John 3:22-30
He Must Increase
John the Baptist was many things but among them, he was an
old-fashioned, sin-hating, God-loving preacher. \\#26\\ In this text,
John’s own disciples come to come and prompt him to preach a message
about Jesus. It is obvious, that at this point, even some of John’s
disciples had not understood that Jesus was the Messiah. They were
loyal to John and, while that generally is good, they did not
understand that the One whom John had spoken of had arrived. John
points them toward Jesus by making some declarations concerning
Jesus.
I. Setting:
A. The Locations:
1. \\#John 1:28\\ John was baptizing in Bathabara. Some
call it Bethany. Regardless, it seems to be on the
Jordan River near the city of Jericho.
2. \\#John 1:43, 2:1\\ Galilee, Bethsaida and Cana
3. \\#John 2:12\\ Capernaum
4. \\#John 2:13\\ Jerusalem \\#John 2:23\\
5. \\#John 3:23\\ Aenon near to Salim - In the Jordan
River Valley but 38 miles north of where John baptized
Jesus.
B. John was baptizing there because he was not yet arrested.
While there, John’s disciples question John concerning
Jesus. John made powerful declarations.
II. John’s Declarations - John was a preacher and here he preached
a message. The theme was Jesus.
A. \\#35-36\\ Jesus’ Identity - John declared Jesus God’s
Son.
1. This is not the first time John the Baptist called
Jesus that. \\#John 1:18, 34\\
a. \\#John 1:49\\ Nathanel called Jesus God’s Son.
b. \\#John 3:16, 17, 18\\ Jesus called Himself God’s
Son.
2. When the Bible speaks of Jesus being God’s Son, it
does not mean that Jesus was produced by the Father.
a. The only thing that was "produced" was a body for
Jesus to inhabit.
b. It means that Jesus has all the characteristics
of the Father.
c. It is the same resemblance referred to in:
John 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us
the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the
Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the
Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto
you I speak not of myself: but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me: or else believe me for the very
works’ sake.
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
3. All of this means that when you see Jesus, you see
God.
4. What type of God do you see?
a. I did not see…
(1) an unmerciful God.
(2) an unreachable God.
(3) an unreasonable God.
b. I did see…
(1) a holy God.
(2) a just God.
(3) a loving and forgiving God.
B. \\#31\\ Jesus’ Rank - John declared that Jesus is above
all.
1. The word "above" means "higher in rank."
2. John was speaking of Jesus as He was on earth—in
flesh—not BEFORE He came.
3. I understand we would not think there would be any
reason to think otherwise, but thank God this verse
is in the Bible. If it were not, some theologian
somewhere would use the argument that when Jesus
abdicated His power, He also abdicated His position.
4. Although Jesus did abdicate His power, He did NOT
abdicate His position.
a. Jesus was and is God.
b. He is God not because of His power but because of
His person!
5. Even in flesh Jesus is ABOVE ALL!
a. They should have bowed to Him.
b. They should have worshipped Him.
c. They should have praised Him.
d. Jesus was still Lord of lords and King of kings!
C. \\#35\\ Jesus’ Authority - John declared that the Father
had given to the Son all things.
1. If Jesus is God, why did the Father have to give Jesus
anything, let alone everything?
2. The reason is because Jesus completely divested
Himself of everything that was His.
a. His power
b. His position - Sustainer, Provider
c. His attributes - To be in all places at once, to
know all things
d. In essence, although Jesus was still God, Jesus
gave away everything unique that was His because
He was God.
e. He became a man.
3. What is a man born with?
a. Nothing.
b. Job put it, "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb
and naked shall I return thither." \\#Job 1:21\\
4. But God gave Jesus Lordship over all things.
a. That means that even though Jesus had no power or
authority on His own, the Father did whatever
Jesus wanted for Jesus.
b. How did the Father do that? \\#34\\ The Holy
Spirit abode on Jesus without any limits.
5. Some thoughts:
a. There was nothing that Jesus could not do—not
because He could do it but because the Father and
the Holy Spirit were doing it for Him.
(1) So Jesus could have come down off that cross.
(2) Jesus could have called 10,000 angels.
(3) Jesus could have destroyed His attackers.
(4) He just did not WANT to.
b. You and I have the same Holy Spirit.
(1) Certainly, God is not going to give to any
human being the Holy Ghost without measure.
(2) However, God has give to us enough of the
Holy Spirit’s presence and power and to
accomplish anything He wants us to
accomplish.
(a) For example, we have enough of the Holy
Ghost to be a new creature in Christ.
(b) We have enough of the Holy Ghost to be
good husbands, wives, children.
(c) We have enough of the Holy Ghost to be
witnesses for Jesus.
(d) We have enough of the Holy Ghost to
work successfully any ministry that God
has called us to.
D. \\#34\\ Jesus’ Message - John declared Jesus spoke the
words of God
1. Every word that proceeded out of Jesus’ mouth was the
Word of God. How could it be anything less when He
was God? Yet, I do not think that is what John was
referring to.
2. Jesus, while on earth, limited Himself tremendously.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son
can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
the Father do: for what things soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth
him all things that himself doeth: and he will
shew him greater works than these, that ye may
marvel.
3. I think that limitation was also in His words. No
doubt there were a lot of things Jesus could have
said while He walked among us, but I think He limited
Himself to what the Father wanted Him to say.
E. \\#36\\ Jesus’ Salvation - If you will believe on the Son
of God, you will have life. And the reverse, if you do
not believe on the Son, God’s wrath will abide upon you
forever.
F. \\#32\\ Jesus’ Rejection - No one received Jesus.
III. John’s Determinations - A practical lesson
A. \\#30\\ Jesus must increase. I must decrease.
1. This is the way that it should be. God certainly did
not create us for this to be the other way around!
2. Notice, it was not just that John did this, it is how
he determined to do this.
B. \\#29\\ John determined that he would rejoice in Jesus.
1. We need to understand that John was a human being and
so, from time to time, he may have struggled with the
humility it took to decrease.
2. However, for John was not too difficult for it was his
joy to decrease.
C. Learn a lesson:
1. Every human being must love someone and give his life
to that.
a. Most of us love ourselves and give our lives to
pleasing ourselves.
(1) That is where selfishness, pride, arrogance,
narcissism, and most sin come from.
(2) My wife taught me that sin came from
selfishness.
b. Some learn to love another person and to give
their lives to that person.
(1) That kind of love is good and Biblical.
(2) However, if directed towards mere people, it
will still bring grief.
(3) Most people think that the perfect condition
in a marriage is to love each other above
all else but while that is better than
loving self, it still is the right mix.
(a) Human love is fragile at best.
(b) Human love fails. Most of us can’t
maintain love for long without love for
self coming back in.
c. A few learn to love a thing. That’s just an
out-and-out perversion of love.
d. The One we should love is God. If we love God as
we should, several things will happen.
(1) We will serve and honor God as we should.
(2) We will love others for that is what the
Bible teaches.
(3) We will have a direction to carry ourselves
and those we love toward.
2. This is how John was able to decrease and to enjoy it.
a. His love for God allowed him to do the things that
he knew God wanted him to do and to enjoy it—
even denying himself.
b. A person, any person, can become what God wants
them to become if they love God.
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