St. John - session 1
Before we move along, I want to tell you a secret!
Without the knowledge of this secret, the book that John wrote will seem like a mish-mash of lofty words. His way of expressing his deep love of Jesus is not written for those who only want the facts. He was Jesus' beloved disciple, and he wrote to honor that love . . . to honor his glorious friend and Savior.
Here is the secret: It is explained to us by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans.
Without the knowledge of this secret, the book that John wrote will seem like a mish-mash of lofty words. His way of expressing his deep love of Jesus is not written for those who only want the facts. He was Jesus' beloved disciple, and he wrote to honor that love . . . to honor his glorious friend and Savior.
Here is the secret: It is explained to us by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans.
The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits that we belong to Him . . . that we are children of God.
Without this communication between us and the Spirit of God, Himself, we read the book of John as a stranger reading a foreign language.
Lets go directly to John chapter 3. Nicodemus, a leading citizen and Pharisee, came to Jesus at nigh(most think he came under cover of darkness so as not to be seen by his fellow Pharisees). "Nick" acknowledged that Jesus must have been sent by God. Jesus said,
Lets go directly to John chapter 3. Nicodemus, a leading citizen and Pharisee, came to Jesus at nigh(most think he came under cover of darkness so as not to be seen by his fellow Pharisees). "Nick" acknowledged that Jesus must have been sent by God. Jesus said,
A man cannot even SEE the Kingdom of God without being born again. Unless a man is born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom. Flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Herein lies the secret! The words that Jesus spoke, the life that He led, the Kingdom of God that he brought with Him and revealed to the world . . . NONE of this can be understood, accepted, adhered to and trusted by the flesh through human understanding. All of this takes Spiritual understanding by those who are born of the Spirit of God. How does this happen? Even Jesus said, in chapter 3 verse 8,
The wind blows where it will. You cannot tell where it goes, nor can you tell HOW a man is born of the Spirit.
Did you know that in the old English language the word wind was called gust (as in a gust of wind)? This evolved into the word "ghost" and thus for centuries we were told that the Spirit was called the Holy Ghost. Now we know better!
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One may ask for this birth of the Spirit, or it may happen to you of God's own choosing, as it happened to St. Paul. The evidence of this occurs when one begins to understand, believe in, accept and trust in Jesus, as God's only begotten Son.
How many in this world do NOT believe, for they do not yet have the Holy Spirit of God within them. Some, by just reading the Gospel of John, have opened their hearts to Jesus and have received the Spirit. YET, some have read it straight through with no positive reaction.
I am sure that for many the Spirit of God will lift their spirits as they read these beautiful passages. pray that this will happen for you, too. In the prologue, we read:
How many in this world do NOT believe, for they do not yet have the Holy Spirit of God within them. Some, by just reading the Gospel of John, have opened their hearts to Jesus and have received the Spirit. YET, some have read it straight through with no positive reaction.
I am sure that for many the Spirit of God will lift their spirits as they read these beautiful passages. pray that this will happen for you, too. In the prologue, we read:
The Word was with God and was God and He existed with God from the beginning. Through Him all things were made.
All creation took place through Jesus, as the "word" refers to Him, God's only begotten Son.
The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us. We saw His splendor, full of grace and truth.
John, the Baptist, was sent by God as a witness to the light [of Christ]. Much of the world failed to recognize Him. Yet, those that did, He gave them the power to become sons of God [to be in the family of God].
Does this make sense to you? The Holy Spirit will give you the understanding, for you know the secret!
In Luke's account of the Baptism of Jesus, he reports that John the Baptist said,
In Luke's account of the Baptism of Jesus, he reports that John the Baptist said,
I baptize with water, but He [Jesus] will baptize with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 3:16)
We have that privilege to ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit. In fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we not only have the power to live the Christian Life, we will be strong enough to face tribulation and devastating war with COURAGE!