John 3:22-30
Notes
Transcript
He must increase, but I must decrease.”
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.
John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized
(for John had not yet been put in prison).
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.
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.”
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’
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.
He must increase, but I must decrease.”
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.
John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),
(for John had not yet been put in prison).
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.
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.”
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’
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.
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
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.
He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.