The Last Testimony of John the Baptist

Sermon is the last testimony of John the Baptist. The last testimony of John the

Baptist. John chapter 3, starting in verse 22. Please stand with me for the reading of God's word.

John the Baptist's last witness, starting in verse 22. After these things,

Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending time with them and baptizing.

And John also was baptizing in Enon near Selim, because there was much water there, and people were coming and were being baptized.

For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Therefore, there arose a debate between John's disciples and a

Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the

Jordan to whom you have borne witness, 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 are my witnesses, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of 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.

So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.

He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard of that he bears witness, and no one receives his witness.

He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

For him whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the

Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the

Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Please be seated. The last testimony of John the

Baptist. This passage is filled with amazing theological truth.

There's also a few important practical lessons I think we can take away. God gets the glory for every good thing in our lives, every good thing, every accomplishment, every accolade, every achievement, every conversion that we're graced and privileged to be a part of.

It is the work of God and he gets the glory, he gets the credit. And very important, when we have the right perspective in giving

God the glory for that accomplishment, accolade, or achievement, it will cause our joy to be made full.

And another important practical lesson for us is that it is God who does the true work of ministry.

It is God who does the true work of ministry. Think about it like this, what is the point of the ministry of any local church?

It is to worship and glorify God in the weekly worship service and singing songs and sitting under God honoring biblical faithful preaching and to evangelize and convert lost sheep in the local community in which

God has sovereignly ordained to gather that local church, the assembly, the congregation, the called out ones.

As it pleases the Father and he wills it that lost sheep should hear the voice of the shepherd.

As it pleases God and he wills it to reveal his Son to the sinner, resulting in their salvation.

We can rightly understand that the ministry of Jesus Christ, both in his earthly incarnation in his humanity and his pre -existing eternality as the second person of the triune

God, existing in eternity past as the pre -incarnate Son of God and then existing in human form as the incarnate

Son of Man, his ministry is the greatest gospel ministry that has now and will ever exist.

There's really only one gospel ministry. There isn't one person who has ever been saved because that church had a preacher who gave good sermons.

There isn't one person who has ever been saved because that church has a preacher that gives good messages.

There isn't one person who has ever been saved because that church has a preacher who knows how to reach people.

Whether the church has entertaining music or amazing youth programs or beneficial mercy ministries in the community, every person who has ever been saved and who is now being saved and who will ever be saved is saved because of the gospel ministry of Jesus Christ.

I want you to think about the passage in that way. Think about this passage. The gospel preaching ministry of Jesus Christ never ended.

It never ended. He started it. He founded the church, and now he is still building his church.

And he has given his church pastors and teachers, sheepdogs who have been handpicked by the

Great Shepherd to be the under -shepherd for his people, protecting his flock. And these truths are a delight for every believer.

As we seek to revitalize, rejuvenate, and rebuild the body of Christ here at Laurel Bible Church, we can glory in awe and wonder in Jesus Christ's declaration and amazing promise to build his church.

While it is true that there are many men and sometimes women in the pulpit who are not preaching biblical truth, we can acknowledge the reality that there are many gatherings of professing

Christians led by those who do not hold to the teaching of the apostles and who actually reject the teachings of Jesus while at the same time claiming to be followers of Jesus.

That is true. What is also true is that the gospel preaching ministry of Jesus Christ never ended.

And as we see gatherings falling into adopting socialism,

Marxism, critical race theory, Black Lives Matter movement, we see gatherings adopting the social justice gospel, adopting charismatic lunacy in the word of faith movement and the prosperity gospel, indirectly and in some cases directly affirming the

LGBTQ community and lying to Christians even here in our community.

We have gatherings today in the United States led by men and women that are telling people that hell is not real and that because God is love, everybody's going to heaven.

That you don't even need to believe in Jesus, all roads lead to heaven. And for the genuine born -again believer, it can be more than disheartening to see that these things are happening, especially when we see them happening in the, quote, church.

It can not only be disheartening but disconcerting and in some cases cause us to become even despairing.

We can look upon these things and perceive with our human finite perspective that faithful churches are dwindling and unbiblical, worldly, seeker -sensitive churches are prospering.

But like the true prophet of God, Elijah, became despairing at the overwhelming magnitude of the evil false prophets of Baal, we too can become overwhelmed.

Elijah needed to be reminded that it is Yahweh who is in sovereign control over his people.

It is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the author of our salvation, the founder of the church, and the head of the church who has promised to build his church.

Like Yahweh told Elijah in his moments of despairing distress as Elijah questioned who was still faithful or loyal to Yahweh, even in all the nation of Israel, Yahweh had to remind him,

I have 7 ,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. God, who does the true work of ministry, the gospel preaching ministry of Jesus Christ has not ended.

Jesus Christ will build his church and the gates of hell will not overpower his church.

God has many biblical churches with faithful sheepdogs who will not bow the knee to the worldly pressures of today.

Jesus' ministry is the greatest gospel ministry that has ever now and will ever exist.

In today's passage from the gospel according to John, we see the last testimony of John the

Baptist. As the Baptist ministry was starting to fade away, the opposite was true of Jesus' earthly ministry.

The Baptist work as the forerunner was coming to a conclusion and as prophesied, he had made the way straight for the

Messiah. In the reading of Scripture this morning, we see that Jesus' ministry had moved to the foreground, to the front, and John the

Baptist may have been the tip of the spear in the gospel ministry of Jesus, now

Jesus in his earthly ministry was the spearhead, and the spearhead had arrived, and his ministry was in full swing.

It is true that the Baptist had garnered widespread celebrity, both in an endearing way for his disciples and the regular folks that were living in the land, outside of the religious leaders, the everyday people, even those we may consider to be on the lower ring of the ladder in society, even the outcasts.

The everyday common folk had accepted John the Baptist and his testimony about Jesus, but as famous as he may have been among them, he was infamous among the leaders of Israel.

John the Baptist's testimony was rejected by the religious elite of the day, and in this historical context and reality, we can now enter into the passage before us.

In verses 22 through 36, the Apostle John records the last testimony of John the

Baptist, so that you can rightly understand the supreme and perfect power of Jesus' ministry of saving sinners.

The last testimony of John the Baptist, the context, the confusion, and the clarification.

The last testimony of John the Baptist, the context, in verses 22 through 24, the confusion in verses 25 through 30, and the clarification in verses 31 through 36, excuse me.

The last testimony of John the Baptist, the context. Look with me again at verses 22 through 24.

After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending time with them and baptizing.

And John also was baptizing in Anon near Selim, because there was much water there, and people were coming and were being baptized, for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

The Apostle begins this section by explaining to us that the debate that is about to take place happened after the events recorded in chapter 2.

Jesus performed his first sign wonder, turning water into wine in Cana of Galilee. He followed that up with going to Jerusalem and cleansing the temple.

It was there in Jerusalem that he had a conversation with a Pharisee, Nicodemus. A Q &A with the

Messiah that was recorded in the beginning of chapter 3, in which Jesus explained true conversion and salvation is a work of God through the power of the

Holy Spirit, not the result of keeping religious laws that exist outside of Scripture.

And this was a shock to the system for Nicodemus, but a relief to the sinner to know that our salvation is not dependent on us.

It is a work of the Spirit manifested out of God's love for mankind. The amazing truth that no one can see the kingdom of God, let alone enter the kingdom of God, unless they are born again of the

Spirit. And that salvation is started, progressed, and finished by God alone.

As Jesus told Nicodemus, because God so loved the world, or loved the world in this way, that he gave his only begotten

Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And the apostle tells us that it was after these things, after the first sign wonder, after the cleansing of the temple, after the conversation with Nicodemus, that Jesus and his disciples left

Jerusalem and went into Judea. This first section of the context of the debate is helpful as we see that the apostle includes important historical details.

This brief insert sets the gospel of John apart from the other gospels.

John gives added detail, and not in a way that's better, it's just a different flavor that we get more information.

He adds information about what had happened before the Baptist was arrested.

So two things to consider in verse 22. John notes that they left Jerusalem and went into Judea, meaning that they left the city and they went into the countryside.

They went out to the rural areas. Jesus's ministry extended beyond the well -off, and he went to reach those that lived outside the city.

The other thing to consider is what John is saying about Jesus baptizing. Who was doing the baptizing?

Ultimately, it was Jesus, but specifically his disciples were carrying out his work.

Look at chapter 4, verse 2. Although Jesus was himself not baptizing, but his disciples were.

An important note. John includes the specific location in Judea where this was happening, and there are two options for Selim.

One that is closer to Shechem, and another Selim that is several miles away. However, both are in the region of Samaria.

Enon is a word that means springs, hence the language of going to a place where there was plenty of water.

This place was apparently given that name because it was a place where there was abundant springs and water.

And the final note that these things had happened before John had been thrown into prison, again sets this apart from the other gospels.

John's gospel added further information and extra details for those who would have been already familiar with the gospel of Matthew or Mark.

In the other gospels, Christ's temptation is followed by John's imprisonment.

So we see something different here. We see this in particular only in the gospel of John.

Here we see this extra detail that gives more insight, and it sets the scene to the Baptist's final witness regarding Jesus.

The context paints a vivid scene with precise geographical and historical information that shows

Jesus had a far -reaching ministry in His earthly incarnations.

Carnation, singular. But those little details add extra weight to the credibility, authenticity.

You know, we can even think about a comparison with the gospel of Luke. Luke, in that historical eyewitness account, tells us that Pontius Pilate was the one that was ruling in a specific area.

And then who was the Caesar in charge? What was Tiberius Caesar? Well, now in the facts of history, we can understand that Pontius Pilate was the governor.

He was ruling that little area, the region there. And who was the Caesar at that time that Pontius Pilate ruled?

It was Tiberius Caesar. These kind of historical realities, we pass over that sometimes.

These are real geographical locations. You can get on a plane and fly there and drive to the spot and stand right where he's describing.

These are real places, historical facts, precision, credibility. So when we see these kind of inclusions in the eyewitness testimony, we need to think about that.

The context is reality. The context paints this scene, and it gives precise geographical and historical information.

And it is in that way that we can then understand what's going on in the debate. The context verses 22 through 24, and now the confusion, verses 25 through 30, the confusion.

Therefore, there arose a debate between John's disciples and a Jew about purification.

And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the

Jordan to whom you have borne witness, 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 are my witnesses that I said I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of 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.

So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

The confusion arose when there was a discussion or debate amongst John's disciples and this

Jewish person. And the word John uses here for the discussion, translated debate, literally means a search for information or an investigation.

They want to get to the bottom of it. What is going on? They're just, it's often used to describe a matter for dispute or even a controversial question.

Think an engagement in a controversial discussion, debate, even an argument. And because he includes that it was the disciples debating or discussing with a

Jew, clearly there was some kind of confusion from this person about what baptism was doing in regards to purification.

If John had already baptized, why was Jesus baptizing? So a couple things to consider in this passage.

Well, the Jewish people had a tradition of purification using water. It was practical in cleaning your hands or washing your feet, but also there was an idea of making oneself clean before participating or doing certain actions.

Go back to chapter 2. Look at chapter 2 verse 6. In that first account of the first sign wonder, as Jesus was turning water into wine, we see this little insert, chapter 2 verse 6.

Now there were six stone water jars set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each.

You can go back to chapter 3. According to the Old Testament scriptures and the Jewish understanding in purification, there was always some kind of a relationship to water being a symbol for cleansing.

So the confusion is in two areas. The idea of baptism in this ministry of John the

Baptist and cleansing sins. And secondly, it seems the main point is centered on the observation of John's disciples that Jesus was somehow in competition with John the

Baptist. And we can fall into a trap here in sort of a pragmatic way, making this into a topical sermon that focuses on, you know, that second point.

You shouldn't be jealous of other people's successes. You should be happy for them. Well, I think that's good advice and that is true, but we want to stay in the main point, which is that Jesus Christ's ministry is supreme over every other earthly ministry.

There really is only one gospel ministry on earth, regardless of the setting of the local church or our perceived incorrect ideas of what success in ministry is.

Only one gospel ministry matters, and that's the ministry of Jesus Christ. The first area of confusion is thinking through baptism and the idea of being cleansed from sin.

And now, seeing that Jesus was baptizing people, even though the forerunner ministry of John the

Baptist started with baptizing people, we can understand confusion from a Jewish person on what is going on here.

And we can probably even think about it like this. Why did John the Baptist's disciples need to be baptized if they had already been baptized by John?

Or given the conversation that Jesus had just had with Nicodemus about being born again in the Spirit, there may be a misunderstanding about receiving the

Holy Spirit being tied to baptism. There's an exchange recorded in the Acts of the

Apostles that I think is helpful to answer this question. Acts chapter 19 records this.

It says, Now it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples.

And he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him,

No, we have not even heard of the Holy Spirit as being received. And he said, Into what then were you baptized?

And they said, Into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him, referring to Christ, who was coming after him.

That is in Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the

Lord Jesus. That's necessary to understand, but more pointedly, why again by Jesus in this setting here that we see?

John the Baptist's ministry was preparing people's hearts to be ready to receive the

Messiah, a baptism of repentance with water, symbolizing cleansing or purification from sin, that the hearts of the fathers and sons would turn back to God.

And if think about receiving the Holy Spirit and that misunderstanding in baptism, I think we can work through that by answering two simple questions.

What had changed or what had happened when Paul addressed this issue as recorded in the

Acts of the Apostles? And another question, why did the Baptist disciples need to be baptized?

Very simply, Jesus had arrived. Jesus had arrived. Before there was a baptism of repentance, but now

Jesus had arrived and they needed to be baptized into the public proclamation of the

Lordship of Jesus Christ as true followers, recognized by Jesus, not to receive the

Holy Spirit. And supporting scripture makes that clear. When do you receive the

Holy Spirit? At the moment you believe. At the moment you believe. Ephesians chapter 1, in him you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the

Holy Spirit of promise. And that's helpful and requires clarification, but also

I think the main focus of the debate or the confusion is on Jesus's ministry being more important or an incorrect perception of competition with John the

Baptist's ministry. John's disciples were confused at why people were following Jesus instead of him.

And we see the human heart here, understanding that it comes easy for people to be jealous of even maybe a more popular ministry, the popularity of another ministry.

This section helps us to remember that ultimately our mission as Christians is to encourage people to follow

Jesus Christ. When the Baptist was asked about why Jesus was baptizing people, he just reminded them that God is the one who had given him the work to do.

Remember, John's purpose in his witness and testimony was to point people to Jesus, not to gather a large following or to be popular in the community.

That didn't mean that because Jesus had started baptizing that he still couldn't point people to Jesus.

The mission wasn't over yet. In verse 27, the Baptist makes it clear that his ministry was not his own.

It came from God. And he had to remind them of his earlier statements. I never said

I was the Christ. I'm only pointing you towards the Christ. He starts to address the confusion here in this section by explaining that there is no competition.

Jesus's ministry is greater. And actually, this is amazing joy that John hears in Jesus's baptizing others.

Not only is there no competition, it makes the Baptist's joy complete when he hears about Jesus's ministry.

This is a joy as in the experience of gladness, especially in regards to the great and glorious promises of God being fulfilled in his sight.

And as he starts to set the confusion straight, he explains that his ministry must decrease and Jesus's ministry must increase.

In verse 30, the Baptist gives us a great example of humility. There should be an open willingness to not want to be the most important ministry in town.

Oftentimes, pastors and other leaders in the church can be tempted to put the emphasis more on the success of their ministries than the pure proclamation of God's Word.

The emphasis in having a large congregation over faithfully proclaiming biblical truth and putting the focus on Christ.

We should all be wary of those who put a stronger importance on the achievements of the church body over eternal consequences.

Emphasis on achievement over the eternal realities of entering the kingdom of God.

The reformer John Calvin said this on verse 30, quote, John the

Baptist proceeds farther for having formally been raised by the Lord to the highest dignity, he shows that this was only for a time.

And now that the son of righteousness has risen, he must give way and therefore he not only scatters and drives away the empty fumes of honor which he had been rashly and really ignorantly heaped upon him by men, but also is exceedingly careful that the true and lawful honor which the

Lord had bestowed on him may not obscure the glory of Christ. Accordingly, he tells us that the reason why he had been hitherto accounted as a great prophet was that for a time only he was placed in so lofty a station until Christ came to whom he must surrender his office.

In the meantime, he declares that he will most willingly endure to be reduced to nothing provided that Christ occupy and fill the whole world with his rays.

And this zeal of John, all pastors of the church ought to imitate by stooping with the head and shoulders to elevate

Christ. The confusion of the Baptist disciples illustrates that often the human response to perceived success in ministry is misplaced and often misunderstood.

I mean, imagine being jealous if people were getting saved at another ministry, or they're counting conversions, or they're counting baptisms, or they're counting the size of their church.

How silly would that be? Wouldn't that be something that should make us have joy complete to know that God is doing his work, that God is saving people?

Think about it like this, when churches have a larger congregation versus churches that no longer hold to biblical truth, that there would be some kind of jealousy or something for a large congregation that doesn't even hold to biblical truth.

How silly would that be? That we need to focus on the power of Christ in his gospel ministry and not look at churches who have abandoned the faith and the proclamation of biblical truth, no matter how big their congregations are.

I would love to have the smallest congregation in town, but hold to the biblical truth of the

Word of God rather than have a large congregation and no one even holds to biblical truth anymore. Amen? I mean, we should not be jealous of large congregations that have abandoned the faith or that are no longer willing to hold these verses up under the light.

Feel good, warm, and fuzzy messages, 20 -minute stories about the personal life and making connections that have nothing to do with Scripture.

You know, we have to stick to what the Bible teaches. We're going to look at the verses and we're going to proclaim the truth from the mountaintops.

The truth will prevail upon the heart, not a concert in church or exciting youth programs or beneficial mercy ministries.

The power of the gospel preaching ministry of Jesus Christ should make our hearts joyful.

The confusion. And then John gives the clarification in verses 31 through 36, the clarification.

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.

He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard of that he bears witness, and no one receives his witness.

He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For he gives the spirit without measure.

The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

There are several important takeaways that we can look at in the clarification that John the

Baptist gives to his disciples. The first is that unlike the Baptist, Jesus came from heaven.

While it is true we understand that Christ had an earthly ministry, the son of man,

Jesus of Nazareth, was preaching on earth in specific geographical locations, we must remember that Christ has a heavenly origin.

He comes from heaven. He is above all. The Baptist is reiterating what he had heard

Jesus say. He's definitely repeating something Jesus had just told Nicodemus.

Look at John chapter 3 and verse 13. John chapter,

I'm sorry, yeah, chapter 3 verse 13. And no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the son of man.

So, I think given the context of the Baptist's interaction with Jesus in proclaiming him as the

Lamb of God and then baptizing him, that we can rightly conclude there were conversations between the two that are not recorded for us in the scripture.

And I believe that this section possibly includes the Baptist simply restating Jesus's words to him that we don't have a record of.

Nobody knows these truths better than Jesus. That's important because think about what the

Baptist is saying here. Jesus knew what was true about heavenly things because he had firsthand experience.

What he has seen and heard of that he bears witness. The Baptist's clarification to his disciples is extremely helpful for every future follower and disciple of Jesus.

The implication is stunning and it removes any doubt or confusion that may linger, not only for us as believers but for the unbelievers who do not accept the witness of Jesus.

Jesus's testimony about heavenly things, about the eternal realities of the afterlife and about the only way to have reconciliation with God is true because Jesus's testimony about these things always agrees with God.

Whom God has sent, he speaks from God. And the Baptist statements align perfectly with precision and without any contradiction to what

Jesus says himself. The clarification is crystal clear. The construction in the last part of verse 34 is interesting.

It literally could be read, because he does not give the Holy Spirit by measure, this is to give as an expression of generosity, think like donate, to give something out, bestowing, to grant.

And it matches up what we've already seen in the gospel of John, John chapter 1, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

This giving is to cause something to happen, to give the Spirit freely without measure.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless one is born of water and the

Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Not only did Christ himself experience the

Holy Spirit in an unlimited manner, he then gives the Holy Spirit in an unlimited manner, without measure.

We have to remind ourselves of this. Jesus is the highest revelation of God to humanity.

Hebrews chapter 1, in these last days God spoke to us in his

Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world, who is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power, who having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Jesus is the highest revelation of God to humanity. Jesus is supreme in all things, including the gospel ministry of salvation, because God the

Father has sovereignly granted that status to him. The Father loves the

Son and has given all things into his hand. The Baptist then lands the plane with the precise clarification of salvation, which is essentially reiterating what

Jesus had just told Nicodemus. The apostle John is hammering down the nail of truth and conversion and salvation.

Verse 36, those who believe in Jesus have eternal life. And at that moment of belief, enabled by the

Holy Spirit, you are given the Holy Spirit and thus joined to everlasting life with Christ.

In other words, everlasting life originates at the very moment of the spiritual rebirth by the

Holy Spirit. And we see the evangelistic theme and purpose of John's gospel popping up again and again.

Therefore, many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. At this point, the apostle

John has and will continue to demonstrate that Jesus is the true Son of God through his eyewitness account.

He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the

Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. And I think a critical observation here, critical, is that the apostle ties genuine belief with genuine obedience.

Notice the construction there. He uses the literal word for disobedience in correlation to whether a person truly believes.

He doesn't say, he who does not believe the Son will not have eternal life. He says, he who does not obey.

Belief and obedience are not separated from one another. The clarification shows that the right understanding to gospel ministry, no matter the setting, is recognizing it is primarily the work of Jesus, which results in joy.

God's perfect, holy, and righteous judgment and wrath is really the final rejection of those who reject

Christ. That's the end of the road. That's what's down at the end of that alley.

And there is no neutral decision here. By not deciding, you are deciding. To put off the decision, to bow the knee to Jesus as Lord is to choose not to follow

Christ. In other words, it is a fatal decision to put this off.

But today is the day that God has given you. The big picture for us is understanding that the

Baptist witness is also Jesus' witness. The testimony of Jesus is trustworthy because he came from heaven.

The Baptist explained that it was Jesus that was speaking of what he had seen there. And there's no getting out of this reality for any person who has ever been born on planet earth that the words of Jesus are the very words of God.

Every human being who ever lived will face this reality. Your eternal destiny, either in a sin -free glorified body or in a place of torment where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, depends on this one thing.

Who is Jesus Christ to you? Who is Jesus Christ to you?

If Jesus is merely the source of ethical morals to follow, then you have to reject everything else he said.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, the Christ, God himself.

The purpose of John's gospel is the fantastic reality that Jesus is the

Christ, the living Son of God, the Savior who has existed in eternity past.

In his pre -existing eternality, he will live forever. The eternal, pre -existing creator and Savior of mankind is granting you the right to have peace with God, to avoid the perfect, holy, righteous judgment that is to come on the unbelieving world.

Not only to accept him for who he is and live eternally with him in heaven, but to have joy and peace beyond human comprehension while you're still here on earth.

And that transcends earthly circumstances. That transcends whatever we're going through because of the prize that we have before us.

It is only when we can rightly understand and accept Jesus for who he is that we can rightly believe in what he has said.

In today's passage, the Apostle John records the last testimony of John the Baptist so that you can understand the supreme and perfect power of Jesus's ministry of saving sinners.

As it pleases God and he wills it to reveal his Son to the sinner resulting in their salvation, we can rightly understand that the ministry of Jesus Christ, both in his earthly incarnation, in his humanity, and his pre -existing eternality as the second person of the triune

God, existing in eternity past as the pre -incarnate Son of God, and then existing in human form as the incarnate

Son of Man, his ministry is the greatest gospel ministry that has now and will ever exist.

The last testimony of John the Baptist. The context paints a vivid scene with precise geographical and historical information that shows

Jesus had a far -reaching ministry in his earthly incarnation. The confusion of the

Baptist disciples illustrates that often the human response to perceived success in ministry is misplaced and often misunderstood.

The clarification shows that the right understanding to gospel ministry no matter the setting is recognizing that it is primarily the work of Jesus and that results in joy.

This should cause the believer to have their joy made complete. Whether a church has entertaining worship music, amazing youth programs, or beneficial mercy ministries in the community, no matter how large the congregation and our human perception of worldly success, every person who has ever been saved and who is now being saved and who will ever be saved is saved because of the gospel ministry of Jesus Christ.

Every conversion, every conversion that you're a part of, that you witness, that you're graced and privileged to be a part of, it is the work of God and he gets the glory, he gets the credit.

And when we have the right perspective in giving God the credit for anything in life, an accomplishment, accolade, achievement, when we have the right perspective in giving

God the glory for every conversion, it will cause our joy to be made complete.

We need to stop putting our eyes on other things, on other ministries, or other congregations, or whatever else people are doing in a different part of town.

We need to put our eyes back on Christ and glory in that and have joy in that.