The Gospel According To John

by Richard St.James

I Must Decrease

John 3:26 "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 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.”

John the Baptist was ready with an answer! We will see how discretion allowed John to glorify Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is the friend of the bridegroom! John was ready to decrease. There are two categories of people in this world. There are those who want to increase, and there are those who want to decrease. There are those who want to promote themselves, and there are those who want to promote Jesus Christ. John had it right. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The men of this world have it all wrong! John had it nailed down right as they would say.

In John chapter twelve the formula is given for all in this age [the Church Age] to understand and apply. [The church is the bride to Jesus Christ.] Now go to verse twenty-three: “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” [John 12:23-25]

To an unsaved man woman or child this whole thing does not make any sense. The old man in us says this. For the corn of wheat to live … it must promote itself, feed itself, and exalt itself. After all, the corn of wheat must take care of itself … UNO NUMBER ONE in order to LIVE. In the understanding of someone who has not been born again, for a corn of wheat to be put into the ground … … is not for the corn of wheat’s good. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Likewise, for us to consider dying in order to bear fruit is ABSURB! To DIE in order to LIVE is crazy LOGIC. The old man just REBELS and says NO to all this foolishness and silly talk! [here in the Bible]

The Natural man … the sons of Adam … can not comprehend the LOGIC of the Son of God Jesus Christ in this passage. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” But this is exactly what GOD is saying. You must decrease and Jesus Christ must be increased. The Apostle said in Galatians chapter two, verse twenty: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Verse twenty explains John chapter twelve, verse twenty-four. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” You can receive what I am saying unless you get it from heaven.

“A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”

Now keep verse twenty–seven in mind: When a person comes to Jesus Christ and receives HIM, he receives POWER to become a son of God. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” [John 1:12] By trusting in Jesus Christ … RECEIVING him … you die to self and receive thus gain LIFE. Men want to follow their own natural logic but what men need to do is CHUCK that old natural logic and trust in the LOGIC of this OLD BLACK BOOK. If you and I do this thing then we will be enabled by the HOLY GHOST to say as Paul said in Philippians chapter one verse twenty-one: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We will be at the same point as John the Baptist was when he said in verse thirty of our chapter in John. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” I must decrease, and Jesus Christ must increase … in my life.

This is life! “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3]

You must decrease and Jesus Christ must increase … in your life.

This is life. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3]

Earlier I said, that there are two categories of people in this world. There are those who want to increase and there are those who want to decrease. Where are you my friend? In the last verse of our text [in verse thirty-six] these two categories of people can be seen. “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.” Those that believe on the SON and those that believe not on the SON. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”

There are those who choose to live [refusing to die to self] and there are those who choose to die in order to receive life eternal. Turn to Luke chapter nine, verse twenty-three, and see: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” [Luke 9:23-25]

“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Trust Jesus Christ now for salvation! Receive Him as your LORD and SAVIOR. Amen!

No Dealings With The Samaritans

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The Gospel According To John

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest, except God be with him.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John 3:22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

John 3:23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

John 3:24 For John was not yet cast into prison.

John 3:25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

John 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

John 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

John 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

John 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

John 3:32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.

John 3:33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

John 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

John 3:36 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.