The traditions that is associated with the Christmas season are Christmas cards. Ready to get Christmas cards? You either get nice letters, sometimes you get like we got some from Rick Moffitt this year, gave us a kind of summary of some things that are happening. Sometimes the card just has their name signed on the inside. Everybody likes to get Christmas cards, but sometimes we just, we quickly read through what's on the card, right? We just, oh yeah, so and so got us a card, and you set it down, that kind of thing. At least I've done that, I don't know if anyone else has. This is a card that we just got in the mail yesterday. I'm not even sure Robin's seen it yet, because we got it from Lavon, and I tucked it away in my thing as soon as I got it. It says this, the greatest story ever told. the greatest truth you'll ever hold, the greatest peace the world has known, a Christmas gift for all to own. And I just happened to be preaching this Sunday on the greatness of Christ. And so I thought to myself, you know, How often do I look at a statement like that? Many of the cards say similar statements. And, oh yeah, oh yeah, and just kind of let it go. And what I'm doing by my action is basically stating that it's not really the greatest story ever told. It's not really the greatest truth I'll ever hold, or it's not really the greatest gift that I'll ever own. And so I hope that today's message will in some way help you not only to see why the Christmas story is great, but will also help us to understand how we can apply that greatness to our own lives. So that's our hope, and let's not forget Levon. Until another congregation receives her into their membership, she's still a member here, even though she's displaced a long way away. So she's not forgotten us. She sent us all a card out there and put it in the bulletin or the foyer for you guys to see. So let's not forget her. So what is it that makes Christianity great? What makes Christianity better than any other religion? You know, how can we be so dogmatic as Christians and to promote the Bible as the source for all true hope for men? Put it another way, why should you devote your life to the knowing of truth in Scripture? Why should you deny yourself certain pleasures that the world screams at you to indulge in? Why should your prime ambition in life be to see the love of Christ increase in your heart? Why should you be willing to live a life of sacrifice and denial and devotion rather than seeking all of these pleasures that are right at our fingertips? The only satisfying answer is that Jesus truly is great. Jesus is worth it all. He is great in a way that no other is great. Jesus is so great that every person who has ever lived ought to so order their lives to ensure that knowing him. Is that the very center of who they are? Think of that. Every person ought to order their lives such that knowing Jesus Christ is at the very center of who they are. That's how great He is. It ought to be obvious to those around you that Jesus Christ has no rivals in your heart. There are many enjoyments that I have in this life. And Christ does allow for his followers to enjoy many of life's simple pleasures. But not one of them should squeeze out Christ from his proper place in your heart. I know I've said it and I'll say it again, but I just want you to get this. Does your life testify to the greatness of Jesus Christ? That's a very challenging question. I mean, what does it look like in the end for a life to be consumed with Christ? Well, in our text today, John, the apostle, is going to lay out several reasons why Jesus is truly great. And he's going to lay out for us the only appropriate response to the greatness of Jesus. And so I'm going to read the text today and then we'll dig in to the various points. John chapter 3 verses 22 to 36. Follow along with me in your Bibles if you have them. 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 Anean 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, 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 in 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. 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, and whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains on him. May God bless the reading of His Holy Word. Let's give a little bit of context At the beginning in verses 22 through 26, we see some certain things going on. And it's a little bit different than what we get in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I don't have you turn there, but in Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, they're all consistent. When Jesus begins his ministry and goes into the wilderness, when he comes out of the wilderness, It immediately begins with John being arrested. So in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this early portion of Jesus' ministry is not anywhere included in the other Gospels. John takes us, and I would say this, that in the Gospels, Jesus' ministry begins in Galilee, which is in the northern region of Israel. But in John, he brings us to a period, could be somewhat like six months long, of Jesus actually doing ministry here, in this region, in the Judean countryside. Not up here in Galilee, but in this region here. So Jesus is in the Judean countryside doing ministry for maybe six months, And he's doing that ministry alongside of John's ministry. That's very important for us to understand. The other Gospels don't have this. Jesus and John are, in a sense, it's kind of hard to use this word, competitors. Now, I don't want to go into all the explanations of baptism today and have a full discourse on baptism. But you need to understand this. According to John, and according to Christ, if you were baptized by them, you became their follower. And you were accepting that they possessed the truth. So to follow one or the other, you're making a choice who you think is the greater of the two. That's what's going on. So in our passage today, you have a certain Jew, in verse 25, who's discussing things with John's disciples over purification. And I don't want to go into this too much because it's somewhat speculation, but a guy named Bob Deffenbaugh, and I don't know who he is, but one commentary, he gave an explanation that I thought was kind of helpful. John's disciples encounter a Jew and ask him if he wants to be baptized. Do you want to be baptized with John's baptism of repentance? The Jew responds, he's not really that interested. He's convinced that the typical Jewish ceremonial washings are enough. Unwilling to leave it at this, the disciples begin to debate with him. Seeing that he is not making any progress, the Jew may have put the icing on the cake with this statement. What are you being so dogmatic about, John's disciples? Don't you know that Jesus is right over that way baptizing in the same way as you? And far more people are going to Him. Why don't you just give it up? Now we don't know if that's exactly what is going on, but I think that there's something along those lines. He is undercutting John's baptism. And so John's disciples, who have cast their lot with him and think that he is the one who's going to lead them into truth, come to John and say, John, is this not problematic? This upstart, you're the one that gave him his start. You're the one that testified to him. Is that guy supplanting you? And some people say that the disciples are jealous. I think they might be jealous, but I think they're just afraid. If you had cast all your marbles into following John, and now it's beginning to look like John may not be the one you should put your marbles into, would that not be a little troubling? And so we come to John's answer in verse 27. I think it's worth reading 27 to 30 again. John answered, 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 is mine. This joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. Now John's first statement is actually very shocking. It ought to be shocking to you. It goes entirely against the modern way of thinking. at least the way of thinking that Disney wants to present to us. A person, he says, cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven. John is telling his disciples that his position in the world, his place in life, his greatness, his role, is not something that he determined at all, but rather something that God determines. You see, God has sovereignly placed John in the world for a specific purpose. John's relative greatness or obscurity is not something for John to choose. It's God's prerogative. And I tell you, this does not sit well with Americans. We've been fed a steady dose of humanism. Whether or not we teach it in our homes or not, it is taught to us in our culture every day. Our kids are told from the time that they are little, be who you want to be. Follow your dreams. Make something of your life. And I'm not here to tell you that there is no sense in which a child's dreams and desires are important, because they are. But John has it right. God has a purpose for us. A purpose for which we were created. And He gives that to us. It comes from Him. Our place is not to make a name for ourselves, but to accept the place that God has given us. We are to humble ourselves and receive with joy what God has called us to. Now I believe that there is a great variety as to each of our specific callings in life. But I also believe that every calling must be viewed in relationship to two things. And they're right here in the text. The first is that your calling must be viewed in relationship to Jesus Christ. That's first. And second, your calling must be viewed in its relationship to the church. which is the bride of Jesus Christ. You see, John viewed his own importance in relationship to Jesus. So when it came to people going over to become followers of Jesus, John understood his own place. He was not the Christ. It was only appropriate for Christ's ministry to replace his own. And so he says, he must increase, I must decrease. Now, I understand that John, in some sense, is unique. No one else here in this room has a physical Jesus as their competitor. Right? It would almost be like if I'm standing here to preach today, and in the foyer, I mean in the fellowship hall back there, Jesus is standing at his pulpit. Right? I mean, that's the real situation that John is facing, and he's like, hey, go. Right? So none of us really has that exact situation. I get that. But the principle, we do have. Every one of us has the principle in our life. And I would ask you this. Is Jesus increasing in your life? And are you decreasing? You see, you can't have both. Hard for me to hear. I wanna have both. I want Jesus to increase and I want me to increase. As long as you are focused on your increasing, Christ will be small in your life. And if Christ increases, you will decrease. What does it mean for Christ to increase? It means that He is more valuable than you. It means that His interests are more valuable than your own interests. It means that you are no longer trying to fit Christ into your life, but trying to fit your life into Christ's life. For John, it meant that he would have a substantially smaller following. And in just a very short while, it would mean death. Has anybody ever thought about what would John have been like on the pages of history if Jesus hadn't showed up? John was by far the greatest prophet that Israel had ever seen. We remember more Isaiah and David and Jeremiah than we do John. John is a blip on the screen. Do you realize he was the most popular person in all of Israel? People flocked to him. And he became nothing. And you know what John says? I don't really care. I served the role that God had for me. It's all that matters. He derives his joy from his connection to Jesus and the church. That's all that matters to him. He is a friend of the groom. He is the best man for Jesus. John knows that all these people that were following him don't really belong to him. They belong to Jesus. And you can imagine if you were the best man in a wedding. And you were trying to get the bride to stay with you. But how many of our lives are like that? Certainly convicting to me as a preacher. But I think it applies to each of your lives. Doesn't matter if you're a doctor, or an artist, or a judge, or a mom, or a street sweeper. God calls you to find your joy in accomplishing what he has given for you to do. So whatever you're doing, It is an offering to Christ. That is what it is all about. You decreasing, Christ increasing. That's what life is about. But in addition to this. It is also the second value. Thinking of your calling in relationship to the church. The bride of Christ. Each one of us. in some form or fashion is called to care for the one thing that Jesus truly cares about. And that's the church. Do you understand that? The church is Christ's bride. How can we say we value Christ when we don't care about His bride? I'm not accusing you of that. In fact, I see a regular stream of people serving other people in the church, serving the church as a whole in this congregation. I think it is wonderful. I'm not criticizing in that way, but I'm trying to emphasize to you that that is really what we are called to do. If we are to decrease and Christ is to increase, then our hearts must value the church increasingly. In some sense, Your Christian life begins with your own personal life, and then it goes to your immediate family, and then it goes outward to the church. In some sense, I get this. If you're not doing it in your home, then you can't do it in the church. So in some sense, it has to start there. But in another sense, you can't leave it in your home. In some sense, your walk with God must spill over to help other people in the church. That is what we are called to do. That is the way that Christ increases and we decrease. Danny prayed about and mentioned many of the initiatives that we'll do this year. Family conference, lots of planning's gonna take for that. There's gonna be more things. A home mission project in addition to our vacation Bible school. Then there's just home Bible studies. There's just ministry that takes place in this church for us to be who we need to be. The only way that you're ever gonna do those things to sacrifice personal things, pleasures, and desires, and peace, is because you care about Christ and His church. Now, John had it figured out. John knew. He knew his role, and he valued Christ, and he valued the bride. He had it down. But look at verse 31 and following. And I will tell you in verse 31 and following that these verses are very likely John the Apostle's reflections on what John the Baptist said. Just like we did before with Christ, we're doing the same thing here with John the Apostle is reflecting on John the Baptist's testimony and what he did with his life and he is kind of explaining that for us. John the Baptist has given us an example of exalting Christ. John the Apostle understands that this is only a good thing if Jesus is truly greater than John. Now let me kind of explain this for you. It is a noble thing for you to sacrifice something of lesser value for something of greater value. It is not noble to do the opposite. It is not noble to sacrifice something of greater value to get something of lesser value. You understand that? So like here's an example of this. If a man sacrifices his marriage in order to go with an adulteress, what has he done? He has sacrificed something of lesser value, I mean, sacrificed something of greater value for something of lesser value. And we don't consider that honorable, do we? It's terrible. If a person values material things over people, what has he done? He's taken that which is less valuable and raised it up to higher value and gotten rid of that which is more valuable. So if John was greater than Jesus, then what John does is not honorable. It is only because Jesus is truly greater than John that what John does is honorable. In fact, I would say that in all of your life, in all of your life, wisdom teaches this. Find the things that are truly valuable and sacrifice anything else to honor those things that are valuable. That's what wisdom does. John wants us to know, John the apostle, wants us to know that Jesus truly is great. That's what he wants us to know. He wants us to know that Jesus is great like no one else is great. Jesus is awesome in every way. And John's gonna tell us why. And I'm gonna lay out for you just three ways in which he is great. Beginning in verse 31, he comes from above and 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. The first reason why Jesus is great is that he is from above. Now I really wanted to figure out some way to weave into the sermon the phrase from off. And Robin knows what I mean from off, right? But I couldn't figure that in. Does anybody know what from off means? So those people down east know that. Like if you live out on the outskirts on the islands of North Carolina, everybody else in the world is from off. That's what, anyway, but I couldn't figure out how to do that. So anyway, but I had to tell you because I thought it was interesting. That's what came into my mind. Why is Jesus great? Well, he's really from off. He's from above. He's in a way that nobody else is. He, in his origin, is heavenly. Sometimes people come to me and they say, you know, Mike, what is heaven like? Or, Mike, what does it take to get to heaven? And I'm like, I haven't been there either. Right? Jesus says, yeah, I came from there. Yeah, I've lived there. In fact, you know what? I created the whole thing. He is from above. He understands heaven. He understands not what it's like and he understands what it takes to get there. Everything about it is crystal clear to Jesus because that's where he is from. What's interesting to me, if you flip back to John 3, verse 3, Jesus answered to Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do you know what I talked to you about, born again? Born from above, right? And Jesus said, I am from above. It's the same Greek word. Okay, same Greek word. So he's basically saying everything about new life and being born again, it's me baby, I got it. I know it, I'm in control of it. You want to know what it means to be born again? You want to experience being born again? Jesus is who you go to because he is from above. Secondly, in our text, it says that Jesus has been given the Spirit without measure. An unlimited supply of the Spirit. That's what He has. Now, as a new believer, I was taught that the Holy Spirit is a person, and you either have the person or you don't have the person. There's no like degrees of the Spirit. You either got Him or you don't. Well, I just love it the way Scripture does not fit into my nice, neat category. Because in this text, it explicitly says that Jesus had the Spirit without limit, which implies what? Many other people have a portion of the Spirit. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22, it says that you've been given the Spirit as a deposit So you've really only been given a deposit of the Spirit. The fullness of the Spirit you will experience in glory. And praise God for that, because I'm telling you what, we don't always look like the fullness of the Spirit is in us, right? But think about this. In the Old Testament, every prophet, every priest, every king was anointed with the Spirit of God. And he was given the amount of the Spirit that was necessary to accomplish his particular calling. Okay? So what John is telling us is that Jesus doesn't just get a portion of the Spirit, He has the Spirit unlimited, without measure. Now, we don't think this is, sometimes we think, well, of course He's got the Spirit without limit, He's God! But that is not the point that John is making. He is stating that a human being walking around on this earth, a man that came out of the womb of Mary, a human being that has flesh and blood and needs to eat, he gets tired, all those kind of things, possesses an infinite supply of the Holy Spirit. Now let me tell you this, Jesus never once used his divine nature to assist him in any temptation. Some of you heard me say that before, some of you that's entirely new. Why do I say that? Because God cannot be tempted. So if he said, I am God, Satan comes up to tempt him, it'd be like an invisible force field. Every time Satan tried to come at him, he'd just bounce off. So what does Jesus have to do in order to be tempted? He has to not engage his divine nature so that he can be tempted. He has to bear the brunt of the temptations and the struggles in life that come upon him. Thank you, Robin. We don't want to burn the house down. He has to actually allow these temptations to come upon him. So how does he defeat temptation? Reliance on the Holy Spirit and on the Word of God. Which, by the way, are the two sources that you have to defeat temptation in your life. And isn't it nice to know that the God in whom you trust himself understood how to engage the Holy Spirit, to trust him to defeat all temptation, and now he possesses that Holy Spirit. It's his. And so now He dispenses it to His people as much as you need for whatever trial you're going through. That's the God that you serve. Jesus is from above. Jesus has been given the Spirit without measure. And thirdly, I have struggled a way to write this. The Father loves Jesus. Another way that I wanted to say it was this. The Father thinks Jesus is great. You know why you should think He's great? Because your Father thinks He's great. It says in the text, it says in the text that In verse 35, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Now I know we just talked about last week that the Father loves the world. But I'm here to tell you that God has not given all things into your hand. He loves Jesus in such a way that far surpasses every other love that He has. So much so that everything that the Father could possibly give the Son, He has given to Him. And I just very quickly went through a few things. The church. All the kingdoms of the world. All of creation. Every glory and honor. All of these belong to Christ. And the Father just says, Man, I love to dish these out on my Son. He is my most precious Son. Abraham Kuyper had a famous quote, and I'm sure I'll butcher it, over every square inch of creation. There's not one square inch in all of creation that Jesus doesn't say, mine. Mine. Belongs to me. The vastness of the love of God for Jesus Christ. He is great. We could go on. Jesus is from above. He has the spirit without measure. And he is most completely and fully loved by the father. And so during this Christmas season, the only tangible response to this greatness of Jesus Christ is that you would decrease and Christ would increase. It's the only response. How foolish it is that we still want to increase and keep Jesus small in our lives. I mean, that's silly. And yet I do it. We all do this. You see, we don't want to die. It's interesting that the very last verses of this text, in verse 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. I love the connection between belief and obedience. How can I say that I believe Jesus Christ unless I am learning to submit to Him and obey Him and consider Him to be more and more valuable in my life? True faith exalts Jesus Christ. And if there's one prayer I have for us during this Christmas season, I would hope that people would see our lives and they would know that Christ means so much to us. Because all who believe in the Son, the greatness of the Son, have eternal life. Amen.