He Must Increase, I Must Decrease

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to help plan and prepare for a wedding, you know that it’s actually a lot of work. And that’s basically the way John the Baptist described his own ministry. He was the best man who came to “prepare the way” for the bridegroom. But once he appeared on the scene, John’s goal was to point away from himself and to place the spotlight entirely on Jesus. On this edition of the program the hosts will unpack this way of thinking about Christian ministry in our continuing survey of the Gospel of John.

SHOW QUOTE

“As long as we’re ministering the words of Christ, they’re authoritative. Once we get outside of that, there’s no magisterial authority. We don’t create new words of God, but underneath that umbrella of the Word that we’ve received from Christ, we get to minister authoritatively those words.”
Patrick Crandall

TERM TO LEARN

“Centrality of Preaching the Gospel”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Rom 10:14-17).

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor 1:18-25).

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (Gal 1:6-9).

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Tim 4:1-5).

(All passages are from The English Standard Version)

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SHOW QUOTE

TERM TO LEARN

“Centrality of Preaching the Gospel”

More from this Series: The Gospel of John Year-Long Series

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