Who Are You Going To Believe?

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE?

John 3:22-36

S: Trusting Jesus

Th: My Life as God’s Light

Pr: JESUS IS WORTH TRUSTING.

?: Why?

KW: Testimonies

TS: In John 3:22-36, we will consider three testimonies that demonstrate that Jesus is worth trusting.

Inductive

The ____ testimony is that…

I. JESUS IS CONTROVERSIAL (22-26)

II. JESUS IS THE CHRIST (27-30)

III. JESUS IS IN COMMAND (31-35)

RMBC 5/27/01 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Notebook: Testimony (contempt of court)

A small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial---a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you’ve been a big disap-pointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a rising big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby sit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He’s lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can’t build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."

At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you’ll be jailed for contempt!"

You know, as this story proves…

1. It is worth hearing testimony.

It is worth hearing testimony, even if it is hard to hear!

Have you ever thought about what it might be like if someone was giving testimony about you?

2. What do you suppose others are saying about you?

That is an interesting consideration, isn’t it?

Listened carefully to the testimony given about this one assistant pastor…

ILL Notebook: Humility (new assistant)

It was his last Sunday as he who was moving to another church. After the service, one parishioner expressed her regrets over his departure.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured her, “they’ll find a new assistant who will do a great job.”

To which she replied, “Well, I don’t know. That’s what they told us the last time.”

Well, we come back today to our study of the gospel of John.

3. The gospel is the testimony of Jesus.

There are four gospels and we have been studying the last one—John.

And like the first gospel, Matthew, it is written by an original disciple.

Matthew and John were both in the band known as the twelve disciples.

So, what we have in our text today is the testimony that John has written about Jesus.

4. Today, we are considering three testimonies about Jesus to which we must listen.

OUR STUDY:

I. The first testimony is that JESUS IS CONTROVERSIAL (22-26).

(22) After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. (23) Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (24) (This was before John was put in prison.) (25) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. (26) They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one you testified about-well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

As we begin this text we find that…

1. Jesus began to develop His disciples.

It was during this early ministry we find an unhurried period of time.

Jesus spent quality time with the twelve.

They are getting to know each other.

They were learning that their present work and their preparation for future work was strengthened by quality time spent at the feet of the Master.

It was not in a classroom that they learned.

There was not a highly structured program.

To be the Lord’s disciple simply meant this—you were with Him.

You spent time with Him.

Now, the context of our study shows us that we have two groups doing the same thing.

John the Baptist and his followers were spreading the message of repentance and baptizing those that believed in the turnaround that had to happen in their lives.