He Must Increase...(Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture reference: John 3:31-36
Context
Context
Last week, we were able to see discipleship at its best. Discipleship, in the simplest of terms, is when one Christian helps another Christian come closer to God in some aspect of their life.
That does not mean that the one doing the discipling must be a Bible Scholar any more than it means the one being discipled is a babe in Christ. We all are in need of discipleship and we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Many times, as we see in this text, a younger, less-mature Christian is being discipled by an older, more-mature Christian.
Some disciples came to John and they were upset about how things were going. They loved John and believed his message, but they did not fully understand the message in which he preached.
Jesus’ ministry had begun, and naturally people began to gravitate towards Him. This meant that His number of followers had outgrown that of John’s. This bothered John’s disciples because they felt Jesus was in some way stealing John’s followers.
Very humbly, John teaches them the truth of the matter. He explains to them that this was the purpose all along. He was never meant to be the one who people followed. It was always about Jesus. He was the forerunner of Christ, and his purpose was to usher in the ministry of Christ.
Though they failed to see it for what it was, things were going exactly as they were meant to.
It was Jesus’ time to step into His role and it was time for John to fade to the background. Jesus was the star of this show, and John was ok with that. It was how God designed it to be.
We ended last week with verse 30, in which John stated:
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
It was the final lesson his followers needed to learn: There is no greater peace than seeing Christ magnified. Nothing else can settle a soul than to see Christ right where He belongs, as the king of glory. He is the prince of peace. If He is exalted and aloud to take His rightful throne, then there is nothing else to worry of.
Our aim today is to finish out this chapter. We are going to be looking verses 31-36.
John is continuing his explanation unto his disciples, but we see a subtle shift. In verses 27-30, John is teaching these men their purpose, which is to exalt Jesus as Savior and Lord.
In these final verses, he begins to show them why. His focus shifts from the purpose of creation to the preeminence of Christ.
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.
32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
Content
Content
He Comes From Where God Dwells
He Comes From Where God Dwells
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.
With his first description of Jesus, John pulls these disciples attention upward towards heaven. It is fitting that he does so, because John wants to connect what they know to be true of history with the truth of who Jesus is now.
And this truth of who Jesus is cannot be explained or understood from a worldly perspective. In order to explain the person of Jesus, John needs to call them to a higher plane. He needs them to look upward towards heaven, the origin of where Jesus’ story begins.
The story of Jesus does not start with Mary and Joseph, it starts with Yahweh. It does not start on Earth, it starts in eternity.
Therefore, John begins his explanation of why Jesus must increase by pointing to the heavens as he proclaims, “He who comes from above...”.
These men are seeing with blurred vision. They are missing the full picture of who Christ is, so John seeks to remove the scales from their eyes so that they might see clearly.
Jesus is here, but He is not from here. He is from where God dwells. He came from the heavens. He may be roughly 30 years of age in human years, but his existence has always been.
He does not come to us from Galilee, He comes to us from Glory.
Why do you think he has no earthly father? Yes, Joseph received him as his own, but Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant. God chose Mary as a vessel to bring Him into this world as a man, but His true nature is far above that of mortal men. His true nature goes beyond anything we can put into words. His Father is not of this world. His Father is God. That’s right....God.
The same God who gave us His Word. The same God who gave us His Law. The same God who has been with our people since Abraham. That is His Father.
John had already been preaching this truth to them, but they had failed to understand:
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
If God sent His Son into the world, then His Son must have existed before He came here. How could God send Him who does not exist? Jesus came from heaven. Jesus came from God.
But wait......If He came from God, who is this man? This is not normal. Men don’t drop out of the sky. Contrary to the nursery rhymes, storks don’t drop off babies on the doorstep.
So who is this man from Heaven?
John began to tell us who this man was from the very beginning of his epistle:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
That verse seems odd right. How can the Word be in the beginning with God, before the foundation of the world? The Word couldn’t have existed before it was actually lived out right? The Word had to come after the actions in which it tells us about.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
But when John speaks of the Word here, he is not speaking of the written Word, he is speaking of the living Word. Therefore, it is not a what, but a who.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Now it becomes clear that the Word is a who, but still who is this Word in which God speaks?
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
That sounds familiar. That seems to correlate with the world’s greatest text that we just looked at:
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Ok. So it seems to be very clear that this Word that dwelt in the beginning is actually One and the same as Jesus, the man we have before us.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
He must increase, because He is here by divine decree. He is above me because He is above all men.
So do not look at Him as you look on other men. When you look upon Him, you look upon the greatness; you look upon someone who is not from this world; you look upon the Son of God.
He Speaks The Truths of God
He Speaks The Truths of God
32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
With his second description of Jesus, John says, “Not only does He come from where God is, but He speaks the truths of God.”
Truth. He speaks truth.
This may seem trivial to some of us, but is actually one of the most important qualities one can have.
Why does truth matter? Why is it so important to know truth, to establish truth, to possess truth, to operate in truth?
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
It is the truth that sets one free. Free from what? Free from bondage.
See this world operates on smoke and mirrors. We only let others see what we want them to see, and we only know others based upon what they want us to see.
We operate based upon our limitations.
The world they lived in operated on very limited truth. They were hungry for truth.
They didn’t have Bibles in every house. The religious leaders were the only ones who had them.
The religious leaders taught one thing but then lived another.
They were also under the rule of the Romans, Greeks, Medes-Persians, Babylonians/Assyrians
They were so confused on what truth really was, they wanted to know truth.
We are no different. Have you figured out we are right where they were today?
We have Bibles in every house, but every church seems to be preaching a different message, so no one knows what to believe.
Christians boast of their beliefs, but then live lives in contradiction to those beliefs.
We are not under any kind of foreign rule persay, but the leadership within our own country is so divided that no one knows which way to go, or what to align themselves with or against.
In case you haven’t talked to any of them, this younger generation is driven not by what is right (who can say what is right), they are driven not by tradition (traditions have proven faulty and damaging in many ways), but but they are driven by what is proven to make a difference (truth). They don’t want some religion that is philosophical in nature, they want a belief system that puts boots on the ground and makes a difference. They want something real and significant. That means you can’t just tell them what is right, you have to show them. You have to model it for them.
They are hungry for truth!!!
So how do I get this truth? If it can help me to take off the blinders and see the world for what it really is, how do I obtain this truth?
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Who is the Word? Jesus is the Word. So He says, “If you abide in me, you are true disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
So Jesus is truth, and the Word is truth, because the Word is Jesus.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
So we are called to abide in truth, because the truth sets us free from the lies and schemes of this world.
So what does this truth say? It tells us that God has an enemy named Satan. It tells us that God loves us, and because God loves us Satan hates us. Satan hates God so much that anything God loves, he hates. Satan wants us to fall, be destroyed, to fail. God wants us to thrive, to rise above, and to be set free.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The truth......God wants you to experience life.....Real life, not some watered down version of life that the world says you have to settle for, but real life: A fulfilling life, a life of purpose and meaning, a life that satisfies, a life that you can be proud of because it made the world around you better, a life that makes your family strong instead of tearing it apart, a life that brings joy instead of a life that brings pain, a life that motivates others to be better, a life that is focused on something real and substantial rather than being focused on things that have little to no value at all.
God wants you to have life, but He also wants you to live out that life, to experience that life. In other words, He wants you to be saved (to have life), but He also wants you to be sanctified (to learn, grow, and be developed so that you can live your life to the fullest).
In John 17, Jesus is praying to God in heaven, and He is asking that God sanctify those who believe. But notice by what means He asks God to grant this sanctification:
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Jesus says, “Father sanctify them (mold them, shape them, grow them) by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Why is it so important that we are sanctified, or that we grow in Christ, get stronger in our faith? Because there is a reality (another plane, another dimension) that many are unaware of.
Every single day a cosmic battle is fought between good and evil. You don’t see it because you see with worldly eyes. Most of us do. Only a few individuals throughout Scripture were able to see it, but it was there nonetheless.
Angels and demons are fighting every day right here amongst us on the spiritual plane. What are they fighting for? You. That’s right...they are fighting for you.....this world. The part many fail to realize is that they are a part of this battle. These angels are fighting for you, but the demonic forces of Satan are fighting against you.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
God wants to see us succeed in this war. He has offered gifts to prepare us for these battles of life. One of those is His truth. His truth sets us free to see reality.
There is a major battle going on, and God hates to see anyone fall. It’s true. You need to know that. In 21st century lingo, God is rooting for you to win.
11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
God wants you to live, but you can’t live without Him.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Satan seeks to steal life, kill life, and destroy life, but God sent Jesus that we may have life and have it abundantly. He wants you to succeed. He wants you to overcome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
You can’t be an overcomer, without the One who overcame. He is the key to victory.
Ohh, what a victory it is. Listen to what God says awaits those who overcome:
To the Church at Ephesus:
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’
To the Church at Smyrna:
11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ’
To the Church at Pergamos:
17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
To the Church at Thyatira:
26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
To the Church at Sardis:
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
To the Church at Philadelphia:
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
To the Church at Laodicea:
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Finally we see how we will be overcomers. It starts with Jesus and it will end with Jesus:
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
In Christ, you can be an overcomer.
Commitment
Commitment