John 3:22-36 | He’s Built Different

If you have a Bible, go and grab it and turn it to the book of John. We've made a brief detour in the book of John as we've been going through the book of Genesis. We're actually going to wrap up these first three chapters as we finish chapter 3 and look at verses 22 through 36.

Now, if you don't have a Bible, you can use a pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just keep that copy of God's word. Feel free to take that; that would be our gift for you. We would love for you to have a copy of God's word that you could read for yourself and hear what the Lord has to say. So, we'll be looking at the book of John, that's the fourth gospel in the New Testament. It's about three-fifths through your Bible. We'll be looking at chapter 3, verses 22 to 36. I'll read it for us.

After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, since John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.” John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’ He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true. For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him. — John 3:22-36 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we pray this morning as we look to your word. The message could not be clearer. We want to see the Son. We want to believe in him. Pray, Lord, that as we hear from your word this morning, that our ears would be open, that our hearts would be soft. We ask God that you would help us to believe and not reject the Son, so that in seeing you, we may be able to see life. We praise these things in Jesus's name. Amen.

Jesus is the Point: Humble Yourself and Exalt Him

We've been going through the book of John now for several months as we've looked at John outlining this beginning of Jesus's ministry. And honestly, every single sermon that goes through a Gospel, that goes through these books that overview the life of Jesus, can be summed up with the same point: You need to believe in Jesus. That's really the idea. You could honestly summarize the entire Bible with that kind of message: to believe in Jesus.

But John is doing something particular with the way that he ends this chapter. He is taking not just who Jesus is, but all of the themes of these first three chapters in the book of John and culminates them together in this final conclusion. And he does it to communicate clearly that Jesus is the point. He's the point of your life, he's the point of this Gospel. And secondly, that you're not the point; Jesus is the point, not you or me.

And he does it by making one last comparison between Jesus and the one that Jesus calls in Matthew 11 the greatest man to have ever lived. I don't know about you, I think Jesus is right. And John in his response to his disciples makes clear that Jesus is the point. So you and I need to humble ourselves and exalt him. That's the main point of our sermon this morning: Jesus is the point, so humble yourself and exalt him.

Know Your Place: John the Baptist's Humility

First, we see this carnal kind of competition that shows up between John's disciples and what they're seeing in Jesus's ministry. And then we'll look at John's answer. He really gives his answer in two parts. He wants his disciples to understand that they need to know two things: first, you need to know your place, and second, you need to know the Son. Let's start by looking at this beef that arises between John's disciples and Jesus's ministry by looking at this carnal competition in verse 22.

Read with me. After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside where he spent time with them and was baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized since John had not yet been thrown into prison. This is right after Jesus talks with Nicodemus, and Jesus then heads back with his disciples to the Judean countryside and is baptizing.

Now, if you ever wondered why Jesus is baptizing and what it would look like for Jesus to baptize, it's worth noting that Jesus himself never baptized anybody. He's not the one in the water, dunking anyone or submerging them into water. You can see that if you just keep reading your Bible. In chapter 4, verse 2, it says that Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were. So it's not like there were people that got to walk around ancient New Eastern Jerusalem saying, "I got to get baptized by the Son of God himself." That's not what's going on here. But Jesus's disciples are going around and baptizing.

In any case, Jesus is continuing the ministry that he started. He is preaching about the kingdom of God. He is calling people to repent and to believe in him. His disciples are out there baptizing as well. But there's a twist: John the Baptist, who pointed to Jesus in chapter 1, the one who was appointed as a herald to testify about this word that became flesh, he's also there. Now, notice that he was there baptizing because it says that there was plenty of water there. Any Baptist needs to talk about this verse: there's plenty of water there. That's because baptism is typically understood to immerse or to submerge someone into water.

That's part of the reason why when Philip shares the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8, after Philip shares Jesus with this eunuch, the eunuch then points to a body of water and says, "Look, there is water. What would keep me from being baptized?" He doesn't ask Philip if he has a water bottle. He looks at a body of water. They go down into the water, and as the eunuch arises out of the water, Philip disappears. And the same is the case here. John the Baptist is baptizing in Aenon because there was plenty of water there. And you need plenty of water if you're fully immersing someone into water. So, it turns out that John the Baptist was indeed Baptist.

It's a little weird, isn't it? To have Jesus there as his disciples are baptizing, and to have John the Baptist say, "I'm here baptizing also." It's a little bit of a strange image. And this conflict comes to a head in verse 25. You could read with me: "Then a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purification. So they came to John and told him, 'Rabbi, the one you testified about who is with you across the Jordan is baptizing and everyone's going to him.'"

John's disciples argue with a Jew about purification. We aren't exactly sure what the debate is about exactly. What we do know is that it has to do with how one could be pure or ceremonially clean, this purification process. And to be honest, we don't know exactly what the argument was about. It doesn't tell us here, but I think that's on purpose. I mean, have you ever been in an argument with an argumentative person? Someone who's more interested in winning the argument than discovering the truth?

You have a conversation with that person for hours, and you're listening to pick apart that one little slip in the words. You grab a hold of it and you make a huge deal out of it, or they're trying to pin you down for what you said. And after a while, you can tussle back and forth, and you may even end up saying, "What are we even talking about right now?" as you continue to argue with one another. And you might try to put a bow on it at the end by saying something like, "Well, it seems like we have different perspectives on things," or "Thank God that he's all-knowing and we're not," or "Man, we all definitely have some growing to do." And you end up walking away, and you feel a little unsettled inside.

Often, the reason why we feel unsettled isn't because we didn't resolve the issue. Right? There's plenty of people where you can have a disagreement with them and still feel loved and cared for, and you walk away no problem at all. We've all had conversations like that. The deeper issue has nothing to do with the resolution; it has to do with whether or not you feel respected. Someone pats you on the head and says, "It's okay. You'll understand when you get older." Someone shakes their head at you and says, "Okay, boomer." It doesn't matter whether it's age, gender, career, intelligence. What eats at us is whether we feel respected.

And I think that's exactly what's going on with John's disciples here. We don't know what triggered this argument or what the argument exactly was about regarding purification. What we do know is their response. And based on their response, you could guess that maybe this Jew that they're disagreeing with was saying, "Well, if what you're saying is so true, if what you think about purification is so right, then why are your crowds decreasing? Seems like John the Baptist isn't really the hot thing. I see Jesus over there. Seems like a lot more people are going to him."

Sure, all of us can recognize this. And I hope all of us can recognize the perils of a people-driven ministry. I'm not talking about caring about people; we should all do that. I mean being driven by people, by momentum. There's a danger for all of us, especially as we're encouraged by visible fruit that the Lord is doing. I'm so encouraged when I think about the life of this church and the Lord's faithfulness over the last couple years. It's genuinely encouraging. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't be encouraged by the Lord's work in our lives and in the life of this church. But when you get used to that, when you get used to seeing visible fruit that the Lord seems to be doing in the life of God's people and in the life of this church, you can start to think that visible fruit becomes the measure of success, which means that when that visible fruit disappears, it becomes a measure of failure. That's simply not the case.

In any case, something about this dispute and this Jew's response to John's disciples triggers John's disciples enough to go back to their master and say, "John, Rabbi, the one that you testified, who is with you, is baptizing." I mean, that's like your thing. "Everyone's going to him." Didn't you baptize him? And now the student dares to be the master. John's response is that Jesus has always been the master.

He responds in two parts. First part, know your place. Look at verse 27. "John responded, 'No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said I am not the Messiah. But I've been sent ahead of him.'" John begins by explaining to his disciples who he is. And just like he told the Jews in chapter 1, he is trying to tell his disciples, "Listen, the Messiah isn't me." But he doesn't start with his denial, but with a declaration: "No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven." The source of John's ministry isn't John. It's God. Without him, you can do nothing. Any effect from John's ministry wasn't because John was great, but because of God's work in John's life. He's not the victor, he's just a vessel.

Any edification, any learning, any help that his disciples gained from him, didn't ultimately come from John. It came from the Lord. Which is why no preacher should ever get high off of their own supply. Because ultimately, there is no such thing as your sermon or your power. There is nothing that should be said behind this pulpit that has not been received from God. One practical way for you to encourage me as your pastor: Don't tell me that I had a good message. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Sweet, I don't have to lie today." Now, I'm not saying that you're committing some cardinal sin; you're trying to encourage me by telling me that I had a good sermon. What I mean is, what would really encourage me more than telling me that I had a good sermon or a good message is if you were to tell me how God encouraged you through his word.

Because ultimately, what matters isn't what John the Baptist or John the Southern Baptist had to say, but what God has to say. This is exactly why Paul, when he talks to the church in Corinth as they're getting caught up by saying, "I follow Paul" or "I follow Apollos," he responds by asking him, "What do you have that you have not received?" What does Paul have that he hasn't received from God? What does Apollos have to offer you that he hasn't received from God? If everything that you have is received, then that means that everything that you do or have is a gift. It comes from God.

And it's precisely when we forget that that discontentment creeps in. You start to look down on others from our ivory towers of achievement or success, or you see other people succeeding and you start to measure your own worth based on how they're doing. But when we remember what we're for, not only is exalting Christ the only appropriate response, it becomes the very source of our joy. That's what John is trying to show them here in verse 29.

Read with me: "He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom's friend who stands by and listens for him rejoices greatly at the groom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete. He must increase, but I must decrease." At weddings, I always get a kick out of watching the pastors who officiate the wedding, particularly at the end of the wedding ceremony where the groom kisses the bride. Many pastors flee from the stage. They try to move out of the way as quickly as possible because now people are paying thousands of dollars for these wedding photographies, and the last thing that they want to do is get in the way and end up accidentally photobombing the couple during their big moment. Just have a dumb pastor's face in the background.

Now, imagine if you were to officiate the wedding, as you see the groom and the bride walk down the aisle. They're standing right here, and they're saying their vows, and the whole time you were thinking to yourself, "Why do you guys have to make this all about you? You're so arrogant." That wouldn't make any sense. The purpose of the wedding is to celebrate what God is doing in bringing the bride and the groom together. That's the whole point of a wedding ceremony. They are the point, and if the wedding event exists so that the guests, so that the bride and the groom, so that God, so that the officiant and all celebrate what's happening in the life of this couple, that's why the event exists.

The same is true for all of life. All of existence is all part of one cosmic, eternal event. That God created the world out of an overflow of his goodness. That he created man to be a steward to care for this good world and take care of it. But in our sin, we rebelled against him and disobeyed his commands. And as a result, all of us deserve wrath and judgment for all of eternity in hell. But God in his kindness sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, to rise from the dead victorious over sin and death, and to call unbelievers to himself, proclamation of the good news. And as sinners turn from their sin and trust in Christ, they are joining the bride of Christ, the church, and they're building up this bride until that faithful day where our Groom returns from the heavens and we are reunited with him and able to live an everlasting life with him. That's the whole point of all of existence.

Imagine that glorious wedding ceremony where we, as the bride of Christ, finally get to see Jesus with our own eyes. This eternal picture of Jesus and his bride together in eternal bliss, and your face is like right there. Do you really want to photobomb Jesus? Because that's exactly what we do when you make it about you. No. When we decenter ourselves, when we see Jesus as the focal point of all of existence, when we understand that life exists not just to make us happy primarily, but ultimately to bring him glory, his glory becomes our joy. That's the whole point.

When you're the best man who's serving the groom, and you see the crowd delighting in the groom and the bride, that should bring joy into your heart. "That's why I'm here. He must increase. I must decrease." The meaning of life doesn't begin in the first person. It begins in the third person. Jesus is the point. He must increase. I must decrease. This isn't an ideal, this is a requirement. He must increase in glory and in fame. Because unlike us, whenever we try to prop ourselves up or try to glorify ourselves, Jesus, when he is exalted, he only gets more accurately reflected in the value of who he actually is. You will never overhype Jesus. You will never over-glorify Jesus. Jesus will never get too big for his britches, because Jesus is worthy of all praise from all peoples for all eternity. He must increase. Which means you and I must decrease.

In fact, any ounce that you and I still keep for ourselves is an overestimation of who you actually are. You must decrease. Anything that we take, anything that we have for ourselves, is to steal the glory that Christ is due. John the Baptist doesn't describe himself as the groom or the officiant, but as the best man. He understands that his purpose is to serve the groom by being attentive to serve him. He does his job best when he fades into the background. It's not about him. The same is true for us. We don't want to be impressive people. We don't want to be an impressive church. We want to be Christians and a church that lifts up an impressive savior that says, "He must increase and I must decrease." A church that knows our place because Jesus is worthy of all glory and all praise and all honor for all eternity.

Know the Son: Jesus's Divine Authority

Which is why John the Baptist then pivots from talking about himself to talk about this Son. Who is the point? Number two, know the Son. Read with me from verse 31: "The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard and yet no one accepts his testimony. The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true." Jesus is of the highest level of authority. He is from above and he is above all. Jesus is king.

See, John's disciples seem to be looking at John the Baptist and Jesus as though they are in competition with each other, trying to make a comparison. And John the Baptist is trying to explain it's not that Jesus is brighter or smarter or funnier. This isn't a difference of degree, as though Jesus is just a better teacher. Jesus is in a completely different category. At best, what John the Baptist can offer is earthly speech. But the one from heaven can speak in heavenly terms. This is exactly what Jesus tells Nicodemus that we looked at last week, right? Only someone from heaven can talk about what heaven's like, and all those books are lying to you where those kids go to heaven.

But Jesus is categorically better than John the Baptist because Jesus can say things that John the Baptist could never say. He could wrestle his whole life. He could train in the art of oratory for his entire life. He could go to seminary. He could get doctorates in theology, and John the Baptist will never be able to say what Jesus can say. You know, I really love this pulpit. I love that it was built around the same time of this building. That the wood matches the pews. I love that its angles match the angles of this room perfectly. It's like it was designed for this room. I love it. But most importantly, I love that this pulpit is big. I love that it's sturdy, that it doesn't go anywhere. That it's intentionally big.

Did you know that one of the major shifts that happened during the Reformation was the construction of large pulpits? We celebrated Reformation Day just, I think, yesterday or the day before that. One of the things that we celebrate when we celebrate the Reformation was the retrieval that the Word of God was central to the life of the church. And the way that they did that was through two movements. The first thing that they did was they made sure that the pulpit was over the Lord's table. And the reason why they did that wasn't because they thought that the Lord's Supper wasn't insignificant. No, they found it to be really important for the life of the church. Communion is a wonderful, glorious thing. But the significance of the Lord's table comes from the Gospel that's being preached that gives meaning to what happens at the Lord's table. So they move the table down a peg and they put the pulpit right in the middle.

The second thing that they did was they made sure that the pulpit was large. And it wasn't so that they could hide the fact that the preacher was wearing shorts this Sunday morning. The reason why they constructed a large pulpit was to make clear that what communicated life to the people of God wasn't anything that the preacher came up with on his own. It's like the pulpit is swallowing the preacher. I'm like a tiny ant behind this big construction. I can't just move around and tell you interesting stories about my life. I'm constrained behind this book because what brings life to the people of God isn't anything I have to say, but what God has to say.

That's exactly what we value and what we call expository preaching. I think John the Baptist would have loved this, letting the content and intent of God's word determine the content and the intent of the sermon. Because if what you get from behind the pulpit is what John thinks, you will be limited to John's thoughts. I don't know about you, not really worth thinking about. You will hear from an earthly man talking about earthly things, earthly jokes, earthly problems, earthly solutions. But what matters most to us as Christians isn't earthly things. It's heavenly things.

Your biggest problem is not your bills or your family drama, what's going on at work. What matters most is your soul. And what Jesus says isn't just his opinion. It's his kingly declaration. What you and I want to hear isn't just interesting facts. We need to hear divine royal truth. And don't be surprised when those heavenly words aren't popular. It's exactly what John the Baptist talks about here, that not everyone accepts this truth because heavenly truth is hard to think about. It takes work.

Have you ever opened your Bible? I mean, we're about to end the year. You might be thinking about starting a new Bible reading plan. And you read the Bible and you spend time. Your eyes looked at every single word and you look up and you think to yourself, "I have no earthly idea what I just read. I have no idea." The reason is because heavenly truth is hard. It takes thinking and it can't be affirmed on the basis of hype or public acceptance. No one default passively just happens to end up thinking about divine things. That's not how life works. If your life is on autopilot, you will deal with whatever's immediately in front of you until you die. Thinking about heavenly things takes effort. Not only that, it takes faith. Not just that what you're reading or what you're saying is true, but that Jesus has the authority to speak. And John is trying to stress to his disciples that Jesus absolutely does. You see that in verse 34.

"For the one whom God sent speaks God's word since he gives a spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands." God the Father loves the Son. Jesus identifies himself earlier in this chapter, while talking to Nicodemus, as God's only begotten Son. The only one who was begotten from the Father, essence from essence, light from light, begotten from the Father from eternity past. And God has given him the Spirit without measure. Now, this isn't as though Jesus didn't have the Spirit and then God shows up with a present and goes, "Unwrap it! Oh my gosh, the third person of the Trinity!" That's not what's going on here.

This language of giving the Spirit without measure calls back to the Old Testament and flips the Old Testament upside down. Just listen to these references, okay? Isaiah is a prophet in the Old Testament. He receives the Spirit. And God tells Isaiah in Isaiah 59:21, he says, "My spirit who is on you and my words that I have put into your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children or from the mouths of your children's children." Okay? My Spirit is on you. You'll speak my words. This is what he tells Isaiah. Ezekiel also receives the Spirit. In Ezekiel chapter 2:2, he says, "As he spoke to me, the spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the one who was speaking to me."

Chapters 2 and 3 of Ezekiel are all about God giving Ezekiel his words. He eats a scroll that tastes like honey to him, and he's instructed to go speak that word to the people of Israel. Daniel is also a prophet and he's described as having the Spirit of God in him. In fact, even the pagans in the land of Babylon, where he was living that becomes Persia, they knew that Daniel had the Spirit of God, even though they didn't know God. In Daniel 5:11, this pagan king tells King Belshazzar about Daniel and describes him as "a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him." So Daniel's a prophet, Spirit of God's in him as well.

So you have Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, there are other examples. All of these men have the Spirit in them and they speak God's word. And God the Father sends Jesus as a prophet to speak his words to his people. But it's different with Jesus because he doesn't just receive the Spirit. John the Baptist makes clear that Jesus receives the Spirit without measure. See, all of us have the Spirit. All of us have limits to how much Spirit we got. Ephesians 4:7 says that God gives all Spirit in measure according to each man. But Jesus receives his Spirit without measure. This is an unlimited outpouring of his Spirit because Jesus doesn't just speak the words of God. Jesus is the Word of God.

This is John, the author, taking all the themes of chapter 1 and weaving it back into this story to show you exactly who Jesus is. He is the Word of God. He has the Spirit without measure. John the Baptist is saying Jesus's words can't even compare to what I have to say. He has the Spirit without measure. He is unlimited. In fact, Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses's promise in Deuteronomy chapter 18. We don't have time to flip there. I'll just read it for us.

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name. — Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (CSB)

Moses is super clear. There will be a prophet, not just a prophet, the Prophet who will come and speak the words of God. And anyone who listens to him will be saved. Whoever does not listen to that prophet will be damned. That's what he's saying. And Jesus is the true and better Moses, the Prophet that all the other prophets are pointing to, the Word of God that speaks God's words.

The Choice: Belief or Rejection

And if God is going to hold accountable whoever does not listen to his words, it is no wonder that John then in verse 36 makes clear that God will judge whoever rejects him. Read with me, verse 36: "The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him." See, if John 3:16 is the good news, John 3:36 is why that good news matters. The way you respond to this King, if Jesus is the Son of God, if he is the Prophet King whom the Father loves and has given everything to, then to not believe in him, to reject Jesus, is to reject the very source of life itself. You are rejecting the King of kings and the Lord of lords. That isn't independent, innocent exploration of thought. That is rebellion.

It says that the wrath of God remains on you. If you don't know Jesus and you're here this morning, I am fearful for you because the wrath of God isn't just something that's coming for you. It's something that remains on you. That's what God's word says. You see the dangerous consequences of rejecting Christ. John the Baptist isn't just trying to reduce his own status and hype up Jesus a little bit so that John the Baptist's disciples calm down. He is literally trying to save his followers from hellfire. He's saying this isn't just a matter of degree. You reject Jesus, you get jealous of Jesus, you start comparing me with Jesus, you are going to go to hell. That's what he's saying.

They were so caught up with wanting to see their leader respected that they missed the entire point of his message. The same is true for you and I. We can get swept up in all sorts of distractions, wanting to police what other Christians do, whether it's in other churches or on social media. We can think about our own role in the Christian life or in this church, and start to want to make a name for Jesus and for ourselves. But Jesus deserves our singular priority because Jesus is the only one that matters.

Think about it. Does music style really determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? Does whether or not your church has one or two services really determine whether or not you go to heaven or go to hell? Does someone's 140-character tweet or post on Facebook really determine whether or not someone goes to heaven or goes to hell? There's so many things that we could get caught up on that aren't necessarily unimportant or insignificant in terms of our obedience in walking with Jesus. And yet, we do have to ask at the end of the day, what ultimately matters? Is it what they think of me? Is it the things that I feel like I should or should not be doing? Is it whether or not I get or do not get my way? What ultimately matters? Only one thing. His name is Jesus Christ. He is God's Son. He is God's true gift. He must increase. I must decrease.

The Paradox of Exaltation: Our Joy in His Glory

I pray that all of us strive to have a ministry like John the Baptist. His effort to exalt Christ and humble himself succeeded. He basically dips out of the story after this section in John. We won't continue through the Gospels. We'll pick it up again next fall. But John the Baptist disappears. He doesn't really do much here, but he does get mentioned in John 10:41.

Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” — John 10:41 (CSB)

I love that John was not that impressive. He didn't do much. He didn't do a sign, but everything that he said about Jesus was true. I pray that's true for you. I pray it's true for me. I pray that's true for this church. Let's be Christians that are so zealous for Christ that our personalities fade into the background where people walk away from this church saying, "Honestly, Artisia, not that impressive, but everything they said about Jesus was true."

Because here's how this becomes good news for you and I. We've talked so much about God's glory, his greatness, how he's exalted up into the heavens. Good example of depravity over there and why you need to trust in Christ, right? How does this become good news for you and me if we're supposed to empty ourselves and trust in Christ? Because the beautiful paradox of Christianity is that when you turn from your sin and trust in Christ, when you turn away, when you abandon everything that you own and you try to withhold for yourself, whether it's your reputation, your possessions, anything that you have, you let it go. You say, "I must decrease. He must increase."

Not only do you receive forgiveness, you receive Christ, you gain him. That all the exaltation, all the glory that Jesus gets as he increases translates into goodness and grace towards us. That the one who believes in the Son has eternal life. That is an unending fountain of goodness and grace for you and I. That truth that you receive all that Jesus is, that's the truth that will drain pride of its power. What do you have to prove? You have Christ. That's a truth that will deflate the pressure to prove yourself or protect yourself. Because if you have Jesus, you will have everything that you will ever need.

It is no drudgery that he must increase and that I must decrease. Because if we join him, if we are the bride of Christ, then that means that all that he is becomes ours as we're united to him. Like a bride delighting in her groom, all that he is becomes hers. And in Christ, like we heard last Sunday night, it's absolutely true: All is yours. What more could you possibly want? What more could you possibly ask for? This isn't even, "I'm selfish if I ask for more." It's literally, you could not ask for more. Because if Christ is all in all and you receive him, then in worshiping him, all glory, all honor, all power to him becomes all grace, all forgiveness, all hope, all joy for you. Because the bride eyes not her garments, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace, not at the crown he giveth, but on his pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land.

Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be able to celebrate this truth. Lord, help us to fade into the background, to reduce ourselves, so that you may be exalted, so that you may be clearer, so that you may be high and lifted up. Help us to treasure your word, to believe it, to follow it in such a way that brings you ultimate glory. And we ask, Lord, that you would come again soon so that we can see you and that we could see all this hope and joy that we long for fully realized in your kingdom. We pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.