It's All About Jesus, Part 1 (Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign, Day 30)

John 3:22-30
22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he
tarried with them, and baptized.
23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water
there: and they came, and were baptized.
24 For John was not yet cast into prison.
25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about
purifying.
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.
----Today, I am continuing the daily Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign sermon series, which
is aimed at sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with unbelievers and reminding
Christians, in this important election year, to keep the main thing the main thing -- and
that is reaching unbelievers with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and praying for
their salvation, for the problem in America is not only disobedient presidents and
politicians but disobedient pastors, preachers, and parishioners who have refused to
obey God's Great Commission and who have refused to obey God's repeated commands
to "pray without ceasing" for unbelievers, believers, and political leaders. Yes, you
should pray for the right candidate to win; yes, you should vote for the candidate that the
Lord gives you peace about voting for. But, don't get caught up in it like the world does.

Nothing much is going to change until people get saved and get their hearts right with
the Lord.
This campaign is inspired by the following three verses: 1 Corinthians 2:2 which says,
"For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified." Acts 5:42 which says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they
ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." And 2 Timothy 2:4 which says, "No man
that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who
hath chosen him to be a soldier."
This series is not for Christians necessarily. However, I do hope you are one of those
saints who still loves to hear the "Old, old story of Jesus and His love" -- As the hymn
says, "For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest."
This series is primarily for unbelievers, so they can hear and understand the Gospel and
be saved from sin and the punishment of sin which is hell. This is message number 30.
Charles Spurgeon said, "The motto of all true servants of God must be, 'We preach
Christ; and him crucified.' A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any
flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you
have something worth preaching."
Our passage begins with a geographical shift taking place in Jesus' ministry once again.
In John chapter 2 we learned that Jesus, His disciples, His mother, and some of His other
family members moved to Capernaum. For a brief time, that city became Jesus' base of
operations; Capernaum is also the place from whence scholars believe Jesus called the
rest of His disciples.
Now that He has His group of 12 followers, Jesus moves to Judea. Commentators have
noted that Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus on Jesus' ministry in the Galilee region; John
is the only one who focuses on Jesus' ministry in Judea. He provides us a different
perspective.
Jesus continues preaching that the kingdom of God has come and He also begins to
baptize as John did. Now, this baptism was not the same as the baptism of the new
believer that the church practices today. This was a Jewish purification ritual which
signified that the one being baptized was repenting and being cleansed of their sins.
Both John and Jesus called on people to repent of and turn from their sins in order to
prepare their hearts for the arrival of the kingdom of God.
Now, a conflict arises between the disciples of John the Baptist and some religious Jews
over the nature of this purification ritual. We do not know all the details of this conflict,
but the Bible Knowledge Commentary suggests that these Jews wanted to know why
they should follow John's baptism. After all, Jesus was attracting larger crowds. Why
shouldn't they follow Jesus instead?

John's disciples, being at a disadvantage, go to their leader. Verse 26 says, "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's disciples
were beginning to feel jealous over Jesus' success. They didn't like the fact that a young
upstart like Jesus, who had been baptized by their leader, had gone out, started His own
ministry and was now commanding more of an audience and was more popular than
John the Baptist.
Sadly, many people involved in ministry have these kinds of feelings today. They like to
play the numbers game: Who is more popular than who? Whose meetings had bigger
attendance numbers? Who raised the most money? Who has more likes on Facebook?
Who got invited to the White House and who didn't? And so on. Ray Stedman said,
"Competition is one of the most dangerous things to enter the family and people of God.
A sense of rivalry between ministries is one of the devil's most effective tools to impede
the progress of the gospel."
John did not let his disciples get carried away with this competitive foolishness. Verse 27
says, "John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from
heaven." John lets his disciples know that everything that they received in their ministry
was a gift from God. God did not have to give John anything; thus, whatever John
received, he viewed it as a gift from God and was grateful to God for it.
Preachers today need to be content with the ministry God has given them. If God has
given you a "small" ministry, be grateful for it and and serve God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and spirit in that ministry. If God has given you a "large" ministry, be grateful
for that and serve God with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit in that ministry. And,
remember, no ministry is "small" in God's eyes. For as the hymn writer put "little is much
when God is in it."
Everything that God has given to us is a gift; we deserve nothing from His hand. The
greatest gift that we have received from Him is His Son, Jesus Christ, and the salvation
He secured for us on the cross. For those of us who are already saved, the greatest thing
we can do in response to this gift is to live a life of service to God by lifting up the Lord
Jesus Christ. And say what John said, He must increase, but I must decrease. We
must, as Martin Luther King Jr. once suggested, keep ourselves in the background and
keep Jesus in the foreground. He is the star of the show -- the One to whom we should
draw people to as John did.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, the greatest thing you can do today is
receive His free gift of salvation and give your life and heart to Him. Allow me to show
you how you can do that right now.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken Gods law. The Bible
says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23:
"For the wages of sin is death
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28:
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Also, the Bible states in
Revelation 21:8: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Now that is bad news, but heres the good news. Jesus Christ said in 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." Just believe in your heart that Jesus
Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for
you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart
today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose
from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me
this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some
bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For
Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus
Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I
choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my
heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it
from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved
from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to
congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your
newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read "What To Do After You
Enter Through the Door". Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, "I am the door: by me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please e-mail me at
dw3@gospellightsociety.com and let us know. There is some free material that we want

to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will
pray for you until you tell us to stop.
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.