Alright, let's go back to John
chapter 3. This word, I was studying this
and going over it again this afternoon. The Lord is so good
to teach us everything we need to know in His Word. Everything. And He's so good to remind us
and hedge us about in our thoughts and emotions and everything.
This is good learning here. This is a Bible study here. I
really enjoyed this. I hope you'll bless it tonight.
Verse 25 says, 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 baptizeth,
and all men come to him." You know they're talking about the
Lord. They said, he that came to you,
John, He that came to you and was baptized by you, He's over there now baptizing. And everybody's coming to Him
now. They're not coming to you anymore, now they're going to
Him. Why is He doing that? That's what they're asking, John.
Why is He doing that? Why is someone who was just baptized
now baptizing? Here's what they couldn't grasp. Here's what this whole world
cannot grasp. This is the God-Man. Why is He baptizing? Spiritually, through His Holy
Ghost. Physically, through His disciples.
Because look at chapter 4 verse 2. It says, Though Jesus Himself
baptized not, but His disciples. Our Lord never actually baptized
anybody. But He was commanding His disciples
to do it. Why is He baptizing? He's God. That's why He's God. Alright, now think about this.
Then why was He baptized? If that's God, then why was He baptized? Why did He come to John and say,
I must be baptized? It's because He's man. That's
why. He is the God-man. 100% God, 100% man. People have the hardest time
understanding that, don't they? I understand why they have a
hard time understanding that. Man by nature just cannot comprehend
that. Verse 26, They came unto John,
and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan,
to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and
all men come to him. They were saying, Teacher, that's
what the word Rabbi means. Teacher, that's your job. That's your job. He's encroaching
on your job. And the people aren't coming
to you anymore. Now they're all going over there
to Him. You know what they were trying
to do? They were trying to make John jealous. Now here's where
the learning comes for me. They were trying to divide John
and the Lord Jesus Christ. That is exactly what they were
trying to do. This is a very common tactic
for our great enemy. I wish I could just pause there
for 10 minutes. This is a very common tactic
for our great enemy. Isn't that sad? He tries to divide
God's servants by making them jealous of each
other, envious of each other. That's just the truth. It's the
truth. Turn with me over to Numbers
chapter 11. I'm so thankful that the Lord
put this in here, recorded this. Numbers chapter 11 and look at verse 24. Now see
if you can enter into this What's going on here? Verse 24 says,
Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered
the seventy men of the elders of the people and set them round
about their tabernacle. And the Lord came down in a cloud
and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses,
and gave it unto the seventy elders. And it came to pass that
when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. Now here's what just happened.
They were called to preach. The Spirit came down and rested
upon them. If a man is truly called to preach
by God, it's of the Holy Spirit. It is of the Holy Spirit. He's
sent by God. They're called by God. And the
Spirit tells them what to say. Verse 26 says, But there remained
two of the men in the camp. Now all these men went out to
the tabernacle. But there remained two of the
men in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad, and the name
of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them
too also. And they were of them that were
written, but went not out unto the tabernacle. And they prophesied
in the camp." They stayed in the camp and they started preaching.
And there ran a young man and told Moses and said, "'Eldad
and Medad do prophesy in the camp.' And Joshua, the son of Nun, The
servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said,
My Lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Envious
thou for my sake, I appreciate that. I appreciate it. But look at what he said. Envious
thou for my sake, Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets,
and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them, and Moses get
him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. They ran saying, they can't be
doing that. You see what they're doing over
there? That is the flesh. That's the
flesh, isn't it? My flesh says, you can't be doing
that. Well, that ain't the way I do
it. So you can't do it. Verse 29, he said, envious thou
for my sake, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets,
and that the Lord would put His Spirit If God has put His Spirit upon
them, if God has done the work, then thank God for them. Thank
God for them. Look over at Numbers 12 verse
3. It says, Now the man Moses was
very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. was the meekest man on the face
of the earth. That's what God says. The meekest
man on the face of the earth. Lord, cause us to be that way. I want the Lord, I beg the Lord
to cause me to be that way. Now turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter 3. Ephesians 3 verse 7. It says, Wherefore I was made
a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto
me by the effectual working of His power. Now look at verse
8. He says, Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints. Is this grace given? That I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Paul said, it's great grace that
I'm even considered in the company of the saints. Great grace. Turn over to Philippians 1. Philippians 1 verse 12 says,
But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which
happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all
the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear." Now here's what Paul is saying.
I'm in prison. You want to know why I'm in prison?
He said it's for the furtherance of the gospel. That's why I'm
in prison." And we know that he wrote these letters while
he was in prison. And he said, many of my brethren
in the Lord are waxing confident by my bonds. I'm in prison and
they see a need. And they're much more bold to
speak the Word without fear. So he's saying, I thank God for
this. Verse 15, he says, some indeed preach Christ even of
envy and strife. and some also of goodwill. The
one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I
am set for the defense of the gospel. What then?" What he's
saying is, these two men are different. These two types of
men are different. They're different. They preach
different. He said, what then? Notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice." I pray the Lord would give me that heart
and attitude. I need that. I need that. This flesh is weak. I'm going
to tell you that this flesh is weak. And I've only preached in one
conference in my life. And I'll be honest with you,
when I went there, I didn't want to be the worst preacher there.
I really didn't. I should have wanted to for my
brethren's sake. Lord, let me be the one that
falls and support them. My flesh is weak. You know, everybody, they say,
everybody, I don't care. We can't help it. We say, well,
I'm of Apollos. I'm of Cephas. Well, I do it the way he did
it. Not this and that. He's not doing things like you
do it. Should we shun him? No. Our dear brother Henry Mayhem.
I understand he's my wife's grandfather. I understand he's, I consider
him one of my best friends in the world. I understand that.
I love him. But as I talk, he doesn't preach anymore, and as
I talk to men now who have been pastoring for years, and they
tell me their experiences with him, the one thing everybody
says is, he has got to be the most supportive man I have ever
met of other people's ministries. He spent His time studying, preaching
the Word, and supporting other men's ministries. Lord, help
us to do that. Let's be that kind of church.
Let's be that way. I pray that God wouldn't shun
me. If He's preaching Christ and
Him crucified, sovereignly, high and lifted up, thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God. Turn with me over to Philemon,
right before Hebrews. Philemon verse 7 says, this is
Paul writing, and he says, he's writing to Philemon, For we have
great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels
of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Isn't that wonderful? Paul says,
we're so happy over here for what we're hearing about your
preaching, Philemon. The saints are so refreshed.
We have great joy over this. Great joy. May the Lord give
us that heart and attitude as we hear of how the Lord is blessing
other men's messages. Blessing the message to other
men. Other places. Thanks be to God for His message
of truth. Whoever preaches it, thanks be
to God. Thanks be to God. Let's go back
to our text, John 3. Verse 26 says, They came unto
John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond
Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth,
and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except
it be given him from heaven. That's the answer. That's a beautiful
example of God's grace in a sinner. That's what that is. A man can receive nothing, except
it be given him from heaven. They said, He's seeing more results
than you are. And this is how John responded.
He bowed to the sovereign will of God. He bowed to the sovereign
will of God. And he said, A man can receive
nothing except it be given him from heaven. I love how the Scripture
says, In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. It is mercy, it's grace, it's
goodness for the Lord to put the truth and put what's right
in a sinner when he needs it. You see what all is going on
over there? John said, Who am I? Who am I? 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, it says, For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? That was
a wonderful message. Yeah, I know. Thanks. Well, was that of me? Why do you glory as if you didn't
receive it? Who am I? He used a donkey. Who am I? You know what you call that?
Grace. It's called grace. It's all of
grace. We are what we are by the grace
of God. Our text, verse 28 says, John
said, "...Ye yourselves bear me witness. You heard me say,
I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom." But the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled."
The bride is the church. It's God's elect out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, tongue, generation throughout the world. It's His people. And verse 29
says, He that hath the bride. It's those who belong to Him.
Those who were given to Him by His Father. Those who were redeemed
by His blood. Those who were brought to Him
by His Spirit. The Spirit goes out. And he whispers
in the ear of a sinner and speaks the truth and brings that person
to Christ. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
And he said the friend of the bridegroom is not jealous. Now were you at his wedding?
Were you his best man? Man, I can't believe that. Were
you jealous of him? No. You were happy for him. He's happy. The friend of the
bridegroom is not jealous. He's not envious like Lucifer
was. He loves the bridegroom. This is your day. This is the
day. And as long as the bridegroom
is glorified, he's happy. That's a true servant, a true
follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. That person is just consumed
with His glory. If God is glorified, if Jesus
Christ is glorified, I'm happy. I'm happy with what I'm hearing.
I'm happy with what I'm saying. Happy. Just happy. Verse 30 says,
John said, He must increase, but I must decrease. If we want to crush all of these
petty feelings and emotions that we have, you know, we're so fickle,
and we're just so weak, and we just, you know, well, I got my
feelings hurt, and this and that, and if we would like to just
crush all that, If we want to stifle jealousy and envy and
self-glory, may this truth rule in our hearts and minds. He must
increase, but I must decrease. Whatever comes along, He must
increase, I must decrease. He is all, I'm nothing. You know, you can rest in that.
You can rest in that. This man is not just Jesus, he's
God. I'm not just a sinner. I'm a vile, wretched, putrefying
maggot. I must decrease. Whatever I think
I am, I must decrease. However low I think I can get,
I must decrease. However high I think He is, He
must increase. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Verse 31 says, He that cometh
from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthy
and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is
above all. And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony." Well,
I'll tell you this. I received it. It says, no man
receiveth his testimony. They may not have, but I did.
No, I didn't. We just got finished reading
in verse 27. can receive nothing. I must decrease. Then I must
decrease more and more and more. And He must increase. A man can
receive nothing except God gives it to him. But whom God gives it to But
verse 33 says, "...he that hath received his testimony hath set
to his seal that God is true." And the end of verse 32, it says,
"...no man receiveth." But verse 33 says, "...he that
hath received." You see that? It's sealed in his mind and in
his heart that God is true. If he's received it, God is true. Verse 34 says, For he whom God
hath sent, that's Christ, speaketh the words of God. For God giveth
not the Spirit by measure to him. He whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God. Peter said, We believe that thou
art the Christ. The Son of the Living God. We
believe, this is what we believe, every single thing that comes
out of your mouth is the Word of God. That's what we believe. Because you are God. Verse 34,
He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto Him. Our Lord doesn't have the
Spirit by measure. We do. We do. Lord, send Your Spirit to us. I don't know that I have it right
now. Help me. That's what we pray in these
worship services. Meet with us. But He does not have the Spirit
by measure. And it's because the Spirit abode
on Him. It abides on Him. It's His Spirit. It is His Spirit. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. God is Spirit. And in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now look at verse 35. I've got to tell you this. I can't
help it. I've got to get it off my heart. Brother Henry told me a story
one time. He was preaching in Ashland at 13th Street. And he made the statement, In him
dwelleth all the fullness of the bodhead godly. That's what
he said. And he thought, that ain't right. He didn't say that right. And
he said, No, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the bodhead
godly. He said, no, that ain't right.
He said, I know I'm saying God. He said, in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead godly. He said, you know what I mean.
You know what I mean. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Now, verse 35. The Father loveth
the Son. Don't you love that? I want to
preach a whole message on that. The Father loveth the Son. What a statement that is. What
a verse. That's insight to the mind and
heart of God. That's what that is. We know
who God is through His Word. We know the thoughts and the
emotions and the feelings of God our Father through His Word. The Father loveth the Son. He is His delight. Everything
that happens is for Him. Everything. If God loves us,
it's only because we're in Him. The Father loves the Son. If He delights in us, and if
He has mercy on us, it's only because we're in Him. Christ
is all. Christ is all. Christ is all. He's all I need. He's all I want. He's all I have. The Father loves the Son and
has given all things into His hand. The kid's song says, He's got
the whole world in His hand. He really does. He really does. He's got the whole world in His
hand. All things in this universe. The next time you see on the
news, we got a stray asteroid headed straight for earth. That's
in His hands. All things in this life, everything
that goes on outside, everything in our jobs, all things are in His hand. All things in eternity, every
single thing in eternity, this life to come, we're not going
to believe the things He's prepared for us. All things are in His
hand. All things in His church. This is not a job. This is a loving calling. And I'm just thankful for it
every day. And I worry for it. And I'm burdened for it. And
I pray for it. And this church is in His hands.
Isn't that wonderful? It's in His hands. All things. All things. All things. Name something. Think of something. Find something bad. The most comforting thought I
know is, I'm in His hands. I'm in His hands. My life is
in His hands. My wife, my family, my loved
ones, this ministry is in His hands. And all I need to do is
offer thanksgiving and praise and glorify His Son and tell
men and women how great things the Lord has done for me and
He'll take care of everything else. Verse 36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
All things are in Christ. All things are ours through union
with Christ. How shall He not freely give
us with Him all things, right? That union with Christ, it comes
through faith. Faith in Christ. And it says,
"...he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." We'll
get everlasting life and already has it. Believing is the evidence
that He already has everlasting life. But it says, "...those
who believe not shall not see eternal life, Enter into eternal
life. Enjoy eternal life. Lord, I believe. Help Thou my
unbelief. I want to believe. I want to
be a believer. I want to trust Christ. I want
to look to Christ. I want to hope in Christ. I want
to be a believer. Help my unbelief. He must increase. I must decrease and believe. Believe. Alright, let's stand
together.