If you will turn with me to the
Gospel of John chapter 3. John chapter 3. And look with me at verse 22,
John 3, 22. After these things came Jesus
and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried
with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in
Anan near to Salem, because there was much water there. And they
came and were baptized, for John was not yet cast into prison."
This is speaking of John the Baptist. I mentioned him briefly
this morning in Luke 1 verse 15. We're told concerning him,
he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. Then we're told,
many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their
God. John the Baptist was a faithful
preacher of the gospel. And this man was thrown into
prison, as we just read. He was thrown into prison for
preaching the gospel. And not only that, the same man
that threw him into prison later, he beheaded John again because
of the gospel that he preached. And I can't help but think we
sure have it easy in our day. We really do. And for that reason,
I'm very thankful for all of those we read about who suffered
great things. You think of Paul. How many times
was he cast into prison for preaching the gospel, for preaching the
good news? You think of many others. Stephen, John the Baptist. I thank God for these men. I
thank God for John. Here in John 3 verse 25, Then
there arose a question between some of John's disciples and
the Jews about purifying. I don't know what this question
is, so I'm not going to speculate. But it says it was about purifying,
and I know this. When it comes to being pure before
God, our purification is Jesus Christ and him alone. Washing
our hands before we eat does not make us holy before God.
That's what the Jews, the Pharisees, that's what they thought. They
had a problem. They came to the Lord and they said, do you know
your disciples don't wash their hands before they eat? How terrible. Bless their hearts, they didn't
know. And our Lord told them, here's the problem. You have
an evil heart. Washing our hands don't make
us holy. If we are to be pure before God, we must be washed
in the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 26,
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that
was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness,
behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John had disciples. He had some
followers who went with him as he preached and baptized. And
here are John's disciples. They heard that the Lord Jesus
Christ, this one of whom John bear witness, that he was baptizing
people. And actually, we read in John 4, it wasn't Christ who
baptized, but it was his disciples. But nonetheless, John's disciples
were confused. They didn't understand why men
wanted to be baptized, but they weren't coming to John the Baptist.
They just couldn't wrap their minds around it. And this is
where we find my message. John's response to them. They
were upset. They were confused. But in John's
response, which takes us through the end of the chapter, we have
the glorious gospel that he so faithfully declared. His response
is truly wonderful. I've titled this John the Baptist
message. I've got the same message for
you as our brother John. Look with me in verse 27. John
answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be
given him from heaven. What a response. He was not upset. He was not jealous like his disciples. He was not sad to hear that they
were going to the Lord rather than him. If anything, I have
no doubt John was glad to hear this. Turn over with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7. I mentioned this morning a good
verse to memorize. Here's another one. 1 Corinthians
4 verse 7. 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 hast not received it? I can just
see John turning to his disciples and saying, God saved us. I didn't make you to differ.
God made us to differ. God saved us. God gave us this
ministry. God put us in the ministry. It's
His ministry. It's not about us. We're His
disciples. I mentioned John's disciples.
They were all the Lord's disciples. We're His followers. And I can
see John telling them, Brothers, our desire is not for men to
follow us. I don't need a following. I'm
not interested in a following. John's desire, and the desire
of all God's servants, all His preachers, and all His people,
is that all men would come to Him. That's our desire, that all would
come to Christ. They came to Christ to be baptized.
that came to him to be washed. And I love this verse. Psalm
51 verse two says, wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse
me from my sin. Recall when the Lord was washing
his disciples' feet. And I suppose he washed them
all and then he came to Peter. And Peter, he was confused. He said, Lord, you're not gonna
wash my feet. He said, Peter, if I don't wash
you, You're not going to be clean. You have no part with me." And
he said, Lord, wash my feet and my hands and my head too. Wash
me thoroughly. We must be washed in Christ. Back in our text, John 3, verse
27. John answered and said, A man
can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Salvation is the gift of God. To believe on Christ is the gift
of God. Eternal life is the gift of God. And this is his ministry. Verse
28. Ye yourselves bear me witness
that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.
Here John reiterates the fact that he's not the Christ, nor
is he in competition with Him. He made it very clear what his
mission was, and that was to point men and women to Christ.
Turn over with me to John chapter 1. John 1 verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light. as Christ, but all through him
might believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John was
sent of God to point men to the light. We're in darkness. We need to be pointed to the
light. God just might call us out of darkness into his marvelous
light. That marvelous light might just shine in our hearts. John, bear witness of him. And
cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness have all
we received, and grace for grace, for the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Again, we saw this morning that
John the Baptist, he came to this world six months before
Christ. And this man, John, he was prophesied of in the Old
Testament that he would prepare the way of the Lord, that he
would come before Him. And that's why he came. John
1 verse 19. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then?
Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou
that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said
they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to
them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?
I love his answer. Verse 23, He said, I am the voice
of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto
him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor
Elijah, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom ye
know not. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy
to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. They said, who are
you? What is your name? Who are you?
If you're not the Christ, tell us, who are you? He said, I'm
just a voice. I'm just a voice crying in the
wilderness. And that is true of every man who stands to preach
the Word of God. We're just a voice. We're nobody. That famous quote of Brother
Scott Richardson, a preacher is a nobody. who tells everybody
about somebody, capital S, who can save anybody. John would
have said, Amen, Brother Scott. He said, There stands one among
you whom ye know not. He it is. He it is. Verse 30. I'm sorry, verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore might come
baptizing with water. And John bare records, saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, and what
he means by that is he didn't yet know him in the flesh. I
knew him not, but that he sent me to baptize with water. The
same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending
and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost. And I saw in bare record that
this is the Son of God." By God's grace, John the Baptist was a
humble and faithful gospel preacher. His only goal was to point you
to Christ. That's my goal too. It's the
only thing I'm here for. To point us to Christ. He said,
Behold the Lamb of God. I'm here to say, Behold the Lamb
of God. Behold Him and behold what He hath done. Back in our
text, John 3. Verse 28, ye yourselves bear
me witness that I said 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 Lord Jesus Christ is the
bridegroom. And I love that John gave this
illustration. The bride is God's elect whom Christ came to save.
And notice at the beginning of verse 29, notice the wording.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. Christ has his bride. He has her. He made her, thine
maker is thine husband, and he bought her. We're bought with
a price, the precious blood of Christ. He that hath the bride
is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, that's John,
the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This
my joy therefore is fulfilled. What an honor it is to be called
his friend. Just think about that. The fact
that he calls his people his friends. That he is the friend
of publicans and sinners. I'll tell you what, he's our
friend, isn't he? Our friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You may say I have no friends,
we have one friend. We have one friend. John, himself being the friend
of the bridegroom, he said, I'm content just to stand there beside
him and hear his voice. Would you be content to do that?
Are you interested in hearing His voice? If we hear His voice
today, then like John, I promise our joy is going to be fulfilled.
That's my desire, that we might hear His voice. Speak, Lord,
for thy servant heareth. John 3, verse 30. John said,
He must increase, but I must decrease. We read that John,
he too, would be great in the sight of the Lord. But he didn't
desire greatness. None of God's people do. We don't
desire greatness. His desire was to glorify the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said concerning John,
He said, Of all they that are born among women, there is not
a risen or greater than John the Baptist. And then He said,
He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than you.
What did He mean by that? We're to acknowledge that John
was a great faithful man of God. But in God's kingdom, we're all
one. There's not degrees of reward
in heaven. Christ is our reward. We're one. We're equals in Him. John, he did not desire greatness. He did not care if people knew
his name. He just wanted people to know
his name, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted people to know him
and be saved. He must increase. He must increase, but I must
decrease. He must be exalted. I must be abased. He must be
worshiped. We come here to worship Him,
don't we? I pray that we have. I believe we have. He's to be
praised, honored, and glorified, and only Him. I pray that is
truly our desire. I really do. Verse 31 says, He
that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth
is earthly, and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven
is above all." Here we see another vast difference between John
and the Lord Jesus Christ. He is from above. Above all. Jesus Christ is God. God in human
flesh. Heaven is His throne. The earth
is His footstool. We are of the earth. Earthly. That means we're nothing special.
We're nothing special. But there is a people who are
special in the sight of God. Those who have been born of God,
born of His Spirit and washed in His blood. I pray that that
might be us. Verse 32, And what he hath seen
and heard, that he testifieth. And no man receiveth his testimony. What do we preach? Week in and week out, what do
we come here to preach? We preach that which we have
seen and heard. That's all we can preach. Over in Acts chapter 4, Peter
and John, they had healed an impotent man. And again, the
religious people, they were hounding them, saying, by what name have
you healed this man? They said, Jesus of Nazareth,
by His name does this man stand before you whole. And those religious
Jews, they'd have killed him right there if they could. No,
God wouldn't let them do that. So here's what they were resolved
to do. They said, we command you, you're not going to speak
in His name anymore. You're not going to speak in
the name of Jesus of Nazareth anymore. And I love what their
response was. They said, whether it be right
in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard. People use that phrase, don't
shoot the messenger. I'm just the messenger. Well,
look what we did to Christ, the message. Our Lord told us, if the world
hates us, don't be surprised. It hated me before it hated you.
I just read, Where of the Earth? He said, I've chosen you out
of the world. You're not of the world. You're born of God. All
that a faithful witness can speak is what God has been pleased
to reveal. All I can stand here and tell
you is what God has done for me. I'm not going to try to do
anything else. I'm not here to tell you something
new. It's the same old story. The same old story. The Lord
Jesus Himself is said to be the faithful witness. And though
He is the faithful witness, we just read it, no man receiveth
His testimony. Look here in John 3, look up
at verse 9. Here another religious man, he
had come to the Lord, and the Lord told him, you must be
born again. You must be born again." And
he just didn't understand. Verse 9, Nicodemus answered and
said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and
said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel? And knowest not these
things? This man was a Pharisee. He was
a religious leader. And he had no idea how a man
could enter into the kingdom of God. He knew nothing about
being born again. He knew nothing about the Spirit
of God dwelling in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things, verse 11, verily, verily, I say
unto thee, this is our Lord speaking, we speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. This is true of all men and women
by nature. We do not receive God's witness. God sends a gospel
preacher. We do not believe. God gives
us His Word. We can read it every day. And
we don't believe. We don't know Christ. Why? But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. The things of God
must be revealed. Who hath believed our report?
Those to whom the arm of the Lord Jesus Christ has been revealed. John 3, look down at verse 32
again. And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that
hath received his testimony hath said to his seal that God is
true. Wow, hold on. Is that a contradiction? I thought
no man receiveth his testimony. That's right. Well then, who
hath received his testimony? Those to whom God has revealed
his testimony. Christ. Turn over to Matthew
11. Matthew 11 verse 25. At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight." Christ must be revealed. The Apostle Paul, he was a Pharisee. He was a very religious man.
He was a religious leader. In the world's eyes, he was highly
esteemed, but that means he was abomination inside of God. But
God. He tells us in Galatians 1 what
happened to him, how he was saved. He said, but when it pleased
God. That's when. When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me. Not a moment sooner will
we be able to understand the Word of God. Not a moment sooner
will we be able to believe God until Christ is revealed to us
and in us. Look back at John 3, verse 33. He that hath received his testimony
hath set to his seal that God is true." If God has given us
faith in Christ, we can confirm God is true. Let God be true
in every man a liar. We confess our sin. Just look at yourself in the
mirror long enough. It's ever before us, isn't it? Live with
yourself for a couple of days. Just one day. Our sin is ever
before us. We acknowledge our sin. We acknowledge
that all our religion, all our life we've lived in vain. It's
all been for nothing. Wasted. That's what Paul said.
He counted it all done. We confess that if left to ourselves,
we have no hope. Yep, my sin separated me from
God and I deserve to die in my sins and I will die in my sins
except God do something for me. But there's one thing we know. If God has given us faith in
Christ, we confess those things and we confess this, Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. We can confirm that. We can set
to our seal that that is true, that God is true. How do we confirm
that? Because we can't help but believe
Him. And don't think for a second
that I'm here to brag on my faith or any of our faith. That's not
what I'm saying. Don't you find it, aren't you ever just amazed
at the fact that week after week, you're still here? It wasn't that long ago when
this was the, well not this, but the church I'm from that
preaches the gospel. That was the last place I ever
wanted to step foot in. What happened but God? Why do we desire to come in here
and worship Him? Why aren't we just consumed with
ourselves? Aren't we naturally consumed
with ourselves? We just celebrated Christmas. Bought some gifts. If I'm honest, I about guarantee
you I spent more money myself than anybody else combined. That's
the way of this flesh. Why do we have a desire at all
to praise Him? Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Why are we constrained by the
love of Christ? Why do we come here? Why do we
worship Him? Why do we pray to Him? Why do we feel in need of
Him? Because He has saved us. He has
revealed Himself to us. He's made known the riches of
His grace in Christ Jesus. I didn't do anything. I just
find myself believing. I find myself believing. My faith
is so weak, but he is able. Praise God, he's able to save
to the uttermost those that come to God by him. Verse 34, For
he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. Jesus Christ
is the one whom God hath sent. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law." Every time the Lord Jesus Christ spoke, God spoke. He is God. He is the Word of
God. Not only that, all of God's messengers
whom He sends, including our brother John the Baptist, speak
the words of God. If God has sent us, He has promised
to speak through us, through His Word. He said, it shall not
return unto me void. I love what he told Jeremiah.
He said, well first he told Jeremiah, he said, I've ordained you a
prophet. That's the first thing. God's got to send us. He's got
to ordain us. He's got to raise us up. He said, you're going
to go and you're going to preach. And the first thing Jeremiah
said, he said, I can't speak. I'm a child. And he said, say
not, I am a child. Here's what he said. Thou shalt
go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee,
thou shalt speak. I read this this morning right
before I got up to speak, knowing it's a fearful thing to get up
here. It's a fearful thing to stand and speak on behalf of
God. And I just thought to myself, Lord, I pray you've sent me.
Behold, you shall go to all that I shall send thee. You prepare
a message, you wonder, where do I go? What's the message? What do I need to preach? We
know it's Christ, but you still gotta find a text, you still
gotta have an outline. Whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak.
Not only that, he went on to say, behold, I have put my words
in thy mouth. If you ever stand to speak, that
will give you great comfort. Great comfort. Verse 34 again,
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. You see, God gives the Spirit
by measure unto us. He gives the Spirit by measure.
But not to Christ. I love what Matthew Henry said. He said the Spirit was not in
Christ as in a vessel. but as in a fountain, as in a
bottomless ocean." See, all the fullness of God dwells in Him.
All things are His. And we'll read that in the very
next verse. Verse 35, "...the Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into His hand." Now if you don't get anything
else out of this message, please be sure you get this. Look at
verse 35 again with me. The Father loveth the Son. The Father loveth the Son, and
only the Son. The Father spoke from heaven,
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God only loves His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm a sinner. God does not love
sinners. Hold on, I thought he did. God
only loves sinners whose sin has been put away. You read it,
Psalm 5 verse 5. Thou hast all workers of iniquity.
The only way God can love someone like me is in Christ. In Christ. I've got to be in
Christ. God only loves the sinner in
Christ. And if God has put us in Christ,
if we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world,
here's what God's love is for us. He said, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love. I've always loved you. And I'm always gonna love you.
We read in Romans 8, nothing shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. God's
love is eternal. God's love is particular. And
praise the Lord, His love is effectual. His love saves. His
love's not like our love. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into His hand. John 17, verse 2 says,
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. John 5, verse
22 says, The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son. We're going to stand before the
Son. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
He's going to judge us. Turn over with me to Colossians
1. Colossians 1.16 For by him that is by Christ,
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and 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
of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. The Father
loved the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." Back in our text, in verse 36
we have the conclusion of John's message. This is the conclusion of the
whole matter. Verse 36. 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. This is the only thing in this
world of any importance. This is eternal life or eternal
death. There is a real place called
hell, separation from God. And it is eternal. And what hell
is, is punishment of sin. And that's what we all deserve.
There's a real place there and many people go there. And it's
forever. The reason it's forever is because
me suffering from my sin could never satisfy God's justice to
where He said, enough. Christ is the only one who could
satisfy. And He satisfied. I pray that God would cause each
soul here to hear His Word. Oh Lord, help me to hear Your
Word. We'll close with this. Turn over to 1 John 5. 1 John 5 9 If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son. Verse 11. And this is the record
that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that believeth on the Son.
It doesn't matter what we have. You can have all the money in
the world. I would like more money. Really. But that does
not matter. God will provide. He always has. He always will. He that hath
the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him forever. Verse 13, These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know that you have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God. Have you seen John's
message? Have you seen his message? John
the Baptist had one purpose in life, and it was not to baptize. It was to preach the Gospel. He preached the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. He preached Christ crucified.
And not like him and like Paul, I'm determined not to know anything
else, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. May God give us faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Amen. Thank you, our brother. Again,
another gospel message. How wonderful. How wonderful. 129 in your hymnal. Let's sing it as we close tonight. 129. We'll not do the chorus, just
the stanzas. Alas, and did my Saviour plead,
and did my Sovereign die? For such a worm as I Was it for
crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree Amazing pity grace
unknown and love beyond degree. Well might the sun in darkness
hide and shut his glories in, when Christ the