GETTING YOURSELF OUT OF THE WAY

John 3:30 “He must increase but I must decrease.”

This is a statement made by John the Baptist. John is not only talking about himself personally, but also about his baptism and his teaching. He’s talking about the fact that his preaching of the coming of the Messiah must cease because He is now come; and has entered publicly in the work of His glorious ministry here on earth.

This is a very hard thing to comprehend. As a human being this is not the natural thing to say or do. Decreasing self so that Christ can increase in our lives is not accomplished by knowing some facts and statistics about Christ, but rather an intimate fellowship with Him that is characterized by love. Of course, this intimacy is initiated by Christ Himself, and in response to His love we love Him. The Apostle John mentioned this in I John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”

The love of God is different from that of our love. The love He has for us transcends emotions or admiration. It was demonstrated by unselfishly giving his only Son to die so that we might have eternal life. 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.”

Most of us truly want to respond to God’s love for us by loving Him. Since we have already stated that God’s love transcends emotions and affections, what should be the essence of our love for Him? Jesus connects true love for God with obedience. This is made very clear in I John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” He goes on to reiterate this thought three more times in His teaching to the disciples – verse 21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” – Verses 23-24 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”

I can hear someone ask, “What words is He talking about?” Oh, you didn’t ask. Well, I’m going to answer anyway. The answer to that unasked question is that He’s talking about all the words. But to make it simple, Jesus summarizes His commands in two directions. We find these in Matthew 22:37-39 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

In this reply to the Lawyer, Jesus said that the whole duty of the believer can be summed up in one word – love. The demonstrative direction of this love is upward and outward. It’s sad to see that many believers live inwardly. They live for self. It’s all about what “I”want. This is 180 degrees from the desire of our Master. There is no “decrease” of self so that Christ can “increase” in their life. It would do them good to consider the desire of the Apostle Paul.

As we consider all these verses it helps us to see clearly that the responsibility of the believer is to love God by obedience. To obey Him is to love others. That’s sounds too simplistic. And it would be too simple if there is only lip-service of our love and not leg-service. So, how do we put leg-service to obeying all the commands of the Lord?

When you and I get up every day, we need to remember that we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We are kingdom representatives and are to proclaim the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ as we go into all the world. That good news is that God loves them and has sent His Son to die for them so that they can go to Heaven and live with Him eternally. And how do we share that good news and be a great Ambassador of Christ? There is much controversy as to how this is done. Everybody has an opinion so let me give you mine.

1. It Involves our Lifestyle - I Peter 1:15-16 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."

The way we live before the world is vital to our witness. No one ever got saved by watching our lives, but holy living gives us a platform from which to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without holy living our witness will not be productive. Holy living brings the blessings of the Holy Spirit. Our witness must be under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:31 proclams "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."

2. It Involves our Lip-service – Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The child of God must open his mouth and share the Word of God with those who need salvation. The Bible is what tells that they are a sinner and need a relationship with God which comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

Knowledge of the Bible is so important for this mission. That’s why Paul exhorted the believer in II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Being able to use the Bible to show the individual what God has said is so important. Remember, it’s not you that converts the soul but the the work of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God. That’s what Paul said in Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

Being a good Ambassador for the Kingdom of God means that what we do is for the King, not ourselves. What we think is not important. It’s what God thinks that is important. That’s why He must increase and we must decrease.

That’s my view; how about you?