WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:08.160 It is the Lord's gracious goodness to give us the privilege to hear him speak to us through his word this morning. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:22.239 So I encourage you to take a Bible if you have one, or if you don't, there's one in the pew in front of you, and open it to the Gospel of John in chapter three, in order to listen to what our God says. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.559 John chapter three. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:35.280 We typically think of this passage as being about John the Baptist, but the real subject is the Lord Jesus. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.880 We don't know much about John the Baptist. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:49.200 We know he was Jesus' cousin, that he was born about six months prior to Jesus, and we know that he was an odd sort of fellow. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:01:07.439 He stayed away from the populated areas of Israel and lived the lifestyle of the poor, having clothes made of scratchy camel's hair, and eating a diet of organic locally caught insects. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.480 I'm glad our diets have changed. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:24.879 We know that he preached out in the desert, but always near water because he baptized as they recognized their need to repent of their sin. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:30.879 We don't hear much from John the Baptist in the biblical record. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:38.799 What we do hear, though, is important to understand, and that is the case with the passage of Scripture before us this morning. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:49.599 It is the last time that John the Baptist appears in the Gospel of John, except for one brief reference to him by the Lord Jesus. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:55.840 So it's in this text that we get a glimpse of who John the Baptist really was. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:08.400 We see here what his purpose was, what his intentions were, and what really motivated him, what drove him as a God-fearing man. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:19.360 And so it's through him that we will get a glimpse into what our purpose ought to be, how we should form our intentions, and what ought to drive us. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:27.759 So if you have your Bible, I'm going to read John chapter 3, beginning in verse 22, and I'll continue through the end of the chapter. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.360 Again, that's John 3, verse 32. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:39.759 After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:52.400 John also was baptizing at Anon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized, for John had not yet been put in prison. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:59.039 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:13.439 And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, that's Jesus, to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:21.599 John answered, A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:28.400 You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:32.000 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:39.039 The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.319 Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.520 He must increase, but I must decrease. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.960 He who comes from above is above all. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.360 He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.319 He who comes from heaven is above all. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:04.159 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:11.199 Whoever does receive his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:17.759 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.839 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:25.040 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:31.839 Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:33.439 Amen. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:43.040 We need to remember a verse back in chapter one to be able to understand this passage properly. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:50.560 Back in John chapter one, verse twenty three, John was asked by some people who he was. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:02.879 And his answer was, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah has said. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:08.560 That's who John the Baptist was, and that was his mission. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:18.079 John has now prepared the way, the Lord has now come, and John will begin to fade out of the account and out of history. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:27.279 But it's in this portion of Scripture that we hear from John the Baptist about the supremacy of Christ. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:37.519 If we miss seeing the supremacy of Christ, we will have missed the entire point of this section of John's gospel. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:55.439 But in the midst of seeing the supremacy of Jesus, there are several challenging and convicting truths that ought to cause us to pause and to consider how important the Lord Jesus really is to us. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.560 To understand this, to get what's going on in this passage, we need to think about the background to this text. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.160 And it's pretty significant. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.920 You'll notice in verse 22 that it says, after this. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.199 And so we should then ask, after what? 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.600 There's obviously a progression here, so we need to understand what's going on. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:32.000 And the background here is kind of bookended by Jesus' temptations on the one hand and John the Baptist's imprisonment on the other hand. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:45.120 So verses 22, 23, and 24 serve as a transition to a new location and a new time in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:50.959 So previous to this, Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Passover. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:57.279 That's where Jesus was when he had that nighttime discussion with Nicodemus. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:05.920 You remember the one where Jesus told him you must be born again, and he said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:07.920 That's what comes before this. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:17.199 Jesus was in the city of Jerusalem celebrating the Passover, and people were coming to him under cover of darkness, asking him about how to have eternal life. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:29.279 But now he has taken his disciples out of the city and has moved north out into the country, away from the populated areas, most likely to spots near the Jordan River. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.639 And that's where John the Baptist was. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.240 At a place called Anon near Salim. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.519 Don't ask me where that is, because we don't know. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:44.879 Archaeologists have a couple of pretty solid possibilities, but we can't be sure. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:45.920 We do know. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:51.839 We do know that it was a place with plenty of water because that's the point recorded here. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.800 But also because the term Anon means springs of water. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:06.319 Now, naturally, if you are John the Baptizer and your ministry consists of baptizing repentant people, you're going to be in a location with plenty of water. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:13.439 Both of the likely locations for Anon are near the Jordan River Valley. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.959 But they are in Samaritan territory. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:35.120 So Jesus is in Judea, but John wasn't far away in the area of the Samaritan villages, which, if you know John, John's gospel, is where Jesus will go next, where he meets the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman at the well. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:42.639 Jesus will go there, but now he is with his group and is baptizing, we are told. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:53.919 Now that's just a generalized statement because we know very specifically from chapter 4, verse 2, that Jesus himself didn't do any baptizing, but his disciples did. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:01.200 So they are ministering in a very similar way to the disciples of John the Baptist. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:11.039 And we should probably remember that some of Jesus' disciples were once John the Baptist disciples who left John to follow Jesus. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:18.960 So this serves to move us from the city to the country and to identify what John and Jesus are doing. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:26.480 But John, the author, the Apostle John, knows that can be confusing. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.679 So he adds a statement in verse 24. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.600 For John had not yet been put in prison. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:44.399 Now that might not seem confusing to us, but what we need to know is that this particular account is not in the other three Gospels. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.399 It's not included there. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:57.120 And those other three Gospels have most likely already been written and put into circulation before John's Gospel was written. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.080 Mark, for sure, was already in circulation. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:15.440 So John wrote to clarify that what is happening here took place after Jesus' temptations, that's in the other gospels, but before John had been imprisoned and put to death. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:30.240 What that tells us is that Jesus was doing some ministry before the ministry work that's recorded in the other Gospels, which means this is very, very early in Jesus' ministry. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.039 Now there are some circumstances that took place here that prompted what we are about to consider. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:49.120 We're told here that a discussion arose between some of John the Baptist's disciples and a Jew, probably knowing the way John writes, most likely a Pharisee. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.840 And that discussion was over the issue of purification. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:00.399 Ceremonial purification was a common and important practice in Judaism. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:06.000 There were washings and purifications for many, many different purposes. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:13.279 There were also several different groups who had differing beliefs on what kinds of washings were necessary for this and for that. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:18.879 And so the fact that there was a discussion taking place is not all that surprising. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:29.039 But the word used for discussion here may indicate that the conversation got a little tense, a little bit heated. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:41.919 Now, what's strange is that in verse 26, it shifts to John's disciples asking John the Baptist a question about Jesus. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:56.080 So on one hand, in one instance, they're having this heated argument with somebody about purification, and then they just turn around and start talking to their master, their leader, their teacher about Jesus. 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:58.000 Why is that? 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:00.639 We don't know. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:11.919 It may be that the previous heated discussion had to do with the differences between John's baptizing work and Jesus' baptizing work. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:17.200 Perhaps the questioner was wondering why Jesus and John weren't working together? 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:24.240 Why aren't you joining forces and having one group that works better together? 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:30.080 Perhaps he was asking why all of John's disciples hadn't yet shifted their allegiance to Jesus. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:36.000 Why have some of you left John's baptism and now are going to work with Jesus baptizing? 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:38.320 We don't know. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:48.159 Whatever the discussions were about, the disciples of John the Baptist became irritated and upset. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.600 Not with the questioner. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.080 Not with the guy who asked them a question that turned it into a heated argument. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:00.799 No, they were upset with Jesus' success. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:03.759 Look at it. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:15.279 Verse 26 Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:27.840 John's disciples somehow have the impression that everyone is going to Jesus instead of John. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:32.559 Now we know that's not true because it says in the text that people were coming to John. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:38.240 But it appeared to them as if Jesus was getting all of the new people. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:47.919 Maybe it was that their visitor convinced them that Jesus was stealing all the people from their ministry, and they were not the least bit happy about it. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.360 Now they recognize that John spoke of Jesus. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:59.600 And they know that John recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.240 But really, he has to get all the people. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:12.399 This may be the first recorded instance of ministry jealousy, but it certainly wasn't the last. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:23.679 Churches and pastors and ministry leaders can be tempted to look at what other churches and pastors are accomplishing and be jealous. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:32.559 We can all look at what God does through other people and be jealous of their effectiveness for the Lord. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.279 If we're willing to admit it, we can all be jealous and covetous of what God gives to other people. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:45.759 We see the blessings, we see what appears to be the ease with which they live their lives. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:50.000 We see all the things that to us look better than anything that we have. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.759 And it starts to cause problems on the inside. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.799 John's disciples came to him complaining that Jesus had it better. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.919 Maybe they thought that they were there first and Jesus ought to cater to them. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:09.279 Who knows? 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:25.679 What we do know is that their hearts were jealous and covetous and dissatisfied with where God had them at that moment in time because they were comparing themselves to someone else. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.080 And so their teacher, John the Baptist, responds. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:39.759 He says to them, Your view of yourself must be grounded in proper theology. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:41.679 It's true. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:48.559 Everyone has a theology, whether you realize it or not, and that theology relates to life. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:53.279 Your theology drives how you view life. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:16:11.840 But if that theology is off a little bit, or if it's twisted, or if it's faulty, then you will lead yourself into self-inflicted disappointment, discouragement, despair, frustration, jealousy, covetousness, and idolatry. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.639 John the Baptizer sets his disciples straight. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:21.279 And that's where we really need to begin to sit up and take notice. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:30.399 Because John the Baptist teaches his own disciples and us that we need to have a proper view of our place in this world. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.840 We need to have a biblical view of our place in this world. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:47.279 And that is, we need to recognize that God sovereignly and specifically gives everything that defines who we are. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:17:00.720 There is no human ability to receive anything without God Himself expressly giving it. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.240 Consider John's phrasing. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:07.279 Look at what he says in verse 27. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:13.680 A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.319 I want you to think about the parts to that. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:17.759 Cannot receive. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:21.519 Literally, John wrote, one is not able to receive. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:36.319 That is, there's no ability within us, we have no power to change what we have, who we are, or to modify our lives, to go in a different direction, or even to do what we are currently doing unless God Himself gives it. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.519 We have no inherent ability to do what? 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.920 Even one thing. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.279 Can you get more specific? 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.079 Can you get more detailed? 00:17:53.359 --> 00:18:04.000 You have no ability for even one itty bitty thing in your life without the sovereignty of God giving it to you. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.039 Unless it is given him. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:17.119 That tells us that we need to begin to see everything in life as being directly from the hand of God. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:24.160 In other words, John the Baptist has people coming to him because God has given it. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:31.359 If Jesus has more people coming to him, it's because God has given it. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:40.319 If Jesus has a better situation than John, and John has a worse situation, then it is because God has orchestrated it. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.799 You will find me running out the side door after the service. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:10.960 You will find many Christian and so-called Christian self-help gurus proclaiming to you that you have the power to change your own life. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:24.319 Preachers like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer and a host of others and self-help folks like Zig Ziggler like to preach that God wants you happy and full of life and that he empowers you to do it that way. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:30.960 All you have to do is to believe, to reach out and take what God has given you. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.000 You don't have to look too long to find people that will be proclaiming that. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:41.519 But the problem with that kind of teaching is that it is false doctrine. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.640 And it is contrary to Scripture. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:53.119 God works in each of us differently, and his work is sovereign and specific. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:00.559 We cannot change our lives unless God has first determined to give us something. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.200 If you have a job, it is because God has given it. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.000 If you have a home, it is because God has given it. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:17.119 If you don't have a job, it is because God has not given it. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:22.079 If you do not have good health, it is because God has not given it. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:31.279 Who we are and what we have and our place in life is a direct result of God's good and gracious giving. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:36.880 And John the Baptist points this out to his followers. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:41.839 He says, I cannot have what God has not given me. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.920 He may give it to another, and that's okay. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:53.599 We see John resting in what God has appointed for him, even if it means less for him. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:55.519 Now notice what he does here. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:01.440 He begins to show his disciples that Jesus is supreme. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:09.759 God did not determine that John would be the Messiah. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:16.319 He determined that Jesus would be the Messiah. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:30.400 When we are challenged in life by what God has not given us, or by what he has given to others, we must tell ourselves the truth. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:42.079 Speak to yourself the truth, reminding yourself that God has a sovereign and good purpose in where he has you in that very moment. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:50.720 For John and his disciples, that meant that John was not the Messiah, but that he had been sent to go before the Messiah. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.160 That he's not given to us. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:16.640 We may think and wish and hope and desire, but it may simply be that God has not given to us like he has given to others. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.079 And that can be hard. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.599 In those moments, we need to remind ourselves that God has a purpose. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.640 And that's what John is doing for his disciples. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:35.839 Reminding his disciples that God's purpose for him was to prepare the way for the Messiah. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:46.559 And so when we are challenged in life by what we do not have, we must remind ourselves to rejoice in Jesus. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:51.920 That's what John does here by describing this image of a wedding. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.079 He says, Jesus is the groom, not me. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:10.640 John tells his disciples, because Jesus is the groom, it's my position to rejoice with great joy in who Jesus is and what Jesus is receiving as God works in his world. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.759 That orients our thinking. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.960 It orients our thinking in the proper direction. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:28.559 The world is not about me. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.039 But it is about Jesus. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.599 Even my own life is not about me. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:43.920 What God has given me is about Jesus. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:51.519 What God has given me is to magnify Jesus, to fulfill God's purpose in Christ. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:24:02.799 So when my perspective is right and my worldview is guided by proper theology, I can rejoice that God is doing his work to glorify Jesus. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:10.480 And when Jesus is glorified, my life is full, even if it means less for me or more difficult life circumstances. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:19.279 The friend of the bridegroom was similar to what we might call today the best man. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:29.279 And there are ancient regulations that suggest that the best man was forever barred from marrying the bride. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:32.720 Only the groom could have the bride. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:43.440 So if the wedding was called off for something, the best man was not allowed to swoop in and take the bride for himself. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.720 He was not allowed to do so. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.000 He was always limited in what he could have. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.920 John says, Jesus is the groom. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:58.240 He gets the bride. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:04.720 And even though I will never have the bride, I will rejoice that Christ gets the bride. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:09.920 In this way, we are reminded ourselves that Jesus is the groom. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.119 He gets the bride. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:15.119 It's our job to rejoice that he is magnified. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.440 Now let's be honest for a minute. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:28.720 Having the right theology and a proper worldview does not remove the sadness and the grief of not having something. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:36.160 It doesn't take away the pain of having a rough life. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:43.519 Having the right belief does not keep away the temptation to have something more. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:53.599 But it does help us remember and it causes to grow in us a contentment that life is not about us. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.319 It is about what God is doing through Christ. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:06.880 Therefore, John says the focus of our life should be that Jesus increases. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.319 And I do not. 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.039 Instead, he used a term that means that one. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:46.480 As though John was specifically pointing his finger at Jesus with emphasis. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:52.720 I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before that one. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.960 That one must increase. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:59.440 I must decrease. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.599 Jesus, that one, is the Messiah. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:05.759 That one is the groom. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:11.519 Do you remember this statement by John the Baptizer? 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:18.480 He said, There is one coming after me whose sandals I am unworthy to untie. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:19.359 You remember that? 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:25.759 John's ministry was on fire for a time. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:36.000 The perception by many was that the world, the entire world, was seeking out this weird man in the desert to enable them to be right with God. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:38.559 He was popular. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:40.480 He was the in thing. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:47.279 The authorities saw his popularity as some kind of threat to the status quo. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:58.799 But John understood that his purpose in life was to make much of Jesus and then fade away. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.440 Now none of us is John the Baptist. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.000 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:07.440 I don't want to eat crickets. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:18.240 We don't have the express purpose in life that John carried because that was fulfilled. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:19.599 That was a one-time thing. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.480 Paving the way for Christ was done. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:28.880 But by God's grace, you are alive. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:36.559 And you are here in this world, in this place, at this time in world history. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:41.599 Everything about you is because of God's gracious giving. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:48.240 Now, obviously, you have many responsibilities in life. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:51.119 You need to make a living. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:58.799 You may have a family to care for, you have bills to pay, you have debts to cover, you have food to put on the table. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:02.400 You have a job to do, a position to fulfill in your family. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:04.960 Maybe you have an education to complete. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:12.000 Maybe you are still young and you are still anticipating, looking forward to what you will do in the future. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:20.720 Whatever your place in life in this very moment, the challenge comes to each and every one of us from John the Baptist. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:28.000 Will you make more of yourself or more of Jesus? 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:41.440 In the time given to you on this earth, will you do everything you can to increase your own wealth, your own influence, your own position, your own family? 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:46.960 Or will your priority in life be to make much of Jesus, even if it means less for me? 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:57.440 Now please understand, this is not primarily about amounts or positions or places. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.039 It's about priorities. 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:11.599 There is a king ruling over this world, and it's not Donald Trump or any other world ruler. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:19.759 There is a Lord over this world, and it is not you. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:26.079 There is a savior over this world, and it is not government. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.359 There is someone greater, more glorious, and grander than you or me. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:40.640 And yet the way we live our lives so often is to make more of ourselves than we do of him. 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:50.000 The way of churches is to make much of people or of programs of offerings instead of making much of Jesus. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:58.480 John points his disciples to Jesus. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:07.599 He must increase, but I must decrease. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:14.960 Now from here, John goes on in the rest of the chapter to talk spatially. 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:22.240 That is, he pictures something from above versus something that's from earth. 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:25.680 And he's contrasting himself with Jesus. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:30.160 He says, Jesus is from above, I am from the earth. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:34.160 I speak in an earthly way, he who comes from heaven is above all. 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:42.559 And in this, in this section here from verse 31 to verse 36, he talks about two witnesses. 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.839 There are two witnesses that are giving testimony. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.880 One of them is John the Baptist, the other is Jesus. 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:53.920 Both of them speak of God's promised work in the Messiah. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:59.440 Both witnesses point to Jesus as the promised one, the only Son of God. 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:04.559 And so we read in verse 31 he who comes from above is above all. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.359 He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:12.720 He who comes from heaven is above all. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:16.720 There's some emphasis here, verse 31. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:20.319 It literally starts out the coming one. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:25.039 The coming one is above all and is from above. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.119 Translation? 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:31.039 We are not from above. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.000 And we are not above all. 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:37.440 We are not the priority. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:38.799 We are not the creator. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:40.000 We are the created. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:46.960 And so in order to have a proper view of life and a proper view of Jesus, we must have a proper view of ourselves. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:48.000 We are earthly. 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:04.319 That's so exciting. 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:09.200 Yet no one receives his testimony. 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:15.119 John says, You see all those people going to Jesus? 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:18.640 There's very few of them that are actually believing in him. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:24.960 Most do not listen to Jesus, but there are some who do. 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:35.519 Those who truly hear Jesus in a believing way recognize the truth of Scripture. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:39.839 They recognize the truth of Jesus and the truth of eternal life in him. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:44.160 But those who do not come to Jesus remain in their condemnation. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:48.400 John says, God's wrath remains on them, and there's no escape. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.440 There's no escape. 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:10.000 In his other book, Revelation, he saw the glorified Lord Jesus, and he records that in chapter 1. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:14.800 The conclusion of that vision is appropriate for us to consider. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:28.800 John says, after describing this vision of the exalted, glorified Christ, he says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.719 I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:43.599 A time will come when every human being will come face to face with the risen Lord, and that will be the response of everyone who's ever lived. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:57.199 In that moment, all who have made much of Jesus will not regret it. 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:01.360 Will that be you? 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.920 Will that be the legacy of our church? 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:10.880 Will it be said of you and of me? 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:17.920 Jesus increased and we decreased. 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:26.559 Will it be said of our church that they made much of Christ while they faded away? 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:32.159 It should be our prayer that we make much of Jesus. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.880 We ought to be driven to see him increase while we might fade away. 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:39.360 May that be true. 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:40.800 Let's pray together. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:49.360 Our Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you, recognizing that we often make more of ourselves. 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:55.039 Grant us humility that we might make more of you. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:13.280 Lord, when all is said and done, when the day comes when you take us home, may we rejoice and be satisfied because we made much of you. 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:15.679 Amen. 00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:18.239 Would you stand with me as we sing together?