Who is worthy to follow?

We will be reading from John chapter 3 verses 22 to 36. You can follow along in your bulletin, in your Bibles, or on the screen above.

John 3:22–36

Let's read.

After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.

John also was baptizing at Enon near Salem because water was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized.

For John had not yet been put in prison.

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

And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you across the Jordan to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.

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.

This is the word of God.

Thank you, Zoe.

Well, good morning again.

Good morning, Kevin.

Good morning again.

My name is Oscar.

If you don't know me, hopefully this doesn't fall over as I preach.

I'm one of the elders here at Watermark, and I have the great privilege of...

Sorry, thank you.

Thanks, dude.

I have the great privilege of delivering God's word today.

Can you pray with me as we consider God's word?

Father, we all humbly come before you.

As Kevin was sharing, we all...

We're broken people.

We don't have it all together.

And yet you are perfect and holy God.

So we ask as we look into your word today, as I try to deliver it, I pray that all of our hearts would be open and soft to hear your voice.

I pray that we would receive what you want us to hear.

Not what I want us to hear, but what you, Holy Spirit, want us to hear.

May Jesus be glorified in our hearts as we consider your word today.

We give this time to you in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

In this day and age, with the widespread use of smartphones and social media, we can easily go online and follow all sorts of different online influencers.

We can follow celebrities and athletes.

We can follow artists and musicians.

We can follow thought leaders and so-called experts in multiple different fields.

So who do you follow?

Cristiano Ronaldo, apparently the most followed person in the world with a billion followers.

Lionel Messi, LeBron James.

How about Blackpink or BTS?

I don't know who they were until last year.

How about, do you follow Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay?

How about Dr. Peter Atiyah or Andrew Huberman?

Maybe you follow Warren Buffett or Jack Ma.

Or perhaps you don't go on social media like our good friend Kevin here.

But maybe it's closer to home.

Maybe you've been influenced, your worldview and values have been influenced by a parent or an older sibling or a coach,

a teacher, maybe a pastor or an elder.

Who is it that when they say or do something, you have to click on it?

You have to sit up and listen to them.

And have you ever asked yourself, why do you spend so much time following the people that you follow?

Why do they have the credibility to be someone worthy to be followed?

Have you looked into their private lives?

Do their outer lives look all nice and put together?

But behind the camera, it's a different story.

This morning, as we dive into this passage from John chapter 3, 22 and onwards,

John 3 · chapter mention

the question is, if we all follow someone, which we all do, then who should we follow?

Who should we follow?

And we'll look at this passage in two parts.

The first is, don't miss the point.

And the second is, who is Jesus?

Don't miss the point.

Over the past six or so weeks, we've been looking at this book of John, the first few chapters.

And towards the end of this book, in chapter 20, John the Apostle, the writer,

he writes that this book was written that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

And by believing in him, you may have life in his name.

This book was written to give us a sense of who Jesus is from multiple different accounts or testimonies.

From John the Apostle, the writer.

From John the Baptist, a different John.

From many people who interact with Jesus.

And of course, from Jesus himself, who spoke about himself.

He spoke about his Father in heaven.

He spoke about heaven and hell.

He spoke about eternity.

This book of John was written that we may see Jesus, believe in him, and have life in his name.

And today in our passage, the background is that Jesus has left the city.

He's out in the countryside.

And there, he's baptizing.

Actually, chapter 4, verse 2, tells us that Jesus' disciples were baptizing.

And at the same time, John the Baptist was also somewhere out in the countryside at a place called Anon near Selim.

We don't know where that is.

But John the Baptist was also baptizing somewhere else in the countryside, apart from Jesus.

And a situation comes up.

Some tension comes up.

Some of John the Baptist's disciples are upset that some people are leaving Jesus'

Some people are leaving John's group and going to Jesus' group to be baptized.

Team John was losing people to team Jesus.

In verse 26, John's disciples complained to him.

Rabbi, he who is with you across the Jordan to whom you bore witness.

Look, he's baptizing and all are going to him.

Now, clearly, not all people were leaving John and going to Jesus.

But this sort of emotional tone of the disciples indicates the jealousy in their hearts.

Now, this comment that all are going to Jesus and that that's a bad thing, is this surprising to you?

After all, ever since John the Baptist began his ministry, he was pretty clear as to who he was and who he wasn't.

Back in chapter 1, John the Baptist said,

He who comes after me, referring to Jesus, ranks before me.

Because he was before me.

John the Baptist also says, when he saw Jesus, he said,

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And John responds to his disciples in verse 28.

He says,

You yourselves bear me witness.

You've heard me say this before.

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

John was quite clear.

I am just a messenger.

I'm not the most important person.

Jesus is who you should follow.

Jesus is who you should trust.

Jesus is the one you should run after and adore.

And yet, somehow,

John's disciples completely missed the point of his entire ministry.

And his ministry was to shine a spotlight on the beauty of Jesus.

Imagine it's a beautiful day.

You've hiked up Twin Peaks or another mountain in Hong Kong.

And the sun is just about to set.

And you're just ready to bask in all the beauty of nature.

You're overlooking the harbor.

The sun's coming down.

But over there, you notice a couple folks.

They're armed with their selfie sticks.

And they're spending all this energy trying to take the perfect selfie

just as a sunset with the perfect light.

But they take too long.

They spend too much energy.

The angle's not perfect.

The light's not perfect.

And they miss the sunset.

They miss the selfie.

They completely miss the point of that experience.

And it was kind of like that for John the Baptist's disciples.

They were so fixated on John

as if he was someone to worship

that they miss Jesus.

Now, I've been a Christian since I was probably,

I don't know, seven or eight years old.

But for the first 20 years of my Christian life,

I cannot honestly say that I knew Jesus.

I didn't really have a personal relationship with him.

I went to church in my teens.

I went to youth group.

I was in university ministry.

I even helped to plant a church.

But for those first 20 years,

I didn't know Jesus personally.

We didn't have a relationship.

I thought that being a Christian meant I had to serve in church.

I had to be a good moral person and not sin.

Of course, I was sitting all the time,

and I still do.

For the first 20 years of being a Christian,

I missed the point of being a Christian.

How about for you?

Maybe you've grown up in church,

and you're a Christian by tradition.

But if you're truly honest with yourself,

sitting right here,

you can't say that you really know Jesus personally.

Or maybe you grew up in a Christian home,

but you find it difficult to believe that God loves you

because you've never experienced love before.

Or maybe you've been in church for a while,

but your church leaders have hurt you.

And now you find it hard to love God and trust God

because, well, if his church leaders were not good people,

how can God be good?

Or maybe you've struggled with life.

Nothing ever goes your way.

And so how can God be good?

Well, on this last point,

when we give our lives to Jesus,

when we surrender to him

and say that he's our Lord and Savior,

he does bless us with many, many things.

He gives us his grace and forgiveness.

We receive eternal life in heaven.

And he also gives us many material things as well,

many resources, if he so chooses.

But the point of being a Christian

is not what Jesus gives us.

It's Jesus himself.

It's that relationship with him,

knowing him,

praying to him,

experiencing him,

experiencing his joy,

being in a relationship with him.

It's kind of like marriage,

in a way.

For my wife Celeste and I,

the point of our marriage

is not that we need to work really hard

to raise our kids,

to send them out into the world.

The highest calling of marriage

is the intimacy of a relationship.

It's not just functional partnership.

It's relational intimacy.

It's loving intimacy.

You know, years ago,

I'm not sure if you were here for this,

but we ran a poll here at Watermark

and we asked everyone,

what's the best thing about Watermark?

And the most common response was,

it's the community.

And that's a wonderful response.

We're called Watermark Community Church.

Being a Christian is not a solo project.

We will miss the beauty of Jesus

if our Christianity is just internal and private

and away from community.

And yet,

community is not the most important part of church,

nor the most important part about being a Christian.

Jesus is.

And in this passage,

in many ways,

John,

sorry,

Jesus,

was messing up this community of discipleship

that John had.

People were leaving John's CG

and going to Jesus.

And,

imagine what Niels would say if that happened.

But,

and John's disciples were upset at this.

But John said,

hey,

that's a good thing.

You're leaving me,

but you're going to the one that should be adored.

You're going to Jesus to know him,

to experience him,

to understand him,

and to love and trust him.

Because being with Jesus was more important

than being in John's community.

And so for us,

let's remember,

don't come to church

primarily because your friends are here.

Don't come to church

primarily because you think that

if you can just hang on to that good sermon,

not for me,

from Kevin and Niels,

if you can just hang on to that good sermon,

all will be okay.

Don't worship your church leaders.

Worship Jesus.

We should all follow our church elders,

yes,

but all the elders here,

we're all broken men.

We're all highly fallible.

We're all sinful

and need the grace of Jesus.

The point of being a Christian

is to worship Jesus Christ.

And so the question is,

do we truly love Jesus

or do we just love our church community?

Do we truly love Jesus

or we just love what we think he can give us?

And this is what John the Baptist

was trying to say in these verses.

Don't miss the point.

Don't focus on me.

Focus on Jesus.

I am not the point.

Jesus is the point.

And in verse 29,

he uses this metaphor of a wedding.

Similar to in chapter 2,

when Jesus turns water into wine

at that wedding,

a wedding is a symbol

of the ultimate celebration.

And the seminal part of a wedding

is the wedding ceremony.

But imagine if at that ceremony,

just as the bride and the groom

were saying their vows,

the best man interrupts

and starts talking about himself.

Or imagine if just as

a newly married husband and wife

are taking their wedding photos,

the best man photo bombs them.

Of course,

all the guests and the family would say,

dude, get out of here, man.

It's not about you.

It's about the husband and the wife,

the bride and groom.

John says,

the best man isn't the point.

Verse 29,

he says,

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 bride is for the bridegroom.

We are the bride.

Jesus is the groom.

It's interesting,

this last sentence,

therefore,

this joy of mine

is now complete.

What an incredible thing to say

in that context,

if you really think about it.

John's own status

was being diminished.

He was pretty much giving up

his ministry and career,

but his joy was full

and complete

and perfect

because he saw Jesus

lifted up

and adored.

How about for you?

What would make your joy complete?

Is it that perfect job?

Is it that perfect relationship?

Is it financial security?

For John the Baptist,

it was seeing Jesus

lifted up

and adored.

And so for John,

the very thing

that offended his disciples

was the exact thing

that he wanted to see.

Verse 30,

he must increase

and I must decrease.

My ministry must diminish

so that Jesus can be lifted up.

Jesus is the main show.

I'm just the opening act.

John lived not for his glory.

He lived to honor Jesus.

These were the last recorded words

of John the Baptist

in this book of John

as around 6 to 12 months later,

he was put in prison

and then he was executed

a bit after that.

You could say

this was John the Baptist's

last testimony.

In our culture of self-promotion,

isn't it hard to believe

that John the Baptist

was excited

at the downfall of his ministry?

This is his career.

How many of us here today

have worked incredibly hard

in school,

at work,

to get to where we are today?

Would you be able

to give it all up?

Give up all your hopes

and dreams,

your status and position

to honor Jesus?

Who here can truly say

he must increase,

I must decrease?

Often actually we say this

and we say he may increase

and may we decrease.

Actually it says

he must increase

and we must decrease.

This is the Christian life.

I imagine it took John years

to build up a reputation

in the ministry field.

I imagine it took him

a lot of hard work

to build up all those disciples

that followed him around.

But John was willing

to give up all of that

if it meant his disciples

were going to experience Jesus

and love and trust Jesus.

And so the question is,

how could he do that?

How could he give up everything?

Well,

it's because he knew

who Jesus was.

He knew who Jesus was.

Who is Jesus?

Well, let's take a step back.

Over the past six or so weeks,

as we've opened up

these first few chapters

of this book of John,

we've seen and heard

about Jesus

from multiple different angles

and perspectives.

In chapter one,

John the Apostle,

the writer,

he tells us that

Jesus is the Word.

The Word, Jesus,

he was there from the beginning

creating the world.

And then the Word became flesh

and lived among humanity.

And then John the Baptist,

he comes on the scene

and he tells us,

look to Jesus,

he is the Son of God.

And then in chapter two,

Jesus turns water into wine

at that wedding in Cana.

showing the reader

for the first time

that he isn't like everybody else.

The laws of nature

and physics don't apply to him.

And after that,

he goes into the temple

with full authority.

He drives out

all of those money changers

and people doing commerce

and trade.

And he shows that,

yes,

I'm not just any rabbi.

He said,

this is my father's house.

And then last week,

we heard that Jesus

spoke to Nicodemus.

And in the dead of night,

he tells Nicodemus,

if you want to see God,

if you want to see

the kingdom of heaven,

you must be born again.

You must be born of heaven.

But how?

How?

Through the Son.

Through the Son.

And only through the Son.

Believe in the Son

and you shall be saved.

Over these few chapters,

John the Apostle

has been slowly

painting this mosaic of Jesus,

adding texture and color.

And now,

in these last few verses

of chapter 3,

after all the testimony

and comments about Jesus,

dialogue and actions

from Jesus himself,

John finally cuts to the heart

of the most important question.

Who is Jesus?

Is he a political activist?

Is he a rabbi?

Is he like an Old Testament prophet?

Is he a good moral teacher?

Who is Jesus?

And in these last verses,

from 31 to 34,

John tells us,

Jesus Christ is none other

than God himself.

If you have seen Jesus,

you've seen the very face of God.

If you have heard Jesus speak,

you've heard the very words of God.

If you have seen Jesus in action,

you've seen the very hand

of God at work.

Jesus is none other

than God in flesh.

Jesus is divine.

Listen to what John says.

Verse 31.

He who comes from above

is above all.

Jesus was born

as a human,

as a baby,

excuse me,

2,000 years ago

in Bethlehem.

But Jesus existed

always

in eternity.

The Old Testament prophet

Micah,

he says this about Jesus.

He says,

from the clan of Judah,

which was a lineage

of Jesus,

from you

shall come forth

one who is ruler

over Israel,

whose origin

is from old,

from everlasting.

Jesus comes from heaven

and is therefore

above all.

He has full authority

to do anything

and everything

he pleases.

Hence,

the laws of nature

and physics

don't apply to him

and he can turn water

into wine

in a heartbeat

and even death

and the grave

have no hold

on Jesus.

He's from heaven.

verse 34,

if we go on,

it says,

for he whom God

has sent

utters the words

of God

for he gives

the spirit

without measure.

In the Old Testament,

prophets like Isaiah

and Jeremiah,

for example,

were given

a measure

of God's spirit

for a period

of time

to speak

God's word

for that period

of time.

But Jesus Christ

is full

of the spirit

without measure.

He's been given

God's spirit

fully

and completely.

He's full of God

because he is God.

And if we pay attention

to these verses,

31 to 34,

we see these words,

speaks,

bears witness,

testimony,

utters the words

of God,

referring to Jesus

speaking.

These are like arrows

pointing us

to pay attention

to the words

of Jesus.

What he said

was very important.

We should listen

to him.

And so as we reflect

on the words

spoken by Jesus,

this raises

three questions

for us.

The first is,

are we following

the words of Jesus?

Going back

to the people

that we follow,

I mentioned

Dr. Peter Atiyah.

Dr. Atiyah,

years ago,

he was espousing

these medical views,

these health hacks,

that cold baths

and hot saunas

and long-term fasting

were good for immunity

and health.

But recently,

Dr. Atiyah,

he changed his mind.

He said,

after further research

and empirical experience,

he doesn't recommend

these things anymore.

The negatives

outweigh the positives.

He changed his mind

because, well,

he's human.

But Jesus Christ,

because he's from above,

he's above all.

He's full of God's spirit

without measure

because the Father

has given all things

into his hands.

Everything Jesus said

in the Bible

either came true

or will come true.

He never changes his mind.

He never changes

his convictions.

He never,

never lies.

He always tells the truth.

Everything he says

comes true.

And yet,

how much of what Jesus said

do we actually listen to?

How much of what he said

do we actually believe

and respond to?

Actually,

Jesus said,

whoever wants to be

my disciple

must deny themselves

and take up his cross.

Jesus said,

whoever wants to save

their life will lose it.

But whoever loses

their life for me

will find it.

Jesus said,

no one can serve

two masters.

You cannot serve

both God

and money.

Are we following

the words

of Jesus?

And second,

who is Jesus

to you?

Last week we heard

Jesus on Nicodemus,

the most famous

passage in the Bible.

For God so loved

the world

that he gave his only son

that whoever believes

in him

shall not perish

but have eternal life.

belief.

We cannot separate

belief in God

from belief

in Jesus.

The very words

of Jesus,

the testimony

of Jesus

is the testimony

and the words

of God.

Jesus was there

at creation.

The Father loves

all,

the Father loves

Jesus and has given

all things

into his hands.

Jesus said,

the road

to all that is good

come through me.

The road

to all that is good

now and forever

Jesus said

comes through me.

I am the good shepherd

who comes down

and from heaven

and gives life.

I and the Father

are one.

I am the way,

the truth

and the life.

No one comes

to the Father

except through me.

Who is Jesus

to you?

Is he an interesting

influencer?

Is he a good

moral teacher?

You know,

Coldplay is coming

to Hong Kong

I think next month.

I bet

if Chris Martin

walked through

those doors

right now,

some here

would gush,

some would scream

and yell

and I bet

a select few

may even faint.

Where is Leo De Silva?

He would faint.

What would you do

if Jesus Christ,

the Savior of the world

walked through

those doors

right now

into this hall?

Would you gush?

Would you meet him

with indifference?

Would you be fearful?

Or would you bow down

in worship

and adoration?

Who is Jesus

to you?

And third,

do you believe

in the Son?

When Jesus

walked this earth,

he made astounding

claims

and performed

miracles

that no one

had ever seen

before.

He claimed

that you must

believe in him

and him alone

to be saved.

There is

no middle ground.

Verse 36,

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 challenging verse.

this morning,

if you're not yet

a Christian

or if you think

you're a Christian

but your words

and your actions

suggest that you're not,

this verse

is speaking

directly to you.

And friends,

your response

is binary.

Either you bow down

to Jesus

in worship

and adoration

or you reject

everything

he has said

and the wrath

of God

remains on you.

Either you believe

that Jesus

is who he said

he is

from above

and above all

full of the Spirit

without measure

who utters

the very words

of God

the Son of God

the Savior

of the world

the one who died

on the cross

for you.

Either you believe

all those things

or you reject

everything

he has said

and done.

John the Baptist

has made his choice

and I've made mine.

With all my mind

when I go down

the rabbit hole

of history

I can see

that Jesus

is who he said

he is

everything

he said

is true.

And with all my heart

and every bone

in my body

I know

my Redeemer lives

I know him.

Don't let

another second

go by

without knowing

your Savior.

Come talk to me

or Kev

or another elder

if you want to know

your Savior

Jesus Christ.

We'd love to help you

to get to know him.

And for those of us

who are Christians

and have declared

that our faith

hope and trust

is in Jesus

today's passage

reminds us

that Jesus

is divine

and he's worthy

of worship.

And so as we

as we think

about how to respond

this week

let's consider

these

couple

ways.

For me

I find spending

a little bit

of time

every morning

in prayer

just pouring

my heart

out to

Jesus.

I read his word

a little bit

and I just pray

to him

and I just

pour out

all that I'm

thinking

feeling

all my hopes

and anxieties

praise and adoration

it's a relationship.

He's my refuge

he's my shepherd

he's my God

it's a wonderful

time of intimacy

and relationship.

Perhaps consider

doing that

this week

or

I suggest

coming up

for prayer

our prayer team

will be around

the hall

in just a moment

sometimes

you know

God works

when we take

that step

of faith

to ask

to physically

ask for prayer

not that we're

earning God's

favor

but God

honors

that step

of faith

and finally

perhaps consider

opening up

and sharing

with someone

a burden

on your heart

or

perhaps

this is

something

that you know

isn't right

in your heart

maybe there's a

conflict

that you haven't

resolved yet

maybe

you've been

repeatedly

sitting against

God

in some

certain way

you've been

idolizing

something

confess

that to

someone

and then

ask them

to pray

for you

let me

close

today's

passage

tells us

that we

can call

ourselves

Christians

and come

to church

for many

years

and totally

miss the

point

being

Christian

is about

knowing

Jesus

loving

Jesus

experiencing

Jesus

and experiencing

the

incredible

joy

and peace

and satisfaction

that nothing

in this world

could ever

replace

and it's not

because of a

new way

of thinking

it's not

because of

a philosophy

or mindset

it's not

because of

some great

moral clarity

it's not

because we're

really disciplined

it's because

of Jesus

Christ

who he is

the son of

God

the savior

of the world

he's from

above and above

all

who utters

the very

words of

God

it's about

him

he's God

and yet he

beckons us

and he invites

us to know

him

what an

incredible

thought

the God of

the universe

says hey

I want

to know

you

I want

you to

know

me

I already

know

you

I want

you to

know

me

I want

you to

love me

and trust

me

Jesus

Christ

is worthy

not just

to follow

he is worthy

of all our

adoration

praise

and worship

let's

now respond

to him

let's

respond to

him

let's

pray

Father God

Holy Spirit

Lord Jesus

if you've

been speaking

to us

Lord

if we

have heard

your voice

today

Lord

I pray

that

we would

not just

let it

pass us

by

like some

interesting

information

and data

I pray

God

that

you would

convict

us

may our

hearts

open up

and receive

your word

today

Lord

I pray

God

that

Jesus

Christ

would be

magnified

in every

person's

heart

today

Lord

I pray

God

for those

of us

who

have been

indifferent

about you

those of us

that have

struggled

to believe

that you're

good

and you

love us

those of us

that don't

even know

you at

all

those of us

that have

rejected you

God

wherever

we're at

we're all

in different

places

I pray

even now

right now

we would

respond to you

in praise

and worship

in surrender

and God

we may not

even know

what that

looks like

what does

it mean

to surrender

help us

Holy Spirit

open up

our hearts

and reveal

to us

the ways

in which

we have

put other

things

and prioritize

other things

above you

open up

our hearts

to show us

where we've

idolized

the things

of this

world

our own

hopes

and ambitions

above you

open up

our hearts

to help

us to see

where we

have

prioritized

even things

in church

above you

help us

to see

make these

words come

alive

that you

are

from above

and above

all

you are

full of

the spirit

without

measure

that the

father loves

his son

has given

all things

into his

hands

the son

utters

the very

words

of God

as we

respond

to you

may our

hearts

adore you

and love

you

and worship

you

we give

you the

rest of

this

service

in Jesus

name

amen