In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 3:22-36, the final testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus in the Gospel of John. John the apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers. The presentation of the testimony in John 3:22-36 unfolds in three parts, and Pastor Dave covers the first two parts in John 3:22-30 in this sermon.
Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John the Baptist!
Clarification 1: Jesus Is the Main Point, Not His Messengers
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great God you are the holy God there is no God Like You and there is no one like Jesus Christ God as we move into this next passage I pray that we would appreciate just how special how on another plane Jesus is compared to every other person and that we would not give to another person what belongs to Jesus that we would not be zealous overly zealous for a person with a Zeal that only belongs to him and God I also pray that the attitude that we will see exemplified today by your servant John the Baptist would become our own that we would be able to say with sincerity the same thing that he does and God that our lives be all about you how many people explain this now and I pray that you would speak to us through me and Jesus name amen well as I often like to do let me start off the message today with a question to whom are you fundamentally devoted in your life which person or persons Inspire your loyalty for whom will you zealously stand up to defend and support probably one natural answer is your family you are devoted to your spouse or your parents or your siblings or your kids you love them you want to see them succeed you want to see them honored you will defend them against those who work to their harm or dishonor that makes sense but are there others to whom you are also devoted maybe you are devoted to a particular sports team or a music artist or YouTube personality maybe you’re devoted to a particular politician political party or celebrity maybe you’re devoted to your own ethnic group or your fellow hobbyists in a particular Hobby or your country it’s possible that you may even be devoted to certain Christians maybe you’re devoted hopefully you’re devoted to the brothers and sisters of this church and also your Shepherds here maybe you were devoted to the person who led you to Christ we have a special love and loyalty to that person it may also be devoted to other Christian teachers or writers or Ministry organizations that you’ve come to know and trust and appreciate there’s nothing wrong with a certain measure of devotion of loyalty even of zeal for any of these but there must be a limit right there is a line you must not cross when it comes to devotion for any person or group on Earth it is easy to cross that line and we often do one sign of too much devotion is when you are no longer content if your favored person or group does not succeed in the way you want my team lost the championship game I’m gonna be depressed for a month my child didn’t get into a top college life is over my dreams are shattered my candidate didn’t win the election I’m moving to another country no hope here another sign of too much devotion is when you jealously resent or bitterly criticize those who do succeed when your favorite person or group does not my husband’s co-worker didn’t deserve that promotion she must have cheated to get it that new pastor is popular sure but I think he’s just trying to show off in his sermons everybody loves the new artist that’s only because they don’t know what real music is still another sign of too much devotion is when you automatically assume your favorite person or group can do no wrong and so you are not willing to consider any criticism or accusation against them my child got in trouble at school I’m sure it was the teacher’s fault someone’s accusing America of doing something wrong just a patriotic unpatriotic Trader a pastor disagrees with what my favorite Pastor said surely that other Pastor is compromised now again devotion’s not bad loyalty is not bad Zeal for those you love is not bad but no one on earth not even your church Elders here deserves devotion without reservation and why not because every person or group on Earth is made up of sinners or imperfect and who will fail and because no matter how devoted you are to a person or persons they will never bring you ultimate satisfaction or security or salvation and because Jesus Christ the one Sent From Heaven is the only one truly Worthy of full devotion and our next passage in the Gospel of John we’re going to see that the persons that we Christians might otherwise most Want To Praise support and obey should be the very ones insisting that they not receive ultimate honor or ultimate loyalty rather the attitude of the best among us should be the same as we see from John the Baptist always putting the focus on Jesus and testifying sincerely he must increase that I must decrease and that’s the title of the sermon today if you would please take your Bibles and turn to John 3 verse 22.
John 3 22 we’re going to read all the way down to verse 36. this is Page 1061 in your Pew Bible John 3 22-36 let’s read our new Passage after these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he was spending time with them and baptizing John also was baptism baptizing in Anon near saline because there was much water there and people were coming and were being baptized for John and not yet been thrown into prison therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification and they came to John and said to him Rabbi he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you were test to whom you have testified behold he is baptizing and all are coming to him John Anson said a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven you yourselves are my Witnesses then I said I am not the Christ but I have been sent ahead of him he who has the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the Bride but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of The bridegroom’s Voice So This Joy Of Mine has been made full he must increased but I must decrease he who comes from above is above all he was of the Earth is from the Earth and speaks of the Earth he comes from a heaven is above all what he has seen and heard of that he testifies and no one receives his testimony he who has received his testimony has set a sealed to this that God is true for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God for he gives the spirit without measure The Father loves the son and has given all things into his hand he who believes in the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him this passage represents an important point of transition in the Gospel of John remember the purpose of this gospel why it was written John the Apostle writes this to persuade Hellenistic Jews that is Greek speaking Greek cultured Jews and Gentile God fears that Jesus is the Christ the son of God so that they will believe in him and receive eternal life and remember the way that the Apostle John is going about this purpose in his book John records certain signs that is certain miraculous works that Jesus did along with certain words that explain Jesus works and explain Jesus as the Son and the ultimate revelation of God now most of these explaining words that the Apostle includes come from Jesus himself but John also sees fit to include the words the witness of another man and that’s John the Baptist John the Baptist remember is the greatest of Old Testament prophets Jesus said before him or up to that point in history no one was greater than John and he was even recognized by Israel generally throughout Israel as a prophet as a true man of God he was presented to us at the beginning of John’s gospel as a kind of star witness about Jesus this great man he keeps pointing to Jesus surely we must heed his testimony we saw that in John 1 verses 19 to 34.
John testifies John the Baptist testifies about Jesus and he fulfilled his primary calling of pointing out the messiah’s arrival and directing all the people to follow Jesus and not the baptizer but before John the Baptist leaves the scene our author wants us to hear from him one more time this is the last that we will hear from John the Baptist in this book the rest of the book focuses on Jesus this final testimony from John the Baptist is important and it accomplishes three critical purposes first it shows us that John the Baptist testimony about Jesus did not change after Jesus began his ministry it’s not like John affirmed Jesus has the Christ in the beginning but then Jesus went rogue went in some direction that John the Baptist never forsued never foresaw and poor John never had a chance to take back his testimony no that’s not the case as we’ll see after Jesus’s miracle and preaching Ministry began John continued to affirm Jesus and even corroborated Jesus most shocking statements like the ones we saw in John 3 verses 1 to 21 you’re going to see there’s a lot of parallelism between the beginning of chapter three and what we’re now seeing at the end of chapter three second this testimony this final testimony shows us once again that people stopping short of full faith in Jesus by settling for belief belief in or adherence to a religious teacher like John the Baptist that is completely unacceptable Jesus knew Revelation is so much greater than anything that came before he himself is so much greater than anyone who came before that coming short of Jesus not only is missing out on the glory of God but it is a soul damning move and then third this testimony provides us another picture of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus even a true Herald and Minister on Jesus behalf today which is what we all are as Christians to some degree or another John the Baptist is going to show us what it means to be a follower of Jesus we must not be worried about our own success our own Comfort our own honor rather we must follow John’s example of insisting on Jesus being lifted up even at our own expense this is the only way to True Joy and really it’s the reason for which we were made now we can roll up these three purposes into one main idea statement for this passage here it is in John 3 22-36 John the Apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ Alone and Not Mere Earthly Messengers I say that again John the Apostle presents this final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and Not Mere Earthly Messengers not yourself not someone else now our narrative divides into three main parts the first part shows the origin of a complaint about Jesus given to John the Baptist and the second and third Parts represent John the Baptist clarifying answers to that complaint and we’re just going to look at the first two parts in The Narrative today we’ll come back and look at the third next week so we’re just going down to verse 30 today the first part of the narrative comprises verses 22 to 26 and it sets the backdrop for John the Baptist final word about Jesus heading to summarize this first part is the following complaints Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist as the complaint that Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist let’s see how this unfolds starting in verse 22.
after these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he was spending time with them and baptizing notice the beginning phrase after these things this is a reference to what just came before what we’ve been studying in John Chapter 2 all the way to chapter 3.
and that was if you remember Jesus going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and while there dramatically cleansing the temple confronting the corrupted worship he also did many sign miracles in the city people were believing in him and then Jesus had a profound conversation with that old Rabbi Nicodemus all this is what just took place verse 22 is saying after those things sometime after that we get the following events taking place now notice also in verse 22 the phrase the land of Judea this is best understood as referring to the countryside or the rural parts of Judea because after all Jesus has already been in Judea he’s in Jerusalem Jerusalem is part of Judea but now he leaves the city and he goes to Judea that is he goes into the country he probably goes east towards the Jordan River why that direction well because the end of the verse tells us that Jesus begins baptizing in the area and now that’s interesting John John’s gospel is the only one that mentions that Jesus baptized followers no John chapter 4 verse 2 is quickly going to clarify that it wasn’t Jesus himself baptizing he was overseeing while his disciples baptized but we never heard about a baptism Ministry of Jesus in the other Gospels John tells us about it here John the Apostle additionally John’s gospel is the only one that mentions a prolonged time of ministry in the area of Judea at the beginning of Jesus public Ministry if you compare this to the other gospels you’ll see that the other gospels they only really pick up The Narrative of Jesus ministry after Jesus transitions back up north into Galilee so in this gospel then our author uniquely reveals that for a Time Jesus had a Ministry just like John the Baptists calling on people to repent due to the approaching kingdom of God and then upon repentance being baptized as a symbol of the purification of heart that God has accomplished this baptism of repentance this isn’t Christian baptism by the way this is kind of like a step towards that something that John was doing and that Jesus ends up doing too verse 22 tells us all this but the plot thickens and verse 23. look there now John also was baptizing in a known near saline because there is much water there and people were coming and were being baptized ho ho we learn here that John the Baptist is also continuing to preach and baptize now we’re told more specifically where John is operating it’s in a known near Saline but unfortunately we don’t really know where those places are today we don’t know for sure most likely they were somewhere near the cities of ancient shechem and Beth Shawn which are a little bit north of Jerusalem in the region of Samaria it still would have been considered the Roman province of Judea and these two sites do indeed have much water near them number of natural springs near them and you’re going to need much water if you’re John the Baptist because he’s baptizing lots of people according to the end of verse 23 people apparently are still coming to John the Baptist to be baptized they’re continually coming they’re continually being baptized even after Jesus has been revealed foreign so where is John in relationship to Jesus John is baptizing Jesus is baptizing where are they in relation to one another hard to say it depends on where exactly Jesus sets up the two could be close to one another they’re both in the province of Judea but maybe John is a little bit north of Judea or a little bit north of Jesus what is clear is that they’re not in the exact same area it’s not like they’re side by side there’s some distance between them now we get one more statement of background and verse 24 which is an explainer of verse 23.
verse 24. for John had not yet been thrown into prison on the surface this verse provides a simple clarification of the timing of the conversation we’re about to read this takes place between John’s revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God the chosen one of God to Israel and John’s later imprisonment takes place between those two events again this period is not mentioned in in the other Gospels John uniquely presents it so he clarifies the timing for his readers but there’s something else here verse 24 is the only statement in this gospel that alludes to John the Baptist’s ultimate fate where he’s imprisoned and then executed by Herod Antipas the other three gospels they report the how and why of these events unfold but not this gospel so one question we might ask is why why don’t we get a longer explanation of John’s end surely one answers that our author expects that his audience is already familiar with what happened to John the Baptist either because they read about it and the other three gospels already which have been circulating or because John the Baptist was so famous a person among the Jews that even those who didn’t read the other gospels already knew his life story so truly that is part of the answer but I think another part of the answer is that our author is showing us a narrative form with John the Baptist is about to declare himself and that is that John the Baptist shouldn’t be people’s Focus Jesus should be the focus the baptizer will be pleased to have people’s attention only so far as it connects people to Jesus yeah beyond that John doesn’t need attention John doesn’t want attention even his unjust death at the hands of a lustful people-pleasing ruler named Herod is actually not that important to mention it’s a John the Baptist he would rather Fade Into Obscurity quietly exiting stage left all eyes are on Jesus I think our gospel author wants to emphasize the same truth and so that’s why we only get this terse explanation about John’s fate in verse 24.
well with these opening verses we’ve now learned what John and Jesus are doing and that’s important for understanding the disputes and the complaints which is about to emerge in the next two verses now look at verse 25 now therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification hmm notice the word discussion in verse 25.
this Greek word can indicate a simple discussion but more often was used to describe a controversial discussion even a dispute or a debate such would seem to be the sense here we’ve got a dispute Brewing between John’s disciples and a certain Jew about purification now who’s this Jew we don’t know he’s clearly not a disciple of John it could be a new Jewish believer in Jesus but our author usually reserves the term Jew for those who oppose Jesus so more likely this Jew is someone who follows neither Jesus nor John but is prepared to debate with John or at least with John’s disciples so this is probably a scribe or a Pharisee we’re told the subject of the debate is purification or cleansing same word was used back in John 2 6 when describing the purpose of the water pots at the wedding of Cana they were for purification that ceremonial custom of Jews purifying themselves before meals same word here purification but what exactly is it that this Jew wants to debate about purification with John’s disciples again we don’t know certainly the Jews in general were concerned about ceremonial purification and certainly John and Jesus are concerned about purification of Hearts symbolized in the unique right that they instituted or they practiced this baptism of repentance the only other Clues to the nature of this debate are what comes before and after an observation about apparent competition between the baptism of Jesus and the baptism of John so perhaps this Jew was questioning the need for John’s baptism Ministry in light of what Jews were already doing and in light of what Jesus was beginning to do I mean what’s your master doing there’s no need for him here he’s obsolete Maybe regardless of the exact nature of the debate the outcome is the important part which is what we see in verse 26.
and they came to John and said to him Rabbi he who is with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified behold he is baptizing and all are coming to him uh oh we’ve got a complaint about Jesus new baptizing Ministry from John’s disciples and notice how they framed the complaint to their Master John Rabbi they say which is the title of respect for a religious teacher Nicodemus called Jesus a rabbi back at the beginning of the chapter the disciples then identify Jesus but not by name but simply according to the events that took place in John chapter 1.
he who is with you beyond the Jordan even the one you baptized that same one whom you have testified about him being the chosen Lamb of God behold look mentally come and see for yourself this surprising this even shocking development this one is baptizing and not only that but all are coming to him now that last phrase is intriguing because verse 24 is already or either verse 23 has already told us that people were coming to John to be baptized they were continually coming to John so clearly not everyone was going to Jesus but certainly you can hear the alarm in John’s disciples complaint and perhaps even hear some indignation how is it right how is it fair that the very one to whom you have testified or for whom you have testified for such a long time is now stepping on your turf baptism was your thing and now he’s trying to take it over and worse the people are going along with it more and more people are coming to Jesus instead of you Master Rabbi something is wrong with this picture we can also see that John’s disciples we’re indeed devoted to him they really loved him they respected him they were grieved worried even angry that Jesus should eclipse the ministry of their great teacher they were zealous on his behalf something was wrong indeed but it wasn’t the situation that was wrong it was how John’s disciples were viewing it so John the Baptist needs to clarify he needs to set the record straight for his overzealous disciples which is what he begins to do next John’s replied to his disciples provides two main clarifications to them clarifications that are important for us too so that we also will devote ourselves only to Jesus and Not Mere Earthly Messengers the first clarification we begin to see in verses 27 to 30.
glorification one Jesus is the main point not his Messengers Jesus is the main point not his Messengers look at verse 27.
John answered and said a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven here’s where John begins in his reply to his disciples by pointing out that everything that they see is proceeding exactly as God ordained it so neither John nor his disciple should have any reason to complain really verse 27 is an axiom a general statement of Truth it applies to all situations no one succeeds no one becomes popular unless God grants such God gives such as an undeserved gift God has his reasons for what he does but our role is simply to embrace God’s plan humbly and thankfully of course John mentions this accent because he’s implicitly applying it to himself based on the complaint his disciples have just brought him my friends I didn’t earn my role as a forerunner nor have I deserved my disciples my popularity or my success these were gifts ordained by God but what was given me was ultimately designed by God to be given to someone else Jesus is succeeding in his new baptism in preaching Ministry because God ordained it so will you argue with the good sovereignty of God does he not know how to give out his gifts rightly John continues in verse 28 by reminding his disciples of some other words that they both or that they had already heard from John before verse 28.
you yourselves are my Witnesses then I said I am not the Christ but I have been sent ahead of him we should remember these words too because we saw them in John John chapter 1 verses 19 to 28 and John was excuse me just as emphatic then as he is here that he is not the promised Messiah nor anyone truly deserving esteem you yourselves are my Witnesses John says and that’s an emphatic statement you of all people should know and remember that I categorically denied being the Christ I I myself am not the Christ I don’t have any pretensions toward that role so why are you being zealous for me as if I were the Christ why are you so committed to my honor I told you you know what I said that I merely have been sent ahead of him as a forerunner I came first not because I’m greater or more important but because I had a role to fulfill on his behalf so why are you treating me the way that he should be treated it’s always been about him and verse 29 John gives a certain analogy to help his disciples better understand the relationship between John and Jesus and in particular this analogy will help them understand how John himself feels about this relationship look at verse 29.
he who has the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of The bridegroom’s Voice So This Joy of mine has been made full so what’s the analogy that John provides it’s a wedding back in those days it was customary in Judean weddings Galilee weddings are apparently a little different it was customary and Judean weddings that the friend of the groom the equivalent equivalent of our best man today would be in charge of arranging and overseeing the wedding festivities now the groom of course was ultimately responsible for the wedding for preparing his home for the bride and preparing the wedding Feast But the Groom relied on his best man to function something like a wedding coordinator to make sure that the events of the wedding were prepared and went smoothly in fact it was the best man who was specifically responsible for making sure that the bride was prepared for the groom when the groom came to retrieve her and bring her to his home to be his new wife so I think you can see in this wedding analogy Jesus is the bridegroom well John is just the best man John says he who has the bride is the bridegroom the bride is not meant for the best man but for the bridegroom for the husband to be by analogy the people of Israel they aren’t ultimately meant for me they’re meant for Jesus what business would I have trying to keep them for myself I’m simply preparing them for him and John’s not sad at all about this he’s not resigned for he goes on to say the friend of the bridegroom the one who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of The bridegroom’s Voice what makes a best man happy at a wedding not stealing the bride rather being there to serve and honor his friend in whatever way he can actually the happiest moment for a Judean best man back in those days would have been seeing the couple finally come together and then hearing the bridegroom speak and preside over the wedding Feast that has been perfectly prepared why would that make him so happy why would that make the best man so happy because that means that best man did his job successfully now the bride and groom can rejoice in one another as they were always meant to do now the bridegroom can have the spotlight on him as the honored host of this wedding feast if the best man truly is the best man the true friend of the bridegroom who loves his friend and the happiest he can be is to see his friend receive and enjoy the bride and John says that’s me I’m happy as seeing the bride the people who have been coming to me the people I’ve been preparing for God going to Jesus going to the bridegroom for whom they were meant this is why John says at the end of verse 29 So This Joy of mine has been made fall and what a contrast right John’s disciples are steamed about Jesus stealing away John’s Ministry or John is feeling just the opposite what you see happening what you hear happening that’s making me happy I hear the bridegroom’s voice the wedding celebration is beginning my joy is full now because I see that my mission is accomplished and God’s people are going where they belong to the Messiah to the son of God to God himself you know it’s interesting if we just compare how this analogy this metaphor of a wedding being used with God and his people is used throughout the Bible the Old Testament several times describes Israel as the Bride of God you see this in the prophets Prophecies of Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Hosea but unfortunately most of the time that metaphor is used it is used to emphasize how adulterous Israel has been toward her Heavenly husband and how Israel therefore be judged for it so when you heard that metaphor in the past or when you saw that analogy being employed it was a grievous thing it was a sorrowful thing to think about Israel as the Unfaithful bride of God but John the Baptist the last of the Old Testament prophets he gets to witness the opposite he gets to see the bride coming to God in true repentance and faith what a joyous sight for him and for all those who truly love God yet such was not going to happen without John suffering some loss the very goal he longed for the very thing that would make his Joy complete is going to end up diminishing his own importance really making him obsolete but John does not avoid this reality he Embraces it or notice how John ends his first answer of clarification to his disciples in verse 30.
he must increase but I must decrease it’s a pretty famous statement right and sums up John’s attitude and really what should be the attitude of every true Christian in regard to Jesus and the self to translate the original Greek more literally this will sound more clunky in English the verse would read it is necessary to make that one greater but it is necessary to make me less why is it necessary why must Jesus increase or be made greater and why must John and you and me decrease and be made less because Jesus is the bridegroom and we aren’t because Jesus is the Christ and we are not Jesus is the main point we are just as Messengers all life goodness Joy are wrapped up in him not us so if we’ve come to see that our goal must not be to present ourselves to people as if we could give them those things but to bring people to Jesus so they can find it all in him this is God’s design it is a glorious design and it has been set from eternity past it must happen and it will happen it’s the only question for us is are we on board with God’s program are we like John the Baptist as this exemplary true disciple of Jesus are we about magnifying the glory of Jesus or are we about magnifying the glory of our favorite people even our family members our societal leaders our favorite Christian teachers to say that another way Are we more interested in Jesus honor and success than the honor and success of Earthly persons including ourselves another question worth asking especially in light of the analogy that John the Baptist employs Have We Become like traitorous Friends of the bridegroom intent on stealing the bride for ourselves for our own Twisted pleasure for our own Pride for our own Glory or are we Faithful Friends of the bridegroom determined zealous to deliver the bride in Purity rightfully to Jesus and then happily Fade Into the background I think there are a lot of good applications we can make from this passage and especially verse 30.
certainly you see that the attitude of humility of self-forgetfulness should be ours as believers John exemplifies it but it was of course first and even greater in Jesus himself we see this in Philippians 2 and other places and being incarnated and coming to save sinners Jesus was not thinking of himself he was thinking of the father and you’ve been thinking of us see the same kind of humility in John the Baptist and it ought to be in us as well we indeed like Jesus should consider others more important than ourselves should not be worried about our own rights our own honor our own plans and designs we should be concerned about the Lord’s honor the Lord’s plans the Lord said science I think another way that this can be specifically implied is to think about our evangelism or really any type of service that we’ve been called to before Jesus what’s one of the main reasons that we don’t end up doing it don’t end up speaking to others about the Lord don’t end up serving in the church don’t end up sacrificing ourselves for him it’s going to cost us and we’d rather not endure that cost mine lose friendships might lose a job might lose comfort but you know what we’re really saying is I must increase I’ve got a kingdom I’ve got plans that need to be seen through Jesus is kind of getting in the way of it so I’m gonna let him decrease that’s the opposite of the attitude of a true disciple and if we found ourselves thinking that way it’s time for us to repent we’re not here for our own comfort we’re not here for our own kingdom we’re here for his and actually we’re believing a lie when we think if I can just get my own desires fulfilled if I can stay comfortable if I can keep people happy with me then I’ll be happy no whatever happiness you feel is going to be shallow and fleeting true Joy it comes from being a faithful best man bringing the bridegroom to Jesus you’ve been sacrificing yourself for him I’ll give you two more specific applications in the way we do our ministry certainly we should choose to minister because of these things that we’ve seen but in the way that we Minister we must remember first and foremost that the goal the main point is Jesus so when you’re trying to win people in evangelism you’re not winning them to yourselves to your church to a moral code or when you’re counseling somebody when you’re trying to use the Bible to counsel somebody you’re not trying to win them to you as a counselor or to a set of wise principles from the Bible when you’re teaching in church you’re not trying to win people as your own disciples knowing all these things you’re trying to win people to Jesus get them to see Jesus get them to go to Jesus get them to rely on Jesus not you virtually in him that they will find strength the life and joy that they need it’s only them when we lead people in this way as his ministers that will find joy you haven’t really done your job until that person comes to Jesus be like John the Baptist who insists don’t stop with me go all the way to Jesus I’m just here to point you on the way and then you can forget about me foreign and now I’ll give you one other application John the Baptist saw as a law of ministry it’s only when he himself was diminished or made low that Christ would be made great and lifted High so something else we need to realize is that if we truly see Jesus as the main point we must embrace the goodness of God ordained suffering in our lives this is something that Greg was talking to us about last week pain itself is not good that’s just a sign of the Brokenness of this world that needs Redemption but what painful circumstances produce is good it’s being sovereignly arranged by God it’s going to do a number of good things but one of the most important is is going to exalt Christ and diminish the self I think one great example of this and another part of the scriptures is one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and that’s second Corinthians 12 verses 7 to 10.
you don’t have to turn there you can just listen to me as I read it this is that passage where Paul talks about the thorn and the flesh we don’t know what the sword in the flesh was Paul never describes it in detail but it was some kind of great pain in his life but listen to the way that Paul says that this pain came about and what it produced and this is something that Paul talks about right after revealing in a kind of funny way that he was granted visions of Heaven visions of paradise and then he says this right after second Corinthians 12 verses 7 to 10.
because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to Keep Me From exalting Myself there was giving me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan torment me Keep Me From exalting Myself concerning this I implored the Lord three times and it might leave me and he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ May dwell in me therefore I am well content with weaknesses with insults with distresses with persecutions with difficulties for Christ’s sake from when I am weak then I am strong so do you hear God’s apostle Paul was given this Thorn In the Flesh some persistent painful tormenting circumstance not because Paul had done anything wrong but just to keep him from exalting himself he has been he had been given so many blessings as a minister of God it was a great possibility that he might try to exalt himself so God says I’m going to protect you from that and when Paul ER I’m going to say this as well this was a specific provision from God to make Paul less and when Paul pleaded three times for God to remove the thorn God told Paul that God would not rather he assured Paul that God’s grace would be sufficient for Paul and that Paul would display the power of Christ in Paul’s weakness now that’s a sobering he had a wonderful truth the very goal that we as Christians want most if we actually have come to know him to make much of Christ before the world we have to understand that it will come about very often by God plunging us into suffering you want to make Christ known you want his name to be lifted high God says here’s the perfect way to do it suffer righteously for my sake as John the Baptist says he must increase he’s worthy of this this is what God has always planned but you must decrease we must confess that we are too much filled with our own desires our own worldly goals our own short-sighted plans our own self-reliance to really show people the glory of Christ like we are so God and His mysterious and kind faithfulness he is determined to afflict us that in our weakness we may be made strong and in our sorrow we may be made joyful in Christ the world won’t know what to do with that so then just as Greg urged us last week and as Peter urged us from the passage in which Greg was preaching let us by faith count it all joy when we see and experience multi-colored trials when we run into personal loss because that is how the bride is going to reach the bridegroom that is how we’re gonna bring God’s chosen from among the world into his kingdom and that is also how our joy will be made full that’s the Temptation right when we experience suffering we say God he doesn’t want me to be happy he doesn’t want me to enjoy what is good he’s just bringing suffering suffering suffering but the Bible reveals that the truth is different God is more committed to your joy than you are but he doesn’t want you to settle for something shallow or sinful he says I want your joy to be made full I want it to be the very Joy of Christ and we can Embrace that by faith we can take as our motto he must increase that I must decrease God however you want this to play out in my life and the way that I serve and my actually choosing to serve and in my suffering I want this to be true because you’re worthy of it and I know my role is that your motto is that our motto as a church because the Lord is showing us today it ought to be and by faith it can be well we’ve seen today John’s first reply of clarification to his disciples complaint about Jesus superseding John and that clarification is Jesus is the main point not as Messengers but what’s John’s second reply of clarification we’ll look at that next time let’s pray God it is so easy for us to lose sight of the truth especially when you bless us with various Comforts in this world you have given us so many good things you’ve given us families you’ve given us food to enjoy you’ve given us enjoyable weather you’ve given us places to live you’ve given us relative safety in the country and communities in which we live you’ve given us beds to sleep in at night you’ve given us friends you’ve given us this church you’ve given us opportunities to work and to serve you but God like Israel sometimes when we receive the blessings we begin to cling to those instead of you we want to retain the popularity that you’ve seen fit to grant us we want to retain for ourselves the disciples that you’ve brought into our lives we want to claim to the Treasures of the world and not give them up for you but in doing so Lord we not only dishonor you and betray or claimed to be your disciples but we work against our own Joy for life does not consist in these things life consists as we will see later in the in your gospel the Gospel of John Life Is Knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ so God coming now again this morning to see this truth of fresh we ask in line with the Holy example of John the Baptist that you would increase you would decrease Lord sanctify our hearts so that we do not make life about ourselves that we do not devote ourselves to any person other than the person of Jesus he alone is Worthy and that is your design will protect us from the evil one from the Allure of the sin and Treasures of the world may we make use of the passing things of the world that are not evil may we make use of them as those who do not make use of them who hold them as those who do not hold them that is we hold them lightly ready to give them up ready to use them to see Jesus lifted High Lord forgive us for where we have not done this where we have made it about ourselves but we are confident of your forgiveness we are confident that we are always saved and safe in Jesus Christ but we want to live in the way that he’s called us we are aware that those who say they believe in Jesus but do not obey the son they will not see life the wrath of God abides on them we are confident Lord that we are not such because of the work you’ve done in our hearts so God I pray for myself for my brothers and sisters here and a true humility of mind would be in all of us seeing others more important than ourselves and saying of course Jesus as the main point let there be something that we see and do with joy because that’s the way you always meant it in the name of Jesus I pray amen