John 3.31-36 - “The Confession of Aenon”

John the Baptizer (aka John the Witness, or JTW) is in Aenon, doing what God had called him to do.  Baptizing.  Witnessing about the coming Messiah.  But he is being out-baptized by the Messiah.  How does he feel about that?

[31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”]  The One coming from above.  The same place where the second birth originates.  Remember, Jesus told Nic twice, you must be born from above.  And one might think directionally (i.e. vertically) in this case, but this “from above” is about an entirely different [realm][Tozer- see below].  [The Word was God], with God - in that realm, in the beginning, before the beginning, always was.  And this Word became flesh - and “came down” to this temporal, physical realm which He made - and He tented among us.  But make no mistake: He was above all, always - and always will be above all.  First confession: You are Above All.  You are the True Eternal God.  This is not spatial.  This is universal spiritual reality.  True truth.

[32-34 “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.”]  JTW says that the words Jesus speaks are the very words of God.  First-hand truth straight from heaven above, from the mouth of God [not just red letters but all Scripture, heaven-speaking not just earth-speaking, 2Tim 3.16].  So many are loathe to receive His Word - we question it, we doubt it, we ignore it [Did God really say…?] - but just as Jesus is above all, His Words are above all.  They’re true and worthy to be received/trusted.  Yes, they can be difficult to understand sometimes, much less apply - but that’s why the Lord gives His Spirit [WITHOUT MEASURE].  Because these are spiritual words.  From this other realm, straight from heaven.  They are spiritually appraised [1Cor. 2:14  But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.].  They must be examined with the help of the Holy Spirit.  He helps us to understand them [John 16:13 “But when the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.].  We need the Spirit to help us understand God’s Words - and He gives His Spirit as much as we need.  And then some.  Without measure.  How much Holy Spirit do you need?  Here you go - and have some more.  And what we understand is not that we get more of the Holy Spirit but that He gets more of us.  Which becomes a question of surrender…  2nd Confession: Your Words are true.  I trust them.  [Like a document we receive from a Notary] 

Our God Who is Above All, What does His Word say?  Then (we ought) listen [pay attention] to it, receive it (we take it in as true), and we trust it, we believe it —> we do it.  We obey it [36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”]. [The Holy Spirit - The Helper helps us to do this!]

[35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.”] The Father loves the Son.  Let’s not miss this.  We observe multiple things about God in this passage: He is true, He exists in another realm, He is generous, He gets angry, but John also reminds us that the Father loves.  And He loves the Son.  Let that sink in.  The eternal union between the Father and the Son is characterized by love.  Amazing, everlasting love.  And when we receive the Son, we are brought into this same height and depth and length and breadth of bottomless limitless love [Eph. 3:14-19  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge…].  Who wouldn’t want that?

And this surpassing incomprehensible love gives.  Love gives.  For God so loved that He did what?  In this case He gave all things into Jesus’ hand —> which is an ideal example for us.  Exactly what He wants from us [open hand].  And in the Greek, “all things” means all things.  Every last one of them.  So what JTW is also saying here - everything we have, that we think we own - it all comes from Jesus.  Heaven above.  [Surrender/Moody - see below].  All things.  Everything we have.  It is all His, and He distributes it to us.  To put to use in ways that magnify the greatness of Jesus.  All our time.  All our talents.  All our treasures.  All of it.  Open hands.  He must increase.  Third Confession: All things are from You.  All things are for You.

[36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”]  This is an unfortunate translation.  The word here is not disobey.  Obey is the word, hup-akouo, which means to listen under [akouō = to hear, as in acoustic, and hypō, as in hypo-dermic=under skin].  But THIS word is a-peitho.  It is the negative of peitho, which means to be persuaded or confident about something/someone.  So this verse is talking about someone who is NOT confident about Jesus.  Not at all persuaded.  This is disbelief (which of course is why we disobey).  It is about persuasion.  And this person is NOT persuaded.  Not enough to trust in Jesus.  Not yet.  Although it’s never too late - until it is.  

Because… wrath.  God’s wrath is real.  People don’t like to hear about this.  We don’t like to talk about this.  Wrath is so negative.  Obviously, we’d all very much like to avoid wrath as much as possible.  But not talking about it doesn’t eliminate it; it only ignores the inevitable [like when we ignore cracks & weeds, they don't go away, they multiply].  This IS the only verse in John’s book (or even his letters) that mentions wrath, but the modern mind is mistaken in its contention that only the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and that the God of the New Testament is a God of love.  God is in fact both.  And He is the same.  Always and forever.  His wrath is directed against everything that raises itself in rebellion against Him - it’s real and it is terrifying.  But this isn’t the turbulent, agitated anger that people often feel and burst forth onto others.  It’s a different word in the Greek.  It’s not an anger of passion.  This is anger of character.  It describes a gradual, deeper, more settled disposition.  And John is saying that God’s wrath is [abiding], or remaining, on those who are not trusting in Jesus.  It’s already on them.  That’s what Jesus was telling Nic - people have already been judged.  The wrath, the judgment of God rightly falls on those who live in rebellion against Him.  And the truth is, we are rebels from birth.  Right out of the womb.  It’s unavoidable.  That cute little [baby] looks so innocent - but he’s gonna grow up and learn to be selfish/lie/live w God out of mind all by himself.  Wrath is real - but God’s love is greater.  That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus - to defeat death.  To rescue us.  There’s still wrath in the NT, but now God has sent the Rescuer.  The God•send.  It’s judgment AND love [we see examples in parents who love their kids enough to give them consequences].  In this case, it DOES literally hurt our heavenly Father more than it hurts us.  Sadly, not everybody receives this.  These folks, many people are not persuaded.  And our job as His witnesses is to help people change their minds about Jesus [2Cor. 5:11  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men][2Cor 4.4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.][1Cor 9.22b I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.]  But so, the Fourth Confession: You are the only source of Eternal Life.  I trust You.  

It is not yet too late for you to affirm these truths if you haven’t already.  You still have time.  Time to allow the truth of Jesus’ Word persuade you about Who He is.  You still have time - but I can’t tell you how much.  Nothing is certain - tomorrow is never guaranteed.  You have at least a few minutes - don’t put it off.  Don’t put off trusting in Jesus.  

The Confession of Aenon:

You are Above All.  You are the True God.

Your Words are true.  I trust them.

All things are from You.  All things are for You.

You are the only source of Eternal Life.  I trust You.

Referenced verses:

2Cor. 4:4 in whose case ^athe god of ^bthis ¹world has ^cblinded the minds of the unbelieving ²so that they might not see the ^dlight of the gospel of the ^eglory of Christ, who is the ^fimage of God.

2Cor. 5:11a   Therefore, knowing the ^afear of the Lord, we persuade men

1Cor. 9:22b …I have become ^ball things to all men, ^cso that I may by all means save some. 

John 16:13 “But when He, ^athe Spirit of truth, comes, He will ^bguide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

2Tim. 3:16 Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. [CEV]

When D.L. Moody was just starting in the ministry, he heard a preacher make this statement, “the world has yet to see what God can do with one man fully surrendered to Him.” Moody that night said, “By God’s grace, I’ll be that man!”

Tozer, “A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, all together within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His Presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality” 

John 3.22-4.2 - “Jesus Above” (things that surpass…)

[22] We come to this curious section where the Passover Feast has concluded, Jesus has cleansed the temple (first time) and done a bunch of signs right there in Jerusalem.  While there He taught at least one of the Pharisees to follow Him, but has managed to tick off most of the rest of them in the process.  Now He’s left the city, somewhere in [Judea].  And what we understand from this section is that Jesus is in Judea to surpass John the Baptist (aka JTW) [4.1-3].  He leaves Judea when He hears that the Pharisees know that He has “surpassed” JohnTW.  Jesus above.  And JohnTW is all in for this [3.30-31].

But first, what is Jesus is doing in Judea?  Baptizing, yes.  But (more importantly?), He’s spending time with His disciples.  Do you notice a pattern?  He went to Capernaum and spent some time with His disciples (AND His family) there.  Now we see Him spending MORE time with His disciples. The word here means to rub [make a path] thru - so a lot of time.  The Christian life is about relationships [i.e. the new command] - and relationships require time.   Love is a choice, a commitment that I put into action with regularity.  How does God love us?  Is it just a feeling?  No - we just saw: God so loved that He gave… God shows, He DEMONSTRATES His love toward us [Rom 5.8].  Love is a verb.  It consists of actions directed toward the beloved, actions that reinforce the relationship.  Love requires an investment of time.  What is Jesus doing?  He's loving by spending time (with disciples).  This is mission critical.

Why point this out?  Because, thru disuse paths will grow over.  [Heb 10.24-25]  Hebrews reminds us that there is a danger that we can take this simple act of spending time with disciples for granted.  We can take each other for granted.  We think we have a lifetime, but the weeks and years fly past like a bullet train.  AND, spending time can also be strategic.  Spend time with a few - help them do the same with others, and so on.  With disciples who can even take over the work.  Jesus here at the outset knows that the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few, AND the days are few.  Love - and making disciples - requires time.

[23-24]  Now, even as Jesus is baptizing, JohnTW is in a different location [Aenon/Samaria], but he’s still baptizing, doing what he had been doing all along.  Which is interesting, cuz Messiah has shown up and gone public.  Doing what Jesus does, right?  Calling people to follow Him - AND miracles.  Which sort of puts (or could put) John out of a job, doesn’t it?  John has “fulfilled his mission”, hasn’t he?  Prepare the way, right?  He could even “retire”, couldn’t he?  But John keeps right on serving.  He keeps right on going.  And what we see is John occupying HIS proper place.  Cuz really, the Mission - John’s proper place AND ours, for as long as He gives us breath - is to help all people everywhere put Jesus in His proper place in their hearts and lives —> JESUS ABOVE ALL [31](2x!).  Such that whenever there is a heart or a life where Jesus is not above all, there is (still) a mission.  The mission is to increase worship (the exaltation of Jesus above all else)(that's the Great Command!) —> i.e. wherever worship does not exist there is a mission.

[25-26]  A curious discussion takes place in Salim.  Two discussions, actually.  The first discussion is about cleansing.  Some of John’s disciples have a discussion with a Jew (I.e, none of them are actually following Jesus).  What makes a person clean, pure, in God’s eyes?  Water?  IS IT baptism?  Can baptism make even Samaritans clean?  There’s lots of water there in Salim, and plenty of Samaritans are being baptized. [cf water for purification in 2.6] What would a Jew say makes you clean? Circumcision - and obeying the Law.  Also they’d say that either way, there’s no way that just baptism could make Samaritans clean.

Remember, to Jews, Samaritans are filthy half-breeds, an ancient mix of Jews and foreigners. Assyria forced them to intermarry when they conquered them in the 8th c. BC.  Even though Samaritans could trace their ancestry back to Abraham, marrying filthy Gentiles made them both ethnically and spiritually filthy.  IMpure - definitely to the Jews.  Such that devout Jews want nothing to do with them.  At this time devout Jews avoid Samaritans AND their territory [map] like the plague.  John is a God•send for even baptizing in that region [but as for our real imperfections? for the record 1Pet 3.21 - water/H2O does not/cannot make us clean in God’s eyes - it’s the blood of Jesus].  

But so, I think this Jew tells John’s disciples, if anything, you all should be baptizing Jews.  At least that’s what the Nazarene is doing.  Yeah, the same guy that was with John beyond the Jordan.  He’s baptizing tons of Jews down in Judea.

This sets up our 2nd discussion. John’s disciples relay the distressing news about the Nazarene (who John baptized).  Not only has he co-opted John’s method but apparently he’s out-baptizing the Baptizer!  All are coming to him!, they tell John.  They’re all distressed.  Rabbi, that guy you witnessed about, we just heard what he’s doing.  You DID say he is the Lamb of God - but we stayed with you.  We were with you first.  And at first, everybody was coming to hear you, they were being baptized by you.  But now all these Jews are coming to him.  And we’re stuck in Samaria.  Doesn’t that discourage you?  Cuz it discourages us.  I love John’s response…

[27]  First of all, everything that comes our way, every blessing, all the fruit, and the increase - it all comes from heaven.  Not our own doing.  [Providence].  God is our great all-sufficient Provide-er.  It’s all a gift.  LIFE - is a precious gift.  The pursuit of happy things, the liberty to pursue those things?  That’s a gift.  Yes, Thomas Jefferson wrote that those things are inalienable rights.  And boy, we Americans - we’ve embraced this in spades, haven’t we?  Things/people who don’t make us happy? - we cancel them.  Cuz why should I have to deal with anything/anyone that doesn’t make me happy?  We demand the right, the liberty to do & say & buy and possess whatever I want (and nothing I don’t).  Some of us, we earn what we want, the sweat of our brow (or ingenuity).  Some people expect the government to give it to them - or take that from others.  But we ALL get this idea that whatever I have - even in ministry - whatever IT is, it’s mine.  And maybe I’ll give a little bit of it to God.  But John is saying, nothing, none of this was/is EVER mine to begin with.  His is the life/heart of the [open hand].  All things are from You, Lord.  All things are for You.  To You be the glory, now and forever.

[28-29]  I TOLD you guys, I am not the Messiah.  I was sent ahead of Him, to get people ready for Him.  And now He’s here.  HE is the Bridegroom.  I’m just the friend of the groom.  This is not about me.  THIS is NOT about ME.  This is about bringing others to Him.  [26]  All are coming to Him?  Then YES!  That’s exactly as it should be… This is about Him, because Jesus is above all.

[30] Jesus MUST surpass all - because He DOES surpass all.  Have you ever been in the presence of [true greatness]?  You get caught up in the greatness.  You either feel self-conscious or you quit your navel-gazing altogether.  And the greater the greatness, the more you want to be in that Presence.  You want to be around it.  You want to follow it.  You are willing to commit your life, your heart to it [politicians/rallys].  The decrease in self is not about how small or insignificant you are.  It’s about how great the greatness is.  This is exactly what John is describing.  All of life is an exercise, a journey of learning to put Jesus above all.  Because [31] He Who comes from above is “above all”!!! (2x)  [True greatness] - if only we have eyes to see it.  This One Who WAS, Who is God Almighty, Who spoke all things into existence, and Who came to save us… Jesus above all.

Referenced Verses

2Cor. 4:4 in whose case ^athe god of ^bthis ¹world has ^cblinded the minds of the unbelieving ²so that they might not see the ^dlight of the gospel of the ^eglory of Christ, who is the ^fimage of God.

2Cor. 5:11a   Therefore, knowing the ^afear of the Lord, we persuade men

1Cor. 9:22b …I have become ^ball things to all men, ^cso that I may by all means save some. 

John 2:6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there ^afor the Jewish custom of purification, containing ¹twenty or thirty gallons each.

John 16:13 “But when He, ^athe Spirit of truth, comes, He will ^bguide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

John 3.19-21 - The Judgment

Last time: God sent His Son into the world to save it.  To save people.  You and me.  Christ our Savior.  We all needed a Savior, someone to rescue us - from judgment.  Because all people have already been judged, found guilty.  But whoever believes IN Jesus receives a full divine pardon.  Forgiven.  They are no longer under the sentence of death - because they have believed in the One Who took the judgment on Himself.  He paid the penalty of death in their place.  Whoever does NOT believe in Christ - they continue under this judgment.  They are guilty already.  But what are they really guilty of? 

[19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.]  Yes, there are lots of crises in our world [financial, energy, health, environmental] - but nope, THIS is THE [krisis](which is the Greek word for 'judgment'): Light has come into the world, but people love darkness.  What Light is this?  John has already told us: the True Light that is shining in the darkness, enlightening every person [1.5,9].  This Light is God Himself, and the truth He declares - about Who He is, Who we are in relation to Him.  John has also told us that the darkness did not lay hold of the Light.  Did not eagerly take it, did not receive it.  Why? Because people LOVE darkness.  We love the darkness rather than the Light.  Rather than the truth about God.  Our fallen minds prefer darkness.  Darkness is what?  The [absence of light].  In other words, spiritually speaking, people tend to prefer places - any place - that is deprived of light.  Where there IS NO light.  Where it is NOT PRESENT.   People are bent on finding AND CREATING spaces where God is not present.  God-less.  God-free.  

So much of our freedom seems to be found in what is NOT present, isn’t it?  We create these products - and spaces - which leave out things that we perceive as unhealthy or harmful to our well-being.  Things we don’t want.  Things we want to avoid.  Gluten-free.  Caffeine-free.  Sugar-free.  Fragrance-free.  Tax-free.  Duty-free.  covid-free.  Smog-free.  [Smoke free]  And so Jesus here is describing a contrived “[God-free zone]” [Rom 1.21].  People - many people - want a place, a space where there is no God.  BECAUSE we want to be able to do what WE want.  “Freedom = Do/Have whatever I want”.  And God says, you want no part of Me?  If you insist… [Rom 1.28]

Their deeds were evil, Jesus says.  That sounds a bit harsh to modern ears, doesn’t it?  The world insists that man is basically good.  Or, that every person has good and bad in them and what matters is that they choose the good [i.e. ideas of yin yang/the force].  And maybe in the end, we just need our good deeds to outweigh our bad deeds?  [weighed on a scale perhaps - by how much does our good need to outwiegh the bad? 51%? Nope - God's standard, the threshold for heaven, is 100%]  But still, a blanket statement like, their deeds were evil?  When we look around at our neighbors, it can be hard to really layer this statement on top of a lot of what we see, isn’t it?  Sure, we see people doing really bad stuff in the news, but aren’t those the exceptions?  Aren’t most people just trying to do the best they can?  Like the old song - [Lord, I was born a ramblin' man, Tryin’ to make a livin' and doin' the best I can].  I mean, is Jesus saying that all people only always do evil things?  For their deeds were evil.  How are we to understand what Jesus is saying here?

John has already mentioned that Jesus knew/knows what is in us, in our hearts [2.24]. [Rom 7.18-19 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.]  In the heart of every person is: 1) an awareness of what is right, of what God is like [Rom 1.19][the Light IS shining], AND 2) the bent, the inclination to live apart from God and what He wants [Rom 1.25].  In fact, this is unavoidable.  Yes, we can see some vestiges of the goodness of God in most all of His image bearers, but in every one of us there is this place of darkness with a sign that says, God-free zone.  We all want to be in charge.  We all want [the remote] to our lives.  And that is what the darkness is all about.  Darkness only exists where there is no light.  Darkness is that place where the Light of God’s presence is not welcome.  Rejected.  And the deeds of darkness, the fruit that naturally comes out of the hearts of those who are living apart from God, is [Gal 5.19-21].  The outcome of this life lived apart from God is death [Rom 1.32].  That, according to Jesus, is the Judgment.

Now some ask, well, what about those who “haven’t heard”?  Is there some kind of exemption for those who - as far as I know - haven’t heard the Good News that Jesus came to save?  A few thoughts:

1. We CANNOT know what any person has or hasn’t heard.  God speaks through His Word and through His people, yes.  And He speaks through dreams and visions, and through angels, and through His creation.  He spoke at least once through a donkey.  It is fatally flawed thinking to build a straw man of unbelief based on speculation as to what a person has or has not heard.
2. God’s Word is very clear that in fact every person in their heart has this general knowledge of God.  The Light IS shining. [cf Rom 1.19-20]
3. Also clear: God Who is Righteous and Fair will judge every person righteously and fairly.  And here again is the judgment:

[19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.] Light has come into the world.  Jesus is saying, that this light - and the failure to receive it - are universal realities.  Everyone has the Light, and no one lives in light of the Light perfectly.  In fact, every person at some point chooses darkness.  We’re born into it.  It is unavoidable.

Men - people agapéd the darkness.  Give themselves to it unconditionally.  And this is past tense.  Cuz the Light - this is not a new thing - Light has already come into the world. [Rom 1.20].  But people love to live in spiritual darkness.  We love to be able to do what WE want to do.  Light: THIS is the Way, THIS is the Truth - walk in it.  And people say, nope.  Not gonna do it. 

[20 “For everyone who does [foul-things] hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.][our bad deeds in fact are foul spiritual aromas]  Exposed here means to be reproved.  It is saying, that’s wrong.  And who wants to hear that?  You’re wrong.  What you did is wrong.  Nobody likes to hear that.  And that’s why people hate the Light, cuz the Light shows up and shows off what is true and right - AND what is wrong [imperfections].  God, and His Word, the truth about Him, show us what is right AND what is not right.  The Light is shining.

But we like to hide imperfections, don’t we?  A little concealer on our blemishes?  Our world prefers to cover it up, or maybe blame someone/anyone else, or maybe just deny it altogether, tries to tell us that there IS NO God, and there IS NO Truth.  ["There is no absolute truth."  Or, "truth is relative."]  But you must depend on the existence of absolute truth to even try to say that there is absolutely no truth.

[21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his works may be manifested as having been worked in God.”]  There is a small, densely-populated pocket of the universe where there is NO light.  Only darkness.  And death.  No Truth, no Love, no forgiveness.  What happens when we come to the Light?  When we embrace the truth that there is a God Who made us and loves us?  When I admit that I am wrong?   For eyes accustomed to darkness, the Light can feel harsh.  But we were made for Light.  Light is the default condition for life.  Before God created living things He created [light].  We come to the Light, to Jesus, to receive His love, His rescue, His forgiveness, we enter into life as it is meant to be lived.  Full and overflowing.  [No fear 1Jn 4.18].  And if/when we do come, we find that God is behind it all.  He does the heavy lifting [Phil 2.13].  May the God of Light give us grace to come to and to walk in His Light today and every day...

Relevant verses

Rom. 1:28  Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking

John 3.24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Rom. 1:18   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness

Rom 1.19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Rom 1.25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Gal 5.19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Rom. 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Is. 9:2  ^1aThe people who walk in darkness 

Will see a great light; 

Those who live in a dark land, 

The light will shine on them.

Phil. 2:13 for it is ^aGod who is at work in you, both to will and to work ^bfor His good pleasure.

1John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but ^aperfect love casts out fear, because fear ¹involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^bperfected in love.