. Let me say this. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He left the world, left the greatest blessing for all humanity. And if I know what I can see in here today, nobody seems to want it much. Many times when I shop at the grocery, pay my bills. Oftentimes, I may like many other customers say, boy, your prices are going up all the time. I've often said that. I said, everything's going up as salvation, and nobody seems to want it. My beloved, please let me say, this salvation is so great, you can never buy it. But it's paid for. Jesus paid it all before he left the world. All to him I owe. Sin and left a crimson stain. He washed it wide as snow. That was part of his history. From eternity past. From the bosom of the Father. Where he had always been. He comes into the world. And then he leaves the world. But he leaves the greatest. Let me say this. This time of the year which people celebrate is not the greatest blessing that he left. In fact, if I know my Bible, he never asked anybody to remember when he was born. But he asked all Christians to remember that he died. As he instituted the Lord's Supper, and he said, this do in remembrance of me take the bread which is my body represented, the cup which is my blood represented, this do in remembrance of me. He never asked anybody on the earth to keep his birth. And I'll tell you one thing. I guarantee that not many of them, even amongst the Christians, are remembering his death even. As he took that bread and wine, he said, this do in remembrance of me. Oh, beloved Lord, how we left the world with the greatest blessing the world needed, eternal life. Oh, my beloved, have you received it? Have you received it? Look, he didn't leave the blessing of salvation at Bethlehem. He had to go on to the cross. And he was there at the cross. He did all the work. And thank God that's not the end of him, isn't it? The joy of knowing. He says the fourth fact, I'd go to the Father. I'd go back to my Father. What does he mean? Well, that's where he is right now. In the Father's presence, at the right hand of God, as it is written in the word. Now let me quote from Psalm one hundred and ten. You've got a prophetic statement there, and I want to cover it very briefly and quickly. There in Psalm one hundred and ten is the quotation, where the Father says to the Son, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. After doing the work of salvation for the world, he goes back to the Father. The Father says, you stay here until I'm ready to give you the whole world for the kingdom and the whole universe. Remember the devil tempted the Lord Jesus. Remember on one occasion he took him to an exceeding high mountain and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, all these will I give thee? if you'll only fall down and worship me. And I wanted to tell you, the devil could do it too, because he had all control of all the kingdoms. The Lord Jesus said, No. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart. Him only shalt thou serve. And why did he say that? Because the Father in promise He would give the kingdoms of the world to the Son, not the devil. And you have it in Psalm chapter two. Ask of me, the Father says to the Son, I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions. My beloved, he's gone back to the Father and there he's in the presence of the Father for his people praying. But he's waiting till the Father says, time to go down. The kingdoms are going to be yours. I want you to punish all your enemies. And may I say when he comes back, he's not coming back as the Savior. You may sing, as we often do, Jesus, my Savior to Bethlehem, came, born in an angel amid sorrow and shame. Oh, it is wonderful, blessed be his name, coming for me for me. When he comes back the second time, the Father is going to send him back to be the judge of all the earth. The Father has committed all judgment under the sun. I go to my Father. And my Father's going to give me all the kingdoms of the world and even the universe to be the future ruler in a coming eternal day. Listen. Twenty-two words. The Lord Jesus gives his history. Now I want to tell you, you've got more history in it than you ever gave in any history book in the world. And if there's any subject I liked in school when I was young, there was history. fascinated with history. But this is the most fascinating story of history. The history of Christ. And let me add one thought before closing. It's not only the history of Christ. It's the history of Christianity. It's the history of Christianity. This is not Judaism. This is not any religion. The history of Christ is the history of Christianity. How he came from the Father, came into the world, again he left the world, having provided eternal redemption for all. And he's coming again when the Father sends him back with power, glory. Now I want to tell you, when the Lord Jesus comes back, there will be no babe in Bethlehem. Very few knew he was born, as you well know. Only a few humble shepherds. The wise men came after he was born, sometime after. But when he comes back, let me quote, Behold, he cometh with clouds. Every eye shall see him, even they that pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. When he comes back the second time, sent by the pot, the whole world is going to see him come. And I want to tell you something. All the people that are not saved, they're going to tremble, and they will have reason to. He's coming to be the judge. Please, may I ask, have you taken him for your Savior? Here's the Blessed Christ, telling his history, from eternity past to eternity to come. My belovedly, let me say, I revel, I joy, I'm thrilled to know the history of my Savior. Do you? And can you say you've believed upon him as your own? Shall we look to God and ask in a word of prayer to make the truth precious? Our Father, before we sing our closing hymn, We would ask of thee that I would sanctify to every one of us in our own heart and in our own consciousness the joy of the history of our Savior. Oh, it didn't begin at Bethlehem. In fact, he had no beginning. And it will never end. Well, did he say, I'm out for an omega, the beginning and the end. And Lord Jesus was just praying. that each one of us who know thee will know thee better as a result of thy words. And if there's anyone that doesn't even know thee at all, Lord, oh, Lord, you lay down your life for them. May they say, Lord Jesus, I trust thee for my Savior. No other one can save me. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus for his glory. Amen. Shall we sing in closing that hymn, number one, sixty-four, if it's on your calendar? Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story, most precious, readers, that ever was heard. Shall we stand as we sing it? Number one, sixty-four.