There is something that is unbelievably blessed in being able to hold up this book and say to turn in it.
What frames our life, what frames our hope in eternity, is what God in his grace has revealed to us through his scriptures.
Furthermore, it is our blessing to know that when we who know Christ take this book in hand,
we are not left to rely merely on intellectual ability to comprehend the sweetness of Christ.
Next, we may rely upon the enabling of the Spirit of God, me in preaching with your prayerful attention,
and you hearing with the enabling of the Spirit that the word that we study together may, first of all, strike the heart,
and secondly, frame the life.
I want you to take a moment with me and come to the Lord in prayer,
asking that his Spirit would quicken our study and my preaching to the glory of Christ.
Our Father God, this morning, as we gather as your people, we do so with thanksgiving,
that were it not for your grace,
were it not for your work in bringing Christ Jesus into the world to be the Savior of the world,
were it not for your work in bringing us to that point of conviction,
were we understanding the darkness and the shamefulness of our heart,
like an individual discovering the reality of their own soul sickness,
were it not for you drawing us to understand that we, by our own effort and goodness,
could not save ourselves, were it not for that,
we would not be here this morning to be worshipers.
And we are thankful that you, first of all, convicted us of our sin,
and then secondly, drew us to the place that we, seeing our hopelessness,
cried out upon the Lord Jesus Christ and asked him to save us.
And you've blessed us with eternal life.
You've blessed us with confidence in an eternal home.
You've blessed us with the indwelling ministry of the Spirit of God,
who is there in the life of the believer to encourage, to sustain, to strengthen,
to give understanding to your Scripture.
And so we, with humility, ask his help this morning.
And it is my prayer that the preaching of the Word would be marked by the enabling of the Spirit,
and that through his power, there would be individuals this morning that are here,
that are drawn to the cross, recognizing their need for salvation,
and crying out to Jesus to be their Savior.
And that believers who are here that are struggling with their walk and their joy and their confidence
would have their hearts lifted to know that Jesus, indeed,
is able to help them in the day of trial and need.
That we, together, would be encouraged as we rejoice in Christ
and look forward to the day that we are going to see him face to face.
And that is our prayer this morning we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, we are looking at John chapter 3, verse 31 through 36,
and we are at a place where John the Baptist's ministry in the book of John
is going to kind of drift back to the background.
John was, as we found in chapter 1, a forerunner or an announcer,
someone who went in front of Jesus and said,
Hey, the King is coming, and He is supremely important,
and this is the reason why.
Where we are now is that John finishing his ministry,
in all practical terms, at least in the book of John,
we find that John the Baptist is laid aside.
And yet, we are at a point where this ministry,
in coming to a conclusion,
makes its strongest statement about who Jesus is,
at least from the mouth of John the Baptist.
Let me have you stop just for a moment
and remember what it says in John chapter 20, verse 31.
How many of you know, without turning,
what the overarching purpose of the book of John is?
What is it?
These things are written, help me,
that you may know.
In other words, I'm telling you these things
so you can get your hands around the information
of who Jesus is for this purpose,
that you might believe in Him and have everlasting life.
Yesterday, as I was pumping gas,
I happened to bump into a guy that knew me.
And he says, How are you doing?
I said, Well, I'm doing pretty good.
I'm trying to think, Oh, who, Lord, is this?
You know, I don't know still.
But he says, Yeah.
It's all right.
I'll forget you.
Give me enough time.
But anyway, he's talking about visiting the church.
He says, Man, your people sing.
Well, praise God.
I'm glad.
You know, people who know Jesus
have a reason to kind of hoop it up.
Would you agree with that?
Just to give you an illustration,
and it's a very poor one,
but I would imagine that,
what is that song that they sing after football games?
I've only been one time.
It's like, what is it, Carmen, Ohio?
I'll bet you after the national championship,
they actually sang it enthusiastically as a team.
You know, it's like, We're into this.
And this guy was, we're pumping gas there,
and I'm concentrating on doing my job.
And he's, Yeah, your people are singing.
They're great.
They're blowing it out.
I said, Well, praise the Lord for that.
And then I had a chance to go where?
Talk about Jesus.
And the fact that the gospel is what changes us
from being kind of dullards
to being someone a little enthusiastic
in the Lord Jesus Christ, right?
And so here we are.
We're working our way through the book of John,
and we're dealing with this underlying
and recurring theme.
Who is Jesus, and what's he all about?
And every piece of information chosen
that John the apostle chose to write
is written for this explicit purpose
that you who sit under the hearing of the word of God
and read the scriptures can be brought to the point
of saying, Hey, I know who Jesus is,
and I accept him as my Lord and Savior,
or I have nothing to do with him, and so what?
I mean, the fact of the matter is
is that Bible preaching, follow me here,
either brings people to a point of saying what?
Yes or no to the truth that's been explained plainly.
And so as we come to John's last great statement,
there is a connectedness between the previous verse,
and put your finger on it just for a minute.
He must increase, and I must decrease.
I debated back and forth about giving a little lesson
on vocabulary, and I will.
This is known as an axiom.
An axiom is just a truth that is so undeniably truthful
that you can't get away from it.
I mean, here, gravity happens.
That's an axiom.
Do you know what?
Now, the truth of the matter is, is this verse is more certain
and more binding than gravity.
How do I know that?
If I were to go far enough up,
I would reach the point where gravity doesn't happen.
What I do know is that the fact of the increasing glory of Christ
for now and all eternity is an undeniable fact that is irreversible,
and it is there for me to revel and rejoice in and enjoy.
And John the apostle, working through what John the Baptist had to say,
you remember the disciples came to him in kind of petty attitude.
He, you know what?
That guy you baptized, you know, he's getting all the credit,
and people are following him, and they're not doing anything with you.
John says, what's the deal?
He must increase, and I must decrease.
Now, with that axiom in place,
we find in the remaining verses,
John's last testimony to the supremacy and significance of Christ.
And these verses are part of this larger picture of the apostle
explaining who is Jesus,
so that you can believe on him and have everlasting life.
And so, first of all, as we look at these verses,
I want you to recognize first the person of Christ.
There in verse 31, it says,
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.
Remember, John the Baptist is now fleshing out
or expanding this statement,
He must increase.
So why must he increase?
Well, the obvious reason is,
is that because of where he came from.
And keep your finger there in John chapter 3
and just turn back a little bit.
Go to John chapter 1.
As John the apostle starts into his gospel,
he says,
First, in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him,
and without him was not anything made that was made.
So we understand,
John makes it clear to us,
that Jesus Christ is indeed
the second person of the Trinity.
He is God himself.
Over there, and also in chapter 3, verse 13,
we find a very similar tone,
and just mark it, if you will,
in John 3, 13, it says,
no one has ascended into heaven
except he who descended from heaven,
the Son of Man.
In other words,
nobody else really has
firsthand empirical evidence
of what heaven is like
and who God really is
in particular detail,
like Jesus has.
And so, while it is true
that the Son of God came to earth
and took on human flesh
for all eternity,
the recognized fact that we see here
is that Jesus is divine.
Yes, all man and all God.
Hey, can you put your hands
around that one, really?
All man and all God.
We can't, but the truth is,
in the Bible,
it tells us that Jesus
is all man and all God,
and here's the fact.
Jesus is divine,
divine,
and he is the express revelation
of the triune God.
There's no one like him.
And because Jesus is the Son of God,
it is right for him to increase.
Why should he become more significant?
Why should he take up
all the oxygen in the room?
Why is it that we will spend
all of eternity
worshiping and praising him?
I remember having a conversation
last week with someone
who said to me,
I'm kind of,
I'm struggling with understanding
what eternity is going to be like.
I mean, you know,
I mean, just sitting around
thinking about Jesus.
I'm like, ugh.
You know, I didn't say it that way,
but it's like, hey,
if you're not real familiar with him
and he doesn't take up
much of your time today,
I mean, you know, hey,
three minutes,
I did do, what is that,
daily bread.
I mean, hey, I'm good.
You know, I've given God
a little bit of time here,
and if he kind of gets
a little two or three minutes
on a periodic basis,
the idea of spending
all the time forever
is like, whoa,
I'm not sure I'm good with that.
Will there be iPads in heaven?
Will there be angry birds in heaven?
You know, whatever it is
that you occupy your time
when you're really engaged,
and so here is John saying,
hey, he's from above.
He's supremely significant.
I want you to think about this with me.
You can know
where your spiritual growth is
by checking to see
if he is growing
in significance in your life.
Will you think with me about that
just for a moment?
You can know
where you are
in your spiritual growth.
How am I doing?
Am I moving uphill?
Will you can know
whether or not
there's spiritual progress
taking place in your life,
whether or not
Christ is truly growing
to occupy
a more and more
significant place
in your life.
If you're still consumed
with your own ambitions
and your vices,
if you're obsessed
with your own importance
and what other people
think of you,
you've got a ways to go
because here's the truth
of the matter.
Jesus came from above
and he is supremely significant
because of that.
Now just as John talked
about Jesus
first in verse 30,
remember what he said there,
he said he must increase,
I must decrease.
He does the same thing.
He first of all talks about Jesus
and said he's from above,
he must increase.
I am from below,
I must decrease.
And so I want you to think with me
just for a moment
about this decreasing nature
of humanity
and who we are.
When John the Baptist said,
I must decrease,
he followed it up by saying,
I'm from the earth.
And making that statement,
he was kind of referencing
the reality of the fact
that all of us here
live very brief
and shallow lives.
Is that not true?
It's appointed unto man,
once to die,
and after that,
the judgment.
In Psalm 90,
it says that the average lifespan
is between 70 and 80 years,
and there is a card
for Jessa Bartley
that you can sign
out there in the foyer.
She's going to be 97 this week.
And by the way,
don't,
I'm not going to be at the door
saying,
did you sign the card?
I may,
but I want that thing
scrawled all over the place,
okay?
Not many of us
make it to 97.
Give her an attaboy,
okay?
Thank Jesus for it,
by the way.
Okay,
but John says,
I'm of the earth.
What is he really talking about?
He's talking about the fact,
I'm out of here someday.
And in Genesis chapter 3,
verse 19,
it says,
from dust you came,
and from dust you,
or to dust you will return.
And so here is John the Baptist
bearing testimony to the fact
that his life is marked by brevity,
Christ is marked by deity.
Furthermore,
there's something else
that John knew
that he bore witness to
when he said there in verse 31,
he who is of the earth
belongs to the earth
and speaks in an earthly way.
Turn over in your Bible
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4,
verse 7.
Have you ever stopped to ask
why it is that I tend to illustrate
with Bible passages?
It's not an accident.
Here's the answer to that question.
I am persuaded
that God has the best ideas,
and so my job is kind of to say,
hey,
let's find out what God thinks.
2 Corinthians chapter 4,
verse 7,
kind of just spot it for you
in broad terms.
Paul is talking about ministry,
and he says,
listen,
we have this treasure in what?
In earthen vessels.
Paul was not the only person
who was persuaded
of his earthiness,
of his frailty,
of his inadequacy in ministry,
and if you still doubt that case,
you can stop and remind yourself
that at one point
in John's ministry,
he had second questions about Jesus.
Are you the one or not?
John,
as wonderful as he was,
as a messenger of the Lord of hosts,
nevertheless struggled
with the reality
of his own humanity,
and so as you think about this,
I think we should recognize
that Jesus is supremely worthy
of listening to
and of exalting
because he is God,
and John the Baptist is saying,
hey,
it makes sense for me to diminish
because I really am nobody
in comparison.
Now,
I want you to recognize
that sometimes people
take their earthiness
to be an excuse
for habitual
and recurring sin.
Our earthiness
should prompt humility
as well as tenderness
in dealing with the sins
of other people
and not the attitude
of,
hey,
ain't no big deal.
I mean,
hey,
everybody's doing it,
you know,
so recognize
when John says this
is an expression of humility,
not indifference
to the reality of sin.
So as you see here
from the very beginning,
John the Baptist
says he's closing up
his ministry,
he says,
let me tell you something
about Jesus.
He is eternal.
And all the rest of us
are very frail
and temporary.
Well,
in the verses
that follow now,
when we look here
in verses 32 through 35,
we're going to find
an expanded version
or expanded declaration
of the supremacy of Christ
and John bears testimony
to several significant things.
So think about it.
What are the testimonies
about Christ?
For one,
we find there
in verse 32
and put your finger on it,
John chapter 3,
verse 32,
he bears witness
to what he has seen
and heard.
Jesus spoke
on the basis
of first-hand knowledge.
Why would we pay
such careful attention
to what Jesus has to say?
Why should we do that?
Well,
the obvious reason
is that he is the one
who,
of all individuals,
comes with absolute,
accurate information
information
on a place
that you and I
haven't been
and from a person
that,
at the end of the day,
we haven't really seen,
have we?
Jesus is the express revelation
of the person
of the Godhead.
Now,
I want you,
earlier this week
as I was studying,
I found myself tempted
to kind of launch on that
and stay the whole time
in this one statement
about Jesus
being the absolute,
accurate revelation
of the Godhead.
But I want you to look
at a small slice
of that reality
by keeping your finger
in John
and go over to Hebrews.
Turn in your Bible
to Hebrews,
chapter 1,
verse 1 through 4.
In chapter 1 of Hebrews,
we begin with the opening statement
that the author makes.
He says this,
long ago,
as many times
and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets.
But in these last days,
He has spoken to us
by His Son.
After that statement,
in these last days,
He has spoken to us
by His Son,
the author of Hebrews
gives us
seven different statements
about the supremacy
of Christ
as the revealer
of the eternal glory of God.
Why should we listen
to Jesus?
Because,
hammer,
seven strokes
that nail the subject down
and make us
completely persuaded
Jesus is the one
who is worthy
to listen to.
Second reason
why we should listen
to Jesus
as we look here
in the passage
going back to John
is that Jesus spoke
with perfect
and complete accuracy.
accuracy.
He spoke as one
who had come
from heaven
and understood
with absolute perfection
who the Father is,
who the triune God is,
and He spoke
with undeniable
authority
and accuracy.
But secondly,
He spoke with
complete
and perfect accuracy.
There's not a single word
that was ever said
by Jesus
that was not something
that the Father
intended for Him
to say.
How many of you
say things
that you wish
you didn't say?
Okay,
out here.
A couple of you,
I know.
The rest of you
are probably near perfect,
but most of us
are like,
ah,
don't do that.
Okay?
I want you to understand
that Jesus spoke
with perfect
and complete accuracy.
Go back to John
because we want
to see this.
It says this
in verse 32,
He bears witness
to what He has seen
and heard,
yet no one
receives His testimony.
Whoever receives
Jesus' testimony
sets His seal
to this,
that God
is true.
Jesus spoke
completely
about the truth
of God.
And when
the Word of God
tells us something
about God,
whether we like it
or not,
whether we agree
with it or not,
whether we think
it's a good idea
or it's something
that should be changed,
at the end of the day,
it is God's Word
and it is absolutely
reliable.
It is what it is
and we settle it
and that's what
God has to say.
I want you to understand
that when Jesus spoke,
He wasn't just kind
of chattering
to fill the time.
How many of you
have ever been
in a situation
where you were
responsible for leading
a group
and you ask one
of those open-ended
questions
and everybody got
that blank stare
like I'm not answering?
Have you ever been there?
It was like,
and what you try
to do,
it's a mistake
most of the time,
you try to fill
the emptiness
with just a little drivel.
It's a blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah,
and you're just saying
things that really
don't amount to anything.
Jesus didn't chatter
just to hear Himself
speak
or to occupy
the moment
while He was waiting
for His disciples
to get it.
Having said that,
you're obviously thinking
the logical question is,
where's that in the Bible?
Is that what you're thinking?
Everybody's smiling at me.
I mean,
the logical thing
for godly people to do
when a pastor
makes a statement
is what?
Oh, yeah?
Where is that?
Oh, well,
thank you.
I'm glad you asked.
Let's go to John 8.
John 8,
verse 28.
I don't know.
You may even want
to take a pencil
and pen
and underline this.
Jesus said to them,
when you have lifted up
the Son of Man,
then you will know
that I am He
and that I do nothing
on my own authority
but speak,
J-U-S-T,
what?
Just?
Speak just
as the Father taught me.
Did Jesus go off page?
And the answer is,
no.
Did Jesus ever make
any kind of erroneous statements
that really,
well,
I'm not really sure
that should have been
taken literally,
blah, blah, blah.
No,
when Jesus said it,
it was Jesus speaking
and it was exactly
what God the Father
wanted Him to say.
Let's look further
at this.
John 12,
verse 49.
John 12,
verse 49.
For I have not spoken
on mine own authority,
but the Father who sent me
has made,
has Himself given me
a commandment,
what to say
and what to speak.
It reminds me,
years ago,
when Judith and I were,
is Judith in here?
She's,
hey,
good to see you.
Judith and I
are going on vacation,
just checking to see
if she's here,
she's driving.
But,
years ago,
when Judith and I
were living over
in Angaro,
our kids,
particularly our boys,
would play in the basement
and our boys
were,
were much more aggressive
in that,
you know,
smack down,
knock down kind of things,
you know,
and girls are into dolls
and boys are into,
you know,
thumping chests
and it's like trying to see
whatever.
And every now and then,
my son,
my older son,
was significantly older
than my younger son
and sometimes there would be
just moderate injuries,
you know.
And I'd,
I'd hear this thing
kind of playing out,
devolve,
you know,
it's kind of,
and I'd,
I'd shout down the steps
and say,
what's going on?
You know what the standard
answer was?
100% of the time,
nothing.
Nothing.
We're good.
And then I would send
one of my daughters,
you know,
I was like,
why get out of the chair,
you know,
Heather,
go.
Daddy wants to know
what you guys are doing.
I mean,
do you think she was going
down there on her own
initiative?
And the answer is,
no.
Do you think she was coming
with her own message like,
hey,
Joe and Sam,
will you two be nice
to each other?
You know,
that's not what it was.
It was like,
what are you doing?
Dad said.
Here's the deal.
Jesus is making it clear
to us that what he had
to say was not just
his own opinion.
It was what God
wanted him to say.
If Jesus should be heard
because he spoke exactly
what the Father wanted
him to say,
then those earthen vessels
who speak for him
and do not wonder
from the text
should be listened to
carefully.
And as a result of that,
one of the things
that should characterize
those who preach the word
is that they talk
less about themselves
and more about him.
Less about their own
experiences and more
about the authority
and the sufficiency
of Christ.
Do you understand that?
Keep that in mind.
Let's come to the third
lesson that I want you
to see.
This is indicting.
Do you know what
indicting means?
It kind of dings me
a little bit as I've
been studying and praying
and then illustrating,
unfortunately.
But let's go to the
third point.
You know it ahead of time
because it flashed up
on the board.
Jesus spoke in the
fullness of the Spirit.
Okay?
For he whom God has sent
utters the words of God
for he gives the Spirit
without measure.
For he gives the Spirit
here.
Here's another passage
that deserves a full launch.
What is the characteristic
of speaking
through the enabling
of the Spirit?
We won't do that
this morning
but I do want you
to recognize
that speaking
through the enabling
of the Spirit of God
is something that
should characterize
all Bible preaching.
It should also be
one of the things
that you pray for
when you pray for me
or you pray for whoever
this evening
Pastor Saul
is going to
hey by the way
it would be better
for you to show up
and pray for him
than to stay home
and watch the
shopping channel
and pray for him.
Right?
I mean do you
understand the choices?
So one of the reasons
why you should pray
for those who are
preachers of the Word of God
is because they do have
the treasure in earthen vessels
and what you want to do
is pray that
by the Spirit of God
their earthiness
would be a little diminished.
No man
apart from our Lord Jesus
will ever speak
as Jesus did
in the complete fullness
of the Spirit.
Why is that?
For one
we can grieve the Spirit.
Would you agree with that?
I don't have to remind you
who know the Scriptures
that it says
grieve not the Holy Spirit.
In other words
I can do things
that grieve the Holy Spirit
and if I am grieving
the Holy Spirit
is the Holy Spirit
then going to help me
as I speak on his behalf?
I got to get the grief issue out.
Deal with it.
Another thing is this
is that we can quench
the Spirit.
We can on a recurring basis
say no
I don't want to listen to that
I don't want to do that
I'm not interested in that
and as a result of that
that the Holy Spirit's ministry
in enabling us
to proclaim
the glory of Christ
can be diminished.
The Spirit quickened
every single word
Jesus spoke.
Now having said that
earlier this morning
I said something
that was not prompted
by the Spirit of God.
I'll tell you what it was
because when I sat down there
I thought to myself
Tim
stop
what I did.
Here's what I said.
I said something
about raising hands
and I want you to understand
God in his
infinite wisdom
did not make all of us
to be exactly alike.
Do you understand that?
I married a girl
wonderful
44 plus years
I think
is it 44
where are you?
Yeah.
We're going towards 45.
In case you didn't know
I am a marginally
emotional person.
What that tells you
is that Judith
is as mellow
as they come.
And for me
to look at her
and say
what's the deal
with you?
And for her
to look at me
and say
what is wrong?
So here's the deal.
All I want
is for God's people
to worship
in spirit
and in truth.
How you do that
should not be something
that I flap my gums
about a little less.
Do you follow
what I'm saying?
Bear with me.
That's a little bit
of the earthiness
and when an illustration
and I didn't come
this morning
intending to do that.
I'm struck
by the fact
that every single
word that Jesus
said was like
an arrow
in the hands
of a mighty man.
It hit the target
and it made
an eternal difference.
Now
I have prayed
about this
so I'm going
to say it.
I would also
caution those
who buy into
the idea
that the Holy Spirit
is behind
the meaningless
babbling
and mutterings
that pass off
for charismatic
gifts
and speaking
in tongues
and here's why.
If Jesus
never said
a single word
that was not
understandable
and for the sake
of exalting
the supremacy
of his father
then why do we
come off with
the idea
that this
muttering
and babbling
that cannot
be discerned
and has no
spiritual outcome
really is significant
apart from
just doing it.
Now
am I going
to throw stones
at people
that do it?
No, no, no, no, no
but I won't say this
it's not
of the Holy Spirit.
How do I know that?
The Holy Spirit
is interested
in making Jesus
look good
in letting you
see him.
Every single
word that
Jesus said
was designed
by the Father
to lift up
the glory
and the supremacy
of the Father
in heaven
and people
walked away
every time
Jesus opened
his mouth
not every time
but you know
when they walked
away they said
we have never
heard anyone
talk like him
and what was he
doing?
He was speaking
in language
that people
could understand
and he was
convicting them
with that language
fourth
Jesus spoke
as the beloved
of the Father
look at John
the Father
loves the Son
and has given
all things
into his hand
the love
of the Father
for our Lord
Jesus Christ
is a magnificent
channel
through which
the glory
flows
I want you to
turn with me
just for a moment
to a passage
kind of frame this
out and understand
it
keep your finger
in John
because we are
coming back there
but John
chapter 13
John chapter 13
verse 21
through 25
this is at
the last supper
when Jesus
is celebrating
Passover
with his disciples
for the last time
and you will remember
and I'm not going
to have you turn
there but you'll
remember that
in the flow
of the supper
he stops
and says this
he says
one of you
is going
to betray me
this is a pretty
significant statement
and pretty
significant moment
because in a
very unusual
manner
the disciples
actually hear
what Jesus
said
and they kind
of take it
to heart
most of the time
when the disciples
heard Jesus
saying things
they were thinking
they hoped
that John
would hear it
or that Peter
would hear it
or that one
of the other
disciples
excluding them
would get the
memo
how many of you
have ever been
listening to a sermon
and thought
man I really hope
my husband
hears this one
in fact you even
nudge him
just in case
he's dozed off
and you know
that you're
helping the Holy
Spirit
like hey
Bubba
it's you
he's talking
to
okay
in this case
and you can
find it in Luke
chapter 22
okay
they say
am I the one
and actually
it's in Matthew
chapter 26
that they say
am I the one
and then in Luke
chapter 22
they look to each
other and they say
is it you
are you going
to betray him
are you doing
this
you see
first
am I doing
it
second
are you doing
it
then we come
up to the
golden moment
that we're
referring to
in John
chapter 13
look at this
passage
John chapter
13
verse 21
after saying
these things
things
Jesus was
troubled in his
spirit and
testified
truly truly
I say to
you
one of you
will betray
me
the disciples
looked at
one another
uncertain of
whom he
spoke
one of his
disciples
whom Jesus
loved
was reclining
at the table
close to
Jesus
Simon Peter
motioned him
and asked
motioned to
him to ask
Jesus of
whom he
was speaking
so that
disciple
leaning back
against Jesus
said to him
Lord
who is it
Jesus
answered
it is
he to
whom I
will give
the morsel
of bread
when I
have dipped
it
and so
when he
had dipped
the morsel
he gave
it to
Judas
the son
of Iscariot
do you
follow this
I want
you to
recognize
this
here are
the disciples
and in
their desire
to understand
really what
was going
on
they asked
someone
who was
close
to
interpret
what was
being said
I want
you to
understand
one of the
characteristics
of love
love reveals
all that
there is
isn't that
right
and
love
doesn't hold
back secrets
one of the
things that
I think is
important in
marriage is
that there
be no
secrets
I mean
after all
doesn't the
Bible say
and is not
the Bible
reliable and
trustworthy
that the two
shall become
what
one flesh
no secrets
with one
flesh
I am who
I am
my wife
knows me
she is who
she is
and I know
her
and God
intends that
that love
relationship
is one that
that has a
level of
transparency
and sweetness
that
cannot take
place apart
from that
and so
here is
Jesus
saying
or here is
John the
Baptist
saying
because the
father loves
Jesus
he can be
completely
relied upon
to communicate
everything that
we know
the love
of the
father
communicates
freely
and openly
with
Christ
one other
illustration
because I
think it's
important to
recognize
Judges
chapter 16
the story
of Samson
by the way
if you
think that
Samson
learned
from the
first
experience
he didn't
but you
remember
that he
fell in
love
with
Delilah
and
remember
she kept
on coming
to him
and said
hey
what's
the secret
to your
strength
oh if
you bind
me with
seven wet
bow strings
that'll do
it
you know
if you
tie my
hair into
the weaver's
beam
and she
says you
know it's
quite evident
that you
don't love
me because
you aren't
telling me
the truth
and he
says well
the deal
is if
you
cut my
hair I'm
done
and it
happened
you see
Delilah
leveraged
the issue
of relationship
if you
love me
you'll
tell me
and
John
the Baptist
is reminding
us that
because
God the
father
loves
Jesus
he gives
Jesus
all the
information
about who
he is
well that
brings us
to a final
truth
and I
want you
to go
back to
John
chapter 3
so we
understand
the
significance
of this
you know
there are a lot
of people
today that
believe
just back
up just a
minute
a lot of
people believe
that Jesus
is a pretty
good guy
I mean
you know
okay
he kind
of went
around
doing good
things
you know
and in fact
you can even
rely upon him
to kind
of be
a pretty
sweet
person
now
being a
product
of the
70s
I can't
help but
think about
the idea
of Jesus
as being
someone
who if
you're
going
to San
Francisco
you know
wear flowers
in your hair
some of you
are thinking
where is he
coming from
you know
it's like
here's the
deal
Jesus
was not
just about
being nice
and sweet
he was also
about
telling the
truth
do you
follow that
heaven
and hell
are
undeniably
real
truths
in fact
listen to me
carefully
Jesus
talked
more
about
hell
than
any
other
person
in
the
scriptures
and
here is
John the
Baptist
speaking
on behalf
of the
Savior
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
and here's
what he
said
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
you can't
talk about
Jesus
truthfully
without
bringing
people to
a point
of saying
yes or
no to
God
and what
is it
that Jesus
really
tells us
he tells
us all
we need
to know
about
God
and so
let me
give you
just a
real simple
summary
to hold
on to
that I
want to
have
clearly
fixed
in your
mind
number
one
this is
the
undeniable
Bible
truth
that God
is holy
and cannot
overlook
sin
God
is holy
and cannot
overlook
sin
it doesn't
make any
difference
what flavor
you're involved
in
do you
understand
that
in fact
keep your
finger
here we
go
finger
exercises
today
go to
1 Corinthians
chapter 6
1 Corinthians
chapter 6
one of the
things I
love
say it
again
love
about the
gospel
is that
the gospel
tells us
we don't
have to
stay
the way
we are
1 Corinthians
chapter 6
verse 9
do you
not know
that the
unrighteous
will not
inherit
the kingdom
of God
don't be
deceived
don't mess
with God
neither the
sexually immoral
nor idolaters
nor adulterers
nor men who
practice homosexuality
nor thieves
nor the greedy
nor drunkards
nor revelers
nor swindlers
will inherit
the kingdom
of God
now we
come to the
next verse
that I
love
and such
were some
of you
in fact
let me add
to that
that's who
we all
were
isn't that
right
you know
we may
not have
committed
the nasty
nine
or the filthy
five
or the dirty
dozen
but the truth
of the matter
is all
have sinned
and come
short of the
glory of God
that's the truth
and how can a man
who stands between
heaven and hell
not draw attention
to the fact
that heaven
and hell
rest in the
balance
and make it
clear that
Christ Jesus
came
first of all
because God
is holy
and cannot
abide sin
secondly
because we
are sinners
and cannot
remedy our
problem
on our
own
hey
can I
get to
heaven
by being
good
on my
own
efforts
and what's
the answer
not by
works of
righteousness
lest any
man should
boast
you know
when we
get
when we
cross the
finish line
none of us
are going
to be
saying
I finally
made it
you know
it was
that extra
little bit
of work
I did
for United
Way
that's
the thing
that pulled
me
through
given
blood
whatever
stop
not by
works of
righteousness
lest any
one of us
should boast
and we
come to
the third
truth is
this is
God sent
his son
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
to die
for our
sins
he died
for me
he died
in my
place
one of
the Bible
truths I
love to
say at a
funeral
is that
Christ
died
your
death
will I
die
well if
Jesus
doesn't
come back
first that's
going to
happen
but I
won't die
like Jesus
died
I will
slip from
this place
through
the moment
of death
into the
presence of
the Father
with the
smile of
God
upon me
absent
in the
body
present
with the
Lord
and that
is because
Jesus
died
for me
so I
want you to
understand that
as the
scriptures make
it clear in
this passage
believing
in Jesus
brings
everlasting
life and
joyful
obedience
and by the
way
hey
everybody
listen
telling me
you're saved
and there's
nothing that
indicates that
you're walking
by faith in
obedience
obedience is
kind of
counter
intuitive
it's not
affirming and
encouraging
do you follow
me
I mean if I
say I love
my wife
and I do
then I would
move furniture
more willingly
how many of you
understand that
statement
now
it's a process
to get there
but the spirit of
God is working
hey here's the
deal
Jesus says this
he says
not everyone
that saith to
me
Lord
will enter
the kingdom
but he that
doeth the
will of my
father
and so
Jesus
and having a
relationship with
him means
coming to a
point of walking
in obedience
with him
secondly I want
you to know
this and close
with it
rejecting Jesus
brings the
eternal wrath
of God
rejecting Jesus
brings the
eternal wrath
of God
can I ask you
something
can you imagine
a church
that doesn't
make that
clear
huh
I want you
to imagine
just for a
moment
I am a
physician
who has
little pills
I don't have
them in my
pocket but
just little
pills
these are
pills that
that take
care of the
poison of
the soul
and you
come in
with a
variety of
symptoms
but at the
end of
the day
the symptoms
that you
are showing
are symptoms
that indicate
that you
have this
affliction
and you're
being poisoned
by that
disease or
sickness
and I have
the pills
in my
pocket
what kind
of conscientious
loving
sympathetic
physician would
not say to
you man
I am so
glad you
came here
and you know
it is a
messy problem
that you have
and you
could die
from this
disease
but I've
got good
news for
you
take this
do you
like that
we're all
great
physicians
we're all
helpers of
the great
physician
isn't that
right
that's what
we're in
the business
of doing
is letting
people know
that Christ
Jesus came
into the
world to
save sinners
and Paul
said this
of whom
I am
chief
I love
the privilege
of speaking
about the
power of
the cross
don't you
and you
can understand
why the
apostle as
he penned
this letter
and as he
brought the
ministry of
John the
Baptist to
a close
it ends up
as you
would expect
with the
sweetness of
the gospel
let's close
in prayer
holy father
this morning
as we
gather
together
we are
here because
of the
Lord Jesus
Christ
who found
us in
our hopeless
despair
and convicted
us of our
sin and brought
us to the
point of
realizing that
we have
no hope
in our
own efforts
in our
own
goodness
but Christ
Jesus came
into the
world to
save
sinners
and the
spirit of
God works
to bring
the person
who is
under
condemnation
first to
realize the
reality of
their judgment
and secondly
to realize
there is no
hope apart
from Christ
and so this
morning as we
hear the
word preached
our desire
is this
is that we
who know
Christ would
revel in the
sweetness of the
gospel and
those who are
here that don't
know Christ
would be drawn
to believe in
Jesus for the
salvation of
their soul
and that's our
prayer this
morning as we
close in
Jesus name
amen
as we