Untitled Sermon (4)

There is one gospel ( 1 timothy 2:5)

All things ( romans 8:28)

Christ is mine forevermore - Pslams 28:6-7

M

stand/read John 3:22-29

Title “ Johns last testimony

These are the last events of John the baptist before he is throw into prison by Herod

first testimony - If you remeber from John 1, john had a very imporatnt role, he was fortold in the book of malchi, john would prepare the way for the coming messiah jesus christ. He was the forunner, he would make the way straight, make the path clear for the coming savior that would save people from their sin.

In accient time, when a king would leave his roayl household and travel through the land a road construction crew would go before him, and their job was to prepare the roads, they would fill potholes, fix paths, and make roads straight. And a messager would go into the villages before the king arrived and pronounce “ behold the king is coming, make his path straight” and the people that never say the king, might catch a glimpse of is royality and he passed by

John was the voice calling out “ make the way ready for the lord, make his path straight”. Repent the savior is coming

John the baptist was not a man of rayality, or education, he was a man of the wilderness, he grew up in the desert, he wore camles hair and ate wild honey and locust. But He was a man of complete humilty

Jesus himself said “no one born of a women is greather than John the baptist” so if john was great man of God, he must have been a great teacher. a great “Rabbi”, this is why he had disciples, they were following him to learn more about the messiah

in vs 22,23 Were told in that jesus and john along with their disciples are Baptising.

Jesus in the Judean counterside - This land was called “the land of the Jews

John in Aenon near Salim- This location was significant becase “the water was plentliful. Aenon meaning “place of springs and Salim meaning “peace” this was a stark contrast from “ the widerness of judea wchich speaks or drough and death.

So Why did the water need to be plentful?

Baptising, full water submersion

unlike christian baptist

Where christian baptism is what follows salvation, were the believer us fully submerged in water, symolising new birth, new life, the body being dead to self, new life in the father, son and holy spirit. Romans 6:4-7 (NASB

Jewsh Baptism was for the purpose of purification

The body being pure, clean, it was a command of God in the book of liviticus for cleansing before temple entry, but like most things man corrupted it......it became ceremonoly, religious, something they could do and feel good about themselves

The problem was, althrough the were clean, they were still sinners, their body was clean, but their heart was dirty, they needed their sin removed. A clean body is just a clean body. Jesus wanted to cleanse the heart.

Matthew 23:27 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jesus and John both baptising

When vs 22 says Jesus was baptising, it does not mean that Jesus actually layed hands on people and baptised

John 4:2“(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),”

Being done by his authority

anology of contractor building a house

Why didnt jesus baptise?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So many people were coming and being baptsied

in vs 25 there arose a discussion on the parts of Johns( I) disciples with a jew about purification.

These diclples of John had no right to wrangled with questions over purification

The real problem was their jeluosy over Jesus’s success

vs26 Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and ALL are coming to Him.”

notice how John recives the title as “Rabbi” while jesus is refreed to as “HE”

He is baptising and ALL are coming to him

John in complete humility

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 “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. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.

John was joyfull, his joy was complete

Mission accomplished, he made the path straight and ALL were going to him

not john

no longer needed

This should be the heart of every teacher/serant of Jesus Christ

teacher points people to christ and fades into the background

HUMILITY- HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE

So what is humilty? what does it look like?

The bible descibes humility as meekness, lowliness and abcense of self. The greek word is actually translated as “lowliness of mind”

humility is a heart attitude, not merly a outword demeanor,

Jesus says in matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

James 4:6 “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””

So what does it look like, we must look at the life of Jesus

He is a king, but he came as a servant. born through his own creation. there was no ROOM for him in the Inn so he was born in a filthy, stinky manager, in a watering trough.

He could have came on a cloud with a legion of angles but he came lowly, he came as a servant.

He grew up as a child, grew into a man

He went through every temptation we did and yet did not sin

He walked this earth, healing the blind, layed hands on the sick, brought the dead to life, he was physically dirty, tired, hungry and most of the time homeless.

and at the age of 33 he was falsly arrested for a crime he did not commit. he was he was beaten, he spat upon, he was given a crown of thorns and mocked saying if you are a king then save yourelf.

and he carried his own cross to hill and he was nailed to that cross and for 6hours he hung in escrosiating pain. For you and i, we dervered that punishment but christ bore it upon himself

Why? Why would a Jesus die for a bunch of undersvied sinners?

He came humbly, lowly for the will of the father, to save sinners from their sin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obvisosly you and i cant come close to this kind of humilty but we can modle it

By not allowing pride in our lives, if humility is the goal then pride is what stands in the way.

pride is self seeking,

pride is i want it my way and if i dont get it im angry

pride was the downfall of satan

pride was adam and eve being cast out of the garden for wanting to be like God

pride was king Nebuchadnezzar saying look at my kingdown and what i have done and then God brining the king to complete shame by eating grass like an animal

where humility is glad and rejoices in who God is

Pride is competing against God for his throne

In a world that screws self asteem, the bible says be humble, be meek, be giving of self not self seeking

deny yourself, deny the flesh

be humble, be lowly, if someone offends you turn the other cheek.

MATTHEW 5:1-12

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed( fortunate) are the poor( those who are not spiritually arrogant) in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This is the character that we must display, it cant be done on our own, it is a gift of God that we recive upon salvation. John reafrims this is john 3:27 “man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. But we must act out/modle humility for the glory of God