John's Last Great Testament

There is something that is unbelievably blessed in being able to hold up this book and say to turn in it.

What frames our life, what frames our hope in eternity, is what God in his grace has revealed to us through his scriptures.

Furthermore, it is our blessing to know that when we who know Christ take this book in hand,

we are not left to rely merely on intellectual ability to comprehend the sweetness of Christ.

Next, we may rely upon the enabling of the Spirit of God, me in preaching with your prayerful attention,

and you hearing with the enabling of the Spirit that the word that we study together may, first of all, strike the heart,

and secondly, frame the life.

I want you to take a moment with me and come to the Lord in prayer,

asking that his Spirit would quicken our study and my preaching to the glory of Christ.

Our Father God, this morning, as we gather as your people, we do so with thanksgiving,

that were it not for your grace,

were it not for your work in bringing Christ Jesus into the world to be the Savior of the world,

were it not for your work in bringing us to that point of conviction,

were we understanding the darkness and the shamefulness of our heart,

like an individual discovering the reality of their own soul sickness,

were it not for you drawing us to understand that we, by our own effort and goodness,

could not save ourselves, were it not for that,

we would not be here this morning to be worshipers.

And we are thankful that you, first of all, convicted us of our sin,

and then secondly, drew us to the place that we, seeing our hopelessness,

cried out upon the Lord Jesus Christ and asked him to save us.

And you've blessed us with eternal life.

You've blessed us with confidence in an eternal home.

You've blessed us with the indwelling ministry of the Spirit of God,

who is there in the life of the believer to encourage, to sustain, to strengthen,

to give understanding to your Scripture.

And so we, with humility, ask his help this morning.

And it is my prayer that the preaching of the Word would be marked by the enabling of the Spirit,

and that through his power, there would be individuals this morning that are here,

that are drawn to the cross, recognizing their need for salvation,

and crying out to Jesus to be their Savior.

And that believers who are here that are struggling with their walk and their joy and their confidence

would have their hearts lifted to know that Jesus, indeed,

is able to help them in the day of trial and need.

That we, together, would be encouraged as we rejoice in Christ

and look forward to the day that we are going to see him face to face.

And that is our prayer this morning we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, we are looking at John chapter 3, verse 31 through 36,

John 3:31–36

and we are at a place where John the Baptist's ministry in the book of John

is going to kind of drift back to the background.

John was, as we found in chapter 1, a forerunner or an announcer,

someone who went in front of Jesus and said,

Hey, the King is coming, and He is supremely important,

and this is the reason why.

Where we are now is that John finishing his ministry,

in all practical terms, at least in the book of John,

we find that John the Baptist is laid aside.

And yet, we are at a point where this ministry,

in coming to a conclusion,

makes its strongest statement about who Jesus is,

at least from the mouth of John the Baptist.

Let me have you stop just for a moment

and remember what it says in John chapter 20, verse 31.

John 20:31

How many of you know, without turning,

what the overarching purpose of the book of John is?

What is it?

These things are written, help me,

that you may know.

In other words, I'm telling you these things

so you can get your hands around the information

of who Jesus is for this purpose,

that you might believe in Him and have everlasting life.

Yesterday, as I was pumping gas,

I happened to bump into a guy that knew me.

And he says, How are you doing?

I said, Well, I'm doing pretty good.

I'm trying to think, Oh, who, Lord, is this?

You know, I don't know still.

But he says, Yeah.

It's all right.

I'll forget you.

Give me enough time.

But anyway, he's talking about visiting the church.

He says, Man, your people sing.

Well, praise God.

I'm glad.

You know, people who know Jesus

have a reason to kind of hoop it up.

Would you agree with that?

Just to give you an illustration,

and it's a very poor one,

but I would imagine that,

what is that song that they sing after football games?

I've only been one time.

It's like, what is it, Carmen, Ohio?

I'll bet you after the national championship,

they actually sang it enthusiastically as a team.

You know, it's like, We're into this.

And this guy was, we're pumping gas there,

and I'm concentrating on doing my job.

And he's, Yeah, your people are singing.

They're great.

They're blowing it out.

I said, Well, praise the Lord for that.

And then I had a chance to go where?

Talk about Jesus.

And the fact that the gospel is what changes us

from being kind of dullards

to being someone a little enthusiastic

in the Lord Jesus Christ, right?

And so here we are.

We're working our way through the book of John,

and we're dealing with this underlying

and recurring theme.

Who is Jesus, and what's he all about?

And every piece of information chosen

that John the apostle chose to write

is written for this explicit purpose

that you who sit under the hearing of the word of God

and read the scriptures can be brought to the point

of saying, Hey, I know who Jesus is,

and I accept him as my Lord and Savior,

or I have nothing to do with him, and so what?

I mean, the fact of the matter is

is that Bible preaching, follow me here,

either brings people to a point of saying what?

Yes or no to the truth that's been explained plainly.

And so as we come to John's last great statement,

there is a connectedness between the previous verse,

and put your finger on it just for a minute.

He must increase, and I must decrease.

He must increase, and I must decrease.

I debated back and forth about giving a little lesson

on vocabulary, and I will.

This is known as an axiom.

An axiom is just a truth that is so undeniably truthful

that you can't get away from it.

I mean, here, gravity happens.

That's an axiom.

Do you know what?

Now, the truth of the matter is, is this verse is more certain

and more binding than gravity.

How do I know that?

If I were to go far enough up,

I would reach the point where gravity doesn't happen.

What I do know is that the fact of the increasing glory of Christ

for now and all eternity is an undeniable fact that is irreversible,

and it is there for me to revel and rejoice in and enjoy.

And John the apostle, working through what John the Baptist had to say,

you remember the disciples came to him in kind of petty attitude.

He, you know what?

That guy you baptized, you know, he's getting all the credit,

and people are following him, and they're not doing anything with you.

John says, what's the deal?

He must increase, and I must decrease.

Now, with that axiom in place,

we find in the remaining verses,

John's last testimony to the supremacy and significance of Christ.

And these verses are part of this larger picture of the apostle

explaining who is Jesus,

so that you can believe on him and have everlasting life.

And so, first of all, as we look at these verses,

I want you to recognize first the person of Christ.

There in verse 31, it says,

He who comes from above is above all.

He who is of the earth belongs to the earth

and speaks in an earthly way.

He who comes from heaven is above all.

Remember, John the Baptist is now fleshing out

or expanding this statement,

He must increase.

So why must he increase?

Well, the obvious reason is,

is that because of where he came from.

And keep your finger there in John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

and just turn back a little bit.

Go to John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

As John the apostle starts into his gospel,

he says,

First, in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him,

and without him was not anything made that was made.

So we understand,

John makes it clear to us,

that Jesus Christ is indeed

the second person of the Trinity.

He is God himself.

Over there, and also in chapter 3, verse 13,

we find a very similar tone,

and just mark it, if you will,

in John 3, 13, it says,

no one has ascended into heaven

except he who descended from heaven,

the Son of Man.

In other words,

nobody else really has

firsthand empirical evidence

of what heaven is like

and who God really is

in particular detail,

like Jesus has.

And so, while it is true

that the Son of God came to earth

and took on human flesh

for all eternity,

the recognized fact that we see here

is that Jesus is divine.

Yes, all man and all God.

Hey, can you put your hands

around that one, really?

All man and all God.

We can't, but the truth is,

in the Bible,

it tells us that Jesus

is all man and all God,

and here's the fact.

Jesus is divine,

divine,

and he is the express revelation

of the triune God.

There's no one like him.

And because Jesus is the Son of God,

it is right for him to increase.

Why should he become more significant?

Why should he take up

all the oxygen in the room?

Why is it that we will spend

all of eternity

worshiping and praising him?

I remember having a conversation

last week with someone

who said to me,

I'm kind of,

I'm struggling with understanding

what eternity is going to be like.

I mean, you know,

I mean, just sitting around

thinking about Jesus.

I'm like, ugh.

You know, I didn't say it that way,

but it's like, hey,

if you're not real familiar with him

and he doesn't take up

much of your time today,

I mean, you know, hey,

three minutes,

I did do, what is that,

daily bread.

I mean, hey, I'm good.

You know, I've given God

a little bit of time here,

and if he kind of gets

a little two or three minutes

on a periodic basis,

the idea of spending

all the time forever

is like, whoa,

I'm not sure I'm good with that.

Will there be iPads in heaven?

Will there be angry birds in heaven?

You know, whatever it is

that you occupy your time

when you're really engaged,

and so here is John saying,

hey, he's from above.

He's supremely significant.

I want you to think about this with me.

You can know

where your spiritual growth is

by checking to see

if he is growing

in significance in your life.

Will you think with me about that

just for a moment?

You can know

where you are

in your spiritual growth.

How am I doing?

Am I moving uphill?

Will you can know

whether or not

there's spiritual progress

taking place in your life,

whether or not

Christ is truly growing

to occupy

a more and more

significant place

in your life.

If you're still consumed

with your own ambitions

and your vices,

if you're obsessed

with your own importance

and what other people

think of you,

you've got a ways to go

because here's the truth

of the matter.

Jesus came from above

and he is supremely significant

because of that.

Now just as John talked

about Jesus

first in verse 30,

remember what he said there,

he said he must increase,

I must decrease.

He does the same thing.

He first of all talks about Jesus

and said he's from above,

he must increase.

I am from below,

I must decrease.

And so I want you to think with me

just for a moment

about this decreasing nature

of humanity

and who we are.

When John the Baptist said,

I must decrease,

he followed it up by saying,

I'm from the earth.

I'm from the earth.

And making that statement,

he was kind of referencing

the reality of the fact

that all of us here

live very brief

and shallow lives.

Is that not true?

It's appointed unto man,

once to die,

and after that,

the judgment.

In Psalm 90,

it says that the average lifespan

is between 70 and 80 years,

and there is a card

for Jessa Bartley

that you can sign

out there in the foyer.

She's going to be 97 this week.

And by the way,

don't,

I'm not going to be at the door

saying,

did you sign the card?

I may,

but I want that thing

scrawled all over the place,

okay?

Not many of us

make it to 97.

Give her an attaboy,

okay?

Thank Jesus for it,

by the way.

Okay,

but John says,

I'm of the earth.

What is he really talking about?

He's talking about the fact,

I'm out of here someday.

And in Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3:19

verse 19,

it says,

from dust you came,

and from dust you,

or to dust you will return.

And so here is John the Baptist

bearing testimony to the fact

that his life is marked by brevity,

Christ is marked by deity.

Furthermore,

there's something else

that John knew

that he bore witness to

when he said there in verse 31,

he who is of the earth

belongs to the earth

and speaks in an earthly way.

Turn over in your Bible

to 2 Corinthians chapter 4,

2 Corinthians 4:7

verse 7.

Have you ever stopped to ask

why it is that I tend to illustrate

with Bible passages?

It's not an accident.

Here's the answer to that question.

I am persuaded

that God has the best ideas,

and so my job is kind of to say,

hey,

let's find out what God thinks.

2 Corinthians chapter 4,

2 Corinthians 4:7

verse 7,

kind of just spot it for you

in broad terms.

Paul is talking about ministry,

and he says,

listen,

we have this treasure in what?

In earthen vessels.

Paul was not the only person

who was persuaded

of his earthiness,

of his frailty,

of his inadequacy in ministry,

and if you still doubt that case,

you can stop and remind yourself

that at one point

in John's ministry,

he had second questions about Jesus.

Are you the one or not?

John,

as wonderful as he was,

as a messenger of the Lord of hosts,

nevertheless struggled

with the reality

of his own humanity,

and so as you think about this,

I think we should recognize

that Jesus is supremely worthy

of listening to

and of exalting

because he is God,

and John the Baptist is saying,

hey,

it makes sense for me to diminish

because I really am nobody

in comparison.

Now,

I want you to recognize

that sometimes people

take their earthiness

to be an excuse

for habitual

and recurring sin.

Our earthiness

should prompt humility

as well as tenderness

in dealing with the sins

of other people

and not the attitude

of,

hey,

ain't no big deal.

I mean,

hey,

everybody's doing it,

you know,

so recognize

when John says this

is an expression of humility,

not indifference

to the reality of sin.

So as you see here

from the very beginning,

John the Baptist

says he's closing up

his ministry,

he says,

let me tell you something

about Jesus.

He is eternal.

And all the rest of us

are very frail

and temporary.

Well,

in the verses

that follow now,

when we look here

in verses 32 through 35,

we're going to find

an expanded version

or expanded declaration

of the supremacy of Christ

and John bears testimony

to several significant things.

So think about it.

What are the testimonies

about Christ?

For one,

we find there

in verse 32

and put your finger on it,

John chapter 3,

John 3:32

verse 32,

he bears witness

to what he has seen

and heard.

Jesus spoke

on the basis

of first-hand knowledge.

Why would we pay

such careful attention

to what Jesus has to say?

Why should we do that?

Well,

the obvious reason

is that he is the one

who,

of all individuals,

comes with absolute,

accurate information

information

on a place

that you and I

haven't been

and from a person

that,

at the end of the day,

we haven't really seen,

have we?

Jesus is the express revelation

of the person

of the Godhead.

Now,

I want you,

earlier this week

as I was studying,

I found myself tempted

to kind of launch on that

and stay the whole time

in this one statement

about Jesus

being the absolute,

accurate revelation

of the Godhead.

But I want you to look

at a small slice

of that reality

by keeping your finger

in John

and go over to Hebrews.

Turn in your Bible

to Hebrews,

Hebrews 1:1–4

chapter 1,

verse 1 through 4.

In chapter 1 of Hebrews,

we begin with the opening statement

that the author makes.

He says this,

long ago,

as many times

and in many ways,

God spoke to our fathers

by the prophets.

But in these last days,

He has spoken to us

by His Son.

After that statement,

in these last days,

He has spoken to us

by His Son,

the author of Hebrews

gives us

seven different statements

about the supremacy

of Christ

as the revealer

of the eternal glory of God.

Why should we listen

to Jesus?

Because,

hammer,

hammer,

hammer,

seven strokes

that nail the subject down

and make us

completely persuaded

Jesus is the one

who is worthy

to listen to.

Second reason

why we should listen

to Jesus

as we look here

in the passage

going back to John

is that Jesus spoke

with perfect

and complete accuracy.

accuracy.

He spoke as one

who had come

from heaven

and understood

with absolute perfection

who the Father is,

who the triune God is,

and He spoke

with undeniable

authority

and accuracy.

But secondly,

He spoke with

complete

and perfect accuracy.

There's not a single word

that was ever said

by Jesus

that was not something

that the Father

intended for Him

to say.

How many of you

say things

that you wish

you didn't say?

Okay,

out here.

A couple of you,

I know.

The rest of you

are probably near perfect,

but most of us

are like,

ah,

don't do that.

Okay?

I want you to understand

that Jesus spoke

with perfect

and complete accuracy.

Go back to John

because we want

to see this.

It says this

in verse 32,

He bears witness

to what He has seen

and heard,

yet no one

receives His testimony.

Whoever receives

Jesus' testimony

sets His seal

to this,

that God

is true.

Jesus spoke

completely

about the truth

of God.

And when

the Word of God

tells us something

about God,

whether we like it

or not,

whether we agree

with it or not,

whether we think

it's a good idea

or it's something

that should be changed,

at the end of the day,

it is God's Word

and it is absolutely

reliable.

It is what it is

and we settle it

and that's what

God has to say.

I want you to understand

that when Jesus spoke,

He wasn't just kind

of chattering

to fill the time.

How many of you

have ever been

in a situation

where you were

responsible for leading

a group

and you ask one

of those open-ended

questions

and everybody got

that blank stare

like I'm not answering?

Have you ever been there?

It was like,

and what you try

to do,

it's a mistake

most of the time,

you try to fill

the emptiness

with just a little drivel.

It's a blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah,

and you're just saying

things that really

don't amount to anything.

Jesus didn't chatter

just to hear Himself

speak

or to occupy

the moment

while He was waiting

for His disciples

to get it.

Having said that,

you're obviously thinking

the logical question is,

where's that in the Bible?

Is that what you're thinking?

Everybody's smiling at me.

I mean,

the logical thing

for godly people to do

when a pastor

makes a statement

is what?

Oh, yeah?

Where is that?

Oh, well,

thank you.

I'm glad you asked.

Let's go to John 8.

John 8,

John 8:28

verse 28.

I don't know.

You may even want

to take a pencil

and pen

and underline this.

Jesus said to them,

when you have lifted up

the Son of Man,

then you will know

that I am He

and that I do nothing

on my own authority

but speak,

J-U-S-T,

what?

Just?

Speak just

as the Father taught me.

Did Jesus go off page?

And the answer is,

no.

Did Jesus ever make

any kind of erroneous statements

that really,

well,

I'm not really sure

that should have been

taken literally,

blah, blah, blah.

No,

when Jesus said it,

it was Jesus speaking

and it was exactly

what God the Father

wanted Him to say.

Let's look further

at this.

John 12,

John 12:49

verse 49.

John 12,

John 12:49

verse 49.

For I have not spoken

on mine own authority,

but the Father who sent me

has made,

has Himself given me

a commandment,

what to say

and what to speak.

It reminds me,

years ago,

when Judith and I were,

is Judith in here?

She's,

hey,

good to see you.

Judith and I

are going on vacation,

just checking to see

if she's here,

she's driving.

But,

years ago,

when Judith and I

were living over

in Angaro,

our kids,

particularly our boys,

would play in the basement

and our boys

were,

were much more aggressive

in that,

you know,

smack down,

knock down kind of things,

you know,

and girls are into dolls

and boys are into,

you know,

thumping chests

and it's like trying to see

whatever.

And every now and then,

my son,

my older son,

was significantly older

than my younger son

and sometimes there would be

just moderate injuries,

you know.

And I'd,

I'd hear this thing

kind of playing out,

devolve,

you know,

it's kind of,

and I'd,

I'd shout down the steps

and say,

what's going on?

You know what the standard

answer was?

100% of the time,

nothing.

Nothing.

We're good.

And then I would send

one of my daughters,

you know,

I was like,

why get out of the chair,

you know,

Heather,

go.

Daddy wants to know

what you guys are doing.

I mean,

do you think she was going

down there on her own

initiative?

And the answer is,

no.

Do you think she was coming

with her own message like,

hey,

Joe and Sam,

will you two be nice

to each other?

You know,

that's not what it was.

It was like,

what are you doing?

Dad said.

Here's the deal.

Jesus is making it clear

to us that what he had

to say was not just

his own opinion.

It was what God

wanted him to say.

If Jesus should be heard

because he spoke exactly

what the Father wanted

him to say,

then those earthen vessels

who speak for him

and do not wonder

from the text

should be listened to

carefully.

And as a result of that,

one of the things

that should characterize

those who preach the word

is that they talk

less about themselves

and more about him.

Less about their own

experiences and more

about the authority

and the sufficiency

of Christ.

Do you understand that?

Keep that in mind.

Let's come to the third

lesson that I want you

to see.

This is indicting.

Do you know what

indicting means?

It kind of dings me

a little bit as I've

been studying and praying

and then illustrating,

unfortunately.

But let's go to the

third point.

You know it ahead of time

because it flashed up

on the board.

Jesus spoke in the

fullness of the Spirit.

Okay?

For he whom God has sent

utters the words of God

for he gives the Spirit

without measure.

For he gives the Spirit

here.

Here's another passage

that deserves a full launch.

What is the characteristic

of speaking

through the enabling

of the Spirit?

We won't do that

this morning

but I do want you

to recognize

that speaking

through the enabling

of the Spirit of God

is something that

should characterize

all Bible preaching.

It should also be

one of the things

that you pray for

when you pray for me

or you pray for whoever

this evening

Pastor Saul

is going to

hey by the way

it would be better

for you to show up

and pray for him

than to stay home

and watch the

shopping channel

and pray for him.

Right?

I mean do you

understand the choices?

So one of the reasons

why you should pray

for those who are

preachers of the Word of God

is because they do have

the treasure in earthen vessels

and what you want to do

is pray that

by the Spirit of God

their earthiness

would be a little diminished.

No man

apart from our Lord Jesus

will ever speak

as Jesus did

in the complete fullness

of the Spirit.

Why is that?

For one

we can grieve the Spirit.

Would you agree with that?

I don't have to remind you

who know the Scriptures

that it says

grieve not the Holy Spirit.

In other words

I can do things

that grieve the Holy Spirit

and if I am grieving

the Holy Spirit

is the Holy Spirit

then going to help me

as I speak on his behalf?

I got to get the grief issue out.

Deal with it.

Another thing is this

is that we can quench

the Spirit.

We can on a recurring basis

say no

I don't want to listen to that

I don't want to do that

I'm not interested in that

and as a result of that

that the Holy Spirit's ministry

in enabling us

to proclaim

the glory of Christ

can be diminished.

The Spirit quickened

every single word

Jesus spoke.

Now having said that

earlier this morning

I said something

that was not prompted

by the Spirit of God.

I'll tell you what it was

because when I sat down there

I thought to myself

Tim

stop

what I did.

Here's what I said.

I said something

about raising hands

and I want you to understand

God in his

infinite wisdom

did not make all of us

to be exactly alike.

Do you understand that?

I married a girl

wonderful

44 plus years

I think

is it 44

where are you?

Yeah.

We're going towards 45.

In case you didn't know

I am a marginally

emotional person.

What that tells you

is that Judith

is as mellow

as they come.

And for me

to look at her

and say

what's the deal

with you?

And for her

to look at me

and say

what is wrong?

So here's the deal.

All I want

is for God's people

to worship

in spirit

and in truth.

How you do that

should not be something

that I flap my gums

about a little less.

Do you follow

what I'm saying?

Bear with me.

That's a little bit

of the earthiness

and when an illustration

and I didn't come

this morning

intending to do that.

I'm struck

by the fact

that every single

word that Jesus

said was like

an arrow

in the hands

of a mighty man.

It hit the target

and it made

an eternal difference.

Now

I have prayed

about this

so I'm going

to say it.

I would also

caution those

who buy into

the idea

that the Holy Spirit

is behind

the meaningless

babbling

and mutterings

that pass off

for charismatic

gifts

and speaking

in tongues

and here's why.

If Jesus

never said

a single word

that was not

understandable

and for the sake

of exalting

the supremacy

of his father

then why do we

come off with

the idea

that this

muttering

and babbling

that cannot

be discerned

and has no

spiritual outcome

really is significant

apart from

just doing it.

Now

am I going

to throw stones

at people

that do it?

No, no, no, no, no

but I won't say this

it's not

of the Holy Spirit.

How do I know that?

The Holy Spirit

is interested

in making Jesus

look good

in letting you

see him.

Every single

word that

Jesus said

was designed

by the Father

to lift up

the glory

and the supremacy

of the Father

in heaven

and people

walked away

every time

Jesus opened

his mouth

not every time

but you know

when they walked

away they said

we have never

heard anyone

talk like him

and what was he

doing?

He was speaking

in language

that people

could understand

and he was

convicting them

with that language

fourth

Jesus spoke

as the beloved

of the Father

look at John

the Father

loves the Son

and has given

all things

into his hand

the love

of the Father

for our Lord

Jesus Christ

is a magnificent

channel

through which

the glory

flows

I want you to

turn with me

just for a moment

to a passage

kind of frame this

out and understand

it

keep your finger

in John

because we are

coming back there

but John

John 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13

John chapter 13

John 13:21–25

verse 21

through 25

this is at

the last supper

when Jesus

is celebrating

Passover

with his disciples

for the last time

and you will remember

and I'm not going

to have you turn

there but you'll

remember that

in the flow

of the supper

he stops

and says this

he says

one of you

is going

to betray me

this is a pretty

significant statement

and pretty

significant moment

because in a

very unusual

manner

the disciples

actually hear

what Jesus

said

and they kind

of take it

to heart

most of the time

when the disciples

heard Jesus

saying things

they were thinking

they hoped

that John

would hear it

or that Peter

would hear it

or that one

of the other

disciples

excluding them

would get the

memo

how many of you

have ever been

listening to a sermon

and thought

man I really hope

my husband

hears this one

in fact you even

nudge him

just in case

he's dozed off

and you know

that you're

helping the Holy

Spirit

like hey

Bubba

it's you

he's talking

to

okay

in this case

and you can

find it in Luke

Luke 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22

okay

they say

am I the one

and actually

it's in Matthew

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

chapter 26

that they say

am I the one

and then in Luke

Luke 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22

they look to each

other and they say

is it you

are you going

to betray him

are you doing

this

you see

first

am I doing

it

second

are you doing

it

then we come

up to the

golden moment

that we're

referring to

in John

John 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13

look at this

passage

John chapter

John 13:21

13

verse 21

after saying

these things

things

Jesus was

troubled in his

spirit and

testified

truly truly

I say to

you

one of you

will betray

me

the disciples

looked at

one another

uncertain of

whom he

spoke

one of his

disciples

whom Jesus

loved

was reclining

at the table

close to

Jesus

Simon Peter

motioned him

and asked

motioned to

him to ask

Jesus of

whom he

was speaking

so that

disciple

leaning back

against Jesus

said to him

Lord

who is it

Jesus

answered

it is

he to

whom I

will give

the morsel

of bread

when I

have dipped

it

and so

when he

had dipped

the morsel

he gave

it to

Judas

the son

of Iscariot

do you

follow this

I want

you to

recognize

this

here are

the disciples

and in

their desire

to understand

really what

was going

on

they asked

someone

who was

close

to

interpret

what was

being said

I want

you to

understand

one of the

characteristics

of love

love reveals

all that

there is

isn't that

right

and

love

doesn't hold

back secrets

one of the

things that

I think is

important in

marriage is

that there

be no

secrets

I mean

after all

doesn't the

Bible say

and is not

the Bible

reliable and

trustworthy

that the two

shall become

what

what

what

one flesh

no secrets

with one

flesh

I am who

I am

my wife

knows me

she is who

she is

and I know

her

and God

intends that

that love

relationship

is one that

that has a

level of

transparency

and sweetness

that

that

cannot take

place apart

from that

and so

here is

Jesus

saying

or here is

John the

Baptist

saying

because the

father loves

Jesus

he can be

completely

relied upon

to communicate

everything that

we know

the love

of the

father

communicates

freely

and openly

with

Christ

one other

illustration

because I

think it's

important to

recognize

Judges

Judges 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16

the story

of Samson

by the way

if you

think that

Samson

learned

from the

first

experience

he didn't

but you

remember

that he

fell in

love

with

Delilah

and

remember

she kept

on coming

to him

and said

hey

what's

the secret

to your

strength

oh if

you bind

me with

seven wet

bow strings

that'll do

it

you know

if you

tie my

hair into

the weaver's

beam

and she

says you

know it's

quite evident

that you

don't love

me because

you aren't

telling me

the truth

and he

says well

the deal

is if

you

cut my

hair I'm

done

and it

happened

you see

Delilah

leveraged

the issue

of relationship

if you

love me

you'll

tell me

and

John

the Baptist

is reminding

us that

because

God the

father

loves

Jesus

he gives

Jesus

all the

information

about who

he is

well that

brings us

to a final

truth

and I

want you

to go

back to

John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

so we

understand

the

significance

of this

you know

there are a lot

of people

today that

believe

just back

up just a

minute

a lot of

people believe

that Jesus

is a pretty

good guy

I mean

you know

okay

he kind

of went

around

doing good

things

you know

and in fact

you can even

rely upon him

to kind

of be

a pretty

sweet

person

now

being a

product

of the

70s

I can't

help but

think about

the idea

of Jesus

as being

someone

who if

you're

going

to San

Francisco

you know

wear flowers

in your hair

some of you

are thinking

where is he

coming from

you know

it's like

here's the

deal

Jesus

was not

just about

being nice

and sweet

he was also

about

telling the

truth

do you

follow that

heaven

and hell

are

undeniably

real

truths

in fact

listen to me

carefully

Jesus

talked

more

about

hell

than

any

other

person

in

the

scriptures

and

here is

John the

Baptist

speaking

on behalf

of the

Savior

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

and here's

what he

said

whoever

believes

in the

son

has

eternal

life

whoever

does

not

obey

the

son

shall

not

see

life

but

the

wrath

of

God

remains

on

him

you can't

talk about

Jesus

truthfully

without

bringing

people to

a point

of saying

yes or

no to

God

and what

is it

that Jesus

really

tells us

he tells

us all

we need

to know

about

God

and so

let me

give you

just a

real simple

summary

to hold

on to

that I

want to

have

clearly

fixed

in your

mind

number

one

this is

the

undeniable

Bible

truth

that God

is holy

and cannot

overlook

sin

God

is holy

and cannot

overlook

sin

it doesn't

make any

difference

what flavor

you're involved

in

do you

understand

that

in fact

keep your

finger

here we

go

finger

exercises

today

go to

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

one of the

things I

love

love

love

love

say it

again

love

about the

gospel

is that

the gospel

tells us

we don't

have to

stay

the way

we are

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 6:9

chapter 6

verse 9

do you

not know

that the

unrighteous

will not

inherit

the kingdom

of God

don't be

deceived

don't mess

with God

neither the

sexually immoral

nor idolaters

nor adulterers

nor men who

practice homosexuality

nor thieves

nor the greedy

nor drunkards

nor revelers

nor swindlers

will inherit

the kingdom

of God

now we

come to the

next verse

that I

love

and such

were some

of you

in fact

let me add

to that

that's who

we all

were

isn't that

right

you know

we may

not have

committed

the nasty

nine

or the filthy

five

or the dirty

dozen

but the truth

of the matter

is all

have sinned

and come

short of the

glory of God

that's the truth

and how can a man

who stands between

heaven and hell

not draw attention

to the fact

that heaven

and hell

rest in the

balance

and make it

clear that

Christ Jesus

came

first of all

because God

is holy

and cannot

abide sin

secondly

because we

are sinners

and cannot

remedy our

problem

on our

own

hey

can I

get to

heaven

by being

good

on my

own

efforts

and what's

the answer

not by

works of

righteousness

lest any

man should

boast

you know

when we

get

when we

cross the

finish line

none of us

are going

to be

saying

I finally

made it

you know

it was

it was

that extra

little bit

of work

I did

for United

Way

that's

the thing

that pulled

me

through

given

blood

whatever

stop

not by

works of

righteousness

lest any

one of us

should boast

and we

come to

the third

truth is

this is

God sent

his son

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

to die

for our

sins

he died

for me

he died