 Oh yes, will we start the class. So before the break, we saw a brief summary of the conversation that took place between Jesus and Nicodemus. Now, all the conversations and dialogues recorded, you know, in our Gospels. They are not a detailed word-by-word record of all that was said because then it would become impossibly long. You know, you can't record every single conversation in all of its full detail. So what we have in the Gospels is a summary, a very brief summary of the main highlights of these conversations. And so we see over here that all the details that would have gone into this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus are not mentioned over here. We only get the main points, the main point being that Jesus is saying, you have come over here thinking that you are ready for the Messiah, but I am telling you that you need to be spiritually born. Only then you can receive the Messiah and enter into the kingdom. And so you need this Messiah more to be your saviour and then he will later become your king. So this is the message that Jesus has been trying to convey. And now Jesus goes on to say in verse 16, he talks about the purpose with which he has come, in what way he is going to be this Messiah, that we see in verse 16. So if we can have this very popular verse being read out by someone, please, John 3.16. Yes, yeah. John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but it everlasting night. Now, we see that in verse 15, the earlier verse, Jesus described himself as the Son of Man, the one who was prophesied about in Daniel 7. And now here in verse 16, he says, not only am I that Son of Man who was prophesied about in Daniel 7, I am also God's only Son. So I am both the Messiah who was prophesied in Daniel 7 and this Messiah I am declaring is God's only Son. I am divine. I am not a human deliverer. I am not a human Messiah. I am a divine Messiah. So in verse 16, he clearly establishes his divinity because earlier he had said to Nicodemus, I am the one who has gone to heaven and I have come from there. So whatever I am saying, you can accept it as true testimony because I am talking about things which I have seen. So now he's again confirming and saying, I am divine. I am literally from God and I am his only Son. So he is now asking Nicodemus indirectly, are you willing to believe this and accept this? Because if you are willing, then yes, I can give you spiritual birth. Then I can indeed become your Messiah, not only in saving you but also being your king and bringing you into the kingdom. So are you willing to believe me in this manner? So here obviously it's not talking about a belief at the mind level, at the intellectual level. It's talking about a lifestyle of believing, where action would have to be involved, where choices and commitment would be involved because we are very familiar with James 2, 18 to 20, right? Maybe we can actually look at that. It would make a big difference in understanding what Jesus meant in John 3, 16. So if we can turn to James chapter 2 versus 18 to 20 to understand what kind of a faith, what kind of a belief is being talked about by Jesus when he says, whoever believes in him. So James chapter 2 versus 18 to 20, if someone can read out please. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, but do you want to know of of a rich man that faith without work is dead? Yeah. So here James is making the point that there's no greatness in believing in the divinity of God because even the demons believe it and in fact they believe it to such an extent that it frightens them. It scares them when they think about the divinity and awesomeness of the living God. So yes, even the demons believe. But then just because the demons believe, we don't see them entering into heaven. So what kind of a belief is being talked about over here when it says those who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life? Is it the kind of belief which the demons have? The demons definitely believe that Jesus is divine. But that doesn't get them into heaven. Why? Because when it comes to believing at the action level, at the level of commitment, they have no desire to trust him and believe in him to that extent. They do not wish to submit to him, to obey him, to follow him, to honor him. None of those things, desires are there in the hearts of the demons. They just believe at an intellectual level and they believe it so clearly that it frightens them and scares them. But there is no personal belief. So here when it says whoever believes in him shall not perish, it's talking about a belief literally at the action and commitment and submission level where the person says, yes, I believe that you are the Son of God and I will now honor you and live in a way which lifts up your name. I will choose to trust you even when what you're asking me to do does not make sense because I know you are that trustworthy. So I choose to completely believe and obey. That is the kind of belief that this verse is talking about. So the promise is made over here that if someone chooses to believe that Jesus is this Messiah, it says whoever believes in him. So what these Jewish people always thought was that they are God's chosen people, which is true. I mean, in the Old Testament, God definitely described them as his chosen people. But at the same time he also said, if anybody from any other nation comes over here and joins your community and chooses to start following my laws and commands and if they bring their sacrifices to the temple, after a certain number of years, you can allow them to become part of the community. They also would be considered as Israelites from then on. So God never kept the other people out. Anyone who comes to him, he is willing to accept them. So that was actually the principle which God had established in the Old Testament. But the Israelite people had forgotten that over the generations. Now they only regarded themselves as God's chosen people on the basis of race. But originally anyone who comes to him, even if they are from other races, if they choose to submit to the laws and commandments which he has given, if they are willing to bring their sacrifices humbly, then after a certain number of generations, according to the rules and regulations given in the first five books of the Old Testament, they would be absorbed, they would be accepted into the Israelite community. So salvation in fact was open to everyone from the very beginning. But the people somewhere along the way, these Jewish people had started thinking that salvation is exclusively for them. So now Jesus is again expanding this, their idea of what salvation involves. And he's saying it's not just something which applies to you alone. It applies to whoever, so that's the term that he uses that is used over there, that whoever believes in him doesn't matter which race, which community, which nation, if they choose to believe that I am divine, that not only am I the son of man who was prophesied about in Daniel 7, but I'm also the divine one, the son of God, if they are willing to believe that then I will give them this spiritual birth that I'm talking about, which I have talked about in Ezekiel 36. So he says I will grant them that. I will cleanse them with water, which will remove all their impurities. I will put my spirit in them. So I will circumcise their hearts so that they will become true followers. So this promise has been extended to even the Gentile people. If they choose to believe in the true sense where they are willing to submit and commit themselves into the Lord's hands to obey him, follow him, do whatever he tells them to do. And then Jesus explains this whole idea of having come into the world to save the world and maybe we can look at verses 17 and 18 please. If someone could really thank you for those of you who are reading out the verses, if we can have someone read out verses 17 and 18 please. Verse 17 and 18, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only bigger than Son of God. Yeah, so again Jesus repeats the same concept and he says, you must believe that I am the one and only Son of God. Only if you do that, then I know I will be able to impart the spiritual birth to you and you will be able to enter into the kingdom. But there's another point which he makes in the earlier verse. He says, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world. So if God has been faithful towards the Israelite people and watched over them for generations, he would expect gratitude in return but again and again the people only offered him their sins rather than offering to him their gratitude and their obedience. Generation after generation only continued to offer rebellion in return. So that was their attitude. So if God chooses to send his son into the world, the basic assumption that someone would make is that, oh he must be sending his son now to really judge them because of the way they have been treating him. But over here, you know, Jesus gives the assurance and says, I am the Son of God. God has sent me but don't worry, I have not been sent over here to condemn the world but rather to save it. And this concept is brought out in the Old Testament in Zechariah chapter 9 verses 9 and 10. So if we could have someone read out for us. Zechariah chapter 9 verses 9 and 10. So when the king comes, the assurance is given to Jerusalem that instead of being terrified and scared, she can choose to rejoice. Why? Because when the king comes, he will not come on a war horse. Rather, he will choose to come humbly. It says lowly, you know, the term that is used over there. The attitude with which this king will come, he will not come in anger wanting to, you know, wreak out judgment upon the people. Rather, it says he will come with a humble attitude, riding not on a war horse but rather on an animal of peace because horses were used for warfare. Donkeys on the other hand were used for transport. So the horse represented war and battle and judgment. On the other hand, the donkey indicated peace. So the king will choose, you know, this is the prophecy that is given to Jerusalem. You know, Jerusalem is told, rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion because when the king comes to you, he will not come to you on a war horse. Rather, he will come to you humbly, riding on a donkey, on an animal of peace and not just, not even a donkey but rather on the full of a donkey. So this is not even a full-fledged, grown-up, mature animal. This is just a young, you know, donkey which is not even fully developed yet. So he will humble himself to that extent, to not even come on a mature, grown-up animal but on the full of a donkey. So this is the kind of assurance that is given. And in the next verse, Zechariah 9 verse 10, it says, in fact, when the king comes, his desire is to bring peace to all the nations. So in fact, he will remove the battle-bow, he will remove the war horses and he will in fact establish peace. So he comes with such a deep desire, not just simply to save Jerusalem but in fact to save the entire world. And so we see the great contrast between the attitude of the people and their sinful lifestyle and God coming to them, you know, with love rather than with a desire to punish. So we see, that is why it says in the New Testament, why we were still in our sins, he chose to love us. I mean, when we were not even willing to acknowledge him, he chose to love us. So with that kind of a humility, with that kind of a love, God chooses to send his son into the world. So these words would have probably reminded Nicodemus of Zechariah 9, 9 to 10, where it talks about how when the king comes, he will come with peace in his heart rather than with judgment. And then Jesus goes on to make an important point regarding how this world will respond when he comes to them in such a humble manner with his arms open wide rather than holding, you know, bow and arrow or a sword in his hand, he's coming to them with open arms. And what will be the people's response to this, we see that in verses 19, 20 and 21, if someone could read out for us 19, 20, 21. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hurts the light and doesn't come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God. Yeah, we in fact touched upon this last year when you know you guys were doing the subject of holiness. We looked at how people of people who are doing wicked things prefer the darkness because in the darkness, their behavior looks all right, because the details and the depth of their rottenness is not fully revealed in the dark, it can't be seen, the darkness helps to hide it. And so these people who are doing wicked things prefer the darkness. So even though Jesus has come into the world as its light, he is willing to bring light into people's lives and you know restore them, they hesitate to come to him because they love the deeds of darkness, they want to continue living in their sin. And if they come to him, they will not be able to continue living like that because when they come, when they start approaching him itself, his light, his holy light will expose what they are and they would have to make a decision to give up those things. And if they do not want to do that, they would prefer to stay away from him. So it is very sad that the savior chooses to come on a donkey rather than on a war horse. He chooses to come to bring peace and eternal life rather than bring judgment. But in spite of the lavish generous offer that he is making to the people, there are going to be many people who will prefer not to come to him. And why? What is the key factor which is holding them back? It is this deep love which they have for evil because they love the evil that much, they do not want to come to him. And so the example that I had used last year when I was doing the topic on holiness, I had talked about how there was no electricity that day and I wanted to sweep my front room and so I swept the entire room using candle light and I was under the impression that I have done a very good job of cleaning. But then when the power supply came back on and the tube light came back, I realized that there was a lot of dust in the corners which I had missed simply because I could not see it. So what I thought was a perfectly clean room which I had genuinely, sincerely swept, the minute the tube light came back on, I realized how insufficient my work had been. I could literally see in the corners, those little dust, what they call dust bunnies, those little swirls of, I don't know what it is, I don't know how they form even. But if you leave a floor long enough, they'll collect on it. So all that was there in the corners and I did not even realize it was there. So as long as a person stays in the semi-darkness, they can assure themselves that they are very good people. They can do the most sinful and rotten things and still feel very good about themselves because there is no light to expose and show them what they are. But once you step into the light, you're fully exposed because the light will clearly show what is what and then you will know what your level is, what your standard is and that is why it says in verse 21, whoever lives by the truth comes into the light confidently. Why do they come confidently into the light? Because they have nothing to hide. It says over there, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. They have nothing to hide. They can plainly do whatever they want to do because they are doing it with God in mind. They know their limits. They know that they have to honor him. So they will openly do those things in the light, in his light because there's nothing to hide. So Jesus is saying, this is what I am offering, a chance to be able to live openly without having any guilt on the inside, without having a second secret life and feeling rotten about yourself and knowing that you are a hypocrite. You don't need to live like that. I can change your life, give you a spiritual birth which will allow you to come and plainly live out your life in my full light because there won't be anything left to hide. And when you sin, you just have to come to me, confess, I will forgive you of what you have done. I will help you. I will clean you of your unrighteousness. You can get back on your feet and continue your walk with me. So everything becomes so simple. Everything becomes so clean, this integrity now in our life, in our walk, nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of, no hidden dirty life to conceal. On the other hand, these people who love darkness, who want to hold on to their evil deeds, they choose the darkness because it hides the good. Now, sometimes we believers also can be tempted to avoid the light. And so this is something that we must deliberately try a trap that we must try not to fall into. Some people avoid going to the church because when they go and sit in the church, they are reminded of the choices which they have been making and they automatically sense that God is not pleased with them. You know, when people are singing worship songs to the Lord and honoring Him, their conscience pricks them and tells them, you have not honored Him. So if you lift up your hands, you're lifting up hypocritical hands because your hands have been busy doing evil things during the week. So they would feel convicted in this presence. And so there are people who choose not to attend the church, you know, so that they can avoid coming into the light of His presence. So if we find ourselves growing cold spiritually, if we feel reluctant and lazy to attend the church and go into God's presence, maybe we need to question ourselves and ask ourselves, why is my passion and hunger dying? Why am I not on fire for God like before? Because when the psalmist, David, when he sings in the psalm, he's so eager, he's so hungry to get into God's presence to just be in to enjoy the Lord's presence. And if we don't carry that passion and we kind of feel like avoiding the church or we just don't want to attend, it could be an indication that we have started loving something else other than the things of God. And because of that, we are not very comfortable with the idea of going into His presence because those things don't bring us joy anymore. The things of God are not bringing us joy anymore. Maybe something else is taking its place. So it could happen to us believers as well. And so when we see that kind of an attitude creeping in, we can maybe immediately ask ourselves, am I growing cold? Is there something that I need to correct so that I can once again have the passion? Because over here in these verses, we see that the main problem seems to be the love that these people have for evil things. So we need to ask ourselves, am I starting to love something that is not godly? And is that cooling my passion for God? Is that making me to avoid going into His presence? And so there are people who avoid having their quiet time, a meaningful quiet time. Because when you spend a long time in His presence, He starts talking to us very openly about the plans He has for us, for our lives, about how we can start straightening up our choices, our behaviour, so that He can start fulfilling those beautiful plans in our lives. So He starts talking to us about all these things. And so some people in fact even avoid having their quiet time because then God would start talking to them about things which need to be straightened out and they may not be willing to take that step. So if we have made a commitment to this Jesus and said, yes, I believe that you are divine. In the same way, the demons believe that you are divine. But I have gone one extra step. I don't just intellectually believe that you are divine. I believe you in the sense that I trust you. So whatever you ask me to do, I am willing to submit and do it because you are trustworthy. Do we believe in Him in that manner? So if we choose to trust in Him in that manner, we will be able to live in His light and plainly do whatever is required because we know that we are doing it in the sight of God. So having explained all of this to Nicodemus, now the ball is in Nicodemus' court. He has to now decide, am I willing to give up the life that I had up to now? Up to now I was thinking that I am a pretty holy guy. I am pretty good. I am a Pharisee. I have there are commitments that I have made. There are extra rules and rituals which I follow which other people do not follow. So I am a better person than them. But now am I willing to admit who I really am? And am I willing to accept this Jesus as being a divine Savior and accept this divine testimony that He is giving regarding how a person can get the spiritual birth? Am I willing to submit to that and believe and accept that? Then many changes would need to be made. So Nicodemus will now have to decide whether he is willing to go all the way and make that commitment. And of course when we read the Gospels we get to know that he does make that commitment. He does become a follower of Jesus and he in fact takes a stand for the Lord at the time of the crucifixion. So we see that he becomes a genuine follower. So these are choices which we choose to make on a daily basis regarding Jesus. Because only then we can enjoy the things of the Spirit. Otherwise we will continue to operate in the flesh and the flesh only gives birth to flesh. We will never be able to achieve anything of eternal value unless we choose to operate in the light, unless we choose to stay in the bright light of his presence. So having dwelled upon all those things, now John the writer takes us into the next thing that he wants to convey to us, the next teaching that he wants to bring us. And so we see that in verses, maybe we could read out even as we, yeah, maybe we can look at verses 22, maybe up to verse 26. Here it's talking about John the Baptist and how people are leaving him and going away to follow Jesus. Someone can read out for us verses 22 all the way up to verse 26. Yeah, if anyone is still tuned in, I know if you could just unmute and read out John 3 verse 22 up to verse 26, please. After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Hannon near Salem because there was much water there and they came and were baptized but John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification and they came to John and said to him Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. Yeah, and no, no, we will look at that later. But thank you so much for these verses. So we see over here that John the Baptist is baptizing at a certain place near Salem and argument, a debate develops between John's disciples who probably doing the baptizing because a lot of people are coming to John and so he probably takes the assistance of his disciples in doing the baptisms. So a kind of debate begins between John's disciples and in the NIV it says an argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing and it does not specify over here who this particular Jew is who has started an argument with John's disciples regarding the issue of ceremonial washing. Was it John that he's, you know, John the writer, is he referring to himself? Did he go and start, you know, having this discussion with John's disciples because earlier, you know, he was one of their friends, right? I mean, he also was a disciple of John, John the Baptist. So now is he going back to them and telling them, you know, see, there are some new truths which I have learned. So the ceremonial washing which you are doing, you know, in the river that is not going to be sufficient. You're going to be needing a new spiritual birth that alone can help you. So is he the certain Jew that he's referring to over here in these verses? Or is it Nicodemus who is now going over there to those John's disciples and having this discussion? Or is it some other follower of Jesus? Somebody has gone to these disciples and now is telling them this whole ceremonial washing that you people are doing. It is good. It is an act of repentance that you're doing. But this alone is not sufficient. You're going to be needing a spiritual birth. And so when this argument is going on, you know, there are some people who probably have believed this and now have moved to Jesus side because they now have realized that you need something more, something extra beyond just a physical baptism ceremony. And now John's disciples are very upset. So they come back to John the Baptist and they say, this other person whom you testified about, everyone is going to him and now we are losing. First of all, we lost some of our fellow disciples. They left us and they went and became followers of Jesus instead. And now the people that we are ministering to, even they are no longer sticking with us. Now they are no longer satisfied with the baptism which we are offering. Now they want to go to this Jesus for this heavenly baptism which he says he's going to give to them. So they are very, very upset that, you know, they are losing their influence. And John's reply, it's a beautiful reply. It's such a straightforward reply. And it's just basically that one sentence. I mean, of course, he goes on to say other things. But if we could just read out that one single verse, verse 27, please, someone can read out. John 3 verse 27. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. Yeah. So John explains to his disciples and says, this is what was given to me from heaven, that I am going to be the person who will prepare the way for the Messiah. I will point people towards the Messiah. That will be my task. This is what has been given to me from heaven. Nothing more has been given. And this is enough. You know, we have this verse in the book of James, which talks about how the gifts which come from above, the heavenly gifts, you know, they are perfect. So John is perfectly satisfied with what has been given to him from heaven. He is fulfilling his task, is pointing towards Jesus, and people are in fact responding and going to Jesus after he points. So whatever he is doing is doing it most effectively. So if someday all of his followers leave him and go off to Jesus, it means mission accomplished. So he knows exactly what he has received from heaven and he is happy and satisfied with it. Now, if only we could have that same attitude as John. John had a heavenly perspective. He looked at what God had in mind and he recognized that God is all wise and he was satisfied with what the all wise God has given him. We, on the other hand, tend to start looking at ourselves through human eyes and we kind of apply worldly standards to ourselves. And so if we see apostles gaining popularity, we say, oh no, I'm a worship leader and right now apostles are the in thing. I wish I were an apostle instead because we want the approval of people and we would like to have a big following and, you know, like the people on YouTube will have big followings in our own spiritual thing field. We would like to have our own followings and all of that. And we kind of forget that whatever has been given to us, that gifting that has been given to us, it has been given from heaven. God made no mistakes when he gave that gifting to us. He wanted us to fulfill that particular task and he equipped us for it and he's very happy that, you know, we are, you know, doing that particular task. And so it's not going to make sense to him that we want to now suddenly become something else. So like John, we need to understand that whatever has been given to us from heaven is perfect. It is, it is, it is God's divine, all wise calling and purpose for our lives. You know, Psalm 139 says all the days of our lives are already written out in his book. So when he wrote out our, his, you know, his life plan for us, it was something good in his eyes. He was excited about it. He wanted to see it fulfilled in our lives and we are not appreciating it. We are instead, you know, we want to be somebody else simply so that we can have a larger following and greater popularity and receive a louder applause, which are like very minor things. When you, when you, when you look at the overall eternal picture, I mean down the line, who cares who got more claps? What does it matter, you know, who got more likes on their YouTube channels? Those things are going to look very, very small when you're standing in front of the almighty God and he's like sitting on that throne and he opens his mouth and he says to some unknown person who probably never even knew how to operate YouTube. He says to that person, well done my faithful servant and that person is going to be like, wow, the almighty one is satisfied with the way I served him. At that time, nobody is going to care about how many, how large your following was. All that's going to matter is the words that are going to come from that throne, from the king of kings. And John is very satisfied with that he says, you know, a person can receive only what is given to them from heaven. This is what I receive. I'm perfectly satisfied that I'm doing it well. And John knows that he's going to receive his reward. We need to have that same heavenly perspective. The world has got a little mind, you know, so it can only come up with little ideas. So according to the world, you need to be a certain kind of a person and have a certain kind of a ministry for you to be considered great. And so the world comes up with all these very wrong ideas of what success is, of what, you know, having of what achievement is. But in God's eyes, achievement looks very different. Success looks very different. It's all centered on whether we are doing what pleases him and whether we are satisfied and content with what he has given us. If we are have that attitude, then that is actual success. That would be real achievement. And so in that context, you know, maybe we could just look at one, one, a few verses. This would be in 1 Corinthians chapter three. Maybe we could read out verses five. I think all the verses are important. Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter three versus five to 10. If someone could please read out for us. 1 Corinthians chapter three versus five to 10, please. Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed. As the Lord gave to teach to each one, I planted Apollos waters, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he waters are one and each one will receive his own river according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's will. You are God's building according to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder. I have laid the foundation and another builds on it, but let each one take heed how he builds on it. Okay, so this is the advice that Paul gives later. He says the Lord has assigned to each person his task. So everyone has got only one purpose to fulfill, you know, God's purposes and to build God's kingdom. Everyone has one single purpose, but the tasks given to us are different to fulfill this one single purpose of building his kingdom. And so the advice that Paul gives in verse 10, he says, each one should build with care. John took great care in doing what he was given to do. In the same way, are we taking great care to develop ourselves in the area of responsibilities that God has given us? Are we developing our skills? Are we trying to give our very best? Are we trying to reach out to the people whom God has placed, you know, as our flock, you know, the ones that we are meant to minister to. So these are all principles, you know, which come over here into play, even as we consider this particular teaching. So, you know, then John goes on to talk about how he is like the best man of the bridegroom. Now, you know, in our current society, when we speak of best man, I think it's more a western concept that has now come to India. The best man just basically stands up and makes a speech that's basically all he does. But a best man in your Israelite society would have had much greater responsibility. He's the one who undertakes all the arrangements for the seven day wedding. He's the one who would make arrangements to bring the bride's family members and the bride, all of them, they travel, you know, they didn't have exactly cars and flights. So he would actually have to make arrangements for them to come from wherever they are to this location. He would take care of a lot of logistic details. So he basically brings the bride to the bridegroom's home, you know, so the entire bride and her family, he is the one who makes the arrangements for them to come over here to the bridegroom's family. And once he can turn over the bride to the bridegroom, his task is done. And if he does his job well, it's excellent. The bridegroom would be so grateful that he has taken care of all the arrangements and helped out. So here, John, you know, says, I am like that. The bride, he says in verse 29, he says, the bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. And that joy is mine. And it is now complete. He must become greater. I must become less. Those are the words which John speaks. So we have a lot to learn from John the Baptist. Just like John the Baptist, we all should be preparing the bride, the Church of Christ. We should be preparing the bride for the bridegroom, for Jesus Christ, not for ourselves. So we don't build up churches. We don't build up, you know, large followings for us, for our benefit. They should not be praising us and putting us up on pedestals. Rather, they should be building big pedestals for the Lord and saying, Lord, you be glorified, you be magnified. So we should be people who are constantly preparing the bride, not for ourselves, but preparing the bride, the Church for him so that they will honor him, they will lift him up, they will pursue him, they will turn to him for guidance and advice, not to us. You know, in the early stages, all believers of course, you know, they turn to the people who have mentored them and then the mentors offer them godly advice and all of that. But by and by, we should be preparing them to start hearing directly from the bridegroom because you see, one day they're going to be that bridegroom's wife, they're going to be his bride. So they need to start hearing from him directly. They should not continue relying on us and looking to us and placing us on the pedestal. That will just completely defeat the purpose because he says so clearly in verse 29, the bride belongs to the bridegroom. So we direct these people that we are mentoring towards Jesus Christ, the bridegroom and say, you know, you're going to be his bride. So you need to start hearing from him. You need to start following him. When you take, when you, when you want to take life decisions, don't come to me. I'm teaching you how to hear God's voice. Now start hearing it. Start relying on him and depending upon him. And you know, let your submission and obedience and all of your praise and honor be for him because you're his bride. You are not my bride. You know, so let them get their perspective very, very clear so that they know whom they are being directed towards and they are not, you know, left with a mere human being because there's only so much that we can do for these people, but the bridegroom, oh, he's given his life for the bride. So he knows exactly what the bride needs. He can provide for a bride in a way which you and I can never do that. So all we need to do is be like John the Baptist, build with care, like it says, like Paul Paul said, whatever task has been given to us, we do that with great care to the best of our ability, constantly trying to develop ourselves further in that task which has been given to us. And if we do that, that is enough. The rest of it will be taken care of the bridegroom himself. So those are the main concepts that are there and so we finally just have a few, you know, verses left at the very end where Jesus says, the one who comes from above is above all. Okay, and he repeats that again at the end of verse one or verse 31, he says, the one who comes from heaven is above all. So he goes on to say in verses 32 and 33, this is the testimony which I have given and the world is refusing to accept this testimony, but this testimony is truthful. So, you know, he's kind of coming to the conclusion of his talk and he's telling Nicodemus, this is, these are the facts which I have, you know, okay, the conversation with Nicodemus is finished, but now we see that over here, the chapter is coming to a close. The idea which John, the writer wanted to convey to us is he's bringing those thoughts to a close and he's saying, these are all the things which have been told about Jesus so far. So will you accept this testimony? Because there are people who are not accepting his testimony, but will you, the readers who are going to be reading these things, will you accept his testimony? Because it says in verse 36, God's wrath will remain on those who reject this testimony that Jesus is giving and the choice is left to the readers to make the commitment to the Lord. So yes, we are out of time. Let's just close with a word of prayer. Yes. Lord, we just thank you so much for the lessons that we could learn from John chapter 3. We recognize, O Lord, that there is spiritual life in you alone. So we pray, O Lord, that we would choose to rely on you, depend on you and operate in the Spirit, through the Spirit, rather than just trying to do things out of our own human ability and our human flesh. And also, O Lord, we pray that you would help us to always point the attention towards the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, because the bride belongs to the bridegroom. I pray, O Lord, that we would be faithful in the tasks that you have given us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much to all who stayed up to the end and thank you so much for those who have read out all the scriptures. We will, of course, continue next class.