Explaining the Inner Meaning of John 3

Verses 3:1, 2. That some in the perverted church, in consequence of the miracles which the Lord worked, seek conjunction with him, and acknowledge his doctrine to be divine.

Verse 3:3. To whom it is taught, that man cannot attain any perception of heavenly good and truth, except by regeneration.

Verses 3:4, 5. This however is understood by those of the perverted church, according to a natural idea, and not according to a spiritual idea, and therefore they are further instructed, that regeneration is effected by a reception of the truths of faith in man's understanding, and by a love and life in conformity with those truths.

Verses 3:6, 7. Because man is at first born merely natural, but has the capacity of afterwards becoming spiritual, by a life according to truths derived from the Word, and therefore he ought not to regard regeneration as a strange, or irrational operation.

Verse 3:8. Yet that scarcely any of the innumerable arcana of regeneration come to the knowledge and perception of man.

Verses 3:9, 10. This cannot be comprehended by those of the perverted church, who are in the knowledges of external truth, when yet those knowledges ought to have conducted them to the apprehension of internal truth.

Verses 3:11, 12. For the literal or external sense of the Word proceeds from, and is filled with, the interior things of the divine truth and wisdom, which things are rejected by those who remain in the love of mere natural things, and who, on that account, cannot comprehend celestial and spiritual things.

Verse 3:13. For celestial and spiritual things can only be comprehended by those who receive into their minds and lives the divine truth, inasmuch as the divine truth alone comes down from heaven, and therefore is alone capable of elevating any into the things of heaven.

Verses 3:14, 15. That this divine truth therefore assumed a sensual corporeal principle here on earth, to the intent that sensual corporeal men might have a divine object of faith presented to them, and being thus elevated to conjunction with that object, might be preserved from the defilement and death of merely sensual and corporeal life.

Verse 3:16. That this was effected from the divine love, to the intent that mankind might no longer continue immersed in mere natural love, but might be raised into the sphere of celestial and spiritual love.

Verses 3:17, 18. Wherefore God assumed the Human [nature] to the intent that mankind might conjoin goodness and truth in their minds and lives, since a right faith in the Divine Humanity of the Lord leads to such conjunction, whereas a want of that faith leads to separation.

Verses 3:19, 20. For the Divine Humanity of the Lord is divine truth, and if divine truth be rejected in consequence of evil love, then nothing appertains to man but the false principle of evil.

Verse 3:21. On the other hand, if divine truth be loved and obeyed, man is conducted to the Lord's Divine Humanity, because he is willing to acknowledge that all the good which he wills and does is from that divine source.

Verses 3:22, 23, 24. That when the Lord had finished these sayings, he instructs the perverted church in the truths of purification, which truths also were taught in abundance by those who were principled in charity and faith, whilst they were in a state of freedom.

Verses 3:25, 26, 27. Nevertheless these truths are received with doubt by those of the perverted church, and therefore it is taught that all purifying truth is from the Divine Truth, and thus that all wisdom, intelligence, reason, and science, are not of man, but of the Lord in his Divine Humanity.

Verses 3:28, 29. And that the design of all representative truth is only to prepare mankind for the reception of the Divine Truth, that thus good and truth may be conjoined in the church, and the church may rejoice in being instructed concerning the precepts of faith, and in receiving them in faith and obedience.

Verses 3:30, 31. Thus the Divine Truth becomes all in all in the church, as being inmost truth, and all other good and truth only administer externally.

Verses 3:32, 33. For the Divine Truth testifies concerning the Lord, both as to his divine wisdom and divine love, and notwithstanding its being rejected by the generality of mankind, brings conviction along with it to those who receive it.

Verses 3:34, 35. Which truth is from the Lord's Divine Humanity, whose intelligence and wisdom are infinite, being in eternal union with the divine good, and thus possessing the all of that good.

Verse 3:36. Whosoever therefore receives truth from that Divine Humanity with a right faith, is made partaker also of the divine good, but whoever rejects it, can have no apprehension of that good, but remains in his own natural evils.

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Psalm 29:2

Additional readings: Isaiah 60, Luke 2:25-40

The Temple with its appointments was built to represent something of the beauty and glory of the Lord. The description of it as given in the Word is a parable telling of the beauty and Harmony of the Divine Life and of the temple that should be built in our souls that the Lord may dwell in us.

It is good for us and it is good for our children and friends to come to worship where inward things are mirrored in the outward. It is a beautiful setting for our children. The importance of first beginnings, of first contact with the Church should be better known. It is an inspiration to us and to others who come to have our surroundings a symbol of the beauty that life may attain.

The human race began in the innocence and happiness of the Garden of Eden. Christianity began with a perfect life of Christ, and the simple beauty of the Apostolic Church. So every life begins with the vision and beauty of youth and should be filled with joy and holiness. We need such visions and should know that the highest life is always religious and that the gate to this life is a beautiful gate by which we should enter in childhood. Religion is very real with children, first impressions are lasting, and they should prepare for and lead to the happy devotion of the mature religion of the grown man and woman. For the Church is our spiritual home. It is dear to us because we belong to it and it to us.

Yet the true glory of a Church is its wisdom, its truth which it receives from God for the enlightenment of men. Here we learn the story of life—how God so loved the world that He came into it and lived here and died here to help everyone to live in happiness. No education can be true or fruitful which leaves the Lord out. No one can act wisely or well toward others if he does not know that the Lord also is caring for them and that His kind Providence is also over them.

In the church there is need of absolute truthfulness and religious teaching. There is no beauty in falsity; it is always deformed. In the light of the Second Coming it is possible to be truthful. No longer is it necessary to teach our children what we really do not believe, for we can have full and intelligent faith in our doctrines. If we do not, our teaching will be insincere and ineffective, for a man cannot teach what he only half-heartedly believes. The bright eyes of children will see through him. And further it is wrong to the children, who will find out someday that what they have been taught is not true.

The world is in a transition period. There is a legitimate dissatisfaction with the religion of the past, and a demand for something more definite, clear, and practicable, something that will carry on, growing with our growth through all this life and into life beyond. There is a difference between a child's religion and an adult’s religion but it is not a difference between falsity and truth.

Today we hear much about the precocity of children. Never have children been able to get ideas so freely from the freest contact with the life about them, and never has their need of the Church been greater.

As we read history we realize that people owe to religion nearly every liberty and privilege that they enjoy, and while they may criticize the Church, they are loaded with the benefits which it has brought about.

No one can be happy who is in falsity and evil. The Lord is Life Itself, and this life goes forth from Him as love and wisdom, or goodness and truth, and these as received from the Lord constitute the life of men. At the time of the Lord's Advent the world had lost all knowledge of spiritual truth. The Lord saw the tragic disaster of the way of life which men were pursuing, and that life would be filled with beauty, joy, and blessing if only His kingdom were established in their hearts. So He came into the world and established the Christian Church and started mankind again on the upward path. The world owes much to the Church. The first teachers were religious teachers, the first schools were church schools, the first attempt to break through the appalling ignorance of the masses of the people was made by the Church.

In Jesus Christ and His teaching came the light of the world, and even those who deny Him are living today in that light, which from Him has filled the whole world. The Christian Church is from those who seek this light and mediate it to the world.

And then the Sabbath day when we come to his Temple! Do those who criticize the institution of Sunday ever think what a blessing this day is? Suppose there were no Sabbath day, but instead every seventh day were a day for indulgence in material pleasures. Suppose there were no churches, no services of worship, no Sunday schools, and that public houses kept open and business went on as usual. Would there be more enjoyment or happiness in this freer Sunday? Take the churches out of our land, and ask your cold reason where would be found any increase in happiness.

Religion is still the highway of life. The days of irreligion are a delusion and a shame, whether looked back upon or looked forward to.

Again, contrast the effect of religion and irreligion on the characters of the world's rulers. Note how those of religious character have shown out in dark and has trouble sometimes.

The highway of life must be kept open for us, and if once our churches were gone, this way would be closed.

There is, too, the personal aspect. The highway of life is for us individually. It is the straight road to the kingdom, the way of soundness, and truth, and right. While we may not give as much time and thought to our religion as we should, yet we ought to realize that it is keeping us on the highway and out of the muddy and crooked by-paths. There is protection for us in our church. There is a safeguarding, reforming, and regenerating work that quietly and surely though oftentimes unconsciously goes on within us and within the world by means of our religious worship. It is good that much of it is unconscious, for goodness would lose its quality if it were paraded or noted down for reference.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is everyone who is born of the spirit" (John 3:8).

By the Lord's help we are instinctively, as it were, kept from the evil and led security along the highroad of life. We would not wish to walk without knowledge of God or without His help. Is not this true? Do we wish to be in a state where religion is absent, where the Lord, the light of the world, is absent, where there is no law but self and no one to serve but the world and the kings of Mammon, where everyone is limited to what seems right in his own eyes?

So we come to Church in gratitude to the Lord that He has given to man the love of His Word, of His Church, and of His service—to keep always open to men the highway of life.