Please stand with me for the reading of God's word. We are turning to Isaiah's prophecy, chapter nine, two verses, well-known verses from this prophecy, and then to the text that we'll consider in the preaching of the word this morning, to John's gospel, chapter three. So first, Isaiah chapter nine, verses six and seven. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And now we read of something of the increase of that government and peace, the increase of the glory and fame of our Lord Jesus Christ in John's gospel chapter three, beginning at verse 22. After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized. And now John also was baptizing in Enon near Salem, 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. And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is 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 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 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 is 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." This is the Word of the Living God. We're turning in the preaching of the Word this morning to John's Gospel, Chapter 3. The passage that we read just a few moments ago, particularly focusing on these words toward the end of the chapter, as John the Baptist exalts our Lord Jesus Christ. Think with me briefly about the great sin of jealousy, or really the sins of jealousy and envy. Few things are as spiritually dangerous, brothers and sisters, as the sins of jealousy and envy. Those things that begin so small, seemingly so small and insignificant in our hearts, the petty jealousy of a co-worker, of a sibling, maybe even of a spouse in a marriage. But that pettiness over someone else's gifts and graces, over someone else receiving the credit that you thought you deserved, someone else's gifts and graces being extolled, and you seemingly, you feel as if you've been left in the shadows and in the dark, and you've been passed over. and overlooked, but that pettiness that soon grows, left unchecked and unmortified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that petty jealousy that grows into slander, that grows into gossip, anger, and yes, even, as I said a moment ago, left unchecked can lead to physical violence and murder. Few things are as insidious in our hearts and lives as the sins of jealousy and envy. And here in John's Gospel chapter 3, as John the Baptist, as his star, as it were, wanes, and the glory of Christ rises, as Christ, Jesus, in the beginning of his ministry, receives glory, receives a growing congregation going to him, John the Baptist teaches us a gospel lesson. and dealing with the great sin of jealousy. John presents to us a portrait, a true portrait, of gospel humility. What it means for the Lord Jesus Christ to increase in all of His glory, in all of His beauty, as His kingdom expands. And then for John's following his disciples to weighing one by one. And as we didn't read it here in John chapter three, but leading for him to the pain of imprisonment and eventual execution. There's much for us to learn here from this portrait of gospel humility. I want to look at a few things with you from the text. I want to study John's approach, John the baptizer's approach to dealing with jealousy, dealing even with this picture of gospel humility. I want to note three simple ways, three simple things that John teaches us. about cultivating such gospel humility in our hearts. And they really grow one by one in their intensity and the way that they enable us, by the grace of the Spirit, to put our sin to death, even put that sin of pride and jealousy to death, and grow in the grace of humility. First, John will acknowledge the providence of God. He'll acknowledge the providence of God. Secondly, he will rejoice in the exaltation of Christ and his own humiliation, the exaltation of Christ at the same time that he is humbled, that he's emptied, that he decreases. And then finally, he'll go even deeper and show us the reasons for the exaltation of Christ. So he teaches us about the providence of God, acknowledges God's providence. He instructs us as he delights in the exaltation of Christ and his own humiliation. And then he gives us the reasons. Why is it that Christ must increase? He teaches us much about the glory of our Savior. Well, let's get something of the big picture here as we jump into the text and study John as he acknowledges the providence of God in the first place. I want to set the picture for you, help you understand what's going on in the gospel. The Old Covenant, with all of its types and shadows, is on its way out. And the New Covenant is in our Lord Jesus Christ, inaugurated by Him, or even, as the old writers said, ushered in by Him, is rising. Yet it doesn't happen in a clean transition all at one time. There's, as it were, a transitory period, a period of transition from old to new. In these opening chapters of John's Gospel, the Lord Jesus has already performed His first sign, His first miracle of granting the wedding guests at a wedding in Cana the gift of the best wine, thus instructing us that the old purification rituals of the old covenant are on their way out and the better wine of the new covenant is coming in. Jesus has also proclaimed the glory of the temple of His own body, His own body that will be executed, but then that He will raise three days later. And the glory of that temple will eclipse the glory of that post-exilic temple, the temple, the physical structure. that all the Jews look to. So the old is on its way out with all of its types and shadows and rituals, and the glory of the new is on its way in. There seem to be some jagged edges, as it were, in this transition. And those jagged edges have, as it were, rubbed John's disciples the wrong way. As John has baptized the Lord Jesus Christ and testified to Him, there's a transition as John and his following begins to wane, and the glory and the beauty and the kingdom of our Savior begins to increase more and more. And John's disciples, they don't see the picture here. And this is where John is so instructive in his response. Perhaps you've been able to get up early one morning before the sun is up, on one of those clear, crisp fall mornings, maybe that you're beginning to look forward to now in summer's heat. You've gotten out of bed and gotten outside on such a cool, crisp morning. You see the brightness of the stars in the sky. But then in just a few minutes, the sun comes up and you can't even see those stars that just a few moments before were so brilliant, so full of splendor against the night sky. That, in a very real way, illustrates for us what's happening here in John's Gospel. His star has been bright as it were. He's the greater prophet than even Moses and Elijah of old. This is, in fact, the exact illustration that our Savior uses to describe John the Baptist. In chapter 5 of his gospels, he looks to the ministry of the baptizer. John 5.35, he was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's. John, in all of his the glory of his ministry, the following that he had, his star is beginning to wane, to set, and the glory of Christ is on the rise. So his disciples come to him complaining that in the midst of a dispute over purification, verse 26, John's disciples come to him complaining, and they say this to their leader, the one that they held in such high esteem, Verse 26, they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. There's much that these words teach us about jealousy, isn't there? About the heart of these disciples as they see that the glory of Christ and their own leader, their own camp as it were, their own school begin to diminish. They refer to John the Baptist as rabbi, one that they held in such high esteem. They don't even name the Lord Jesus. It's insightful in the text that as they come complaining to their leader, they simply refer to the Lord Jesus as He who is with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified. And you get a sense there of even their jealousy of the Lord Jesus. John is the rabbi, the one that they hold in high regard. The Lord Jesus is just the one that John had testified to, that he had witnessed to. And now the exaggeration. Behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. It's as if the disciples of John are wanting their leader to put an end to this, to put a stop to it. John, don't let your ministry wane. Don't lose your following, if we could even put it this way, don't lose your following to the Lord Jesus, as blatant and as proud and as rebellious as that statement would be. Christ is receiving glory. Christ is baptizing. The disciples are going, he and his, through his disciples exercising this ministry, all are coming to him. John, do something about it. But here John's teaching, his response, is so instructive, isn't it? As he models for us what gospel humility looks like. He doesn't circle the wagons. He doesn't attempt to regain his influence. He doesn't do anything in self-promotion. He simply reflects the glory, deflects, humbles himself, and looks to Christ, rejoices in the glory of the Savior. The first way in which he responds, as I said a few moments ago, the first way that he responds is he simply acknowledges the providence of God. See how he begins his response in verse 27. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. He's acknowledging the providence of God, the One who sits on the throne of heaven, who administers all things, who sits on His throne. John is recognizing, my ministry has come from the Father in heaven. It's not my own to begin with. The testimony that I've made to the Lord Jesus Christ and the following that I've had, the people that I've preached to, it's not about me to begin with. It's given to me from the Father in heaven. And if the disciples are flowing now to Christ and to His disciples, to be taught by Him, even to be baptized, to receive His baptism and to follow Him, then that's the disposition of the Father as well. That's under His sovereignty. All things belong to Him, and He is sovereign over all. Don't quibble with the sovereignty of God. Don't question the sovereign dispensation of the Father. John is recognizing that his gifts, his graces, his time, his place, his ministry, all of it was given to him by the Father in heaven. Christ's ministry, his place, his influence, yes, his gifting, the grace of the Spirit that he enjoys, it's all given to him from heaven. Don't quibble. don't quibble with the Heavenly Father. If you want to pour cold water on the fire of jealousy, this is where you begin, by looking to our Heavenly Father. who opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing, who administers justice, the one who is just and merciful and faithful, the one who is wise, who is forever blessed, who sits on his throne. This is where you begin. This is where John the Baptist begins. And this is where true Christian humility begins. at the feet of a sovereign God. But there's more as John responds and pointing his disciples to the sovereign administration of heaven. You yourselves, verse 28, you yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. John recognizes his position all along. What God had called him to do from throughout his ministry. He says, I'm not the Christ. I'm simply the forerunner. I'm simply the herald. I'm simply the one who points to the coming Redeemer, the coming Messiah. I am not the Christ. And you see here how beautifully John sets up the entire message of the Gospel of John, don't you? Remember, in recent months, we've studied those I Am statements of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am the bread of life. I am the door of the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth, and the life. But here, John so clearly says, I am not. I am not the Christ. I'm the shadow. He's the substance. I'm the herald. He's the king. Look to him. Your eyes shouldn't have been on me all along. John's saying to his disciples, you should have been listening. You should have been listening to what I preached all along. I am not the Christ. I'm simply the forerunner, the witness, the one who points to the greater. And this is where true gospel humility begins. A recognition of our place. Certainly John the Baptist represents a unique place in God's redemptive program of accomplishing salvation through his son, but yet he teaches us so much, doesn't he, about the sovereign dispensation of God. All that we have Particularly here, there's application to those who are ministers of the gospel, to leaders in Christ Church, even some of you who aspire to preach the word, to gospel ministry. Your gifts, your ministry, all of it is of God's sovereign appointment. Don't quibble with his providence. Submit to him and get comfortable saying to the congregation, to others, I am not the Christ. I simply point to him. I point to the one who is the Son of God. But this is not a cold, stoic acceptance on the part of John. It's not as if he's coldly resigned to the providence of God. No, this is his joy. This is his delight. And he uses an illustration to highlight his joy, his delight in the exaltation of Christ at the same time that he's humbled, that he's emptied and humiliated. So he rejoices secondly in the and the exaltation of Christ and his own humiliation. You see the illustration that he uses in verse 29. 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. It's not that John has resigned himself, that he's just stoically, coldly accepting the fact that Christ and his ministry will increase, that the crowds will go flocking to him, and that his star will wane. Now, John rejoices in this, and what an insightful illustration he uses to tell his disciples of his great joy. He's the friend of the bridegroom. The idea here is that he's the best man at the wedding. We are obviously familiar with the idea of a best man at weddings today. If you've been to a wedding recently, you know that the best man likely was the one who was holding the ring for the groom. the one who is charged with perhaps helping the groom get ready for the day, making sure that the getaway car is appropriately decorated, along with a few other duties. In first century Judea, the task of a best man was much greater, much greater responsibility than even the best man of today's weddings. In those days, in weddings in first century Judea, the best man was responsible for keeping every competing suitor, anyone who wanted to jump in ahead of the groom and marry the bride, take the bride for himself, the friend of the bridegroom, the best man's His duty was to keep those competing suitors away. To keep the bride reserved for the bridegroom. To not demand the bride for himself. This would be the greatest sin, the greatest failure on the part of such a best man. In fact, John Calvin in commenting on this text said that the bridegroom doesn't invite his friends, even the best man to the wedding, Graphic language to prostitute the bride to them. No, what a high-handed sin that would be. You see what John is saying. I'm here to simply point to the bridegroom. To present the bride to the groom. To see that the wedding goes off without a hitch. Every detail administered. Every competing suitor swept aside. And then for the best man to exit stage left. The couple united in holy love. The wedding completed and his joy fulfilled. John's saying, this is my joy. In this, my ministry, all that I've worked for is accomplished, that the Lord Jesus Christ would receive needy sinners to Himself, that they would go to Him, that His name and His glory and His kingdom would be made much of, and that I would be forgotten, that I would exit stage left forgotten, Not applauded, not promoted, not even remembered, but that Christ's name would increase. And then he gives us in verse 30, the very center of the text. the driving thrust of all of his ministry. Verse 30, he must increase, but I must decrease. As I said a moment ago, his joy here is in the exaltation of the bridegroom, the exaltation of Christ, but also his joy is in his own humiliation, that now as his ministry begins to wane, as people go running to Christ, His name is forgotten, his influence wanes, but even more, soon he'll be arrested, he'll lose his life for the glory and the honor of Christ. But even in this profound suffering, anticipating his own humiliation, John rejoices. Christ will increase and I will decrease. Indeed, a great deal of Christian piety has turned on the same idea throughout the centuries, that Christ must increase and that we must decrease. It is this thought, it is this reality that stood at the heart of John the Baptist's piety, it stood at the heart of the Apostle Paul's piety and service to Christ, knowing that this momentary affliction which lasts for a moment will lead a far greater weight of glory, a far greater eternal reward. And even more, saints throughout the centuries have suffered, have even embraced suffering, not delighting in the pain itself, but understanding that through our suffering and our humiliation, Christ would be made much of, that His name would be honored, that He would be glorified. Missionaries have gone to the ends of the earth with these thoughts in their minds. This, the driving motive of their ministry. He must increase, but I must decrease. It's this thought, it's this reality of the increase of our Lord Jesus Christ that stands at the heart of how Christian parents can lose a young child, but yet rejoice in the glory of Christ and the power of his gospel. It is this reality that he must increase, but I must decrease that enables missionaries to go to the ends of the earth. It is this thought that enables Christian employees to stand for Christ in a dark and an evil age and to not go along with a dark and a depraved world and to take their stand for the glory of Christ, even at great personal cost. He must increase, but I must decrease. Our joy, not our cold resignation, but our joy is this, that Christ and His name is exalted, even in the midst of our pain, our suffering, and our personal loss, that He would be made much of. Why is it? Why is it, brothers and sisters, that Christ must increase, but we must decrease? We don't have to look far for the answer. In this third and final round of teaching, the end of the chapter, John the Baptist gives us reasons for the increase of Christ. Why must His name be made much of? Why is it that He must increase, but I must decrease? Verses 31 through 36 instruct us as to these realities. We'll look at the text quickly, and it can't help but point out The Trinitarian nature, the fact that John here points us to the glory of the Trinity as the reason for the exaltation of Christ. Why is it that His name must be made much of? Why is it that He must be supreme? First of all, He's the Son who came down from heaven, verse 31. 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. First, Christ is the exalted Son. He's the one who's from above. True God of true God, yet incarnate in our flesh. He's the one who bears testimony. the true testimony of God, verse 32, and what he has seen and heard that he testifies, and no one receives his testimony. He who has received his testimony is certified that God is true. It is Christ who bears the true testimony of God, the one who speaks the true words of God, the one who is the Word of the Father incarnate in our flesh. He is the Son from heaven, the preeminent one, the one who bears true witness to the nature, the glory, the power of God. But also, as I said a moment ago, there's the Trinitarian nature, all three members of the Trinity involved here in the exaltation of Christ. He is the one with the Spirit, the Spirit without measure. Verse 34, for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. John here is emphasizing that it is the Holy Spirit who has been poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ and that without measure. That certainly John is an earthly witness to Christ. He's enjoyed a measure of the Spirit. He's enjoyed the blessing of the Spirit on his ministry. But he's pointing to Christ and he's saying this one is the Son from heaven. He is the one to whom the Spirit has been granted without measure. hear him, hear his words. So the son, the preeminent one from heaven, he's been gifted with the spirit, and then verse 35, he is the one whom the father loves. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. Christ is the preexistent son, the son from above, the word of the eternal father, and he's the one whom the father loves. the one whom the Father has entrusted with this mission of seeking and saving the lost, of bringing redemption to the sons of Adam. The father has loved the son and has given all things into his hand. He's the mediator. He's the king of kings and lord of lords. He's the one and the only one who can accomplish redemption. He's the eternal son. He's been given the spirits and he's loved by the father. This is why Christ must increase and we must decrease. This is the glory of the exalted son. And John the Baptist drives everything home in the final verse of the chapter. As he calls on his disciples, and by extension, he calls on all of us today to respond to the exalted Son, the one blessed with the Spirit without measure, the one loved by the Father. 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. The gift of eternal life is in this One and in Him alone, the preexistent glorious Son of the Father, the One upon whom the Spirit rests without measure, the One loved by the Father. In Him is life. You want that everlasting life? You want forgiveness of sins and communion with God, the resurrection of the body, salvation in Him. You lay hold of Christ. You believe in Him. John the Baptist is saying, I must get out of the picture. I must disappear. This is the one who brings eternal life, and the question at the end of the day, not only for His disciples then, but for us today, is how will we respond to the glory of Jesus Christ? Not the glory of a mere man, of John the Baptist, but the glory of Christ Jesus. To believe in Him is to have everlasting life, but to fail to believe on Him. is to bring wrath upon yourself, to bring judgment and separation from the favorable presence of God forever. The wrath of God abides on the one who fails to believe in this sign. How is it, how is it that Christ brings this gift of everlasting life? As we close, think of the glory of our Savior. That even this, as I mentioned a few moments ago, this pattern first that we see in John the Baptist of delighting in the exaltation of the Savior, even in his own humiliation, his own decreasing and emptying, this is the pattern of our Savior himself. The one who humbled himself, who took upon the likeness of sinful flesh, the one who became obedient unto death, and even the death of the cross. The one who decreased as the mediator, as the eternal Son of God in our flesh, the one who brings salvation, the one who decreased all the way to shameful, painful, and cursed death of the cross. The one who emptied himself by taking on our frail flesh, who suffered and he went to the bloody cross to bring us life everlasting. The one who has decreased so that we might have this everlasting life. but the one by the grace of the Father who has been raised and given a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through the glory of God the Father, who now calls us as the one who decreased, who took on our sins and our flesh, who died in our place and then rose again, the one who calls us to follow in this same pattern. to suffer now, to be decreased now, to suffer now, so that we might be raised with Him to endless glory and life everlasting. This is the pattern, ultimately, of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the gospel remedy for those wretched sins of pride and jealousy and envy. Brothers and sisters, may it be the cry of all of our hearts now and through the ages to come. Lord Jesus, may you increase, may your kingdom come, may your will be done, and may I decrease for the glory of your great name. Of the increase of your government and peace, there will be no end. May this be the motive, the driving motive of all of our service to Christ. May He capture the love and the affection of our hearts. May we be content to simply labor in His kingdom as humble servants, to even be willing to go out of the limelight, to die and be forgotten, so that Christ and His glory and His name and His gospel is remembered. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, how thankful we are for the gift of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is from above, from heaven, the one who is above all, filled by your Spirit without measure, the one whom, Father, you have loved from eternity past, and to whom the Father has entrusted all things. Lord Jesus, we thank you for accomplishing our salvation. We praise you that in Your death on the cross, that You decreased so that we might receive the increase of life everlasting. And so, Lord, now by Your Spirit, fix in us that pattern that we've seen from Your Word this morning, that we would indeed humble ourselves, that we, for Your glory, on the basis of Your Gospel, would seek first Your Kingdom, the increase of our Savior's name. Fix in us, teach us, This grace of humility enable us to remember that you resist the proud, but give grace to the humble. Convert those who are lost, humble their proud hearts, and give all glory to your son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen. Receive now the blessing of our triune God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, amen.