Sermon Tone Analysis

“From John to Jesus-Part II

 

            So, the end of the old.

Now look at the transition.

John says it in verse 30, here's the transition.

"He must increase but I must decrease."

The friend of the bridegroom, I've had my day, goodbye.

Fading out.

Now he says Jesus Christ is coming into the view, full glory.

Notice that word "must," in accord with God's eternal plan, He must increase.

No option.

The friend of the groom fades away, the luster of the star is lost in the glow of the morning sun.

The old covenant fades out, the new is here.

The shadows retreat and the real substance arrives.

So we see the old fading, we see the transition.

Now let's look at the last point, verses 31 to 36 very briefly.

Jesus Christ the beginning of the new.

And now John...I believe John the Baptist continues to talk.

Some people say it's John the Apostle here, I don't see any reason to believe that.

There's no break in thought.

There's no break in continuity.

There's no indication at all.

This is John's last message.

And John the Baptist presents the beginning of the new by presenting Jesus Christ.

This is a fabulous testimony.

John says to these disciples who were came there to get him jealous, see.

They came there to stir him up.

And now he's going to lay it on him like you never heard.

He's going to tell him, "Listen, Jesus Christ is all and all, I am zero, I am nothing, get out of here, go to Jesus Christ."

That's what he says in essence here.

And what he does here is give a testimony that has five reasons for the supremacy of Christ.

These are very important.

Underline them as you go, they're in the five verses, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35...five reasons for the supremacy of Christ.

John is going to tell them now...you think I'm something, brother, let me show you five supremacies of Christ.

Number one, Christ has heavenly origin, verse 31, "He that cometh from above is above all."

That's a pretty simple statement.

John says, "Listen, he's straight from heaven.

Me, well I'm of the earth earthly and I speak of the earth.

I'm nothing, I'm just a human being."

And then he ends up the verse by saying, "He that cometh from heaven is above all."

Same thing he said at the beginning.

See him contrasting himself with Christ?

Now don't ever forget this, John the Baptist was no slouch.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, important verse, Jesus said, "Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist."

Do you know that he was the greatest human being that ever lived in this world?

John the Baptist?

He was great.

But he says in the comparison to Christ, I am zero.

You know how the rest of Matthew 11:11 goes, fabulous verse, listen, "John the Baptist the greatest human being, nevertheless for not withstanding, the least in the Kingdom of heaven is...what?...greater than John."

And is Jesus the least in the Kingdom?

Far from it.

But the least little speck of heaven is the greatest of the greatest...is greater than the greatest of earth.

John's the greatest human being, he doesn't measure up to the littlest speck of heaven.

Imagine what he must be in comparison to the greatest thing in heaven, the Son Himself.

John's saying I'm nothing.

Sure I'm the greatest man, big deal, that doesn't even make me the lowest in heaven and in God's Kingdom.

All right, so number one, he says Christ is supreme because he has a heavenly origin.

Incidently, this is a good passage for you to keep in mind in dealing with someone who has got some kind of hangups about whether Jesus is really God.  Second reason that he presents the supremacy of Christ, verse 32, he says, "Christ knows what is true first hand."

He says in verse 32, "And what hath seen and heard that He testifies."

And incidentally, no man receives His testimony.

Jesus gives truth first hand.

And John says, "Brother, in that He's got it over me.

I am strictly second hand, I've never been there.

Jesus gives it first hand.

He saw it, He heard it, He made it happen."

True, pure truth from the very throne of God.

An immediate and eternal witness, all things divine, the full revelation of God is in Christ, He gives it all because He has experienced it.

And so John compares the testimony of Christ which is direct from heaven firsthand with his own secondhand testimony.

And he says nobody believes, nobody receives the testimony.

And when he says no man there he doesn't mean...there's two ways to use "no men" and "all men."

Whenever you see that in the Bible, all men or no men, it can either be totally exclusive or generally exclusive.

In other words, it can be a general statement or an absolute statement, and that's the question.

For example, in the Bible it says "All men perceived that John was a prophet."

Now that doesn't mean that everybody who ever lived thought he was a prophet, obviously.

The Bible says the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men.

Well we know that all men aren't saved.

The Bible says in Christ shall men be made alive, pantos, well everybody who has ever lived isn't going to be made alive in Christ, it's a general term.

Or sometimes an exclusive term, here it's general.

He's merely saying the general consensus, nobody listens.

We know it's general cause in the next verse he says some do believe.

All right, so he says Christ speaks direct words firsthand experience.

Third great supremacy of Christ, oh this is tremendous, verse 33, His testimony agrees with God.

And when a human speaks, it may or may not agree with God.

Every time Jesus speaks He agrees with God, look at it.

Verse 33, "If you receive His testimony then you are sealing the fact that God is true," see.

Cause Jesus and God agree.

And you know that's a real interesting point because so many people don't understand that.

Have you ever talked to somebody that says, "I believe in God, I certainly do believe in God, but I'm not sure about all this about Jesus."

Have you ever...many people like this, right?

Many believe in God but they won't accept Jesus Christ for who He is.

Listen, you can't separate those two.

If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you believe the truth about God.

And if you believe the truth about God, you must believe in Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because God said that is My beloved Son.

Now either you believe it or you don't.

So don't say, "Well, I believe in God, and I certainly have been a believer in God, all my life I've been a believer in God."

I hear this all the time, it's ringing around in my head.

No you don't believe in God unless you believe in Christ who is the full expression of God.

If you believe in a God less than the true God, you don't believe in God at all.

So a man who believes the truth about God and rejects the truth about Christ is kidding himself.