Look with me again here in John
chapter 2. And that's why we're just singing
about that. Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's Lamb. He's all
the glory on this earth too. And He's all the glory to us. And He must increase. That's
what we're talking about. Christ must increase. Ain't that
what He says there in verse 30? John chapter 2. He must increase. I decrease. I decrease. John spent his ministry pointing men to Christ even before
he knew Christ himself, before he ever saw Him, beside Jordan,
said, Behold the Lamb of God. That's what he was called to
do, is to magnify and honor the Lord Jesus Christ Before he'd
seen him, before he knew him, then when he saw him, he said,
that's the Lamb of God. And John right then and there,
and he's doing this and he's still magnifying the Lord. And
I think, you know, when they said when John was put in prison
and he sent his disciples to say, is he, you're the one that
should come or should we look for another? I personally believe
that John wasn't in doubt. I believe that he sent his disciples
there so they would know. John already knew. He said, you
need to go over there, you need to know that this is the Messiah,
that this is the Christ. And John here is magnifying the
Lord Jesus, and he's doing this because the spiritual state of
Israel is in such an awful, awful state, kind of like our nation
is right now. And when our Lord Jesus came
to the earth, they hadn't had a prophet in 400 years. They
were bound by religion, bound by superstition, bound by sacrifices,
bound by legalism, bound by a thousand things. And so that's when our
Lord came. And I want you to show what they
were occupied with. Look down here in verse 25. This
is such a sad state of religion at that time, kind of like it
is today. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples
and the Jews. Now listen to this about purifying.
Purifying. How do we talk about purifying?
They was talking about worship. When they come in from being
in town and being around other people, they always had to do
all kinds of worship, worship themselves, so they could get
undefiled themselves. And they had all these purifying
rituals. And that's what they were interested
in. They weren't interested about Christ. They weren't interested
about this hole. They weren't interested about
sin. They weren't interested about being saved by the grace
of God. They were interested in purifying.
They weren't interested in being baptized. That's what John was
sent to do. He's sent before Christ to point to Christ and
baptize men and tell them to flee from the wrath to come.
And here they are worrying about purifying and mist, Christ, the
very water of life itself. And then look in verse 26, they
were envious. The Jews were envious of the
ministry of the Lord Jesus. Look what he said in verse 26.
They said to John, said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with
thee beyond Jordan. They remembered what John said
about him. John baptized him. To whom thou
bearest witness. Behold, the saint baptizes, and
all come to him now. Oh my. They were envious of the
ministry. Look at Look what a crowd he's
getting. And yet they rejected the testimony
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Down in verse 32. And he hath
seen and heard, and that he testifies, that no man receiveth his testimony.
These Jews rejected the testimony of the Savior. And they were
more taken up with John's ministry than the one he pointed to. Look
what he says in verse 28. You yourselves bear witness that
I am not the Christ, but I am sent before Him." They was interested
in John's ministry more than they were to the one that John
pointed to. And that's what he meant. He
was despised and rejected. Now let's start here in verse
22. Go down through these verses and see what they have to say
to us today. It said, After these things came Jesus. and his disciples
in the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. But now look down in verse, chapter
four and verse two, verse one and two. When therefore the Lord
knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had made, Jesus made
and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized
not, but his disciples. So they were over there baptizing,
his disciples were. And after these things, after
our Lord had told Nicodemus, you must be born again. After
our Lord told Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be lifted
up. How the Lord told Nicodemus, you know, that men that hate
the light, they don't come to the light. They'll be condemned. They don't want the light. They
just turn from the light. And so our Lord Jesus Christ
and everything He said up to this point, He left and He went
to baptize. And here's an important thing
there in verse 2, it says, "...though Jesus Himself baptized not but
His disciples in John 4.2." This is an important principle. That's
what's done by the servants, what's done by the people of
Christ. by His authority as if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
done it. They said Jesus was baptized. He wasn't, but His
disciples were. So He who says disciples were
so identified with Him is as if He Himself had done it. And
that's the way it is today, whatever we do. He said, if you give a
cup of cold water, just a cup of cold water, anybody would
ever think, what would you think about giving somebody a cup of
cold water? You think you ought to be rewarded for that? You
think you ought to be blessed for that? If somebody's thirsty,
but our Lord said, if a man gives a cup of cold water to one of
mine, he said, he'll not lose his reward. Because it's just
as if what he does, what we do, it's as if he himself does. That's
why when Paul was on the Damascus road, the Lord spoke to him,
God said, why persecutest thou me? And that's what Paul was doing
when he was hurting the Lord's people. He was hurting Christ.
We're so identified with him. And that's why I say we're ambassadors
for Christ. That's why we say for Christ's
sake. That's why we say in the Lord Jesus' name. And oh, look
what it says. Now I'm going back here in verse
23 and look what it says. So there they was. And John also
was baptizing in Enon near to Salem because there was much
water there. And they came and were baptized. John also was
baptized. And you know, Eden here means
a place of springs, a place of water, a place of fountain, a
lot of water here. And Salem means a place of peace. Salem means peace. The Jews call
it Shalom. We say Salem. Salem means peace. And what a blessed place for
him to be in, a place where there's lots of water, a place where
there's peace. That's where I like to be. I like to be where there's
peace. And where the peace of Christ is. And it says John was
also baptizing. But the crowds, he says, you
know that the crowds are coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. The
crowds that he were used to baptizing in multitudes came to him. They
were leaving. And they said, you know, he who
you bore witness to, everybody's coming to him now. But I tell
you what, the crowds are dwelling down. Jew and Jewin people are
coming. What do you think John's going
to do? Because everybody's leaving him and going to Christ. What
are you thinking that his ministry is just getting dwindling down,
less and less people are coming? What does he do? He says, well,
I believe I'll just quit. I baptized a hundred last week,
now I'm down to five. I ain't baptized nobody in two
days. I believe I'll just quit. Huh? Well, my work's finished here.
Does he become discouraged because his congregation is small? No,
no, no, no. He's going to persevere right
to the very end. That's why, you know, Paul says,
Be not weary in well doing, for you shall reap in due season
if you faint not. Just keep on. And oh, look what
else it says about it here in verse 23. And he was baptizing
because there was much water there. Now, I'm going to say
something right here. This tells us the mode of baptism.
Why would they need much water if all you're going to do is
sprinkle somebody? Why do you need much water if
you're just going to pour a cup over their head? You know, they
didn't run around with a bucket of water. That's the way people
were baptized. They didn't run around looking
for a stream to be in, in a place where there's much water. They
had just carried a bucket of water with them and said, you
ready to be baptized? Yeah. Sprinkle them. And then
somebody said, well, I don't believe in sprinkling. I believe
all the poor. Well, they never had a cup to pour over their
head. But they was there because of much water. Why do you need
much water for? Because, beloved, I tell you,
if the motive of baptism is to sprinkle your pouring, it's because
you know that you've been... Paul said in Romans 6, he said,
being buried with Christ. When somebody's dead, you bury
them. When you die to sin, you're buried. When you die to self, you're
buried. When you come alive in Christ,
you're buried. And then you come up out of the
watery grave, just like Christ come out of the grave, and you
walk in newness of life. That's your confession. I want
to identify with Christ. He was dead and buried. I want
to confess my death to sin and my life in Christ, and I want
to be buried. And I want to come up out of
that grave, and I want to walk in unison of life to the glory
of the Father. That's why, Lord, when John baptized
Christ, he put him under the water, and when he came, the
scripture says, when he came up out of the water, the Spirit
of God descended in the form of a dove. John said, that's
Him. The Lord told me that's who that
be. And I tell you, I've heard this said before, If you're saved
in spots, sprinkle. If you're saved in streets, pour.
But if you're saved all over, get buried. Oh, beloved, look what he said
here in verse 24 now. For John was not yet cast in
prison, and there arose a question between John's disciples and
the Jews about purifying. Now, there are all the questions
about purifying. Now, this is by the Jews that
came here now. And do look back over in John
119, and it's the same group of people, same kind of people
that came to John and questioned him. And this says here, John
119 said, and this is the record of John when the Jews sent priest
and Levites from Jerusalem to ask, who art thou? See, they
were sent, they wanted to know. And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. And that's why they come over
here again. They come over here to begin to ask him questions.
In fact, over in our text. You know what John said? He said,
he said about, you know, you come here to ask me questions
about baptism. And he says down in verse eight,
you yourselves. You remember this. I've told
you this before. When you came to me and asked
me who I am and what I'm doing, I said, you came to me before
and you yourselves bear me witness that I said to you, I've done
told you this before, I'm not the Christ, but I've sinned before
him. And so you see, there was, he
said, I'm just, you know, they're interested in everything And
there's people that's that way. They're interested. Bruce Crafty
and I was talking the other day. We was talking about a couple
of different preachers. One preacher, I believe, is really,
you know, he stays scriptural. He preaches the five points of
Calvinism. Another, all he talks about is
the Reformed tale and the Reformed doctrines. And all he wants to
do is talk about the historical, how things happened in the Reformation. Beloved, we don't need the Reformation,
we don't need to know, it's not the Reformation we need to hear
about, we need to hear about Christ. We don't need to hear
what happens in the Reformation, we need to hear what the Scriptures
have to say. And that's the difference, you
see, if somebody, this is the message. And that's why John
says, my message is not myself. My message, I bear witness that
I'm nobody. I'm not the Christ, and I don't
care about your purifying. I'm not interested in your purifying.
I'm not interested in your religion. I'm not interested in your points
of contention. I'm not interested in you wanting
to debate and argue. I don't care. That's what he
said. And oh, and then look what they've
done. They're not satisfied. Then they came unto John and
said unto him, Rabbi, that's what they always say. They lay
on their feet when they start bragging about you. And they
said, Rabbi, he that was with me beyond Jordan. They're talking
about Christ, when Christ was with you beyond Jordan, when
you baptized him over there, when Christ was with you over
there. To whom thou bearest witness. Oh, we remember that you said
that's the Lamb of God. This is the Christ. This is he
that should come. The one I'm not worthy to bow
down loosely to shoot at you. To whom thou bearest witness.
Behold, the same baptizes in all Cumbundee. What was their objective to coming
and telling him this? What was their motive to come
and tell John that everybody is coming to Christ? Everybody's,
you know, that his ministry's doing. What was the motive behind
it? What was the reasoning behind it? Why would you do that? They were seeking to make John
jealous. They're seeking to stir up his
spirit. And I'll tell you what, beloved,
that's so malicious. That's so malicious. I mean,
they wanted to cause trouble. They wanted to cause division.
They wanted to cause distinction. They wanted to cause John to
be jealous. They wanted to cause John to
quit talking about Christ. That's what they wanted to do.
If we can get this fellow upset, he'll quit preaching. He'll start
preaching himself. And, oh, beloved, why tell him
of the outward success of our Lord's ministry? Why tell him
that? Why would they come and tell
him that? I'll tell you why. I think it's this reason, because
we see the great enemy of our souls behind it. This is one
of his favorite devices. And Paul says we're not ignorant
of his devices. Devices of Satan. If you can
make somebody jealous of another and their seeming success, and
make them envious of what they're doing and their accomplishments,
Then you can make a division, you know, and preachers are the
worst in the world to do that. And I'll tell you, they're just
so bad about it. Always wanting to... But anyway,
look, let me show you something over here in Numbers 11. This
is the way we ought to be. Look at Numbers 11, in verse
25. Oh, you know, that's what he
does. That's why John said over, he says, Diocese loves to have
the preeminence. He don't want nobody coming around
here that's going to take the light off of him. He don't want
nobody coming around here that's going to make him look like he's
not the big fish in the little bitty pond. And I'll tell you
what John said, he said, even for me, it's me they don't even
want me to come. He loves to be bragged on. He
wants everybody to thank Him. I'm going to catch me out. And look what he said here in
Numbers 11.24. And 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 the
tabernacle. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto
him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto
the seven of the elders. And it came to pass that when
the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, they began to
preach, and did not cease. And there remained two of the
men in the camp, the name of one was Eldad, and the name of
the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them,
and they were of them that were written, but went out not unto
the tabernacle, and they prophesied in the camp." Now listen to what
happens now. Here comes a young man running
unto Moses. He says, Moses! He said, those two fellows over
there are preaching, and you don't make that deal with that
preaching in the camp. They're just preaching up a fog.
They're really preaching. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the
servant of Moses, one of his young men answers and says, My
Lord Moses, tell them to shut up. See, if you don't want to
preach around here, there ought to be preaching. And nobody else
ought to have a thing to say. Look what Moses said. Moses said
unto him, Envious thou for my sake? Are you jealous for me? He said, Oh, would the God that
all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His
Spirit upon all of them. Look over here in chapter 12.
Boy, that's the way to be. A fellow can preach and God's
blessing him, let him have at it. And look what he said here. And Mariam and Aaron spake unto
Moses, because the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for
he had married an Ethiopian woman, they said, hath the Lord indeed
spoken only by Moses? Has he not spoken also by us?
And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek
above all the men upon the face of the earth. He just would not
put himself forward. You know, that's why our Lord
said in John 5, verse 44, He said, How can you believe? How
can you believe which receive honor one of another? You run
around bragging on one another. Receive honor one of another.
And seeketh not the honor that comes from God only. Let's go
back over in our text, back over in John 3. Look at this one. Oh, I love this right here. So
John answered and he said all men come to him, they were trying
to make him jealous. Trying to make him jealous. And
John answered and said a man, any man, can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. John answered and said, a man
can receive nothing except it be given him. It shows us first
and foremost that everything that a person has is going to
have to be given from. And if he gets anything at all
spiritual, it's got to come from heaven. And that's why he said,
I cannot have my ministry, it's got to come from heaven. My salvation,
it's got to come from heaven. The strength that I have has
got to come from heaven. Everything that I get from God
has to come from heaven. And a man can't receive it until
God gives it to him. That's what he's telling him
here. I can't receive my message except it comes from heaven.
I can't receive my salvation except it comes from heaven.
I can't even receive the testimony of Christ except it be given
you from heaven. Ain't that what John says down
here? I can't even receive the testimony of Christ. You know, a man, he testifies
of Christ, and he said a man can't even receive the testimony
of Christ without it. And oh, John's reaction is beautiful. You all trying to upset me? Trying
to put a wedge? Trying to work on my flesh? Trying to make me dishonor my
master? Dishonor my Savior? Dishonor
the One, the Lamb of God? The One that I'm just a voice?
And oh, beloved, he bows to the sovereign will of God himself.
He reminds them there in verse 28, he said, You yourselves,
this is all I come to do, is to bear witness. I just come
to bear witness. That's all I've done. I just
come to witness and heal. And then he declared that the
Lord's people belong to Christ. He said, He that hath the bride,
that's the bridegroom. They belong to Christ. They don't
belong to me. I'm just a friend. I'm just a fellow at the wedding. I just happen to be a man that's
sent to be the voice of the bridegroom. Go out and tell everybody the
bridegroom has a bride. Come to the wedding. And then look what he says in
the last part of verse 29. And listen to this. He says,
Now is my joy, therefore is fulfilled. How is it fulfilled? Seeing men
turn to Christ. Seeing Christ getting His bride. Seeing Christ getting the glory. Seeing Christ witnessing to Christ. And then he says in verse 30,
he, and he insists on this now. He insists on this. You fellas
want to come and try to find out who I am, what I amount to,
what my ministry amounts to? You fellas want to know how,
what I'm here doing, what my whole reason to be here is? He
said, I'll tell you why. The reason I bear witness to
Him, the reason I'm preaching, the reason I'm that voice in
the wilderness, He wants to increase. And you know what I'm supposed
to do? Just keep going down, down, down, down, down, down. Huh? I tell you what, when we
look at one another, we're in good shape. We're in good shape. I'm as good as any man in this
building. May be better than some. I'd probably run faster than
any of you. Probably faster. I'd be better that way. But all
in all, I tell you what, you know, and that's what the script
Paul said, we don't compare ourselves among ourselves and to ourselves. A band of fools that does that.
You come in a service, sound as good as these folks in this
service here today. You know, I'm just sitting among
a bunch of hypocrites. Well, I tell you what, if you
think that, You're the one increasing. Christ
is decreased in your sight. The minute you put yourself up,
Christ's got to go down. The minute you make yourself
to be something, you make Christ to be nothing. The minute you
set yourself with ability to do, you take away from Christ's
ability. Ain't that right? Either He's
everything and we're nothing, or He's nothing and we're everything.
No middle ground. No middle ground. I like it like
that, don't you James? No. Oh, he insists Christ must
increase. And he decreased. Before any
man can receive anything spiritual. That's what he said up there.
A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Now look over at Matthew with me. You keep this and look at
Matthew 11. Back over to your left. I was fixing to go to my
right. Matthew 11. In verse 25, with me just a moment. Matthew
11, 25. That's what he says. Who maketh
thee to differ? Who maketh thee to differ? Who makes us to differ? Who makes you to differ? Who
made John to differ from other prophets? Who made Moses to differ
from those seventy men? God took the Spirit that was
upon Moses. Moses had so much Spirit upon
him, God took the Spirit of Moses and divided it among 70 people,
and Moses still had as much Spirit as he had before God took it
from him. See, Christ is the one full of
the Spirit. And when we get the Spirit, He
fills us with His Spirit, saves us by Spirit, fills us with His
Spirit, comforts us with His Spirit, teaches us with His Spirit,
and He's still full of the Spirit of God. Ain't that right? When you take
from Christ, it's like taking a drop from the ocean. The ocean
never misses it. It's still just as full as it
was to start with. And oh, look what he said here.
Now, this is what I'm talking about. Man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father. I thank you, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, sovereign of heaven and earth. Because you've
hid these things. Hid what? The gospel. Hid salvation. Hid grace. Hid Christ. Hid from the wise and prudent. And has to reveal them unto who?
Babies. Babies. Babies. You know babies? I've told you
this before. Baby can't do anything. Somebody
has to do everything for the baby. And that's the way, our
Lord said, except you become as little children, you cannot
enter the kingdom of God. And I'll tell you something. Are we still utterly and absolutely
dependent upon Christ to do everything for us just like we do for our
babies? He has to dress us. He has to feed us. He has to
correct us. He has to clean up our messes
after us. He has to teach us. I mean, beloved,
there is nothing that... He said, without me, you can
do nothing. Nobody is nothing. I'll tell
you what Scott Richardson said it was. He said, don't let hope. That's what he said, and look
what he went on to say. And I love it when I look what
he said, Even so, Father, for it seemed good in my sight. You
want to hide it from somebody? You want to hide Christ from
somebody? That's your business. It pleases
you. If you want to hide the grace of God from somebody? If
it pleases you. If you want to hide salvation
from somebody and make them think that their salvation is by their
works, by their will, their free will, their power, or their goodness,
You go ahead. He said, Lord, that's all right
with me. If they're wise and prudent in their own eyes, they've
got all the answers. And they're just as good as anybody
else. Lord, do you want to hide the truth from them and feed
them this lie? That's all right with me. I don't,
you know... That's why I said, except a man
can't get anything unless God gives it to him from heaven.
And I'll tell you what. Lord, give it to me. Whatever
you've got from heaven for me, oh, send it down. Send it down. And then look what he said here
back over in John 2. Back over in where we was at?
John 3, where we was at? He said in verse 28 again. He's going right on down through
the verses here. You yourselves bear witness. I'm not Christ. I'm sitting before him. I'm just
sitting before him. First thing, John tells what
he wasn't. When's the last time you met somebody that tells you
what they wasn't? When's the last time you talked
to somebody that told you, I'm nothing? When's the last time
you talked to somebody that said, I'm not this, and I'm not that,
and I'm not that other thing? When's the last time you spoke
to somebody that said, I am not? You know what, there used to
be people talking about ought, not, I'm not. Now they say, well,
I'm not a sinner. That's what the Pharisees said,
I'm not a sinner. Oh, but John tells, sent before
him, I'm the forerunner. They're trying to stir up his
pride, provoke him to jealousy. I'm just sent before him. You
see, what it tells us is He kept His place. He kept His place.
And He took His place gladly. Oh, to keep our place. Mary gave
me this this morning. I wrote it down. Talking about
jealousy. You know where jealousy results
from? When we count other people's
blessings and not our own. When you start looking at what
somebody else has got and what God is doing for them, that's
when you start getting jealous instead of counting your own
blessings. Ain't you got enough of your own without having to
work to be jealous of what somebody else has got? I'm complaining
at you. In fact, there's a time or two
I say, Lord, that Ben & Mary was talking about the other day,
said, boy, our life has been so full. We've enjoyed life,
and we've had everything we could possibly ever want and need.
And we've been, oh, it's just been wonderful, absolutely, utterly
wonderful. And there's been times over the
years where I felt like God gave us so much. I said, Lord, take
some of what you're doing for me and bless this person or that
person because I'm full. Take what... And when somebody was in need,
I said, Lord, full, my cup runs over. It runs over, just utterly,
absolutely runs over. And it's been running over for
years. Oh, bless His holy name. And
then he goes down to say in verse 29, he said, He that hath the
bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom
which stands and hears him, stands by and hears the bridegroom,
rejoices greatly in the cause of the bridegroom's voice. And he's using Mary as an illustration. He says, you know that Christ,
the bride belongs to the bridegroom. And when I hear that bridegroom's
voice, when I hear his voice, come unto me. I hear his voice. Follow me. When I hear his voice,
son, thy sins are forgiven thee. When I hear his voice, take up
your bed and walk. When I hear his voice, Be a good
cheer, He calleth for thee." He said, when I hear His voice,
I'm standing there, and my heart rejoices. And I said, it rejoices,
listen to this, rejoices greatly. It rejoices greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice. And He says there, my joy is
full. Oh, Philippus, and that's why he says, oh, everybody ought
to come to Christ. He stands and hears a lot, and
look what he says now. He must increase, but I decrease. He puts an end to everything
right here. And let me tell you something about you and me. Let's
talk to us. Let's listen to us. As Christ,
He increases in our understanding. and in our knowledge, and in
our faith, and in our love. And the more we see of Him, the
more we dig for Him. Now, the more He grows in our
understanding, and in our knowledge, and in our faith, and in our
love, and the more we grow in grace, the more we come down,
we dig for Him. Old Joe Terrell used an illustration
one time about Christ increasing and decreasing like two people
on a big seesaw. And you know, you make a seesaw
and the fellow that's down here, the other person's up there,
you're looking up at. But when you go up, you're looking down
at the other person. Well, let's stay down here and
keep Christ up there. Let's don't do nothing that's
seesaw bending. Let's just stay down here. Let's just stay right
there. Not move! And always look up
to Him. Always look to Him. Seeing Him. And you know, that's why Paul
said, he said, I count all things belongs to the Excellency of
Christ Jesus, my Lord. He said, you don't give up everything
just for Christ. Don't give up your reputation
yet. Don't give up your learning yet. Don't give up your works? Yes. Don't give up the law? Yes. You
know, Paul started out, he said this, he said, I'm an apostle. Then a little
while, he said, I'm least and less than all of the apostles. Then a little while later, as
he got older, he says, you know, though I be an apostle, I'm less
than nothing. And then before he died, do you
know what he said? I am the chief of sinners. He started up here
and just kept going down, down, down, down, down, down. And ain't
that pretty much the way we did? Uh-huh. And I'll tell you, beloved,
we can't be occupied with two objects at the same time. I can't
anyway. People say, boy, it's a multi-task. I ain't never going to ever do
that in my life. I can't even have two thoughts,
you know. Material can't occupy two spaces at the same time.
Two things can occupy a brain at the same time. You're not
going to deal with one thing at a time. You know, just wait
a minute before you tell me that before I have to deal with that.
But oh, look at the final testimony of John, of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives seven things. Seven
things that are a contrast between John and the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, he says this, A
man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Look what he said about Christ down in verse 35. He said, A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. The Father loves the Son, and
has given all things into his hand. John said, I can't receive
nothing, but God's given Christ everything. So he said, Jesus
was the Christ, and I was only sent before him. He said, Christ
was the bridegroom. I'm just the friend. Look what
he says down in verse 31. He said, He that cometh from
above is above all. But he that is of the earth is
earthly. speaks to the earth. He that comes from heaven is
above all. John said, I'm of the earth. But He's from above. And because
He's from above, He's above everything else. He's above everybody. Above all things. You think of
anything you can think of, Christ is above it. Think of any prophet, Christ
is above it. Think of any law, Christ is above it. Think of
any angel, Christ is above it. Think of any power, Christ is
above it. Christ is above all. And I tell you, John only had
a measure of the Spirit, but look what he said in verse 34.
For he whom God hath spent speaks the words of God, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. God gave the Spirit Christ,
without measure, he had the Holy Ghost in him. And John was just
a servant. Christ was the Son of the Father.
And then look what he said there in verse 31. I'll make a comment
on this and move on. He that cometh from above is
above all. And he that is of the earth,
he that speaketh of the earth, he that cometh from heaven is
above all. And this is what he said about Christ now. He's talking
about Christ now. And he says, what he has seen,
that one that comes from above, Christ, what he has seen and
heard, that's what he tells. I've seen the Father, I'm going
to tell you about the Father. I've seen heavenly things, I'm
going to tell you about heavenly things. I've seen the glory of
God, I'm going to tell you about the glory of God. And look what
he says, no man receives his testimony. Now, what does he
mean by that? Well, Michabemus didn't receive
it at first. The Jews never did receive it.
The only people that received it, and he goes on to say that
the person who does receive the testimony of Christ, receives
this testimony of Christ, what Christ has to say about himself,
about his Father, about salvation. He that has received this, and
you know what he said, he sent his seal, that this is, God is
true. You know what? To set the seal means you certify,
you ratify, you believe. You say, God said God is true
about His Son, and I believe that. I believe that with all
my heart. That's what John's saying here.
He said to his hill, God is true. That who he said is so. He's
testifying about His Son. And that's what he says. We believe
God. He that believeth on the Son,
ever asked in life. Let me tell you something. He that believeth on the Son
hath. That means he's got it. Not going
to get it, he's got it. Do you believe on the Son of
God right now? If you don't, why don't you? Do you receive not the testimony
of Christ? Would you not receive the testimony
of God since you see that God is true? And look what it goes
on to say. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. That's what
he told Nicodemus. After you be born again, you
can't see. And he that believeth not the
Son, he shall not even see life. And here's the worst thing of
all. The wrath of God abides on him. Oh, my. Wrath of God. God sent the Son
of God. And you know what He said? This
is my beloved Son. Hear Him. Everybody turned, walked away
with Him, but He says, 2 Thessalonians 12, We also go away, Lord, to
whom we're going to go. You've got the words of eternal
life. And I tell you, God helped you to believe. Oh, believe,
believe, believe, believe. And I'll tell you this, if you
ever do believe, you'll always believe. You'll just keep on
believing. Oh, my, no matter how you feel,
say, boy, I surely don't feel safe. I don't have nothing to
do with faith. Don't have a thing in the world
to do with faith. I said to my seal, if you said to your seal,
God is true. and He that hath the Son. He
speaks the words of God. He comes to save us. Oh, bless
His holy name. Oh, what a Savior as Jesus Christ
our Lord. What a Savior's name. Oh, what
a name that's above every name. What glory above all glory. What
power above all power. What grace, what mercy, what
abundance. He said, I've come that you might
have abundant life. Abundant. Oh, out of His fullness we've
received. That's what makes it abundant.
Out of His fullness we've received. It's abundant. Abundant. Your cup runs over. Abundant
life. Full life. Content life. Full life. Where's an ant? It's in Christ. He that hath
a son has life. Oh, that's why, that's why you
know that believers, they face things different than anybody
else faces. They can look death square in the eye and say, you
don't scare me. They can look sin square in the
eye and say, you have no power over me. They can look law face to face
and say, you can't condemn me. They can look square into eternity
and say, I can go into there full and free and satisfied without
any fear. Because of Christ. I can't. We can do that. It's something,
ain't it? We can do like David said, boy,
I can't go where he is, but I'll tell you what, he can't come
back around, but I'm sure I'll go where he is.