Following Jesus as Saviour and Lord

Father, this passage of Scripture which we've just read is very deep and very challenging.

And we ask, Lord, that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us

and bring your word home to the command center of who we are.

Bring your word home to our mind, our emotions, our will,

to our memories, to our longings, to our fears.

Father, bring your word home deeply to us so that we might be disciples of Jesus

who are gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory.

And we ask this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Please be seated.

Between the two services, I go and I get a coffee.

I probably have a mild coffee addiction.

The nice thing about coffee addictions is it doesn't ruin your life.

You don't start breaking into cars to rob money for it or anything like that.

But anyway, I went to have a coffee and there was a young woman serving me

and I asked her if she was...

I said, who's going to win the Super Bowl tonight?

And she said, oh gosh, I don't have the vaguest idea.

And I said, are you going to a Super Bowl party?

She said, absolutely.

I said, I go for the food and to see Justin Timberlake at halftime.

So, you know, she...

When I was growing up, I didn't get invited to parties very often.

I'm still in therapy over the issue, actually.

You know, there's different groups in school and there's like, you know, the more jocks,

the art types, the, you know, the popular kids, etc., etc.

If I was in a group, it was the group that wasn't in a group.

Sort of it would be the spares.

I was part of the spares that sort of just hung around.

And so I didn't get invited to many parties or anything like that.

But, you know, it's a very, very common mistake that people make

to equate being popular, whatever's popular, as being true.

I mean, generally speaking, people recognize, as soon as it's said that way,

that it's not true.

But it's a very, very popular sort of...

It's a very, very powerful type of idea that whatever's popular,

whatever's becoming popular, is somehow more true than that which is not popular.

And when we respond to that, we might respond in a variety of truisms or therapy or cliches.

I don't know if you noticed, but the gospel text which we looked at,

I read just a few moments ago, it actually talks about this fundamental thing.

In fact, it catches John the Baptist's disciples equating popularity with truth.

And the dispute is partially about that.

And it's really interesting, when we talk about things like that,

we often just resort to cliches.

But when this question is raised to John the Baptist,

he doesn't go to cliches, he goes in a completely and utterly wild and different direction.

So it'd be great help to me if you open your Bibles,

and we're going to look at John chapter 3, verses 22 and following.

John 3:22

And I think we're going to have the first picture of John the Baptist.

The pictures of John the Baptist just basically follow the three principal moments in his life.

The first principal moment being his ministry of baptism,

which culminates in Jesus being baptized.

The second picture, the artwork that we're going to see,

is the moment which we looked at a couple of weeks ago

when John the Baptist points to Jesus and says,

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

And then the last two pictures we'll look at his end.

It's sort of just to give a bit of a sense of who John the Baptist is

as we listen to this story about how John the Baptist bears witness finally to Jesus.

So here it is in verse 22.

It begins after this.

And what it means by after this is Jesus has just talked to Nicodemus,

a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling party under the Romans,

but the group that ruled that part of Judea and Jerusalem according to the Jewish law.

And Jesus had a conversation with Nicodemus who'd come to him at night.

And the story continues.

Verse 22 after this,

Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside

and Jesus remained there with them and was baptizing.

John the Baptist,

I won't keep saying John the Baptist, but that's who it is.

It's not the Apostle John.

It's John the Baptist that's being referred to here.

John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim

because water was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized.

For John had not yet been put in prison.

Just sort of a pause there.

Immediately after this story,

John, the writer of the gospel,

clarifies that Jesus doesn't actually do the baptizing,

that it's his disciples who do the baptizing,

but it just refers here.

In a sense, what it's saying is that for one of Jesus' disciples to baptize,

it was as if Jesus was baptizing.

That's really what's being implied.

Anyway, it continues on.

Now, a discussion arose between some of John's disciples

and a Jew over purification.

And interestingly enough,

what the word is,

it's referring to the different ceremonial washings.

So it really is connected to baptism.

It's talking about ceremonial washings.

And they're having a bit of a disagreement or discussion.

You can well imagine that the Jewish person is saying,

well, listen, John, the Baptist disciple,

whatever his name,

we'll call him Bob.

Listen, Bob,

you know,

our ceremonies come from Moses.

It's still just going like crazy.

It's just continuing on.

You know,

but, you know,

you and John,

you've been doing your baptisms,

but, you know,

it must suck to be you a little bit

because your market share is going way down

and fewer and fewer people are going to you

because this guy Jesus over there,

he's sort of become like the John the Baptist light.

And people are going over to him.

And, you know,

I mean, what's going on?

Maybe you should turn it down.

Maybe what you're doing isn't right.

Maybe what you're doing isn't of God

because, I mean,

we know we're of God

because we're Moses

and we're still really popular.

And this guy, Jesus,

he's growing in popularity.

So what's going on with you?

Maybe it just isn't valid,

not important.

And so verse 26,

they,

and in the original language,

it's not both of the groups.

It's just John the Baptist disciples.

They come to John

and said to him,

and this is really,

really a very,

very telling thing,

right?

You can sort of hear

sort of the anxiety in it

as they ask the question,

Rabbi,

he who was with you across the Jordan

to whom you bore witness,

look,

he is baptizing

and all are going to him.

All just means lots.

It doesn't mean every single person.

It means lots.

It's the way we talk

sometimes

when we're really feeling down.

everything is going wrong.

Everything is collapsing.

Well, we don't really,

literally mean that, right?

We just,

it's,

we're depressed.

We exaggerate.

And,

you know,

they have to start to wonder

if,

how is it that what we're doing

can sort of be valid

or true and important

if it's becoming less popular?

And it's a very human problem,

connecting

that type of popularity

and movement in one way

with somehow being true

or being valid.

It's also very,

very interesting

in another way

for Christians.

It's very,

very hard for us

to believe.

I should probably be standing here.

I'm in darkness over there,

right?

Yeah.

I'm a slow learner.

Every week,

the lights keep changing too.

Is this better?

Okay.

Actually,

I want to always stand like this

so you see my best side.

No,

I'm just,

it's not true.

Yeah,

that would be a great thing

for me to comment on

a text like this,

by the way,

which we're about to look at,

me being concerned

about how I look.

It's very,

very,

very,

listen again to the text,

verse 26,

and they came to John

and said to him,

Rabbi,

he who was with you

across the Jordan

to whom you bore witness,

look,

he is baptizing

and all are going to him.

It's a very,

very hard thing

for Christians

to get their mind

around the fact

that

God and I

have very,

very clear boundaries

and God is God

and I am not God

and that will never change

and that I can

diminish,

my role

can get smaller

and as my role

gets smaller,

God gets greater.

It's a very hard thing

to get our mind around

because we tend to think

that God and me

are sort of joined

at the hip

and if my popularity

or my power

or my influence

goes up,

well then surely

God's going up too

and if my sort of influence

and my importance

are going down,

then surely

God's is going down too

and it's a very,

very powerful

human dynamic

to somehow or another

link

my destiny

and my influence

to God's status

and

it's in that

type of direction

that John the Baptist

moves.

You see,

John could have just

said a cliche,

well just because

it's popular

doesn't mean it's true.

That could be

on any newscaster's lips

an easy thing

for a writer

or a parent

or one of us

to say it's just

a simple cliche.

But John goes

and he looks

deeper behind this

to see a basic

heart condition

of a deeper

human problem

of us

somehow thinking

that we are joined

at the hip

with God

and I am never

joined at the hip

with God.

He is not joined

at the hip with me.

So listen to how

John answers

in verse 27

and from verse 27

on to 36

it's all just,

it could almost

be written

like a creed.

It's these series

of simple statements

that are all

connected to each other

and I was saying

to my wife

just last night

part of the problem

I have with this text

is

it's one of the things

you can pray for me

every week.

I said you could

almost take

every one of the verses

27, 28, 29

all the way down

to 36

and you could

almost preach

an entire sermon

in fact more than

one sermon

just on each verse.

It's the series

of very deep

and profound things

that John says

in connection

to the fact

that his popularity

is going down

and people are starting

to forget about him

and people aren't

making as much

of him

as they used to.

He's less important.

he's diminished

and his disciples

who love him

and are connected

to him

their hearts

are breaking

about this

and here's the first

thing that John says

verse 27

a person

cannot receive

even

one

thing

unless it is

given him

from heaven.

Now

this doesn't mean

here that

bad thing

it's

in the original

language

the implication

here is that

every good thing

that any human

being has

is given

him

from God

and why does it

say heaven?

It's because

heaven

is that place

where God

is fully present

and fully

rules

and his

presence

and his

rule

is experienced

as life

and joy

and wholeness

and so

John the Baptist

says

every good

thing

that any

human being

has in their

life

is ultimately

something

that we've

received.

If you could

put up the

first point

and my first

point

I came across

this quote

from J.C.

Ryle

and I just

could not

beat it.

So that's why

it says

J.C.

Ryle

I cannot

command

continual

success

in my

ministry

I can

only

receive

what God

gives me.

Now I know

this point

I'm the only

pastor here

although

every

Christian

is called

to be a

minister

we're all

in a sense

called to be

priests

Jonathan

has started

a really

great

learners

exchange

between

the two

services

just

challenging

us to

understand

the whole

priesthood

of all

believers

and in a

sense the

ministerhood

of all

believers

that we

are called

to serve

the Lord

where we

work

there is

in a sense

in the

Bible

no such

thing as

a distinction

between

secular

and holy

because

Jesus is

Lord of

all

he's

Lord of

how we

live in

our cubicle

if we're

a civil

servant

or we

have a

cubicle

outside of

it

he's

Lord of

how we

serve

in the

military

he's

Lord of

us

as

entrepreneurs

as

professors

as

stay at

home

moms

or dads

as

retired

people

he is

Lord of

all

but I

just

thought

I'd

share

this

thing

in

terms

of

ministry

because

it's

more

of a

personal

thing

let me

tell you

we

ministers

we

pastors

we can

start to

get

really

down

on

ourselves

if our

attendance

isn't up

and to

the

right

offerings

aren't

up

and to

the

right

it's

not

a

pretty

sight

in a

pastor's

soul

often

and this

is just

a very

very

powerful

way

to

capture

it

so

one

of

the

things

you

can

pray

for

me

is

that

I

will

believe

verse

27

that

I

will

really

believe

that

a

person

cannot

receive

even

one

thing

unless

it

is

given

him

from

heaven

now

some

of

you

might

say

George

doesn't

this

sound

a

little

bit

like

it

sounds

like

a

Christian

version

of

what

Muslims

say

all

the

time

what

is

it

that

Muslims

say

something

bad

happens

something

good

happens

some

tragedy

happens

inshallah

just

God's

will

can't

do

anything

about

it

inshallah

I

don't

know

if

I'm

pronouncing

it

correctly

that's

a very

classic

Muslim

phrase

it

in

some

ways

perfectly

captures

how

Muslims

understand

who

God

is

in

some

ways

he's

like

a

tyrant

he's

absolute

power

and

just

does

whatever

he

wants

and

so

some

bad

things

are

going

to

happen

just

God's

will

and

so

some

of

them

might

say

George

is

that

sort

of

like

that

how

does

but

here

if

you

could

put

up

the

next

point

the

gospel

does

not

call

me

to

be

fatalistic

and

passive

it

calls

me

to

active

humble

grateful

life

partly

you see

that

when you

look at

the

very

next

verse

which

we're

going

to

read

in a

moment

I

mean

this

is

in

the

context

and

you

look

at

John's

ministry

you

realize

that

John

was

not

being

fatalistic

or

passive

you

know

if

we

think

everything

rises

and

falls

on

our

ability

well

first

of

all

that's

just

going

to

be

very

very

unjust

if

everything

just

rises

and

falls

on

our

ability

you

know

let

me

tell

you

if

you're

raised

in a

certain

type

of

family

if

you

have

certain

types

of

genes

if

you

have

certain

types

of

opportunities

just

from

your

family

of

origin

life's

going to

be a lot

easier

than if

you have

a different

type

of

family

and

if

everything

is

just

completely

and

utterly

up

to

us

it

leads

to

pride

it

leads

to

arrogance

it

leads

to

presumption

it

leads

when

we're

successful

it

leads

to

despair

and

hopelessness

like

in a

very

very

odd

way

if

the

pendulum

fills

swings

all

the

way

to

inshallah

well

that

creates

this

big

problem

of

being

fatalistic

and

passive

but

if

it

swings

to

the

other

extreme

where

you

just

have

to

grab

your

destiny

be

the

captain

of

your

own

soul

be

the

captain

of

your

destiny

just

you

got

to

go

out

there

and

attain

and

that's

all

right

to

a

certain

degree

when

you're

young

or

when

you're

powerful

and

when

you're

well

connected

but

it

sucks

if

you're

none

of

those

things

and

the

fact

of

the

matter

is

that

for

most

of

us

if

we

live

long

enough

all

of

those

things

will

pass

and

all

of

those

things

will

go

and

when

we

tend

to

think

that

it's

all

up

to

us

it

quickly

leads

to

insufferable

arrogance

and

pride

or

heart

rending

despair

and

so

when

John

the

Baptist

commenting

on

the

fact

that

Jesus

John's

influence

is

declining

he

has

these

series

of

statements

in the

first

one

sort of

the

gateway

into

it

as a

person

cannot

receive

even

one

thing

the

original

language

implies

a good

thing

unless

it

is

given

him

from

heaven

you

see

this

actually

means

that

I

can

say

grace

thank

you

father

for

this

food

thank

you

for

this

place

that

we

worship

in

I

don't

know

why

I'm

here

rather

than

maybe

in

South

North

Korea

or

Saudi

Arabia

where

we'd

have

to

hide

and

just

be

meeting

in

a

small

room

and

maybe

even

whispering

like

I

don't

know

why

God

put

us

here

but

you

know

what

he

has

put

us

here

we

should

just

be

so

grateful

this

is

a

gift

that

we

have

received

and

God

doesn't

give

these

gifts

so

we

are

fatalistic

but

he

gives

these

gifts

so

we

can

have

a

confidence

and

a

courage

John

the

Baptist

look

at

verse

28

John

you

yourselves

bear me

witness

that I

said

I

am

not

the

Christ

but

I

have

been

sent

before

him

I

am

not

the

Christ

but

I

have

been

sent

before

him

to

understand

that

all

good

things

come

from

God

it

creates

a

type

of

humility

before

God

a

gratitude

before

God

a

thanksgiving

before

God

and

it's

part

of

the

ground

for

being

courageous

we

all

know

that

one

of

the

problems

in

the

West

is

that

our

high

standards

of

living

have

often

meant

that

we

are

crueler

where

we

can

influence

our

power

and

it

often

works

to

diminish

courage

and

generosity

I

think

it's

something

like

the

23rd

consecutive

year

in a

row

since

Stats

Canada

has been

tracking

it

that

the

number

of

people

who

are

able

to

claim

a

$160

deduction

on their

income

tax

has

declined

we

become

more

prosperous

we

become

less

generous

but

what

John

is

saying

here

is

that

when

we're

gripped

with

the

fact

that

all

good

gifts

ultimately

come

from

God

it

is

part

of

the

ground

that

allows

him

to

go

and

proclaim

behold

the

Lamb

of

God

who

takes

away

the

sin

of

the

world

come

to

God

repent

of

your

sins

it

creates

within

him

not

fatalism

or

being

passive

but

a

whole

new

ground

and

motivation

for

action

now

some

of

you

might

say

sorry

I

mixed

up

my

analogies

let's

read

from

28

and

29

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

must

increase

but

I

must

decrease

if you

could put

up the

next point

Andrew

one of

the

things

one

of

the

things

that's

very

very

powerful

about

this

text

remember

I

said

how

one

of

the

problems

we

have

when

we

think

that

it

all

depends

upon

us

everything

depends

upon

us

it

often

leads

to

us

being

very

very

proud

and

having

a

very

very

false

sense

of

our

power

and

doing

things

to

cling

to

our

power

but

what

John

is

saying

here

what

the

Bible

is

bearing

witness

to

is

that

the

more

that

I

know

that

I

am

not

the

Christ

but

that

instead

I

am

to

pave

the

way

for

him

the

saner

my

life

will

be

I

mean

we

all

know

that

the

me

too

the

hashtag

me

too

movement

was

really

in

many

ways

launched

over

the

Harvey

Weinstein's

alleged

just

as

unbelievable

just

alleged

long

standing

turning

a

blind

eye

abuse

of

his

power

and

he

abused

his

power

in

terrible

terrible

ways

at least

it's

alleged

I have

to be

careful

I'm

on the

stage

it's

alleged

that

he's

abused

his

power

and

if

these

allegations

are

true

it's

a

horrible

thing

and

it's

launched

a

whole

movement

of

women

now

complaining

about

other

powerful

men

who've

done

other

things

by

abusing

their

power

and

it's

a

type

of

insanity

isn't

it

that

some

men

would

behave

in

such

a

way

and

what

John

is

expressing

here

this

deep

seated

thing

is

to

always

remember

I

am

not

the

Messiah

I

am

not

God

I

am

not

the

Messiah

I

am

not

God

I

am

not

God's

anointed

that's

not

who

I

am

I

mean

in

light

of

the

me

too

movement

for

every

person

whether

a

man

or

woman

to

just

be

able

to

say

maybe

even

every

day

I

am

not

God

I

am

not

the

Christ

I

am

not

the

Messiah

I

am

not

the

anointed

one

even

in

of

itself

we

can

see

that

that's

a

movement

towards

sanity

but

then

John

understands

from

God

that

it's

not

then

therefore

that

he's

sad

or

depressed

that

he's

not

the

Christ

but

that

God

has

called

him

in a

very

simple

humble

manner

to

have

a

very

important

role

which

is

to

point

to

the

Christ

to

prepare

the

way

for

the

Christ

to

live

a

life

in

such

a

way

that

people

will

know

Christ

it's

not

just

that

he

steps

down

from

trying

to

be

the

Christ

and

then

he

goes

nowhere

he

has

nothing

to

do

but

he

begins

to

understand

that

his

whole

life

is

to

be

preparing

people

to

know

Jesus

both

by

how

he

lives

and

by

what

he

says

but

some