All right, John chapter 3. And we'll be looking at verse
23 and several portions of this remaining part of the chapter
here. The title of the message is John's Example. John's Example. It says in verse 22, we'll read
that first, After these things came Jesus and his disciples
into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. In verse 23 it says, And John
also was baptizing in Anon near Salem, because there was much
water there. And they came and were baptized. John's example. The first thing
I want us to see is a word of practical faithfulness. Practical faithfulness. The scripture
says, and John also was baptizing. Now, John was given a very unique
position. There was only one of John the
Baptist. There was only one forerunner
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This man, John, had this exceeding
high office. He ran before. He was sent before
the Christ to declare His coming. He was given the ordinance of
baptism, and the Lord Jesus Himself gave this about John. He said, among those that are
born of women, there's not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. That's a high recommendation,
isn't it? That is a high office. And there
was only one of Him. There was only one. Just like
there was only one Virgin Mary. She was chosen among women. She was highly favored among
women to be the one that carried the Lord Jesus Christ and was
His mother, His earthly mother. And even so, John the Baptist
was only one of Him. Only one. This man, he baptized,
he was given the ordinance of baptism. The Jews had purification
of different things. The temple they purified, they
purified the vessels, they washed the high priestly robes, and
they washed themselves. They had different ceremonies
of purification. But this thing of baptism was
something brand new. It was something that God gave
him as a prophet, that he was to Institute and the Lord Jesus
Christ came to him and was baptized and he says I'm not worthy To
baptize you you should be baptizing me, but he said suffer it to
be so now This was your office. This is what you were ordained
to do the to initiate the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry
and But now Christ had come. It says,
"...and now these things..." Now, after these things. In other
words, after His baptism, after the Lord Jesus Christ had started
His ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ went to Judea and He was
baptizing. He was actually giving authority
to His disciples to baptize, but many people went from John's
ministry. Think of John's ministry. It
was large. I mean, there were multitudes
and multitudes of people who came out to hear John. But now, the Lord Jesus Christ
had come, and the multitudes were no longer with John. They had moved from him to Christ. Yes, there were a small group
following John. There was a small group of people
that still followed John. He had his disciples that followed
him. But did John quit after he had
baptized the Lord Jesus Christ? He said, I'm done. I guess I'm
gonna go retire. I'm gonna get me a place now
and I'm just gonna sit back and take it easy. No. The Scripture says Jesus and
His disciples were in Judea, but John was in Anon near Siloam
and he was baptizing. He was continuing in the ministry
that God had given to him. He was a faithful servant, a
faithful minister. Was he discouraged? He pointed
men to the Lord Jesus Christ Was he discouraged when men followed
Christ instead of him? No, he was not discouraged, not
in the least. He went right on doing what God
had told him to do. Is this not a very practical
thing for us? Is this not practical faithfulness
seen in this man John? Let me ask you this, should not
this faithfulness be seen in every one of us? It should be
seen in us. Brethren, let's not look at the
circumstances or what things appear to be outwardly. Let us not be hindered by the
arguments or ridicule of men. If God has called us to preach
His gospel, if God has called us to declare His Word, wherever
he calls us, then we should be faithful to declare his word,
to preach his gospel. God's called us to this, then
we should do it with all of our hearts, with all that we have,
and with all that we are. Remember the Lord Jesus when
he was 12? What did he say to his mother when they went back
to that temple? He said, wished you not I should
be about my father's business. You know what? You and I should
be about our father's business. We should be following the example
of our Savior. We should be about our Father's
business. What other purpose have we here in this world? Do
we have anything else? Joanne, you got anything left?
You got anything that you... any other really big experiences
that you... No! We don't have anything we
want to do. We don't have anything left to
do. We're here for one purpose, one reason, and that is to glorify
God in everything we are and all we do. That's it. Does that
not simplify everything for us? Does that not cut down everything
else? Whatever it is that doesn't glorify
God, just throw it out. It's not worth it. We're here
to do one thing, glorify God. We're here to witness of His
gospel of grace. Let us determine to preach the
gospel of Christ and Him crucified as the sum and substance of our
lips and our hearts and our feet. Wherever we go, whatever we're
doing, do it unto the Lord. In 1 Corinthians chapter 4, the
apostle says, Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ.
and as stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards of the mysteries of
God. Do you know this? Not every person
knows what you know. Believer, not every person knows
what you know. To them, it's a mystery. It was a mystery to us at one
time, wasn't it? The grace of God was a great
mystery. We didn't know anything. We were like everyone else. But
God, in His great mercy, has revealed His gospel to us. These
mysteries now are made plain before our eyes. We are saved
by grace through faith in Christ alone. Plain, simple. But it's not simple to them.
It's a mystery. This mystery has been given to
us. And therefore, moreover, it is
required of stewards that a man be found faithful." We should
be just found faithful in this ministry of the gospel of God's
grace. Believers, the preaching of the
gospel, do you realize this, is the only means God's chosen
to save sinners? The only means. There is no other
means. He did this to make foolish the
wisdom of man. Because what we're doing is foolishness
to man. What we're doing here is foolishness to the flesh.
But to us it is not foolish because it pleased God. By the foolishness of preaching
to save them that belief. This is God's means by which
sinners, guilty, vile sinners are made clean, pure before God. Now God does not have to use
man. God does not need man. But it pleased God to use man. I'm going to show you this in
a minute, but in John chapter 9, that blind man, the man was
born blind, the Lord spit on the ground and made some clay.
Now let me ask you, did He really need that clay to make that man's
eyes to see. Was there any power in the spit
or the clay? No. There was no power. When I go to the eye doctor,
I've not seen anybody use that method. I had eye surgery and they used
lasers or something and cut my eyes and made me to see better,
but no one's ever used spit and mud before. Well, spit and mud,
that didn't have any power in it. There's no power in the preacher. There's no power in my voice. The power is Christ. He gives sight to the blind,
but He does it through the mud and spit. That's me. I'm just
mud and spit. But he has decided to do this
out of his own good pleasure. That's it. There's no other reason
for this. There's no other reason for this method other than God
ordained it so. And John was faithful in this
ministry. He didn't stop. He wasn't discouraged
because the people were less that followed him that followed
Christ. The people that went from him
went to Christ. He was not discouraged. He kept on preaching the gospel
the same. He preached it. He was faithful. And as we go along in this, John
is going to reveal to us the mysteries that he was faithful
to preach. And these are the same mysteries
that you and I are to be faithful to witness of, to preach of.
Look at this. First of all, he's faithful to
witness of the mystery of God's sovereignty. Look at verse 27. Or go back to verse 25. Give
you a little context. Then there arose a question between
some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And
they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was
with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, Behold,
the same baptizes, and all men come to him." Now whether this was John's disciples
that came to him or these Jews, I don't know. I'm thinking it's
more the Jews that came to him than the disciples because there
seems like they're trying to stir up some trouble. I mean,
they don't even mention Jesus' name in this. They said, oh yeah,
that one that you witnessed You know what? Everybody's following
Him. Now you say that you were given
baptism. Well, if you're given baptism,
then why is everybody following Him? Why is your crowd now so
small? What is wrong with you? Must
be something wrong with your message or His. Tried to make
a division. They tried to make envy between
John and his Lord. That didn't work out too well
for them. Look what John says. And John
answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be
given him from heaven. You want to end all dispute and
debate? That's it. God is sovereign. This ends all petty debates. God is sovereign. No man, you cannot receive anything
except God give it to you. You can't receive anything. God is sovereign over all things. Now the idols of men, the gods
of man's imagination, those gods are subject to the thoughts and
ideas of men. You have an idol, you have a
little statue, and you place it over here. Now that idol is
going to stay there until you move it. It has legs, but it
can't walk. It has arms, but it can't reach.
It has eyes, but it can't see. And it can only have the attributes
that you give to it. That's the God of man. The God
of man is not sovereign, because he's not a God at all. Only God is sovereign. Do you realize that there is
no ground between believing in God, the sovereign
God, and an atheist? There's no middle ground. Either
God is sovereign or there is no God. Friends, God is sovereign. God
does with us whatsoever He pleases. Our God is in the heavens and
hath done... What? What has He done? Whatsoever He hath pleased. The Jews, these Jews, looked
upon the ministry of John that was now diminishing and held
it in great contempt. He said, ah, look, God must not
be with him because everybody left him. But what did they say about Jesus
when everybody followed him? They didn't like him either. Let us not be moved by these
scorners who try to stir up strife and trouble. Believer, I know this, that our
congregation the Lord has given us is not large. Don't be discouraged
by that at all. Be faithful in the ministry. Don't be stirred up by other
men and what they think or their opinions. John's disciples were
being stirred up by these Jews. And I'll tell you, they loved
their master. They loved John. In the book of Exodus, Moses,
one of the guys came to Moses and they said, Moses, these two
people are out there prophesying. They're out there preaching. See, they were jealous for Moses'
sake. They knew Moses was God's prophet, and they were jealous
for him. And what did Moses answer? He
said, Would to God every one of God's people were preachers.
See, God's men are not jealous of other men who preach the gospel. And so you should not be discouraged. You should be encouraged when
you hear of men who have successful ministries. We should be encouraged,
not discouraged. Why? Because God gave it to them. That's why. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. Do you realize
that we have what we have because God gave it to us? This is it. This is what God gave us. We
should rejoice in it. We should be thankful for it
that God gave it to us. God is sovereign. There's nothing
that happens under this heavens that is not in absolute, complete
control. God is controlling all things. Have you noticed the leaves are
starting to turn? Did that surprise anybody? Because
it's fall. Summer and winter and springtime
and harvest. Is not God faithful? Has He not
promised the seasons to continue until He comes? They'll continue
until He comes. You don't have to be discouraged
by anybody else. God's sovereign over these things. Man is born dead in trespasses
and sins. If he's to receive any spiritual
understanding, it must be from God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, for they are foolishness to him. Neither can
he know them, because he's spiritually judged, spiritually discerned. I know I get anxious. I get fretful. I have been. We've had two of
our brethren go home to be with the Lord. Now, if our congregation
were a hundred, that if you had two, then that wouldn't be so
noticeable, would it? But I'll tell you, it's noticeable.
It's noticeable. When I look and I see their seats
and they're no longer in those seats, I notice it. I notice
this. But friends, truly, is not our
God sovereign. If God would choose to save a
million people and put them there, He would. Don't be fretful about
how many or how few hear the gospel. We know this. All we're
to be is faithful to preach it. We're not responsible for the
result of it. God is. Nothing can be given
to man. Salvation cannot be given. I
have my children here. I cannot give them salvation. God must do that. God must do
that. Just like he gave it to me. And
so don't be discouraged by what you see. God is sovereign over
all things. Don't be discouraged by what
men say. God is sovereign over all things. Now just be faithful to do what
He's commanded us to do. And do it with joy. Do it with
joy. John wasn't discouraged. He did it with joy. Let us be faithful to hold fast
the ministry of God's gospel. and not be lured into debate
or discouragement by things that seem contrary, our God is sovereign and His
word goes forth out of His mouth and does exactly what He pleases
with it. Have you believed on the Son
of God? Have you received the gospel
of God's sovereign grace in Christ alone? That, friend, is a gift
of God. A sovereign gift. A gift not
because you deserved it. A gift because He would give
it to you. Paul says, For who maketh thee
to differ from another? And what hast thou thou did not
receive Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if
thou hast not received it? Let us be like John. Let us be
faithful to declare the sovereignty of God. Second, John was faithful
to his place and work. Look at verse 28. Ye yourselves
bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am
sent before him. When John was attacked by men
and stirred up to debate, John was not moved from his place. Every one of us have a place.
Who believe in Christ, we are the body of Christ. But as the
body has many members, so does the church. Your place is important. Your place is important. John
had his office. John had his place. I have my place. And I should
be faithful to preach to you the gospel, prepare the messages
for you. And you have your place. You
have your place in the church. You have your gifts that God
has given you. Be faithful to stay in those things. Be faithful
to do those things that God has given you to do in the church. I'll tell you, there's many things
in God's Word that I know, but I don't truly
know. I know God is holy, but I really
don't know how holy God is. Do you? I know that Christ was made sin
for us. How that was? I don't know. God says it. What do you do? Believe it. You trust it. There are many truths that I
cannot reconcile. God is sovereign. You, man, are
responsible. God never asked me to reconcile
that. He told me to believe, to trust. You want to know your
place? There's your place. Trust God. Wait on God. Wait in prayer,
in study, in worship, both private and public worship. Wait on God. Believe the gospel. And when
given an opportunity, declare it. I don't know if many of you are
as foolish as I am, but I am sometimes easily drawn into debate. I am too easily drawn into it.
And I'm thankful that the Lord's making me aware of this so I
can just leave it alone. A lot of times when men try to
draw us into debate, we try to prop up the gospel. When they ask us things we don't
understand, we try to make excuses. Be faithful not to. Be faithful
to tell what you know, not what you don't know. That's your place. To tell what we know. You remember
I just told you about that man who was born blind? When he told
the Pharisees, he only told them what he knew. He said, I don't
know what you guys are saying. I just know this. Once I was
blind, but now I see. That's what I know. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all and Jesus Christ is my all in all.
If that's all you know, that's all you should be saying. Don't
tell people what you don't know. Tell them what you know. Tell
them what great things God has done for you. Do you realize
that I'll never be able to preach to the people that you are among
every day? I don't suppose Kathy's doctors
are going to come over here. I don't suspect that or the patients
or anything else. I don't suspect that. Well, that's
where God's placed you. And when opportunity avails itself,
preach the gospel. Be sincere. Tell them what you
know. John was faithful to his place.
We should be faithful to ours. Third, John was faithful to testify
that the church belongs to Christ. Look at that. He said, He that
hath a bride, verse 29, is the bridegroom. Is that not clear? We don't use
bridegroom, husband. He that's the husband has the
wife. That's it. That's simple. It's plain to us. Jesus Christ
is the husband. The church is the bride. The church is the bride. He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom. John was faithful to declare
that the church belongs to Jesus Christ. The scriptures often
picture the relationship between Christ and His church in the
marriage covenant. The Father eternally chose to
save His people, the objects of His love, and gave them, betrothed
them to His Son. And the Son, the Bridegroom,
having loved His Bride, agreed to redeem her. Believer, we by nature were not born a pure bride. We were like Gomer. We were wasted. Gomer was a harlot. A wife that nobody wanted. We're like Gomer. We were not
worthy to have Christ as our husband. But God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, we who
were sinners by nature, sinners by choice, blind and dead, God
in grace gave us to be the wife of his only begotten Son. And there's an experience to
every one of us who are the bride of Christ. We have a common experience. You don't have to go there because
of time, but I'm just going to read you this. Hosea chapter
2 and verse 12. God says, I will destroy her
vines and her figs. Where have she said these are
my rewards that my lovers have given me and I will make them
a forest. and the beast of the field shall
eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Balaam, when
she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with earrings
and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot me,
saith the Lord." This is our experience. If you are the bride
of Christ, I know this. This is our experience. When God visited us by the Holy
Spirit through His Word, He stripped us, exposed us for who we are. Sinners. Not only sinners by accident. Sinners by willful disobedience,
willful hatred to God. Now I tell you what, I grew up
in the church and I always thought I loved God until God showed
me what I really was. Hater of God. And all my sin, the things that
I enjoyed became vexing. Is that not your experience?
When God exposed you of your sins, your sins were no longer
joyful. Your sins were no longer woo-hoo. No, they were a burden. They were heavy. God made us ashamed. But praise God He didn't stop
there in verse 14 and says, Therefore behold I will allure her. Is
that not what God did to you? Did He not allure you? His word is alluring. Alluring. His word speaks of love. Eternal
love. True love. Righteous love. Just love. Sacrificial love. His love for sinners. Wait a second, that's me. That
began to allure me. It was the long-suffering and
goodness of God that brought us to repentance. And he says, I will give her
her vineyards from thence in the valley of Achor for a door
of hope. You know what the valley of Achor
is? That's that place where Achan was killed. Achan, who stole
from Jericho, who took that silver and he took those clothes from
Jericho, which he was not supposed to take. God won the victory,
it was God's spoil, and he took it. In other words, that's a
picture of what we did. We tried to rob God of what belonged
to Him. We tried to establish our own
righteousness, our own sacrifice, and that was a sin against God.
But Achan was much more than just a sinner who was stoned
in a valley. He was also a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. who bore our sin in his own body
on the tree." If you read that story of Achan,
you'll see that all of Israel suffered because of that man's
sin. And when was Israel relieved?
When that man died. Is that not a picture of our
Lord and Savior? All of our sins being imputed to Christ, we were
set free when He died. Our sins were gone. Friends, our Savior did not make
salvation possible. He actually saved us. He actually
saved us. And he says, you'll no longer
call me Belali. You'll no longer call me master,
but you call me Isha, my beloved husband. That's what we call our Savior
because He's our husband. And we serve Him. Friends, our Savior, Jesus Christ,
when He died on the cross, The scripture tells us he cried three
words before he gave up the ghost.
What are those three words? It is finished. Do you realize, believer, that
our sins are gone? Gone. God sees them no more. You see them. I see them. But we don't count. I don't count. God says my sins
are gone. I will remember your sins no
more. You are the chaste virgin of
Christ. You are the spotless bride. You
are the apple of His eye and He loves you with all His heart. Believer, if that don't make
you want to be faithful, I don't know what will. If that don't make you want to
cry out and say, thank you God for saving a wretch like me,
I don't know what will. If that doesn't stir your heart,
I don't know what will. It moves me to be faithful. I'm not moved by a whip. I'm
moved by love. I'm moved by the love of my Savior. who is my husband and has made me his bride. He
hath made us meet, qualified to be partakers of the saints
in light. Give God the glory for it. Let
us be faithful, not to argue with men, not to look at our
circumstances, but to look to our Savior and praise Him every
day of our life. Is He not worthy of such praise?
Oh, you bet he is. He's altogether lovely to me.
I know he is to you. And God bless this to you.