He must increase, but I must decrease. And this is about the increasing of Jesus Christ, and it's about the minister decreasing. It's about the fading recognition of the preacher, and it's about the increasing glory of Jesus Christ.

And those words right there in verse 30 are basically the establishment of the first law of ministry. The first law of ministry is humility.

Humility. That's the first law. I must decrease. Christ must increase. He has to be exalted. I am to be diminished, okay?

And this is consistent with what Peter says in 1 Peter. He says that humble yourselves and be clothed in humility.

That's what Peter says. And Peter's talking to shepherds and ministers, pastors.

Humble yourself and be clothed in humility. And, of course, the greatest model, of course, of this is in Philippians chapter 2.

And though eternally equal with God, it says that Jesus thought it not something to hold on to, but humbled himself, took on the form of a slave or a servant, and became obedient.

And so, in a sense, obviously, he hid his own glory for the glory of the Father.

And if we're not exalting Christ, we're missing the mark. Amen?

Amen? Somebody wake up with me this morning, okay?

Listen, people who elevate themselves in the ministry are graceless.

They are graceless. And I say that. This is important because James 4 says that God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud.

God gives grace to the humble, but he rejects the proud.

So, I don't have any desire in my life to be a graceless minister.

And the path of exalting Christ is the only path that any faithful minister would desire to pursue.

And so, from last week, I must decrease.

That's what John the Baptist is saying.

But I want to go to point number two this week, and that is, he must increase.

He must increase.

And now, we're going to be looking, again, at verses 31 through 36.

It's a very important set of verses because it focuses on the preeminence of Christ and why he's preeminent.

We can talk about the preeminence of Christ, but we need to know why.

This is foundational for you so that you can have a testimony for what you believe, what you say you believe.

And it's more important than just a simple statement when we say that he must increase.

Because embedded in verses 31 through 36 is a full Christology.

It's the full doctrine of Christ.

The doctrine of Christ is revealed in these verses in very profound terms.

And John gives us five reasons why Christ must be the focus of the ministry and not the minister.

Why Christ, why he establishes the supremacy of Christ in all of this.

And it's so rich.

I wish we had time to develop all of it.

But we'll kind of go through it along and along as best we can this morning.

And I just want to add one other footnote here before we begin.

I am fully convinced.

I'm fully convinced that the power to proclaim Christ comes from Scripture.

Alright?

The power to proclaim Christ.

It's not about the cleverness of the pastor.

It's not about him using great illustrations or anything like that.

It's not about evoking emotion out of people.

The power to convince people concerning the identity of Jesus Christ comes from Scripture.

That's where it comes from.

So what we're going to do this morning is we're going to start here.

And then I'm going to give you some comparative Scriptures to get a full sense of the presentation.

Of Christ.

Is it hot in here this morning or is it me?

It's just me?

Stink.

I was hoping you'd say that.

Alright.

Now remember, the whole Gospel of John, okay, is written that you might have, that you might know who Christ is.

And have faith to believe that Jesus is the Christ.

And that believing in his name, you would have life.

Right?

You would have life.

So, we want you to believe in Jesus Christ, who he claimed to be, because believing in Jesus Christ brings you eternal life.

It brings you salvation.

And that's all the focus of the Gospel of John.

And it's no different right here in this section of Scripture.

Here, the testimony is not from John the Apostle, as I said.

It's from John the Baptist, recorded by John the Apostle.

So, in a sense, John the Apostle calls on the testimony from John the Baptist that is consistent with the whole book.

Thank you.

I mean, he had a supernatural understanding of this. John the Baptist then continues his testimony to his disciples and to those who have come back and he affirms the preeminence of Christ and he dispenses with himself in the previous verses and now he lifts up Jesus Christ. And the first reason that John is saying why this is so important in understanding the doctrine of Christ is that he,

Jesus, he has a heavenly origin. Jesus has a heavenly origin. In the New Testament, at the very beginning, you start with Matthew and you can't get very far in the first chapter and you have the word coming from heaven and you have a dream and you have an angel.

Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child has been conceived in her through the Holy Spirit. She will bear to you a son. You shall call his name Jesus. He will save his people from their sins. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son. You shall call his name Emmanuel, which means translated God with us.

So, the divine origin of the Son of God, the Son of Man is clearly notated in Matthew 1, right off the bat. And we get the same thing in Luke chapter 1 as well too. The announcement. Jesus has a heavenly origin. Okay? And so with that in mind, let's look at verse 31 of chapter 3.

He who comes from above is above all. All right? Now, when he says the earth right there, he simply means the planet. All right? If you were translating the words in there, it's earthly life. There's no moral connotation to this. He doesn't say cosmos here. If he said cosmos, that would have a moral connotation.

But he's just saying earth. And so what he means is simply saying that any earthly human being is of this earth. They're from the earth. And it speaks of the earth. But he who comes from above, from heaven, is above all.

And so, and that's only one person who's ever come from above. Everyone else has come from earth. All of us have come from earth. There's only one person who is from heaven.

And this is John the Baptist saying this, okay? As Jesus called him, the greatest human being that ever lived, right?

John is saying this. But all of us fall into this category. We are all from the earth. All of us speaking from a human standpoint.

And therein lies our limitation. And therein lies the purpose and the reason why we should have humility.

We're from the earth. Anyone here not from the earth? I know I met some of you and I think, well, you're from another place, man.

Okay, but that's not what we're talking about. Okay, but it's from the earth, okay?

But on the other hand, he says, he who comes from above is above all.

He says that at the beginning of the verse and at the end of the verse.

Now, John, John the Baptist was very human, all right?

As strong as his testimony to Christ was, as strong as his testimony in this passage to his followers,

who were trying to, remember, bait him into jealousy, he affirms, I'm not the Messiah, but I know who is.

And it's not me.

And yet, when he's in prison, he has this great testimony.

But remember, when he's in prison, and he's languishing in prison, very likely coming to the end of his life,

Matthew 11 records that he sends his disciples to Jesus, and he says, hey, go ask Jesus a question.

He says, ask him, are you the expected one, or do we need to wait for someone else?

Wow.

I mean, this is, this is John, this is from John the Baptist, the guy who affirmed Christ, who was there at his baptism,

saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him, heard the voice from heaven, makes this testimony,

the very man who's going to give us this Christology right here, he's got questions about Christ?

Man, that should give us a lot of encouragement, shouldn't it?

I mean, has any of you seen the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus Christ?

Were any of you there at his baptism when all this took place?

All the, all these things?

Well,

That is, I think, the testimony to John's earthliness. Even the best of men, even the greatest prophets have elements of fallenness that show up as in doubts in our lives. Have you ever had a doubt in your life? Where is God in the midst of all of this? As strong as your faith was, was this day over here today, I find myself saying, I don't know where God is in all this. God's not answering my prayer. God don't feel God.

God here. I don't sense God here. Man, that should bring encouragement to our lives. When we wrestle with these things in, in our own lives. That even John the Baptist had this, okay? But Jesus, listen, Jesus is of a completely different nature because he has a completely different origin. Completely different. He had no human father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And that's, that's how a divine

person passed into the body of a human person passed into the body of a human. He had a heavenly origin. He is from above. From above. And by the way, the language that's used right there is the same language that's used in John chapter 3 when he says that you must be born from above in a spiritual sense. You, to be regenerated by God and be part of his kingdom. Heavenly origin then becomes a very, very important part of Jesus' testimony.

You need to understand this in understanding who Jesus is and why it's important, okay? Why this is important in the doctrine of Christ. Let me show you something. In John chapter 6, verses 33, Jesus has just fed the massive crowds with all the loaves and the fish. And he's teaching a great sermon on himself as the bread of life. All right? But notice a few things that he says in John 6. In verse 33, he says,

For the bread of God, the bread of God, he's speaking of himself, is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Verse 38,

For I have come down from heaven. Verse 50, this is the bread which comes down from heaven. Verse 51, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Verse 58,

This is the bread which came down from heaven. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room, does it? And it's very important. Jesus Christ, he came down from heaven, clearly distinguishing him from earth-born people, which constitutes every last one of us.

That he's different. And John then understands the divine origin of Christ. He is the uncreated Son of God who entered into a human form, into a human body in his incarnation.

Meaning that God became a man. He was fully man, yet fully God when we say incarnation.

And that's the first point of John's Christology. Establishing the superiority of Jesus Christ.

He has a heavenly origin. John has a second point in this as well too.

Okay? Reasons why he must increase.

Why we must exalt Christ.

And the reason why Christ must be exalted and the minister must decrease.

And it's found in the subsequent point.

Look in verse 32 of chapter 3.

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

So, he came from heaven.

If he came from heaven, then he has seen things and he has heard things that we have not.

Are you with me?

He has seen things and heard things that we have not.

This is to say, the second point, he knows, Jesus knows, from first-hand divine experience.

I mean, it's mind-blowing, isn't it?

It's mind-blowing that John even knows this.

Now, we know that he knows everything.

Because remember back in chapter 2, verses 32 through 33, he says that he's omniscient.

He even knows the thoughts of every human being.

Remember, we went through all that?

He's omniscient.

Listen, this sets him apart from everybody else.

Everything that we know, somebody had to teach us.

Somebody had to teach us.

Okay?

And so, we need information.

And then He spoke, Hebrews 1, by His Son. I mean, it lays it out for us, right? Okay? So, either God speaks to us through His prophets, or through the writers of the Scripture, or He speaks to us through His Son. But He has to speak to us, because we have no knowledge of heavenly things. We have no knowledge of heavenly things. Jesus says back in verse 11 of chapter 3,

Truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, I say to you, that we speak of what we know, and we testify of what we have seen. That's first-hand knowledge. He has first-hand knowledge. And He calls these things, in verse 12, He has first-hand knowledge of what? Heavenly things. First-hand knowledge. So, in referring to Jesus Christ, everything begins with the understanding that He has a different origin than all of us. He's from heaven. He's from above. And then moves to an understanding that He has knowledge of all things.

He has complete omniscience. He knows everything. And the fact that He knows everything, He has first-hand experience. He didn't acquire this knowledge. Nobody taught Jesus or any of this. So, 1 John affirms the superiority of Christ because of His divine origin. And then He's omniscient. And He knows what God knows for all of eternity. That's crazy, isn't it? Jesus knows what God has known for all of eternity.

I mean, that makes your head spin just to think about that. And so, but the third point is very important in this Christology, in this doctrine of Christ. And that is this. Listen, anyone who affirms Christ, affirms that God is true.

All right? The truthfulness of God is bound up in the affirmation of Christ.

The truthfulness of God is bound up in the affirmation of Christ. Look at verse 33 of chapter 3.

Whoever receives his testimony, sets his seal to this, that God is true.

Now, this is a very important aspect of this doctrine, this Christology.

Anyone who affirms Christ, affirms that God is true.

There are, now, backing up to the end of verse 32, there are some who did receive his testimony, okay?

When it says that no one received his testimony, that's a general statement, okay?

It's not exclusive. There were some who received his testimony.

But verse 33 is such an economy of words to say something so profound in here.

You know, does God speak truth? Is God true?

God is true, and God cannot lie.

We understand that, right?

God is truth personified.

God is truth personified.

And if that is so, then you have to believe in Jesus Christ.

Why? Because God sent an angel.

And God said, this child is Emmanuel, God with us.

And this is Jesus who will save his people from their sins.

God sent an angel.

Because God said, this is my son.

This is my son.

God spoke at his baptism.

This is my son in whom I am well pleased.

God spoke at the transfiguration.

This is my beloved son.

Listen to him.

And if you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God, then God lied.

You with me on that?

So don't come to me with some patronizing statement about, oh, I believe in God.

I believe there's a God.

I believe there's a God.

But I don't know about this whole Jesus thing and this whole, he was born of a virgin, this, that, and the other.

No, no, no.

Listen.

If you reject Jesus Christ, then you affirm that God is a liar.

Wow, that's harsh.

No, it's not harsh.

You're affirming that God is a liar.

Contrary to what it says right here in the scriptures, he who receives the testimony concerning Christ sets his seal to this, that God is true.

God is true.

You can't say God is true, but reject Jesus Christ.

You can't do that.

But the Jewish people think that they affirm the God of the Old Testament.

They speak of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

They speak of the Old Testament God of this, of the scripture.

But their God is a liar.

Their God is a liar because it's...

crucified, pierced, wounded for our transgressions for his people, Isaiah 53. Every single prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled by Jesus Christ is a point at which either you either validate that God is speaking truth or God is lying. You cannot reject Christ and say that God speaks truth. I know it seems harsh, but it's not harsh. It was God who said, this is my beloved son. And if it's not God's son, then guess what?

God's a liar. John writes in one of his later epistles in 1 John chapter 5. He says, it's a very important statement that John continues on this theme that, that he is who he says he is and must, you got to believe in him to have eternal life. He says, whoever believes in the son of God has this testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe has made God a liar.

Well, I didn't make God a liar, man, don't pin that on me. You just made him a liar when you rejected Jesus Christ.

Because you have not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his son. It is inescapable.

It's inescapable. You don't have the right to say that I believe there's a God and that I don't believe and then reject, reject Christ.

Christ. If Christ is not who God says he is, we are all in serious trouble.

We're all in serious trouble. I mean, the clearest identification ever spoke of was a lie.

I mean, you ever think about that? And if God is a liar by nature, then take your Bibles and throw them in the trash on the way out.

Throw out your Old Testament. Throw it all away.

You cannot reject Christ and affirm that God is true.

If God is true, then everything he has said about Christ is true.

And Christ is who he says he is and provides eternal life that provides that eternal life that he declared that he would.

You with me?

And this becomes another one of John's themes in John 7, 16.

It says, so Jesus answered them and said, very basic statement, my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

I mean, reject me and you're rejecting God.

That's what Jesus is saying.

You know, call me a liar and you're calling God a liar.

We are connected.

We are connected.

I mean, in chapter 5 is maybe the most potent statement.

And you could pick it up maybe around verse 19 or so.

Jesus is talking about his relationship to the Father.

And he says that the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

Jesus is saying, me and God, we have common knowledge.

We have common life, common action, common words, common works, all these things, all the things that the Son does.

And then he sums it up and he speaks this in 5, 23, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

End of story.

Pretty simple, right?

Reject the Son, you've rejected the Father.

That's why the writers, listen, that's why the writers of the epistles in the New Testament always begin,

they say, they refer to God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Meaning that the God that we believe in is the God who is one with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You cannot separate the two.

You can't separate them.

And if you try to separate them and end up with something other than that, guess what that is?

That is blasphemy.

Here's one of those feel-good messages this morning, right?

You're going to tickle everyone's fancy and you're going to go home and eat some brunch and say,

wow, I would feel so encouraged on that, right?

That was awesome, okay?

Listen, in John 14, Jesus says,

do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

And the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority,

but the Father who dwells in me does his works?

I mean, it's very important.

Why you keep laboring over it?

This is important for us to know.

in John's doctrine, his Christology. And this right here speaks of Jesus' Trinitarian relationships. Look at verse 34 with me. Back in chapter 3. For he whom God has sent, utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. Verse 34 reveals to us this. Jesus,

Jesus, Jesus, he possessed full Holy Spirit presence. Full Holy Spirit presence, okay? So why do we exalt Christ? We know where his origin. He's from heaven. And he's omniscient. He's eternally omniscient. He knows everything. He didn't have to be taught anything, okay? And we exalt him for who the Father said he was and promised the Son and who the Father said he was.

The Father affirmed. And when we agree with God, we embrace Christ. But then this. He possesses the Holy Spirit in full presence. What a great statement in verse 34. For he whom God has sent, utters the words of God. That's the same point that he was making there in verse 33. And it really should have been part of verse 33. And verse 34 should just say, for he gives the Spirit without measure. Okay? But one of the ministries of the Spirit, of course, was to

bring the words of the Father through the Son. All right? Everything that Jesus did in his ministry was the work of the Holy Spirit. That's why in Matthew chapter 12, when they call Jesus satanic, he doesn't say, why do you blaspheme me? He says, why do you blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

Why? Because part of his incarnation was to become human. Part of his incarnation was to restrict the independent use of his abilities. Part of his incarnation was to yield over his will to the operation of the Holy Spirit in true humility.

Okay? Now, listen. If you remember, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember, at birth, it says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. And from the very time he was conceived, the Holy Spirit took special care of John the Baptist. His ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit, but not to the degree that he was given, that Jesus was given.

Jesus Christ was given. Jesus Christ was given the Holy Spirit, it says, the Spirit without measure. Without measure. That means what? It means immeasurably. What does immeasurably mean? It means infinitely to the level of his

infinite deity. Infinitely to the level of his infinite deity. So what you have in Jesus Christ is God the Son, who is equal to God the Father in his fullness.

Who is equal to God the Holy Spirit in his fullness. This is astonishing terms. Without measure. Without limit. Without boundaries. Without any border.

And this is mind-blowing. That John gets this. And if you remember back in chapter 1, John testifies, I think beginning in verse 32, he says,

And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, said to me,

He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and shall remain. This is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

So there, symbolically, is the coming of the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus. But that is only an external demonstration of what was an internal, eternal, permanent union in the Trinity.

That was only given for our benefit, is what I'm saying. Okay?

The fact that the Holy Spirit came and rested. Jesus wasn't missing the Holy Spirit until that happened.

All right? He's one with the Holy Spirit. He is God the Father. He is Jesus Christ. He is the Holy Spirit.

Well, he was fully man too? Yes. How did all that work? I don't know.

I'm not God. Praise God.

And he states it this way. That in him, in Jesus, dwells the fullness of the Godhead boldly. Wow. He is the Son. He is the Father. He is the Holy Spirit all in one. Wow. That's our Jesus. All in one. So, if he is the Father, if he is the Son, he is the Holy Spirit all in one.

Why would you ever exalt the minister? Why? You know, I praise God that I feel, I can feel the Holy Spirit really rise up in me at times.

And I feel the anointing of God. I see it in our worship at times. But in that, that is only a fingernail.

We don't have the full presence of the Holy Spirit all the time in our lives. But we know one who does. His name is Jesus.

That's why we're to make him all in all and everything else pales in comparison. Are you with me?

That's why the ministers should decrease and that who we lift up should increase. We make much of him day by day, moment by moment. He deserves it.

And the church breaks out in revival.

Thank you, Chuck.

Oh my goodness.

Let's skip all that.

Let's get to the fifth and final point that John makes in trying to establish the doctrine of Christ, the Christology here.

And the fifth point is this, is that Jesus, he has received all authority from the Father.

That's the other reason why the doctrine of Christ is so solidified here.

Look at verse 35.

I'm flipping pages like crazy.

Sorry.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

John understands the whole of redemption.

John understands the whole of creation, the creation of the material world, the creation of the immaterial world, the plan of redemption.

And it's, listen, it's all about the Father loving the Son and creating a universe in which he can redeem humanity and give a bride to his Son as a love gift.

How does John get that, man?

How does he understand that?

Knowledge that comes down from heaven, that is descended upon him.

How do you ever get a revelation about a passage of Scripture?

How do you ever get a revelation about a moment that you, or a decision you need to make for you and your family, your marriage, your relationships?

Worship's the Holy Spirit.

You don't have the fullness, otherwise you'd walk in that all the time.

You'd scare everybody to death, right?

But John has a full understanding of the plan of God to create and to regenerate.

It's amazing.

To regenerate the heavens, to regenerate the earth, to regenerate falling sinners and gather them all together and give it as an expression of his love to his Son.

It's a staggering grasp of this truth.

In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tries to capture some of these things with some amazing language.

Ephesians 1 has one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture.

But starting around verse 20, he talks about he who raised from the dead.

And he says this about him.

He is far above all rule and all authority and all power and dominion and every name that is named, not only this age, but also in the one to come.

He puts all things in subjection under his feet and given him as head over all things.

He is head over all things.

He is...

You want the full measure? Guess what? It only comes from God. You want the fullness of God? Guess what? It only comes through Jesus Christ.

God's eternal love relationship with the Son results in this. Listen, this is huge, okay? And giving his Son, God's love relationship with his Son results in giving his Son all of his creation in its final form.

All that God's created, he's going to give it to his Son, all that God's created, he's going to give it to his Son in its final form. Guess what? Guess what Jesus gets? He gets the new heavens. He gets the new earth. He gets redeemed humanity. All of it is given as his love gifts to the Son.

You want to understand deep theology? Bam! There it is.

That's some deep stuff. That's some deep stuff. John understands this. The full Christology. And so he closes with an invitation.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son does not see life.

But the wrath of God remains on him.

And by the way, why does he go from believing to obeying?

Because to believe on the Son is a command.

The Gospel is a command.

It's not an option. It's not a suggestion.

He who believes in the Son has obeyed the command.

You know, he who does not believe in the Son

disobeyed the command.

He who doesn't obey the Son

shall not see life, but the eternal wrath

rests upon him.

So you and I,

we got a choice.

Eternal life or eternal wrath.

Eternal hell.

So John the Baptist ends up

a Gospel preacher.

There at the end.

He's a Gospel preacher right there at the end.

And these are the last words that are spoken,

recorded in the Scripture by John the Baptist.

He's a Gospel preacher.

He says, you know what?

Believe and you have eternal life.

What does that say?

Doesn't that sound like John 3.16?

Believe and you have eternal life.

Fail to believe

in disobedience,

you will not see life,

but you will

see eternal wrath.

And so the last message

of the voice of one who's crying

in the wilderness

is over.

He's finished.

It goes silent.

And you know what?

Not long after this,

John has a sad ending,

and I'll just read it to you here.

Because in Matthew 14,

John is,

Herod has John arrested.

He arrests John

because he's publicly preaching

against Herod's immorality

in his illicit marriage.

Okay?

So Herod arrests John.

He binds him up

and throws him in prison

because of Herodias.

And Herodias is the wife

of his brother Philip.

And that was the immorality.

You know,

he had literally seduced

his brother's wife

and married her.

And John's been saying to him,

man,

it's unlawful for you

to do this mess, man.

You can't do this.

And although Herod

wanted to put him to death,

he was afraid to

because the crowd

viewed John

as some big prophet.

But when Herod's birthday came,

which was really just an excuse

for debauchery

and drinking

and orgies

and all that stuff,

the daughter of Herodias,

danced before Herod

in such a seductive way

that it pleased him

so much so

that he gives her

a promise

that I'll give you

whatever you want.

And having been prompted

by her mother,

she says,

give me the head

of John the Baptist

on a platter.

Verse 9,

And the king was sorry,

but because of his oaths

and his guests,

he commanded it to be given.

He sent and had John

beheaded in the prison,

and his head was brought

on a platter

and given to the girl,

and she brought it

to her mother.

What a sweet daughter,

right?

I mean,

and she said,

Jesus said, Jesus said, the greatest human being that ever lived, which is John the Baptist, for him, for his life to be ended. And his disciples come, take his body, and they went and told Jesus. And this is how it was for the preacher. This is how it was. But John was a sad, he died a satisfied man. John's joy was made full. Why?

Because he just decreased. Because he just decreased. And Christ increased. He's beheaded. They come and take his body. And guess what happens to John's disciples? We got nowhere else to go. So where are we going to go? We're going to follow Jesus. And God continues to sovereignly work things out, making the preeminence of Christ so apparent to all.

And these disciples begin to grow and grow. And these disciples begin to grow and grow. Jesus' notoriety continues to grow and grow. The controversy behind Jesus continues to grow and grow. And it all culminates on the cross at Calvary, where his beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased, gave up his life for all who would call upon his name.

All. Anyone. All. Anyone. That anyone who would call upon my name. And believe. Repent from their ways. And walk in this new way. Would have life. And have it everlasting.

Lasting. What a doctrine. And in that, in that, all of us who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will one day in glory receive our crown. Receive our crown. And we will lay it at the feet of Jesus.

Jesus. And in that, Jesus will receive us as a love gift from the Father. Made in his image. Redeemed. Redeemed. Regenerated. We are a new creation.

And we will be before Jesus Christ only because of the faithfulness of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

God. That is so rich.

John understood and walked in the first law of ministry.

The first law of ministry.

You want to be used of God in your daily life?

You want to be used of God in your workplace?

You want to be used of God in your marriage?

You want to be used of God in school?

You want to be used of God on the golf course?

You want to be used of God driving in traffic?

Some of you say, no, I'll skip that one.

Humility.

Humility.

Man, it is a lost art today to walk in true humility.

You know, it's an easy road.

You know why?

Because there's not a lot of traffic on it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Praise God for the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ that is revealed to us through his scripture over and over and over again.

Worship team, come on up.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Let's do this this morning.

Scripture tells us that we will overcome by what?

Come on.

The blood of the lamb and the word of our testimonies.

Amen.

By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimonies.

Anybody here today got something you'd like to overcome in your world, in your life?

Okay, I'm the only one.

That's good.

That's good.

That's good.

That's good.

That's been done.

That's a done deal.

That's sealed.

That's sealed.

For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, that's sealed.

How about the encouragement of the testimony of the goodness of God?

How about the encouragement that we receive regarding the testimony of the goodness of God?

So, right there where you are this morning, you don't even have to stand up.

Oh my goodness, he's going to put us on the spot.

So, not really, not unless you want to be on the spot.

I'd like to join you.

Can somebody give a witness to how you experience, although we don't get the fullness of the Holy Spirit,

you have sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit and you have experienced the goodness of God in your life this past week or two.

Something is going on and we can give God praise for that.

And you never know what you are praising God for may be the very thing that helps somebody else be an overcomer as well, too.

Anybody who just wants to share where you are, just raise your hand.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Testimony to the goodness of the Lord.

Thank you.