He must become greater.doc_ I must become less

John 3: 26 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—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 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. 30 He must become greater; I must become less. 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 heaven is above all.

Two weeks ago we talked about the Words of Jesus “I am the door” There is no other way to the Father except through Jesus!

I believe we need to not only recognize this but to place Jesus back into his rightful place as Lord of our lives.

• everyone is going to him
• We have an interesting portion of Scripture here. John the Baptist has had a very successful ministry up to this point and it seems that people are starting to follow Jesus more than John.

• A man can receive only what is given him from heaven
• This is something that we must be able to believe and receive.
• Many of our frustrations come from comparing and competing.

2 Corinthians 10: 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.

(TLB) 2 Corinthians 10: 13 But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you.

1 Corinthians 4: 6 Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to the Scriptures, you won’t brag about one of your leaders at the expense of another. 7 What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?

o   I am not the Christ

o   We look at people for too many of our answers. Too many of our examples.

o   Look to Jesus…

o   He must become greater; I must become less.

o   He must become greater!

§  Take this as God’s prophetic word to us in this Church!

o   I must become less

§  Tesco bag!

·         Not a worm, worthless, this is more comparative.

·         As he increases I will seem smaller

o   How many of you have flown in an airplane before?

§  When you get up in the air 10,000 meters does the earth, cities, people all get smaller?

§  APPEARS to be smaller, WHY? Because you are higher.

o   That’s what I mean as Christ increases in our lives, as we lift him higher, we will decrease.

o   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.

·         We cannot lower Christ down to our level, he will always be above all!

o   Above all our earthly thinking, concerns, goals, ideas.

o   I cannot lower Christ to be able to EXPLAIN him to others. He is the son of God. Above all things.

Ephesians 1: 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. 19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.