So we come to the most popular verse in the bible - God so loved the world. We certainly need to focus first on the primary message of the gospel. That whoever believes in Him, may have eternal life. Just to break that down - salvation resulting in eternal life is based upon faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout the millennia, we have seen many twist salvation into a works-based requirement, as if behavior alone trumps your faith. It does not. We have seen the warped view that nothing is required. That all roads lead to heaven, and thus saving faith is not needed. Realize this is also essentially true for those false hirelings today who refuse to preach sin and repentance. The obvious poster child for this is Joel Osteen who openly admits that he does not think he needs to tell people what they have done wrong. He is literally encouraging millions of people straight into hell. Saving faith in Christ requires belief in who Jesus said He was and what He came to do and that requires that we repent. It was the explicit first words of his ministry - repent! We also saw this past election season many in the NAR apostate church replaced saving faith with carnal voting choices. People like Mario Murillo and Greg Locke wrote that anyone who was going to vote Democratic in his past election was unredeemable and hell bound. Imagine that! Saving faith in Christ is no longer required, just who you vote for, which completely flips John 3:16 on its head. Uber apostate Jack Hibbs took it further by declaring that even if you chose to not vote at all, you were going to hell. Possibly the first time I have heard someone cosplaying as a pastor teach that not doing something utterly carnal as being the lynchpin for eternal life. Please realize the damage this does to real people. Most people are not theologians. They rely upon media sources who rely on them not doing the work of a Berean. There is a reason why we are called sheep. We follow. If we follow the wolves though, there is always damage and it may just end up being eternal. If you think that your salvation is based upon voting for Donald Trump, or any political candidate for that matter, you are being led down the broad path that leads to destruction. God raises up all leaders to accomplish His will. The gospel is not word faith. It is not prosperity. It is not false signs and lying wonders. It is not political. It is about do you have faith in the work of Christ on the cross. It is not about being in a relationship either. Do not buy the feel-good messages profaning religion. God established religion. The apostate, seeker-friendly, purpose-driven church industrial complex have sold friendship in Christ instead of Lordship. If He is not your Lord first, He is nothing to you.
Secondly here, I love verse 17, because the focus is always on 16. Jesus did not die on the cross to condemn the world. He came that it might be saved through Him. Not some of the world. Not a special few. THE WORLD. The reason why everyone is not saved, and few are those who find the narrow way is the determining factor of saving faith. People like being their own God. Our sin nature loves the darkness. We do not want the light because the light lays bare who we are. Our works are evil. Before I was saved, I used to fancy myself a good person because my point of comparison was other people, and we can always find people who are considerably more evil than we think we are. It is only when you compare yourself to a holy God that you realize you were never really that good to begin with. Only God is. While the flesh rejects these notions, the spirit embraces them. Thank God for His goodness that He did not leave me to my own lordship. It is never easy to surrender our Lordship but once we do, it provides joy and peace that surpasses all understanding.
22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison). 25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness-- look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." 27 John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease."[j]
I love this portion of Scripture. So, John the Baptist is still baptizing but now Jesus' ministry has begun, and He too is baptizing. The followers of John were clearly jealous that their ministry was now going elsewhere. To me this highlights how we can lose sight of the point and purpose of ministry - which is Jesus. It is not so we can be seen, which is a hallmark of Charismaniacal churches. I remember at my old church there was a flagging ministry. It got so bad that I counted one night during a prayer service worship song 17 flaggers. I could no longer even see the worship team. I thought they may have been raptured. Anything that distracts from your worship - is not of God. He should be the focus. I heard many defend this ministry as somehow ushering in the presence, which is odd because I am pretty sure God doesn't need an usher or to be told He is welcome here, another silly worship refrain. Do you want to know how it is really about being seen and not about God? Ask them to apply their ministry behind the scenes and watch how many feel "called" to different ministries. Not to pick on flaggers, who I am sure have the best of intentions based upon poor teaching, this is seen throughout the Charismaniacal experience. People shouting out baby babble tongues for no reason, with no translation or vague prophetic words. It is all designed to "look at me." I am reminded about the story of Uzzah, who was commanded to move the Ark of the Covenant on a cart while David and his company danced with all their might in worship. The oxen stumbled and the cart threatened to overturn. Uzzah concerned about the Ark falling, with the best of intentions, reached out to steady it with his hand and God struck him dead. Why? Because he was not a Kohathite of the Levite Tribe and only they were allowed to move the ark and even they were never allowed to touch it. Seem unfair? It is a perfect illustration that God is infinitely more concerned that we do as He says rather than our performative worship. Jesus lamented, why do you bother to call me Lord if you do not follow what I say? As we said earlier, speaking through the prophet Amos God declares take away from me your noisy hymns of praise if you have no justice or righteousness! We, like the followers of John the Baptist before us, are overly focused on us instead of Christ. I understand why. Because this is how we are taught. If you go to Elevation church heretic Steven Furtick is constantly transposing you into the role of God within the biblical text. It is called narcigesis. You and I are not David staring down Goliath in the Vally of Elah armed only with our five smooth stones of faith. I remember once a preacher reminded us, if we are anyone in that story, we are the cowering Israelites. We are not running around our Jericho. We are not parting our Red Sea. Not to mention, David in that story is a type of Christ! Talk about missing the point! John rebukes his followers and reminds them that we are but friends of the bridegroom, not the bridegroom Himself. That the entire point of their ministry was about Jesus Christ. We are not the Christ, but we have been sent before Him. If I had one message for ministers today of any stripe it would be that He must always increase, and we must always decrease. Chapter Three now closes.
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Let us never forget in closing that while the love of God in boundless, so is His wrath. This is not a game. This life is a glimmer. There are eternal consequences for the charlatans scattering people away from Christ because there are eternal consequences for those who follow them. When Paul leaves the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he declares that he is innocent of their blood because he did not hesitate to tell them the entire counsel of God. The entire gospel. If he had not, and they passed away separated from God, then their blood would be on Paul's account as well. We must realize that the reason why the hucksters do not care is they themselves have no fear of God because they are in fact not saved. Mike Bickle was not saved. Robert Morris was not saved. Benny Hinn, Jennifer LeClaire, Jenny Weaver and the names just go on and on. Now there is a verse in the bible that says that false teachers will go on deceiving and they themselves being deceived. I have always asserted that someone like Joel Osteen may be deceived himself which is why he deceives others while someone like Mike Murdock is clearly quite aware of the fraud he perpetrates. It does not matter though for the sheep and the goats seeking God. While some might be genuinely deceived themselves, they are all deceivers. For while he who has been genuinely sent by God utters the words of God, the hireling does not. The huckster does not. The heretic does not. I do not mean the mere citation of verse fragments ripped violently out of context to support pre-biased sermonettes. The false teachers of this age pay lip service to Christ and His word. They do not convey what sayeth the Lord because they do not know Him. They do not have the indwelt Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth and quite frankly, they don't care. But we should. The father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands. Whoever believes in the Son shall have eternal life. Whoever does not, the wrath of God remains on them. This is why we see in Matthew 7 those that say Lord Lord are not even known by Christ. They spent their years in the performative work of false religion because they were taught that for 10% of their money and a shape application to process their purpose set before the foundations of the world, they did not have to change anything about who they were and more importantly, who was Lord in their life. They were promised heaven for the price of a tithe and an hour and a half on Sundays. Then they get to stand before Christ and ask incredulously, Lord Lord, did we not? The answer is no because for all of their efforts and striving, they never listened to the very first word Jesus spoke in His recorded ministry - repent.
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