Let's take our Bibles and turn
to John 3. John 3. I was thinking as Brother
Scott was speaking. Boy, oh, that God would give me a
heart to truly get a hold of that, realize. You know, if we but knew We know
it. We know in part. But we know
it. I'm telling you, if he'd just
take that word and just burn it within our hearts. It's good to see all of you.
It's good to have my mama here. She got here Monday. Her name's Mary, and you can
call her Granny. John 3, verse 30. John said, He must increase,
but I must decrease. You know, obviously, based on what the
Apostle John said, must increase. He must increase. I must decrease. He was saying something there
that was emphatic. So obviously, based on what John
said, a change evidently has got to take place. Something
has got to take place. is going to have to happen. That
is not the way it is now. He must increase. I must decrease. Evidently, there's got to be
an exchange somewhere. For every action I've heard,
there's a reaction. I suppose that's so. Every time
something happens, something else has got to happen. He must
increase. I must decrease. This means that these two things
are certain. If a man, if a woman has any
hope of eternal salvation, these things must take place. Christ
must increase. Now, I thought on that for a
little while. He must increase. How can that be? How can that
be? Here is the eternal, almighty
God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. He said, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. I change not. I don't change.
I don't change. John said he must increase. How can that be? John said he
must increase. John is saying something that
is absolutely necessary for salvation of God's elect. Christ must increase. The Scripture is setting forth
this thought. As the stars are in the heavens and the sun is beginning to rise
over the horizon, Yesterday morning I got up early and my mom and
I walked outside and it was just, I mean just looking over the
hill there, I could just barely see that the sun was coming up,
just barely see it. But I knew that the sun was coming
up. I could see the stars. I saw
them, beautiful. I see them very plainly. But you know, as that sun came
up, and soon as that sun was up, the sky was bright, I couldn't
see the stars anymore. But you know they were still
there. They were there. And by the sun coming up, it
doesn't mean that the sun increased in its, you know, capacity. But what I saw, of the sun increased. I saw it. And as the sun increased
in my eyes, I saw less of the stars. The stars were there. The sun was there. But I saw
it in a greater light. John said he must increase, not
that he increases in any of his honor, his majesty, His dignity,
but Almighty God increases Him to me, shows me the things of
Him, shows me of His honor. He must increase. I must decrease. I know this is so. First of all,
the Scripture sets it forth right here. John said, He must increase,
I must decrease. But I know this. This is the
will. and the purpose of Almighty God. Colossians chapter 1, Colossians
1, verse 16, Colossians 1, 16. Listen to this, for by Him, for all things created that are
in heaven, that are in earth, invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by him and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have preeminence. For it pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. I know that it
is the will of Almighty God to reveal His Son in His people."
That's God's purpose. Paul said, when it pleased God
to reveal His Son in me, immediately, I conferred not with flesh and
blood. Let me ask you this. Was the Lord Jesus Christ always
there? Sure He was. When did Saul of
Tarsus see Him? When he pleased God to reveal
Him. In that time, Christ was increased. He was shown to be
who He is. He was revealed. He must increase. God's people, by nature, they're
blind. They don't know Him. They don't
see Him. They're dead in trespasses and
sins. John said he must increase. The
issue is who is he. Who do men say that I am? God
has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name. His name. What's his name? His name is Jesus, Jehovah, Savior. No other can receive that name. No other is due that title. He must increase. If you know
Him tonight, the Spirit of God has increased Him to you. Not
that He has increased. He doesn't change. But oh, in
the eyes of His people, He's increased. John said He must
increase. He must. There's none other name
under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. He
must increase. I must have Him shown to me.
I don't know Him. That's what Saul of Tarsus said.
Who are you? Who art thou, Lord? I'm Jesus,
whom you're persecuting. It's hard to kick against the
pricks, Saul. He must have the I looked that word up, preeminence.
He must have the preeminence. That word means surpasses. He surpasses. He surpasses all. He is the God-man, preeminent,
that he might have the preeminence. That's what Brother Scott was
just talking about. Here's the preeminent man, preeminent,
surpasses. No man like this man, this man,
a body prepared for him. Here he was, conceived in the
womb of a virgin by the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God refers
to him as that holy thing. He came forth, Son of God, Son
of Man, Christ Jesus. preeminent. He must increase. He must have preeminence, for
He is the eternal God, Son of God, Redeemer of the sheep. No
one else is referred to as like that. No one. It's one. One man. This man. Redeemer. No one else. One man. One man is referred to as the
way. One, no other. He must increase. He must be set forth. He must
be set forth from this pulpit. He must be. If there is to be
any honor given to His name, He must be set forth. But the setting forth from this
pulpit, unless the Spirit of God takes this Word and sets
it forth to your heart, to my heart, It's just words. But these words, Paul says, came
not to you in word only, but they came in power and in the
Holy Ghost. He is our completeness. In Him, we're complete. All fullness
in Him dwells. But how do I know that unless
the Spirit of God increases Him to me? and shows me the Lord
Jesus Christ, gives me a heart to see Him, gives me a hunger
for Him, creates a thirst in my heart for Him, of myself,
I could do nothing. All the fullness of wisdom, righteousness,
holiness, grace, peace, joy, glory, all these wonderful descriptions
of Him. They're just words, unless the
Spirit of God teaches them. He must increase. I looked the word up. What does
it mean? It means grow. He must grow. That is, or be shown to be who
He is. He must be shown. This is by
divine revelation. The things of God are not carnally
discerned. Make them as plain as you can.
I've said this. I've read Scripture. We've done
it here before. Read Scripture. And it's just
as plain as it can possibly be. You go back and read in Ephesians. I mean, just here. Ephesians 1, verse 3, "...be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us." Chosen us. He chose us. He set His affection on us because
it pleased Him to do so. Chose us in Him, in Christ. as our covenant head, when, before
the foundation of the world, what? That we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. Now, do you know, unless God
reveals that to me, I don't know that. I read it, hear it. It means nothing to me unless
God Almighty causes Christ to grow to me. He must increase. Must He not increase to His people? Must He not be revealed to His
people? The salvation of His elect rests
in Him who laid down his life for the sheep. As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up on the cross, actually, and lifted up to his people.
Revealed to his people, lifted up, high and lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
seen by faith as altogether lovely to the unregenerate heart. He
wasn't to me. I remember a time. I mean, I'll
just be flat out honest with you. And if you're honest, you'll
say this too. There was a time in your life
when you didn't know Him, and it did not matter. It just didn't
matter. No big deal. The dead heart. can see nothing spiritually.
He just can't. He just has eyes to see and ears
to hear. That's from God. He is increased
to us by the Spirit of God. He must increase. He is lifted
up by divine revelation to the new heart, and we look upon Him
as being our All in All. Truly, He must increase in heart
of His people, for He is their need. And they do know it. They
need Him. They realize, I need Him. It's the value of food. If you're hungry, if you're hungry,
if you're truly hungry, I'm not talking about if you just, yeah,
well, you had a big breakfast since about eleven-thirty in
the morning, you know, and you ate about nine. Well, it looks like
it's about dinner time, I guess. Well, lunch. It looks like it's
about lunch time, and I'm You know, I guess we'll eat, but
I'm not really that hungry. Let me tell you something. If
you hadn't had anything in about three days, and I'm hungry, I'm
hungry. Do you know what food is increased
to you? Increased in value, desire? You need it. I need it. I need
it. If a man or woman is hungry,
made hungry after Christ, He's increased to them. He must increase. by the Spirit of God. He is our
wisdom. Christ is made unto us to be
wisdom. You know something of yourself,
and you know something of God. You know something of your need
of Him, and you know He is your need. He is made unto us wisdom. Righteousness. That's what Brother
Scott is talking about. I need a righteousness that I
cannot produce. I need a righteousness that will
stand before Almighty God, no blame. Before God's law, no blame. Christ, by Him, by God, Christ
is made unto us righteousness, sanctification. Almighty God
set His people apart. that they might be holy in Him,
in Christ. Holy. Holy. Holy. Holy. Just that word, I say it,
it's a word found in Scripture, and my mind cannot grasp hold
of the height of that word. Holy. Holy. Christ is made unto us redemption. redemption, paid the price I
could not pay. He is made to be increased to
me. Almighty God has shown Him to
me, the Lord Jesus Christ, to every person. To His people,
that is. Not to every person, but to His
people, He is going to be increased. Matthew 16. Let me give you a
little bit, and I think this will help. It helped me. Matthew
16, 13. Matthew 16, 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Well, some
say that thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, and others Jeremiah,
or one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." You know
why he said that to him, Pat? You know why he said that to
the Lord Jesus Christ? Because the Spirit of God had
increased in Peter's eyes. It increased him. He saw him. He saw him for who he was. Peter
realized by God's grace, by a new heart, who do men say that I
am? Well, some say that you're John the Baptist. Some say I'm
this prophet. Some say that prophet. Who do
you say I am? Let me ask you this. Who do you
say He is? Who is He to you? He must increase. He must increase. I must decrease. That's the inescapable question. What think ye of Christ? What do you think about Him?
What do you think? Is He just a good man? One of the prophets, is He the
vicarious atonement for sin for you? Has He put away your guilt? Has Almighty God lifted Him up
before you and given you a heart to say, Lord, as you say you
are, you are. Lord, have mercy on me. Has Almighty
God in infinite mercy increased Him to your heart by faith and
made Him to be all your salvation? Not your decision, not your will,
not your attendance, not your... Is Christ all in all to you? Who is He to you? Has God by His Spirit illuminated
your understanding and the knowledge of who He is and given you a
heart to cast yourself upon Him. Has He made Christ to you to
be the end of the law for righteousness? There's no more. There's no duty
that I can perform. There's no more. He's the end
of it. He's the end of it. He fulfilled
it. It's done. It's finished. It's
finished. He fulfilled every jot and tittle
of God's law. Not one point was left undone. It's finished for His people
in Christ. He's the end of it for obedience
to salvation. Christ. Do you know what? God ever reveals that to your
heart and my heart. Oh, He's high and lifted up. And God give me a heart to see
that, that He's increased. If God has translated me out
of spiritual darkness into His marvelous light, if He has shined
in my heart to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God has created a hunger to behold
Him, Christ is increased to me. Is He your bread? Is He the water
of life to you? Is He your Master? Is He the
truth to you? If Christ be increased in your
soul, you despise the thought of salvation based on your own
efforts or will or work. If He is the one that answers
for you, He answers. He answers. He answers. I stand in Him. not having my
own works, not having my own worth, not having my own ability
to answer for me. He answers. He answers. I just want to be in Him. I'll let Him
speak for me. I'll let Him answer for me. It's
like being in a class, you know, just a frail, frail. Have you
ever been in a class and a professor Ask something and you just really
didn't know how to answer the question. And you're thinking,
oh, I hope He doesn't call on me. I know a little bit about
what you're talking about, but I'll tell you what, I'd rather
have someone else answer that question. I want Him to answer
for me. And when He answers for me, God
will charge that answer to me. That's the right answer. He has
increased. He's the One. In that day, He
shall stand, and I shall stand in Him, complete. If He be increased
to me, then there is but one Mediator between God and men,
and it's the man, Christ Jesus. He must increase. He must. He must. Thanks be to
God that He's increased Him to me. And secondly, and in closing,
I'm just going to say just a word about this. John said, I must
decrease. I must. He must increase. I must decrease. First of all,
let me say this. If God increases Him to me, then
I will automatically decrease. If God increases Him truly, for
every action there is a reaction with His increase, God will decrease
me. He will. Just like the increasing of the
Lord Jesus Christ is by the Spirit of God, it is the decreasing
of ourselves is a work of God that is within us. By nature,
we are proud and arrogant people, and we desire to have our own
honor. That is what we want. Now, just be honest about it. We all want to think real highly
of ourselves. John said, I must decrease. To
decrease in heart, I must have a new heart. I must be given
a new desire. If I desire Him, if I desire
to be found in Him, then I'm going to think less, much less
of me. The more a man be occupied with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that by God's grace, the more he'll
struggle with being occupied with himself. The struggle with
that. Oh, wretched man that I am. I must decrease. John said, I
must decrease. God must bring his people down.
They must be brought down. We must be brought down. We're
going to have to be brought down from our high horse. God must
bring us down. But in myself, I find not how
to do it. I must decrease. How do I decrease
of myself? I can't. How are we made to decrease? Look at this last scripture right
here, 2 Corinthians 6.10. 2 Corinthians 6.10. Now, you know, here's the amazing
thing. moved upon John to write those
words. You know that. He must increase. I must decrease. In 2 Corinthians
6 and verse 10, this is what it says, "...as sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing." Now, you know, think about that. A believer
in this world, we do have sorrow. pain. It's just the nature of
the beast of this natural life. We find sorrow. I mean, it's
just the struggles. I know that. But we rejoice in
Christ, for we know. We know Him. God has increased
Him in our sight to us by His grace. He is altogether lovely. God Almighty. But God is shown
Him to us. As poor, poor in spirit, yet making many
rich, rich in Christ. As having nothing, and yet possessing
all things. Now here's something about decreasing
in our own estimation of ourselves. Almighty God by His grace reveals
to us what we are. He shows us what we are. And
He brings us down. And we decrease and we rejoice
in it. That's what He said. We're brought
down. We decrease. Man by nature does
not want to decrease. Doesn't want to. But the Spirit
of God increases Christ to Him, shows Him. It's like that brazen
serpent lifted up. Whoever looked, lived. As the
brazen serpent was lifted up in the desert, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. Man looks to Him by faith. God-given
faith lives. But in that look, we realize
God teaches us something of ourselves, and a believer rejoices. Here's an amazing thing. A believer
rejoices to admit, I'm nothing. In myself, I'm nothing. Still,
there's enough pride and arrogance in the statement, you know, in
what we make, that if God judged us based on that statement alone,
there's enough rebellion in that statement. We know something
of it. We do. We realize it. But we
don't resent it. We rejoice, we are here. The
Spirit of God will say through the scriptures, it will say that
crown of our head, sole of our foot, nothing soars, you know,
believers say. That's me. I'm the one. But how are we made to decrease
that last part of what we just read? Verse 10 of 2 Corinthians,
having nothing, nothing in ourselves. nothing of ourselves, yet possessing
all things. We are made to be satisfied with
having nothing in ourselves, yet we possess all things in
Christ. We say, by God's grace, He has
given me a good trade. Old Mary said, You're nothing.
He said, Lord, I'm nothing. But you have all things in Christ. We decrease in our estimation
of self only when He has increased Him
in our heart. We decrease in our love for this
world, for we by God's grace and revelation have found the
pearl of great price. I must decrease. Oh, yeah, but
let's talk about Him who is increased and has increased in myself and
stands for me. I'm nothing. God just showed
me what I am. He's shown me I've decreased
in my eyes for myself. And I agree with Him. Oh, but
look at Him who is increased. God who has increased Him to
me. If He be increased to me, I, by God's grace, will trust
Him. I'll trust Him. He's increased him. I can trust
Him. God's taught me I can trust Him.
Can you trust Him for your soul? If He be increased to me, I'll
love Him above all things. A believer will take God's side
against himself. If He be increased to me, I yield
to Him in His providence. This is my lot. If He be increased
to me, I render by God's grace praise in all things. The Lord
Jesus Christ increasing and me decreasing is actually a denying
of a self. The Lord Jesus said this, any
man will come after me, let him deny himself. Come after me."
What that means is this. A believer will gladly, by God's
grace, remove himself and his estimation of his worth and ability
will remove himself from the equation in the accomplishment
of God's work of salvation. I must decrease. You admit that. If Christ becomes altogether
lovely to you, If He is altogether your desire, it's by God's grace. You know when you turn loose?
When God shows you something better. Years ago, in my mom
and dad's restaurant, there was a little boy, and he had gotten
through eating supper, and he had a corncob in his hand. He's getting ready to leave and
he's making a mess of it. Just hanging on that corncob.
And his dad was trying to get that corncob away from him. And
he was just hanging on to it and just had it all messed up.
And my dad took and got a little piece of candy and handed it
to him. And he said, if you'll give me
that corncob right there. He said, he'll let you have this
candy. So the boy just gave it to him. You know when you'll
decrease in what's worth something to you and it's worth nothing
yourself? When God increases Christ to
you. Reveals Him to you. John said,
He must increase. He must. I must decrease. I can do neither. Almighty God
must teach me who He is. Increase Him to me. The Lord
Jesus Christ is increased to His people. They see Him.