Thank you Mark for leading us. Good songs this morning. Good morning to everyone. It's the last Sunday of the month. It's a bit concerning this month because November comes next and we all know what happens in November. It's coming. But it's the last Sunday of the month and so we're having our communion service this morning, studying in John chapter three, continuing through the Gospel of John for these communion services. And this is a tremendous chapter, perhaps the most well-known chapter in the Bible, particularly the 16th verse.

And we studied in the last couple of messages the exchange between Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, a leader and Pharisee, his conversation with Jesus. And we saw a very clear explanation from Jesus about the need to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes people ask me, are you a born-again believer? Or I had one man say to me recently, we don't teach the new birth idea, we aren't that kind of Christian. But the problem is there is no other kind of Christian. Jesus says you must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Born-again Christians are the only kind of Christians. 

And Jesus explained to us that this new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit and that it comes only by faith and faith alone in Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and anyone who looked to it, who heard the promise of God, if they would look, if they would believe, they would be saved from the venom of the snakes. So Jesus had to be lifted up, crucified, placed in the tomb, and raised on the third day. And if anyone would look to him, would believe him, would place their faith in him and his death in their place, they will be saved from the wrath of God for their sins.

This is the importance of John 3, and we will see that message, that clear statement from John the Baptist at the end of our text in verse 36 again this morning to close this chapter. Well, we hear directly from the mouth of our Savior a very concise, clear statement on how it is that a man can be saved from God's wrath because of his sins, and that Jesus and his death, burial, and our place only through faith in him is the singular way to experience salvation and this new birth.

Now this morning, we move on from this amazing text and Jesus' conversation with the religious Nicodemus ending in verse 21, and in verse 22 it says, after these things. This refers to all the things that Jesus had done in Jerusalem, recorded in chapter 2 and 3, and some time passes now and Jesus is spending time sort of in the countryside in Judea with his disciples teaching and preparing them, and we find that they were baptizing. 

And John the Baptist is still in the picture, he's still free from prison, not yet arrested or beheaded, which would come soon, and when Jesus goes into Judea with his disciples, we see that John moves up to Samaria and is baptizing there. And we see a most interesting, truly instructive truth in our passage, the center of our passage this morning, the increase of Jesus in his ministry and the decrease of the great minister, the forerunner, John the Baptist. 

This is such an amazing lesson for us, for preachers and pastors and churches today and for each of us as individual believers in Jesus Christ. He must increase, I must decrease. John's disciples did not understand this. They were upset about the decrease of John and his ministry. They were jealous of the people going to Jesus and they lost sight of the purpose and calling of John and every minister and believer as we are called to exalt Christ, to lead men to him, and to magnify Jesus to the point that we fade into his glory and men are consumed with his beauty and his person. What an important lesson this is for us and for the church today in this example, this dynamic of John's ministry and the coming ministry of Jesus in this time, and the words of John to his disciples are most instructive to us. 

Let's look at our text in John 3 at verse 22. After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Anon near Selim because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized, for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification or baptism, and they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. 

He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all, and what he has seen and heard that he testifies, and no one receives his testimony. He who has received his testimony has certified that God is true, for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the spirit by measure. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

We have four points for our message this morning. First, a time of transition. Second, pride or humility. Third, he must increase. And fourth, do you believe?

Well, I'm tempted to go into a full study here of the context of the time of transition between the last prophet of the old covenant, the greatest of men born to women up to this time, Jesus said, and the coming of the new covenant in Christ's blood, and what all this means and how it helps us to understand what's going on in the life and ministry of Christ. I find this to be such an important study for our understanding, and I'll try to just briefly cover that now as we find it in the context of our passage. 

Chronologically, in the ministry of Christ, we find ourselves paralleled to around Matthew chapter 4. So let's turn to that chapter, Matthew chapter 4. Jesus has just come out of his temptation, and we're going to pick it up in verse 12, and it says, now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison. So the text we're studying in John 3 is just prior to what we find here in Matthew 4. John had not yet been put in prison, but that time is close, and we're transitioning from John's ministry to Jesus' ministry. 

And when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, it says, he departed to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. Now if you look at verse 17 in chapter 4, it says, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

Now here's a key phrase. This is the beginning of Jesus' ministry, and he begins this ministry with this message, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The king is in your midst. Repent and receive your king, the Messiah of Israel, which was the whole purpose of John's ministry and baptism, to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah. This was Jesus' message early in his ministry. He chooses his disciples next in the chronology of Matthew 4. He begins his ministry of preaching the kingdom and doing works befitting the kingdom time. 

In verse 23 it says, he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing all kinds of sickness, all kinds of disease among the people. Then his fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. 

Every sick person in the region came to Jesus, and he healed them. Great multitudes followed him from Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. What we see as we continue through the gospel is that Jesus is preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He's healing and doing signs and wonders which are indicative of the kingdom and which testify to who he is. 

In Matthew 5 to 7 we see a sermon on the mount given to legalistic Jews, religious men who had been taught by the likes of Nicodemus and the historic rabbis in this time of no revelation from God, the past 400 years, where Judaism had been perverted into a works-righteous religion. And in this sermon, Jesus preaches solid law to these people for the purpose of convicting them of their sins to show them that they had built their spiritual house on the sand and to point them to him as the only Savior. 

And the crowds were amazed, it says, as he spoke with authority the truth not as the scribes and the Pharisees. And then in chapters 8 and 9 we see more miracles, healing, power over disease, power over natural forces as he calms the sea and the storm, and teaching mixed in, confirming the present purpose of his ministry. 

If you look at Matthew 9 and verse 14, it says, then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then they will fast. 

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth in an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved. Here we see an early hint into the misunderstanding of the disciples of John that comes to fruition in our text this morning. And Jesus teaches about the time of transition between the old and the new which is coming upon them. 

If the friends of the bridegroom do not fast when the groom is with them, then what does this say about the bride when the bridegroom lives in them and never leaves them or forsakes them? An interesting text. 

And then when we come to Matthew 10 we find one of the clearest passages explaining Jesus' purpose in his early ministry and the change that would come when he set his face toward Jerusalem and came to the cross after his people would not hear his testimony and would not believe. John the Baptist understood all of this so clearly and his words in our text affirm these things. We will see that as we move through our study. 

Let's look briefly at Matthew 10 just for our instruction, a reminder in Matthew 10 verse 1. It says, and when he had called his 12 disciples to him, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. So who did Jesus give these powers to? It says his 12 disciples. 

I hear charismatic teachers say today, well we are disciples so we have this power. No, his 12 disciples and then he names them by name just to make this abundantly clear. I don't see my name there. Do you see your name or Benny Hens or Kenneth Copeland's? I don't see their name either. 

These 12 it says in verse 5, these 12 Jesus sent out and commanded them saying do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now this is fascinating. Keep a finger here, I want just in Matthew 10 and go to Acts 26, a passage we looked at a couple weeks ago, Acts 26 at verse 16, and this is Paul's testimony about his conversion and his calling before King Agrippa. 

In 2616, this is Paul quoting Jesus when he was struck down on the Damascus Road, it says, but rise and stand on your feet for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles to whom I now send you. 

Jesus called Paul and sent him to the Gentiles specifically as Paul testifies that he was the apostle to the Gentiles, and he sent him with the gospel message of the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection, and this was true for all the disciples after Pentecost as we see Peter preach the message of the gospel of Christ on that day. 

Why did Jesus send Paul in the time of the new covenant as well as the others and those who would believe through their words even us? Verse 18 of Acts 26, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan's power to the power of God's power. God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me." 

Paul said, we preach Christ crucified, nothing else. And we preach to Jew and Gentile and Samaritan and every creature in this New Covenant time. Not so in Matthew 10. If you go back to verse 7 of Matthew 10, he says, and as you go preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons freely you have received, freely give, provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor staffs, for a worker is worthy of his food. 

So we see that he sends them only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Do not go to a Gentile, do not go to a Samaritan, and he said preach, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the king is in your midst. I don't want to spend too much time here but we must be so careful to interpret the words in their context to understand the purpose of this time in Jesus' ministry as he offers the kingdom to the Jews. 

He came to his own and his own received him not. That's just what John says in our text. He speaks of what he knows, what he's received from heaven, and no one receives his testimony. Go back to John 3 at verse 27. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am NOT the Christ. 

See, they're upset, they're concerned because John is decreasing and Christ is increasing and John says, don't you remember I told you I am NOT the Christ? He said it over and over. I came to announce his coming, now he's come, I should decrease. That's the whole purpose. 

He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, he says, in this the joy of mine is fulfilled. My joy is fulfilled. He must increase, I must decrease. Jesus was testifying, he was offering himself as the Messiah, the King, offering the kingdom to the Jews, and they would not receive him, they rejected him, they would not believe. 

And John the Baptist was the forerunner, the one who was preparing Israel for her Messiah, calling on them to repent and receive the King who was in their midst. That was the purpose of this baptizing. This was not Christian baptism, this had nothing to do with the cross. This was purification as we see in our text, it was symbolic of a willingness to repent and to receive the coming Messiah. 

But when he came, they rejected him and then we see this transition from the old covenant to the new. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, the greatest among men, but he was not the bride, he was a friend of the bridegroom, an Old Covenant Jewish believer. Jesus was going to the cross and the church would be born at Pentecost. This is a time of transition. And we see this so clearly when we compare Matthew 10 with Luke 22. 

Turn to Luke 22 with me at verse 14. Now we're at the cross, now we're after the Last Supper, the institution of the new covenant in his blood. It says, when the hour had come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him. Then he said to them, with fervent desire, I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 

Then he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. The new covenant in my blood instituted at the cross. 

Hebrews 8 tells us that the old covenant is obsolete, passing away at that time. Now go down to Luke 22 35. Jesus says to them, when I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything? Now this is crucial for our understanding. He's referring to what we just read in Matthew 10. He says, when I sent you out to preach the kingdom to the Jews only, and I was doing works befitting the kingdom, and you were doing miraculous things, did you lack anything? Did you have to plan? Did you suffer loss? And they answered nothing. 

Verse 36. Then he said to them, but now, but now, the strong adversative, now things have changed. The whole economy has changed. No longer are we preaching the kingdom, but we are headed to the cross and the new covenant and the church age. But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 

For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in me, and he was numbered with the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end. He said, now it's time for the cross. Now it's time for my death, burial, and resurrection, and the birth of the church, and now we're going to go into all the world and preach the gospel of my death, burial, and resurrection to every creature. 

So they said, look, Lord, here are two swords. And he said to them, it is enough. We have to plan now in this time. Pastor Krenz used to talk about faith missions. He said those are foolish missions, right? Or a man might say, I don't prepare to preach, I just get up and the Holy Spirit moves me. We don't have that promise, right? We have the promise of the Holy Spirit, but we're to prepare, we're to plan, have a knapsack and a money bag and prepare for things, and we are to have a sword. 

If we are to rightly divide the word, if we are to understand the whole of the Bible and the unfolding of God's salvation plan, we must see the great distinction, the profound change that came with the ending of the Mosaic Covenant and the institution of the new covenant in Christ, and we must understand Christ's ministry in the early part when he was preaching the kingdom, when he was offering himself as king to his people Israel, and as John said in our text, they would not receive his testimony concerning himself as the Apostle John said in chapter 1, he came to his own and they would not receive him, and so Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem and the cross and the institution of the new covenant in his blood. 

And now in this church age we have a spiritual kingdom, we preach the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection to every creature, and we await his coming and the end of all things when Jesus will keep his promises to Israel and bring the physical kingdom on the earth where he will rule and reign for a thousand years and sit down and drink of the fruit of the vine again with us. 

John said in our text, I am not the bride but the friend of the bridegroom. In Matthew 11 11 Jesus said, assuredly I say to you among those born of women there's not risen one greater than John the Baptist but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. This was a time of transition, an unfolding of God's salvation plan and the ending of the old covenant and the bringing of the new. 

Well next in our text we see pride or humility, John 3 25. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification and they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. And John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am NOT the Christ but I have been sent before him. 

He must increase, I must decrease. This is John's message. Even though John stated clearly I'm not the Christ and that the Messiah was coming, he explained his ministry as a voice crying in the wilderness, the forerunner that would announce the coming of the Messiah and yet his disciples did not understand or did not accept these truths. When Jesus came and John deferred to him and moved north into Samaria and many more began to go to Jesus, John's disciples became jealous. They did not want John's ministry to decrease. They did not want Jesus to increase. 

And this is explained by a misunderstanding of ministry. John did not have this misunderstanding. He did not have this pride and desire to exalt himself. He understood that being a minister of Jesus Christ means that we seek to magnify him, that we seek to exalt him, and in fact he must increase and I must decrease. This was particularly true for John as his ministry was meant to fade away with the end of the old covenant and the rise of Christ's ministry and the coming of the new. He understood this and he rejoiced in the people coming to Jesus. 

He exercised his calling from God with humility, seeking only the increase of the glory of Jesus, not himself. And this is a great lesson for us today as well, especially in the evangelical churches where sometimes men become like rock stars and mega churches and mega ministries and where a man increases, Christ is diminished. We do not follow men. We do not worship men. No man in the church is higher than any other man. We are all one in Christ, equal spiritually. 

This is a danger. Flip over to 1 Corinthians 1 with me. 1 Corinthians 1 at verse 10. Paul was seeing some of these problems in the Corinthian church. They had every problem in the Corinthian church. 1 Corinthians 1 10, now I plead with you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. 

Now remember in Philippians 2 Paul talked about having the same mind. The same mind is what? The same mind is Christ. And what did Christ do? He humbled himself, became a man, laid aside his glory and his attributes, and he became a man and suffered to the point of death on the cross, submitting himself to God's will. And Paul says, have this same mind that was in Christ. Same thing he's imploring the Corinthians to have. 

Verse 11, for it has been declared to me concerning you my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 

It's interesting to me that John says that Jesus was baptizing in Judea, but later he clarifies this in John 4, 1, where he says, therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, verse 2, though Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 

So there's a danger of following men, of saying Paul baptized me, right? And having division. The disciples of John were struggling with the transition and the rise of Christ's ministry. Sometimes it can be difficult to rejoice in the success of others, especially if it means a decrease in your own success. But we are not seeking to exalt ourselves, and ministry and fellowship and witness surely cannot be about us. It must always be about Jesus. We have nothing but what God gives us from heaven by his grace. 

I think of Paul in Philippians 1, we studied that recently, where he says, some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, supposing to add affliction to my chains to exalt themselves and diminish me. He says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. 

Paul was sitting in jail, and some wanted to add afflictions to his chains, diminish him, and increase themselves with selfish motives, and Paul says, it's no matter to me, as long as Christ is preached. What an example, and what an example we see in John the Baptist. He lived his life and exercised the ministry that God gave him in humility, for the glory of God, and this is what we must aspire to as well. He must increase. 

This is our life and our goal, the essence of our ministry on this earth until he comes. Paul said, I am what I am by the grace of God. It's by his grace that we minister, that we love, that we preach, that we live. Turn over to 2nd Corinthians 3. I want you to just look at a couple verses that Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 3 and 4. In 2nd Corinthians 3, 4 he says, we have such trust through Christ toward God. 

We have such trust through Christ toward God. What do you trust in this world? You trust the news? Trust the corporations? Do you trust the government? What can you trust? Do you trust yourself? We have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 

Therefore, since we have this ministry, I'm sorry, go to chapter four, verse one, I'm reading now, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. To be an ambassador for Christ, to have a ministry on this earth as a witness for Jesus is a mercy, it's by grace, and only the Holy Spirit is sufficient to make anything work. There is no sufficiency from me. It's only the Holy Spirit who can make it work. We trust in Him, we depend on Him, and our goal, in line with the Holy Spirit, our spirit witnesses with the Holy Spirit, is to glorify Jesus, to shine the light on Him, to point men to Him, to sing His praises, to extol His glory and His beauty. 

This is why we are here. This is what ministry is about. And this is why religion and hierarchy and denominational affiliation and all these things are so repugnant to God. We don't wear big hats and funny gowns so that you can set us on a pedestal. I even went to a Baptist church, I remember, in Minneapolis one time, and they had these big red leather chairs, four of them, and gold buttons down the front up on a stage, and all the elders sat in those chairs for the service. I thought, I wouldn't sit in one of those chairs for nothing. 

It's about Jesus. Now finally, this morning, we see the choice concerning Jesus presented to all men. Do you believe Jesus? Verse 35, John 3, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. 

This is perhaps the clearest statement in the Bible concerning the salvation of a man, the position of a man, and his relationship to God. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. This is a truth, it's a promise for anyone that will come to Jesus and believe Him. But he who does not believe the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abides, remains on him. There's no other way. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. There's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus is the only way, and the only way is faith. 

It's not by works, it's not by religion, by ritual or baptism or anything else, it's only by faith in Christ alone and what He accomplished on the cross, taking the wrath of God for my sins. And through faith, He gives to me His righteousness, and He brings me into a right relationship with God. This is the promise of the gospel. This is the grace of God and the gift of eternal life. This is why we're here this morning, to remember, to proclaim what Jesus accomplished at the cross, to proclaim His death until He comes. And we say, all glory to Him. He must increase. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for Your grace, Your mercy in salvation at the cross, but also in life every day, in the ministry that You've given us, the privilege to serve You, to be Your witnesses, to live a life that brings You glory by Your grace and power. Thank You that Your grace is sufficient. Thank You that You've given to us the Holy Spirit, that Jesus lives in us, and that You empower us and give strength to our inner man to live for You. Help us to trust You, to believe You, to abide in You, so that we might bring You glory in all things, all that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.