He Must Increase

So, in my tenure at Hudd Elim this is my last SUNDAY sermon I will be preaching as paid staff. Stay until end – tell our next steps.

We are working our way through John’s Gospel methodically and so a few weeks ago I knew the passage I would be looking at.

John 3: 22-36

Looked with a bit of envy at passages before like Nicodemus I would have loved to have done, and the Samaritan Woman just after.

Not so much because I don’t like this passage – I’ve not got a tattoo, I don’t want a tattoo – but if I were to get one it would be this scripture.

- Its because I preached here from it just over a year ago “That He may greater and greater and I may become less and less”

I joked with Helen – did anyone listen to it – do you think if I just did the same sermon again – it’s the same passage would anyone notice.

It was a joke – but I gained and answer that night, when we received a beautiful video from the Iranian lifeGROUP and one person mentioned A SERMON by name, only one but you can guess which one - “He would be the greater, I would be the lesser”.

Fortunately, there is more than one point to draw out from this passage

[Bible reading video]

I love stories. I love Testimonies. Last week we had a number of people in the chat tell of how Jesus has transformed them, their situations – which was fantastic.

STORIES - It why my favourite service has always been Baptisms.

Johns Gospel – is full of these STORIES, testimonies about who Jesus is, what he was doing - every single chapter John uses eyewitness testimony to reveal more and more of who Jesus is.

But when you get to John 3, We have something awesome.

Not only does it tell us who Jesus is, but he tells us how Jesus should affect us when we believe.

Now, for some there’s a question here.

¿When I believe something should happen, Jesus should affect me?

Well, yes!

When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you ought to begin to see the world differently.

You ought to begin to see other people differently.

To see where you live, where you work, your family, your friends, your situations differently.

And maybe, and most importantly, you ought to begin to see YOU differently.

The passage begins with verses 22-24 setting the stage for us. [Slide 2]

Jesus is coming down from the north to do ministry in Judea. We also get a time marker here: between Jesus’ Baptism and John’s imprisonment.

We have a picture of these two preachers with their bands of disciples, both in the countryside of Judea, near Jerusalem, baptizing. Crowds were coming to both of them.

& then the story zooms in to focus on a “discussion”:

[Slide 3] v 25 tells us John’s disciples and a certain Jew are getting in this debate about ceremonial cleansing. Purification, basically, had to do with ceremonial baths, ritual, baptisms - things like that.

And there were all sorts of variations.

There was this one group of people that lived down by the Dead Sea, close to the Jordan River called the Essene community & they would practice daily baptism. They would baptise each other at the start of each day to make sure their hearts were right.

Then there were the Pharisees who practiced ritual baptism up in Jerusalem.

Before you went into the temple, they built these small pools that you would come in and, you would be able to remove your clothes in one spot and walk through this baptistry, and then you would go from there and you would make your sacrifice.

There was a ritual – a way of having to do things. How you dressed, even how you put on your belt, everything had to be done right in the right order.

There's this newcomer - John the Baptist, who goes out to the Jordan River.

His practice was a baptism of repentance.

AND NOW you find out that Jesus’s disciples, are baptising.

[Slide 4 ] V 26 tells us the crowd that was following John is leaving and going to listen to Jesus.

And John's disciples are unhappy about this.

Here’s what I understand - They don't understand who Jesus is.

Because in their minds, they must think that John and Jesus are equals.

People could stay with John, they don't need to go over and be with Jesus.

[slide 5] V 27 / 28, John makes it really clear that this is not the case.

V 27. John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven

V28 He is saying “I only get to do this guys, because God allows me to do it”.

He carries on - you’ve heard me say it again and again, look, I'm not what the people need.

I'm not the answer to their eternal needs.

They need a saviour.

They need the Messiah,

I'm just a messenger.

And just to make sure that they understand, he gives them an illustration.

[Slide 6] V 29.

He tells us - the wedding is ALL ABOUT the bride & bridegroom.

I covered this in depth a year ago but If you have a bridesmaid or groomsmen that come in and begin to steal the show and make it all about them - They're not serving the couple.

YET that's so easily true of us.

The illustration applies - The book of Revelation – reveals that the church is the bride and Christ is the groom - & therefore if there's someone within a church that is making the church about them, their preferences, their wants - they are taking the focus away from the groom - JESUS.

Verse 29, John says, the bridegrooms friend, (JOHN - that's me), is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows and is filled with joy at HIS success.

That's what we SHOULD do. That's what all of us SHOULD do.

[Slide 7] V 30, Famous verse here – I think you are going to remember it now with Carol blowing up that balloon! - this is what I preached on last – He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

Or your version may say “he must increase, but I must decrease”.

The context:

John’s talking about the fact that He came as a prophet, a foreteller - He came to call people towards the Messiah.

But now - The Messiah’s here - Jesus

You need HIM, not me - That's the theological side of things.

But the practical side of it?

That's the way you and I ought to be every single day.

I'm going to be honest with you, I had to think is that true of me?

Despite preaching on this, studying it – am I still applying it? We slip, we slide – the seeds of backsliding are always in the heart

Have I decreased and Jesus increased in me? Today / This week?

Because if that's not the case, then I need to sort it out.

Do I, do you look more like Jesus today than we looked like yesterday?

Look back over this tough year of COVID – has this pandemic caused you to look more like Jesus – or more like the world?

In your faith, your responses, your reactions to others, your acts of love, compassion, kindness, generosity, fruit of the spirit

Or is COVID taking more of a toll on your character and increasing the YOU – rather than increasing the Jesus in you?

Do people look at me / you and see a reflection of Jesus?

He must increase. I must decrease.

Imagine what would happen if every single day that was your prayer.

“God, I’m pausing my prayer of “would you bless me, can I get what I want” – My prayer - What I really want today is that I bless you, that you get what is right.

God what I’m wanting is that in every expression, every interaction, every conversation, SM Post, phone call – you would be honoured and glorified”

How would that change the church, THIS church – I think it would be radical & tangible!

V 31 – 36 we change gears in the passage.

John is going to paint a picture as to WHY he is humble.

& address this really important question; How should my thinking be affected, influenced so I put Christ first in everything?

The answer to that Q: Who I see Jesus as determines how I see me how I see my life, how I see my purpose, my responses

I know during my time we have had some straight conversations. I’ve challenged and been challenged. I think that’s been healthy, necessary -

BUT I hope that you know it’s been done with a love and concern for your / my walk with Jesus.

Someone once said the role of a Pastor is to ‘Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”

A good Pastor, a good church should unsettle things in our lives, should bring challenge, bring discomfort – Church is not meant to just be a comfortable/cosy place for Christians to meet and have our own little club - the Bible does not give us that option box to tick.

A good church that teaches about Jesus and teaches God's word, is going to give you a clear picture on who Jesus is.

And that clear picture SHOULD have a profound effect on your life – if not – it needs to be challenged.

We miss the point – we make it about us, our needs, our preferences – but it shouldn’t be – it’s all about Jesus!

John's theology here is rock solid.

V 31, to 36, he's going to give US four truths about Jesus that, if you will apply them to your life will change you.

1. V 31,[Slide 8] He has come from above and is greater than (or over / above) anyone else.

He is saying Christ is above all / everyone

Johns telling his disciples HE was of the earth, belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. But JESUS comes from Heaven & is above all.

Twice John uses the phrase “Jesus is above all” what does he mean?

Well, there's dual meanings in one sense.

Rank and Position.

If you work/volunteer in any situation where you're not the owner, you’ll understand what an organisational chart is.

I'm (still) associate pastor here, Mike is the Lead pastor – that is a spiritual situation – sure.

But he's also my boss, he ranks higher than me on our organisational chart.

When it comes to God's organisational chart, Jesus is at the top of the universe, nobody higher. So, his rank and his position are higher than every single other person there is.

But there's another side of this when he says He is above all

There's a metaphorical picture of the fact that God is not only all around us, but he's above us.

He has a better and clearer understanding of everything.

He sees better than we do. In fact, he sees what you can't see.

When I take a funeral, I often remind people that Jesus has gone through death – seen the other side and defeated it – so we know we can trust him to lead us through – he’s above death!

Have you ever driven a car with the wheel on the wrong side for the country?

When we went to Spain to 3mthss to check out our calling I drove our Renault Espace out and my Dad came along to help with the drive.

Using a big map (remember them?) I had planned the route using toll roads as I knew they would be easier and I preferred to just pay the tolls for an easy journey.

My Dad drove from Bilbao down towards Madrid – then we swapped and he became navigator – and he found a ‘cheaper’ route without tolls – without telling me.

Lorries -couldn’t see round to overtake.

Had to rely on him being in the outer position – to tell me when clear.

What BETTER – to have a helicopter / drone above looking down – seeing up the road, round the corners, dips / rises – advance information

Something ABOVE it all.

Johns saying - No one ELSE has his ability. No one has his insight.

As followers – it takes humility to recognise he knows better than I do.

He knows what I should do with my life.

He knows through celebration and rejoicing, but also through heartache and pain

No one has his insight. - Which means that I have to trust Him.

The practical outworking means for trust to mean anything - I ought to follow him.

1. Christ is above all. Second truth John the Baptist is going tells us: Jesus speaks with authority.

V 32 - 34. [Slide 9] John says Jesus tells the truth, His words are true.

Truth has become subjective today.

Conspiracy theories abound.

Some people believe every single thing that they hear;

if it's on TV, they believe it,

if it's in the newspaper they believe it

if it's on the internet - well the internet doesn’t lie. Right?

Without questioning what bias there may be?

Then there's the: two truths. Your truth & my truth.

But the bible doesn’t give us these options. Proverbs warns us twice that there is a way that seems right to man but it leads to death

Jesus says John 14:6 I am the way, the Truth, the life.

I am the truth

John here is saying Jesus speaks truth, and to believe in Him to trust in Him is to say that I believe what he says is true.

So, for you to say I trust in Jesus, is for you to be able to say, I read his words, and I believe that they're true.

You can’t say, I believe in Jesus, but I don’t read the Bible or I don't like the Bible

You're not trusting Him.

This is his word. Jesus's words have authority.

V 34. John says he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words,

Jesus is not talking about God. He speaks THE words of God.

Every Leader, member of staff, Elder, lifeGROUP Leader,

the Pastors; – Mike, Andy, I - we speak about God.

We spend time studying, reading, listening trying to carefully handle bible passages correctly. That's our job to work through and study & present

BUT we speak about God. That's not what Jesus does. He speaks the words of God.

When Jesus is speaking, he isn't explaining someone else's words.

I remember at Bible College discussing a particular theologians perspective from a book – and we debated back and forth.

But the writer was on campus and later able to come into our conversation.

The debates were over. We had the author here.

We wanted to hear HIS view.

When Jesus says things like, You need to be born again. Or I am the way the truth and the life can I encourage you to stop debating and believe.

1: Christ is above all. 2: Jesus speaks with authority.

Third truth.

V35. He says, Everything is in His hands - All things belong to Him.

Not some, not most, not 95% - Everything.

The Bible incredibly clear. I could pick other verses but Psalm 24: 1,

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

The world and all its people belong to him.

Everything belongs to God, this is a hugely important truth, it SHOULD change us.

Well - What he's talking about?

Some examples:

Money. The longer I think that's mine, the more difficult it will be on me for God to show me that it's not mine, it's his.

Children? The Bible says that our children are a gift from the Lord. It does not say that he relinquishes control of those children.

They're still his children. So, raising them to know and to love Jesus ought to be our highest priority as followers.

Much as I love my kids doing well, one with their music – the other with attaining results to get to University – my priority, my biggest desire – MY HEART is for them to personally lifelong walk in faith with Jesus.

Time? We are placing a high priority on lifeGROUPS and we get some people are so incredibly busy with work and family and life – We get that - but FOR SOME the harsh truth is we need to change our schedule, our priority’s.

If all the research shows, if our experience shows this is where we gain discipleship/ growth/accountability - NOTHING should come before our walk with Christ. Nothing.

We ALL need to stop – appraise - REGULARLY - where we’re putting other things before Him.

Everything is Jesus's.

You want to know HOW a church is transformed for the better and begin to do amazing things? It’s when as a church body, ALL of us as individuals believe and embrace this truth & commit to working that out. A body of people going in one direction.

Everything is his.

1: Christ is above all. 2: Jesus speaks with authority. 3: All things belong to Him.

One last thing here, V36. [slide 11] that eternal life is in Christ, eternal life is in him FULL STOP.

John is saying is salvation is not in service.

It's not in what you do.

It's not in morality.

It's not about you being better than the person that's next to you.

It's not in sacrifice.

It's not in religion.

According to verse 36. The words of John the Baptist are clear - its 100%, dependent on Jesus.

And so obviously, the one thing that I need to do, I need to know him.

V 28. He tells them I'M NOT THE ANSWER to what people need.

They need the Messiah.

They need the Saviour.

Jesus is the answer to what they need.

V 30, he says, Glory, Honour, Attention is Jesus’s not mine - That’s what really matters.

¿What made it possible for John to have that attitude? – with this I invite the band up

It's what John knew and believed about Jesus.

Jesus affected how he saw himself, his life, his work, and it should affect YOU as well. And if it doesn't, you need to be asking a really important question right now. Why not?

You see, here's the possibility.

If you /I are NOT becoming, resembling, looking more like Christ every single day, are we deliberately blocking that?

Saying no to that,

making bad choices for that?

Or is it possible you don't even know him?

These were profound words, to John the Baptist’s disciples.

Are they profound words to you? Lifechanging?

I’m going to pray: (posture yourself)

If you're sitting there and you do not look more like Jesus today, than last week, last month, last year, a decade ago - this is me included, we need to repent (that is say sorry and turn around) right where you're at now.

If you say you don't completely understand it, I'd encourage you, you need to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Contact us – it would be our privilege – to be talk with you.

But the fact of the matter is, when you come to Jesus Christ and you know who he is, he must increase, you must decrease.

Is that true?

Have you? Are you?

Father, change our hearts. change how we see life.

Change how we see ourselves.

Call us to be your servants.

To understand completely, who you are, to see you as the Messiah, the Saviour, the Lord of all things,

To take ourselves off of our own platform to trust in you completely.

Where we want to walk with you. change our lives to do it, Lord in Jesus name