Men's Bible Study | Oct. 5, 2021 | Compass Bible Church

uh thank you the curse thank you for the cause and tenderness she and on his shoulders is [Music] oh grace that brought me to the photo of he died for me while i was [Music] i've never heard a sweeter voice good evening gentlemen another wonderful turnout thank you all for coming we got a heads up on the flame broiler one of my favorites so i was i decided to go ahead and do the announcements because i would be fed and uh we'll get fed later also so this is great uh you still got the announcements on your table for the men's conference so for everyone who procrastinates to the last minute to sign up congratulations it's the last minute to sign up the uh the conference sign ups end on friday so i'm going to recommend that you scan the cube on the back and just work your way through or or just go to the website and sign up we're going to have preaching we're going to have food we're going to have activities all jam-packed into kind of a day and a half and i promise you you will be blessed uh we also have and and again that's on october 22nd and 23rd so it's coming up we gotta sign up and then just go and enjoy it i wore the t-shirt you get a free t-shirt i don't know what it looks like but you get another cool one like this not as cool as the golf shirts but you know it's a little less expensive than that so yeah sign up uh baptisms it wasn't on my first list but i did want to make sure that i got the date right for you guys november 20th and 21st be obedient to christ you know he works all these things together we're able to study jesus's disciples and john the baptism busy baptizing people this week and next month it's time for you if you haven't done it so um hopefully we'll get some more insight into what was happening in the baptisms and christ in john the baptist time tonight and speaking of our our message tonight we have a special guest for us he's one of our own pastors he has a degree in biblical ex thank you from the masters university he's also uh pursuing his masters of dfinity at southern pastor southern baptist theological ceremony seminary i don't know why i'm so tongue-tied they get chris you want to come up here don't give it away in case he doesn't know but he's also a big yankees fan so did you want to know the score pastor john all right he hasn't been looking so we're gonna keep that a secret and um he also heads up our uh seventh and eighth grade ministry called the narrow and my wife susan and i really enjoy his dbr snapshot and mo see there's other fans there's uh if you go on to instagram and you go to the narrow cbc i don't know my wife knows how to get there but it's on instagram and he gives a great synopsis of the dvr every day and we find it very insightful and we're surprised that a young man has such strong biblical knowledge and it's really helpful to us as we work through our dvr every every morning so check that out it's called the dbr snapshot and you can find it through instagram the narrow cbc so without further ado um i want to bring up here pastor john fabarez let's pray heavenly father we're just so thankful for this evening that we can get together and enjoy and learn about your word we just pray that these men here take the example of john the baptist and declare christ calling out loudly in the wilderness being obedient to christ being deferential to christ and may we just learn from that example and put that into our own lives and so we just pray that this message helps quicken us to uh encourage us to do those type of things we pray this in jesus name amen amen well thanks for having me tonight guys it is a blessing to be here in men's bible study i looked and the last time i did men's bible study was february 2020 so nothing has changed since then everything is exactly the same um not quite one thing that's changed a lot i don't know if you noticed this but the restaurant industry has changed a little bit um the restaurants that you find at the elisaville town center are not the same ones i'm actually bummed out one of my favorite restaurants macaroni grill seems to be gone have you guys noticed that macaroni grill's gone yeah it's gone i think it's i mean the building's still there but i mean it's gone i think they're trying to sell it and there's not much to complain about with macaroni grill i actually like that place a lot but there's one thing i did not prefer about that place because it was one of those types of restaurants where the waiters and the waitresses tried to sing to you do you want your wives like to go there but you don't like to go there right do you like to be sung to on your birthday no yes no right that's the mainland says no are you kidding me no i don't like to be stung to on my birthday um so that's one thing that i didn't really like about macaroni grill um i'm bummed that they're gone but it's interesting because if you are at a restaurant and you're a really good singer but you're a really bad waiter or bad waitress i don't really care that you're a good singer and and working for me if you can hit a high g but you cannot refill my drink i'm not going to be that impressed right because their main job is to deliver food right that's their one job and if they're not doing the one job that they're supposed to do you feel it and when people are working for you you have a very keen sense of people not doing their job whether it's your electrician or your plumber or your waiter or waitress if they're not doing their main job you feel it well tonight we're looking at a man who had a job a singular job you know him as john the baptist and the thing about his life and his role in his ministry is there's something of his life and role of ministry that we share today we don't have the same exact ministry the same exact role but there's something in common that i want to look at basically john the baptist's role was to promote jesus christ it was to lift him high exalt him it was to serve him and furthermore it was to tell other people to direct their attention to him well that's a job that we share and we got to do it well because it is our main job here on this planet so if you would love to i'd love for you to look at john chapter 3 with us together john 3 verse 22 is where we're starting tonight john 3 22. we just study that big long text last week pastor pj did john 3 1-21 talking about nicodemus and jesus that conversation they have in the middle of the night it comes to him at night and all the time in the gospel of john night is significant darkness even light and darkness is a big theme nicodemus comes at night they have this conversation about being born again that's the main theme and then he says hey for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him is not going to perish but going to have eternal life and then there's some explanation on that verse 22 says after this so after this conversation jesus and his disciples went into the judean countryside so remember where they are they're in jerusalem they go outside the city they're in los angeles they go to palmdale or barstow if they don't like their lives even more right they're going far out of the countryside why well there's people that are still there i mean it's not the metropolis but there are people there there's things going on it says he was there with them and he remained with them and was baptizing now be careful about that because chapter 4 says it wasn't jesus that was actually doing the physical act of baptizing it seems like it was the disciples but jesus was overseeing a ministry of repentance similar to john's it says in verse 23 jesus or john was also baptizing at a known near salim which was up in the northern region of judea really it was actually on the west side you might have looked this up in your questions before but it's on the west side of the jordan river just south of the region of galilee so we are far away from judea at this point it's the outskirts jesus was in judea john was up north a little bit it says there was water plentiful water there you could even look it up today there's some springs some hot springs some some places for water to come out there so that's why we think we know where this is verse 24 says for john had not yet been put in prison i want you to stop there and think about that why is that there it's in parentheses in your bible obviously there's no parentheses in the original greek why is that there well because it assumes that you know something it assumes that you know mark chapter 1 which says after jesus is baptized by john and after he's tempted then jesus starts his ministry in galilee and john was already in prison so this is actually a helpful thing for us that this little verse verse 24 is in this text because it tells us that what we've just been studying john 1 2 3 and part 4 took place before jesus started his public ministry in galilee that's what it seems to point to so it also assumes that you know the synoptic gospels and also think about it it's one of the indicators that we have that this gospel is the latest gospel that we have because it assumes that we know what happens in matthew mark and luke and he's clarifying verse 25 says now a discussion or a dispute an argument arose between some of john's disciples and a jew over purification now there's not much about purification here but if you have been keeping track and you have a bible software or whatever you can look up that word purification and you've seen it come up time and time again in john 1 2 and 3. think about john 2 we've got jesus turning water into wine what does he use what's the what's the object what are they using they're using jars of purification then at the end of the chapter what does jesus go to do he goes to the temple and what does he do purifies the temple then he says you have to be born again regenerated what is that a symbol of well purification right so clearly there's talk of purification i think john wants us to see that here we don't know what the question was also if you know anything about john the baptist and some other writings about him you know that some people like to peg him with the essenes i'm not sure about that not sure if he's really involved with them but they were highly committed to getting all the purification stuff right so it just makes sense that john the baptizer has some question about purification but look at what verse 26 says it's not what you would expect this question it says 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 it's like weren't we just talking about purification now they're just complaining about how popular jesus is right so it seems like this question has something to do with jesus what's jesus doing what is this baptism all about and without getting into it too much hopefully you know basically that baptism was this right that was used even before the time of jesus to signify that you're joining this different group it's a symbol right it doesn't do anything inherently with the water i mean some people believe that it does i don't think it was ever intended to do anything like that but it was a symbolic representation that you are in a new group now you're different now john was baptizing people what was that baptism of repentance you're going to be a new person now so clearly purification baptism it's important and he says everyone's going after jesus now i know you probably haven't thought about being john the baptist lately um but i want you to put yourself in his shoes whatever his shoes were right sandals and camel skin right eating locusts and honey right well put yourself in his shoes your followers are coming up to you and saying hey everyone's leaving us and going to him you see the problem here it could tug at your pride i think there's a temptation that john has right here but look what he does immediately he says he answers verse 27 john answered a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven that's his response when his small group is getting smaller and that small group across the street's getting bigger when his church is reducing and the other church is getting bigger what does he say well it's not like any of those people were mine i mean my whole point here as he's about to elaborate further is to point people away from me he's the herald right you've seen that picture right the herald comes into the town announces the king is coming the king is coming right once the king comes into town right what's the herald supposed to do right just i guess keep pointing people to the king and when he's here he fades to the background that's basically what's happening here in john chapter three john the baptist fades to the background what can we learn about his humility what can we learn about his attitude look what he keeps on saying it says yourselves bear me witness you know that i said i am not the christ i am whenever you're in john you see i am it's interesting because there's a very clear emphasis in this gospel on the fact that jesus is the i am yahweh of the old testament and even in this text you're like well it doesn't say i am like that well it's emphatic eggo at me that's in this text too it's me eggo in this text but it's still there it doesn't need to be there why john is making a point john the baptist is not the christ he's not god and in contrast he's saying but the other one is i'm not the christ but i have been sent before him gives an analogy in verse 29 the one who has the bride is the bridegroom the friend of the bridegroom we might call that a groomsman today we're the best man he stands and hears him and rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is now complete he says i am not the groom here i'm not the one that's getting married to the people of god so to speak right there's such rich language if you know your old testament you know oftentimes the people of god are compared to the bride i think of jeremiah what's the whole problem at the beginning of jeremiah the people of god have forsaken their marriage covenant to god they've cheated on god right very clear in the old testament also isaiah chapter 54 verse 5 says your maker is your husband the lord of host is his name the holy one of israel is your redeemer the god of the whole earth he's called right so clearly old testament pictures that god's people are like the bride right new testament you know ephesians chapter five that's probably the first verse you think of when you think of oh jesus and the bride and the bride of christ that's the church right yeah well there's a clear continuity between the old testament the new testament and john picks up on that and he says that's not me i'm not the groom i'm not the husband but look over there that guy he is he's the one on whom all the hopes of israel are sad and beyond that the hopes of the world jesus says therefore this joy of mine is now complete there's some rules in the old testament and rabbi is right about this and we're not totally sure about this but there's some interesting rules about being a best man one of the things that people say right about the best man is that they were supposed to be the one that takes the bride to the groom okay and they were supposed to stand guard at the door so to speak not so to speak that's what they're supposed to do they were supposed to stand that's a weird job right so i'm glad that tradition's gone but they were supposed to stand in front of the door to make sure nobody else comes in after the after the wedding that was their job okay so i think there's a reference here to i hear the bridegroom's voice he's coming yes i'm ready for the marriage to happen i'm ready for the people of god to be joined with their maker jesus christ i'm ready for that i'm excited also there was apparently um a rule that you were not allowed to marry a bride right think this through if you're the best man you were never allowed to marry the bride in the wedding that you were the best man at okay even if he dies you're never allowed to marry that girl right even if you're a single guy and this guy dies you're never allowed to marry the bride why well there's a time in the bible you might have remembered judges chapter 14 where someone was engaged to someone and his bride was given to the best man what are we talking about samson right what does samson do he takes a bunch of foxes lights their tails on fire and burns up the village right so this is a good rule not to marry the person that you are you know proposing to this groom right it's a good idea so we think that that could be a part of it but that further emphasizes the point doesn't it john says who am i to take the glory of jesus i'm the best man i can never take the bride because it's not mine it's not my bride it's jesus's bride look what he says in verse 30 famous verse he must increase but i must decrease in the plan of god the will of god that is what it was that jesus would be glorified and that he would lose his influence right he's the only person in the world that's successful to make their small group smaller right that's not a good thing to lose people well john the baptist it was good because his people were transferring to jesus himself verse 31 we don't know who's talking here it's the same controversy that pastor pj i think talked about a little bit last week with verse 16 to 21 there's some debate with scholars whether or not verses 16 to 21 is jesus continuing to talk or it's john the apostle writing about what jesus did if it's theology from john verse 16 to 21 we're not sure i think pastor p.j said he thinks it's jesus so we'll go with that same argument comes here are verses 31-36 john the baptist elaborating further or is it john the apostle giving a theology to explain that he must increase but i must decrease ultimately i think because of our view of scripture it doesn't really matter but i do want you to know that there is that controversy it could go either way we're not totally sure but it says in verse 31 he who comes from above is above all it comes from above that's a euphemism for heaven right he's eternal he has a different origin than us he who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way right you could see how maybe john wasn't talking here perhaps he was probably wasn't he's talking in the third person about himself he's the one that comes from the earth he speaks in an earthly way that doesn't mean sinfully it just means his ministry is different he who comes from heaven is above all just to re-emphasize that verse 32 he bears witness to what he has seen and heard yet no one receives his testimony talking about jesus there that jesus is the one who speaks of what he has heard think through what has jesus heard what has jesus seen what is he bearing witness to remember who jesus is god of god eternal he's he's existing before his human birth what has he seen and he's seen things that you and i couldn't even fathom he knows the depths of god's secrets the mysteries the plans of god he knows those things john 1 talks about that right john 1 18 that jesus is the one who reveals the father to us he's the ultimate prophet further it says that no one receives his testimony that should remind you john chapter 1 as well right john 1 11. he came to his own people his own people did not receive him but there's a note of hope there if you know that verse but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god who were born not of blood nor the will of flesh nor the will of man but of god the ones who believe in him look who says in verse 33 he goes on about that he says whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this that god is true in other words invert that if you do not believe that jesus is god if you don't believe that he's the word the lagos if you don't believe that here's what you're saying about god god you are a liar that's what you're saying reverse that go back to the text if you are a person who says yes i believe that jesus is the son of god i believe that he has all the power of god and the authority of god and when jesus speaks i need to listen when you do that here's what you're saying god's telling the truth because this is god's testimony through jesus think that through when did god ever affirm jesus what affirms him all the time think of his baptism that's the most famous time right what does the voice from heaven say about the son this is my son with whom i am well pleased and then remember what the command was listen to him so when we don't do that we're questioning the truthfulness of god here verse 34 says he whom god sense utters the words of god for he gives the spirit without measure some debate there right who is the one giving the spirit is it jesus giving the spirit to christians or is it saying the father gives the spirit without measure to christ i think that's the best interpretation here that it's god who gives the spirit without measure to jesus because this whole text is not talking about our spirit-filled lives this section is talking about the divinity the majesty the importance of jesus opposed to even the importance of john the baptist says verse 35 the father loves the son and is given all things into his hand including the spirit without measure verse 34. verse 36 the climax here whoever believes in the son has eternal life right now whoever is trusting in the work of jesus right now you have eternal life not you'll get it not that one day maybe you'll have it later no you have eternal life right now that's what he's saying whoever does not obey the son shall not see life it's like you're not even going to enter into the thing called life not that eternal life if you don't believe in the son don't obey the sign see that the difference it looks like a slight of hand he said whoever believes in the son then he says whoever does not obey what is what is he saying there is he saying obedience is obeying well yeah there's something to obeying jesus and submitting to what he said about himself and believing that he's true there's one who doesn't obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of god remains on him the only time this word wrath is used in this gospel right here the wrath of god is settled on those who do not accept jesus as the savior as the lord what's this passage getting us to do what are we supposed to do we're supposed to look at john the baptist and see his humble attitude his exalting of christ and say i want my life to be all about that i want to embrace the humble attitude of john the baptist and say i will do anything to exalt christ i will do anything for him i'll do anything to make him known i will do anything to see jesus promoted in this world it's worth it because that is my one job just like it was john's that's ours too first thing he says is i'm not the most important one and that might be the hardest thing for us all to do but point number one i'd love for you to write this down embrace your supporting role embrace your supporting role that is what we are we are supporting the main thing the story of your life the narrative of your life is not about you you're the supporting character you're not the one driving the car you're the one in the passenger seat maybe in the backseat whatever i noticed something after i got married um i just want you to tell me you can vocalize this your wife isn't here um my wife's the only one's going to hear this your wife isn't going to hear this so when you're driving in the car i'm kind of a newlywed i've only been married like two and a half years so i'm still kind of a newlywed when i'm driving and you know she's not really paying attention and then when she kind of looks up from her phone and sees a car within a hundred feet of me she jolts and screams everybody slow down and then it freaks me out because i'm like i see the car does this ever is not happen to you guys i'm the only one does this get better oh man i'm in for it then with this but um yeah i'm getting myself in trouble right now i know i know um but it's annoying right and then i feel like really i don't want to do that to my if my wife is ever driving which doesn't happen very often but like sometimes it's like i i do not want to annoy her because i know when she when she's like oh i just freaks me out hit the brakes and then it's just this argument what what happened like what just hap well you just now see the car i saw the car i'm the one driving you are you were on your phone right yeah this is going to keep happening great awesome here's the point you know when you're the passenger you don't freak out the driver right not that you can freak jesus out but certainly you could do things that don't advance his cause in this world you could do things that take away from the mission when you try to assume the role of driver instead of passenger when you say i'm the director not the supporting role now i i don't think that you need to be told that jesus is more important than you right so we'll just say in one sentence remember jesus is more important than you it's more important than me right that's not what we need to hear maybe what we need to hear is probably that we need to be on guard against the temptation to think that jesus is not the one who's calling the shots in our life because that could happen i know that you're probably not going to walk out of here and say yeah jesus is not the lord of my life he's not in charge you're probably not going to walk out and do that but here's what might happen with the influence that god has given you with the responsibilities and the business and the family and the small group that you lead there is a temptation to step into the past from the passenger seat into the driver's seat and say i'm in charge of this right now there is a temptation to do that because really think about this this is a man who has been given great responsibility by god john the baptist if anyone should be taking control of the situation it's john the baptist who is this guy remember what jesus said about the john the baptist greatest born among women right that means better than me better than you better than your grandkids right better than anybody john the baptist is greater best preacher most righteous like he's the best jesus said he's the best and even he says nothing remember what he says about jesus i'm not even worthy to untie the sandal strap of him that's how much greater that's the creator creation distinction that we need to have in our minds this whole passage is about authority and influence john has authority he has influence but it's all derived it's all from god that's been derived through him that he's using for the time that god has allowed and then when god says it's not time for you to do your ministry anymore john what do we do move to the background that's what john does the higher you rise in your job or your family or your influence the harder it might be to move to the background when it's time to move to the background isn't it you've seen that with businesses how many businesses have you seen be led by people who hang on to control to their own company's hurt you seen that before it reminds us of ecclesiastes right there's a man who holds on to riches to his own hurt right this passage isn't talking about money it's talking about spiritual influence if you have been given spiritual influence by god that is an awesome thing that you should praise god for that i want to praise god for for you but you're the supporting role jesus is the ultimate romans 12 warns us of that romans 12 says for by the grace given to me i say to everyone among you that you not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think but think with sober judgment we need to be careful especially the higher we rise the harder we can fall john recognizes that every ministry post everything he did every sermon all that was a gift of god it was just derived god's gift james 1 16-17 says don't be deceived about this my beloved brothers every good and perfect gift comes from above don't be deceived about that our world is so deceived by that let us not be let us not forget that every authority every small group that you lead all of it is god's grace and influence that he's given you to be used for him first corinthians chapter four i'd love for you to turn there first corinthians 4 just really quick before we get back into john first corinthians 4 talks about paul saying that he has some authority but it's all derived he talks to this corinthian church who was breaking up making factions over their favorite teacher and preacher and it was easy for paul to step in and say yeah you guys should follow paul that's a good idea um but he says no no don't break up like that don't follow your favorite teacher that's not what you should be doing there's no there's no doctrinal differences between paul and apollos and cephas that's not what's happening here it's personally based on personal preference first corinthians 4 1 says this is how one should regard us who's us verse before paul apollo cephas right these ministers those are some important guys paul apollos and cephas right peter pretty important more important than me more important than you well how should you regard them well as servants of christ servants the waiter the waitress right that word actually sometimes used to describe a person bringing food the servant right the one who walks out you know delivering the grapes to the rich guy you know in greece or whatever that's that's the servant he says that's what we're doing as preachers as teacher as ministers we're just servants and also another element of this he says we're stewards of the mystery right that's a little bit more dignified but even that stewards what does that mean someone who's been entrusted with something valuable that we're supposed to use right think of the parable the talents right those were stewards given money to invest how do they do we're stewards of the mysteries of god what are the mysteries of god first corinthians 2 says the mystery of god is that jesus was crucified for you it's the gospel that's what he's talking about a mystery is something that was hidden and now is revealed he says we've been given that by god and we're supposed to use it he's talking about preachers and teachers in this text but then look what he does in chapter verse two he moves beyond that he says moreover it is required of stewards that they are to be found faithful whether you're paul apollo cephas or you what are you required to be faithful in whatever god has given you faithful with the family god has given you faithful with the ministry position god has given you faithful with the influence that you have in this room and outside this room you're supposed to be faithful i'm supposed to be faithful look at verse seven it says for who sees anything different in you what do you have that you did not receive talking about ministry and influence here that's what he's getting at then if you received it why do you boast as if you did not receive it that's the temptation right there for us john avoided that completely because he points it right back to christ but we selfishly sinfully we could be people who boast as if we had not received it as if we have it because we're the best leaders in the office for the leader just because we're better at things than other people for the leader just because we're the most spiritual the most knowledgeable what do you have that you did not receive that should inspire some serious humility from us paul's a good example john's a good example corinthians are a bad example one more bad example for you to write down third john verse nine diatrophies you know diatrophies says he's the one who always put himself first and in that context he was not listening to the leadership of john the apostle interesting same author that we've been talking about he does not listen to john the apostle he says he doesn't submit to authority he always wants to put himself first which is an interesting gauge for us on our humility how do we do with authority right if we chafe against authority in every shape and form it's hard for us to say that we have the humility of john the baptist the atrophies who likes to put himself first does not acknowledge our authority that's the negative side of this john says i'm the i'm the best man i'm not the groom he understands his place but after that he says it's my joy to do what i do it's my joy to promote jesus this is my joy's overflowing look at verse number 29 in our text verse 29 talking about the bridegroom it says he stands and hears him and rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is now complete that's a picture of overflowing joy he says nothing makes me happier that people are going to christ for he must increase and i must decrease the question for us is do we find any joy in promoting christ we find any satisfaction and joy in lifting christ up even if it means we lose influence over people's lives point number two find joy in promoting jesus fine joy and promoting jesus now that won't be so much of a challenge if we can accept that first point so all right i'm not believe i'm the supporting role find joy in promoting jesus well what does that look like for me and i'm not john the baptist john the baptist literally was the voice right isaiah 40 says the voice of one crying out in the wilderness behold the way of the lord make way right he's the voice jesus is the word the lagos right you made that connection hopefully in your study questions right he's the voice jesus is the word john's the herald jesus is the king he's the one speaking but the substance is jesus so i'm not john though not john the baptist i know that same role will remember all of us in christ we have a similar role matthew 28 what does this say go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them name of the father son and the holy spirit teaching them all that i have commanded you and behold i'm with you always to the end of the age so that means if you are a disciple you are to be a disciple maker so none of us can skirt this right here that our job is to promote jesus you have families you have kids wives hopefully only one piece wives said like those two sorry um you have responsibilities authority you have roles at work at church think this through promoting christ is that the hallmark of your ministry so to speak and whatever shape or form it might take it was john's hallmark it wants we should want it to be ours as well second corinthians chapter 5 says that we have been given the ministry of reconciliation now second corinthians 5 18 says we've been given entrusted like stewards with the ministry of reconciliation the question is men what are we going to do with it will we be found faithful god has given you the gospel if you are a repentant born-again christian you have the gospel the eternal gospel that saves what do we do with it how do we use it how do we speak about it who do we give it to at work family extended family what do we do with it it says we've been given the ministry of reconciliation and god is reconciling the world to himself therefore we are ambassadors for christ representatives of christ god making his appeal through us it's a hard thing to say he must increase and i must decrease if we have the wrong perspective on ourselves obviously but i think the more we get the right perspective on who jesus is the easier this gets right here i mean do we remember that we win in the end do we remember that jesus is the king do we remember that he is the ascended god who sits on the throne right now do we remember that or do we forget that if we look at the world and all we're thinking about is the world right colossians 3 all we're thinking about is things below and not setting our mind on things above you know we can forget that jesus wins that jesus is the king like he's going to win every knee will bow every person you think will not bow to jesus guess what philippians 2 says they will they'll bow it's not hard to get behind a winner if you told me that you invested some money in zoom stock about the last time i did men's bible study in february of 2020 you'd probably be pretty proud of yourself right now maybe some game stop stock too probably would have done well tesla stock maybe i looked it up back in march tesla was trading for 85 it hit a peak i think in october trading for 900 so uh if you were like a profit with the stock market um i'm pretty sure you'd be quite proud of that right or you'd be ashamed of it because you wouldn't want anyone to know that you made a fortune right but here's the deal it's not hard to promote winning it's hard to promote losing for us if we feel like we're losing here if we feel like the work of god is ending with our generation and for some reason that the world has fallen apart and jesus is not in control you know what that can help us do it can help us stop doing what we're supposed to do but we remember jesus is advancing the gates of hell will not prevail against the church jesus wins when you promote jesus who are you promoting the god of the universe the one to whom every knee will bow every tongue confess that jesus christ is lord whether they do it willingly or forcefully that's the god that you represent that's the one we promote i i hope that that excites you i hope that that fires you up something on the inside of you gets passionate and excited about that because jesus wins it's not hard to get behind a winner i want you to get further into that verses 31 to 36 is this theological explanation whether it's john the apostle or john the baptist we're not sure but i want you to just write down this point and we'll go through it slowly but it says deepen your gratitude for jesus i'd love for you to do that deepen your gratitude for jesus if we were to really dig in to the goodness of jesus the power of jesus the majesty of jesus it would help us promote jesus it would help us take that back seat really this point three could be point number one we could start here i know we're ending here but this is really where we should start thinking about what it means to follow christ john says some things about him he says he's from above right there's five main christological truths here things about jesus that we have unpacked here in some detail that we don't usually get in the new testament first thing is jesus comes from above he's from heaven he is pre-existent he is god right so this is helpful when you're promoting people when you promote people if you ever get behind something maybe you've done this at work you really get behind a project because someone that you really believe in is working on it right you say i'm willing to get behind that what happens to that project sometimes sometimes it fails correct why because we're imperfect because it doesn't always work out because we don't have all the wisdom of god so when you get behind jesus and promote jesus because he comes from above here's what you have guaranteed success you have success guaranteed in the mission that god has given us because he's from above because he's reliable he's trustworthy he's the faithful god that we see work all throughout the old testament we see the wondrous works of god psalm 105 psalm 106. that's jesus it's from above john 1 14 says he's god who put on flesh and dwelt among us he tabernacled here we have seen his glory glory is the only son of the father full of grace and truth second thing you see here it's that jesus when he speaks is mainly from verse 32 33 when he speaks he bears witness to some things that he's seen and heard that you and i have not seen and heard okay he has information from god that is authoritative and completely true okay second big thing here second christological christological truth is that jesus tells the truth with all the authority of god okay so whenever we look at this book right here and the world questions and they mock and they scorn just know this this is the truth from god that comes with all the authority of god and when jesus speaks about something there's not a single thing that jesus speaks about that he's not authoritative about we all speak about a lot of things some of us more than others about things we're not authoritative about i don't know very much about cars some of you do bill you can speak authoritatively about things that you are the expert at right i cannot speak authoritatively about being electrician or a plumber um i would just make a fool of myself right there's things that we all can't speak on authoritatively here's the thing jesus speaks authoritatively about every single thing he opens his mouth on which is why when we turn to the scriptures we believe in the inerrancy of scripture the perfection of scripture the truthfulness the authoritativeness of every word so when jesus says here at the end when this text says whoever believes in the son has eternal life and whoever does not obey the son shall not see life guess what that is that is solid absolute truth that will never be refuted hopefully that's an encouragement to you that these words authoritative solid can never be changed hebrews 1 says long ago at many times and in many ways god spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he's spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also created the world that's who we promote that's the christ that we speak of problem is jesus addresses an issue in luke chapter 6 verse 46 he says why do you call me lord lord and not do what i tell you that's ultimately our problem just to turn it back to ourselves if we really believe that jesus is the authoritative god we have an issue he says to do things that we say i don't think i don't think that's the best way to go about it pray for those who persecute you ah but they're pretty evil people i probably shouldn't do that right okay well if we believe this there's some things that might challenge us that jesus says why do you call me lord lord not do what i tell you next verse he says everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them i will show you what he is like he is like a man who was building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock and when a flood arose and the stream broke against that house it could not shake it because it was built well ultimately your life will be built well if it is built on the authority of god if it's coherently doing what god says really trying to be in step lockstep with god and his word speaks the truth from god next thing he says that the father backs jesus in everything so if we're ever confused about the trinity here and we're ever confused well maybe jesus speaks but that's not what god meant well let's not be confused because verse 33 says whoever receives his testimony sets the seal that god is true god is behind every word that jesus says point not point number three but the third thing is jesus is 100 backed by god everything he says it's why it's authoritative because it's completely backed by god you align with christ you align with god right how many times have we seen in this gospel i guess we're going to see it more as we go through it but you don't receive the son guess what you can't think you have the father while you reject the son that's what the pharisees try to do it's what these religious leaders try to do they try to look to the scriptures and say we want the scriptures when we want god we don't want jesus jesus says that's impossible you can't do that you reject the son you reject the father and he says that he gives him the spirit without measure it's interesting that if john the baptist is the one who speaks this there's an extra level of irony that we have right here john the baptist when did he get filled with the spirit think this through bible trivia when did he get filled with the spirit prenatally right kicking around filled with the spirit that's weird right we're not used to that maybe you got saved as a young kid not that young right you didn't have a spirit as a baby right that's different john the baptist had the spirit as a baby here's what he notices about jesus and glorifies jesus for he has the fullness of the spirit of god perfect spirit-led life every decision action motive thought perfectly aligned with god that's the fourth thing jesus exemplifies a spirit-led life perfectly he does it absolutely truly perfectly the interesting thing about christianity is it says that now you and i as christians are to be transformed into his image romans 8 29 right for those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that's talking about you conformed to jesus image last thing he says whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life i want you to think through how big of a radical claim that is jesus gives eternal life to people he gives it to you means if you're in christ you have it you have obtained it yeah you'll step into the full reality of it later for sure but you have it right now you have that different quality of life he gives eternal life right john 17 verses 2 and 3 describe what eternal life is and some clarity it says here's what eternal life is that you would know the only true god and that you would know jesus christ whom you've sent if you know god guess what you have eternal life john 5 24 jesus says truly truly i say to you whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has present tense right now eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life which is exactly the picture that we see here it's like you were living in death god's wrath on you firmly in your sin enslaved entrenched to all your sin headed for hell fully deserving of god's wrath and what does god do transfers you from death to life in an instant yes in an instant through a long process through some some long form of repentance or or penance or confetti no in an instant god moves you from death to life how jesus that's how romans 1 18 says the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness our world right now living in ungodliness god's wrath has been revealed against that very clearly in sin wrong they suppress the truth in unrighteousness ii thessalonians 1 8 9 says that those who do not obey the gospel of jesus which interesting here it says whoever does not obey the son shall not see life he's not saying that you can somehow merit eternal life by works that's not the point he just said that whoever believes trusts wholehearted trust in what jesus has done for you that's how you get life not by working but the interesting thing is when you don't believe in jesus know this you are commanded to believe so when we don't believe if a person chooses they hear the gospel and they say nope not for me guess what that is here not obeying the son in john 6 jesus is asked what's the work of god that we should do what's the thing we have to do he says here's the work of god that you believe that you would trust wholeheartedly in jesus second thessalonians 1 8 9 says in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know god and those who do not obey is the key phrase there obey the gospel of our lord jesus christ they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the lord and the glory of his might that will be you that would be me if jesus did not do something about it we think of promoting jesus the thing that's most obvious i guess saving the best thing for last is we forget sometimes when we don't promote jesus at work when we're ashamed to talk about him when we're ashamed to bring people to church here's something that we often forget jesus gave his life for me jesus died it's risen for me how do we stay humble like john the baptist well i think that right there is the key that we continue to grow in gratitude to jesus for what he's done and ultimately it's to get out of the way it's to present christ and then to step out and say i'm out i want you to be associated with christ if you follow golf at all um john said that i'm a yankee fan which that's true um but my real loyalty my first love is the game of golf i don't know if you've noticed this if you uh follow golf twitter maybe not maybe i'm the only one but there's a big controversy a while back about the announce the announcers the people who uh talk about golf the problem was nick faldo is just talking talking talking the whole time and he just gets a bunch of you know a bunch of flak on twitter because he's always just talking talking talking and the big complaint is dude just just just shut up like stop talking dude you're not that fun like just be quiet right that's the complaint why well it's like we want to see the golf we you don't have to tell us what's happening that's the worst thing about golf announcing they tell you what you're looking it's like i know what i'm looking at i saw that he missed the putt on the high side i saw that he he hit it in the rough i already saw that you don't need to tell me that that's good for the radio but not good for tv what's the key to good golf announcing get out of the way let it happen show the moment that's what we have to do too if we're announcing something glorious we need to at some point announce it and get out of the way show them who christ says introduce them to christ and then not hinder the mission by getting in the way at all it's important for us to think this way if we're going to commit to do this one job promoting jesus we gotta get out of the way let's pray that we would do that god we're thankful for the awesome influence that you have given people in this room to make big differences for the gospel just thank you for their faithfulness and their work for you pray that as we consider these things that we would work hard to adopt the humble mentality of john the baptist that we would be all about promoting christ not ourselves that we would willingly lose influence if what that means is that you would get more glory pray that you would help us with this mindset by that we wouldn't want to jump in the driver's seat of our ministry but we'd recognize that you are there firmly and for our good for you to help us with this mindset that we grow in humility we grow in gratitude for all that you've done for us and all that you are we're thankful for christ and we pray that we would grow in gratitude towards him every day in jesus name we pray amen [Applause]

Channel: Compass Bible Church

Views: 64

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Mike Fabarez, Mike Fabarez sermon, Pastor Mike Fabarez

Id: gXW1EELwR6U

Length: 54min 20sec (3260 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 05 2021