John 3:22-36

Amen and good morning.

Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

!

I'm sick and really grieved to not be with you.

I think last Sunday I slept 20 out of the 24 hours in the day.

Often on a Sunday morning I'll wake up.

If I'm sick at home, I'll wake up in the 10 o'clock hour and wish that I was here and be praying for you guys.

Well, I didn't wake up until 1 o'clock this past Sunday and just said,

Ah, wish I had been there with them.

Let's pray before we read this text.

Father God, we thank you for your Word to us.

We recognize that it was written by the pen in this case of John,

but he was carried along by your Spirit and it had an original audience,

but also was written for us.

We humbly recognize that it was written ultimately for your glory, but also for our good.

And so we ask that you would help us as we open it together to believe its promises

and obey its commands and that we would have affection for its author.

Father, help us to hear it and respond as we should to it, we pray.

In Christ's name, amen.

John chapter 3, beginning in verse 22 and through the end of the chapter.

John 3 · chapter mention

John chapter 3, beginning in verse 22 and through the chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

John answered,

A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

You yourselves bear me witness that I said,

I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom.

The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

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.

He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.

Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

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.

The first five verses of our text this morning give us a timing, some locations, and a circumstance.

The question of their significance must be addressed, and they help set up for us why this text exists at all at the end of chapter 3.

So before we look at the rest of the passage, and I give you an outline for this morning, let's spend a few minutes here.

At the beginning of verse 22, we see John the Apostle say,

After this.

And he uses this phrase for the passage of some undetermined time.

He'll do this throughout his gospel account.

You can note the very same at the beginning of verse 12 of chapter 2, following the miracle of the wedding at Cana.

So, sometime after Jesus cleanses the temple and interacts with Nicodemus, he and his disciples leave Jerusalem.

And they head out to the Judean countryside, the same general region, but they are now outside of Jerusalem.

And he remains with them, he tarries with them, and is baptizing.

We'll talk about it a bit more next week, Lord willing, but we'll see that John carefully records that Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were doing so.

So here we have Jesus and his disciples in one place, the Judean countryside baptizing.

And then John the Apostle says, verse 23, John the Baptist was also baptizing in another place, anon near Saline.

This is the northern part of the country.

Why? Because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized.

For John had not yet been put in prison.

I was a great temptation at this point to want to unpack all of this to just talk about baptism, which is not what we're going to do this morning,

because that is not the driving point of this text.

We'll see why in just a moment.

Verse 24 states a fact we see here, for John had not yet been put in prison.

That is entirely self-evident.

Clearly, John the Baptist had not been imprisoned.

Verse 23 tells us where he was and what he was doing.

So, why the inclusion of the phrase in verse 24?

It tells us that this event took place in between the baptism of Jesus and his following temptation in the wilderness,

and John the Baptist's imprisonment.

The synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are silent on the public ministry of Jesus before John was arrested.

And so this note clarifies the timing of this event.

John's gospel supplements the synoptics with these earlier events.

But why?

What is John the Apostle stressing here that requires this inclusion?

It seems a little out of place.

He has introduced his gospel account with John the Baptist's bold testimony to Jesus as the Christ.

The very purpose that John the Baptist declares he was sent for.

That's right there in chapter 1.

John the Apostle has gone on to record Jesus' calling of the first disciples,

his first miracle, his temple cleansing, and his words of life to Nicodemus.

It seems that the stage has moved on.

The entrapments for John the Baptist have been cleared off,

and Jesus is now full center.

So why circle back to John the Baptist?

Doesn't it seem disjointed?

Like, what is John the Apostle doing here?

Hasn't John the Baptist served his purpose in setting up the stage for Jesus' ministry?

I think the next two verses help us to understand why John the Apostle did this.

Verse 25 says,

Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification.

We aren't given the details of the discussion.

I spend a lot of time looking for the details.

What's going on?

What's the context that's happening here?

This seems really significant to where we're about to go.

But I think we don't know the details,

because the details of the discussion are not important

to the point that I think that John the Apostle intends to make.

So, it's important to know that their discussion would have been related to baptism

as it related to the Old Covenant purification practices.

This is as much as I think we can know about what's happening here.

There's lots of conjecture, but I think that's what we can know from John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

But whatever the discussion, it raises a question amongst John's disciples.

I think this is going to help us see what the point is.

They come to John, his disciples, and they said to him,

Rabbi, or teacher, he who was with you across the Jordan,

to whom you bore witness, they're talking about Jesus,

look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.

Here I think we find the point of John the Apostle's

spirit-led inclusion of this last part of chapter 3.

John the Baptist's ministry was being eclipsed.

The sun was setting on it.

He had not yet been imprisoned, but his influence was waning.

The glory of Jesus' ministry was surpassing that of John's.

It would seem that John's disciples were troubled by this reality.

How might we know this?

This is not just sanctified imagination.

Look what they say.

Look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.

We're all going to him?

No, they weren't.

He's in a place where the water is plentiful.

People are still coming to receive the baptism of John,

but this is the feeling they have, the sense that they have, right?

They seem to have become envious and troubled by Jesus' rise to frame

and the setting of their teacher's ministry.

They devoted themselves to him,

and suddenly this other one is becoming much, much more important.

Perhaps they were even feeling less important than they wanted to feel.

And I think in this text,

we most readily find ourselves identifying,

regularly identifying,

with John the Baptist's disciples.

Feeling less important than we want to feel.

Not gaining the success in this life that we'd like to have.

Seeming overlooked.

Feeling like everyone is going on out ahead of us,

and we are falling behind.

We can become envious.

We can be jealous.

We can be bitter.

John the Baptist's response

to this attitude of self-importance

is the significance of this text.

The expressed humility of John the Baptist

is why I think John the Apostle circles back to him.

As Jesus is being exalted in the narrative,

and John's influence is beginning to wane,

the words that John the Baptist says

are why John the Apostle records them.

serves us by showing us

the godly response to such a circumstance.

This response of humility.

So here's our outline for this morning.

Number one, the humble rest in God's sovereignty.

Number two, the humble are self-aware.

Number two, the humble exalt Jesus Christ.

Notice first, the humble rest in God's sovereignty.

Now, why choose the word rest for this point?

Now here, I am going to use some sanctified imagination

as I give some tone to the way I think John would have responded.

Verse 27,

that maybe it was a rebuke,

but I think that they come to him,

they're frustrated.

They think that things should be going differently

than they're going.

They're envious.

They come to him as they look.

He's baptizing and all are going to him.

And rather than rebuke,

he says with a quiet confidence,

a person cannot receive even one thing

unless it is given him from heaven.

Nothing that we have is ours

apart from God's sovereign purpose in granting it.

Not a single thing that we have.

No possession that we have.

No gifting that we have.

Natural or ordained through practice.

Not a single thing that you can do.

Nothing that you have to offer at all

is yours apart from God's sovereign purpose

in granting it to you.

We have no space as Christians

knowing this to be true for boasting at all.

No threat of it.

Understanding that nothing that we have is ours

apart from God's sovereign purpose in granting it

is the foundation for humility.

It's the very thing that needs to be worked down

into the very core of who we are

if we were going to produce any measure of humility at all.

Nothing that I have is mine

apart from God's sovereign purpose

in granting it.

I am his.

He has created me in Christ

for works prepared beforehand

for me to walk in.

Anything that he's given me

to accomplish that.

Adversely, nothing that we don't have

isn't ours apart from God's sovereign purpose

in not granting it.

So if we have some measure of success

in some area of our life

there's no reason to boast in it

because God granted it.

And if we don't

and God is withholding it

for our good and his glory.

What a wonderful promise

that no matter what comes into our life

whatever circumstances are happening

God is in control

of every single ounce of it.

It's the foundation for humility.

God is creator.

We are not.

We are creation.

From our call to worship this morning

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26

1 Corinthians 1:26

and following

Paul there exhorts this

for consider your calling brothers

not many of you were wise

according to worldly standards.

That's the room.

Not many of us wise

according to worldly standards.

Not many were powerful.

Not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world

to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world

to shame the strong.

God chose what is low

and despised in the world

even things that are not

to bring to nothing

things that are.

So that no human being

might boast

in the presence

of God.

God works in his people.

He brings his people together

in such a way

that the world

looks at us

and says

their God

must be great.

Because they are not.

And because of him

you are in Christ Jesus

verse 30 of 1 Corinthians 1

who became to us

wisdom from God

righteousness

and sanctification

and redemption

so that as it is written

let the one who boasts

boast in the Lord.

If anything

anything

to boast about

it is in

our

God

who has taken

wretched sinners

and rescued us

called us

redeemed ones

adopted us

called us

children

set us on a task

given us gifts

John's answer

to them

is striking

a person

cannot receive

even one thing

unless it is given him

from heaven

the humble

rest

in God's

sovereignty

secondly

and it follows

the humble

are

self

aware

verse 28

John the Baptist

says

you yourselves

bear me witness

saying

you saw me say

I am not

the Christ

but I have

been sent

before him

John the Baptist

summarizes

the testimony

recorded in

chapter 1

with this phrase

I am not the Christ

but I have been

sent

before him

but he says

a bit

more than that

if you look at

John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

beginning in verse

20

there John the Apostle

records

he confessed

and did not

deny

but confessed

I am not

the Christ

and they asked him

those who were sent

to question him

what then are you

Elijah

he said

I am not

are you the prophet

and he answered

no

so they said to him

who are you

you need to give an answer

to those who sent us

what do you say

about yourself

he said

I am the voice

of one

crying out

in the wilderness

make straight

the way

of the Lord

as the prophet

Isaiah

said

that they had been

sent from the Pharisees

they asked him

then why are you

baptizing

if you are neither

the Christ

nor Elijah

nor the prophet

John answered them

I baptize

with water

but among you

stands one

you do not know

even he who comes

out to untie

John knows

who he is

he knows the purpose

for which

he was sent

and that was

the exaltation

of Jesus Christ

he was the

forerunner

the one to

go ahead

and prepare

the way

for

the Christ

he then goes on

in verse 29

to illustrate his point

with a familiar

scene

at a wedding

the one who has

the bride

is the bridegroom

the friend of the bridegroom

who stands and hears him

rejoices greatly

at the bridegroom's

voice

therefore

this joy

of mine

is now

complete

the friend of the

bridegroom

is

analogous

roughly

with our

cultural practice

of a groom

having a

best man

so you can read that

into the text

except that

best men

these days

are given

very few

responsibilities

I think

often the best

man's job

is to be

the goofiest

of all

the groomsmen

I've officiated

a lot of

weddings

and he's

the one

you have

to most

get the

attention

of

sometimes

we don't

even trust

him

with the

rings

anymore

that's

usually

my

advice

I usually

say

just give

the

rings

to me

I'll

hang

on

to

them

we'll

make

sure

they

end

up

on

your

hands

but not

so in

this

day

the best

man

was

responsible

for a

lot

that went

on

in the

design

of the

wedding

the

planning

of the

wedding

he

brought

the

groom

to

the

bride

he

protected

on the

wedding

night

the

wedding

chamber

would

only

let

the

groom

go

in

to

his

bride

and so

this

bride

groom

has

prepared

himself

for

this

very

important

purpose

for

the

groom

he

knows

who

he

is

he's

not

the

groom

at

some

point

in

that

day

the

attention

turns

from

him

and

it

turns

to

the

groom

he's

merely

the

friend

of

the

groom

and

so

he

rejoices

he's

so

glad

all

of

the

work

that

went

into

it

the

whole

point

of

it

for

him

is

to

see

the

bridegroom

exalted

and so

John says

right

I am

not

the

Christ

but

the

Christ

is

here

he

has

come

he

has

been

presented

therefore

this

joy

of

mine

is

now

complete

I

have

finished

that

task

right

it

is

over

it

is

good

that

people

are

going

to

Jesus

to

receive

baptism

so

the

humble

are

self

aware

beloved

praise

God

not a

single

one

of

us

is

the

Christ

we

are

not

perfect

and we

could

not

bear

that

load

and we

could

not

have

accomplished

what

he

accomplished

fully

God

and

fully

man

truly

God

and

truly

man

thank

God

that

Jesus

is

Jesus

and

we

are

not

and

humility

begins

at this

place

where we

know

that

we're

not

and it

should

desire

in us

to make

much

of

him

and it

seems so

obvious

when we

say that

but we

are so

readily

self

serving

trying to

gain

people's

applause

trying to

gain

success

in worldly

terms

we often

care too

much

about

temporal

glory

for

ourselves

rather

than

eternal

glory

for

Christ

so

the

humble

rest

in

God's

sovereignty

the

humble

are

self

aware

and

finally

the

humble

exalt

Jesus

Christ

but

I

must

decrease

right

Jesus

must be

maximal

and I

must

be

minimal

your

Bible

translation

likely

has

placed

as

mine

has

closed

quotes

at the

end

of

verse

30

which

suggests

that this

is the

conclusion

of John

the

Baptist

answer

to his

disciples

Greek

didn't have

any

punctuation

so this

is a

translative

decision

and it

is not

without

contention

the question

is did

John

the

Baptist

cease

speaking

at the

end

of

verse

30

or

at the

end

of

verse

33

and I

will

tell

you

I

spent

too

much

time

trying

to

figure

it

out

I

wasn't

convinced

either

way

as I

read

and

studied

these

past

weeks

and

thankfully

it

doesn't

really

matter

it

just

really

doesn't

matter

are these

John

the

Baptist

final

recorded

words

perhaps

I

think

that's

why

the

close

quotes

tend

to go

there

seem

like

good

hard

punctuation

at the

end

of

this

speaking

perhaps

not

the

verses

go

on

I

think

to

explain

what

he

means

there

he

must

increase

but

I

must

decrease

either

way

this

beautiful

sentence

does

not

lose

its

significance

what

a

statement

he

must

increase

but

I

must

decrease

the

Christian

mantra

of our

day

seems

to

be

he

must

increase

we

know

that

Christ

is

supposed

to

be

glorified

he

must

increase

so

I

must

increase

I

must

be

successful

I

must

be

well

put

together

I

don't

need

to

be

a

mess

on

Sunday

mornings

I

must

be

doing

well

in

my

job

and

gaining

promotion

it

must

have

a

nice

home

and

a

nice

car

it

must

have

a

platform

and

it

needs

to

be

growing

in

size

right

how

might

I

magnify

Christ

unless

I

am

increasing

seems

to be

the

thing

it's

in

the

water

it's

the

it's

why

I

call

it

a

mantra

it's

as if

it's

being

repeated

to

us

day

in

and

day

out

right

if

Christ

is

to

be

increased

we

also

must

be

increased

and

this

is

not

this

is

not

the

way

of

Christianity

just

simply

not

such

a

backwards

thing

it

seems

that

the

one

who

came

to

reign

over

his

people

to

set

them

free

from

the

power

of

sin

and

death

who

will

forever

rule

his

enemies

will

make

a

footstool

for

his

feet

that

he

would

come

and

he

would

suffer

and

he

would

die

and

for

some

reason

we

think

that

now

that

that's

been

accomplished

we

get

to

flip

the

script

that

in

following

our

Christ

being

his

disciples

following

in

his

way

we

get

to

do

it

different

than

he

did

John

the

Baptist

doesn't

think

so

neither

did

Paul

Paul

says

in

Philippians

Philippians 3:8

chapter

3

verse

8

and

following

there

he

says

indeed

I

count

everything

as

loss

all

of

the

gain

that

he

had

in

his

life

all

of

the

spiritual

credit

that he

had

to

his

account

he

says

everything

I

count

as

loss

because

of

the

surpassing

worth

of

knowing

Christ

Jesus

my

Lord

I

just

for a

second

want

that

phrase

to

stick

in

your

mind

everything

is

lost

because

of

the

surpassing

worth

more

valuable

than

everything

I

could

lose

of

knowing

Christ

Jesus

my

Lord

not

merely

knowing

about

but

knowing

him

for

this

sake

knowing

Christ

Jesus

for

this

sake

I

have

suffered

the

loss

of

all

things

and

I

count

them

as

rubbish

refuse

in

order

that

I

may

gain

Christ

and

be

found

in

him

not

having

a

righteousness

of

my

own

that

comes

from

the

law

but

that

which

comes

through

faith

in

Christ

the

righteousness

from

God

that

depends

!

on

faith

that

I

may

again

know

him

and

the

power

of

his

resurrection

and

may

share

his

sufferings

becoming

like

him

in

his

death

that

by any

means

possible

I

may

attain

the

resurrection

from

the

dead

what

is

what is

Paul

saying

here

he's

saying

that

to

walk

in

this

world

we

can

have

the

things

of

the

world

and

what

it

grants

to

us

or

we

can

suffer

the

loss

of

all

those

things

that

we

can

have

Christ

and

that

to

know

him

means

that

we're

going

to

walk

in

his

ways

John

the

Baptist

and

Paul

understood

this

clearly

John

the Baptist

understood

it

in

such

a

way

that

he

would

someday

soon

be

arrested

and

then

martyred

Christ

Christ

must

increase

but I

must

decrease

we

make

Christ

known

in the

world

by having

hope

beyond

this

world

as

we

suffer

the

loss

of

all

things

in

this

world

world

we

say

to

people

we

have

a

greater

treasure

there's

a

surpassing

worth

out

there

and

it

is

knowing

Christ

and

being

known

by

him

now

whether

or not

John

the

Baptist

ceases

speaking

at

this

point

and

John

the

apostle

picks

it

up

it

doesn't

really

matter

to

me

the

testimony

of

the

Johns

they

go

on

in

to

the

last

verses

of

this

text

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

he

bears

witness

to

what

he

has

seen

and

heard

yet

no

one

receives

his

testimony

!

Whoever

receives

utters

the

words

of

God

for

he

gives

the

spirit

without

measure

the

father

loves

the

son

and

has

given

all

things

into

his

hand

now

the

best

argument

for

this

being

John

the

apostle

is

that

he

goes

on

to

unpack

all

of

this

in

the

coming

chapters

so

we're

going

to

let

that

happen

these

phrases

be

unpacked

but

just

notice

that

whichever

John

is

saying

it

they

are

expressing

the

Jesus

came

from

the

father

verse

31

Jesus

is

preeminent

verse

31

Jesus

declared

the

truth

first

part

of

verse

32

Jesus

agreed

with

God

verse

33

Jesus

was

empowered

by

the

spirit

without

measure

verse

34

and

Jesus

received

all

authority

verse

35

Jesus

Christ

is

supreme

therefore

he

must

increase

all

of

us

are

not

that

we

must

decrease

the

humble

exalt

Jesus

Christ

and

in

the

last

verse

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

so

the

eternal

destination

of anybody

who doesn't

place their

faith

in the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

is an

eternal

destiny

of

wrath

God's

white

hot

anger

!

against

sin

do not

dumb

down

do not

dilute

the

doctrine

of hell

there's

an

eternal

place

torment

for

those

who

don't

place

their

faith

in

Christ

bad

news

but

the

good

news

is

whoever

believes

in

the

son

has

eternal

life

and

this

gets

picked

up

again

and

again

and

again

and

again

through

John's

gospel

account

right

this

teaching

about

eternal

life

as

John

states

his

purpose

for

the

letter

in

John

John 20:30

chapter

20

verse

30

and

31

he

says

now

Jesus

did

many

other

signs

in

the

presence

of

the

disciples

which

are

not

written

in

this

book

but

these

are

written

so

that

you

may

believe

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

the

son

of

God

and

that

by

believing

you

may

have

life

in

his

name

that

you

may

have

life

in

his

name

life

forever

and

we're

not

wrong

for

doing

that

right

this

phrase

eternal

life

we're

all

eternal

but

those

who

place

their

faith

in

Christ

are

going

have

eternal

life

this

is

good

it's

good

that

our

brains

go

there

but