Christ Alone Be Magnified!
"He
MUST Increase, but I MUST Decrease" -JOHN
3:30 [KJV]
This
was spoken of the Redeemer by His forerunner John. And it is not to
be considered as the language of complaint or sullen agreement as if
he would say, "I dislike it; but it is unavoidable. It is my
grief; and I must bear it." No. It was as agreeable to his
feelings as it was firm in his belief. And it showed a fine and a
noble soul in John. The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy. We love
to be distinguished above others. We wish to rise, even by the fall
of others. It is trying, even to a good man, to withdraw, and see a
successor filling his place better than himself, and, as the honors
he has worn are transferred to another, to say, "He must
increase, but I must decrease." It is not an easy thing to
go down well, or for a setting star to exult in a rising sun.
But it was thus to John. He knew his rank and approved his place. He was the servant, not the Master: the friend, not the Bridegroom; the sinner, not the Savior. The church was not married to 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."
But it was thus to John. He knew his rank and approved his place. He was the servant, not the Master: the friend, not the Bridegroom; the sinner, not the Savior. The church was not married to 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."
-preacher William Jay, son of John Jay, first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
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