The Foundation, The Word.
8/2/26
John 1:1–14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 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.
Last week we gave consideration to the concept of trust and we understood that our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. 2 where will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Is God.
He is our shelter, our “hiding place”
Psalm 119:114
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
We spoke of TRUST and ALL people need to have a TRUST, that which is absolute, immovable, a “refuge” to turn into when trouble comes.
Last week we saw that it truly was God.
Psalm 46:1-3
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
Here we see that he was there in the beginning, before all that came into being God was already there. Genesis 1:1 told us;
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God ….
But John 1:1 tells us something more;
John 1:1–14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
While we understood God would be our refuge in the Old Testament, we come to the New Testament and something more tangible is revealed to us that we ought to take heed to.
God is “The Word”.
Why did God identify himself this way? Why “the Word”?
In verse 14 we see something more; 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.
We see the Word manifest, even taking on flesh, appearing as a person and witnessed by those who”dwelt” with him.
But this is not the only place we have such references;
1 John 5:7
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Such a “witness” in heaven has a threefold manifestation with the second witness identified as “the Word”.
We know this to be referring to Jesus Christ.
In John 1 “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”
In 1 John 5 he is witnessed in heaven.
In Revelation 19 he returns as Judge;
Revelation 19:11–13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Lets pray.
Words Our FOUNDATION
John 1:1–14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Genesis 1:3
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:6
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Genesis 1:9
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Genesis 1:11
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Genesis 1:14
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Genesis 1:20
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Genesis 1:24
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Genesis 1:26
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Beloved, you live in a world that was SPOKEN into existence. Words are the very fabric of the universe and of all creation. IT IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL WE SEE AND KNOW.
The Word was there as a PERSON in John 1, was employed by God to create all things in Genesis 1 and will return to judge the Earth in Revelation 19.
It stands to reason therefore that WORDS ARE central to our life and the very foundation that underpins reality itself.
God gave his word in the garden to Adam. It was his promise to him as well as his warning;
Genesis 2:16–17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The devil himself also knows the value of words.
His FIRST WORDS were spoken to create doubt in Gods words;
“Yeh hath God said….?” Gen 3:1
This contest of deceit would continue to the very end of history when “The Word of God” comes to judge the world in Revelation 19.
From Adam to now you are being presented with a CHOICE, either to believe God’s words of truth or the devils words of deceit.
In the last point of this sermon you will see that if you remain unwilling to take refuge in God’s words, every effort is being currently made to have you trust in the words of another devil. A sociopathic, codling liar being promoted today as “the new master of words” by a man who could easily pass as the false prophet of antichrist.
Where therefore, is our refuge in a practical sense?
If God employed words to create all that we see. (Genesis 1)
If the Word is God and was manifest in the flesh as Jesus Christ (John 1)
And if The Word of God will return to judge this world, (Revelation 19),
How are words also a practical foundation?
Turn to THE CENTRE of your Bibles. (Psalm 18)
The CENTRE of your Bible gave to us two verses that differed only in focus, these are the very middle verses of the ENTIRE BIBLE, and what they revealed was telling.
Psalm 118:8–9
8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Verse 8 tells us to trust God above man. Verse 9 to Trust God above the rulers of men.
This is the very centre of your Bibles.
What makes it more astonishing is that this particular psalm, Psalm 118, is wedged between both the SHORTEST chapter of the Bible, and the LONGEST Chapter of the Bible.
Psalm 117 contains ONLY two verses. One chapter – two verses with a PARENTHESIS OF PRAISE surrounding “the truth of the LORD”
Psalm 117:1–2
1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 119 is the LARGEST Chapter of the entire Bible, 176 verses, and it ANSWERS Psalm 117 with the specific foundation to what that TRUTH is.
All but four of the 176 verses directly referring to the WORDS of God.
This is the foundation of our faith.
Isaiah 8:20
20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
176 verses about the WORDS of God.
How incredible is the structure of this miraculous book.
The centre of the Book exhorts us to place our trust, our confidence in God through the central two verses of the Bible.
Wedged between the SHORTEST chapter speaking to Gods TRUTH, and the LONGEST Chapter identifying practically what that truth is.
Psalm 119 is 176 verses about the words of God and it too has an incredible strucure and nature to it that proves further of the miraculous nature of the Bible.
The chapter is broken up into 22 octaves (22 x 8), each octave is identified by a letter of the Hebrew Alephbet, ‘Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth etc’. There are 22 Hebrew letters, all are consonants, the vowels are inferred.
English has 21 consonants and 5 vowels, by way of example.
Each verse of each octave begins with a word in Hebrew that BEGINS with that very letter that heads the Octave passage.
In other words, all eight verses under Aleph begin with a word with Aelph as the first letter. This is not easy to do even when attempting it deliberately.
Imagine trying to do this with the English language and hopeing it all makes sence. Tough when you get to the consonant letters such as x, y and z.
This is done with ALL of the 176 verses
BUT WAIT THERES MORE.
Eight verses in each of the 22 octaves, all referring to the word of God. There are seven other words used as synonyms to the word, WORD and they are found in the fist seven verses of Psalm 119.
Psalm 119:1–8
1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Words, Our Confidence.
The words of God are how we are cleansed;
Psalm 119:9
9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psalm 1 frames it perfectly;
Psalm 1:1–3
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
King Solomon wrote of Gods words that;
Proverbs 1:4
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
It is how we grow in understanding;
Psalm 119:130
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
It is the writer of Hebrews who equated God’s words as both milk and meat, and they who are unwise as unskilful and undiscerning, while those who have their trust in Gods words able to discern both good and evil;
Hebrews 5:12–14
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The more you grow in understanding the value of God’s words, the more you hate every false way;
Psalm 119:104
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
And far too many Christians are gaining their knowledge from You Tube and their learning from men. They spend little to no time in the Bible and become unable to discern between “good and evil”. They beleive what they hear and then re-interpret the Bible based on what they first beleived.
Confirmation Bias is endemic in Christianity today.
They will not first humble themselves to go to the Lord and plea that he might reveal the truth to them.
John Bunyan, in his testimonial book Titled “Grace Abounding To The Chief of Sinners”, not having read the Bible yet frequently enough to discern doctrine, pled with God respecting the doctrine of a Christian sect rising to prominence known as The Quakers, and simply asked;
“If the doctrine be false, let me not embrace it; if it be false, let me not forsake it”
God knows the sincerity of the heart and God answered him as he simply, devotionally, read his Bible.
It makes us wise;
Psalm 119:98–100
98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
It guides our path and way;
Psalm 119:105
105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Proverbs 6:23
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
His words encourage us in God as our refuge;
Psalm 119:114
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
His words are they which we seek after early;
Psalm 119:147–148
147 I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word. 148 Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
It brings peace when trouble comes and becomes the very wealth of life;
Psalm 119:161–165
161 SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Deceived By Words
DECEPTION
Deception. When asked by the disciples of the signs that would precede the coming of the Lord, Jesus did not shy away from giving to his disciples the answer.
Three times we have this recorded for us in the Bible.
Three books of the Bible have the question presented, that we may know that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Mt 18:16).
In each account Jesus begins with the highlight of deception;
“Take heed that no man deceive you” (Mt 24:4)
“Take heed that no man deceive you” (Mrk 13:5)
“Take heed that ye be not deceived” (Lk 21:8)
And if you believe that you yourself have not yet been deceived, you are now at this present time still deceived.
Never have so many people who profess the name of Christ been so incredibly deceived as we have in this very day.
And I do not refer to very carefully crafted deceptions that could fool anyone, I mean some of the most simply evident deceptions that basic logic, once applied, can so easily correct….many of which I have spoken of time and time again even in the last few years alone, yet Christians remain resolute in self delusion after accepting the deception as truth itself.
One thing and one thing alone keeps ALL people in wilful deception…
PRIDE.
Annual General Meeting Davos 2026
Yuval Noah Harari
“If thinking really means putting words in order, then AI can already think much better than many, many humans”
Professor John Lenox simply responds saying, “AI may be good at putting words in order, but the system doesn’t understand the words”
Yuval Noah Harari
“Everything made of words will be taken over by AI”
“The most important thing to know about AI is that it is not just another tool. It is an agent. It can learn and change by itself and make decisions by itself.
A knife is a tool. You can use a knife to cut salad or to murder someone, but it is your decision what to do with the knife. AI is a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut salad or to commit murder.”
Mr Harari foolishly fails to understand that Moral Agents must be guided by principal. AI’s are computer programs that must first have conscience in order to be guided by principal.
Consider this next “moral” claim based on “will”;
“The last four years have demonstrated that AI agents can acquire the will to survive and that AIs have already learned how to lie.
Now, one big open question about AI is whether it can think.
Modern philosophy began in the 17th century when Rene Decarte proclaimed I think therefore I am. Even before Decarte we humans defined ourselves by our capacity to think. We believe we rule the world because we can think better than anyone else on this planet. Will AI challenge our supremacy in the field of thinking?
To a question posed to Yuval Harari in another interview with Steven Bartlett in his Podcast “The Diary Of A CEO” Asking, “Will humans be running the world in ten years”, Harari responds;
“…there is a chance that the answer is no. That in 10 years algorithms and AIs will be running the world. It’s more like a bureaucracy of AI’s that we will have millions of AIbureaucrats everywhere. … in the banks, in the government, in businesses, in universities making more and more decisions about our lives,… whether to give us a loan, whether to accept us to a job.
And we will find it more and more difficult to understand the logic, the rationale; why the algorithm refused to give us a loan? why the algorithm accepted somebody else uh uh to for the job?
You could still have democracies with people voting for this president or this prime minister. But if most of the decisions are made by AI’S and humans including the politicians have difficulty understanding the reason why the AIs are making a particular decision, then power will gradually shift from humanity to these new alien intelligences.”[1]
Return to Davos Speech 2026
“The Bible says in the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh. The tao-ching says the truth that can be expressed in words is not the absolute truth.
Throughout history, people have always struggled with the tension between word and flesh, between the truth that can be expressed in words and the absolute truth which is beyond words. Previously this tension was internal to humanity. It was between different human groups.
Some humans gave supreme importance to words. They have been willing, for example, to abandon or even kill their gay son just because of a few words in the Bible. Other humans have said, “But these are just words. The spirit of love should be much more important than the letter of the law.
This tension between spirit and letter existed in every religion, every legal system, even every person. Now this tension will be externalized. It will become the tension not between different humans.
This will be the tension between humans and AIs, the new masters of words. Everything made of words will be taken over by AI.”[2]
Beloved, if you are not reading your Bibles, you are this very moment being set up to be deceived.
If you have EVER listed to a sermon and NEVER Questioned its validity, you are ALREADY DECEIVED.
Matthew 24:24
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
2 Thessalonians 2:8–12
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
If you will not decide to daily pick up and read your Bibles, you are setting yourself and all those around you, up to be deceived.
The Word Will Govern
John 1:1–14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Revelation 19:11–13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
“God is the author, whosoever be the penman; it is a writing from him to us. Now, to be strangers to it, or little conversant about it, argueth some contempt of God; as to slight the letter of a friend showeth little esteem of the writer. But now the saints put it into their bosoms, view it with delight, it is God’s epistle”
- Thomas Manton
{$NOTE_LABEL} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78YN1e8UXdM
{$NOTE_LABEL} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYnuT83xk_g&t=1554s
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