Who is Speaking What?

He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. (John 3:31-34)

He who comes from above / He who comes from heaven	he who is of the earth
is above all	is from the earth
What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies	speaks of the earth
no one receives His testimony
? He who has received His testimony	? He who has received His testimony
? has set his seal to this	? has set his seal to this
? that God is true	? that God is true
He whom God has sent
speaks the words of God
He gives the Spirit without measure

This passage is raising a lot of questions for me. Some of it seems clear enough but other parts seem rather vague as to whom it is talking about. Who is it here that has received his testimony? Is it Jesus receiving the testimony of His Father or is it others receiving the testimony of Jesus?

And what about this seal? What kind of seal is this and what implications are involved? How is this testimony related to God being true?

And lastly but not least, what does it really mean that He gives the Spirit without measure? The margin in my Bible renders this somewhat differently. It says because He does not give the Spirit by measure. That puts a different light on this but how much and in what way?

As I look through various translations of this passage it raises even more questions. The NIV strongly implies that the he whom God has sent might be a person other than Jesus if I read it correctly. That would imply that any of us can become a person whom God has sent and who is to speak the words of God. This would then mesh more clearly with the last part about the Spirit being given without limit.

And maybe it is not so important that these pronouns be determined as to who they are or who they are not in the end necessarily. Jesus came to live life as an example for us to follow so what applies to Him will apply to us in very many respects. So in this case much of this will apply to both Him and us if we accept the Spirit that He wants to give us without limitations. And any limitations that are there are clearly not from His side but would be limitations that we put on God's desire to fill us with His Spirit.

There is one more thing that I feel about this passage and that I disagree with the translators. I believe from the context and the type of language used here that at this point in the chapter John the writer is no longer quoting John the Baptist but is picking up the narrative at this point. It fits much closer with things in previous parts of the passage before John the Baptist was talked about than with the words the Baptist was speaking to his own disciples.

Stand and Hear in Joy

...The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. (John 3:29)

What voice is John talking about here? Is it the audible voice that he heard whenever Jesus showed up one day and asked John to baptize Him? Or is it something much deeper than this, a voice that resonates with something deep within the soul and that has the ring of familiarity that cannot be described very well with words?

John had grown up filled with the Holy Spirit from the day he had been conceived. He had spent most of his younger life after leaving home in the desert communing with God and having his character and spirit formed and shaped by the presence of God and the Scriptures. John had a long history of listening with his heart to the voice of the right Spirit and so when Jesus, the Son of God showed up in person John instantly recognized the perfect match in what he sensed about Jesus with what he had himself been familiar with for so many years. He knew deep in his soul that had been trained in the school of heaven that this man had the same kind of spirit that he himself had been trained under.

Later on in His ministry Jesus said something that helps us to understand this better. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27) John knew more than anyone else on earth what the voice of God sounded like. And all those who allow their heart to listen to the inner voice of the Spirit of God drawing them will learn more and more to recognize that voice no matter through whom or where it comes from. And when it comes from the presence of the physical human that is also the very God who is the source of that voice to start with it will be unmistakable to those who have trained their hearts to listen to it ahead of time.

John's whole reason for existence, his sole purpose in life from before the day he was even conceived was to prepare the world for the appearance of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. In order to be able to do this John had remained outside the influences of the world and of confused religion as much as possible. Even though the Jewish religion was the closest to the truth that there was on earth and the Jews were God's chosen people, they had become so infiltrated with false ideas about God and cluttered with added human traditions that John needed to be free of all that baggage in order to have as clear a picture as possible in his heart and mind of the real truth, the authentic spirituality needed in order to present to all his hearers the message from heaven given to him.

John knew from a very early age what his job description was. He knew that there was Someone coming after him who was to be the greatest One ever to show up on this earth and that was to bring salvation to light in a dramatically greater way than ever seen before. He also had a sense of the greatness and beauty and perfection that would be seen in this coming Messiah because he had learned nearly everything he knew about this Messiah directly from the Scriptures unfiltered and untainted by the philosophies and opinions of the religious leaders and teachers of the law. Because of this advantage John's message was much clearer and contained far more of the real power of God to convict and convince souls and hearts than anyone else had done for many years.

But I also believe that John longed to experience a personal encounter with the One for whom he was sent to prepare the way. John intuitively knew that this Messiah was going to be radically different than everyone's expectations and assumptions about Him. John had been taught by the Holy Spirit the real truths about God and about His character and holiness and he longed to see in person what was going to take place when this Messiah would show up. He also looked forward to the day when he could meet in person the Man who was the embodiment of the divine presence that he had already been familiar with all of his life. He very likely eagerly looked forward to the day when he could match a physical face with the Spirit that was already so familiar to him in his heart.

Long before John ever met Jesus in person he had been trained by God to be His best friend. John's heart and affections had for years been growing closer and closer to God. So when God showed up in human form John was eager to experience His presence in a more open and obvious dimension. I believe that is why John was ready to say the words that he is quoted as saying in these verses in John 3. He has finally met in person the One for whom his whole life and destiny had been devoted to and now it was time to step back and allow the real Bridegroom to engage personally in the work of drawing all those to Himself and His heart who were willing to respond to Him like a potential bride.

John's joy was to encounter the presence of the Bridegroom up close and personal and watch how He would work to draw the affections of His bride to Himself. John was finally seeing materialize everything that he had been sent to prophecy about and to prepare the world to experience. John was at last able to see for Himself just how the greatest Lover of the universe would treat those who were unfamiliar and suspicious of Him. John had done all he could to induce as many as possible to lay aside their mistrust of God formed by false ideas from religion and the world. He had done everything he knew how to reshape people's opinions about what God was like and to awaken them to their dangerous condition that sin had caused in their lives. Now it was time for Jesus to take over and continue the work of wooing His bride closer and closer into trusting and responding to His love.

And as John watched and sensed how Jesus masterfully and quietly dealt with people with amazing compassion, attracting them toward God in far more effective ways than John had ever been able to do, his own heart leaped for joy and even deeper love for this Messiah just as he had first done while still inside his own mother's womb when he had heard the voice of Jesus' mother. John's heart was always open to the heart of God and John was ready and eager to be the foremost in responding to the love that Jesus came to reveal to us.

When John said that the friend is one who stands and hears the Bridegroom, he was describing something deep within his own soul that was nearly impossible to explain with words. John had been preaching himself for some time and had attracted a great deal of attention, both positive and negative. But getting attention was not his primary desire for himself. He longed for the day when the real deal was going to show up, the One with the real message that would be far greater exponentially than anything the world had ever encountered before. So when Jesus finally showed up as foretold by John, John was eager to step back and turn all of the attention toward the One who could reveal the truth about God much better than anyone else could ever begin to do. John was ready to stand back and listen and allow the real Bridegroom to begin to speak and to show the world what joy was really all about.

John is an unsung hero of understanding joy better. I am starting to see that there is much more in John's life and example than I have ever thought about before. I would like to have much more of the spirit of John the Baptist myself, to have that same deep, burning desire to encounter the presence of Jesus much more fully, to rejoice spontaneously whenever I hear His voice and to do everything possible to attract others into an intimate relationship with Jesus for themselves. God, give me that spirit that leaps for joy whenever I hear Your voice.

This Joy of Mine

...The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:29-30)

I want to learn and experience more fully the kind of joy that John talks about here. This is obviously very different from the happiness that we typically think of when we hear the word joy. Most of the good inside feelings that we long to experience in conjunction with what we think should be joy comes from things that happen to us, things people say about us that make us feel good, material blessings that make us feel more important or valuable or even physical sensations that stimulate us emotionally.

But the kind of joy described here in John's experience is radically different than most things we are usually looking for. In fact, if we are not careful this description can easily slip into the sterile realm of clichés from religion that still don't produce the real joy that we were designed to thrive on. I was raised for much of my life being told to be unselfish, to give generously to those in need, to be self-sacrificial, to deny myself and somehow all of this was supposed to result in my being happy. But about all that resulted from it was me becoming bitter and resentful and rebellious and even suspicious of the authenticity of my religion. Forcing one to go through the motions of unselfishness never produces love and joy, whether that one is someone else or yourself. It is only like pinning fruit onto a tree and trying to believe that the tree is finally producing fruit.

But John is authentically describing a real joy that he experienced and that was intensifying as He watched Jesus' popularity grow and his own popularity wane. This is rather backwards to what we typically believe will bring us joy. But that is why I want to really know what is involved in experiencing this genuine joy that John experienced. I want to listen to what he says about it because I believe he understood and participated in something far deeper than nearly anyone else has ever encountered in relationship with God.

John says that the friend stands and hears. That reminds me of another text that says nearly the same thing. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Psalms 46:10 NKJV) I am impressed even more with another translation of this verse. Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalms 46:10 NAS95)

But I never really thought of this verse in connection with joy before. It was usually used as a weapon to force people to be quiet in church which never really produced feelings of joy inside of me. But as I ponder on this I realize that in my own life many times God has asked me to be still, to let go of my whirling thoughts and fears and plans and to empty my mind of all distractions so that I can more clearly hear the quiet voice of His Spirit speaking to me at the heart level.

Intimacy requires quietness much of the time. Most people know this intuitively but we sometimes fail to apply this principle to our relationship with God. But knowing God from a Biblical perspective involves having a very close intimate relationship of love with God even more than any humans can ever have with each other. Intimacy with another human almost always requires that we spend considerable time in quiet moments listening to the other opening up their heart and sharing their deepest soul with us. Effective and bonding intimacy also requires that both people are willing to open up and become vulnerable and transparent with each other, not just one side. When only one party is willing to open up and the other just listens and gives opinions or advice, that is the model of a counterfeit relationship often known as professional or counselor. It appears to help people at times but it does nothing to foster the kind of close-knit bonds at the heart level required to experience the joy of intimacy and true love.

Be still and know – stand and listen. Both of these things are the ingredients necessary for creating an atmosphere where joy can grow and thrive. And I know that I need to learn this lesson myself much better.

But I also am reminded that this intimacy that John is talking about that produced so much joy inside of him is not necessarily in the context of an exclusive two-way bond between him and his best Friend. For John is clearly talking about a situation where his best Friend is using John to draw others into intimacy with Him, attracting more people into close fellowship and love with this Friend. And a real friend of the Bridegroom will find that participating in drawing others into this close intimacy with his best Friend results in a kind of joy that is exhilarating and fulfilling.

What is it that he is listening to as he stands still? Is it the words addressed to his own heart by his Friend or is it when he hears the voice of the Spirit of Jesus speaking words of comfort, love, assurance, conviction and hope to those John is bringing into closer proximity to be attracted to Him? This is a joy that is reported by many people who have discovered this kind of experience in doing a similar work to what John was doing. It is a joy that seems to come indirectly through watching the hearts of others begin to respond positively to the attractions of heaven. It is a joy that is ignited whenever one sees the lights come on inside someone else as you share with them the potential for life and peace and hope that hearts have been yearning for and missing all of their lives. It is a joy that can happen because the family of God is being enlarged as souls are warmed with new hope and faith and an awakening to the real truth about God's feelings towards them.

There is certainly a need to experience the two-way bonds of joy in love and intimacy with Jesus that is so needed early on in the genuine Christian experience of new life. And this kind of intimacy and joy must be continued and nurtured all throughout our experience. But it will begin to wither and go stale if we do not respond to the invitation of Jesus to enter into a more dynamic phase of our growth and allow Him to work through us to attract others into that same kind of closeness and richness that we are beginning to enjoy. But when we do participate and cooperate with God's plan to enlarge and enrich the body of Christ in this way, we begin to tap into much deeper and broader dimensions of joy that is the driving force of all of heaven.

For a few moments this morning I felt a slight sensation, like a glimpse of reality from heaven's perspective of what the fundamental assumptions are in heaven. It is so hard to describe that accurately because assumptions are almost always subconscious and to describe them to others means that their assumptions are applied to the words and the meaning is often largely lost in the process.

But I sensed, at least for a few moments, how vital it is for me to enter into a completely different mode of thinking, of relating, of desire if I am to be emotionally prepared to become integrated into the society and joys of the angels of God. That atmosphere, as many people talk about, is full of praise and worship and singing and joy. But because of our earthly perspective and the influence of false ideas about religion that permeate everything we think and feel, we often get the subtle idea that this is a requirement instead of something spontaneous. Of course it sounds silly to even say that, but that is the very nature of subconscious lies – they become silly when exposed to the open but deep inside they still feel true and we make many decisions based on them.

The more that I sense God revealing to me that true religion has far more to do with the condition of my heart than the information subscribed to or contained in my head, the more I can begin to understand a little bit what this praise, gratitude and worship is really about. I have observed that much of our praise experiences are often rooted in selfish desires to feel good or maybe to impress God or others around us. Much of our thanksgiving exercises are likewise based on a gratitude focused on the externals, the material benefits we enjoy, the nice things that have happened to us or even the good answers we sometimes receive to prayers tainted with selfish desires. And our worship is so confusing that I sometimes wonder if anyone really understands the real focus of worship. When I step back a bit and think about many of our worship exercises I realize that much if not most of our worship is focused more on our own traditions, our own feelings or on the performers who are supposed to be leading out in our worship rather than an intentional focus on God Himself.

As I have become a little more aware of what is really involved in worship I realize that real worship of God happens very little in a church setting despite all of our claims to the contrary. Much more worship of God I believe occurs spontaneously at times and in places where we might least expect to find it. In fact, I have sometimes been overcome with a desire to express genuine worship to God in the middle of situations where it seems almost bizarre and even embarrassing. It is then that I am chagrined to realize how much I still am intimidated more by what other people think about me than I am confident and bold in what God thinks about me.

I am learning that true, authentic worship, praise and gratitude need to come from a reservoir of joy that fills the heart of the worshiper. I have also learned in the past few years that the real meaning of joy is always that inspiration and feeling of value that one gets from knowing you are special to someone else and that they genuinely and intensely desire to be with you no matter how you are feeling at the moment. This kind of joy imparts an amazing amount of power into the heart and soul of a person and is like a breath of fresh air that can cause them to thrive and grow in love and grace. What I am seeing here is that this is the kind of joy that John was talking about, a joy that came from a heart connection with God and that made John an extremely bold friend of God, publicly declaring the real truth about God to awaken other hearts to come and experience for themselves the Heart that was giving him so much joy.

And it is only in this context that a person can authentically say from the heart that He must increase, but I must decrease. This is not something that can be put on from the outside and be truly effective. This must be an expression of the true belief of a heart that has been enriched and fulfilled with the love that he wants others to experience. John is not saying here that his own relationship with God must decrease – not in the slightest. His own joy would ever continue to intensify as he saw more and more people responding to the Source of all love and healing and salvation. What he was saying was that in the eyes of others and in their hearts, Jesus would become more and more important and intimate to them while the one who had initially attracted them into the relationship to start with would become less and less visible and noticeable to them. This is the mark of a true and loyal friend of the Bridegroom. And this is what will produce the kind of real joy that John was experiencing and that I too can experience as I learn to follow his example.

I Want to be a Safe Friend

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. (John 3:29 NIV)

I just can't pull myself away from this verse yet. It is compelling to me and keeps opening up important things that my heart really wants and needs to learn. I sense deeply that I crave to have this experience for myself, this relationship with the Bridegroom, this joy that is full, complete and satisfying.

Too often I have tried to get some of this joy by stepping in between the bride and the Bridegroom. I have been jealous of the potential joy between them and have misappropriated the affections of the bride for myself. It has always ended in disaster repeatedly but I seem to be a slow learner. What I am seeing here is that finding genuine joy that will really last and will not disappoint my heart needs to be found in a third-party relationship with the bride and Groom.

Satan has lied to my heart (no big surprise there) telling me that if I don't receive affections the way I want them that I can't have any at all. But that is not true. The alternative to receiving affections the wrong way is not a complete break in relationships with the bride of Christ. Jesus never says that I can't be very close friends with His bride, all those whom He is attracting to Himself. In fact, He wants to make me into a much more effective messenger of His attractions and allurements and inducements to help others see the real truth about His beauty much more clearly so they too can let go of the lies about Him that prevent them from trusting His heart. He wants to make me a safe friend to deal in the arena of people's hearts and be able to pass along His love notes for them without having my own emptiness complicate my relationship with them.

So it comes back again to my own need to relate to Jesus personally as part of the bride myself and be filled up with His personal attentions and affections so that my own heart enjoys that needed peace, satisfaction and joy in His presence. The more my own heart can rest, relax and be ravished in His love the safer I will be in sharing the same opportunity with others to experience the same relationship with Him. It is not safe to offer to others an intimacy with God that I am not yet experiencing myself. When I do then I may be venturing into the arena of hypocrisy which is a very hazardous place to live. The gospel that I offer to others must be the same gospel that is healing and saving my own heart, soul and mind.

To be an effective friend of the Bridegroom, a safe friend that can be trusted to speak convincingly of this intimate love relationship to others, I have to be experiencing the joys of being a responsive bride myself. It is the most effective witness program that demonstrates the effects of joy, intimacy, trust and peace when I am living from a heart captured by the affections of God myself. Just talking about it without really experiencing it can be very fascinating and intriguing but it will not have the compelling force that experiencing it myself will have.

So my heart yearns for a much deeper encounter and an ongoing, deepening love affair with my Savior and my God. I have long been tired of religion that talks all around these subjects (or worse yet, disdained them) but has generally brought me more confusion than peace. My heart craves to be loved and to respond in genuine, spontaneous love with a being that really knows how to do it right. And by what I've heard we are all hard-wired to feel this way and we know that when we finally get completely honest about our hearts.

Father, Jesus, I plead with You to draw me much deeper into this intimacy of love in my heart that I hear more and more about. You know my heart far better than I can ever understand and You know how intense these longings are beyond the ability of any words to express. I have repressed these feelings and yearnings for all of my life because every time I try to deal with them I get deeply wounded. Fear has overtaken most of the atmosphere in my heart and surrounds the memories of these bad encounters.

But Your Word says that perfect love expels all fear. That is what I really want to experience, not just once or twice but on a continual and unbroken basis. I plead with you to heal me from my wicked spirit of faultfinding and negative thinking and the many lies I still believe about You. Replace all of this with real life and the love that can only be found in Your heart and in close fellowship with You. Make me a safe and reliable friend of Yours to awaken interest and longing in the hearts of many others who may see what You are starting to do in my heart. Train me, especially my heart, to know how to work in close proximity to the hearts and affections and fears of others who are being drawn to you without becoming overwhelmed and improperly entangled in them myself.

Keep my heart full of Your love and help me to keep my mirror clean so that Your light and love can be reflected through me without distortion. I know this is a very big order, but I also believe You are an even bigger God capable of anything. And by what I have been learning this is the kind of thing You love to specialize in. So continue the work of transformation You are doing in me and keep me close to Your heart. Protect me from the hateful, deceptive and vicious attacks of the great liar who has spoiled everything You have created here. Grow me into full maturity in Christ as I learn to rest fully in Your arms.

I ask all of this in the authority and name of Jesus Christ, the one who came to reveal the real truth about Your heart and allowed us to torture and kill Him without ever resisting or getting defensive. Thank-you so much for what You are revealing about Yourself through Jesus. I am learning that all of this is taking place to vindicate Your reputation and character in the final outcome. Keep me close to You so that I can be part of the great cloud of authentic and truthful witnesses so that Your reputation can be fully honored.