Please turn with me in God's holy word to the gospel of John. This morning we will be looking at John chapter 3, the very last verses, verses 22 through 36. We're used to looking at that portion of John chapter 3 related to Nicodemus and to his words to Nicodemus concerning the great love of God. that sent into this world God's only Son, Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. But I'd like us to look at the last verses of that chapter this morning. John chapter 3, verses 22 through 36, if you don't know it, it's in your, and you don't have a Bible, it is in your, it is printed in your bulletin, but I will be reading slightly larger font than the one that's there. Let us hear God's holy word. 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 Aneon near Selim, 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 to 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 from 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. 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. So ends the reading of God's Holy Word. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come humbly before Your Word. We know it is Your address to us from Your very throne. It is the very Word that Jesus Christ would speak to us this morning. Therefore, Father, we pray that Your Spirit, the Spirit given by our Lord to us, would apply this, Your Word, to our hearts and minds, so that we would be built up in our faith and knowledge of Him. Father, we give all praise to Jesus Christ. in whose name we praise now. We pray now, amen. Everything we have comes from something before it. One new thing leads to another new thing. When we think of new things, we usually think in a linear way. We think in a line. Even when a new thing comes from a combination of several things, We think of a line of development, and therefore, we're prone to compare the new thing to the old thing. Well, I really liked how this app worked on the old phone. I don't like how it works now. Or, I really like this. This is really intuitive. I can figure things out. When we read our Bibles, sometimes we look at the things that we find in it in much the same way. The things in Genesis led to the events in Exodus, and those to Leviticus and Numbers. Moses was followed by Joshua and the judges. They were followed by the kings and the prophets. And finally, we find the coming of Jesus Christ. Because of this linear way of thinking, we can make the mistake of only seeing Jesus as part of the line. In fact, after Jesus' ascension, this was a problem in the early church, as those who favored only seeing Jesus as part of the line objected to the changes that they thought were being made by the apostles. not requiring circumcision, the inclusion of Gentiles in the church without making them first convert to Judaism, the failure to observe the dietary laws. These all became matters of controversy already in the days of the apostles because of people looking at Jesus in the context of Moses and the prophets. The influence of this way of thinking has continued. Some sects would have us place the priority on Moses and the prophets and interpret Jesus as one who pointed men back to the way that Moses and the prophets should be understood. Therefore, Jesus is seen as a corrective. However, that's not what we find the New Testament teaching us. While all of the gospel writers go to great lengths to emphasize the fact that everything in the Old Testament points to and leads us to and is fulfilled by Jesus Christ, John, in this gospel, emphasizing that as well, also starts with Jesus. He shows us that things begin with Jesus, not end with Him alone. Therefore, in John chapter 1, He begins by telling us that the Word was with God in the beginning because the Word is God. Verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1. He tells us that all things were made through Him. That all life comes from Him. Verses 3 and 4 of chapter 1. He tells us that the Word is the giver of light. Chapter 1, verse 9. He tells us that the Word became flesh and lived among us. Verse 14. The same Word that became flesh, therefore, is the same Word that created everything and gave life and light to everything. It all came from Him. The Baptist prepared, by the way, John the Baptist, it's confusing, I know, and I apologize for that in advance. The gospel's written by John, who never names himself in the gospel, and he writes about John and never calls him John the Baptist. So even though the word the Baptist never appears in this gospel, I'm gonna have to refer to him that way so that you won't get confused whether I'm talking about the apostolic writer or the man John the Baptist. The Baptist prepared for Jesus' coming, but Jesus is so much greater than the Baptist that the Baptist is unworthy to untie Jesus' sandals. Chapter 1, verse 27. And in a very profound declaration, John the Baptist tells us that he didn't even know who Jesus was. until he was given a revelation by God that told him that the One upon whom he saw the Spirit descend, that is the One. And he says it twice in the space of three verses. And it makes you think, who is it that revealed to John that this is the One except the Word, who is the Word of God? So in essence, it's the Son of God who's telling John that the one upon whom you see the Spirit descend, that's the Son of God. Everything in God's Word starts with Jesus and focuses on Jesus. Jesus' authority didn't come from John the Baptist. It didn't come from the prophets. Jesus' authority didn't come from Moses. Their authority came from the Word. Their authority came from the Son of God. Their authority came from Jesus. Jesus' teaching didn't come from John the Baptist, or any who came before him. The teaching of John the Baptist, the prophets, and Moses, it came from the Word. It came from the Son of God. It came from Jesus. And now the Son of God has come from heaven, and all that leads to eternal life depends on believing that Jesus is the Son of God, the maker of the creation, the giver of life and light. In these verses, I would like us to see John speaking about the Baptist and Jesus. This gospel was probably written later than the other three, and that may be why its perspective is a bit different. It is a gospel, and it does share things that are found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But there are things in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that aren't in John, and there are things in John that aren't in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It isn't just the opening 18 verses of chapter 1 that make this a strikingly different kind of gospel. It's also the way that things are spelled out at the beginning of these gospels. For example, Matthew and Luke tell us something about Jesus' birth, and Luke tells us about Jesus' youth. Matthew and Luke are then joined by Mark to tell us about Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. And they tell us all three of those Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew in chapter 4, Mark in chapter 1, Luke in chapter 4 again. All three of those Gospels tell us not only about the baptism by John the Baptist, but they tell us about the three temptations in the wilderness. The three other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, move directly from the temptation in the wilderness straight up to Galilee and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. that begins after John the Baptist is arrested. In contrast, John begins before the creation in those first 18 verses of chapter 1. He does tell us about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, but he doesn't tell us anything about Jesus' early life. He doesn't tell us about Jesus' baptism by John. There's no mention of that in this gospel, even though of the four gospel writers, it's most likely that John was the only one who was around John the Baptist at the time of that baptism. He doesn't tell us about the temptation in the wilderness. There's no mention of it. John picks up with the time skipped by the other Gospels. He picks up with the time following the temptation in the wilderness and Jesus returning to the Jordan where Jesus is baptizing. He tells us about the challenges that were taking place to John's authority because those same challenges are going to take place against Jesus' authority. He tells us about John's declaration. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Unprecedented words. There's no basis for them directly anywhere in the Old Testament. They're a revelation from God. He tells us about Jesus' first disciples. We think from the other Gospels that the first disciples are all called in Galilee. It turns out that Jesus met some of them already down by the Jordan where John was baptizing. He tells us that those disciples call. Look at chapter 1 when you go home. Read verses 19 through 51. They call Him the Son of God. They call Him the King of Israel, referring to the eternal King promised to David to sit on David's throne forever. They call Him the Christ, the Messiah. And He tells us in verse 51 that Jesus knows exactly who He is. When Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Jesus referring back to the encounter by Jacob with God after he came out of living with his father-in-law Laban. And do you remember, I'm sorry, it was on the way to go to Laban. And do you remember what Jacob said there? He said, this is Bethel, he called it, the house of God. Jesus, by saying, you will see the heavens open and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man, he is calling himself the gate to heaven. He is calling himself the house of God. There's no question that Jesus knows who he is. Then John tells us about Jesus' first miracle in Cana. A little visit by Jesus to his family in a couple of verses. His going up to Jerusalem and cleaning out the temple of buyers and sellers. And beginning with John chapter 3 verses 1 through 21, he tells us about Jesus meeting with Nicodemus. Then we get to this passage, followed by the woman at the well. It isn't until John 4 verses 43 through 45 that the Gospel of John begins telling us about the public ministry of Jesus up in Galilee. So it's between 119 and 443, the Gospel writer has told us about something that is left out of the other three Gospels. Once again, I want to repeat, the other three Gospels go straight from the wilderness temptations to Jesus' public ministry. John, in three and a half chapters, tells us what happened in between. It isn't simply because John wants to fill in a blank period we didn't even know existed from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. From a spiritual perspective, this gospel portion answers the objections of those who think that following the ascension, that it is the apostles who've been innovative, or who think that Jesus must be understood in the greater context of Moses and the prophets. No and no. Among other things, we find that it is Jesus who emphasizes that it is the work of God to give us new birth and faith that lets us see and enter the Kingdom, rather than our work to observe the Mosaic Law. We find that it is Jesus who first called the Gentiles to believe without first making them become Jews in His encounter in the next chapter with the Samaritans. And very importantly, these things don't happen because of His public ministry, but before His public ministry in Galilee even began. Do you realize that even before the first miracle, the turning of water into wine in Cana, the disciples are already calling Him the Son of God, the King of Israel, and the Christ. It didn't take a miracle for them to believe. In this record of the events that took place after Jesus came out of the wilderness and before the public ministry in Galilee began, we find these verses. These verses round out John's and Jesus' interaction after Jesus' baptism and before John's arrest. The section began at chapter 119 and closes here. It began with John and Jesus near each other. And it ends with John and Jesus near each other. This section began with some of John's disciples leaving John to follow Jesus. But it ends with some of John's disciples not making that move. However, it also shows that John understands what some of his disciples clearly did not understand. that John's purpose was to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ, the Lord. And now that the Lord has come, John's work is coming to an end. Here we are reminded that we only have what God gives to us. And most important of all, is that God has given himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. John, verses 22 through 30. After attending a Passover feast in Jerusalem and talking to Nicodemus, Jesus, we're told, went out to the countryside around Jerusalem. His disciples were with him, and we are told that he was baptizing. John chapter 4, verse 2 is going to clarify for us, in a parenthetical statement, that it was actually Jesus' disciples who were doing the baptizing on Jesus' behalf. This was not the baptism that Jesus would institute as a sacrament in Matthew 28. If Jesus had his disciples baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you can be assured he would have been arrested immediately. Rather, this is almost certainly the same baptism as the baptism of John. A baptism for the cleansing of sin. Like the Old Testament washing in the bronze laver done by the priest to enter the temple, or the washing done by someone after ceremonial uncleanness, this baptism pointed to the removal of sin and making a person able to enter the presence of God. And that's its emphasis, making a person able to enter the presence of God. Not far away, we're told that John is also baptizing. Even the debate that John's disciples got into with someone else over the issue of purification helps us to see that the issue is not about some new sacrament, but about what purification means. John's baptism wasn't the introduction of something new. He was getting people ready for the coming of God, just like the Old Testament ritual washings. While the disciples of John could handle a simple question about purification, their problem was understanding why Jesus was now attracting more disciples than John had. Perhaps their question is this. If Jesus is the one for whom you were preparing, John, and Jesus is here, why is he now doing your work? Why is he now doing what we're supposed to be doing? It's important to see that John's disciples do acknowledge the significance of what the baptizer said about Jesus. They believed that what John said was true. John's disciples do seem to believe John's words about Jesus, that he is the Lamb of God, that he is the one for whom John has been preparing, that he is the Christ. But they do not seem to understand the implication of that for themselves. Because if they had, wouldn't they have begun to follow Jesus too? But John does understand the significance for everyone. His faith and his understanding are fantastic. The consistency of his life has been fantastic. We all know he's going to have a troubled time when he's in prison. But for now, it is astounding where he's at. He has faithfully done what God sent him to do, and he understands that his success never depended on him. He had a job to do, and he did it. He had a purpose from God, and he did it. The fruit was completely up to God. So he reminds his disciples that as he has told them from the very beginning up until the present, and as he told the Pharisees who challenged his authority back in chapter 1, verse 20, I am not the Christ, as I have told you all along. John always understood who he was, and he always understood his purpose. His purpose was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, God's people are called God's bride, and in many more places, God's people are compared to a wife. Drawing on that imagery here, John compares his relationship to Jesus to the relationship between a bridegroom and a bridegroom's best man. The bride that is God's people don't belong to John. They don't belong to the friend of the bridegroom. They don't belong to the best man of the bridegroom. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. John has helped to get the bride ready for the groom. But now he is glad that the groom has arrived and that he can step away and let the groom take over. Far from being upset at Jesus' popularity, John is rejoicing because this is exactly what he's been working for! This has been his purpose all along! For this moment! To turn the bride over to the Bridegroom Jesus. This is one of the greatest and most humble things in scripture for him to say. He must increase, but I must decrease. What a difference, what a difference between John and the desire of the disciples right up until the night when Jesus was arrested. Right up until the night that Jesus is arrested, they are arguing about which of them is the greatest, about which of them should get a seat on Jesus' right and a seat on Jesus' left. And that is never the spirit of John the Baptist. And how hard it must have been for this evangelist to write these words. Because the Apostle John is one of those guys who'd argued about being greatest. John always knew that his ministry was never about himself. His ministry has always been about the one for whose coming he prepared. His ministry has always been about Jesus. It is all about Jesus. It's never about us, is it? It shouldn't be. It's about Jesus. Yes, Jesus lived and died so that we would be saved. So we like to think how He died for me, how He died for us. And that tempts us to think, therefore, it's about us. But it's never about us. God loved us and that is why He sent His Son. But Jesus' life and death for us was so that we will live for and serve Him. It's about Jesus. This idea goes all the way back, you can find it in the Exodus out of Egypt. Let my Son go. Pharaoh thought He was a God. Pharaoh thought He was a God. And Moses' words to him are, from God, let my son go that he may serve, or worship, in the Hebrew it's the same word, serve me. In other words, he's taking his son away from the one whom he is serving to serve another. And Paul, the apostle, writes in the same terms about how we have been taken from our service to the prince of the power of the air. to be made sons and servants of the living God. Our salvation is unto our service and devotion to Jesus Christ. It's for us, but it's not about us. It's about Jesus. It's about Jesus and wherever He would want us to go and whatever He would want us to do. John's words are both a lesson for Christian ministers and Christians. We aren't in this world or in the church for our advancement. We have been given gifts and abilities to serve Christ and to serve the church. The gifts aren't for my edification, but for the edification of others, building them up. We are given opportunities not to make us more important, or so that others will notice how great we are, but so that others will look to Jesus and see Him in us and through us. and how great He is. We want others to see Jesus in us. We want others to hear Christ from us. We want to be less and less like our selfish, sinful, self-seeking selves and be more and more like Jesus so that they will look at Him and not us. He must increase, but we must decrease. Jesus, verses 31 through 36. It's difficult to determine who is speaking in verses 31 through 36, but the text gives no indication that it has switched away from John the Baptist. And so that is how I'm going to have us look at it. that John is the one who's continuing to speak here. John understood that he was from the earth and that Jesus is from heaven. He understood that Jesus is from heaven when he called Jesus the Lamb of God in chapter 1 verse 29 and chapter 1 verse 36. He understood that Jesus is from heaven when he called Jesus the Son of God. as he did back in chapter 1 verse 34 and as he does here. He understood it and he believed that Jesus is from heaven. And nothing about Jesus' work has brought him any doubt. He says that Jesus has come from heaven and that Jesus' words testify to what Jesus has seen and heard. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, only the one from heaven can tell you what's really in heaven, and that is Jesus. However, even with John's knowledge of the greatness of Jesus' words, it's no surprise to John that no one has received Jesus' testimony. Here, John the Baptist's words echo what we read back in chapter 1, verse 11. He came to his own and they received him not. John the Baptist's words here also echo what Jesus said to Nicodemus in chapter 3, verse 19. The light has come into the world and the people have loved the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil. It's no surprise, therefore, it was never a surprise to John the Baptist, that even though the Son of God, because that's what John the Baptist has called Him two times so far, even though the Son of God is standing right there, He's not surprised by the fact that no one believes, that no one receives, that no one wants to listen. Not no one, everybody, but most of the people. Unlike others, John believes because he knows that God's Word is true. God gave him a revelation that the One upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, that is the One. Back in chapter 1, verses 31-33, and that is how he knew that this is the Son of God. And he believes it because nothing has made it inconsistent. His faith is founded on a revelation from God. Here, John, knowing that Jesus is the Son of God and that this proves the truth of God's promises, and knowing that Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, he says that Jesus is the one who gives the Spirit without measure. And finally, in verses 35 through 36, John's words about the love of the Father for the Son, and giving all things into the Son's hands, does what? It serves to bring our attention and our focus on Jesus. Because that's who John the Baptist wants us to look at. He wants us to focus on the One through whom all things were created. The One who is the source of all life and light. The One to whom we owe all of our faith and all of our obedience. Because if we do not believe, we're under the wrath of God already. Jesus is the Son of God. Those who believe in Him will receive eternal life, and their lives will be changed to obey Him. Those who do not believe also do not obey God's commands for the right reasons. Therefore, no matter how good their lives appear outwardly, they are condemned already. As Jesus has said to Nicodemus, and as John the Baptist says here, they will not see life. as Jesus said to Nicodemus in 318. Far from Jesus only being the source of a revival for the Jewish religion, John the Baptist points our faith and reliance completely to Jesus. Far from there being another great teacher or prophet that we should follow, John points us to Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God to whom John looks in faith. Jesus is the Son of God whom John follows. Jesus is the Son of God who will save John from the wrath of God and give him eternal life. John and Jesus' disciples believed what you and I must believe if we would be saved from the wrath of God and receive eternal life. They believed that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the Eternal King, the Bridegroom of His people. They believed that Jesus is the Source and Giver of life. They believed that He is the beginning of all things, and they believed that He is the goal of all things. Failure to believe and trust in Him alone for your salvation means that you are condemned already. It means that you will face the wrath of God. And I know that's not a thing that people think, well, that's a happy thought. It's not! It's a terrifying thought! A terrifying thought to think for ourselves, and especially for our loved ones who don't know Christ. Faith and trust that Jesus has lived the righteous life that God demands of you and died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins means that you have already been given eternal life. God keeps His Word. He kept His Word to show you how much He loves you by sending His Son and He will keep His Word by saving you and giving you eternal life. Living in Christ's service isn't about making you important or about what you get. It's not about being able to live in a nice house and retire in a nice house. It's really not about that. If we think it's about that, then we're in the same boat as the health and wealth gospel people, which is no gospel at all. Living in Christ's service isn't about making you important or about what you get. Everything begins with and comes from Jesus. And the goal of all things is His glory. He is the one who will bring all things to their completeness, to the glory of God. And therefore, living in Christ's service is all about Him. And Him getting the praise. And Him getting the glory. Believe and trust in Jesus to have given Himself for you, and He will give Himself to you. Believe and trust in Jesus, and you will have the Son of God and eternal life with Him. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You for Your Word. We thank You for the mercy that You show in Jesus Christ. We thank You for the salvation that comes alone through and from Him. We thank You, Father, that Jesus makes us His, and that He makes Himself ours. Dear Father, we pray that by Your grace that You would work a mighty work in our hearts and minds. That we would be able to say with the Apostle Paul that we count everything in this world, all of its accolades, all of the successes, all of the possessions, all of the family, as loss. compared to the greatness of having and living for and serving Jesus Christ. Father, forgive us for thinking that we're something when we're really nothing. Every gift has come from You. every providence that has made us, us. The good things and the bad things has come from you because you have been working in us to mold us and make us your servants of Jesus Christ. to make us fit members of the body of Christ, to fit in the place where you want us to serve. Use us, therefore, never to build up ourselves, but to build up others that Christ would be glorified. That they wouldn't remember what we said, but would remember what Jesus said. that they would remember not our name, but always and only the name of Jesus. We pray for this in Jesus' name. Amen.