A GOD-EXALTING

CHURCH
JOHN 3:30
JOHN 3:30
He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease
(King James Version)
•John 3:30
• “He must become greater; I must
become less.” (New Living Translation)
• ”30 Dapat siyang maitaas at ako
nama'y maibaba.”
• Let’s put the verse in context and
see if we can find out what John
the Baptist had in mind …

• John 3:26-30 (ESV): And they

came to John [the Baptist] and
said to him, “Rabbi, he [Jesus]
who was with you across the
Jordan, to whom you bore
witness—look, he is baptizing,
and all are going to him.”
• John answered, “A person cannot
receive even one thing unless it is
given him from heaven. You
yourselves bear me witness, that I
said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have
been sent before him.’ The one who
has the bride is the bridegroom. The
friend of the bridegroom, who stands
and hears him, rejoices greatly at the
bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this
joy of mine is now complete. He
must increase, but I must
decrease.”
 –

– JESUS
MUST BECOME
GREATER

•
• John 3:30
• 4 Ways to guide us in the
process:

• First and foremost, in order for Christ to become

greater and for us to become less, we must have an
understanding about Who Christ is.
• Dictionary.com defines lord “as a person who has
authority, control, or power over others; a master,
chief, or ruler.”
• With this definition in mind, making
Jesus Lord
means you are giving Him authority, control,
and power over your life.
• Jesus is Lord!
• He only becomes Lord of your life
when you allow Him to do so.

• John the Baptist simply stated here,

“He must become greater; I must
become less.” If you allow Jesus
to be Lord of your life, you are
allowing Him to become greater.
• 2 Corinto 4:5
• 5 Hindi namin ipinapangaral ang aming sarili,
kundi si Cristo Jesus bilang Panginoon. At
kami ay lingkod ninyo alang-alang kay Jesus,
• 1 Pedro 3:15
• 15 Ang lahat ng pagtitiis ko ay para sa
kapakanan ninyo upang sa pagdami ng mga
nakakatanggap ng kagandahang-loob ng
Diyos, lalo pang dumami ang
magpapasalamat sa ikaluluwalhati Niya.
• Secondly, in order for Christ to become greater
and for us to become less,
• we must forgive as we have been
forgiven.

• Luke 11:4
• “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who
sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.”

• Colossians 3:13
• “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances
you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you.”
• This reminds us just how much we have been forgiven:
• Hebrews 8:12
• “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their
sins no more.”
• Psalm 103:11-12
• For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
• is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
• 12 He has removed our sins as far from us
• as the east is from the west.

• You and I have been forgiven greatly! What would happen in

You
your world if you forgave as you have been forgiven?
will become less and Christ will become
greater!
• Thirdly, in order for Christ to become greater and for us
to become less,
• we need to love as we are loved.
• In John 15:12,
• Jesus said “My command is this: Love
each other as I have loved you.”
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
• “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does
not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-
seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.”
• 1 Corinthians 16:4,
• Paul simply states “Do everything in love.”

• Ephesians 5:1-2
• reads, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as
dearly loved children and live a life of love,
just as Christ loved us and gave himself
up for us as a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God.”

• In order for Christ to become greater, we

must become less by living a life of love.
• Fourth, in order for Christ to become greater and
for us to become less,
• we need to become students of
His word.
• 2 Timothy 2:15
• reads, “Do your best to present yourself to
God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who
correctly handles the word of truth.”

• Can you correctly handle the word of

truth? Are you a student of God’s word?
• Hebreo 4:12
• Ang salita ng Diyos ay buháy at mabisa,
mas matalas kaysa alinmang tabak na
sa magkabila'y may talim. Ito'y
tumatagos maging sa kaibuturan ng
kaluluwa at espiritu, ng mga kasukasuan
at buto, at nakakaalam ng mga iniisip at
binabalak ng puso.
• 1 Peter 1:23-25
• 23 Sapagkat muli kayong isinilang, hindi sa
pamamagitan ng binhing nasisira, kundi sa
pamamagitan ng buháy at walang
kamatayang salita ng Diyos.
• 24 Ayon sa kasulatan,
• “Ang lahat ng tao ay tulad ng damo,
• gaya ng bulaklak nito ang lahat niyang kariktan.
• Ang damo ay nalalanta, at ang bulaklak ay
kumukupas,
• 25 ngunit ang salita ng Panginoon
ay nananatili magpakailanman.”
• “
• A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is
given him from heaven.”
• John the Baptist definitely had this decreasing-thing
down.
• But did he get there by focusing on the decreasing?
• He dedicated his whole life to preparing the way for
Jesus.
• His whole life!
• He focused on Jesus – on increasing Jesus.
• I don’t think he was sitting around spending time figuring
out ways to deny himself.
• He did deny himself, but that came as a byproduct. It
wasn’t his focus.
• Jesus was his sole focus.
• And how did that focus work out for him?
• His joy was made complete.
• I want complete joy too. How about you?
• So here’s the thing.

• If we’ll put the emphasis on His increasing, then

our decreasing will fall into place by default.

• Instead of pondering how we should be denying

ourselves, let’s think of ways to fill our lives with
more of Him.

• What if we spend more time with Him in His

Word? We’ll decrease.(Less time for our own
words and logic.)
• What if we spend more time talking to
Him in prayer? We’ll decrease.(Less time
for our own thoughts and worries.)

• What if we spend more time serving His

people? We’ll decrease.
• (Less time for serving ourselves.)

• What if we spend more time in His

house? We’ll decrease.
• (Less time for worshiping lesser things.)
• Let’s focus on His increase.
• That’s what life is all about, right?
• Let’s add more and more of Him every
day until there’s slowly but surely – and
quite naturally – no room for me, me,
me.
• Let’s start today!
• What can we do to increase Jesus
today?
•
GLORY
• TO
• GOD!