John the Baptist Willing to Be Excelled - Part 1 — Roy Hession

I have long promised myself to make an in-depth study of one of the most attractive and important characters in the New Testament, John the Baptist, and to examine what to me is a very intriguing part of his story, his relationship with Jesus, most interesting.

Now, I have not yet made that complete study of John the Baptist, but I do want to take these two mornings to give two isolated studies of this subject. It isn't going to be a complete one, of course, at all.

I want to get from my case note a book of reference which I wasn't brought up before. And so, this morning, and on Sunday morning, a study, two studies, on that dear, dear man, John the Baptist. The Lord loved him, and when you read his story, you'll love him, too.

John the Baptist as the Forerunner of Jesus

And a very important character, prophesied in Scripture before he ever came, the great forerunner of the Lord Jesus. Of him, the Lord Jesus says, there's none greater among the sons of women than John the Baptist.

That's what he's saying. And he says, the law and the prophets spake until John. In other words, John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He's in their order, and he's the greater, the greatest of them all.

He was, of course, the nearest in point of time to the one who was prophesied, and therefore there is an immediacy, of course, about his prophets. Now, this morning, I turn to a little cyclopedic concordance I have that has summaries of all sorts of things.

John’s Foretold Coming, Preaching, Baptism, and Imprisonment

And the summary of John the Baptist is as follows. There are four people called John in the New Testament, and number three is the Baptist. Here's the summary. His coming foretold, Isaiah 40 and the Book of Manica, Chapter 4, foretold, very important, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, you remember it, his birth and circumcision, quite unusual, a miracle of God, apart for two aged parents.

His office, Scriptures along that line, I'm not giving you the Scriptures, his preaching, was ever there a revival preacher like John the Baptist? Oh, I know he wasn't in a position to give the full-orbed message, for he was speaking of one to come, but what a ministry of preparation for his coming, his preaching.

And then his baptism. He was an evangelist. He gave the invitation. He didn't ask people to walk the aisle, he asked them to come and be dipped and ducked in Jordan. That was the evidence that you were repenting.

Who's going to be the next? And he named classes in his congregation that ought to take his message to their hearts. Then he baptizes the Lord Jesus. Most embarrassing for me, he said, I ought to be baptized of thee, rather than you, submitting to my baptism.

But Jesus insisted, and he took his place alongside other sinners, in that he submitted himself to the sinner's baptism. That's all the verses there. And then his imprisonment by Herod. Little wonder, for man was as pointed as he was about men's sins.

And if the man concerned is a king, then she should get into trouble. And it ended, it tells me here, in him being beheaded. It's a tremendous story. But the summary, back, treads a bit here, back before his beheading, he sends his disciples to Christ.

We're going to think about that on Sunday, very, very important question. Lying in prison, hearing of this one to whom he'd already borne witness, he sends his disciples to Jesus. Betraying the fact that great and glorious as this dear man was, he was beginning to entertain doubts.

And he sent them with the words, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And then here, Christ's testimony to John the Baptist. If John spake well of Jesus, Jesus spake well of John. What a lovely relationship between these two.

And then, in Acts 18 and 19, his disciples received the Holy Ghost. John's ministry was a great preparation, but it was only a preparation for Jesus. And it was as they heard that fuller message about the coming and finished work of Jesus that there, in Acts 19, the disciples received the Holy Spirit.

Now, that's a nice little summary of the whole life. It's very convenient. In a moment, I was able to refresh my mind on the whole thing. But there is one passage which is not quoted there, which I think is the most revealing passage of all.

John 3 and the Meaning of “He Must Increase”

And I want you to read this with me this morning. John 3, John 3, verse 25. It's not mentioned as one of the headings, and it's not mentioned as one of the passages. I don't criticize them for that. You can't put everything down in a short summary.

But listen to this beautiful, beautiful passage, John 3, 25. Then there arose a questioning between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

Have you noticed that your congregations are getting diminished while his are increasing? They were trying to get John the Baptist jealous of Jesus. And there are people who like to sow seeds like that in other people's hearts.

It's the devil's work. But they weren't successful with regard to John. And John answered and said, a man, I've thought this through. I've got through on this. Oh, don't you imagine, it hasn't been a matter of note to me.

I'd even say that I've had a battle or two about it, but I got through. A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, that is the best man, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth gracedly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.

My role, he said, has been that of the best man. And you know, until the moment that the bridegroom comes in, and the bride, he's pretty busy. He's pretty prominent, welcoming people, showing them to their seats.

He's the friend of the bridegroom. But when the bridegroom comes, and later the bride, he fades into insignificance. And that is my position. I've only been the best man. And my role has been to introduce him, to point to him, bear witness of him.

And then my work is done. And then he utters those great words in verse 30, he must increase, but I must decrease. And I would like to put those words at the head of our message. He must increase, but I must decrease.

John’s Witness to the Lamb of God

Now John the Baptist is famous to us as the man who uttered those immortal words, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. I believe it's more literally, the Lamb of God that beareth the sin of the world.

And I've looked up in Leviticus, to the first reference to that word, bearing. It's in Leviticus 4, I think. It refers to a human situation of a man who's broken the law, he shall bear his iniquity. It means he shall take moral responsibility for it.

And that's exactly what that word means when relating to Jesus. He bears the sin of the world in that he takes moral responsibility for the sin of the world. And he's famous as the man who uttered those words, but he's not so well known as the one who uttered the words, he must increase, but I must decrease.

And I'm not sure whether those words are almost important, no, no, no, not as important, but nearly so, as his words about the Lamb. He, he must increase, but I must decrease. And I want you to notice the extraordinary, beautiful relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus.

John the Baptist was a little older than Jesus. He was the cousin of Jesus, and he was on the stage of public ministry before Jesus. And what great success he was granted. When he decided where he was going to do his preaching, he didn't decide, now which is the most accessible building in Jerusalem?

He went to the most inaccessible spot, way out in the wilderness, by Jordan. And if people wanted to hear, they had to go quite a distance. Someone's called that the drawing power of the preacher. Some men had it, a few, not many, and he drew them in multitudes.

And he had tremendous hearing, greatly accepted, and was so popular with the people that the adversaries of the Lord couldn't do certain things because of fear, that the people who'd been touched by John wouldn't stand for him.

But he was only preparing the way for Jesus. And he himself said, three times in John chapter 1, these words, in verse 15, He that cometh after me is preferred before me. John 1, 15. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me.

All right? Happy to say that, are you? In that secular world, or more importantly, that church world, where you've been the leader, when you've been doing the job, and someone else has come after you, and ends up being preferred before you, well, he said it.

And he didn't say it grudgingly. He was willing for it. That's in verse 15. He says it again in verse 27. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it. I'm not worthy to unloose.

Although he'd been the big man, although he'd been the figure in the public eye, he said there's someone else coming, and he is going to be preferred before me, and I'm hardly worthy to undo his shoelaces.

And then in verse 30, you have it again. This is he of whom I said, after me, a man which is preferred before me cometh, for he was, he was, always had been, for all eternity before me. Little wonder.

Jealousy, Repentance, and Christ’s Increase

Having settled it that that's how it was, when people came along to tell him that this other one who'd come, to whom he himself bore witness, I mean, he was the one who introduced him to the crowd. I mean, it isn't very easy when a minister introduces another one who's come to help him, you know, and speaks well of him.

When everybody prefers the second to the first, it could happen. And they're not wanting those that could sow seeds of jealousy, but they didn't succeed. And he said, didn't I tell you I'm not the Christ?

Didn't I tell you, do you understand now, if you didn't before, that I'm only the friend of the bridegroom and not the bridegroom? I don't have the bride, it's the bridegroom who has it. And I'm telling you now, he must increase.

This is how it is. And I must decrease. Now I don't know if he just adopted that attitude without any quiver or battle. He might not. He was human. But by the time he spoke, he'd repented. He got right through.

I don't get through naturally, only when I've repented and grace has reached me and the blood has cleansed. Well, we don't know what was the inner story, but here's the end result. And here he is, loudly claiming, he must increase and I must decrease.

And this is the great word for us as believers. He must increase. I must decrease. I don't think those words can be overemphasized. Sometimes when I'm asked to sign an autograph book, a thing I don't enjoy very much really, because another preacher I knew, I don't know, I never knew him, but famous man, always used to put his initials in, John 3, 30, I sometimes do it.

And I don't really like doing it. I ask myself, how true is it? Is it really my concern that he must increase and I must decrease? There's only one person who can live the victorious life, and that's the victorious Christ.

And he wants you to give way and let him do it. But he can't unless you're prepared to decrease. And there's a lovely concept, Christ increasing and me decreasing. I want to tell you, from my own experience, I'm sure it's from yours too, he cannot increase except at your expense.

You're going to have to step down. There is no increase of Jesus in our lives except at our expense, our decreasing. John knew that. And he was willing as the best man to fade out of the picture and let Jesus do it.

And after all, if it's true he's the only one who can live the life, what a good thing to let him do it. If he's the only one who can do the work, what a good thing. How ridiculous of me of taking any other attitude or course.

But you do, and so do I, shown by very often the jealousy we have. But you say, tell me, you're not suggesting that I'm jealous of Jesus. I am suggesting that, if looked at from this point of view. Your relationship to Jesus and other people is only one relationship.

It's one person. And he can't have two separate relationships which are dissonant one toward another. One relationship to Jesus and others. And if I'm not willing for that one who's come after me to be preferred before me and resent it and have jealousy, he said, inasmuch as you do it to that one, you do it to me.

Now that's a practical thing. Otherwise you couldn't possibly see any similarity or any application to yourself between John and yourself. Yes, of course, he's right, he must increase. And in a general way you might adhere to that.

But listen, if you're not willing for that increase to be at your expense, and if you're not willing for Jesus to take your place via somebody else, then we are jealous of Jesus, inasmuch as you are jealous of another.

God accounts that that's your attitude to Jesus. If you want to be first rather than second with regard to another, God says, I count it. You want to be first with regard to Jesus and not second. And therefore when we have these very human battles in our hearts, it's not something going to settle between you and the other.

It's something you must settle between you and Jesus. You and I have been wanting to take his place. You have wanted to be first rather than second or last with regard to Jesus. And it isn't a matter of getting it settled with the other person first.

It's between you and Jesus, and you and I have got to see that. My attitude apparently then is to be regarded as I want to increase, and, well, if it means Jesus to increase, then he's got to. Because that's your attitude to other people sometimes.

And God says that's your attitude to my beloved son. I can't tell you how this has helped me. I've had, I suppose, more than many, my battles with jealousy over the years. And I've gone back to these truths that I'm sharing this morning with you almost a lifetime.

Jealousy and the Need for Repentance

I know how to handle it now. I remember when I was confirmed. Yes, I was baptized and confirmed. I'm an Anabaptist actually. But the first time I was baptized, I was baptized in unconsciousness. And then later I was confirmed.

But I'm afraid I was confirmed in my sins. But I do remember what the minister said, the school chaplain said, who was preparing us for confirmation. I don't think he knew the Lord was looking back. I don't know.

I don't think he did. But he said one good thing. Jealousy is the only sin that gives no pleasure. There's a sort of pleasure in sin, but not in jealousy. And I'll say another thing about jealousy. It comes before you've got a choice.

Now, we usually have the idea of this question of temptation and sin. There's a time lag between temptation, will I or won't I? And then if I want to yield, I do. But not in the case of jealousy. There's no time lag.

So often. He said, I didn't have a chance. But somebody's only got to mention somebody's excelling, and immediately, automatically, I had jealous thoughts and jealous attitudes. He said, Lord, I never had a chance before.

And the Lord said, I know you didn't, but you've got your chance now. Afterward, nevertheless afterward, he repented and went. We'd all like to do it right the first time. And maybe your desire for holiness and victory is just because you don't want to have the humbling of repentance.

But there are things, that these things happen before you've got a choice. But your choice, and it's just as valid as if it took place before, comes afterward. And that, of course, leads you to the cross.

That, of course, leads you to the blood. That, of course, leads you to the place where transformations take place and miracles take place. So I do not complain if my adjustment has to take place afterward.

I'm having a new experience of grace. Had it been right the first time, in that area, I wouldn't have needed grace. And I wouldn't have needed the blood, but this one I do. And I get through. I want to tell you, you get through.

I know a place where sins are washed away. I know a place where night is turned to day. Burdens are lifted. Blind eye is made to see. There's a wonder working power in the blood of Calvary. And so, here this is very, very applicable to us.

Christ Taking the Believer’s Place

And I have got to be willing for Jesus to increase at my expense. I mean, he wants to take your place. You realize that, don't you? Jesus hasn't come merely to save you and make you happy and make you a better Christian.

He's come to take your place. He doesn't expect you to be able to do anything much. He doesn't encourage us to expect great improvements in the carnal self. What he wants to do is to supplant us, to take our place.

And when these things happen, here's our opportunity. I agree that in this situation I am one down. I'm happy for another being preferred before me because I see in that situation it's Jesus being preferred before me.

And I tell you, things are going to get much better done when he does them. But if I'm not willing for Jesus to be preferred, for another to be preferred, to that extent I'm left with the whole business on my own hands.

And nothing but failure is going to take place. This is what is meant, I think, about the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying. If it died, it brings forth much fruit. But if it won't, it remains alone.

And so here's this lovely man saying this thing. He must increase, but I must decrease. And he didn't decrease. Ended up in jail. Ended up being beheaded. That's what he got for his pains, it seems. But it's all right on me, Lord.

Though he had his moments, which we shall see. But here is this lovely thing. This relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. I want to think more into it. Dear man, did you hear me say, I'm not the Christ?

Didn't you hear me say, I'm just a voice? Didn't you hear me say, One's coming after us, prepared before me? And this helps me. You see, there are going to be times when you're going to feel left out.

Passed by. Excelled. Others preferred before you. Maybe there's not much in it. But you feel it. And you've got to be willing for that. On the ground, this is the point, it's Jesus who's being preferred.

I know those that may take these attitudes towards us may not be all that excellent. They may not be all that intent on Jesus. But from your point of view, it's giving you and me a new opportunity to die.

That he might increase. But I would say you don't take this word as a word, a sort of pattern. Lord, may it be true of me that I'm willing for you to increase. No. The only way by which this can be implemented is by you confessing it isn't true.

By you confessing the negative. Saying, Lord, I want to tell you, Lord, self's been in the front because I felt jealous, because I resented, because I did this and did the other. And the only way to come into the positive is to confess fully, frankly and deeply the negative.

At that place where sins are washed away. And at that place, not only are you forgiven, but God delights to put into you what wasn't there before. This is why we say, wonder working power in the blood of Calvary.

Confession Rather Than Aspirational Religion

I want to, I'd like to lay forever, I don't know whether I'll succeed in your thinking. These prayers of aspiration, I'm just, I don't think God bothers much about them. And certainly nobody else does.

I mean, in the prayer meets, Oh Lord, we ask for a closer walk with thee, and so on. Lord, a calm and heavenly frame, and so on. And our hymns encourage us so to sing these hymns of aspiration. Certainly the prayers of aspiration don't get very far.

If you get a fellow come into the prayer meet, he says, Oh God, I said, I've had a lousy day. Oh God, self be in the way, and I've said the wrong thing and done the wrong thing. I want to tell you Lord, I'm frankly full of self.

What happened? Well, here are you praying. You hear someone praying like that, I know what you do. You do what I do. I want to see who it is. More than that, if such a prayer gets the attention of the saints on earth and the people around us, it certainly gets attention with God in heaven.

I'm thinking of Isaiah 6. Those Assyriots around the throne, and they hear a man saying, Woe is me, for I am untimely. I'm a man of unclean lips. They said, Lord, may we have a moment off? There's a poor man repenting.

There's a poor man confessing his sins. May we have a moment to take the live coal that will cleanse him? And of course they take. And so this is it. That it's good to see what you're going to be brought into.

You're not merely going to repent. You are going to be brought into it where you are willing to park your interest, having repented that you will. That you're willing to be excelled. In fact, I haven't told you what the title of my talk is.

I wrote it down in my bit of paper. The man who was willing to be excelled. That's John the Baptist. The man who was willing to be excelled in favor of Jesus. And the good news is, if it's Jesus that's taking your place, how marvelous is this going to be?

It may be. You're willing for it in actual practice. He may use your lips to do what he has to do. But prior to that there's been this new transaction. And there's always an outcome. Always a touch from heaven when you are newly willing.

In some cases it won't be. It may literally be another person who is put into your place. Literally another person who speaks. Whichever it is, it's all right on me. All right on me. And you find you've found your way to victory over this most painful thing.

Jonathan’s Willingness to Be Excelled by David

Now there is a parallel character to John the Baptist in the Old Testament. A beautiful character. His name is Jonathan. And if in the New Testament John was the man who was willing to be excelled, in the Old Testament Jonathan was the man who was willing to be excelled to.

I refer you to this. First book of Samuel, chapter 23, verse 17. I haven't got quite that right passage. Yes. Chapter 23, 1 Samuel 23, verse 16. And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God.

And he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee. And thou shalt be king over Israel. And I, the heir apparent to the throne, will find no problem in you being king. I, I'll be next.

And I think here you have an Old Testament character manifesting this same beautiful attitude, this time in relation to David. Now this is a tremendous story and illustrates the same truth. To understand Jonathan and this bit here, you've got to know a little more about Saul and contrast him.

You must understand that although he had been anointed king, Saul, because in certain matters which we needn't go into now, he'd violated the terms of his appointment and chose how far he would obey, God said to him, Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he also hath rejected thee from reigning over Israel.

Samuel said to him, The Lord is going to rend the kingdom from you and give it to a neighbor of thine that was better than thou. Now that great act, an edict of rejection, was something that Saul never would accept.

He hung on to being king to the very last moment, although it was declared to him the Lord had rejected him from reigning over Israel. And he didn't know at first who this neighbor of his was going to be.

I know there was this young boy who'd killed Goliath, wonderful, he was happy about that, and good to have him at the court. And then he saw him prospering in every excursion he took. And the people praising David more than he, and at last he realized, This is the neighbor of mine who's going to supplant me, take my place.

He was very glad to be saved by David, because he was. If David hadn't slain Goliath and it had been the other way around, all the Israelites would have become the slaves of the Philistines, but by one man, and that a youth in the valley of Elah, life and liberty came to the whole nation, including Saul.

And when Jonathan was remonstrating with his father as to his unthinking hatred of David, he said, But you saw it, and was glad you saw him take his life in his hand. You were delighted. Ah, very glad to be saved by David, but not to be supplanted by him.

Christ Saves Us and Progressively Takes Our Place

Now Jesus has come to save us. And what a victory it is, that victory of sin and death and woe, that needs no second fight and leaves no second foe accomplished there, not in the valley of Elah, but on Mount Calvary.

But his real purpose thereafter, having saved us, is progressively to supplant us. He knows you're a Saul. He knows you'll never make it. He knows the best thing for you and everybody else is for him, not only to save but to take over your place.

And therefore, progressively, that's what he wants to do. Well, and we're no more willing than Saul was. You're no more willing to make yourself a flop and a failure. A failure's a father, a failure's a mother, a failure's a preacher, a failure's a minister.

We're not failures. We haven't done all we could, but we'll do better next time. God says, I've rejected you from rain. I did anoint you. I gave you a sphere of service, but you've used that sphere for the glorification of self, and I'm going to give the kingdom to a neighbor of yours.

His name is Jesus, better than you. And frankly, if it means I've got to confess that I'm a Saul, I find it difficult, especially as things crop up. Now, the point I'm referring to Saul is this, that his son Jonathan had every bit as much to lose as Saul his father.

Indeed, his father said to him, Thou son of a perverse, rebellious woman, when he saw his friendship with David, Dost thou not know, or do not I know, that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion?

For as long as he is at large, you will never reign. It was true. And therefore, Jonathan had as much to lose in the ascendancy of David as Saul. But he was willing. And when David's fortunes were at their lowest ebb, he went and encouraged him in the wood.

He said, you're going to be king. You're going to be king. My father knows it. He knows it. You're the destined one. You'll be king. And I? I? I'll just be next. I'll just hold your hat. Saul was the one who was wanting to be first.

Jonathan was the one who was willing to be next. Now this works out in the same way with regard to us. If David is to be taken as a picture of Christ, you've got the same situation. Do I want to be first with regard to Jesus?

Oh, no, no, no. Wait a minute. If you want to be first with regard to another, you do. But if you and I are willing to settle it at the cross, I'm willing to be next. I'm willing to be passed over. I'm willing to be excelled.

If you, if that means you take my throne, then I'm willing. That's a great word, next. It doesn't come easy. In America, the churches of the First Baptist Church or so, they give a number to the various churches in the city, the Baptists, the Presbyterians.

And what I notice is this. There's always a First Baptist Church in the city. I don't think I've seen a Second Baptist Church or a Third. That's a theory of the thing. But when it comes to those churches which have begun a little later on, they may be very successful, but they're really second as to the hour of their starting.

They prefer to use the district's name, the Edgewood Baptist Church. There's just one denomination, at least in Philadelphia, where they haven't done that, the Presbyterian. And Dr. Barnhouse was the minister, I think, of the Tenth Baptist Church, Presbyterian Church, or was it the Eighth?

But that's very unusual. Always a Third. Not often a Second. Oh, this lovely thing. And so you've got this same parallel. And it's perhaps more fully borne out. We souls are rejected from reigning over Israel.

That little sphere of service, he made you king, but you've used it for yourself. If they criticize you, you take it they're criticizing you rather than the one that's put you there. Obviously, it's your sphere.

And we've acted and reacted in such a way, God says, that's failure. Again, have somebody else take over. No? It may not come up before the deacon's board that you have to be replaced by somebody else.

Maybe you may still there, but inside it's changed. You've given way to Jesus. You've accepted yourself as the rejected king, and you've said to Jesus, you be king, this king, potential king. I'm overcome.

My conqueror. And I'll be just next. I simply have to say that in all these things, these things are not standards, which you have to struggle or pray should be true for you. They're intended that we might see where they're not true, and that we should confess that fact and come as failures then and expect to Jesus.

Once again, prayers of aspiration. Substitute them, I beg you. I'm learning to do it myself. Repairs of repairs. It's nice to sing these hymns. And you know, I've discovered a new way of singing hymns even, this way, because there are lots of hymns of aspiration.

And they uplift you, and they give you a picture of what the Christian life should be. And, oh, for a heart to praise my God. A heart from sin set free, and many another. Another one, I want, dear Lord, a heart on fire for these.

It's in the Casey book, a great hymn, all sorts. And I don't know I get very much from them except, well, a concept of what the Christian life should be and what I'd like to be. But I've come to sing them very often.

I don't make a law of it always with myself. I've come to sing them very largely in a spirit of repentance. I want, dear Lord, a heart on fire for these, for quite frankly, I've been very cold lately.

Oh, for a heart to praise my God. I need it, Lord, because it hasn't been my experience. I mean, if you've got a heart that praises the Lord, you don't need to ask for it. If you've got a heart on fire, if you've got a heart that cares for the Lord, I'm thinking of these hymns, you don't need to ask for it.

If you are asking for it, it means you haven't got it up to the moment of asking. Why not confess that fact? Why not import in your thinking at least? And, you know, I come out of those hymns having actually received that which I confessed I hadn't got.

This is the way. So I can only trust that the Lord will show us where we'll be not like John the Baptist, where we've been Saul's rather than Jonathan's. And so we have this study, a very fragmentary one, but though it isn't all that in order, I don't think there's any more for me to say, the man John the Baptist that was willing to be exhaled.

Well, you see, I can see all sorts of funny complications. What if the person who excels me isn't worthy? Well, that may well be. You must leave that to God. If I don't stand up for myself and insist on my position, then the work might suffer.

It will suffer much more by your having a contentious spirit. Much more. In any case, it isn't merely the man you're giving praise to, it's Jesus. And if that's what's happened, there's going to be a new release of the life and fullness of the Lord Jesus in us.

I would like to say, the man who hasn't begun to see jealousy hasn't begun. These are these beautiful transactions that could be taking place between us and Jesus. Admitting to it, I was jealous, I wanted to be first, I've been exhaled.

Praise for the blood. And bowing your head to let Jesus take over. Yes, it's the same personality or the same chassis, but a new engine. It's something inside. Very often I've still got to go on taking the lead.

Sometimes you wish somebody else was able to. But inside you say, no, I'm wrong. You take the lead. And I confess where I have been so wrong in my attitude. And so I leave with you this dear, dear man.

This lovely relationship between John the Baptist with the one who came after him and was younger than him, but was eternally preferred before him. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we do have to confess that it's been anything but true that you should increase and we decrease.