Out With the Old, In With the New

Today's uh sermon is called Out with the Old, In with the New.

That's right.

Alright.

My wife and I love true crime.

Any other true crime fans?

Yes.

Yeah, we we listen to crime junkies, we watch the true crime video, you know, channels on on YouTube and everything.

We can't get enough of this courtroom drama, llama.

There's there's this moment in the courtroom when everything goes quiet and they're waiting for the verdict.

You know, you are accused of killing forty-five people and the jury finds you everyone waits for the verdict.

They like they hold their silence, right?

And that moment is how the world feels about God.

I feel like there's this they're waiting for the sentence, they're waiting for God to slam down the gavel and say guilty.

But then there's this unexpected moment with God where God sends his son not to condemn the world, but to rescue the world.

To rescue.

And we studied that last week in John 3.16, where it says God did, you know, uh God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

And we study John 3.16 where you know God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.

Everybody knows that verse, but John 7 3.17 is what makes it necessary, where God is not looking for a way to convict you, he's looking for a way to save you.

But something always happens when this new message of God arrives.

The old thing has to be thrown in the trash can, the old thing has to go away, the old arrangement has to leave.

You're go to see a stand-up comedian.

We also like stand-up comedy.

Anyone else like comedy?

Okay, you're my friends.

There you go.

Stand-up is funny.

I love, but can you imagine the headliner coming out, but the opener refusing to give up the microphone?

Just like, hey, I got one more for you, I got one more for you.

Still playing his his music, still talking into the microphone.

That's exactly what religion, religion, religion does when Jesus comes on the scene.

See, when Jesus comes on the scene, he's bringing a whole new thing.

And religion gets in the way of what Jesus is actually bringing.

And John the Baptist, we're gonna see today, he would not do that.

He ran the last leg of the old covenant race that was going on, right?

And the moment that he hands off the baton to Jesus, he gets out of the way and he does it with joy, saying, like, my race is done.

And he says this, we're gonna see this today.

He must increase and I must decrease.

You guys heard that before?

That's what this is about.

So we're gonna see these things today, these three things.

Why the sun came, why Jesus came.

We're gonna see why the old way had to go, and where this new light actually comes from.

And these three things all turn on the same hinge, which is what do you do with Jesus?

What do you do with Jesus?

So that's gonna be the question that you have to deal with today.

You have to process because if we reject the Son and reject his gift, which is eternal life, you can't tell him, Um, I'll take the eternal life, but I don't want you.

I'll take your gift, but I don't want you.

That's really important that we're gonna see today.

So let's just dive into John chapter 3 and we'll see.

John 3 · chapter mention

Verse 17.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him they might be saved.

He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest the their deeds, his deeds should be exposed.

But he does, but he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they may have been done in God.

Yeah, exactly.

So what do we see there?

Well, we see right at the beginning, verse 17, that Jesus did not come to sentence the world, but to save the world.

You know, people have this impression that going to church means you're trying to appease an angry God.

Well, well, I I I got drunk this week, so I need to go to church to make it right with God.

But that's not what's happening at all.

Because God is the whole purpose of church is us connecting with the rescue that God sent us.

He pursues us, he loves us, and that's what this is all about.

He did not come to condemn us, but to save us.

You're already condemned.

And we see this also in Romans chapter 8, verse 1, where he says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

How do you get in Christ Jesus?

Well, the Bible says it's very simple.

You you believe.

You just believe upon him, you ask him into your heart, and you're placed inside him, him and you, you and him, it's called union, a relationship with Christ, where you are one with him.

And that happens by faith.

So there's no condition condemnation for those who are in Christ who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

So the world, you know, there's a condemnation if we don't believe in Jesus, but there's a salvation if we do believe in Jesus.

This is the simple message of the Bible.

It's all about Jesus.

And our only job is not to impress God, it's not to give everything to God, it's not to like like try to grovel at his feet, it's to believe in Jesus, and all that God promises belongs to us.

That's where it's at.

Then we live our life out of grateful love, and we do sacrifice and we do give and we do like love other people because not because we're trying to make it up to God, but because he loved us first.

And that motivation is the is the massive difference in everything.

The third thing we see in this is in verse 19 it says, People are judged, they're condemned.

He says, Why are they condemned?

Because they love darkness.

And how do we know they love darkness?

The Bible says it's revealed by their deeds, because their deeds, their works are sinful, that that's just coming out of the darkness that's inside them.

So it says, All people are under this condemnation unless you find a way out.

There is some way out.

And what is that way out?

Well, it's it's Jesus.

That way out is Jesus.

In Jesus, it says, we don't walk in this flesh, we walk in the spirit, which means we have a new motive, we have a new desire, we have a new heart, we have a new inner identity, and that will come out as we walk in the spirit.

It means we're living life by a different source.

A different source.

We live we we love light instead of darkness.

Why do you love darkness?

Because light scares you because it reveals sin.

It's like when you shine a light, you should flip on the light in your kitchen, and all the cockroaches scurry.

It doesn't happen in any of your kitchens, but when you were visiting your friends in Dallas, they were all over.

But we as believers, we love the light.

We love the light.

You love the light.

Why?

Because our shameful sin, and we trust me, we have had shameful sin, haven't we?

But all of it has been exposed already, it's been paid for, it's been nailed to the cross and punished, and then finally it's been forgotten in by our Father.

And so his light now is not scary for us, but it's how we share our identity with him.

So his light is our light.

We are in the light as he is in the light.

So we can walk in this new spirit, this new identity that God has given us.

It's called the Holy Spirit, walking in the spirit, you know, being a good Christian, you can define it, you can say it however you want to say it, but we have this new life where we do good because we are in the light, because we believe in Jesus, and his light becomes our light.

His life becomes our life, his heart becomes our heart, his love becomes our love, and that's how this whole thing works.

It's Jesus sharing himself with us.

But people hate the light because it shines on what they don't want to be seen.

And I get it.

I don't want my sin to be exposed to the world and everyone to see what I've done, unless I know that my sin is paid for and my sin is washed away.

Then I'm not afraid anymore.

I'm not scared anymore.

And you know what that emotion is called?

It's called shame.

It's called shame.

Jesus is the only soap that washes away shame.

His blood is the only thing, and he does this for free.

He says, I will take your guilt, I will take all that you are guilty of, and I take it upon me.

And the moment you believe, Jesus says, It's gone.

I have delivered you, I have washed you clean in my very blood.

If you doubt it, look at the cross and tell me, is this real?

Is this belong to me?

It does belong to you.

And the the enemy just wants us to doubt that.

And so when you fall, when you trip, when you make a mistake, and you get those emotions of shame and you get that thought that I should be ashamed of my behavior, true, you should not have done the thing that you did.

That's very true.

But the shame is speaking to your identity, not the action that you did.

See, the the devil, he doesn't care about the action you did, he just wants you to feel distant from God, feel like you're a sinner, feel the shame of it.

Because a person who is under shame is not walking in their true identity in Christ.

How do we accept his grace and leave shame behind?

We confess sin, we bring it into the light.

So we're talking about light here.

And he says it's really easy.

If you have sinned, you just say, Jesus, I've sinned, I'm sorry, I should not have done that.

That's not according to who I am in you, it's not who you are, and so it's easy for me to see that this is not what I'm supposed to be.

And so we confess that to him, and then we are receiving his washing and his grace, and that's how this all works.

So, the what we read is that when we receive the truth, we're receiving this message about Jesus.

So instead of producing deeds of darkness, we will begin to produce light from the inside, and our deeds will start to line up with that light.

But it doesn't happen by you trying to do good things, it only happens by you receiving his truth, which means believing in this gospel of Jesus' life being given as an exchanged life for your old life and us having this new life.

Alright, so we're gonna go to the next section, which is basically John the Baptist saying, Stop the competition.

Jesus is the heavenly son, the spirit giver, and the only one with eternal life, so just believe in him.

And that's so he's basically saying everything we were just talking about.

Um so let's read John 3 22.

After these things, Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized.

So Jesus is actually baptizing people.

Did you know Jesus baptized people?

I thought that was something new.

Verse 23.

Now John was also baptizing near Anon, near Salim, because there was much water there.

And they came and were baptized.

For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification, and they came to John and said, Rabbi, he who is with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.

So they basically say, Hey, John the Baptist, we we have a problem.

We got a problem, we got a problem.

Uh, this guy who you said is the Messiah, he's getting all the attention.

But John, of course, because he's awesome, says, I don't care.

That's exactly what I want.

John rewrites the story, he helps them to understand what is actually going on here.

He shows them the reality of the situation, and what is the reality of the situation is he he represents the old way of the law.

John was the last of the old testament prophets.

He's the greatest of all the prophets, he's the last of them, and he lived under the law, and he's the last prophet of the law.

And he says his way of law, which he represented, is finally being replaced by Jesus.

So the law is being replaced by grace, or the old covenant is being replaced by the new covenant, and that's exactly what John says he wanted to happen.

That's what he wanted to happen.

So look at verse 27.

John answer and said, A man can receive nothing unless it's been given to him from heaven.

So he's saying this is all going according to plan.

And I didn't plan any of this, I didn't make any of this happen.

This has all been God's plan.

And and what does that mean?

It means grace is God's plan.

That's the major takeaway here.

Is John is bringing uh is introducing us to the giver of grace, the new covenant.

And he says, verse 28, you yourselves bear witness, uh bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I've been sent before him.

So John knows who he is, and he knows who Jesus is.

And that's why John's awesome.

Verse 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom.

So the bride is us, the people of God, the bridegroom is Jesus, but the friend of the bridegroom, John's talking about himself, who stands and hears him, greatly rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled, because he must increase, but I must decrease.

So we've been talking about this new grace order that Jesus is bringing.

And and and it's all about, if you could define it, give it a characteristic, it's all about joy, being truly happy, being satisfied, like a wedding.

That's supposed to be the look and the feel of it.

Because Jesus is marrying his church, the people that he's created, and he is inviting all men everywhere across the whole world, join my my church, become my bride.

Why?

Because I love you desperately deeply, and he knows that his church is gonna be loved and cared for, not just in this world, but in all the ages to come.

We're gonna be his bride.

It's the great it is the love story that all other love stories point to.

It's the love story, the divine romance that we become one with Jesus as his bride.

And John he says he is just happy to see this perfect union take place.

He is satisfied, he is excited, he knows he's gonna die before this takes place, probably.

And he does.

So what does this all mean?

He says the conclusion here is that he must increase, but I must decrease.

You may have heard this taught in a in the context of that you should be humble, which you actually should be humble.

And is this a a verse about humility?

Actually, it's it can be taken that way, but the primary teaching of this verse is not about humility, it's about John's way, his old testament, law-based way, going away and being replaced by grace and Jesus.

Again, John was an old testament prophet to an old testament people, he was a prophet under the law, talking to a people that lived under the law.

But he introduced the New Testament Messiah who brought a new life to mankind, which we again call grace.

So this way of law that that John lived under, it was a performance-based religion.

So it was Ten Commandments and 613 rules of how those commandments played out in their national life and in their everyday life.

And so every single one of these rules you had to follow, and you had to follow, and I had to follow.

And it was all about following the rules.

And if you didn't follow the rules, you didn't measure up.

And and so there was shame.

And so there was you had to do other things to try to make it up to God.

So God made this whole sacrificial system.

So when you fail, because everyone fails to follow the rules, then you had to go do sacrifices.

And the sacrifices were designed to help you understand that sin failure always brings death.

Something has to die when we sin.

So because God loves us, he said, I will temporarily allow a lamb or a bird or a fox or a chicken or whatever to die for you as a substitute, but it was only temporary.

And all of this was made with a promise.

This whole Old Testament system, this whole law system.

And the promise is none of it will save you.

You're going to die.

The only way to be saved, even back in the Old Testament, and this is a really important question, I get a lot, is how how were people saved before Jesus?

Is you had to have faith.

Faith in what?

Faith in God and God's Messiah.

You see, way back in the book of Genesis, the very beginning is something in Latin they call the proto-evangelicum, which is way back right after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised them that one of their descendants would crush the head of the serpent.

And that was a promise God made of an anointed Messiah.

Messiah means anointed man who would someday deliver people from the problem.

I lost my train of thought.

Okay.

What was I talking about?

Serpent.

Messiah.

Old Testament.

Law.

Yeah.

So salvation was always by faith in the Messiah.

So Abraham comes on the scene and he's like, I'm gonna I'm gonna trust everything God says.

God says, I'm gonna make a great nation out of you, I'm gonna give you a son, and Abraham believed God, which is faith, and he trusted in God and believed that God would send a Messiah, and it all played out.

And so all of all of the Jews who had faith, they would still sin, right?

They would break the Ten Commandments, they would still make their sacrifices, which was fine, but their hope wasn't in their performance of the law, their hope wasn't in their sacrifices, their hope was in the Messiah.

Now they had to look forward to the Messiah.

Guess what?

We are saved by the exact same process, except we get to look back to the Messiah.

See how it all points to Jesus?

Everything from before Jesus points to him, and everything afterwards we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again.

So everything points at Jesus.

Everything is about Jesus.

That's why John the Baptist says he must increase, but I must decrease.

In that he says, a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete.

Now what is becoming obsolete is growing old and ready to vanish away.

So this verse this isn't about becoming invisible, it's about replacing the old way with a new way.

Out with the old, in with the new.

It's about lifting him up and him living through us.

Let's uh go to verse 31 in chapter John and finish up the chapter here.

He who comes from above is from above all.

And he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.

He who comes from heaven is above all.

And he and what he has seen and heard and testifies, and no one receives his testimony.

He who has received his testimony has certified that God is true.

And he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand, and he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life.

But the wrath of God abides on him.

What does this all mean?

So this is kind of like John, our author, the the evangelist John, the the writer of this gospel.

It's him kind of summarizing everything that chapter three and everything that we've had up until chapter three means.

And what is it?

What is the summary?

Jesus is not a human religion.

You know, it's popular, you know, it's really popular.

Aliens.

I love a good alien movie.

Right?

There's nothing better than the Fourth of July and aliens coming and then we kick their butt.

We always win, right?

Well, Jesus is kind of like an alien in the sense that he is not from here, he is from heaven.

Okay, he's from another world, and he's bringing another life from another world, which is another source.

So when we receive his testimony, or believe, you could say, that's our response to this offer of life that that Jesus gives.

And so everything is measured by that response.

Are we going to believe?

It's not, are you going to go to church?

Are you going to do these things?

Are you going to stop doing those things?

Those things will all take care of themselves.

It's all based on it, all hinges on are we going to believe?

And how much are we going to believe?

Am I going to exclusively trust in Jesus?

Or am I going to mix it with trusting in myself a little bit and him a little bit, but then myself a little bit, and then the next day I'll trust in him a little bit.

When a person receives Jesus, what they're saying is, God is true.

God is telling the truth.

I'm going to trust in what he's saying.

And so what they get is God's saving life and God's grace.

But when they don't believe in God's Son, Jesus, they can't partake of the heavenly life that he offers.

Because he's the only source of it.

He's the only one that came from this world, heaven, to this world, and he's the only one who became a human being, so that his life could flow to all the human beings.

And if we don't believe that, we will be stuck in our sin, which means we are stuck in what the Bible calls wrath.

Not because God doesn't like you, because God loves you so much, but because we are stuck like we're in mud in sin.

And which means we're stuck in the wrath.

So we've seen in chapter three of John, we've seen four must statements.

He said, You must be born again.

You must.

So it doesn't matter how you were born the first time, it doesn't matter what has happened in your life, it doesn't matter what you've accomplished, achieved, or not, every person must be born again.

The second thing, the it says that was verse seven in fourteen of this chapter, he says, The Son of Man must be lifted up.

So Jesus said, My path goes to the cross, I must die on the cross, and that's the only way I can do the will of God which is to save you.

The only way is that I will die on the cross.

And then we saw in verse 30 two more musts.

I must decrease.

I want you to notice what all four of these musts have in common.

The four musts.

Every one of them is something God does or something God gives.

It's something we agree to.

It's something that we partake in.

We drink it in.

And that last must of we must decrease is not God asking you to become small or invisible or ashamed of yourself.

That's not what that means.

It's the old way going out of business.

It's the old religious life that so many of us have trusted in, whether knowingly or unknowingly, going out of business.

It it's performance religion.

It's scorekeeping.

I'm better than this person.

That person, I don't like how they do things.

This person, I don't like what they are into, I don't like who they are, I don't like what it you know.

It's this endless project of proving yourself to God or comparing yourself with other people.

That's what has to decrease when we're in Christ.

That's the gospel.

We let ourselves be what God made us to be.

We believe it.

Hebrew says that the first covenant is obsolete.

That old covenant is obsolete, growing old, ready to vanish away.

Why are we trying to keep it on life support?

When we bring in rules and say, okay, it's it's really important for us to follow these rules, and that's how we will be accepted to God.

Now, does this mean that we just do whatever we want?

We sin as much as we want because there's no rules?

Well, actually, it means the opposite.

It means we walk in complete and total righteousness and holiness because we will live according to the heart that lives inside us, and whose heart lives inside you?

Jesus.

So are you gonna go around being all weird and sinful?

You're not, because you're not gonna be satisfied with that life.

The only life we will can't be satisfied in now is a life of holiness and righteousness, and that's why we have such conflict in our lives when we walk in sin.

Not because God says you're breaking the rules.

That was the old way.

It's because God says, That's not who you are anymore.

You share a life with my son, and my son only loves righteousness and holiness, because I only love righteousness and holiness.

So now you only love righteousness and holiness.

And look at what fills this life that we now have called grace.

It is all joy.

Like John the Baptist said, we have a joy at this wedding.

The friend of the bridegroom hears the voice and he rejoices greatly.

And that's what it sounds like to live in this grace life under this new grace order.

It's complete joy.

Why?

Because there's no more striving, there's no more dreading the verdict.

It's the joy at a wedding.

It's just like this is so great.

Two people getting together, love being given, love being received, people being lifted up and encouraged.

So that's where every person in this room today stands.

The light has come, Jesus has come, and in Christ, your sin, you know, it's been exposed, it's been paid for, it's been nailed to the cross, it's been punished, and it's been forgotten by everyone except you sometimes.

There's no hiding it.

We don't have to hide it because there's no condemnation left, there's nothing to fear or to earn with God.

We are truly, that's what free means.

We're freed from our sin.

Now listen, there's two groups of people in here.

There's those who have believed that and live in it, and those who haven't yet.

So if you've never come to that light, if you've never received that light, then today come to Jesus.

Because he's not holding a gavel saying I I want to destroy you.

He's saying, I have come to save you.

And today is, you know, we don't know if this is the last day before China invades us, like and we all die.

Who knows?

I don't know.

You know, but Jesus is here today, and you're here today, and Jesus says, Today I will save you if you call out to me.

Today you will be forgiven if you believe in me.

So if that's where you are today, that's your invitation.

And if you're already his, you already belong to him, let that old way d decrease and let him increase.

Walk out of here living by the spirit that he's given you.

And did you notice that one phrase in there?

He doesn't give the spirit by measure.

You know in the Old Testament, like David, we think David was such an awesome guy, because the spirit would come upon him and he would kill a giant, and the spirit would come upon him and he'd kill a bear, and the spirit would come upon him and kill a lion, spirit would come upon him, he'd write a song.

Really eclectic guy.

Or other spirit would come upon other guys and they would build a building or make a statue, or there's all kinds of things the spirit uh did.

But now in the new covenant, God says I he doesn't give the spirit by measure, means he doesn't portion it out and say, You get a little bit, you get a little bit.

He says he gives all of himself to every single believer.

You get it all.

That means there's no begging God, give me more of your spirit, give me more of your spirit.

Don't do that.

That's the disbelief in the gospel.

He has already given you his full spirit.

He's already done it.

It's not dependent on how much you deserve it, on how much you've earned it.

All you ever have to do is believe and then simply ask.

Father, give me your spirit, your heart, and he will.

He'll give it to you.

Now be careful, because once you have God's spirit and God's heart and you try to go live in sin, what happens?

You get really frustrated, you get really angry because those things that once made you happy and were fun are no longer, they no longer meet your needs, they no no longer make your heart happy.

You're like, why do I hate myself now when I do these things?

And that's what being filled with the Spirit looks like.

What makes you happy when you're filled with the Spirit when your eyes are on Jesus?

I talk to so many Christians who are discouraged, and we're just wrapping up here they're discouraged and they're depressed and they're they're despondent, and it's like, why am I so frustrated?

And I tell me, Oh, tell me about the situation.

Well, I got this going on, I got that going on, I'm this, I'm that.

And and I notice one thing, what pronoun they're using all the time.

They're focused completely themselves.

And then we redirect towards Jesus, we say, What has Jesus done?

Who is Jesus?

And what is what is the truth that he tells me and it it brings joy every time.

So take that, lift your eyes to Jesus, spend time with him in the mornings, and above all, sing songs to him, but let your heart rejoice.

What wedding doesn't have fun dancing and a lame one, right?

So let your heart rejoice in Jesus just like it would rejoice at a wedding.

Amen.

Amen.

That is our study for today.

Father, we love you, and we love that you have been so wonderful to bring us this new way of life and liberty and joy.

And Father, we rejoice in you because you sent Jesus.

Jesus, we rejoice in you because you gave yourself and spirit, we rejoice in you because you are the source of all joy and you've made us new.

And Father, anyone in here who would receive your cleansing and your forgiveness today, I pray that they would call out to you with boldness and say, Jesus, save me.

Wash away my sins.

And then, Father, for all of us, Lord, we have asked you for your spirit.

We believe that you've given us your spirit.

Help us, Lord, to walk in your spirit today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

We need all the peace.

The storm surrounded me.

Let it run at your east call the sweetest.

Amen.

Amen.

I just want to say the announcements again in case you came in late.

Wednesday Bible study, 9 a.m.

Right over there.

Talk to me if you need more information on that.

Women's Fellowship Thursday, 6 30 at the Birding Center.

Talk to Dana, hospitality volunteers, looking for two more hospitality volunteers.

Uh the Resilience Prayer Conference.

Come and talk to me if middle of October you want to join us going to this prayer conference.

We have koozies over there.

Uh, we have stickers, so check out the little thing over there.

And then uh oh, Friday night, we're starting a little Bible study over at SpaceX.

And and uh, if anyone is interested in helping watch kids, there's lots of kids over there.

They have lots of kids.

So we're gonna help watch some kids.

If you're interested in Friday night, 6 30 p.m.

helping us watch some kids, come talk to me and it'll be a cool way to serve the Lord.

God bless you.

Have his grace shine upon you.

You are loved, and I can't wait for this week.

Talk to you guys later.

Bye.