In this sermon, the preacher starts by emphasizing the importance of receiving and hiding God's words in our hearts. He encourages the congregation to seek wisdom and understanding, comparing it to searching for hidden treasure. The preacher then moves on to discuss the concept of standing before hearing from God, emphasizing that all things come from above. He shares a story about a little boy who learns the lesson that all things come from above as he faces various challenges in life. The sermon also touches on the topics of faithfulness to our duty for the Lord and not being weary in well-doing. Finally, the preacher addresses the issue of envy, highlighting the importance of not being envious of others' success or blessings.

We'll be reading John chapter 3, starting at verse 22. Let's stand. We read the Word of God. John chapter 3, starting at verse 22. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea. And there he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salem, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized, for John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 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. 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. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 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. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would open up our ears to hear, that there be an anointing by your Spirit. We thank you that you're here. We pray for any that do not know Jesus as their Savior, that there be a quickening, a drawing in their heart to recognize no matter what their experience is, no matter how long maybe they've been in church or whatever, that they must be born again, and that they would understand. 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. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. We've been going through John, learning lessons, and the title of this passage today, this message, is Grasping. Grasping. Now, I have here a box. This is a treasure box, and it is a treasure. Now, remember, our keyword is grasping. Matter of fact, there is an interesting passage I was just looking at in Proverbs 2, about this area of treasure, where Solomon said, If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasure, and he was talking about the Word of God, he said, so that thou incline thine ear, matter of fact, he started in verse 1, My son, if thou will receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding, yea, if thou cryest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasure, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Now, I'm going to set this treasure box here, where everybody can keep their eye on it, make sure nobody steals the treasure. It's in there. Want to know what the treasure is? Huh? Maybe we'll find out. Maybe we won't. We'll just see how things turn out. Grasping. Grasping. A lot of different things you can say about grasping, but let's just see what God has to say to us from the Word of God. I'm not going to go back over a review of where we've come through, John. I'm just going to take you right to where we're at right now. We've just read in verse 22 about Christ and His disciples in Judea. We go to 23 and 24, and we see John baptizing in the same area that Jesus is. There's an attempt. There's an attempt by the Jews to get something stirred up between the disciples of Christ, and they're just there to cause trouble. They're probably talking about, well, what's going to purify? This baptism or the ceremonial law that you have, and they were probably, you know, Jews like to get into it and throw themselves into it, and you can imagine there might have been some fur flying and a little heat, and that's the way they get into it. They're just very intense people and very zealous and very strong on what they believe. So you can imagine all of these Jews out there going over this point. Now, they also wanted to get something started between the two groups, between Jesus, who is baptizing, and John the Baptist, who is baptizing, trying to provoke John's jealousy. And then you get to 27 and 28. We looked at John's humility as we read through there. We went to John's joy, and then we come to 30 through 35 through there, and we see Christ's preeminence, and then we end up with the eternal choice that is laid out before us. Now, here's the historical setting of this passage. The Jews were occupied with externals, where a lot of the church is today, occupied with the externals of religion. They also, since they're stirring up envy, what a man usually stirs up, comes up, is where he is himself, and so they were envious themselves. In verse 26, they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. It wouldn't happen to be that they were maybe envious because all of a sudden, there are great multitudes out there in the desert or out at the river now, and they don't really draw the crowds like that. This was an unusual thing, so they might have been envious themselves very well it could have been. They, at this point, are Christ's rejecters. They're not there to receive from the Lord. They are rejecting Christ. And something else, they didn't understand John. If they were to listen to him the first time, he made it very clear he wasn't the Messiah. He was there to push and to promote Christ. Now, the physical setting in verse 23, John also was baptized in Enon near to Salem because there was much water there. Physically, they're at a place that's very pleasant. Enon means place of springs, and Salem means peace. Sort of a contrast where we came from. John started off in the wilderness, in the desert, desert man. John came preaching in the wilderness, the Scripture says. And now the setting is very pleasing. Wherever there's springs, this is called Spring River because it comes out of springs. Two main springs, I understand. I've seen where one of them is and the other one I haven't seen. But this is the setting. There's much water there, meaning that there was probably some deep pools. Sometimes in spring areas, there's some very deep water. And that was necessary for the baptizing that was going on. They liked the deep water so that it would be easier to baptize. The political setting of this situation is probably the same bunch of Jews that came in John chapter 1. And around verse 25, when we covered that, they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou if thou be not that Christ? Nor Elias, neither that prophet. Politically, the setting is they are still the same set of unbelieving Jews. They are a self-appointed authority over men. If you don't do what they think you should do, then you'd be cast out like the man that was cast out of the temple when Jesus healed him. And when we get to John chapter 9, they were just a bunch of controlling, unbelieving Jews. But Jesus, by the time he gets done with them, there's going to be a lot of believers. Nicodemus, we've already covered him. He's one. Now, the spiritual setting. Here's the old working of Satan again to set a trap, the old trick of the enemy to divide and conquer. Divide and conquer. Divide and conquer. And they're trying to do that. Well, we're not making any headway, so we'll go down there and try to get something going between them, get them to fighting. And it doesn't work. John's answer in John chapter 3 in verse 27, John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. He speaks of the sovereignty of God in that verse. He speaks of the Lord. He reminds the Jews that he was sent in 28. I am sent before him. In verse 29, he reminds the Jews that Israel belongs to Christ. All these people wasn't his. They belong to the Lord. He wasn't possessive. And in verse 30, he reminds them of proper procedure. He must increase, but I must decrease. This is the right thing in life. This was the right thing for his mission. And he was headed for a beheaded. His purpose in life was just to promote Christ to exalt him. Is ours any different now? Let's look at some lessons as we slip through here a couple of times, couple of different ways. Let's see if there are any lessons in their first lesson that I saw in verse 23. And John also was baptized in Enoch near to Salem because there was much water there and they came and were baptized. John ministered in the wilderness first. And then we see him over in the spring area, close to Jesus. The lesson here I see as we are faithful in the desert, as we're faithful in the desert, then the Lord will draw us to minister closer to him in a place of blessing. He tests our spirit. He stretches us. He puts us through all of this so that we will be able to work with him, right there with him without trying to take any of his honor, trying to take any of his praise and his glory. And this is why we're going to get in this lesson here with John. John is right there near Jesus. His crowds are diminishing and he just keeps on going on. Interesting lesson there. So as you're faithful in the desert, then Jesus will draw you to minister closer to him by the springs in the place of blessing. Now, there's another lesson here while we're right there. Verse 23. The crowds have dropped for John and from all appearance, it looks like his ministry is diminishing. From all appearance, it looks like he's on the way out as the preacher terminology is. He's being placed on a shelf. He's being placed on a shelf and he's being replaced. No problem for John. And the lesson there is faithfulness to our duty for the Lord. Second lesson. We'll be revealed and are continuing on no matter how the circumstances change. Easy to go up, not so easy to come down. Paul said, Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Now, as we slip down through there, there is verse 26. I want to show you a lesson there. It's a lesson on envy. Of course, we could take a whole session on this. But he said, They said to him, To whom thou bearest witness, Behold, the same baptizeth and all men come to him. If there is any envy, it shows up in an unsurrendered area of our life. It wouldn't stick with John. Just like he was greased with grace and the goodness of God and greased and filled with the Spirit. Envy wouldn't stick in him. That old dart wouldn't stick. It couldn't find a place. So there was no unsurrendered ground. The Bible says, Who is able to stand before envy? It's one of the most powerful weapons that the enemy uses to divide us. And these Jews, because they were energized by their fleshly, demonic, influenced minds, they grabbed a hold of this dart, knowing that this would be a deadly dart. All right. Who is able to stand before envy? That's Proverbs 27.4. I believe the Jews were full of envy. It was a political system that they had. Just, you know, if you patted this priest on the shoulder or whatever, he would see if you got a bigger vacation or a better position or whatever it did. Just like in Acts 13.45, when Paul and them, when they came in there preaching and they gathered the crowds there and they preached and that was great and everything. But the next Sunday, there were big crowds, huge crowds. And then the Scripture says, But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy. Envy will reveal the flaw in your heart. I was reading, I went back over to that old passage in Philippians about Paul. Where he said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I can do all things. He had learned. He said, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. You remember what he had said back in the first part of that book then? He said, some were preaching Christ. Some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife. And some also of goodwill. He said, the dart doesn't stick in me. If Christ preaches great, praise the Lord. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds. He said, it didn't add it. It didn't stick. That dart doesn't work. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel, what then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. I therein do rejoice, and yea, and will rejoice. Pure heart. Envy, oh dart of envy, doesn't stick in a pure heart. Now there's another lesson and it's in verse 27. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. That's an interesting statement, isn't it? Man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Let me just say this in a little bit different way. But listen. Before man can receive spiritual things, he must be given spiritual things from heaven. Have you ever thought about that? You've got to receive. You've got to receive. Yes, you have to receive, but before you receive, you have to recognize that God is giving. God's doing the giving. All things come from above first. And these Jews will not receive because they thought that everything come from them. And actually, they look to themselves for their wisdom and the direction that they had. If they were looking to God, well, God, what about this man out in the wilderness? What about this one who they're saying may be the Messiah? They were going to God. Give us instruction and wisdom. If they would have, then they would have received from above. And so, John says, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. God has given to me. I have received what God has given to me. All things come from above. I've got a story. I should have looked it up. It's about a little boy. I've shared it before. His dad was going to die, and so he told his son before he died, he said, remember this, as you go through life, you go through a lot of hard things, that all things come from above. And there was a series of things that happened to him as he went through life. And in the story, one of them, like he was very poor, and so he did whatever he could to get some money. And one man hired him to deliver a letter, very important letter, he told him, very important. And he was going, and he jumped the stream, and he slipped, and he fell in the stream, and he lost the letter in the process. And oh, he was really scared. And he went back, and he told the man, but before he did, he said, well, all things come from above. That's what dad said. And so he went back, told the man, the man was very, very angry at him. And he went on. A few days later, the man contacted him again, gave him a great big fat reward. And he said, if you would have delivered that letter, I would have been financially ruined because I delivered that letter in anger. And he learned some more facts about it. And so he gave the boy a nice big fat reward. And you know what the little boy said? All things come from above. The bad and the good. And the story just went like that. Different things happening to him. All right. Before man can receive spiritual things, he must be given spiritual things. And actually, if God first gives, and he does, and if we receive, then there will be no room on our part for boasting, envy, pride, fear, bitterness, anger, all those different things, worry. John knew who he was. John knew where he came from. John knew what his commission was. He was sent to proclaim and to push Christ. And he says, I am sent before Him. He said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. God gave. I received. And so he's saying that. In verse 29, he talks about the bride. Traditionally, this is looked at. I went and looked at a couple of my commentaries. And they say that the bride refers to the church here. And I'm not going to get into it now, but it's a very interesting thing that the church hasn't even been born yet at this point. They're dealing with Israel. John was sent to Israel. Jesus was sent primarily at that time. His mission was to Israel. Remember the woman that came about the crumbs under the table? And he says, and so when these commentaries say this refers to the church. I'm scratching my head and say, wow, we're really scratching around and maybe stretching here a little bit. This is interesting. And I went back and studied and the church is referred to as the bride. That's not any problem there. But it was just the bride here really is presented as a company of regenerated Israelites who were receiving the Messiah at this context, right in this section. And the work is not completed with this aspect of the bride of Christ. Matter of fact, we are referred to as a body. In the New Testament, we're at a body. And God's going to get some things together and we'd have to go over to Revelation 19-21 and look in there and see how Jerusalem comes down from above adorned as a bride. And there are precious jewels in there. But anyway, I thought this was an interesting little thing that John the Baptist used this as a word picture to them. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, this would be John the Baptist, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. This is why envy wouldn't stick in him. He was not to marry the bride. The bride was for the groom. And so, what would have been the problem is if he hung on to part of the multitude and said, oh, you stay with me. But his job was to get them to go to Jesus. What's your job? Who are you getting the people to go to? This is why guys in their churches, many build up their own kingdoms. They want the multitudes for themselves. There's another lesson. Matter of fact, I'm going to take you through a series of six lessons as we move on ahead, as we move on down through the passage. In verse 29, we had this. Notice, there's the standing. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him. John stood. The two disciples stood with him at the first two. He says they stood. They looked and they heard. I noticed these three things. And here's the lesson, spiritual lesson for us. We must stand before we can hear him. We must stand before we can hear him. I was never taught this in all those years in college. I was taught you're going to be trained, you're going to be equipped to go out there and really do a job. But I never did have a course on standing, being still, listening, receiving from God, and then going out. It was all geared for head knowledge, going out and throwing in a little prayer here and there. They didn't teach us to stand still, to go and get it out of prayer. In the times, listen to God. What's God have to say? If he doesn't have anything to say, you'd be quiet. Grasping for the wrong treasure leaves you with an empty basket, leaves you empty. And this is why so much burnout and so much dissatisfaction in the churches, in their lives. This is why so many people now are roaming around here and there looking for a church, whatever, because they receive so little from this type of a system. But John, he says, they stand it. He stood and he heard and then he rejoiced. And so this is what I say. We must stand before we can hear him. Standing is a cessation of activity. And so here it is. Standing, hearing, rejoicing. These three things, I wrote them down. Standing, hearing, be still, hear, and then rejoice. And so if you don't stand and you don't hear and you want to have the joy, what do you do? You pump up some artificial joy. And so we got our artificial joy programs around today. Because we won't be still. A lot of places are very noisy places. You can't even hear yourself think. Music would be so loud in there. You can't hear God. All you can hear is the drumbeat of the activity of man driven, many, by other spirits. Here's another lesson out of these little six concluding lessons. Joy, I notice, is the byproduct of hearing the bridegroom's voice. It's the byproduct. And that's a perfect tense, too. Hearing, continuous action, continued, keep hearing, continue. Okay, verse 30. Now let's slip on down. He must increase, but I must decrease. This lesson is very obvious. The more I decrease, the more I delight in standing and hearing. Now let me say it again. Because it may not be as obvious as you think. The more I decrease, the more I delight in standing and hearing. Do you delight in being still? Do you delight in quietness and calmness? Some don't know what it is. From the time they get up in the morning, they flip on the radio, and they're doing this and that, and they have no periods of silence. So how can you hear God, who's continually speaking? The more I stand and hear, the more He will increase. To decrease is to be less occupied with ourselves. Interesting that Jesus would say, no man can serve two masters. Either he'll love the one and hate the other. And I wonder if a lot of this stuff going around that we call Christianity isn't just self-love and self-service. And we go through all of this. A fourth lesson. Humility is the byproduct of being occupied with Christ. A lot of people want to be humble. I want to be humble, but I can't be humble. All I can do is occupy myself with Christ and humility will be the byproduct. John the Baptist was occupied with Christ. His sole mission, his desire, his love, his heartbeat was for the Messiah. Hey, you better be a little bit concerned about yourself, John. He's getting bigger crowds. Not concerned about John at all. Just concerned that Jesus would be lifted up. Humility. And so, he was humble. And because of his position of being so low, Jesus said, among those that are born of women, there's none greater than John the Baptist. What a testimony of the Messiah for him. Humility is the byproduct of being occupied with Christ. We're changed from glory to glory, 2 Corinthians 3.18. By what you look at will change you. His whole focus was on Jesus and that changed him and made him such a wonderful, beautiful person in himself because of his looking at Jesus. Verse 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 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. This is not the same as world and worldly, I don't think. John was saying, I live in this earth. I'm earthly. Men, we're earthly. But Jesus, He's not. He's different. He came from above. He that cometh from heaven is above all. So He's above us. And the lesson here, I think, that Christ would give us is that we are limited by our finite grasp. Now, there's a treasure in the box. The one that gets the treasure is the one that will grasp it. John is saying, we're earthly. But we've got to understand that and his lesson there, Jesus is not. He's from above. And what He has seen and heard that He testifies and no man received His testimony. It's just like a treasure. If you're going to get the treasure that's in the box, you've got to go over there and open the box and get it. Do you want the treasure? If you want the treasure, you go over to the box, you open it up and you get it. If you want the treasure, you grab a hold of it. And He's trying to get these guys to understand. We've got to move out of the earthly realm and into the spiritual realm. And He said about the Lord and what He has seen and heard that He testifies and no man received His testimony. Now, here's an interesting lesson. In this lesson on being limited by our finite grasp, by our understanding or whatever, Jesus had no limitations. John's telling them. And then He comes out with this lesson here in verse 32. And what He has seen and heard that He testifies and no man received His testimony. Now, I think this is interesting. An interesting lesson. Statistics are feeble in measuring spiritual results. Notice what He said. No man received His testimony. You go back over to 326. They came in as John said unto Him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth. And all men come to Him. They're measuring big multitudes. John said unto him, Statistics are feeble. We left off in 224 where Jesus would not commit Himself. Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because He knew all men. So this is a lesson we need to take to heart. We know politicians can drum up the statistics for whatever their purpose. News media, we know they do that all the time. So statistics really depend on who's putting them together. You want a true statistic, you get somebody that's neutral. John had a true statistic there. Really, very few are receiving Him. Have you received His testimony? Have you received His word? Let me ask you this question. I'm going to close down. Why don't men receive Jesus? Why would not these Jews receive His testimony? What would really be in the heart of a man to keep them from rejecting the gospel? Think about it. Actually, for someone to reject the gospel, they are just crazy. To reject Christ, they are just crazy because they're going to die and go spend eternity in hell and burn forever. So what would make them do that? Some, you'd say, well, they're earthly minded. They're too educated. Some are too brilliant. They just can't figure it out. Some are too proud. Some are too high-born, just too dignant. They can't bow down. It's too much for them. They're too haughty. They're whatever. You know, the scripture says to the Jews, Jesus was a stumbling block. And to the Greeks, He was foolishness. To you, most of us here today, we would say He is our light, delight. He is our love. So why would people want to reject Jesus? The root reason for the rejection of Christ is in this chapter. It's in verse 19. You remember that? And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Because people love their sin. They love darkness. Then verse 33, as we slip on down, just make some comments on this. He that hath received His testimony hath set to His seal that God is true. Set to His seal that God is true. This is a meaning to certify or to ratify. Is your life a ratification or confirmation that God is true? I think this is why John says, back over in 1 John 3, and it's so powerful, that He that is controlled by sin has a testimony, has His seal that He is not free, that God is not true in His life. And then verse 34. For he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. And basically words there is Ramos. The Spirit abode upon Him. It's said in 1 John 3, and we started off in the book that the Spirit abode on Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of God. So John is saying, for he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God. He said, Jesus of Nazareth is speaking the Word of God. You can't speak the Word of God unless you're God. He said, actually, every word He spoke was the Word of God. So if we take the Word of God and change it, I wouldn't want to be in trouble with the Lord for doing that. So He said, every rhema, every word that He came, came out of His mouth, was actually from God. And He set to His seal that God is true. The words are Ramos. Now, and then verse 35. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. Look at the depth of the understanding of John the Baptist in the relationship between Jesus of Nazareth and God. He understood. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. Who taught John these things? The Spirit of God did. And then he comes up with this closing verse. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. This is what John says later on when he records in 1 John. He that hath the Son hath life. Do you have life? Either you have it, or you don't. Do you have this treasure? Have you grasped it? Either you have it, or you don't. So far nobody's got up and got into the box to get the treasure. Grasping is a matter of taking a hold and getting it. And the first one to do it gets it. Just like receiving Christ. If you get Him, you've got the treasure. 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. If you want the treasure, you've got to get up and go open the box and grasp the treasure. If you want Jesus, He's given, you have to receive Him. It comes from above. Who would like that treasure? Whoever would like eternal life has to grab a hold of the eternal treasure. And whoever would like to have that treasure in that box has got to get up and go over there and get it. Boys and girls, do you understand me? You're welcome. Boy, did you all know there was a treasure in that box? John did. He knew something was in the box. He got the message. And when we go through this week, our business is going to be get people to get that treasure out of the box. Get Jesus. Receive Jesus. Not to push ourselves. Don't be concerned if this happens or that about our circumstances. Keep on being faithful. Let's pray. We thank you, Father, for ministering to us. We thank you for your word. Lord, help us to grasp a hold of that which you had for us today. May have been just one little nugget, one little statement that you had for us. And that one little thing, if that's what you want, is all we need for today. We may not remember anything else. And we remember very little. We can't even remember what was preached last week. But if we'll remember that and let it carry us through this week, somewhere along the line, this week, it's going to be a valuable thing for us. Maybe it's a valuable thing right this moment. Thank you for blessing us. Thank you for coming by here. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for dying on the cross for us. Help us to grasp what a treasure you are. Not to get all wrapped up like the Jews in the ceremonialism and all of that stuff and to miss out on the true treasure. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.