Christ the Exalted One

Introduction Story :

How many times have we in our lives spoke the words “Its not Fair!”

I mean this has got to be one of the first arguments a we have with our parents as kids isn’t it?

When my kids were little I heard its not fair many times.

It’s not fair that he only has a to take out the trash and I have to vacuum the whole house.

It’s not fair that he gets to ride in the front seat and I have to sit in the back

It’s not fair that she gets to stay at grandmas house and I have to go home.

It’s not fair that they got a new bike for their birthday and I still have an old one.

The idea of “its not fair” seems to come to us naturally. We don’t like seeing someone else have something that we think we deserve.

This morning we are going to look at a story in John chapter 3 where John the Baptist’s followers come to him and say “its not fair” But Johns response to them is our Big idea for today...

Big Idea: Christ’s glory must increase and my glory must decrease

- Everything we do in our lives as children of God should be for the glory of Christ Alone.

Our lives should make the name of Jesus great to everyone around us.

The Story leading to the story

Text: John 3:22-26 “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John (the baptist) also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

Understand that John the baptist didn’t stop his ministry when Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah. Johns ministry of pointing people to the Messiah continued until he was put in prison for preaching repentance and belief in the lamb of God.

In out text this morning , Apparently, Jesus and his disciples have left the city of Jerusalem’, and went into the countryside of Judea, most likely along the Jordan river, where John the baptist was preaching repentance and baptising people in the pools of water in that region.

While they were there with John, Some of his followers get into an argument with someone about the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing. Their debate was not focused on the methods of John’s baptism verses Jesus’s baptism, but on the matter of the Jewish purification rites. apparently they were in an argument over whether John’s baptism qualified as the Old testament ritual of water purification or if it had a different purpose.

Apparently because of this debate over the Jewish purification process some of John’s disciples started to question the ability of John’s leadership since Jesus arrived on the scene.

Listen to what they said in verse 26 “ So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, about whom you testified—see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!” NET

it appears that even though John still had large crowds around him, The disciples of John noticed that Jesus’s crowds were much bigger and this caused them to question their teacher.

And so John turns to these disciples and sets the record straight.

He tells his followers that his entire ministry is all about introducing the world to the Lamb of God.

Remember his declaration when he saw Jesus walking towards him in John 1:30 “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

John’s entire ministry was all about Jesus.

And in the next 4 verses we are going to See how John lived out a Christ Centered Life

NOTE: before I get started I want to give credit where it is do. sometimes in your studies you come across a phrase or an outline that just makes a passage come together . and it would be silly to try and be clever and reinvent the wheel when something is already good. . this is one of those times for me. As I was reading a commentary by Matt Carter I came across these 4 statements about John’s ministry and so I have borrowed them to share with you.

lets look at the ....

4 ASPECTS OF A CHRIST CENTERED LIFE- From the ministry of John the Baptist

turn with me in your Bibles to John 3:27 “John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

the first thing we see from our text is

John the Baptist's Perspective {Conviction} on ministry vs 27

John 3:27 “John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

John’s first statement was a deep conviction that he held. “He was saying there is no competition between me and jesus because everything that I have in ministry and in life is from God and not of my own.

The apostle Paul reiterates this idea of God’s sovereignty 1 Corinthians 4:7

“4:7 For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

Understand this morning that everything about you is a gift from God. You are nothing outside of what He has made you to be.

God in his sovereign plan chose to put you here in this country for His glory.

God in His sovereign plan put you here in this state for His glory

God in his sovereign plan put you here in this community for His glory

God in his sovereign plan put you in your home with your family for His glory.

and God in His sovereign plan brought you to this church for His glory.

God has called us to Share Christ - but he has also equipped us to proclaim Christ.

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,”

If God has called you to a ministry he has also equipped you for that ministry.

and what John the Baptist and the apostle Paul both are communication to us as the church is that every gift and talent we possess is from the Lord, and we have no roam for boasting on our own.

Our abilities and even our gospel opportunities come from God, and He alone deserves the glory.

If we are going to live a christ centered life - Humility must be our perspective on our gospel ministry- We must understand that it is all about Jesus and because of Jesus and for jesus.

Transition: John moves and gives us his pattern of ministry

John the Baptist’s Pattern of ministry vs 28

John 3:28 -John’s disciples came to him upset that Jesus now had more followers than Him, but John was not upset himself, why- because he had made it clear to his followers from the beginning - that He was not the Christ, His purpose was to pave the way for Christ to come.

Remember his words in John 1:30-31 “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

Just like jesus, John’s ministry was given to him before he was even born, and because of his great humility, he was completely content in his role of letting Jesus’s popularity increase while he himself would decrease .

John lived his entire life pointing people to some else.

if we want to see spiritual fruit in our own lives and in our gospel ministries than we need to pattern our lives after John

The message of the gospel is not our message but Christs

The message of the gospel is not about us but Christ.

Our entire life should point people to Jesus.

In John 1:8 “John was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

John’s life never proclaimed his own glory but pointed people to Jesus

when others look at us they should see jesus

& When others here us speak they should hear the words of Jesus.

To live a life Christ centered life takes work to pattern your life after Jesus is not something that just happiness after you accept Jesus as ytour savior.

IT TAKES WORKS

ILLUSTRATION:

There are many things in life that I am good at, but I cant think of single one that came naturally and hasn’t taken time to develop.

One thing that I am really good a t is fishing. I love going fishing. I have caught thousands of fish in my life in multiple states and multiple countries. Even in our own lake I have caught lots and lots of fish.

You know I could stand here and tell you how good I am, but if there is no proof of me ever fishing in my life- its just empty words.

For you to believe that I am an expert fisherman I need to show your the proof from my life.

So here is the proof

I have caught dozens of bluegills the size of a dinner plate

I have Caught Bass that should be haning on my wall

I have Caught 7 Walleyes out of Clear lake that were over 25” long, and I have caught over a dozen Muskies including this 45 inch musky out of our lake

I have spent hours of my life on the lake fishing- and because of that I am very successful when I fish. I have a pattern of catching fish because I have spent hours studying, preparing and fishing in my life.

Johns ministry was not a one day event when he declared jesus of nazeth as the messiah - it was a life long pattern of pointing people to the coming Messiah.

If we want to live a Christ centered life than the pattern of our life our must point People to Jesus

Just like being successful at fishing isn’t a natural ability but something that grows over time,

In order for us to pattern our lives after Jesus we must build upon the foundation of our salvation.

look with me at what Peter says in 1 Peter 1.....

2 Peter 1:5-10 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

Peter in this passage is saying “ We cannot just expect that our lives are going to look like Jesus just because we are saved. We must add to our faith.

This pattern of becoming more like Christ is called sanctification. This should be our daily goal as a followers of jesus - to become more like Him.

The reason John the baptist wasn’t concerned about Jesus having more followers than him was because he had already patterned his life after his mission.

it wasn’t a surprise to him- because it was exactly what he expected to happen.

A Christ Centered Life Points people to jesus

Transition: John the Baptist goes on in verse 29 and gives us a 3rd aspect of Christ centered life.

John 3:29 “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.”

look with me at :

John the Baptist’s Pleasure in ministry vs 29

John 3:29 “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.” .

John turns to an illustration to help his disciples understand why he has joy and not resentment in the fact that jesus has more followers than him.

He is saying I am just the best man in the story and Jesus is the groom. (look at the text)

The best man rejoices because the groom now has his bride.

It would be foolish for the best man to try and upstage the groom and take his place. The marriage is not about the best man but about the groom and his bride.

Warren Wiersbe said “ Once the bridegroom and bride have been brought together, the work of the best man is completed. John’s joy was to hear the voice of the Bridegroom and to know that He had claimed His bride.”

and this is why John says “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete”

John was telling his followers that Jesus has come to redeem Isreal and to make her his bride

John finds his joy in that his life’s message of being the herald for the coming messiah has been completed.

Jesus-The bridegroom has come to receive His bride.

Just like John the baptist we find our joy in ministry through the finished work of jesus on the Cross.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 ““O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ came to earth and paid the dowry for his bride- He paid the price of the sinners debt so that he could ransom mankind as his own.

We can find joy in the ministry of the gospel because we are proclaiming Jesus Christ to the World.

A Christ Centered Life Finds Joy in the work of Jesus

We are sharing the message of hope to the hopeless and this should bring us joy

We are bringing the light of Christ to those in darkness and this should bring us joy.

Johns Pleasure in ministry came when He declared jesus Christ as the messiah, Our Joy in ministry can only come when we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.

Transition: John goes on and gives us the 4 aspect of a Christ- centered life that we can see from the Life of John the Baptist

He says “ He must increase, but I must decrease”

John the Baptist’s life had one purpose and that was to make the name of Jeus greater than any other name

look with me at Johns purpose for ministry

John the Baptist’s Purpose in ministry vs 30

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John the Baptist's purpose in ministry was not gain popularity or fame, but to lift up the name of Jesus!

It was all about the glory of Christ and nothing about himself. John’s entire life was to point to someone else.

So think about our story- John’s disciples came to him and complained about Jesus - saying “you were here before Jesus , you baptist Jesus ,and you even bore witness of Jesus. and Now Jesus has a bigger crowd than you john. Its a not fair!

But Because

Johns’ perspective of ministry was humility, and

John’s pattern of ministry was to poin people to jesus and

John’s pleasure in ministry was the joy he recieved becauseJesus had come to receive his bride.

all of this meant that his purpose in ministry had been fulfilled. and this is why he could faithfully say HE must increase and I must decrease.

Remember John the Baptist’s words in John 1:30-31 “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.””

John the baptist understood his purpose so much so that, that when the opportunity came in chapter 1 of John — he told his own disciples to leave him and follow Jesus because Jesus is greater than himself.

God had a purpose for John’s life.

for him to pave the way for Christ the redeemer.

John understood that his purpose was to point people to jesus to make his name great and not his own.

and so when his own disciples saw that Jesus had a greater crowd then him, it didn't cause him to be jealous of Jesus’s success, but instead it gave him a deep Joy knowing that he had fulfilled the purpose that God had given him to do.

In this passage John is telling his followers “jesus is now Here- You can now follow Him my purpose has been completed.

God also has a purpose for our lives as well today

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Just like John the baptist Your life was sovereignly laid out for you by God with the purpose of bring him glory. and the way that he is glorified in your life is the same way John the Baptist life brought him glory-0 by pointing people to Jesus

If you are a follower of Jesus, your life has a purpose- and that purpose is to bring God glory in everything you do.

The question we should ask ourselves is this.. How do I bring God Glory

and the answer is simple- “He must increase and I must decrease.”

When we serve in the church so that others see us and give us praise - we are not giving God the glory

When we share the gospel so that we look good -we are not giving God the glory.

When we come to church out of obligation and not out of worship- we are robbing God of His glory.

When we care more about how we look to others rather than how we look to God we are robbing God of the glory.

A Christ Centered Life Makes God’s Name great and our own name Small

We must live our lives for the purpose of Gods glory!

The last thing any of us should ever want to do is to rob God of the glory that he deserves from our life.

Bring it Home

this morning we have looked at an example of man who Exalted Jesus with his life.

He fulfilled his ministry on earth.

He lived a Christ - Centered Life-

If you are follower of Jesus this morning you have the opportunity to make God’s name great in your life by the way you live and the words you speak.

The QuestionI have for you is this --- how are you doing at kee ing christ as the center focus of your life?

is your life marked with Humility or are you always trying to get the credit you think you deserve?

Does your life Point People to jesus and not your self?

Do you find Joy in serving Jesus or is it a burden to do what is right?

& Does your life make God’s name great as his ambassador or are you more worried about what people might think of you?

As a Child of God- as one who has been called out of darkness and into the marvelous light of Christ, You have a purpose, you have a mission, and that is to share God’s glory with the world.

There is no greater way to make God’s name big than to introduce your friends and family to His son Jesus.

Don’t waste your life living for your self. Let Christ be the center.

We are called to Exalt the name of Jesus in everything we do and say!

UNSAVED If you are here this morning and don’t know Jesus as your person savior than there is only one way for you to bring God glory and that is to accept jesus today

There is no better way to make God greater than yourself than to humbly confess your need for his saving grace in your life.

if that is you today- I would love to meet with you after church and show you how you can accept God’s salvation in your life today and begin to bring him glory with your life.

Pray