1986-1987
Pinecrest Bible Training Center
Salisbury Center, New York
Tape 1 of 9 – [Labeled] John 1:1 to John 1:46
Transcribed April, 2004
Note from the transcriber: April, 2004
Although every effort was made to transcribe this work accurately and to convey the original intent of the speakers, due to the very poor condition of the source tapes, it was an impossible task. The tapes were made 18 years ago and they sound like they were made on a standalone tape recorder sitting somewhere in the room, rather than directly off the amplification system. The transcriber was not working from the master tapes, but was working from tapes that are at least third generation copies.
There were sections that were so muffled, it was impossible to tell if it was part of the class or just some side conversation or noise in the room.
Even though the tapes were listened to over and over again, many words still could not be made out. If it was an adjective or something that seemed to enhance the verbiage, but that didn’t seem to be essential to its meaning, it was usually omitted. If it was determined that a word or statement was there and that it might be meaningful, an underscore was added to indicate its presence.
Sometimes a word was inaudible or only partially audible. In those cases, if the meaning was clear, a word was usually substituted to complete the sentence, even though it might not be the one originally spoken. Sometimes the best guess was better than no guess at all.
Most of us, when we speak, start sentences and then backtrack and reword them. Most of that sort of thing was eliminated in the transcript.
Tape 1, side 1
CLASS 1 – INTRODUCTION AND JOHN 1:1-12
RESPONSE TO STUDENTS:
Edgar Parkyns: What was the particular flavor about Him?
Student #1: That He illuminated the world, Jesus being the word.
Edgar Parkyns: The Word. Yes, and his introduction.
Student #2: ____________________________________ .
COMPARISON OF THE FOUR GOSPELS:
Edgar Parkyns: Yes, that’s an interesting comparison – the four of them. Matthew, whose good exponents say, is interested in the kingly aspect of the gospel. And it shows us the genealogy of the savior back to David and Abraham. And Mark doesn’t bother. He plunges right into action. I should know all about these things. No, I’m only saying _____________. But those that know about all these things tell us that Matthew’s is the kingly gospel and Mark’s is the servant gospel. And a servant doesn’t live by his genealogy, but by his work. And so Mark plunges right into the work aspect of the life of Jesus. And then it is thought that Luke is interested in the human aspect of Christ. And he tells us quite a bit about His birth, about His mother, His background, and where He was brought up more than any of the others. And then dear John soars away into the heavenlies and takes us right back to “I the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
They like to see a parallel between these four gospel aspects and the four living creatures of Ezekiel’s opening vision. Remember in Ezekiel’s opening vision, he saw supporting the throne of God, four living creatures. And they each had four faces. And there was the face of, let’s see, the face of an ox, an eagle, a lion, and a man. I’m not quite sure how you might line all this up, but I would say that the lion would be the kingly beast, wouldn’t you? And the ox would be the servant beast who’s harnessed to the plow – Matthew and Mark. And then Luke has very plainly the human side of our Lord Jesus. And John, the eagle that soars up into the heavens.
IN THE BEGINNING
John traces his origin right back to God. There’s a parallel, isn’t there, between John chapter 1, verses 1 to 3, and the first verses of Genesis? – both going back to the beginning. And even way back in Genesis it’s interesting to see God at work. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” And as we read in Genesis, we understand something of the Psalm, which said “He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast. [Psalm 33:9]” Yet of His own will He begat creation by His word. So you might say that even creation came…. God was on the throne; He spoke by His Word – that’s Christ is the outgoing of the expression of God. And moving upon the face of the waters was the Spirit to bring order out of chaos.
THE GOSPEL KNOCKS A MAN’S CONFIDENCE TO PIECES
You get a little insight into Genesis chapter 1. If you look into your experience you’ll find the same thing. God spoke to you in His Son. That wasn’t the air. That wasn’t the full thought. That was the initiation of the operation. By His Spirit He began to knock all your confidence to pieces. He was going to build a new creation, so He had to knock the old one out. And that’s the fearful experience of conviction of sin – when God gets to work at you and shows you that you’re no good at all. Halleluia. The hopeful sign that the world works hard, doesn’t it, at building up self-confidence? The psychologist spends all his time, focuses all his attention on getting a man to have confidence in himself. The gospel does the reverse. It knocks a man’s confidence to piece, and says we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh. God has knocked this out of you. Praise the Lord! So that we are a new creation and we are a new and a common ground. Praise God! In the new creation there are no kings and bishops among us. We are just a company of redeemed sinners.
CHOIR PRACTICE
I was once in Ilesha, Nigeria asked down from my work way up in the bush, to address a big Methodist conference. It was a choir celebration. My, those dear Nigerians have been studying their choir pieces. They gave us a good performance. So I spoke to them about the heavenly choir. And I said that we are doing the rehearsing, the choir practice, down here. But, we’ll have the full performance in heaven. And I said, “It’s quite important that you learn the right song here. Otherwise you might be out of tune on the final day. You might have a good voice. You might sing your tune right. But if it’s the wrong tune, then you’ll ruin everything.” So they got the idea generally. But, ah, I said, “When we’re in heaven, I can tell you what the song will be: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and majesty.” But if on earth you’ve learned another kind of song and you’ve learned “Worthy am I because I’m in the Methodist choir” [laughter], you will have learned the wrong tune, and the usher will have to send you out.” Oh, I bet we got the idea, didn’t we? [laughter]
THE BEHOLDS
Yes, John, chapter 1 then. There are four interesting “beholds” associated with the four gospels. Whether it is a piece of sound exegesis or a piece of fancy work, I’m not quite sure. We may have a look at it either way.
MATTHEW – Behold the King
But, first of all Zechariah 9:9. “Behold, thy King cometh to thee.” Zechariah 9:9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh to thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” You know, the queer thing is that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, even His own disciples didn’t associate what was taking place with that scripture. You check that out with John. You’ll find they didn’t realize it. And afterwards they woke up. My, they were right I the middle of it. Praise the Lord. One day we’ll wake up and find we’re in the middle of God’s purposes, too.
MARK – Behold My Servants
And then there is another “behold” in Isaiah 42. “Behold, My servants.” Not a king this time, “Behold, My servants.” That is what Mark is telling us about. And one of Mark’s great key words is trecho [Strong’s G5143], because Jesus didn’t waste time about getting on with the work. He was God’s perfect servant. “Behold, My servant.”
So you may relate Isaiah 42:1 with Mark’s gospel and Zechariah 9:9 with Matthew’s gospel.
LUKE – Behold the Man
And then Luke especially concentrates on the man. And we may borrow a little text out of John’s gospel to indicate what Luke is talking about. John 19. And our preacher is a wretched gentile. “And Pilot said unto them, ‘Behold, the man.’” Poor Pilot. He was a godless heathen, and history tells us he came to a sticky end. But the word of God passed his lips. “Behold, the man.” Wonderful. Well, there are some other instances where the word of God passed an animal’s lips – a donkey. Balaam’s ass was one of the great preachers of the Old Testament. [Laughter]
JOHN – Behold Your God
And then Isaiah 40:9 – Forty, verse nine – gives us the last instance. “O Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” Behold, your king. Behold, My servants. Behold, the man. And John’s gospel, “Behold, your God.”
JOHN’S PURPOSE
Let’s look at a key verse for John. John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. John spake why he has written, and this is well worth marking in your Bible. John 20, verses 30 and 31. Someone read us those two very thrilling verses. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” There it is: John’s fully declared objectives. He has written: one – that you might believe. Secondly, that your believing might have an eternal life quality about it. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” There was a time when I was a bright young Methodist and didn’t even believe those things. And I thought Jesus was a wonderful example and a great hero and all sorts of good things. I patted Him on the back for whole lots of things. But, as to saying that He was the Son of God and the only Savior – no. Now that wouldn’t come through the filter of my Medieval cross. So, God had to reduce me to darkness and nothingness. Halleluia. And I came to that blessed eternal place where I had to say, “Lord, I don’t know what I’m talking about. Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.” And God injected something, you see. I didn’t quite realize what was happening. But God put a divine injection into my blood stream. But it hasn’t let me down to this day. Praise God. Halleluia!
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
You will probably come across Jehovah’s Witnesses – so called. One thing about them: they’re very sincere, aren’t they? ____them. They really do believe the Bible although they go through it sort of on stepping-stones. They have their own particular text and go from one to another. And then you’ll find they don’t know much about the rest. But still they are sincere. And one of the unhappy things they do with John chapter 1, and verse 1. I think it’s dreadful, but it’s no good just holding up your hands in horror. They say, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was a god.” How horrible it sounds to us. But merely shrinking at it doesn’t deny that it’s possible, because there’s no indefinite article in the Greek. And you could just as well read, “the word was a god,” as, “the word was God.” They had every grammatical right to say that. The other thing is it knocks that key verse to pieces. You might be interested to know there’s that key verse in Isaiah 44, verse 8. “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye even are my witnesses.” That’s it: the key verse. “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” It cancels out completely their phrase. Halleluia! Jesus is not a god; He IS God, manifested in the flesh. Praise the Lord.
JOHN’S INTRODUCTION
Let’s have a look at John’s tremendous introduction. Chapter 1, verses 1 to 14. Would someone read us that? Someone with a warm heart and a good voice. Thank you. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” What version is that? [Student: “The New International Version.”] Yes. I’m still old fashioned. I still hang on to the King James. But I do look at the others sometimes.
Isn’t it amazing? I think it is at any rate. I don’t know if you do – that such tremendous truths can be put into such simple words and sentences. If you ever study Greek – I hope you do – one of the first passages you will go for will be John chapter 1 because it contains the simplest Greek available. The grammar, the construction – it is all schoolboy stuff. There are very few words of any length there. In… the… beginning… was... the… word… and… the… word… it… was… with… God. It’s primary stuff, isn’t it? And yet all the secrets of the universe are crammed there. Dynamite! It really is marvelous. Then we notice again the straightway, the parallel between John 1 and Genesis 1. And we see that there’s a link between God, the Word, and the Spirit. So again in John we’re introduced to God, the Word, and the Spirit. And when we pull in other New Testament scriptures we get phrases like this, “God has spoken to us in His Son.” Hebrews 1:1 [Heb 1:1-2 paraphrased] – one of the great deity passages.
When I pause to consider the great deity passages, there are three major, if not four, major first chapters in the New Testament, which are taken up with the deity of Jesus Christ. John is one. John 1 is one. And – let me see – Colossians 1. Hebrews 1. Oh I’m collecting some more. Um, Revelation 1. What’s another one? Tell me quick. [Student: “First John”] First John 1. Thank you. That’s right. First John 1.
QUESTION ON “THE WORD”
Any input you would like at this stage? Any questions you would like to put in at this stage? Comments? Insights? Yes.
Student: “Why did John use the term “the word”? Sometimes when I’m reading parts it seems to have no bearing on my thinking why he would use “the word”.”
Edgar Parkyns: “The term “the word”.”
Student: “The terminology of “the word”.”
Edgar Parkyns: Yes. I’ll say it has a tremendous amount in it. In Genesis the word of God was the link between the Creator and the creation. And Jesus is now. He is the link between the Creator and the new creation, you and me. Peter had it. “This is the word, which by the gospel is preached unto you. [1 Peter 1:25]” And even James had it, “Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth. [James 1:18]” There’s a whole area, a tremendous area to be looked into on that matter of the word.
QUESTION ON “THE ONLY BEGOTTEN”
Edgar Parkyns: Yes.
Student: What does it mean that “Jesus was the only begotten of the Father”?
Edgar Parkyns: There has to be an article major [?], isn’t it there? “The only begotten”. Monogenes is the Hebrew [He meant Greek. Strong’s G3439]. It doesn’t help with it because it confuses me. It’s different. But I guess that it puts God and humanity very, very close. The human relationship between Father and Son, which in some measure everybody is looking to have, is something closely linked with the mysteries of the Godhead. Only begotten. We were begotten, but we weren’t….and we…..
[long pause. Writing something on the blackboard.]
Now you can see the word right there, ________ [A Greek word ?]. We have moved into divine mystery. For because He is the first born, says Hebrews 1 [He meant Romans 8:29], among many brethren. But He’s the only begotten. He’s unique. So He has a relationship to God, which nobody else has. He also has a relationship to God, which He shares with us. He’s the firstborn of a new creation. And Hebrews [He meant Romans] gracefully points out; He’s at His hands before His Father as our intercessor. He is not ashamed to call us friend. Wonderful! It is unbelievable. The glorious Jesus! Oh, full of grace and truth! And at His hands before His Father He owns even you and me. “I am their Father. And I am their _______ [associate ?].” Praise God.
Edgar Parkyns: Anything else on the only begotten?
Edgar Parkyns: You see, I’m sure, that here we move into mystery. You come to the great invisible door of that which no human mind can fully comprehend. ______________ But Jesus has given us an experiential link. As the old epistles point out, He has sent the earnest, given us the earnest of our inheritance; given us an inward witness and foretaste of the glory that shall be revealed. Praise the Lord! Caste your light by the Holy Ghost. Make the gospels are in trying to make a little hole in the corner and talk as though it is all in speaking in tongues. The Holy Spirit is bigger than that. Halleluia. And get it right. Give Him His full glory and deity. And be very thankful for our little share in the great flow of the Spirit. I thank God for the great experience of speaking in tongues and for all the gifts. It’s wonderful to become a channel for divine…. Can I say it? Yes, I think I can. A channel for divine utterance. What a privilege. Halleluia! Of course, a flower also has the same privilege. They are set out in the grass and declare the glory that’s created. You see.
QUESTION: SHOULD JOHN BE THE FIRST GOSPEL THAT YOU READ AFTER YOU GET SAVED?
Lady Student: Um. When you’re first saved you ‘re asked to read John. I found it very confusing. I couldn’t get past the first chapter because it was beyond me.
Edgar Parkyns: Good.
Lady Student: If someone is asked to read that, what can I say to them to open it up to them.
Edgar Parkyns: Hmmm!
Lady Student: Should I give them any advice?
Edgar Parkyns: That’s too deep a question for me to answer right away. Can someone else help me out?
Man: I know what Wade Taylor said. He says a newborn should read first Mark, then Luke, then Matthew, and then John. Meaning you should get the fact first, then the thought, then the spiritual and the interpretation – meaning John’s interpretation. You start out with Mark first and get the facts which talk about the facts and actual workings. Then the thought being Luke. Then the spiritual aspect of the whole thing and put them together and the interpretation being John.
Edgar Parkyns: What do you think of that? [Laughter]
Man: Read some more _____ before you read John because it’s written in a simple language.
Edgar Parkyns: Hmmm!
Man: _______you know it was written in Hebrews.
Edgar Parkyns: Yes.
Man: _____________.
Edgar Parkyns: Yes.
Man:_____________ .
Edgar Parkyns: Yes, the spiritual depth is immeasurable.
Lady Student: I can tell them to read it nice and slow. [Laughter]
Edgar Parkyns: Yes. That is a help. John does need spiritual assimilation. You can’t rush at it. But I think what you suggest is probably right. After all, why did God give us three gospels with all accounts other than John. I believe that maybe that He denied the, or overruled the, order of the books in the New Testament. I don’t say that He manifestly did it. I believe He did it in the background without pushing us around too much. I really don’t know how he got it together in that present form; taking the shape and time you see this. We don’t even know who was on the committee putting it together. But God worked it out graciously. He who made the flowers.
I think flowers are a lovely illustration of God’s handiwork. Oh so sweetly natural and perfect. One of the interesting differences between God’s creation and man’s finest handiwork is that if you put God’s creation under the microscope, it shows infinite perfections. If you put your favorite new razor blade under a microscope it shows quite the direct _____ [opposite?]. It’s crude. But God does it perfect.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
Interesting that John the Baptist comes into view here. I think we have time to look at John the Baptist for a while. He’s unique. No other prophet, as far as I know, was prophesied of. But John, the obscure dweller in the dessert in his garment of sackcloth was prophesied of by Malachi and by Isaiah, at least. Wonderful! So he’s a tremendously important man. We know that his ministry only lasted a few brief years – less, as far as I can see, than our Lord’s. And yet he had all this attention from the Old Testament, hundreds of years before he was born. He didn’t say much. He had the privilege of being the index finger for all the prophets that went before him and the privilege of pointing out the Lamb of God at the cry on their behalf – the fulfillment of all they had declared. “Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” And you might also note in passing that there’s no lamb to be seen. He pointed out. It appears Jesus had come to him to be baptized, and he had protested about. And then he had baptized Jesus, and immediately, as He was being baptized, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove upon Him and He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and was absent for 40 days. And then He came back to the scene of His baptism by John. And John cried, “He’s standing among you whom you know not.” And this is the one that the prophets spoke about. The man…the next day John saw Jesus standing clearly. And he said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” again. And from that moment two of His best disciples left him and began to follow Jesus.
THE LIGHT GOES BEFORE US: Chapter1, verses 6 to 9
Verse 10 of John 1. I’ll read verse 6. “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Verse 6 here. As Jesus lights every man that cometh into the world. I think you can reshuffle words to reduce the force of them. But I like to believe that Jesus does light every man. And I like to believe that we’re not breaking fresh ground on the mission field. When entering a village where they haven’t had the gospel and tell them plainly the good news of Christ, I like to believe that Jesus has been there before me. So that when they hear the written word, there’s something inside them, which tells them, “I know its truth.” Audience: “Amen.” He lights every man. Praise God.
OBSERVATION ABOUT THE LIGHT
Student: Sir.
Edgar Parkyns: Hmmm?
Student: On that I, ah, neglected…neglected here, like all of us who were blind, that we would see that light.
Edgar Parkyns: Uh, Huh.
Student: …and who would receive that light. But it still lights us.
Edgar Parkyns: Uh, Huh.
Student: In 2 Corinthians 4 it says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” [2 Cor. 4:4 (NIV)] And “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” [2 Cor. 4:6 (NIV)] Lord God, open our eyes to see that light. Even though, the light shines on every man that’s in the world, but not every one has eyes to see it.
Edgar Parkyns: Glory. And, yes, it would be nice for that essay that’s coming due. [Audience laughs] I don’t want you to be lynched afterwards. But there is a lot of precious investigation work going into…. How about coming up with something? Uh, Huh.
Student: Isn’t it also true that Jesus said the Spirit will come and He will convict the world of sin and our vices? And in that sense, the light that every man receives is that when the gospel is preached there is a certain amount of light there that says, “This is true.” And this here, this is ______ [background cough drowns out what he says] and there is a God. And when once he is obedient to that light, it is his responsibility. And in a sense, the light has convicted him
Edgar Parkyns: Yes I do think that. My experience among the heathen villages has been that it seems that some….
End of Tape 1, side 1.
Beginning of Tape 1, side 2
CONTINUATION OF CLASS 1 – INTRODUCTION AND JOHN 1:1-51
….it’s a word that God had already done in heathen hearts before the gospel…. Yes, dear. Halleluia. In fact, when I go to break the fresh ground of the unreached _____, I go to a village not thinking in terms of converting the whole village. But I felt it was my job to proclaim Christ as best I could to the whole village and expect God to do His work on hearts in secret. That wasn’t my business; that was His business. My business was to proclaim to the whosoever a gospel of opportunity for all. And if all did not receive, then that was something beyond me. I couldn’t ….Was that a signal or not? No. When you occupy as many positions as you get, you learn a thing about a…. [laughter] Yes. Yes. Right. If you do go out into missions and I hope you do, you’ll go with this conviction that God’s been there before you. Halleluia. When you proclaim Jesus, the invisible forces of God are on your side.
HE CAME: Chapter 1, verse 10
And verse 10 gives us that delightful assurance that Jesus was in the world and the world, the cosmos, was made by Him. And the world knew him not. And He, no doubt, has a new ____, the world of mankind. Then verse 11 has a two-fold reference. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. One, He….meaning that He came to Israel, His own nation, and they received Him not. And then He came to mankind, His brethren, and they received Him not.
TWO ELECTIONS: Chapter 1, verse 12
And then He links the mystery of election with two creatures. Verse 12. “As many as received Him.” Those who chose Him find, to their surprise, that He has already chosen them. That’s plain. On the outside of the gospel door is it written plainly “whosoever will may come.” But when you come in through that door and look on the inside, you’ll find written there, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God.” [End-of-period bell rings] You can’t see them both at the same time.
END OF CLASS 1
BEGINNING OF CLASS 2 – QUESTIONS AND JOHN 1:1-12
All right. That’s out general bell. I like to start on the bell if possible, but if you have any bursting….. [Tape cut off briefly.] Tell me anything you like, just whatever it is, important. [Laughter]
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST
Lady Student: Talking about the light of the world. Jesus became the light of the World.
Edgar Parkyns: the light of the world.
Male Student: Verse 11 versus verse 9. ….the election.
Edgar Parkyns: John 1, verse 11. We were focusing particularly upon the deity of the Lord Jesus. This is a subject particularly dear to me because I was, as I mentioned, in Communism. I just didn’t believe it. God had to smash through my defenses. And He did it by convicting me of sin. He doesn’t answer all your arguments. He goes straight to the root of the matter. Praise the Lord. So, I rejoice in that bailiwick. I spiritually did a great big swan dive. Halleluia! And from that time the Book began to open up. That was a remarkable thing. The Bible remained closed as long as I was in modernism. But as soon as I confessed to the Lord…. my faith…., even though I didn’t quite understand it all, God was behind the whole book. And it began to open. Halleluia! I’m grateful to God for the way He did all that.
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