Sermon Tone Analysis

How to Be the People God Wants Us to Be

The Gospel of John

John 3:22-36

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - July 7, 2016

(Revised July 17, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*Tonight in the last section of John Chapter 3, God's Word puts the spotlight back on John the Baptist.

In these verses, John gave a glowing testimony of praise for our Lord.

But John's testimony also shows us some of the things we must do to be the people God wants us to be.

Let's begin by reading John 3:22-36.

MESSAGE:

*One of the good things about the internet is that it's a great resource for finding out how to do things.

I searched Google yesterday for the words "how to," and got over 21 billion results.

A few months ago, my computer was barely running.

After so many updates, it had gotten "confused."

And after trying a lot of other things, I realized I only had two options: Buy a new laptop or reset mine with the flash drive backup.

Amazingly, I was able to reset it.

But I never could have done it without the help of a very nice man in a YouTube video.

Saved me a lot of money!

*You can get all kinds of "how to" help on the internet.

Our daughter Katie has two precious children, and after they were born, she found some wonderful resources.

Her babies were sleeping most of the night by the time they were two months old.

Their mother didn't sleep all night until she was in kindergarten!

*The internet is a good resource for "how-to" help.

But an infinitely greater resource is the Word of God!

The Bible will give us the greatest help we can ever get in life.

And tonight's Scripture can help us be the people God wants us to be.

1. FIRST: GOD WANTS US TO TAKE CARE OF OUR TIME.

*God wants us to make the most of our time in this world.

John the Baptist reminds us of this sure truth in vs. 22-24:

22.

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.

23.

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

And they came and were baptized.

24.

For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

*John was not yet cast into prison.

The time was coming when he would be.

John the Baptist only had about two years more to live.

And the best source I could find estimated that he spent most of that time in prison.

(1)

*But John the Baptist was still working in vs. 23.

He was still serving the Lord.

John was doing everything he could do, while he could do it, because the time came when he could do no more.

*In John 9, Jesus miraculously healed a blind man, and John 9:4-5 tells us that just before Jesus healed that man, He said this:

4. "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

5.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.''

*Even Jesus had time limits on His work.

And what was true about Jesus is also true of us.

We must do all we can for the Lord while we can.

*Time passes by quickly!

It's hard to believe that it's 2019, and it's harder to believe that 2019 is more than half over!

Time passes by so quickly.

And we must do all we can, while we can for Jesus.

*We need to pray like Moses prayed in Psalm 90:10-12.

There this Old Testament hero said:

10.

The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

11.

Who knows the power of Your anger?

For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

12.

So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

*Now it's interesting to me that Moses was 120 years old when he died.

But this 70 to 80-year time limit basically holds true even today.

There are well over 7 billion people in the world right now.

But as of yesterday, there was only one person over 116 years old, a Japanese lady named Kane Tanaka.

(2)

*Back in August of 2002, Adelina Dominguez went home to be with the Lord.

At the time, Adelina was living in a nursing home in San Diego, California.

And she was in the Guinness Book of Records when she died, because Adelina was the oldest person living in the United States.

She was 114 years old!

When a reporter asked Adelina the secret of her long life, she gave all the credit to God and His plan for her life.

Adelina said, "I knew God had a purpose for my life."

(3)

*Adelina got it!

She knew how to make the most of her time here on earth.

And yes, that means serving and worshiping in God's church.

But making the most of our time also means daily time in God's Word, daily time with the Lord in prayer, time helping those who are hurting, and time spent with family and friends.

2. GOD WANTS US TO TAKE CARE OF OUR TIME.

HE ALSO WANTS US TO PUT AWAY OUR PETTINESS.

*I'm talking about the kind of pettiness we can see in vs. 25-26:

25.

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

26.

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!''

*We can see an element of petty bickering and jealousy in these verses.

The bickering is in vs. 25, where God's Word says: "Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification."

*The KJV says, "Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying."

But the idea behind this original word is a question asked during a debate or dispute or a matter of controversy.

It's the same word used several other places, like 2 Timothy 2:23, where the KJV says, "foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes."

*William MacDonald explained that "It is clear from this verse that some of John's disciples became engaged in a dispute with the Jews about purification.

What does this mean?

Purification here probably refers to baptism.

The argument was whether the baptism of John was better than that of Jesus.

Which baptism had the greater power?

Which was of greater value?

Perhaps some of John's disciples unwisely contended that no baptism could be better than that of their master.

Perhaps the Pharisees tried to make John's disciples jealous of Jesus and His current popularity."

(4)

*So, there was a dispute.

Then in vs. 26, there was jealously when some of the disputers went to John the Baptist and said, "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 Philips said that "evidently, John's disciples viewed Jesus as one who owed his success to John the Baptist's testimony.

They viewed Jesus' activities as an invasion of their own master's prerogatives and they nurtured hostility toward him as a result.

But John the Baptist was above such pettiness and in vs. 27, he said, 'A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.'"

(5)

*We can see elements of pettiness, bickering and jealousy in these verses.

And if we are honest, we can sometimes see the same things in us.

We have a natural tendency to make mountains out of molehills.

We also have a tendency to make snap judgments.

*Recently I retired, and last Sunday I was in the congregation at our new church.