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(5) Because He claims all honor equal w ith th e F ath er. 5:23. £ (6) Because He promises eternal life and gives it to all th a t h ea r-a n d believe. 5:24. (7) Because He has life in Himself as th e F ath e r hath. 5:26. Jesus met all these claims in actual life and work. No honest h ea rt can refute them. His resu rrection is the capstone of proof -that He is what He claimed to be. Seven witnesses: (1) Himself. (5:30-31) He comes in th e name of His F ath e r (5 :4 3 ) being a full REPRESENTATION OF HIS FATHER. (2) The “Another W itness” (5 :32 ) (3) John, the Baptist. ( T: 34) (4) His own works. (5 :36 ; 10:25; 14:11) (5) The F ather. (5.57. Cf. Mark 9 :7 ) I (6 ), The Scriptures. (5 :3 9 ) (7) Jesu s’ p e r s o n a l character. (5:41): Oh, matchless Son of God, the Revela tion of the F ath er. W hat a Saviour! May we not!say w ith Thomas, “My Lord and My God” ? n n (Review quickly the previous lessons — The Lamb; The Sign-post; The Wed ding; The House-cleaning. Recite Mem ory Verse.) •This lesson is of Fund am en tal im portance, teaching— as it does— the ab solute necessity of the new birth. P ain t a vivid picture of an oriental house, w ith its flat roof where th e peo ple spent much of th eir time a t night. Like a roof garden. Stairs- on th e outside. Easy of access. Jesus sitting on the housetop one night, looking up a t the stars which He had made, when THE JUNIORS A HOUSETOP VISIT Jo h n 3 :1 .1 3
a man came up the stairs to have a talk w ith Him. W hat was this m an’s name? Who was he? (A ru ler of the Jews. A wise m an.) ' Why did he want to talk w ith Jesus? Did the Jew ish leaders love Jesus? Why not? Where did Nicodemus say Jesus came -from? (From God.) Why did he th ink Jesus came from God? (No man can do these m iracles except God be w ith h im .) W hat is a m iracle? If you could stretch out your arm s and fly away like a bird, would th a t be a m iracle? Men can do many wonderful things, but they must obey God’s laws.: Men can do wonder ful things w ith electricity, bu t they must obey th e laws of electricity, or they will suffer for it. Illu stratio n : F ire burns. That is a law of God, which never changes. If a baby puts its hand on a red ho t stove it will be burned. The baby learns to keep away from hot stoves because it suffers if it doesn’t. God intended all His laws to be obeyed. There is a law in the Bible, “Children, obey your p aren ts.” (Eph. 6 :1 .) If we do not obey th is law, we must’ suffer for it-—some time. Did Jesus say to Nicodemus, “You are a very nice man. You must do the best you can. Thank you for compli menting me” ?,. If we do the best we can, will th a t satisfy God? Why not? (Eph., 2:8.) The best man or woman th a t ever lived, or the best boy or girl th a t ever lived, is n o t perfect, bu t every one has sinned. What did we learn in last week’s lesson 'th a t God said about sin? (The soul th a t sinneth it shall die.) Who died in th e sinner’s place? (Jesus the Lamb of God.) W hat did Jesus tell Nico demus he must do? (Ye must be born ag ain .) T hat is, he needed to have a new nature. - (It is not necessary to go into details, except to say th a t Nicodemus found this hard to understand, and so^ Jesus ex plained it to him by telling him, “T h at
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