 is, for example, in how the apostle chose to put his name out in public and warn others not to behave like him. And we also discussed that putting somebody's name out in public, it's not required every time. But we follow addressing the person individually, initially, and trying to bring correction in that way. And if that is not working, then you follow it up to the other stages. And then if the person is so unwilling to change, so they might cover a stage when you have to speak up their name so that others may be warned about this issue as well, and you're saving the entire congregation. So diet breakfast is a poor example in this particular chapter. But now John is going to talk about another person, Dimetrius. Dimetrius is another individual here. And we see Dimetrius is exalted for a good testimony from all. So is a good testimony important? Our faith in God is important. Why is a good testimony important? Do you see this anywhere else that people are having a good testimony? OK, good testimony is important. Whereas do you see spiritually strong people with good testimony being chosen for the work of the ministry current acts? And we have dealt with that, isn't it? Our statement, your batch, we looked at it last week and we talked about the volunteers who were selected to serve for the Hellenist widows. And they were people of good reputation, strong in the faith, and good testimony. So our work with the Lord is important. But also the way we work with the people. And let it be sincere. It should not be like, I must have a good testimony, so let me be it like this. No, not at all. Invariably if we are sincerely in love with God, we are keeping His commandments and the way John has said it now, we love one another, it comes through. The good testimony comes through from the good heart. So divinely it seems to be an individual who has maintained that good testimony. So that is something we notice. And then from the truth itself, from all that from the truth itself. So basically he's saying before men and before God, because he's keeping God's commandments. And we also bear witness and we know that our testimony is true. So John is also saying that I'm also giving, you know, I second this and I'm saying yes, this individual is faithful. So in this congregation, beginning of the letter, he exalted, right? Yes, he said, oh, you all are sincere, you're faithful, and now he's exerting another individual who seems to be very special enough to say his name. Okay, the way we saw Dietrich as his name was spoken, now Dimitrius seems like a good example. So when you share the name of a good person in the congregation, that can have the opposite effect. It can be an encouragement for the people. You know, people can look up to the individual and they can invite these good qualities or these right attitudes that the individual has in the faith. So Dimitrius is a positive example. And then he concludes this letter. He says, I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you. The pen and ink, okay, he is that in-person service individual, Apostle John. So he's saying, oh, come on, it's better to just meet you. So he says, I hope to see you shortly. And we will speak face to face, okay? So it's a beautiful thing that they have the opportunity to do both to send a letter as well as to actually catch up in person. And then he closes on, he says, peace to you. Our friends greet you, greet the friends by name. So in a nice way of encouraging where he says, peace is usually a blessing. So let them be peace, shallow overall of you blessing. Then our friends greet you, you know, that's what you're saying, okay, they asked about you. And you please let them, you please let so and so know that we asked about them. So that relationship you can make out, okay, that John is not so disconnected or so high up there that he doesn't know the people. He seems to know quite a few people, at least the main leaders and some of the sincere folk in the church and the insincere folk in the church. So that's his equation with the communities that he is writing. So with this, you know, we conclude the episodes of Apostle John and we will go on to study from the book of John, which is in the Gospels. So any thoughts, any questions so far about these three small episodes that John has written and then we can jump straight to the Gospel of John. This reveal about Apostle John, like you get a picture of him, what kind of a person does he seem like? Is it important? Yeah. Yes, yes. The person who loves, he will always look the benefit of the person. That includes a correction as well. So when we see the epistels, John is so the lovable person is an apostle of love. At the same time with the deep love only concerned for the benefit of the church and the health, spiritual health and the physical health and health in every area. So completely John is full of love of God and he's seeing the church the way God wants to be. Yes, yes, Thomas, yeah. So that comes out, that deep concern for every part of the individual. True, true. Yeah, okay, thank you. Others also have commented here, Kiran says he's loving, overcoming the world and David's loving and bold. Yeah, that's a good thing to be loving and bold because sometimes those of us who are so-called loving we avoid the difficult questions because it might bring about a conflict. But in the case of John, he is loving and bold also. So speaking the truth in love, that's how he does it. Then other says zeal to reach out for Christ. So yes, he is zealous. And I feel like he is somebody who wants to see the connection between faith in the heart and the life that is lived. So all three of his epistles encourage the believer to live the life. Don't just talk the talk, but live the life. And that is maturity. Maturity is all the truth, but you also walk in the truth. So I feel like he is that one apostle who is making a strong connection between the two. So anything else, others you want to add to it before we jump to the book of John? Good, oh yes, yes Kiran, tell me. One more thing, ma'am, listen to other spirit, that John also said, yeah. Okay, okay. So what he is able to discern, you mean? No, first of all, ma'am, explain a little bit like a descent of which spirit is from God and which from evil and human. Yeah, correct. So he is a discerning individual himself and he also encourages the people, right? He said, test the spirits from like simply believe every spirit. Yes, yes. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. So we remember that. Okay, so that's a picture of apostle John that we know and the historians say that when he wrote these epistles, he was quite old maybe, I don't know, he must have been like, you know, elderly, but like even among the elderly, quite old kind of a age. And his words come like the words of the father pointing out what is important in a believer's life. And he is not just speaking out of the wisdom of age, but if you recall in one John chapter one, he says, look, what I have seen, heard, known, I'm telling you. So he also had that experience with the Lord Jesus. So now we will look at the book of John, which is more of an account of the life of Jesus, okay? Which again, apostle John has written. So all these epistles as well as the book of John, he has written it somewhere around 90 AD. That's what historians trace it back to. And we have discussed earlier that John has not mentioned his name anywhere. So only through his disciples, okay? You are able to track that this is the writing of apostle John. And we saw that more specifically, I'll tell you the name of the person. Yeah, so it says, okay, Irenaeus. Irenaeus, okay, one of the early disciples, actually more like there was Polycarp, the disciple of John, and Irenaeus is the disciple of Polycarp. So Polycarp is the one who is like he kind of sourced, he refers to these gospels and attributes it to John. Just excuse me. All right, so, okay, so he writes it around 90 AD and we recognize that this is written by him, not because he had mentioned his name, but more because of how we could identify through his disciples, okay? And in this book, primarily he talks about the life of Jesus. However, it's not just the events that took place, but you would see that the manner in which the book of John is written, theologically it has a great bearing on doctrinal issues. The epistles sounded very simple. He just had instructions over there. But in the gospel, it seems like there's like years of the all, like God's revelation which has been imparted to him. He is putting that out along with the events, especially Christology, we say, right? The study of who the Lord Jesus is. So he gives a beautiful description of the Godhead and about Christ. So the gospel of John is more than the events and more than the eyewitness account. There is doctrine in there. There is, you know, it's like a theological treasure for a believer. And in this book, when he talks about Jesus Christ, you will see that he refers to him as the Lamb of God, or he is confirming that he is the Christ, he's the atoning sacrifice who was sent for the redemption of mankind. So you look, you can see that John has that understanding. So theologically all these truths come up and talking about himself. So John writes about different things here, but at one point he says, you know, the disciple who Jesus loved. So he's hiding a note about himself. Now, whether John was truly preferred by Jesus, it's hard to tell, but John has mentioned it like that and said, the disciple who Jesus loved. So some people say, they take it positively and they say that it was his attitude that he felt Jesus loved him more than any of the other disciples. So positive attitude. But others say, why was John so insecure? Now, why did he have to, if he was confident that he was preferred by Jesus compared to all the other disciples, there was no need to mention that he was the disciple who Jesus loved. So there are people who look at it, you know, negatively also. They also insecure. This John has put a note about himself in the account. So this is the way he describes himself. Now, who did he write these letters to? The same churches in Syria, Asia Minor that he wrote the episodes to. He has written these letters also. And similar to what historians say that he probably wrote the episodes when he was an ethicist. So he probably wrote this one also at the same time. So that's a little bit of background for us about John and no wonder. He had told, you know, what we have seen, what we have heard. So I have written this account for the life of Jesus. Now, if you study all the four Gospels, we know many of these events that we are talking about, they are historical and not mythological. Many of them are concurrent. One, like Matthew talks about something. Luke talks about the same thing. John talks about the same thing. So they are concurrent. So they also help us know the authenticity of the events that took place during the times of Jesus. And the Gospels are not the only few eyewitness accounts. But we know that there is a lot that are extra biblical writings as well. Things that are not included in the Gospel, but writings that were well respected by the Jews of these times, all of them point to the historicity of the Lord Jesus Christ. So how does John begin this book? He begins by introducing the Lord Jesus as the eternal Word. So Matthew, he started by sharing a genealogy. Okay, if you recall, he says this one, we got that one and then the whole genealogy and then Jesus comes in that direction. But John has chosen to reveal Jesus as the eternal Word. So he starts off in the beginning, you know, somewhat like Genesis in the beginning. And he says, what's the word? So which beginning is he referring to? He is referring not to the beginning of eternity because, you know, talking about the beginning and the end of eternity, that doesn't make sense because God is outside of time. So beginning, end, those terms are not used for God. But in the beginning, it's a timeline and we are referring to the creation of the world. Okay, because there's a beginning of the world, there will be an end as well. So we are referring to the world here. So in the beginning of the world, what happened? He says in the beginning was the word. So the word here refers to an individual and that individual is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why I told you, it's theological. It's a deep revelation that John is bringing us in the book of John, unlike the three episodes where he gives simple instruction, easy to understand, self-explanatory, repetitive, you're a man, okay? So that's easy. But here, that revelation, the deep revelation is being shared and that affects our doctrine, that affects our understanding of God, which is foundational. So he says in the beginning, when the world was created, Jesus existed. So who is Jesus? What can you say about Jesus? When does the beginning of things, there must be a beginning of every created thing, isn't it? But we are told in the beginning was the world which tells us that Christ is self-existent. So self-existence is a quality of deity because only a non-created being can be self-existent. So in the beginning was the world. So Jesus was not created, whereby John's introduction, it's quite clear that he's saying, Jesus is the Christ, he is God. Just that first part of the first verse of the book of John, in the beginning was the world. And we'll see, like he'll talk more about the world, but in that itself, self-existent Christ, self-existent Jesus comes out clearly. And he says the word, okay? So he is giving Jesus the title of the word. So the word that we read, it's not just a language, but he's saying the word of God is Christ itself. So introduced as self-existent, introduced as the word and what else? And the word was with God. So we learn about the Trinity. The word was with God, two separate entities here or two separate persons it's called because that's how he's addressing here, the word and God. And God by the Old Testament people and even the believers who lived during John's time, the Jewish believers, they refer to God as Yahweh, even Yahweh God. Generally, they talk about the Father. So you have the word was with the Father. So two separate beings here or two separate persons. So what is the understanding that John carries about God, Trinity? He's not saying the term Trinity, but you just think about it. It is so deep that John has seen Jesus walking and doing the miracles and teaching and all that, but he has a deeper understanding of Jesus. He has understood even in the unseen realm who Jesus is. And he begins with that description, the word self-existent with the Creator. So two persons, Trinity, the harmony of the Trinity, the synchrony of the Trinity and the word was God. So he attributes dating to the word. So he's saying, look, the word was with God. So Jesus was with the Father. What a good state. First life and Jesus was God. And Jesus was God, okay? So his book starts with the introduction of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah as the God, deity. In the epistles, what was he trying to advocate? He was saying the nastics. They say that Jesus is not human. Don't believe them. Don't eat with them. Don't greet them. Don't receive them in your homes. Those who say that Jesus was not human. Here what he's doing, it's actually the other side of Christ, the deity of Christ. So he's hammering it down. And he's saying, look, Jesus is deity. Jesus is God. Word was God. So it could, for somebody who doesn't believe it, can sound very blasphemous. How can you say that Jesus is God? How can you say that your Jehovah is equal to Jesus, human being? He's saying, look, no. I have over the years, the revelation that I have about Christ is deeper than what I saw him doing in the beginning was the Word. He had always existed, not only when he came to the Word. The Word was with God. So he's always been with God, right? And he has God himself. So that is the introduction that John has for Jesus. He was in the beginning with God. So he's re-evaluated. That's a very poetic way of putting that out for us. And we know the meaning is the same, right? He was in the beginning with God. Yeah, so the father and the son, their relationship is emphasized. Then moving on, verse three, he says, all things were made through him. And without him, nothing was made that was made. So the attribute creating, the act of creating to the father, usually, right? But here, there is an engagement or an involvement of Christ with the creation of all things. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that was made. So is Christ part of the creation? Does he have a role in creation? Very much. Even Jesus has a role in creation, okay? So that is something for us to note. And everything was created through him. So another extension of this, what we can understand is because he's the word. And we know, God said, let there be light and there was light. So when God wants to create something, what is the raw material which he would like to use? What is the raw material which God has used to create nothing, okay? There says nothing. Okay, God wants to create something. How is he gonna create it? Normally, his word, his word, correct, correct. So that is what we see here. So through him, without him, nothing was created. But through him, everything was created. And who is Jesus? He's the word, right? So there is a part that the word or Jesus plays in creation. In him was life and the life was the light of men. So in him, again, referring to the word of Christ, we see that there was life, okay? And this word, life, if you look it up, it is the word Zoe. Okay, the Greek word, Zoe. Now, Zoe is the God kind of life. It's not just this human life. We live, we do our lives, we die, and that's it. So it's not referring to that kind of a life. So that is by us. But John writes about God's life, which is Zoe's life, which is a greater form of life, which God has come to offer to us. His way of living, his life is abundant like the Zoe in life. He says, in him was Zoe, and the Zoe was the light of men. Or a light of men would refer to, you know, the revelation, the understanding, the guidance, the hope that mankind needs. And through the life of God, God shed that light on the life of man. So in this world, right, there is darkness. Now, John will talk about this. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. So the graciousness of God, he came to give man what his life, the Zoe life. And that life is the abundance, the guidance, the direction, the hope that mankind needs. And God came to shed light in the darkness. You know, we talked about this in, you know, when John said, it's the world, right? There are all kinds of things of the world, the temptation, the pride, the deceptiveness of, you know, worldliness. And he encouraged the believer, don't take out of those things. So there is darkness in this world, but he says that Jesus Christ, he's that shining light, the light shines in the darkness. And darkness did not comprehend it. Or the people of this world living in their worldliness, they are still not able to understand about Jesus Christ. So that's a John's way of putting it across to the people. Okay, moving on. And then our introduction of Jesus, we can't say it is over. In fact, if we sit on these few verses, we can talk about it for till the end of your course, just five verses, because there is so much depth in it, okay? But we have the main thoughts here. We've understood, okay, Jesus self-existent, Jesus is deity, Jesus is creator, okay? Jesus has brought the life of God and his light shines in the darkness. And that's what mankind needs. So we've understood, for an extent, he's the word, okay, we've understood that. Now moving forward. John is introducing another individual. He says, there was a man sent from God whose name was John, okay? So he is talking about the responsibility which was given to a person, we know, John the Baptist. He came as a forerunner to the Lord Jesus. He came to proclaim and announce that Jesus would come and he would backfowl his people in the Holy Spirit and all of that. So here, this person is going to talk about, hang on just a minute. So he talks about John. So he puts it in there, verse six. There was a man sent from God whose name was John, okay? Now, coming back a little bit about John, but again, Jesus is in the picture. And he says, this man came for a witness. And that's quite self-explanatory. He came to proclaim about Jesus, to bear witness of the light. Fine, that's also understood, to bear witness meaning. To speak about the light, to introduce about, and who's the light now? Earlier, in the beginning was the word and now, John is referring to Jesus as the light. So bear witness of the light. That all through him might believe, through the preaching of John the Baptist, through the sharing of John the Baptist. He was not that light, but was said to bear witness of that light. So he's clarifying and he's saying, look, there was another man by the name of John, but trying to understand his role. Now, he is not the Christ, but he had a responsibility and he came to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and he came to speak and proclaim about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he says, that was the true light, which gives the light to every man coming into the world. So, John kept preaching about whom? About the Lord Jesus. That's the point. So, we've understood clear that John is not the Messiah. Then he says, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. So, talking about Jesus again. So, true light is another way of introducing Jesus. Why? Because, you know, when we talk about redemption, when we talk about atonement, when we talk about a man who is lost, okay? And in the world, there is a corruption of sin. So, there's no, yes, the general goodness of God is there, but there's also the ill effects of sin in the world. But when we come into a covenant with God, when we experience the forgiveness of God and when we come into a covenant with God, the way John said, born of God. Remember? He said, we are born of God. So, that born of God, we can actually live a different life on the earth. And it's based on the true light of God which we have in us, even though the world is a dark place, okay? And that's what John is referring to over here. He says, that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. So, there is a hope, you know, light, when you think about light, it is positive. And in the darkness, you don't know where to go. It's pitch dark in the night. You have to step out, you have to go somewhere and you don't know how to go. Maybe you've gone to a campsite or something. You know, it happens to us, right? And it's so dark and we just want to go for a walk. How to go? We have to carry the torches. We put some light. So, when there is light, there is a way. You know how to go, you know how to navigate. So, in the same way, the true light of God, and he says, for every man, the Lord Jesus has brought that hope in this dark world. But unfortunately, he says, he was in the world. So, right now, John is writing 90 AD, 100 AD, but about 60 years prior, Jesus was living here in the world. So, he says, he was in the world and the world was made through him. So, he himself is the creator of the world. And then he says, and the world did not know him. Isn't that so sad? Now, John, obviously, he has seen the trial of Jesus. He has seen the rejection of Jesus and he has seen the betrayal. He has seen the pain that Jesus went through. And all that must have... You know, he has thought about it for years. He must have prayed about it for years. And the Holy Spirit has given him the revelation and he's saying, look, the world itself was created by God through him and the world did not know him. It's so sad that your own people... It's like, I don't know what is the closest illustration you can have to this, but something like a mother taking care of her children. But at the end of the day, the children... If they say something like, who are you? We don't know you. How does it feel? It feels really... You know, it hurts you so deeply because you have poured out your life and they have sort of come out of you, right? Like you have given birth to them and today they don't stand and acknowledge you. So, that's the pain of God, where John is saying, look, he was in the world. The world was made through him. The world did not know him. They just did not... They did not know him. Yes, they have seen the man, Jesus Christ, but to know him for who he is, the way John knows him, the word, the true light. Okay? In all of this, that reality, the world does not know him. That's so, so sad. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. So, that sense of rejection then. So, has Jesus experienced rejection? Of course. And it says, he came to his own and he came for, right? In another way, when you look at it, there was no reason why he should actually come and do all this, but because he loved us, he came for our sake. And what was the response that we gave him? We rejected him. The world did not receive him. Or the people who he created, they did not receive him. But now, what does John say, verse 12? But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. To those who believe in his name. So, he's making a distinction. In general, the world, they are not receiving. Okay? But, and then, those who receive. So, John is also one of them. Those who have received him, or he say, right, born again. John will talk more about being born again later. And he also mentioned about born of God earlier. But, you know, he's saying here that those who are born again or those who have received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. So, in this world that there is darkness and Jesus shines as the light, the children of God are those who have received him. And he says, the right to become children of God. Okay? So, there's more about us being heirs and joint heirs and having authority and dominion. You know how he spoke in the book of John and he said, this is our victory. We overcome the world. So, as children of God, we're living in the dark world but we can overcome this world. So, he gave us authority to be children of God. Those who believe in his name. So, what is required for us to become children of God? Receive him. Believe in his name. Or, in other words, we encourage people to be born again. Come into the kingdom of God. We're born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. So, here is the explanation for being born again. So, this birth is not a human birth and that's why he's using terms like blood, will of the flesh, will of man because all these things are human birth. But, he says, of God, born of God. Amazing, amazing. So, there is a second birth that we are told about and we can have that and then we have that second birth which is a spiritual birth. What is the advantage that we have? In this first chapter, John is saying that we have the right to become the children of God. So, that is the beauty in it. Now, he's going to talk a little more about Jesus. Verse 14, the very beautiful verse, it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So, referring to the Lord Jesus as the word, he's already said, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. Now, that word became flesh. So, God became man, that's what he's saying. God became man and lived in our midst. So, he left behind all his glory as God and he came to dwell in our midst and we told that we saw his glory, the glory of whom? We saw the glory of this man, Jesus Christ, on the earth. The glory, as of the only begotten of the Father. So, the glory of the Son is a term that is used to describe this, is Sonship Glory. So, the Lord Jesus has a glory in heaven, which he left behind and he came to the world. In the world, which glory did he walk in or which nature did he take on? He took on the, they call it the Sonship Glory. So, he walked with the Sonship Glory here on the, the only begotten of the Father. And how was this glory? Here it is, full of grace and full of truth. So, full of the grace of God, the mercy of God and at the same time, there's a beautiful connection of grace and truth. You can't have only grace without the truth. You can't have only truth without the grace. So, full of grace and truth, mingle together. You see it in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the kind of glory which he carried here on the earth. So, what we will do is, we will stop at this verse and we will continue from here in the next class. But before we wrap up in a few minutes, any thoughts, any comments, you wanna add something to what I shared just now, let's do that and then we will pray and close. Understanding? Fine, good, good, good, good. Good, that's nice, that's good. So, it's probably a repetition of Christology which you've already completed. But that is John's understanding. So, he's putting it across in a very beautiful way. Okay, good, good. So, yeah, you're getting a grasp of things, that's nice. Let's do this, maybe you could read through this book, start reading a couple of chapters at a time and then come to class, then it makes things all the more easier. We will pray and close right now. So, I'd like to request somebody to please go ahead and pray. Prince, is it possible to pray? Are you able? Okay, sure. Are you hearing? Please pray. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, dear heavenly father. Yes. Thank you, Lord. This time, Lord, we cover Lord John, the book of John, Lord, your revelation, how you revealed to us, Lord. You built among us, Lord. Thank you for this. Lord, also your revelation that we receive, Holy Spirit helped us, that we understand very nice, Lord. Thank you. And submit all things in your hand, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, thank you, Prince. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, everyone. God bless you. I have not yet posted your assignment. I wanted to do it last week, but it didn't happen. So, this week, it should be up. So, please have a look at it and you will have enough time to send it in as well. Okay, all right. Okay, bye, bye, class. Thank you. See you again. See you, bye.