John 3:22-36

[0:00] Good morning again. Good morning. Here we are dismissed to Sunday School. Gospel of John chapter 3.

[0:12] Last week we, or not last week, week before last week I went up in Abboton to preach at another church.

[0:25] Those of you that may have prayed, I do appreciate that. I don't know what last week, but it was a week before. We finished up the conversation that Jesus Christ had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

[0:41] And that ended with verse 21. And really, and I explained our last session, that was really a sermon that was preached by Jesus Christ to this man, Nicodemus.

[0:56] And I've used that picture many times while talking about, you know, people will talk about the difference between preaching and teaching.

[1:07] There is a difference between the two, but the difference is not that one you speak and the other you shout and scream and spit and slobber, and that's what a lot of people, especially in this general area that we live in, they think the difference between teaching and preaching is.

[1:24] But now listen, I've heard some awesome sermons by fellowers that hurtly raised their voice, but nevertheless they were sermons that were preached. So that's not the difference.

[1:35] And I've used this very conversation that Christ had with Nicodemus and the words that he said as an example and saying, you know, you'll never in a thousand years convince me that Jesus was standing there screaming these words at Nicodemus.

[1:53] But nevertheless, he preached Nicodemus a sermon. We wrapped that section up last week and hopefully with the Lord's help, we'll finish up John chapter three this morning.

[2:07] A lot of people view this latter portion of the third chapter of John as boring scripture. And I understand why people would see it like that because we just had this conversation with Nicodemus and all kinds of neat stuff was brought up and all kinds of excitement was taking place and Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus twice he said, you must be born again.

[2:34] And we hear or we read some of the things that we hear repeated over and over in church and maybe out on the street, those that may be involved in street ministry or where the case is, we hear or we read John 3.16 which all of us I'm sure have memorized by heart and we hear the words, you must be born again and we hear that the condemnation of man is that man loves darkness rather than light and we hear all these things and then we get to this latter section beginning at verse 22 and a lot of people will read it and they'll say, well that's just boring.

[3:12] But folks, I taught both of my boys when they were growing up, if something's boring, make it exciting. And that actually got them and me both in trouble a couple of times but we won't get into that.

[3:25] But I hope to kind of sort of do that this morning with my understanding of this scripture. And I said, I understand why people have that view of the latter portion of John 3.

[3:42] But folks, it's the word of God, there's nothing boring about it. I mean really truly if you look at the begats of scripture, you look at the begats over in the Old Testament and you look at the begats of Matthew and Luke and the New Testament, I mean those can be exciting if you make them exciting.

[4:00] Just to breeze through them and read them ain't much exciting about that. But if you look at each name and you go back if there is any kind of historical data recorded in the begats of Matthew 1 and Luke 3, if there's any kind of history of those people recorded in the Old Testament, go back and look at those.

[4:20] And you'll see and you can make it a little bit more exciting than what it is this one began to begat that one and that one begat this one. So with all that being said, we'll pick up in John 3 and verse 22.

[4:34] It says, after these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim because there was much water there and they came and were baptized.

[4:51] For John was not yet cast into prison and then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying and they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizes and all men come to him.

[5:11] So we'll stop reading right there and back up to verse 22. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized.

[5:23] After what things, after what we just talked about after the things recorded in these previous verses after this conversation when Nicodemus happened, after this happened is when Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized.

[5:42] And to tarry just means to basically what we would refer to nowadays as hanging out. He tarried with them, he hung out with them and not only that though, but he helped them.

[5:54] Was he not guiding them in everything that he was doing? He was showing the disciples how to do things. He was showing them how to baptize in this particular case, but he tarried with them and baptized and John also was baptizing and Anon near to Salim because there was much water there and they came and were baptized.

[6:19] For John was not yet cast into prison and those of us that are familiar with the New Testament scripture these words for John was not yet cast into prison. He wasn't put in prison yet.

[6:31] We know that he was placed into prison because of his preaching, because he told a man the truth. He told Herod the truth and because of this he was cast into prison.

[6:47] Folks, the truth hurts sometimes. That's an age old adage and not just biblically. We're growing up and our parents sometimes they had to tell us the truth of a matter and the truth hurts sometimes.

[7:06] When the truth hits us, when the truth of the word of God hits us, it should hurt us. Especially if we're not in line with the word of God especially if someone's lost and the truth of the scripture the truth of the gospel hits them, it should hurt them.

[7:27] I know it hurt me. I don't know what your experience was with the gospel of Jesus Christ when you were lost and it finally hit you just right. But it hurt. That's why I question people that they may walk an aisle they may go to an altar and make a profession of faith and the whole time they're doing it, they're doing it with a smile on their face.

[7:50] Folks, I was broken out of pieces when the gospel hit me. I was crying when the gospel hit me. There was nothing really good as far as the human aspect is concerned about it because I realized what a wretch I was and I realized that I was lost.

[8:10] I realized I was on my way to hell. But praise God, I also realized that Jesus Christ could help me with all those problems. And he could change my direction.

[8:21] I could repent of my ways in believing the gospel and I could be saved. That's a reason to be happy. But when the conviction of the Holy Spirit falls on us when that truth hits us, it should do anything but make us happy.

[8:37] And once again, that's why I question people that make a profession of Christ with a smile on their face. Who am I to question salvation? It's not ultimately my decision nor yours whether they're saved or not.

[8:53] But I know what my experience was and I know what the experience of other people in the Scriptures was. You look at Peter, when Peter was out fishing and the Lord caused a great amount of fish to be caught.

[9:09] And what did Peter say? He said, depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Peter felt bad. He felt bad about himself. He felt bad about whom he was in the presence of the very glory of God, Jesus Christ.

[9:24] So it should have that effect on every lost sinner that's out there. But John, back to the Scripture, John was put into prison simply for telling the truth.

[9:36] John was not yet cashed into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. Well, this is an age-old tactic of the enemy.

[9:49] It calls division between people, calls division, whether they're believers or not, but especially in believers. I mean, it says that this question came up between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

[10:06] Well, John's disciples would have been Jews. But if you notice here that term Jews, it's referring to the upper sect of Jews. It's referring to Pharisees and to the Sadducees and to the priests and the scribes, those that had a little bit of clout in the Jewish realm and in the Jewish teachings.

[10:31] These are the Jews that are talking about. It says this question was about a purification that arose between some of John's disciples and the Jews at this time. It says, they came into John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizer.

[10:49] And all men come to him. How does this sound to you, especially that last line? And all men come to him. These were John's disciples.

[11:00] There were people that followed John. There was nothing wrong with that. I don't want y'all thinking that John had placed himself up on a pedestal of any kind. In fact, a little bit further on, the Scripture we're reading this morning, you'll see that he done anything but put himself up on a pedestal.

[11:16] But these were John's disciples. They were following him. They referred to him as Rabbi, as their teachers, the one that they followed. And they came and they said, all men are going to this Jesus instead of unto you.

[11:31] So this was something that was put in their heads or that was in their heads of shouldn't these people be coming to you instead of to this Jesus? Now, if you'll remember in John chapter one, and even a little bit into John chapter two, John the Baptist was making profession.

[11:51] He says, John the gospel writer, John the revelator, however you'd like to refer to him, John the apostle was writing about John the Baptist and said he was not that light, but he was sent to testify of the light.

[12:07] Jesus Christ being the light of men. And John the Baptist recognized that he wasn't that light. In fact, when the Jews, again, these same Jews that we were talking about just a little while ago, those that held basically the religious authority of the Jewish race of people, they sent people unto John and say, who are you?

[12:32] Those of you that were here for John chapter one, they were saying, who are you? Why are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do these things? And this of course is when John said, I am de-baptized with water, there comes one after me who shoolats you.

[12:49] I'm unworthy to lose. And speaking of course of Jesus Christ. So again, John had not put himself up on a pedestal of any kind, but his disciples felt like these people instead of going to Jesus.

[13:03] Even though John had testified of Jesus, John the Baptist, even though he had done this, they still felt like because he was their Rabbi, he was the one telling them the truth, but the truth that he was telling them about was Jesus Christ and was about Jesus Christ, but they still felt like these people should become the John to be baptized instead of unto Jesus as they came unto him and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee, beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, they even recognized, to whom thou bearest witness, this cross that you spoke of, this one that you stood there on the bank of the river and said, behold, the Lamb of God, which takeeth away the Son of the world.

[13:43] They were recognizing what John said, and yet they asked the question, or they said unto him, and all men come to him. Verse 27, John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.

[13:58] And this co-relates perfectly with what James says in James chapter 1, when he says, every good gift and every perfect gift comeeth down from the Father of life. If we have anything good in our lives, it's because of God.

[14:12] Everything that we have, whether you're talking about material things, if you're saving them, it's because of God. If you're saving them, it's because of God. If you're saving them, it's because of God.

[14:25] Whether you're talking about material things, if you're saved and born again, and you have salvation, if you have that, if you've been redeemed, if you've been reconciled back unto God, that is all of God.

[14:37] Every stitch of clothing you have is because of God. Your house that you dwell in, your cars that you drive, the breath in your body and the blood that's pumping through those veins is all because of God.

[14:50] And John makes this perfectly clear here. It says, John entered and said, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the cross, but that I am sent before him.

[15:04] John being the forerunner of Jesus Christ, what was the purpose of the forerunner, those of you that may not have ever looked into that, the forerunner is the one that went before the king into the different towns and announced that the king was coming.

[15:20] Sometimes it was a day ahead of schedule, sometimes it was a week ahead of schedule, but a forerunner went and announced that, hey, the king's coming, make preparations, get the streets swept, get the sidewalks cleaned up, get your houses in order, get some better clothes on.

[15:37] This is what a forerunner was sent to do, was to announce the coming of the king, and this was John's job. He announced the coming of the Messiah. And because of this, this is the very reason that in the Scriptures, Jesus Christ said of John, there has not been a man born of a woman who was greater than John the Baptist, because he had a greater calling on his life than anyone else did.

[16:02] And that was to announce the coming of the promised Messiah. The Messiah that had been promised in Genesis chapter 3 and promised all throughout the Old Testament was finally here.

[16:13] The prophets spoke about him, the psalmist spoke about him, the historical books spoke about him, Moses spoke about him. All these people, in one way, shape, form, or fashion, they spoke of Jesus Christ, they spoke of that promised Messiah, David spoke about him, Solomon spoke about him.

[16:32] All kinds of people in the Old Testament, and John's sole purpose in his life was to announce that Messiah was finally here.

[16:43] He says, you yourselves bear witness that I said I'm not Christ, that I was sent, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiced greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

[17:01] This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. And we just talked about what the job of the forerunner is, and John uses a more eloquent picture of his job as far as announcing Jesus Christ is here.

[17:18] He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. Everybody in here should know that the bride is the church. We are the bride of Christ, and we're the body of Christ.

[17:29] And there's pictures of this all throughout the Bible. There's pictures of it in the Old Testament. There's pictures of it in the New Testament. The ultimate culminating picture of it is found in the book of Revelation where it says, blessed are they that are invited, that are in attendance, that are at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

[17:48] Those that are in attendance there, those that are part of that marriage, that are being wed to Christ, they're in the book of Revelation, that is us, that's the church that's being married under Christ.

[18:00] But here he says, he that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, that would be the friend of the bridegroom is what we would call nowadays the best man. He says, but the friend of the bridegroom would standeth and heareth him, rejoiceeth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

[18:16] You know what we would call the best man, the friend of the bridegroom? Well, his job was back in this day, and it was up until, it was even in our culture, up until probably about a century, maybe three quarters of a century ago.

[18:31] The job of the best man was not just to stand there and hold the ring and look handsome. He is actually the one that made sure that the bride was at the wedding place.

[18:45] And he not only made sure that the bride was at the wedding place, but he made sure that the groom looked his absolute very best. And he's the one that got everything in order, the best man, the friend of the bridegroom as it puts here.

[18:59] He is the one that got the whole marriage together. Now, granted, the bridegroom's family, mother and father, might have something to do with it. The bride's family, mother and father might have something to do with it.

[19:11] But ultimately, it was the best man or the friend of the bridegroom, it was his job to make sure everything went smooth. He was pretty much the manager of the wedding.

[19:24] Now, that's not the case nowadays. And certainly not the case in this day in which we live, where you go out and hire somebody for two, three, four, five thousand dollars to make sure your wedding goes off without a hitch.

[19:37] But back in these days, and like I said, even up to 75 to 100 years ago, up to that point, it was the bridegroom's responsibility to make sure the bride is where she needed to be and to make sure that the bridegroom and his presence was announced and to make sure that the wedding got off without a hitch and it went smooth.

[19:59] So when he says he that had the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom would stand at the and hear at them, rejoiceeth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. He rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

[20:12] He is rejoicing that the bridegroom is there. Of course, he's rejoicing that the bride is there. He's rejoicing because they're about to be hitched together forever until death doeth part.

[20:25] This is why the friend of the bridegroom would have been happy, but this is what he would have been happy in. Was that the bridegroom was happy and that the bride was happy?

[20:36] He was happy for his friend. He was happy for the one who had asked him to be the best man. John, it wasn't just happenstance that John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ.

[20:52] This was part of God's plan. I'm persuaded from all eternity that John the Baptist would be the announcer or the forerunner of Jesus Christ.

[21:03] We know from the scriptural accounts that John the Baptist was the first cousin of Jesus Christ. He was about six months older than Jesus was.

[21:14] We figured both of these men would have been about 30 years of age at this point, 30 or so we'll say. But nevertheless, John recognizes his place.

[21:28] His place is he is the friend of the bridegroom. He's not the one getting married, but he should be rejoicing at the voice of the bridegroom.

[21:39] Why? Because he had to make sure the bridegroom was there and that's what he was announcing to the world that the bridegroom is here. He says, this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

[21:52] He must increase, but I must decrease. I can't stress this verse enough to the church at large. I can't stress it enough and particularly to preachers or the teachers of the word, to any believer really.

[22:09] He must increase, but I must decrease. And there's too many preachers slash pastors out there that believe that their ministry and the effects of their ministry and the well-doing of their ministry is graded on how large their attendance is or how large the offering is at their church.

[22:32] Any number of things, folks, and that is not the case. That's not the case at all. I don't and I can't grade each lesson that I teach you all on how you respond to it or how many people tell me that was a wonderful Sunday School lesson or that was a wonderful sermon that you preach, Spencer, or anything along those lines.

[22:53] Folks, if I teach the Word of God and I teach it in its truth and I preach it in its truth, it doesn't matter if I never see anyone come to an altar and confess Christ and believe in the gospel.

[23:05] If I've done what I'm supposed to do, that's all I can do. It's laid in other people's laps at that point. If I'm faithful to the Word of God and I present the Word of God and I present the gospel in a biblical manner to you who are saved or you who are lost, your response to it is your responsibility.

[23:30] And I said that falls to the saved and the lost alike. He must increase, but I must decrease. I don't matter and that's exactly what John the Baptist was saying here.

[23:43] No, Christ must increase. Christ must be exalted. The gospel must be preached. The things of Christ, the doings of Christ, the name of Christ, the teachings of Christ, the healings of Christ, all of these things.

[23:55] If it has to do with Christ, this is what must be increased, but I must decrease. John had evidently conjured up quite a following of people.

[24:07] Once again, these people that he was speaking to were his own students. They were his own disciples, which was very commonplace. If there was a rabbi, there was a teacher, the Pharisees, they had their disciples.

[24:19] John the Baptist had disciples. Jesus Christ had disciples. Jesus Christ had more disciples than just the original 12 that he handpicked himself. All these men had disciples.

[24:32] They had followers, but John the Baptist was stating in these words, he must increase, but I must decrease. In other words, my job is done. Forget about me.

[24:43] I have pointed you all toward Christ and everything that John said in the gospel, John, everything that John the Baptist has said, pointed toward Jesus Christ as being the Messiah.

[24:56] He's saying, don't put your hope in me. Don't put your trust in me. You can trust what I said about Jesus. Yes, but don't put your hope in me. I'm not Messiah. He must increase, but I must decrease.

[25:10] Once again, that's directed particularly at believers. That's where I would direct that to would be believers in Jesus Christ.

[25:23] Because too many people, they'll talk about their voice if they sing. They'll talk about their lessons or their sermons if they teach or they preach. They'll talk about their ministries if they do ministries within the church.

[25:37] And they grade themselves on how good or bad it sounds or how good or bad it does. And that is not what we need to grade ourselves on.

[25:48] We allow God to do the grading. And if we are following it and doing these things in a biblical manner, then to God be the glory for it. And he can increase it as he sees fit.

[26:00] But we ourselves need to decrease. We need to stay out of the picture as far as the success of any ministry goes.

[26:11] We don't need to include ourselves in the success portion of it because God adds to it as he sees fit. And God causes success as he sees fit.

[26:22] All we're told to do is go. In the Scripture, we are told to go under all the corners of the earth and preach the gospel to every living creature. We're told go, go, go in the Scripture.

[26:36] And if we are going and we're doing what we're told to and we're doing it biblically, let God give the increase in that matter. Let God do it.

[26:48] So we must decrease. Verse 31, He that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth.

[27:00] He that cometh from heaven is above all. We all know, John speaking here, he that cometh from above is above all. He that cometh from above from heaven is above all.

[27:13] And he is above all, folks. John the Baptist was speaking about the very creator of the universe and the very creator of earth.

[27:24] And John the Baptist would have been very familiar with whom Jesus was and he was familiar with his being Messiah.

[27:35] But he's speaking here of earthly things and of heavenly things. And he says, he that's from the earth is earthly, speaking of himself. You know, John the Baptist, he had a father.

[27:47] He had a mother. He had an earthly father and an earthly mother. But he's speaking of Jesus Christ who we know had an earthly mother, but he had a heavenly father. He says, he that is from above, recognizing that Jesus Christ has been there from all eternity.

[28:02] Jesus Christ was not and is not a created being. He has always been there. The Godhead has always existed. The Bible refers to God as the ancient of days and the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.

[28:19] The Bible refers to God as all of these things and it refers specifically to Jesus Christ as some of those things. But we know that Jesus Christ being the second person of the Godhead, the Godhead being forever and eternally intertwined.

[28:33] You cannot separate them. So if Jesus Christ was there from the beginning, so was God the Father and so was God the Spirit. Says, he that coming from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly and speaking of the earth, he that coming from heaven is above all.

[28:49] And that what he has seen and heard, that he testifies and no man receive his testimony. John the Baptist said, he that's from above, he that is from up there, he that is from heaven is above all.

[29:05] He says, and he's testifying of the things that he is seeing, not seeing here on earth. But Jesus Christ testifies of the things which he has seen in heaven and from heaven.

[29:17] Jesus Christ speaking about these things in a way which no earthly man could have possibly spoken on. And this is found in what we finished up a couple of weeks ago when Jesus Christ was talking to Nicodemus.

[29:34] And he asked Nicodemus, he said, how can I explain to you the heavenly things if you don't even understand the earthly things? But he was telling him about heavenly things and he was saying, you know, this is where I'm from.

[29:46] Essentially that's what Christ was telling Nicodemus, I am from heaven. I have authority to tell you of these things because this is where I came from. But he says, and what he has seen and heard, that he testifies and no man receive his testimony.

[30:03] Therein lies the problem. He's testifying of these things, but no man receive his testimony. That's the problem nowadays. The same testimony goes out.

[30:15] Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Mary conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. So he was born of a virgin. He lived a perfect, sinless life.

[30:26] He was crucified. He was buried. He was resurrected. He ascended to the Father and he's coming again. And these are the very things that are rejected by the world. Some of them, some of them, some of the world will accept certain aspects of that, but not all of them.

[30:42] But here it says, that what he has seen and heard, that, and what he has seen and heard, that he testified and no man receive his testimony. No man receive it.

[30:54] Praise God, there's a few men and women that receive it. They receive it now. They receive the testimony of Jesus Christ. They receive the testimony of the Scripture, the testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[31:10] Which the Gospel is essentially the good news of Jesus Christ. What's so great about the story of Jesus Christ? The great news is that you're a sinner and Jesus Christ is a Savior.

[31:22] The great news is that you are a hellbound sinner, but with faith in Jesus Christ and believing His Gospel, which is the power of God and the salvation, we can be saved.

[31:33] We can be saved from the wrath that is promised to come in the Scripture. But just as it is now, so it was 2,000 years ago, no man receive with his testimony.

[31:47] And he that received his testimony has said to his seal that God is true. He that received his testimony has said to his seal that God is true.

[31:58] This term set to his seal has nothing more than talking about the sealing of a scroll or the sealing of being an envelope nowadays. But nobody really uses this anymore to my knowledge.

[32:10] But when they would take the hot wax or the wax they put it on the paper, they would heat it up, they would take a stamp of some kind. They would imprint that on that scroll or on that envelope.

[32:21] And if it arrived to its destination and it was broken, then it was known that someone had read the contents there. But nevertheless, it was the seal of whomever was sending this scroll or this envelope or this letter, whatever the case was.

[32:37] It says he that received his testimony has said to his seal that God is true. He said to his seal, in other words, it's bound up. He has accepted that God is true and that the Scripture is true, that the Gospel is true, that the Old Testament is true, and the same God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament and God is true.

[32:59] And the Bible says, let God be true and every man a liar. Hallelujah. For he whom God has sent speak at the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

[33:13] For he whom God has sent speak at the words of God. This is John the Baptist speaking of Jesus Christ saying that God sent him and he is speaking the words of God.

[33:24] But it goes on and says, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. In other words, these prophets of the Old Testament, you got the prophets and the psalmist, those that we talked about just a little while ago that spoke of the coming of Jesus Christ.

[33:40] Yes, they were speaking the words of God because all Scripture is inspired and breathed by the Holy Spirit of God. So yes, they were speaking the words of God, but the Spirit was given unto them in measure.

[33:54] The Spirit would come upon these people in the Old Testament. You don't read about the Spirit indwelling anyone in the Old Testament. Folks, that is something that didn't happen until the New Testament time.

[34:06] When God poured out his Spirit and they that believe in the name of Jesus Christ and are saved and have repented in their ways, they receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence and abides within them.

[34:19] But in the Old Testament, which is all the Scripture these boys had to go by, in the Old Testament the Spirit came upon people and it was given in measure. It was given in enough measure to where they could accomplish what God wanted them to accomplish for that time.

[34:35] That's not to say that God would completely remove his Spirit from these people, although we know that he removed his Spirit from Saul, the first king of Israel. And if you're familiar with Scripture, you know why that was done. But as far as the prophets go, did he completely remove his Spirit after they'd done what they were supposed to?

[34:54] The Bible doesn't really specify, but we do know that they were given enough of the Spirit and enough function of the Spirit, enough power off God to accomplish what they wanted to do.

[35:05] You read the book of Amos sometime. That's a highly overlooked book in the Scripture. But if you read through the first chapter or two of the book of Amos, you see Amos coming against all these outside tribes, coming against all these pagans and heathens.

[35:21] And he says, for three transgressions of this people and for four, and for three transgressions of this people and for four. And then he finally gets to the Jews at the end.

[35:32] And I've always, when I read that Scripture, I've always pictured the Jews that were around Amos cheering him on and amen and hallelujah and preach on, brother Amos. I pictured them doing this. Then he gets to the Jews.

[35:45] And he says, for three transgressions of Israel and for four. And I've always pictured it as so silent you could have heard a pen drop when he got to that, because then he was calling them out in their own sin.

[35:58] He was calling them out for what they had done. And Amos would not have survived that had he not had a measure of the spirit of God with him and the power of God with him.

[36:09] If he'd been out there in his own in the flesh doing that, he would have never survived preaching that sermon. But anyway, that's just an example. The Father, love the Son, has given all things unto his hand.

[36:22] He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So the Father, love the Son hath given all things unto his hand.

[36:34] We read about this at the end of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus Christ says himself, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, all power is given unto Jesus Christ.

[36:46] And everything is his, he rules everything. And this is something that a lot of people have issue with. They want a Savior, but they don't want a Lord. They want someone to save them from their sin or from the punishment of their sin, but they don't want to be saved from the sin itself.

[37:02] They want to continue on doing what they want to do. And folks, that is not the mark of a true child of God. A true child of God is born again. They've become a new creature in Christ Jesus according to what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church.

[37:17] And if you are a new creature, you're going to do new things. You're going to say new things. You're going to go places that you've never been. You're going to act in a new way if you are a new creature. But the Father loveeth the Son and has given all things into his hand.

[37:31] He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. This is very comforting words to me. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Not he that believeth on the Son and has baptized in water.

[37:44] Not he that believeth on the Son and liveeth a perfect, perfect life. Not he that believeth in the Son and give a thousand dollars a week in the coffer plate. Nothing along those lines. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life.

[37:59] And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth on him. Those that believeth have everlasting life. Those that do not believe have no life.

[38:11] God is life. Is he not? Jesus Christ is life. Is he not? I mean the first chapter of John says in him was light. And this light was the light of men.

[38:23] Speaking of the life of Jesus Christ. These are the things. Jesus Christ is life itself. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.

[38:34] If you don't believe you don't have life. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are dead and trespasses in sin before we believe. And the only way to have life is to have Almighty God give it to you.

[38:46] But the wrath of God abideth on him, on him who shall not see life. That's speaking of in the previous line before. The wrath of God abideth upon him. The wrath of God abode on me at one time.

[38:59] And if you are here born again this morning. The wrath of God abode upon you at one time. But once we became saved. Once we became regenerated by the power and the working of the Holy Spirit of God.

[39:12] The wrath of God left us. Left the wrath of God fled us. But it still abides on those that do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

[39:24] And we're going to wrap it up right there. That brings us to the end of the chapter. We've got a few minutes left. Does anybody got any questions or comments on any of that? Alright God bless you.

[39:35] Thank you.