The Testimony of Jesus

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 21 views
Notes
Transcript

John 3:22-36

John 3:22-26
As we have been studying on Wed. nights the Gospel according to John the apostle. I have been intrigued again by the testimony of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. I shouldn’t be surprised because he was created for that very purpose to prepare the way for Jesus.
In this account, John B has finished his preaching near Jerusalem at the river Jordan and Jesus has begun preaching and baptizing. John B has moved north of there. His disciples come to him with a question that seems to be marked with a touch of jealousy. No matter how hard we try our hearts get spotted by this emotion from time to time.
This guys were faithful to the Good News, but it seems they are not real sure that Jesus is the one, they are definitely looking for the Messiah, but this Jesus was over basically preaching the same thing as John B, (repentance of sins and being immersed in the Messiah) and all the people were following Jesus now instead of John B.
John the Baptist had began a great movement and for those following him and his teaching, it must have been amazing to see all of the people coming to John B to get baptized, was amazing! Jews were getting baptized, this would of meant them lowering themselves down to Gentiles. If a Gentile wanted to believe what the Jews to believe in that day, they had to be baptized to represent that they renounce who they are (dogs and unclean according to the Jews) and that they believe and walk as the Jews do. So, for a Jew to be baptized was an Heavenly accomplishment. They were astonished at all that had happened, now it is not as big as it was and Jesus had taken over where John was and all the people were staying with Jesus.
John’s response is profound, what he does in this is reveal to us John’s calling and the true Christ!
John was the last Old Testament prophet and he was the first New Testament preacher, he spoke of One to come and he revealed and baptized Jesus as He appeared! Before John B, there was no prophet’s voice for 400 years! The prophet’s spoke of things to come and the Messiah that was coming. The greatest thing about John B is that he spoke of the Messiah to come and he witnessed the Messiah! He certainly was not in competition with Jesus or should we be in competition with anyone speaking of the True Christ!
John the Baptist’s response: John 3:27-36.........
John, first off, destroys the human effort (as he should and everyone else should)!
Nobody on the planet, that is or was, can understand God truly unless it is revealed from Heaven!
When Peter confessed to Jesus of Who He was to them, Jesus said this about his confession:
Matthew 16:16-17 “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
Now, how was this confession of Peter given to him from Heaven. It was in the very essence of Christ! No other way that any human can come to that conclusion! Sure we can be told it over and over again and we can recite what Peter says, but to truly believe is when you look into what God has sent in His Son!
John B was especially appointed for this task, preparing the way for the Messiah and had always confessed that the One that comes after him was preferred before him. His confession also was one of the lowliest slave, not even worthy to unlatch Jesus’ shoes (which is a job for the lowest slave).
John B knew his role and he also knew the Deity of Jesus Christ! So, from that he was not in competition, he was watching the Son of God coming to deliver mankind from their sins, just as he preached!
The weddings back in that time were a long, drawn out process. it was full of celebration and different things that had to take place, sometimes it would last a year.
John speaks of the friend of the bride, which is simply “the best man” to the bridegroom. The best man would have specific responsibilities to do before the bridegroom would return to the bride.
The role of the best man is not about the best man, it is about the bridegroom and everything that the bridegroom says and does is cause for rejoicing.
John further explained that being in that role for Jesus, no matter how low his duties became, completed his joy!
John then says something that we quote but I am not sure we fully understand. “He must increase and I must decrease.” He said this in response to their question and it had to be of some sadness to the ones that had helped John the Baptist. If you said that to leaders of churches today, it would be the cause of great distress to them. They would have meeting after meeting to try and head off that decreasing!
The truth to this statement is not found in cutting all of this and that and go meet on the dirt somewhere. The truth of this is found in what John says next: “He that comes from above/Heaven is above all....”
True submission is to believe this testimony of Jesus Christ! He is above all!
I heard a great quote from Alistair Begg, a Scotish preacher of our day, he quotes someone else and say that no human can understand God fully! It is a lot like a barrier between us and Him! The only way that humans can ever understand God and His true nature is if God goes through that barrier and reveals Himself to us.
God did that with Jesus Christ! John the Baptist is telling us that very thing in this passage.
Jesus is above all, He was sent from Heaven, and what Jesus has seen and heard from the Father (God), He has testified to the world.
Many refuse this testimony or try to change it around to suit their earthly desires!
Sometimes, I hear folks talk about Jesus and there is no sense that He is above all! It seems our praise comes from things that He has done rather than Who is! Our praise never is what John the Baptist’s is, as the best man: “I rejoice greatly at His voice (the Voice of truth) and in His Lordship and His coming my joy is fulfilled!”
John B says that no man receives the testimony of Christ! There are not many, according to Jesus, but those that do know God is true!
Jesus is a perfect revelation of God the Father! His testimony (the Person and Complete Work) is the perfect testimony of God and if you are willing to hear the testimony and believe it, then you know God is true!
Jesus speaks what God has told Him to speak, there are no variations, there are no changes because times have changed, these accounts that we have are what Jesus said and if He said God told Him to say it!
Verse 34 just simply means that Jesus had the Spirit of God without measure. There is not a measurement that will measure It! Jesus had the Spirit fully!
These last 2 verses are strong to me and hold a lot of weight!
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands!
There is no mistaking this, everything is given unto the hands of Jesus, redemption, judgement!
We are in the hand of Jesus, whether we believe His testimony or not! Every human has to deal with Jesus!
We can deal with Him rightly or we can make own Jesus or we can just refuse Him altogether!
Rightly is take these accounts and believe they are true and let our lives hang on every word that we read of Jesus the Christ the Son of the living God! This is the testimony to believe, not some private revelation, but what we know and believe about Jesus!
Scripture warns about private revelations or interpretations, we must accept the testimony of these witnesses as they were ordained of God to tell us about Jesus!
Those that believe in this testimony of the Son of God, will have everlasting life!
Isaiah 53:6, in my opinion, has revealed to us the true wretchedness of man, according to God: “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.”
Following our own way, that is the true wretchedness of man, especially if we know that God sent His Son, Whom He loves, to be contradictory to our own way! Because of our desperate state God sent His Son, they call Him Jesus! Jesus was sent to show us a new way! A way we would of never known if it wasn’t for His testimony! Jesus also has took on the wrath of God for our sakes, that we might be presented holy, blameless, without guilt before God!
If we do not believe in this Jesus the Son of God, Who came as fleshly man and lived perfectly and died perfectly and was raised from the dead, then we will abide in God’s wrath forever! This is the 2nd death!
We worked a long way through John’s answer to the testimony of Christ! The answer is that when the true knowledge of God comes through the Son Jesus, then we find ourselves with a task, to decrease so the Christ will increase or to live for myself? Jesus is above all and everything is been given into His Hands are you willing to continue your own way and in your own knowledge?
2 Corinthians 5:14-21.....I believe this is what John the Baptist is telling them and us.............
Christians Perfection ........author: Frances de Fenelon
“His rightness toward the wicked and His love for the good are merely the same thing. It is with the same goodness which unites with all which have chosen good, that is incompatible with all that is evil. As for compassion, it is the goodness of God which, finding us evil, wishes to make us good.....He alone gives true goodness. Unhappy is the presumptuous soul who hopes to find it in Himself! It is the love which God has for us all which gives us all!
The greatest good which He can do for us, is to give us the love which we ought to have for Him. When God loves us enough to make us love Him (Jesus), He reigns in us. He makes our life, our peace, our happiness, and we begin already to live by His abundant Life! This love which He has for us bears His infinite character.........When He loves the dimensions of His love are infinite. He descends from Heaven to earth to seek the creature of clay, which He loves. He becomes man and clay with him.......He loves as a God, and this love is incomprehensible. It is the height of folly to wish to measure this infinite love by limited knowledge!.......”
We must believe in what has been given for us, we must submit to the Way of Jesus the Christ the Son of the Living God above our way!
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more