Latest / Scripture Unscripted / John chapter 3
Transcript
- 0:00John chapter 3 let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come
- 0:09to you to day. We are asking for a touch to
- 0:13day. Lord, we are asking that you'll
- 0:14continue to push us and Protestant to greatness.
- 0:18Father, I pray that you will help us to be your hands and
- 0:22feet. Help us to know what to do.
- 0:24Lord, help us to lay down all of our wants and desires.
- 0:29God, help us to take up the cross.
- 0:31Help us to lock eyes with you. God, I pray that we can count
- 0:35the cost. Lord, I pray that we count it
- 0:37all as joy. Lord, we have tasted and we have
- 0:40seen that you are good. And Lord, we desire more.
- 0:44We want a greater measure of your presence in our lives, God.
- 0:48We want to know you, Lord, and we want to know you crucified.
- 0:52We thank you, Lord, for all the many blessings.
- 0:55God, we thank you for the truths and the promises that are
- 0:58contained in the Holy Scriptures.
- 1:00We thank you, God, that you have given us the abundant life,
- 1:04Lord, that you have seated us with you in heavenly places.
- 1:08And God, we know that where you are, God, we are going to be.
- 1:12So Lord, we just invite you in. We are expecting of what You
- 1:16want to do today. Speak to us loudly.
- 1:20Speak to us boldly. God, I pray that the still small
- 1:24voice will become our guide throughout our entire lives.
- 1:30Help us to sit in your presence, Lord, Help us to know that you
- 1:35are near. Help us to know that you are for
- 1:39us and not against us, and that we are more than conquerors.
- 1:42And God, in you there is no lack, Father, and you are for
- 1:47us, so there can be no one against us.
- 1:50God, we love you. We love everything about you.
- 1:54We thank you that you are good. We thank you that you are
- 1:58leading us home. We thank you, Father, for our
- 2:01salvation. God, we thank you for the peace
- 2:04that we have. Lord, we thank you for the
- 2:07entirety of your Holy Scriptures, the authority of
- 2:11your Holy Scriptures. We thank you for faith.
- 2:14Let it rise. God, let faith rise today in our
- 2:18lives, in our hearts and our minds and our houses.
- 2:21God, let us be locked step with you.
- 2:23Let us walk in the spirit and not satisfy the lust of the
- 2:27flesh. God, I pray against the pride of
- 2:30life. Father, I pray against the lust
- 2:32of the eyes. God, I pray that you'll just
- 2:35continue, Lord, to sanctify us as we consecrate this temple.
- 2:40God help us, Lord, and just know, Lord, that we are here for
- 2:45you and you alone, and it's all about you.
- 2:47God. Seek and search us out.
- 2:50Lord, search and see if there's any unclean thing in US.
- 2:55Lord Holy Spirit, you guide us. Holy Spirit, you teach us.
- 3:00I decrease as you increase. Holy Spirit, give us discernment
- 3:05today. Holy Spirit, highlight anything
- 3:08that doesn't belong and give us the strength to get rid of it.
- 3:13Give us the strength to purge it.
- 3:15God refine us in the refiners fire.
- 3:18Help us. Lord Jesus, we love you and it's
- 3:20in your holy and precious name that I pray.
- 3:23Amen. Well, let's start in verse one.
- 3:29There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
- 3:36Jews. So here, this is Jesus and
- 3:39Nicodemus, and they're going to start talking about the new
- 3:42birth. Nicodemus is a ruler.
- 3:46We see that here. He's one of the higher ups of
- 3:50the Pharisees, and not all Pharisees were terrible.
- 3:56By and large, yes, but you can see here that Nicodemus was
- 4:01truly seeking. He was truly wondering, and he
- 4:05came as a representative of all mankind.
- 4:09The things that he asked Jesus are the things that we need to
- 4:13ask ourselves, and we need to ask and make sure that we
- 4:17understand these eternal truths. Verse 2 The same came to Jesus
- 4:25by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that you are a
- 4:31teacher, come from God, for no man can do these miracles that
- 4:35you do except God be with him. So here Nicodemus is giving
- 4:44Jesus his rightful praise. Jesus is worthy of all of our
- 4:53praise. And here Nicodemus begins this
- 4:56discourse with some much due praise of our Lord Jesus Christ
- 5:03and just letting him know that he understands that he is from
- 5:07God. Three, Jesus answered and said
- 5:11unto you, Truly, truly, I say unto you, Except a man be born
- 5:18again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
- 5:21So here Jesus holds no punches. His very first line in this
- 5:26discourse is meant to draw the line in the sand so that
- 5:32Nicodemus can see that even though he is in the lineage of
- 5:39Abraham, he cannot count his birthright as the way that he's
- 5:46going to or any of the Pharisees or any of the Jews are going to
- 5:51make it into heaven. And Jesus here is showing him
- 5:56that it's the gospel is not just for the Jews.
- 6:01The gospel is for the whole world.
- 6:03And we're going to see that as this chapter unfolds.
- 6:06But Jesus here towards this ruler of the Pharisees, this Jew
- 6:12of a Jew, he's letting him know that he must be born again.
- 6:18And that is our mandate, friends.
- 6:20We cannot just be dunked in water.
- 6:22We have to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ covering
- 6:26us from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet.
- 6:29That is the new birth, friends, For Nicodemus said unto him, how
- 6:37can a man be born when he is old?
- 6:41Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be
- 6:45born? So here, this is a picture of
- 6:48whenever we are only relying upon the natural, when we can
- 6:52only see things on the surface level.
- 6:55We have not yet been able to peek and peer into the
- 7:02revelation. We have not been able to peek
- 7:05and peer into the spiritual realm.
- 7:08We're still operating with our senses.
- 7:11We're still operating out of our own emotions.
- 7:14We're still operating out of what this world tells us is
- 7:19real. And we must step into the
- 7:22reality of what God sees all around us, friends.
- 7:26And here Jesus is painting this beautiful picture for Nicodemus
- 7:31and letting him know that he has to be born again.
- 7:34And Nicodemus is relegating back to the natural, trying to figure
- 7:39out how a man will enter back into the womb. 5 Jesus answered,
- 7:46Truly, truly, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water
- 7:55and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
- 8:02So we know that this water birth is your natural birth, And we
- 8:07know that when you are born again, it is whenever God opens
- 8:13your eyes up and unstopped your ears, and you actually get to
- 8:17see the world all around in the same way that God does.
- 8:23And if you are trying to explain this to an unbeliever, it's like
- 8:28trying to explain color to a blind man or musical notes to a
- 8:33deaf man. There is no connection.
- 8:37Whenever people do not have faith, whenever they are not
- 8:41born again, they, the natural mind, cannot comprehend the
- 8:46spiritual. It is nonsense to them.
- 8:49But for those of us who are walking in the light, those of
- 8:54us who have been able to see the world around us the way that God
- 8:59does, it is a celebratory thing. When another believer comes into
- 9:05the fold, when they finally see the new birth, this
- 9:09regeneration, when they finally get to see the scales fall off
- 9:14their eyes, when they finally get a clean heart, whenever they
- 9:18are in Christ, they are a new creation.
- 9:20This is being born again, friends.
- 9:24It's like you are just now coming awake, friends, whenever
- 9:30you give your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not just
- 9:34tongue in cheek, not just in a casual, haphazardly way, not
- 9:39just in a get out of hell freeway, but when you come to
- 9:43Him genuinely, when the Lord is well pleased to give you the
- 9:47Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit takes residence up inside
- 9:52of you, you will never be the same.
- 9:54You cannot go back to your vomit, friends.
- 10:02Six. That which is born of the flesh
- 10:06is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
- 10:12So those of us who are walking in the Spirit, those of us who
- 10:15have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this is the most
- 10:19beautiful thing that you could ever imagine.
- 10:23But for those that are in the world, those that have yet to
- 10:26come into the fold, those that are refusing the goodness of God
- 10:30Almighty, when he's beckoning to them, He's calling out to them.
- 10:35All of creation proclaims His name.
- 10:38So that man is without excuse, and they keep going on their way
- 10:45into destruction. These people are just in the
- 10:49flesh, and worldly people are going to do what worldly people
- 10:54do. But those of us who have been
- 10:57indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we're walking in the Spirit, and
- 11:02we will not satisfy the lusts of the flesh, friends, because we
- 11:06have the mind of Christ. 7 Marvel not did I say unto you,
- 11:14You must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it lists, and
- 11:23you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes
- 11:29from or where it goes. So is everyone that is born of
- 11:35the Spirit. So the Spirit and the way that
- 11:39the Spirit operates, Jesus relegates it to the way that the
- 11:43wind is and how the wind behaves.
- 11:48You cannot tell where it comes or where it goes.
- 11:51The Holy Spirit, when it enters into the room, it will
- 11:55completely unravel you. Jesus Christ is saying that it
- 12:01is powerful. Jesus Christ is saying that the
- 12:05you cannot try and explain all of the ways that wind works.
- 12:13And that is very similar to when you are trying to explain the
- 12:17Holy Spirit to someone who is still in the flesh, who is not
- 12:23yet to receive their salvation. They have not yet to receive the
- 12:28down payment of the Holy Spirit upon their lives, the seal and
- 12:33their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
- 12:35They have not yet to receive it. And when you are trying to
- 12:39explain it, it's a lot like trying to explain the wind and
- 12:43how the wind operates, friends. Now Nicodemus answered and said
- 12:50unto him, How can these things be so, Nicodemus?
- 12:55We have to give him a little wiggle room here because he is
- 13:01sitting in the seat of all those who are seekers, all those who
- 13:06are genuinely wanting to know these things.
- 13:10And he didn't want to leave anything to question.
- 13:14He needed to understand all of the depths of what Jesus is
- 13:19saying. And you know, sometimes we stay
- 13:22out of the goodness of God because we are so carnally
- 13:27natural minded that we do not take this word on faith.
- 13:32And that's what it takes, friends.
- 13:34We must believe and we must have faith and we must believe that
- 13:38God is real. We must believe that God is and
- 13:42that all the truths contained in this book are real.
- 13:45We must believe that this is the infallible, inerrant word, that
- 13:49this is the Rhema, this is the Logos, this is the spoken word.
- 13:54And whenever you apply that to your life, watch how the Holy
- 13:57Spirit is well pleased to well up within you, to fill you, and
- 14:02to overtake you and to hijack you and to bring you into glory,
- 14:08into God's glorious presence, where you can sit at His feet
- 14:13and cry. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
- 14:17Almighty who was and who is and is to come.
- 14:21You can see Him. You can see Him high and lifted
- 14:25up over all your circumstances, high and lifted up over your
- 14:29family, high and lifted up over your past, over your present,
- 14:34over your future. He's high and lifted up over all
- 14:38of your emotions, all of your baggage.
- 14:40He's high and lifted up friends over your ailments.
- 14:44He's high and lifted up over your financial situation.
- 14:48We must get to the place where we take it all on faith.
- 14:53And Nicodemus needs to step into that, friends.
- 14:57And so do we. And Jesus answered and said unto
- 15:02him, Are you a master of Israel? And you do not know these
- 15:07things? 11 Truly, truly, I say unto you,
- 15:14we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen, and
- 15:23you receive not our witness. So here Jesus is speaking for
- 15:31the Trinity, Jesus is talking about God the Father, God the
- 15:36Son, God the Holy Spirit, and he's saying that we're talking
- 15:41to you of very simple things. And if I want to go deeper with
- 15:48you, you cannot go there. And this is where we have to
- 15:53increase our faith. Deep calls to deep.
- 15:58We have to get out of the natural carnal mind and we must
- 16:02step into the spiritual realm where God is inviting us into
- 16:06deeper understanding of himself, deeper understanding of his love
- 16:13and and he wants to take us to new heights with him.
- 16:17And he's telling Nicodemus here, how am I to bring you into much
- 16:23more marvelous, glorious understanding when you will not
- 16:28even step in to the simple elementary truths?
- 16:34And it's a word for us today. Friends.
- 16:37If you want to know God's unrevealed will for your life,
- 16:42you must start obeying the revealed will that is contained
- 16:47inside of the Bible, friends. It's contained inside of the 66
- 16:53books, the Canon of Scripture. This is where our road map is.
- 16:59And it leads to Jesus Christ. It leads to a greater
- 17:03understanding of who He is and how he operates in the mind of
- 17:08Christ. Friends 12 If I have told you
- 17:19earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I
- 17:25tell you of heavenly things? So Paul said he was called up to
- 17:31the 3rd heaven and experience things that no man is allowed to
- 17:36talk about. And so you can see here that
- 17:39Jesus desires to take us to new heights.
- 17:43Jesus desires to give us a greater revelation of who he is.
- 17:48But we must start somewhere. We cannot just get to that
- 17:54place. And a lot of times don't be
- 17:56surprised when you're trying to explain these things even to
- 18:00other brothers and sisters and there is a blank look on their
- 18:04face because they have not yet entered into the depths that the
- 18:09Lord has invited you into. Because they must consecrate the
- 18:14temple and their sanctification is a process.
- 18:18And some of us are fast tracked through that, through the
- 18:21emptying of our ourselves so that we can be filled with Him.
- 18:26But those who are trying to put 1 foot in the boat and 1 foot in
- 18:30the water, they are stagnated in that growth, friends.
- 18:34And here Jesus is desirous to show Nicodemus even more than
- 18:40this truth. And Nicodemus is still trying to
- 18:45think in the natural of how a man's going to enter into a
- 18:50womb. Again, thank God for the Holy
- 18:55Spirit that gives us discernment.
- 18:57Thank God that these things are simple truths that we can
- 19:02believe with faith. 13 And no man has ascended up to heaven,
- 19:12but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man,
- 19:17which is in heaven. So he's showing Nicodemus here
- 19:23that he is God, that he is speaking face to face with God
- 19:29Almighty, the one who created everything, seen and unseen,
- 19:33friends. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
- 19:41wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
- 19:46So here he is referencing the cross, he's referencing the
- 19:50crucifixion, he's referencing Calvary.
- 19:54And here he's showing that even all the way back there in the
- 19:59Old Testament, whenever God told Moses to make a serpent and to
- 20:06lift it up on the pole so those that looked upon the serpent
- 20:10would be healed. This.
- 20:14Is a foreshadowing of what Jesus is about to do and when he goes
- 20:19to the cross. And we must look upon Jesus to
- 20:23receive our salvation. It is not enough just to know
- 20:28about Jesus. It's not enough just to attend
- 20:32church. It's not enough to just read the
- 20:35Bible. It's not enough just to have a
- 20:39vibrant prayer life. We must look upon Jesus Christ
- 20:44and be healed and be made whole, friends, and receive our
- 20:49salvation, receive our forgiveness, receive the
- 20:53remission of our sins. Friends, He comes to take away
- 20:57the sin of the world, and we must look upon him.
- 21:01Look to him today, friends. Lock eyes with him today,
- 21:06friends, and whenever you do, you will be emboldened to take
- 21:11the whole word to the whole world, no matter the
- 21:14consequences. 15 that whosoever believeth in him should not
- 21:25perish, but have eternal life. So we're going to get into the
- 21:29most popular Bible verse of all time.
- 21:34It is the entire gospel wrapped up in one verse, friends, and
- 21:39this is the verse that we must memorize and we must recite and
- 21:45we must repeat and we must give to as many people as we meet,
- 21:50friends, because this is the hinge point of the entire Bible.
- 21:54It's the good news wrapped up in one verse and we all know it and
- 21:59we all know it well. Believers and non believers,
- 22:02those that are seekers, those that are casual, those that are
- 22:07on fire. This is the mandate for the
- 22:10whole world from one side of the globe to the other.
- 22:14Friends, we all know it well. And Jesus here, look at the
- 22:18context. Jesus here is talking to
- 22:21Nicodemus. Nicodemus has come to him at
- 22:23night, perhaps because he wanted a private setting where he could
- 22:28speak to him without being interrupted.
- 22:31And here's the context for the most famous Bible verse in all
- 22:37of history, verse 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his
- 22:46only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
- 22:53should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- 22:58That is it friends. close the book, walk away.
- 23:03It's the whole point of the whole matter.
- 23:08God loved the world. He is not just hyper fixated
- 23:11upon the Jews. He is not just hyper fixated
- 23:15upon one people group. He loved the entire world.
- 23:20And what must we do? We must believe on the only
- 23:24begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Friends, we must believe that
- 23:29God raised him from the dead. We must believe that Jesus is
- 23:33Lord and we will not go into eternal damnation and separation
- 23:39from God Almighty. We will not perish, friends.
- 23:43We will have eternal life. We will have everlasting life.
- 23:48We will have the abundant life, and that starts now.
- 23:52And we get it in a small portion here, but we will see it in its
- 23:56fullness there, friends. And we look forward to this
- 24:00everlasting life. And this is not just being in
- 24:04heaven. This is not just our getting
- 24:09rescued out of hell. This is the abundant life.
- 24:13This is the life that is filled with His presence, and we can
- 24:19see the world around us now the way that He does, and we will be
- 24:24there with Him forevermore in eternity, in heaven, in
- 24:29paradise, friends. And it's going to far exceed
- 24:33anything that we could ever even try to imagine. 17 For God sent
- 24:41not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
- 24:46world through him might be saved.
- 24:49We know that any who are in Christ, there is no more
- 24:53condemnation for those. The enemy, our adversary, the
- 24:57accuser of the brethren, is the one who tries to condemn us.
- 25:01And there is a big difference between condemnation and
- 25:06conviction. Condemnation does not come from
- 25:09God, Friends, if you are in Christ and Christ is in you, the
- 25:16Holy Spirit indwells you. There is no more condemnation
- 25:20for you, and the enemy will try his best to condemn you by
- 25:25telling you that God's mad at you.
- 25:27God doesn't want to have anything to do with you, that
- 25:30you're not truly saved and we must stiff arm all those lies of
- 25:35the enemy. Conviction is from the Holy
- 25:39Spirit and conviction just sounds like, hey, let's get back
- 25:44in the game. Yes, you made a mistake.
- 25:47Let's learn from that mistake. Those things grieve the Holy
- 25:51Spirit and we must get back on track.
- 25:54That is conviction and there is a huge difference between the
- 25:57two and we must learn to discern the difference because
- 26:03condemnation is not from God. If you are a believer, friends,
- 26:10Jesus here showing them that that he did not come to condemn
- 26:15the world, but he came to save anyone who would believe on him.
- 26:2018 He that believes on him is not condemned, but he that
- 26:27believes not is condemned already, because he has not
- 26:33believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
- 26:38So that's the whole point, friends.
- 26:40He's showing us that if we will not come to him in faith, if we
- 26:45will not put our trust in Him, if we will not believe on the
- 26:49name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we stand condemned already.
- 26:54We are condemning ourselves to hell.
- 26:58We are condemning ourselves to eternal damnation, dying a
- 27:03billion deaths over and never being able to die.
- 27:06We must come to him and be saved.
- 27:09Look at him and be saved today. Look upon him today and be
- 27:14saved. 19 And this is the condemnation that light is come
- 27:23into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light
- 27:30because their deeds were evil. That's the thing that you need
- 27:34to know is that people are in love with evil and they refuse
- 27:41to love the truth. Light comes in and they run from
- 27:49it. They are hostile towards God.
- 27:53They've made a love decision for this world, friends.
- 27:58And that is a hard concept for anyone who knows God, for anyone
- 28:02who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
- 28:05It is a hard concept to understand that they are
- 28:09choosing to go to hell. But just remember where you came
- 28:14from. Just remember that you were once
- 28:18hostile of God, and this is what Jesus was talking about in the
- 28:24beginning of this chapter when he's talking about being born
- 28:28again. It's like being able to see the
- 28:31world for the first time. And we must not forget how far
- 28:41we've come. And we must bring our salvation
- 28:45story back onto our minds. And we must remember that there
- 28:49are many out there right now who are going to bust hell wide open
- 28:56if we do not take our salvation story and the good news of Jesus
- 29:01Christ to Him and rescue them out of the fiery furnace.
- 29:06Rescue them out of the pit of despair, friends, because we
- 29:10were once there. We were once at enmity with God.
- 29:16We were once hostile to the spiritual things.
- 29:19And thank God, Hallelujah, praise the Lord Jesus Christ
- 29:23that He snatched us out of that fire.
- 29:27And that is the mandate for your life today.
- 29:30Believer, do not just sit on your blessed assurance.
- 29:34Tell everybody about what the Lord has done for you, and there
- 29:39will be many in heaven that you did not think we're going to be
- 29:43there. And that is something that we
- 29:46must always keep in our minds. We cannot just be like the
- 29:51Pharisees. We cannot just be like the
- 29:55religious folk who think that we're all buttoned up and
- 30:00polished. We must come to the Lord Jesus
- 30:04Christ knowing that all of our righteousness is filthy rags,
- 30:08knowing that we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior. 20
- 30:15For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes
- 30:20to the light unless his deeds should be reproved.
- 30:25So Jesus is showing us these eternal truths of why people do
- 30:30not come to Him, why people are hostile towards Him.
- 30:33They do not want to have to deal with all of the sinful
- 30:37behaviors, the sinful mindsets, the reprobate minds, friends,
- 30:43their stealing, their lying, their scandalous behavior, all
- 30:52of their immorality. They do not want to have to deal
- 30:55with it. They delight in IT.
- 30:57Friends 21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that
- 31:06his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
- 31:13So He's telling us that when we step into the light and we are
- 31:18exposed and we are searched out, then we are completely OK with
- 31:26the Holy Spirit correcting us and disciplining us and pulling
- 31:31out the dross. And this is the process of
- 31:34sanctification becoming more and more and more like Jesus Christ
- 31:40each and every day, Friends. But we must consecrate the
- 31:43temple. We must get rid of all the evil
- 31:46things that we are harboring, all the things that are entering
- 31:49into our ears and into our minds and into our eyes, and anything
- 31:54that is coming out of our outs, friends, that are defiling us.
- 31:59We have to wash the inside of the cup, friends, so that the
- 32:02outside can be clean also. 22 After these things came Jesus
- 32:10and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried
- 32:15with them and baptized. So we know that Jesus's
- 32:20disciples were doing the baptisms, 23 and John also was
- 32:26baptizing in Anon near Salem, because there was much water
- 32:32there, and they came and were baptized.
- 32:37So we know that the ministry of John the Baptist and even Jesus
- 32:43echoed was repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
- 32:49And we know that Jesus Christ was there and he is the
- 32:53embodiment of the Kingdom of God.
- 32:56He is the King of kings, friends.
- 32:59And we know that John, his whole ministry was the forerunner of
- 33:04Jesus Christ to announce and to Harold that Jesus Christ was in
- 33:08their midst and telling them to repent, telling them to turn
- 33:13from their wicked ways, to return back to their rightful
- 33:18place with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God Almighty, and
- 33:22not to rely on all of their external traditions, all of
- 33:28their external activity, all the things that we try to measure
- 33:33how much we love for God. It's a super simple idea here,
- 33:39friends. Our obedience does not show how
- 33:47much we love Jesus Christ. It is the love of Jesus Christ
- 33:55that propels and compels our obedience.
- 33:59We cannot measure how much we love Him, Friends.
- 34:03The fruit is a natural fruit that will overflow out of our
- 34:10hearts and minds and actions. Friends, it is not something
- 34:14that we have to self will hear. 24 For John was not yet cast
- 34:23into prison. So that's a whole back story and
- 34:26we know it well by now. I pray. 25 Then there arose a
- 34:32question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about
- 34:38purifying. 26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi,
- 34:47he that was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you bore
- 34:51witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to
- 34:58him. So here these disciples were
- 35:03getting stirred up by the fact that Jesus disciples, Jesus was
- 35:09baptizing more, and there was this competition between these
- 35:15two cousins and one of them being the Son of God, the only
- 35:19begotten, and the other one being the greatest prophet to
- 35:24ever live. And these disciples were trying
- 35:27to figure it all out. They had not yet come to see
- 35:30Jesus Christ as Lord. He was still just a greater
- 35:37prophet in the land to them. 27 John answered and said a man can
- 35:47receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
- 35:51So here he is going to give Jesus his due praise.
- 35:55He's going to give Jesus Christ his preeminence.
- 36:00He's going to show that Jesus Christ is God.
- 36:04Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all of heaven, and he has all
- 36:10authority. And here he's going to show his
- 36:15disciples who Jesus Christ truly is.
- 36:18And we would do well to know that Jesus Christ is not just a
- 36:23good moral teacher. He wasn't just another religious
- 36:27leader on the scene. He didn't have a lot of good
- 36:30things to say about ethics. Friends, He is God and he is God
- 36:35Almighty in the flesh. 28 You yourselves bore witnessed me
- 36:44that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
- 36:49So a lot of people were trying to figure out if John the
- 36:52Baptist was the long-awaited Messiah and here he is showing
- 36:56them and he he has already said and he said, listen, if you were
- 37:00locked in and paying attention, you would have known that I have
- 37:03already told you that I am not the Messiah.
- 37:06There is no competition. Let's see what he has to say
- 37:12here. 29 He that has the bride is the bridegroom.
- 37:21But the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and
- 37:25hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's
- 37:31voice. This my joy, therefore, is
- 37:36fulfilled. So John the Baptist is just the
- 37:40best man, and his whole job is to make sure that the groom
- 37:47receives the bride. And his joy was made complete
- 37:54when he saw Jesus Christ come on the scene after he baptized him
- 37:59and launched his earthly ministry.
- 38:03And that is what is happening. And we're getting to see a lot
- 38:06of the nuances, a lot of the tapestry.
- 38:09We're getting to get a seat on the edge of the court to be able
- 38:16to listen and to peek and to peer into these private
- 38:19conversations. And how amazing is our God that
- 38:23we are actually Privy to all of these conversations?
- 38:3130 He must increase, but I must decrease.
- 38:35And that is our proper response, Friends, whenever we are dealing
- 38:39with the Lord, we can never make it about self.
- 38:42We can never make it about vanity.
- 38:45We can never get so incredibly puffed up with knowledge.
- 38:51We have to go low and that is how we will be made high.
- 38:57We must take the low servant position and He will give us the
- 39:03position of a ruler. This is the way of God is to be
- 39:09completely spilled out so that you can be full.
- 39:13And it is an upside down, inside out kind of Kingdom.
- 39:18And there's a different economy in heaven than the one that you
- 39:22and I operate out of. We decrease and he increases
- 39:27friends. 31 He that comes from above is above all, and he that
- 39:40is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.
- 39:46He that comes from heaven is above all.
- 39:50This is a declaration concerning Jesus Christ.
- 39:54This is the statement of faith that John the Baptist wants to
- 39:58make sure that his disciples understand that he can only
- 40:04speak of what he receives. And Jesus Christ is the
- 40:08embodiment of all authority, the embodiment of heaven.
- 40:13And earth and everything seen and unseen. 32 And what he has
- 40:21seen and heard, that he testifies, and no man receives
- 40:28his testimony. So here he's showing that if you
- 40:35are carnally minded, you cannot accept all of the spiritual
- 40:40realities. And that was the problem of
- 40:42Nicodemus. When he was coming to the Lord,
- 40:46he was still thinking in the natural ways and he was steeped
- 40:51in the traditions. And those traditions will trip
- 40:53us up when God is trying to take us into a deeper relationship
- 40:59with himself. 33 He that has received his testimony has set
- 41:08to his seal that God is true. So that is the hinge point.
- 41:15We must believe in the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of
- 41:19prophecy. We must understand that Jesus
- 41:22Christ is Words are life and and that the Word of God is alive
- 41:28and active. We must believe that Jesus
- 41:31Christ and all of his words throughout all the scripture
- 41:35from Genesis to Revelation are Jesus's testimony and we must
- 41:40know that it is complete and we must hang on it friends.
- 41:44We must build our life upon it friends.
- 41:47Nothing added and nothing subtracted.
- 41:50It is the full counsel and the full authority and that is where
- 41:53we get the seal friends, the seal of protection.
- 41:58We get the seal of eternal life. We get our names written in the
- 42:03Lambs Book of Life when we come to him by faith and look upon
- 42:07him. Call upon that name today and be
- 42:09saved. Believe that God raised him from
- 42:12the dead. Friends, this is the seal that
- 42:16is placed upon us, and we know that the indwellment of the Holy
- 42:19Spirit is our down payment. It is the security deposit that
- 42:25God gives us that we can start walking out eternity now and we
- 42:29can start seeing the world all around us the way that He does.
- 42:32Friends, that is being born again. 34 For he whom God has
- 42:40sent speaks the words of God. For God gives not the Spirit by
- 42:47measure unto him. So it is without measure.
- 42:51Jesus Christ is the fullness of God Incarnate, and it is not
- 42:59limited. It is an unlimited wellspring.
- 43:03It comes forth from Jesus's mouth. 35 The Father loves the
- 43:08Son and has given all things into his hand.
- 43:13We know that everything was committed to the authority of
- 43:17Jesus Christ. Every land, every people group,
- 43:20every continent, every ocean, all the stars above us, friends.
- 43:25Everything is committed into the hands of Jesus Christ for his
- 43:29obedience on the cross, friends, the only begotten we'll end on
- 43:3636. He that believes on the Son has
- 43:40everlasting life, and he that believes not the Son shall not
- 43:47see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
- 43:53So God only sees us two ways, friends.
- 44:00Either the wrath of God rests upon you, unbeliever, or the
- 44:07grace of God rests upon you, believer.
- 44:11Every single person that you meet today falls into one of
- 44:17these two categories. There is not a third category,
- 44:22friends. This calls for wisdom.
- 44:27Every single person that you meet today, either the grace of
- 44:34God is resting upon that person and it doesn't matter what they
- 44:40do, they're going to bust heaven wide open.
- 44:44Or for those who have not yet placed their faith in the Lord
- 44:51Jesus Christ, all of their works, all of their merits, all
- 44:59of their philanthropy, all of their human understanding of
- 45:06giving away charitable causes, their humanitarian efforts does
- 45:14not count for anything. The wrath of God rests upon that
- 45:21person, and it does not matter how good of a person they are,
- 45:25they're going to be eternally separated from God Almighty
- 45:29forever. And this calls for wisdom.
- 45:34If you will not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you stand
- 45:37condemned. But if you have placed your
- 45:40faith in the Lord Jesus Christ authentically, completely,
- 45:45fully, then the grace of God rests upon you, friends, and you
- 45:50don't have to worry about your standing with God.
- 45:55You can have your assurance. You can be filled with Him and
- 46:01He will be the One to guide you home.
- 46:04And it's not by anything that we do.
- 46:06It's by everything that he did, everything that Jesus Christ did
- 46:11for us on the cross, friends, is our righteousness.
- 46:15That is the only thing that is going to get us there is the
- 46:18blood of Jesus Christ. It's not your works.
- 46:21It's not what you do, friends. And you must understand that
- 46:25that the fruit that we bear is a natural overflow of the love
- 46:31that we have. The obedience to the the sun is
- 46:33a natural overflow of the love that we receive from Him.
- 46:38It's not what gets us there. We cannot measure our love for
- 46:44Him. It is not a bunch of boxes to
- 46:49check. And I pray that you understand
- 46:56these words. I pray that these words are life
- 46:58to you and they are made alive and quickened in your spirit.
- 47:02Friends, I pray that the inner man leaps within you as you read
- 47:07these pages and as you see them jump off the page and into your
- 47:11heart and into your mind and as they are guiding us home.
- 47:15Friends, praise God for this third chapter here in the book
- 47:20of John, the most memorized verse of the entire Bible.
- 47:28If you had a dying man who had never received the gospel, this
- 47:32is the chapter you can turn to and read to him so that he can
- 47:37receive his salvation. This is the gospel all
- 47:41encapsulated in one verse. Hope you've been blessed by it.
- 47:47I know I sure have. My whole life has been changed
- 47:50and wrecked by this chapter. I love you, God loves you.
- 48:03I'm praying for you. I pray that you live on fire for
- 48:07God and we'll see you back here tomorrow.
- 48:12God bless you.