in John, though Jesus himself
baptized not, but his disciples. Why did it say over there in
verse 22 that there he tarried with them and baptized? For what
is said and done by his servants, the servants of Christ, in his
name and by his authority, is as though he said it himself,
and he did it himself. He told them that in Luke 10.
I'll read it to you, I've jotted it down. Verse 16, he said to
his disciples, he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that
despiseth you, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. So what these disciples said,
and what they did, and what they in his name and under his authority
and by his divine permission and illumination is as if Christ
did it himself. Now I will have you turn to this
verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and verse 20. Now this explains
what I'm saying. 2 Corinthians 5, 20. We are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. So if this generation hears from
God, they'll hear through a man. God raises up and sends ministers,
missionaries, pastors, teachers, And what they do in the name
of Christ and by the authority of Christ, by the will of Christ,
by the spirit of Christ, is as if our Lord said it and did it
himself. All right, verse 23, now here's
a second important principle established right off. And John
also was baptizing in Enon, near to Salem. because there was much
water there. The word much means abundance
and abundance of water. John was baptizing near Salem
and the reason he chose this place to baptize is because there
was an abundance of water. Now his second principle established
here clearly. The proper mode of baptism is
by immersion. If baptism is to be administered
to infants, you don't need an abundance of water. If baptism
is to be administered by sprinkling, what would be the need for John
to go near Salem because there's an abundance of water? Anyone
who reads that knows that baptism is by immersion. I would have
you turn to Matthew 3. Would you do that? Matthew chapter
3. Here's our Lord Jesus Christ
being baptized of John. And anyone who reads this can
clearly see baptism is a burial. It's a burial. That's why you're
finding that. Let me read you what Paul said
in the book of Romans. You find Matthew 3 and listen
to this. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? Death, burial, and resurrection.
Therefore, we're buried with Christ by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
walk in newness of life. For we've been planted together
in the likeness of his death. We also shall be in the likeness
of his resurrection, the likeness of his death, burial, resurrection. There's just one way to show
forth the likeness of death, burial, and resurrection, that's
to be buried with him in baptism. Now look at Matthew 3, verse
16. Matthew 3, 16. And Jesus, when
he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from
heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. All right, back to our text.
John was not yet cast into prison. Now, verse 25. Then there arose
a question. between some of John's disciples,
these were his followers, these men who followed him and believed
his message and were baptized of John. There was a question,
arose a question between some of his disciples and the Jews
about purifying. Now, some of John's disciples
were in conflict with the Orthodox Jews over purifying. And honestly, the Jews in their
ceremonial law had so many, many purifyings. Purifying of individuals,
the purifying of vessels, and the purifying of all these various
things. We have absolutely no way to
know what this argument was about. So I can't touch it. I don't
have any idea which purifying or what purifying that they were
they were concerned about and having a problem over. But I
do know what the next verse says, verse 26. I recognize what this
is all about. And they came unto John and said,
Rabbi, now who is this that came to John? Well, many believe it's
these Jews that were quibbling with his disciples. I'm of the opinion, it appears
to me these were his followers by these words and as we go on
through what John has to say, his own followers. And it came
to John, they said to him, Rabbi, this is the usual title which
applied to their teacher. Rabbi means master, master, teacher. He that was with thee beyond
Jordan. Who is this? They didn't know
enough about Christ to call his name, the Lord Jesus who was
with you. They didn't give him a title,
Lord, Jesus, Christ, they just said, he that was with you beyond
Jordan. Now let's see, turn back to John
1 and let's see who this is. In John 1 verse 28, now he that
was with thee beyond Jordan. Read John 1, verse 28. These
things were done in Beth-Aborah, beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing. And the next day, John, seeing
Jesus coming unto him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Arthur Tink says the Lamb of
God was prophesied in the Old Testament, typified And Isaiah
53 personified, and here in John 1, 28, 29 identified. Behold the Lamb of
God that 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. Now that's who they're talking
about, and that's the instance that they're talking about. They
said, Master, he that was with thee, beyond Jordan, now watch
this, to whom you bear witness. These men were with him when
he bore witness to Christ. And here's what they're saying.
You didn't go to him, he came to you. You were not baptized by him,
he was baptized by you. He didn't give testimony to you,
you gave testimony to Him. That's who we're talking about.
Master He that was with thee back yonder, to whom you bear
witness, behold the same baptizer and everybody's coming to Him. All men flock to Him. He's baptizing
more than you are. And more people are coming to
him than coming to you. Now that's jealousy. But you
know, I understand this. Love is jealous. Love is always
jealous. I understand their thinking.
It's flesh, but I understand flesh. That's the reason I understand
their thinking. I understand that you do too.
They were defending their leader. They'd been with John a long
time. They were defending him. They loved him. They were defending
his reputation. They were defending his standing
as the preacher of the hour. Herod came out to hear John.
They were impressed. These men were impressed with
John. They called him Master. And they were impressed. But
there's no grace here. There's no humility here. There's
no proper spiritual understanding of what this is all about. Even
John's ministry. And he's got to help them. And
he does it in these next few verses. You know, Paul had to
deal with the early church about this matter. Turn to 1 Corinthians
3. This is jealousy. This is envy.
This is pride. Tack a lot of these different
names to this. They were defending their leader.
They were jealous of his reputation. And Paul had to deal with this
in the church at Corinth. Look at 1 Corinthians 3. And Paul loved this church at
Corinth. He preached there 18 months. This is the church he
was about to leave Corinth. And the Lord came to him in the
night in a vision and said, Paul, don't leave Corinth. I have much
people in this city. And I'll take care of you. He
stayed 18 months and preached to these people. They had the
personal ministry of the apostle Paul. And yet, listen. 1 Corinthians
3, and our brethren could not speak to you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Spoiled babies,
I fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto you were not
able to bear it, neither are you now able to bear it. And
here's the reason, for you're yet carnal, you're acting like
carnal people, natural men, for whereas there's among you envy
and strife, and divisions. Are you not carnal? Are you not
walking like the world? What's the problem? Well, one
of you is saying, I am a Paul. Another says, well, Apollos is
my favorite picture. Is that not carnal? Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? That ministers
by whom he believes. Even as the Lord gave to every
man. He gave every man who believes
faith. He gave every man who preaches
the message. I planted a palace watered. God
gave the increase, so then neither is he that planteth anything,
neither is he that watereth anything, but God's everything. He gives
the increase. He that planteth, neither watereth
a one. All right, back to our text. So these men, they're troubled
over the demise of their master, John. His ministry is pushed
to the side. He wasn't yet in prison, but
he was headed that way. His ministry was coming to a
close because he's the forerunner of Christ. He fulfilled his ministry. He'd done what God sent him to
do, and he'd be pushed aside. And here's John, he gives four
things which express the true feeling of every true servant
of Christ, whatever his calling, whatever his capacity, whatever
his place, whatever his position, whatever his experience, whatever
his years of service, here's his attitude. Now, let's learn
something here. John answered and said, number
one, a man can receive nothing. except it be given him from heaven. His knowledge, his understanding,
his wisdom, his gifts, he can receive, take unto himself nothing,
absolutely nothing. Christ said, without me you can
do nothing. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4. There
are two passages I want us to look at here. 1 Corinthians 4,
verse 7. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Name it. Strength, health, breath,
knowledge, wisdom, grace, talent, singing voice, playing ability,
preaching, What has thou, this thou dost not receive? Now, if
you received it, why do you glory as if you didn't receive it?
Why would you have any pride at all? Job said, The Lord gave
and the Lord will take away, lest it be the name of the Lord.
Look at 1 Corinthians 12. A man can receive nothing, except
it be given him from heaven. Nothing. 1 Corinthians 12, verse
11. He's talking about the gifts
of the Spirit to one who's given the word of wisdom, knowledge,
faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, interpretation. Verse 11. But all these worketh
that one and set same Spirit, dividing to every man severally
as he will. What I have, God gave me. And
I'm to be satisfied with that, rejoice in it, and not brag about
it. Verse 18, But now hath God set
the members, every one of them in the body, as it has pleased
him. So I'll head back to my text. That's
the first thing that John said about this
matter of what God had given him. A man can receive nothing
except he be given him from heaven. Oh, here's the second thing.
He said, you yourselves. That's the one reason I believe
he's speaking to his disciples. He said, you yourselves. You
bear me witness. You were with me. You heard me.
You bear witness. And I said this. When they came
to me and said, are you the Christ? He said, I'm not the Christ.
I'm not a vicar of Christ. I am not the Christ, I am sent
before him. I'm a voice. Let's go over there
and read what he said to them. In John 1, back just two pages,
verse 22 and 23. In verse 21, let's go to verse
19. They said, Who art thou? Verse
20. And he confessed and denied. I'm not, he confessed, I'm not
the Christ. But they said, What then? Are you a louse? He said,
I'm not. Are you that prophet? No. Then
said they unto him, who are you that we may give an answer to
them that sent us? What do you say of yourself?
He said, I'm a voice. I'm the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, make straight the way of our Lord, as said
the prophet Isaiah. I'm a voice. I'm one of many
witnesses of Christ. I'm just a voice. But lest we
think that he's only a mere voice, let me say three things about
him. Number one, it was a sweet voice. Paul said, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of God's redeeming
grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. It's not just a voice speaking
words, it's a sweet voice. If it's a message of Christ,
It's a sweet voice, and the beautiful of the feet of those who bring
that good tidings. He said, I'm just a voice. Well,
he said, I'm a voice. He didn't say, I'm just one,
because he's not just a voice. He's the voice of a sweet message. Secondly, it's a loud voice. It's not a whisper. You know, when he described the
ministry of John, listen, O Zion that bring good tidings,
get thee to the high mountain. O Jerusalem that bringeth good
tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up. Don't be
afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, behold
your God. Behold your God comes with a
strong hand, and his arm will be for him, his reward with him,
and his wealth before him. It's a sweet message, and it's
a powerful message. And listen, it's a voice that
cries. the voice of one that crieth
in the wilderness, make straight the highway by our God." All
right, number one, John said to these disciples, a man can
receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. And he
said, you heard me, you bear witness to the fact I said, and
my voice. But thirdly, verse 29, he that
hath the bride He's the bridegroom, not I. I'm a friend. He that hath the bride, who is
the bride? It's his church, it's his elect,
it's the people the Father gave him. That's who they said. Paul
talked about it in Ephesians 5. Listen to Paul. When he said
in Ephesians 5 verse 25, he said, Husbands, love your wives. loved the church and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify it, verse 26, Ephesians 5, and
cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he
might present it to himself, a glorious church, a beautiful
bride, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. I'm not the bridegroom. He's
the bridegroom. And he has the bride. And I'm
a friend. Now, these weddings back here,
I found out, are similar to ours. They had a friend for the bride
and a friend for the bridegroom. And the friend, we call the best
man and the maid of honor. But those are selected to serve,
to make arrangements, to prepare the way. to stand, to await the
coming, and rejoice at the voice of the happy couple. Listen to
this. Even as the bride's a bridegroom,
but the friend of the bridegroom withstandeth and heareth him.
He's not jealous, he's not envious, he rejoices greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice. What does the bridegroom say?
Lo, I come, and my reward is with me. This is my joy. This is my joy. This, my joy,
therefore, is fulfilled. I'm a friend of the Bible. Now when your jealousy or envy
arises in your heart, competition, remember, we're not in competition.
Because a man, whatever his capacity or calling, whatever his place
or position, whatever his work, he can receive nothing. except it be given him from above. And secondly, you bear me witness
that I told you I'm a voice. And he that hath the bride is
a bridegroom, I'm just a friend. Now here's verse 30. He must
increase. And he's not going to increase
in holiness. His name is holy. His name is holy. I told my class
this morning a story about my grandson. You know, grandfathers
are going to brag on their grandchildren. You might as well sit still and
listen. Nothing you can do about it. But he's down at Center College
and he had a required course in religion, had to take it.
And he had a Jewish woman teacher. and last week was finals and
she had a class of 27 students and he was in that class and
she said I want you to come up to the board one at a time and
write one word on this board describing God and they started
coming up writing different things And Luke walked up to the board,
he was number 24 I think, third to me in the 24, 25. And he wrote
one word, holy. H-O-L-Y. And that made me proud. That's who God is, he's holy.
That's his name, his name is holy and reverent. One word that
describes our God is holy. His holy bible, that's his holy
temple, there are his holy angels. He called Christ the Holy One
of Israel. The devils did. Well, they sat
down, and the teacher said, now, in the light of the Jewish holocaust,
when Hitler killed 7 million Jews, starved them to death,
and killed 7 million Jews, now come up here and write one word
describing God in the light of that holocaust. Some of the children, young people
went up there and wrote unbelievable, not understood, a lot of things. Came Luke's time again, this
is a 13th Street Baptist boy. He walked up there and his word
was still there, holy, still written where he wrote it. In
front of it he wrote S-T-I-L-L, he's still holy. It doesn't matter about the circumstances.
He's still holy. God is God and nothing changes
that. He's still holy. Our young people
know the gospel and the truth. They've been taught the truth
in these classes from this pulpit. He must increase. I must decrease. It doesn't matter what happens
to me in this world. It matters... His glory matters. That's all that matters. That's
all. He must increase. Not in holiness.
He's perfectly holy. Not in power. He's almighty.
Not in majesty. How can you describe the majesty
of our God? Not in wisdom. He is wisdom.
But he must increase in glory. Turn to Philippians. That's what
we're talking about here. In glory. Father glorify thy
son, that thy son may glorify thee. That's what he prayed in
John 17. Glorify me with the glory which
I had believed before the world was. That's what it's all about,
glorifying Christ. Glorifying Christ. Verse 7, But he made himself
of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, made in
the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient unto the cross unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that is
the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, in earth,
under the earth, And every tongue confess that he's Lord to the
glory of God the Father. He must increase. I've got to
do everything within my power to preach this gospel that gives
him all the glory. The kingdoms of this world will
be the kingdom of our Lord. His dominion shall be from sea
to sea and from the rivers to the end of the earth and even
in heaven. Listen to this. Even in heaven,
the city has no need of a sun, no need of a moon to shine, for
the glory of God and the Lamb is a light thereof. His glory. He must increase. What about us? I must decrease. I must decrease. Turn to Matthew
11, 11. Matthew 11, verse 11. And our Lord Jesus Christ talking
about John the Baptist here. And he said, verse 11, Verily
I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding
he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. There's nobody in heaven greater
than Christ. There's nothing in the universe
greater than Christ. There's no name that even touches
his holy, exalted name. But my name and yours, he that's
least is greater than me. He said about John the Baptist,
he said over there in John 5, verse 35, listen to this, he
was a burning, shining light. Christ said, and you were willing
for a season. to rejoice in his life, but the season's over. No need for John's voice any
longer. The voice of the bridegroom is
heard. As the priest of old, Aaron,
his office is gone. John says, my office is no more.
Don't need a forerunner when he's gone. You and me, our time's over.
Paul said, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. It's time
for me to leave. My departure's at hand. So he
must increase. We don't leave any monuments.
We don't leave any acknowledgements of our gifts and so-called accomplishments
and work. He must increase, I must decrease. I've got to not leave anything
that reminds anybody. That Buzz wanting to write a
biography for Brother Barnard, I said preach his message. Forget about him. And that's
what John's saying here. He must increase, I must decrease. And let me tell you something
he said. Listen, he's talking to these, let me tell you something,
verse 31. He that cometh from above is above all. Now he that's of the earth, that's
us, that's earthly, and he speaks of the earth. But he that cometh
from above heaven is above all. Under us a child is born, but
a son is given. A body thou hast prepared me,
lo, I come to do thy will. A body thou hast prepared me.
He came from heaven. I didn't come from anywhere.
I'm of the earth. He came from heaven. Nobody here
can say, I came somewhere in my mother's womb. That's where
you were conceived. That wasn't where Christ was
conceived. The body was prepared for him. He came from heaven.
Now watch this. Do you understand what this means? There stands
in your presence, in your flesh, a man, born of a human mother
and a body and speaks your language and tried and tempted as you
are, but he's the son of God from heaven. And what he sees, And what he's heard, that's what
he testifies. Hold on, I know in part. Brother Mews, Brother Mews said
you can put everything I know in a thimble, and it'll rattle like a peanut
in a boxcar. That's pretty little, isn't it?
But that's about it compared to the things of God. I know
in part, a pop sign part, when that which is perfect is come.
I know as I have been known. But not him. He's from above. And what he's seen and what he's
heard, that's what he testified. Let me show you that in John.
A couple of verses. John 8, verse 26 and 27. Listen to this. This is our Lord
speaking. Verse 26. I have many things
to say. I have many things to say unto
the judge of you, John 8, 26. He that sent me is true, and
I speak to the world those things which I heard of him." Isn't
that something? This is the Son of God. I speak
to you what I heard from my Father. John 15, 15, listen. John 15, 15, he says to these
disciples, henceforth I call you not servants. Servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth, but I call you friends. For all things
I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." And that's
what the powerful truth John is speaking here in John 3.31.
He that cometh from above is above all. We are the earth earthly. We speak of the earth. But he
that cometh from heaven is above all what he's seen and what he's
heard. That's what he testified. And
listen to this. And nobody receives this testimony.
No man. Isn't that amazing? He was in
the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him
not. He came into his own. He fulfilled every Old Testament
prophecy of the Messiah. And they received him not. But verse 33 says, he that hath
received his testimony, God who spake to our fathers by the prophets
hath spoken to us by his Son, and he that hath received his
testimony. Abraham did, he believed God. David did. David said, I believe,
therefore I spoken. The disciples did. He said one
day to them, he said, will you go away like everybody else?
They said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Now that's the words of
life. We believe and should act the
Son of God, the eunuch belief. But he that receives his testimony
hath set to his seal that God is true. What's that saying? It's saying this, that you sitting
right here, who received, not my testimony, this is mine in
that it's his. We're reading what he said, his
testimony. You that have received it and embraced Christ, you set
to seal that God is true. You're confessing God is true. Now he that believeth not the
report that God hath given concerning his Son made God a liar. But
by your embracing Christ and believing Christ and confessing
Christ, you're saving As if you were a monarch signing a letter
with a seal of state. I believe God. I believe God. And you know, in addition to
that, he seals you. That's what he said over in Ephesians. Let me just turn and read it
to you. Our time is moving along. But here in Ephesians 1. In whom you trusted after you
heard the word of truth. gospel of your salvation, in
whom also, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise. When we embrace Christ, hear
the word, believe the word, we're setting to our seal, God is true,
and he sealed you in Christ. All right, let's read these last
three verses. John says, For he whom God hath
speaks the word of God, the words of God, which are words of truth,
words of reconciliation, words of righteousness, and words of
life. For the Father, God giveth not
the Spirit by measure to him. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hands, all persons, angels, and
men, all creation, providence, salvation, All things in time
and eternity, all things in heaven and earth. And he that believeth
on the Son hath," Spurgeon says that spells, got it. He says that's a funny way to
spell got it, but that's what it spells. Got it. Hath everlasting life. But he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life. The wrath of God
abideth on him. What a wonderful message. What
a wonderful gospel. What a wonderful Savior.