Gospel of John (Study 5 of 24, Chap 1 Cont, 2 Start) — G.W. North

Thank you everybody. I've never been so greeted before in my life. Well, not in a lecture room, which I always turn into something different to lecture room, but that's the liberties I'm allowed to take part of.

Anyway, I'm one of the most blessed men in the world. I hope you believe that. I was only commenting I'm virtually allowed to do as I like. How about that? But then, you see, that follows a great quote from a very, very famous man named Augustine.

You've heard of him. He said, love the Lord Jesus and do as you wish. Do you think he was a libertine? No. You wish to love him, so you keep on loving him. That's what he was meaning. A very, very wonderful truth.

Let us pray. Father, for redeemed sinners, say the man. And to demonstrate our thankfulness by giving thee our all, as thou hast given thine all, Lord, catch us up this morning, blessed spirit, and concentrate us on the truth that shall never pass away.

Grant unto us, Lord, as we are gathered before thee, meek, teachable spirits. Those who will learn of thy lesson for us, dear Father, is thy son, thy spirit, applying his life to us. Glory to thy name, Lord.

How we bless thee bless thee for this book which now we take into our hands, that beyond our hands it may be in our heart. And we accept no mere generalization or modernization or some other such thing that can trick sleeping saints into such a slumber so deep that they don't know what's going on at all in the world of the Spirit.

Knowing instead the world of education and the world of this and that through which we be or are going. Therefore, Father, show us thy wisdom, thy simple means that are inbuilt in the life. And we ask thee, Father, that we may understand that life on earth hath connection with life as it is in heaven and in God.

We praise thee, Father, and thank thee. Amen. Now I've obviously got to get a move on, haven't I? I haven't got out of the first chapter yet. But I told you I'm allowed to do as I like, you see. If I take all the rest of the time we're together on just two chapters, that will be forgiven me.

And my approach is, shall I say, in-depth study rather than tutorial, which Seamus tries to embrace so much in a little space. I rather like the five loaves and the two fishes fed five thousand. What a little!

But it came out of God, you see. That isn't to say that the lengthy studies aren't necessary. I'm not implying anything. But that's the type I am. Let's get into the scriptures then, shall we? And remembering where we left off yesterday of John coming in from the wilderness to introduce them or reintroduce them, whatever word you use, in the power of the thought, to crossing the flood, Jordan, and into the promised land.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

They didn't know, or perhaps they didn't know, that they were a prepared people. That's what John's ministry is quoted in Isaiah, taken up in the other Gospels, rather than this. Prepare the way of the Lord.

That was the message that John preached. Fulfilling the scripture. May God give us to fulfill scripture in our lives. Better not have lived unless we do. It is no matter of believing, it's a matter of fulfilling.

The reason why you were born, so far as God is concerned, which of course implies new birth. But even so, when you were first born onto this earth, you were born to hear the Gospel. Now then, here we go then.

John, as we said, came as a light. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. He may have understood from his mother that that began whilst he was conceived and in the womb, when Mary went and told her that she had conceived, three months, the babe John Baptist leapt in his mother's womb.

Life came into him in a wonderful way. This is all in God. We don't understand that. We understand nothing. So he was a man filled with the Holy Ghost and Jesus at that time was only three months in his mother's womb.

And he gave John the Holy Spirit. You say, but that, but, unless you understand scripture, you'll say that's wrong. He took away the first covenant when he said, Lo, I've come to do thy will. We looked at that in Hebrews.

Keep that clear. The conscious in what would be called the unconscious state, I don't pretend to explain. It is my business to believe and tell you what I believe. You will almost deny your experiences unless you do the same.

So then we've got to go forward. I want you to notice one thing. The consciousness of baptism that we need to have. Listen, the record of John, when the Jews, I'm in verse 19, sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? He said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? He answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou?

And we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

And they asked him, Now note this, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then? So they knew that Christ was going to baptize. They understood that when Christ came, he would baptize. Now I just want to make a comparative reference to you.

Chapter 4, if you'd like to turn to it. Never be afraid to turn to the Bible. If you turn from it, you'll be in trouble. Chapter 4, verse 1. When therefore the Lord knew that how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.

Here's the relevant thing. Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples. That was to keep clear the vast difference between water baptism, which is quite common. I mean water is common enough. He'd only come to baptize in the spirit.

He wouldn't touch water except for his own baptism. Be sure that you will baptize in the spirit. In that case, it won't matter much, except by the sort of tenets of the church, whether you will baptize in water or not.

I'm baptized in water. Don't think I'm not. God would rather you be baptized in the spirit than baptized in water. So, be baptized in water as a confession. It'll help clean your body up if it's dirty.

But the baptism in the spirit, that's what Jesus came for. They understood that. Although they might have fallen well below understanding what the true baptism is. Let's go. Notice what he said. I am the voice crying in the wilderness.

The Voice, the Word, and Spiritual Hearing

Now, the voice is very useful. It's the foremost thing. That which we have, dear John, you really got to master John or let him master you. There are millions of other, thousands of other things you needn't bother about much.

But this is the big thing. When he writes his famous first epistle, he says this, that which was from the beginning, and so on and so on. He says, which we have heard. John Baptist was the voice. A wordless voice doesn't accomplish much.

Life isn't all singing or lying or do-do-doing. But this is it. You see, John was the voice. Then one day, whether John anticipates exactly that day or not, the word was added to the voice. Jesus came to Jordan.

A wordless voice is as empty as empty as much as you may love Pavarotti. But he usually sings words that I don't understand. Keep that clear. A wordless voice, if I utter things not understandable, what use am I?

So many voices in the world, says Paul. That's wonderful. I'm just carrying a thought through it. You know why it's word first, don't you? Not say, which we saw. You see, he doesn't put saw first, because you could hear my voice if you couldn't see me.

I could stand outside that door, and if I demanded that you see me before you knew anything about me, you'd never, never, know. But you could hear. I could even raise my voice. It used to be pretty powerful.

Once I was preaching once, years ago, and somebody said, we heard you in the quarry. That's a mile away from where I was preaching. I didn't need amplification, you may gather. Here, then, is the thing.

Couldn't see me, heard what I said. So that's why God says first, it's hearing. Just to bring it down to this refinement in scripture, the voice, speaking for 30 years. Oh, well, when he started to speak, when he was a bubba, John Baptist, then, for three years, the voice, be careful that you hear the voice.

It raised Lazarus from the dead. You and I need to know the glory of what this is. It's not just words and parables and teachings. It's a revelation of the deepest kind yet once seen. It's very logical, very scientific, but it's based on living and not searching through the mind.

Based on the obvious. What's the use of a voice shouting without the word? What's the use of knowing all the words that haven't got a voice? Well, I'll let them see me which we have handled. Yes, that came a lot later.

The hearing first. Perhaps we need them washing out these ears of ours. But God wants us to know this. And John says of him, writing, I don't mean John Baptist now. John says of him that these things were done beyond the Jordan.

Notice that, where John was baptising. The next day, John sees Jesus coming and so on it unfolds as the Lord Jesus is introduced to the world. His testimony is this. I knew him not. He was his cousin by earthly birth.

John’s Testimony and the Baptism in the Spirit

But John sometimes, probably in his youth, had been sent away into the desert. That he may come from the desert to show them the condition out of the wilderness. That was the condition of the Jewish nation.

They were in the wilderness a long way off from God. Wandered away from their roots, wandered away from the truth of the revelation they had been given. I hope nobody's like that in this room this morning.

Wonderful truth. I didn't know him, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptising. I'm giving you the easy introduction, water baptism, to the vast, vast truth. I hope you don't rest and say you've believed and you've been baptised and that was it.

Hardly begun. Hardly begun. Some people are baptising in water just because they aren't built to a denomination or a set that practises it. You've got to have your reasons, friend. Biblical reasons. You may say, well, it's what you don't know.

You're not responsible for why you've got a Bible. You're supposed to know. You will not be excused because certain teachers taught this or that or the other. Though they ought to be teaching the truth, which I hope I am doing.

But the great thing, beloved, there will not be any excuses allowed when you stand before God. You will not be examined according to your beliefs, but your true state, whatever you believe. It needs to be evangelical truth or that which you believe.

God tear the veils away from all our minds. You understand that? No rewards given to what you believe. I believe this, I believe that, I believe that, I believe that, I believe that, teaching you that belief is as rungs in a ladder.

You will all pat your own back and say, how did you get it? Well, I believe, I believe. So you've saved yourself then. You did it. You did it. You did it. You were saved by grace alone. Of course, if you don't believe, that's your fault.

Here then, I want to compare this on the spot. Faith talking, faith talking, faith talking. I want to hear love. You've got the preference and precedence over all the faiths in the world. Nobody will pat you on the back and say, you've made it, brother.

What did you believe? I believe this, I believe this, I believe this. They toiled the steep ascent to heaven through sorrow, toil and pain as the line of the hymn-goers. O God, to us may grace be given to follow in their train.

But here is the wonderful thing. You will be saved by grace. What do you think saved the thief on the cross at the last? Sheer grace. He didn't even sort of believe it right according to the way we would believe.

Remember me, when you get into your kingdom, nothing about getting into the church, no, just nothing about getting in, nothing. He was ignorant. But at least he did call and it was grace that saved him.

Just keep that clear. And if you live 80 years doing the correct thing, it'll only ever be grace that saves you. It's a marvellous thing. All right, let me go on. You see how I get carried away on these great truths, I should be pressing on.

Faith, Grace, and Being Carried by the Spirit

Here then, you know you'll never get anywhere unless you're carried away, do you understand that? Oh no, it isn't by strict regimentation of this, that and that. Listen to Paul. You were carried away unto dumb idols.

Now there are plenty of people who never get into the real things of the Spirit of God, of course they won't allow themselves to be carried away. You've got to learn the art of lying back and being loved and let God carry you away, not just in the visions of your heart, but in the arms of the Holy Ghost into what he wants.

You'll only ever get there by that, don't you think you'll get there by this, that and the other? What is faith? But that's not my subject, because I will finish the rest of the morning talking about that.

Here then is the truth. I don't know him, says John. I've only come baptising with water, verse 31, I'm putting it in my own language, you can check it, that's all, so that he should manifest, he with his baptism.

That's the logic as you read through John, you can switch off to what Paul says, this, that and the other, keep with on John. That was his purpose. Of course he had to die and rise again, because it wouldn't have been any good talking about baptising you in the spirit.

Here then is the truth. I didn't know this, he said, I didn't know this at all. But in verse 21, behold the Lamb of God, that was Jesus when he came down. And then as we get down to the rest of it, through this thing quickly, in verse 33, I knew him not, but he had sent me to baptise with water.

Understand this, nothing said about what John preached, what he did and who he was. This is John. Here it is then, sent me to baptise with water. Did he send you to baptise with water? Yes. Is that all he sent you for?

Yes really. Because you will never enter fully into what Jesus Christ has for you until you are baptised in the spirit. Oh, but I believe that's why, the baptism in the spirit is for believers. That's the great thing for you to grasp.

I was sent to make plain to people that God has a Lamb and you will know the function of the Lamb. You say, oh well there's the land of Egypt and the blood on the doorpost etc. etc. I wish I could talk to you about that for an hour.

And then there's the Lamb had to be sacrificed and so on and so forth. But have you ever realised that the Hebrew day began with the sacrifice of a Lamb and finished with the sacrifice of a Lamb. That was the beginning and the ending.

Keep that very clear. They could sacrifice bulls but not for this. God wanted his Lamb who would abode in his bosom for all eternity. That was the sacrifice. That would be on the finish once the Lamb was sacrificed.

The Lamb of God and the Danger of Empty Religion

When you sing, oh come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, do you sing it? Oh good, you've had education then. Who stand by night, lift up your hands. All you priests, all you Levites. Why did they do that?

Well, the final sacrifice had been made. They got nothing else for the day at once. So they just held up empty hands. You be sure you're in the finalities when you sing those old babbling choruses that you don't know anything about.

You don't flatter God by singing untruth about yourself as well as of Christ. That's the danger of the modern chorus age in which we're living. Spiritual states have been sacrificed for psychological states.

Think that out. They don't want you to be all that clean now. They want you to be happy and joyful. Don't you understand? That's what they want, that psychology. If I may say so, excuse the word, they've taken the guts out of salvation.

Here is the truth. Don't you think God wants you to be miserable? Well he does if you're a sinner. God wants us to go on into the truth. So having established that which I think is of major importance, other people may say, we should get on to the end of the chapter.

Well I will, eventually. Every verse, I can preach on every single verse in the Bible, or at least make an attempt at it. But this is how God will get you, don't you? Yield yourself to God totally, unless you want to get there.

Don't you do it. You be satisfied with it. Like lots of the Israelites were. They were satisfied to stop on the desert side of Jordan. Because there was a pleasant pasture there. The same trap that got Locke when he saw the citizens of Israel.

Well you'll be popular if you do. God wants us to understand truth as it is in this book. Written by men that were absolutely full of, inspired by and overflowing with the Holy Ghost, commissioned by God himself.

Read it. Read it. You know what I should say to the Lord one day? I told all those students to read it, Lord. It's not my fault. I'm in there. So, the next day after this, Lord, perhaps I better say, he ascertained the truth to John by giving the Blessed Spirit who came down on the Lord while he was still in the water.

And when he came up out of the water, he saw, and John saw as well, the Spirit coming down in bodily form like a dove. That's the only time in Scripture where the Holy Ghost is spoken of as having bodily form.

And you will notice that it wasn't a dinosaur. It was a dove. Now you'll begin to know whether the Holy Ghost is present. The dove is a symbol of love and gentleness. Not power. Power. The real power of Pentecost, my beloved, is to make you like Jesus.

Not to perform miracles. They'd all performed miracles before Pentecost. All those apostles had done miracles. Jesus sent them out to do that. Sort of for the masses. Even for him it's a bit overwhelming.

It's power to be like Jesus. That's what it's about. Gentle, loving Jesus. Alright. So then, beloved, we then have, when this is all over, the next day the two disciples standing with John. John says, and this is the only thing so far as we know reiterated in Scripture.

The First Disciples Follow Jesus

He says, behold the Lamb of God. I mean in this part of Scripture. The only thing reiterated. And those two men, left John, followed Jesus. So you'll begin to see immediately that discipleship was not God's idea or Christ's idea in the beginning.

It was two men. They started to follow him. He hadn't appealed for disciples. He hadn't tried to get any. They did it voluntarily. Mostly for the wrong reasons, in that we want to know where you live.

John said you were the son of God. Well, where do you live? Where does the son of God live? I wonder if he gave them a lecture first. If you'd have come looking for me 30 years ago, you'd have found me in a stable.

By this time, he was out in the ministry. And so you can read through all these things, beloved. And then you get to verse 49. I'm skipping a lot this morning. I want you to look at verse 49. It's Nathanael answering the Lord when he said, I saw you under the fig tree.

He says, Rabbi, notice it wasn't Lord, just notice that. He wasn't in the fullness of anything. Rabbi, teacher, master in that sense, as you say, talk about a schoolmaster, the son of God. Thou art the King of Israel.

Notice, just that Nathanael had spotted something a lot more than Pilate had or anybody in those days. For he wrote on the cross, the King of the Jews. This man says, King of Israel. The Jews were just a very minor company of people.

There were ten tribes lost out in the world. You remember that once when the Lord spoke to him, they said, what are you talking about? Is he going to evangelize the lost ten tribes, the lost sheep of the house of Israel?

Is he going to do that? Now, I believe that writing of the cross, you may ignore it. You've got to beat out your own music. But this is the thing, I believe that was a sneer at Herod. This is the real King of Israel, the real King of the Jews on this cross.

Not you, Herod. It was more than that, perhaps. But bear that in mind when you're thinking. Crusade had an artificially patched up friendship over the death of Christ, Herod and Pilate I'm speaking about.

Cana of Galilee and the First Miracle

Trusting that you'll read the Indovini verses, let's turn to chapter 2. Into these, the third day, you will know that there was a first day, next day, or if you like to put it this way, next day, verse 29 of chapter 1, the day following 43 and the third day in chapter 2, verse 1.

This is the real beginning. You understand? You do understand? Things were really put into the shape that God wanted them. That next day, Jesus Christ was introduced to the nation on that day, as we would say.

The next day, having spent the night with Jesus and Mary's family, that was the second one, when this took place, when disciples began to gather themselves together unto Jesus. Now on the third day, there's this feast, marriage, in Cana of Galilee.

The mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, they have no wine. Now it's really beginning now.

The Lord Jesus is speaking. He'd said to Peter, I'm going to change your name. He'd said to Nathaniel this and all that kind of thing, quite personal things. Now we're getting into at least a semi-public position at the feast, the wedding.

Jesus' mother came to Jesus in verse 3, said to him, they have no wine. Jesus said unto her, note the significance of this, woman, not mother, not Mary, woman, what have I to do with thee? Thine hour hath not yet come.

And he'll know why it hadn't come. Well if you read chapter 5, not now, he'll throw light back onto this. When he started to move under the direction of the father, I can't do anything except my father shows me, and he put Mary and the human in its proper place.

To us it would be an insulting way to speak to our mothers, to say woman, what have I to do with thee? We don't do that, do we? I never did to my mother. She was a fairly large woman too. What have I to do with thee?

I'll tell you, only one thing, that she had given birth to him. And that at God's choice. Not only the mother that some people have been brought up to praise and magnify, the blessed Virgin Mary, she was blessed above all women at that time on the earth.

And I suppose, reflexively, she still is the greatest of all women in that sense. She was sinful, like everybody else. That's why the Holy Ghost had to come upon her, to exclude her sin from her baby's body and soul.

The Holy Ghost came to prevent the transmission of sin from Mary's natural state to Jesus. The Holy Ghost shall overshadow thee. It's a marvellous thing. She never bore another son like it. So he said, what have I to do with thee?

My father borrowed your womb and your body for his purposes for bringing me into the world. And Mary knew it, no one else knew it better. It's a marvellous thing. Shows he was born of the Holy Ghost. Of course, Mary was the way that it all happened.

But he reminded her of this. 30 years of age. He began to be about 30 years of age. It's not precise, like I've been telling people some time that I'm 83, but it's not till tomorrow. But thank you for your cards before.

Do you see that? He began to be about 30 years of age. I'm quoting Luke. And he was necessary to God's plans. He only wanted blood to redeem you, that's all. That's all. He only wanted to fulfil all that God had shown right back from the beginning.

That's all. He didn't despise his mother, but he knew exactly the place that Mary had. I wish everybody else did. How many are deceived by law. He was saying to her, though he didn't actually state it till the fifth chapter.

He was saying to her, I can only do what my father says. You're not my father. You're not directing me, Mary. But she knew her son and she knew to whom to appeal. It's wonderful, really. What have I to do with you, Mary?

And I'll ask you. I'll ask you this question and answer it honestly. What has Jesus Christ to do with you? He could only be born once. That's not true. He was born twice. Did you know that? That's why you have to be born twice.

You tell you Paul's writings. He says, the first begotten from the dead. That's the word. Hallelujah. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it easy? We can slip into this, you know, fit into this, just like that.

This Gospel's like, oh, it's more than that, but let me say, like a suit that you put on. That's if you wear suits. If you want to live in jeans and look untidy or something. It's first born from the dead.

Isn't that glorious? So that means that you can be born after that from the dead, the real death. But let's go on. I'm not your little Jesus, Mary. And he cut her off. And at that moment, perhaps, the sword that had been promised her went through her soul.

A sword shall pierce thine own soul too, Mary. It was thrust in and turned much more terribly when she stood by the cross. But that probably began it. I don't know. I've got a lot of questions to ask when I get to heaven.

So marvellous, this truth. So great and far-reaching. My hour has not yet come. Perhaps, he didn't use the word hour, you know, it began to be about thirty-three and a half. He didn't say, well, in an hour's time I'll do something.

He didn't mean that, the time, really. Perhaps, as he went on a little while, the whole celebration. Let's read it. His mother, though she may have been hurt, said to the servants, verse 5, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

There were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purification, purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins of it. If you have a modern translation, it may say they were lying there, the waterpots were lying there.

They'd want to be pedantic, don't they? But here we get into the truth. Jesus saith unto them, the servants, fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feasts.

And they bared it. When the ruler of the feasts had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feasts called unto the bridegroom, and said unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse.

But thou hast kept the good wine until now. Wonderful, wasn't it? If you're one of these people that have wondered about turning water into wine, it's quite natural of you to think of Jesus. Quite natural.

He said, I'm the true vine. Now the job of the vine is to produce grapes that make wine. Why do I make a fuss of all these people about Jesus turning water into wine? He just bypassed the process. Marvellous, isn't it?

A very simple miracle. Very simple. It's like these people, you know, they tire me a bit. I met them in Australia actually, but I'd heard it years and years before, and I wondered that they could still be in it.

You might make a lot of mistakes in what you say when you first start. Don't worry about that. Don't have any pride, but don't have any stupidity either. Carry on longer than you need. For instance, the old teaching that there was bloodshed in Eden.

Miracles, Creation, and Reading Scripture Carefully

Do you know where they get it from? Because the Lord clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins. He must have killed animals. He must have shed blood. I don't know what the Green Party would think about this, and the lovers of the earth and nature.

But here's the big thing. Women wearing furs. Oh dear, new age teaching. It crept in just like that at the beginning, see, before you were even aware of it. Or men wearing furs, which I might do if I was in the Arctic.

But here is the thing. Who said he had to kill animals? Did Jesus need to grow a grapevine then in order to turn out wine? Must have a grapevine. These are supposed to be people that know what they're talking about, spirit-filled Christians.

They don't even know the first chapter of the Bible. It makes me cross them, because they boast so much. Who said he had to kill an animal to get its skin? He made the first animal skin anyway. But there you are.

That's a little sort of a protest. But look, what I want to convey by that is don't be carried away by seemingly good men or women who say they think that. But it's the training in error at the beginning.

The error in the thought round. Of course you must kill an animal to get its fur. Must? Jesus is the must. You and I, beloved, have to know what God is talking about. When it's stated, it's so... Do I stop yet?

Five minutes, is it? Five minutes, yes. Thank you. I purposely don't make sure. In this tremendous thing, beloved, notice this. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, he manifested forth his glory.

Don't you think I have to grow grapevines before I can provide wine? That's man's glory. A bottle of champagne. How much does that cost? Don't you understand, beloved, we are dealing with God when we take this book in our hands?

And we've got to let God deal with us. Not bring our well-trained university minds to bear upon it. That can help. And if you've had education, you give that to God 100%. And let the Holy Ghost show you the truth.

Now, this is the thing. His disciples believed on him. Did you know you could be a disciple without believing on him? Just keep that in mind. They were disciples and they were not believing. Attracted men.

I know lots of people have been attracted to him in their youth. They've been attracted in this way or another. And you've got to look for them later on. Oh, well, he went back, she went back. He did this, he did that, she did that.

You can't find them. And the sorrow is that many of the men in the churches have baptized them in water, too. They never lost their faith. It's a lot of nonsense. If you get the faith of God, you never lose it.

Too much talk of, they used to have faith. Believe-ism. That's what they had. If it's the faith of God, it will take you on and on and on. No, don't sink in. You can defect from it. You can stumble. You can do all kinds of things but not say, well, I've got no more faith now.

Maybe they should be turned to love and grace and faith may be kindled in their hearts. God wants us to see the truth. May I tell you a little story? I've got two minutes, not twelve o 'clock yet. It wasn't here, it wasn't in England.

Winning Souls Through Love

But a young woman came to a conference where I was speaker. She had a baby in her arms and she said, could speak remarkably good English. She said, do you know why I'm here? She stood in front of me quite a minute or two.

I said, oh, hello, you know all the nice things you say. All right. She said, do you know why I'm here? I said, no, it was because you loved me. She said, that's right. You will win souls by love. You might shout them into a conditional position by trumpeting anything else.

Because you loved me. She might have been talking to God, mightn't she? You loved me, God. Get into that position. God is not a mere purveyor of this, that and the other. You've got to have his love. This is what got John.

You loved me. Sometimes it echoes in my ears, not as a compliment, but a statement from the heart of a woman that depression, psychiatric treatments and pills, and everybody was against. She needed someone to put it on his arms rather.

That's what she wanted. Didn't want to practice your ability to cast out this or heal that or something else. There's no healing power in this world. Just bear that in mind. You know, I'm not speaking about romanticism.

Well, goodbye. Go and have your coffee.