Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I correct your prayer for attention to John chapter 13, and reading
from our text, verses 8 and 9. John 13, verse 8 and 9. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. John 13 verses 8 and 9. And what is upon my spirit is
resistance and submission. In our text, Peter at first resists
our Lord, does not want Him to wash his feet. He will not be
submissive to Him. But our Lord with one word, if
I wash thee not, thou has no part with me, change that completely. and brought him now to submission
and in a very firm way, in fact, wanting more than what the Lord
said was necessary. And that is what is upon my spirit. But I do want to first look at
the context here and the Lord's teaching. This, of course, is
on the night that our Lord was going to be taken and the next
day to be crucified. And our Lord does this, this
washing of the feet of his disciples, and he tells them that what I
do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. And
just a few verses later on, he explains to them what he was
doing and why he did it. And he tells them that he had
done it for an example. Verse 15, for I have given you
an example that you should do as I have done to you. It is an example of humility. Our Lord, he was Lord and Master
and yet he humbled himself in this way to wash the feet of
his disciples. Of course, we are not to understand
that we are to do it in the same way as many do. They carry out
the same ritual in the washing of feet. But the important teaching
is that none that serve are to be in a lording way over those
to whom they serve, that they are not then to give them that
practical help that they need. And especially as regarding feet,
it is the walk of the people of God that is what is changed
when the Lord sanctifies. The Lord says, if I wash thee
not, Thou hast no part with me. It is vital that not only are
our sins put away, but as a proof and reality of that, that our
walk and our conduct is changed. We do not remain the same as
we once were. The grace that saves also sanctifies. And as Paul was very careful
to set forth before the Romans, we are not to sin that grace
might abound. The grace of God does make a
difference. And yet all of us, and Peter
himself especially knew, and was very soon to know in his
denial of the Lord, that in our walk we stumble, we make mistakes,
we do sin. And it's a sad thing when you
see the people of God as it were, jumping on a brother or condemning
a brother or sister in faith for something that they have
done, and perhaps casting them even out and not really considering
that they also might fall and stumble in the same way. Think of the Apostle Paul, really,
and those that ministered to him, those that were with him,
Sometimes, like with Peter again, he dissembled while the Jews
were not there. He ate with the Gentiles. When they came, then he separated
himself. And Paul says that he reproved
him. He didn't turn around and say
to him, well, you can't be an apostle. You can't be a child
of God because you've done this. But he did reprove him. And because
it was an open thing, he reproved him openly. But there is then
to be not just an excusing of the conduct of God's people,
but in loving rebuke, or teaching, or guiding. And like Apollos,
Priscilla and Aquila took him aside, explained unto him the
way of God more perfectly. And so the Lord is teaching this
path of humility and lowliness to his dear disciples before
he is parted from them. And in doing so, in doing so,
he brings about this situation where Peter at first resists
what he is doing. He does not want the Lord to
do this to him. So on to look at several instances,
seven or more, throughout the scriptures, where we find that
Peter is not alone in the path that he is walking. And the Lord
knows how to deal with his dear people when he is setting before
them a path, directing them in a way, and they resist it. they don't want to, and he takes
away that resistance. And it may be that the word is
needed for us tonight. The Lord knows what path that
we are being directed in, led in, or what we are resisting
in the word of God and what the Lord is doing for us even tonight. So I want to begin with our text
with Peter here, and really put it under this head that when
we don't understand what the Lord is doing. Very seldom does
the Lord really unfold to his people what he is doing. Their walk is by faith. We think
of dear Jacob that for 22 years he thought that his son Joseph
was dead. He didn't know that he was alive.
And the Lord didn't show him, he didn't tell him. It wasn't
just a few minutes, like in this account, before the Lord told
him what had been done. It was years. And we have to
remember this. Abraham, he was told that his
seed should be a stranger in a strange land, that they would
be brought out in the fourth generation. He wasn't told how
they would go into it. He wasn't told those details.
It's just the overall plan of what the Lord had in view. And
quite often with us as well, we will have maybe a general
plan. We'll know what the Lord would
have us to do. But the details of it, the walking
of it out, the Lord hides from us and we walk one step at a
time. The Lord has said in John 10,
that he is the shepherd and when he puts forth his sheep, then
he goeth before them and the sheep They follow him, they know
his voice, and follow him. And that is a very strong principle. It's not that the Lord says,
well, I will describe to you the way that you are to go, and
you don't really need me to guide you. I'll just tell you and you'll
go on your own. But instead, he doesn't tell
the way that causes his people to follow him. And truly, if
we were a young child and we wanted to get from one side of
London to another, and our parents perhaps gave us a plan, a map
of directions and told us what stations to take and what trains
to get, we'd be very worried and very concerned. We might
have an elaborate plan or elaborate directions. But if one of them
said, Don't worry about that plan. I will go with you. You just follow me. They don't
need to know any directions at all. All they need to do is keep
close to their parent. And that's what the Lord says
of his people, to keep close to him. But Peter here, he couldn't
understand it. Why was the Lord, who was the
Lord of all, and he knew who he was, he believed who he was,
and the Lord even reminding them of Him. And He said, Jesus, knowing
that the Father had given all things into His hands, that He
was come from God and went to God, knowing this, then He comes
and He does this for the disciples. In verse 6 we read, Then cometh
he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou
wash my feet? He asked them this. Jesus answered
and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou
shalt know hereafter. This is not enough for Peter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. What a strong language. Even
though he didn't understand what the Lord was doing, he was saying,
never. And we've been in that situation
in our lives. We don't understand what the
Lord is doing, but we say, never. I'm not going to do this. I'm
not going to walk in this path. But then the Lord, even though
he's not yet fully opening up what he is doing, he just says
to Peter this, if I wash thee not, thou'st no part with me.
No, Peter really did love his Lord. The thought of being separated,
to have no part with Him, was a terrible thought to him. And
that changed everything. That changed everything. The Lord knows exactly what to
say to us. And remember, it is through the
Word of God the Lord directs us. And this is one of the part
of the Word of God that is before us. The Lord is able to use one
word to take from us all of our objections and cause us to submit
to what the Lord is wanting to do. John the Baptist was in a very
similar position. In Matthew chapter 3, Our Lord
came to him, verses 13 and 15, to be baptised. Then cometh Jesus
from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptised of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me. So John is resisting, he is objecting
Again, as he sees the Lord who he is and feeling how low he
is, but our Lord again removes that objection and brings him
to submission or compliance with what he would do and should be
done. Jesus answering said unto him,
Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us. to fulfil all
righteousness, then he suffered him. There was a need for it,
a need to fulfil all righteousness. Our Lord was to walk this path
as his people did, and he was made under the law, and to redeem
his people from under the law, but he was to also be their own
righteousness. And so another example, though
at first John could not understand it, yet the Lord was able to
remove and did remove that hindrance. I want to go to the Old Testament
now to dear Jacob upon his dying bed and Joseph, his son, comes
to him to have his sons blessed. In Genesis chapter 48 and we
read in verse 18 where and the lead up to verse 18 is when Joseph
brings his sons and he brings them before Jacob and the Ordinary
manner is that the right hand goes upon the head of the firstborn. And we read in verse 17, when
Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head
of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand
to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's hand. Remember
when Joseph had brought them to him, going back a few verses,
then we read in verse 13, Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his
right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left
hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. Then Israel stretched out his
right hand, laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and
his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly,
for Manasseh was the firstborn. Now it wasn't till after he blessed
them that then Joseph, he objects in verse 18, Joseph said unto
his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused and said,
I know it my son, I know it. He also shall become a people
and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall
be greater than he and his seed shall be a multitude of nations. A cross-handed blessing. Jacob
would have had to have crossed his hands to bless them in that
way. Joseph thought the blessing should
be one way, one child. Jacob knew it was to be on the
other. I always try to remember the
order that these are put in, in thinking of the tribes in
is in the promised land. Because Manasseh, if you look
at the land masses, is a much larger land mass than what Ephraim
is, but it's split. Some is on one side of Jordan,
and some is on the other side of Jordan. Ephraim is smaller,
but it is all in Canaan. And though Manasseh was the firstborn
naturally, the much better position, the blessed position, is to be
fully in the Promised Land. And I often think of it in this
way, that the Church of God On earth and in heaven, as it were,
is divinity. Some are one side, Jordan, some
are the other. Some are in the wilderness, some
are in the promised land. But at last, it shall be like
Ephraim. All, all in the heavenly Jerusalem,
all in the promised land. And that is the better one. Ephraim was the stronger was
to be, the stronger tribe. But the point I want to make
here is, again, the Lord has shown to Jacob, in the way of
prophecy, what shall happen in the time to come. But Joseph,
he doesn't see it, he doesn't understand it, and he doesn't
agree with it, and he tries to change it. Many of the Lord's
dear people have cross-handed blessings. It is a blessing,
but there's something in it that they don't agree with or struggle
with. It is a blessing, but like Joseph,
they have something that they say, Lord, not this way, not
in this manner, or bless another Bless this one, not that one. And trying to order things, you
might say in a natural way, Manasseh first, then Ephraim. But the
Lord goes against it and says, no, it is my way, not yours. And so another instance of the
Lord's dear people, godly people, You know, Joseph, he could interpret
dreams. He was next to Pharaoh in the
land. But here is his aged father,
doing according to the will of God. And Joseph doesn't understand,
and he tries to reverse it. Whatever position we may hold,
we may be careful about that. You know, we don't read that. Joseph persisted as it were in
this. It's a blessed thing to be brought
into submission, nevertheless not my will, but thy will be
done. I want to go back to the New Testament
and back to the time when our Lord was taken in the garden
and Thinking of Peter, I know I'm not doing things in a logical
order, really, in this way, but as they have come to me. In John 18 and verse 11, we have
our Lord in the garden. Remember, our Lord had told them,
really, to bring swords with them. It was for a purpose. And they come to take our Lord
Jesus Christ and to apprehend him. And Peter, he takes the
sword and he draws it and smites the high priest's servant, cut
off his right ear. Verse 10, we read it. The servant's
name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, put
up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? He had also said, Thinkest thou
that I may pray my father, and he could presently give me twelve
legion of angels, seventy-two thousand angels, but how then
should these scriptures be fulfilled. And so again we find Peter trying
to resist providence, resist the taking of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And so he is to put up his sword. We might be in that position,
having as it were a sword, fighting, resisting, resisting against
the providence of God and the way of God. And Peter again must
learn, it is not by the sword, not by might, nor by power, but
by my spirit. It is the will and purpose of
the Lord that this should be so. Now, There is another occasion
that went before that was very similar, again with Peter. And if we go to Matthew, and
chapter 16. Our Lord is telling the disciples
what shall happen, what shall come to pass. And verse 21, we
read, from that time forth, began Jesus to show unto his disciples
how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be
raised again the third day. Let me read of Peter. Then Peter took him and began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, This shall
not be unto thee. In effect, we have one that we're
showing to Peter a path of tribulation, the crucifixion, the path of
much trial, but instead of Peter saying that, may you be helped
and strengthened or encourage him and to strengthen him, in
that path, he is rebuking him, saying, no, this will not happen
to you. And you think of the Apostle
Paul, he was to go up to Jerusalem. And there were those that, by
the Spirit, they foretold what should happen, that he should
be bound at Jerusalem. And there were many that heard
that, that then tried to stop the apostle going. But he felt
persuaded that was the Lord's will, that he should go in spite
of that. And there are those times. Instead of trying to discourage
a person, in a way that they clearly feel is the Lord's appointed
way, and though it be a trial, difficulty, something of which
we don't want them to walk in, yet instead of being a messenger
of Satan, that we are to be an encourager and helper. This is
how the Lord rebuked him. Our Lord turned, said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan. Satan was speaking through Peter. Thou art an offence unto me,
for thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. And it is a real searching question
for us. Our Lord has said very clearly
that In me ye shall have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation. We're to expect it, and God's
children are. And our children, our loved ones
as well, are to walk in a path of tribulation. Are we then to
resist it on their behalf? Or speak in such language that
that should not be to them, God will never allow that to happen. God will never lead you in a
path of that trial and that trouble. That shall not happen unto you. You're a child of God. You will
be blessed. You'll be favoured with the Lord's
help in another way, but not this dark valley, not this path. And seeking then to frustrate
or go against what the Lord is leading another in. This is the
Lord, of course, speaking to Peter, but we might have it with
a brother, a sister of faith telling us what the Lord has
laid before them and what is their path that they are to go
into. And then to resist it instead
of to encourage and give hell. We think of situations where
it has been the other way around. And that has been very encouraging,
very good, where we have been called to go into another land,
to leave the land we're at, then to go into another land. And
loved ones who could easily have resisted, easily have felt that,
no, that cannot happen to you, you cannot walk that path, didn't. They encouraged and they strengthened
in that way. And it's a good example too,
as it shows the two different ways that the people of God can
react one to another when they share, or when it must be known,
what has to happen and the path that they are to walk. We've
known it as a family both ways. My dear wife leaving this land,
going over to Australia for six years, And we've known it leaving
Australia and leaving family there and coming back over here
and leaving the church over there and coming over here. And we
know what it is to have both support and also discouragement
in that path that the Lord would have us to go. Very often with
the people of God, They have the persuasion and the path that
they must walk. And it is great trial when the
brethren in faith, instead of supporting, they undermine and
make that path even harder. And so here we have Peter again
and rebuked. I want to go back then to the
Old Testament, to Moses in Exodus and chapter 4. This is where
Moses saw, had the Lord meet with him in the burning bush
in chapter 3. And the Lord then appeared to
him as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, God of Jacob, and
then spoke to him of going back to Egypt and bring the children
of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses had many objections
to what the Lord was saying unto him. And the Lord answered those
objections. He gave him signs to work before
the children of Israel that they would believe him. But after
all the things that the Lord had spoken to him. Then we come
in chapter 4 and verse 13. And Moses said, and he said,
O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou
wilt send. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Moses. And he said, Is not Aaron the
Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well.
And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, And when he seeth
thee, he will be glad in his heart. The Lord sent him, and he did
go, and all the trials and all the things that they went through,
both in Egypt and through the wilderness, Moses was a faithful
one in his house, even though he objected so much at the beginning
and Well, the Lord had prepared him 40 years in Pharaoh's house,
40 years in the desert. Was the Lord going to send another? Was he going to raise up someone
else? He'd already taken in hand miraculous
preservation at birth with Moses and fitted him, prepared him,
taught him, instructed him. Was he now going to listen to
Moses' objections? And the Lord did very long suffering.
He dealt long with Moses. And yet at this last, he was
angry with him because he resisted so much. And we like that. Resisting,
resisting, objections, objections, questions all the time. And in
the end, the Lord is angry with us. But may we be like that. Peter in our text, that resistance
taken away, where we'd be like Moses, that did go, and was greatly
used and greatly blessed and greatly favoured. What a reminder of how much,
even when we have things that are so very clear, that the Lord
is having us to walk in this way, and yet we find reasons
why we should not do so. Often think of the Lord directing
His church, directing His servants, raising one up here, another
up there, one to pastor a very large church, one to pastor a
very small church, One to look after the aged people in the
old people's homes. Another, they may not have that
opportunity. Another to send forth the word
throughout all of the country. The ministry of each of his servants
is different. And if each servant says, I don't
like what is allotted to me, I would rather something different. I'd like to be a pastor of that
church and have that big congregation. and I don't want to do this menial
work. How difficult if that was an
employer who'd got his employees and he'd worked out what each
one should do, but each employee was so resistant to what had
been chosen to them by their employer, and they wanted to
decide themselves. It would just be chaos. It just
would not work at all. And so the Lord decides. He appoints
His people and He puts them where He'd have them to be. And we
are not to learn from the Word tonight, where it may be resistance
first, to then be submissive to the Word and will of the Lord. How does the Lord make known
His will? He does it by His Word. He does
it by providence. He inclines the hearts of his
people. They are a prepared people for
what work and for what place they are to be. And Moses certainly
was. But even though he was prepared,
he still had these objections. He still had a scriptural warrant,
if you like, for what the Lord was sending him to do. But he
chose still to fight against it and not go. with what the
Lord had given him, that qualification over 80 years. May the Lord make us willing
to serve him in the way that he'd have us to do. The next
one I bring before you is that of Stephen's defence in Acts
chapter 7. This is the first Christian martyr,
taken one of the chosen deacons, and he's giving his defence before
he will be stoned to death. And he gives a summary of the
Lord's dealings with the children of Israel, and leading up to
our Lord Jesus Christ. When he comes to it, in verse
50, He says, hath not my hand made all these things? This is
God speaking. Ye stiff-necked, then he turns
and Stephen applies it to the Jews, to those that have arraigned
him before them. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not
your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
show before the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been
now the betrayers and murderers. Resisting the Holy Ghost, the
Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of God, the Inspirer of the Word
of God, the One that spoke to the prophets of old, the one
that was the power of God and was now in these gospel days
greatly poured out and the disciples had to tarry at Jerusalem until
they were endued with power from on high. To resist the Holy Ghost
is to resist the Word of God. It is to resist the Spirit that
speaks through the Word of God, as if it was not divinely inspired,
that it was some ordinary book. And the servants of the Lord
today, like the prophets of old, the sad thing, when maybe men
will resist what is taught by the pastor and teachers, as if
they would obey God rather than man. But those men, those servants,
those prophets that Stephen was referring to, were speaking faithfully
in the word of the Lord. The Lord said that whoso heareth
you, heareth me. And he that heareth me, heareth
my Father that sent me. And it's the same, he that resisteth
you, resisteth me or rejecteth me. There's a link, there's a
joining, where the word is faithfully set forth. We don't just resist
against men. We resist against God himself. You might think, well, how many
here were brought from resistance to brought to submission? Well, we read at the end, the
last verse, how that he verse 58 rather, how that the
witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name
was Saul. Saul was one of those that was
also resisting and he was fighting against the law, but the Lord
arrested him on that Damascus road. Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Why art thou fighting against
me? He might have said, well, I'm
not against thee, but against men, against those that are following
Jesus of Nazareth. But he says, who art thou, Lord?
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. And Saul was changed from kicking
against the pricks from resisting the Spirit is brought to be called
and changed and brought immediately to walk in the ways of the Lord
and himself to be persecuted for the word that he was preaching. And so again we find those that
resist and then by the grace of God brought instead of resisting
to be found amongst the people of God and walking with the people
of God. May this be a real encouragement
to us. We may have and have had loved
ones who have resisted the Word. They don't want us to speak to
them about the things of God. They don't want to walk in the
ways of the Lord themselves. But the Lord is able to break
down that resistance, to take away that opposition, and to
bring to be willing. Trust that He's done it in my
case and in many cases. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And the implication is there
was a time when they were not willing and that they were resisting. I want to just close just with
one other brief example, and that is in Romans chapter 13. And you read in those first two
verses in that chapter, And let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of
God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. Of course we are not to follow
and do things that are against the word of God. But the Lord
has set in place in this world a structure. They are powers
that be. We have from the children, we
have parents appointed over the children. Children obey your
parents in the Lord. They are the powers that be.
Then when the children go to school, they have the teachers.
And we have the police, the magistrates, we have authorities, we have
those that are over us, the judges, the lawmakers, the law enforcers. They are powers that be. And
where they are done according to the law and according to the
word of God, we are to be subject to them. And the word is very
clear here. It's not just saying, well, we're
resisting, Man, but it's resisting God. Remember years ago, the
government made the law that every building, including places
of worship, should have no smoking signs. And you'll notice as you
come in, we have no smoking signs on the exits and entrances to
our building. Well, when it was first put on,
there were those that said, well, that is so foolish. We don't
smoke, and we don't want those in there. in the church building
at all, you don't need to do that. But my reaction was, this
is a law, yes it may seem foolish, it may seem unnecessary, we don't
need those signs, but we can do it, and we can do it without
wounding our conscience, and if we do it, then later on they
come up and they give us other laws that we cannot obey, maybe some laws respecting how
we worship or when we worship, and those laws, if we then don't
obey them, the authorities come in and they say, you're lawbreakers,
you have no respect for the laws of the land or anything, and
we point to those no-smoking signs and we say, no, that's
not true. We have obeyed the law and we obey the law in the
safety things and everything as far as we can go. But now
you've crossed this line, you've done this which is against the
word of God, and we cannot do that. But if we didn't do those
small things, then they could come in and justly say, you have
no respect for the laws of the land. You just blanker disregard
them when you want to. And so it is a good thing. for
the people of God to be, you might say, the best citizens,
the most law-abiding citizens. And then when it comes for time
of persecution, time when we must say, like the apostles had
to say, that they ought to obey God rather than man, that they
would continue to preach and to teach in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, then we may do so. clearly know that a just
charge cannot be laid against us. So these are some places
in the Word of God that show the same as what Peter struggled
with here. He had something at first that
he really resisted, he didn't want to do, he didn't want to
walk in it, but the Lord knew how to make him willing and to
obey and walk in it. And dear friends, just a few
chapters on, we have the account of our Lord going His Father's
bidding to lay down His life. The cup that my Father giveth
me to drink, shall I not drink it? Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
Thy will be done. Paul sets it forth in Philippians
that he was obedient even unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Our Lord here is
the one that himself is to walk in this path of suffering, of
death. and he is to walk in it willingly.
And that is our hope. Tis Christ that died, yea rather
risen again, that precious blood shed at Calvary, that atonement
made for sin. What if he had listened to Peter? What if that was not to be him?
What if he was not willing? But he was. And may that be so
with us. Our captain, has walked that
path, and may we also walk that path after him. A people willing in the day of
his power, a people that though we may have resisted at first
like Moses or like Peter, ended up greatly blessed, greatly used. In spite of all their felt weakness,
the Lord used them. And really, in a way, their weakness
was their strength. And that will be for us. If our
response is that, well, we are strong, we are able to do these
things, we can walk in this path and go in our own strength. But
to be one that is leaning upon the Lord and resting upon Him,
trusting in His wisdom and His choice. If an employer came to
us and asked us to take a Important pose, we say, I don't feel I'm
able to do it. I'm not up to it. There's a lot
of others that are much more capable than me. I know you can
do it. I want you to do it, not someone
else. You do it. And may the Lord come
to us in a similar way. And we trust his assessment,
his choice, his direction, his guidance. And then our resistance
taken away, we walk in submission. to the Lord our God. May the
Lord grant it to us.