Posted on

Exploring Life in John – The Need of the Immoral – Life’s Satisfying (2)

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

The Need Of The Immoral –

Life’s Satisfying (2)

Verses:

John 4:15-34  

15The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not thirst nor come here to draw.

16 He said to her, Go, call your husband and come here.

17 The woman answered and said, I do not have a husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I do not have a husband,

18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.

19 The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, yet you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship.

21 Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

22 You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness, for the Father also seeks such to worship Him.

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

25 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.

26 Jesus said to her, I, who speak to you, am He.

27 And at this His disciples came, and they marveled that He was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, What are You seeking? or, Why are You speaking with her?

28 Then the woman left her waterpot and went away into the city, and said to the people,

29 Come, see a man who told me all that I have done. Is this not the Christ?

30 They went out of the city and came to Him.

31 In the meantime, the disciples urged Him, saying, Rabbi, eat.

32 But He said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about.

33 The disciples therefore said to one another, Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?

34 Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE WAY TO TAKE THE LIVING WATER

In John 4:15-26 we see the way to take the living water. The living water is good, but if we do not have a way to take it, it means nothing to us. What good is it to have something marvelous and excellent in the heavens if we cannot reach it? But here we find the living water and the way to take it.

The Sinner Asked for the Living Water

The Samaritan woman was attracted and asked the Lord for the living water. “The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so I will not thirst, nor come here to draw” (4:15). The Lord was a good preacher. He seemed to say, “If you knew who I am and if you knew God’s gift, and if you knew the living water that I give, you would certainly ask for it.” The woman asked for it immediately. In our foolish talk with people, the more we talk, the more we keep them away. But the Lord Jesus spoke very briefly and the woman was attracted and asked for the living water.

To Repent of and Confess Her Sins—“Husbands”

When the woman asked the Lord for the water, He did not rebuke her, telling her to repent and make a thorough confession of her sins. No, the Lord spoke softly and gently, saying, “Go, call your husband and come here” (4:16). The Lord seemed to be saying, “I want your husband. You ask Me for the living water, and I ask you for your husband. Let us trade. You trade your husband for the living water.” This word was intended to touch her conscience with her immoral history that she might repent of her sins. “The woman answered and said, I don’t have a husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I don’t have a husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.” Did the woman lie or tell the truth? It was a truth, yet it was a lie. She told a lie by speaking the truth. It was a truthful lie. This is the deceptive nature of fallen man. However, the Lord was gentle with her and did not rebuke her. He even appreciated her, saying, “You have well said, I don’t have a husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you said truly” (4:17-18). The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.” The Lord’s words frightened her. She seemed to say, “Isn’t this man a Jew? He has never lived in our town. How did he get to know my background? Who told him that I had five husbands and that the one I have now is not my husband?” This is the way to have a gospel talk. Do not talk vainly to people, but touch their conscience, not in the way of rebuking them, but in the way of unveiling them. By the Lord’s gracious and wise words that woman’s conscience was touched. The proper way to minister the gospel is to touch people’s conscience.

What do her husbands signify? They signify anything that is other than Christ. Anything outside of Christ may become sinful. If we depend upon anyone or anything other than Christ, that may be quite sinful. The husbands of the Samaritan woman became the history of her whole sinful life. As we have seen, the Lord touched her sinful history in a very wise way. He did not condemn her sinfulness as a sinner or legally make her repent and confess her sins practically as some evangelists would. Since the Lord knows everything, He simply touched her conscience by asking her to bring her husband. By this way, the Lord helped her to confess her sins and repent.

To Contact God the Spirit

Listen to the Lord’s words about the matter of worship. “Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father. You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and reality” (4:21-24). This word was given to instruct her regarding the need for exercising her spirit to contact God the Spirit. To contact God the Spirit with her spirit is to drink the living water, and to drink the living water is to render real worship to God.

In typology, the worship of God should be (1) in the place chosen by God to set His habitation there (Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14, 18), and (2) with the offerings (Lev. 1—6). The place chosen by God for His habitation typifies the human spirit, where God’s habitation is today—Ephesians 2:22, “an habitation of God through the spirit” (KJV), should read “a dwelling place of God in spirit.” The offerings typify Christ; Christ is the fulfillment and reality of all the offerings with which the people worshipped God. Hence, when the Lord instructed her to worship God the Spirit in spirit and reality, it meant she should contact God the Spirit in her spirit instead of in a specific place, and through Christ, instead of with the offerings, for now, since Christ the reality has come (vv. 25-26), all the shadows and types are over. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit, that worshipping God means to contact Him, and that contacting Him is not a matter of place, but a matter of the human spirit.

When He said, “An hour is coming and now is,” it meant that the age had changed. In the past, according to the Law of Moses, God ordained that His people worship Him at a specific place where He would establish His habitation with His name (Deut. 12:5). All of God’s worshippers had to go to that unique place. That was a type. Now the age has been changed, and the type is fulfilled. Typically speaking, the place of worship should not be a place any longer; it must be the human spirit, where God is going to set up His habitation with His name. Where is the unique place for God’s people to worship Him today? It is our human spirit. According to Ephesians 2:22, God’s habitation is in our spirit.

To Believe That Jesus Is the Christ That She May Have Life Eternal

Now we come to the last aspect of the way to take the living water—believing that Jesus is the Christ. When the Samaritan woman heard the Lord’s answer to her question about worship, she still tried to turn away to another subject saying, “I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ; when He comes, He will declare all things to us” (4:25). She seemed to be saying, “You are telling me so many things, but we are waiting for the Messiah to come. When He comes, He will manifest everything.” What an excuse! Then the Lord answered her, “I who speak to you am He” (4:26). By this word, Jesus led her to believe that He is the Christ in order that she might have eternal life (20:31). We see from verse 29 that she believed. Although the Samaritan woman tried every way to escape the Lord, He, in His wisdom, caught her. Never try to escape the hand of the Lord. The Samaritan woman was convinced, believed in Him, and received the living water. There was a great change in her life. She was such an immoral person, but was still under the influence of religious tradition, taking care of yes or no, here or there, this way or that way. She was absolutely in a death situation. However, the Lord touched her and turned her from death to life. Undoubtedly, she was under the tree of knowledge, but the Lord turned her to the tree of life. He changed her death into life eternal.

The Sinner Believed, Was Satisfied, Left Her Preoccupation, and Testified

After the woman heard that the Lord Jesus was the Christ who was coming, she believed. There was a great change in her life. She left her waterpot, went into the city, and gave a living testimony to the people. This testimony brought in a marvelous harvest (4:28-42).

The picture in John 4 also shows us that after the woman contacted Christ, she gave up everything. She left both the well and the waterpot. She left everything and went into the city to tell the people about Christ, which means that once she contacted Christ, she gave up everything in order to have only Christ as her satisfaction. When she told the people in the city, “Is this not the Christ?” she recognized that He was the Christ. In the eyes of God, she had Christ already and was bringing Christ to her people. What a testimony! It is only when we contact Christ, recognize Christ, and receive Christ that we can be satisfied. Then spontaneously we shall give up everything that is other than Christ.

(Life-study of John, msg. 12) 

 

Posted on

Explroing Life in John – The Increase of Christ

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

THE INCREASE OF CHRIST

Verses:

John 3:23-30  

23   And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were baptized;

24   For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

25   There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification.

26   And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you across the Jordan, of whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.

27   John answered and said, A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.

28   You yourselves testify of me that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.

29   He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.

30   He must increase, but I must decrease

Ministry Excerpts:

John said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease” (vv. 29-30). Most Christians, especially most of the Christian teachers, misinterpret verse 30. What does it mean for Christ to increase and for you to decrease? It means that you must withdraw from the scene and from having the following and allow Christ to be the only figure on the scene and to have all the following. All the following should go to Christ; none of it should go to John the Baptist or to anyone else. Since John did not make this matter clear to his disciples, they were jealous on his behalf. When John’s disciples saw that all the people went to Jesus, they were unhappy. They seemed to say, “Why do these people not follow our teacher, but they go to Jesus?” Do you see the point? If John had withdrawn from the scene, there would have been no problem. If he had told all of his disciples to go to the Lord Jesus, no longer accepting a following for himself, there would have been no difficulty.

All the Regenerated Ones Becoming One as the Bride of Christ Given Him by God

John wrote his gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. By his words we can see that all the regenerated followers of Christ are His increase. The increase in verse 30 is the bride in verse 29, and the bride there is a living composition of all the regenerated people. This means that in this chapter on regeneration, regeneration is not only to bring the divine life into the believers and annul the satanic nature in their flesh, but also to make them the corporate bride for Christ’s increase. The last two points, to annul the serpentine nature in the believers and to make them the bride of Christ, are both fully developed in John’s writing of Revelation. The book of Revelation mainly reveals how Satan as the old serpent will be fully eliminated (Rev. 20:2, 10), and how the bride of Christ as the New Jerusalem will be fully produced (Rev. 21:2, 10-27).

Although most Christians are familiar with regeneration in John 3, very few see that each regenerated person should be a part of the increase of Christ, which is His bride. Regeneration is for the increase of Christ. It is for the producing of the bride. Regeneration is for you to be a part of the bride of Christ. John 3 is a chapter of regeneration for the increase of Christ. Many Christians only see regeneration itself. They do not see the purpose of regeneration. Is regeneration just for you to have eternal life? No! It is for something more. Regeneration is for us to be built into the bride, which is the increase of Christ.

Originally we all were little serpents with a serpentine nature. By regeneration, the serpentine nature has been terminated. We saw this clearly in the last message. Furthermore, in regeneration we all have been germinated with the divine life. Since our serpentine nature has been terminated and since we have been germinated with the divine life, we are all a part of the bride. Are you a serpentine person or are you a part of the bride of Christ? We are parts of the bride! We are parts of the increase of Christ.

The Gospel of John is a book about the increase of Christ. Christ as the bridegroom needs a bride. He came for this purpose. He came for His increase. How will He obtain His increase? By entering into us and making us a part of Himself. We all are parts of Christ. As parts of Christ composed together, we are the bride of Christ, His increase. Both salvation and regeneration are for this purpose, for the bride as the increase of Christ.

The Bride of Christ Being His Increase

The bride of Christ is the increase of Christ. All of the reborn people are the increase of Christ, and this increase is the bride which becomes the counterpart of Christ. The bride is the church, the composition of all the regenerated people. All those who are regenerated are composed together as the corporate bride to match Christ. Without regeneration, Christ cannot have a bride as His increase.

The bride as the increase of Christ is like Eve who was the increase of Adam. When Adam was first created, he was single—a so-called bachelor. In Adam’s single state, there was no increase. After God took a rib out of Adam and built a woman with it, this woman was married to Adam (Gen. 2:21-24). Once she was joined to Adam, she became the increase of Adam. Adam then had an increase and was no longer single.

Christ also was single, and so He made a bride to be the increase of Himself. But who is the increase, the bride, of Christ? Only those who are regenerated with Him as life. Through regeneration we possess the divine life of God which is Christ Himself, thus becoming members of the corporate bride of Christ. Later, the same writer, in the book of Revelation, says that the bride of Christ, the bride of the Lamb, is the New Jerusalem (21:2, 9-10). What is the New Jerusalem? Again, it is the composition of all those who have been born again through the regeneration of the Spirit. If you have been regenerated, you are part of the increase of Christ, a member of the corporate bride of Christ, which is the church today and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the future.

How can we become the increase of Christ? We repeat once again that the increase of Christ is produced through regeneration. For example, when we were born of our parents, we were the increase of Adam. Do you realize that Adam is increasing every day? Have you ever thought of how large Adam is today? About six thousand years ago, when Adam was alone in the garden of Eden, he was single, a bachelor. However, down through the generations, Adam has acquired many descendants. All his descendants are his increase. Today, counting only the living ones, Adam has increased to about three billion people. Adam has increased to be such a big Adam. Praise the Lord that Christ is increasing also. But He is not increased by our first birth. Our first birth is for the increase of Adam; our second birth is for the increase of Christ. When you have a child, that is another person for the increase of Adam. However, you must thank the Lord for another possibility: this once-born one may also be born again for the increase of Christ. Potentially, all of your children can be born again into the increase of Christ as well as into the increase of Adam.

Are you the increase of Adam, or are you the increase of Christ? Formerly, we had to say that we were just the increase of Adam. Now, thank the Lord, we are the increase of Christ through regeneration. However, we must also make sure that we live, walk, and do things, not by the life of Adam, but by the life of Christ. As long as we live by our human life, we are merely the increase of Adam. It is only as we live and walk by God’s divine life that we are the increase of Christ. Then we shall be the bride as the counterpart of Christ.

As a wife is one flesh with her husband, so we are one spirit with Christ (1 Cor. 6:17). As the wife is the increase of the husband, so we, as His bride, are the increase of Christ. Due to the fact that we have Christ as life through the second birth, we are the increase of Christ. Therefore the ultimate result of regeneration is that Christ has a bride as His increase. Christ is increased through regeneration because by regeneration He is reproduced in us. We, the regenerated people, are His reproduction.

Eve could be the increase of Adam because she was constituted with the rib of Adam and became one flesh with Adam, a part of Adam. In the same principle, we can be the increase of Christ because we are spiritually constituted with the life of Christ and have become one spirit with Him, a part of Him. As Eve came out of Adam and returned to be one with Adam, thus becoming Adam’s increase, so we also have come out of Christ and will return to be one with Him, thus becoming His increase. This increase is just His reproduction in us through regeneration. All the people who participate in this reproduction are given to Christ by God. (Life-study of John, msg. 10)

 

Posted on

Exploring Life in John – The Need of the Moral – Life’s Regenerating (1)

LIFE MEETING THE NEED OF MAN’S EVERY CASE

The Need of the Moral –

Life’s Regenerating (1)

Verses:

John 3:1-8

1   But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2   This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.

3   Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4   Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?

5   Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7   Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born anew.

8   The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Ministry Excerpts:

Chapter three through chapter eleven [of John], the writer…relates nine cases to prove the principle of life set forth in the first sign in chapter two. He uses these cases to signify some spiritual and meaningful points. These cases first expose the condition and need of man, and then they reveal how the Lord can deal with all the conditions and meet all the needs of man. Life meets the need of man’s every case. We must realize that life here means the Lord Himself, the Word which was God and which became flesh. Although the Lord might have dealt with thousands of human cases, John selected only nine of them to illustrate how the Lord as life could and still can meet the need of every human case.

Regeneration

The first case, that of Nicodemus, is the case of regeneration. Nicodemus was a person of the highest class, and we need to consider his virtues and attributes. Firstly, he was a teacher with the highest attainment in education. As a teacher of the Jews, he taught the Old Testament, the Sacred Word. Secondly, Nicodemus was “a ruler of the Jews.” He had a position with a certain amount of honor and authority. Thirdly, he was an old man. As an old man, he had a good deal of experience. He was a man full of experiences. Fourthly, he was undoubtedly a moral man, a good man. If you look at the way he talked, you will realize that he was a moral man. Fifthly, Nicodemus was a man who was truly seeking after God. Although he was somewhat fearful of the Pharisees, he still came to the Lord Jesus by night. This indicated that he was seeking God. Sixthly, he was very humble. Nicodemus was an old man of perhaps sixty or seventy years of age, yet he came to see the Lord Jesus, who was only a little over thirty years of age. That such an experienced, educated, and elderly man would come to see someone much younger than he indicates his humility. Furthermore, although Nicodemus was a teacher, he addressed the Lord Jesus as Rabbi. Among the Jews, to call a person Rabbi means that you are humbling yourself. Seventhly, Nicodemus was an honest man. His speech reveals his honesty. Can you find a better person than Nicodemus? He was a man of a superior standard, high attainment, and morality.

When Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus, the Lord took the opportunity to reveal the true need of mankind. In His conversation with Nicodemus, the Lord revealed that regardless of how good we are, we still need regeneration. Regeneration is the first need of man. Moral people, as well as immoral people, need regeneration. Many Christians hold the mistaken concept that people need regeneration simply because they are fallen. However, if man had never fallen, he still would have needed regeneration. Even if Adam had not fallen, he still would have needed regeneration. That was why God put him in front of the tree of life. If Adam had partaken of the tree of life, he would have been regenerated.

Since we are human beings, we all have a human life. The problem is not a matter of whether or not our human life is good or bad. Regardless of the kind of human life we have, as long as we do not have the divine life, we need to be regenerated. To be regenerated simply means to have the divine life besides our human life. God’s eternal purpose is that man be a vessel to contain the divine life. Our being with our human life is a vessel to contain God as life. The divine life is God’s goal. The divine life is God Himself. God’s goal is that we, as people with a human life, receive the divine life into our being as our real life. This is the true meaning of regeneration. Many Christians are not clear about this fact, thinking that regeneration is necessary simply because we are fallen and sinful. According to this concept, we need to be regenerated because our life is bad and cannot be improved. This concept is wrong. I say once again that even if Adam in the garden of Eden had never fallen, he still would have needed to be regenerated, to be born again, that he might have another life, the life of God. Therefore, to be regenerated is to receive the divine life, God Himself.

Due to human culture and Jewish religion, Nicodemus thought that man needed to behave. Since man must have good conduct and worship God in a proper way, man needs much teaching. Nicodemus considered Christ to be a teacher come from God. This indicates that he might have thought that he needed better teachings to improve himself. But the Lord’s answer in the following verse unveiled to him that his need was to be born anew. To be born anew is to be regenerated with the divine life, a life other than the human life received by natural birth. Hence, his real need was not better teachings, but the divine life. Nicodemus was seeking for teachings which belong to the tree of knowledge, but the Lord’s answer turned him to the need of life, which belongs to the tree of life (cf. Gen. 2:9-17). The Lord told Nicodemus very emphatically that what he needed was to be born again. Thus, man’s real need is to be regenerated with another life. All of us must realize that what we need is not religion or teaching to regulate and correct us, but another life, the life of God, to regenerate us. Man needs regeneration because he needs the divine life. Regardless of how good you are, you still do not have the life of God. You need another birth in order to receive the life of God with His divine nature. Although you may feel that you are good, yet you must admit that you do not have the life of God with His divine nature. Another birth, regeneration, is necessary that you may receive another life, the divine life of God.

The Spirit Begetting Spirit

To be born anew is to be born of the Spirit in our spirit. The divine Spirit regenerates our human spirit with God’s divine life. Regeneration, that is, receiving the divine life, is absolutely a matter that transpires in our spirit. Our spirit was made by God for this very purpose. We have such a special organ, our human spirit, deep within us. In His creation, God made us with a spirit for the purpose that one day we might exercise it to contact Him and to receive Him into our being. The function of the human spirit is to contact God. Regeneration is not a matter of our mind, emotion, or will; it is altogether a matter in our spirit. Verses 12 and 13 of John 1 say, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” In what part of our being are we born of God? In our spirit. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. God is a Spirit, and only a spirit can touch a Spirit. Only a spirit can be born of a Spirit. So, regeneration is absolutely a matter in our spirit. It does not matter whether you have a sober mind, a proper emotion, or a strong will. Such things are in another realm. Regeneration transpires in the realm of our spirit. Our spirit is the sphere in which regeneration transpires. In order to be regenerated, you do not exercise your mind, will, or emotion. Simply open yourself up, forgetting what you are, and from deep within your spirit, call on the name of the Lord Jesus, believing in Him. If you do this, immediately God the Spirit will touch your spirit. This will happen quickly, perhaps taking less than a second. If you open yourself from deep within your spirit, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, in that one second, God the Spirit will enter into your spirit and you will be regenerated. The delivery of a reborn child happens very fast. There is no need of a midwife, nurse, or doctor. When you say, “Lord Jesus, I believe in You,” you are reborn in your spirit.

For the Entry into the Kingdom of God

In verse 3 the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and in verse 5 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The Lord’s words here are a clear revelation that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. There is no other way by which we can enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, to see or to enter into the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.

A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. If you want to share in a certain kind of kingdom, you first need the life of that kingdom. Only birds can partake of the bird kingdom because only they have the life of a bird. Likewise, only men can participate in the human kingdom because only they have a human life. So, without the life of God, how could we ever share the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God, but also the divine realm or sphere. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life of God. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom. Thus, we need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. Even if we were not fallen or sinful, we would still need to be born again, because regardless of how good, pure, and clean our human life might be, it is not able to realize the things of the divine realm and it is not qualified to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life is qualified to be in the divine realm. Only the life of God meets the requirements of the kingdom of God. How can our human life know the divine things of the kingdom of God? How can it match the divine kingdom? It is impossible. We need the divine life. We need to be born again. Regeneration is the only way, the unique entrance, into the kingdom of God. (Life-study of John, msg. 8-9)