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. J oh n 3:27 -31 John the Baptist first, then Jesus I. WHAT DID JOHN PREACH? 1. He delivered the whole law against sin; even in the case of Herod Mar 6:18-20) and of the Pharisees (Luk 3:7). He showed how the law extended to the words and thoughts of men (Mat 3:8-9). He counselled circumspection in the walks of ordinary life, with a view to the final account. Thus he aroused...
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son . 1Jn 5:9 -10 Faith, and the witness upon which it is founded Faith stands, under the covenant of grace, in a leading position amongst the works of the regenerate man and the gifts of the Spirit of God. The promise no longer stands to the man who doeth these things that he shall live in them, else we were shut out of it, but " the just shall live by faith ." God now biddeth us live by believing in Him. I. First, then, since our great business is that we believe God, let us see what reason we have for believing Him. I. The external evidence given is stated in the first verse of the text, as the evidence of God to us, and it is prefaced by t...