Who Is The Christ? (John 3:22-35)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:05.360 Please remain standing if you're able, and let's turn our attention to John Chapter 2 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:12.910 Three, verses a twenty two and following. So the Gospel of John Chapter 3 00:00:13.109 --> 00:00:23.339 Three, Verse Twenty Two, is where will begin. Let us hear God's 4 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:30.019 word. After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Gadean countryside, 5 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:34.859 and he remained there with him where with them, and was baptizing. John 6 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:40.810 also was baptizing at Ainon, near Salim, because water was plentiful there and 7 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:45.729 people were coming and being baptized, for John had not yet been put in 8 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:52.479 prison. Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over 9 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.880 purification, and they came to John and said to him, rabbi, he 10 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.119 who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, 11 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.230 he is baptizing and all are going to him. John answered, a 12 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:14.310 person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You 13 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:19.340 yourselves bear me witness that. I said I am not the Christ, but 14 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:25.340 I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the 15 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:29.579 bridegroom, the friend of the bye at bridegroom, who stands and hears him 16 00:01:30.099 --> 00:01:36.090 rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now 17 00:01:36.290 --> 00:01:42.090 complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from 18 00:01:42.090 --> 00:01:47.680 above is above all. He who is of the Earth, belongs to the 19 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.400 earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above 20 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.000 all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard. Yet no 21 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:02.390 one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this. 22 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:08.830 That God is true. for He whom God has sent utters the words of 23 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:15.349 God, for he gives the spirit without measure. The father loves the son 24 00:02:15.060 --> 00:02:22.180 and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the sun has 25 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:27.780 eternal life. Whoever does not obey the sun shall not see life, but 26 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:31.490 the wrath of God remains on him. My God, bless his word to 27 00:02:31.569 --> 00:02:45.120 us, he may be seated. Let's begin by setting the scene. In 28 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.199 the first part of this Gospel, we were introduced to a man named John, 29 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:53.879 the Baptist, what the other gospels tell us as the cousin of Jesus, 30 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.469 and we learned that John Occupies a very special sectual place in history. 31 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:05.069 He was the last of the prophets to Harold the Messiah. He himself was 32 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:09.830 prophesied about and was the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. And so for 33 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:15.580 these reasons we can say that John the Baptist occupies a very special place in 34 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:21.900 history, and it's from that special place and a recognition of that uniqueness that 35 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:28.449 he answers this question that comes to him about his relationship to Jesus. John 36 00:03:28.610 --> 00:03:31.490 is a big deal. People know that, they recognize that. They've been 37 00:03:31.770 --> 00:03:36.969 coming out into the desert to be baptized, to see him, to hear 38 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:43.319 him a preach and teach. But now things are changing. John is not 39 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.759 as big of a deal as he once was. This Jesus, who was 40 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:53.039 with John at one point, now seems to be above John, beyond John, 41 00:03:55.389 --> 00:04:02.789 and so he john is asked these questions. As we see in at 42 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:06.349 the beginning of this passage, I read in Verse Twenty Six, Rabbi He 43 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:10.780 who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness. Look, 44 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:15.220 he is baptizing and all are going to him. Is this a problem? 45 00:04:15.459 --> 00:04:19.699 It sure looks like a problem. You are good, you are sent 46 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:25.730 from God, you're the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and now they're all 47 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:32.930 going to him. The story also involves not only this relationship between John and 48 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:40.199 Jesus, but it also involves a question about purification. In Verse Twenty Five, 49 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.800 we read that a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew 50 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:51.040 over purification. This question about purification, this question about how one can belong 51 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:56.709 to the Kingdom of God, is also related to this question. The second 52 00:04:56.709 --> 00:05:01.990 question about who is John and who is Jesus? Both are heralding the Kingdom 53 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:08.860 of God. Both are baptizing, washing cleansing. How can we be a 54 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:13.540 part of that? Everyone is going to Jesus for baptism when they used to 55 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:17.500 come to you. Is John Lose something? Losing something? Is John Failings? 56 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:24.970 Should John be worried? I want to begin by thinking about why we 57 00:05:25.050 --> 00:05:30.490 might ask these questions, why we might ask these questions about John, or 58 00:05:30.610 --> 00:05:35.920 about teachers, preachers or anyone that is doing the work of Christ, anyone 59 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:44.240 that is ministering to others. Why do we ask? Why do we wonder 60 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:48.120 about purification, for example? Why do we wonder about the relationship between the 61 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:53.589 person who ministers Christ and Christ himself? Well, there of course, good 62 00:05:53.629 --> 00:05:59.430 and holy reasons for this. Let's consider those first first, in questions and 63 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:03.819 in thinking about purification, remember that Jesus himself said in John Five, truly, 64 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:08.180 truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and 65 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:13.939 the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Titus three five says 66 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:17.300 he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according 67 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:23.129 to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the 68 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:28.769 Holy Spirit. Washing, washing. Here's another verse about Washing and renewal in 69 00:06:28.810 --> 00:06:31.959 the spirit. Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. This 70 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:38.040 is effusions five, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the 71 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:42.439 washing of the water with the word, so that he might present the church 72 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.389 to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that 73 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:53.110 she might be holy and blameless. So this question about washing, this question 74 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:59.029 about purification, is a big deal. Without this you cannot enter the Kingdom 75 00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:01.620 of God. That's what John says, that's what Jesus says, that's what 76 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:10.660 the apostles say. We sense the need for this purification when we consider the 77 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:15.370 weight of our sin, when we consider the holiness of God, when we 78 00:07:15.490 --> 00:07:20.170 consider the purity of his kingdom, when we consider how awesomely good he is 79 00:07:20.730 --> 00:07:29.129 and how awesomely not good we are, we realize that something has to happen. 80 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.120 Purification, when we feel the weight of our sin, it's guilt, 81 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:41.439 its shame. If it were physical thing, we might smell it, we 82 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:46.629 might smell the stink of sin. What might sin smell like if it were 83 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:54.029 a physical thing? Might smell like death, because that's what sin is. 84 00:07:55.029 --> 00:07:59.579 That's where sin leads us. It leads us not into the Kingdom of God, 85 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:03.699 into life and to holiness, it takes us into judgment, to death 86 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:09.139 and to hell. So the promise of the Gospel, the promise of God, 87 00:08:09.339 --> 00:08:13.610 is that he washes us. He takes something that stinks like death, 88 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:18.370 something that that is leading to death, something that is in fact dying, 89 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:22.529 and he cleanses it, he purifies it, or, is Jesus said to 90 00:08:22.569 --> 00:08:31.240 Nicodemus, he causes a man to be reborn. Our souls are on the 91 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:37.120 line when it comes to belonging to Jesus, belonging to the Kingdom of God, 92 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.240 and so you can see why there might be questions about purification. And 93 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:45.909 who do I go to do I go to John, do I go to 94 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:52.710 Jesus? It matters a great deal. It matters a great deal because if 95 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:56.659 we are not cleansed, will not be saved. And the baptism that they, 96 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:01.460 the baptisms that they, that John and Jesus is disciples, were performing, 97 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:07.059 pointed to this reality, the need for our cleansing, the need for 98 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:13.049 our purification, just as the scriptures a testify to and so this would be 99 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:16.850 a very good reason to ask this question. A sense of one's own sin, 100 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:22.049 a sense of the holiness of God, a need and a desire to 101 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:24.840 want to be close to him and be with him, and yet recognizing this 102 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:31.879 problem that is solved by purification. How, Lord, can I dwell with 103 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:37.600 you? How can I have a clean heart? So that's a good reason 104 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.870 to ask these kinds of questions. But of course, when people ask religious 105 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:46.830 questions they don't always mean it in a truly religious or in a in a 106 00:09:46.950 --> 00:09:52.750 good way or a holy way. Sometimes these kinds of questions, as maybe 107 00:09:52.980 --> 00:10:00.659 the case here, come out of rivalry and competition, factionalism. These sorts 108 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:07.730 of things are some of the sins of God's people. Not every person who 109 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:13.450 shows forth the love of and the Gospel of Christ is equally gifted in doing 110 00:10:13.529 --> 00:10:18.529 so. Right. We recognize differences among us, but just because there are 111 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:22.879 differences among us doesn't mean that we are in competition with one another. And 112 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.480 yet this always seems to happen. I follow Apolos, I follow Paul, 113 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:35.029 James and John, you may remember, go to Jesus and they pull him 114 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:41.029 aside and they say, Hey, when you come into glory, we'd really 115 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:43.710 like to be on your right in your left hand. And you know what 116 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:48.269 happens? The other disciples hear that and they get upset. What are you 117 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:52.820 guys doing? You're trying to push your rank. They're trying. You're trying 118 00:10:52.820 --> 00:10:56.860 to get ahead of us, and there's this grumbling and contention and of course 119 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:01.220 Jesus corrects all that and he says this is not the way of my disciples. 120 00:11:03.019 --> 00:11:07.049 It's not by elbowing one another into the Kingdom of God, it's not 121 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:13.529 by pushing and competing and and separating yourselves, but it's by giving yourselves to 122 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:22.159 one another, like I do for you. The Lord Jesus sacrifices his very 123 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.279 life. He gets down on his hands and knees and washes his disciples feet. 124 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.159 He's lifted up on a cross so that our sins might be forgiven. 125 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:39.149 The Lord Jesus does these things not to put us in competition with one another, 126 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:45.350 but to make us one. John and Jesus are not competitors. They 127 00:11:45.509 --> 00:11:50.940 belong together, and John will testify to that in a moment. You might 128 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:56.220 consider the church. I'm kind of like a puzzle. Each and ever each 129 00:11:56.419 --> 00:12:03.929 and individual piece is different from every other piece. Right. Some are edge 130 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:07.690 pieces, some are not. Some have lots of color, some do not. 131 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.490 Some are put into the puzzle first, some are put into the puzzle 132 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:16.679 last, but all of them have a place and all are necessary to make 133 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.279 the puzzle whole. In fact, if only one piece of a puzzle is 134 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:26.120 missing, all the pieces lack something. Right, the church is like that. 135 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:33.070 Each of us are different, individual and unique. Some have this personality, 136 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:37.149 some have that personality. Some have these gifts, others have those gifts. 137 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:41.629 Some have these weaknesses, others have those weaknesses. Some are useful in 138 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:46.580 some ways, some are useful in other ways. Some are put in first 139 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.539 and some are put in last, but all have a place, all are 140 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:58.690 necessary to make the puzzle complete and all are lacking. If only one piece 141 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:03.370 is missing. So, just like you would never sort of dump a puzzle 142 00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:07.690 on to a table and then make the pieces compete with one another for a 143 00:13:07.850 --> 00:13:09.929 place, that you would never have a puzzle that way. You would never 144 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:15.639 complete the whole. So too in the church we ought not to be complete 145 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:20.360 competing with one another for place, because we all have a place in Union, 146 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:28.509 in with Christ and with one another. Now perhaps you will think, 147 00:13:28.549 --> 00:13:33.190 well, what about false believers? But about false teachers? Well, of 148 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:37.470 course there are those that pretend to belong to the church, pieces that are 149 00:13:37.669 --> 00:13:41.379 mixed into the puzzle that really belong to something else, but that doesn't change 150 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:46.340 anything. In to separate ourselves from the metaphor for a moment, what do 151 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:50.860 we do in a situation like that? Well, we call them to repentance, 152 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:54.019 we call them to belonging to Union in Christ, and if they refuse, 153 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:58.889 they are removed from the church. Why? Because they don't belong. 154 00:13:58.929 --> 00:14:05.529 They're not there, they're not of us. You also might hesitate at this 155 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:09.840 comparison by saying, well, the body of Christ is not unified. There 156 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:16.039 are in fact divisions, different churches, different denominations. Some of them even 157 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:24.830 hold bad beliefs, and this is of course true, but recognizing that fact 158 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:31.710 doesn't deny the truth of what God is doing. Until the master builder returns, 159 00:14:31.870 --> 00:14:35.350 the Church will struggle to express and live out the perfect unity that we 160 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:41.299 have in Christ. Sin Still remains. When you get a puzzle piece out 161 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:46.379 of the box, it's crisp and clean, it's snaps right with other things. 162 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:50.820 None of us are like that. There's not a single one of you 163 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:56.090 here there are cliss Crisp and clean and snap neatly and work with all of 164 00:14:56.210 --> 00:15:00.409 the other puzzle pieces here. All of us come out a little mangled, 165 00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:03.490 a little broken, a little bit wet and Soppy, and we're trying to 166 00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:09.000 do our best to work together and fit together. But our hope, as 167 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:13.200 I'm going to talk about a little bit more, is not that we will 168 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:18.440 eventually figure it all out, but that God is the one doing the work. 169 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.149 God is the one who is assembling us and putting us together and puts 170 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:30.990 us into relationship with on another. God can even perfect, heal, fix 171 00:15:31.429 --> 00:15:37.779 repair what is broken. So these realities that we wrought our right to recognize, 172 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:41.179 about division that exists, about false teachers, these kinds of things, 173 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:46.740 it doesn't undermine the point of scripture, which is that there is unity, 174 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:50.169 but in the things of God. There is unity between John and Jesus, 175 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:58.889 there's unity between those who minister Christ and even with Christ himself. Why? 176 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:04.679 Because we judge ourselves not on the basis of this piece or that piece, 177 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:11.720 or even our ability to integrate into a whole. The Gospel is the good 178 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:17.399 news that we judge ourselves according to God's plan, God's promise, God's ability, 179 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.230 not ours, that he has already made us one in Christ and our 180 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:26.830 justification, that he's caused us to be reborn and regenerated into this new reality, 181 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:32.029 that he is at now at work conforming us and perfecting us, and 182 00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:36.539 that one day he will bring us to a state of glorification at his return. 183 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:41.220 All of this work that God does, work that John was emphasizing in 184 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:45.539 this in his Gospel, in the previous passage, about the spirit blowing where 185 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:52.250 he wills, about the works of God being carried out in God. God 186 00:16:52.330 --> 00:16:57.490 does this by removing our sins where we could not, by purifying us when 187 00:16:57.529 --> 00:17:03.799 we were dead, by giving us his righteousness. And since it's the work 188 00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:08.559 of God, since it's his purification, his work, his kingdom, he 189 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:17.470 does create a unity in the spirit such that rivalry and competition goes away. 190 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:26.309 That's based on our attempts to atone or to achieve something, something perhaps that 191 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:33.180 someone else can have. But, brothers and sisters, all that we have 192 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:37.140 and all that we need is already achieved and given to us in Christ. 193 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:41.339 And that's why James and John are rebuked and that's why John says what he 194 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.130 says to his disciples. He doesn't say, yeah, you really should go 195 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.650 talk to those guys and get them back here. I'm do and something important 196 00:17:49.490 --> 00:17:53.930 now. He sees himself in relationship to Christ, he sees the work that 197 00:17:55.049 --> 00:18:02.720 he's doing in proper relationship to Christ's work, and so he points them to 198 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:07.160 Jesus and these things. Before we get so to some of those specifics, 199 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:12.029 I want to mention one more thing, one more way in which we sometimes 200 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:19.190 ask these questions and and in thinking about our relationships, as we, as 201 00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:23.990 we minister to one another and as we, as we serve Christ in these 202 00:18:25.109 --> 00:18:32.700 ways. Sometimes, if one of our sins is to tear each other down 203 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:37.859 through rivalry, competition, factionalism, these kinds of things, another sin that 204 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:44.769 we commit sometimes is building up in a false way, or perhaps to put 205 00:18:44.809 --> 00:18:51.930 it better, putting people on pedestals that they simply don't belong on. Too 206 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:55.369 often, if I could put it this way, even Christians will look for 207 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:02.680 other Christians to be their savior. They want those that mentor them, disciple 208 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:07.160 them, preach to them to be the one that is capable of changing their 209 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:11.309 hearts. In other words, John is pointing to Jesus and as disciples are 210 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:15.309 pointing at John and they're saying we want you, and John Saying you're missing 211 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:22.069 the point. Right. It's true that God does use means. He has 212 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:27.059 used John, he is using John. Paul says that, even though he 213 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:32.220 is nothing but a jar of Clay, God has put the treasure of the 214 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:37.059 Gospel in him. God uses means, he uses us, and that's a 215 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:42.250 wonderful thing. In his work, God uses us in all kinds of ways. 216 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:47.569 When we share our food, our money, our hearts with each other, 217 00:19:48.369 --> 00:19:52.769 when we encourage, we bless, we correct and gentleness, when we 218 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.559 open our homes, when we sing songs of grace, when we tell each 219 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.400 other about the reason for the hope that is in us. In all these 220 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.400 things, God is at work, unifying us together in his spirit and in 221 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:11.109 love. But sometimes. Sometimes people get things a little bit mixed up. 222 00:20:11.230 --> 00:20:15.470 We get a little bit mixed up and we begin trust in God's tools more 223 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:22.019 than in God himself, sometimes even to the exclusion of God. If sometimes 224 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:26.700 we tear people down to get the things of God, sometimes we improperly place 225 00:20:26.779 --> 00:20:33.539 people on a pedestal and make them our God. You'll see how foolish this 226 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:37.289 is if you imagine a child who sees a carpenter for the first time. 227 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:41.849 Child sees a carpenter, let's say, using a drill, and it sees 228 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:48.009 that. The child sees this amazing tool right that's boring these holes at lightning 229 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:52.039 speed. One moment no hole, another moment a whole, and it's worrying 230 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.440 and it's loud and it's impressive and all of these things. A drill is 231 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.000 an amazing tool. It can be used to do all kinds of things. 232 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:07.470 But what if the carpenter sets down the tool and the child then goes over 233 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:11.869 the drill and starts asking it all kinds of questions? Can you build a 234 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:15.710 treehouse for me? How do you work? Can I spend time with you? 235 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:18.180 I want to learn how to do what you do right, you would 236 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:23.539 say. You'd probably think they were. There's something wrong there. You would 237 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:27.180 probably think there is something wrong because the drill is amazing a tool. It 238 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:34.450 is. It's just a tool. It's not the carpenter drill has even a 239 00:21:34.569 --> 00:21:41.009 power. Drill has no power in and of itself. It just sits there. 240 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:47.640 It doesn't will tree houses into existence. It doesn't make anything apart from 241 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:52.799 the one that is using it. A retired minister told me this week that 242 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.480 he would sometimes have to tell people I'm not Jesus, I just work for 243 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:07.190 him, and that's what John says in this passage. John says you testify 244 00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:15.470 yourselves that I said. He who comes after me ranks before me. Yours. 245 00:22:15.549 --> 00:22:18.579 Tell me what I told you. And yet you're not getting the point. 246 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:26.099 He must increase and I must decrease. And Notice John doesn't say that 247 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:30.250 with a sort of hands in his pocket, heavy heart, kind of bummed 248 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:34.690 out about the way things have turned out. What does he say? He 249 00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:41.329 says the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and here's him, rejoices greatly 250 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:45.759 at the bridegroom's voice. You'd probably be pretty upset at your best man, 251 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:49.440 right those of you have been married, if you're best man was trying to 252 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:55.200 upstage you at your wedding or was upset right that you were getting married and 253 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.269 not you're like bud, you're here for me, right, you're supposed to 254 00:22:59.309 --> 00:23:03.349 be excited about this, and that's what John says. He's I'm I'm the 255 00:23:03.670 --> 00:23:10.349 I'm the best man, I'm excited, I am overly, I am rejoicing. 256 00:23:10.710 --> 00:23:14.940 He says, therefore you, this joy of mine is now complete. 257 00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:19.220 When John says in verse thirty, He must increase in my I must decrease, 258 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:25.980 he's not bummed out about it. He's saying this is exactly what's supposed 259 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:30.130 to happen. It's the wedding day. Get up there. I'm here to 260 00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:38.329 point to him. It's a wonderful thing that John does, and anyone that 261 00:23:38.490 --> 00:23:47.640 is truly ministering Christ will do that. If someone is constantly drawing attention to 262 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.759 themselves, if someone makes you think that you have to have them and no 263 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:56.509 one else in order to have Christ, they're not the ones you need to 264 00:23:56.589 --> 00:24:02.309 have, because they're not pointing you to Christ, they're not serving Christ. 265 00:24:03.390 --> 00:24:07.549 So perhaps you've heard someone say that sometime. I'm not Jesus, I only 266 00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:12.460 work for him, and maybe you have to remind yourself about that, about 267 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:18.859 someone you are trusting where you should be trusting in God. God does use 268 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:26.410 amazing people to do his amazing work. He uses John, he uses you, 269 00:24:27.690 --> 00:24:32.529 he uses us as members of his body to bring about eternal things. 270 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:37.490 But the danger is always this, that we begin trusting ourselves more than him 271 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:42.759 who makes us what we are. Whether we do that by competition, jealousy, 272 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:49.720 rivalry or towarning, or by turning ordinary people into little gods, all 273 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:53.750 of its wrong. And we should do as John tells us to do, 274 00:24:53.950 --> 00:25:00.710 as the Holy Spirit tells us to do through his profit, to look to 275 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:08.059 Christ, to look to Christ for everything. So how do we do that? 276 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:15.940 How do we get these things in their right order, get ourselves and 277 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:19.259 are thinking in our minds and how we think about other people in the right 278 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:29.450 place? Frederick Dale Bruner, in his commentary on John, Divides John's thoughts 279 00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:33.890 into two parts that I think are helpful and helpful for us, a helpful 280 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:37.960 way for us to think about I'll use his his structure here to explain this. 281 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:44.480 He talks about John's psychology, how John Thinks about himself, and he 282 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:49.430 talks about John's Christology, how he thinks about Christ. Three things for each 283 00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:57.190 and I'll go through them briefly. First, John is content. He's exactly 284 00:25:57.269 --> 00:26:03.819 where he's supposed to be. This is verse twenty seven. We turn too 285 00:26:03.859 --> 00:26:11.059 many pages there. Verse Twenty Seven. John answered. A person cannot receive 286 00:26:11.099 --> 00:26:17.019 even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven. John understands where 287 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:21.329 he is. He understands that he is not God. He understands that everything 288 00:26:21.650 --> 00:26:26.210 that has come to him, the proclamation of Christ, the calling and Jesus 289 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:33.599 himself, all come from heaven. The next thing John understands is that he's 290 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:40.039 the best man. He's not the bridegroom. He understands his place in relationship 291 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:45.240 to Christ. He understands that Christ is not entirely dependent on him, but 292 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:49.349 that he's blessed to be used by him and he's happy about it. The 293 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:56.269 third thing, as I've said, he is happy to decrease. Because what 294 00:26:56.390 --> 00:27:00.700 happens when Christ increases in our minds, in our hearts and our churches and 295 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:07.539 our homes? Do Things get better or worse? They get better. We 296 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:11.140 come to know him more, we are drawn closer to him, we are 297 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:18.650 more dependent on him, we are blessed by him for us to become less 298 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:25.410 and for him to become more. As a wonderful thing. We don't disappear 299 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:30.079 all together, we don't stop being us. In some ways, you could 300 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:37.480 say we become ourselves in Christ. He makes us, he makes us into 301 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:44.160 his image and blesses us in many ways. And that all comes from how 302 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:49.309 John Understands Jesus and verses thirty one through thirty three. He understands that Jesus 303 00:27:49.390 --> 00:27:53.869 is over all things. He is above all things. He comes from above. 304 00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:59.420 John says he is from above, he is above all. He who 305 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:02.819 is of the Earth, belongs of the Earth and speaks in an earthly way. 306 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:07.180 He who is from heaven up, is above all. If you think 307 00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:10.700 of Jesus is sort of an equivalent with John. Of course they're going to 308 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:15.369 be compete in some sense. They're both baptizing, they're both preaching the Kingdom 309 00:28:15.410 --> 00:28:18.210 of God, perhaps something like that. But John saying it's not like that. 310 00:28:19.049 --> 00:28:22.970 He ranks before me, above me. Why? Because he's he was 311 00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:27.440 before me and because he is above me. He came from Heaven People. 312 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:33.440 He's totally different than me. He is God himself, the word of God, 313 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.680 who has come into the world and taken on human flesh, the lamb 314 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:41.349 of God, John says, who takes away the sins of the world? 315 00:28:41.710 --> 00:28:51.309 Don't trust me, trust him in all of this. He sees and believes 316 00:28:51.349 --> 00:28:57.619 that Jesus Works and he he works on by his spirit. Verse Thirty Four, 317 00:28:57.740 --> 00:29:00.500 for He whom God has sent, utters the words of God, for 318 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:07.380 he gives his spirit without measure. And then thirty five and thirty six. 319 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:11.890 The father loves the son and he's given all things into his hand. Trust 320 00:29:12.049 --> 00:29:18.730 his son. God has given everything to him, even eternal life, he 321 00:29:18.849 --> 00:29:22.450 says in Verse Thirty Six. Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life, 322 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:29.119 and the opposite is also true. Whoever does not obey the son shall not 323 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:36.559 see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John is just 324 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:41.509 a messenger, he's just his goal is just, to be clear, he 325 00:29:42.670 --> 00:29:51.029 doesn't have any power to judge people, I'm to to give them the grace 326 00:29:51.230 --> 00:29:55.940 and mercy that would lead to eternal life or to give them the judgment they 327 00:29:56.059 --> 00:30:02.220 deserve, as in in their sinss. John doesn't have any of that. 328 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:07.019 All he does is proclaim these things that are true. All he does is 329 00:30:07.250 --> 00:30:12.410 point to the one who has these things so no, it's not a problem 330 00:30:12.569 --> 00:30:18.009 that people are going to Jesus and his disciples for baptism. Jesus is how 331 00:30:18.170 --> 00:30:23.319 we enter into the Kingdom of God, and John, like every other Christian 332 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:30.160 preacher, like every Christian servant, like everyone who serves the Lord and his 333 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:33.559 name, no matter what task it is they are doing, is ultimately doing 334 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:38.029 this. It's for him and through him, and buy him and to him 335 00:30:38.910 --> 00:30:44.829 that we serve. Go to him, trust him, love him or, 336 00:30:44.990 --> 00:30:51.740 as John says, believe on him and you will have eternal life. Go 337 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:55.579 to John and seek that. Go to yourself and seek that and you will 338 00:30:55.660 --> 00:30:59.779 not find it. The wrath of God will remain on you, punishment, 339 00:30:59.980 --> 00:31:06.529 hell and all the rest. But go to Jesus, trust in Jesus you 340 00:31:06.609 --> 00:31:08.609 will have every good thing. I'm in