We're continuing in our study in the book of
John. And as we start, I want to ask, if you've
ever seen that movie Finding Nemo, and you're
saying, okay, what does this have to do with
the book of John? Well, as soon as I say, mine,
mine, mine, right? You're thinking of the seagulls
in Nemo. There's also a comedian, his name's
Brian Regan, and he has this bit about the Mii
monster. He talks about going to a dinner party
and he sits there and there's someone at the
table who's like, oh, me, mine, mine, you, me,
you, me. And it's kind of funny, right? Because
we recognize it. But it also is kind of uncomfortable
because we recognize it in ourselves. See, this
idea of my life, my calling. my family, my future,
my church, my story is so common. I fall prey
to it. I say things like this all the time. See,
the danger is that we can even start treating
Jesus like a supporting character in our story.
Just like the seagulls in Finding Nemo are focused
on mine, and just like there's me monsters, which
I also fall prey to, we can start to twist and
we can start to change the focus of Jesus' role
as being a part of our story. Jesus helps me
become fulfilled. Jesus helps me become successful.
Maybe we dress it up a little bit more in Christianese.
You know, Jesus has given me grace. And, you
know, we go, but there's this focus on Jesus.
helping me, giving to me. We can make it sound
spiritual, but if we keep ourselves at the center,
our focus is still on ourselves. But John 3 doesn't
merely tell us to stop being self -centered,
it shows us who Jesus is. So the deeper question
is not, how does Jesus fit into my story? The
deeper question is, how do I fit into his? That's
the movement of all of John chapter 3. and that
fits into the larger movement of the book of
John that we're going through verse by verse,
chapter by chapter. We're going to be there all
the way through into December. See, last week
in the first part of John chapter 3, Nicodemus
comes to Jesus with his own categories. He comes
with his own understanding, his own framework,
and Jesus doesn't simply add new information
or kind of change the perspective a little bit.
He actually confronts the entire framework. See,
Nicodemus says, in essence, we know you're a
teacher who came from God. And Jesus responds,
truly I tell you, in John 3, 3, unless someone
is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
In other words, Nicodemus, you don't need God
to improve your story. You need God to give you
new life altogether. And then immediately after
that conversation, we get to the text we're going
to be in this morning. where John, the author,
brings John the Baptist back into the scene.
And why is that? Well, we're going to see that
John gives a response that Nicodemus wasn't ready
to give yet. And the whole passage turns on one
sentence. It's the big idea for the day. And
that's John chapter 3, verse 30. He must increase,
but I must decrease. So we're going to look at
three from our text in John chapter 3 this morning,
in verses 22 through 36, and it's going to tie
into that big idea. So it's three R's, receive,
rejoice, and respond. Receive, rejoice, and respond.
But before we dive into that, let's pray. Heavenly
Father, we just, we thank you. Lord, you are
so good. Lord, it is not about us, but it is
about you. As we open your word this morning,
I just pray that you would be at work in all
of our hearts. Lord, draw out from your text
what you have. Lord, it can't mean to us what
it didn't mean to the people of that day, but
Lord, it still applies to us even today. Lord,
help us to glorify and to magnify and make much
of you. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're
going to open our Bibles to John chapter 3. If
you don't have a Bible, on the back table there's
these little blue books, and they're actually
the book of John. There's a section in there
where you can write some notes. I'd encourage
you, pick one up, take it. It's yours. There's
some pens in the back. Grab that. Mark up some
notes. You can also do that in your normal Bible.
We're going to underline and focus in on certain
pieces. But we're going to open into John chapter
3 and verse 22, and we're just going to walk
through the text verse by verse. So John chapter
3 verse 22 says, After this, Jesus and his disciples
went to the Judean countryside where he spent
time with them and baptized. Guys, I want to
pause. I'm going to be pausing a lot as we go
through this because the text here just... just
kind of struck in different ways than it ever
has for me, even as I got to dive into it this
week. Don't miss the simplicity of that phrase
that he spent time with them. Because Jesus is
with his disciples. They're learning from him.
They're watching him. They're being formed by
him. And the text says this is out in the Judean
countryside. and they're baptizing. Verse 23
and 24 says, John was also baptizing in Anon
near Salim, because there was plenty of water
there, and people were coming and being baptized,
and since John had not yet been thrown into prison.
So Jesus's disciples are baptizing, and John
the Baptist is still baptizing too, and they're
actually kind of out in the same area. See, there's
a moment of overlap. The author, John, tells
us that John the Baptist's ministry hasn't stopped
yet. It mentions that this was before he was
in prison, but Jesus's ministry is beginning
to grow. Back in John chapter 1, we saw where
John the Baptist was looking, and he sees Jesus,
and he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. He calls attention.
So John, the gospel writer, is locating this
before John the Baptist's imprisonment. John's
still active and he's out there. He's fulfilling
his calling to make way in the wilderness and
point towards the coming Messiah. So we get to
verse 25 and 26. Verse 25 says, Then a dispute
arose between John's disciples and a Jew about
purification. So they came to John and told him,
Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was
with you across the Jordan is baptizing and everyone
is going to him. So we don't know exactly what
this dispute about purification was. There's
a lot of people that like to pontificate on this
and say, well, it could have been this. And in
Jewish culture, this was what baptism would have
represented in the purification rites. And those
are not bad things to think about, but the author
doesn't tell us exactly what this dispute is.
But what's interesting, is it's mentioned, but
then the concern quickly moves from a theological
question to something that's a little bit closer
to home for some of John's followers, his disciples.
And they say, you know, John, everyone is going
to Jesus. Their rabbi is losing followers. Admittedly,
the way things worked as followers of John the
Baptist as a rabbi and a teacher, the higher
level disciples, their status was also kind of
being impacted by this too. But they were actually
probably a little more concerned about this teacher
that they have brought their life to follow and
his ministry declining. But that's only a crisis
if John is actually supposed to be at the center.
That's only a crisis if the disciples are setting
a piece of what they're doing at the center.
So, see, it's same facts, different center. Because
if Jesus is the center, people going to Jesus
is absolutely wonderful news. If someone or something
else is at the center, it feels like a loss.
So the issue is not here that John's disciples
reject Jesus. They're troubled because Jesus
is drawing attention away from John's ministry,
from their ministry. So their question is not
really like, hey, what's Jesus doing? Which,
however, that got sparked about this conversation
about purification with a Jew or maybe Jews.
The question... Kind of at the root of this is,
well, you know, what does this mean for us? John,
what does this mean for your ministry? And that
question always distorts reality when we're at
the center. Even as a local church, in the valley,
sometimes I've heard another pastor call it musical
sheep when people are kind of bouncing between
churches. And sometimes pastors are like, well,
you know, our numbers are down and they're going
to this church. If our focus is our church and
how we grow, we're taking our eyes off of Jesus.
The eyes actually need to remain on him. And
we're going to see a little bit further in the
text where it's going to talk about how God gives,
heaven gives. It's not on us. So it's not about
what we do. It's not about John's ministry. John
then actually responds to his disciples differently.
So verse 27. John responded, no one can receive
anything unless it has been given to him from
heaven. See, that sentence actually, it kills
comparison at the root. John's saying if something
is given from heaven, we can receive it with
gratitude and we can hold it with open hands.
John's saying, look, any success here is not
the doing of John the Baptist the Great. Any
success. The whole reason we're doing this is
to point the way in the wilderness. So any growth,
any goodness, this is coming from the Lord. See,
calling, influence, fruitfulness, opportunity
are gifts, they're not possessions. See, that
doesn't need to make us passive. It didn't make
John passive. It frees us to be faithful without
needing to own the outcome. John continued in
the ministry, even though all these people are
leaving, What's going on with John and going
and following Jesus? And then in verse 28, John
tells his followers this, you yourselves can
testify that I said, I am not the Messiah, but
I have been sent ahead of him. See, back in John
chapter 1 verse 20, John clearly makes that statement.
He goes, I am not the Messiah, but I have been
sent. And both parts of that mattered. This is
what John was saying. I'm not the Messiah, and
in that he's acknowledging his role and humbling
himself. But I have been sent is the reminder
of his role and also a movement away from false
humility. See, humility doesn't mean that you're
pretending you have no place. Humility is knowing
your proper place before Jesus. John was not
Jesus. John the Baptist's job was not to save
anyone or to be the answer for anyone. That's
the same for us, guys. We're not Jesus. I'm not
Jesus, praise the Lord. Our job is not to save
anyone or to be the answer for anyone or even
an answer for anyone. But we have been sent.
We do have a place. We do have a calling. We
do have work to do. And that's the first response
of this passage. Receive your places given by
God. See, John knew the role God had given him,
but do we trust him with ours? So the first action
there was receive. But we receive with Jesus
as the focus. And then we get to this idea of
rejoice. And this is in John chapter 3, 29 through
30. If you could pull the mic down a little bit,
I'm starting to feed back there. Verse 29. He
who has the bride is the groom. But the groom's
friend who stands by and listens for him rejoices
greatly at the groom's voice. So this joy of
mine is complete. This idea of rejoicing in this
joy. John here is then telling his followers,
guys, look, I'm not the groom. I'm the friend
of the groom. Culturally, in that time for a
Jewish wedding, the family was involved, but
the friend of the bridegroom, essentially the
equivalent to like the best man, actually did
quite a bit of the setup, of the planning, of
the coordination. One of his jobs was actually
to bring the bride to the groom. And so the bridegroom
came, and the groom was there, and the friend
helped arrange the wedding, but he was never
the focus. See, the friend of the groom then,
and hopefully still today, isn't standing there
and saying, hey, why am I not the focus of attention
here? Could you imagine if the groomsman in the
middle of a wedding just kind of, you know, You're
standing up there. You've got the guy marrying
them, the couple's there. And all of a sudden,
the friend of the groom, the best man, kind of
comes. Hey, guys! Isn't this great? Many of you
are smiling. That would probably be one of the
more cringeworthy weddings you've ever been to.
Some of you are like, yeah, I'd be at that wedding.
It'd be a little bit more interesting. But that
would be insane. See? The friend of the groom,
his joy is to see the groom receive the bride.
That's the picture. And when people go to Jesus,
that's not a loss. John is using this as a picture
to his followers to say, guys, I'm not the focus
here. I actually want to see the bride go to
the groom. I actually want to see people go to
Jesus. And when people go to Jesus, that's not
a loss. That's actually the mission. So if the
bride belongs to Jesus, grasping for attention
is not faithfulness. It's kind of like the friend
of the groom flirting with the bride in the middle
of the wedding. See, when ministry becomes about
my name, my influence, my preferences, my recognition,
a platform control, how I serve, how I volunteer,
what the church does for me, how I can come and
be served. We're taking our eyes off Jesus and
we're actually acting like a competitor. We're
actually acting like that best man who's stepping
out in front and kind of being like, hey guys,
look at me. And John is painting this picture
to his disciples. But then he says, so this joy
of mine is complete. See, John doesn't want to
decrease with bitterness. He's actually decreasing
with joy. He says, I'm not losing what was mine.
I'm seeing Jesus receive what belongs to Jesus.
So John's saying it's not this try harder to
be humble kind of thing. John's not anti -John.
This is not a false humility. He's just pro -Jesus.
He says his joy is not found in being seen. His
joy is found in seeing the bridegroom receive
the bride. And then we get to that big idea,
that hinge in our text, and that's verse 30.
John chapter 3 verse 30 says, he must increase,
but I must decrease. Not he should increase,
not, oh man, sure would be nice if he increased.
He must increase. That's the way this works,
because the reality is it's his story. I heard
somebody say that John chapter 3 is a must -read
chapter, because it gives us several musts. In
John chapter 3, verse 7, Jesus is telling Nicodemus,
you must be born again. And we have the Savior's
must in John chapter 3, verse 14, where he says,
so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Then you
have the sovereign's must in John chapter 3,
verse 30, where he says, the text says, he must
increase. Then we have the servant's must. John
chapter 3, verse 30, where it's, I must decrease.
See, verse 30 is this hinge, and it's toward
the end of John chapter 3. But that picture that
was painted before with Nicodemus, where it was,
how does this Jesus fit into the framework that
I have as the Jewish leader? And he's wondering,
he's questioning, he's coming, he's asking. And
Jesus is telling him, look, no, it's actually
a totally different thing, man. Nicodemus is
like, what? And then John here is saying, no,
he must increase and I must decrease. I need
to get out of the way. That doesn't mean disappearing.
John's still preaching, still baptizing, still
serving. See, this idea of decreasing doesn't
mean passivity. Decreasing is surrender. When
I say that, I'm not like, I surrender. Decreasing
is this posture. With our hands open of surrender.
So it's not hands up. It's hands out and raised.
That means I can be faithful without needing
to be central. See, Christ -centered humility
is thinking of yourself less because you are
more captivated by Christ. Christ -centered humility
is thinking of yourself less. because you are
more captivated by Christ. So the more clearly
you see Jesus, the less tightly you have to hold
to yourself. And so that's where that second
response, that idea of rejoice, that joy, is
rejoice that the bride belongs to Jesus. That
it wasn't John's ministry. This is what he's
telling his followers. Guys, rejoice, because
they're going and following Jesus. And that's
such a wonderful thing. So then we get to this
third action, which is respond. And we respond
to the Son who comes from heaven. So then in
verse 31, John says, See, Verse 30, that hinge
verse isn't just floating there by itself. The
rest of the passage, we actually see why Jesus
must increase. See, this idea of him being above
all, Jesus is not just one more religious voice.
He's not just simply a wise teacher. He's not
merely a prophet with better insight. There's
a lot of religions that will say, yeah, Jesus
was, he was a good teacher. He was a prophet.
He actually had gifts given by God. But then
that's where they stop. See, John's saying, no,
he comes from above. And then John's saying,
we're from earth. And this means that Jesus doesn't
need to be edited by our understanding. We need
to be corrected by his. See, this was part of
Nicodemus' struggle. He came to Jesus with his
categories already in place. But Jesus didn't
submit himself to Nicodemus' framework. Nicodemus
was saying, hey, we know you come from God. Like,
where do you fit? What's going on here? He confronts
it. Jesus tells Nicodemus, hey, you need to be
born again. The framework you have needs to get
flipped on its head. You need to grow. back to
this idea of a baby and relearn and see the things
that God has. So he confronts it, Jesus does,
and he tells him he must be born again, and he
does the same with us. See, Jesus doesn't enter
our lives to become one more piece of our preferred
story. Verse 31 says, he comes as the son from
heaven who is above all. And then verse 32, he
testifies to what he has seen and heard, and
yet no one accepts his testimony. John's not
saying literally nobody believes, but he is lamenting
how few receive and trust and hear and accept
his testimony compared to who Jesus is and what
he deserves. Guys, I was thinking it's kind of
like dip netting in Alaska. You go out sometimes,
and there's tens of thousands of fish running
up the river in a day, and you somehow get skunked.
You come home, you're like, I caught nothing,
or like, I got two fish on a tide. Even on the
days where you're like, man, I was slaying it.
I limited in 30 minutes. Even when that happens,
it's this idea of your catch is tiny compared
to the run. So John's not saying literally nobody
believes, but he's saying, guys, compared to
what Jesus deserves, he is above all he is from
heaven, it's like no one accepts his testimony.
And that's the grief here. See, the issue wasn't
lack of truth. The issue is the refusal of so
many to receive it. And then in verse 33, it
says, the one who has accepted his testimony
has affirmed that God is true. See, to receive
and accept Jesus' testimony is to affirm that
God is true. That means rejecting Jesus. Guys,
that's not a small thing. It's not merely having
a different opinion. It's rejecting the one who
speaks what he has seen and heard from heaven.
And then John says in verse 34, for the one whom
God sent speaks God's words, since he gives the
Spirit without measure. He's saying Jesus speaks
the words of God because he is sent from God.
He is God. He's not offering one perspective
amongst many. And that was a little bit different
than the day where you would have all these different
rabbis and they had these different schools of
thought. And different people would say, oh,
you're with Hillel, like you see this. And oh,
you're with Shammai and you think this way. And
John is saying, guys, he's not offering one perspective
amongst many. He's sent to speak God's word because
he gives the Spirit without measure. See, the
prophets of old had the Spirit for their calling
in measure. They had a peace. In the text, all
throughout the Old Testament, we see this idea
of, and the Spirit came upon them and they prophesied.
And it wasn't this continuous empowerment by
the Spirit. Here, John's saying no, but Jesus
is different because he has the spirit without
measure. We're not talking about different schools
of thought. His words are actually from God.
And then verse 35 says this, the father loves
the son and has given all things into his hand.
And that is why Jesus must increase. Not because
humility is an impressive religious virtue where
we say, ah, yes, I should decrease and he must
increase. Not because John's unusually secure.
With the right religious discipline, you could
be too. No, that's not. Jesus must increase because
the Father loves the Son and has given all things
into his hands. And that means all things, including
the parts of life that we're most tempted to
control. Our gifts, our influence, our families,
our money, our future, our health, our fill -in
-the -blank with what it is for you. But John's
reminding us everything belongs to him. So the
question's not, will Jesus fit into my life?
The question actually is, will I surrender my
life to him? Then we get to verse 36. And it
says, the one who believes in the Son has eternal
life. But the one who rejects the Son will not
see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on
him. This verse doesn't let us admire Jesus from
a distance. Where your story intersects with
Jesus, response is required. You can't say, I
want Jesus, but actually reject Jesus. You can't
receive eternal life while rejecting the Son
of God who gives it. Eternal life is received,
it's not achieved. But it is received by believing
in the Son. Then John gives this warning plainly.
The one who rejects the Son will not see life.
The wrath of God remains on him. And that word
remains, in the original language, has a little
more weight. It matters because it doesn't say
wrath begins. It remains continuously. See, apart
from Christ, we're already under judgment. Not
because God is petty or impulsive, but because
God is just. The focus here really isn't actually
on the wrath of God. I'm not up here about to
lay out fire and brimstone, because the focus
is actually that apart from Christ, we're already
under judgment. Even that warning about wrath
is meant to turn our eyes to the Son, because
He's the only one who can actually give. eternal
life. God would be unjust to overlook sin. All
sin must be paid for. But in mercy, God delays
judgment. In grace, God makes the payment himself
through his son. So yes, God is for you, but
that doesn't mean his story is about you. It's
not. God is for you by bringing you into the
story of his son and into his story. And that's
the final response. This idea of believe the
son and receive. And that's not like, okay, check
the box. Cool. I now have this action. John chapter
3 is not this chapter of moralistic cliches that
we apply to coffee mugs, stickers, and signs
that we hold up at, for whatever reason, particularly
like WWE wrestling events of John 3 .16. That's
not what John chapter 3 is. It doesn't mainly
say stop being self -centered. The whole chapter,
with both Nicodemus and with John the Baptist,
says look at Jesus. Jesus tells Nicodemus you
must be born again. Your understanding, your
framework has to be flipped. John is telling
his disciples, we're like, John, your ministry
is kind of going over to this Jesus dude. Like,
I know you like him. I know you're his cousin,
but come on. And John's like, no, awesome. I
rejoice because they're going to Jesus. It's
all about Jesus. He is the son from heaven. He
is above all. He speaks the words of God. The
father loves him. All things have been given
into his hands and eternal life is found in him
alone. So, I mentioned verse 30 was that hinge.
I want to ask, what does it look like for him
to increase and for us to decrease? And I think
a piece of that means receiving your place as
given from heaven. It means serving without needing
ownership. It means rejoicing when Jesus is glorified,
even when you're not noticed. It means asking
the hard question, where have I wanted attention
that belongs to Christ? The final question isn't
simply, will you decrease? The final question
is, will you believe in the Son? Because we have
to apply. We have to contextualize. But that's
not the end of this. The actual focus is turning
our eyes back to Jesus. When we do that, that
changes us. If it doesn't, Are we actually putting
our gaze and our focus on Jesus? Because when
you see who he is, this idea of decreasing, it's
no longer a loss. It's actually joy. Just like
John was saying, no, I get to be the friend of
the groom. I get to see the bride come to the
groom. I rejoice. Guys, we get to see others
come to Jesus. John's joy was not found in being
the Christ. But it was found in belonging to
him, pointing to him, watching others go to him.
Guys, so radiant. The story belongs to Jesus.
And by grace, we get to find our place in him.
He must increase. And we must decrease. For his
glory. Pray. Lord, you are good. We praise you
because you are worthy of all honor, praise,
and glory. And Lord, help us to not put ourselves
in a way in your story that we don't fit. Lord,
it is all about you. I just pray that you would
just keep doing a work in our heart this day,
this week, as we go out. that we would just desire
to be radiant reflections of Jesus. And Lord,
if there are any who don't know you as Lord and
Savior, who are still at the point where they
say, I don't even understand what that means
to make Jesus increase, I pray that you would
be at work in their hearts. Draw them to yourself.
For those that know you as Lord and as Savior,
Lord, help us to keep our gaze and our focus
on you. Lord, I pray that we would not be Christians,
but that we would be Christ -centered. You are
good. We submit all things to you. We pray this
in Jesus' name. Amen.