John 3:27-32
What No Man Does
I draw you attention to \\#32\\, the phrase "no man." In reading,
this phrase caught my attention. The phrase is common in the Bible,
occurring 233 times. The statement is a declaration that, from the
speaker’s prospective, no man (or woman or child) is doing the
behavior being spoken of or is able to do the behavior being spoken
of.
I wonder, "What are some things that no man is doing or is able to
do?" So I looked some of them up. There are hundreds, Let’s look at
a few.
I. \\#John 3:32\\ John the Baptist said that no man was receiving
Jesus’ testimony.
A. These verses are part of a sermon that John the Baptist,
the forerunner of Jesus, was preaching.
1. John was speaking of Jesus.
2. \\#28\\ John mentioned Jesus by His title, Christ, and
Jesus remained John’s primary topic through the
remainder of the chapter. Many but not all of the
"he"s mentioned in those verses are a reference to
Jesus.
B. \\#32\\ John was stating that Jesus came to give firsthand
testimony of what He knew to be true, but no man was
receiving Jesus’ words.
1. That seems to be a strange statement for the Bible
makes it clear that many were coming to hear John and
Jesus.
2. Of John the Baptist, who preached about Jesus even
before Jesus was revealed, the Bible says:
Matt 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and
all Judaea, and all the region round about
Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing
their sins.
a. That must have been a lot of people who not only
came to hear John but responded to John’s
preaching by acknowledging that they were sinners
and needed to turn from it.
b. Once Jesus started His ministry, people began to
come to Him in droves.
c. Again, they came not to merely listen but they
responded:
John 3:22 After these things came Jesus and his
disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he
tarried with them, and baptized.
d. Jesus’ disciples baptized so many, that some of
John’s disciples were worried.
John 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto
him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan,
to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same
baptizeth, and all men come to him.
3. All of those people were coming and being baptized,
then Jesus began traveling all over Israel doing the
same thing!
4. Should not John have said, "All men are receiving His
testimony?" But it did not. He said, "No man was
receiving it!
5. Why?
C. Because being born again is not the same as joining a
religious crowd.
1. There were a lot of people getting on the religious
band wagon but most of them were not getting saved.
2. That might help us to understand what John said to
some Pharisees who wanted to be baptized.
Matt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto
them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance:
3. And Jesus.
Mt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it.
D. We need to understand that there is nothing wrong with
religion as long as it comes AFTER salvation.
1. When some get religion before salvation, it means
damnation.
2. When some gets saved and never gets religion, it means
carnal.
3. The only right pattern is to first get salvation and
then get religion and the result will be spiritual.
E. Most of the crowds of Jesus’ day were not going to heaven!
1. I have often wondered where the Christians were during
Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.
2. So many had claimed to believe on Him. Where were
they?
3. I fear that although many had been fed, had been
healed, had been taught, and had been loved, very,
very few had had received Jesus Himself.
4. I fear that America may have followed some of the
other nations who have been blessed to have the
gospel into that kind of darkness as well.
F. Along with this "no man" verse, there are some others like
it.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.
1. No body is coming to God without going through Jesus.
a. The only way to heaven is through Jesus.
b. There are no other roads, or doors, or paths, or
hope.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will
raise him up at the last day.
2. No body can come to salvation unless God draws them.
a. You cannot come to Jesus unless God draws you.
b. Drawing is conviction. God making you feel
terrible over your sin!
c. We not only need Holy Ghost conviction today, we
can not get along without it.
d. In fact, I think what we need today is STRONG
conviction from God.
II. \\#Luke 9:62\\ No man who quits on Jesus is worthy of Him.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man,
having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
A. Do you wonder what that means?
1. While we always have to be careful not to read into the
Scripture more than what it says, we want to get as
much meaning as possible from it.
2. So we are always sitting in a precarious spot.
B. Notice the main thought to this verse.
1. The main thought is serving and living for God.
a. To have your hands on this plow means you must
have been saved.
(1) This is the plow of the God’s kingdom.
(2) You don’t get to do service for God’s kingdom
without trusting God’s Son as Savior.
(3) Jesus is definitely talking to believers
here.
(4) In fact, He is speaking of more.
b. To have your hands on the plow means you are a
servant of the Lord. You are working for the
kingdom.
(1) Many Christians, in our country, it might be
most Christians, never get to the place of
serving Jesus.
(2) Are they saved? I don’t know but I do say
that the number of those who serve the Lord
from most churches seems small.
(3) So Jesus was speaking about the saved who
step up to the plate and serve.
2. Then He says, "If they look back…." That is, if
they begin to drift back into the world, their old
lifestyle, their old ways.
3. That they are not worthy to enter into God’s kingdom.
4. And He emphasizes that statement with our phrase, "no
man" among them is worthy. Not one of them. Not a
single one.
C. Some might try to excuse themselves by saying that they
were never worthy anyway.
1. That is a hard statement to argue with because it is
true.
2. However, the worth that Jesus is speaking of here is
not personal worth but imputed worth.
3. God saved you and gave you worth when He did.
4. Once you quit on God, you lose even the worth that
Jesus gave to you.
D. Again, we want to get all of the goods out of this verse
without reading into it more than it says.
1. The verse does not say the man who turns back is
either lost or will lose his salvation.
a. Thank God for that.
b. I have know some who after serving for a
time, just quit.
c. Like old Betsy, they just left the field one day
and went and laid down. They would not go again.
d. Most of them however did not just go lay down.
Most went back into the world.
e. But Jesus did not say that such behavior means
they were never His or that He cast them away for
doing so.
2. But Jesus does say, "They are not worthy of going to
heaven."
a. Instead of being Jesus’ joy, they become His
shame.
b. And the phrase "no man" means that is true of
everyone of them.
c. Not a one of them is worthy of what Jesus went
through to save them.
d. I suspect that means that not one of them will
receive any rewards for what they did before
they turned back.
e. It’s all lost to them now.
E. There is a "no man" flip side to this verse.
Mark 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, There is no man that hath left
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
sake, and the gospel’s,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in
this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal
life.
1. As surely as no man who looks back is worthy of heaven
so no man who serves will be looked over in rewards.
2. Every Christian must decide where he wants His
pleasures and where he wants his rewards.
3. After all, it is certain that we can not work for both
kingdoms.
Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon.
III. No man can condemn one of a sin forgiven.
John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself,
and saw none but the woman, he said unto her,
Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath
no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said
unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and
sin no more.
A. This may sound similar and contradictory to the last
"no man," but it is not.
1. The last thought was talking about quitting.
2. This verse is talking about tripping.
3. The two are distinctively different.
a. Tripping is a temporary condition. Quitting is
most often a permanent condition.
b. Tripping, while it may happen often, is usually
unintentional. Quitting, while it may have been
brainless, is deliberate.
c. Tripping on God shows our frailty. Quitting on
God shows our rebellion.
4. There is a difference in tripping and quitting.
B. A trip on God, confessed and repented of, no man will
remember it to condemn you.
1. Now, some hard-hearted person may condemn you to
others or even to your face but what no man can do is
to condemn you to God!
2. He won’t hear it.
a. That is part of the reason Jesus made that
statement with this woman.
(1) He wanted us to understand that when a sin is
forgiven, no matter how big it may seem to
us, it is forever and totally forgiven.
(2) It may ruin our marriage, our testimony, our
health, our relationship with the people we
love the most; but once forgiven, it can
harm us no more!
(3) The practical application to that verse is if
God doesn’t feel bad about the sins of our
past, why should we?
b. I think another part of the reason Jesus expressed
that thought here is to show us that there is no
sin which cannot be forgiven.
IV. No man can know when Jesus is coming back.
Matt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only.
A. This verse holds another declaration of man’s inability.
1. No man CAN know when Jesus is returning.
2. It is not within his abilities to know.
B. So we must live everyday as if Jesus may return today.
1. Somewhere around 2010 years ago, Jesus was born.
No one was really looking for it.
2. 33 years later, Jesus was crucified and rose from the
dead. Again, no one was really looking for it.
3. I get the feeling that when Jesus comes again, no one
is going to be looking for it!
4. I want to be the one that is!
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