WWUTT 817 Unless It is Given Him From Heaven?

In John 3 27 John the Baptist said a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

Do you understand you have nothing except that which is given to you from God when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of his will.

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Here's your teacher Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. We come back to our study of the Gospel of John chapter 3 and picking up where we left off yesterday but I'll start by reading verse 22 through the end of the chapter.

The Apostle John wrote after this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside and he remained there with him and was baptizing.

John also was baptizing at Enon near Selim because water was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized for John had not yet been put in prison.

Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification and they came to John and said to him rabbi he who was with you across the

Jordan to whom you bore witness look he is baptizing and all are going to him.

John answered a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ but I have been sent before him.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

He must increase but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all.

He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

He bears witness to what he has seen and heard yet no one receives his testimony.

Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this that God is true for he whom

God has sent utters the words of God for he gives the spirit without measure.

The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes the son has eternal life.

Whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him.

So we come back to John's response to his disciples. They're looking at Jesus baptizing and they're going wait a second that was our thing.

We were the baptizers all right we're with the baptizer right here. John weren't you the one that baptized

Jesus and you bore witness about him yet all the people are now going to him instead of coming to us.

Shouldn't we say something about that? And John's response in verse 27 was a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

This is John saying this ministry that I do did not come from me it's not some idea I cooked up and so here we're gonna get a bunch of attention from people because we're gonna go dunk them in water okay that wasn't it wasn't

John's deal he was the fulfillment of what had been spoken about by the prophets. That there was one who was gonna come crying out in the wilderness prepare the way of the

Lord make his path straight. John said in John 123 responding to those messengers that had been sent by the

Pharisees. I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness make straight the way of the

Lord as the prophet Isaiah said. Now how did John the Baptist know that? How did he know that he was the one who was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy and it wasn't just a title that he was claiming for himself.

Well because God told him and that's what John the Baptist said this was in chapter 1 verse 33

I myself did not know him but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me he on whom you see the

Spirit descend and remain this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and I have seen and borne witness that this is the

Son of God. So John the Baptist was the last he was the last prophet

I almost called him the last Apostle that was Paul or John if you want to take it in order of those who died okay

Paul was the last Apostle appointed John the Apostle was the last

Apostle to die but the last prophet was John the Baptist he was the last prophet before the coming of Christ to whom

God spoke and said here's how you'll know the Son of God because the

Spirit of the Lord is gonna come and rest upon him and this is what John the Baptist bore witness to so this is how he knew he was the fulfillment of that Isaiah prophecy not because he decided one day hey look there's this one who's crying out in the desert prepare the way of the

Lord make his path straight I just read it here in the book of Isaiah I think I'm that guy so he went out in the wilderness saying stuff and dunking people in water that was not how that came about the

Lord God himself appointed John the Baptist to this task and so John is saying to his disciples no one receives anything unless it is given to him from above and as I tied this back into the words of Jesus yesterday this is how we receive our rebirth in Christ it comes to us from above the

Holy Spirit of God poured into our hearts and previously we were someone who was rebellious against God now we are made into a person who desires

God and wants to do his will and John will go on to say in verse 31

John the Apostle this time not the Baptist he who comes from above is above all he who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way but he who comes from heaven is above all and we have received the one

Jesus Christ who is above all so we have been born from above Jesus said

John 8 23 you are from below I am from above you are of this world

I am NOT of this world and Jesus would even respond to pilot later on in John 19 11 you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin so now we're talking about not just what we have received as far as the

Spirit is concerned as far as our salvation is concerned it's not just that that comes from above it's anything anything you have comes from above absolutely anything the house that you have that you live in that comes from above God by his sovereign hand and ordination has provided you with the things that you have the job that you have the car that you drive the family that you have all of these things are gifts from God every opportunity that you are given every daily thing that you go through all of these things have been sovereignly ordained the air that you breathe

God arranged the molecules exactly in the air for you to inhale them and gave you the lungs that you have in your body that would you know process that oxygen into energy that your body needs in order to survive all of these things come from the

Lord if God snatches the breath right out of you and you die that's also from God and so we are to give praise to God even in the midst of our worst suffering that's what we've been reading about as we've been going through Job so far as we've been in the book of Job everything was taken from him and yet he says the

Lord is given in the Lord is taken away blessed be the name of the Lord and in all of this

Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing when Job's wife told him to curse

God and die Job said you speak as one of the foolish women speak shall we receive only good from God and not also evil

Job recognizing that all things that have been given all that happens comes from God it's difficult for us to wrap our minds around because we want to attribute the bad things to Satan and the good things are only those things that come from God but this is a fallen world and why is this world of fallen why has this world been subjected to futility according to Romans 8 it's because of our sin and God is the one who subjected it to futility cursed creation because of our sin so all of the evil that happens around us is because God cursed creation because of our sinfulness so we can't say all of the bad things happen by the devil's hands and all of the good things happen by God's hand now indeed

God is working all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose that's also in Romans 8

Romans 8 28 but nonetheless you have so many difficult things that happen to you and in those moments they're they're hard they're pressing they're trying and sometimes it's evil straight -up evil that has happened to you if somebody has oppressed you in some way or or is making things difficult on you or even some huge natural disaster or calamity has fallen upon you

Al Mohler was just talking yesterday on the briefing about how there is a natural evil that exists there's certainly evil when somebody goes into a bar and kills a dozen people as we just heard about happening in California recently and then there's also a natural evil like what's going on with the fires in California and people are dying because the fires are spreading so rapidly and burning up people's homes some of those fires catching people without warning catching them by surprise and they don't have enough time to get away from the rapidly spreading fire so even this is an evil it's a natural evil it's not been perpetuated by any man so to speak but it's the result of all of creation being cursed because we are evil

God is good he is working all things out for his glory ultimately but in the moment that you go through that difficult thing there is certainly an evil a calamity that befalls you and so we we know that all of this happens from God that he has decreed from the very beginning all those things that are going to take place and there is nothing that happens outside of the sovereign intention and purpose of God God himself gave pilot his authority so that pilot would put

Jesus to death the most heinous evil that's ever been perpetuated in the history of mankind the crucifixion of the only good man there ever was

Jesus Christ the Son of God and yet as we read about in Acts chapter 4 God sovereignly appointed

Herod to the position that he was in and pilot to the position that he was in and also arranged that the

Israelites and the Romans would conspire together to kill the Son of God and this was the most incredible good that has ever done been done in the history of mankind that Jesus Christ would die laying down his own life for the forgiveness of sins so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life how how incredible is that and yet all of this happened by the providential intention of God none of this happened outside of his will it was always

God's plan that his son would come and live and die and be resurrected for the forgiveness of sins so that all who believe in him now have fellowship with God and this is all

God's doing all of this comes from above so we need to recognize that and give praise to God knowing that no matter how bad things get if we are in Christ Jesus nothing separates us from the love of God and that we will live forever with him in glory we have nothing to fear of judgment we have nothing to fear of the grave

I remember hearing RC Sproul say recently this was one of those days I was listening to ref net so it was fairly recent it wasn't recent in the sense that I heard him live because of course

RC Sproul is not with us anymore and my heart breaks for that but I appreciate how many sermons of his have been recorded and continue to be played and many teachings that he has given

I have not yet heard so I was listening to a sermon recently from Sproul from dr.

Sproul and he said that he has no fear none whatsoever no fear at all of death he has nothing to fear of death he knows exactly what's gonna happen to him when he dies he said however

I can't say that I'm not as afraid of the way that I'm gonna die there's still some anticipation there there's gonna be some discomfort there's gonna be a part of that it's not gonna be enjoyable because death is of course part of the curse but what happens at death where he goes what happens on the other side that's where Sproul has no concerns because he's placed his faith in Christ and it's by faith in Jesus Christ that we have been delivered from judgment and death has lost its sting for we will be delivered into the wonderful kingdom of God in Christ Jesus our

Lord and all of this again we get from above so we need to we need to praise

God for the thing that we have been given in Christ that no matter what happens in this fallen world and stuff will get bad in this world because it has been cursed and subjected to futility but no matter what happens in this world it doesn't take away from us the promise that we've been given in Christ and so knowing that and letting it fill our being letting the truth of God permeate us to the deepest core of ourselves means that we can rejoice no matter what happens to us we can still find joy and good in it because we know that ultimately

God is delivering us out of this mortal plight into his eternal kingdom yes things are hard yes you will grieve over the stuff that will happen in this world

I'm not saying that grief is wrong for we mourn for the fact that we're still in these corruptible bodies and we desire to be delivered from this and into an incorruptible kingdom which we have been promised in Christ we're also going to grieve when those that we love are taken away from us because that is one less saint that is in the world who can help to grow us in sanctification or if a person was an unbeliever when they die we would grieve because we know that their final end would not be the glorious kingdom of God but actually cast from his presence forever and so in that way we would also mourn we do not yet see the total perfectness of the plan of God and what he is doing his revealed will is given to us in the

Bible whatever is going to happen in the future that the Bible doesn't tell us that's God's hidden will so we must put our trust in him knowing that he is working all things together for good for his glory that we have been given salvation in Christ and it is sealed upon us for all who believe we rest in these things and continue to give him glory even in the midst of the most trying of circumstances so we must be disciplined and sanctified and learn how to rejoice in God not just when things are good but also when things are bad that takes that takes more more discipline to rejoice even in the most trying times but this is the context of Philippians 4 13

I can do all things through him who strengthens me oftentimes that verse is taken out of context to mean that we can win a marathon you know or or we can fly some insurmountable physical feat we can accomplish as long as we think that I can do all things through him who strengthens me that's not the meaning of the verse

Paul has said not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned that in whatever situation

I am to be content I'm to praise God no matter what

I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound and in any and every circumstance

I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need

I can do all things through him who strengthens me that's the context of the passage whether it's in good times or bad we have learned that our strength is

Christ and to rely fully upon him because he is the one who is going to deliver us from whatever it is that we are going through and whether that's in a time of plenty or a time of need even in the times of plenty those things are not permanent and we don't take those things with us we will leave this world which will be destroyed by fire on the day of judgment but we have this promise that we are delivered from judgment and will live forever with God in his kingdom for those who have faith in Christ Jesus all of this comes from above a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven

John 3 27 and he goes on in verse 28 to say you yourselves bear me witness that I said

I am NOT the Christ but I have been sent before him the one who has the bride is the bridegroom the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice that was the part

I said I was going to teach on today but I felt it necessary to spend more time on that a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven and we have the greatest thing and that is

Jesus Christ described in Colossians 1 18 as preeminent he is above all and we find nothing greater than what we find in Christ Jesus so now having said that I'll talk about the bride and the bridegroom tomorrow hoping to finish out

John chapter 3 this week let's conclude with prayer our wonderful God we thank you for the salvation we've been given in Christ it is the greatest thing you have given your son

John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life there is absolutely nothing that we could receive in this world that's greater than that there is nothing lacking in us if we have

Christ that we need something of this world to fill up what is lacking we have every good thing given to us in Christ especially fellowship with God and so we understand the instruction that Jesus gave in Matthew 6 seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added to you

God knows that you need them and he will give them to you if he cares for sparrows how much more will he care for you oh you of little faith the convicting words of Christ so where we have belief now help our unbelief and store up in us an understanding of what it is that Christ has done for us and what he is continuing to do for us being there at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us on our behalf he came not to be served but to serve and yet he is still doing that serving us even now in heaven before the

Father come quickly Lord Jesus deliver us from this world and may we finish steadfast and strong as we walk through the gates of your eternal kingdom by the grace of God in the name of Jesus we pray amen thank you for listening to when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes if you'd like to support this ministry visit our website www .tt

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