Jealous of Jesus

CS Lewis wrote seven children's books entitled The Chronicles of Narnia and they hold great appeal for children but also for adults because of the deep symbolism in those books. In one of those books the voyage of the dawn shredder the two youngest pevansy children Lucy and Edmund are summoned back to the land of Narnia along with their cousin and they team up with Prince Caspian from one of the other books aboard the royal ship the dawn shredder. On that voyage during their journey Lucy who is the youngest of the children happens upon a book entitled The Book of Inquantations this mysterious book boldly promises to provide quote an unfalible guide or spell to make you the beauty you've always wanted to be. Now that appeals to Little Lucy because despite her vibrant faith in Aslan who symbolizes Christ in the books despite her vibrant faith in Aslan she's always struggled with a deep wound she's always been a bit insecure and feels inferior to her older sister Susan and jealous of Susan's great beauty. So tempted by this potential spell to become more beautiful Lucy speaks forth the words of that spell suddenly a mirror appears on the page directly across from the spell and she looks into the mirror she realizes that her face has now become the face of her sister Susan. She decides to tear out the page she's frightened by what she sees but later in a dream she pulls out the page of the mirror and recites the words at the top make me she whom I'd agree holds more beauty over me suddenly in her dream she sees herself in the mirror transformed into her sister Susan but by being transformed she suddenly realizes that she has never been born that there is no Lucy as she stands before the mirror horrified Aslan appears and the following conversation takes place let's watch it Lucy what have you done child I don't know but you chose it Lucy didn't mean to use all of that I just want to be beautiful like Susan you wish yourself away and with it much more your brothers and sister wouldn't know non-air without you Lucy you discovered it first remember you doubt your value don't run from who you are now you're awake aren't you you doubt your value don't run from who you are in John chapter 3 John the Baptist was tempted to doubt his value and run from who he was it's a fascinating intersection between his ministry and the ministry of Christ himself when we come to John chapter 3 which is really before the other gospels begin the story of Jesus ministry for instance marks gospel begins the story of Jesus ministry after John's already in prison but John John's gospel gives us a few events that put their ministries together and in John 3 there's one of them where they are both ministering at the same time but John's popularity is waning as he is toward the end of his ministry Jesus is at the very beginning of his ministry his popularity is just rising his his star is just rising on the horizon and the potential jealousy of Jesus is there it all surfaces and comes to a head when John's disciples have a controversy with a Jew over what John's doing over baptism let's read it in John chapter 3 beginning in verse 22 after this Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside where he spent time with some time with them and baptized now Jesus goes out after his encounter with Nicodemus and his ministry in the city of Jerusalem described in chapters 2 in the first part of chapter 3 Jesus after that goes out to the kind of the wilderness area to spend time with his disciples he's getting to know them better they're getting to know him better he is imprinting on them his his spirit his view of ministry what he's here to do and he's helping them to learn to grow to understand and they're also baptizing although down in chapter 4 verse 2 John tells us that it was not Jesus who was actually baptizing just as the disciples but notice while Jesus is baptizing and carrying out his ministry look at verse 23 now John also was baptizing at a non near Salim because there was plenty of water and people were coming and being baptized so so John is ministering at the same time Jesus is both of them are are drawing crowds who are being baptized interesting both of them the same time verse 24 this was before John was put in prison an argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing now because this argument is over ceremonial washing it obviously is the Jew who probably is a religious leader again remember that's how John uses the term in the book probably a religious leader has challenged John's disciples about why John's baptizing that's the role of the religious leaders and they did do baptisms not Christian baptism as we know it that doesn't come to laugh at the church but they did do ceremonial washings in fact if you go to history and and take a tour of the temple mount you will find on the south side of the temple mount their excavations of some pools where and I've actually gone down in them where you can walk down a set of steps into a pool of water used to be a pool of water and back up a different set of steps that was how Jews were ceremonially washed and cleansed before they entered into the temple area the Jews practiced the ceremonial cleansings or baptisms and so no doubt they're challenging the disciples of John what is John doing out there baptizing in the river that's not the that's not the way you're supposed to do it and evidently to to discredit his baptism they brought up the baptisms that Jesus and his disciples were doing by the way I think to share them saying by the way what about this other guy over here who's baptizing if your baptism John is supposed to be the right kind what about his I think that's what happened because in verse 26 notice what John's disciples do they came to John and said to him rabbi that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan the one you testified about notice they don't even use his name Jesus that man you were talking about over there the one you used to testify look he is baptizing and everyone is going to him ah here's the potential temptation for John John's disciples are coming to him basically saying Jesus is stealing our thunder he's stealing our crowd everybody's starting to go to him what are we going to do about that he's presuming on our work we no longer have a monopoly on baptisms or on the crowds Jesus is horning in on our work and so what are we going to do about that John that's the that's the implied question well John understands exactly who he is and exactly who Jesus is and his answer although it is longer than this and we'll look at it in its entirety his answer is summarized in verse 30 in verse 30 or John says he must become greater I must become less now John's answer is a powerful one a profound one he has always pointed to Jesus although he himself was a powerful preacher with a captivating appeal to people drew great crowds never had there been one who spoke and preached and lived like him Jesus even said there'd never been born a prophet like John and even though that was was his ministry he had always pointed to Jesus Christ now I want you to catch the significance of what's happening here because it will also happen to every one of us in this room we will all someday find ourselves in John's shoes and how he deals with this is a tremendous lesson to you and to me you see no matter who you are no matter how much success you have had in your life no matter how much you have enjoyed in your life sooner or later your life and your ministry will be eclipsed by other people sooner or later you will fade off the scene no matter how successful you've been how competent you've been how popular or famous you've been you will one day pass your prime and move into a lesser role and eventually fade out of the picture altogether it's going to happen to every one of us doesn't matter who you are it's true in the workplace you eventually get replaced it's true in public life there's a new face on the scene a new person who captivates the attention of people it's true in sports it's true in ministry and the question is how will we respond to that inevitable passing of our prime and decline of our life and ministry and someone else takes our place how will we respond to that will we will we defend ourselves and proclaim our own achievements will we jealousy compare ourselves to others will we criticize our successors to make our record look better or will we do like John did because that's exactly what John is facing John has been the most popular preacher in Judea he has drawn the greatest crowds he's had the most powerful ministry and now someone else is taking his place and he's gradually fading off the scene but John understands what's going on and in his last public words he has his there are a lot of people who write on this passage and paint kind of a pitiful picture of a man kind of melting into the background and losing his voice and he's no longer like he once was but i don't agree with that at all i think this is John's finest hour in his last public words he makes it crystal clear that this is the way it's supposed to be he must increase he must grow greater i must become less that's the way it is supposed to be now verse 30 is the key verse in the passage the one we just read he must become greater i must become less it really is a hinge on which the door swings two ways in in verses 23 through 29 the door swings backward into the ministry of John and we see the humility of the servant then the door hinge swings the other way and the door swings forward in verses 31 to 36 to the ministry of Christ and we see the honor of the Savior the verse 30 is the key verse to understand because it really outlines the passage for us we're going to take the second part of verse 31 because it is John's ministry which is described first so let's look at what John says and understand what he's communicating here i must become less that describes the humility of the servant it describes John's ministry in verses 23 through 29 what is he talking about what is humility all about well i want you to see first of all a misunderstanding about humility there is a great misunderstanding about what humility is some people think humility is weakness humility is kind of sitting in the corner and not doing anything kind of a listless attitude that says i am nothing i can do nothing let someone else do everything let someone else be recognized i i'm nothing some people believe that's humility and that's not it at all that's not what John was doing we're introduced to the fact that Jesus is baptizing in verse 22 with his disciples actually his disciples are doing the baptism he's training them and guiding them verse 23 now John also was baptizing we'll see in a moment he knows that his ministry is fading out he knows that his ministry is in decline he knows that he's in the last phase of his ministry but he doesn't stop he's still faithful he doesn't just crawl off into a corner and and have a self-pity party he's still actively ministering no longer with the same success no longer with the same crowds but he didn't quit he didn't get discouraged he stays faithful to the task that god has given him until god moves him on somewhere else or takes him home that is humility it is not a listless i'll do nothing say nothing be nothing attitude it is continued faithful service even when you realize that your star is setting and someone else is rising so that's a misunderstanding about humility but John does show us what humility really is in verses 27 to 29 notice the evidence of humility as John goes on to describe and answer the potential question implied in his disciples contrast between him and jesus as he answers that implied question his answer reveals three evidences of the genuine humility of his heart first of all in verse 27 he bows to the will of god look at verse 27 to this to the the implication in verse 26 that okay Jesus is crowding in on your ministry what are we going to do about that how do you feel about that to this John replied a person can receive only what has given them from heaven now i hope you understand how profound that is how deeply spiritual that is what John is saying is i recognize that ministries are given to people by god and god decides what their ministry will be god decides how long it will last god decides how successful it will be in people's eyes god determines when it will begin to wane and how it will end all of that is in the sovereign plan of god in fact god is sovereign in the gifts he gives different people and god is sovereign in how he wants those gifts to be demonstrated and used he is sovereign in how he wants us to minister and even in the results so John is saying you can only receive what god's given you you can only do what god and his sovereign plan has given you to do not what he's given someone else to do Paul also emphasizes this in his concept of the body the church being the body in 1 Corinthians 12 he says there are many different gifts but there's only one spirit who sovereignly distributes them we don't all have the same gifts like none of us have exactly the same combination of gifts they're different gifts given to every person but the Holy Spirit is sovereign and how he gives those and then he says there are different ministries different workings he says in other words you may two people may have the same gift get the teaching gift of exhortation gift of mercy whatever but different ways to show it and different ways to use it in ministry and god's sovereign and how that's done too he chooses how where he will put us the opportunity he gives us how he wants us to use those gifts and then Paul goes on to say and there are differing effects in other words differing results no two people are going to have the same results in their ministry and to expect that everybody is a cookie cutter in the body of Christ cookie cutter servant they have the same gifts same way to use them and same results that's to deny what Paul teaches about the body of Christ and it's John understood that it would be to deny what John knew you can only receive what is given to you from heaven god determines what we will do how we will be used John got that his disciples needed to understand that what he's saying basically is I know perfectly well what my ministry is I know what god has given me to do it's not what he's given his son to do and I'm not going to try to be like that I can't that's god's son Moses understood that there's a great story in numbers chapter 11 where Moses has chosen under the direction of the Lord 70 elders 70 spiritual leaders to help him with the the issues in running the nation and those 70 elders are set aside set apart for that ministry at the tabernacle where god himself comes down and puts his spirit on them and they all prophesy and this is an amazing demonstration of god spirit coming on them in great power and wisdom but you know what there are two guys who are not in the 70 two guys back in the camp who are also prophesying and the holy spirit is on them too they're named L dad and me dad mothers if you're looking for a couple names for your boys couple of good ones L dad and me dad sound like 20 years don't they and somebody got upset that these guys are not a part of the 70 at the tabernacle but they're doing the same thing and it was they came and reported it to Moses and you know what even Joshua said said that Moses tell them to stop and you know what Moses responsible us Moses said I wish that all gods people would prophesy and have the spirit of god on them like that leave them alone Moses understood this you can only do what god has given you to do you can only receive what god has given you from heaven and we become proud and we lack humility when we think we're supposed to be like someone else or we're supposed to do what someone else does or we're supposed to have the same results as what someone else does and if we don't we'll manufacture them somehow there's a lot of that that happens in ministry he bows to the will of god some of you my age maybe a little younger will remember a well-known quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers it is not Joe Montana and it is not it is not young John Brody you remember John Brody in the 60s now I'm dating myself aren't he was an all NFL MVP of the NFL 1970 he finished his career in 1973 it was such a great athlete went on the pro golf tour in the champions tour and one an event and had 12 top 10 finishes in golf after playing football it was a great athlete he was one of the highest priced quarterbacks in his day in the 60s but the coach asked him to hold the ball for the field goal kicker and the extra point kicker and one of the one of the uh... newspaper guys asked him one time said why do you a million dollar quarterback hold the football for extra points and field goals and you know what Brody's response was well if I didn't it would fall down Brody got it he got it that matter who I am I do what has given me to do John got that John knew that question is do we know that do we know that none of us are kingdom superstars if we think of ourselves in that way at all then we lack the kind of humility that John had and that Jesus himself would demonstrate humility bows to the will of God secondly the evidence of humility is he knows his position he knows who he is and what God has given him to do what his position is look at verse 28 you yourselves can testify that I said I am not the Messiah but I'm sent ahead of him he's reminding them of what he's told them all of his ministry and we saw it back in chapter one when the Pharisees came and challenged John about what he was doing and who he was and he said I'm not the Messiah and so he's just reminding his disciples again hey I know my position I'm not the Messiah I'm the one who's sent ahead of him I'm his forerunner I'm the one who prepares the way for him I'm not him I'm not trying to be him God has reserved that role for his son I'm subordinate to him I'm his messenger I'm his forerunner it is Christ who is preeminent he had said the same thing in chapter one the frowns of the religious leaders could not shake him from that conviction and now the flattery of his own disciples cannot shake him from that conviction he knows his position he is the servant Jesus is the Lord he is the announcer the messenger of Jesus is the Messiah that's the evidence of humility the third evidence of humility is he sincerely wants Christ to get the honor sincerely from his heart he wants the honor to go to Christ and not himself look at verse 29 the bride belongs to the bridegroom the friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice that joy is mine and it is now complete those are not sad words those are triumphant words now there are some who believe that that John is referring to the church as the bride of Christ and Christ being the bridegroom certainly that is a true picture of Jesus and the church but that imagery is not developed until Paul and his epistles and so John didn't have that in mind John is simply using an illustration from the culture of his day to show he knows his position and he wants Christ to be the one that receives all the glory he goes to a typical Jewish wedding and he says I'm going to tell you who I am you know this very well disciples because you've been many Jewish weddings and you know very well what I'm saying there's the bridegroom the bride and then there's the friend of the bridegroom the friend of the bridegroom in a Jewish wedding would be very much like the best man and our wedding except actually the friend of the bridegroom and a Jewish wedding had more responsibility he would send out the invitations to the wedding feast he would help arrange the wedding feast for the family of the groom but his most important responsibility was to guard the bridal chamber the night of the wedding after the bride had gone in to prepare herself for her groom he was responsible to guard the bridal chamber to make sure no one got in no one came around except the groom and when he heard the groom's voice he waited and listened for the groom and when he heard the groom's voice then he knew his job was done and his joy was complete that's the picture that John is giving what he's saying is I'm not the groom this is not my wedding I'm just the friend now can you imagine you go to a wedding and the best man takes over the show he pushes the groom out of the way wants to be pictured with the bride what is up with that you get down to the reception he helps cut the cake where's the groom that's the best man if they're cutting the cake and he's sipping the punch with the bride and you're thinking this lunatic is trying to steal the show who is this guy we would be highly offended by that and that's exactly what John's saying it would be highly offensive for me to try to compare myself to Jesus and be the groom I'm not the groom I'm just the friend I know my role I know my responsibility I'm not the groom for crying out loud I'm not gonna ruin the wedding by taking over what he's telling his disciples is basically this is the way it's supposed to be I'm the moon that is fading away in the morning sky as the sun is now making its appearance and I'm here just to reflect the sun I'm not here to be the big light John understood what ministry was all about it's to call attention to Jesus Christ and so what he's telling his disciples is there there's no rival right here don't come at me and and blind to me about Jesus being a rear baptizing more people than we are don't do that there's no rival right here there's no contention here there's no jealousy here there's no competition and I will say there's no insecurity in John either he evidences true humility he bows to the will of God knows his position sincerely wants Christ to receive the honor I must become less he says now you say wow that's that is impressive and it is it's impressive to me how do you get there how how do you sincerely honestly develop that kind of character not as a put on not as a show for other people to think how humble you are but genuinely from the heart how do you become that kind of person who is willing to to walk off the stage and let someone else take over and applaud them as they do how do you get there there are two hints in verses 29 and 30 about the means of humility how do we develop this kind of humility what are the means by which we get there well let me say up front it is not by trying to be humble if we try to be humble we will end up being more proud you know why because if you try to be humble basically that's an exercise in proving to other people how humble you are it is a self effort to try to appear a certain way that's not genuine that is the most base form of pride because it's so deceptive it'll even deceive you it'll deceive me so it's not by trying to be humble there are two clues however in verses 29 and 30 about how you get this kind of character this kind of humility verse the first one's in verse 29 the bride belongs to the bridegroom the friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice you see the clue to develop this kind of humility you spend time waiting for the bridegroom and listening for him listening for his voice and when you hear his voice that fulfills your joy you see the focus is on the groom the focus is on waiting for him and listening to him and how that translates into our lives if we can push the imagery that far and I think it's legitimate to do so how that translates to our lives is that the way we develop this kind of focus on Jesus is to wait for his voice and to listen to him my friend it only comes through time with Jesus it only comes through time with him in his word listening for his voice waiting on him you say boy did you just kind of pull that out of this text no no it's corroborated in the Bible look at this verse second Corinthians 3 18 and we all who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory now if you read the whole passage in second Corinthians 3 you'd know he's talking about the word of God where do we contemplate the Lord's glory we see it in his word so with an unveiled face with an open heart and face toward the word of God we contemplate the Lord's glory when we do that we are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory doesn't happen overnight it's not one's that boom and there you are fully mature Christ like humble servant no happens little by little as you behold his glory in the word of God you become more and more like him and Paul says that comes from the Lord who is the spirit it's a work of the spirit of God through the word of God as we contemplate as we are in his presence listening for his voice in his word then we become more like him that's how it happens it will not happen in the other way the second clue as to how this happens is in verse 30 and it's the order in which John puts these things notice he says he must become greater I must become less the emphasis in John's mind the priority is not I must become less I got to really work on this I got I got to do more to try to become less now the focus is on Christ the first thing in John's mind is he must become greater now obviously he's talking about Jesus life and ministry that's inevitable it is God's role for him to ascend and meet the decline but notice the emphasis is first of all upon Jesus and what God has for him not what not what me not about me he's he's occupied with Christ not himself you become so you can become so absorbed with yourself that you lose your focus on Christ and the focus must be on Jesus the way we get to be more like him the way we develop a humble servant spirit and become like our our savior in that even is to focus on him to spend time with him and we'll become more like him that's the humility of the servant but now the gate swings the other way the door swings the other way on the hinges we've seen it swing back to give us a view of John's ministry the humility of the servant what that's all about but now it swings back the other way in verse 30 that hinge opens the door the other direction to view the ministry in life of Jesus Christ because we find he must become greater why is that why is it that Jesus must ascend as John declines why is it that Jesus is now the one to listen to and that John will tell his own disciples follow him go to him listen to him I want more people to be baptized by him why why would John do why is Jesus supposed to increase we don't see that very often among us among and I speak of myself but I read a story that highlights this very attitude on December the 2nd 2012 a Spanish long-distance runner named Ivan Fernandez Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in his homeland in Spain he was running in second place far behind the leader of the race who was a Kenyan runner and an Olympic medalist called Abel named Abel Muthai Muthai had opened up a huge lead that would be impossible for anyone to close and they were nearing the end of the race when all of a sudden Muthai stopped running he apparently missed out where the finish line was he thought he had crossed the finish line he just stopped and it was obvious to Anaya what had happened here's here's what the Spanish newspaper covering the event reported the next day Fernandez Anaya quickly caught up with him but instead of exploiting Muthai's mistake to speed past and gain an unlikely victory he stayed behind and using gestures guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first you know what the Spaniards coach was living he was a well-known Spanish runner but he was living Martin Fizz was his name here's his quote to the newspaper he has wasted an occasion winning always makes you more of an athlete you have to go out to win but Anaya stood by his decision here's what he told the reporter even if they had told me that winning would have earned me a place in the Spanish team for the European Championships I wouldn't have done it any differently because today with the way things are in all circles in soccer in society in politics where it seems anything goes a gesture of honesty is the right thing to do you know what he was saying he was saying Muthai rightfully won the race he made a mistake about where the finish line was but he rightfully won the race and so I was going to make sure he got the honor for it now that doesn't set well in contemporary American society does it because we are winning at all cost if the other guy makes a mistake that's on him I'll claim the honor I'll take first place however I can do it now I understand the competitive nature of athletics in my younger days I used to play athletics you can tell I don't any longer but I used to and it was I love athletics and I love the competition but there is something about understanding what Anaya did that is much deeper than the drive to win at all costs he was doing the ethical moral right thing to do he was promoting someone else when he himself could have gotten the glory that's exactly what John does John will promote Jesus for several reasons first of all because of his person he knows who Jesus is so the first reason why Jesus must increase while John decreases is because of his person Jesus person look at it verse 31 the one who comes from above is above all the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth the one who comes from above is above all John is basically calling the disciples this is beautiful he's saying okay you want to compare the two of us I'll give you a comparison I'll tell you who Jesus is two things first of all he comes from above he comes from heaven he comes directly from the presence of God which means he is God secondly because of that he is above all he deserves the first place above all okay you want to compare me to him I come from this earth I didn't come from above I was born just like you a natural human birth and so therefore what I speak is earthly in the sense that sometimes my vision is not correct sometimes I'm and misinformed I can be wrong not so Jesus because of who he is Jesus is from above and he's above all I'm just from this earth and I speak like one from this earth I can make mistakes sometimes John is saying I can I can do things wrong but not him he's from above he's above all he deserves the honor because of his person secondly he deserves the honor because of his message look at his message verse 32 he speaking of Christ he testifies to what he has seen and heard you want to listen to somebody's message Jesus is telling you a first-hand account of what the father has said in heaven he's seen the father he's heard the father now there that's your message he's already said I'm speaking like one from the earth and although John's message was God's message as he was faithful to give what God had given him what he's saying is Jesus didn't have to be given a message he is the message he's been there he's seen the father he's heard what the father says he is the message but the interesting thing is what John says next he says but no one accepts his testimony that has to be balanced with verse 33 whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful you know there's this there's this kind of thing like like we saw back in chapter one where John said that Jesus came unto his own and his own received him not but as many as received him to them gave you the authority to become the children of God the point is not that nobody believed his testimony but not enough not enough believed his message is it interesting John's disciples are concerned that too many people are following Jesus and John is concerned that not enough are following Jesus his message is above all he deserves all the crowd he deserves to be heard verse 34 for the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God for God gives the spirit without limit amazing if you listen to Jesus you're listening to the one who is speaking the very words of God because he is God and he is the only preacher in human history on whom the Holy Spirit rests without any limitation there are no sinful limitations to block the work of the Holy Spirit all of us human messengers have a sinful human nature there are times when we disobey God we quench his spirit there are times when we're not as yield as we should be so we we we we we we we we we the Holy Spirit by our sin and our unyieldedness not so with Christ the Holy Spirit was on him in power without any limitation without any measure no limits you know what's interesting to me and this is so encouraging to anyone who who ministers the word of God should be to any Bible fellowship teacher small group leader youth pastor children's pastor whatever Jesus for whom the Holy Spirit was given without any limitation without measure and was speaking the very words of God had very meager results as far as people that follow his math that's what John's saying here nobody will believe his testimony and you get to the end of his life and there are 500 people after his resurrection who meet him on a mountain in Galilee or strengthens 15 says 500 that's all you see our job is to be faithful to the message to be faithful to the word it's God's job to produce the results in people's hearts and lives when we when we lose that perspective and we begin to think the results are up to me you know what happens I've seen it happen you begin to manufacture the results oh you can do things give invitations make emotional appeals that people will come they will come forward they will respond they will I've seen that happen it's possible to manufacture results that are not of the spirit of God now I wish I wish there were huge visible results every time the word of God is opened in any setting in this church but I'm not in charge of that and I will not manufacture that that's God's that's God's place so we'll be faithful to the message and we'll give the opportunity for people to respond but we will not drag people to make emotional or visible decisions that are not genuine Jesus didn't no limit to the spirit of God on him and John's testimony is you won't believe him you won't respond he is to be honored because of his person because of his message and then thirdly because of his strategic importance notice the strategic importance of Jesus and God's plan to thanks first of all first thirty five he is equal with the father the father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands the father and the son have a unique relationship to where the father has placed everything in his hands everything and he's equal to the father in other words whatever the father does Jesus does whatever the father is Jesus is everything the father is Jesus is so he's equal with the father that's his strategic importance but the second part of his strategic importance in verse thirty six is he is the object of our faith there's no one else who is the object of our faith only Jesus is the object of our faith verse thirty six whoever believes in the sun has eternal life now that could not be said about John the Baptist it cannot be said about Charles Haddon Spurgeon it cannot be said about John MacArthur Rick Warren or anybody else the point is not to believe in any person the poet point is to believe in Christ because he's the object of our faith and and he's the only one that can give us eternal life and so whoever believes in the sun has eternal life by the way notice the present tense you have it at the moment you believe in him you have eternal life it's one of the verses that strongly teaches eternal security that when you trust Jesus as your savior at that moment you receive eternal life you know a lot of people think eternal life is what you get when you die and go to heaven oh that's just a continuation of it that's just ridding yourself of everything that impedes the enjoyment of that the eternal life begins at the moment you receive Christ you receive new life which is eternal in both nature and duration we said time to go into that that's that's beautiful to understand is not only the duration of the life it's the nature of the life too but you receive at the moment you get saved not when you die and go to heaven so you can never lose your salvation because at the moment you trust Christ you are given life which is eternal in nature and eternal in duration if you lose your salvation God's a liar because he promised you something you don't have but the opposite is also true notice if you don't believe in Jesus notice the opposite but whoever rejects the sun will not see life for God's wrath remains on them notice again the present tense a lot of people miss this too a lot of people think you get judged and sent to hell and God's wrath and judgment comes on you when you die if you haven't trusted Christ no no you know where God's wrath and judgment starts for you the moment you're conceived David says that in Psalm 51 5 Incended my mother conceived me I was shaping in a liquid he says from the moment I was conceived and was being developed in the womb I was a sinner and as a sinner God's wrath is already on us from the moment we're conceived we are already separated from God his wrath and judgment are already on us and so if you go through life and and reject Jesus and do not trust him as your savior it's God's wrath simply remains on you it's not it starts there it remains on you it's never taken away faith in Christ takes away his wrath if you do not trust Jesus you stay under his wrath until you go out into eternity forever to experience his wrath and judgment in hell Jesus is the determiner as to where you will spend your eternity it is Christ who is the object of our faith not anyone else not any church or group or movement it is Jesus Christ that's why he receives the honor and deserves the honor when Jeanne and I lived in in Indiana we used to visit Jeanne's parents who at that time lived in New York State corning New York and it was almost a straight shot over from northern Indiana to northern New York the only bad part about it we had to go through Ohio but we did as quickly as we could we drove through Ohio north of Ohio and we'd come into Pennsylvania and then start over into New York State and there was one huge impediment to us getting to corning it was called Lake Shatakwa it was one of those huge lakes in New York that just goes on and on and on for miles now you could you could get to corning but you had to go way up or interstate 90 almost toward Buffalo and then cut across Route 17 which is now in a state 83 it was so far out of the way there was no good southern route around it you had to go way up around finally finally one year when we went they we realized they had built a bridge across Lake Shatakwa beautiful we got off interstate 90 at Erie Pennsylvania and cut right across Lake Shatakwa could an hour off our trip it was great now we could go around it but it was so wonderful to be able to bridge those two sides of New York State with with that bridge my friend Jesus is the bridge between you and heaven the problem is it's not a lake between you and heaven it's an impassable golf called God's wrath God's judgment it doesn't have ends on it you can't go around it there's only one way for you to get over God's wrath into heaven and that is the bridge Jesus Christ he is the bridge no preacher is the bridge no church is the bridge no movement is the bridge Jesus is the bridge it is our faith in Him alone that removes God's wrath and gives us God's grace and mercy and a home in heaven a place in his family there are two questions that occur to me as we close this message one is this have you ever recognized Christ as the only way to God and trusted Him as your Savior have you really have you realized that Jesus is the way he is the bridge you ever trusted Him as your Savior I hope you have if you haven't I hope you'll do it today today if you have here's the second question as a Christian are you living for the glory of Christ or for yourself we all need to ask ourselves that question are we truly living for the glory of Christ or for ourselves someone recently gave me a book called the Dangerous Calling and it was written by a pastor and seminary teacher I read it on the flight to Los Angeles and back and it deeply challenged my heart about this very thing who am I really living for what am I really ministering for is it for me is and all of us have layers of pride and self glory that enter into what we do and we all need to be challenged on a very deep level very deep level why are we doing what we're doing is it for me is it for my advancement is it so that people will like me follow me whatever or is it for Christ and his glory his honor that's the question today my friend let's pray together father I pray that anyone in this audience this morning who does not know Jesus has never trusted Jesus as Savior will today come to the Savior and realize that he is the bridge to their eternal life I pray for those of us who are believers we'll ask ourselves the question are we really like John do we really are we really more concerned that Jesus receive all the glory or that we get some of it are we willing to to pass off the scene and applaud someone else and let Christ really receive the glory or are we looking for applause for ourselves oh God help us to answer that question honestly deal with the subtle layers of pride in our hearts we ask can Jesus name amen