John Chapter 3:20-36

We have certain things in our life, as we've been talking about you and I, there's certain flaws, there's certain character imperfections, impurities. For the Christian, you don't have to stay that way. He wants to help us. He wants to put in us a desire to be conformed to His image. He wants to do the work. He wants to change us. But the reality is all of us are like cups. We can only hold so much. And we do play a part in the decision of what's in us. He desires to conform us to His image.

He's willing to give us the power to do it. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that encouraging? Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. And we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A.

Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John. The more we follow Jesus, the more we realize that He must increase and we must decrease. We must look more to the way He wants to do things than the way we want to do things. And the way that actually happens in our life, D.A., is not as bad as it sounds. It's actually a joyful experience to let God work through you and put yourself aside. Think about flying a plane that you've never even been on before. God knows every control on that thing. If you'll just trust Him, watch where He'll take you in flight. Good example, D.A., so let's listen as David McGee explains how we do that as he continues teaching in the Gospel of John, finishing up chapter 3. Verse 21, but he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

Now again, guys, run to the light. Don't, and please, as I'm saying this, don't get all filled with pride and religiosity and stuff right now. Don't be sitting there going, I don't have any problems. I don't struggle.

I don't have any issues in my life. Well, friend, you're in the wrong church, because the rest of us do. And I see it sometimes. You know, I remember it as a child playing with the blinds when the sun was shining in and opening the blinds and then the sunlight shining in and you see the dust in the air. And, you know, as a young kid, I was trying to figure out, well, does the sunlight attract the dust? No.

It just reveals the dust. And that's the way it is with Jesus. See, we have our sins.

As we walk closer to Jesus, yes, you're going to see more of them. As a matter of fact, you're going to think, man, I'm not getting anywhere. But you are. I know that God is working in your life because you're here this morning. That shows me.

There's some proof. Praise God. No, I'm in church because I'm a good person. No, you're not a good person.

Sorry. Which is more encouraging, the fact that you think you're a good person or that God is at work in your life? I get much more excited knowing that God is at work in my life. See, you're not here this morning because you're a good person.

Ephesians says very plainly that it is God that both, it puts in you both to do and to will of his good pleasure. The fact that you want to do something good, that's not you. That's God. So the fact you're here this morning, that's not you. That's not you. That's God.

That's encouraging to me. But some people run from the Lord. Some people sadly have run from this church. They've been confronted with something. They've been presented with something. Maybe on a Sunday morning they hear a word.

They hear a voice. They're challenged in their religious pride. They're challenged in clinging to their sins and they make a decision and they run. They try to run from God. But you know what? God goes with them and chases them and doesn't let up. The Lord is shining in our life and of course He's going to reveal some stuff in our life that makes us uncomfortable because that's what happens. But what do you do in that moment of discomfort? That's the real challenge.

That's the real decision. Do you run from God or do you run to God? I like the saying, the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.

The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. You see as Jesus shines in some people's life, they run off. And very often they run from church to church to church, running not from anything else but really running from what God is revealing in their life.

And they get uncomfortable and they go somewhere else and they go somewhere else. You're not going to find the perfect church. This is not the perfect church. And if it was the perfect church you couldn't join it because you're not perfect. It wouldn't be perfect anymore. It's not perfect.

I'm not perfect. But you know a lot of times we run from that light. It reminds me of the story. They get this guy. This guy's on a desert island and he's been marooned there for years and years. And so they go to rescue him and there's two buildings on the island. They go, what's that building? He goes, well, that's my church. And I say, okay, what's that building over there? He goes, well, that's the church I used to go to.

We tend to run. And the moment that you recognize you have that tendency, man, you're more than halfway there because we have that decision. The moment you realize you can't deal with your sin on your own, oh, man, bingo, you're a winner when you realize you need help. Because when you're condemned is when you reject Jesus, when you reject the light and you're forgiven as you come to him. In verse 22, after these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing anon near Salim because there was much water there and they came and were baptized.

For John had not yet been thrown in the prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. Now understand we think of baptism as a New Testament concept and certainly the symbolism changed in the New Testament.

But it's not a new concept. In the Hebrew Scriptures in the Old Testament you have the Lord himself initiated the concept of the mikvah, the ceremonial cleansing. We see that in the Old Testament.

People would cleanse themselves to go into the temple or cleanse themselves for the work of the Lord. And that is a picture of baptism. And that's why, you know, if you go to Jerusalem now in the book of Acts it talks about when they were in Jerusalem they baptized 3,000 people. When you go to Jerusalem it's a desert city.

There's not like a lot of water there. So how did they baptize 3,000 people? Well as you stand on the temple mount on the southern steppes you see, because you can look and they're still there, there's about 42 different mikvahs, places of ceremonial cleansing. That's where those first believers were baptized. Verse 26, And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. And John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

That's kind of a tough verse isn't it? Because as you look around and you see people who are ungodly being blessed. You look at people who are ungodly who it looks from the outside looking in that they've got it made.

But friend, you don't see them late at night. You don't see the pain. You don't see the agony. And what if they are blessed? If they don't know the Lord, do you realize this is as good as it's going to get for them.

And after they die, it gets much worse. See, for the unbeliever, this is as good as it gets. This life is as good as it gets.

For the believer, this is as bad as it gets. Even if you walk in a blessed life and you're blessed, you know what, it still doesn't compare to heaven. It doesn't compare to heaven.

It doesn't compare to heaven. What about these people in ministry that you see fleecing people? Certainly God has not blessed them. God's not given them. Well, according to this verse, nothing can be given to them except from heaven. So what about these guys that are fleecing people? You know, at some point they have to stand before the Lord.

And they have to give an account for what they've been given. So you know what, you and I don't need to be overly concerned. Oh, we need to warn people but to stand before the Lord for teaching heresy?

That's not a place I would want to be. Verse 28, You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears Him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. That's a good verse, isn't it? That verse is life lesson number three. He must increase and I must decrease. We have certain things in our life, as we've been talking about, you and I, there's certain flaws, there's certain character imperfections, impurities. And don't ever, well, that's just the way it is.

No, no, no, no. For the Christian, you don't have to stay that way. You don't have to stay that way. He wants to help us. He wants to put in us a desire to be conformed to His image. He wants to do the work. He wants to change us. But the reality is all of us are like cups. We can only hold so much.

And we do play a part in the decision of what's in us. He desires to conform us to His image. He's willing to give us the power to do it. Isn't that awesome?

Isn't that encouraging? He wants to change you. He wants to do a work in your life. And He's going to use this book and He's going to use the Holy Spirit and it's going to sting a little bit. And He's going to use other people. Boy, it'd be easier if He didn't use other people, especially, I can't believe He uses Pastor David. God.

I can't believe He uses my spouse. Oh my gosh. I can't tell you the times I've prayed to hear from the Lord and then my wife would say something. And you know, and I try to be hyper religious and I'm like, trying to hear from the Lord, honey, be quiet. Yeah, wait a minute. He's getting ready to say something. Shh. Because very often the voice of the Holy Spirit sounds a lot like the voice of my spouse. Amen or on me.

They had a little both. Elbows flying around the room in there. He's going to use us. Life lesson number four. God will use His Word, His Holy Spirit, and His people to make us more like Him. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor DA Brown. Hey Bob, we want to take a minute to pray for our listening audience, those living in these cities in California, Oroville, Paso Robles, Pine Grove, Quartz Hill, Red Bluff, Redding, and Ridgecrest. God, we thank you for those listening in these cities and the surrounding areas. Lord, we pray that you would speak right to them right where they're at today, that they would be excited about following you, that they wouldn't fear that they're going to fall short because you're going to do the work in them. God, we pray that they would get plugged into a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing church. And Father, did you give the pastors in those churches wisdom on how to encourage those whom God brings? In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Do you understand? God never... He is the one that put the church into place. He never intended it to be a place where everybody just got along together.

No. That's not why He puts us all together. As a matter of fact, He puts us all together because He knows that we're not going to all get along together.

Let me tell you something. There's probably some person here that you don't get along with. As a matter of fact, maybe even when you see them, you just get this little shiver up and down there. Do you realize that person is doing more to conform you to the image of Christ than possibly anybody else in this fellowship? Because they're revealing to you your imperfections as you walk in what so obviously is not the love of the Lord, the love of the Lord, as you extend that judgmental and condemning attitude towards this person because of their dress or the way they look or the way they talk or whatever, or perhaps because they're not spiritual.

Maybe they just got saved in the service last week. And God's going to use us to conform us to the image of Jesus. And if you run from that, then you're jumping.

You're ruining the process. And the awesome thing is we can be like Jesus. I desire to be conformed to His image. There was a commercial a few years ago, Be Like Mike. It was Mike Jordan. I think it was Nike or something, Be Like Mike kind of thing. Well, the problem is I don't want to be like Mike.

I don't desire to be that tall or to play basketball that well or anything like that. So that commercial never really appealed to me. But to be like Jesus, that appeals to me. To walk in the love and the righteousness that Jesus walked in, I want to be like that. And do you understand that's the exchange He offers each and every person in here this morning? He wants you to trade your life for His life.

Man, does Jesus get the short end of the stick or what? But He's willing to do it. He's willing to take my life and exchange it for His life and conform me to His image.

Wow. Now, I may not make the most money of the people that live on my street. I may not have the best, nicest house of the people that live on my street or the nicest car. But I can be the most like Jesus. And that's what's important to me. And I hope that's what's important to you. That should be a high priority for you. That should be a goal in your life is to be more like Jesus.

And then the other decisions all come under that hat. Well, I want to be more like Jesus. If I want to be more like Jesus, I want to be in fellowship. I want to learn about who Jesus is.

I want to learn about His word. If I want to be more like Jesus, I want to give more because Jesus was a giver. If I want to be more like Jesus, I want to love people more because I see Jesus loves people more.

Those should be some of our goals. He must increase, but I must decrease. It's not about you anymore. If you know Jesus here this morning, it's not about you.

It's not about you. We get requests and emails and phone calls. And I understand if you approached us with these questions, don't get me wrong. But some people call or email the church or ask questions, and it's almost like, what can you do for me?

What need in my life can you meet? And how backwards that is from what the church is supposed to be. The church is supposed to be where you can pour yourself out and your giftings and bless others. I saw a shirt the other day a young teenager had on that said, it is all about me. Get over it. I thought, how tragic. And you could see by the look on her face this was not a happy camper.

And you know what? You can't be a happy Christian. You can't be a joyful Christian if that's your attitude. It's not about you anymore. It's about Him.

Now I realize that's a real popular message these days in the churches. Oh, it is about you. It's about discovering who you are. It's about discovering how important you are. It's about discovering how and that's your whole problem. You don't think you're important enough to yourself.

That's what the church is proclaiming. And it's about discovering all about you. It's about discovering your purpose, your plan. It's about discovering you. No, it's not about you anymore.

It's about Him. And I know that's tough to live out, but He empowers us to live it out. I use this analogy the other night, but I'll use it again. Cats and dogs. We have both. Go with me for a minute. Dogs, when you love on dogs, and I'm going to talk about our cats at home. Our cats at home because our cats are very godly cats. But dogs look at you and they think, you take care of me. You feed me. You give me water. You know when I need to go out.

Man, they look at you and they think, you must be God. Cats, on the other hand, they look at you and they think, oh, you feed me. You take care of me. You give me water when I need it. I'll let you pet me if I feel like it. And you care for me and you love me. And the cat thinks, I must be God. I love cats. Don't get me wrong.

They taste kind of like chicken. No, I'm kidding. No, I love, we got, you know what?

I would be embarrassed to tell you how many cats we have. And so I love cats, no doubt about it. But do you see the philosophy there?

Do you see the perspective there? See, he loves you and he died for you. He's God. And the mistake that we make sometimes, I think, well, we're so important. He died for us. So we're what everything rotates around. And you know what? That's a carnal Christian.

It's not about us anymore. 31, he who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies and no one receives his testimony. Do you receive his testimony? Do you believe what Jesus said? The Bible says some radical things.

It says, in order to find your life, you got to give it away. That's a radical thing. It says to give thanks in everything. That's a radical thing.

Do you do that? Well, no, because I can't give thanks because of this. I can't give thanks because of that. I can't give thanks because I'm mad. I can't give thanks because I'm offended. I can't give thanks because I'm filled with doubt.

You know what? Do it anyway. Give thanks. Give thanks. Because as you give thanks, you'll be reminded. You'll be focused on the Lord.

With whatever gratefulness you can stir up, give thanks. And he'll do the rest. 33, he who has received his testimony has certified that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. And he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. God's judgment rests on sin. And when you choose to reject Jesus and you choose to run from Jesus and you choose to run from Jesus in your sin, you receive upon yourself condemnation. That wrath of God stays on the sin until there's payment made.

And you can't afford the payment. Only Jesus can make that payment. And it's a simple faith and trust in Jesus. Eternal life, joy, unspeakable, all these things are things that when you know him, you're given. But it has to start with that trust.

Sometimes that's a small amount of trust, even as the guy in Mark said, you know, I do believe, help my doubt. They say that we make 3,000 decisions a day. Some of them very small, trivial decisions. Some of them important decisions. But there's three decisions that we all have to make.

And you know what? And this is a have to. You know, people say, well, you got to, what is it?

You got to live, you got to die, you got to pay taxes and go to the restroom in between or something like that. There are certain things you got to do in life, but you know what? You also got to decide about who Jesus is. You have to decide that.

And then once you decide that, there's other decisions that you have to make. See, there's three musts in the Gospel of John in chapter three. Number one, you must be born again. That's a must for the sinner. The Son of Man must be lifted up. That's the must for the Savior. But the third thing is, He must increase.

I must decrease. That's a must for the servant. The message of Jesus Christ is not about you acting better or getting better or making more promises. It's about seeing the Spirit of God do a work in our life. It's not about God doing a little bit of repair work. It's about the new life being generated in you. Something new that you didn't have before that the Lord desires to do in you.

And it says here that those who don't trust Him won't see that. I want to ask you a question. Are you running?

Some of you are. And even the fact that I would ask you that question, and even the fact that I would ask you that question is kind of scary. I know how to recognize a runner, because I ran for years. I ran from what I termed the big stick guy. You see, I felt the first business that me and God would need to do after I quit running was that He would beat me. Oh, I had done things that were worthy of a beating. But He wanted me to run to Him because He missed my fellowship. And maybe you're in here this morning and you've been running. Oh, maybe you're not engaged in horrible dark sins, but you know in your heart you're not where you should be with the Lord.

And I wonder how many people would have the boldness to say, you know what, you just described me. Let's bow our heads. Lord, your Spirit is here this morning.

Your truth is being proclaimed. And Lord, we recognize how we want to run sometimes. Lord, as the light shines in and we see the dust and we see the dirt and we see the imperfections and the inadequacies, and Lord, we want to run. We want to run from what we know we're supposed to be doing, from serving you, from pouring our lives out.

But Lord, there's some in here this morning that are tired of running. And Lord, we need your help. We need your strength to not run. Lord, we thank you that you are a shelter. You are a strong tower. And when we run, Lord, help us to run into you. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me, out loud, right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12-515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day, you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David to the Lord.

That sounds good, Pastor D.A., and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There, you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.