John Exalts the Person of Salvation
Notes
Transcript
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
Now John also was baptizing in Aenon 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 to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
For 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.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Intro:
Intro:
AG: When a man admires himself he never adores God.
The Eye And The Light, Volume 35, Sermon #2109 - Luke 11:33-36 Charles Spurgeon
TS: This section includes John’s testimony regarding Christ. As his ministry faded and Jesus’ increased, his disciples confront him. There is almost a sense of trying to prompt him to do something about it to regain the spotlight. He once again does what he always has, point to Jesus.
RS: Our mission is the same. Point people to Jesus. He alone deserves the glory!
The Argument (John 3:22–26):
The Argument (John 3:22–26):
Jesus and His disciples came to Judea and began baptizing
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
They moved from Jerusalem, the setting of the visit with Nicodemus, to the rural areas surrounding Jerusalem.
(though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
Now John also was baptizing in Aenon 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 to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
Purification-
The Jews and other nations/religions at times used it to initiate people into their group. It was a mark of identification.
John’s baptism was a mark of identification, not into the Pharisaic religious order, but of true belief in the coming Messiah (John was the forerunner).
Secondly, in Luke 3:3 we see that his baptism was for the repentance of sins.
And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,
It was a sign of repentance and the cleansing that would come from God for those who repent.
Purification was very important to the Jews and this was often done with water. So John's baptism can be described as a ceremonial symbol of purification for those who repent of their sins and a mark of identification for the those who believed the Messiah was coming and desired to follow Him.
His disciples thought he was superior and did a better job of “purification”
Baptism-
Grew out of that framework
Pictures our cleansing by Jesus
A debate occurs among John’s disciples concerning which baptism is valid—those performed by John or Jesus.
This was focusing on the wrong thing
Their baptism was one and the same!
It was the real baptism
John as a forerunner preparing the way for the Lord and then introducing the Messiah
It was a question of numbers as well
“all are coming to Him”
Part of the issue is one of popularity
John’s disciples wanted John to have preeminence
They wanted to be on the winning team and more an more, John’s team wasn’t winning
This would be the traditional approach for any teacher/philosopher to compete for followers
AP: We can have similar issues today
Envy can cause us to resent other churches and ministries.
That often leads us division where there should be unity
It can happen inside a church-
ministry to ministry
class vs. class
Staff members at odd
It can happen in the kingdom
church vs church
ministry vs ministry
If they are preaching the Bible and the gospel is proclaimed, they are our brothers and sisters!
rejoice with them when they rejoice!
Mourn with them when they mourn
This isn’t a competition.
The majority of people in the United States do not attend any church.
Many don’t even claim any religion, much less faith
There are plenty around us to win to Christ. We don’t need to try and pull people from each other
The Affirmation (3:27–36):
The Affirmation (3:27–36):
John responds with humble faithfulness to the superiority of Jesus’ person and ministry
John affirms that his ministry was one of gathering a group to hand over to Jesus the Messiah
John once again gives testimony concerning the greatness of Jesus.
One only receives what God gives.
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
A. God is in charge of everything!
The church in Corinth had struggles with this as well. They were divided from each other and boasting about which preacher baptized them and which gifts were superior. Paul had to remind them:
For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
and
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
He gives out gifts
He gives out ministry assignments
He sets the standards and rules.
He draws people to Himself
God convicts people
John proclaimed a message of repentance, but GOD had to convict them.
Anything accomplished of any value is credited to GOD not us!
Thus, we have no reason to boast and no room to brag on ourselves!
B. Parable of the Bridegroom and Friend
Jewish wedding illustration
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
Jesus is the bridegroom, while John is but a friend of the bridegroom
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
The “friend of the bridegroom” was the ancient equivalent of the best man who organized the details and presided over the Judean wedding (Galilean weddings were somewhat different). This friend found his greatest joy in watching the ceremony proceed without problems
The wedding is about the bride and groom, not the best man
The friend stands and rejoices with the groom!
yet realizes, there is no glory on this day for himself
Jesus is the groom and gets the glory
John (and all of us) are his friends and family
We rejoice when He is exalted!
C. Proper Perspective
He must increase, but I must decrease.
Jesus must become greater and greater, while John must become less and less
He knew his ministry was complete when He introduced the Messiah!
His job was to now fade away as Jesus got the glory and followers.
D. Superiority of Christ:
In these verses, John the Baptist gave 5 reasons for Christ’s superiority to him:
1) Christ had a heavenly origin (John 3:31
He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
No matter how good John was, Jesus was better!
Jesus was heavenly in origin while John was earthly
That meant that Jesus is infinite and John finite!
There really is no comparison!
2) Christ knew what was true by firsthand experience John 3:32
And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
Jesus wasn’t like other men. John (and all other prophets and preachers) have secondhand information. TODAY, I am preaching GOD’s word from the experience of witnessing these events on the paper.
Jesus lived it all!
He was eternally here
Remember: John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He created
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
He has been active and will remain so from cover to cover in the Bible and beyond!
He is eternal and will be here long after the events of the Bible are complete.
3) Christ’s testimony always agreed with God John 3:33
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
Jesus’s testimony is unified with God the Father
They are one!
There is no disagreement nor dispute between them.
4) Christ experienced the Holy Spirit in an unlimited manner John 3:34
For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
The Holy Spirit and Jesus were one!
No other man has walked the Earth with that distinction. As GOD, He had unlimited measure of God’s Spirit. He was God in the flesh! All other men are not.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
5) Christ was supreme because the Father had granted that status to Him John 3:35
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
Remember how John began this testimony:
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
He closes the same way!
The Father in love gave all things to the Son
Obviously, Jesus is superior to John!
AP: The same holds true today.
Jesus is the only one worthy of glory.
Song: My Tribute ends this way:
Just let me live my life
Let it be pleasing Lord to Thee
And should I gain any praise
Let it go to Calvary
With His blood He has saved me
With His pow'r He has raised me
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
Any praise goes to Jesus
We should live to glorify Him
Our actions should point people to Him
see our good works… glorify our Father
Our words should glorify Him
through testimony
through praise
through witness
The Proclamation:
The Proclamation:
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The theme from the discussion with Nicodemus returns to the forefront.
John says the same thing as Jesus. The message is the same regardless of the messenger.
He who believes the Son has everlasting life
1904According to a certain theology a man may have life in Christ one day and lose it the next. How, then, is it everlasting life? That which comes to an end could not have been everlasting. But we teach with the authority of Christ that the man who believes in Christ has at this moment within him a life that can never expire. The man may die after the flesh, but he can never die after the spirit.—28.66
Charles Spurgeon
Believe-
Believe is the Greek word PISTEO. It is a word that signifies a past action that continues to go on into the present.
Believe means to have trust or faith in something… to accept something as true…to accept the word or evidence.
What are we to believe? Paul spells it out clearly in 1 Cor. 15
That Jesus, God incarnate, came to planet earth for the purpose of taking on our sins and dying in our place for them. He lead a perfectly sinless life and that He died on the cross and spilled His perfect blood accepting the punishment of death instead of us.
He was buried because He was dead, but after three days (Jewish days) He arose from the dead, ALIVE. The grave could not hold Him!
Then after 40 days, He ascended to heaven to the Father.
Even the demons recognized Jesus and believed (intellectually know it as true) in the gospel but that is where their belief stopped!
That faith leads to a lasting change
everlasting life!
He who does not believe shall not see life
In fact, he is under the wrath of God
eternal condemnation
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
One way we corporately glorify Him is in the observance of the Lord’s supper.
We proclaim His death until He comes!
We show the sacrifice He made and its application to us
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Before we begin, Paul cautions us to approach the table appropriately
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.