Well, at the very beginning of John's gospel, if you remember, we were introduced to a great man. A man whom we said was often overlooked by many people, that man, of course, being the forerunner of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, John the Baptist. A man who was sent by God to the people of Israel for a very specific purpose, namely to prepare them for their Messiah. And as we learned in our earlier studies, John the Baptist was a man who was faithful to his ministry. He proclaimed the word that God gave to him multitudes, came to John the Baptist, to hear the word of God from his lips. And the text that is before us this morning, as we close out, the third chapter of John's gospel, we learned that in addition to being a faithful preacher and a faithful prophet, John that listened, John the Baptist was a man who was very comfortable in his role. He was very comfortable in his role in a possessed extraordinary humility in the midst of great popularity. What the Apostle John does for us in this section, in this concluding section of the third chapter, is record for us an incident that reveals how a Theologically and God-centered world-in-life view enabled John the Baptist to maintain a posture of humility. And in addition to that, it enabled him to avoid falling prey to the temptation to being envious and to being resentful about someone else's success. I don't think it would come as any surprise to you that envy is a very powerful human emotion that has corrupted and destroyed many of life. It can drive people to greed, it can drive people to idolatry, it can drive people to neglect their families, it can drive people to neglect their God. It can cause them to turn on friends and coworkers, it can cause them to turn on one another in the church. What I'd like to suggest this morning from this text is that the only effective way to defeat the power of envy and resentment is to view ourselves and to view the world in which we live through the prism, listen through the prism of a biblically sound in orthodox world-in-life view. John the Baptist was a man whose understanding of himself, whose understanding of his God, and whose understanding of his Savior, enabled him to dismiss and avoid what must have been a very powerful temptation to be envious, to resist what must have been a very powerful temptation to be resentful, and this temptation was brought to him by well-meaning members of his inner circle. Have you ever wrestled with envy? Have you ever wrestled with resentment? No, none of us have. We're perfectly sanctified, right? All of us at times have wrestled with envy. You know the old grass is greener scenario? Man, I don't know why I went to school and studied accounting. I would have been much happier as an orthopedic surgeon. Why did we move to New Jersey? That's a very good question, by the way. But have you ever, in your life, run into those instances where you have been tempted to be envious? Are you have tempted to be resentful? We find some very interesting truth from the text that's before us this morning, that goes a long way in helping us to successfully deal with these specific temptations that inevitably will come our way. Well, let's look at the text. As we come to verse 22 and John chapter 3, we find that Jesus Christ has completed or finished his conversation with Nicodemus, and perhaps many of you thought that conversation would never finish or never be completed. Well, we completed that conversation last week, and as we come here to verse 22, Christ has finished his conversation with Nicodemus. He's moved out of Jerusalem, God actually into regions east of Jerusalem to Judea, where according to the text he is engaging in a ministry of baptism with his disciples. A little nugget here, this is the only place in the Bible where we ever hear of Jesus having a ministry of baptism. But here it is. Jesus has finished the theological dialogue with Nicodemus, he's pushed out outside the eastern portion of Jerusalem to Judea, and he's engaging with his disciples in the ministry of baptism. A problem arose, however, in that according to verse 23, John the Baptist was in the same area, a baptizing, an anon near Selene, which was a popular place for baptism, because it was a place where there were many waters. The river was wide, and all of the multitudes that would come to see John the Baptist for baptism would have not only water to accommodate John and his disciples and taking people down into the water and baptizing them, but there'd also be water for the animals that these people would use to come and travel to see John the Baptist. You need to remember that the folks back in the first century they didn't hop on their motorcycle or hop into their SUV and drive on down to the Jordan River. They had to get on an animal and ride down there, and you had to have a source to nourish the animals. That's why this place was a popular place for baptism because there was much water there. So Jesus begins to minister in the same area that John the Baptist is currently ministering. John the Baptist is still very visibly engaged in his ministry. In fact, it's arguable that his ministry, John the Baptist ministry, is probably now at its peak. He's preaching, and he's teaching, and his preaching and his teaching had become very well known in the area. People came in droves to hear John the Baptist from all segments of society. You had Pharisees, and you had Sadducees, and you had religious leaders, and you had Roman soldiers, enlisted men, officers. You had poor people coming to hear John the Baptist proclaim this news. Luke's gospel tells us, for example, that multitude of people went out to hear John the Baptist. Matthew tells us that all Jerusalem and Judea and all of the district around the Jordan were going out to see John the Baptist. We learn furthermore from Mark's gospel that John's ministry reached all the way into Herod's palace. Remember that Herod heard about John's preaching? Boy, this spell is preaching some fire. I want to hear him. Herod invites John into his palace, and Herod was very much impressed with the preaching of John, right? Until what happened? Well, until John called him to account on his sin. He said, hey, Herod, it's not right for you to have erroneous your brother Phillips wife. And at that moment, John was no longer welcome in Herod's palace, but his ministry had been so powerful that it extended even into a powerful king's palace. Well, John the Baptist was a man at this time without equal and the most popular religious figure in the region that is until Jesus and his disciples showed up. Evidently, what was happening was that a number of those who had been coming to see John began to suddenly go over and see Jesus and see the disciples of Jesus. John's crowd numbers began to dwindle and the crowds gathered around Jesus over on the other part of the river began to swell. To the point where even some of John the Baptist's own disciples pulled up their tent pegs and moved on down to follow Jesus. Well, to put the matter quite bluntly, evidently, this circumstance frosted some of John the Baptist's disciples. They didn't like this at all. And they came to John in verse 26 here in chapter 3 and they said, rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness and the implication there is, to whom you have said very nice things about. Well, he's baptizing right here and all are coming to him. Now, from their point of view, John is the man. John the Baptist is the man. He's their man. That's his ministry. And now Jesus appears to be stealing energy from John's ministry as the crowd suddenly start to prefer Jesus over John the Baptist. So John's disciples are beginning to resent the fact that Jesus is detracting from John's ministry and attracting followers from among John's group. Men were leaving John for Jesus and evidently this bothered them. So they came to him and they said, hey, do you see what's going on here? We're losing attendance. Our chairs aren't filled. Everyone's going across the street. Now, from the standpoint of the human psyche, we can perfectly understand how John's disciples were feeling someone agreed by their circumstances. I mean, can we sympathize to some extent? I mean, think about it. Well, you better not admit this. But what would happen if a new church was built right across the street and some dynamic, powerful preacher showed up? And we started coming here to tailor high school and the crowds were dwindling until one day we looked with 15 people and we said, well, where is everybody? And they said, well, they're all across the street listening to this new dynamic preacher. You have to deal with this in your own hearts, but I'm going to guarantee you your first thought's not going to be, whoopie, praise the Lord. So we will why don't they come back over here? Why are they going over there? We have these hard blue plastic chairs. We've got whites. Now, beyond the fact that we can understand how John's disciples were feeling, perhaps we can understand how John himself might have felt wounded. Or perhaps envious as he saw his ministry popularity slipping away. Very interesting in the circumstance that kind of develops here. But however, what we learned from the text is his evident from his response. John wasn't at least bit disturbed about what was happening as a matter of fact he rejoiced in Jesus' newfound popularity. Now, what he says to his disciples in response to this verse 27 through the end of the chapter reveals some profound theological insight. Listen, it reveals some profound theological insight that you and I can draw upon to help us to avoid the pitfalls, potential pitfalls of envy and resentment in our own lives. Let's look together and see how John responded to the disciples who came to him and were very concerned that his ministry seemed to be being infringed upon by Jesus. When we look at John's response, we find that it reveals a theological perspective that is built upon three truths that appear to be fundamental to his world and life you. It reveals a theological perspective that is built upon three truths that appear to be fundamental to his world view. First of all, God's providence, second of all, God's plan for his life, and in the third place, the preeminence of Jesus. We see from his response that these truths were factoring powerfully and how he processed this information. Jesus has shown up, the people are leaving, they're going to see Jesus, my disciples are frosted, they come to me, they think that I ought to be envy, how am I going to process this? Well, when we look at how John responds, we find three truths that are evident in his response that evidently are fundamental to his world view. First of all, God's providence. The first thing that John says is found in verse 27. Notice there, what he says, John answers and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. What in the world is John the Baptist saying there? What does he mean when he says a man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven? Well, in effect, what John is saying to his disciples is this. If Jesus is beginning to attract more followers than I am, it is because God has determined that Jesus's ministry should prosper and my ministry should dwindle. In other words, what John the Baptist is doing here is affirming the doctrine of God's providence and the outworking of this doctrine in the world. Now, the Christian is one, let me add, the Bible believing Christian is one, who accepts and takes comfort in the fact of God's providence. If you are a Bible believing, Bible reading, Bible carrying, devotional Christian, you are someone who accepts and affirms the doctrine of God's providence in the world. Now, the question that we need to ask at this point is, well, what is God's providence? What is God's providence? Children, listen, this is very important that you understand that God is a God of providence. God's providence is simply this, the outworking of God's sovereignty in the world. And what is God's sovereignty? That is God's rule. That is God's dominion over all things. So providence is the outworking of God's sovereignty in the world. The Bible proclaims a God that is very much at work in the world, working all things out according to His purpose is working all things out according to His plan. The Christian perspective is that nothing that happens in human history happens apart, listen, nothing that happens in human history happens apart from the sovereign determination of God. That's a very foundational point of theology that we need to be clear about. It's a biblical point of theology. And the doctrine of God's providence provides us with a correct way to view the world, with a correct way to understand the events that take place in human history. And the doctrine of God's providence stands as a very effective antidote against three of the most historically popular but erroneous views of human history. And the first one of those, of course, being a deism, deism is a very popular philosophy of history. And the deist perspective says that God has kind of formed the world to work as a machine. He kind of wound it up and just lets it run. The doctrine of biblical providence says, no, God hasn't wound the world up and it doesn't let it run, but God is actively personally involved in all of the affairs that happen in the world through the person and work of the Holy Spirit. He is influencing the minds of people. He is restraining sin, restraining evil, raising up rulers, taking them out of power. Also, the doctrine of God's providence stands opposed to the pagan notion of fatalism. Now, fatalism is a pagan view that attains some popularity, particularly through astrology. And the fatalist says, well, everything that happens in the world happens because it's been predetermined. Well, the next question is, well, by who? The answer to the fatalist is by no one. It just happens because it's been predetermined. It's a very cold view. The doctrine of biblical providence says that everything that happens in the world happens, not because it just happens, but because God isn't working the world, working out His plans in a very particular way. Oh, and then the last view that seems to be the view that's most prominent, which is amazing to me because we tend to pride ourselves in being a very educated society and we want to view ourselves in terms of the renaissance of evolving and moving to a higher state. But the most popular view of reality, the most popular view of history is the view that says that everything happens in the world happens because of random process and chance. I mean, there is no meaning to that things are just happening out there, right? Things happen well because they just happen. Don't know why they happen, they're just happening. What happens today may not happen tomorrow. This is very irrational. That's why I think it's ironic that it holds preeminence in a day and age where we say we're the most educated or we want to think that we're the most educated. Well, in contrast to this irrational perspective, again, the doctrine of providence asserts a directional and purposeful character of history, everything that happens in history. World center trade bombing, the election of President Bush, you know, what's happening over in Great Britain, all things are working out according to the plan and purposes of God. So the first plan in John's theological perspective and worldview is that everything that happens in the world happens because of the good plan and purposes of God. And if everybody's going to Jesus, well, that's okay because that's part of God's plan that everyone goes to Jesus. William Barkley tells the story of an American pastor named Dr. Spence who was a man who enjoyed great popularity during his ministry. Many people flocked to the church he served to the point where each Sunday the church was filled to capacity. This obtained for many, many years until one day a new young, vibrant minister came to the church just across the street and down the road from the congregation that Dr. Spence served. Well, little by little over the course of time was word got around about this new dynamic preacher, Dr. Spence's congregation began to dwindle. Finally, one Sunday night he looked out and saw only a handful of people. He said, where is everybody? There was an awkward period of silence and finally one of the elders at the church cleared his throat and said, I think they've all gone across the street to see the new minister. And Dr. Spence's response just amazed those that were sitting there. He said, well, if that's true, then maybe we all need to go across the street and to see the new minister and rejoice in what God is doing. What a perspective. As I read through that story, I thought I'd respond that way, wouldn't I? No, maybe I wouldn't. But I need to. But here again, the idea that everything that happens in the world happens on account of God's providence is something that's very comforting. It's a very fundamental axiom of theological truth that affects the way we think about things. Well, related to the matter of God's providence, when we look at John's response to his disciples, it further reveals that he recognized not only that God is a God of providence, but related to that, that God has a specific purpose and plan for his life. Look with me at verse 28. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, okay, that is John, the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full. John is joyful that Jesus' ministry is increasing. And then he says in verse 30, he must increase, but I must decrease. Listen, John knew who he was and also what God had called him to do. John had no delusions of grandeur. He knew that he was not the Christ. He knew that God had sent him to be the forerunner of Christ, and with that he was satisfied. Once again, a recognition of the fact that God has a specific plan and purpose for your life goes a long way in keeping envy and resentment from setting up shop in your heart and in your mind. God has ordained some to be college professors and others to be police officers, some to be major league baseball players, and others to be pony league coaches, some to be wiz-bang businessmen, and others to manage retail establishments, some to be prolific authors and others to be housewives. And one of the key points we see here from John's response is that he was comfortable with where he was and with where God had placed him in life. And one of the easiest ways to fall into a condition of envy is to focus on what others are doing and what they've accomplished. I once knew of a young man who had great promise as a baseball pitcher. From a very early age, he had a howitzer of an arm. When he got into high school, he just suffered. He had this really cutting curveball and the coach worked with him and he developed a slider and he was pretty good. And then what happened was there were even some colleges that came to scout, and then what happened was he hurt his rotator cuff, and the baseball thing was absolutely over. Now, instead of looking at that as the outworking of God's providence, and well maybe God has another plan for my life, this person focused on the fact that he could have been a good baseball player. And he watched his friends go off the college, some of them play college ball, knowing that he was better than they were, and he focused on that, and that caused him to be resentful. The Christian should never focus on the what ifs. The Christian, listen, should focus on the because their force. If you're a Christian, you don't need to be focusing on what if? What if I had spent more time studying and gone to West Point? What if I had studied law instead of studying business? What if I hadn't moved to New Jersey? The way we are to think is because I am an accountant, therefore I will do what? Well, what is the chief end of man, kiddos? Hmm, glorify God. Here's another aspect of being content and avoiding envy. You are called by God to do what God has called you to do with the view for bringing him glory. If you're not a physician and you're 38 years old, chances are you're never going to be a physician. Right? And if you're an accountant and not a physician, you should focus on being an accountant and bringing God glory through being an accountant. And John the Baptist had a very good sense of the station in life. He uses a very interesting word picture in verse 29 that would have been readily recognized by his followers. And it would have been readily recognized because it's a picture that we find in the Bible. One of the great pictures that we find in the Old Testament that explains the relationship between God and the people of Israel is the illustration of the bride and the bridegroom. You are aware of this. The Old Testament spoke of Israel as God's bride. And it spoke of God as the bridegroom of Israel. When we come into the New Testament, the picture is expanded a little bit. As in the New Testament, we find the Bible speaking of the church now, not Israel anymore, but as the church as the bride. And who is the bridegroom? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? This was the picture in John's mind that he tried to communicate to his disciples. Jesus was the bridegroom who had come and he claimed the church for his own. And John understood this. And he understood that his place was not to be the bridegroom. Watch this. Not to be the bridegroom, but to be the friend of the bridegroom. In the Jewish culture, the friend of the bridegroom had a very unusual role that he played at the bridegroom's wedding. In the Jewish culture, the friend of the bridegroom was called the Shuspen. And the Shuspen was someone who arranged the wedding. He took out the invitations. He presided at the wedding feast. And perhaps the most unique duty was that the Shuspen stood guard at the bridal door. And he would let no one in to the bridal suite accept the hubby. And he knew the hubby's voice. And because of the partying that would go on in the Jewish culture, the hubby wouldn't show up to the bridal suite until everything was dark. And what the Shuspen would listen for when there was a knock on the door, he would listen for the bridegroom's voice. And if it was the bridegroom's voice, he would open the door, let the bridegroom in. He would leave. His job was done. And he would go on his way rejoicing. Because now the bride and the bridegroom were together as man and wife and as lovers and as they should be. And he would go on his way rejoicing. And you notice what John says here in the text. I am not the bridegroom. I am the friend of the bridegroom. Now the bridegroom has come. I have heard his voice. I have seen the fact that this is the bridegroom. Therefore I can go on my way rejoicing. John understood the place that God had called him to occupy. And that was the second plank in John's theological worldview. God has called us to different tasks. And the final point that John makes to his disciples has to do with the preeminence of Christ. Look with me at verse 31. John says he transitions from the story of the bridegroom to talking about the preeminence of Christ. He says he who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. But he who comes from heaven is above all. Now what is quite evident as we look at these final verses of John chapter 3 and we watch how these verses kind of Evan flow, we can see that John the Baptist was very much aware and taken up by the preeminence and the glory of Jesus Christ. And here is the key. His awareness of the preeminence of Christ formed for him a prism through which he could analyze his world and analyze the events that took place in his world. Do you understand this morning, if you're here as a Christian, that Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning at the right hand of God the Father, that he is the king of kings and he is the Lord of lords and that nothing that happens in the world happens without he is authorization. Whether you lose your job, whether you get a promotion, whether you make the football team, whether you're cut from the football team, whether you're accepted to an Ivy League school, or whether you're not accepted to an Ivy League school, everything that happens happens in light of the fact that Jesus is the king of kings and is the Lord of lords and John understood that. The fact that he was losing adherence was small potatoes and if in fact it was happening that was okay because Jesus was preeminence. Well known British pastor used to regularly remind his congregation that one of the best ways to avoid envy, resentment in the present and also depression and regret over the past was to take your eyes off of yourself and to fix your eyes on Jesus, which is precisely what John tries to do to his disciples. He tries to take them from the circumstances, look guys, Jesus is overall. All things have been given into the hands of Jesus by the Father, John the Baptist was enraptured with the preeminence of Christ. You know, when you look at verses 32 through 36, it's almost as if John the Baptist was saying to his disciples this, look guys, the man you see over there baptizing, the man to whom the crowds are flocking, the man whom you're envy yourself from my say, he isn't just a rabbi, he isn't just a prophet, he isn't some smooth tongue dynamic preacher, he's God, he's God in human flesh, he's God incarnate and he's come in accordance with the plan of God to redeem his people from their sins. Let us rejoice in his ministry for the Father loves his Son and is given everything into his hands. So the final plank of John's theological outlook was a clear perspective on the preeminence of Christ. Think about this, is Jesus preeminence in your thinking? Does he factor into your thinking? Or is he something that just pops up once a week on Sunday morning, or maybe on Saturday night when you're getting ready for Sunday morning? John filtered his thinking about all of the events and circumstances of his life through the prism of the preeminence of Christ. Do you want to avoid the temptation of envy and bitterness? Well in order to do that, you and I need to develop a perspective that acknowledges the providence of God. We need to develop a perspective that stands satisfied with God's calling in your life and to develop a perspective that focuses on the preeminence of Christ. Now does this mean we can never aspire to improve ourselves? No, it doesn't mean that. Does it mean kids that if you try out for the junior high football team and you get cut? That means when you go to high school, you're not going to try out for football because well obviously God doesn't want you to play football. No, it doesn't mean that. But what it means is when God's plan and purpose becomes evident in your life, you find your satisfaction there because Jesus Christ is preeminent. But beyond that, and most prominent of all is to have a clear understanding of the gospel of grace. And we end with this verse 36. Notice what John the Baptist says. This sums it up, doesn't it? This is the cherry on top of the whipped cream. He who believes in the sun has eternal life. That's all the matters. It doesn't matter how much money you make or what school you go to or where you live. It matters whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ, it matters whether or not you have eternal life. Everything else pales in comparison. The JC Ryle and commenting on these concluding verses has said this. The truth before us is one of the most glorious privileges of the gospel. There are no works to be done, no conditions to be fulfilled, no price to be paid, no wearing years of probation to be passed before a sinner can be accepted by God, let him only believe on Christ and he is at once forgiven. Have you believed on Christ? Have you received the gift of eternal life? Why be resentful? Why be envious? If you're a Christian, you have the best possession that you could ever have, something that money could never buy, something that the most powerful person in the world could never get for you or even take from you. The wonderful gift of eternal life. This is the most important and priceless possession of all. But if we are going to defeat the temptation to be envious, if we are going to defeat the temptation to be resentful, we need to look at the world with a biblically literate and theologically orthodox world in life you. God is a God of providence, He has ordained certain roles for His people to occupy and Jesus Christ is preeminent overall. Let us pray together. Father, thank you for your word. We pray that we indeed would be people who would look at the world with a biblically sensualism sound and theologically orthodox world in life you. O Father, forgive us for the fact that Christ maybe has not been preeminent as He should in our thinking. Forgive us for grumbling perhaps at your providence. Forgive us for not trusting. Forgive us for denying your character, Lord, as the sovereign Lord of all. And O Father, as we come to the Lord's table now, may we be aware, may we be joyful, may we be refreshed by the fact that He who believes in the Son has eternal life and has passed from death to life. O God, bless your people with your word for we ask getting Christ's name. Amen.