Decrease and Increase

The father of John the Baptist, the priest Zechariah gave this prophecy regarding the ministry of his newborn son, John.
Luke 1:76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall shine from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  

John the Baptist lived within the awe of this promise of his destiny - preparing the way for the Messiah. He had drawn crowds out to where he had been living out in the desert regions on a diet of locusts and wild honey where the people listened to his preaching declaring that the Messiah was coming and that everybody had to repent.  Then at the appointed time the Holy Spirit prompted him to make his way to Jerusalem to preach about the Kingdom of Heaven and repentance of sins, and he and his disciples began baptizing people in the Jordan River. 
Then on a certain day the Pharisees began questioning John about who he was because there were rumors abounding that he was the Christ or perhaps Elijah. All John would say was that he was one who was like a voice crying in the wilderness ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ 
And the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me’ (John 1:29).
Then John goes on to say, ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32)

And then the time came in John’s ministry where he knew he had to decrease and make way for Jesus to increase. When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan river and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon him, an entirely new ministry of the Spirit started on the earth as Jesus went out into the wilderness in the power of the Spirit to be tested by the devil. In the plan of God to bring in the new wine of the Spirit the old had to pass away, so John had to pass away, literally. 
John was arrested and taken into the custody of Herod at the time that Jesus went out in the Spirit into the wilderness. 
When Jesus began to move out into his anointed ministry John started to become uncertain about many things as he languished in prison.  He began to doubt whether Jesus was truly the Messiah, and he began to become concerned about his own future. We don’t know if John even comprehended the fact that Jesus would be resurrected from the dead even though at Jesus’ baptism he had said ’Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. The prophet John was told only what the Holy Spirit needed him to know.
Matthew 11: 2 John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the miracles the Messiah was doing, so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you really the one we are waiting for, or shall we keep on looking?"
Jesus told them," Go back to John and tell him about the miracles you've seen me do-- the blind people being healed and the deaf who hear…and tell him about my preaching the Good News to the poor. Then give him this message, `Blessed are those who are not offended in me.'" 
Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61:1 the words that were prophetic of his ministry as the Messiah, and these were words that John the prophet would have known very well. It is significant that Jesus did not mention the second half of that prophecy from Isaiah 61:1 which says ‘to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; And John was offended that Jesus had not set him free from prison.

John was disappointed and he began to lose trust in Jesus because he was offended! He would have had all kinds of ideas about how the kingdom of God would be ushered in, but those ideas had to be surrendered and die because he had only received a partial revelation of how the Kingdom would operate. Just like the disciples and anyone else who was waiting for Messiah to come, the expectation of Jesus the Messiah was that he would set up a powerful earthly Kingdom which he would reign over upon a throne in Jerusalem. John had to accept the yet unknown bigger plan for the kingdom of God, that Jesus would reign within us - even though John was the one chosen by God to go about telling people that ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’. John could have imagined himself as the prophet in the courts of the new King – who knows? 
His disciples went back and told him about their conversation with Jesus, John began to understand that he was not the one to live alongside Jesus but to simply prepare the way for him, he realized that he now should decrease while Jesus increased.
And John’s reaction was, John 3:26 “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify 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 (the Best Man), 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.” John’s personal vision was dethroned. He remained the friend of the bridegroom but made way for the ‘alongside life’ of the bridegroom and his bride – the new Kingdom model of love and unity.
That was a beautiful picture of Jesus and his bride that the Holy Spirit finally gave to 
John that emphasized the ‘two being made one’. That speaks of us as New Creation beings, made one in the Spirit in our ‘alongside life’ with Jesus. 

Then Herod had John beheaded at the request of the daughter of Herodias because Herod was deeply offended at John because John had publicly rebuked him over his 
illegal marriage to Herodias, his brother’s ex-wife.

John was a prophet and both his life, and his death were prophetic for all who would be born into a new life with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. It would mean the decrease of self-life within us and the increase of the Jesus life within us in our new ‘God with us’ life. This ‘newness of life’ was destined for each individual who entered by faith into that new Kingdom life which was to come upon the earth after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Everything was about to pass away, and all things were to become new.
We will go back to the time when Jesus told John’s disciples to tell John to not be offended in him. When John's disciples had gone, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds.
Matthew 11: “When you went out into the barren wilderness to see John, what did you expect him to be like? Grass blowing in the wind, or were you expecting to see a man dressed as a prince in a palace? Or a prophet of God? Yes, and he is more than just a prophet. For John is the man mentioned in the Scriptures--a messenger to precede me, to announce my coming, and prepare the way for people to receive me. 
"Truly, of all men ever born, none shines more brightly than John the Baptist. And yet, even the lesser lights in the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than he is!”
After his praise of the powerful prophetic ministry of John, Jesus made the further astounding remark of the greater spiritual stature of every New Testament spiritual believer who enters the ‘KINGDOM WITHIN’ life. That life was to be greater than the spiritual stature of John for whom that Kingdom life was not available at that time. For while John had the most powerful anointing of any man in the earth besides Jesus, he was not joined in one Spirit to Jesus as would be those who would receive the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, and that includes us. 

John had come to realize that as far as he and Jesus were concerned, he was just the ‘best man’ and that it is between the bridegroom, Jesus, and his bride, who are all those who live with him in oneness of Spirit. We now as his bride allow the Holy Spirit to take us on an alongside journey with him and at one with him in all that he does in our lives. Our life is now one of total trust in the one that walks alongside us. 

John had to change his expectations because he had a misplaced expectation of Jesus that caused his own offence. People get offended with someone when that person does not live up to their expectations, to do for them what they want. And so will we have to change our expectations. It is no longer what we expect God should do for us, no matter how fervent the prayer is, nor is it us including Jesus in what we are doing, but it is Jesus including us in what he is doing. This becomes our new and absolute mindset of how to walk by faith, and this is what he expects of us. This becomes our repentance.

There might be an initial time of confusion for us as the full reality of a life with God begins to assume it’s real meaning for us, because that life challenges the autonomy and independence of our big plan for our own lives, even in our plan or vision of how we will serve God. We must surrender the old us and allow our ideas of our future to die in the same way that John had to decrease and even die to his plan for his future. We now make way for the new work of The Holy Spirit to take us on in our walk alongside Jesus in a heart-to-heart relationship of surrendered partnership. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a comforter, and the word ‘comforter’ is ‘paracletos’ which means ‘one who comes alongside’. This ‘alongside walk’ is the operation of the love of God that we yield to. It is now an ‘alongside’ life, and certain things in us must decrease so the expression of Jesus in us can increase.

God is not playing hard to get in this relational encounter - we are! And what excuse are we left with if we have been told the truth of his ongoing love and forgiveness for us? Is it that we are not interested or is it that we just cannot believe it or trust it to be true? The biggest error is in our being too busy and concerned about our own plans and opinions instead of becoming still and drawing near.

If we take a step back and look at our past hopes and disappointments, we might wonder why we may sometimes have feelings of being deprived, or that God has forgotten us and wonder why we have become disheartened. We have all had expectations that have not come to pass, and these may have been sincere intentions that were meant for good, but they were simply misplaced, or even mistimed. God honours our efforts to achieve those things we believe to be right for us just as he paid honour and tribute to his cousin John the Baptist.

But just like John, it is when we realize that what we pushed for, was not what God wished for, because he had something different and better. It is then that we realise that he resisted our efforts and outcomes just as we unwittingly resisted his grace to bring us alongside his blessed will for us.  We also realise that many times we walked alone and did not walk alongside him. Paul said ‘I do not frustrate (athete?? -ignore or resist) the grace of God’. Paul did not make the error of letting busyness or self-concern hinder his becoming still and drawing near.

Now look at the smaller view and see what has happened today and yesterday in our efforts and how we may have neglected to be still and enquire and wait and trust the one that walks alongside us – because that is where miracles are and that is where they abound. His good will catches up with us in the end as we learn through failures and honest mindful retrospection to stop and return to being alongside him. Even though we are often uncertain in our steps forward because of our human frailty, we can be getting it right in his eyes as long as we are giving him thanks in every situation for; In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you…’. 
Our attitude of faithful trust is that he is at work supernaturally in the world of the unseen to bring all things together for our good, despite our faltering steps. He can bring everything together in a very short time, and nothing is lost. The past is redeemed by our present moment faith for his work being done. He waits for us every moment to return to that NOW place of faith.