Why You Should Listen To Jesus

John 3 (4)

Why we should listen to Jesus

Yesterday I was working in the the high lift, decorating the bay tree in the field. I checked the gas one time and thought, I can finish this before I refuel it. I ended up running out of gas and getting stuck in the air. I started thinking of Elmer Fudd in the opera with Buggs Bunny when he starts singing, “What have I done?” My brother Dusty was kind enough to remember another cartoon where the character says, “Well, that was a stupid thing to do.”

Let me tell you my friend, as unenlightened as what I did yesterday was, let me tell you. There are much worse. Let me show you. Turn with me please to John chapter 3.

- Read John 3:31-36

The stupidest thing a person can do is reject the Son.

The Bible tells us in verse 16 of this same chapter:

> John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but hath everlasting life.

> Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

> Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All have sinned, without exception. There is a punishment for that sin, eternal separation from God. But there is an option. There is an alternative. God sent His Son.

1. Jesus came from Heaven - v31.

Jesus came to earth in human form, born as a baby in Bethlehem. We celebrate that birth every year. But, unlike you and I, Jesus didn’t start as a baby. Jesus has always existed. He has always been. There has never been a time when Jesus was not.

John chapter 1 tells us, “IN the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God and the Word was God, and same was in the beginning with God.

Jehovah’s false witnesses will tell you that we all began in heaven. Nonsense. There is none Who has His preexistence before human birth in heaven but Jesus Christ Himself.

John tells us in verse 31, Jesus comes from heaven.

2. Jesus is above everything else

- v 31

Jesus is above everything.

> Hebrews 1 we read, “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

There are those who contend that there are many ways to heaven, and that there have been many Saviors along the way. Ain’t no way.

Buddha was a man, and only a man. Muhammad was a man, and only a man. Joseph Smith was a man, and only a man. But Jesus is above everyone and everything else.

In Matthew Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Him.”

> Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved.”

> Philippians 2:9-11 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3. Jesus has a heavenly message

a. He was an eyewitness to it - 32a

Jesus told Pilate that He came to testify to the Truth. Verse 32 tells us that He testifies to what He has seen and heard. He didn’t come and make things up. He didn’t come to make people feel good, to stroke them so they wouldn’t get upset. He didn’t come to comfort people in their sins. He came from heaven, with a message from heaven, and He tells it like it is.

For a number of years, the Lord and I had an arrangement. We had an understanding. If I saw a hitchhiker I would stop and pick him up. I understood that seeing the person, indicated that the Lord had set up an appointment for me to witness to that person. As you can imagine, I had the opportunity to meet some interesting folks over the years.

I remember picking up a guy in Memphis one night. He and I began to discuss the Bible, and religion, and the Lord. He told me that Jesus was very courteous, and polite, and that He would never do anything to upset His host, or to intentionally upset someone.