I invite you to turn in your Bible with me this morning to John chapter 3 as we come to the end of this chapter John chapter 3 and We'll see the supremacy of our Lord Jesus John chapter three, we're gonna begin at 22 and read through the end of the chapter. Just wanna welcome those who are visiting with us this morning. We're glad that you're here and hope that you're blessed as you worship the Lord with us. And just I wanna again encourage the congregation. If you see someone you don't recognize, please just reach out a hand and introduce yourself and bless one another that way. John chapter three, let's begin reading at verse 22. After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Ann, 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. John answered, a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. 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. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. For whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the spirit without measure. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Let's just ask the Lord to bless his word this morning. Father, we now are so dependent upon your spirit. We have your word, but it will be dead to us and we to it unless your spirit come. And so we ask that you would help me to preach and help us to hear, help us to see the beauty, the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and to believe in him. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you may have noticed in these first chapters of the Gospel of John, John has spent a lot of time telling us about the identity of Jesus, telling us who Jesus is. He wants his readers to be perfectly clear about Jesus. In fact, in the end of his book, he'll say, these things are written that you might believe Jesus is the Christ. He begins his gospel, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. That's who Jesus is. And his reason for this emphasis is quite clear. If Jesus really is the son of God come to earth, if that's who he actually in truth is, not as a Sunday school story, but as a historic fact, If Jesus is the Messiah who has been sent by God the Father to save sinners, if he's the King who's going to come again and judge the quick and the dead, the living and the dead, if that's who he is as historic fact, well, then we have to come to grips with that and understand it and believe it. This is not something that we can afford to get wrong. There are lots of things in life that you can get wrong and suffer minimal consequences. You can be wrong about the time a concert starts and so you show up half an hour late. It's inconvenient, it's maybe a little embarrassing, it's not a big deal. There are other things that you can get wrong to, you know, a greater consequence. You can have the wrong job and you're just not happy. You can make a mistake. My brother's doctor made a mistake. He was wrong about what was causing Randy's irritation in his stomach. He thought it was just indigestion. But it wasn't indigestion. It was cancer. And by the time that got corrected, it was too late. So there are errors that you can make that have really dire consequences. But there's not a single error you can make in your life that has, the consequences of being wrong about Jesus. To be wrong about Jesus results in eternal condemnation. That's what John says. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. The greatest possible mistake you can make in the world is to be wrong about Jesus. It has eternal consequences. And in our text this morning, we see some men who were confused about who Jesus was. These weren't evil men, they were good men, they were earnest men, they were disciples of John. But they were confused, they were backwards concerning the nature of Jesus and how John should relate to him. And so in our text this morning, John will set them straight, and John will once again testify to who Jesus actually is. First of all, then, this morning, we'll look at the confusion, and then the clarification, and then the conclusion. The confusion, verses 25 and 26. John sets the stage by telling us that Jesus was baptizing with his disciples. In fact, in chapter four, we'll learn that Jesus personally didn't baptize anyone. His disciples did, most likely, so that no one could later on say, well, I was baptized, my baptism is the real deal. I was baptized by Jesus personally. And there would be pride. And so Jesus and his disciples are baptizing, but of course, John the Baptist is also baptizing and has been for some time. John's baptism, as you know, maybe was the baptism of repentance, where he's calling people to prepare themselves because the King is coming, the Messiah is coming. And many people responded. We're told that many people rushed out to see him and to hear his message and to be baptized by John. It had to be an exciting ministry. If you were one of John's disciples, this was the greatest thing that ever happened to you. You were in the middle of something that was from God, something that was evidently blessed by God, and John, your rabbi, was this powerful witness to the truth of God and the coming Messiah, and the massive crowds were clear evidence of the Lord's blessing on it. It was a wonderful time to be alive, and it was a wonderful thing to be a part of. But something troubling was happening. The crowds are thinning. John wasn't the talk of the town anymore like he had once been. Someone is stealing the spotlight, and John's disciples are not happy about it. In verse 26, you can just hear the distress in their voice. They came to John and said, He who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, He is baptizing, and all are going to Him. Now, it's not hard to put yourself in their shoes and imagine their concern. Remember, they are followers of John the Baptist, not John a Baptist, the Baptist, right? John was the only show in town. Baptizing was what he did. It's his ministry, it's his movement. And now someone else is baptizing. And to their great consternation, it seems like everybody is now going to Jesus. And in their minds, this is not good. It's not right. It almost feels like a betrayal to them. I mean, after all, John was the one who gave Jesus his start in the ministry. John promoted him. John baptized him. John allowed some of his own disciples to go and follow Jesus. And now Jesus is stealing John's thunder, stealing away John's followers. It just doesn't set right. Something has to happen. Well, of course, the problem is they're just confused about who Jesus is. They're confused about the nature of the relationship between Jesus and John. You see, they saw Jesus as an associate of John, maybe even a disciple of John. And if John were like the great prophet Elijah, which many people were saying he was, well then Jesus was Elisha. Right? A great man, but just not quite the same stature. And so they're deeply concerned when they see Jesus' ascendancy and John's declining fame. That's easy to understand. They're just people. we are like this, we like to promote ourselves, we like to belong to something great, and we don't like it when someone steals the thunder from our movement. We find the same thing with Jesus' disciples. In Mark 9, for instance, John, the author of this gospel, comes to Jesus and says, Lord, we found someone else casting out demons in your name, and we told him to stop. We commanded him, stop. Why? Well, John says, because he wasn't one of us. He's not part of the inner circle. He's not part of the brand. That's what we do. We're the guys who cast out demons. We can't be sharing that with other people. Jesus rebukes him. And that's how these guys are. They see Jesus as the competition. And so John has to set them straight. The clarification, verse 27 through 30. clarifies the confusion by making three points first his ministry including its declining stage is exactly what God intended it to be so if you look at verse 27 John answered and said a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven in other words John's ministry was exactly what God had given him what God intended for him. And John was faithfully carrying out that ministry. And Jesus was too. You see, this wasn't a competition. God had given John and Jesus different ministries. That's an important reminder for all of us. We can see a brother or sister with greater gifts, greater opportunities, greater success. And it can be hard for us to accept that, that God has called us to a smaller space, smaller platform. Lesser blessings, right? You can see someone who's, they just seem to have it all. They got a better marriage or they're married. They have better kids or they have kids. Got a nicer house, more financial success, nicer vacations. They're just more godly, it seems like. They just seem to be uniquely blessed, and instead of being happy for them, we can be jealous about it. And we need to remember that everything we have and everything we don't have comes from heaven. Everything we have and everything we don't have is given to us from above. according to God's good purpose and his perfect will for us. None of us are an accident and our lives are not a mistake. John was content with what God had given him precisely because it was from God. And secondly, John had always been crystal clear about his second tier status. Verse 28, you yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ. I've been sent before him. And so John is saying to his disciples, you guys shouldn't be surprised that Jesus is ascending and that I'm declining. I've told you all along, he is greater than me. In John 1 verse 30, John says, this is he, pointing to Jesus, this is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. John will say, I'm not worthy to tie his shoes, to tie his sandals. He's been perfectly clear. He's the forerunner, Jesus is the Messiah. And so these men apparently have just not been paying attention. But John reminds them, the Messiah has come. Gentlemen, the Messiah has come. Of course the crowds are going to him. Praise the Lord, the crowds are going to him. That's exactly how it ought to be. This is what we've been working for. We've told people to be prepared. The king is coming, and now the king is here, and they're going to the king. That's exactly how it ought to be. That's what John points out. Verse 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." He compares himself to the best man at the wedding. In those days, the best man was responsible to make the wedding arrangements. It would be entirely inappropriate for the best man to be jealous of the bridegroom, wishing that the bride was smiling lovingly at him. Not a good scene. Completely inappropriate. Instead, the best man should be rejoicing when he sees the bride go to the bridegroom. And John says, that's exactly how I feel. This joy of mine is now complete. John was just rejoicing to see the bride, the crowds going to Jesus. He's rejoicing. in what God was doing through Jesus. And John then lets his men know that it's time for his ministry to decrease. This is right. He must increase, I must decrease. There's only one king, only one bridegroom, and that's Jesus. And so John must step aside. This must is of divine intent. It's very strong. God's divine will is that Jesus must increase. Through his life and death and resurrection and ascension, God is going to accomplish his great redemptive purposes. Jesus must increase. And John must decrease. His ministry is now complete. And John submits to it and rejoices in it. D.A. Carson says, John finds his joy not in grudgingly conceding victory to a superior opponent, but in wholeheartedly embracing God's will and the supremacy it assigns to Jesus. This is John saying, yes, Lord. Amen, so be it. Glorify the Son. May His kingdom increase till His kingdom stretch from shore to shore. May He increase until everything is brought under His glorious reign. John is just exalting Jesus, lifting up Jesus, which is exactly the desire of every Christian. Our heart's desire, if you're a Christian, And as you think about the trials and heartaches and losses of your life, you'll find that at the bottom, what you want more than anything else, more than even your own happiness or even your own health, what you want most of all is that in some way Jesus gets honor and glory from your life. The Spirit of God will plant that in you. That in some small way, in the little span that you have here on planet Earth, in the little sphere of influence that you have, that you'll want your life to be just one little something that honors and glorifies and exalts Jesus. Even if it's through pain. Even if it's through heartache and loss. that your life will not be a waste if Jesus gets glorified. And if you have the whole world and your life doesn't bring glory to Jesus, it was an absolute waste. That's a conviction of a child of God. You see, we're convinced that Jesus must have supremacy. And John concludes this section, the apostle John, as he writes in verses 31 and following, telling us why Jesus must have supremacy. First, because of his origin. He who comes from above is above all. Says it twice, he who comes from heaven is above all. You see, Jesus is not like everyone else. Jesus is not like anyone else. He is the son of God, God himself in human flesh. And so Jesus must be supreme over every other man and woman in human history. simply by virtue of who he is, his origin. Second, he must be supreme because of his testimony. Verse 32, he bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true, for he whom God has sent utters the words of God. He whom God has sent utters the words of God. In other words, to receive what Jesus says is to agree with what God says. When you believe what Jesus says, you're setting your testimony, this is true, that God is true, these words are true. And to, conversely, to reject the words of Jesus, it's just to straight up reject God himself. because Jesus speaks the very words of God. You see, friends, when it comes to Jesus, and John has made this point before, we have two options, and only two options. You can receive the words, believe the words, or reject the words, and your eternal destiny actually lies in the balance because of who he actually is. And notice how John states the options, right? Verse 36, whoever believes the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains. So John posits the two options are faith and disobedience. It's interesting. He could have obviously said faith, belief, and unbelief. But it's belief or disobedience. Sin, wickedness. Now, why does he do that? Well, because you see, to not believe Jesus is to call God a liar. It's to call God a liar. So God says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And unbelief says, liar. God says, I so love the world that I gave my only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And unbelief says, you're a liar. Jesus, speaking the very words of God, says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And unbelief says, liar. Do you see how offensive that is to God? You see, we get confused about this in our relativistic, pluralistic age. People just assume that they have the choice to believe or not to believe, and no one can fault them. Because people assume we get to choose our own truth, right? And if I don't believe, if I'm not convinced, you can't blame me for that. I'm choosing my own truth. Well, guess what? You don't have the right to choose your own truth. You live in God's world, we all do, the world that God has made, the world over which God rules, and God determines what is true. And you can receive that truth, or you can call God a liar, but those are your only options. And if you choose the second option, John just wants you to understand, okay, but know this, The wrath of God remains on you. You can reject it. You can turn away. But you can't reject it and not face the consequence. You're calling God a liar to his face. He's offended. And the wrath of God then remains on you. Friend, if you're here today and you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do not accept his word as true, you are offending God. And Jesus in love is calling you to life, to believe. Now, this isn't just something that unbelievers need to hear. Christians can commit the same sin. We can reject God's word in a variety of ways, right? God says, I'm with you, I love you, I forgive you. I'm your refuge and your strength. And yet how often in life don't we let our feelings determine what is true rather than the word of God? And we don't feel that he loves us and so we don't believe that he loves us. We don't believe that he's truly forgiven us because we don't feel forgiven. We refuse to take comfort in his promises. We hold on to our fears and our wounds and our failures and our losses as though God were lying when he said all things must work together for good. We just, it's not true. It's not true. Friends, it's offensive to God. It's sin. It's grievous sin when we do not take the truth of God as the foundational reality of our life. And I say this preaching right here to Dale Van Dyke. It's sin. It's sin we need to confess. But friends, praise God, this is the glory of the gospel. You see, Jesus came from heaven precisely for sinners like us. He came for the disobedient, the doubters and the deniers, the people who called God a liar to His face. God so loved us, He gave His Son for us to rescue us from the wrath that we deserve. And despite our unbelief, even in the moment when you are in full faith, Just full-bore rebellion against God in unbelief against His Word, Jesus remains what He has always been, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He doesn't change. And Jesus invites you again to come. Rest in Him. Are you weary today? Are you stuck in your sins, stuck in your pride, your anger? Are you ready to let it go? Could you just come to Jesus? He invites you to come, cast all your cares on me. Come, I will give you rest. We just need to believe it, need to embrace it. Abide in him abide in his truth and the gospel promises that we will have life not just eternal life but life now the life of God in us a life of hope a life of joy a life of peace even in the midst of heartbreak and hardship and trial That we can count it joy because We know Jesus, and we know that in Jesus, every promise of God is yes and amen to us personally. Not as a generic truth, not as a theological idea or just a biblical doctrine, but the actual truth that you can rest in, you can take for yourself. And say, Lord, I believe. Remember the man in Mark, the Gospel of Mark who was, he says to Jesus, Lord, if you can, you can heal my son. And Jesus says, if you can? He who believes everything's possible. What does the man say? Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. That's the prayer of every Christian. Lord, I do believe. I believe you are the Son of God. I believe you are the Lamb of God. I believe that you're the Savior of sinners. I believe that you died for me. But Lord, there's still unbelief. Help my unbelief. Help me to grow in faith. And friend, if you pray that prayer in faith, God will answer. He promises to. And God can never lie. Amen? Let's pray. Oh Father, you are the living God who speaks nothing but truth and Jesus Christ is your son and you tell us, listen to him because his words are the words of God. Father, I just pray this morning for anyone who's here who's been just rejecting, denying the gospel because they feel it's their freedom, it's their right and prerogative. Lord, I pray they would understand that they are in grievous sin and the wrath of God remains on them because they're calling you a liar, Father. Oh, but God, we confess, we confess as those who do believe, Lord, that we've done the same and we grieve our sin Oh God, may we, by your spirit, cast out every shred of doubt and take your word as life and health and peace as we abide in Jesus and abide in his word. Father, I just pray that your spirit help us to see these are not just theological ideas. This is life. And I pray, Lord, that you would show us in our life where we've been calling you a liar, in our anxiety, in our fear, our impatience and anger, maybe even in our grief, where we, Lord, charge you with not being sufficient, not being faithful, not being loving or kind. Lord, forgive us our sin. Give us the grace to repent and bring us, Lord, back to the wonderful truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way and the truth and the life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.