I N D E X
8
John selected the eight signs which form the backbone of this Gospel, in order that it might be manifest that `Jesus is
THE MESSIAH'.
Now it is possible that an objection might be lodged at this point, namely, that `The Messiah' belongs to Israel,
and so cannot be intruded here. But that is just exactly what the passage of Matthew 22 makes possible, and which
John 4 illustrates. In Matthew 10, the Lord said:
`Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not' (Matt. 10:5).
This prohibition was withdrawn after the second invitation to the marriage was refused, and so we find both the
`Samaritans', `The Messiah', and the discontinuance of worship either at `Jerusalem' or `this mountain' introduced in
John 4.
`I know' said the Samaritan woman, `that Messias cometh, which is called Christ' ... Jesus saith unto her, `I that
speak unto thee am He'. The woman left her water pot and said to the men of the city `Is not this the Christ?', i.e. the
Messiah. Later these men said, `Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and
know that this is indeed the Christ (i.e. the Messiah), the Saviour of the world' (John 4:25,29,42). Here is the
foreshadowing of what John was to spread beyond the confines of Samaria, but the inescapable feature is that we
must read in John 20:30,31, not the `Christ' as interpreted by Paul in his prison epistles (the epistles of `the One
Body') but in the light of these most definite references to the Messiah of Israel, now being preached in all the
world, consequent upon Israel's failure. This aspect raises the question `Can two dispensations run together?' This
we will consider later.
EARTHLY THINGS.
At the conclusion of the talk with Nicodemus in the third chapter of John, the Lord summed up His teaching
concerning the new birth as `earthly things', contrasting them with `heavenly things' which had not been included.
`If I have told you earthly things (epigeia), and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly
things (epourania)?' (John 3:12).
Writing to the Philippians, using the same word `which the Holy Ghost teacheth', Paul spoke of some whose
walk was an hindrance, in that they were minding `earthly things' in contrast with the citizenship in heaven, which
should have occupied their thoughts and hope (Phil. 3:19,20). Heavenly things have particular reference when
contrasted with earthly things, to the sphere of blessing revealed in the epistle to the Ephesians. Epouranios occurs
twenty times in the N.T. once in Matthew 18:35 `My heavenly Father', once in John 3:12, eighteen times in Paul's
epistles, and never in Peter, James or John's epistles. Five of the occurrences are found in Ephesians in the phrase
`in heavenly places' or `in high places' and is exclusive to the revelation of the Mystery as revealed to and by the
apostle Paul.
We must now make another quotation from our critic who says:
`C.H.W. says "Believers today seem to fall into three groups. He offers no scriptural proof that there are three
groups. To others they might seem to be a dozen groups"'.
Our brother must have his `dig'; it does not hurt us. It does not, however, sound like sane and sober criticism.
That there are `Three Groups' we accordingly here and now offer `Scriptural Proof'.
and THREE ADOPTIONS.
EVERY FAMILY
In Ephesians 3:15 we read `Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named'. This the R.V. corrects by
translating pasa patria by `every family', indicating that there will be one family `in heaven' and another family `on
earth', but all related to the same God and Father. The word `family' translates the Greek patria which is translated
`lineage' in Luke 2:4. Whether Kingdom, Bride, Guest or Body, all have a common lineage, all have `life through
His name'. But just as in human society, the members of any one family may belong to different walks in life, live
in different countries and follow different callings, so we discover that there are many patrias or families of faith.
Here therefore are a number of `groups' indicated. That there are `three' and not `dozens' we now proceed to show
from Scripture.