John's Gospel, and we're at chapter 13.
I pointed out last Tuesday that when we
start the 13th chapter, we're starting the second
section of John's Gospel.
See, John has 21 chapters, and from chapter
1 right through to the end of chapter
12 is one complete section.
And really it's governed by only two words.
These two.
Look at John 1 again, the first chapter,
and down there at verse 10.
John 1 verse 10.
He was in the world, and the world
was made by him, and the world knew
him not.
He came unto his own, and his own
received him not.
Those two words, his own, govern the first
12 chapters, which it really means his own
nation, his own creature.
And for 12 chapters he's been reaching wonderful
messages.
We've gone through them in chapter 6 and
7 and 8 and 9 and 10.
He's been preaching wonderful messages, and through these
12 chapters he's been performing wonderful miracles.
But his own nation, at least the majority
of his own nation, received him not.
And so at the end of chapter 12
comes a change.
Do you remember that verse in chapter 12
last week?
Verse 37, John 12 37.
But though he had done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him.
For 12 chapters he's been preaching, and performing,
but his own nation received him not.
And so, at the end of chapter 12,
he's turning his back upon them, and he's
leaving them in their darkness to dwell.
Chapter 13 opens a new section, and what
is governed by two words?
Chapter 13, verse 1.
Now, before the Feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved his own, oh but
that's not his own nation he's talking about
now, having loved his own which were in
the world, that's talking about his own followers,
his own believers, his own saints.
And now we start the section that shuts
him in with his own believers.
And in 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, what
wonderful teachings and expeditions come from the lips
of the Master to his own followers.
So that we're really starting on the cream
of the gospel, that is.
In fact, the great evangelical students believe that
chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 of John's
gospel with 20 and 21 are among the
richest teachings in the Bible for believers.
John 1 to 12, his own preachers heard
and received them not.
John 13 right through to the end, his
own followers, that wonderful spiritual teaching.
When they're shut in with the Master, we're
trying to get through from verse 1 right
through to the end of verse 17 this
evening of John chapter 13.
And I'm underlining six great truths for you
this evening.
In verse 1 we read this, Now before
the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew
that his hour was come.
I want to talk to you for a
moment or two tonight about the unlimited knowledge
of the Lord.
The modernist limits the knowledge of Christ.
I want to try to bring out of
John's gospel, without any quibbles about it this
evening, the unlimited knowledge of the Lord.
No wonder this gospel ends with Peter in
the dusk looking into his face saying, Lord,
thou knowest all things.
And he does, you know.
Matter of fact, there's matter in this.
Well, we'll be looking at the unlimited knowledge
of the Lord.
And then that is followed this evening with
another truth in the first verse.
Now before the feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart unto the Father, having loved
his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end.
We not only want to look at the
unlimited knowledge of the Lord, but we want
to have a look at the unchanging love
of the Lord, his love for his own
belief.
It was truth we were singing this evening,
loved with everlasting love, and led by grace
that loves to know, and we want to
know more about it this evening.
And in the same verse, there's still another
great truth to underline.
Not only the unlimited knowledge of the Lord,
and the unchanging love of the Lord, but
the unquestionable possession of the Lord, his own.
There are folks in this meeting, and these
two words double.
They belong to Christ.
They are his own.
He owns.
He bought them.
I would like to know what power would
take them from him, because if you can
tell me that something can take them from
him, then that something is bigger than he
is.
We are his, and not for the years
of time alone.
For eternity is the unquestionable
possession of the Lord.
And then, following on up this evening, there
is the unique humility of the Lord, because
verse 2 says, and supper being ended.
That's a little bit misleading, because the word
ended is really a word that the translators
put in.
Actually, it would have been better translated like
this, like it is in one of the
older translations.
And supper being leads.
I think the idea of ending is just
the end of laying the table.
It isn't that the supper's over.
No, the table that's being laid is before
we start the supper.
The Lord rises from supper.
Verse 4, laid aside his garments and took
a towel and dredged himself.
After that, he poured his water into a
basin and began to wash the disciples' feet.
And we shall look at this as the
unique humility of the Lord.
My, there's a real gush of going down
right into the slave's place here, that we
shall need to take time to see the
feet.
And then comes the first part of the
teaching in these 13, from 13 on to
the end, in these wonderful chapters, this rich
teaching of the tender truth of feet washing.
And that, of course, is the real depth
of the portion that we're dealing with this
evening.
And we shall take time with the unmistakable
teaching of the Lord, because that's what he
wants to teach us too this evening, this
tender truth of feet washing.
And then we shall close this portion by
looking at the unassuming example of the Lord.
He left them an example, and it's there
for us too.
And so, that's the portion that we're going
through this evening.
So, let's begin at the beginning.
I think it's well to remember all that
we have gathered up, or at least most
of it, from the other chapters about the
knowledge of the Lord.
I honestly believe that John's gospel, the whole
21 chapters, brings forth in a wonderful, yet
in a remarkable way, the unlimited knowledge of
the Lord.
Let's go through the chapters just for a
moment.
We'll go back to chapter one.
I'm doing this for the younger ones, and
the older ones will have to bear with
it.
They're just gathering up a few threads.
John chapter one, verse 43.
The day following, Jesus would go forth into
Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him,
Follow me.
Now, Philip was off Bethsaida, the city of
Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael.
Saith unto him, We have found him of
whom Moses in the law and the prophets
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Judah.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith
unto him, Behold, in this the life and
deed in whom is no trial.
And Nathanael almost jumped out of his shoes,
you know.
Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me?
By the Lord shook him, as the Lord
knew a lot about him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that,
Philip called thee, Whence thou was under a
fig tree?
I called thee.
This knowledge was too wonderful for Nathanael.
Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, Thou
art the Son of God, thou art the
King of Israel.
The Lord knew him.
Now, let's go from there to chapter two.
You see the end of chapter two, verse
twenty-four?
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them,
because he knew all men.
He did not that any should testify of
man, for he knew what was in man.
And if you go from there to chapter
four, you remember the story of the woman
at the well.
And in verse sixteen, he said to her,
Go call thy husband, and come hither.
The woman answered and said, I have no
husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said,
I have no husband, for thou hast had
five husbands.
And he whom thou knowest is not thy
husband.
In that sense, thou truly might the Lord
knew, didn't he?
You see, what I'm trying to underline quickly
is this, that he knew all about passion.
And her past, he knew all about.
If you wanted to put another one to
it, look at chapter five just for a
moment.
And we're at the pool of Bethesda, and
there was a certain man there in verse
five, which had an infirmity thirty and eight
years, when Jesus saw him lie unused.
But he had been now a long time,
and not take you.
He had been there for thirty-eight years,
and yet the Lord is only thirty-three
and a half years, or thirty-three.
You see, he knew all about passion, and
her past.
Go to chapter six quickly, and at verse
five, When Jesus then lifted up his eyes,
and saw a great multitude come unto him,
he saith unto Philip, When shall we buy
bread that these may eat?
And this he said to prove him, for
he himself knew what he would do, did
he?
So did he.
All he knew.
He knew he would treat the multitude.
You see, he just tested the apostle, but
he really knew the answer.
And he knew the people, and he knew
the past, and he knew the apostle, and
he knew the answer.
Go to chapter ten now, just for a
moment.
I'm passing by some wonderful things, but you
can find them for yourself.
Verse fourteen, I am the good shepherd, and
know my sheep.
Quite a wonderful one, isn't it?
You know, the foundation of God's standard sure
of enlisting, the Lord knows them that are
his.
How every one of them.
He calls his own sheep by name, you
know.
He knows every name of every single person
of Adam's race that with simple trust in
him.
Knows every one of them.
Yes, I know that the psalmist said his
understanding is infinite.
Why, he knows the number of the stars.
And the greatest scholars today, they don't know
a thing about it.
But he not only knows the number of
the stars, he calls them by their name.
This God and this God.
Knows the name, every one of them.
Knows the name of every believer.
Yes, he knows his own sheep, doesn't he?
What little bit did he put behind at
verse fourteen?
I am the good shepherd, and know my
sheep, and am known of mine.
And the Father knows me, even so know
I the Father, and I lay down my
life for the sheep.
You know, he knew all about persons and
their past.
He knew the apostle, and he knew the
answer.
And he knew the sheep, and he knew
the sacrifice he would have to make for
the sheep.
Oh, the modernists say that when he was
in Gethsemane, he didn't know anyone.
Because they never read John 10.
He knew the sheep, and he knew the
price he would have to pay.
Do you remember chapter eleven?
Here's one little word out of it.
Do you remember how Lazarus was sick, nigh
unto death, and he abode in verse six,
two days, till in the same place where
he was?
And then, at last, in verse fourteen, then
said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead,
and nobody told him.
You see, he knew.
He just waited until Lazarus was dead.
Now, he says, we'll go now.
Big task ahead of us.
But he knows the task, and he knows
the triumph that will be his.
Here's what he said to Martha in verse
23.
Jesus said unto her, thy brothers shall rise
again.
Oh, he knew.
He knew all about people, and he knew
about the past.
He knew the apostle, and he knew the
answer to the problem.
He knew every single solitary soul that will
place their trust in him.
He knows his own sheep.
And he knew the sacrifice he would have
to make for them.
He knew the task here.
He's going to rise a dead man from
the dead, and he knew the triumph.
When we come to John 13, we see
a lot of it now.
Just try to get the picture, really, as
it is.
It's in the upper room, and it's at
the Passover feast.
And here's what it says in your first
verse.
Now, before the feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, he knew the hour had come.
You know, he came down from the glory,
and took upon him the form of a
servant, and every breath he took, and every
step he took, and every moment he was
down here in practice, he was moving towards
one goal, the cross of Calvary.
Time after time, he would have to say
to his disciples, and those around him, My
hour hath not yet come.
And he moved on steadily towards it, and
now, now he goes.
The hour.
Nobody else down here knew but he.
He knew his hour had come.
Now, watch this.
Verse 3, Jesus knowing.
That's a lovely little bit, too.
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands.
Oh, I wish I could paint this for
you.
I wish you could see him in the
upper room, youngster.
I wish you could see him dressed in
the garments of a lowly Nazarene.
I wish you could see him standing with
twelve miserable creatures.
Oh, yes, before the night would be over,
some of them would deny him, and some
of them would betray him, and all of
them would forsake him.
He'd be standing in the midst of them,
and he knows just there ahead of him
lies the cross.
And just at that second, he knew that
God had given all power into his hands.
My, if Khrushchev only thought that he had
all power tonight.
This world sits up and takes notice, but
he's not too sure he's got a tremendous
lot in him.
But he just knows he hasn't got all
the power.
But at the psychological moment, we're looking at
the Master.
He knew that God had given all things
into his hands.
And yet look at him, kneeling down to
our feet.
Oh, I hope we'll follow him fully.
My, if God blessed some of us, there'd
be no putting up with us.
But he knew more.
That for ye, Jesus knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hands, and,
and, and that he was come from God,
and, and went to God.
You know, he not only knew the hour
had come, and he not only knew the
honor that was his, but he knew the
whole history of the past and the future.
He knew he came from God.
For some of the modernists that occupy Pulpitch
in this country, they say that he was
the son of a German soldier who was
a prostitute called the Blessed Virgin.
Well, it doesn't sound like it was their
nonsense.
He knew that he came from God.
And what's more, standing in the upper room,
he knew he was going back to God.
There was never any doubt about it.
There was never one single moment of doubt
about the victory of Calvary.
He knew his hour.
He knew the honor.
He knew the whole history of the past
and the future.
And then down the chapter a little bit,
he's talking here again.
Verse 10 will do us just for the
moment.
Jesus saith unto Peter, He that is washed
needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean everywhere.
And ye are clean, but not all.
For he knew who should betray him, didn't
he?
Oh, how much is in the chapter that
you pass by, and you don't take your
time to find it, do you?
It's in plain English.
It's not hidden anywhere there.
He knew his hour had come.
He knew the honor that was his all
power belonged to.
He knew that he came from God and
that he was going back to God.
He knew that sitting right in front of
him was the taker.
When you go through John's Gospel and take
out of every chapter, I've only touched some
of them, and you take out of 21
chapters the knowledge of the Lord, you'll find
it was unlimited.
I don't know what they talk about limiting
the knowledge of the Lord.
Well, we believe he was God, and there
can be no limitation.
No, that will do us for the unlimited
knowledge of the Lord.
There is more in the chapter, but we'll
find it by and by.
Then let's notice this in verse 1.
Now, before the feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto
the fathers, having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them unto the
end.
Now, that phrase, he loved them unto the
end, doesn't mean that he loved them unto
the end of his earthly life.
Oh no, there's another old translation.
I read it this morning, and it read
like this.
Having loved his own which were in the
world, he loved them the whole way through.
You see, here's the idea.
It isn't talking about loving them unto the
end of his days on earth, not at
all.
It's loving them the whole way right through
their earthly pilgrimage.
Here's the idea.
He loved Peter right through his denials and
denies the Lord.
And it means that he loved Thomas right
through those days of unbelief.
That he loved you, and that he loved
you because the love that he has for
you is unchanging, it's unending, it's
undying, it's unquenchable.
Many waters cannot quench this love.
Oh, what a wonderful truth it is, that
he has love for you.
You see, here's what the New Testament teaches
in Romans chapter 8, in the last two
verses.
Paul says, I am persuaded that neither life
nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor
heights, nor depths, nor any other creature can
separate us believers from the love of God
that's in Christ.
Oh, what love.
It doesn't make a matter who you are
tonight, or what you've done tonight, or how
far away from the Lord you've got tonight.
I want to tell you this, that he
loved you right through the whole thing.
Oh, I know you've changed, yes, yes, but
he loved you.
And in love, he loved the whole way
through.
What a wonderful thing.
Yes, that's the unchanging love.
But I think we need to notice these
two words before we go any further.
His own.
Why, there is no question at all about
him possessing.
Those who really, someone trusts them, they really
belong to him.
Bought them with the price they're not their
own.
That's what can be said of every believer
here.
You are bought.
Not only are you bought, but he thought
what he bought.
Yes, if the Lord hadn't come and looked
for you, you would still be in darkness.
And he not only thought, but caught.
For it was he who threw out the
gospel nets and brought you in.
And not only did he, did he buy,
not only are you bought him, sought and
caught, but you are brought into the kingdom.
Translated from the kingdom of darkness and put
right into the kingdom of God, dear friend,
and you belong to Christ.
And only his own, his own possession, his
own faith, his own sons, his own servants,
his own soldiers.
Why, you could go on and preach for
a week on his own.
What a wonderful thing.
If you're not his, who's are you?
Right now, if you're not his, who are
you?
My, you're in the grip of the devil.
And you're in the kingdom of darkness.
And you're going down to destruction.
Thank God for everybody here who can say,
I belong, his own.
But let's rush on now.
I want you to notice this bit.
That too.
I'm supper being laid, the devil having now
put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon
Sam to betray him.
And I'm not touching the betrayer this evening,
because next week we're going to take the
time to deal with the betrayer exposed.
There are quite a lot of questions about
Judas Iscariot.
Some people say, why was he chosen as
one of the twelve?
Why did the Lord put up with him
for three and a half years?
Why, why, why, why aren't there other options?
Well, we'll try and answer them for you
next week.
We'll deal with the betrayer exposed.
So we'll pass that by.
He rises from supper.
He's laid aside his garments.
Now, it doesn't mean that he laid aside
all his garments.
No, it just means that he laid aside
the outer garments.
You remember the Bible differentiated between the garments
and the vesture.
Yes, they parted my garments among them, and
for my vesture did they cast lots.
And when he laid aside his garments, he's
standing in a vesture.
And you know, I'm told by those who
know best, that when the outer garments were
taken off and his thin, tiny, slender vesture
was on the man, he looked a real
odyssey.
Innocent.
And he immediately lifted a towel and put
it round him, tied it in a knot,
and there he stood in a thin vesture
with a towel round him.
And he was now taking the place of
one of the lowest slaves in history.
Mind you, in his mind at that moment,
he knew that all power, the outer garments
were off.
He tied the towel, and he stood exactly
just as a slave would have stood.
Mind you, it was real humiliation for him
to leave the ivory palaces and come down
past the angels, the law of an angel.
It was real humility to be made of
a woman, to come through a woman.
It was real humility to take upon him
the form of a servant.
But he's going down, down, down, down, down,
down to the very dust, it seems, of
death and touching slavery.
Now, if you want to go through the
scriptures sometimes and look at the girdles, you'll
get a lot of information.
And this is a very touching one here.
Dredging himself with the towel.
You see, if you went to Palestine today,
and you could see some of the folks
in their long eastern robes, some of them
with a girdle round and tied over, the
girdle would immediately tell you what they were,
or their standing in society, or their occupation
in life.
And there's a lot in the scriptures about
the girdle.
I'll start you off, and then you go
on with the study yourself.
Come back here to the second book of
Kings, and the first chapter.
Second Kings, and we're at the first chapter,
and you remember the king.
The king was sick, and you remember how
he sent messengers, and how they were met
by the prophet.
I don't want to waste the time reading
it all, and how the prophet called down
fire upon him.
The verse 13 will do us, and he
sent again a captain of the third fistry
with his fistry.
And the third captain of fistry went up
and came and fell on his knees before
Elijah, and besought him and said unto him,
O man of God, I pray thee, let
my life and the life of these fistry
thy servants be precious in my sight.
Behold, there came down fire.
There came fire down from heaven, and burnt
up the two captains of the former fistries
with their fistries.
Therefore, let my life now be precious in
my sight.
And the angel of the Lord said unto
Elijah, Go down with him.
Be not afraid of him.
And he arose and went down with him
unto the king.
And he said unto him, Forasmuch as thou
hast sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub, the
god of Israel, is it not because there
is no god in Israel to inquire of
his words?
Therefore thou shalt not come down of that
bed in which thou art gone up, but
thou shalt surely die.
Now, before we came to that portion, down
the chapter a little bit, the king had
said unto them in verse seven, What manner
of man was he which came up to
meet you and told you these words?
And they answered him, He was a hairy
man, and dirt with a girdle of leather
above his loins.
And the moment they said that to the
king, he said, That is Elijah the fish
-man.
How did he know?
You see, all the prophets in history, they
wore a leatheren girdle.
You remember John the Baptist was the last
of the prophets.
And much as Gospel chapter three says, his
meat was lucas and wild honey, and he
wore a leatheren girdle above his loins.
You see, there was nothing spectacular in this
leatheren girdle, but it told those who had
eyes to see that he was the prophet
of the Lord.
You know, the leather spoke of hardness, and
the prophet of the Lord had to endure
hardness as a good soldier.
So, that's the leatheren girdle.
Now, here's another one for you.
Have a look at Revelation chapter one.
Do you remember this one?
I think this is a beautiful one.
John's on the Isle of Patmos, and he
heard a voice behind him saying, I am
Alpha and Omega, and in verse 12, I
turn to see the voice that speak with
me, and being turned, I saw seven golden
candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one went on to the son of
man, clothed with adornment down to the foot,
and jilted about the breast with a golden
girdle.
That's a golden one.
You know, if leather speaks of toughness, then
gold is something that speaks of something that's
everlasting.
Unchangeableness.
And here, John was looking after a great
high priest, and he hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Therefore he hath a golden girdle about his
breast.
Do you remember the one in Ephesians chapter
six?
Have a look at it.
Ephesians chapter six, and the last copies, you
get the rest of them.
Ephesians six, verse thirteen, Wherefore take unto you
the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all to stand, some therefore
having your loins jilted about with tooths.
Why, that's the girdle the believer ought to
be wearing.
You know, when you really buckle on the
tooth, it just means that you're submitting to
the word of the Lord.
My dear friends, this submissive death is very
important in the day and hour in which
we live.
But, you know, the one that we're looking
at tonight really speaks of humbleness.
It's the tongue.
I think that I would be right in
saying that there are six more girdles in
the book that you need to find for
yourself, and they all speak of something.
But we're just looking at the Lord Jesus
stripping off his garment, standing in that inner
garment that made him really look like a
slave, and he's pouring water into the basin.
This is a unique place of humility.
Now, let's go on now to find the
truth that he was about to teach.
That's the real heart of the story this
evening.
Now, watch this.
Verse five, After that he poured his water
into a basin, and began to wash the
disciples' feet, and wiped them with the towel
wherewith he was girded.
And, you know, all the time he's doing
this, Peter's having a good look at this.
He's looking at the Lord Jesus dressed like
a slave, and he's going around all these
disciples.
There he is, kneeling down and washing John's
feet.
There he is, washing Andrew's feet, washing the
feet of Matthew.
And, you know, Peter's really thinking this up,
at least so he thinks.
And when the Lord comes to him, here's
what he says, Then cometh he to Simon
Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost
thou wash my feet?
Of the emphasis is on the emphatic Bruno.
Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
And here's what the Lord said to him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I
do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter.
Now, just because Peter was so stubborn, he
is, and wanted to take a stand, he
thought he was doing something, you know.
We've got a statement that we need to
pay attention to.
You know, there are places in the streets
tonight, perhaps our brother knows more about it
than I do, where they actually took this
teaching in John 13 literally, and they wash
one another's feet.
I think if they had paid attention, they
would never have done it.
Here he is down with the basin, and
he's about to put Peter's feet into the
basin, or wash his feet with the water.
And he's saying to Peter, What I do
thou knowest not now.
Well, you wouldn't dare to tell me that
Peter didn't know that he was actually washing
feet, would you?
So the very statement will tell you that
there is something more than the physical, material,
actual feet washing here.
There is something beyond that, something that you
don't know, Peter.
You know all about what I've been doing.
It's an orgy.
But Peter, there's something beyond that.
I'm teaching a lesson here.
I'm not wanting you to get occupied with
the actual, or the physical, or the material.
There's something beyond that.
There's a spiritual lesson here.
And folks have left the spiritual lesson and
taken up the material.
Lord wasn't wanting us to wash one another's
feet, you know.
He was teaching a lesson.
And what a lesson it is.
We mustn't miss it.
Now, let's get that all over again.
Verse six.
Then cometh Peter, Simon Peter.
And Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou
wash my feet?
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I
do thou knowest not now.
But thou shalt know hereafter.
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash
my feet.
I told you that was taking off something,
wasn't it?
He just almost shouted.
He said, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
I told you that was taking off something,
wasn't it?
He just almost shouted.
He said, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
He just wasn't going to allow the Lord
to do this.
And again, it's very good that he was
stubborn because it only leads us into the
depths of the truth.
Now, we mustn't live it too hard on
Peter because, although he was standing on his
high horse here and almost shouting, Thou shalt
never wash my feet, yet in the next
second when the Lord explained something, he immediately
said, Not my feet, but my hands and
my head also.
It was rather changing, you know.
Well, some of us, you know, we would
get down on Peter because he was so
stubborn.
But, you know, we're of a nice kind.
We say, Yes, Lord, that's gratuitous, yes, we'll
do that tomorrow, but we never do it.
Well, we're just the opposite, you know.
Peter said, You'll never do it, but he
did it.
You say, I'll do it, Lord, but you
never do it.
So don't be too hard on him now,
because you may be the worst of the
two.
But look, this leads us into the truth
now.
Let's get it all over again.
I'll be one of the young ones to
miss it.
Then comes Peter, Simon Peter, and Peter said
unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I
do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter.
Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash
my feet.
Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not,
thou art no part.
That word part is the whole case of
the whole truth that we need to learn
tonight.
That word part is a wonderful word.
You see, the word part actually means communion
or fellowship.
I think you'll see it clearly if you
just turn from where we are at the
moment, and go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 6.
Just let's sit there for a moment, because
we want to get this really clear.
2 Corinthians, chapter 6.
Now, here's the Lord teaching his own saints
through Paul in verse 14.
2 Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 14.
Thee ye not unequally yoke together with unbelievers.
That is a large word, you know.
For what fellowship, there's a lovely word, what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
Could you tell me?
There it is, none.
And what communion, there's a lovely word too,
because that's just the same as fellowship, isn't
it?
What communion hath light with darkness, there's none.
And what concord, that's the same word again,
you see.
Concord is just fellowship or communion.
But look, what part, that's the same word
again.
That's the word we have over there.
It's the word that means fellowship.
It's the word that means communion.
Now, let's get back to John 13, and
let's get the whole thing clear.
He's gone up Peter's feet, and Peter's saying
all these things, and Jesus said unto him,
Jesus answered him at the end of verse
8, If I wash thee not, thou hast
no fellowship.
Now, he didn't say, thou hast no part
in me.
Not at all.
You see, I want you to get the
hold of this.
The day that we came and trusted the
Lord Jesus Christ as our own and personal
Savior, the moment that we bowed at his
feet and put our whole trust in him
and his clockwork, through the efficacy of the
blood of Christ, we were floored everywhere.
I want you to get the hold of
this.
The day that you trusted the Lord Jesus,
you were made righteous and true, and you
came into union with God and Christ and
the Holy Ghost.
That's encha.
That's having part encha.
But there's all the difference between union and
communion.
You see, your union will never be touched
because the precious blood of Christ settled that
forever.
Through that one offering he hath perfected forever.
And it doesn't need to be repeated, and
it doesn't need to be all the groaning
that I hear going on.
But you know, that day that you came
into in union with in Christ, you know,
you started to walk with him.
And you know, as you walk through this
world, as a pilgrim, you know, you get
your feet dirty.
Ah, you do.
And you know, when you get your feet
dirty, you get out of communion with him.
He says, if I wash not your feet,
you have no communion with me.
He didn't fully understand that now, but he
understood it afterwards.
There came a moment when he stood at
the fire and warmed his hands and denied
the Lord with oils and candles, and he
got in his feet.
And he's out of fellowship, but there was
never anything done which filled Christ's soul.
And now what the Lord is teaching him
is this.
So, if I don't wash your feet, you'll
have no fellowship with me.
He didn't say, you have no part in
me, you have no fellowship with me.
Now, Peter goes to the other extreme.
Just watch it.
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my
feet only, but also my arms and my
head.
So, he's away again.
Jesus said unto him, now watch it.
He that is washed, actually the word could
be bathed.
He that is bathed needeth not save to
wash his feet, but to clean every whip.
And he hath cleaned, but not all for
he knew he should but say.
The whole nation who had put their trust
in him were cleaned every whip.
But you know, as they walked with him
along the dusty highways, their feet became clean.
And they needed to be cleansed, not by
blood, no.
By water.
You get that?
Because I would need to drive it into
some of your heads, for you can never
see anything.
You just pay attention.
Just you sit up and cross your knees.
Here are eleven followers who are cleaned every
whip because they were once bathed.
Washed, whiter than snow.
But in walking with Christ through the wilderness,
through this world, their feet became stained with
dust.
And they made their feet cleansed by water.
What is the spirit you're speaking of?
We know now that it wasn't the actual,
literal, physical thing he was talking about, do
we?
What was he trying to get over?
He was trying to get this over.
That if you want to keep in constant
fellowship with me, as we walk together through
the road of life, you'll need to have
your feet cleaned continually by me, by water.
Well, now I guess the feet speaks of
the walk.
Where does the water speak of?
There's a child here could tell me.
It speaks of the words.
Now, let's get that bit clear.
Let's go to Ephesians now, shall you see?
And we're at Ephesians, and we're at chapter
five.
Ephesians, chapter five.
Look at verse twenty-five now.
Watch this carefully.
Husbands, love your wives, even if Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it.
Didn't he give himself for it?
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water, which is by the
word.
By the word.
How are you going to keep in fellowship
with the Lord if you're going to go
on disobeying his words?
You needn't close your eyes every night and
say, Lord, cleanse me in the blood.
For even when you're saying that, you're still
disobeying the book.
Oh, you cleanse your ears.
And you know, if you really want to
have a walk in close fellowship with the
Lord, you'll have to let the Lord, who
has all power, apply the word to your
walk.
Your faith would need to be in the
Lord's hands.
Don't come talking to me about sanctification when
you're breaking the book.
Some of you second-glassers, when we kept
teaching about believer's baptism, you'd go away in
a rage.
Well, it happens to be that believer's baptism
is the word of the Lord.
Oh, and you're talking about it, aren't you?
You're very smart.
You think you're clever, turning your nose up
at God's book.
Well, just think again of it.
Because I would like to know how you
could be in real fellowship with the Lord
when you're breaking the word of the Lord.
You will find this, that when you come
and place your trust in Christ, the blood
of Christ will make you whiter than snow,
and you'll be perfected forever.
And if you're going to get near to
the Lord from that day forward, you'll get
near by letting the Lord apply his word
to the walk, the mighty one, the loving
one, and you'll get real fellowship with the
Lord when you obey the word of the
Lord.
I'll tell you how it works out.
I was saved 27 wonderful years ago, and
when I was saved, as you know, I
was just a tramp on the roadside.
Two days after I was saved, in my
life, I got a job, got a job.
I got a job in Dixon's nursery, digging
among the roses, and I had to punch
the clock at seven o'clock in the
morning, and just because I loved the Lord,
I made sure I was there at ten
minutes to time, not ten pounds.
And I'll tell you why I made sure
of that, is because I found this out.
I was reading the day I was saved,
or at least the night I was saved,
in Ephesians, and I got a hold of
this verse.
At least it got a hold of me.
Servants, love your master, and serve not with
idols, but do it unto Christ.
I said, Lord, I've got to go and
work for old Dixon, just as if it
were you who would unto me.
And the words began to wash me, and
I was the only man out of seventy
of them who punched the clock at the
right time.
And every morning, six to nine of them
stood down at the end of the field,
and some of them talked, and some of
them played cards, and some of them led
their bibles to hypocrites.
They were worse than the card players, and
they were dodging their masters.
And there was only one wee half-shed,
half-clothed fellow up the road.
But I was working for the Lord.
And every time I put the spade in,
it gave me no bother.
I enjoyed it.
I was digging for him.
It was his word.
Applied by himself, that was making my practical
watch.
That's exactly what it ought to be.
I mean, you bibles couldn't have known the
loyalty of death.
Oh yes, I know you can turn the
book over.
I know you can talk scripture.
I know you know all about the fundamentals.
But when it comes to practical Christianity, where
are some of you?
Lookin' for the bus brake every morning.
Go on, blush when you're up.
You need to be washed, wouldn't you?
That's true.
If you let God's word, you know, take
a hold of you, my heels ship you
out.
You'll be sanctified through the Word, that's a
promise.
And cleansed through the Word.
And you'll walk in sweet fellowship with the
Lord.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way,
but by taking heed thereof.
Now don't talk about closing your eyes.
Just start talking about the play and the
book.
That's all it was.
It's pretty good, isn't it?
That's the first spiritual truth he taught them
in the upper room.
Oh, there are many more to come.
If you just go on, he'll teach you
too.
But watch this.
Let's get down to the last little bit.
Verse 12.
So after he had washed their feet, and
had taken his garments and was set down
again, he saith unto them, Know ye what
I have done to you?
Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye
say, Well, for so I am.
I think there's a lovely bit there.
We should always call him Master and Lord.
I think you're doing well when you do
that.
You know, some of us just take the
name Jesus, and really, that's all the Pharisees
ever call him.
But remember, through us tonight and right through
the rest of the New Testament, he is
spoken of as the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when you say Master and Lord, you
say, Well, for so I am.
But he went on, If I then, your
Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye
also ought to wash one another's feet.
Well, that's the bit he was speaking of.
Well, I've given you an example that ye
should do as I have done to you.
Now, this is the unassuming example of the
Lord.
Now, maybe you know some brother, and you
know just exactly where he's feeling the Lord.
Well, now, you can go very humbly and
worldly to him, and you can bring the
word of the Lord and apply it to
him, and you can do the very same
for him as the Master did here in
this occasion.
But the trouble with us is that when
we start to wash one another's feet, you
know, we make the word that hot that
we nearly lose it.
That's what I'm guilty of three quarters of
my time.
Oh, I know that.
I've got a lot of hard heads to
knock it into, and I hate to get
a bother in my own way.
But I know this.
I know that you can make it so
hot that you almost roast the poor fellow.
And I know you can go to the
other extreme.
You can be so cold that you almost
freeze him.
It's a wonderful art.
It's a tremendous tool.
But I believe this.
When we come to chapter fifteen, we'll be
dealing with the abiding life.
And I shall go into the promise of
the abiding life and the power of the
abiding life and the production of the abiding
life.
Then I shall come to the proof of
the abiding life.
And the proof of the abiding life is
this.
He that saith he abideth in him, art
himself also so to walk.
Christ walks.
You see, you need to be walking in
the centre of the King.
I weigh yourself.
Let him that is spiritual.
Let me do the feet-walking.
We are to walk.
And then the book says we are to
love.
And if you're really walking in love, then
you can walk.
And I don't think you can do it
before.
Then the Lord ended this wonderful paragraph like
this.
If ye know thee things, happy are ye
if ye do.
May God bless you.
Let us bow to Jesus.
Now we'll not sing any more.
Just let us take a moment in the
Lord's presence.
Lord, we thank thee for thy knowledge.
We thank thee for thy love.
We thank thee that so many of us
are under this heading this evening.
His own.
We belong to thee.
We thank thee for thy humility.
Lord, we thank thee for this great lesson
tonight.
That once when we came to thee, the
efficaciousness of the blood of salvary made us
as far as our standing is concerned whiter
than this night.
O Lord, thou art teaching us that if
we want to walk continually in fellowship with
thee, we will have to let thee apply
thy word to our walk.
Lord, our feet would need to be in
thy hands.
O make us conscious continually of the voice
behind us saying, walk ye in it.
Bless thy word through every belief.
Remember those who are not thine own.
Speak to them even tonight and draw them
for complete clarity so the fountain opens for
sin and unfinishedness.
Part us all in thy fear and with
thy blessings through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.