Good morning church,
Today I want to briefly share from John the Baptist's ministry. We have not much of his message/preaching but this passage is quite an eye opener.
First note that John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin and was born 6 months before Jesus. His job was to prepare the Jews for the coming Messiah. He was a forerunner. John baptized Jesus at the beginning of his ministry and bare him witness. He told all that Jesus was the Messiah he was preaching about
John 3:25-30King James Version (KJV)
25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.From this passage, John's ministry continued well past Jesus' ministry. There was some overlap until John was beheaded. Some Jews observed that Jesus was pulling more crowds than John and they raised this with John. Remember John went out before Jesus so he was well known before Jesus came along.
John's response is my focus today. First, he reminds them that disciples, followers come from God so he is not worried if God gives Jesus more than him. You have no idea how envious ministers of the gospel get over each other. Say there are national prayers and one minister prays.the rest feel slighted. One builds a 5,000 seater and the rest just can't stomach it...and so forth. It is God who gives followers. If your pastor is constantly comparing themselves to other men, they are not following Christ.
Next, John reminds them that as he had always insisted, he was not the Messiah, just his forerunner. John's job was to draw men to Jesus not to himself. That should be the job of every minister, pointing men to Christ and not themselves. A minister should not seek to build a dependence on themselves, they should be glad that men are going to Christ, they are growing in truth, they no longer bug you with prayer requests because you have taugh them to pray, they no longer run to you for doctrinal essentials because they have learnt and are being taught of the Holy Spirit. This is not to mean that there should be no teachers of the word, but the congregation ought to quote scriptures more than your cliches.
Finally, John concluded that Jesus MUST increase while John decreased that is in prominence. At personal level, it should be our joy when men see more of Christ in U.S. So much as they can conclude we are Christians without us even saying so-Acts 4:13. At corporate/congregation level, I believe Christ and His word should gain prominence over any personality and Their teachings.
As a Christian, is Christ increasing in you?
Have a Christ filled Lord's Day even as we worship YHWH in the beauty of His holiness(Ps 96:9)
Topic: Let's Pray (Read 7540 times)